Chapter 702: The art of restraint
Li Tai did not expect that he could surpass Jiangling's naval force by just blackmailing such a fleet of ships, so he agreed to Wang Sengbian's request without much thought.
Now, although Hou Jing was defeated and fled east, his power has not yet collapsed. It will take a long time for Jiangling Military Mansion to completely put down the rebellion.
In addition, although Gao Yue, King of Qinghe in the Northern Qi Dynasty, was blocked by Li Tai when he came to the south, his Xingtai Xin Shu in the Huaidong area was still actively expanding his sphere of influence. Even if Wang Sengbian and others invaded Jiankang and drove them away in the future, In addition to Hou Jing's rebellious army, they also had to face the intimidating Northern Qi Dynasty. It was difficult to immediately mobilize troops to confront the Jingzhou Governor's Office.
Li Tai's task at this point is to curb his own edge, maintain good interaction with Jiangling Military Mansion, penetrate through non-military behaviors, and reduce Jiangling Military Mansion's assessment of the danger to him. Of course, behind the scenes, we must spare no effort to strengthen the construction of naval forces.
Now that the goal has been achieved, the next step is to release goodwill, so Li Tai smiled and said to Wang Sengbian: "Wang Zhengdong is going east to quell the chaos, and the well-being of the people in Jiangdong depends on this. Although I am not a citizen of Nanliang, but He is also a man of morality. Hou Jing harms the common people, and everyone is disgusted by his duties. Although I can't fight against the thieves, I can only sacrifice rice, rice, and stones to strengthen the general's journey!"
When Wang Sengbian heard Li Tai's words, he was also surprised. He hurriedly said: "Is General Li serious about this? To be honest, since the rebel army marched westward, the two sides have fought every day. Although there was a slight weakness before Jiangling, The reserves are gradually depleted and the supply of food and fodder will be exhausted. I would be very grateful if I could replenish military supplies."
As the capital of the middle reaches of the river, Gangneung certainly still has material reserves, but they have been depleted rapidly in recent years. After the Hou Jing Rebellion broke out, the King of Eastern Hunan was not idle. He fought with Xiangzhou, Yongzhou, Yingzhou, etc., and consumed a lot of food and grass.
This time the rebellious army marched westward and fought for more than half a year, so now the armies were starved of food. When he heard that Li Tai was willing to fund a batch of grain and grass, Wang Sengbian was of course overjoyed.
"Complementing each other's strength and complementing each other's strengths and weaknesses is the original intention of the covenant. Wang Zhengdong bravely went to the national crisis and worked tirelessly. I feel this great sense of justice, and it is an honor to donate materials and help!"
Li Tai said with a smile again, but then he changed the topic and sighed: "Although I am taking charge of Jindu on the north bank now, my subordinates are all from the north, and there are no wise and talented people who can assist me in running Jindu Harbor. As for Zhouji There are even fewer people available for maintenance. Because I am really envious of Jiangling's great naval force, I would like to ask if there are any low-ranking corporals or old scrap shipwrights in the army who are eager to get rid of their talent. Are you trying to slow me down?"
"This this……"
Wang Sengbian really didn't expect Li Tai to have such a request. He just agreed to give Wang Lin a boat as a gift, which was already a reluctant compromise, but now Long Wangshu asked for personnel, but he said it so calmly, as if he was completely unconscious. This is too much to ask for.
After pondering for a moment, Wang Sengbiancai said again: "Sengbian dare not boast that all the troops are brave and talented, but the country is facing a crisis, and anyone who is determined to help the country and quell the traitors cannot bear to give up. Therefore, Li Da General, please..."
"Understand that Wang Zhengdong is now in charge of countering the rebellion. No matter how talented he is, the more the better. The national conditions are like this, so of course we cannot be blamed for being stingy. On the contrary, I did not judge the current situation and acted presumptuously."
After hearing this, Li Tai said with a smile, and then emphasized again: "The gift of rice in the preface is irrelevant here. Even if Wang Zhengdong doesn't send anyone to use it, the rice will definitely be delivered as promised."
Hearing Li Tai's openness, Wang Sengbian became more and more embarrassed. After pondering for a while, he said: "The disciples in the army do have their own uses, and we dare not borrow them from others without permission. But the rebel troops captured along the river Among the thieves, there are also many people from the south who are proficient in water affairs. If the general does not dislike the poor character of these rebels, Seng Bian can select a group of soldiers who are worthy of being the general. "
"Thank you very much!"
Of course Li Tai did not mind that the moral standards of the rebels were poor. In fact, except for some extremely vicious people who took pleasure in killing and torturing, most of the rebels were either coerced into chaos or were themselves oppressed by the powerful people of Nanliang. Can't go down anymore.
After such negotiations, the two parties finally reached a mutually satisfactory result. Li Tai personally sent Wang Sengbian out of the water camp, waving goodbye with a smile on his face.
When Wang Sengbian returned to his ship, all the generals came up to greet him and asked nervously: "Wang Zhengdong, are the Xiqiang willing to give up and no longer pursue the case?"
They are also worried that this matter will affect the development of the subsequent war. If the army stops here, it will be a big loss to the country and to them personally.
Faced with the concern and questioning of the generals, Wang Sengbian first let out a long sigh, then immediately pushed away the crowd and ordered Wang Lin to be escorted forward. He pulled out his saber and put it on Wang Lin's neck. After seeing this, the generals hurriedly spoke out to persuade.
Although Wang Lin is young, frivolous and has a strong temper, she is indeed brave and powerful, and she is also philanthropic and generous in her treatment of others, so her popularity in the military is not too bad.
