Chapter 51: The Winter of Jiwei (2)

  Bian Guan, Lulong Pass.

  Li Chengyue sat in front of the stove, carefully reading a military report in his hand. The stove was burning hot water, and the steam was rising, warming up the whole room. After the water boiled, Li Chengyue carefully took down the kettle from the hook, filled the teacup beside him, and a strong tea aroma suddenly wafted up. Roasting by the warm fire and drinking hot tea in the cold and windy border town was indeed a most delightful thing.

  The military report was sent from Yi State, detailing a battle that took place ten days ago in the Guangbian Army. Yi State is located north of You State and south of the Luan River, making it the northernmost border state of the entire Lulong Military Region, and has been the frontline where the Central Plains and the Hu barbarians clashed since ancient times.

  Because one of the parties to the battle were Li Chengyue's two sworn brothers Gao Xingzhou and Gao Xinggui, he watched very carefully. In this battle, a total of 7,000 people were deployed on both sides. The Lulong Army, led by the Gao brothers, had 3,000 men, including 2,500 infantrymen and 500 cavalrymen. The Khitan Yelü clan mobilized 4,000 men, including 2,000 infantrymen and 2,000 cavalrymen. This was a formal field battle, but the Gao brothers performed well in this battle, using their newly recruited army to hold off the more numerous Khitans. Currently, both sides are still holding camps, seeking further opportunities for battle.

  The last part of the military report was a paragraph written by Zhou specifically for Li Chengyu, informing him of the names of several key figures who would be commanding the Khitan forces and highlighting one named Yelü Abaoji. In this battle, the largest loss suffered by the Lulong Army came from a contingent of elite cavalry led by Yelü Abaoji.

  "Has the main force of the Khitan finally appeared?" Li Chengyue turned his head again to take a closer look at the military report, pondering as he read.

  The door suddenly opened wide, and with the cold wind rushing in came a big man. The man turned around to close the door, chuckled and sat down by the stove, grabbed Li Chengyue's freshly brewed hot tea and poured it into his mouth, but was scalded, "Pfft" spat out a mouthful on the ground.

  Li Chengyue shook his head: "Fourth brother is still like this... Alas... Not even distinguishing between cool and hot..."

  That man was Wang Sichong, one of Li Xueyue's sworn brothers and the fourth in seniority. He scratched his head with a somewhat embarrassed expression: "It's windy outside, too cold, I wanted to drink something warm to warm myself up, who knew your tea was just brewed... Alas, when it comes to warming oneself up, only wine can do the trick, unfortunately, there is no order in the army that allows drinking..."

  Li Chengyue smiled and ignored him, changing his tone to ask: "How is it? Haven't the Khitans come out today?"

  Wang Si said, "With such a strong wind, if the Khitan people dare to come, I estimate they'll all be blown away one by one. Today's pass should be safe. By the way, with such a strong wind, those few Xi people will probably have to postpone their departure until tomorrow. It's not that I'm saying it, brother, but although our city is simple, we should at least show some hospitality, right? They've been here for many days, and we haven't even set up a wine feast, which is too stingy..."

  Li Chengyu let out a "hmm" and said, "You want to drink yourself? Alright, tonight you can have a little. We're hosting a farewell banquet for the Khitan people, since we've reached an agreement, from now on we'll be allies. Can't make us look too shabby." After finishing speaking, he looked at Wang Sitong with a hint of slyness: "Fourth Brother, tell me honestly, have you taken a liking to her?"

  Wang Si Tong nodded and shook his head: "The great name of Princess Yin Yue, tsk... indeed worthy of being the beautiful pearl that has spread across the grasslands. Unfortunately, old Wang can only look but not think, as my family's elders have already arranged a marriage for me with Old Zhao's daughter, sigh..."

  Li Chengyue smiled: "Old Zhao's daughter is also good, she was a famous beauty in Youzhou City back then."

  Wang Si Tong shook his head: "People can't keep up with each other, it's really impossible..."

  Li Chengyue said: "Fourth elder, why don't you just take both?"

  Wang Si Tong sighed: "Someone did have that thought, but dare not. Old Zhao's family, who doesn't know? Famous for being overbearing, and with their family's power, the position of legitimate wife is absolutely not willing to be let go. Let this Silver Moon Princess become a concubine? Even as a co-wife, do you think King Xi would agree? Someone can't do it, what a lifelong regret!" Shaking his head, he suddenly said: "Does brother not have any feelings?"

