Memoirs of the Heavenly Khan

Chapter 192 The Generalissimo of Guanzhong
Jingzhou is stable.

The Jinghe River basin is like the veins of a leaf, extending in all directions and nourishing the Longdong region.

Along the veins of this leaf are many fortified villages of Han Chinese clans and tribes of non-Han peoples such as the Qiang and Di.

The Hu family, from which the two sisters, Hu Hou and Hu Xuanhui, came from, was a prominent and stable clan.

Most of the forces in this region were inclined towards the Northern Wei court; otherwise, the Northern Wei army would not have been able to hold out against Hu Chen's rebel army for so long after its 120,000-strong army suffered a crushing defeat.

Unfortunately, the Northern Wei court was already preoccupied with its own problems and naturally couldn't take care of them.

Li Shuang stood atop the city wall, looking at the crisscrossing fields around him, a smile spreading across his face.

After Jingzhou was stabilized, news of Binzhou's surrender also arrived.

Han Ling stood behind Li Shuang, holding a box containing the head of Wanqi Chounu. A stack of letters lay on top of the box.

"Lord!"

Li Shuang glanced behind her and saw that Han Ling was holding a box, but showed no intention of opening it. She also had no interest in reading the letters.

These letters were all pledges of allegiance from nearby tribes.

A bloody smell lingered in the air, but Han Ling ignored its source. He only knew that he most likely couldn't fulfill Wanqi Chounu's final request. Or rather, he couldn't fulfill it all.

The core of the so-called Fubing system was to cultivate good families' sons.

Back then, the Han dynasty established its capital in Guanzhong, relying on the sons of good families from the six commanderies to conquer the world.

Li Shuang now needs to remain loyal to his good family members. The soldiers of the garrison are good family members, and these good family members are the foundation that Li Shuang needs to cultivate in Guanzhong.

Although at this moment, many of the soldiers under Li Shuang's command were young and impetuous wandering knights, or rather, social unsettlers.

But after this battle, thanks to their military achievements, they were allocated land and property, and things changed.

The Fubing system (a military system based on conscription) had already begun!
Li Shuang chose Guanzhong because it was poor, chaotic, and disorganized.

At the same time, the local powerful families here are very weak, not only in terms of size, but also in terms of combat strength.

Compared to the four powerful clans of Kanto who could easily muster armies of hundreds of thousands, the local forces here were practically insignificant.

In this way, the resistance to the implementation of the Fubing system will be much smaller.

Beneath the city wall, Houmochen Chong was recounting his bravery.

Despite being an unparalleled warrior who charges into battle, Hou Mochen Chong is still a fifteen-year-old boy, and in front of his peers, he also has the desire to confide in them.

He was surrounded by young men, mostly from the Six Garrisons, all a few years older than Houmo Chenchong. Seeing that Houmo Chenchong had made a great contribution, they all showed eager eyes.

"Houmo Chenchong!"

Li Shuang's shout came from the city wall, and Hou Mochen Chong instinctively responded:
"Chen is here!"

"I'll give you five hundred cavalrymen and three thousand garrison soldiers. Go and take Gaoping, how about it?"

Hou Mochen Chong didn't even hesitate before exclaiming:

"promise!"

Li Shuang then selected a few more people from among the group of teenagers around Hou Mochen Chong.

"Several discounts!"

"exist!"

"Liang Yu!"

"exist!"

"Da Xi Wu!"

"exist!"

"The three of you should come along too!"

The boys whose names were called were very excited and cupped their hands in greeting:
"Yes, sir!" Of the 10,000 soldiers, only 6,000 actually went to the battlefield to fight against Yuchi Pusa. More than 3,000 of them were injured, most of them with minor injuries, which were mostly caused by carelessness when they first went to the battlefield. They would recover after a few days of rest.

Li Shuang looked at Han Ling beside him and said:

"Sir, you should go with them; I feel more at ease with that."

Han Ling understood that Gaoping currently had very few troops left, and Li Shuang intended for all ten thousand soldiers to take turns fighting and earn merit. In short, this was a situation where they were in a favorable position. Immediately, Han Ling cupped his hands and said:
"promise!"

Beneath the city wall, a group of teenagers were filled with excitement.

Compared to the letters of allegiance from the tribal chiefs brought by Han Ling, Li Shuang valued these young soldiers more.

……

Less than twenty days after this army was dispatched, news came that Gaoping Town had surrendered.

These garrison troops left behind by Wanqi Chounu were certainly not trustworthy, so Li Shuang conscripted them all to Anding and mobilized Jingzhou troops to Gaoping Town to stabilize the situation first.

Afterwards, Li Shuang discussed with Han Ling and rearranged the defenses of Xiaoguan, sending troops to garrison it.

After Jingzhou and Binzhou surrendered, Li Shuang withdrew the state and county troops from the two places, absorbed the able-bodied men among them, and together with some meritorious troops from Huazhou and Yongzhou, formed a new military government in the area.

After establishing military garrisons in Jingzhou and Binzhou, settling the garrison troops, redistributing the land, and appointing the garrison commanders and local officials of each city, Li Shuang was considering whether to join forces with Huli Jin to launch a pincer attack on Suqin Mingda from the north and south, only to learn that Huli Jin had already withdrawn his troops.

After Suqin Mingda returned to Lingzhou, he absorbed Wanqi Chounu's troops and allied with the local refugee forces and the Hu tribes. Huli Jin suffered heavy losses in several battles and had no choice but to lead his troops back north, where he garrisoned Woye Town.

Unable to find an opportunity to strike, Li Shuang led his troops back to Chang'an. He had 12,000 men when he went, but only 8,000 returned.

A significant number of young people who did not own land in Huazhou and Yongzhou chose to stay.

Before they could return to Chang'an, they received news from the west.

Xiao Zan sent a letter.

Throughout the letter, Xiao Zan subtly indicated that he was not fit to be emperor.

After Wanqi Chounu was defeated, the prefectures and counties in Longxi region returned to the imperial court, but the local forces were very resistant to Li Shuang.

They strongly resisted Li Shuang and those associated with him getting involved in the Longxi region, and began to band together.

This may be related to the Hu people who fled west and north, or it may be related to Li Shuang's establishment of military government, or it may be related to the attitude of the imperial court.

The attitude of the Li family of Longxi towards Li Shuang was quite subtle.

After Li Shuang defeated Wanqi Chounu, Xiao Zan also launched a joint attack, crossing the Longshan Mountains, intending to spread the glory of the Great Qi to the Longxi region.

However, the locals were quite united and fierce, and they all said that they didn't need Li Shuang, the General of the Cavalry, to worry about it; they could handle Xiao Zan and his gang of traitors on their own.

During this process, Xiao Zan was brutally beaten and nearly lost his life. Afterwards, Xiao Zan sent several more letters, saying that he, as emperor, did not want to serve the Duke of Tang, but simply could not bear it any longer, as he was hated by everyone wherever he went.

After learning the details, Li Shuang could only tearfully destroy the State of Qi and take over Qizhou.

……

Luoyang, Yongning Temple.

"Bodhi has no tree, the bright mirror is not a stand; originally there is nothing, so where can dust alight?"

An old monk recited the verses engraved on the wall and asked the monks beside him a question.

"Huike, who wrote this verse?"

"Master, this was made by the Duke of Tang!"

The old monk put his hands together in prayer and said:

"May the Buddha have mercy, for our destiny lies in the Western Land!"

……

(End of this chapter)