Chapter 620 Early Autumn
Diezhou in early autumn has a beautiful scenery.
This time should be said to be the most beautiful time of the year in Diezhou. The sky is high and crisp, the sky is blue and white clouds, the mountains in the distance reflect snow, and the Qiang River rushes down the mountain.
Qin Lang led the soldiers of the Zhenxi Army to a triumphant return to his hometown.
At the gate of Diezhou, the five-star fort of Zhenxi Army, a beacon signal came from the mountains in the distance, and the scouts in the fort quickly left the city. A Tangtang rider with a five-color flag spread out like a fan.
The five riders opened up the distance, spread forward in five directions, walked a certain distance, and raised a flag to report the military situation to the five-star fort behind. The red, yellow, blue, white, and black five-color flags represent different meanings.
These Tangqi are actually scouts and signal soldiers. What they do is not only to scout the enemy's situation, but also to report the message.
One pond and five cavalry, five of them go out together, and the five of them should disperse when scouting, but they can't leave their respective sights. Each of them carries a signal flag or even a ringing arrow.
When Qin Lang led the Longyou Army to conquer Tuyuhun in the west, no matter how many lines the troops were divided into, they all set up Tangqi, and each line had at least 24 Tangqi, and one route was 120. When marching, Tangqi was separated from each other One mile, the maximum spread can reach more than 20 miles.
Compared to the combat-oriented forward rangers, Tangqi is more focused on communication, and rangers focus on hunting and killing enemy sentries.
The beacon on the mountain behind the Five-Star Fort sent out a signal of fireworks, and a large group of people approached, and the report said that there were at least 3,000 people. So the fort immediately dispatched a group of cavalry out of the fort, followed by rangers with one fire and ten cavalry.
Tang Qi dispersed and advanced, and soon ran ten miles away. Sure enough, he saw a team approaching from a distance.
Zhao Xiaoshan stopped his mount and quickly raised his flag gun.
This Zhangba’s flag gun is actually a long gun, the difference is that there is a socket under the head of the long gun, which can insert the five-color flags on their backs.
Zhao Xiaoshan planted a green flag, held the flag gun and began to shake it slowly.
The other four Tang riders also stopped advancing immediately when they saw the flag gun shaking.
Rangers approach.
As a Tangqi, what you need is good physical strength and endurance, especially sharp ears and eyes. Zhao Xiaoshan carefully looked at the sudden appearance of the team, and after a while, he was pleasantly surprised.
He quickly took off the flag and drew a big circle with the flag gun.
Tang flag semaphore, meet the enemy wave the red flag, find the enemy wave the yellow flag, many enemies wave the green flag, few people wave the white flag, terrain problems wave the black flag.
All Tangqi are directly under the commanding general. When Tangqi reports the news, officers and soldiers along the way are not allowed to intercept, and officers at all levels are not allowed to intercept and interrogate. They can only report to the chief general, otherwise they will engage in military affairs.
After discovering the enemy, Tangqi will send orders by semaphore or direct word of mouth depending on the situation, but as long as the enemy appears, they must keep a certain distance to stare at them, and they are not allowed to evacuate. The enemy advances and retreats, and the enemy retreats and advances.
"It's the cavalry of the Tang Dynasty, the cavalry of the Great Tang Dynasty. I saw it. It's the flag of our Zhenxi Army, and the flag of Duke Wei."
"It is Wei Gong who led our Zhenxi army back."
Tangqi put his flag gun on the spot, then rode his horse back and approached other Tangqi.
Leaving the other four Tangqi behind, Zhao Xiaoshan rode his horse back to Five Star Fort.
The captain who stayed behind heard that Qin Lang had returned, and immediately shouted orders.
"Blow the horn, beat the drum, gather troops and horses, open the castle, and come with me to welcome Duke Wei and his brothers back!"
The ten cavalry rangers outside the city had already crossed the pond and rushed to the front of Qin Lang and the others. Seeing from a distance that it was indeed Qin Lang who had returned with the brothers from the Zhenxi Army, they immediately rolled their saddles and fell off their horses excitedly.
"The five-star fort rangers of the Zhenxi Army see Duke Wei!"
Qin Lang glanced at the castle standing in the Fairy Valley of the Tiger Cave. This time it became famous in the last battle of Longyou. Now it is a well-known military fortress. The red flag is flying, which seems a bit cold.
"Get up, lead the way for us, and return to the city!"
The rangers got up excitedly, ran and jumped on their horses, leading the way.
At this time, there were only 200 Western Army troops staying in the five-star castle. Seeing Qin Lang coming back, they all came out of the castle in full armor and greeted them in front of the castle.
"Congratulations to Duke Wei for his triumphant return!"
Qin Lang smiled slightly and wanted to get up and dismount.
A Qiang soldier from the city immediately ran to the horse and knelt on the ground, wanting Qin Lang to step down on his back. Qin Lang waved his hand, "There is no need to do that. I will come down by myself. I am not seven or eighty."
"Need not."
Qin Lang easily jumped off his horse, and patted the officer of the barbarian soldiers in the city.
Although there are only 200 people stationed in the Five-Star Fort, there are still many townsmen nearby.
Next to Anhua Tucheng, many people were also rushing over. Before the smoke rose, many people were a little surprised. When they found out that it was Qin Lang who had returned, they all ran to greet him.
This Anhua Tucheng, which was built after the Longyou War, was originally a county set up to resettle the Qiang people attached to it.
Qin Lang almost lost his recognition. The first big change was the large number of people.
The dirt road outside the city has been widened a lot, even compacted, and drainage ditches have been dug, and there is even a public toilet next to the road.
And there are people coming and going on the road.
