Guiyi Fei Tang

Chapter 96 Return in triumph
"Didn't these Han slaves come to attack Fanhe?"

At noon the next day, outside Fanhe City.

When Zhe Bu Luo led his troops to escort Moli south to Fanhe, what he saw was not the herdsmen of Fanhe city hiding in the city because of the enemy attack, nor the scene of corn and wheat fields outside the city being burned, but everything was normal.

"Where did they go?"

On horseback, Zhe Bu Luo broke out in a cold sweat.

Starting from yesterday afternoon when they moved south, they chased all the way south but never found any trace of the group of Han slaves.

Seeing that they had all returned to Fanhe, the group of Han slaves had not appeared yet. Where could they have gone?

Thinking of this, Zhe Bu Luo's face changed drastically, and he hurriedly told Mo Li beside him: "Mo Li, you go back to the city to recuperate, I want to go to Jialin City to see that guy Mang Luo."

"What's so good about that reckless man?" Mo Li was still resentful that General Mang Luo did not bring troops to escort him south.

"I suspect that group of Han slaves went to attack General Mang Luo!"

After Zhe Buluo finished speaking, he immediately ordered his subordinates: "The army will march towards Jialin!"

"Yes!"

Under Zhe Bu Luo's command, two thousand Gu Zang troops marched towards Jialin City, more than sixty miles away in the east.

Because he was worried about being attacked, Zhe Bu Luo did not dare to lead the army to attack, but instead saved horsepower to deal with the war that might happen at any time.

Because of this, he didn't reach the outskirts of Jialin City until dusk.

Jialin City received the news of Zhe Buluo in advance, so when Zhe Buluo led his troops to the city, General Mangluo's eldest son Mang Longhua had him lowered down in a hanging basket.

"Didn't your father lead the herd south?"

On horseback, Zhe Bu Luo looked at Mang Longhua, who was in his early twenties, and had a bad feeling in his heart.

"No, there has been no news since my father left for the war."

Mang Longhua was holding a torch, so he could see the changes in Zhe Buluo's expression.

He also had a bad feeling in his heart, and at this time a small officer rode up to Zhe Buluo and whispered: "Our Tangqi found a lot of cavalry fleeing south in the north."

"Escape south?" Zhe Bu Luo's heart skipped a beat: "Bring them here immediately!"

"Yes!" Xiaojie returned the greeting and left. Soon, a large group of flames appeared in the north.

A very embarrassed team appeared in front of everyone, numbering about two hundred people.

Seeing Mang Longhua in front of Zhe Bu Luo, a young man hurriedly came forward crying.

"Jie'er! Dong Ben was taken away by the Han slaves from Shandan... by them..."

"What happened to my dad?!"

Mang Longhua's face changed drastically and he reached out and grabbed his collar.

"We went to chase the herd back. Dong Ben saw that they only had 300 elite cavalrymen, so he led us to fight them."

"We didn't expect that thousands of elite cavalry suddenly appeared behind us. The army was ambushed and the morale of the army was broken."

"We covered Dong Ben's retreat, but Dong Ben fell off his horse and was killed by the Han slaves. We could only flee in all directions, gathering troops as we went south."

"Here are all our defeated soldiers..."

Xiaojie'er sobbed softly after saying this, and Manglonghua's face turned pale after hearing this.

Zhe Bu Luo looked unhappy. He didn't expect that he would be fooled by the Han slaves in the west again and again.

The combined forces of Fanhe and Jialin lost at least 600 armored soldiers and at least 1,000 light soldiers.

People can be recruited again after they die, but it will take a long time to make lost armor again.

"Zhe Buluo, you should give me an explanation!!"

After Mang Longhua reacted, he immediately rushed towards Zhe Buluo, but he was stopped by two guards beside Zhe Buluo.

Seeing that he was as reckless as his father, Zhe Bu Luo's face turned ugly: "I asked him to go south with me but he didn't listen. Now he died outside and you blame me?"

"It was you who led them to the battle!" Mang Longhua growled.

"I can't command them at all, let alone them. If I ask you to open the city gate now, will you listen?!"

Zhe Bu Luo also became angry. If Moli and Mang Luo had listened to him this time, they would not have been teased and bullied by the Han slaves in the west into this state.

Unfortunately, Mang Longhua was still angry. He looked at the remaining troops of his own side and turned away angrily.

Seeing him act like this, Zhe Bu Luo turned back with an unpleasant expression and ordered: "Let's go and set up camp ten miles east of the city..."

