Guiyi Fei Tang

Chapter 130: Marching East
"Dad, am I the only one eating this meat?"

"Yes, Luobo needs to eat more so that he can grow up quickly."

"Mom, the meat tastes so good. Rhonda has never eaten anything so delicious."

"Eat more so you can grow up to be a warrior..."

The afterglow of dusk fell on the camp, stretching the shadows of people very long.

The bonfire crackled, and the firelight and the dusk together illuminated everyone's faces, reflecting their inner peace and satisfaction.

At this moment, the soldiers of Shanzhou took off their bravery on the battlefield, let down all their guard, and lined up with their families to receive meals.

There were dozens of large iron pots in the makeshift kitchen where they were queuing, with smoke rising up and the aroma of rice filling the air.

The chef is tossing corn rice in the pot, and the pork is stir-fried in the iron pan, glistening with oil and filled with the aroma of meat.

The mutton is slowly stewed in the pot, the soup is milky white and has a fragrant aroma.

The dough is baked in the oven until golden, crispy on the outside and tender on the inside, exuding the aroma of wheat.

The soldiers' families picked up the wooden bowls, carefully picked up a few pieces of pork with a spoon, and tentatively scooped up the soup, not daring to take the meat underneath.

Seeing them like this, the soldiers, who were the heads of their families, felt pain in their hearts.

Seeing this, the chefs grabbed spoons and added large spoonfuls of rice and meat to their bowls. They also put half a bowl of mutton into their soup bowls and gave them two or three pancakes at a time, fearing that they would not be full.

Faced with the enthusiasm of the chefs, the families were flattered. They took the food and returned to their tents with their families and sat on the ground to start eating.

Even though the broth and rice were already in their bowls, they still looked around carefully, savoring the hard-earned sumptuous dinner in small bites.

The children's faces were filled with happy smiles, and their laughter echoed in the camp like the most beautiful music.

For these people who once could only drink porridge, this meal is not just food, but also hope for life and vision for the future.

The soldiers sat around their families, looking at their satisfied smiling faces, and their own mouth corners unconsciously rose.

Although they had just been away from the battlefield for less than a month, the simple happiness before them made them forget the cruelty of war and feel the warmth of home.

They used chopsticks to pick up the meat slices in their bowls and gently put them into their family members' bowls, implicitly showing their love for their family members.

As more and more people sat down to eat, the soldiers' laughter and chatter mixed with the joyful chatter of their families, creating a warm and harmonious picture.

At this moment, there is no shadow of war, only the warmth of home and the joy brought by a sumptuous dinner.

A hearty meal immediately dispelled their anxiety and made them relax.

Faced with this situation, Liu Jilong did not strike while the iron was hot, but followed his heart. After having dinner with Shang Duoluo, Xijie and others, he returned to Shandan City before sunset.

As he left, the sumptuous meal gradually came to an end, and Shang Duoluo and Xi Jie gathered all the soldiers in the open space in front of the tent.

A thousand people is not too many, but not too few either. After standing together, the voices of Shang Duo Luo and Xi Jie can still be heard.

"Brothers, how was the meal?!"

Shang Duo Luo spoke in a deep voice, and cheers immediately rang out from all around.

Hearing this, Shang Duo Luo and Xi Jie looked at each other, then took a deep breath and said:
“I know everyone just came back from Kuzhou and wanted to have a good rest, but now we don’t have that much time to rest.”

"Tomorrow at noon, the governor will lead a large army to march east to Liangzhou to recover the lost territory."

"Before that, the governor asked me to explain something to you..."

Shang Duoluo had whetted everyone's appetite. The soldiers in Shanzhou were now worried, not because of the war or anything else, but because they were worried that Liu Jilong would drive them away.

"The governor said that we brought our families to Shandan because we trusted him, so he will register us and our families. But before that, the governor wants to tell us something."

"The governor has gone east to Liangzhou. After he recovers the lost territory, he will not return to Shandan!"

As soon as Shang Duoluo finished speaking, it was like a stone that caused a thousand waves, and the soldiers began to talk about it.

"what?!"

"How could this be?"

"What about us!"

Facing everyone's questioning, Xi Jie shouted, "Listen first before asking questions!"

After he scolded them, the soldiers finally calmed down, and Shang Duoluo continued to perform.

