Chapter 123 The First City

Xia Shule was not the first city to be conquered by the Tang army, but when Yang Dingguo arrived here, he felt like he had obtained a city for the first time since the rebellion.

Whether in Julan City or in Talas, the Tang army had a sense of vigilance after the capture: they should withdraw at any time. Even Guo Shiyong and others were reluctant to part with Talas in the city of Julan City, they did not dare to fully allow their feelings. But it would be different from Shule!

This is the first city that the Tang army did not want to go when they came. Although because they had just experienced the battlefield, most of the city were broken walls, garbage everywhere, and there were broken walls everywhere. At first glance, it was very broken, but Yang Dingguo and Guo Shiyong seemed very caring. Regardless of the fatigue from afar and heavy snowfall, they took their subordinates to ride horses all over the city, talking about where to garrison, where to open up land, where to irrigate, and where to grazing. When Zhang Mai occasionally participated in this discussion, he found that the tone of these veterans was full of steadiness.

"They probably feel this way in their hearts." Zhang Mai thought to himself.

Looking northwest from afar, Yang Dingguo suddenly burst into tears: "Old Guo, Lao Guo, how great it would be if you could come here to see it."

At this time, Zheng Wei had already started to organize household registration. During the Uighur rule, the Uighurs used extensive management, and the population was only one specific approximate to a thousand - and it was not accurate. At this time, Zheng Wei mobilized 300 monks and 300 literate literate people from the Ministry of Civil Affairs to register one by one. As a result, after this registration, it was found that the situation of the residents in Xia Shule City was much more scattered than they expected:

There are about 11,400 Ming Cultists, 6,000 Buddhists, 5,000 Zoroastrians, and more than 6,700 people in the city who have no certain religious beliefs. No one in the city claims to be a believer of the Tianfang Cult. Although Xia Shule is the ancestral home of the Tianfang Cult in the Shule area, at the beginning of the Ming Cult, all the Tianfang Cultists in the city had fled to Shule.

If it is based on race, it is basically a yellow race, or a mixed-race child with obvious yellow race characteristics. It is obvious that whites are easily suspected to be the Tianfang Sect, and most of them escaped after the war broke out.

If divided according to ethnicity, it would be even more complicated. Zheng Wei was surprised to find that in a sentence that is not very nice but actually has no offense, this city is simply a mixed-race city. Most people have at least two kinds of clan origins, their father is Geluo, and great-grandfather is Tuqishi. Emperor Gaozu may even be Tang Min, and some people don’t know what ethnic group they are at all.

Whether it is the Western Regions or the Great Desert, these shallow ethnic groups have a characteristic, which is what kind of ethnic group the ruling class claims to be. Their ethnic groups are named as a certain ethnic group, and after one or two generations, they will form self-identification. However, this self-identity is very fragile. If a stronger conqueror comes, and after decades of rule, people with the same bloodline will become another ethnic group.

After Zhang Mai learned about this situation, he came to Zheng Wei and asked him to dilute the ethnic column in the registration book.

"From the future, everyone will be brothers and people of the Tang Dynasty. There is no need to be so separated."

In addition to the 28,156 residents of the city, there are 55,000 Tang people from Shule who temporarily moved into the city to avoid the cold, and 8,200 Tang Military and Civilians of Anxi. After the heavy snow, they still refused to leave and retreated to the two Tubo units in Xiashule. They were one unit of Tuqi, one unit of Zhaowu, and a total of 4,800 people. In addition to the four prefectures and two units of the combat troops, the number of people has exceeded 100,000.

After the general figures were released, Zheng Wei submitted a report to Zhang Mai, telling him that if the number was based on it, the Tang army's grain reserves would not be very abundant. "If Shule can be defeated in the future, plus the more than 100,000 people there, the days will be very tight."

