When Wang said this, Huo Qing immediately exclaimed, "Could it be Zhu Li who challenged the thirteen generals of Shatuo and captured Fu Wenda alive?"
"Yes," Wang stared at Zhu Li and responded confidently.
After he said this, even Gao Su suddenly understood, and shook his head with a sigh, saying: "No wonder, no wonder, I was wondering why the three of us brothers have been fighting outside the Great Wall for seven or eight years and have never found an opponent. How come we were defeated for no reason today? It turns out that we ran into the envoy."
After sighing for a while, without waiting for Zhu Li to give way, Gao Su continued, "Envoy Zhu, the three of us brothers are tired of staying in Yinshan, and we want to change our livelihood. I wonder if your governor's mansion is short of people."
Gao Su's request was made very suddenly, but as soon as he finished speaking, the three of them looked at Zhu Li eagerly, as if Zhu Li was some kind of delicious bun.
As soon as he saw the other party asking to follow him, Zhu Li thought to himself, as expected, all the reborn characters mentioned in the "Classic of Mountains and Seas" must look like this. Having seen Guo Qizuo and Gao Yuan, he was not surprised.
He bowed and said, "If you three are willing to submit, the door of my Shuozhou Governor's Mansion will always be open to you. I am just afraid that I will wrong you."
When they saw Zhu Li agreed, the three of them were immediately overjoyed.
"Hahaha, your Excellency is too modest. At least we can be sure of one thing now, that is, your Excellency and the three of us should be fellow travelers." Huo Qing took over the conversation and looked at the Yueqi who were dressed as bandits behind Zhu Li, and said meaningfully.
"Go, stay aside. How can you talk to the envoy like that?" Gao Su was older after all. Besides, it was not a glorious thing for Zhu Li to do this. He was afraid that Huo Qing's unstoppable mouth would anger Zhu Li, and that would not turn out well. Therefore, he patted the other's shoulder and pretended to be angry.
"Hahaha, Huo Qing is right. When it comes to dealing with the Khitans, we are indeed like-minded." Zhu Li smiled without minding.
Since the three decided to follow Zhu Li, the action of looting in the north naturally could not be carried out. Not only did they give up the action, they also specially invited Zhu Li and others to their big village to observe.
Juxian Village is located deep in the Yin Mountains, with only one small path passing through. The terrain is dangerous and wonderful, as if God has deliberately chosen it to provide a good place for the Han people in troubled times to live in seclusion. This is an excellent terrain where one man can block the way for ten thousand men.
At the end of the path is a vast open world, beneath which stands a large village. It is very large, countless times larger than the original Shenmen Village. Inside the village are interconnected roads, thousands of acres of fertile fields, distinct villages, and the sounds of chickens and dogs. It is like a paradise.
According to rough estimates, the population of Dazhai is about 40,000 to 50,000 people. Looking around, it is very lively and filled with an atmosphere of peace and tranquility.
What Zhu Li did not expect was that in a corner of the Barbarian Mountains outside the Great Wall, there were so many Han people gathered. The population was even greater than that of the state under Zhu Li's control, which made Zhu Li feel a little embarrassed.
From Gao Su, Zhu Li learned that these people were once slaves of the Khitan people. Now, the nobles in the Khitan were fighting against each other and wars were frequent. Under the planning of the king, Gao Su and Huo Qing defeated the isolated tribes one by one, and thus rescued so many Han people and settled them all here.
After seven or eight years of accumulation, this place has been rebuilt four or five times to its current size.
Model, staying here is obviously safer than staying in Zhu Li's Shuozhou.
There were at least 15,000 strong and capable men in the entire stronghold, and most of the rest were very young, including many newborn babies. After all, the slaves left behind by the Khitans were all young; the old and weak were all brutally killed by the Khitans, and only those left behind were useful laborers. Except for women and children, almost everyone in the stronghold was a guard.
Even without relying on Gao Su and Huo Qing to plunder, the people in the big village can be self-sufficient. Seeing all this, Zhu Li was amazed. It would be a lie for Zhu Li to say that he was not tempted by these people, but he knew that these people living here were obviously safer than staying in Shuozhou.
Moreover, Wang did not recommend Zhu Li to move them to Shuozhou. If he wanted to move these people there, that would be fine, but he had to wait until Zhu Li had a stable territory and could guarantee the safety of the people, which Zhu Li obviously could not do now.
However, Zhu Li soon had an idea. He asked Huo Qing and Zhou Dewei to stay, and appointed Huo Qubing as the Guoyi Duwei to assist Zhou Dewei in continuing to encroach on the Khitans. He would try to exchange the captured cattle, sheep and valuables for grain, copper coins, silver and the like, and send them to Shuozhou.
Afterwards, he selected 3,000 horse bandits from Yinshan, and took Gao Su, Wang, and Yuchi Jin back to Shuozhou. As soon as he returned to the governor's mansion, he immediately appointed Gao Su as a general, to replace Shi Yan in setting up a ferry on the Yellow River, and began to erode the Dangxiang people; he appointed Wang as the driver of Shuozhou, to be the president of government affairs together with Guo Qizuo, Guo Chongtao, and Zhang Shen. He handed over the 3,000 people brought from Yinshan, together with Shi Yan's original 1,000 people, to Gao Su. The goal set was to quietly control Shengzhou within two years and then infiltrate westwards.
At the same time, Zhu Li also captured 700 Han women and marriageable women from Khitan captives. Some of them were wives and daughters of surrendered Khitan warriors. Zhu Li still maintained their marital relationships and helped them settle down in Shuozhou. Those who were unmarried or widowed were allocated to his soldiers. Of course, it all depended on the willingness of both parties. If some were unwilling, he would not force them. Most of the Han women were fine, but most of the Khitan women were unwilling.