As he finished speaking, he thought of the fate of Mo Li and General Mang Luo, and could not help but remind them: "Send the Tangqi thirty miles away!"

"Yes……"

The officers followed his orders and quickly led their troops to bypass Jialin City and set up camp ten miles east of the city, waiting to return to Guzang City tomorrow.

But that night, Zhe Bu Luo did not dare to sleep at all, for fear that he would be attacked in his sleep.

He endured the whole night in agony, and before dawn the next day he ordered the camp to be moved back to the city.

It was only about forty miles from Jialin to Guzang, plus they had advanced ten miles east last night, so there were only about thirty miles left.

Although the journey was short and if they were attacked they would receive reinforcements from Jialin and Guzang, Zhe Bu Luo still did not dare to be negligent.

He led the army back to the city at a rapid speed, not caring about the consumption of horsepower, and returned to Guzang City in less than two hours.

"Get out of the way! Get out of the way!"

"Get out of the way!"

Compared with their high spirits when they set out on the expedition, the Guzang army at this time was like a frightened bird.

All the soldiers were rushing into the city, and after entering the city, Zhe Bu Luo immediately rushed to the Jiedushi's office.

When he found her, Shang Moling was still sleeping with his Hu Ji in his arms, with his legs resting on two maids, who were about twelve or thirteen years old, as footrests.

When he was awakened by the guards, he looked unhappy, so when he walked into the inner hall, his attitude towards Zhe Bu Luo was even worse.

"You woke me up in such a hurry, there had better be something!"

"The Fanhe and Jialin armies were almost completely wiped out, and the herds and people of the thirteen tribes in the north were all plundered by the Han slaves in the west!"

As Shang Moling wished, Zhe Bu Luo told the story with a gloomy face, and Shang Moling's mind instantly became clear after hearing it.

First, six tribes in the north were plundered, and then more than 2,000 soldiers from the Fanhe Army and the Jialin Army were almost wiped out. General Mang Luo was killed on the battlefield, and another seven tribes in Liangzhou were plundered.

Oh God, he has never suffered such humiliation since Shang Moling took charge of Liangzhou.

Even though he had fought against the Uighurs and the Umu people for more than ten years, he had never suffered such a great loss at the hands of the other side.

Now the Han slaves in the west took advantage of the situation and led more than a thousand elite cavalry to turn Liang Province upside down.

"Have they left?"

Shang Moling asked in a deep voice, and Zhe Buluo shook his head: "I don't know."

"I don't know?" Shang Moling raised his voice, and Zhe Buluo quickly explained:
"I only have 500 elite cavalry, and those Han slaves have not suffered heavy losses. If I go to find out the news, it will only give them the opportunity to find me through the Tangqi."

"Anyway, the herds in the north have been wiped out. They only have more than a thousand people, and including the herdsmen, there are only three to four thousand people. With so many herds, it will take them a lot of time just to drive them back to the west. There is no way they can continue to plunder."

His explanation made it difficult for Shang Moling to convince himself, but Shang Moling also knew that what Zhe Bu Luo said did make some sense.

"If they dare to come once, they will come again. The autumn harvest will definitely be the time when they invade again."

"Liangzhou's pastures are mainly in the north. If we don't go to the north to graze, how can we make up for the current losses?"

"If I don't deal with them, Mo Li and Mang Long Hua will look down on me!"

Shang Moling said, and continued in a deep voice: "I will convene a meeting of the five cities. We can't continue to sit and wait for death. We must launch a western expedition!"

"No!" Zhe Bu Luo interrupted Shang Mo Ling and said in a heavy tone:

"We are in Liangzhou, and they are the ones who attacked us. The five cities in Liangzhou are easy to defend but difficult to attack, and we have enough food. It is not easy for them to attack us."

"If we go and fight them, then the conditions we have are the conditions they have."

"If the war goes badly, and we run out of food, they will turn around and attack us!"

"We should play to our strengths and let them attack us. After we defeat their attack, we can turn around and launch a westward expedition."

Zhe Bu Luo's suggestion calmed Shang Mo Ling's anger a lot, but he still said:

"What about the pastures in the north? We can't just not graze there, right?"

"Of course I have to go!" Zhe Bu Luo raised his voice:
"They plundered once, and the next time they plunder will definitely be as you said, around the autumn harvest."

"In that case, why don't we withdraw to the northern tribes ahead of time so that they have no herds to plunder?"

"Don't forget that the slogan of the Han slaves in Hexi is to open up the Helong River. Even if there are no herds to plunder, they will still accumulate strength and seek to move eastward."

