January in 394 A.D. was a mixed blessing for Tuoba.

Since Wei Yan broke off the alliance, he was worried day and night, for fear that Murong Chui would send troops to conquer him desperately.

It wasn't until he heard the news that Hou Yan was going south in a big way that he was relieved, but when he saw that Murong Chui's southern expedition was going well, he couldn't help but be worried.

Since Murong Chui sent his troops, he has successfully captured Yanqing and Yanqing, accommodating a large number of people and land, which has greatly increased the strength of Houyan.

Even Tuoba Jue scolded when he learned that the defenders of the Eastern Jin Dynasty were about to collapse at the first touch, saying that the soldiers of Beifu were in vain.

In order to help alleviate the pressure on the Eastern Jin Dynasty, he also risked a conflict with Hou Yan and ordered the Wei army to launch a provocation on the border between the two countries.

Unfortunately, none of this could slow down Murong Chui's southward encroachment on land and plundering the population.

Just as Tuoba Jue was thinking about whether to strike first, the news of the setback of the Houyan army finally came from the south.

Knowing that Houyan had lost tens of thousands of soldiers and horses, Tuoba Jue was overjoyed, and at the same time had a premonition that the opportunity to cut down Yan was ripe.

However, Tuoba Jue also knew in his heart that Houyan was not an enemy of the Northern Wei Dynasty.

At this time, he remembered Wei Shuo and Murong Yong, so he sent two envoys to Hexi and Xiyan respectively.

……

When Murong Chui was busy with the southern expedition, Wei Shuo did not rush to expand outward, but completed the reorganization of the Xiang army.

In the past, the largest unit of the Xiang army was the Xiang, with a total of 3,000 people in each box, and the chief officer was the commander, stationed in different local camps.

Once the war broke out, after receiving the order from the general's office, the commanders immediately assembled at the front and were subject to the control of the governor.

The conquest of the Governor was a temporary position, and only in wartime would he appoint someone to the post of Metropolitan Guard.

For example, when the previous conquest of Longyou, Wang Maide and Li Wei were respectively appointed as governors of the conquest and were responsible for the command of the war on the one hand.

As soon as the war ended, the general's office would immediately cancel the appointment of the governor of the army, thus removing the relevant generals from commanding the army.

In the past, Hexi was weak, and the enemies encountered were not particularly strong, and almost no battles of more than 100,000 people were organized.

The scale of the war is small, and the battle can be dealt with calmly.

But now, as Hexi grows stronger, the scale of the war that breaks out in the future is also increasing.

Professional soldiers can sometimes seem inadequate.

Therefore, after careful consideration, on the occasion of the reorganization of the army, Wei Shuo proposed to set up a town-level unit above the box to control it with the general army.

Each town has three compartments under its jurisdiction, plus other auxiliary forces, there are almost nearly 10,000 people.

In this way, even if it encounters superior forces, the 10,000 Hexi Army will have the strength to fight.

Just after the New Year, Wei Shuo issued a new military order in the name of General Zhenxi, appointing Du Jin, Li Wei, Duan Ye, Jiang Fei, Fuqu Nancheng, Wang Zhongde and other six people as the general army.

In addition, Liu Muzhi, Wang Zhenwei, Wang Maide, Qi Gan Ali, Bald Wei Tan, Jiang Ji, Tan Daoji, Gao Jinzhi, Xue Tong, Huan Zhen, Sima Xiuzhi, Kuai En and other generals have also been promoted and rewarded.

All this happened after the reorganization of the army, which greatly stabilized the morale of the Hexi Army and boosted the morale of the whole army.

The chaotic situation caused by the dismissal of unqualified generals gradually calmed down, and the cohesion of the Hexi Army was strengthened again.

……

The time soon came to the middle of February, and at this time Wei Shuo had quietly arrived in Shuozhou Dailai City.

"Bo Yuan, you and I haven't seen each other for nearly three years."

"Bo Yuan has been sitting in Shuofang for many years, and he has really worked hard."

Seeing Cui Hao again, Wei Shuo couldn't help but sigh. In the blink of an eye, nearly three years have passed since the last trip to Shuozhou, and Cui Hao has been pacifying Shuozhou for several years.

Under Cui Hao's governance, Shuozhou's economy has recovered, and the local Hulu have gradually recognized their new identity.

"This is just the duty of the minister, and it should not be praised so highly by the lord."

"Noise! When it is not clear? ”

Saying that, Wei Shuo pulled Cui Hao into the Assassin's Mansion, and Wang Zhenwei, Liu Muzhi, Wang Maide and others would follow.

When everyone sat down, Wei Shuo pointed to Kou Zan and Wang Zhongde.

"Fengguo, Zhongde, you two first introduce the situation in Xihe County."

"No!" Kou Zan and Wang Zhongde got up and looked at each other, and decided to report on government affairs first, and then report on military affairs.

