Northern Prefecture Rivers and Mountains

Chapter 423 West

Implementing government orders is not something that can be done overnight.

Wang Shang worked diligently day and night, but it still took time before he could see results.

With him in charge of general affairs, Liu Daogui focused his energy on military matters.

"Seventy thousand Qin soldiers surrendered, and fifty thousand Qin soldiers who fled to various places returned. Of the 120,000 troops, thirty thousand were Jin people, sixty thousand were Qiang people, and the rest were Xiongnu, Xianbei and other mixed Hu peoples."

Feng Kai handed over a document.

"There are actually 30,000 Jin soldiers!"

The 30,000 Jin soldiers numbered at least 10,000 households.

With this population, Liu Daogui's foundation will be more solid.

Feng Kai said, "Excluding the old and weak, there should be around ten thousand men, all of whom are elite troops who have fought for many years. The other tribes' troops and cavalry number twenty thousand!"

"That's great!" Liu Daogui was delighted.

Treating Yao Xing well was the right move.

If they massacre the Yao Qin royal family, these troops will have to defect to the Hu Xia or Qiu Chi.

Before the joy could last long, Feng Kai poured cold water on the situation, saying, "General, how do you plan to deal with them? 120,000 infantry and cavalry have consumed too much food, and with the heavy snowfall, transportation in the Central Plains will be difficult."

Liu Daogui was taken aback. "Are our supplies already running low so quickly?"

Feng Kai smiled bitterly, "When we attacked Chang'an, the General summoned all the tribes in Guanzhong to assist us. They were given two full meals a day, and after the city was breached, each person received three shi of grain. Although the Chang'an treasury was well-stocked, it couldn't withstand the pressure..."

Liu Daogui felt depressed. When he was poor, he worried about food and drink. Now that he was a duke, he was still worried about food and drink.

He just ordered the exemption of three years' taxes for Guanzhong.

Just then, Meng Ganzhi rushed over to report, "General, Liu Bobo has led 20,000 cavalry to harass Fufeng, Fengyi and other counties, burning and killing along the way."

House seemingly endless rain.

Liu Bobo built his fortune through plunder, causing Yao Xing a great deal of trouble, and now he's using the same tactic against Liu Daogui.

However, his arrival also drew Liu Daogui's attention to the west.

To the west were the states of Qiuchi, Western Qin, Southern Liang, Northern Liang, and Hu Xia, making it a considerable territory.

These days, the Hu people are much richer than the Jin people. These small states have been established for many years and have accumulated considerable wealth.

“I didn’t even look for him, but he actually came to me on his own initiative. Perfect, the food problem is solved!” Liu Daogui couldn’t help but laugh.

Feng Kai asked, "Does the General intend to wage war in the western border region?"

"It is impolite not to reciprocate. As the art of war says: 'If you eat one bell of enemy food, it is worth twenty bells of your own.' Issue the order to promote Mao Dezhu to the position of Commander-in-Chief of the military affairs of Qin and Liang. The 120,000 Qin troops will be divided into seven divisions, commanded by Shen Tianzi, Shen Linzi, Zhu Chaoshi, Zhu Lingshi, Fu Hongzhi, Shen Qingzhi, and Xiao Chengzhi respectively, to attack and plunder the Qin and Liang states. Duan Hong will lead 20,000 cavalry as the rearguard to support the other armies."

The 120,000 Qin soldiers were idle anyway, so they might as well be sent out to feed the enemy.

Shen Tianzi defeated Yao Xing's army of fifty or sixty thousand with only eight or nine hundred men. Now, if we give them ten or twenty thousand soldiers to do as they please, they might gain something unexpected.

The Qin army was not weak; it had always been a source of excellent soldiers. The main reason for the disastrous defeat at Chai Bi was Yao Xing himself.

Now, with the addition of these formidable generals from the Northern and Western armies, their fighting strength is even greater.

Liu Daogui added a military order: all spoils would be split in half, with the General's Mansion receiving half and each army disposing of the other half as they saw fit. Captured prisoners would be bought by the General's Mansion at market price.

