The Golden Family, rising from the Western Regions

Chapter 167: The foundation is laid, military reform

"Shihu?"

"Are you really going to give us that piece of land?"

Wang Daniu and others became excited and looked at Zhou Dasheng with trembling eyes.

Seeing their posture, Zhou Dasheng smiled slightly.

Not only do the people not believe it, even he himself still feels it is a little unreal.

He was originally just an ordinary citizen in the desert. On weekdays, he worked as a farmer and herder for other people to make a living.

But unexpectedly, after fighting a battle with the Grand Commander, he became the master.

All the Uighur land was to be given to them.

Zhou Dasheng was also very excited.

According to Li Xiao's order, ordinary military households were each allocated 100 mu of arable land, ten-man households were allocated 150 mu, captains were allocated 300 mu, and hundred-man households were allocated 1,000 mu.

The higher the position, the higher the score.

Even though he has 150 acres of arable land, Zhou Dasheng is still worried that there are not enough people in his family to farm it.

I have to go to the Governor's Office to buy some slaves.

"Indeed, they are all ours. Each family has 100 acres, and taxes must be paid on time."

"You can borrow oxen and seeds from the Grand Commandery!"

"During this period, if anyone's food is insufficient, they can purchase it from the Hexi Grain Store. If you don't have money, you can keep it on your account for the time being, with 2% interest, and repay it during the autumn harvest."

The interest rate of two percent is not high, but it is mainly to set a threshold to prevent some people from deliberately buying on credit even though they have money.

"However, every household must send one male to join the army. During this period, if anyone deserts the battlefield, surrenders to the enemy, disobeys military orders, or commits other serious violations of military law, all of their land will be confiscated by the Grand Military Governor's Office."

"Also, military land cannot be bought or sold privately; it can only be redeemed by the Grand Commander."

Zhou Dasheng was talking about some matters concerning military fields, which were explained to them, the sergeants and captains, by the centurion not long ago.

Wang Daniu and the others nodded as they listened, the smiles on their faces becoming more and more passionate.

It is only natural for every household to send one male to join the army. Otherwise, why would the Grand Marshal's Office give them land for no reason?
There are also military laws such as desertion and surrender to the enemy, which are even more lawless.

The fact that military land cannot be bought and sold privately is quite novel.

Whether you were a government soldier in the Tang Dynasty or a private soldier in earlier times, the land given to you was yours and you could do whatever you wanted with it.

However, although the military land under the jurisdiction of the Grand Marshal's Office cannot be bought and sold privately, it can be sold to the Grand Marshal's Office at a fair price, which is acceptable.

"The Grand Commander is such a good man!"

"The land we were given is good land, and we're still growing crops on it."

"Yes, each household has 100 mu. As long as we work hard, we can have enough to eat every day."

"The days ahead will be better."

……

The people started discussing excitedly, and their gazes at the land in front of them became increasingly passionate.

I originally thought that I was captured by the Jinzhou Army and brought to Jinzhou to be treated like a slave.

Unexpectedly, he was given land directly and lived like a landlord.

Of course they knew how all this happened, so they were all concerned about Li Xiao's well-being.

"The Grand Commander is a good man, unlike those corrupt officials we've seen before."

"May God bless the Grand Commander to live a hundred years!"

"Second child, you are the eldest male in our family. You must be loyal to the Grand Commander in the future and never bring shame to our family."

If someone died in battle, the Grand Marshal's Office would provide a pension and improve the treatment of his family.

But if you become a deserter or are captured by the enemy, then everything will be over. Your family will be disgraced, your land will be taken back, and it will be almost impossible to survive in Jinzhou.

This is also Li Xiao's purpose, to motivate soldiers through material and honor, and to establish a belief that dying in battle is glorious and surrender is shameful.

Why were the Eight Banners soldiers of the early Qing Dynasty so fearless and courageous? This was the reason they were forced to do so.

……

On a hill, the golden sun and moon battle flag fluttered in the wind.

Surrounded by numerous white-armored soldiers on high alert, Li Xiao rode on a warhorse, looking down at the people in the distance who were distributing land.

Looking at their excited and excited expressions, Li Xiao felt a little relieved.

With land and interests involved, these people will be able to take root in the northern border and will not regret coming to the northern border.

At the same time, they don’t want anything to happen to Li Xiao, which would lead to their land being taken away.

They will do everything they can to maintain their current good life.

Therefore, these people will also become Li Xiao's most staunch supporters.

With these 100,000 people, plus the original power of Jinzhou, Li Xiao finally had a solid foundation in this world.

"The Grand Commander intends to follow Yuwen Tai's example and establish a government army?"

