Chapter 588: Meeting the Chief (Seeking votes and subscriptions)
The Han tribe is now short of salt. It is not that the reserves in the salt mine are insufficient, but the production capacity is relatively low. It can barely guarantee the consumption of the Han tribe, but there is not much stock. It is not easy to save some stocks, but it has to be used for trade in grasslands and other places. It is not possible not to trade, because the Han tribe needs to obtain more livestock.
Therefore, Luo Chong has always paid attention to new salt resources. In fact, there was news about a salt mine earlier, but Luo Chong did not have the energy to develop it at that time. That was a news revealed by the Yu tribe who came from the south to the north at the beginning of the establishment of Ruyang County. They were in the south of the Han tribe because they lost the battle for the salt mine with another tribe, so they had to go north.
This means that there is at least one salt mine in the south of Ruyang County, but according to the Yu tribe, the salt mine has been occupied by someone. If the Han tribe wants it, they can only rob them.
At the beginning of the year, Luo Chong was busy expanding the tribe and building many new counties. A large number of people were needed for construction everywhere, and he could not spare time to deal with these people.
But now it was different. With the newly recruited 4,000 troops in hand, it was time to fight for some resources for the Han tribe. Otherwise, it would be too costly to raise them with so much military pay but no return. The Han tribe was still very young, and Luo Chong could not afford so many things to compensate. Therefore, this army must make money. Whether it was resources or slaves, the Han tribe needed them all. As long as there was income, the military expenditure would not be wasted.
After the two checked the various samples brought back this time, Luo Chong supplemented the map with the help of You Fu, marking the waterways and resource points of this scout on the map, and then listened to You Fu's words.
"Chief, if you want to attack that barbarian tribe and wipe them out completely, it will be very difficult. This section of the river is very wide. If there are many boats, it will be convenient to transport troops. The terrain on the river beach is also very flat. If we prepare more small boats for beach landing, and thousands of people go ashore together, I guess the other side will not be able to stop us.
But when the other side sees so many of us and that we are better equipped than them, they may be scared away by us. We will all go there by boat without vehicles and horses. If they insist on running, how can we chase them? Moreover, the other side has the advantage of being familiar with the terrain, and they may set up some ambushes for us. I am afraid we will lose this battle.
Of course, what I mean is that we may not be able to wipe them out completely, and there will be some fish that slip through the net, but our casualties will definitely be limited. With their weapons, the damage they can cause to our fully armed soldiers is very limited."
You Fu analyzed the possible battle situation and reminded Luo Chong. Finally, he was afraid that Luo Chong would not want to hear the word "defeat", so he changed to a better-sounding way of saying it.
"Oh, that's not how you fight a war. Who told you that we have to use the tactics of flat push just because we have more people? I recruited 4,000 soldiers with the purpose of surrounding them and fighting them. Now you want me to carry out a cluster charge and land on the beach?
Let's not talk about whether the enemy will run away. First of all, you can calculate for me. Even if a landing craft carries 40 soldiers, how many boats do I need to land 4,000 soldiers at the same time? At least 100 landing crafts. Where can we get them? Isn't it costly to build so many boats?
Even if we have so many landing crafts, tell me, how many landing crafts do we need to land on the beach with 100 landing crafts? For a large landing area, if one ship occupies eight meters, the landing line of one hundred ships will be eight hundred meters long. How can you ensure command and coordination? What if there is an accident during the process? What if there is a collision? What if the ship capsizes? Can you guarantee that there will be no mistakes?
And as you said, what if the enemy sees hundreds of ships landing together and they are scared away? Then all our preparations will be wasted. "
After hearing what the leader said, You Fu suddenly felt a headache, and then he realized that he was not the material to lead troops in battle. He had never even thought about the problems mentioned by the leader.
Luo Chong did not mean to blame You Fu, but patted his shoulder to comfort him.
"I know you have fought on the grassland with cavalry, but there were only a few dozen or hundreds of people. If you stand in the middle and shout, everyone can hear you. But fighting with thousands of people is not played like this. This is not your strong point. Just play to your strengths. This battle definitely needs your help. Don't worry."
