Ang Lee would pass through the Central Sichuan region on his way south. If anything happened along the way, Old Man Xianyu and the other local bigwigs would definitely not be able to get away with it. Therefore, no matter what, they had to find a way to protect him. This way, even if something happened, they could explain it better and tell the imperial court that they had done their best to protect him.
At the very least, Old Man Xianyu had to send some troops to safely escort Ang Lee out of his jurisdiction, which was the border with Dongnu Province. Only in this way could he ensure that if anything happened, it would have nothing to do with him.
The large amount of supplies carried by these 300 guards would not increase the burden on Ang Lee's team. Even if they left in the end, it wouldn't because a lot of supplies would be consumed along the way. Therefore, more than half of the supplies given by these merchants and officials would be consumed very quickly. When they really reached the border of Dongnu Province, they would almost be completely consumed. After that, Ang Lee's team would naturally not have this burden anymore. In addition, this guard team could also leave Ang Lee's team and return to Yizhou City.
Old Man Xianyu transferred 300 troops from Yizhou City. For the garrison of Yizhou City, which had 3,000 troops, 300 troops were just a small part of the force. Transferring such a small amount of troops would not affect the defensive strength of Yizhou City. Moreover, for so many years, there were no threats around Yizhou City. The neighboring countries also did not have the strength to challenge the Tang Empire. All of them were obediently subordinate to the Tang Empire. Therefore, it could be said that Old Man Xianyu was very comfortable as a Jiedushi. There was almost nothing for him to worry about in terms of military affairs. Some trivial matters were directly handed over to the generals below to deal with. He only needed to deal with some particularly important matters. His life was really good.
In fact, at present, all the Jiedushi of the Tang Empire were living quite good lives. With the rapid increase of the military strength of the Tang Empire, the neighboring countries had no strength to compete with the Tang Empire. The probability of causing trouble at the border was greatly reduced. Naturally, the pressure on the generals at the border was also greatly reduced. Sometimes, even though it was clearly the fault of the Tang Empire, the neighboring countries would choose to swallow their anger to avoid being attacked.
The Tang Empire was definitely peace-loving. Under normal circumstances, it would never bully any of its affiliated countries. The Hua Xia Empire had always been a model of peace-loving. In real history, every time it was harassed by foreign enemies, it had to take the initiative to attack the grassland. For example, the Great Han Dynasty chased the Xiongnu north because they were too annoyed by the harassment of the Xiongnu. If the Xiongnu did not take the initiative to harass them, the Great Han Dynasty would never attack the Xiongnu. It was the same in the era of the Tang Dynasty. From time to time, the Turks in the north would go south to plunder, causing great suffering to the people at the border of the Tang Dynasty. In order to protect the people at the border, the Tang Dynasty had to send troops to the north many times. Moreover, the distance of the army's northern expedition was not far.
In real history, the reason why the nomads in the north dared to continuously harass the powerful Central Plains Dynasty was because of their cavalry. Because the cavalry came and went without a trace, it was very difficult to deal with. Even if the Central Plains Dynasty won a total victory, it was basically a rout, so it was not easy to hurt the nomadic cavalry's foundation. When the Central Plains Dynasty's army retreated, the nomadic cavalry began to cause trouble in the border area again. They were like sticky candy, very difficult to deal with. With Ang Lee's invention of faster chariots and cannons with great power and range, the nomadic cavalry became very afraid. Therefore, after they learned that the Tang Dynasty was so powerful, they no longer dared to go south to plunder.
Of course, force alone could never achieve this. Force only served to deter the nomadic cavalry and make them think about the consequences when they plunder. The real advantage of the Tang Dynasty was its trade. It allowed the nomads to exchange their cattle and sheep for various materials of the Tang Dynasty. As long as they could obtain materials through trade, plundering was not a necessary option. Plundering was severely punished, while trading could easily obtain the materials they wanted. Therefore, the nomads naturally chose to use trade to achieve their goals.
