Chapter 576: Using barbarians for their own purposes

Chapter 576: Using barbarians for their own purposes

After one year of governance since Li Tai entered the country, Jingzhou today has changed greatly compared to last year. It may not have reached the level where all industries are prosperous and prosperous, but it can be said to be a place where people live and work in peace and contentment. Peaceful.

But the success of Jingzhou does not mean that the whole world is the same. The flooding outside Yingchuan City in Henan Province, not far away, had just subsided due to the season, and it was surrounded by a long siege set up by the Eastern Wei army.

As for Huainan, it was even more lively. Hou Jing, who had fled to Shouyang after being defeated in Guoyang, finally regained some of his strength after more than half a year of recuperation, and colluded with some unstable local forces in Huainan. In the middle of the month, the troops were officially raised.

Soon after this incident happened, Hou Zhi, who was stationed in Biyang, East Jingzhou, reported the news, and also speculated that Hou Jing might attack Yiyang on the upper reaches of the Huai River, and then build an advance base in Huainan and return to Huaibei and Henan.

Of course, such a situation did not happen. The Eastern Wei army defeated the Southern Liang Northern Expedition Army and Hou Jing's army in two consecutive victories at the beginning of the year, which was extremely majestic. Even if Hou Jing had such thoughts, these people in Huainan would never follow Hou Jing to die in Henan, just like Hou Jing's soldiers abandoned him in Guoyang.

However, nearly two months have passed since Hou Jing raised his troops in Shouyang, and there is still no further news, although the transmission of news has lagged behind due to the distance between them.

However, Hou Jing in Huainan made no further moves at least more than a month after he raised his troops. It can be seen that he still did not have a complete strategic plan and goals in the early stage of raising his troops, and was relatively confused about the way forward. After all, with a mere few thousand people attacking the capital of a country, and the Yangtze River is on the way, as long as the enemy has a little bit of normal thinking, it will never be possible.

After Li Tai learned that Hou Jing was raising troops, he also made a series of military and political arrangements. Although the initial stage of this turmoil only occurred in the Jianghuai area and did not have a strong interaction with the Miobei Jianghan area where Jingzhou was located, it was not completely impossible to take advantage of the situation.

Biyang, guarded by Hou Zhi in Dongjing Prefecture, is not far to the east. After exiting the northern pass of Tongbai Mountain, you can reach the north bank of the upper reaches of the Huai River. Not far to the south is Yiyang, a large town to the west of Shouyang.

Nanliang Yangyaren, who had retreated from Xuanhu, was stationed in Yiyang. As Hou Jing raised his troops, Yangyaren would inevitably send troops to quell the rebellion. The strength left behind in Yiyang might not be as sufficient as before.

However, Li Tai was not blindly optimistic and sent troops eastward to make progress. After all, the last one who did this was surrounded by the Eastern Wei army in Henan.

He knew very well that the strategic opportunities brought about by Hou Jing's Rebellion were mainly in the Jianghan area. As for the Huaihe River Basin, it was still beyond his reach. catch.

Therefore, Li Tai sent an additional 600 elite cavalry to Hou Zhi, allowing him to flexibly detect changes in the situation near Biyang. If there were any traveling teams that moved here due to the war, they would also be admitted in time, but this is unlikely to happen. too much.

At the same time, Zhao Gang, who was pacifying the barbarians in Jingzhou, was also recalled by Li Tai, and arranged for him to mainly communicate with the Yuzhou barbarians in the Tongbai Mountain area in the southeast, striving to win over a group of Yuzhou barbarian tribes who were not weak in power. come over.

Nowadays, barbarians from all walks of life are divided into raw and cooked people. Raw barbarians are completely uncultured and have been living in seclusion in the mountains, with very little communication with the outside world. As for the cooked barbarians, they mainly live in plains and hilly areas. Although the barbarian style is still obvious, they are already consciously moving closer to the customs of the Han people.

People like Zhao Gang, who know the customs of the barbarians very well, respect them without losing respect, and are willing to guide them to transition closer to Han residential areas, can easily gain the favor of these familiar barbarians and are happy to communicate and interact with them.

On this day, Zhao Gang, who had been ordered to go east, returned to Jingzhou City and brought back several Yuzhou barbarian chiefs and his followers. Nearly a thousand people arrived outside Rangcheng in a mighty manner.

Li Tai was overjoyed after hearing the news, and quickly sent people to welcome Zhao Gang and the other barbarian chiefs into the state capital. He did not meet in the direct hall where official business was conducted, but held a banquet in the middle hall of the state capital where guests were entertained.

"Fortunately, the general has lived up to his mission. He is here to bring back several commanders from all over the country who are devoted to Wang Zhi and Shangyi for the Grand Governor!"

