Chapter 113: Forming the Lintao Army with War Horses

"Gao Taishou, Huangfu Shuai has been transferred to Chang'an to serve as the Minister of War. I am the deputy envoy of the Jiedushi and in charge of Jiedushi affairs. The position of the military commander is now vacant. I have a plan to make meritorious military achievements. I wonder if you are willing to cooperate? If you can complete it, it will not be difficult to be promoted to a higher position."

Gao Xiuyan had a long history in the Longyou Army, so he was able to serve as the Lintao Army Commander before.

But Li Xuan did not want him to be in charge of Lintao Army in the future, so he promised to make him the military commander. If this position was not accompanied by a deputy commander, the power would be very weak.

The prerequisite is to be able to accomplish a great deed!
"General, please speak. I am willing to serve you at your service!"

Gao Xiuyan was very excited after hearing this and called him his subordinate.

He didn't expect that Li Xuan would promise him the position of Chief Military Commander.

Although it seems awkward to have a Jiedushi above and a military envoy below in this position, it is a necessary way to get promoted in the future.

"Although Anxiang Army has few people and few cities, it is an important place for pastoral supervision, so the Zhenxi Army is stationed in Fuhan City, Pingyi Guard is stationed and patrolled in the Shimen Mountain area, and the Zhenwei Army in the southwest serves as a horn to resist the invasion of Tubo and its vassal state Tuyuhun."

"General Gao can pretend to surrender to Tubo and lead them into Anxiang County." Li Xuan said to Gao Xiuyan.

"I am a soldier, please tell me what to do."

It sounded good, but Gao Xiuyan had no idea.

He followed Li Xuan's arrangements in everything.

Next, Li Xuan told Gao Xiuyan about his plan.

There was a rift between him and Gao Xiuyan, and the Tibetan spies could find out.

Later, Li Xuan demoted Gao Xiuyan to the position of Beijia of Anxiang County on the grounds of "disrespectful and rude".

Gao Xiuyan was so angry that he asked his servants to contact Tubo and led the county soldiers to control Anxiang City and offer this important border city to Tubo. At the same time, he controlled the beacons and garrisons at the border so that Tubo could easily enter the border and reach Anxiang City.

By controlling Anxiang City, Tubo could advance across the bridge over the Lishui River (today's Daxia River) and go straight into the core area to plunder Tang horses; or they could retreat and defend with their backs to the water, just like they did with Shibao City, and establish a foothold in the Tang Dynasty's borders.

The Zhenxi Army was a large army with a total of 11,000 soldiers, of which 8,000 were stationed in Fuhan City and 3,000 were stationed in Yanquan City, on the bank of the Yellow River, more than 200 miles west of Fuhan City.

Pingyi Shouzhuo was located on the west bank of the Li River, 40 miles southwest of Fuhan City, and had 3,000 soldiers under his command.

Anxiang County was a border county with more than 900 soldiers.

It was unrealistic to tell Tubo that we could control the county seat, Fuhan City, but it was easy to make Tubo believe that we could control the southern gateway, Anxiang City, and let Tubo cross the Li River.

When the Tibetan army entered the Anxiang area, Li Xuan would mobilize several armies to encircle and annihilate the Tibetan army, thus weakening the Tibetan army's manpower.

Li Xuan felt that in order to avenge the Jieshi Army, Tubo would definitely turn to Anxiang County, because by occupying Anxiang City, they could use it as a base to plunder the Tang Army's horse ranch.

Even if it was discovered, there would be no loss to Li Xuan.

"I am willing to follow the general's arrangements."

Gao Xiuyan also thought it was feasible.

"Okay! I will first write a letter to demote you to the position of Beijia. At the same time, I will have people spread the news in Anxiang County that you are arrogant and rude and have angered me. You should be prepared and listen to my orders at any time."

Li Xuan knew that it might take one or two months for everything to be planned.

"As ordered!"

Gao Xiuyan bowed.

