Chapter 260 Time
The first half of the fourth year of Guangping was a time of fierce fighting and war.

Western Yan attacked Western Wei, Wagang attacked Eastern Yan, and Eastern Wei attacked Western Yan.
However, by the second half of the year, except for the confrontation between Eastern Wei and Western Yan in Jianghuai, the rest of the wars had basically been stopped.

Wagang suffered heavy losses at the hands of the fledgling Li Yaoshi, and also had three newly acquired counties to digest, so it was unable to send out troops in a short period of time.

The Eastern Yan regime, with Luoyang as its core, was facing a tense situation in the court. The elite Chinese and foreign troops in Yuzhou suffered heavy losses, and Yuzhou itself was in ruins, so it could only take a defensive stance.

After the Western Yan regime in Chang'an seized the core areas of the three major counties of Nanyang, Jiangxia and Yuzhang, it also obtained parts of Yuzhou, making it the big winner in the fourth year of Guangping.

Although he won, there was no "national bank" like Luokou Granary in Guanzhong area. The burden of years of war was not light for the prefectures and counties in Shuzhong, Guanzhong, Hexi, Longyou and other places. So after Li Yuan opened up the connection with Jianghuai, he ordered his eldest son and second son to lead the army back to Guanzhong.

The apparent reason was that there was a threat from the north, but in fact, as long as Puban was held, even if the Tuoba family, who used cavalry, wanted to force a crossing of the Yellow River, they would still have to rely on whether God would give them face in winter.

If it is a cold winter and the Yellow River freezes, the cavalry can wade across the ice.

But it all depends on luck.

So the real reason is that there is actually not much food in Guanzhong, and it is time to stop fighting at this point.

As for Shu, there is actually no shortage of food, but it is very difficult to transport food from Shu to the outside, especially to the north, which requires crossing the Qinling Mountains.

The grain from Hanzhong could actually be transported to Jingzhou via the Han River, but the problem was that the Han River from Hanzhong to the three eastern counties was turbulent and basically a one-way trip, so it was difficult for ships to go back, so water transportation was not possible.

As for Longxi and Liangzhou, they are both notoriously cold and harsh places, and it is good enough if they can be self-sufficient.

In other words, Guanzhong is a densely populated land of abundance with great war potential, and was also used by Li Yuan as a base for management.

Most importantly, although Guanzhong and Chang'an have been actually occupied by the Li family, it will take some time to completely transform them into the basic base for eastward expansion.

Therefore, the army cannot stay away for long.

After the "threat" from the Tuoba family was lifted, the first thing Li Er discussed with Li Yuan after returning to Chang'an was to absorb the surrendered soldiers.

Last year, Li Er defeated the Turkic cavalry and captured many prisoners. He selected thousands of those who were good at riding and shooting and handed them over to the surrendered Turkic general Zhishisili for command.

This time, the Wei army in Jingzhou and the Eastern Yan army in Yuzhou captured more than 20,000 prisoners. Li Er planned to select 10,000 elite soldiers from them to strengthen his team.

After returning to Chang'an, he resigned from the post of Left General, and the army led by Li Er was left with only the Liangzhou Army led by the General of Liangzhou Military Affairs, and more than 30,000 infantry and cavalry.

He cannot touch the rest of the central army.

After careful consideration, Li Yuan agreed to his request.

After all, this is his own son, and he has made great contributions this time. His reputation has risen rapidly, so it is not right to ask for surrender.

After finishing the business, Li Er told Li Yuan about Jiang Huai and Li Si's recent situation. After listening, Li Yuan couldn't help but sigh, "I haven't seen Si Lang for a long time."

Later, Li Er brought the letter from Lao Si to him. In addition to greeting his father, Li Si also mentioned that he hoped that Guanzhong could send some cadres to share the pressure, as the Jianghuai territory was expanding and he could not keep up with it.

