Chapter 532 Severe Punishment and Reward

Chapter 532 Severe Punishment and Reward

When the Jingzhou group said goodbye and left the military camp, their thoughts were all a little confused. They were obviously just coming together to greet their new boss, why did it suddenly turn into a war mobilization meeting?

These people are not only state and county officials, but also powerful people with various forces within the territory. Therefore, each of them is assigned to different assistance tasks according to their official position and power.

Inwardly speaking, they are of course quite resistant to this matter. After all, there has been no large-scale military friction on the border between the two countries for many years. Including this Nanliang invasion, they only retreated without losing their armament here, and did not launch a fierce attack on Rangcheng. Once the war begins, casualties are inevitable.

But not everyone thought so. The shock of the new envoy giving the old envoy a hundred catties of gold cakes has not dissipated to this day. Even if they can't get as generous a gift as Quan Zhongzun, even dozens or even dozens of kilograms of gold is still a very considerable wealth.

And due to various reasons, although Xiangyang in the Southern Dynasties was not far from Rangcheng, it was much richer than here. If a war breaks out, considerable spoils will surely be obtained.

Although everyone is a colleague in the state capital, they all have different origins, races, interests, etc., and they all have their own feelings at this moment. Although it is not easy to discuss it together, it is not possible for one person to think clearly.

After wandering outside the camp for a while, several powerful men with strong prestige spoke out, attracting a few people with whom they usually had close relationships. They soon divided into several small teams, and each left to discuss whether they should follow the new envoy. recruit.

Not to mention that these Jingzhou locals were a little at a loss, even Quan Zhongzun was quite overwhelmed when he saw Li Tai's behavior. Before the crowd was present, he suppressed his voice and said nothing, but after the crowd left, he couldn't help but turn back. He came to the tent, looked at Li Tai and said seriously: "I know that I have made a wise decision, and I am brave and courageous. But now that I have just entered the state, I want to attack. Isn't it a bit... I am incompetent? The current situation in Jingzhou is relatively different." What you see is actually far more chaotic..."

In order to advise Li Tai not to rush into attacking Xiangyang too hastily, Quan Zhongzun even planned to expose his own ugliness and take the initiative to expose the personnel undercurrents surging under the surface of Jingzhou that even he could not control.

Li Tai waved his hand to interrupt his words and said with a smile: "General Quan, please rest assured that I am not a willful person who does not listen to advice. I have some understanding of the chaos in Jingzhou. This is definitely not the fault of the general's short-term mismanagement." , the general need not blame himself for this.

However, it is impossible to calmly resolve this chaos through normal methods. If you want order and compliance, you must severely eradicate a group of evil bandits to serve as a warning to others! My plan to attack Xiangyang is not unexpected. If the general is not in a hurry to return, he may as well stay here and wait for the future. As for the cost of staying here, I will also make up for it with the help of local people. "

Quan Zhongzun saw that Li Tai's expression was calm and his tone was firm. He didn't seem to be agitated or irrational. Although he was still a little puzzled, he breathed a sigh of relief, and then quickly said: "Finally, The general has led his troops here to serve the country as an envoy from the imperial court. How dare he seek personal favors from the envoy?"

After hearing this, Li Tai smiled and said: "The territory of Guanxi is small, and the Taifu often has diseases. However, it is disturbed by foreign troubles and has to often engage in military strategy. It is trapped in material resources. It is inevitable that the righteous people from all sides will not be well supplied. The general and I both know this. , the general doesn’t have to refuse.”

He is an important official of the Ba Mansion, and he is also very clear about the flow of the Ba Mansion's wealth. Local powerful tribes like Quan Zhongzun not only have insufficient supplies, but also simply do not have such a budget at all. They just use it. We will allocate part of the evacuation materials when the time comes, and then we will have to figure out our own solutions in the future. The reason why Quan Zhongzun is eager to resign is probably because Jingzhou has deep water, little oil and water, and high risks and low returns.

Hearing what Li Tai said, Quan Zhongzun was greatly moved. He clasped his fists again and said: "Thanks to your care, the general is not very talented and I don't know what your plan is. Please lead your troops to temporarily stay for treatment." Inside, I hope I can do my best."

He was embarrassed to receive benefits in vain, so he wanted to stay and help. At the same time, he was also curious. Regarding the chaotic situation in Jingzhou, how could Li Tai quickly sort it out?

Li Tai was also overjoyed after hearing this. Although he had acted confident before, he actually felt a little guilty about the new copy of Jingzhou.

Hou Jing's ability to bring trouble to Jiangdong was certainly due to his own abilities, but Bodhisattva Xiao's bottomless connivance was also crucial. There was no Xiao Bodhisattva behind Li Tai to stand up for him. The combatants he led here totaled more than ten thousand. Although it looked like a lot, it was actually nothing to the huge Han Mian Jingxiang. Jingzhou cannot completely suppress it.

Quan Zhongzun is willing to lead his troops to stay temporarily to help. Li Tai naturally welcomes him. It can at least make his momentum stronger.

He also had people serve wine and food, and while inviting Quan Zhongzun to dinner, he carefully asked about the current personnel structure of Jingzhou. Quan Zhongzun felt Li Tai's boldness and knew all about it.

The glorious history of Nanyang Basin cannot be described, and its decline is accompanied by changes in the general trend of the world.

