Memoirs of the Heavenly Khan

Chapter 256 The King Knows How to Save Money
Qiuchi Mountain.

The mountaintop is as sharp as if cut by a knife, where a small town of the Di people sits.

Yang Fachen moved his main camp to Qiuchi Mountain instead of Xiabian, because Qiuchi Mountain was easy to defend and difficult to attack.

He not only had to guard against the Di people of Wuxing Kingdom, but also against those Hu people.

Yang Fachen was waiting for the head of Yang Shaoxian to be sent from Guanzhong, so that he could take over Wudu and use the opportunity to expand his power.

However, Yang Fachen did not receive Yang Shaoxian's head in the end. Instead, he received a military report that Yang Shaoxian had led his troops to conquer Xiabian.

In the dead of winter, the food available for gathering and hunting in the mountains was greatly reduced. A group of Di people gathered in the house, took out the cured salted meat, added some dried fruit and mushrooms, and poured it all into an iron pot.

As the aroma wafted through the air, Yang Fachen entered the room, and his elders rose and bowed.

Before the meat was fully cooked, everyone started complaining.

"Your Majesty, we have just suffered a defeat and so many people have died. This winter is going to be difficult!"

"The grain that Liang Jun promised to give us has not been delivered yet. I don't know what has happened!"

“If this war breaks out, the roads will be blocked. Cloth, wax, copper, and lacquer from the mountains can't be transported out, and salt, iron, and wine from outside can't be sent in either. Those barbarians are also a big problem.”

……

Hearing the complaints from the crowd, Yang Fachen sat down with a somber expression, but did not respond. He simply said:

"Yang Shaoxian is back!"

The people in the room listened with puzzled expressions.

"He didn't take anything with him when he escaped, how could he have come back so quickly?"

"He begged Ōno Sō's two thousand soldiers, plus the thousand-plus followers of his two sons, and captured Shōběn!"

The moment the name "Ohno Sou" was uttered, the expressions of all the elders in the room changed.

Compared to Liangzhou, which they were familiar with, Guanzhong was completely unfamiliar. But unfamiliar as it was, everyone understood just how formidable the King of Qin in Guanzhong was.

The cost of mobilizing troops for the Han people was higher than that for the Hu people, but the quality of individual soldiers was also much better than that of the Hu people in most cases.

Especially in the heart of Guanzhong, after greatly reducing the cost of food and fodder consumption, military expenditures were spent on soldiers' weapons, armor, and logistical supplies, making individual soldiers more elite than the Hu people.

Everyone deeply understood this point from the battle outside San Pass not long ago.

At that time, only four thousand soldiers from the prefecture had arrived. In the entire Guanzhong region, there were also seven thousand elite cavalry from Chang'an and more than twenty thousand soldiers from various prefectures.

This number alone instilled deep fear in the Di people currently in the house.

They abandoned their plans to attack Guanzhong, but unexpectedly, the troops from Guanzhong still came.

"Those Hu people, didn't they deeply hate Daye Shuang? Why were they so easily defeated by Yang Shaoxian in Xiabian?"

Someone asked this question, but it only elicited a helpless sigh from Yang Fachen:

“Those Hu people aren’t fools. If they were willing to fight to the death with Da Yeshuang, why would they have fled Guanzhong in the first place?”

After Yang Fachen said this, everyone fell silent, and then someone else said:

"Didn't Ono Sō send an envoy a while ago? Why did he change his mind so quickly and decide to support Yang Shaoxian?"

Yang Fachen said:

"Ōno Sō wants to appoint me as the governor of the Jimi Prefecture."

"Isn't this a good thing?"

"But at the same time, he wanted me to buy some kind of certificate to punish the people and punish the guilty. I did the math, and this certificate costs 70% of our Yinping Kingdom's annual income."

Just then, an elderly elder in the room sighed:
"Your Majesty is mistaken!"