Zhang Mai was stunned for a while when he looked at the document. Yang Yi happened to be next to him. After seeing it, he smiled and said, "It would be better if Hu Shagar does not surrender, and then he will cause something that both humans and gods are angry. We will have a reason to lead troops into the city and kill those who are not my race. In this way, the food problem will be solved."

Guo Luo was surprised and blamed: "How could you have such thoughts!"

Yang Yi looked at Zhang Mai and smiled and said, "I'm just kidding, kidding."

"Just just a joke, you can't say such words!" Guo Luo said: "If the news is about to go out, what will people think of us!"

Zhang Mai nodded and said, "Aluo is right. You can't say such things randomly. Ayi should silence!" He criticized Zheng Wei's document: "I understand."

Yang Yi glanced at the clerk and said, "Brother Mai, I can't say it, can I do it?" Zhang Mai spat and asked Zheng Han to take the clerk back.

Zheng Wei took the three words "I know" and thought to himself: "Is Zhang Longxiang doing this? Is he having another idea or is he entrusting this problem to me with full authority?"

He also knew that although he was busy with government affairs, Zhang Mai's current burden was also heavy - he was busy with the reorganization of the army, and for this matter, even the wedding date was postponed.

After Yang Dingguo arrived in Xiashule, the senior leaders of the Tang army held a meeting at the level of the commander or above, and Zheng Wei also attended the meeting. The main agenda of the meeting was to select new recruits and reorganize the army.

The demographic statistics had not yet come out, but Zheng Wei had estimated that it was about 100,000 people. Therefore, Zhang Mai said: "I plan to select 4,000 to 5,000 new recruits from these 100,000 people to train this winter, and look forward to them being able to join the battle in the coming spring. But before that, I want to reorganize the original army first." The focus of the reorganization is to remove the numbers of Zhaowu and Wuhu.

After such a long period of joint combat and running-in, there is no need to worry that the soldiers of Zhaowu and Wuhu will be uneasy because of the withdrawal of numbers. On the contrary, the soldiers of these two departments are not happy to see their troops being named "teams", because that makes them feel that they are not like regular troops.

"Yesterday I went to Zhaowu and inspected the two ministries of Wuhu. When the soldiers saw me, they said why they should call them the ministry, not the palace. This makes them feel that they are outsiders. So they feel that it is time to unify our military system and reintegrate them with the hot organization of the government camp team. Do you have any opinions on this?"

Xue Suding naturally had no objection, and Hesheli also said: "This is of course good, but I have a request. After the new army is rectified, I want to retreat from the army, so I also ask the special envoy to allow it."

Among the two ministries of the Four Prefectures, the Uhu Division has the weakest combat power. It has been responsible for assisting, logistics and other matters all the way. It rarely invests in the front battlefield and has no achievements. After knowing the topic of today's meeting, Hesheli thought that instead of letting others pull themselves down, it would be better to propose it yourself, and his old face would be better.

After hearing what Hesheli said, Yang Dingguo sighed: "If you retreat, it will be a great loss for us."

Hesheli smiled and said, "I'm old, now I'm a young man, so the old guy should give in." Kitanuma's Blackhead Ugo's power is not very powerful, and Hesheli's ability is not very strong. The main reason for being able to become a lieutenant-level figure is that he has joined the position early and his qualifications are there. Although no one among the people of Kitanuma's Blackhead Ugo's group after he retreats, the second son Furuki has been promoted very quickly recently and has a bright future, so he has no dissatisfaction in his heart.

Zhang Mai said: "The old patriarch's withdrawal from the government army is indeed a big loss for us, but I just happened to have another idea, and I had to rely on the power of the old patriarch."

Because he said his own proposal, he set up militias in addition to the government soldiers. The militias were selected from the farmers, and the military soldiers were selected from the citizens. The militias were integrated into the herdsmen who came to the tribe. They were all auxiliary troops, and they lived in their own homes and were responsible for maintaining public order and intermittent training. They were only organized to join the war when they needed them during wartime.

