Chinese New Year

Chapter 1451 Miscellaneous Matters Before Leaving
In the end, all the dancers were given away as gifts, and Shao Xun didn't keep any of them.

Not only Zhao Wei's group, but also more than ten officers and soldiers from the first batch of the Black Spear Left Battalion who had made meritorious contributions were rewarded.

Shao Xun wanted all the warriors to know that if you dared to brave the enemy's arrows and suffer multiple wounds, yet still remain unmoved, he would reward you handsomely. Official positions, beauties, money, fiefs, and even admission quotas to the Imperial Academy and the National Academy, as well as eligibility for official positions through family connections, were all within the scope of the reward.

Be a man who goes all out, risk your life, and you'll have everything.

Even if one moment they are dirt poor and looked down upon, the next moment they may be wearing official robes, carrying wealth, and embracing beautiful women as they return home in glory.

When your parents and relatives show expressions of surprise, when your neighbors and fellow villagers look at you with disbelief, when local wealthy families and powerful clans come to your door to make friends and chat happily, the positive emotional value of that is unimaginable.

Among the millions of people in the world, there are always brave men who are not afraid of death and follow one after another to make new contributions. This is the source of fighting power.

The real fear is that some people will think these people from humble backgrounds don't deserve rewards, thus blocking their path to advancement. If that happens, their fighting strength will decline very quickly. For ordinary soldiers, perhaps only plundering can pique their interest—if they can't plunder the enemy, can't they plunder their own people?

On the seventh day of the third month, Shao Xun met with the soldiers of the Imperial Guard who were heading west at Mount Li. After a grand feast for the entire army, he randomly selected a soldier named Wang Wei, a soldier of the Left Divine Martial Guard, to inquire about his situation and had his secretary, Wang Xizhi, record it.

I learned that his family harvested about 300 bushels of millet last year. The other four members of his family ate more than 90 bushels, while he, because of his martial arts practice, ate 30 bushels by himself throughout the year. After deducting the seeds, they still had more than 100 bushels left over in the year.

Besides grain, they also collected seven or eight bolts of silk and more than ten bolts of hemp cloth, which they took with them to buy food on the road.

Shao Xun calculated for him that if it took two or three months to travel, and considering that the price of grain in Guanzhong had risen, by the time they reached the assembly point in Wuwei, the silk cloth would be just enough for him and his men to eat.

Of course, there were still some rest stops along these thousands of miles where the soldiers could rest and eat, but there weren't many. However, these places could reduce expenses and give them some leeway on the journey.

When they go out, they also prepare some dried biscuits, jerky, pickles and other food in their bags in case they can't buy food in places.

These are the soldiers of the Fubing (府兵), who brought their own weapons and the dry rations they needed before reaching the assembly point.

One expedition cost them all the eight bolts of silk and more than a dozen bolts of linen they had saved up last year, just for food.

However, after calculating, Shao Xun found that their family could still support themselves, so he was relieved.

These are all minor expenses, since you still need to eat even at home, just less. The real major expense is suffering defeat.

After letting them leave, Shao Xun ordered Wang Xizhi to organize and archive the records of their questions.

On the tenth day of the third month, Shao Xun inspected the various prefectures of Yongzhou again, urging them to speed up the transportation of supplies. During this time, he received a letter from his third son, Nianliu, sent from Gaochang.

Li Zhao came again this time.

At the beginning of this year, his cousin Li Yong resigned from his post as magistrate of Lingzhou and wanted to return to the Prince of Zhao's residence. Shao Xun greatly appreciated this and directly appointed him as the prefect of the newly established Yiwu Commandery. At this time, he should be in Jiangxia. It is said that he left his two sons in his hometown and took his wife and two sons westward to Gaochang, where he settled down.

Li Zhao ran back and forth, looking travel-worn, but his spirits were high, and he spoke with a strong voice: "His Highness has minted silver coins in Gaochang, with an initial batch of 20,000 coins. The notices were issued to all places, ordering officials and people to exchange for the new coins within a specified period. By the end of January, more than a thousand taels of miscellaneous silver and foreign currency had been exchanged."

"Not bad." Shao Xun nodded and asked, "How long do you plan to spend replacing the old currency, Nian Liu?"

