Chapter 887 Chapter 887, Recruiting Soldiers
After the Dragon Boat Festival, construction of Ganzhouwei’s second military stronghold began.
Xiao Yeyang kept the construction of the military town a secret from the garrison. Many of the garrison officials had other forces behind them, and he did not want to make it known before taking back Dan River.
He knew that many people in Ganzhou Guard did not obey him, but there was nothing he could do. Although he had the appointment letter from the Five Military Protectorates, his official position was too low.
Retaking Danhe will be his first step to gain a foothold in Xiliang.
"Why are you frowning again?"
Daohua walked into the study with a bowl of milk tea and saw Xiao Yeyang standing in front of the sand table with a frown on his face.
Xiao Yeyang took the milk tea from Daohua and drank it in a few sips: "Adding tea leaves to the milk has removed the fishy smell and it tastes much better."
Daohua smiled and said, "As long as you like it, it's good. Since you came to Xiliang, you've been busy all day long. If you keep doing this for a long time, even the strongest body won't be able to handle it. You should drink a bowl of milk every day from now on. It's good for your health."
Xiao Yeyang smiled and said, "I'll do as you say."
Daohua smiled and continued, "Do you remember those two black and white cows? Let me tell you, we were really lucky. The cow gave birth to a calf just a few days after we bought it, and then started producing milk. The milk tea you just drank was produced by that cow."
"This cow's milk production is amazing. It produces 60 to 70 kilograms of milk every day. Of course, it eats a lot too."
Xiao Yeyang was a little surprised: "So many?"
Daohua nodded and raised her eyebrows proudly: "My vision is not bad, right?"
Xiao Yeyang looked at Daohua dotingly and said, "Yes, you have the best taste. Otherwise, why would you like me?"
Daohua was amused, and Xiao Yeyang felt a lot more relaxed.
After chatting and laughing for a while, Daohua looked at the sand table and asked, "What were you worrying about just now?"
Xiao Yeyang's gaze fell back on the sand table and he sighed, "I'm worried about the horses and the soldiers." As he said that, he pulled Daohua towards the table and chairs next to him and sat down with her in his arms.
"Ganzhou Guard has about a thousand horses, the military camp has five hundred, plus the five hundred we bought from the Western Liao last time, so the entire Ganzhou Guard has only about two thousand horses."
"I want to build a cavalry of 5,000 men. After deducting the troops and the garrisons that need to be kept as reserves, I can only gather a team of 1,000 men at most. This is 4,000 fewer horses than I expected."
"Also, there aren't enough border troops."
"After Ganxuan Town is built, a group of troops will be left behind to garrison the military town. After the second military town is built, another group will be left behind to garrison. By then, there will be even fewer troops that can be mobilized."
Daohua pondered, "We're short of horses. If we think of a way, we can still get them. But we're short of soldiers."
The people are actually very resistant to joining the army, and few people will take the initiative to join the army. Generally, when there is a shortage of soldiers during a war, the court will forcibly conscript soldiers, but this method is not effective for Xiao Yeyang.
Firstly, they had just arrived in Ganzhouwei and their control over the area was far from sufficient. If they suddenly recruited soldiers, it might cause chaos if they were not careful.
Secondly, there is no legitimate reason for conscription.
Thirdly, the open conscription must be reported to the Military Command Headquarters.
Fourthly, due to years of military turmoil and years of hunger, the population of Ganzhou Wei is not large. After the soldiers are conscripted, some families may be left without young laborers.
Xiao Yeyang drummed his fingers on the table. "According to regulations, the Ganzhou Guard's border troops are only considered fully staffed at 50,000 men, but now there are only about 40,000."
"I'm going to send a letter to the Xiliang Commander-in-Chief, asking him to replenish the border troops. You go back up the gifts later, and I'll send them along."
Daohua nodded and said, "Okay." After a pause, she said, "After returning from Bamu Town last time, I sent a letter to the capital, asking Qin Xiaoliu to send someone to deliver the tea. Calculating the time, it should arrive by the end of this month."
"That horse owner seemed shrewd last time. If you let him spread the word and offer tea in exchange for horses, I think someone from Western Liao would be willing to do it."
Xiao Yeyang looked at the rice flowers with a smile: "You think more about this than I do. But there's no rush. It's already mid-May, and the crops in your terraced fields are growing very well. I think it won't be long before someone comes to see me."
The other guards were far away and did not pay much attention to Ganzhou Guard, but the neighboring Jinwei Guard and Lanwu Guard were always keeping an eye on this side.
The Jinling Guards he brought with him were sent to various guard posts to gather information. He knew early on that the commanders of the Jinwei Guards and the Lanwu Guards had set their sights on high-yield grain varieties.
High-yield grain seeds are definitely not enough. The two commanders will not wait until the autumn harvest grain output spreads before coming to ask for grain seeds.
Xiao Yeyang had just come up with a plan while staring at the sand table. He wanted to use high-yield grain seeds to exchange for the horses and border garrison troops of Jinweiwei and Lanwuwei.
