At the beginning of February, on the outskirts of Chang'an, all the armies gathered and swore to send troops.

Compared with the previous ceremony of swearing troops in Shendu, Chang'an City was much simpler this time, only a simple point platform was set up on the school field outside the camp, and there was no ceremony to prepare for the armies to praise their weapons.

But even so, when Li Tong was on stage, even if he didn't wear the gold-pasted armor, he still became the focus of the audience in an instant. Although the surrounding battalions were silent, many admiring eyes gathered on the high platform.

This Guannei Dao army, strictly speaking, has not experienced any iron-blooded training, it is nothing more than a group of veterans who have been practicing camp affairs for a long time. However, before that, His Royal Highness King Yong's generous sacrifice to the army allowed the soldiers to have no worries and fight with peace of mind.

Although those money and rewards were originally earned by their hard work, the government and the opposition have been full of demons for many years, especially with the gradual collapse of the military system of the Tang Dynasty's founding and expansion of the territory, the original natural has become an extraordinary reward.

Most of the soldiers have not actually had close contact with King Yong, even if King Yong patrols the camp, there are a large number of Chinese soldiers and soldiers in front of and behind him, so it is inevitable that there will be a gap between the top and bottom.

But with the previous reward, the camp guards have deeply felt that His Royal Highness King Yong is not just blindly high, not involved in the world's common schemes, and not sympathetic to the hard work of the soldiers.

King Yong proved with practical actions that he kept every soldier's hard work in mind and put it into action.

Dressed in military clothes, everyone has the consciousness of dying on the battlefield, but if this life and months of hard work are worthless, the battalion will inevitably hesitate and fight for no reason. And King Yong gave them a reason to fight.

"The first king Xuanwei is in the four poles, the society is proud to stand in the world, the king's religion is accessible in all directions, the sea does not dare to be rebellious, and the people are ordered in front of the Yique! In the past, the country's fortunes were short-lived, but now the internal and external fortunes have been determined. Yizhong is stubborn, the old forgiveness can last a long time, the scars do not suck for a long time, dare to deceive no one in China? This time, the army does not ask whether it is won or lost, and those who do not attach the king's order in the realm will only kill them, and will not leave prisoners! ”

After Li Tong took the stage, he looked around, held his sword and shouted: "Shenzhou Chixian, only loyalty and bravery, only virtue and righteousness can live!" Even though there are hundreds of millions of thieves, they couldn't do it in the past, and they can't do it now! The Tang family is a monk, only strong and commendable, and the festival is set up here, only merit is rewarded!

All the armies and I are one, but a breath still exists, and all the soldiers share weal and woe, glory and disgrace! Today's law is not for the criminals, but for the police, but there is no reward for one merit, no mercy for one death, the soldiers spit on me in person, and the torture shackles dare not avoid it!

But donating one's life to serve the community will be treated favorably to life and death, and the government treasury will accumulate reserves, what will be treated? Cut the armor one level, reward ten dollars, the army will be rewarded, and the righteousness will be rewarded! ”

When all the soldiers in the camp heard this, their faces were surprised, or they were incredulous, or their eyebrows fluttered. If it weren't for the fact that he was already in the camp at this time, I was afraid that he would have already made a noise.

As early as the Gaozong period, the military merit reward system established based on the government military system was difficult to operate anymore.

In particular, after a large number of Long March athletes were called into the army, these recruited athletes did not have a stable military status, and foreign wars were frequent, and they may still be in Liaodong this year and will be in the Western Regions next year. Soldiers have no fixed residence, and in addition to fixed money, food, and military resources, the rewards are mainly based on the spoils obtained in the war.

But there are two big problems derived from this, one is that the people who fought against the Tang Dynasty were all poor foreigners, and they were very poor, and the most loot seized was livestock, if these livestock were in the mainland, of course, they were also of considerable value, but in the border area, in addition to slaughtering and eating meat, it was really not of much use.

The two are that the booty is inconvenient to transport, and the furs, tents, and the like are not enough, but those living creatures may be directly exhausted if they are to follow the army back and forth.

Although the imperial court also had a special team to transport the spoils back to the country, the battle and the acquisition of the spoils were inherently uncertain, and the attrition along the way was really uncertain.

In addition, some sparsely populated townships can also grant acres of land and distribute slaves and maids. But in a narrow township like Guanzhong, there is no land to give away, and he can't support himself, even if he asks for slaves and maids, it's useless.

Like after the middle of Gaozong, the Tang Dynasty's external performance declined, one is naturally that Zhenguan's group of founding generals and elite soldiers have been exhausted, and the other is that the country is poor and the people are tired, and the army has no will to fight. Joining the military is already a high-risk behavior, and the benefits are still so uncontrollable. Hell if such an army can still maintain vigorous combat effectiveness.

Later generations talked about the Anshi Rebellion, and some people often ridiculed Xuanzong for reusing the Hu people and delegating power to the Jiedu envoys too much.

But this in itself is a way to control the cost of the war, the cost of requisitioning the local people of the Tang Dynasty is too high, not only to maintain control over the vast territory, but also to reduce the cost of land maintenance, the good quality and cheap Hu people is an option.

From the late Gaozong period to the Wu Zhou dynasty, the order in the border areas began to gradually collapse, especially the resurgence of the Turks, partly due to the heavy military service of the surrendered Turkic tribes. Even the Guanzhong of the Tang Dynasty is so tired, and those Hu people who are consumables are naturally even more miserable.

