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Snow fell all night, and Datong Mountain was covered in white. When the north wind blew, the snowflakes on the pine trees fluttered down, and this world covered in silver was so beautiful that it made people linger.
Of course, even if Dayan Ozier did not linger, it would be difficult for him to return. For his two or three thousand remaining soldiers, this white ice and snow was like the last straw that broke the camel's back.
Dayan Ozier drank a bowl of horse blood while it was hot. His mouth turned red and the fishy smell made him feel so sick that he wanted to vomit.
The Qin army's shouts came from the bottom of the mountain again, "Those who surrender will be spared." "Whoever captures Dayan Oqi'er alive will be rewarded with a thousand gold coins." Hearing these shouts, Dayan Oqi'er could not help but grab the felt hat on his head and threw it hard on the snow.
The Mongolian hairstyle is very special. They leave a bunch of hair on each ear, which is kept as long as possible and braided. They leave another bunch of short hair on the forehead and shave the rest of the hair. This hairstyle looks wild and ugly to the Han people. But no matter how ugly it is, his head is worth a thousand gold.
Dayan Oqier knew that many of his men wanted to cut off his head and go down the mountain to ask for a reward from the Qin army.
He touched his head and yelled hysterically, "Come on, there's a fortune here, whoever wants to take it, come quickly!"
The two or three thousand hungry and cold remaining soldiers on the mountain looked at each other, and Dayan Ozir looked at them with a look full of distrust.
At this time, a gust of wind came, and a ball of snow fell from the pine branches, hitting Dayan Ojir's bald head, making him shiver with cold.
General Qinggertai came up and whispered: "Khan, don't be like this..."
"Get out of here! Do you also want my head to be brought down the mountain for reward?" Although Dayan Ochir was the Khan, he was still too young.
Half a month ago, he was still dreaming of ruling the Central Plains, but his ambitions were suddenly shattered. Now he was trapped in Datong Mountain, with nothing to eat or wear. Two or three thousand remaining soldiers were still staring at his head with evil intentions.
He felt like he had suddenly fallen from heaven to hell. He almost collapsed and was on the verge of losing his mind. He was completely unaware of how his series of actions made his already desperate soldiers feel.
Qinggertai was pushed down by him, and his right hand was cut by a sharp stone. Red blood dripped on the snow, one drop, two drops, three drops... He had tried every means to break through, but the last glimmer of hope in his heart dripped out bit by bit with the blood, dripping onto the cold snow.
When they were forced into Datong Mountain, Dayan Ozier still had more than 4,000 men with him. After being besieged for half a month and failing to break out several times, nearly half of them had already deserted.
Those who were able to stay were originally relatively loyal, but a snowfall last night made everyone's situation even worse. All the food was eaten up, and even the war horses were almost killed.
It's cold and hungry. How long can it last
At this time, the Qin army put forward conditions: those who surrendered would not be killed, and those who captured and killed Dayan Ozir would be rewarded with a thousand gold coins. This also shattered the last bit of resistance of the more than 2,000 remaining soldiers.
They huddled together, looking silently at Dayan Ozier and Qinggertai, each with mixed feelings and wandering eyes.
Qinggertai sat on the ground, letting the blood drip from his hands. There is no greater sorrow than a dead heart...
Clang! No one expected that Qinggertai would suddenly jump up at this moment and draw his sword to chop out.
Poof! Dayan Ozier's head instantly fell on the snow, his eyes wide open, as if he would never believe until his death that Qinggertai, whom he had trusted the most, would really do this.
The headless corpse gushed blood and fell to the ground helplessly. The white snow on the ground was all dyed red. Cries of surprise came from the mouths of the two thousand remaining soldiers, and there was a commotion on the mountain.
Not long after, Han Gang and Hao Yaoqi at the foot of the mountain saw Qinggertai carrying Dayan Ozir's head and walking down the mountain with more than 2,000 remaining soldiers.
Han Gang and Hao Yaoyao were very happy. To be honest, the weather was so cold that water would freeze into ice. The remaining soldiers on the mountain were not feeling well, and they would not feel well under siege. It would be great if they could get rid of this group of remaining soldiers as soon as possible.
When the good news reached Lanzhou, Qin Mu was delighted and immediately issued an order, ordering Hao Yaoqi to lead 2,000 troops to garrison Xining City, and the rest of the troops to withdraw to Lanzhou immediately to slightly reduce the logistical pressure.
During the expedition to Longyou, 60% of the army's food and grass were transported by merchants, most of which were Kaizhongfa, where merchants brought food and grass in exchange for salt permits. Some were purely contracted, where the government contracted the work of transporting food and grass to merchants.