"At the latest, by the end of this year," Li Zhao said. "Before I set off, my attendant Murong Ke led troops to patrol the streets and arrested three people who had vandalized tortoise shell coins."

"How was it destroyed?" Shao Xun asked.

"When he was short of money during the transaction, he cut the tortoise shell in two. The government arrested him and gave him ten strokes of the cane."

"Nian Liu's quick wit is really impressive," Shao Xun couldn't help but praise.

Of course, he knew very well that people in places like Gaochang were concentrated in a few areas, and the places of trade were very limited, making them relatively easy to manage. If it were the Great Liang Dynasty, it would be much more troublesome.

"Have the copper coins been minted?" Shao Xun asked again.

"More than 5,000 strings of cash have been newly minted."

"Take it slow," Shao Xun said. "The garrison troops for Jinman and Pulei will take some time to recruit. A batch of 1,400 men will be sent out in March."

Li Zhao was somewhat disappointed.

It's been so long, and they've only recruited 1,400 people. That's way too slow.

“Your Majesty, actually—” Li Zhao glanced at Shao Xun and hesitated.

"But there's no harm in talking."

“Actually, as long as they are strong and healthy, and not deaf or blind, that’s enough. We don’t necessarily have to look among the sons of the imperial guards or the imperial soldiers; ordinary people are fine too,” Li Zhao said. “Once we arrive in Gaochang, there will be people to teach them how to train.”

Shao Xun was silent for a moment, then said, "Okay."

Li Zhao's idea was to relax the requirements and accept anyone, without limiting himself to military families with a certain level of martial arts skills, in order to recruit enough men as quickly as possible.

"Has the Later Kingdom of Cheshi made any unusual moves?" Shao Xun asked.

“Last year, the royal army displayed its might, and the whole country was terrified. They will not dare to act rashly,” Li Zhao said. “After the summer, Your Highness will lead the army to inspect the two towns of Jinman and Pulei in the north. With the Xue family’s elite troops by your side, there will be no trouble.”

"Xue's army is not bad," Shao Xun commented.

Li Zhao felt even more relieved after hearing this. The emperor was an old warrior with excellent judgment; if he said the Xue family of Fenyin was formidable, then they truly were.

"Let's focus on land reclamation first," Shao Xun said. "Once Jinman and Pulei towns are firmly established, I will build a city for Nianliu in the Later State of Cheshi to serve as his summer palace."

Li Zhao was overjoyed upon hearing this and said, "On behalf of my lord, I thank Your Majesty for your great favor."

Shao Xun waved his hand and said, "Do your job well. From today onwards, all exiled prisoners will be sent to Gaochang."

After seeing Li Zhao off, Shao Xun looked at the bag of seeds left on the table and smiled.

This plant, later known as chickpeas, was introduced to Northwest China at the end of the Tang Dynasty and was called "Uyghur beans".

Actually, chickpeas, like watermelons, were introduced to the Central Plains from the Western Regions by the Uyghurs. However, they were not popular at first and were limited to the northwest region. They gradually spread during the Five Dynasties period. The watermelons of the Liao Dynasty came from the Dangxiang or Uyghurs. Hu Qiao, a man from the Later Jin Dynasty, once ate watermelons in the Liao Dynasty. Because they tasted sweet and were "as big as Chinese winter melons and sweet," they quickly became popular.

That evening, Shao Xun issued a proclamation ordering the Yi Cong Army and the Hengchong, Huangjia, and Zhangqian battalions of the Three Protectorates to assemble in Shuozhou. They were to march west in May to relieve Zheng Long's remaining troops and return home.

This force of 13,000 men will be mainly stationed within the territory of the Later Cheshi Kingdom, where they will graze livestock and patrol, thus protecting Nianliu—and incidentally training their troops, since the Yi Cong Army's base is located deep in the heart of Liyang, where it is difficult to feel the atmosphere of a battlefield on a regular basis.

******
In early April, Shao Xun returned to Chang'an and learned of Bei Gongchun's death. He ordered the Taichang Doctor to draft a posthumous title and bestowed upon him a number of funerary objects.

Shao Xun felt somewhat sentimental about his departure.

He would always remember how Zhang Gui sent troops to Luoyang's aid when the city was in dire straits.

