The Emperor ordered Zhao Tang

Chapter 76: Facing the Abyss
On the tenth day of the sixth month in the first year of Jingfu, the emperor assembled the troops at the left and right Jinwu Guards.

The designations of Yingwu, Longjie, Congzhi and Yicong had been cancelled long ago, and 17684 troops from four armies and eight wings were transferred to the cavalry and infantry divisions of the imperial guards.

The Infantry Division has 20 divisions, with more than 24 soldiers from the Yingwu and Congzhi armies, each with to soldiers. The Cavalry Division has divisions, with more than cavalrymen from Longjie, Yicong, Baozi, and Longxing reorganized, each with more than soldiers. In the subsequent expansion of the army, these hundreds of people in each division will be the core of a division, and the new batch of small and medium-sized officers that emerged with the adjustment of the military system will be the backbone of the two divisions.

The less than 20,000 soldiers and horses mentioned above are the troops that the saint's trusted confidants can use. Isn't it a little too little? The court also felt that after the meeting of the chief adjutants of the three provinces and the fourth-rank and above officials of the Imperial Censorate, officials have been sent to Lantian, Wuguan, Dasanguan and other places to select the best and strongest among the gangsters - they will be trained by the cavalry and infantry training departments. In the future, it will be unlikely for generals to recruit and train soldiers on their own, and to use their own kindness and power.

Unless the saint's 20,000 troops are completely wiped out, the re-established system will be destroyed again.

"When the drums stop, if the troops are not in order, all officers under their command will be beheaded and the cavalry commander will be flogged thirty times!" The cavalry commander, Mo Zangqiqi, glanced at everyone and said solemnly.

"Boom, boom, boom." The strong man beat the drum rapidly.

Mo Zang Qiqi waved his hand, and a row of strong military officers from the Du Yu Hou Si strode out, dragging axes and rattan sticks, and looked at the soldiers.

Officers of all ranks from all the cities, wings, and teams ran around, kicking, slapping shoulders, and pushing with their hands, asking the executioners to line up quickly and not to make any noise.

The soldiers started to make a lot of noise, looking at each other, scolding and shouting, and quickly formed into a square formation, then made eye contact and quieted down. The weather in the sixth month of the lunar calendar was hot and humid, and many soldiers were sweating profusely after standing for a while, but except for a few who stretched out their hands to scratch themselves, most of them stood still.

"The command is so powerful that no one dares to violate it. This is good." The sage was very happy. Making the warriors fear someone's brutality and bloodthirstiness and submit to someone's prestige is ultimately a last resort. The so-called "army of the classics" is to fear the system and obey the military laws. This is nothing more than this. The way is simple, but many people play it wrong.

Looking at the huge crowds of soldiers and horses, the sage silently sounded the alarm for himself: guard against arrogance and impetuosity, operate prudently, be extra careful, and avoid disaster as much as possible - the rebellion of the warriors haunted him day and night like a nightmare, often waking him up in the middle of the night, sweating profusely.

In the sixth year of Qianfu, Cui Jikang, the governor of Hedong, gathered troops in Jingle County to confront Li Keyong. The army rebelled and Cui Jikang fled back to Jinyang. The rebel soldiers chased him back at night and killed him.

In the seventh year of Qianfu, Li Guochang and his sons went south to plunder. Hedong Jiedushi Kang Chuangui sent the military commander Zhang Yanqiu to lead troops to meet the enemy. As soon as the army left the city, they immediately rebelled, took Zhang Yanqiu with them and rushed into the military headquarters to kill Kang Chuangui.

In the first year of Zhonghe, the Hedong general Lun An led his troops back to Jinyang from Baijing, intending to kill the governor Zheng Congtang. He failed and was slaughtered along with his entire family by Zheng.

In the first year of Guangming, Li Guangting and 500 others rebelled from Daizhou and captured the city. In the same year, Zhi Xiang, the governor of Wuning, sent his generals Shi Pu and Chen Fan to lead 5,000 soldiers into the pass to defend the king. The soldiers rebelled when they reached the Eastern Capital, and took Pu and Fan back to Pengcheng and killed Zhi Xiang.