"The governor said that he would recover the lost territory of Longxi in the next few years, so we are destined to travel and live a hard life for a few years if we follow him."

"The governor didn't want to deceive us, so he let us choose for ourselves."

"Those who don't want to leave can stay in Shandan and live happily. You don't have to worry about settling down in Shandan with your family. The governor will also arrange 20 mu of government farmland for you."

"If you are willing to go, you can take your families with you and follow the army. Once we conquer Hezhou, we can settle down. However, it is very likely that we will have to live a hard life of eating porridge and wild vegetables for a few years."

"Now that the governor has finished speaking to us, you can decide for yourself how to choose."

"Those who want to stay stand on the left, those who don't want to stay stand on the right, start now!"

After Shang Duo Luo finished speaking, he took the initiative to lead the way to the left, and Xi Jie followed closely behind him.

After the two men made their selection, the lower-level officers in the army, such as the lieutenants, the captains of five hundred households, the captains of a hundred households, etc., all stood on the left. Even though they knew that the future would be difficult, they still chose to follow Liu Jilong.

After they finished their selection, a large number of Shanzhou soldiers also stood on the left.

Although they are arrogant, they know who is good to them.

Governor Liu let them study, gave them meals and meat, and cared about whether they were thin and made arrangements for their families. These alone were enough to make them loyal to him, not to mention that he never treated the families of soldiers who died in battle badly.

Soldiers of the Shanzhou Army had also died on the battlefield before, but the things Liu Jilian brought to the families of these soldiers were so much that it was unbearable.

In the Helong area at that time, people joined the army just to have enough food to eat, but Liu Jilong not only provided them with food, but also gave them many things that other military governors and beggars could not give. This was enough!

In less than a quarter of an hour, except for the one hundred or so newly recruited cavalrymen, all the others stood on the left.

The more than one hundred soldiers looked at each other, and finally dozens of them left, leaving less than a hundred people who chose to stay in Shandan.

In response, Shang Duo Luo and Xi Jie were not angry, but asked Zhibai who stayed in the camp to write down their names and register them together with their families.

If they continued to serve in the army, they would naturally serve in Shandan. If they did not want to, they only had to hand in their armor, and the government would allocate them land and houses.

In less than an hour, Shang Duoluo and Xi Jie finished everything, and what happened in the camp and the newly created household registration book were reported directly to Liu Jilong.

"Nine hundred and twenty-four people, what about their families?"

Inside the Shandan government office, candlelight flickered as Ma Cheng flipped through a document and handed it to Geng Ming, while looking up at Liu Jilong.

Faced with this question, Liu Jilong hesitated for a moment before saying, "Select middle-aged men to serve as laborers and follow the army, and the rest of their families will stay in Shandan."

"Also, have Xi Jie take 124 people and stay behind to escort the rest of the family members to Changsong after we capture Jialin, Guzang, and Changsong."

"As for Shang Duo Luo, let him lead 800 elite cavalrymen to follow us on the eastern expedition."

After he finished speaking, Liu Jilong glanced at everyone in the main hall, and his eyes stopped at Cui Shu: "You stay in Shandan for the time being, and wait until I take down Changsong and then decide based on the situation."

"Yes!" Cui Shu bowed in response.

In this regard, Liu Jilong was not worried about the lack of literate soldiers available. After all, the literacy class had been running for a year and a half, and the first batch of soldiers could already write letters, but they just spoke in a more straightforward manner.

For Liu Jilong, it was enough as long as they could be registered. It would not be too late to start literacy campaign after he settled down.

But before that, there was one very important thing, so Liu Jilong told Cui Shu:

"The first batch of Shandan craftsmen must be taken away, no matter what their background, and Xijie should escort them and their families to Changsong."

"Yes!" Cui Shu understood the importance of these craftsmen and quickly agreed.

Even without them, Liu Jilian could still retrain the craftsmen based on the recovered cities.

But if they were there, Liu Jilong wouldn't have to do it himself, but they could just spread the knowledge.

The number of craftsmen was not large, with only about 120 people from all walks of life added up, and only 700 to 800 people including their families.

Taking them away would not affect Shandan's existing metallurgical and handicraft systems, so Liu Jilong was not worried that Zhang Huaishen would stop him. Moreover, this was one of the people Zhang Yichao had promised that he could take away.

