On a school field in the north of Guangling City, the sergeants were drilling.

This is the Huaixi Army transferred from Anhui City, which is about to go north to the East China Sea to exchange the Lujiang Army under Huo Du's account.

Next to the Huaixi Army, there are 5,000 Danyang recruits who are training.

In the past, there were vacancies in the conquests of the various armies in the Jianghuai River, and they were often supplemented through multiple channels. For example, recruit brave and strong men from the Jianghuai and Jiangzuo people to join the army, or draw brave warriors from the captives to supplement, or recruit soldiers and horses from the county soldiers to complete the establishment to complete the number of troops.

In case of emergency, Jiangzuo's soldiers and horses will benefit Jiangbei, and there will be 50,000 or 60,000 soldiers in seven days. With the approval of Wuhan, the Jianghuai army could reach 100,000 in more than a month, which was enough to deal with the southern expedition of the Northern Wei Dynasty.

Since Huo Jun asked for more troops in Jianghuai, in order to meet Huo Jun's needs, Liu Bei transferred troops from Jiangzuo, and more than 10,000 troops arrived in Jianghuai in batches last year.

However, due to the uneven quality of the troops, Huo Jun was worried that sending them to the front line in a hurry might ruin the side matter. Therefore, these soldiers and horses were arranged in Guangling first, and Ding Feng was responsible for training.

"Zitong, do you think Danyang's new pawn is available?"

Huo Jun took the white whip and pointed at the Danyang soldiers who were practicing the formation, and asked.

Jiang Ji took a closer look and said: "Danyang Mountain is dangerous, the people are fruitful, good at martial arts, noble strength, can be described as Jianghuai soldiers." After a long period of practice, he is skilled and can be on his own. ”

Huo Jun smiled and said, "Although the Danyang soldiers are good at martial arts, they have a drawback. The disadvantage is scattered, and the defeat is like a bird's flight. If this trend is not cured, it will be difficult to shoulder the great responsibility in the future. Let Cheng Yuan practice well, and it won't be long before he can be called an elite soldier. ”

As he spoke, Huo Jun pointed to the Huaixi Army that was about to go north not far away, and said with a smile: "Having said that, 30,000 Jianghuai disciples should be the foundation of my Han Gongbian." Build a house and a field, in order to tie its ambition, have a wife's flesh and blood, and strengthen its heart, its body will not die, and its fighting spirit will not stop. ”

"Although Jiangzuo's soldiers and horses are fine, his wife and children's family are small in the south of the Yangtze River, and even if the army is defeated, he can protect his homeland. Therefore, its ambition is not as good as that of the Huai soldiers, and it is not the enemy of the northern soldiers. If you win, you will advance, and if you lose, you will retreat, and there will be no heart to fight to the death. The reason why I can dominate China is because of the children of Jianghuai. ”

At the end of the Han Dynasty, the people of Danyang were repeatedly recruited as soldiers because of their good martial arts, and their name as elite soldiers can be said to be beyond doubt.

But in Huo Jun's eyes, good martial arts practice is in turn the defect of Danyang soldiers. It's not because it's too good to fight, but because it's too good to fight, which leads to frequent requisition. There are many battles, and even when charging, there are scruples. If the war is unfavorable, the army will be defeated and leave.

In the early days when Huo Jun went down to Jiangdong, the generals scrambled to select Danyang soldiers from among the captives, but Huo Jun deliberately did not choose Danyang soldiers, except for the diligent and honest people, he chose the Huai people who fled to Jiangzuo as soldiers.

Needless to say, the quality of the Huai soldiers from ancient times to the present, in order to strengthen their belief in sticking to the battle, Huo Jun even moved to Jiangbei one after another after governing the Huai.

The brutality of the Wei soldiers was often instilled in the soldiers and horses under their tent, and once they were defeated, their families would inevitably be slaughtered by the Wei soldiers. Therefore, when fighting with Cao Wei, the Huai soldiers fought bravely, and it was inevitable that the Wei soldiers would be defeated.

The most typical is that the Jin Dynasty destroyed Wuzhong, Zhang Yi crossed the river to Huainan, and fought against the Jianghuai soldiers led by Zhou Jun, the assassin of Jinyangzhou.

During the battle, Shen Ying, the Taishou of Danyang, led 5,000 Danyang Ruishi as the front, and rushed into the Jin army formation three times. The Jin formation showed no signs of wavering under the charge of the Danyang soldiers, and then the Danyang soldiers rioted in the process of retreating, and then were defeated by the Wei army.