……

There are countless bloody examples out there, and no one can guarantee when a warrior will go crazy. How can we not be afraid?

He was about to gather his troops and march east to Tongzhou to quell the rebellion, and he was really worried about this happening. Although he was anxious during the previous two expeditions, it was a different time. At that time, there was no way to retreat, so he had to bite the bullet and go ahead. Now that the situation has improved and there is hope, his mood is different.

It can only be said that the more you expect, the more you feel like you are on the edge of an abyss. Especially after the news of the military rebellion in Tongzhou came, the sage immediately reflected on whether he had treated his soldiers badly and how he controlled the morale of the army. And which generals and ministers' words and deeds were wrong, and whether they had hidden rebellious intentions - the mental exhaustion made the sage look very tired and heavy, and he did not spend the night with his wives and concubines for several days.

The military governors of various towns across the country are probably in this fucked-up situation.

On June 11, the Huayin magistrate reported the latest chaos in Tongzhou: the rebel soldiers raided Dongluo Chi, and many soldiers fled into Fu territory. Li Sixiao, the acting prime minister, co-minister of the Secretariat, and the governor of Fufang, Danqu and other states, was furious, and sent the tribal iron hawks to kill in the Tongguan County area, which frightened the rebel army.

Shi Cong, one of the ten generals of the rebel army, and Fei Zhongkang, the defender, had led more than 8,000 people with baggage and property to Puzhou Pass and were collecting ships.

No matter who I hang out with, I won’t stay in Guanzhong anymore.

After reading the memorial, the saint went to visit Ximen Chongsui again.

At the door, Ximen Qi and others came to greet them.

"I will pay my respects to Your Majesty."

"How is Junrong's condition? Is it getting better?"

"I have a carbuncle on my back. I have had a stroke and can't get up from bed. I haven't eaten for three days." Ximen Qi said in a miserable tone, and the other fake sons and generals had no expression on their faces. The love and hatred of ordinary people are vigorous, but they become dull in the upper class. Not only Ximen, but also how many wives, concubines and children will be truly sad when I die one day? He Yuqing is one of them.

"Let him have a good rest." He had originally planned to chat with the old pig herder, but unfortunately he was already unconscious. He should only be alive in the next two days. When he came in, he saw the servants in the mansion cutting white cloth. Everything was self-explanatory. Birth, aging, illness and death are the laws of heaven and earth, and the natural order of things. No matter how great you are, you can't avoid the pain of illness in your old age. To die without illness, to die in a dream, is the extravagant wish of many princes and generals. When that day comes, you will die just like that. There is no romance at all.

I went to the Yongjiali military camp for an inspection.

The troops were gradually receiving weapons, armor, and dry food - well, it could barely be considered a reform by the saint. After the Battle of Meipi Ze, taking advantage of the great victory, the saint made a number of adjustments to the military, focusing on the separation of soldiers, armor, baggage, and mounts.

The war horses of Long Jie and other cavalrymen were handed over to Taifu Temple and Feilongyuan for feeding. The large and small ranches under the jurisdiction of the two institutions were basically on the outskirts of Chang'an - this should become a custom.

As for weapons and armor, the soldiers did not take what they had, and the saint did not dare to take them. But there will always be a time when weapons, armor, drums, horns, flags, bowstrings, saddles, arrows and other consumables will be mainly supplied by the Zuozangkushi, Neigongkushi, Wuqishi, and Bizhangshi. These warehouses are all in the palace, and currently Xuanhuishi Yuwenrou is in charge of the overall management of the warehouses.

The same applies to the carriages, animal power, food, pots and pans, and other supplies. They will be dispatched before the war. It will not be like the Shen Ce Army in the past, where everything was kept by the military units themselves. If we have everything, what do we need the court for? I have all the weapons and armor. If you don't give them to me, I will just rob them.

In short, we should impose as many restrictions as possible on the warriors, gradually raise the threshold for them to rebel, and turn them into pure violent killers. Although this road is long, we cannot give up just because it is difficult - there is no army that can be successfully transformed in three or five days. If we keep adjusting at a constant temperature, it will always get better day by day.