Thinking of this, Liu Jilong glanced at everyone and said, "Everyone go back and rest. Gather at the East Gate at noon tomorrow!"

"I'll take my leave!!"

Everyone bowed and left the main hall of the yamen one after another, and Liu Jilian also returned to the inner hall to have a simple rest for the night.

This was not a peaceful night, as every household in the city was worried about their men who were about to go to the battlefield.

Even though their jobs were just to be laborers, their families at home were still worried about them. Other than that, the people had nothing to worry about.

For the common people, they only knew that their men were about to go to the battlefield as soldiers or laborers, but they did not know that after the war, Shandan would lose a group of people who were extremely important to them.

The next morning, before daybreak, the city was already brightly lit and many people rushed to the east gate.

Liu Jilian arrived at the East Gate before Chenshi, and outside the East Gate at this time, the marching troops had already stretched for several miles along the official road.

The team of nearly 8,000 people was ready, but Liu Jilong, who rode out of the Shandan city gate, turned his horse's head and stared blankly at the Shandan city gate.

"Governor, what's wrong with you?"

Cao Mao, who was with the army, asked Liu Jilong, and Liu Jilong shook his head and said, "Nothing..."

Having said that, he felt very depressed and heavy in his heart.

Shandan, the city that has been with him for two years, has preserved too many of his experiences.

There were only about 2,000 people here originally, but now there are nearly 20,000.

The arable land outside the city was only 20,000 to 30,000 acres at the beginning, but now it has exceeded 100,000 acres.

All these are the achievements I have made in the past period of time.

Now that he was leaving, it was hard to say whether he would come back in this lifetime, and the people of Shandan would become his memory.

I don’t know whether Cui Shu and subsequent officials will treat the people of Shandan the same way I do after I leave.

If the days are tough in the future, I wonder if the people will remember me...

All kinds of thoughts entangled in my mind, and finally turned into a sigh and rode away.

"Provincial Governor..."

"The governor!"

"Provincial Governor..."

"Wear thicker clothes, it's cold in the mountains!"

As they passed by the troops, the soldiers stood up and greeted Liu Jilong. Liu Jilong forced a smile and said a few words to comfort them.

His few words immediately brought smiles to the soldiers' faces.

Soon, as he arrived at the central army, Li Yizhong, Zhang Chang and others stood up and bowed.

"Governor, we can set off now!"

It is really surprising that Li Yizhong, who has never been to the front line, is going to march eastward this time.

However, in Liu Jilian's view, Li Yi's intention of moving eastward was either to seek an official position in Liangzhou or to occupy other prefectures and counties.

After all, everyone knows that Li Wei wants to leave the Li family in Shazhou. Apart from these two methods to help Li Wei gain a foothold outside, Liu Jilong can't think of any other reason.

However, given the current situation in Liangzhou and Longxi, Liu Jilong felt that Li Wei and Li Yizhong's efforts were in vain.

By the time he leads his troops into Longxi, Chang'an will probably know that Hexi has recovered Liangzhou.

Upon hearing the news, although Li Chen was more tolerant than his son, he could not tolerate the emergence of a vassal state west of Longshan Mountain that threatened Guanzhong.

Even if Li Chen would not cause the Guiyi Army to fall apart like his son did, the situation in Liang Province would inevitably become chaotic because of his intervention.

Fortunately, he had already relocated the people of Fanhe. No matter how chaotic Liangzhou was, at least Fanhe would not be in chaos.

As long as Fanhe is still in Zhang Huaishen's hands, it will be much easier for him to retake Liangzhou in the future.

Thinking of this, Liu Jilong also collected his thoughts and ordered everyone: "Order the army to march!"

With his order, a team of nearly 8,000 soldiers began to march towards Yanzhi Mountain.

While the army was on the march, Shang Duoluo also rode his horse to Liu Jilong's side and told him in more detail what Shang Bibi had done in Shanzhou and Guzhou.

Upon learning that Shang Bibi had actually left Shanzhou to Tuoba Huaiguang, and led his troops to garrison Guzhou, and gave Longzhi to Shang Moyan to garrison, Liu Jilong immediately understood his intention.

"After all, he has abandoned Shanzhou, and most of the people in Shanzhou are Tuoba Huaiguang, so if he forcibly stays in Shanzhou, it will only cause internal turmoil."