Next to Li Xiao, Gu Zizhong, who was wearing a thin shirt and dressed like a scholar, asked with a puzzled look on his face.

"What the Grand Commander said is just a joke from his subordinates. Commander Gu doesn't need to take it seriously."

"You and I are both governors of the same state, and our status is equal. You can just call me by my name." Li Xiao shook his head and smiled faintly.

Gu Zizhong is the Han civil servant beside Xiao Simo. He staged a scene of Infernal Affairs and helped Xiao Simo capture Jinzhou.

Now she has finally flown to the tree and turned into a phoenix.

Not long ago, Xiao Simo appointed him as the governor of the desert, and Xiao Tuladuo's eldest son Xiao Chilu was appointed as the deputy governor of the desert.

One of these two people is Han Chinese and the other is Khitan, so they can be considered as checking each other.

But now there is Li Xiao in the desert.

No matter who the governor or deputy governor is, Li Xiao has the final say.

Gu Zizhong was very clear about this, so he didn't dare to really regard himself as the governor in front of Li Xiao.

"No, no, if it weren't for Marquis Wucheng, the desert would still be controlled by the Uighurs. How could I, Gu Zizhong, be the governor?"

"What's more, Marquis Wucheng led his army to defeat the Gaochang army and then captured Gaochang City, forcing Gaochang to submit to our northern border."

"Your contribution is immense. I, Gu, can never compare to you."

Gu Zizhong said with a slight smile.

In his words and deeds, he praised Li Xiao a lot and even showed some desire to join him.

"We are colleagues and old acquaintances."

"No need to say more polite words."

"The main reason we distribute land to these people is that we don't want so much fertile land to go to waste. It's also because we feel sorry for our Han people and want them to be able to fill their stomachs." Li Xiao said in a faint voice.

"As for the palace soldiers you mentioned, forgive me, Li Xiao, for my lack of knowledge and talent, and for not giving it too much thought."

But in fact, there is no difference between military households and government soldiers, just the names are different.

They were all rulers of dynasties, distributing original shares to their brothers who followed them to conquer the world.

There is no essential difference between the Tang Dynasty's palace soldiers, the Ming Dynasty's garrison soldiers, and the Qing Dynasty's Eight Banners soldiers, and they can all be called military households.

Li Xiao is also forging this interest group and making it his own foundation.

"Marquis Wucheng cares about the people and his contribution is immeasurable." Gu Zizhong praised.

"These people are all pitiful people. They were bullied by the Hu people in Dunhuang and Guazhou. They abandoned their homes and careers to follow Bendu to the northern border."

"We certainly can't let them down." Li Xiao shook his head slightly.

Then he looked at Gu Zizhong and said, "These people will stay in the desert from now on. I hope Governor Gu will pay more attention to them."

"Of course." Gu Zizhong nodded quickly.

"Although Gu Mou was born in the Western Regions, he never forgot his Han Chinese identity and would naturally help his compatriots whenever he could."

Li Xiao nodded slightly and smiled faintly.

Not long after, Gu Zizhong said goodbye and left.

Li Xiao stood where he was, looking around calmly, with a slight smile on his lips.

"Gu Zizhong? That's interesting."

"I just don't know, are you a human or a ghost?"

He naturally understood Gu Zizhong's intention to surrender, but he still had some concerns.

Just because Gu Zizhong has a criminal record.

Xiao Simo once arranged for him to infiltrate the army of the previous governor of the desert and serve as a spy to help Xiao Simo take control of the desert.

Therefore, Li Xiao had to wonder whether Xiao Simo was using the same old trick again and was trying to plant a thorn in his side?

Let Gu Zizhong determine whether Li Xiao has rebellious intentions and whether he is preparing to establish a country within a country in the northern border?
If Gu Zizhong really found out his past, Li Xiao didn't believe that Xiao Simo would be merciful.

"Let it hang out for now." Li Xiao murmured.

As long as Gu Zizhong doesn't cause trouble for him, Li Xiao can tolerate him.

At the same time, after Gu Zizhong walked down the hill, he sighed heavily.

"Hey~"

"Marquis Wucheng, you are really too cautious."

Although he is the governor of the desert, he is actually just a puppet, and the desert is completely ruled by Li Xiao.

If it were any other time, Gu Zizhong would definitely compete with Li Xiao, and even sue Li Xiao to Xiao Simo for usurping power, forming a clique, and plotting against the government.

However, the reality simply does not allow him to do so.

Because he got the news that Xiao Simo's health was getting worse and worse, and he even started coughing up blood.

Based on Gu Zizhong's experience, once a person starts coughing up blood, he probably won't be able to hold on for long.