After arranging these things, Li Xuan left Anxiang County and rode back to Huangshui City at full speed.

As soon as Li Xuan arrives, Huangfu Weiming can leave his post.

Three days later, at the Huangshui City Jiedushi's government office.

Li Xuan accepted the new fish token, as well as new official uniform and armor.

Under the witness of the saint's special envoy and military supervisor Guo Quan, Huangfu Weiming handed over the double flags and double seals to Li Xuan for safekeeping, and at the same time handed over the seals of Longyou Jiedu, Zhidu, Yingtian and others to Li Xuan.

Li Xuan was officially crowned as general.

"Congratulations, Qilang. From now on, I will call you Li Shuai."

After the saint's envoy left, Li Xuan and Huangfu Weiming met in the hall.

Things in the world are unpredictable, and what Li Xuan said came true. Wei Jian was appointed prime minister and he became the Minister of War.

There is no doubt that the Minister of War is more honorable than the Jiedushi, provided that the person holding the military power has no intention of rebellion.

Huangfu Weiming obviously did not have such thoughts. Returning to the court and becoming a minister was beyond his expectations.

He hopes to have the opportunity to go further.

"I also want to congratulate Shangshu Huangfu."

Li Xuan replied to Huangfu Weiming with a smile.

This transfer was an outcome that satisfied both of them.

"My former shogunate will take a few people with them, and Shichiro will need to select new shogunate members."

Huangfu Weiming reminded Li Xuan.

His shogunate was composed of his trusted aides who had been with him for so many years, so naturally he would recommend them to serve as officials in the Ministry of War so that they could better enjoy wealth and prosperity in Chang'an.

If the shogunate members stayed and Li Xuan did not use them, it would seem that Huangfu Weiming was heartless and ungrateful.

The Jiedushi shogunate was different from the official officials.

Whether it was the judge, prosecutor, secretary, inspector, military commander, or military commander, military commander, etc., they were all positions without rank. They were also considered a kind of "dispatched" official.

But generally the Jiedushi would recommend a staff official to the shogunate to show off his status.

In fact, the new Jiedushi rarely used members of the shogunate of the previous Jiedushi.

"Even if they stay, I won't treat them unfairly."

Li Xuan made a polite remark.

In fact, Li Xuan planned to take advantage of this opportunity to establish a shogunate and recruit some talented people into it.

"Ha ha……"

Huangfu Weiming just smiled. He knew it was just a polite remark, so he whispered, "Qilang, the military supervisor Guo Quan has served the saint since he was a child. Even if you don't like such a person, you must never offend him."

"I know what's important."

Li Xuan nodded. Even though he knew that none of these military supervisors were good people, he would still try his best to worship them like Bodhisattvas.

After thinking about it, Li Xuan also reminded Huangfu Weiming: "Huangfu Shangshu must be cautious in interacting with the prince, otherwise it will cause criticism. Li Linfu will definitely try every means to find something to hold against you, Wei Zuoxiang, and my father and son."

In history, Huangfu Weiming was too naive. He openly opposed Li Linfu. How could this be possible?
"Li Linfu is abusing his power. I will definitely defeat him."

Huangfu Weiming is now full of confidence. He believes that with his and Wei Jian's abilities, they can fight against Li Linfu.

"To fight Li Linfu, we must first clip his wings, such as Ji Wen, Wang Yu, Luo Xishi, Lu Xuan and others, especially Ji Wen, who is known as 'If I meet a confidant, the white-browed tiger in Nanshan is not enough to be tied up'. He is comparable to the cruel officials of Wu Zhou, and has many methods. Please ask the left prime minister to kill him."

Li Xuan knew that Huangfu Weiming was arrogant, so he should not meet with Huangfu Weiming easily in the future and told him everything he should say.

If he and Wei Jian fail to defeat Li Linfu in the future, Li Xuan can only choose to cut ties with them. Even if it means adding insult to injury, Li Xuan will first protect his own family and then avenge them when he has the chance.

