Guiyi Fei Tang

Chapter 125 Prepare for a rainy day
"Screw rustle..."

In a quarter of an hour, six hundred armored soldiers were lined up on the south bank of the moat at the north gate of Fanhe City.

After they formed up their battle array, the north gate of Fanhe was completely opened to allow the more than 200 light cavalry to enter.

Jiu Juyan rode his horse to the front of the army and shouted at the Hu cavalry on the other side: "Dugazhi! I know it is you who plundered the soldiers and civilians of my Great Tang!"

"Hahahaha...I'm just asking for my things back!"

Dugazhi was not afraid either. He rode his horse to the front of the battle and pointed his whip at Jiujuyan:
"Zhang Huaishen owes me five thousand kilograms of iron. I agreed that you would deliver it to me once you captured Fanhe. Now I am just trying to get back what belongs to me!"

"Bullshit!" Jiu Juyan cursed, "You didn't send troops to attack Changsong as agreed, and you still want iron?"

"Hmph!" Dugazhi's face turned a little ugly after being suddenly cursed, but the number of soldiers on both sides was almost the same, and Jiujuyan had the advantage of geographical location, so he didn't want to cause any disputes.

"I don't want to argue with you." Dugazhi looked behind him and ordered, "Bring the people up!"

"Yes!" Du Lunxiga responded with a salute, and then brought up the captured Dunhuang elite cavalry.

In addition, there are many books packed in boxes.

Dugazhi raised his whip and said proudly: "One person and one book can be exchanged for one hundred catties of iron or one hundred dan of grain."

He opened his mouth very loudly, but Jiu Juyan couldn't laugh.

The people and the books must be saved, but this guy wants too much.

"Dugazhi, aren't you afraid that my governor will lead his troops to annihilate Baitinghai by doing this?!"

"Governor?" Dugazhi said contemptuously: "Zhang Huaishen is indeed capable, but I am not afraid of him. If he has the ability, let him come!"

"Humph!" Jiu Juyan snorted coldly, "My governor Zhang has long been promoted to the governor of two states. The governor I'm talking about is Governor Liu Jilong!"

"Liu Jilong..." Dugazhi's face froze.

After a few months, he naturally figured out why he had run into Shang Moling's two thousand elite cavalry and suffered more than half of them being killed or injured.

Liu Jilian's outstanding performance in the battle of Liangzhou even amazed his enemies, and at the same time felt scared.

If Liu Jilong became the governor of Liangzhou in the future, given his understanding of the grasslands and cavalry, the Du tribe would never have peace.

After all, even Shang Mo Ling was defeated by Liu Jilong with only 4,000 men, so how could he, a defeated general of Shang Mo Ling, be a match for him...

"Don't scare me with Liu Jilong! Sooner or later, I will settle accounts with him for Changsong!"

Dugazhi spoke with a dark face, but anyone could tell that he lacked confidence.

Within a few months, Liu Jilong's reputation had spread throughout the Helong area.

From Shang Yanxin to Shang Bibi and Shang Moling, several major forces in the Helong area have basically suffered losses from him, and it is difficult for him not to be famous.

Shang Moling wrote a letter to Shang Yanxin, hoping that Shang Yanxin could send elite cavalry to help. However, when Shang Yanxin heard about Liu Jilian's battle record in Liangzhou, he instantly remembered the memory of being ambushed by Liu Jilian.

Faced with Shang Moling's request for help, Shang Yanxin chose to refuse without hesitation.

Shang Yanxin was in such a state, not to mention Dugazhi, who was a wolf with a broken tail and had suffered heavy damage.

Seeing that his goal had been achieved, Jiu Juyan said, "Ten shi of grain for each person and each book, do you want to exchange them?!"

Jiu Juyan dared to say this because he was sure of it.

Although the Umudu tribe was the descendants of the former Hexi generals, they, like most of the people in Hexi, could not read or speak Chinese.

There was no point in them taking the books away, after all, there weren't that many educated people to translate for them these days.

"Twenty stones!"

Sure enough, Dugazhi finally chose to exchange grain, but raised the price.

Jiu Juyan nodded when he heard this: "Hand over the people and books in one hand, and the food in the other hand!"

After saying this, Jiu Juyan turned around and ordered people to bring food, while Du Gazhi was also waiting patiently.

Time passed, and in less than half an hour, more than 3,000 stones of grain were transported outside the city gate.

Dugazhi began to release people and books, and sent people to transport food.

During the transaction, Umo captured six more soldiers and six books.

In the end, Dugazhi exchanged nearly 3,000 dan of grain from Jiujuyan, and got back the soldiers and all the books from Dunhuang.

After the transaction was completed, Dugazhi left triumphantly. The food he obtained this time was enough to feed his tribe for most of half a month, not to mention the one hundred sets of armor.

