Chapter 811 Policy and Entrapment (Two chapters in one)
Many local villagers came out of the bamboo house and gradually gathered behind the elder and his son. Everyone looked at the Han tribe soldiers in front of them and discussed in a low but intense voice.
"This envoy, if the Han tribe can really teach us how to grow rice, then we don't want any compensation. Even if it's rice seeds, we are willing to pay for it, as long as what you say is true." The elder said again very seriously. After he finished speaking, countless people behind him also looked at Xue Qingyao, the leader of the Han tribe.
"Of course. We in the Han tribe will definitely keep our promise. If we say we will provide rice seeds for free, we will definitely not let you spend a penny.
But speaking of money, I have something else to inform you. Our army has just arrived in your place, and the firewood, grass, and meat we need are huge. If you want to exchange some money for it, you can just send the firewood, grass, cattle, and sheep to our garrison camp. The garrison troops will definitely settle with you according to the market price, and we will definitely not let you down.
Also, after this battle, our Han tribe will not leave. If you have Han tribal currency in your hands, you can go to the markets in various places to trade with us at any time, and you can also use it when trading with each other. From now on, we will open up all commodity trading rights to all the people of Zhudao. As long as it is sold publicly by our Han tribe and the people of the Han tribe can buy it, you can also buy it."
As soon as these words came out, the local people started a heated discussion. You know, although the delegation had been selling some things before, the variety of goods was very scarce. Many things of the Han tribe were not open to their Zhudao. Even if they wanted to buy, they couldn't buy so many good things.
Everyone knows that the Han tribe is developed and has everything, but they can't get it. How can this not make people frustrated? But now, the Han tribe actually said that they would open up all commodity trading rights to them, which immediately made everyone's mind active.
"Excuse me, Chief, can we buy cars and boats?" The son of the elder asked first.
"Of course, as long as you can afford it, we will sell it, just like the people of our Han tribe." Xue Qingyao answered immediately.
"Then, if you beat Commander Xin away, will you sell us cattle and horses in the future? Without livestock, we can't farm." Another young man in the crowd asked.
"Hahaha, how could we be the same as Commander Xin? He has to exchange cattle and horses for you from the people of the grassland, and our Han tribe has three large counties on the grassland. The pastures with lush grass and water stretch as far as the eye can see. The cattle and horses we raise ourselves are enough for hundreds of thousands of people in the entire tribe. So it will be more convenient for you to buy cattle and horses from the Han tribe in the future.
Moreover, in our Han tribe, even if a family is poor and cannot afford cattle and horses, they can rent cattle and horses from the local government, and every family will never be delayed in farming."
Cultivating land, wearing clothes and eating are the top priorities of the people. Hearing that the Han tribe has such good conditions and such good policies to benefit the people, the people in the village became excited for a while. During the rule of the Xin tribe, they could not enjoy such benefits.
The people chattered for a while and asked Xue Qingyao some more details about the Han tribe's policies and commodity transactions. Xue Qingyao responded calmly. After this conversation and understanding, the Han tribe's favorability in the hearts of the local people increased greatly. They were no longer as afraid as at the beginning, and even had a faint expectation of the Han tribe, hoping that they could really defeat Commander Xin and end the Xin tribe's rule over Zhudao.
There was a constant chattering in the crowd, and from time to time someone was discussing with the people around them.
"It turned out that Commander Xin colluded with the grassland people to attack the Han tribe first, and killed so many people from the Han tribe. No wonder the Han tribe sent troops to fight him."
"Then the Han tribe said that, and you just believed it? Can't it be that the Han tribe deliberately found an excuse to cause trouble?" One person retorted in disbelief.
"You know nothing, are you blind or stupid? You can't see the facts right in front of you?
Let me ask you, this time Commander Xin sent the elders to collect grain, why did he let our village collect the grain and send it directly to the military camp on the North Mountain? Who are the people in the military camp? There are thousands of grassland people in it? The grassland people have two braids on both sides of their heads, which are different at a glance, can't you see? Isn't this the ironclad evidence that Commander Xin is colluding with the grassland people? If they didn't collude, why did the grassland people help Commander Xin fight?"