Of course, the prerequisite is that the military transfer order of the Five Military Protectorates has been issued.
Xiao Yeyang had reported the plan of building a strong military town at the border between Xiliang and Xiliao to the emperor before coming to Xiliang. The emperor agreed after hearing it. The Five Military Commandery would also agree to the military transfer order.
Seeing that Xiao Yeyang had already made up his mind, Daohua didn't say anything more. She usually didn't interfere in official matters, but just did her best to prepare more supplies for Xiao Yeyang in case he needed them.
Although there were not enough horses, Xiao Yeyang did not just sit and wait, but started training the cavalry team of 1,000 people.
Su Hongxin was also in it. Since he and Xiao Yeyang had trained in the Ningmenguan military camp when he was young, he was good at riding and shooting. After Xiao Yeyang's inspection, he made him a sergeant.
Soldiers are promoted based on their military merits. How far Su Hongxin can go in the future depends on his own abilities.
The Commandery.
After receiving Xiao Yeyang's letter, Wei Hongcai was silent for a while, then he called a few confidants together and said, "The Ganzhou Border Guard is short of 10,000 men. Xiao Yeyang wrote to us and asked us to fill the gap."
The deputy commander immediately snorted coldly, "If he tells us to make up for it, we'll make up for it. Does he really think this is the capital and everyone has to listen to him?"
"that is."
Two others followed suit.
Wei Hongcai looked at his master: "Master Xu, what do you think?"
Master Xu thought for a moment and said, "Sir, Xiao Yeyang is a member of the royal family. He can contact the emperor directly. We cannot ignore him or shirk responsibility like we do with others."
As soon as these words were spoken, everyone in the room fell silent.
Yes, if someone comes to ask for soldiers, they will just ignore them. Anyway, the entire Xiliang is under the control of Lord Wei, so there is no way to sue them.
But Xiao Yeyang can't do that, he can report the matter to the emperor.
If the emperor knew about this, it would be a big deal.
Wei Hongcai frowned: "Master, do you mean to fill the gap for Xiao Yeyang?"
Before Master Xu could say anything, the deputy commander who had spoken earlier spoke up again: "Where are we going to get ten thousand soldiers?"
"Thanks to Xiao Yeyang, the Western Liao people used to mainly invade the Ganzhou Guard and Jinwei Guard in the western border defense zone. But after he and his men killed a group of Western Liao cavalry, the Western Liao people have now come to invade the eastern border defense zone. They've also dragged in several bordering Western Liao guards, and now all of them are short of manpower."
Wei Hongcai was silent for a moment. "Since Xiao Yeyang has written a letter, we have no choice but to respond." Then he looked at Master Xu and said, "Master Xu, do you have any ideas?"
Master Xu did not speak immediately. Thinking of his meeting with his good friend Wang Qi a few days ago, he struggled in his heart for a while, then looked up at Wei Hongcai.
"Sir, it is definitely not possible to ask other places to recruit soldiers for Ganzhou Guard now. But if you don't make up the number of border troops for Ganzhou Guard, Xiao Yeyang will really report it to the emperor, and you will most likely be reprimanded. In my humble opinion, it is better to let Xiao Yeyang recruit soldiers on his own."
When Wei Hongcai heard Xiao Yeyang asking him to recruit soldiers, he showed reluctance on his face, but his confidants did think this was a good idea.
The deputy commander smiled and said, "Sir, isn't Xiao Yeyang very rich? Let him recruit as many soldiers as he wants. That way, we don't have to draw troops from other garrisons, and we can also silence him and prevent him from reporting to the emperor. It's a win-win situation."
Wei Hongcai was silent for a long time, and finally nodded in agreement.
If Xiao Yeyang really wanted to recruit soldiers, it would be impossible for him to allocate money to Ganzhou Wei. He knew how poor Ganzhou Wei was. If Xiao Yeyang wanted to recruit soldiers, he would have to pay for it out of his own pocket. Even if he had a wealthy family, how long could he sustain it?
Master Xu breathed a sigh of relief and thought to himself, Wang Qi, Wang Qi, for your advice, I violated my own ethics and gave Lord Wei such a bad idea.
I hope that the prince who came from the capital can really make the lives of the people in Xiliang better as you said.
Xiao Mansion.
After Xiao Yeyang received the reply from the Commandery, he took it and read it, with a look of surprise in his eyes.
Recruit your own soldiers and provide your own food and wages!
Xiao Yeyang sneered. Ganzhou Guard was the poorest of the nine guards. It had to provide its own food and wages. The people from the Commandery wanted to empty its pockets.
However, this also made it easier for him to act.
Before the coal mine was found, recruiting soldiers might not have been feasible, but the income from the coal mine was enough to support tens of thousands of soldiers.
There is a burst of updates. Although there are not many chapters, there are 40,000 words in total.
(End of this chapter)
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