These were easy to deal with. Zhu Li assigned these single women to the auxiliary soldiers. All the soldiers in the battalion could pursue them, but they could not force them, otherwise they would be executed.
Especially those who followed Zhu Li all the way from Tanzhou to the north will be given priority for marriage, and the native guards and Yue cavalry of the north will be put on hold for the time being. He believes that Zhou Dewei and Huo Qing will continue to send people over, so that these single men under their command can settle down in Shuozhou, and they will have a stronger sense of belonging to Shuozhou.
This kind of marriage does not only apply to Zhu Li's own subordinates, but also the guards stationed at Piantou Fort led by Gao Yuan, and the guards stationed at Yanmen Pass led by Commander Zhang Guiba, all have the same opportunity.
The civil administration of Shuozhou is in the charge of three highly intelligent people, Guo Qizuo, Wang and Guo Chongtao, so Zhu Li does not have to spend much time on it. It is worth mentioning that Wang and Guo Chongtao may be slightly inferior to Guo Qizuo in terms of military strategy, but when it comes to governing the local area, they are far superior to Guo Qizuo.
(Wang Meng: politician and military strategist during the Sixteen Kingdoms period. Guo Chongtao: Prime Minister of the Later Tang Dynasty during the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period, famous general and strategist.)
What Zhu Li did not expect was that Wang was even more adept at running education and cultivating talents, and he did it with ease, completely making up for the shortcomings of Guo Qizuo and Guo Chongtao.
Time flies, it's just negligence.
December 5th, the first year of Guangming.
A piece of news that shocked the world swept the world.
The Cao army, led by Huang Chao, attacked Chang'an and Emperor Xizong fled to Chengdu. Huang Chao's general Zhu Wen persuaded Zhuge Shuang, a Tang general who had suppressed the Shatuo Rebellion, to join Huang Chao.
The fact that the capital of the Tang Dynasty was actually conquered by the Grass Army made countless people feel it was unreal.
The New Year is almost here and such a big thing has happened. I believe that few military governors across the world will be able to spend a peaceful year.
As for Zhu Li, the minor governor, he was not greatly affected. At the end of the year, he inspected various places. With Zhou Dewei and Huo Qing continuing to loot in Yinshan, not only were the soldiers' salaries fully paid, but they were also given gifts of wedding money. For a time, the morale of the Shuozhou army was greatly stabilized.
In terms of government affairs, the development of education has reached a considerable scale; in terms of people's safety, the common people do not have to pay rent this year, and some poor families have even received assistance and subsidies from the governor's office. No one starved to death or suffered from the cold in the winter, and the people's hearts are won over.
This was also thanks to the small population of Shuozhou. Zhu Li alone had nearly 20,000 men under his command. Even if half of them were taken out to help stabilize the people, it would be more than enough to take care of them. The entire Shuozhou was full of vitality and hope in the first year of Guangming.
June of the second year of Guangming.
Li Xiaochang, the governor of Yan, and Tuoba Sigong, the governor of Youzhou, held a meeting and marched south to support the king under the banner of supporting the Tang Dynasty and recovering Chang'an, and called on all heroes in the world to fight together.
Li Keju, the governor of Lulong, was also invited by them. Li Keju agreed and ordered Zhu Li to lead his troops to the south to support the king.
Upon receiving the order, Zhu Li immediately transferred Zhou Dewei to Shanyang, handed the important task of eroding the Khitans to Huo Qing, and transferred Zhang Guihou from Yunzhou to serve as his deputy.
In mid-June, Zhu Li, Zhou Dewei, and Shi Yan led 4,000 Yue cavalrymen to the south to support the king. The affairs of Shuozhou were fully entrusted to Guo Qizuo and others.
Emperor Xizong, who was in Chengdu, suddenly discovered that there were three loyal ministers in the Tang Dynasty. He immediately appointed Tuoba Sigong as the Jiedushi of Xiasuiyin, and ordered him to control Li Xiaochang and Zhu Li and help him regain Chang'an.
In July, Emperor Xizong changed Guangming to Zhonghe in Chengdu, and the second year of Guangming became the first year of Zhonghe.
It was also this month that, after more than a month's trek, they met up with the armies of Li Xiaochang and Tuoba Sigong near Wei Bridge. Huang Chao had already received the news and had already sent his general Zhu Wen to fight.
There are three bridges over the Wei River. Li Xiaochang didn't know what he was thinking of, and immediately suggested to Tuoba Sigong that he divide his troops into three groups, with each of them responsible for a Wei River bridge. He himself chose the middle bridge to attack, Zhu Li was responsible for attacking the east, and Tuoba Sigong attacked the west.
The bridge that Zhu Li was responsible for was on the west side of the intersection of the Jing River and the Ba River. The bridge was straight from north to south, and it was obvious at first glance that it was not an easy place to take.
In the temporary tent, Zhou Dewei bowed to Zhu Li and said, "Envoy, Li Xiaochang has bad intentions. Zhu Wen has also divided his troops into three groups to resist us north of the Wei River. The number of troops stationed there is not much difference. We only have 4,000 people, all of them cavalry. If we attack head-on, we will not be able to get through even if our entire army is annihilated."
"That's right, lord. Rather than asking us to be responsible for the eastern bridge, it would be better to say that he asked us to die. Li Xiaochang really deserves to be killed." Shi Yan echoed indignantly.