Big man: I am the Champion Marquis!

Chapter 120 All for War

It is a fact that Emperor Wu lacked great generals during his reign.

When it comes to the commander of an army, Wei Huo goes without saying.

Then there is Li Guangli. Putting aside other things for now, Li Guangli is not necessarily mediocre as he is able to command tens of thousands of soldiers and horses. He is just not as amazing as Wei Huo.

As for Huo Xian's current desire to promote some talents who emerged during the reigns of Emperor Zhao of Han and Emperor Xuan of Han, this is also a helpless move.

He didn't know if this would be counterproductive, but he had no better way. These people were now of a certain age and had a certain foundation, so perhaps they would be able to grow up if given the opportunity.

There will be a big battle to be fought next, and Huo Xian is also "short of soldiers and generals", he needs some outstanding generals to assist him.

There is no other reason, it's simply that Huo Xian knows that he is not as good as Wei Huo, so he can only know how to use people well.

The generals under his command are all capable, so he doesn't need to worry about having his credit taken away or being replaced. He is still the Grand Marshal and General of Cavalry.

Being able to control those outstanding generals is also a skill. After leading the army to victory, Huo Xian, the main general, naturally had the greatest credit.

Huo Xian didn't mind selecting and training a group of talents at all.

More talent is better, and that is by no means a bad thing.

"Let's continue to go west, and then we can go visit my uncle." Huo Xian was looking forward to it. "When we get to Shoujiang City, I will go there to take a look. We will have to go through there when we send troops in the future."

Huo Xian is now happily planning his next routes and itineraries. He is not anxious or worried at all, and he has no intention of returning to Chang'an immediately.

Huo Xian couldn't feel at ease if he didn't visit some of the borders in the north and northwest every year or so. There would definitely be a war next, so he naturally needed to be well prepared.

Huo Xian was happy, but some people hurried back to Chang'an and were depressed to find that after returning from a great victory, it didn't seem as glorious as it was.

Liu Che appointed Li Guangli as Marquis of Haixi, Zhao Di as Marquis of Xinzhi, and Zhao Anguo as Marquis of Congpu. In this Battle of Han and Wan, the Han Dynasty gained three more marquises at once.

Li Ling and Zhang Gui'an were Guannei Hou, which basically reached some of the heights of their fathers. Li Gan was his uncle, which was also his father's generation.

Zhang Guian was even more excited. As an envoy of the General of the Cavalry, he was also commended for his merits. The reputation of Marquis Bowang was not tarnished, and he could be granted the title of Marquis again if there was a chance.

Shangguan Jie was appointed as Shaofu, Zhao Shicheng as Guanglu Xun, Hu Chongguo as Dahonglu, Li Duo as Shangdang Taishou, and Feng Dan and others were also rewarded.

Three people were promoted to the rank of Nine Ministers, more than a hundred prime ministers of various states, county governors, and officials of the rank of two thousand stones, and more than a thousand officials below the rank of one thousand stones. The soldiers received rewards worth forty thousand gold, and criminals who were sent into exile were pardoned.

Such a reward was not light, it was even quite heavy. After all, the Han Dynasty gained a lot this time.

More than 7,000 celestial horses, this is a huge fortune. During the heyday of the Han Dynasty, it was said that there were 600,000 war horses, but the actual number was around 400,000, and there were many horses of poor quality and too old.

In addition to the war horses, there were 3,700 captured craftsmen and gold, silver and other valuables totaling no less than 20,000 gold.

This means that in such a battle, the Han people are "making money", and a huge amount of money.

However, after being granted the title of marquis and appointed as a general, Li Guangli felt a little depressed, because almost all the credit was attributed to the Grand Marshal and General of the Cavalry, while the others were just vassals.

That kid Zhao Anguo has now been granted the title of Cong Piao Marquis. Everyone knows that Zhao Anguo's father, Zhao Po Nu, was also Cong Piao Marquis when he was first granted the title of marquis. This is a direct label. Zhao Po Nu and Zhao Anguo, father and son, were both deputy generals of Guanjun Marquis Huo Qubing and Huo Shan.

It would be difficult for Li Guangli and others to "become famous". Everyone knew that he was granted the title of nobility only because of Huo Shan's influence. All those who were promoted were Huo Shan's old subordinates.

The most important thing is that after the award, the emperor hurriedly went on a tour, and Li Guangli and others rested and performed their duties. He wanted to join the cavalry general to get closer to him, but he was even more depressed to find that the champion marquis had run away a few days ago.

Being conferred a title of nobility and appointed as a general is supposed to be one of the most glorious moments in life, but for Li Guangli and others, it seems a bit boring at the moment.

The emperor went on a tour, the commander-in-chief went on a border patrol, and the newly promoted military marquises didn't know where to go if they wanted to pay their respects. These new nine ministers wanted to find a leader or a backer, but they had no way to do so.

Some people's lifelong dream is to be granted a title of nobility or become a general, but when such a moment really comes, they discover that there are new challenges and that even a nobility has his own troubles.

While Li Guangli and others were still confused, Su Wu led a team of nearly 100 people and began to head north. They wanted to send back the Hun envoys who had been detained in Chang'an.

Some people in the delegation had other tasks, that was another matter, anyway, on the surface this was a regular delegation. They went to show goodwill to the Xiongnu, but they didn't really want to find out the details of the Xiongnu's internal strife.

