Chapter 213 Recruiting armor and expanding the army

Chapter 213 Recruiting armor and expanding the army

When the hunting continued the next day, in addition to thousands of light cavalry formations galloping on the plains, there were also two large eagles circling in the sky.

Holding the yellow on the left, holding the blue on the right, wearing a brocade hat and mink fur, thousands of horses rolling around the plain!

Li Tai finally lived this happy life that he had dreamed of many times, with horses and hounds galloping in front of the horses, and eagles croaking overhead. The hunting bow in his hand continued to shoot. No beast was spared.

But after yesterday's lesson, he didn't dare to dress up in a white robe and a white horse. Although it was not eye-catching at first sight, his superb shooting skills also attracted applause from left and right.

Li Mu, who was traveling with him, looked at the majestic appearance of the two giant eagles constantly swooping down to kill the prey. Unfortunately, it was not his own, so he lost interest in hunting. After hunting for most of the day, he found nothing.

Chief Hu Chief Liu Changan led a dozen of his troops to accompany the team. He himself was good at bow and horse, but because he had to concentrate on observing the situation of Li Tai's troops, his hunting performance was not outstanding.

Within a few months of arriving in Beizhou, Li Tai's troops had expanded again, with recruits from the countryside and powerful elites joining in. In addition, Mao Shijian's fellow countrymen, and some of the Diao Yin Hu troops also used Luochuan to build temples. Taking the opportunity to join the army, the elite cavalry unit alone reached more than 2,000 people.

After late spring, Li Tai took his troops out for hunting training. It has been more than two months now, and the cooperation between the soldiers has become increasingly sophisticated. The jerky and chaotic days when they were first put together are no longer visible, with clutches wandering and clutching. Turning like the wind, the tacit understanding is getting higher and higher.

If he had such a sizable elite force last year, he would not have had to be chased by King Hao Ren and other Blackwater Hu tribes all over northern Shaanxi. Even if the enemy was several times larger than his own, he would still have the confidence to defeat him in a frontal field battle. Break apart.

Although safari in the wilderness is different from a real cavalry battle, the tacit cooperation and heroic demeanor shown in Li Tai's story have already caused Liu Changan to sweat heavily on his forehead, and he secretly eliminated the option of turning into enemies.

During the team's hunting trip, the scouts accidentally discovered a Blackwater Hu tribe of nearly 3,000 people who had just migrated here.

Li Taidang even ordered his troops to put on their own armor and charge straight towards this group of Jihu troops. It only took less than half an hour for the two sides to engage in the battle, especially when fifty armored cavalry entered the battle and broke through the opponent's camp with an unstoppable attitude. All the men, women and children in the camp fell to the ground and surrendered.

"Liu Shuzhu is my lucky general. After the raid on Kuli River last year, most of the troops in this area have been hard to find. The soldiers have been missing for more than a month. Liu Shuzhu, you just went with the team and you found so many captures. It can be seen that Brings me a lot of luck.”

Taking advantage of the break when the troops were gathering and counting the prisoners, Li Tai shook his blood from his horse and rode towards Liu Changan, pointing at him and laughing.

At this moment, Liu Changan was frightened by the strong combat effectiveness displayed by Li Tai's troops, which attacked the Hu tribe like autumn wind sweeping away fallen leaves. When he saw the Hu tribe's soldiers suffered heavy casualties, he couldn't help but secretly feel sad that the rabbits and foxes had died.

Especially when he saw Li Tai entering the battle with his sword and killing without hesitation, he was completely different from his usual handsome, elegant appearance, which made Liu Changan feel full of fear and fear from the bottom of his heart.

When Li Tai entered the battle to show off his power, Liu Changan really wanted to bring those crazy men and women who respected him as the master, Buddha and protector of the Dharma to come here to see how he was saved by Master Liu and showed his kindness to the masses. Are there any protective divine generals?

When he heard what Li Tai said, he quickly got off his horse, folded his hands and said respectfully: "The governor is unparalleled in bravery, and his troops are capable and brave to fight. Therefore, the evil forces have retreated and the thieves are not prosperous. I really don't dare to take this ridiculous position because of my humble position." Thumbs up!"

Li Tai just said casually. Seeing the other party's respectful response, he pointed at the captives in the tribe camp and said with a smile: "The former received a raptor as a gift, so I can't thank you for it. Lord Liu Shu can go here and select some men and women from the bandit tribe to serve as soldiers." The use of Wu can be regarded as a reward for the same period."

Liu Changan quickly waved his hand and declined, but he couldn't help but ask: "Excuse me, Grand Governor, do you want to kill all these male and female remaining bandits, or..."

"Everything in the world is probably the work of Heaven. If Heaven does not abandon it, it would be unlucky to kill them. Although these thieves are not submissive to the king's teachings, they still consume a lot of material to be reborn as adults. If they are not doing evil and being disgusted by heaven and man, I will not I am willing to live and use my strength to rebuild this wasteland that they have abused into a prosperous and peaceful land on earth!"

After Li Tai heard this, he smiled again, and then said to Chief Hu in a meaningful way: "Those who fight against the Tao are rebels, and those who are stubborn and stubborn are thieves. I have been assigned by the imperial court to be stationed here, and I also I don’t act arbitrarily, and it is not my choice to use both punishment and reward, death and life. As long as I am not a traitor, I am happy to interact with others.”

Of course Liu Chang'an heard what Li Tai meant, and he quickly lowered his head and said: "The governor loves Taoism, abhors evil, and is both benevolent and brave. It is a great honor for a countryman to sit in this town! Even in a humble position, he is happy to be a dog and a horse, and he is willing to do whatever he wants. make!"

