Since the Accounting: A Chronicle of the Roman Khanate

Chapter 567: A Not-So-Far Expedition
While Guo Kang was thinking, others were not idle either. They were listening to Yang Laobaihu's introduction while looking at the situation in the village.

There are probably more than 200 households in this village. According to Yang Laobaihu, they will provide 100 people this time. This ratio is actually quite high.

Guo Ponu asked him if this would delay the village's business. After hearing this, Yang Laobaihu smiled and shook his head.

"One of the important things in the world is fighting, and the other is farming. Both of them are serious business. Different places may have different emphasis. Our side is mainly about fighting."

"You look at the large number of people, but we actually did." He introduced: "The men in the village also sent out dozens of people to attack Alemanni the year before last. Everyone was resting last year. This year, there are Become another group of people and go out with the general Jia Erlang; if something happens again next year, it will be the same group of people from the previous year. In this way, everyone will fight for one year and rest for two years, which will be more leisure. "

"This expedition will probably take a long time," Guo Ponu said.

"It's okay, we are all prepared." Yang Laobaihu replied confidently: "It doesn't matter if we fight for a few more years..."

"It shouldn't take that long." Guo Zhaowen thought for a while and said: "The last time we went to Alemany, we mainly went around in circles, and in the end we all went north to fight the Poles. If the goal is clear, it won’t take so long.”

"The road is getting better now." Guo Ru also said: "The first time I joined the army was during the Anda War, when I followed Xian Khan to fight against the Mazar people. At that time, I remember that I also set out from Henan. , walked for about a week and arrived in Belgrade.”

"Although there was a section of the road in a mountainous area, we walked pretty fast. Because at that time, many people came out of various bandit villages in the surrounding mountains and were besieging the city. The businessmen and citizens in the city were scared to death and were looking forward to it every day. They are waiting for us." He smiled and said, "However, there are also many villagers who are acquaintances of the Queen Mother, so our march was relatively smooth and we arrived at the battlefield without many twists and turns."

"It's safe over there, and it will be much more convenient for us to move forward. Now that we are sending troops, we don't have to start from our hometown. The warehouse can continue to move forward."

"Our place is pretty good. The Queen Mother has found a lot of people to help. But to be honest, I have been stationed there for more than three years and I still haven't fully understood the relationship between them." He shook his head: "The relationship between these people The grievances and hatreds are more complicated than those on the plains. Every time I see the edict asking us to appease them, I get a headache..."

"You see, when everyone's main force really fights, it's actually very fast. Instead, it's all kinds of miscellaneous things, which are really troublesome." He said helplessly: "Fortunately, I was not asked to go into a mountain den with the bandits, otherwise I would have been able to Suffocate me to death..."

"The Great Khan asked us to immediately give up what we were doing and move forward. Three days later, we entered the hinterland of Hungary and ran into the Magyar army head-on. After winning the battle, we spent nearly a week chasing the enemy and wiping them out. Small groups of troops in various places could finally see the cities of Buda and Pest. However, the Khan said that we were not prepared enough and it was not time yet, so he retreated to the east."

"Yes. My father always said that although he let me join the war relatively early, the situation when I first entered the battlefield was much better than when he was. And the boy now is better than we were then. "Easy." Guo Ru said: "The ancestors paved the way for future generations. This is how our generation has come."

"I was just drinking at that time." Guo Zhaowen said: "There was a quarrel in several villages in the mountain, so we invited the leaders down the mountain. Don't talk about anything on the first day, just drink. The members of the war group took turns to come up, Let’s drink all those people down.”

"Now there is no need to buy everything outside." Guo Zhaowen said: "The Queen Mother has found many people to teach her fellow villagers to grow grapes. I heard that some mountains are suitable, but it was too chaotic before and no one could manage it. Where the conditions are not suitable, we can grow apples, raspberries and other fruits. Even in mountain nests, we no longer need to rely solely on sheep herding, and the overall situation is much better.”

"Many mountain people themselves are actually bandits. Nobles with titles are bandit leaders - this is not what I said, but the Queen Mother said it herself. She also told us that when she was a child, she followed her father and brother to rob the merchants of Venice. Guo Zhaowen said with a smile: "Being familiar with these people will reduce the scope of banditry. As for those stubborn bandits, they will be eliminated sooner or later."

"It should be better now." The adoptive father also answered: "There is no need for you to drink. I think now they go to Dadu regularly, and then people from the Ministry of Rites accompany them to drink."

"It only took one day to expel the enemies over there. But the subsequent elimination of the remnants of the bandits took a long time... I remember it took more than a year." He recalled: "But we didn't delay too long, cleaning up and resting in place. Ten days later, there was information that the Magyar people had also gathered their troops, hoping to join the bandits here. "

"They are also poor and can't afford to drink good wine on weekdays. We just buy good wine from the river valleys in Henan or from Crete and keep it ready every day. When these people see it, they can't keep their mouths shut. . It will be much easier to get down to business when I wake up the next day.”

"How did you solve it later?" Guo Ponu asked curiously.

"It won't work if you don't go into a mountain den. Later when I joined the army, my first few battles were in a mountain den." Guo Zhaowen disagreed: "If you don't clean up the bandits in the mountain den, these gangs will go down the mountain to cause trouble. There is a large area around , it’s all in vain.”