Seeing Emo going away, Jiujuyan withdrew his troops and returned to the city. When Wang Jingzhi saw him, he bowed in shame and said, "I am ashamed that I let Fanhe lose so much food!"

"This little bit of food is nothing. After we deal with the bandits in Liangzhou, we will deal with them next and make them vomit out everything they ate today!"

Jiu Juyan comforted Wang Jingzhi, and Wang Jingzhi also took out the Jiedushi's flag and the imperial edict.

"These are the banners and imperial edicts bestowed by the Supreme Being on the Jiedushi of the Guiyi Army. The Jiedushi was appointed as the inspector of the eleven states in Hexi. The Guiyi Army was established in Hexi, and the Jiedushi served as the Jiedushi of the Guiyi Army."

"From now on, our army finally has a military bugle..."

Wang Jingzhi handed over the Jiedushi's flag and the imperial edict. Jiu Juyan took them respectfully and had them put away carefully. Then he asked in confusion, "Why isn't it the Jiedushi's flag of Hexi?"

"This..." Wang Jingzhi and Li Mingzhen looked embarrassed, and finally said tactfully: "I'll tell you when we get back to the government office."

"Good!" Jiu Juyan realized that something was wrong, so he quickly dismissed the soldiers and took Wang Jingzhi and others to Fanhe Yamen.

A quarter of an hour later, shortly after they entered the Fanhe Yamen, Jiu Juyan's angry voice was heard from inside the Yamen.

"Bang!!"

"This is unreasonable!!"

In the main hall, Jiu Juyan slammed his fist on the table, spilling the tea. His chest heaved, and he was obviously very angry.

Wang Jingzhi and Li Mingzhen told Jiu Juyan everything about their trip to Chang'an, which was why he was so angry.

The title of Jiedushi of Guiyi Army sounds nice, but it was nothing more than a military title, and that was only the military title of Gua and Sha states.

What the entire Hexi region has always wanted is the Hexi Jiedushi's banner and the military command of the Hexi Army, rather than a substitute for the Doulu Army, which is a subordinate of the Hexi Army.

"We have gone through great pains and risked our lives to recover this 1,500-li territory, but now they are not even willing to grant us the official seal of the Hexi Jiedushi, and are holding Zhang Changshi hostage in Chang'an!"

Jiu Juyan's tone was angry, but more of it was sadness.

"Wine to win the battle... this... maybe after we recover Liangzhou, the imperial court will grant us the title of Hexi Jiedushi?"

Wang Jingzhi used this to comfort Jiu Juyan, but Jiu Juyan couldn't help but think of the letter Chen Jingchong wrote to him.

Chen Jingchong wrote down in his mind what Wuzhen had seen of the Tang Dynasty. It was not a prosperous age, but an evil age where people were eaten without leaving any bones.

If the Tang Dynasty was really like that, then why would they return to it?
If the people of Hexi cannot live a prosperous life, then what is the point of their struggle?
For a moment, Jiu Juyan thought of Liu Jilong and the people of Shandan City.

Even though they were all people from Hexi, the people of Shandan lived a more comfortable life than those in the other five states. The reason for this was that Liu Jilong was clear about rewards and punishments and was fair and just to the people.

Jiu Juyan had been a servant of the Zhang family since he was young, and he knew very well the character of those powerful sons of wealthy families.

If they hadn't been kept in check by people like Zhang Yichao and Zhang Huaishen, they would have started exploiting the people long ago.

The Qingming Festival in Hexi is because of Zhang Yichao and Zhang Huaishen.

Shandan is prosperous because of Liu Jilong.

If this is the case, then who is responsible for the chaos in the Tang Dynasty?
Jiu Juyan remained silent. The words that Liu Jilong had said to them in the past only penetrated into his heart at this moment.

He took a deep breath, looked up and said slowly to Wang Jingzhi and Li Mingzhen: "The mountain is blocked by heavy snow. If we want to go back, we can only go to the Ganliang grassland in the north."

"There are no elite cavalry in the city, so we can't escort you to Shandan."

"Given the current situation, we can only wait until the snow on Yanzhi Mountain melts in February and the post road is clear before setting off again."

"After summer, our army will march eastwards and retake Liangzhou next year!"

Jiu Juyan's words were shocking. Wang Jingzhi and Li Mingzhen looked at each other with shock in their eyes.

Although Du Lun Xijia had explained this year's battle in Liangzhou, they had never thought that they had already begun planning to retake Liangzhou.

You should know that when they set out from Chang'an, Liangzhou had twice as many people and soldiers as Hexi.

It has only been a short time, but we have already recovered Liangzhou.

This kind of thing was really horrifying, and the two were shocked for a long time before they slowly reacted.

"Okay...thank you for the wine."

Wang Jingzhi and Li Mingzhen stood up and saluted. Jiu Juyan returned the salute absentmindedly and then walked towards the inner hall.