"This Ji Wen is so arrogant, I will remember them!"

Huangfu Weiming still has to respect Li Xuan's advice.

Huangfu Weiming also told Li Xuan some characteristics of the generals in Longyou, as well as the way of doing things in Yingtian and Zhidu?

Just three days later, Huangfu Weiming couldn't wait to leave Huangshui.

He also escorted a group of Tibetan captives and presented them to Li Longji.

Li Xuan personally escorted Huangfu Weiming and his party away from the Huangshui River and rode on horseback for several miles.

After returning to the Jiedushi Mansion, Li Xuan immediately summoned Song Che, a military officer in charge of armor and weapons. He was in charge of the repair and forging of armor and weapons.

"Meeting General Li!"

When Song Che, a military officer from Sizhou, saw Li Xuan, he bowed to him.

"No need for the formality! How many sets of armor are left in the treasury?" Li Xuan asked.

"There are about 2,000 pieces of standard fish scale armor and 3,000 pieces of Mingguang armor. There are also 1,500 pieces of chain mail and mail captured from the enemy."

Song Che answered Li Xuan in detail.

"How many Mo Dao are there in the warehouse?"

Li Xuan asked again.

"General, we have more than 200 Mo Daos."

Song Che answered.

"Is there a weapon craftsman in Huangshui City who can make a Mo Dao?"

Adding the original 200, there are only 400. A true Mo Dao soldier would have at least one spare.

Some Mo Dao can be repaired after a battle, while some Mo Dao are directly scrapped after one battle.

“There are such craftsmen!”

Song Che remembered clearly that there was a team of craftsmen who had the skills to create a new type of Mo Dao.

Now they were assigned to make swords and guns.

"How long would it take a craftsman to make a thousand Mo Dao?"

Li Xuan cares about this.

He knew it would be difficult to accomplish this year.

"Each Mo Dao takes more than five days to forge even if ten people work together. And they need good iron."

Song Che was in a dilemma as it took them several years to produce only four or five hundred Mo Dao in Longyou.

Part of it was equipped to the Modao team, and part of it was kept as reserve.

Given the capabilities of the craftsmen in Huangshui City, it would probably take three years to complete this arduous task.

"Call more craftsmen. If that doesn't work, call civilians to help. I will apply to the court for good iron. In addition, I need to make a face guard that is difficult for arrows to penetrate from a distance of fifty steps, and inner armor to prevent collisions. Prepare at least 500 sets."

Li Xuan knew it would be difficult, but he had to form a real Modao team within a year.

"Yes, sir!" Song Che accepted the order. With Li Xuan's promise and order, he could only let go and prepare.

On this day, Li Xuan ordered all military commanders to arrive at Huangshui City for discussions in half a month.

At the same time, Li Xuan asked Zhang Xing to take his military order and go to the various armies to select Modao soldiers.

Including the original 200 Modao soldiers, half of them had to retire regretfully. They were not enough to meet the standards set by Li Xuan.

A six-foot-tall and strong man can carry 170 kilograms of rice and walk 30 steps.

Such talents can be selected as Modao soldiers.

Li Xuan paid the Modao soldiers twice as much as other soldiers.

He believed that he could find 500 men out of the army of 75,000.

As for the shogunate, Li Xuan wrote a letter inviting Feng'an magistrate Liu Yan to be his judge, the still young Yang Wan to be his military commander, Cen Shen to be his prosecutor, Gao Shi to be his chief secretary, An Zhongzhang to be his yamen runner, and Che Shensai to be his chief military officer.

In fact, there are two positions for judges.

Before Liu Yan took office, he had to appoint a judge to help him handle daily affairs.

Gao Shi and Cen Shen were masters of frontier poems in the heyday of the Tang Dynasty, and their activities were precisely in the frontiers. This was where their inspiration was triggered. They both had experience in the military governor's government in history, proving that they were qualified for such a position.