After all, fighting and killing was not good. If something could be solved through trade, it was better to use trade as much as possible. This was the fairest way and also the best way to develop.
Dongnu Province was located in the west of Yizhou City. It was thousands of miles away from Yizhou City. It could be said that it was a long journey. However, the long journey was not the most important thing. The most important thing was that it was difficult to travel. There were many rugged mountain roads along the way. Traveling on these rugged mountain roads was not a fun thing to do. It was bound to be very hard. However, Ang Lee was not afraid of hard work. In order to see the beauty Ye Fu as soon as possible, it was worth it no matter how hard and tiring it was.
The leader of the 300 Dragon Martial Guards that Ang Lee brought was Chen Long. The leader of the 300 Dragon Martial Guards sent by old man Xianyu was San Niangzi's elder brother, Yang Saburo. He was a military officer with good martial arts. If it was only based on force, he was not qualified to be a military officer. However, he was good at currying favor and had a very shrewd father. He had given a lot of gifts to old man Xianyu. Old man Xianyu was also a sensible person. Therefore, he made an exception and promoted Yang Saburo to a military officer. Yang Saburo had no problem leading a team based on force. He was also a powerful person.
At the beginning, many people were not convinced that he was promoted through the back door. However, Yang Saburo's family was rich! Through the method of giving benefits to his subordinates, he quickly pacified the grievances of these people. These people who were originally his superiors were willing to be his subordinates after receiving benefits from him.
This was his personal charm. No matter what measures Yang Saburo took, it was enough that he was able to settle these subordinates who were full of dissatisfaction. At least when he was carrying out a mission, these subordinates would not obstruct him and would listen to him.
Yang Saburo was only in his twenties, much younger than Ang Lee. His subordinates were all over 30 years old, especially the colonels who were almost 40 years old. In the Tang Dynasty, they were already considered old. It was not an easy thing to get a 40-year-old to listen to the command of a 20-year-old. This required a young leader to have a relatively high ability, and this relatively high ability could be in many aspects. It could be in business or in other aspects. For example, Yang Saburo could use his wealthy family to help his subordinates and let them live a better life. Thus, he easily won the support of these old subordinates.
In the Tang Dynasty, being a soldier was just to make a living. Why did many people want to climb up the ranks after becoming a soldier? Naturally, it was because after becoming an officer, they could get better pay, get a higher income, and let their families live a better life. If someone was willing to help them improve their economic situation, then it did not matter if they were below them.
In any case, Yang Saburo had full control of the 300 soldiers under his command. Whether it was the colonels or the ordinary soldiers, they were all willing to obey his leadership. They even took the initiative to help him when he needed them. Yang Saburo treated the soldiers under his command very well. Every now and then, he would lead all the soldiers to his field to eat and drink. When he left, he would also give some food to his subordinates. Thus, how could the soldiers under his command not sincerely support him? These small favors were just a small expense for the Yang Family's field. The field had so much food in storage, and the livestock were also raised by himself. The cost was not high. It was completely affordable for 300 people to eat a big meal a month. There were only a dozen officers above the rank of captain. Each of them would prepare some wine and meat to bring back, which was enough to make them happy. Even during the holidays, Yang Saburo would let his servants personally send food and poultry to the families of his subordinates. As a result, the families of these subordinates also liked Yang Saburo very much. Naturally, the subordinates liked this leader even more.
Since ancient times, money had captured people's hearts. Even the emperor did not lack hungry soldiers. If the imperial court ran out of money, the entire empire would not be able to operate effectively and would even face the crisis of collapse. Therefore, money was very important. If you had money, many things would be easy to do. If you had no money, many things would not be easy to do. For the rich, problems that could be solved with money were not problems. Problems that could not be solved with money were big problems.