Looking at his lonely back, the two of them understood each other tacitly.

Soon, they were arranged to rest in the west hall, which was adjacent to the houses.

The food cooked in an iron pot made the two hungry men eat until their mouths were full of oil, completely ignoring their status as the sons of wealthy and powerful people.

Only after both meals were eaten up did they taste Shandan's fried tea. "This Liu Jilong... is really a wonderful person!"

Feeling the taste of the Shandan fried tea, Wang Jingzhi praised it generously.

In response, Li Mingzhen nodded and said, "I have met Liu Jilong before. At that time, he had just been promoted to the rank of lieutenant. Now, in just a year or so, he has become the governor of Lanzhou. This is really..."

Li Mingzhen gave a bitter smile. Wang Jingzhi also knew what he was thinking, so he also had the same feeling at this time.

"My powerful sons, such as Zhang Huaishen and Suo Xun, worked hard for four years but were only promoted to the position of Jiedushi of two states or the governor of one state."

"Liu Jilong rose from obscurity, but in just two or half years he was promoted to governor of a state. This is truly astonishing."

"But his journey has been extremely dangerous. If he is not careful, he will be forgotten like those soldiers who died in battle. I don't envy him."

Wang Jingzhi was frank, and Li Mingzhen nodded when he heard it:

"But judging from what Jiu Juyan said, Liu Jilong played a great role in the battle of Liangzhou. When the army marches eastward next year, I'm afraid he will take the lead again."

"If he really wins first place, I really don't know how the governor should reward him..."

Li Mingzhen pointed out the problem, and Wang Jingzhi also realized it later and his face became gradually solemn.

"If he really takes the top spot, I'm afraid he will be on par with Xiao Zhang Jiedushi."

"If he succeeds in the next attempt to recover Helong, I'm afraid that only the Jiedushi can suppress him in the entire army..."

After Wang Jingzhi finished speaking, he looked at Li Mingzhen, and both of them smelled danger.

In their view, if Liu Jilian had no more titles to be given, he would inevitably compete with Zhang Huaishen for the position of the next Jiedushi.

If this is the case, then the signs of civil unrest in Hexi have already appeared.

For a moment, worry was written on the two men's faces, but Liu Jilong, whom they were most worried about, was now trying his best to help the people of Shandan.

"One, two... smash!"

"Bang!!"

During the cold winter months, people should stay at home and rest.

However, during such days, Liu Jilian did not rest, but took thousands of men from Shandan out of the city to build embankments and culverts.

The water used for irrigation of cultivated land in Hexi basically comes from the Qilian Mountains, and the dry season in the Qilian Mountains is not summer, but winter.

Snow water flows down because the snow melts in the summer, but in the cold winter, the water flow will become smaller.

The terrain of Shandan results in a high annual evaporation rate, so Liu Jilong wanted to build enough karez and culverts for the people of Shandan before leaving.

There are many different opinions about the origin of the karez, but its working principle is not complicated.

The water source of Shandan is mainly Danshui, which is formed by the snow water from Qilian Mountain. The advantage is that the water collection section is longer, the water output is larger, and the water volume is stable, but the disadvantage is that the evaporation is large.

If there is insufficient snow in the Qilian Mountains in winter, the water level of the Danshui River will drop in the summer of the following year due to excessive evaporation.

What Liu Jilong had to do was to lay out multiple underground canals for Danshui and distribute them in the farmland irrigation areas.

This thing is easy to say but difficult to do.

First, we need to predict the water level in disaster years, divert water from low areas into high underground canals, and then divert the water in the underground canals into surface irrigation areas.

In order to meet this condition, Liu Jilong specially ordered people to dig several channels, and then sent people to cover the tops with stones and clay, leaving only more than ten gaps for water diversion.

A total of hundreds of such channels were dug, some several miles long and some a hundred steps short.

Each channel corresponds to a giant water-turning wheel beside the Dan River. The water is led into the underground channel by the water-turning wheel, and then a small water-turning wheel operated by manpower is used to lead the water into the open channel in the irrigation area, so that every piece of cultivated land can be irrigated.

These things were not difficult for Liu Jilong. After all, he had seen many such irrigation methods in the Ming and Qing dynasties in his previous life. But applying them to the Tang Dynasty seemed a bit far-fetched.

Under his command, hundreds of underground canals and hundreds of open canals covered tens of thousands of acres of newly reclaimed wasteland.

Of course, more importantly, Liu Jilong also taught the people of Shandan this method of being straightforward.

Even if he is gone in the future, the people will be able to concentrate their efforts to dig canals and build canals for the newly reclaimed wasteland.

"Okay, that's about it. Next, we just need to pay attention to adjusting the height of the water-turning car."

Liu Jilong wiped the sweat off his face and told Cui Shu, "Make some ginger tea to drink, so you don't catch a cold."