Li Xuan would not let writers like Li Bai and Du Fu be buried here.

Li Xuan brought the invitation letter to Chang'an, and Li Shizhi helped him deliver it.

For someone like Gao Shi, who is still traveling around Liang and Song with Li Bai and Du Fu, it would probably take a long time before I could receive his letter.

Li Xuan knew that An Zhongzhang was in Hexi and Che Shensai was in Taiyuan.

In fact, Che Shen Sai was unknown in history, mainly because of his son Che Guangqian, who made Li Xuan remember this name.

If Che Shensai is transferred over here, the underage Che Guangqian will definitely follow.

There were more than 200 subordinates in Longyou, including the Jiedushi, Yingtian, Zhidushi, etc. Huangfu Weiming only took away a dozen close confidants, and Li Xuan did not move the others. With them, the Jiedushi government office could operate normally.

Li Xuan also knew some great talents, but he didn't remember their specific addresses and couldn't extend an invitation.

There was also Li Xian, whom Li Xuan had contacted. He had outstanding political achievements and was on the rise in his career, so Li Xuan was too embarrassed to invite him.

Whoever becomes Li Xuan's judge, Li Xuan will at least give him a sixth-rank official position.

This is much better than a county magistrate. With the experience of being a military governor and judge, it is possible that he can directly become a prefect next time.

For several consecutive days, Li Xuan inspected various departments while adapting to the duties of the Jiedushi.

Such as grain and silk money in the warehouse.

He also watched the process of making the Mo Dao with his own eyes.

He instructed the craftsmen to install face guards on the fish-scale heavy armor so that the Modao team would be armed to the teeth.

The affairs of Xiping County will be handed over to Shangguan Qing, the chief historian of the Metropolitan Governor's Office. From now on, you can make your own decisions on trivial matters in Xiping County.

Li Xuan doesn't have a judge yet and is too busy with his own affairs.

The Lintao army originally had 8,000 war horses, and another 2,000 unregulated war horses.

Plus the 11,000 horses captured in the battle of Ji Shi Army.

Within two months, another 10,000 good horses will be transferred from various pastoral supervisors.

By that time, the Lintao army had a total of 31,000 war horses.

Therefore, Li Xuan now stationed the Ji Shi Army on ten pastures five, fifteen, and twenty miles south of the city, where they could train and herd horses.

Huangshui City was guarded by county soldiers.

Whether it was the Modao Army, the heavy infantry, or the crossbowmen, they were all taught by the cavalry and trained to ride war horses.

Li Xuan planned to change the light cavalry of the Lintao Army to 5,000 people and the elite cavalry to 4,000 people.

There were one thousand heavy cavalry and two thousand heavy infantry.

One thousand crossbowmen.

The One Thousand Tiaodang Camp was changed into the Tiaodang Elite Cavalry.

There are 500 people in the Modao Battalion.

The scout camp has 500 people.

There is also a range of supporting staff.

After the reform, there will be no light infantry and archers in the Lintao Army.

Either horse archery or elite cavalry.

This allows five thousand iron cavalry and five thousand light cavalry to break away from the heavy armored troops at any time and take action first.

War horses were not enough. In Li Xuan’s plan, the elite cavalry and the light cavalry would each have two horses.

Each crossbowman has three horses.

Scouts, Modao, heavy infantry, and heavy cavalry each have four horses.

In addition, some auxiliary personnel must be brought along, such as doctors, craftsmen, clerks, etc.

In this way, as long as you bring enough food and water and march long and fast, you can catch the enemy by surprise.

Forty thousand war horses will form a truly elite force before next autumn to launch an attack on Tubo.

Li Xuan required that both heavy infantry and crossbowmen should be familiar with horseback combat, and both elite cavalry and light cavalry should be good at horseback archery.

Li Xuan would definitely be present at the exercise every ten days, and he asked someone to bring some cattle and sheep.

Following the Feng'an Order, the best teams from each camp were divided into teams of fifty and enjoyed a meal of beef and mutton together.