There were many small leaders like Yang Saburo who had the support of his family in the Tang dynasty. However, in terms of the total number, the proportion was still a little small. After all, most people were born poor. Those who had a rich father like Yang Saburo were only a few. In addition, there were some people who were stingy. Even if their families had money, they were not willing to give it to their subordinates. There were even more stingy people like Yang Saburo. Not many people could be as generous as Yang Saburo. Although his father would feel the pinch every time he invited a group of brothers to eat and drink at home, he could only accept it in order to let his son do things smoothly and get better development. The parents' money spent on their children would not be wasted. After all, parents earned money for their children.
Although the road was not easy to walk on, it was relatively easy for the first few days of the journey. The roads near the core area of Central Sichuan were carefully maintained by the local imperial court, so they were certainly not bad. The economic conditions in the core area were relatively good, and the population was relatively large. Business transactions were more intensive, which required the road conditions to be better. Otherwise, it would seriously hinder people's travel. Because there were sufficient manpower and resources, the road construction was naturally smoother. In some remote places, because the population was too small and the demand was not very high, the local county's finances were very tight. The imperial court also had its own difficulties. There were too many places that needed to spend money. Therefore, the roads naturally could not be maintained. In fact, many roads had never been opened. As more and more people walked on them, they gradually formed a road. These were all very ancient roads that were naturally formed.
Because the road at the beginning was relatively easy to walk on, the pressure on the team was not great. They could travel more than fifty miles every day. When they rested at night, they could even stay in the inns along the way and did not have to set up their own tents. Such a life was not bad, but it was bound to not last long. As they gradually entered the border, such good days quickly passed. After entering the provinces near the border, the situation immediately took a turn for the worse. The roads became extremely difficult to walk on, and the weather also changed abruptly. It was originally a sunny day, but suddenly a strong wind blew, and then a sudden downpour came unexpectedly. Most of the people who were unprepared were drenched.
Ang Lee sat in the carriage most of the time, so naturally he would not be drenched by the rain. Even if there was a sudden downpour, the guards would protect Ang Lee immediately. The rest of the people were not so lucky and would be drenched by the sudden downpour.
The environment in Yizhou was the best in Central Sichuan. After passing Yizhou and entering Shuzhou, the situation was not bad. However, after entering Qiongzhou, the roads became extremely difficult to walk on. Dayi County in Qiongzhou was the last county that Ang Lee and his team passed by. There was no decent county further west. Therefore, when the team arrived at Dayi County, they stopped for two days to rest and replenish the necessary food and water. Because of the great consumption along the way, the supplies given by the Yang Family were almost finished. The food sent by the officials and merchants in Yizhou City was also greatly consumed. Even the food prepared by Ang Lee himself was greatly consumed. It was necessary to replenish the necessary supplies.
Yang Saburo and his guards were still with Ang Lee and did not return to Yizhou City. Ang Lee had asked them to go back many times, saying that they were already very close to the border and there was no need for them to suffer with him. However, Yang Saburo must have received a death order and refused to leave. In order to reduce the burden on Ang Lee's team, he ordered his troops to stay a dozen miles behind and prepare all kinds of supplies by himself, so that it would not be too troublesome for thousands of people to gather together. He himself only led a dozen cavalrymen to follow Ang Lee. For a dozen miles, he only needed to send a signal and the team behind would quickly arrive. There was no need to worry about safety at all. As long as they followed him all the way, the task would be completed.
"Saburo is really conscientious! I will remember you. Good job. "
Anyway, Ang Lee still had to praise him. After all, Saburo was such a serious guard, how could he not reward him?
"Assistant Minister Li, you flatter me. This is what I should do. I don't dare to disobey the commander-in-chief's order."
Yang Saburo said truthfully.
Ang Lee nodded and said, "That's right. After passing Heming Mountain, which is a hundred miles ahead, we are not far from Dongnu Province. Then you can go back. It's been a tiring journey. You must have a good rest when you go back."
"Yes, that's for sure."
Yang Saburo replied.
Along the way, he also felt the cruelty of nature. Since he joined the army, he had never walked such a difficult road. This time, he was really tired.
The Summit
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