  Li Chengyue slightly shook his head, gazing at the constantly jumping flames in the furnace, but before his eyes appeared that beautiful and elegant face he had met by chance in Youzhou City.

  Wang Si Tong smiled mysteriously and said, "Let's discuss something with brother."

  Li Chengyue murmured a response, but his mind was still preoccupied with family matters.

  Wang Sitong didn't get angry either, and smiled: "Next time the Khitans come, the task of attacking them will still be done by someone."

  Li Chengyue vetoed with one word: "No! Last time it was you, next time it should be someone else."

  "Let it go, brother! Staying on the city wall all day and night is suffocating!"

  "No way, we agreed to take turns! Besides, I'm the main general of Ludong Pass, you're just a guest general, you should listen to me!"

  "Really can't?"

  "Needless to say!"

  "In that case, then he wouldn't tell his brother about that little girl..."

  "What kind of nonsense is this! This is discipline! Do you understand military orders?... What are you talking about, little girl?" Li Chengyue suddenly looked stunned.

  "Alas... That year, there was a guy who got drunk to the point of collapse... Alas... Fortunately, he met a kind and beautiful young woman, or else he would have died from intoxication on the streets of Youzhou...” Wang Si Tong couldn't help but sigh, with a cunning glint in his eyes.

  Li Chengyue grasped Wang Sitong's arm with one hand, his breathing slightly urgent: "You... found out?"

  Wang Si Tong shook off Li Cheng Yue's hand, got up slowly and walked towards the door, sighing as he went: "I just wanted to lead troops into battle next time, but instead you're using military orders to suppress me..."

  Li Chengyue didn't hesitate and immediately said: "Okay!"

  Wang Si Tong burst out laughing and turned around to sit back down, saying slowly: "Indeed, a beauty is a calamity... the bond between brothers cannot compare to the thoughts of a beautiful woman..."

  Li Chengyue punched Wang Sitong in the chest: "Hurry up and confess! If there's even half a false word, you can forget about having a drop of wine at tonight's banquet!"

  Yu Guan outside, White Wolf Mountain military camp.

  After nearly ten days of renovation, the entire military camp has undergone a complete transformation. The stone wall has been reinforced with sticky mud dug out from the mountains to increase its height and thickness, and a wooden plank road that can accommodate people has been built inside the stone wall. At the same time, two arrow towers have been built along the inner side of the stone wall. A deep trench, one zhang deep and one zhang wide, has been dug outside the stone wall, with dense sharp wooden stakes standing upright at the bottom of the trench, their pointed tips pointing upwards. Anyone who accidentally falls into the trench will be pierced by the wooden stakes, leaving no other way out except through the drawbridge that hangs from the camp gate.

  The large and small caves on the mountain wall were also checked, and those that were well-preserved were cleaned up, wooden doors were made, dry grass was laid out, and fires were lit in the stove pits inside. Living inside was much warmer than imagined. What surprised Li Chengzhong the most was that these stove pits had left a flue when they were dug years ago, which saved Li Chengzhong a lot of trouble.

  The horse shed under the mountain wall was rebuilt, and apart from the original plowing horses carried by the people who escaped into the mountains, more than 20 war horses captured from the Khitan were now raised inside. At that time, Li Chengzhong was very worried when facing these war horses. In his impression, raising horses was a very difficult thing, and he didn't know how to deal with these war horses. If you want to raise horses, it's obvious that the stored grain in the current military camp is far from enough, so he made a painful decision to kill these horses, and use the horse meat to treat all his men.

  At that time, Wang Dalang was following Li Chengzhong to inspect these war horses. He was delighted and stroked each of the war horses one by one, thinking about how to establish his own scout team. When he heard Li Chengzhong say that they were going to kill the horses and eat their meat, he was shocked and hastily asked: "Commander, why kill the horses?"

  Li Chengzhong sighed: "Can't afford it..."

  "What can't be raised?"

  Li Chengzhong said: "Our grain is not enough, and I am still worried about it now. What should we do next? Where can we get more grain for the horses?"

  It took Wang Dalang half a day to figure it out: "What you're saying is that you used to feed grain to horses?"

