Chapter 31 North Hunting (1)
After the master's father set up camp in Mayi, Cheng Liang, the governor of Yanmen County, and Tu Gudi, the governor of Yunzhong County, led light cavalry to Mayi to meet with the master's father.
The Yanmen Road was near, and the eight thousand cavalry with the bright schedule had arrived and first paid a visit to the master's father; and the Yunzhong Road was far, until four days later, the seven thousand army that was in the Gugu rushed to Mayi. The three armies were combined into one place, with a total of more than 25,000 cavalry. Except for the two counties, one cavalry surveillance department of Loufan, the other elite Zhao army from the north gathered here.
Because it is located in the northern border and has been fighting with the Hu people all year round, the military system of Zhao is different from that of the Central Plains, and is somewhat similar to that of Qin.
Before the implementation of the "Hu Clothing, Cavalry and Shooting", Zhao Yong had reformed the Zhao system several times, among which the reform of the military system was the most thorough. In the past, the Jin State was precisely because the monarchy was lost, and the ministers and officials controlled the power of the three armies of the country, which led to the subsequent "Six Clans in Chaos Jin" and "Three Families in Division of Jin". In the century after the founding of the State of Zhao, the system was generally followed by the Jin State. Therefore, at the beginning of the founding of the State of China, the military system was chaotic, and the public clans and doctors held certain military power and a large number of private soldiers, which led to constant chaos in Zhao's domestic affairs, and the monarchs changed four times because the doctors were below the superiors.
It was because of this that Zhao Yongzheng took all the military powers of the famous generals and ministers who reformed the military system, and strictly limited the specifications of private soldiers and family generals. The county magistrate was promoted in the hinterland, and the county magistrate was in charge of political affairs and directly belonged to the prime minister; the county magistrate was in charge of military positions and directly belonged to the general. Because Zhao State did not have a position as a general, King Zhao directly controlled the military affairs of various places. The two positions of the order had their own belongs and had no relationship with each other in normal times, but the order was respected in wartime.
At the same time, four counties of Dai County, Yanmen, Yunzhong, and Shangdang were set up in the border areas. The county magistrates were in charge of the military and politics of the four counties, and they were all responsible for the elite troops of the border. They were also supported by the censors, and were in charge of military supervision and criminal responsibilities, and could write directly to King Zhao. The two were not in harmony with each other and were directly obeyed the King Zhao.
It also learned from the reform system of Wei and Qin, and stipulated that the monarch's tiger talisman must be used as a token for the mobilization of more than 50 soldiers. The tiger talisman is in two halves, half carried by King Zhao, and half handed over to the general. If there is a war, King Zhao will entrust the tiger talisman with him to the general, and the general will piece together the tiger talisman intact. This can mobilize the army. If there is no tiger talisman to transfer the army, he will be punished for the rebellion and the nine clans should be punished.
Zhao Yong's reform greatly weakened the military power in the hands of the literati and officials, and firmly controlled the powerful reliance of the army in the hands of King Zhao. As long as the army is loyal to the king, there will be no unrest within the country. Even after Zhao Yong abdicated, in order to show his compliance with the system he formulated, he handed over all the tiger talismans to his son Zhao He. This time he came to the north, he held the king's edict and the tiger talismans according to the procedures.
However, the mobilization of soldiers in border counties is different from the mainland. Border counties like Yanmen Yunzhong have been fighting with the Hu people for many years. Every time there is a big battle, they still need to temporarily recruit a large number of border people who are good at riding and shooting into the army. If everything is to be requested to be decided by the King of Zhao, the journey will take one or two months, and they will inevitably miss the opportunity to fight, which will greatly restrict the combat power of the border army. Therefore, the King of Zhao handed over the complete tiger talisman to the county magistrate to wear, and he could eliminate all the military and military in the army. There is no need to ask Handan for adjustments of less than 5,000 people.
The Yanmen and Yunzhong counties are each other, both of which are the tentacles of Zhao State breaking into Hu territory, and the troops are always one. The Yanmen County Magistrate Cheng Liang is the head commander, and the Yunzhong County Magistrate Tu Gudi is the deputy commander, and they jointly control the 20,000 elite cavalry, 40,000 infantrymen in the north, and more than 100,000 border citizens who can be recruited at any time.
However, Cheng Liang and Tu Gudi had a personal relationship not only bad, but their relationship was extremely bad. They had only been together in just a few days and had a quarrel before the master's father several times. Both of them accused the other of not being strict in governing the army and using poor people. They delayed military operations several times, and exposed each other's shortcomings and demanded that the master's father be severely punished.
Both of them were from military commanders, and they had the same hot temper. Once, they almost started fighting on the spot. However, the master father was impartial about the fight between the two and let them make no noise without any grace in front of them.
Zhao Xin felt strange at first, thinking that the Lord's father was so smart and sensible, how could he put this pair of enemies in the two border counties as partners? When he saw the smile on the corner of the Lord's father's mouth inadvertently, he thought for a moment and then realized it.
Because Yanmen and Yunzhong County were far away from Handan, the county magistrates had great autonomy, but the influence of the royal power was a little unscrupulous. If Cheng Liang and Tu Gudi stayed in the north in a harmonious manner, Zhao Yongyuan would be uneasy in Handan. Only the two of them were in the same state as water and fire, staring at each other with their eyes wide open, so that Zhao Yong could cleverly grasp the balance point and remotely control the two counties.