This series of questions immediately made the man who suspected the Han tribe speechless. He didn't know the truth of the matter, so how could he know why.
"And think about it, when did they take the grassland people to camp over there in the North Mountain? It must have been two or three months, and the Han tribe hadn't sent a large army at that time? In this case, why did Commander Xin and his men prepare there with a group of grassland people so early?" The man who refuted raised another doubt, and then continued to speculate without waiting for others to answer.
"It's because they are guilty, they attacked the Han tribe first, and they are afraid of revenge from the Han tribe, so they started to prepare early. Otherwise, how could they send people to fight with the Han tribe when the Han tribe just landed?"
After the man guessed, he looked at the people around him with a look of "so that's it, you are really powerful", and immediately became proud, as if his guess was the truth, and what he said was all the truth.
However, this statement can only fool ordinary people. People like the elders will obviously not be fooled.
The Han tribe said that it was Commander Xin who attacked them first, so the Han tribe came to take revenge. He couldn't comment on this because he didn't see the truth of the facts with his own eyes. It's really hard to say who is right and who is wrong.
But what does it have to do with them whether the Han tribe is right or wrong? The elders only know that the policies of the Han tribe are more beneficial to them, the currency of the Han tribe is more convenient to use, the Han tribe can give them better grain seeds and planting techniques, and the manufacturing industry of the Han tribe is more developed, which can bring them more abundant material conditions.
It was enough to know this, so even if the Han tribe made up an excuse, the elder decided to treat this excuse as true. It was more advantageous for the Han tribe to rule than the Xin tribe. Even a fool would know what to choose.
So when he heard the tribe members discussing the collusion between Commander Xin and the grassland people, he said nothing and let them discuss it, which just confirmed Commander Xin's guilt.
However, despite this, the elder had no intention of helping the Han tribe. The competition between the two forces of Han and Xin was not something a small village like them could get involved in. If the Han tribe won, it would be fine, then they would have some credit, but if the Han tribe lost, who knew whether Commander Xin would send people to retaliate against them.
Therefore, the old man could only bet on both sides and not help anyone. Anyway, he couldn't afford to offend either of the two major forces. Since the Han tribe wanted to dominate Zhudao, let them fight on their own, and see if the Han tribe had the strength to do so.
After thinking for a while, the elder made a decision and said,
"Don't blame me, our village is small and weak, so we can't help you. The Han army needs firewood, grass and meat, so we can send people to get them. We can sell them if we can, but we can't deliver them to the barracks ourselves. If the people on Commander Xin's side find out, they may attack our village, so we can only trouble you to work hard." As the elder said this, he also imitated the etiquette of the Han tribe and bowed to Xue Qingyao to apologize.
Xue Qingyao naturally knew what the old man was worried about. He cursed him in his heart, but smiled and said, "Old man, don't be polite. Look at what you said. We have disturbed your lives. If you are willing to sell firewood and meat to the Han army fairly, it will be a great help. How dare we expect to put you in danger? Don't worry, we will send someone to contact you first if you need anything, and then send someone to get it after we have discussed it. We will never cause you too much trouble." Xue Qingyao also bowed his hands in return and said.
"The long envoy is really righteous. Then I, an old man, would like to wish the Han army a quick revenge and victory."
"Yes, that day will come soon." Xue Qingyao smiled confidently again.
The conversation between the two sides went smoothly. Xue Qingyao bought several carts of corn stalks as firewood in the village, and bought more than ten goats, and then went to the next village.
After visiting several surrounding villages, the situation was similar to the previous one. Most of the local people believed the reasons of the Han tribe and the content of the public security notice. Of course, this was partly due to the good image created by the mission in the local area. On the other hand, it was a fact that Commander Xin had stationed a group of grassland people here to form an army, which they had no way to argue. Finally, the new policy temporarily announced by the Han army was very attractive to the local people, so they did not reject the arrival of the Han army, and even saw the fight between Han and Xin, which they were quite happy to see.