To motivate soldiers to train.

Many military envoys and guard envoys have arrived at Huangshui City.

Regardless of whether he was an envoy from a large army, a small army, or a defensive envoy, on the day of his arrival, Li Xuan would personally receive him and ask about the defense situation of his army.

On this day, Li Xuan met the general Wang Nandai.

"General Wang killed Chidai Zhudan's son Langzhidu in battle, and everyone in the army knows about it!"

When Li Xuan saw Wang Nandai, he praised him.

This kind of brave and fearless general is very much to Li Xuan's liking.

Excluding Li Xuan, Wang Nan is currently the most powerful general in the Longyou army.

"My reputation is nothing compared to Marshal Li."

He felt ashamed to mention Wu Yong in front of Li Xuan.

Huangfu Weiming had someone deliver the battle report of the Ji Shi Army to all the troops not long ago. The description between the lines of Li Xuan's gesture of "stabbing the enemy general with his spear, sending him flying several feet away, charging into the battle line and causing thousands of soldiers to flee in fear" was thrilling.

"The position of Lintao Army Envoy is now vacant. I plan to transfer you to the Lintao Army. What do you think?"

After Li Xuan talked with Wang Nan about military affairs for a while, he suddenly asked.

"I would like to thank General Li for his support! I will fight bravely and repay General Li."

Wang Nandan quickly stood up and bowed.

Heyuan County was stationed in the middle reaches of the Huangshui River, with 4,000 soldiers and 650 horses.

It cannot be compared with the Lintao Army.

Wang rarely heard that General Li, who was also the Herdsman of Longyou, wanted to increase the number of horses in Lintao Army to 40,000.

Never have I heard of an army with so many horses.

The military envoys were all eyeing this vacant position. They didn't expect that General Li would like him.

"After this military meeting, General Wang will take up his post in Lintao. The deputy envoy to Heyuan has only been in office for two months and is not qualified for promotion. Which deputy envoy in Longyou do you think can take on this important task?"

Li Xuan asked Wang Nan to recommend a new Heyuan military envoy.

"The Anren Army has a deputy envoy named Li Fei Yuanli, who is a local Qiang. I have come into contact with him and found that he is as brave as I am."

The king did not dare to have any ulterior motives and recommended a general whom he thought was very powerful.

"I believe in General Wang's vision. I will recommend Li Feiyuanli to the court as the military envoy of Heyuan."

Li Xuan was very happy when he heard the name.

There was also a famous general named Lifei Shouyu in history. I wonder what his relationship with Lifei Yuanli was!

Li Xuan liked to charge into battle, so he was particularly fond of loyal and brave generals like Wang Nandai, Nan Jiyun, Zhang Xing, Li Fei Yuanli, and Li Fei Shouyu.

After a conversation with Wang Nandai, his assistant reported to Li Xuan: "General Li, a scholar has presented a poem and asked to see you."

Li Xuan took the poem presented to him.

Many literati presented poems to him, but it was impossible for Li Xuan to give positions to all of them.

If you think the poem is well written, you will call him in for discussion, and if you think he has talent, you can appoint him as your staff.

"This poem is very coincidental... The first place in the imperial examination in the second year of Tianbao was Liu Shan!"

Li Xuan slowly read the poem he had presented. Although all the poems presented had the meaning of flattery, there was a huge difference in the depth and artistry of the poems.

Last year's number one scholar in the imperial examination actually presented a poem to the audience.

Li Xuan remembered that Liu Shan was also a painter and had served as a judge of the Jiedushi in Anxi in history.

"Invite him in!"

Li Xuan gave an order to the assistant officer.

Liu Yan still didn't know whether to accept his invitation, and even if he did, he couldn't be sure when he would take up the post.

If possible, Li Xuan wanted to give Liu Dan a position as a judge and let him help him handle daily affairs.

Otherwise, once we go to war, there will be no one left behind.

(End of this chapter)