Although Liu Changan was born in Jihu, his facial expressions are flexible and his conversation is quite good.

Except for the fact that Li Tai was slightly prejudiced when they first met because they had not been summoned for a long time, in the subsequent exchanges, he was respectful and decent. He was even closer to the Chinese than the Li He family who moved to Guanzhong earlier. No wonder In the early Tang Dynasty, famous generals like Liu Renyuan emerged.

There are many kinds of Jihu tribes, and all the tribes are good and bad. The Liu family of Diaoyin is considered to be one of the best tribes to integrate with the central government. In addition to the restraint and influence of the successive imperial courts, it is also related to the nature and talents of its family members.

After Li Tai saw what Liu Changan was like, he also became very interested in his family as a whole, and he quite planned to use it for his own purposes.

So after pondering for a while, he continued: "Although Lord Liu Shu was born in the wasteland here, your speaking and speaking skills are not inferior to those of the famous people in Guanzhong. Although you have impressive talents, I think it is also related to your excellent family education. Observe. You know, I really want to visit your department. ”

When Liu Changan heard this, he was stunned for a moment, and then he hurriedly clasped his fists and said: "The governor is a direct descendant of a famous family and is well-known in the world. How dare you call yourself a tutor in front of me! Linzhi comes to the door and shines in the countryside. I will definitely convey the message after returning from humble duty. In this way, sweep the hall and welcome everyone!"

Li Tai saw that although he said something nice, there was a hint of worry hidden in his eyebrows. He was probably not sure whether his intentions for this trip were good or evil, but he did not explain any more and just said with a smile: "Then let's make this agreement. I won't presumptuously come to the door to cause trouble. Guests can do as they please. Lord Liu Shu will tell his relatives when he returns. When it is convenient to receive guests, just ask someone to come and tell them."

Liu Changan secretly breathed a sigh of relief after hearing this, and nodded in response, saying that he would be ready to entertain the distinguished guests as soon as possible.

Unexpectedly encountering the Blackwater tribe and harvesting thousands of laborers, Li Tai ordered his troops to supervise the work, cut down trees and erect fences using local materials, and delineate a vast pasture for future use. Herders moved.

They hunted in this area for a few more days and completely eliminated the ferocious beasts in the nearby area. This time the hunting came to an end. Li Mu took a batch of hunting supplies and more than a thousand soldiers captured by the Qing Dynasty to suppress the Hu tribes. After bidding farewell to Li Tai, he led his troops back to Guangwu City, the seat of Dongxia Prefecture.

Li Tai arranged for the commander Lu Chuan to lead a hundred cavalry troops to stay on the plateau, and he also led his troops back to the Blackwater Defense City, which was still under construction.

Blackwater Fangcheng is located in the middle of the Kuli River, which is the city where King Hao Ren originally lived.

After Li Tai came here, he expanded the city on the original basis. Now the city is backed by the Qiang Plains to the north and the Kuli River to the south. The size of the city has nearly doubled compared to before, and the originally easy-to-defend and difficult-to-attack terrain has been preserved. Going down, the city is divided into the inner city and the outer city.

The inner city is where the city defense troops are stationed, and the outer city is where the families of the soldiers and the people living in the fields live. The population is mainly composed of Han Hu slaves rescued from the Heishui Hu tribe, plus wandering refugees recruited from the surrounding areas. The number of registered households is in the thousands, but there are also cases of single households. In fact, There are only more than 3,000 residents.

Although the population is not large, the area controlled by this black water defense city is large. The entire Kuli River basin plus the fifty miles from north to south can be said to cover all the land suitable for farming in the section between Beihua Prefecture and Dongxia Prefecture. All included.

The area is vast and sparsely populated, and due to the shortage of population and labor force, although farming has begun around Fangcheng, it is only extensive cultivation of wasteland.

It is difficult to significantly increase the yield per mu in a short period of time, but because the cultivated area is vast enough, self-sufficiency can be achieved within this year if Li Tai does not continue to expand his troops.

But it is impossible not to expand the army. With Li Tai's existing troops, it is really difficult to allocate personnel to prevent and control the area from Luoshui to the Yellow River.

For example, there are currently only about 500 troops stationed in Black Water Defense and more than 500 rural soldiers stationed in the fields. It is midsummer now, and the resources and products in the fields are quite rich, and hunting can be used to supplement livelihoods. In addition, Li Tai needs to train troops. Frequently taking the initiative to attack, the Hu tribe did not dare to attack the situation that could be suppressed.

But after autumn and winter, the fields gradually become deserted, and the pressure for survival increases. Those Blackwater Barbarians who are scattered in the wild and care about food but not fighting will inevitably become bolder and ready to move, and the pressure on defense will increase sharply.

In order to prevent this year's field results from being severely damaged in autumn and winter, Li Tai is also actively expanding his troops.

This year, the salt introduction law will be implemented for the first time. In order to avoid disturbing people with the complicated method, the implementation of the Kaizhong law will have to wait until next year to see the effectiveness of the salt introduction law before deciding whether to implement it. Therefore, the appeal of the powerful wealthy people in Guanzhong is still not very big.

Li Tai wanted to expand the army, and the main way was to recruit people locally. After joining the army, they would be granted fertile land. This is also a pioneering work nowadays. Xianbei has always pursued a tribal military system, including the early government soldiers, which were not a combination of soldiers and farmers.

Only those with perseverance can have perseverance. If there is no property and interests that need to be protected to the death, no matter how many people are gathered in a moment, they will be scattered at the touch of a button. Li Tai was awarded the land and was exempted from personal service because of his armor. It was considered that the regulations of the period when the soldiers were mature were used in advance. The effect was remarkable for a while, and there was an endless stream of applicants.