Zhang Mai said: "I want to entrust these three people to master Faxin, elder Wen Suhai and elder patriarch Hesheli to manage them. I hope the three of you should not let go of your hard work."

Hesheli was very happy. Wen Suhai also knew that this position had a great power and happily accepted the order.

Seeing that representatives of several major factions supported this reorganization, Guo Luo began to describe the plan for the reorganization of the government troops - the entire plan included two parts: the old army's reorganization and the new army's recruitment.

At present, the combat effectiveness of the Tang army is mainly the four prefectures and two divisions, and Yang Yi took over the command of the Shule. Murong Chunhua selected six battalions from the original defenders of the Shule. Guo Luo planned to go through this round of reorganization and also selected good ones from the Wuhu tribe, leaving only half of the troops, that is, the two battalions. Finally, they were integrated and then partially mixed. There were 28 battalions, forming seven new Zhechong Prefectures, and the second Zhechong Prefecture was found, and Guo Luo was still the first.

The commander of the first Zhe Chongfu, Yang Yi was promoted to the third Zhe Chongfu, Yang Sanggan was promoted to the fourth Zhe Chongfu, An Shouye was promoted to the fifth Zhe Chongfu, Xue Suding was promoted to the sixth Zhe Chongfu, Murong Chunhua was promoted to the seventh Zhe Chongfu, and Tang Renxiao was promoted to the eighth Zhe Chongfu. Generals under the commander also had their own merits and promotions, such as Shiba, Shihui, and Wen Suwu were promoted to the lieutenant. Liu Heihu became the new lieutenant of the Modao and Battle Axe Camp.

The old army's rectification was mainly an adjustment in organization, which could be completed and put into battle again in a short period of time. Guo Shiyong, An Shoujing and Xi Sheng were transferred to form and train the new army.

The snow was still falling, but the calm between Shule and Xiashule returned to its cold. Another news came from He Ziying. After the jihadists advanced eastward, he sent people to explore and found that the Geluoling Pass was indeed blocked by heavy snow. After the news reached Xiashule, Zhang Mai and Li Bin felt as if they had a reassurance.

After reaching a secret peace agreement, more and more people went out of the city to cut off wages, reaching more than a thousand people. The two cities that were ninety miles apart also had more and more secret exchanges. Li Bin sent more than fifty spies in the city through dispatch and bribery. Through these fifty spies, he contacted Buddhism, Zoroastrianism and several major merchants in the city.

At the same time, Hushagar also put eyeliners in Xia Shule.

The reorganization of the Tang army's old army was carried out in the camp, and outsiders could not know it, but the recruitment of new recruits could not be concealed.

"Recruiting a new army?" Hushagar frowned, "How many have they been recruited?"

"I don't know yet, but the conditions offered by Tang Kou seem to be very good, so the Xia Shule City is very enthusiastic." Morant asked: "General, are we recruiting more soldiers?"

Hu Shagar did not relax his brows, but shook his head: "What are you going to recruit? I still think there are not enough people eating!"

At present, Shule has 8,000 standing troops, plus more than 18,000 militiamen, which is already a heavy burden. But there are more than 8,000 jihadists, and more than 8,000 yelling, which is not easy to raise. What's even more hateful is that these people are disobedient. Hushagar wanted to reorganize several times, but they were rejected by Valdan.

The pressure Hushagar was under not only from the Tianfang Sect, but also from the Zoroastrian Sect.

After the three hundred trucks of food were robbed, Mubed sent people to ask Hushagar three or four times a day, asking when he would help him get the batch of food back.

"We used that, and we were going to use it to help the civilians in the city. You are not unaware of this matter, General!"

But the jihadists insisted that these are evidence of the foreign enemy by Mubedritong!