"Originally, I thought you should go to the west first." He said to Guo Kang: "Now when setting off from Henan to fight, you don't need to bring armor or food. You only bring your own sword and bow and arrow, so you can pack lightly along the way. We can cross the Carpathian Mountains in a day, and we can assemble there. It’s quite far away. If we set off from the village of Lao Li’s family in Shanxi, we can reach the front line in three to five days.”

"Sometimes when I read the history books of the Han and Tang Dynasties, I feel a sense of unreality. It seems that our only trip to Novgorod can be considered a 'long journey', but there are also various rivers along the way, so transportation is not difficult. . In comparison, the war we are fighting seems too easy.”

"Yes, I heard people say that those people often walk for half a year to reach the border station, and then walk for several months to reach the battlefield. For us, half a month is considered far away." Guo Zhaowen also agreed. "Most of the time it takes less than half a year to reach Normandy." The adoptive father thought for a while and said: "The last time Shi Laosan went to Normandy to negotiate with the English, it took less than three months. He also stopped by for a visit along the way. Several princes are greeting me. This has come to an end..."

"Almost. I have sent people to survey the route before. If we start from Pest City, even if we bring heavy equipment, it will be enough to reach Vienna City in half a month." Guo Ru said: "Looking at it this way, the distance here is really close. Ah. In comparison, the Polish side is much farther, probably because of the size of the towns around Kiev. In fact, the distance from Lviv to Krakow is not that much. , but the transportation there is not very convenient..."

"Wow, Fifth Uncle, you have even checked this." Guo Ponu said in surprise.

"I run around every day, and that's what I do." Guo Ru seemed very proud of his work: "Moreover, I am put in charge of these things because I have seen a lot and have experience. Over in Poland, I am I personally led the team to investigate, otherwise I would just cut off a few heads."

"Besides, I'm not just bragging, my fifth uncle has fought more battles than your father." He said cheerfully: "When I went to the battlefield, my eldest brother was still studying to be a civil servant. At that time, everyone hoped that he would become a civil servant. Like Duke Yuanting and my father, he will become an assistant to the prime minister."

"I'm not idle either. I'm preparing for diplomatic matters." The adoptive father was a little embarrassed for a moment and quickly defended.

"No way. It took more than a year for you to become a diplomat. You were in Dadu at that time." Guo Ru immediately revealed unceremoniously: "I came back from the front to deliver a letter and went to your house to drink. As a result, I also saw a girl running out crying, so you chased after her..."

"That's not my fault. Princess Maria suddenly encountered such a big change, and her family was occupied by nobles. As a reserve diplomat at the time, I was right to comfort her," the adoptive father argued.

"You, a diplomat, only do diplomacy with other princesses..." Guo Ru complained.

"Lao Wu, you can't say that." The adoptive father quickly looked back and found that the line was very long. He turned back and said, "I really didn't do it well. It's also a matter of talent. You can't blame me for not thinking. Later. I even took the risk to go to the East as an envoy..."

"The diplomacy in the East was settled by Cao Da and Shi Laosan, right?" Guo Ru curled his lips: "They were the ones who moved the old emperor's soldiers here. After that, the Ottomans quickly withdrew their troops and rushed back to deal with the east. You The time spent in Osman was not short, but it was just a diplomatic achievement... It seemed that I had found a new sister. "

The adoptive father was so embarrassed that he couldn't answer for a while. He could only wave his hands and said repeatedly: "Stop talking, stop talking..."

Everyone laughed, and the scene was filled with a happy atmosphere. The female relatives who were following far behind the team also sped up curiously and followed them.

"Uh, I have to add something about this." Upon seeing this, Guo Kang quickly continued the previous topic of the march: "It's not just land, sea transportation is actually convenient here."

"We start from Dadu. If there is a favorable wind, we will reach Rhode Island in five days and Cyprus in one week. We will continue south to reach Gaza Port in about ten days. Then we will turn southwest and we will arrive in a few days. Alexander. If the wind is against us, it will take half the time. Most of the way is our territory and it looks far away, but it’s actually quite fast.”

"Why don't you just go to Alexandria? Wouldn't that be faster? Besides, isn't there someone there to help you?" Guo Ru asked.

"It's really fast to go directly. I asked the envoy and he said that the time from Alexandria to Dadu, including the transit time from Cyprus, is probably less than 20 days. From Dadu to Alexandria, it is faster because it is smooth sailing. Some businessmen We have tried it, and if we run fast, we can get there in nine days." Guo Kang explained: "However, supplying at sea is very troublesome. We haven't planned it yet. If we transport troops, we will definitely have to stop several times more than passenger and cargo ships. And. , we still have allies in Syria, and we have to join them, I guess, we have to stay for a month."

"That's not bad." Guo Zhaowen said to Mr. Yang again: "Uncle Yang, look, this is an expedition, which is only a month's journey. It is estimated that most of it is still in our own territory. Looking back, how much can we give Let the villagers speak to let everyone know that the actual situation this time is not as exaggerated as it seems, so that the mother and daughter-in-law in the village can rest assured."

"I really don't understand the sea." Guo Ru said thoughtfully: "I didn't expect this expedition, it seems not too far away..."

"The Mediterranean is very convenient." Guo Kang told him: "I happen to know an Italian businessman who often runs shipping routes. They are very familiar with these situations. It is because they know the transportation situation that they dare to take such risks."

"Okay, you have a lot of friends. But can those businessmen be trusted?" Guo Ru asked smoothly: "Isn't it also a sister?"

"Oh, no, it's a big brother." Guo Kang quickly explained.

"That's it..." Everyone said clearly.

(End of this chapter)