Chapter 688: Don’t waste your time

Chapter 688: Don’t waste your time

Most of the prisoners of the Qi army who were escorted back to Jingzhou from Heluo were young and strong soldiers, and there were also some elite Jinyang soldiers from the Six Towns among them.

The elite soldiers of Jinyang have rich combat experience and considerable combat effectiveness. In theory, they are an excellent source of soldiers. They can be incorporated into the Jingzhou army. They can become qualified sergeants without much detailed training.

But for these six-town professional soldiers, to be honest, Li Tai didn't really like being recruited into the army. Because in addition to their good combat qualities, these town soldiers can be said to have everything wrong with them. And there is a very critical point, that is, because they have rich combat experience and know how to assess the situation on the battlefield, these soldiers are rarely able to fight a tough battle.

Li Tai's idea seemed to be a little off, and he dared to look down on the world-famous soldiers of the Six Towns, but this was his very real feeling after several battles with the Eastern Wei Dynasty and Northern Qi Dynasty.

This is not very obvious in the six town sergeants of the Western Wei Dynasty, because the number of town soldiers in the Western Wei Dynasty is much smaller than that in the Eastern Wei Dynasty, and they are all highly dependent on their respective generals.

Especially after the Battle of Mangshan, the surviving Xianbei soldiers in the army were almost all close confidants of the generals, large and small, so when they fought, they only followed their generals, and their generals were usually there. The Western Wei Dynasty had a relatively high status, and there were few veterans like Zhao Gui who acted like a fool and ran away when the situation was not going well.

This was not the case in the Eastern Wei Dynasty and Northern Qi Dynasty. They inherited most of the six-town sergeants and could even be called a special social class in their social structure. Its organizational form is not like that of the Western Wei Dynasty, where the leaders of various large and small armies were subordinated to each other. As early as the Gao Huan period, a system in which the Bafu Cavalry Cao and the Foreign Soldier Cao dispatched the armies was established.

It is human nature to be greedy for life and fear death, and it is a biological instinct to seek advantages and avoid disadvantages. Because of their rich combat experience and excellent military literacy, these elite Jinyang soldiers do not even need to have an overview of the overall situation when they are in the battle, and they simply rely on what they have received. You can judge whether the battle situation is good or bad based on the military orders and the changes in the Sakon formation.

Once encountering an unfavorable situation in the war, it is absolutely impossible for these ghostly soldiers to stick to the battlefield and wait for the outcome of being gathered and annihilated.

Therefore, when a certain formation suddenly collapses on the battlefield, the troops with more veterans are often the first to flee. It's not that the new recruits have the courage to ignore death, but they don't know how to judge the development of the war, and they don't know how to escape from the battle efficiently and safely.

Therefore, Li Tai did not plan to recruit a large number of prisoners of war into the combat team without any review. He just selected the best among them, selecting those with outstanding martial arts skills such as riding, archery, and martial arts, or those who were good at scouting, searching for water, etc. Prisoners of war with special abilities are recruited into the team and undertake some elite soldier tasks.

Because the selection standards are relatively strict, although the selection of these prisoners of war is far less grand and majestic than the drill review of their own troops, it is still exciting. For example, the good knights who surrendered the fierce horses, the sharpshooters who made perfect arrows, the strong men who could carry the cauldron, and the fighting masters who could not be approached by more than a dozen people were all plucked out of the prisoner-of-war camps. .

Although the people in Jiangling were not good at martial arts, they couldn't help but be amazed when they saw that the standards for reorganizing the army in Jingzhou were so strict. Especially when they saw that these Northern Qi prisoners were so skilled and powerful in military skills, but they were still inevitably captured by the Jingzhou army, they each couldn't help but overestimate the combat effectiveness of General Li's men.

In addition to selecting brave men, some of the original commanders among the prisoners of the Qi army were also selected. If they had the ability to coordinate organizations, train soldiers, etc., they could also be recruited into the military mansion, or to train the armed forces of the township regiments, or to Distributed to prefectures and counties to take charge of public security tasks of detecting thieves and catching thieves.

Of course, even so, only a small number of prisoners of war were recruited, barely one-tenth of the total, and most of the rest were still in prison camps. Most of these prisoners of war were young and strong. Even if they did not provide enough food every day, it would be a big waste, and a large number of manpower being idle would be a huge waste. Of course, Li Tai would not allow such a thing to happen.

The next step is for the general manager to report their personnel shortages, and then a group of prisoners of war will be transferred from the prisoner of war camp. Various industries under the jurisdiction of Jingzhou General Administration are flourishing, and there is no shortage of high-quality labor force.

However, before distributing the prisoners to serve as soldiers, they still have to examine the captives in each camp to see if they have any skills. If there are any, they can be registered as workers and sent to the workshops for use. In the future, they can redeem themselves as citizens. A normal life under the rule of the General Manager.

This series of arrangements is actually a preferential treatment for the prisoners of war. Although they use their strength, it does not violate Li Tai's preface to the virtue of living a good life.

If another force took them over, they would probably still be allowed to engage in their old profession, but as prisoners they would not be able to be well-armed. There were frequent wars in the Three Kingdoms, and they would probably have been killed or injured in just a few battles. .

Li Tai invited these Jiangling people to come and watch the incorporation of prisoners of war. He wanted to show them the benevolent policy of the Jingzhou Governor's Office towards prisoners of war. They should not have any psychological burden when the two sides use force next year. Surrender when it is time. Otherwise, if I If you can't hold it back, I might kill you.