Yang Fachen rose from humble beginnings and earned the trust of the people through his integrity and dedication to public service, eventually becoming the king. However, he had one flaw: he was a perfectionist.

"How am I wrong? What can we do with this certificate? Can we fight Liang's army or Qin's army?"

Yang Fachen said helplessly, "Who can we beat?"

The elder said:

"I dare say that Yang Shaoxian must have bought it as well, otherwise Da Yeshuang wouldn't have sent troops to help him for nothing. Your Majesty, think about it, Yang Shaoxian can't even beat us, why would he buy it?"

As soon as he finished speaking, Yang Fachen's expression changed drastically, and he finally realized what was going on.

But now it's too late for him to regret it.

"In that case, how about sending an envoy to Hanzhong to request the Liang army to send troops to our aid?"

Everyone shook their heads, thinking the idea was unreliable.

"The Liang people have suffered a defeat, and the Tuyuhun have also been defeated. Now the situation in Bashu and Hanzhong is also unstable. Why should they help us? We can't offer them anything either!"

Hearing this, Yang Fachen was somewhat discouraged and said:

"So, what should we do?"

"Wudu may be nice, but it's still their territory. We should retreat to Yinping. Only when Da Yeshuang's knife is truly at the throat of the Liang people will they feel the pain and turn around and beg us!"

Yang Fachen, having no better solution, and seeing that everyone was considering withdrawing, went along with it and said:

"That's it!"
-
Changan.

"Your Majesty, this is a tribute sent by King Wuxing to express his gratitude for your help in restoring his kingdom."

Li Shuang glanced at the thousands of exquisite silk fabrics in front of him, waved his hand, and ordered them to be stored away.

"How's the situation in Hanzhong?"

Hou Jing followed behind Li Shuang, accompanying him fishing by the pond. Upon hearing the question, he replied:

"After Yang Fachen left, the Liang army sent an additional thousand troops to garrison Yangping Pass. In addition, there were signs of troop movements in Shu."

After listening to this, Li Shuang smiled slightly.

"Wei Fang truly lives up to his reputation as a great general of Liang; he is indeed very reliable!"

In the past few decades, the Northern Wei and Southern Liang dynasties fought fiercely over the ownership of Hanzhong.

Back then, Xiahou Daoqian, the governor of Hanzhong under the Southern Liang dynasty, surrendered Hanzhong to the Northern Wei, thus triggering a civil war between the two states. Ultimately, the Northern Wei occupied Hanzhong and even affected the Shu region, severely damaging the Southern Liang's defense system in Yizhou.

After the uprising in the Six Garrisons, Guanzhong was thrown into chaos.

Taking advantage of the chaos, Liang's army marched north, reaping the spoils of the war. Li Shuang's actions in Guanzhong deeply angered the Hu people, and Hanzhong was also occupied by Liang's army.

"I don't want to send too many troops and spend too much money, but I still want to take Hanzhong. What should I do?"

Hou Jing nodded upon hearing this.

"I understand. I will immediately send men to Hanzhong to create chaos among them!"
-
Nanzheng.

Wei Fang frowned as he listened to Wang Sengbian's words. As the son of the renowned general Wei Rui, and himself a great general, Wei Fang commanded the utmost loyalty of his soldiers. Yet, there were some things he could not change.

For example, the soldiers' homesickness.

"In the Battle of Ziwu Valley, our army suffered heavy losses. After our brothers retreated to Hanzhong, they missed their hometown very much. If this continued, they might harbor resentment."

Wang Sengbian's words made sense, but Wei Fang had no other choice.

Most of the local soldiers were defectors from the Northern Wei, so they can't be trusted!
“I have already petitioned His Majesty to transfer troops from Chengdu to replace this Jingxiang army, but it will take some time.”

Upon hearing this, Wang Sengbian couldn't help but sigh.

"If our army can capture Chang'an and occupy Guanzhong, we will surely be remembered for all time. Even Emperor Wu of Song's achievements were no more than this!"

……

(End of this chapter)