"Valdan is a stupid fool!" Hushagar said angrily: "Are he here to help or cause trouble?" At this time, he and Zhang Mai had actually reached a secret peace agreement, that is, both sides occupied one city and did not invade each other - however, this secret peace agreement was just a default status quo. Neither side recognized the legitimacy of the other party. As long as the situation changed, both sides would tear their faces and continue to fight. Moreover, before confirming that Satuk had been defeated, this peace agreement could not be made public.

"This two-faced Hushagar!" Valdan was worried: "His loyalty to Bograhan is questionable!"

While the senior officials of Shule were fighting openly and secretly, the shortage of food in the city was rapidly intensifying. In late October, more than 3,000 craftsmen gathered and rushed to Hushagar's mansion. Although Hushagar transferred a large army to drive away, these hungry men had reached the point of taking risks and could not care about anything!

The two sides confronted Hushagar's mansion for a day and a night. Hushagar's subordinates were divided into three factions of opinions. Morant advocated suppression, "If you kill a few of them, the others will be afraid! They will disperse."

"It is easy to kill people, but there are more than 10,000 families behind these 3,000 people! Kill more than 10,000 families, and then hungry people appear later. Can they all be killed? The Tang Kou outside has not retreated yet. If a massacre is carried out in the city, the whole city will be in chaos." Shule's Leisergeni said: "It's better to open a warehouse, distribute some food to each of them, and send them away."

"Open the position?" Morant sneered: "It is easy to feed these three thousand people, but what if these three thousand people are fed? Once this head is opened, the hungry people will come in a steady stream! What area will we use to feed them at that time!"

"Actually, can we consider opening positions to stabilize grain prices?" Ejini said that he was a businessman and was very proficient in business affairs.

"Open the warehouse?" Hu Shagar glanced at him and sneered: "You should know what crime Bograhan had convicted of using military rations! If you dare to take this crime, I will allow you to go to the warehouse to get military rations!"

Ejini lowered her head, "Opening a warehouse without authorization and stealing military rations will make thousands of horses into meat paste!" To die for this matter, Ejini did not have such a high awareness.

Morant said: "Actually everyone knows that the food shortage in the city is now caused by those big grain merchants. I think it's better to order their homes to be raided directly. As long as they copy the food they are hiding, it will be enough for Shule to spend a month or two in the whole city!"

"How can that be!" Ejini shouted: "They have not violated the law, how can they confiscate their home for no reason?" Two of the five major grain merchants were his relatives.

Hushagar also said: "It's not that time yet."

He has no relatives with the five major grain merchants, but the five major grain merchants have sent him a generous filial piety every year. Even in the recent black market transactions, the five major grain merchants will draw 10% of each income to honor Hu Shagar. If a single person benefited, Hu Shagar is the biggest beneficiary of this siege. Others remain in the mansion, but gold, silver and treasures from the back door are coming in endlessly.

Although these things were done secretly, as one of Shule's generals, Morant still received some news and felt dissatisfaction with Hushagar again. The Shushagar general who was pressing on him had a relatively balanced ability in all aspects. He followed Satuk only second only to Sulai, and he was considered a moderate and successful general. In recent years, Satuk led troops to fight outside, and Hushagar guarded this, basically achieving no internal rebellion and no major troubles outside. His character was also very average, and the corruption and bribery was not the first time. He was even sued to Satuk with real evidence. But it was strange that Satuk just warned Hushagar and then just let it go.

Morant often doubted this: "Can such a person really lead us through this difficulty?"

At this time, Ge Shuo put forward a compromise opinion: "Can we ask a third party to come forward and resolve this matter?"

"What's the meaning?"

"I know that several large temples in the city have also stocked up a lot of food and grass." Ge Shuo said: "As long as they are willing to take it out, it's OK."

Hushagar knew that Geshuo said that Shule was a city with a strong religious atmosphere. Zoroastrianism, Buddhism, and Tianfang Buddhism. The main temple of any religion holds a lot of food and grass in its hands. Although the five major grain traders have a lot of money and grain, compared with the main temple of the three major religions, it is a witch.