In a year or so, there might be ambitious people in the army who would start clamoring for rebellion. Even if everyone wanted to follow them, they would see that there was nothing but unarmed men in the barracks. They would have to weigh their chances of winning and think carefully about whether they could do this business.

"Everyone, my brother has arrived in the capital. The Minister of Guanglu has sent people to entertain him. He is having a meal in the temple." After returning to Penglai Palace and resting for a while, Zhao walked in slowly and reported.

When foreign relatives come to Beijing, the Guanglu Temple has to receive them.

"How many people did you bring?" The saint held her in his arms, rubbing her gently, and put his face against her hair to smell the fragrance.

Zhao tried to suppress the discomfort, closed her eyes tightly, opened them again, frowned and panted, "There are more than seven or seven hundred riders, most of them are Zhao's children, and more than two hundred people from the Arabs, Parthia, Tubo, and Dangxiang. They all came to Qinzhou to rely on my concubine's family, Wubao, after the assassination of the Zamp."

"Madam's family is quite powerful." The saint laughed at the local boss and asked again, "Does Zhao Fu dare to follow me to conquer Tongzhou?"

"Of course." Zhao's face flushed, her breathing heavy. "Tongzhou is a small and weak town, with no more than 10,000 soldiers. They are scattered everywhere now. Some want to flee east, some want to flee north, and people are not united. The people of Qi have learned a lesson from us. As long as we win a game and show our military might, we can issue an order to settle the matter."

"What should really worry us is Hezhong Town—" Zhao's body trembled as if she had been electrocuted.

"This is also the reason why I didn't send troops immediately." The saint laughed faintly and stroked his concubine's smooth belly: "The one who knows me best is the Privy Councilor."

If the imperial court wanted to take Tongzhou, would Wang Chongying, who lived on the other side of the river, be angry? The answer is yes. If the army was stationed in Tongzhou, the people of Pu could see the king's flag every morning and evening. This scene was too beautiful, but also too dangerous.

After regaining Tongzhou, the first issue to be addressed was how to deal with the relationship with Hezhong.

Wang Chongying must have known that he married a Shatuo woman.

It was nothing to offend the saint. A few years ago, the Hezhong army had driven the late emperor out of the capital. But now, could the saint with Li Keyong's support still be offended? Yes, but Hezhong couldn't afford to offend him. Therefore, the probability of Wang Chongying using force was basically zero.

Since neither side wants to be enemies, then, is it okay to form an alliance? Since Wang Zhongrong, the two towns of Hezhong and Hedong have been of the same blood. They are not just allies in words, but if one of them has trouble, the other will really do it. Now that he is the son-in-law of Taiyuan, he has this foundation.

Then, after taking Tongzhou, we can try to lure Wang Chongying and Wang Gong to the mountains, and Qin, Jin, Pu, and Shan will fight against Zhu Wen together - it's not that the saint is anxious, Zhu Wen is really doing this - last year, Heyang has become his vassal, and the power of the Bian people has reached Xin'an. If we don't interfere, in two or three years, the towns of Pu and Shan will be annexed.

Don't count on Li Keyong.

Later, Zhu Wen sent troops to Hezhong. At that time, Wang Ke, the governor of Hezhong, was still the son-in-law of Li Keyong and married Li Keyong's second daughter, Zhu Xie Miaowei. Wang Ke asked his father-in-law for help, but Li Keyong suffered a series of defeats and was powerless. He only suggested that his son-in-law and his family go to Chang'an to seek refuge in Zhaozong's territory. In the end, Wang Ke, Zhu Xie Miaowei and their children all died at the hands of Zhu Wen.

Therefore, if things go well, I will be the one who rescues Li Keyong.

Although my father-in-law was a brave soldier and warrior, in the last ten years of his life, Chunchun was just Zhu Wen's toy and was almost angered to death.

On June 13, the cavalry commander Helian Weihuan, Kang Lingzhong, Ma Quanzheng and others led 2,000 cavalrymen to Chang'an first.

(End of this chapter)