But it may be that Li Tai's expression was too vague, or these Jiangling people thought that no matter what, they would not end up like these big-headed soldiers, so they were very interested in choosing military skills, but they felt a little confused later. He became interested and began to look around and whisper.

At this sight, someone spotted an acquaintance again. He looked at an official in charge of the general administration and said, "Isn't this Liu Fan and Liu Baoyi? How could he appear here?"

Liu Fan was also well-known in the Southern Dynasty. At this moment, several people from Jiangling came up to greet him and inquire. After seeing this, Li Tai waved to invite Liu Fan to the banquet, and then said with a smile: "Liu Zhonglang is a talented man from the South. Now that you are here, it will benefit our house a lot. Many of you have met Liu Zhonglang's old friends, and I will give him a day off today so that he can say goodbye to his old friends. "

When Li Tai conquered Nanzheng City before, he recruited Liu Fan under his command, and now he serves as a lieutenant in the General Manager's Office. After hearing this, Liu Fan first thanked Li Tai, and then answered questions one by one with the crowd who gathered around.

As the collection of prisoners of war was coming to an end today, Li Tai led his troops back to the city. Everyone in Jiangling returned to Hongbin Tower to rest, but Liu Guangde, the disciple of Nanyang Liu Zhilin, was specially invited by Li Tai to host a banquet at the General Manager's Mansion.

Liu Guangde seemed to be looking forward to such a meeting. After the government official conveyed Li Tai's invitation, he agreed with a face of joy and followed him into the government.

After entering the house and sitting down, Liu Guangde first praised Li Tai's calligraphy and repeatedly expressed his admiration and love for this calligraphy style.

Li Taixian listened carefully to this flattery, and then directly pointed out the original intention of inviting Liu Guangde to be a guest here today: "During the banquet, I was deeply moved by the words of Liu Lang Nanyang's ancestor. In this world, Or you don’t know where you are going, but you must understand where you are going. If you don’t know this, what kind of beast is it?

In previous years, Nanyang fell into barbarism, and the general situation collapsed, and it was difficult to stop the manpower. He had no choice but to leave his hometown to preserve his heirs. However, although Nanyang is not yet a great governance, the barbarism has receded and order has gradually emerged. I would like to ask those who have left their hometowns if they are willing to look back. no? "

After Liu Guangde heard this, he was stunned for a moment, and then his eyes turned red. He lowered his head and sighed: "Human beings are not grass and trees, how can we be ruthless? I will die first. I will never forget it one day, but I only regret that I am involved." The branches are spreading and it’s hard to get rid of them!”

Li Tai originally felt that Liu Guangde had some thoughts about him, but he didn't expect that after a little seduction, the other party directly revealed that he wanted to move back to Mianbei but had many concerns. It seemed that because of his uncle's violent death, he was also very interested in the King of Xiangdong. So disappointed.

However, it would have taken at least a hundred years for the Liu family in Nanyang to move away from their homeland. Now they have a considerable family business and a large number of clansmen in Jiangling, and they can be regarded as an out-and-out Jiangling wealthy family. Otherwise, Liu Zhilin would not have become such a wealthy family. He was poisoned by King Xiangdong.

If such a wealthy family wants to move away from Jiangling now, it can be said to be a direct attack on the King of Xiangdong. Even if Li Tai is willing to come forward to protect the family, Xiao Laoqi may not be willing to give him this face.

However, Li Tai did not originally intend to promote the return of these families who had moved out of Nanyang. He just wanted to use this layer of local sentiment to deepen their bonds with each other and then strengthen their influence on Jiangling's political situation and situation.

"Although things cannot be accomplished overnight, as long as you are willing to work hard, you will succeed one day. I also know that although the two places are closely related to each other, they are in two countries and are not the same. If we don’t control it, the masses will definitely be far away from me.”

Li Tai first comforted Liu Guangde with a few words, and then said: "Although strangers are attached to each other and it is difficult to leave, the souls of our deceased ancestors will eventually return to their homeland so that they can stay in peace. What's more, the tombs in my hometown have been desolate for a long time, and now the human feelings have been lost. If it is not an obstacle, if we are not allowed to enjoy the sacrificial food, the people in Jiangling will be ashamed of their filial piety!"

Liu Guangde was originally worried about his family's situation in Jiangling, and he had some thoughts of surrendering to Li Tai, but he was also worried that the King of Eastern Hunan would be embarrassed and harm him, so he was hesitant.

But after hearing Li Tai's emotion, his thoughts suddenly became clear, but he was still a little confused, so he quickly said: "I beg General Li to give me some advice!"

When Li Tai saw this, he said very green tea: "I don't know how the King of Xiangdong feels, but seeing that many of the tombs of famous people in this town are buried in the weeds and lack of sacrifices, I feel deep sympathy in my heart. Just like the flow in Jiangling If you are willing to return to your hometown to repair the tombs and make sacrifices, the General Manager will not stop you, but will praise you, promote famous religions, and supervise the good conduct of the world! "

If we want to strengthen exchanges and interactions with people in Jiangling, official envoy exchanges alone are obviously not enough. What's more, Li Tai also wants to develop many informants within Jiangling, which requires frequent contact.

Most of Jiangling's famous clans moved from Nanyang, so most of their ancestors' tombs remain in Nanyang. If Li Tai can't control the living, why can't he control the dead? Xiao Laoqi himself only paid tribute to his father last year, but he could not stop the people in Jiangling from returning to their hometown to visit his grave.