"If these three main temples can take out the food in their hands, it will be absolutely fine to supply Shule's whole city for winter," said Ge Shuo.

Although no one knows how much grain stored in the hands of the three main temples, no one doubts what Geshuo said.

However, Hushagar shook his head. It was not that he had not made any requests to the three main temples, but the three main temples ignored him. If he wanted to use force on the three main temples, Hushagar would rather choose to kill the thousands of craftsmen!

"Give the ultimatum to those untouchables!" Hushagar said: "It's dusk now, and tomorrow before sunset. If they don't disperse, don't blame me for being polite!"

In the cold wind, a papermaker fell to the ground in the wind and snow, dying.

His two hungry and cold sons had no time to help his father up when they heard the orders from the mansion.

"What! Is the chief manager really going to kill him?"

Many young people were filled with righteous indignation, but more people just cried silently. Most people gathered here not for righteousness, but for helplessness. They came here not to rebel, but to beg for life. Now, the road to crying and begging has been blocked, what should they do?

Should I go back and starve to death, or would I face the butcher knife of the Uighur soldiers unarmed tomorrow?

The old papermaker seemed to have thought of something while dying, and held his son's hand: "Child, hurry up, find a way to escape from the city."

"Escape from the city? But it's more dangerous outside than here."

It was a cold and cold white world. The crops had been snatched and cut off by the "Tang Kou". It was difficult to find food, but the north wind was blowing stronger than in the city.

"And there are Tang Kou outside the city. I heard that they can eat people."

It is not only the Tang army that will spread rumors. Hu Shagar has also stepped up internal publicity for this period of time. He cannot suppress all kinds of unfavorable rumors such as "Borgla Khan has been defeated", but he has successfully made many ignorant people at the bottom full of fear. Many civilians who cut off wages must be protected by the army before they dare to leave the city.

"I don't know if they eat people, but," the old papermaker lowered his voice and said, "they should be our fellow tribe, and they may be pitiful and do not eat you."

Both young people were stunned: "Our tribe? Are we Tang people?"

"Yes, when I was a child, I heard what your grandfather said." The old papermaker said, "Your great-grandfather said that Shule could make paper and gunpowder, and they were all from the Tang Dynasty. However, later everyone was beaten by the Tubo masters and the Uighurs, so they didn't dare to mention it, and gradually they all forgot. Alas, your great-grandfather also told me many things like dreams, saying that we were so amazing before, and others kowtowed us wherever we went, and those Uighurs had to kowtow us..."

The two young people looked at each other and thought that their father was probably going to die, so they started talking nonsense. They were bored in the workshop for many years, which made their thinking a little slow and even stupid. They didn't dare to imagine that the Uighurs would kowtow to themselves.

"But if you can escape and meet Tang Jun, maybe they don't eat you, maybe there is still a rescue. Even if they eat people, then you can eat people with them. Eat people is better than being eaten by others..."

The old papermaker's voice finally got lower and lower. The two young masters discussed for a while and the brother decided to stay here. Although he didn't know what would happen tomorrow, the younger brother was moved by the words his father said before his death. He actually ran around the north city gate. The city gate was not closed yet, but he did not dare to go out. Two people drove a ox cart to leave the city. They stopped near him, but the person driving the cart ran to negotiate with the soldiers guarding the city gate. The young master saw that the ox cart was piled with high firewood, and he didn't know where to get the courage. While the owner was walking away, there was no one around, he actually sneaked into the firewood. There seemed to be a lot of things in the firewood, and he didn't dare to move.

The ox cart left the city and walked for more than ten miles. It was already dark. Then one car owner said to the other: "It's really not easy to bring this batch of goods..."

Then there was the sound of firewood turning. The two car owners were turning over firewood and trying to get something out. Suddenly, they found someone inside the firewood and were shocked! One of the car owners showed fierce eyes and pulled out their knife.
Chapter completed!