Once Xiao Simo dies, the situation in the northern border will change drastically.

Xiao Simo's legitimate son is still young, and his other sons are of little use.

As for the other branches of the Xiao family, they have a very bad relationship with Xiao Simo and have been suppressed by Xiao Simo over the years.

Without soldiers or power, even if I wanted to fight, I don't have the ability.

So, after ruling out all impossibilities, Gu Zizhong's gaze fell on Li Xiao.

As Xiao Simo's brother-in-law, although he could not legally inherit the Northern Frontier, it did not prevent him from becoming Cao Cao.

Use the young emperor to command the princes, and then slowly take action.

Now, Li Xiao's various methods in the desert and Gaochang have proved that this man is ambitious and not an ordinary person.

Rather than arguing with Li Xiao and being liquidated by Li Xiao in the end, it is better to show his intention to surrender now.

It was like placing a bet in advance. But unfortunately, Li Xiao never responded to his question and kept a respectful distance, which made Gu Zizhong very entangled.

……

"Grand Commander~"

In the big tent, many generals shouted in unison, put their right hands on their chests, saluted Li Xiao and said.

At this time, it was already the tenth day after Li Xiao's army returned to the desert.

During these ten days, Li Xiao supervised the distribution of land to military households, which has now been basically completed.

Every household has determined the specific scope of their own land and understands the responsibilities they need to bear.

At this point, there was no need for Li Xiao to stay in the desert anymore, so he prepared to return to Jinzhou to continue presiding over the distribution of land to the military households there.

Before leaving, he finally met with the chief commanders, the people in the tent.

"After Bendu returns to Jinzhou, you will temporarily obey Captain Li's orders and lead your troops to cultivate the land and practice martial arts. Don't slack off."

Li Xiao sat on the Hu bed at the top and shouted in a deep voice.

"As ordered!"

The thirteen thousand households shouted in unison.

During this expedition against Western Xia, Li Xiao brought back 100,000 civilians, nearly 22,000 households.

Li Xiao left half of them to farm in the desert, and left Li Dashan, Dahu and Erhu in the desert to manage it.

Then, key personnel were selected from the army to serve as sergeants, captains, centurions, etc.

Together with the original Zhang Dawa and Su Daqiang, the two thousand households of the Desert Army, the total number of military households in the Desert reached 13,000 households.

Thirteen thousand-household armies were formed.

With these people taking root here, the desert will remain unchanged and will still be Li Xiao's desert.

"Sixth Uncle, you should also pay more attention to the more than 10,000 Uighur prisoners of war in the Yingtian Division."

"Although Chen Chong is the chief envoy of the Yingtian Division, he is still a civil servant after all."

"If someone rebels, in an emergency, there is no need to ask for instructions and they must be suppressed immediately." Li Xiao said in a deep voice.

"As ordered!"

Li Dashan nodded heavily and said.

The 13,000 military households had just arrived in the desert, and the grain they produced was probably not enough to satisfy their own needs, so the grain cultivated by the more than 10,000 Uighur prisoners of war was particularly important.

Jinzhou suddenly had tens of thousands of mouths to feed, requiring a large amount of food supply.

After talking to the thirteen thousand-household officers, Li Xiao left the tent and met with all the centurions, captains and deputies in the camp.

These people are grassroots officers of the Jinzhou Army and the backbone of the Jinzhou Army.

Li Xiao attaches more importance to these people than to those thousand households.

In front of everyone, Li Xiao announced: "Soon, the Hexi Military Academy will enroll the second batch of students."

"This city will draw up a list based on your past performance in wars."

"Those who receive the order can go to Hexi Fort for training."

"Pondu taught me personally."

Hearing Li Xiao's words, these officers were immediately excited.

They had all heard of the Hexi Military Academy, a military school established by Li Xiao in Jinzhou.

Li Xiao personally serves as the principal.

Although many of them are uncouth, they cannot even write their names and are unwilling to learn.

But if you go to Hexi Military Academy, the meaning will be different.

It can be considered as further study, and she also had a relationship with Li Xiao.

If there is an opportunity in the future, students from the Hexi Military Academy will definitely be given priority for promotion.

After understanding this, even if you can't read a single word, you will want to go to Jinzhou to study.

Afterwards, Li Xiao talked with these centurions, captains, and ten-householders one by one.

Remember each of their names.

……

Along with the establishment of these thirteen thousand-household armies, Li Xiao also made slight adjustments to their military organization.

The original Jinzhou army consisted of ten people in a squad, ten squads formed a hundred households, ten hundred households formed a thousand households, and each thousand households had one thousand people.

Although this model is simple, the command of such a large organization is very challenging for the personal ability of the commander.