"But, since the leader said that beach landing is not possible, how should we fight this time? Can we reduce our casualties and wipe out the enemy's tribe?" You Fu asked with some worry. He originally thought that his tribe had more people and must have an advantage, but now after hearing what the leader said, the more he thought about it, the more he felt unsure.
"It's not difficult. Fighting requires tactics. Since we know that the enemy will flee when they see our army, we just need to cut off their retreat in advance. Don't worry, I know what I am doing and I will not let anyone escape."
Luo Chong made a confident guarantee again. You Fu had no choice. He could only believe it even if the leader didn't say it. Anyway, the leader was so powerful, so he naturally had a way.
"Who is the leader going to let lead the troops this time?" You Fu thought for a moment and asked again.
"I plan to divide these 4,000 people into two guards, led by Ying Rui and Xue Tu respectively. I will command them in wartime. After the battle, I will let them station separately. One team will go to the grassland to preside over the construction of the new city, and I have other tasks for the other team.
There is no one in our Han tribe who can command a battle of thousands of people except me, and they don't know how to command. There is nothing we can do." Luo Chong said helplessly.
"Leader, I have commanded battles on the grassland before, why don't you let me lead the troops?" You Fu suddenly volunteered.
"You, forget it. Just now when I tested you on how to fight this time, you couldn't even give me a clear answer. How can I trust you to put the lives of thousands of soldiers in your hands?
Besides, every time you go out to explore new routes and find more useful resources for the tribe, it's already a great achievement. You're still trying to take the credit for leading the troops. You should leave some opportunities for others to improve. You're still competing with others for this credit. I don't know how many people are jealous of your mission. They think that exploring new areas is very easy. They just need to take a boat and come back safely, and the credit will be in their hands."
Luo Chong pointed at You Fu and beat him. You have made all the credit for the Han tribe. How can you let others live?
You Fu felt wronged when he heard these heartbreaking words. He immediately knelt down at Luo Chong's feet and couldn't help crying and defending himself.
"Chief, you can't believe their lies. I have no intention of stealing credit. It has always been the chief who taught me to go east, and I dare not go west.
Besides, opening up new territories and getting along with those barbarians who don't speak human language is not only risky, but also requires the determination to die in a foreign land. We should ask those barbarians about the local customs and geographical resources. If we find something that our Han tribe needs, we should find ways to gain benefits for our tribe.
How could they say such murderous words, saying that I was seeking merit and that it was easy to open up new areas and waterways? Couldn't they see the corpses of their compatriots in the jars? They all sacrificed their lives to open up new areas.
I don't know who is slandering me and my soldiers. Please tell me the name of that person, and Youfu will go and find that guy to argue with him. "
Youfu cried and snotted at Luo Chong's feet, which made people feel sad and moved. In fact, no one would say that. Even if someone really thought so, they probably wouldn't have the courage to say it. Luo Chong's words were basically made up by himself. First, it was to warn Youfu not to think that he would start to show off his achievements this time and even want to get involved in the army. Second, it was to prevent the clan leaders below from forming cliques for personal gain. Luo Chong was creating conflicts for them. Only when the people below fought, could he, as a leader, stabilize his position.
This may be a bit exaggerated. After all, as a founding leader, Luo Chong's prestige and courage can naturally suppress the people below, but it is not a bad thing to cause them a little trouble.
"Okay, okay, get up. I know your contributions. How can I not know them even if others don't know them? You don't have to care about these rumors. As the saying goes, a man of integrity is not afraid of his own shadow. With these good things you brought back, what can others say? When they eat the grains you brought back, they will naturally appreciate your contributions."
Luo Chong stretched out his hand to pull You Fu up, and kept comforting him.
When You Fu stood up, he still looked indignant.
"Well, you are so old, but you are still so petty. What does it matter what others say? The people can see whether you have made any contributions. I can see it too. What are you afraid of?
When we meet the leader of the Jiang family tomorrow, we will count the contributions of the soldiers in the fleet. Those who died will be given preferential pensions. They will receive the same treatment as the martyrs. When the time comes, we will notify their families to go to the local government office to receive funeral expenses and martyr subsidies. We must let the people know that as long as they sacrifice for the sake of the tribe, even if they die, the tribe will help them raise their children until they reach adulthood."
