All Heavens and Worlds Modified History System

Chapter 213 Lijiazhuang

"Zhizhou."

Chen Ran bowed and said, "I am visiting the prefect this time to inform you that Hua Zhaotao, the bandit-suppression envoy of the two routes in Jingdong, has decided to attack Dulonggang and eradicate the evil forces entrenched in the area."

"Dulonggang."

Zhang Shuye narrowed his eyes and stroked his beard. "This place refuses to obey the imperial court's discipline, violates the law with force and refuses to pay taxes. It is indeed a dark and evil force."

The government in the modern world is service-oriented, at least on the surface.

But the officials in the ancient world were exploitative. The purpose of their existence was not to solve the problems of the people and serve as a judge, but to collect enough taxes for the court.

Those who do not pay taxes are naturally regarded as evil forces in the eyes of the court.

Now that someone is willing to take the initiative to eradicate such places where taxes are not paid, Zhang Shuye is naturally satisfied.

Since you are satisfied, your attitude will be much better.

"Sit down, and bring tea."

Although Zhang Shuye was a hero who fought and died for his country, he was also a scholar-official and looked down on military men in his heart.

For example, if you come to visit this so-called deputy envoy of the imperial court, you won't even be able to see his face.

Sit down, drink some tea and chat for a while.

Chen Ran's performance greatly surprised Zhang Shuye.

He knows the rules of the government very well, and it feels like he has been in the court before.

He asked in confusion, "Have you ever worked in the government?"

"No." Chen Ran smiled and shook his head.

In the previous few worlds, I was an official and a commander-in-chief, so I naturally knew everything I should know.

But this time, he was not interested in that.

After chatting for a few more words, Zhang Shuye turned the topic to the main topic, "Besides telling you this, what else do you want to do this time?"

"The army is in need of food and military supplies for the expedition. I hope the governor can provide some support."

If it were other Song officials, when they heard that the guests were coming to ask for money and grain, they would either laugh it off or serve tea to see them off.

On the one hand, there was really no food locally, and on the other hand, the Song officials did not have enough food to eat themselves, so how could they possibly share it with others?

As for not suppressing the bandits which has led to chaos on the ground and suffering of the people, the bandits are not coming to attack the city, so what does it have to do with me?
If the situation really gets out of hand, the worst that can happen is we can send a memorial to Tokyo City and ask the court to send troops.

But Zhang Shuye is different here, he is really thinking seriously.

"How many men do you have?"

"Three thousand."

"How many soldiers are there?"

Chen Ran paused and gave a reduced number: "One thousand."

Hearing this, Zhang Shuye laughed out loud.

He had worked in the military and knew that even the Western Army could not have one-third of its troops as combat soldiers. This must be a deliberate exaggeration, counting the mob that made up the numbers as combat soldiers.

This kind of thing was commonplace in the Song Dynasty, so he didn't think much about it.

How could he know that Chen Ran, who had experienced the war in the late Ming Dynasty, knew very well the terrible impact that sufficient food and wages had on the combat effectiveness of an army.

The reported number was three thousand, but the actual number was four thousand, and all four thousand were soldiers with an annual salary of fifty strings of cash!
Fifty strings of cash was just the annual salary, not including the food, salt, pickles, charcoal, cloth and other supplies needed to support the family.

In addition to equipping the soldiers with various weapons, horses, and even armor, etc., it would cost nearly a hundred strings of cash a year for a soldier!

This is also the reason why Chen Ran is in a hurry to fight and expand his territory.

Qingzhou alone cannot afford to support 4,000 soldiers with sufficient food and wages.

Zhang Shuye estimated that Chen Ran would be lucky to have 500 brave warriors. "I'll give you food and wages for 500 people, plus some bows and arrows, a hundred horses, a hundred oxen and mules, and a hundred sets of armor!"

He is indeed a hero whose name has been recorded in history books, and he is really willing to give.

The food and salary were not much, but the people had plenty of bows, arrows and weapons.

But large livestock such as cattle, horses, and mules are a huge investment in the Song Dynasty, which is short of large livestock.

Not to mention hundreds of sets of armor, which is something you can never find among ordinary people!
"Thank you, Governor!"

Chen Ran immediately saluted and said, "My troops will definitely wipe out all the bandits in Dulonggang! We will stabilize the area and give the people a peaceful and safe world!"