"Yes!" Cui Shu agreed and quickly asked someone to do it.

At the same time, Liu Jilian also disbanded the Zhibai who came to learn, and asked them to lead the people to build open and underground channels.

Soon, the people outside Shandan City began to work enthusiastically.

They were not fools. Everyone knew that they would be the beneficiaries after these open and culverts were repaired. Moreover, Liu Jilian had a large kitchen set up outside the city to provide the people with the food they needed.

Eating government food and doing their own work, everyone feels happy.

Looking at them, Liu Jilong exhaled a puff of mist, took the stool and sat down in the wasteland.

"Governor, the mountains are blocked by heavy snow. If Shang Moling's bandits attack Fanhe, do you think Laojiu can hold on?"

Ma Cheng sat aside and asked, Liu Jilong nodded and said: "How many armored soldiers do they have?"

"If they forcefully attack Fanhe, even if Jiujuyan is weak, he can kill twice as many enemies as them. By then, Shang Moling and his men won't even be able to mobilize 3,000 armored soldiers, so how can they defend themselves?"

"In my opinion, these guys are probably strengthening the city's defenses, waiting for us to attack them."

“Haha…” Ma Cheng couldn’t help but laugh: “These foreign bandits don’t know how powerful our Shandan catapults are. In front of this thing, let alone Jialin, even Guzang is not worth mentioning.”

Ma Cheng's words were a bit arrogant, but Shandan now had the confidence to say such things.

In the past three months since the army returned, more than ten catapults have been produced in the Shandan craftsman workshop.

At this rate, by the time the army marches eastward, Shandan will be able to pull out at least thirty catapults.

These thirty catapults plus Fanhe's twenty catapults, a total of fifty catapults, are enough to destroy any city west of Longshan.

Even if we look at the entire Tang Dynasty, except for a small number of cities that used single-layer rammed earth and bricks, it is hard to say that other cities could withstand the repeated bombardment of fifty catapults.

It was precisely because of the counterweight trebuchet of such a large scale that Liu Jilong dared to assert that he could conquer the entire Helong region before the Tang Dynasty could react.

At worst, he could at least fight his way through Helong and occupy a corner of southern Long.

As long as he arrived in Longnan, he could break away from the Guiyi Army and develop without restraint.

He is not blind, he sees the current situation very clearly, and he is suspected of being "more successful than his master".

If he continues to stay, he will definitely threaten Zhang Huaishen's position as "Hexi Jiedushi".

Even if Zhang Huaishen doesn't think so, as long as there are such signs within Hexi, other ambitious people will rush to muddy the waters.

Faced with them, even Zhang Huaishen and his son in history were provoked, not to mention that he and Zhang Huaishen were just superiors and subordinates.

I want to leave, and even if Zhang Yichao knows, he will not stop me, because leaving can solve many problems.

Based on his understanding of the powerful people in the Li, Suo, Cao and other clans, this group of people probably had no idea that he would leave.

After all, in their opinion, the easiest option is to continue climbing up until they replace Zhang Huaishen as the future "Hexi Jiedushi".

As for starting one's own business and establishing a presence on one's own, this is a bit too difficult.

Even Liu Jilong himself was filled with anxiety, because there were too many problems before him. For example, if he left, how many soldiers under his command would be willing to follow him to establish a new home thousands of miles away?

Thinking of this, Liu Jilong looked at Ma Cheng who was holding a piece of dry grass in his mouth.

Ma Cheng's ability in leading troops in battle was average, but he was undoubtedly the most perceptive and loyal person among the Shandan people.

"Ma Cheng..."

Liu Jilong lowered his voice and spoke, while Ma Cheng looked up in confusion.

When he looked up, he saw Liu Jilong's cold gaze, which made his heart tighten.

"If I have no choice but to leave in the future, what will you do?"

Unlike before, when Liu Jilong said this, Ma Cheng felt a chill even more biting than the cold wind in the wild.

Faced with this question, Ma Cheng was only panicked for a moment. After looking around and seeing that no one was paying attention to this side, he responded in a low voice:
"I am the one you brought up, so naturally I will go wherever you go. My family is in Shandan. As long as you ask, I will take them with me immediately!"

"Okay!" After getting the answer, Liu Jilong did not question the authenticity. Even if Ma Cheng betrayed him, he was not worried at all.

Making a big fuss about his departure is also a way to express one's attitude, at least it can make many people shut up.

Thinking of this, Liu Jilong stretched out his hand and put it on Ma Cheng's shoulder: "If I really want to leave, I will definitely take you to embrace greater wealth and honor."

"With just the two of us, we can't afford this wealth..."

He didn't say anything more after saying that, but Ma Cheng behaved normally and quickly understood the meaning of his words.

He didn't say anything, but just stood up and bowed, then left the wasteland...

(End of this chapter)