"We will store food in Liangzhou and stockpile enough stone and wood for the city defense, waiting for them to attack the city."

"As long as we defeat them in the defense of the city, we can then go out of the city and beat them all the way to Shazhou!"

After Zhe Bu Luo finished speaking, Shang Moling's anger was completely extinguished.

"We must build strong enough ram-horn walls and trenches outside the city so that we can defend the city at any time."

"Also, space should be made available in the city to store enough wood, so that there will be no shortage of firewood for making fire after Guzang is surrounded." He instructed Zhe Buluo. Upon hearing this, Zhe Buluo understood that Shang Moling agreed with his suggestion, so he saluted respectfully and then withdrew.

In the next few days, the reputation of the Shandan elite cavalry under Liu Jilian became known in Liangzhou.

At the same time, Nong Guli also brought the beheaded body of Mang Luo back to Jialin City.

There were seventeen people in their group, all of them were either centurions or ten-household officials.

I originally thought that even if there was no reward, there would be no punishment.

But it turned out that they underestimated the brutality of the chaos.

A group of seventeen people were tied to wooden stakes in the parade ground by Mang Longhua for seven days. They were not released until Mang Longhua buried General Mang Luo.

Originally they thought the matter was over, but in the end all seventeen of them were demoted one level.

The centurions became decapitations, and the decapitations became ordinary soldiers.

For a time, all their efforts over the past decade seemed to be in vain.

Instead of hating Liu Jilong, they directed their hatred towards Manglong Hua.

But these had nothing to do with Liu Jilong. At this time, he was driving a herd that was even larger than last time back to Shandan.

"Uuuuuu——"

The sound of Huima rang out in the canyon of Longshou Mountain, and the Sanchen flag in the team also attracted the attention of the Shandan soldiers on the beacon tower.

The sound of the horn echoed in the canyon. In just two quarters of an hour, more than ten riders came galloping from the other direction of the canyon.

"Guo Yi!"

Zhang Chang's excited voice sounded from a distance and gradually approached with the sound of horse hooves.

"Let the herd pass first."

When Liu Jilong saw Zhang Chang approaching, he quickly gave him an order.

Upon hearing this, Zhang Chang immediately assigned light cavalry to lead the team, and worked with Hu Siguang and others to lead the herd through the Longshou Mountain Gorge.

"Guo Yi, how did you capture so many people and armor?"

Looking at the armor on the horses' backs and the dejected foreign soldiers with their hands tied with ropes, Zhang Chang was surprised and looked towards the other end of the canyon.

The herd is endless and there is no end in sight.

"Haha! Zhang Chang, you didn't go this time. I wonder what victory we won!"

"Yes, guess how many bandits we killed this time!"

Zheng Chu and Chen Jingchong sang the same tune, which instantly aroused Zhang Chang's curiosity.

"What's going on? Have the Liangzhou bandits sent out troops?"

Zhang Chang threw out some ideas, and Chen Jingchong smiled and explained the process of their eastern expedition.

Upon hearing that the three cities in Liangzhou had sent out more than 4,000 soldiers and horses, but were then defeated one by one by their own brave and resolute troops, Zhang Chang was so angry that he cursed.

"Last time I went there, I killed some of the bandits' light soldiers and herdsmen. This time you actually encountered the bandits' soldiers. God is really unfair!"

Hearing this, Jiu Juyan forced a smile and said, "It's good that you didn't go. There are quite a lot of brothers who died in this battle..."

"How much?" Zhang Chang also put away his anger, his brows were furrowed, and his face was full of worry.

"Eighty-nine brothers were killed in the battle..."

After Jiu Juyan said this bloody number, Zhang Chang suddenly fell silent and no longer complained about not joining the army in the eastern expedition.

He looked at Liu Jilong's back. Although Liu Jilong looked normal, he knew that his own Guo Yi was probably not feeling well.

Jiu Juyan and Chen Jingchong followed his gaze and looked at Liu Jilian, and explained the pension policy of this Donglue.

After hearing this, Zhang Chang just nodded silently without saying anything more.

The triumphant atmosphere was broken, and everyone felt depressed for a moment.

The depression reached its peak when the wounded and bandaged soldiers passed by them, as they were holding simple wooden urns in their arms.

The weather in mid-May was already somewhat hot and humid, so the bodies of the soldiers who died in the battle were cremated and brought back.

"This is a murderous world..."

After a long silence, Zhang Chang couldn't help but curse.

"Let's go!"

The atmosphere was oppressive because of the wine, and naturally ended with the wine.

At his call, everyone followed the team towards the stone fortress of Longshou Mountain.