What is even more amazing is that Anhua Tucheng was originally just a Tucheng with a big soil enclosure. In fact, there were not many houses and people in it, but now, it is obvious that this city is separated from the Five-Star Fort by a Bailong River. The city of Tucheng has changed drastically.
The city wall seems to be taller and thicker, and the city gate is actually covered with bricks, and the city gate tower is added, which is even more magnificent.
At the gate, there are also Zhenxi Army and the city guards, and there are officials from the City Administration and tax collectors who are registering and inspecting.
"It's very lively, isn't it?"
The school lieutenant hurriedly told Qin Lang with a smile that since Qin Lang led the Longyou Ninth Army to march westward, he had won many victories one after another, and the rear was naturally more peaceful. The Longyou Army's unique investment promotion mode this time has also brought greater business opportunities to Diezhou.
Countless merchants from Jiannan Mountain, Nanlongyouguan and other places also transported a lot of goods to Diezhou, the base camp of the Western Army in the town. As the battle ahead continued to sing triumphantly, many merchants also brought back a large amount of spoils from Tuyuhun. Things were transported to Diezhou, making this place quickly become a distribution center.
As the gateway to Diezhou, Anhua Tucheng in the Tiger Cave Fairy Valley, because it is close to the border and protected by a world-renowned and powerful five-star fortress, it quickly became a bustling trading center.
In the past, the market only opened for trading every five and ten days, but now here is a constant trading every day, with people coming and going.
Now in Anhua Tucheng, even Guardian Bank and Kaiyuan Bank have set up branch offices here one after another, and many big firms have also settled here one after another, making the place more prosperous and lively.
Qin Lang’s family had already been stationed in Diezhou, and this time the manager was even more certain about the transfer of funds and manpower, and made an emergency expansion and reconstruction of Anhua Tucheng.
So the current Anhua Tucheng, the city walls have also been heightened and thickened, the city gates have been covered with bricks, the gate towers have been added, and moats have even been dug for the city moats. In addition, the roads outside the city have been widened, and the city has been newly planned. Markets, commercial streets, residential areas, entertainment and dining streets, etc., and even several new handicraft workshops and processing areas.
Even outside the city, several large workshops covering a large area and employing a large number of people have been newly planned, such as wool spinning, felt spinning, leather workshops, carriage workshops, horse shops, etc.
Back then Wei Qinghuo Qubing conquered the Xiongnu. After a great victory, he won hundreds of thousands of cattle and sheep, but when the last team entered the fortress, he only registered 30,000 horses.
On the one hand, this is of course because the good families of the Han army who went out at that time lost many horses and mounts and replaced them directly outside the Great Wall. On the other hand, these good families were similar to the soldiers of the Tang Dynasty, and they also plunder Looting, many horses were snatched or rewarded, and they went directly to their names, and they were no longer registered when they were brought back.
The more important point is that although the Han army won a great military victory at that time, the logistics could not keep up, and they could not bring back many seized. Especially for Huo Qubing, who was engaged in long-distance raids on light cavalry, he went deep into the enemy's rear alone, engaged in lightning raids, and supported wars with battles. Therefore, although he won many battles and captured a lot, he couldn't take them away at all, and most of the time he didn't burn them. Just abandoned.
As a result, when the Western Han Dynasty went to the Xiongnu, the government registered the loss of more than 100,000 horses, but only 30,000 horses entered the frontier, which was a huge loss.
Qin Lang's Western Expedition was different this time, all the way to victory, the enemy fled all the way, the Tang army recruited and accepted the rebellion all the way, and recruited many cooperative merchants early on, the Longyou Army fought in front, and the merchants followed behind to take over the spoils. Basically nothing wasted.
Even if it is the bones of the beef that have been eaten, the merchants will still ship them back, thinking of ways to turn them into money.
The huge amount of loot was seized, and the merchants moved back like ants. Naturally, they moved to the border states of Longyou first. Die, Tao, and Shan, which are important transportation points along the border, were naturally the first choice.
Things were transported back, and then began to be divided and processed. The raw materials were either rough processed and sold, or sold directly to other merchants.
The influx of countless merchants also brought a lot of hot money. The prosperity of trade even led to the outbreak of the handicraft industry, and even the finance sector.
Looking at the banks, money houses, gold and silver shops, bodyguard shops, quality warehouses, and **** shops all over the place, they are all rushing to carry out deposit lending, exchange, pawn, **** and other businesses, and you can know that this place is very popular.
The Qin family's stewards are undoubtedly the ones who are close to the water and have the best development here. Not only are they the first to enter various businesses, but they also took advantage of the trend to engage in a wave of real estate development.
Qin Lang turned around and looked at the excited triumphant soldiers of Zhenxi, all of them had already received their share when they were in Shanzhou, but they were all issued in the form of bank notes, bank notes, etc., they These bills can be cashed at the corresponding bank in each state.
The cows and horses they ordered internally can also be exchanged at the designated partners in Longyou Zhuzhou.
Everyone rushed back to Diezhou all the way, and now they naturally want to cash out their bounties as soon as possible, and exchange them for the cattle and horses they previously subscribed for.
"The whole army was disbanded on the spot, and everyone can move freely. Those who want to exchange rewards and receive supplies, go ahead. You can also have a little fun and relax in the city after receiving the money, but remember to go home early, the rewards are all taken In exchange for your life, take it back and share it with your family.”
"Your achievements have already been reported to the imperial court. You still have to wait for the Ministry of War to review and comment. Whether you can finally award honors to the officials will have to wait for news."
A group of Zhenxi sergeants heard a cheer, and immediately disbanded with noisiness, bid farewell to Qin Lang one after another, and flocked to Anhua City.
(end of this chapter)