CHAPTER XXVIII

"What? Looking for Shibi Khan? Yang Ze was dumbfounded: "Shibi Khan? How is this possible? If we contact Shibi Khan privately, the imperial court will definitely be impeached! ”

The right to diplomacy is a symbol of a country's sovereignty. Although the Tang Dynasty was first established, it was not a Republic of China, and the feudal towns had no diplomatic power. Besides, Chen Ying is just an ordinary general, as long as Li Yuan sends an edict, he can only obediently hand over power.

Since he knows that this is not his own business, Chen Ying is pragmatic and will not casually take these responsibilities on himself. As long as it involves the issue of the imperial court, if you can, you won't touch it, which is called political correctness.

However, Chen Ying is not the kind of master who is willing to suffer. He thought for a while and said: "The hat of fornicating with the enemy country is too big, and my head is too small to bear, but now, we don't need to be in a hurry, it should be the Turkic Shibi Khan who should be in a hurry!" ”

"Shibi Khan?" Yang asked suspiciously, "What is he anxious about?" ”

"We have captured 30,000 of them now, and if he doesn't ask, the hearts of the people will be scattered!" Chen Ying said with a gloomy smile: "As long as the people's hearts are scattered, the team will not be easy to lead!" We still have enough food to eat, and we have captured so many horses, there will be no food shortage in three to five months. ”

Yang Ze nodded: "I heard that this Shibi Khan is not a generous lord!" ”

"Shibi Khan is not, Li Yuan is?" Of course, Chen Ying can only think about this, and he must not say it, otherwise it will be a disaster of destruction. Chen Yingdao: "Actually, I'm really afraid that he will spend money to redeem these captives!" ”

"Afraid of redemption?" Yang Ze was a little speechless at Chen Ying at this time: "These barbarians, what's the use of keeping them?" ”

"What's the use? It's very useful! Chen Ying asked inexplicably: "Yang Changshi, how many people are there in the six counties of Lingzhou now?" ”

Yang Ze was silent for a long time and said: "At this time, there are a total of 7,414 households in the six counties of Lingzhou, with a total of more than 18,000 dings and more than 35,000 people. ”

Chen Ying asked again: "How many people were there in Lingzhou during the previous dynasty?" ”

Yang Zedao: "In the previous dynasty, there were 64,746 households, 210,000 and 6,300 people. ”

"In just a few years, the population of Lingzhou has dropped by eighty!" Chen Ying sighed: "Nearly 180,000 people, where have all these people gone? ”

This is a very profound question, and Yang Ze actually knows it, but he doesn't dare to answer it directly, because it is too taboo. However, Chen Ying said: "Lingzhou Hu and Han live together, it is not easy to live in Lingzhou, some people have fled back to Guannei, some people have died, and more people have actually turned Hu into Han!" ”

Yang nodded, he also discovered this similar phenomenon.

In fact, the problems that caused this situation were related to the main imperial authorities. In the last years of the great cause, the Sui Dynasty was full of wolf smoke, and the court gradually lost control of the locality. In the inland states of the Central Plains, kill officials and rebel, or go into the mountains to hide.

But in Lingzhou, it is a plain, and it is also a border plain. The situation is far worse than in Kannai. The deterrent power of the imperial court gradually weakened, and the Hu people took advantage of the situation to rise up, rushing to the state and hitting the government, killing people and causing more trouble, and doing all kinds of evil.

Most of the Han people living in Lingzhou were lower-class people, and they lacked strong backers. When the imperial court could not protect them, in order to survive, they could only rely on the surrounding Hu Barbarian tribes and become their slaves. Of course, if you want to talk about Huhua, you can't actually say that Huhua is Huhua, but after a long time, it will become true for a long time.