After Zhao Gang entered the hall with all the barbarian chiefs, he first bowed to Li Tai and then introduced the barbarian chiefs one by one. These barbarian chiefs were all leaders of the barbarian tribes active in the upper reaches of the Huai River and the Tongbai Mountain area, and there were many people among them. He has accepted the appointment of left officials from all parties.

Although Li Tai is not proficient in dealing with these barbarian chiefs, he also understands that in order to make them respect and admire him, he must first have a strong enough fist, and secondly, he must have enough benefits.

Therefore, at the banquet to entertain these barbarian chiefs, Li Tai ordered his soldiers to fight and compete with these barbarian chiefs. At the same time, various treasures were displayed in the hall and they were given as random rewards, which was similar to the method used to convince the Jingzhou barbarian chiefs before.

The barbarian chieftains naturally enjoyed such activities very much. They were elated when they won. After receiving the reward, they kowtowed and thanked Li Tai repeatedly. Those who lost were not discouraged and continued to invite battle after a short rest.

The banquet was halfway through in such a lively atmosphere, but when Li Tai took the opportunity to talk about some ideas, the performance of these barbarian chiefs was always a little bit off, and their reactions were not as positive as the martial arts rewards.

"Don't these barbarians want to go further to Huainan? I will supply the armored staff ordnance. As long as they take advantage of the empty defense of the Liang people to approach Yiyang and infiltrate, they don't seem to be happy?"

While the barbarian chiefs were drinking and enjoying themselves, Li Tai motioned Zhao Gang to come forward and asked with a frown.

After Zhao Gang heard this, he whispered: "When I went to make contact, I also felt that the barbarians in this area seemed to be different compared to other areas. They were not keen on plundering and looting, but were happy to buy and sell goods. Let's ask deeply. , it turns out that Hou Jing was exempted from market assessment in Shouyang before..."

Li Tai couldn't help but feel happy when he heard this. No wonder these barbarians don't like robbery but trade. Their feelings are encouraged by policies. But soon he asked again: "Hou Jingjin has raised his troops to rebel against Liang. Shouyang is the center of the war. Even if the previous order is still maintained, are they not afraid that this is a trap? "

After Zhao Gang heard this, he added: "Huainan has been divided between north and south for a long time, and the folk customs are also quite tough. The powerful people sealed the mountains and protected them, how many goods did the common people have? Even if they are as evil as Hou Jing, if they dare to send troops to rob the wealthy households , then who dares to approach it? Especially when the Liang army is besieging its division, it is not appropriate to make enemies all over the country for the sake of convenience. Therefore, the division and brigade still need to visit the market to buy assets. , There is no other power, there is no harm in plundering it..."

Li Tai was a little stunned when he heard this. He dared to directly rebel, but he had to be fair and trustworthy when doing business. This was really incredible.

But it's normal if you think about it carefully. The most powerful people in border areas like Huainan are never two countries, but the powerful tyrants who control the land and population. At least for now, Hou Jing needs to unite these forces. Of course, he cannot have no bottom line.

But the problem is that he hopes to win over and encourage these Yuzhou barbarian tribes to go east along the Huai River and become the vanguard of his division. However, these barbarians are not willing to enterprising enough, which is really a headache.

After thinking for a while, he then said: "Since these barbarian chiefs intend to go to Shouyang to sell goods for profit, but they also defect to the west, they must have a lot of desires for me, right?"

"Yes, the general used official trade to persuade these barbarian chiefs to come here and wait and see."

After hearing this, Zhao Gang replied that although he was good at dealing with barbarians, he had to at least come up with something attractive to convince them. After all, barbarians are not fools, and they will do anything without a slap on the forehead. He has lured people here now, but how to drive and use them still depends on Li Tai, the state leader.

It is not unacceptable for Li Tai to penetrate and find out the situation in Huainan through business, but what can these barbarians use to trade with him?

After thinking about it, Li Tai said: "I can provide these barbarian chiefs with a batch of supplies, but they need to use their tribesmen as hostages within the territory. There is Liyang City in the east of Jingzhou, and the ancient city of Manfu in Bennan Qi'an We are here to activate the garrison again. Please ask Zhao Cheqi to take charge of the garrison. I will send another general and a thousand steps to garrison for Zhao Cheqi to control the barbarians."

After Zhao Gang heard this, he nodded and accepted the order and came down. Soon after, he informed the barbarian chiefs present about Li Tai's decision. After hearing this, the barbarian chiefs all kowtowed to Li Tai and thanked him, which was obviously true to his heart.

So the next day Li Tai sent Dou Chi's nephew Dou Yi to lead a thousand troops, plus Zhao Gang's own soldiers, to escort a batch of supplies and goods to Liyang City in the east.

As soon as he had arranged this matter, new news came from the southern border. Hou Jing's army had successfully crossed the river. In addition, Xiao Qing, the king of Yueyang, also invited to meet Li Tai, and he had important matters to discuss with Li Tai.