Chapter 359: Caught and Beheaded
Behind them, the common people were still cheering and seeing him off, but Zhao Yulin had already ridden out of the city. He told Wang Hancheng and Wang Youling to go back, as the people of Gongchang Prefecture needed them.
Zhao Yulin waved at the two men and squeezed his legs hard. The chestnut horse under his crotch shot out like an arrow, and the guards on both sides followed suit and galloped away.
It was nearly Mid-Autumn Festival. On the Mobei grassland, the Grassland Khan was hunting in his summer palace with a group of close ministers because he was too weak to travel far.
The Khan saw the rabbits running in groups on the grass and wanted to shoot them, but he was a little powerless because he had been exhausted from long-term drinking and feasting.
The Khan shot three arrows in a row, and each arrow hit the rabbit's tail. He felt that he was getting old. He threw away the bow and arrows, opened his arms and shouted , looking up to the sky and sighing that he was old and that the Eternal Heaven would not bless him anymore.
The ministers behind him immediately knelt down and wailed.
Yelu Chucai immediately began to find excuses for the Khan. He hurriedly scolded the Khan, saying that the bows and arrows presented were not well made, which damaged the Khan's prestige. He ordered his personal guards to drag the craftsman out and chop him to death as an apology.
Two strong guards came out immediately, grabbed the craftsman and dragged him out of the crowd.
The Khan waved his hand and said, "It's okay, it's okay, let him go."
This man is about to die, so his words are kind. Really, the Khan of the grassland has developed a hobby of killing people at will and let go of the bow maker who presented the bow and arrow today.
The craftsman had just been captured by the Khan's personal guards and was about to be beheaded. He realized that saving his life was like walking around the gates of hell. He was so frightened that his legs went limp and he fell to the ground, kowtowing desperately to thank the Khan for not killing him.
However, his Khan and his entourage had already walked very far away.
Lanzhou government office.
Zhao Yulin traveled for five days and finally reached Gansu Road, the westernmost road in Xinsong. Hao Xiaoming took over and said that he shouldn't be so exhausted and just greeted his brothers if he had anything to do.
Hao Xiaoming knew that he didn't like being entertained by guests, so he only walked ten miles to wait for him and didn't dare to walk any further to greet him. When he saw him coming in exhausted, he began to feel sorry for his third young master.
He said with a smile that his brothers had been guarding the border for so long, and he should come and see them. Naturally, everyone exchanged greetings and drank a lot before going to rest.
The next day, he had a detailed discussion with Hao Xiaoming and Wu Sicheng.
Xiao Ming reported to him: There are more than 100,000 troops stationed in Gansu, but they have made no achievements in the past few years and have wasted the court's food and fodder.
Zhao Yulin told Hao Xiaoming to stop, saying that the court never thought so. He waved his hand and told everyone not to say such things. The soldiers and civilians of Gansu Road guarded the northwest for the court, and keeping the Hexi Corridor safe was a great achievement.
He asked with a smile: There are a constant stream of merchants and travelers along the way, so are Gansu's trade taxes still very good?
The appeasement envoy Wu Sicheng said with some regret that after the northern barbarians fought to the west, they burned, killed and looted, causing a sharp decline in the population of the Western Region. Merchants were still coming and going, but the trade volume had never increased.
Zhao Yulin said that we have no other choice but to continue to grow stronger, ensure the safety of this road, and create a fair trading environment for them.
To do it in a more detailed way, we would continuously repair the roads and build post stations in towns along the routes, so that merchants and travelers can travel comfortably, eat well, live well, and buy whatever they like at the market.
Wu Sicheng spread his hands and said helplessly that Gansu was vast and sparsely populated, and there was no money to be made from the novel things that were available in the Han area.
This man used to be a minister of Wang family in Gongchang Prefecture. He had been working in Gongchang Prefecture before joining the Shenwei Army. When he came to Lanzhou, he felt that the land was barren and it was difficult to do anything.
Zhao Yulin enlightened him: The Qiang and Tibetan people have many very good handicrafts passed down from generation to generation. Lanzhou can gather merchants from all over the country and put handicrafts from all over the country on the table for them to choose from. Maybe there will be buyers.
If we set up cooperatives and organize our people to weave, embroider and process, wouldn't that revitalize the economy?
This was Zhao Yulin teaching them how to promote products by imitating the expositions and trade fairs of later generations.
These people are also quick to understand. Lanzhou has also held such activities. They are all private activities of merchants and markets, and the scale is much smaller.
Zhao Yulin wanted Gansu Road to get moving and have the government run it. With the government's leadership, the scale and credibility would be much larger, and the effect would definitely be extraordinary.
Zhao Yulin told them that Lanzhou had stabilized and they should consider developing production so that the people could have enough food to eat, enough clothes to wear and have money to spend.
At this point, Hao Xiaoming reported to him that Zhang Yitang of Liangzhou had a good way of promoting taxation in Liangzhou. He took advantage of his familiarity with the road to the Western Regions to make a living, and the prosperity of Wuwei city surpassed that of other cities.
Zhao Yulin was very clear about this. Since ancient times, Wuwei has been an important distribution center for material trade in Hexi. As long as the safety of business travelers can be guaranteed, everyone will be willing to do business there. The economy will naturally prosper.
Hao Xiaoming reported to him that a monk representative named Basi from the Tibetan city of Lhasa had arrived in Wuwei and wanted to discuss with us about jointly governing Tibet.
Zhao Yulin glanced at him and said that Yun Qing had probably already arrived in Lhasa City. The Shenwei Army wanted to unify the country, so what was the point of talking about joint governance?