So as long as Cheng Liang and Tu Gu can understand the general situation and maintain consistency during the war, Zhao Yong mostly turns a blind eye to the two people's open and secret struggles and ignores them.
The way of a king is balance. The essence of the art of ruling the subordinates is to make the subordinates neither alienated nor close to each other as a family. Among them, the ability to be a king is to be a knowledgeable person.
After the subsequent food, grass and supplies were prepared, Zhao Yong led his army to the north, and tens of thousands of iron cavalry crossed Yanmen and Yunzhong, inspected more than ten city passes, then turned west, exited the Great Wall and entered the grassland at the junction of Loufan and Zhao, and went straight west, targeting Gaojue City, the westernmost end of the Zhao border.
Cheng Liang and Tu Gudi did not follow this trip. Because the main father's tour was of great importance, the two returned to their respective counties to remain vigilant, mobilized all the main troops to the border, and closely followed the movements of Lou Fan and Lin Hu's tribes. What surprised Lian Po was that before leaving, Cheng Liang actually recommended himself to the main father, praised him as the first brave general of Yanmen, and recommended a 2,000 cavalry that Lian Po brought to commander Lian Po. The main father nodded and promised.
After talking about this with Zhao Xin, Lian Po probably guessed Cheng Liang's thoughts. It must be that Cheng Liang believed that Lian Po was valued by his master's father for refusing to guard Mayi, and believed that it would be difficult for Lian Po to make a name for himself in the future with his talent, so he turned to show kindness and helped him with help, which also provided the basis for the two to reconcile in the future.
Lian Po's unexpected follower made Zhao Xin very happy. He didn't know many people in the army. In addition, the previous affairs with Shi Hu were hated by everyone. Although the master's father warned everyone not to target him, he would not have any good face to show him. In the huge army, the only person Zhao Xin knew was Han Sheng. Han Shen, as a doctor, was busy with military affairs and had no time to pay attention to him. Fortunately, Lian Po came, so Zhao Xin was not so bored.
Since Zhao Xin was a man, his duty was of course to guard and serve the Lord's father. However, this Lord's father was born with a strong energy and was not used to being surrounded by a large number of people. This made Zhao Xin take the opportunity to beg him to learn the art of military management, and ask his Lord's father to let him follow Lian Po often. Zhao Yong was a little impatient with this little follower who had been by his side all day, so he waved his hand and let Zhao Xin decide.
So during the past ten days, Zhao Xin followed Lian Po and returned to serve his father at night. At first, the reason why Zhao Xin developed a favorable impression of Lian Po was nothing more than his "unnecessary" interest. Who knew that after spending a period of time, he found that Lian Po was a rare talent of generals. If we talk about the military books we read, Lian Po might not be Zhao Xin's opponent, but in terms of marching and formation and leading the territory, the ten Zhao Xins were not a opponent of Lian Po.
Although Lian Po was not old, he was calm by nature, as meticulous as a hair, and did not speak even when he was happy or laughing. He looked quite talented as a general. He was also rigorous in the military and had clear distinction between rewards and punishments. He set an example and never special. In just a few days, he had already received unanimous support from his subordinates, which made Zhao Xin admire him.
When the marching and camping are set up every day, the other troops are noisy, and the troops will be a little confused. However, Lian Po's troops do not see any chaos at all, and the arrangements of advance and retreat are orderly. Even Zhao Yong praised Lian Po for his talent in governing the army when he saw it.
During the period when he was with Lian Po day and night, Zhao Xin carefully observed Lian Po's military management methods, while taking advantage of his leisure time to ask Lian Po about what he was puzzled when he was reading the military strategy. Lian Po had been in the north for more than ten years and was not exaggerated to describe it as a battle. He naturally had a lot of practical experience. He had a little liked Zhao Xin, so he naturally knew everything he asked, and wanted to teach him everything he had learned.
Zhao Xin himself is an extremely smart person. He is familiar with military tactics and has a high understanding. As Wang Xu said, what he lacks is just the timing. Lian Po's rich combat experience just makes up for Zhao Xin's shortcomings in actual combat. These days, Lian Po's words and deeds have benefited Zhao Xin a lot.
On this day, the army reached a riverside. Zhao Yong saw that the water and grass were fertile, the scenery was pleasant, and it was a rare grazing place. Just because it was located between the sphere of influence of Zhao and Loufan, the herders of both countries did not dare to grazed here. A good pasture was abandoned in vain.
Seeing this, Zhao Kuang screamed, and felt a little sorrowful, so he stopped the army and camped here for a day to rest. He also used the river water to wash the dust on the body of the people and horses.
Zhao Xin still discussed this military book with Lian Po as before. This time he talked about the analysis of the Nine Strengths in "Sun Bin's Art of War". Lian Po put aside the evidence and only talked about it from his own experience of camping. The perspective was novel, which made Zhao Xin interested and listened with relish.
The two of them sat on the ground and were talking as they were heard, suddenly they heard a desolate sound of horns in the distance, and the dull sound became higher and higher, and turned into a shrill one.
Chapter completed!