After hearing this, Li Yuan thought that this kid was really smart. He was worried that there were not enough positions to go around. The Li family was a big family and was in power. There were too many relatives and old friends who wanted to get a job.

There are only so many positions in the court, and you can't just move them randomly because it involves professionalism. There are a lot of favors to take care of, and there are a lot of talented people waiting to be promoted.

It is entirely possible to arrange for a few of them to be resettled in Jianghuai.

After getting Li Yuan's approval, Li Er began to select elite soldiers from the surrendered soldiers to form a new army. He also selected elite cavalry from the entire army to supplement the 3,000 cavalry he led personally. Because these cavalry wore black armor, they were called the "Black Armor Army."

When they heard about going to Jianghuai, the first person to arrange to go was Dou Guang, the uncle of the Li family. It was not that Li Yuan was stingy and unwilling to arrange a position for the uncle of several sons, but Dou Guang had been a rich and idle person except for a short period of leading troops during Yang Xun's rebellion. All the positions he held were idle positions with salary.

After entering Chang'an, Dou Guang was appointed Shaofu Shaoqing, which was basically a sinecure. The emperor was a puppet, and the Shaofu was equivalent to the emperor's accountant. What could he do? It would be better for him to go to his nephew's place to relax.

So Li Yuan sent more than 30 people recommended by Dou Guang with the claim of relatives and old friends to Jianghuai for service.

On the Jianghuai side, except for the Dongguan area where Li Yuanhui was personally in charge, the situation was still tense, while other areas were busy with the autumn harvest.

Since Guo Fenghe took office as the governor of Huainan, he has been encroaching on Huaibei and recruiting refugees to cultivate land according to Li Yuanhui's instructions.

Xiacai, which was close at hand, had already been captured and had become an important stronghold of Jianghuai in Huaibei, needless to say. Many forts were also built between Yingshui and Woshui, all the way to the edge of Chen County, which was actually controlled by Jianghuai Group.

Guo Fenghe provided oxen and seeds, and Qiao County provided people, and the two sides worked together to develop military farming in the Huaibei area.

When it was time for the autumn harvest, in order to prevent thieves and bandits from robbing, Li Yuanhui also asked Chang Yanheng to lead light cavalry to Huaibei to protect the autumn harvest.

He himself was at the East Gate, fighting with the Wei army.

The two sides had a total of more than 100,000 troops, of which the Wei army was all concentrated east of the Rushu River and north of the Yangtze River, with about 60,000 troops north of the river.

The Jianghuai side concentrated its garrisons in the two pass cities and around Ruxu Mountain and Qibao Mountain, taking advantage of the dangerous terrain.

When it comes to food transportation, both sides are blessed with natural advantages.

One is backed by the Yangtze River, and the other is located across the Rushu River. Both can transport grain by water, reducing large-scale consumption and human labor.

this point is very important.

Because war is not only about the combat of troops on the front line, but also about the transportation of supplies in the back, which also requires a large number of young labor forces.

Similarly, agricultural production in this era also required a large amount of labor.

Therefore, if the farming season is delayed due to war, many people will lose the income from the land on which they depend for their livelihood, creating a vicious cycle.

Water transportation greatly reduces the consumption along the way, saving manpower and material resources. At the same time, there is no need to recruit a large number of laborers to avoid missing the time for sowing and harvesting.

In this way, there will not be a large-scale reduction in food production in agriculture, thus entering a vicious cycle.

Both sides understand this principle, and transporting grain by water is an advantage that both sides have.

At this time, it is a test of patience and financial resources.

Li Yuanhui was waiting for Lü Qin to build a large navy in Poyang Lake and then sail down the river. But this would take at least a year or two.

As for Cao Yuanjing and others, they are a bit vague.

Because those four words mean "there are changes in the world".

The world has actually changed a long time ago, but whether you can wait for the changes to be favorable to you depends on fate.

When you are destined to succeed, God will help you. But when you are unlucky, even drinking cold water will make your teeth ache.

This winter came early.

(End of this chapter)