Back then, the fighting capabilities of the various warlord armies were truly abysmal, so abysmal it was almost unbearable to watch. If the Liang Imperial Army were transported back 30 or 40 years, they would surely dominate the land and sweep across the world.

That was the era of Liangzhou Dama, where a hundred or so warriors could break through enemy lines and cause Wang Mi's peasant army to collapse.

A thousand brave warriors were enough to rout the Xiongnu—to be honest, at that time Liu Han could only bully Sima Jin, and could even defeat the Tuoba Xianbei.

But the Central Plains are the Central Plains; after a long period of war, heroes naturally emerge.

Before him was Cao Mengde, who transformed the ragtag army that was initially timid and hesitant against the Yellow Turbans into a powerful and elite force that decisively defeated the Wuhuan at the Battle of White Wolf Mountain.

Then came Zhu Quanzhong, who broke through Li Maozhen in Guanzhong to the west, attacked Li Ya'er of the Shatuo in the north, and then made the three towns of Hebei cry out in agony.

Shao Quanzhong was no less capable; his Imperial Guard, mainly composed of soldiers from Henan, swept across the land and unified the country. Otherwise, where would he get so many empresses and noblewomen in the harem? You couldn't get that many even if you gave them away as gifts with phone top-ups.

It's a pity that Bei Gongchun has returned to Liangzhou.

Otherwise, given Shao Xun's enthusiasm in deliberately befriending him back then, his status now wouldn't be any lower than Li Chong's.

Of course, this might also be related to the fact that the fighting power of the Guandong soldiers increased day by day, gradually demystifying the Liangzhou soldiers. After training, they found that the Liangzhou horses were not so great after all.

After regaining his composure, Shao Xun personally drafted an imperial edict appointing Grand Censor Shan Xia as the Prefect and Commander-in-Chief of Xuzhou, with a focus on repairing the dikes and embankments, and if there was spare capacity, dredging the waterway from Xiapi to Bianliang.

Zhuge Wenbao was standing beside him, watching as he wrote the edict.

She seemed to breathe a sigh of relief after writing the last word.

Shao Xun found it somewhat amusing, but at the same time felt that he might have been spoiling Zhuge Wenbao too much lately. The little girl herself didn't seem to realize it, looking at everything and asking about everything, even though she was no longer a female official.

However, upon seeing her slightly childish face and her protruding belly, Shao Xun didn't want to say anything anymore, and felt even more guilty—Zhuge Wenbao often played with princesses of similar age, like best friends, which made Shao Xun feel somewhat guilty.

“Your father will have to stay in Chang’an for a while longer,” Shao Xun said, pinching her cheek. “Once things are settled in the Western Regions, he can go to court.”

"Should we continue fighting in the Western Regions?" Zhuge Wenbao asked.

"Haven't you seen it?" Shao Xun asked with a smile.

Zhuge Wenbao quickly replied, "Your Majesty, you asked me to read it."

Shao Xun was speechless. Indeed, it was when he was embracing Zhuge Wenbiao that he had Wen Bao read it to him, which was why no censor dared to provoke him; otherwise, he would have been accused of interfering in politics within the harem. In the future, to protect the sisters, it would be best to avoid such things.

"Yang Qin decisively defeated Shule, and its ruler, terrified, surrendered," Shao Xun said. "However, although the war is over, it will still take some time to pacify the region."

Yang Qin's attack on Shule occurred in late February, and the reasons were complex.

One reason was the looting by Li Bai of the Southern Route Army, and another was that Shule itself was unwilling to surrender. Hearing that Shule had secretly contacted Dayuan and seemed to have some ulterior motive, Yang Qin did not wait any longer. Taking advantage of the heavy snow blocking the mountains and preventing Dayuan troops from crossing, he led his army south, first defeating the Shule army, and then advancing to the city.

The King of Shule sent envoys to surrender, offering to present his treasury treasures and—well, his beloved lion.

To avoid further delay, Yang Qin decided to accept the surrender, but demanded that the King of Shule hand over several princes and nobles who had instigated his rebellion.

These are all aftereffects of the Western Expedition, and it is expected that they will come to a complete end this year.

"We'll go back to Luoyang after the summer harvest," Shao Xun said, patting Zhuge Wenbao on the head again.

(End of this chapter)