"Since the arrival of the minister in Xihe County, after General Wang exterminated Hu Zheng, he immediately summoned the people of the four counties of Xihe County to reclaim the wasteland, and according to the regulations, no field tax will be levied for the first three years of newly cultivated fields, and the field tax will be paid on the principle of 15 taxes after three years."

"As soon as this order was issued, it was immediately welcomed by the people of Xihe, and even refugees from Xiyan in the east fled over."

"You didn't send the refugees back, did you?"

"How is that possible?" Kouzan said with surprise on his face.

"Murong Yong sent someone over to question him, but the ministers all prevaricated on the grounds that the people came voluntarily and were not forcible reasons."

"Well, that's good! You must all remember that the benefits of hand, how can there be a reason to send them out? ”

"Kou Taishou, you blatantly took in the Xiyan exiles, how can Murong Yong give up?"

"Back to the right Sima, hehe, no matter how unhappy Murong Yong is, he has to weigh the consequences of offending Hexi."

"Not to mention that there is still General Wang Bing, and his soldiers and horses are not vegetarians."

"When the minister first arrived in Xihe, the territory was all divided by the Hulu regime, and it was all brought down by Wang Zongbing with a knife and a gun."

"These are all military affairs, and it is better for the ministers to act on their behalf, so it is more appropriate to be introduced by General Wang Bing."

"My lord, the reason why Xiyan ceded Xihe to Hexi at that time was not only because of his request, but also because Xihe County had long been occupied by the Hu people of various tribes, and Xiyan also had nominal jurisdiction."

"It wasn't until the ministers swept away with the thunder of the army that the situation of Hu Lu seizing the West River ended."

"Subsequently, the last general commanded the three boxes and horses to enter Xihe, supervise and supervise the integration of the Hu people in various departments, and set up governments in the four counties."

"When the county guard completed the dictation of the field, the minister also selected 3,000 elites from the Hulu, and mixed them with some of the government soldiers, and established five Zhechong mansions in Xihe."

"The rest of those who were eliminated were given land by the county guard and returned to the people."

After listening to Kou Zan and Wang Zhongde's introduction, Wei Shuo nodded with satisfaction. The West River is the bridgehead that extends west of the river to the state, and only by operating the bridgehead can it expand to the inland of the state in the future.

"Well, very good, you two have done a good job, if you recover the state in the future, I will give you a great credit."

As soon as Wei Shuo's words fell, he saw Kang Long hurriedly walk in and report loudly: "Yu Dadu protect, the envoy of the Northern Wei Dynasty asks to see you." ”

When everyone in the room heard the four words of the Northern Wei envoy, they were all shocked, and looked at Wei Shuo excitedly.

Wei Shuo is no exception, he knows very well that at this time, Tuoba Jue sent people over, and nine times out of ten he wanted to unite with Hexi to send troops to Hebei.

Thinking that his plan was about to be realized, Wei Shuo's whole body trembled with excitement.

As early as before coming to Shuozhou, almost at the same time as Tuoba, Wei Shuo also received the news that the Houyan army was defeated in Xuzhou.

He soon realized that the situation in the north would change dramatically as a result.

After pondering for a long time, Wei Shuo calmed down and ordered, "Bring the messenger over!" ”

Kang Long turned to leave, and soon brought back a bearded man with a high nose and deep eyes. The Hu man looked quite strong, and as soon as his eyes swept through the hall, he immediately noticed Wei Shuo.

He hurriedly walked a few steps, stepped forward and bowed and saluted: "Meet Dadu Hu, who is the envoy of King Wei." ”

As he spoke, he took out a gift slip from his bosom and respectfully raised his hands above his head.

Cui Hao stepped forward to take it and forwarded it to Wei Shuo

Wei Shuo opened it and looked at it, only to see that the gift list said ten BMWs, 1,000 cattle and sheep, and 20 female slaves in high cars.

The gifts are abundant, and many of them are rare things on the grassland, and they are generally worth a lot of money.

It seems that in order to unite the troops in Hexi, Tuoba really made a bloody investment.

"Hahaha, I didn't expect King Wei to be very generous, I don't know why King Wei sent you to bring a heavy gift?"

The envoy knelt on the ground and didn't dare to get up, but straightened up slightly, and said carefully to Wei Shuo: "The king of my family sent me here, in addition to greeting Dadu Hu, he also wanted to buy a batch of ordnance from Hexi, and in addition, he also urged Dadu Hu to keep his promise and send troops to conspire with Houyan. ”

"Ask me to send troops and conspire with Houyan?"

"Yes, the king specially wants to tell the Dadu Protector that when he defeats Houyan in the future, the two families will divide their land equally, of which Hebei Jizhou will belong to Hexi, and Youzhou and Liaodong will belong to Northern Wei."