The two military orders not only excited the generals, but also made the Qin army eager to try.

Before, I was working for others; now I'm working for myself.

The two brothers, Shen Tianzi and Shen Linzi, were the most anxious. They led their troops and 30,000 soldiers to attack the counties of Longdong.

The brothers Zhu Chaoshi and Zhu Lingshi led their naval forces to attack Longxi.

Fu Hongzhi and Xiao Chengzhi led 10,000 cavalrymen to attack Henan.

Feng Kai was in charge of transporting grain and fodder, Mao Dezhu coordinated the various armies, and Duan Hong led 20,000 cavalry to Yongcheng.

The only one who remained silent was Shen Qingzhi.

For several days in a row, they remained inactive.

Liu Daogui went to check and discovered that he was actually cutting back on the old and weak and reorganizing the soldiers.

Of the original thirteen thousand soldiers, only about five thousand remained, but the armor rate rose to thirty percent, and the number of cavalry increased to two thousand.

Liu Daogui laughed and said, "If you're this slow, I'm afraid the meat will all be eaten by the time you get there."

"Sharpening the axe won't delay the work of chopping wood. The Qin and Liang regions are vast and have a complex mix of forces. There's no need to worry about not having a place to use your skills. These are officers that I have secretly selected. Please appoint them, General."

Shen Qingzhi is more humble and composed than before.

While others were scrambling to grab benefits for themselves, he didn't even have the authority to make decisions about things like selecting officers.

Liu Daogui also valued him more and more, saying, "You chose him, so you can appoint him yourself."

"I accept the order." Shen Qingzhi did not feign reluctance.

"Will this military campaign be able to destroy one or two kingdoms?" Liu Daogui asked casually.

Shen Qingzhi didn't waste any words either, "No." "Why?" For some reason, I always felt particularly relaxed whenever I talked to him.

There's not much pretense or beating around the bush; everything is done directly.

"Firstly, there is a shortage of food and supplies. Secondly, our army hastily launched an attack without careful planning. Thirdly, the Qin and Liang states have been entrenched for decades, with a solid foundation and all the people are of the same ethnic group, united as one."

"According to you, it will fail?"

"No, Shen Tianzi, Zhu Lingshi, Fu Hongzhi, and Xiao Chengzhi are all famous generals of our time. They know when to advance and when to retreat. Even if they suffer a defeat, they will not suffer a major one."

Not suffering a major defeat means suffering a minor defeat.

"It's alright, I never intended to win in one battle anyway." Liu Daogui didn't hide his purpose.

However, a few days later, good news kept coming back: the brothers Zhu Lingshi and Zhu Chaoshi defeated Peng Xinian, a general of Western Qin, and captured or killed two thousand.

Fu Hongzhi and Xiao Chengzhi successively defeated 30,000 Hu Xia infantry and cavalry under Liu Zhilidi and Liu Aliluoyin, captured more than 30,000 head of livestock such as cattle, horses, sheep and camels, and captured more than 7,000 young and strong Xiongnu.

On the contrary, Shen Tianzi and Shen Linzi's attack on the counties of Longdong was unsuccessful. They encountered Liu Bobo's main force, and his generals Po Duoluo and Huyan Hegui led 7,000 men to defect on the battlefield.

Together with Liu Bobo's 20,000 cavalry, they launched a pincer attack from both inside and outside.

However, the Shen brothers were formidable generals. Despite the situation, they fought their way back and forth until they reached Chaona County, where they received support from Duan Hong and finally repelled Liu Bobo's siege.

Of the 30,000 troops that went to war, only 5,000 remained.

Apart from those who defected to the enemy and those who died in battle, everyone else escaped in the chaos.

Liu Bobo's successful defeat of the Jin army inspired the other states, leading to the formation of a four-state alliance to jointly fight against the Jin army.

"This humble general is incompetent; please punish me, General!"

Shen Tianzi and Shen Linzi looked like defeated roosters, listless and lacking their former arrogance.

"Victory and defeat are common occurrences in war, there's no need to worry about it. How about a six-month salary deduction and a reduction of one rank in military merit?" Liu Daogui reassured the two generals.