Li Tong doesn't need to face this problem now, what he needs now is to establish his own image of power internally and externally.

As the general manager of a marching army, he himself was not qualified to be the master of rewarding soldiers, so he chose the incentive method of directly killing the enemy and distributing money.

To be honest, although this method is straightforward and simple, it is not conducive to the building of the army, because the army is the armed force that belongs to the state and maintains the rule of the regime. Whether it is the conferral of land or the transfer of honors, this is to tie the army more closely to the rule.

As for sending money directly, it will not receive such an effect. When the land is in hand, it is necessary to cultivate it with peace of mind. But when the money is in hand, you can spend it anywhere, and if you can't spend it in Chang'an, you can go to Luoyang.

It's not that Li Tong doesn't want to use other ways, but the problem is that he doesn't. The Zhuan Xun system was broken as early as his great-grandfather Li Shimin, and now that the army is about to be attacked, it is not good to directly fight the local tyrants in the Guannei, and it can only be temporarily followed.

When the reward for this march was announced, the soldiers of all battalions were all excited, although they were not thirsty for war, but they were also full of expectations for this march. Cutting off a person's head, that is, the annual harvest of fifty acres of land, is really exciting.

When I closed my eyes and imagined it, what came to my mind was no longer the Hu Kou who came from the mountains and the tsunami, but a large area of yellow grain.

If someone else announced such a high reward, the soldiers might be a little more suspicious, but since it was said by His Royal Highness King Yong, there is nothing to doubt.

Not to mention that His Royal Highness King Yongwang has just rewarded them, just in order to revive Chang'an's hundred industries, he will grant a subsidy of 5 million yuan. How many thieves dare to enter the country? Even if it is a big imaginary number of 500,000 people, it is only 5 million yuan if it is cut all, which is a small amount of money for His Royal Highness King Yong!

"Kill the thief! Kill the thief! ”

The drums and trumpets sounded, and the generals of each battalion took the stage to accept the flag order, and after the flag order entered the camp, the soldiers in the battalion raised their arms and shouted, and the sound shook Chang'an for a while!

The shogunate officials and the nobles of the Kyochu Lords went out of the city to see off the army, and they were shocked for a while when they heard the deafening shouts in the camp. The army has its own power, and if it is so powerful, how can it not be called a strong army?

The 30,000-strong army first drove 5,000 fine cavalry, then the Chinese army 10,000, and then a larger number of people, pack horses, chariots and ships and other baggage troops. Another 10,000 horses followed, and the Chinese army was in front of and behind the arch camp. The 5,000 men and horses will be used as the rear army, which will be on the road for a few days after the army has been deployed, so as to maintain the safety and smoothness of the rear road.

The army marched for two days, first arrived in Xianyang, and then the Chinese army stayed here for a day, and Li Tong personally looked at Zhaoling to worship Emperor Taizong.

This place in Zhaoling, Li Tong is not the first time to come, and in the early years, he went to Qianling to guard the tomb and worshiped through it.

Zhaoling is a mausoleum because of the mountain, the pattern is majestic, in addition to the mausoleum of Taizong Li Shimin and the eldest grandson empress, there are hundreds of mausoleums of famous ministers and famous generals who accompany the burial of large and small. Many well-known heroes of Lingyan Pavilion in later generations, most of them have a position here, assisting Taizong in building the country and rejuvenating the country, and Weilin Liuyi during his lifetime, and after his death, he is still a monarch and a minister, and accepts the admiration and worship of later generations.

But what really made Li Tong feel passionate was not the grand pattern of Zhaoling, to be honest, the scale of Qianling was a little larger than that of Zhaoling.

The most eye-catching thing in Zhaoling is the stone statue of the king of the fourteen kingdoms in two rows in front of the tomb. It's not that these fourteen kings are worthy of admiration, but that these fourteen stone statues of the kings of Tibet stand here, which can best reflect the peerless style of Tang Taizong as the king of the Tang Dynasty and the emperor of kings!

In later generations, there was no shortage of gossip to criticize Tang Taizong's private virtues, but no matter what, as an emperor, Tang Taizong's martial arts were the best among the kings of all dynasties. Zhenguan was forced to sign the Weishui Alliance in the early years, and after a few years, he drank Ma Mobei, captured Jieli Khan, pulled the Tang Dynasty out of the quagmire of the chaotic war at the end of the Sui Dynasty, and dominated the United States!

If before, Li Tong admired his grandfather relatively simply, but this time he led the army to visit Zhaoling, and his mood was much more excited.

After entering the hall to worship, he walked out of the hall and stood in place overlooking the two rows of stone statues of the kings of various countries, especially the Turkic Jieli Khan and the Tubo Songtsen Gampo, Li Tong's mood was more complicated, and he secretly decided that after he died of old age, he must get a few more of these things in front of the mausoleum, which was much more energetic than the stone ox and stone horse.

After worshipping the Zhaoling, the army stayed here with 2,000 people to guard the tomb and at the same time encircled Chang'an. After entering the Qianling Mausoleum, he also stayed behind 2,000, and Yang Xianzong led 3,000 people to Jingyang to garrison.

After the former army commander Qi Biming passed Fengtian, he led 5,000 cavalry to speed up the march and went straight to Yuanzhou along Jingshui.