Specifically, the huge impact on the Nanyang Basin was that the collapse of the Guanzhong regime during the Hu Dynasty and Di Rebellion caused a large number of Yong and Qin people to flee to the Han Dynasty. Although most of their settlements were concentrated in the Xiangyang area, the Nanyang Basin was located on the route they must pass through in their exile. Road, the social structure will inevitably suffer a great impact, and a large number of local clan people will move southward either actively or passively.

The Xiangyang armed force group composed of the late-du gentry living in Xiangyang and the Han Mian tycoons, represented by Jingzhao Weishi, Du family, Hedong Liu family, etc., gradually replaced the declining Jingkou force group with the Beifu army as the core and joined the Southern Dynasties. From the struggle for imperial power and the change of dynasties.

Famous generals of the Southern Dynasties such as Zhang Jing'er of the Southern Qi Dynasty and Cao Jingzong of the Southern Liang Dynasty were all representatives of Nanyang. They can stand out not only because of their own military capabilities, but also because they have a group of loyal and brave rural party members behind them. These people left their hometowns one after another, either to go to the Jiankang court, or to join the fights in other regions.

These changes all caused a large outflow of local people in Nanyang, which in turn triggered another consequence, which was the great advance of barbarians.

There were many barbarian tribes scattered in the mountains and fields between Jianghuai and Jianghan. When the social structure of the farming areas outside the mountains was intact and production and life were in order, these barbarians hid in the mountains and did not dare to go out easily.

But when the external order collapsed and the original residents were displaced and fled to other places, the living space of these barbarians also expanded greatly. The Nanyang Basin, which was devastated by war and depleted of people, naturally became a paradise for barbarians to settle down.

The living environment of the barbarians was improved, and a large number of production materials abandoned by the Han refugees were received. Naturally, the population of the barbarians also developed rapidly. Not only Han Mi and Liang Huai, but also a large number of barbarian tribes appeared in Yiluo. .

Although these barbarian tribes have not yet formed their own cultural inheritance and ruling regime, their power cannot be underestimated. Among them, most of the powerful chiefs had more than ten thousand followers, and their influence on the formation and development of local order was increasing day by day.

After Emperor Xiaowen of the Northern Wei Dynasty moved the capital to Luoyang, he launched a southern expedition. During his second southern expedition, he captured the five counties of Mianbei where Jingzhou is now located. The reason why the Mianbei land was able to be captured and defended was closely related to the increasing proportion of barbarians in the local social structure of Nanyang. Compared with the Southern Dynasty regime, the Northern Dynasty's policy towards the barbarians was more open and tolerant, so the barbarians were mostly used.

To this day, although the barbarian tribes still have problems such as low organization and low productivity, they have become an indispensable and decisive force in Jingzhou.

Today, Jingzhou under the control of the Western Wei Dynasty can be roughly divided into three forces. One group is the people who moved from Guanzhong, Henan and other places and the city residents who were stationed there after the Northern Wei Dynasty occupied Mianbei. The other group is the Han clan people who were left behind after the Southern Dynasties lost their land. The last group is the barbarians who are getting stronger day by day, and there are many who come from behind. trend.

The Jingzhou clans that Quan Zhongzun introduced to Li Tai were generally from these three forces, and the division of labor was relatively clear. The powerful immigrants who moved in were basically responsible for state and county government and civil affairs, the survivors of the Southern Dynasties were responsible for money and food, and the barbarians were responsible for military and defense matters.

Although the ingredients seem a bit complicated, Jingzhou, a key border town between the north and the south, is surprisingly somewhat harmonious. So generally speaking, as long as the town chief can balance the interests of the three parties, there won't be any big trouble in Jingzhou. Of course, if we are constrained by each other, there will be no major development.

Previously, Wang Sizheng transferred Jingzhou state soldiers, which caused some imbalance in the local forces, especially the numerous barbarian chiefs who entered the counties one after another. This naturally makes other people feel a sense of crisis. Attracting Liang people to the north may be an act of self-protection in an emergency.

Quan Zhongzun's family was a powerful person in Shangluo, so a considerable part of his family moved to Mianbei, and his influence here was not weak, so he was ordered to come to Jingzhou to take charge of the situation. But what he could do after arriving in Jingzhou was to acknowledge the established facts, stabilize the defensive forces within the territory, and avoid armed fighting and civil strife.

Of course, the so-called tripartite forces are just a rough classification for convenience of description, and the actual situation is much more complicated than this. The barbarians might be traitors, the remnants might be loyal ministers, and the immigrants might be flirting with the south.

Li Taiguang felt a little confused after hearing this, and he felt more and more that his decision not to mess around with these people or engage in complicated conversations was the right one. Faced with such a situation, he had to cut the knot quickly.

The two of them chatted and realized that it was late at night. Suddenly, Li Qu hurried in from outside the door. There was still a faint smell of blood on his robe. After entering the tent, he glanced at Quan Zhongzun and just bowed his head in salute, without saying a word. After seeing Li Tai nodding, he said, "Ah Lang, the three people and their entourage who were unwilling to stay here to attend the meeting have been intercepted and none of them have been leaked!"

Li Tai nodded after hearing the words. When he saw Quan Zhongzun's expression showing a little shock, he smiled and said: "These three people don't follow me when they see me, they are not happy when they hear the reward, and they go away from others. If they are not severely punished, they probably don't know the punishment." Great reward!”