Xue Qingyao also successfully bought enough meat and firewood in the surrounding villages. On the way back to the camp with a group of soldiers and the caravan, Xue Qingyao also explained to the Sima officials of the other guards who were accompanying him.
"You are all newly promoted Sima, but you are also the elders of our Han tribe. You all know the military discipline and what to do and what not to do. I hope you all have a good idea of it.
Everyone has watched what happened today, and I believe you have all seen how we get along with the local people, so I won't say more. I will just give you one last reminder.
After the main force leaves, the local garrison Sima must manage the local political situation, appease the emotions of the local people, and enforce the discipline of the troops under his jurisdiction. Those who make mistakes, whether officers or soldiers, will be dealt with severely.
I don't want the reputation of the Han army to be ruined because of some people's own wanton behavior, which will lead to the local people being deserted by their relatives and friends, rising up in rebellion, and rebellion. The leader doesn't want to see this happen. If it really happens, you will have to clean your necks."
Several other Sima who have not been in office for long hurriedly bowed and said, "Please rest assured, Sima Xue, we will follow your teachings and will never let down the Sima and the leader's entrustment."
"Well, it's good that you all understand. This battle is a battle to expand the territory of our Han Dynasty. You will certainly not be left out if you do a good job. You are all political leaders of various troops. In addition, you have military merits and your future prospects are bright
. I hope you will work together to win this battle for the tribe and for yourselves, manage the local situation well, and pave the way for the leader's next move." "Yes, we will live up to the high expectations of the leader and the Sima." Several Simas bowed again.
Xue Qingyao smiled with satisfaction. He has taken over the position of Sima of the Huben Guard for more than half a year. He has also managed construction projects on various construction sites for a long time. He has already mastered the routine of giving a sweet date after a blow, and it has been tried and tested.
When the group returned to the army camp, all the troops and supplies that needed to land had been sent ashore. The army began to set up temporary camps and cook. Xue Tu had also immediately sent out all the scouts. According to the intelligence provided by the Jinwu Guards and the delegation, they began to focus on the defense deployment of the two frontline corps of the Xin tribe, as well as the various traps they set in the mountains and forests.
Until the evening when it was about to get dark, the scouts who went out finally returned and began to summarize the various intelligence they had discovered to the headquarters.
The soldiers of several guards also began to summarize various intelligence and marked them on maps and sand tables to facilitate the commander to analyze the battle situation.
"Reporting to the commander, the enemy has a total of 4,000 troops. In the battle with our army this morning, they lost more than 400 soldiers, leaving about 3,600. They are hiding in the camp on the top of Beishan Mountain along the coast. They have sufficient fresh water and food, only a small number of cavalry for communication, and no main cavalry. The rest are wearing bamboo armor and holding iron weapons, but the quality of their weapons is not comparable to ours."
"Reporting to the commander, we interrogated a piece of information from the captured prisoners of war. Someone said that they have prepared five hidden trails that can quietly lurk in our mission station and landing point from many places such as the strait, cliffs, jungles, and rivers. They are ready to sneak attack our logistics supplies and fleet after our main force leaves."
"Report to the commander-in-chief, we have found all the traps they set on the mountain with the surrendered prisoners. The traps have been cleared by the reconnaissance troops, and the army can launch an attack at any time."
Scouts sent intelligence to the headquarters of the central army tent one after another. Xue Tu also quickly analyzed the enemy's deployment and his own offensive methods, and how to achieve the greatest results.
It was not Xue Tu's goal to annihilate them all. He knew that Luo Chong liked prisoners who could work the most, so it was the right way to find a way to capture more prisoners, and in the process of capturing prisoners, he could not cause too much loss to his side.
Looking at the sand table in front of him, thinking and analyzing, Xue Tu had an idea, and soon a trapping plan appeared in his mind.
"Come on, call the four commanders of Feixiong Guard, Xiangjian Guard, Hailang Guard, and Baotao Guard. Xiaoqi Guard, let the war horses restore their combat capabilities as soon as possible. There is no mission for the time being. Other guards will wait for my arrangement." Xue Tu immediately ordered.
"Yes." The messenger responded and immediately ran out to call people.
(End of this chapter)
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