Danyang soldiers are like the epitome of Jiang Zuo, there is no pressure to bully ordinary soldiers, once they encounter a tough battle, they can only lose the fate of defeat.

Jiang Ji thought so deeply and said: "Jianghuai is the key point between the north and the south, not only to operate boats, but also to learn to ride on foot, especially good at bows and crossbows. In the midst of the chaos, the clans protected each other, and they formed a team to defend themselves against foreign invaders. ”

"Danyang soldiers live in the south of the Yangtze River, operate boats, fight in the water, with the courage of blood, advance if you win, and retreat if you don't win. If Shezhou fought with the northerners, the two armies converged, and the army formation was solemn. The battle is not broken, there are rangers peeping, the blood and qi are dissipating, and the military formation is chaotic! ”

After a pause, Jiang Ji smiled and said: "No matter what, the soldiers follow the generals, the cowardice will be fearful, and the brave will be the heroes." For example, Yuan Shu lived in Jianghuai, and had the benefits of Xu Huai and Jiangzuo, but because he did not cultivate virtue and politics, he was eventually defeated, and his generals scattered and left, or Cao Cao in the north, or Sun in the south, or lived in the countryside to protect himself. ”

Huo Jun put his hands behind his waist and said with a smile: "The king is the heart of the minister, and he will be the courage of the soldiers." The upper one is not smooth, and the lower one is uneasy. Today's situation, the north and the south are divided, because the battle between the north and the south is different, the Wu soldiers have more than enough to defend Huai, and they are unable to fight with Wei. ”

"If you want to cross the river and fight with the northerners, you need to rely on the Huai soldiers. The Huai soldiers are positive, and the Wu soldiers are supplemented, or they may be able to compete with the northerners and sweep the Central Plains. ”

After watching the training for a long time, while the soldiers were resting, Huo Jun came to the Danyang army under the escort of his own soldiers.

"Where are you coming from Danyang?"

Huo Jun grabbed a rather bold sergeant and asked.

The sergeant was a little excited, and replied loudly: "Back to the governor, I am from Xuancheng!" ”

"Is there a good family to settle into?"

"Settled down, with younger siblings to take care of at home?"

"Have you married a wife?"

"No~"

The sergeant said with a blushing face.

Huo Jun patted the sergeant's shoulder and said with a smile: "Xu Huai is a beauty, he has made military achievements, and the governor will be the matchmaker for you." ”

"No!"

Sergeants left and right Danyang laughed.

In the early years, in order to take root in Jianghuai, Huo Jun encouraged the army generals to accept Huai women as wives. With Liu Bei's reliance on the Huaisi people to govern the country, and the status of the generals rose.

Therefore, I don't know when the Southern Han Dynasty gradually formed a custom, and Huai women were very popular in the marriage market.

Today, Huo Jun encouraged the sergeant to marry a Xu Huai woman, which can be regarded as words of encouragement.

Huo Jun laughed with everyone and said: "Jianghuai is not as good as Danyang, fighting with the northerners is not as good as fighting with the villagers." Now that you have joined the army, you should strictly abide by military discipline and train weekdays to reduce bloodshed. ”

"Don't worry, the governor will go into battle every day and be the head of the thief."

"Ambitious!"

Although the Danyang soldiers are not good at fighting hard, they are at least usable soldiers, and it is a good thing to be able to share the pressure for Jianghuai today.

Since Xiahou Shang was transferred to Qingxu, echoing Cao Xiu in Huaixi, the pressure on Jianghuai suddenly increased. And Xiahou is not an incompetent person, he is a relatively outstanding second-generation general. As soon as Xiahou Shang succeeded him, he set out to solve the problem of attacking the Qingzhou seashore.

Last month, Guan Cheng attacked the Donglai seashore, but fell into the trap of Xiahou Shang and fled, only leading hundreds of people to flee to the island. Before the arrival of Yuzhou reinforcements, Xiahou Shang took advantage of the night to advance and raided the island stronghold, and Guan Cheng defeated Yuzhou Island overnight.

During the battle, 3 or 4,000 people were killed or wounded, and the strongholds on the island were uprooted. After learning about it, Huo Jun gave up the strategy of attacking the seashore.

"Governor, the second son will meet you on the return trip."

At this time, Huo Xiong came over and said.

"Good!"

Huo Yi took Huo Jun's letter and visited Buqi first. Then when he was about to return to the Han Dynasty, he passed through Guangling and met Huo Jun.