"I am willing to be punished!"

Actually, it can't be entirely blamed on them. Among the various forces, Liu Bobo was the strongest and most capable fighter. Although the Shen brothers had an army of 30,000, they couldn't fully assimilate them.

After their defeat, Zhu Lingshi and Zhu Chaoshi also made little progress in Longxi. After plundering more than 7,000 cattle and sheep, Qifu Qian Gui adopted a scorched-earth policy, and the two retreated to Yongcheng.

However, Fu Hongzhi and Xiao Chengzhi continued their triumphant advance, and under the leadership of their Xiongnu generals, they swept through the Henan region, capturing more than 20,000 head of livestock and more than 13,000 prisoners.

Unfortunately, they encountered a blizzard, which froze more than 4,000 prisoners and tens of thousands of cattle and sheep to death, forcing them to withdraw their troops and return to Guanzhong.

Shen Qingzhi was right; things were indeed not going smoothly.

Those who make it big in this world are no ordinary people.

However, Liu Daogui also achieved his goal: the cattle and sheep seized by Fu Hongzhi and Xiao Chengzhi were enough to get through the winter.

They gained an accurate understanding of the strength of the Qin and Liang states, which was no less than that of the Qin army. In particular, Liu Bobo's combat prowess was not bad, and the Shen brothers almost fell into his hands.

The wind and snow swept across the Guanzhong Plain, extinguishing all the flames of war.

Guanzhong is much colder than Pengcheng and Jingkou, with the cold wind blowing all day long, cutting the face like a knife.

However, the harsh and cold environment can also keep people motivated and prevent them from becoming too lax.

Taking advantage of the lull in the fighting, Liu Daogui ordered the reduction of the old and weak in the Qin army, reorganized the organization, and selected veterans from the Tiger Guard Army as backbone and officers.

Of the 100,000 troops, only 43,000 remained after a selection process. The rest were converted into civilian households, and after being registered as ordinary citizens, each person was allocated 40 mu of land.

Those who remained were mostly from the Jin and Qiang ethnic groups, and were all veterans who had fought countless battles.

The equipment is also much better, and the armor coverage rate has increased to 20%, which is about 9,000 armored soldiers.

Liu Daogui treated them all equally, providing them with no shortage of military merit titles, allowances, or rewards.

At the end of the year, each person was also given a sheep so that they could have a prosperous year.

Liu Daogui personally promoted all the brave and meritorious soldiers in the army.

After all this was done, winter passed and spring came; it was time to return to Jiankang.

Wang Zhongde was transferred to Luoyang, Shen Linzi returned to Hanzhong, Zhu Lingshi was stationed in Puban, Liu Zhong returned to Pengcheng, and Xiao Chengzhi returned to Huatai.

Mao Dezhu, Shen Qingzhi, Fu Hongzhi, Duan Hong, and Zhu Chaoshi remained in Guanzhong.

Mao Dezhu's title of Commander-in-Chief of the Military Affairs of Guanzhong remained unchanged.

Shen Qingzhi was appointed Commandant of the Capital Region, Fu Hongzhi was appointed Governor of Yongzhou, Duan Hong was appointed Governor of Qinzhou, and Zhu Chaoshi was appointed Governor of Liangzhou.

Shen Tianzi and Shen Tianzi were defeated by Liu Bobo, but their official positions remained unchanged.

Liu Daogui left behind 20,000 elite troops from the Northern Army and 40,000 Qin soldiers to guard various parts of Guanzhong, and then prepared to return to Jiankang with Shen Tianzi, Liu Yiwu, Yao Xing and their clansmen to confront the court.

The court has yet to take any action after such a great achievement as defeating Wei and destroying Qin, which is really quite unreasonable.

However, Liu Daogui did not care about these things. After the success of the Northern Expedition, the right to rule had already been transferred to him, and it was only a matter of a word for him to become king and emperor.

What they truly cared about was moving the capital; only by moving the capital could they break the curse that had plagued the Wei and Jin dynasties since then.

(End of this chapter)