Hearing the admonitions of the generals, Wang Sengbian dropped his sword on the ground again, pointed at Wang Lin and scolded: "It's a shame that you are a madman who has the power to cause trouble, but is unable to calm it down. If I kill one of you to resolve the previous grudges, that's all. But the people of Jinxi ignore you, a madman, and instead want to seize all your ships..."
"This must not be done! The strength of our army and the Wei army lies in the strength of the boats. Once it is obtained by them, it will be even more difficult to win!"
Wang Lin's expression changed suddenly after hearing this. Xuanjie shouted quickly, and then said generously: "Why should Lin live her life? It's okay for Zhengdong to kill me, but please don't agree to this matter to the Qiang people!"
When Wang Sengbian heard this, he became even more angry: "If a dog's life can resolve the grievances, why should I give it to you! Because you are running wild by yourself, making our Jiangling uneasy and our army in trouble, of course it is not a pity for you to die, but I But the army cannot stand still for a long time! It was originally a great victory, but in a blink of an eye it was controlled by others, all because of you..."
Wang Sengbian pointed at Wang Lin and cursed loudly, and immediately dismissed her from the military, and then sent her personnel back to Jiangling for questioning. Then he discussed the funeral arrangements with the other generals, repeatedly stating that he had no choice but to agree to this condition.
After listening to Wang Sengbian's difficult negotiation process, the generals could not help but secretly complain about Wang Lin. It was decided by the King of Eastern Hunan to transfer Xiakou and other Jindu crossings to the Western Wei Dynasty. Their armies only needed to go down the river and continue to attack the rebels, and then they would have great achievements to share. However, Wang Lin made trouble for nothing and almost angered the strongman. A good situation was ruined.
Although the generals thought this in their hearts, they actually felt a little angry. It was obviously a city stronghold that they fought tooth and nail to capture, but in the end they had to hand it over to the Western Wei Dynasty because of a bullshit agreement, which undoubtedly made them feel quite unhappy.
However, when they heard Wang Seng argue that Li Tai was still willing to support them with 10,000 stone grains of rice, their moods couldn't help but improve a bit.
The war has progressed so far that even Wang Sengbian, a direct descendant of the Jiangling Military Mansion, is in short supply of food and grass, and of course the armies in other prefectures and counties are not well off either. Although ten thousand stone grains of rice are not enough to sustain the entire war, it can at least relieve some of the urgent needs.
And this also means that the value of their efforts has been recognized to a certain extent. The Western Wei Dynasty has also made some efforts and is not taking advantage of the situation completely for nothing, which makes people feel relieved.
In order to turn over this chapter as quickly as possible so that the generals would no longer be entangled in this, Wang Sengbian also divided the ten thousand stones of food and grass aid among the generals in proportion on the spot, in order to encourage the generals to prepare for the next battle of Yingcheng. And prepare.
Li Tai was naturally a fastidious person and would not follow the example of the Southerners who went back on their word. Shortly after Wang Sengbian left the camp, he prepared ships to deliver the previously promised food and grass to the Jiangling naval camp.
When transporting food, Li Tai specially ordered people to carry it in small boats, and each small boat could only carry a few stones. So from the Han River channel to the naval camp of Jiangling, these small boats carrying food were connected one after another, and they continued along the way.
At first, Wang Sengbian was just happy that Li Tai kept the agreement, but he did not doubt his presence. He just said that the Mianbei Navy was indeed short of boats, and even small boats like this were used.
So after the first batch of grain and grass arrived at the camp, he reciprocated by sending Wang Lin's boat to Li Tai's water camp, and the crew selected boatmen and others among the prisoners to send them one after another.
Ten thousand shi of grain were transported in this kind of small boat, and thousands of ships were used. Naturally, it could not be completed in just two or three days. In the constant traffic of boats, all the Jiangling soldiers also knew that General Mianbei Li was providing material assistance to them, and this was how they got all their food every day.
Moreover, it is impossible for these soldiers to keep an eye on the fleet transporting grain every day. They only know that the grain aided by General Li is transported to the camp from morning to night. Just looking at the frequency of the ships, I am afraid that there must be at least Tens of thousands of stones. Therefore, each of them was full of goodwill and gratitude towards General Li, whom they had never met but whose name they had admired for a long time. Whenever they encountered Wei ships coming and going, they would say hello in a friendly manner.
Especially when Li Tai sent the navy to formally move to Xiakou, these Jiangling soldiers not only did not resist, but also took the initiative to help as a way to thank General Li for his help.
"Li Boshan is really clever!"
Wang Sengbian soon understood why Li Tai used a small boat to transport grain. The mere ten thousand stones of grain and grass was because he had the effect of one hundred thousand stone of grain and grass to win people's hearts. Nowadays, if anyone in the camp wants to curse Li Boshan, others will not say it, but in their hearts they will alienate this ungrateful person.
But Li Tai's creation of such a scene was not only to win over the hearts and minds of the lower-level soldiers, but also to arouse the curiosity of the upper-level governors: How much food and grass did the Wei people support them? Is it the ten thousand stones that Wang Sengbian said or more?
In fact, the amount of food sent by Li Tai was fifteen thousand dan, but the small boat transportation made this amount appear to be even larger than the actual deviation. Wang Sengbian naturally accepted the extra five thousand stones of grain, but the other generals couldn't help but murmur in their hearts: Why was Li Boshan willing to help Wang Sengbian tens of thousands of stones of grain? Could it be that there is some hidden secret between them?
Under the careful investigation of interested people, and because Wang Sengbian was busy organizing an attack on Song Zixian who was stationed in Yingcheng, he had no time to carefully hide such a small matter. Soon all the generals in the army knew that Wang Sengbian was in Exchange prisoners of war for food!
Prisoners of war? I have one too!
After learning that these prisoners could be cashed in by the Wei army, many generals who were troubled by food and grass became active.