At this moment on the grassland, Huo Xian rode on Dao Li and shouted in high spirits, "No one is allowed to help me!"

Liu Mo and the others dispersed and followed Huo Xian on horseback. They were just accompanying him in the hunt, and were only responsible for assisting him. Dao Li's running was powerful and brisk, and Huo Xian also felt that it was relatively stable. He saw the right moment to draw his arrow, and then aimed at the panicked yellow sheep in front of him.

When Huo Xian loosened the string, it was also the moment of Huang Yang's death.

Chen Dalang rode forward quickly without getting off the horse. As the horse galloped, he grabbed the reins with his left hand, then bent down and grabbed the yellow goat with his right hand. This is where the stirrup hides. Chen Dalang, who had practiced riding and shooting since he was a child, was also very brave.

Han Zeng felt a little envious and admired that all the troops in Guanjun Marquis' Mansion were very powerful.

Not to mention veteran soldiers like Liu Mo and Zhao Hexi, even the younger generation like Zhao Congxiao, Chen Dalang and others, all of them have great abilities, and it would be easy for them to become a garrison chief in the army.

These are the sources of confidence for the Marquis of Guanjun’s Mansion. As a true military marquis’ family, the soldiers are all skilled in archery and horse riding, and are strong and good at fighting.

Huo Xian was in a good mood, but a little regretful. "These lands look good, and the grass and water are lush. It's true that we should cultivate the land and store grain, but we should also release some cattle and sheep when it's time."

The grassland is not completely empty. Some of the Huns who surrendered in recent years have been disrupted and resettled in various places, and many of them are also herdsmen.

Some Han people also graze in border areas, but compared to grazing, Han people still prefer farming, and even on grasslands, they want to turn them into good fields.

Han Zeng said, "Your Excellency is right, but some people are unwilling to leave the border because they are worried that the Xiongnu will move south."

This is also a problem. The south of the desert is now controlled by the Han Dynasty, and only occasionally some small tribes of the Xiongnu will go south. If they encounter those Xiongnu people, ordinary herdsmen will definitely find it difficult to resist.

Therefore, it is safer to farm, and then stay in towns and forts. If the enemy attacks, they will retreat and hold their ground and wait for help. This is also a habit of the Han people.

"It seems that we should think of a way to clean up the desert south again, otherwise the people will be in trouble." Huo Xian said with emotion, "I will think of a way to let the soldiers in various places raise some cattle and sheep, so that they can have more food."

Han Zeng said, "My Lord, I think we have enough horses now, but not enough cattle and sheep."

When the Han Dynasty was founded, it was difficult to find horses of the same color to pull the emperor's carriage. Some princes and ministers could only use oxen to pull carts. That was the most difficult time for the Han Dynasty.

However, starting from Emperor Gaozu of Han, the Han Dynasty began to establish a complete set of strict systems for horse breeding and management. By now, a horse policy has been formed, including two major contents: the official horse management system and the private horse breeding policy.

Needless to say, the Imperial Horse Department is the highest authority in charge of carriages and horses in the country. The current Imperial Horse Department is Gongsun Jingsheng, the highest official in charge of horse affairs in the Han Dynasty.

Huo Xian thought about it and felt that it made sense. He said, "Nowadays, there are many people raising horses. In the past few years, there were quite a few people raising horses at the border. Now the Hexi area is also our Han horse farm. The number of horses raised at some borders can be reduced."

Huo Xian has no say on these matters. These are just his current thoughts. The final situation still needs to be discussed by the emperor and civil and military officials.

However, it must be admitted that the Han Dynasty does have some militarism now, and many things are serving the war.

Now the Han Dynasty has enough horses. Many people travel on horses and use horses for farming.

And based on the current situation, although items such as horseshoes will not directly and completely change some situations, they can indeed reduce the loss of Han war horses.

Continuing to raise horses so crazily is not necessarily a good thing, especially in the early days of the Han Dynasty, in order to encourage horse breeding, the policy was that raising a horse could exempt three people from military service or corvee labor.

The number of horses was large, but the number of excellent war horses was insufficient. It was also true that many horses in the Han area lacked running ability and endurance, and were not as light and endurable as the horses of the Xiongnu.

What the Han Dynasty should do now is to continue to improve the horse breed so that the people can have horses. However, those are production tools, and most of the excellent war horses still come from government-run horse farms.

Although the General of Cavalry does not attend court now, it does not mean that he does not care about the people's livelihood.

In particular, the current situation of some garrison soldiers at the border was even more worthy of his concern. Although these border guards were also engaged in farming, they still needed the court to transport some food as a supplement in most cases.

The bottom line is that the Han Dynasty is becoming increasingly financially strapped. If it does not work hard to salvage the situation now, it will be difficult to fight a war in the future.

Even though the Huns are now at the end of their strength, it does not mean that they can be completely destroyed in one breath.

If a large-scale military expedition fails to win, it may be difficult for the Han Dynasty to organize a large-scale army to fight again.

Cultivating some potential generals is naturally an extremely important thing, but improving people's livelihood to the best of one's ability is also an extremely important thing.

All this is for the sake of war!

Huo Xian didn't think there was anything wrong with it. After all, he was a general. Apart from fighting, he should be preparing for war.

(End of this chapter)