Because it was still early, the team did not stay at the Longshou Mountain Stone Fort, but headed directly to Shandan City.

Zhang Chang sent them to the gorge and watched them leave with his eyes.

Driven by more than 2,000 herdsmen, the huge herd of cattle headed towards Shandan City in an orderly manner.

Their task today was not difficult, so they arrived outside the north gate of Shandan City before 15 p.m.

Liu Jilian sent out the Tangqi in advance, so Li Yizhong and Cui Shu had already led more than 20 straightforward and literate soldiers to set up a tent at the city gate and wait for them.

"Guo Yi..."

Shang Duoluo rode his horse and bowed to Liu Jilong: "The governor has already instructed that the herds distributed to Shanzhou should be exchanged for grain."

"Okay, you take the brothers from Shanzhou back to the military camp to rest first." Liu Jilong nodded and looked at Jiu Juyan who was lowering his head behind him.

"Jiu Juyan, you take the more literate brothers in the army and stay here to register the people."

"In addition, captured foreign soldiers will also be registered and arranged to work in iron and coal mines."

"I obey your orders!" After receiving the task, Jiu Juyan cheered up a little.

Soon, under Liu Jilong's arrangement, more than 2,000 liberated pastoral slaves officially became registered Shandan citizens.

In addition, more than 1,800 captured foreign soldiers and herdsmen were registered and became miners in Shandan.

Looking at the more than 200 literate soldiers helping with registration, Liu Jilian felt very emotional.

Even though they were unable to write many names well, they had only been learning Chinese characters for ten months.

For the military and civilians in Hexi, learning the Tang Dynasty's official language and Chinese characters was no less difficult than for other foreigners.

After all, there has been no Chinese accent in Hexi for decades, so everything needs to be done slowly.

At least in Liu Jilong's eyes, the Shandan army and civilians used Chinese characters and Chinese more and more frequently. Even if they wrote very poorly, everything was easier said than done.

As long as you get through the beginning, things will get smoother and smoother.

As I thought about this, time gradually passed from the hour of 19 to the hour of :.

In Hexi in the summer, it doesn't get completely dark until the hour of Hai (21 o'clock), so they still have plenty of time.

However, with the help of more than 200 literate soldiers, Cui Shu quickly delivered the household registration documents to Liu Jilian.

"Seven hundred and seventy-two households, 2,451 people, were rescued, and 1,841 foreign soldiers were captured."

"We captured 256 sets of complete armor, 350 sets of broken armor, and leather armor..."

Liu Jilong silently read the contents of the book, and finally closed it and looked at Cui Shu: "Can we count this herd tomorrow?"

"I'm afraid it won't be possible tomorrow. The earliest will be the day after tomorrow. After all, the number this time is greater than last time."

Cui Shu explained, and Liu Jilong did not urge him to work. Instead, he nodded and said, "After the inventory is completed, make a list and send it to Zhangye together with the household registration books and the victory report."

"In addition, count 30,000 sheep and send them to Zhangye along with iron materials and armor."

"I will write a letter to Governor Zhang asking for money and food to support our comrades who died in the battle."

As he spoke, he told Cui Shu the amount of pension he had set, and Cui Shu couldn't help looking bitter after hearing it.

"Guo Yi, this time, one hundred and eighty-two brothers were killed along with the Shanzhou Army."

"According to the additional pension of 50 guan per person, this would cost more than 9,000 guan. I'm afraid Zhangye doesn't have that much."

As he said this, Liu Jilong took a deep breath and said:
"You are familiar with the rules of normal pensions. Since the pacification of Hexi, soldiers who died in battle have only received ten dan of rice and fifty mu of government farmland."

"This amount of food and farmland can only provide these martyrs' families with adequate food and clothing in the first few years, but as time goes by, their situation will get worse and worse, and they will eventually have to sell the land to support their children."

"I said I would ensure that their families have enough food and clothing. If you can't even do this, how many brothers are willing to go to Donglue and kill the enemy?"

Liu Jilong's questioning made Cui Shu silent.

Finally, he bowed to Liu Jilong and said, "I have learned your lesson. I will arrange compensation tomorrow."

"Many brothers from Shandan joined the army. If we can exchange cattle and sheep for compensation money, we should be able to collect enough copper coins from Zhangye to compensate the families of martyrs in other counties and prefectures."

"Go to bed early." Liu Jilong said soothingly, then walked to the stable outside the city, mounted his horse and rode into the city.

Soon, cries of grief were heard throughout the city. I don't know how many families had lost their pillars...

(End of this chapter)