Under the shade of the tree, Huo Jun sat on the chair and asked, "What is my uncle's reaction after seeing the letter?" ”

Huo Yi replied: "Father, when Yi visited his uncle, when he talked about this matter, his words and deeds were as usual. After reading the letter, he said that his father was reassured that he should know the importance of official affairs. According to the changes before and after, my uncle seems to have let go of this matter. ”

Huo Jun smiled and said, "I'm afraid it's not necessarily, your uncle's mood is invisible, and it is often difficult for outsiders to know what he thinks." Having said that, it is a good thing to be able to understand public and private matters. If you want to solve your uncle's knot, I'm afraid I will need a letter from the former general. ”

After a pause, Huo Jun asked, "How is Uncle Ling doing?" ”

Huo Yi pondered a little and said: "Uncle has been busy retrieving hidden households recently, working hard for the Danyang people's uprising, Tao Liang of the Danyang clan hid thousands of people, and was observed by the officials, leading the clan to resist and a few Wanling. He was defeated by the Danyang Commander and led his troops to flee into the mountains. ”

Later, he led his troops out of the mountains to attack the people, but was beheaded by the eldest brother and captured his people. The uncle took people to cook, and only the crimes of Tao Liang and his family were treated, and his people were exempted from the death penalty. ”

The Tao family belongs to a big family in Danyang, and Tao Qian is a Danyang person. When Liu Bei ruled Danyang County, by virtue of his relationship with Tao Qian, he had a decent relationship with the Tao family, and he recruited his children to serve as officials. For example, Tao Ji served as Jiuzhen Taishou in Jiaozhou.

But Tao Liang and Tao Ji are not of the same race, and the two Tao live in two counties. Tao Qian and Tao Ji are located in Moling Tao, Tao Liang is Wanling Tao. Today, Tao Liang rebelled, and Moling Tao handed over the hidden household registration, which can only be said to have the same surname and different lives.

"Danyang folk style jumped, it is not surprising that there is such a thing. Around Danyang, there are soldiers and soldiers stationed there, even if there is a rebellion, it will not hurt the overall situation. Today's population retrieval is not chaotic in Wu and Huiji counties, and Jiangzuo is no hindrance! Huo Jun said.

Retrieving the population of the great clan is really a difficult errand to do. It is normal for there to be a civil uprising in Danyang.

The two counties of Wu and Huiji are the places where the Dashi people are entrenched, as long as the two counties do not change significantly, Yangzhou can basically be said to be successful in retrieving the population. After all, the battle between foot and land is, in the final analysis, a struggle caused by the search for the hidden population of Wu County.

"Wu County was the first to be searched, and according to my uncle, in addition to the military registration department, there were more than 25,000 hidden households in one county." Huo Yi said: "Uncle Jin will be stationed in Huiji to retrieve the hidden households in the county. ”

"It's not easy to step into Yangzhou!"

Jiang Ji sighed when he heard this.

Huo Jun touched his mustache and said: "Huiji Fu is like Wu County, and now Wu County can be separated from the household registration, and there should be no big chaos in Huiji." Jing and Yang are big states, and the big things in Jinzi Mountain will be completed, and Gu Yuan sighed at Jingzhou. ”

Huo Yi took out the letter from his arms, presented it and said, "Father, this prince received a new letter yesterday, and he asked him to hand it over to his father on behalf of his son." ”

"What?"

Huo Jun stared at the letter and asked curiously.

"The prince ruled the history books, and when he saw the affairs of the soldiers, he had a little doubt, so he wrote to ask him." Huo Yi said,

Huo Yi and Liu Chan grew up since childhood, and the two went out in the same car, ate together, and had a deep relationship. Now, under Liu Bei's control, he married a sister and had a brother-in-law relationship, and the two became closer and closer.

Liu Chan is good friends with many officials, but he can really count his cronies, only Zhuge Qiao, Huo Yi, Zhang Shao and others.

Huo Jun opened the letter and smiled when he saw Liu Chan asking about the Battle of Changping.

"Boxian, draw a picture for my father tonight. After returning to Beijing, you will hand it over to the crown prince. ”

Huo Yi asked: "Father, my son is about to return to Beijing tomorrow, I don't know if there is any more advice?" ”

After pondering for a long time, Huo Jun said: "There is no major event in Jianghuai, the people are cultivating in an orderly manner, and your Majesty is at ease." As for the contradiction between my uncle and the former general, and wait for the letter from the former general, the two may be able to dispel their grievances, and just tell your majesty the truth. ”

"No!"

(End of chapter)