The court's expenses in doing this were similar to transporting the goods by itself, but the efficiency was completely different.
If merchants want to make money, they can only do so by improving efficiency. The longer they spend on the road, the more losses they suffer, the less they earn, and they may even lose money.
Some merchants were nearly twice as efficient as the laborers conscripted by the imperial court. It is hard to imagine how they did it.
In the second hall of the Lanzhou government office, there were only Qin Mu and Sima An.
Since ascending the throne, Qin Mu seldom summoned Sima An alone.
More than half a year has passed, and Sima An has not done anything unwise because of Qin Mu's deliberate alienation. Instead, he has continued to make concessions and tried his best to cooperate with Qin Mu's series of policies.
Qin Mu expressed satisfaction with this.
When a new emperor ascends the throne, especially a founding emperor, there must be a process of centralization. If he does not strengthen his own authority first, not only will it be difficult to implement his will, but in serious cases it will also affect the stability of the country and cause the nascent regime to collapse rapidly. Qin Mu is of course no exception. Centralization is inevitable.
Sima An was a smart man, and he knew that whoever competed with the emperor for power at this time would have a bad ending. Most of the founding heroes of the past dynasties retired after achieving success, and this was not without internal reasons.
Today Qin Mu suddenly summoned him alone, and Sima An felt a little uncomfortable.
Qin Mu talked to him about internal affairs and the war situation for a while before saying, "Sima Xueshi has probably noticed that the caravans nowadays always seem to be following the army's footsteps. The two seem to be somewhat interdependent. What do you think of this, Sima Xueshi?"
"There were many people who opposed the contracting of logistics to businessmen this time, but now it seems that the effect is quite good." Serving the emperor is like serving a tiger. Qin Mu suddenly asked such a question. Sima An could only say a few perfunctory words before he thought it through.
Qin Mu said casually, "The Protectorate of the Tang Dynasty controlled the army, government and finance, which led to the An-Shi Rebellion. After the establishment of the Song Dynasty, not only did they not allow the army to have anything to do with finance, they even set up a special envoy to separate the financial power from the prime minister's administrative power. Only then did they stop the trend of military separatism that had become popular after the Tang Dynasty."
"Your Majesty, what you said is absolutely right." Sima An naturally knew the seriousness of the matter, but Qin Mu's attitude was quite intriguing, making people a little unsure. "Your Majesty, given the current situation, if the generals in the army collude with businessmen, it is indeed possible to get financial support. But I think this is not the same as the Jiedushi of the Tang Dynasty holding local financial power."
"Mr. Sima, please speak."
"Your Majesty, merchants are profit-driven. As long as there is a chance, they will definitely try their best to bribe the generals in the army to gain greater benefits. But if they are asked to spend all their wealth to support the generals' rebellion, I am afraid that few merchants are willing to do so..."
Qin Mu interrupted him and asked, "Mr. Sima, have you forgotten the Eight Clans of Shanyou?"
Sima An shook his head and said, "There is no doubt that the Eight Shanyou Families aided the enemy, but it is not entirely true to say that the Eight Shanyou Families supported the Qing Dynasty's entry into the Pass. To be honest, I am afraid that the Eight Shanyou Families are the ones who are most unwilling for the Qing Dynasty to enter the Pass."
"Who can guarantee that there won't be businessmen who think that supporting the separatist generals can maximize their own interests?"
"Your Majesty, there are definitely such people, but not many."
"We need to take precautions whenever possible."
It was obvious that the emperor did not want to completely separate the merchants from the army, otherwise he would not have to discuss it with him and would have just issued an order.
So how to find a balance so that merchants and the military can form a benign combination without causing rebellion? Presumably, this is the answer the emperor wants.
Sima An thought for a moment and said, "Your Majesty, the key is to prevent it from the root. I think that the Song Dynasty's garrison system can be slightly improved and is a feasible strategy."
The following words immediately emerged in Qin Mu's mind: "The soldiers do not know their generals, and the generals do not know their soldiers", "The soldiers have no permanent commander, and the commander has no permanent teachers".
His brows knitted slightly. The garrison rotation system was very effective in preventing generals from becoming authoritarian, but it also had many drawbacks. How could it be improved to eliminate its drawbacks
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ps: I am asking for monthly tickets and annual work tickets, brothers and sisters, now the annual work tickets are still ranked first in the history category, but it is obviously not strong enough, the king of history, the beautiful sky, the beautiful wishes, I hope everyone can lend a hand, give me a hand, and ask for annual work tickets...
.(To be continued..)
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