  Li Chengzhong said, "That's not the case. But war horses are indeed precious, to raise a good horse, it takes the food of two or three people, and also needs to add a lot of beans, wheat bran and so on..." The method of raising horses that Li Chengzhong mentioned was what he heard from the riding instructor in his former unit before crossing over.

  Wang Dalang blinked his eyes and said, "Who told you that? The method of raising horses you mentioned should be the way to raise those purebred precious horses in the far west of the grasslands, right? These ordinary warhorses don't need that, just let them out to graze and they'll be fine, it doesn't take much effort. In our vast lands of Hebei, there are many pastures, raising horses is simple, many farming households also raise horses, and I've never heard anyone say they need to feed them grain..."

  Li Chengzhong was stunned: "Just eat grass?"

  "Ah, yes. Now that it's winter, raising horses is even simpler. The grasslands outside White Wolf Mountain have all withered and the cut grass is more suitable for feeding horses. Right, didn't you agree before to let me form a scouting team? Are you still counting on it?"

  Li Chengzhong nodded while still looking somewhat skeptical: "Is that it? Are you sure?"

  Wang Dalang smiled, he had already figured it out. This fellow from his own household had never raised a horse before and didn't know where the rumors came from, thinking that raising horses was a very difficult thing. He explained: "Don't worry about it, Head. If it's not simple, how can the tens of thousands of horses on this grassland be raised? The Khitan people don't have that much grain, if they raise horses according to what you said, they themselves would starve to death."

  Li Chengzhong pondered for a moment and also felt that Wang Dalang's words were reasonable, his mood improved, and he said: "Wang Dalang, go and select the men yourself, I'll give you twenty quotas to form a scout team."

  Feng Dao devoted all his energy to civil affairs. He gathered the elderly from three villages around him, and had Zhang Laojiang follow himself, forming a leadership team for the White Wolf Mountain civil administration. He organized the more than 700 villagers in the mountain into different groups: the old and weak stayed in the military camp to handle daily chores, such as building toilets and clearing out caves according to Li Chengzhong's requirements; the able-bodied were divided into two parts, one part took care of the grain fields, and the other went hunting in the mountains and fishing in the Xuan Water; the women were also divided into two parts, one part went into the mountains every day to pick wild fruits, and the other made daily necessities, such as carving wooden bowls and wooden buckets, sewing clothes and quilts; the craftsmen repaired all the facilities within the military camp, built earth cellars for burning paper and wood charcoal...

  Li Chengzhong was delighted to see Zhang Laozhang's artisans being able to stay, and he asked Feng Dao how he had managed to dispel their intention of returning to Yuanguan. Feng Dao smiled and explained that it was actually quite simple - just a matter of official authority. As the Sima Cao of Pingzhou Prefecture, the position of Sima originally entailed managing the roster of officials, distinguishing between noble ranks, and arranging seating at court ceremonies. In local terms, this meant distinguishing between nobles, scholars, and commoners. By the Tang dynasty, the Sima also took on responsibilities such as developing mountains and rivers, and mobilizing labor. In other words, the assignment of corvée labor for Zhang Laozhang and his fellow artisans was entirely in Feng Dao's hands. Apart from promising to take care of them in future assignments, Feng Dao also threw out a tempting condition - promotion to noble rank.

  Zhang Laojiang and other artisans belonged to the artisan category, which was passed down through generations. They had to take out a period of time every year, according to the official requirements, to bring their own food and tools to serve, if there were special circumstances at home that made it impossible to serve, they had to pay a sum of "help money" to the government, and the government would hire others to replace them. The length of service varied from place to place, in the late Tang Dynasty, this chaotic world, the heaviest service period could even reach half a year. This was a heavy burden, this burden was the biggest shackle on the artisans' heads, especially during wartime or disaster periods, it could even crush the artisans' families and cause them to lose their homes.

  Feng Dao's condition was that as long as Zhang Laojiang led the craftsmen to stay and follow him to serve for three years, he would petition the Pingzhou Governor's Office to grant Zhang Laojiang a meritorious official position in the name of military merit. Through this meritorious position, Feng Dao could promote Zhang Laojiang within his authority and remove his artisanal status, thus entering the ranks of scholars and officials. This condition was too enticing, and in this era, no artisan could resist such temptation, so Zhang Laojiang predictably stayed behind and worked very hard.