"That's why he chose to stay in Guzhou. After all, he killed all the powerful people in Guzhou, leaving him with a blank slate."

“Plus, Longzhi is controlled by Shang Moyan. Once we take over Hezhou, he will be able to contact us quickly.”

Liu Jilong, Shang Duoluo and others explained Shang Bibi's idea, and they couldn't help but sigh at Shang Bibi's vision.

Although this guy is not good at military strategy, he has many tricks and brains.

As soon as I showed the first sign, he smelled the scent and went to Guzhou to wait for me.

But it's better this way. With Shang Bibi showing up, he can use the tactic of keeping the enemy at bay to threaten the Tang court in the future.

Thinking of this, Liu Jilong calmed down, and Shang Duoluo also talked about something.

"By the way, Governor, the Shang Jiedushi said that once Guzhou is settled, he will use the people to pay off your debts and continue to exchange for food."

"That's good." Liu Jilong's face showed a rare expression. This was the best news he had heard in recent times.

There are at least 10,000 Han people in Guzhou. Relying on these 10,000 Han people, they can completely restrain the 20,000 to 30,000 foreign people.

However, after moving eastward, it would be difficult to obtain large quantities of food as before. In addition, there were frequent droughts and a shortage of food in Longxi. After settling down in Longxi, he had to get enough money and food.

Liu Jilong thought about it carefully, and it took him several days.

The snow on Yanzhi Mountain has not completely melted yet, so Zhang Huaishen and his team went ahead to deal with the snow on the official road.

Because of this, their marching speed was not fast, and they could only advance thirty miles a day.

Compared with them, Liu Jilian and his men could march forty miles a day.

It took Zhang Huaishen and his team six days to walk the more than 160 miles, while Liu Jilian only four days.

So when the army walked out of Yanzhi Mountain and arrived at the city of Fanhe, Zhang Huaishen and his men arrived only two days earlier than Liu Jilong and his men.

After Liu Jilong instructed Li Yizhong, Shang Duoluo and others to set up camp, he rode into Fanhe City with Huke Siguang, Cao Mao and others.

It is now March 12th, and the people of Fanhe City are preparing for spring planting outside the city, while the city has basically become a "military city."

The streets were full of soldiers. Although Jiujuyan was not good at governance, he managed the tribes in an orderly manner, which was much better than during the Moli period.

"The governor!"

When Liu Jilong arrived in front of the yamen, the guards in front of the yamen hurried forward and bowed, then led his horse to the side without him having to say a word.

"Are all the Jiedushi here?"

Liu Jilong asked, and the soldier nodded quickly: "They are all inside!"

"Okay!" Liu Jilong nodded and looked back, only to see Huke Siguang, Ma Cheng, Cao Mao and more than 30 others dismounting one after another.

Among them, there was a conspicuous man wearing coarse linen clothes.

"Huo Siguang, take Xiduo Yudongben to rest."

"Yes!"

Liu Jilong began to explain, Huke Siguang chuckled and looked at Xiduoyu, while Xiduoyu had an unpleasant expression on his face.

He was captured for nearly half a year, during which time Liu Jilong kept him locked up in a yard in Shandan.

Although I no longer lack food and clothing, I can no longer return to my former glory.

Since he was captured, Liu Jilong has basically not communicated with him, which makes him a little anxious.

Seeing that Liu Jilong was ready to march eastward, but had no intention of saying anything to him, Xiduo Yu could not help but anxiously said, "Liu Jilong, if you have anything to say, you can just say it now!"

"Hmm?" Liu Jilong looked at him in confusion, then chuckled twice: "You'll know in two months. Before that, you should have a good rest!"

"Damn it! If you have the guts, give me a definite answer! If I want to kill you or beat you up, just tell me!"

Xiduoyu kept cursing, but Liu Jilian ignored him and waved his hand to signal Huke Guang to take him away.

Soon, Huke Siguang and several armored soldiers carried him to the side of the street, while Liu Jilong walked into the Fanhe Yamen.

After walking through the courtyard, he saw a group of people sitting in the main hall.

He did not pause, but walked into the main hall, bowed to Zhang Huaishen who was sitting in the main seat and said:
"Lanzhou Governor Liu Jilong has been ordered to lead his troops here. I hope the Jiedushi will give instructions!"

(End of this chapter)