Chen Yingdao: "Lingzhou is the territory of China since ancient times, and there is no room for loss, otherwise we will be ashamed of our ancestors and ancestors, but if you want to defend Lingzhou, you can't do it without a population!" ”

"The manager wants it?" Yang understood what Chen Ying meant: "The chief manager wants to turn Hu into a man?" ”

"That's not the case!" Chen Ying shook his head and said: "We Chinese people are the most advantageous people in the world, whether it is a desert, the Gobi or the grassland, as long as there is land, we can take root and survive." Lingzhou is fertile for thousands of miles, irrigation is convenient, if the wasteland is cleared, hundreds of thousands of fertile fields can be cultivated. Only Youtian is in hand, and there is no worry that the people in the interior will not move to Lingzhou. As long as there is food and people, what is there to be afraid of the mere Turks? ”

Yang said with a bitter face: "But in this weather right now, there is no famine!" ”

"Of course it's not that urgent, what we need to do now is to wipe out the stragglers around Lingzhou and restore order!" Chen Yingdao: "When the spring of next year begins, we will use these captives to reclaim the wasteland." ”

Since Lingzhou City was surrounded, the government decree could not leave Lingzhou City. Not to mention that Lingzhou has six counties under its jurisdiction: Huile, Hongjing, Huaiyuan, Lingwu, Mingsha and Feng'an.

Now Huaiyuan has become the residence of Shibi Khan's royal tent, not to mention that Chen Ying only has more than 4,000 troops in his hands, even if he gives him 40,000 soldiers and horses, he has no ability to recover Huaiyuan.

It is said that Chen Ying is only the head of the march, not the head of Lingzhou, and it is the duty of the head of Lingzhou to clear the place and restore public order. However, Chen Ying did not want to return to Chang'an City for the time being. For Chen Ying, the open guns from the Turks are far more difficult to defend against than the hidden arrows from Chang'an City.

Although Guo Zihe, the governor of Lingzhou, was unable to see things due to injury, Yang exercised the power of the governor of Lingzhou in order. He has no soldiers and no generals, and he is also powerless to deal with those scattered Turkic routs or local bandits.

The burden of clearing the Turkic stragglers was not light, and the troops in Chen Ying's hands were too small. Fortunately, due to the siege of Lingzhou, it was really broken, and no Turkic troops were found around Lingzhou, and the Turks were captured, and the people of Lingzhou also cheered to their heart's content.

Late at night, the entire Lingzhou had no intention of settling down. Firecrackers rang out from time to time throughout the city, and the firecrackers of this era were not the kind of form in later generations. Instead, the bamboo is sawn open, saltpeter is stuffed in the middle, and it is thrown into the brazier to burn, which will make a banging sound.

It was only at this time that Chen Ying remembered that today was actually the last day of the first year of Wude. Wearing armor, Chen Ying and Ryazan inspected the military camp, and at this time, whether it was a soldier or a prisoner, the people's hearts were quite stable.

The wounded soldiers or dead horses captured from the battlefield, Chen Ying divided the horse meat, the ordinary people of Lingzhou were ten catties each, and those who were injured in guarding Lingzhou were divided into twenty catties, and those who died in the battle to defend the city will be divided into two sheep.

There is no way, the seizures on the battlefield, Chen Ying can't be alone, and must be handed over to the staff department of the imperial military department to inspect the military merits, so within the scope of his authority, it is still possible to use a little tricks.

At this time, the lights of Lingzhou were bright, and Chen Ying looked at the people in the city cheering with great interest. Looking at the happy smiles on the faces of the soldiers and civilians, Chen Ying felt a sense of accomplishment.

However, just as Chen Ying walked to the door of the street, there were no lights at all, and it was extremely conspicuous in the celebration season of the city. Faintly, Chen Ying also heard a choked voice from the house.

"Could it be that the government embezzled the horse meat he had rewarded? This family has no firewood to burn and no meat to eat? ”

Chen Ying, who is a man of two lives, hates corrupt officials very much, and in his previous life, he had no official position and was helpless. At this time, he could take the Shang Fang Sword that Li Jiancheng invited for him, if it was really official corruption, he didn't mind letting this Chinese New Year's Eve have some blood.

"Call the door!"

Before Ryazan could call the door, the door suddenly opened from the inside, and in the hall sat an old man in tattered clothes, whose ravine-ravine face looked more like a piece of dead bark because of his bitterness.

Chen Ying leaned over and asked, "Dare to ask the old man, Lingzhou doesn't send horse meat, why are you still worried at home?" ”