Not everyone can command ten teams.

Moreover, this flat management will also lead to a lack of sufficient promotion channels for lower-level officers.

With ten people competing for one position, you can imagine how difficult it is.

Failure to be promoted for a long time will definitely affect the enthusiasm of lower-level officers.

Therefore, Li Xiao reformed the military system and added a layer of management.

Captain.

Ten people form a squad, five squads form a team, and there is a captain appointed, who also serves as the squad leader.

Four teams form a hundred households, each with two hundred people.

Five hundred households make up a thousand households, and each thousand households still has a thousand people.

At present, Li Xiao has only conducted experiments among the thirteen thousand-household armies in the desert.

If there are no problems, Li Xiao plans to reform the entire Jinzhou Army.

After all, with more than 20,000 households, Jinzhou's system is already quite large.

Multi-level management is necessary.

……

The next day, Li Xiao led 500 white-armored soldiers out of the desert and returned to Jinzhou.

As for the main force, it set off ten days ago.

Because there were a large number of civilians in the team, the journey was long and their pace was slow, Li Xiao rode at full speed. When he arrived in Jinzhou, these people had just arrived not long ago.

Xiao Yanyan, who learned the news in advance, has already brought people to the Longcheng Wasteland to welcome Li Xiao.

Every once in a while, she would send a scout to gather information.

Finally, a scout reported: "The Grand Commander has returned."

When Xiao Yanyan heard this, her face suddenly became excited. She stretched out her snow-white neck and looked up at the distant earth.

Soon, a small black dot appeared in the field of vision, and at the same time, the faint roar of war horses was heard.

"It's the White Armor Army!"

Someone behind him shouted that they were all family members of the soldiers who went to the battlefield.

They had been looking forward to it for a long time, and when they saw the familiar figures of the white-armored soldiers, they were instantly excited.

According to the news, the army suffered very few casualties in this expedition, and they looted a lot of things and captured many people.

Their relatives will also surely receive generous rewards.

"Boom boom boom~"

The cavalry galloped, the swords roared, and the white-armored army arrived almost instantly in a short distance of less than ten miles.

After returning here, the soldiers gradually relaxed, with excited smiles on their faces, and rode their horses to reunite with their families.

"Da Qiangzi, let's go home, mom is waiting for you!"

"Dad, I'm here!"

"Second brother, where is your eldest brother? Why hasn't he come back?" an old man asked in a trembling voice.

Afraid of hearing the worst news.

Fortunately, the youngest son did not hesitate and laughed, "Don't worry, Dad. My brother is a member of the White Armor Army. He's very powerful. He will be fine."

"I just stayed in the desert and won't be back for a while."

"And my brother has become a centurion!"

Among the thirteen thousand-household armies in the desert, the grassroots level households were all served by meritorious soldiers from the two thousand-household armies of Su Daqiang and Zhang Dawa.

However, when it came to the ranks of captain and centurion, Li Xiao mostly employed veteran Jinzhou soldiers.

They are all direct generals who followed Li Xiao in his campaigns across the country.

As for the thirteen thousand households, except Zhang Dawa and Su Daqiang, all of them are old Jinzhou people.

So, when the old man heard that his son was not only fine but also became a centurion, a smile instantly broke out on his face.

He kept nodding and saying, "Okay, okay!"

"You two brothers must achieve great things in the future."

The soldiers of the Jinzhou Army are reuniting with their families.

Xiao Yanyan also quickly pounced on the figure she had been thinking about day and night.

"Husband."

Li Xiao took off his helmet, dismounted, opened his arms, hugged Xiao Yanyan who was running towards him, and turned around twice on the spot.

Then, he put it down and laughed, "Ah Man, it's been a while since we last met. Did you miss me?"

Xiao Yanyan hugged Li Xiao's waist tightly with her arms, looked up at Li Xiao's face, and tears welled up in her eyes.

"Yes, I miss you."

"You're dark~"

At this time, Li Xiao's skin was dry and his face was tanned by the sun. He looked exhausted, which made Xiao Yanyan feel quite distressed.

But the arduous march also strengthened Li Xiao's physique.

Now he has become even stronger.

His height also jumped again, reaching over 1.8 meters.

Li Xiao chuckled: "What does it matter if a man is a little dark? The most important thing is to be strong, tough and fierce."

As soon as he finished speaking, Li Xiao picked up Xiao Yanyan and placed her on the horse.

He then mounted his horse and brought Xiao Yanyan to a barren mountain.

The sky is the quilt and the earth is the bed.

The two people who had been away from each other for a long time once again relived the pleasure of intercourse.

(End of this chapter)