"Yes, thank you for your care, the soldiers will definitely be grateful for your kindness." You Fu bowed again to express his gratitude.
After You Fu excused himself and returned home, Luo Chong sat in front of the map again to make overall plans for the next stage of development of the Han tribe. If nothing unexpected happens, the total population of the Han tribe will exceed 100,000 by the beginning of next spring. By then, how to build the new grassland city, where to immigrate, what to do, and how to design the city are all very important.
When the new city on the grassland has established a firm foothold, it will not only continue to import livestock to the Han tribe, but also become a forward base for intervening in the Xin tribe. It is too far from the Han tribe to the Xin tribe, and it is extremely troublesome to exchange information.
Luo Chong thought about it until midnight, and then he went home by himself.
The next morning, a melodious bell rang in the city. Hong Fu and You Fu took Jiang Xuan and Jiang Yong, two senior officials of the Jiang family, and followed the flow of people going to school to the top floor of the official building in Hanyang City to meet the leader.
Poor Luo Chong, the leader of a large tribe, didn't even have an independent office space for himself. Alas, Hanyang City was built too small at the beginning.
Just as Luo Chong was sitting on the top floor and lamenting that his place was too small, Jiang Xuan also looked around with curiosity and followed You Fu into the official building.
However, what surprised him was that Luo Chong, as the leader of the Han tribe, actually lived in a city that was not as big as the Liuyang County he had seen yesterday, and was even smaller than the size of Sitong County. However, Hanyang City was the only one of the three settlements he had seen that had walls built with blue bricks. Although the other cities were relatively large, their walls were all made of rammed earth.
Another difference from other places was that the manufacturing sector in Hanyang City was relatively concentrated.
In fact, it was impossible not to be concentrated. After all, the entire city was only
nine neatly arranged districts. The most attractive ones were the workshops. Two giant chimneys came out of the tall roof, and no one knew what was going on inside. Several windmills like sails protruded from the walls outside the wood workshop and the oil mill, contributing to the production of the Han tribe without sleep.
However, Jiang Xuan did not have the qualification to enter the site for a visit, so he could only look at those huge things outside and guess alone.
In fact, these were not what he envied the most. What made Jiang Xuan jealous was that there were so many children in the Han tribe who could do nothing but go to school.
What a concept, this meant that there were more children in the Han tribe who could read and write than the total population of the Jiang clan, and the Han tribe had already systematized and promoted the inheritance of this culture to the whole people. A tribe that could do this, even if it did not grow now, would surely soar to the sky in the future.
This was the accumulation of a civilization, and the so-called accumulation of strength and sudden development was nothing more than this.
A sound of footsteps came to the fifth floor of the Hanyang County Office, followed by the sound of a clerk singing an announcement.
"The Junior Secretary of the Honglu Temple, the head of the pioneer group, and the leader of the Jiang clan came to see the emperor--"
This was the first time Jiang Xuan had heard of such a summons, and he seemed a little confused, but he did not dislike it. Instead, he liked the etiquette and rules of the Han tribe very much. A super-large tribe with such complete etiquette was the holy land that Jiang Xuan yearned for the most.
"Come in," a dignified and slightly youthful voice came from the red lattice wooden door covered with white paper.
The clerk immediately opened the door and welcomed You Fu and his group in. It was only then that the leader of the Han tribe, whom Jiang Xuan had been waiting for for more than two months, appeared in front of him.
Behind a large solid wood desk, sat a boy who looked only fifteen or sixteen years old. He was wearing a black robe with a black background and red edges, and a golden crown on his head. While he was looking at him, the boy was also looking at him.
However, Jiang Xuan felt an indescribable strangeness, because the wisdom and majesty revealed in the boy's eyes were completely inconsistent with his age, as if a soul that had experienced vicissitudes of life lived in a young body.
"Cough," Hong Fu, the Shaoqing of the Honglu Temple next to him, suddenly coughed in a low voice, and Jiang Xuan remembered what the official of the Han tribe said when he received him last night.
Jiang Xuan immediately stepped forward a few steps to the center of the hall, folded his hands in front of him, and bowed.
"The leader of the Jiang clan, Xuan, is here to meet the leader of the Han tribe."
(End of this chapter)
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