There is no lawless place in the territory of the New Song Dynasty. Everything is under the unified control of the Central Council.
Hao Xiaoming hesitated for a moment and said that there were temples everywhere in Tubo, and the kings of various places had always relied on the scriptures and teachings presided over by the temples to rule the Tibetan people.
Zhao Yulin said that we must change our ways in the future. Our Shenwei Army does not believe in gods and will not rely on temple scriptures to govern Tubo.
He said that the New Song Dynasty emphasizes freedom of belief and respects everyone's beliefs, but does not allow any religious organization to override the country and lead the people astray.
Hao Xiaoming sighed and said that the Third Young Master was too kind. Since the establishment of Tubo, it has been fighting with the Han people . I don't know how many Han people have been killed. When Yun Qing went to Tubo, the Third Young Master personally wrote a letter to him, instructing him to restrain his brothers from killing innocent people. It was really a bargain for them.
Zhao Yulin smiled faintly and said that if killing could solve problems and eliminate resistance, the Mongol Empire would have unified the world long ago, but it was blocked by us.
The brothers all laughed naively.
He told Wu Sicheng that the New Song Dynasty should govern Tubo, and Tubo must be an inseparable part of the New Song Dynasty. Politics and religion must be separated, and temples should adhere to the teachings of Sakyamuni to promote good and eliminate evil and preach wholeheartedly.
He asked the Gansu Road to send a letter to Liangzhou to convey his intentions. If they were willing to talk, they could come. If they were not willing to talk, they would not be forced to talk. As long as they obeyed the law, everyone in the New Song Dynasty was free to come and go. The Shenwei Army had the ability and means to handle the people's religious beliefs and patriotism.
Hao Xiaoming really wanted Zhao Yulin to deploy the military, but he didn't say a word and took him to inspect the military camp.
When Zhao Yulin saw the elite cavalry they had formed, with fat and strong and spirited soldiers in very good condition, he ordered them to train in the north, control the passage to and from the grassland and desert, and wait for an opportunity to launch a counterattack to the north.
Hao Xiaoming's eyes immediately lit up, and he asked happily how to fight back?
They organized and purchased a large number of war horses, so they can form another column. The brothers are eager to attack the north. Do you agree, brother?
Zhao Yulin nodded, looking westward, Wuwei, Zhangye and Dunhuang, what resounding names, all won by the war god Huo Qubing. We must cut off the enemy's southward advance, ensure the people live and work in peace, and also gallop across the desert to defeat them.
Hao Xiaoming immediately found something to do, and excitedly accompanied him to visit nearby prefectures, counties and garrisons. While walking, he introduced the situation to him. The brothers in Gansu believed that after two years of construction, Hexi was more stable than ever, and they could attack Mobei and give the northern barbarians a hammer.
Zhao Yulin said that he was not allowed to take any action some time ago, and was told to focus on prevention and recuperation. The main reason was that this land had been in war for many years, the local government was lacking, and the people were suffering too much.
Even if we want to fight now, our attacks will be limited.
At this time, the New Song Kingdom's Western Expedition Army, led by Li Yunqing, had already entered the core ruling area of Tubo, Lhasa City. Although there was resistance along the way, it was only a small group of Zamp's army and monks from the temples, with a scale of hundreds or thousands of native soldiers. The backward weapons and equipment could not stop the fully armed New Song Kingdom's Shenwei Army from advancing.
The Shenwei Army followed Zhao Yulin's instructions and marched and stationed there. Once they settled down, they mobilized the oppressed poor serfs to fight against the bully Zamp and the hypocritical temple abbots. They confiscated the property of the evil Zamp and the temples and redistributed it to the civilians, which greatly mobilized the enthusiasm of the Tibetan slaves to join the resistance struggle.
The emancipated serfs were overjoyed, inspiring more and more serfs to rise up in resistance. A serf uprising that swept across the entire Tubo territory was breaking out everywhere like mushrooms after rain.
Tubo is undergoing earth-shaking changes.
The chief steward and monks of Lhasa City were simply unable to deceive the serfs, and they fled in panic to the small countries in the south of the mountain.
After Li Yunqing entered the city of Lhasa, he immediately established a temporary government office on the Tubo Road, dispatched a large army to attack from multiple directions, and stationed in all places. He mobilized civilians and slaves to expose the crimes of the reactionary rulers, brought the evil monks who aided and abetted the tyrant to justice, and distributed the confiscated cattle, sheep, horses, grain and property to poor families.
The city of Lhasa became bustling and quickly became a paradise.
Five days later, when Zhao Yulin was about to leave, the Tibetan monk representative Basi arrived in Lanzhou accompanied by Liangzhou prefect Zhang Yitang. He asked Hao Xiaoming and Wu Sicheng to go and talk first, to clarify the new social vision of the New Song Dynasty and reiterate the New Song Dynasty's governance philosophy. He went to meet with prefect Zhang Yitang alone.
This Zhang Yitang is a representative of a prominent family in Wuwei. When the Shenwei Army marched into Wuwei, he rose up in rebellion and formed a team of 5,000 people to capture cities and territories. He served as the vanguard of the Shenwei Army's march into Hexi and fought all the way to Dunhuang. After Hao Xiaoming completed the battle to recover Hexi, he arranged for him to guard Wuwei.
Zhao Yulin praised Zhang Yitang highly, saying that his family had made great contributions to the court in defending Hexi and had been loyal for generations. He encouraged him to continue to work hard for the stability of Gansu.
The girl was delighted after listening to Zhao Yulin's speech and vowed to be loyal to the New Song Dynasty.