"Yes." Zhang Shuye nodded. "When the time comes, just report the loss of these things. You can leave them here."

"Do you need reinforcements? We can provide a thousand reinforcements from this state."

"No need." Chen Ran didn't want anyone to monitor him, so he shook his head and said, "I am more than capable."

"This state is not one that competes for credit." Zhang Shuye thought Chen Ran was worried that he would try to steal the credit. After all, this kind of thing is normal in the Song Dynasty. "Well, if that's the case, just do whatever you want."

"After the matter is done," he instructed again, "send someone here to report the news, and the state will send people to Dulonggang to sort out the fields and reorganize the market."

This is what it means to collect taxes.

He then added, "Apart from the bandit leader's head, you guys can take whatever you want from the battlefield."

Chen Ran looked touched and bowed again to express his gratitude.

In his heart, he disagreed, "Why should I give you the land I fought so hard to conquer to collect taxes and grain?"

He has already taken this matter into account.

Zhang Shuye was not the prefect Murong, so bribes were useless to him, and all kinds of deceptions could not deceive this shrewd civil servant.

Therefore, Chen Ran had already made preparations. On the one hand, he used Concubine Murong's backdoor to persuade the emperor. On the other hand, he sent people to Dongjing City to ask Ma Zhi to help him use the channels of the ministers to transfer Zhang Shuye away.

Congratulations to him on his promotion!
When you encounter a difficult and troublesome opponent, a head-on confrontation will not work and all kinds of strategies will be useless.

Then there is another way, which is to send him somewhere else.

Dulonggang has a large population, a developed economy and abundant farmland, making it a good place to recruit soldiers, collect grain and taxes.

Chen Ran must be under his control.

Bringing the supplies given by Zhang Shuye back to Qingfeng Town, Chen Ran began to make pre-war mobilization.

The few remaining fried chickens were taken out, and each person was given a roast duck, and each squad was given a jar of Erguotou, so that the soldiers could eat and drink to their heart's content.

Chen Ran's army is a newly-organized army with sufficient food and pay, so naturally, it does not have the bad habits that were seen in the Song army.

Things like travel expenses and money for firing a few arrows before a battle, none of those things exist for him.

After eating and resting for two days, the troops set out and headed straight for Dulonggang.

The distance between the two sides was actually not far. In just a few days, thousands of troops had arrived near Dulonggang.

Because they came from other states and Zhang Shuye knew how to keep secrets, the three villages in Dulonggang did not know the news in advance.

By the time the troops arrived, they didn't even know where they came from.

"elder brother."

Hua Rong, who had sent people to gather local intelligence, stepped forward and asked, "There are three villages here, Lijia Village, Zhujia Village, and Hujia Village. They support each other and help each other. Which one should we attack first?"

Yang Zhi at the side asked, "Which one is the strongest?"

"Of course it is Zhujiazhuang. Their family is the strongest and has the most prosperous population."

"Lijiazhuang is the richest, but the weakest."

"Hujia Village is in the middle of the pack."

"What good words are there?" Master Lu paused with the Zen stick in his hand. "If you want to fight, fight the strongest. I will go to meet Zhujiazhuang now."

"No." Chen Ran simply shook his head, "Let's attack Lijiazhuang first."

Everyone was puzzled and looked at him waiting for an explanation.

"From a terrain perspective, Lijiazhuang is located on the periphery, and the surrounding terrain is flat and suitable for attack. And they have money." Chen Ran said with a smile, "If they have money, they will not have the determination to fight to the death, so naturally there is a possibility of persuasion."

Wu Song and the others didn't quite understand, but they still expressed their support, "Since brother said so, let's go to Lijiazhuang."

The owner of Lijiazhuang is Li Ying, also known as Putian Diao in the underworld.

This nickname has a history.

According to legend, when Daji was a demon, a soap eagle flew up, scratched her face, and knocked off her golden crown. Its flaming eyes could see through the demon's disguise.

Li Ying is a person who can see things clearly.

In the original novel, after defeating Fang La, he saw through the court's plan to get rid of him, so he immediately took sick leave and returned home. He became a rich man again and was one of the few leaders who could have a good ending.

As for him, he is a well-known wealthy man.

He is extremely wealthy and good at managing money. In Chen Ran's opinion, he is a very suitable logistics management talent.

After all, the people around Chen Ran are all professionals in fighting. There is even Yang Zhi, who comes from a military family and is good at marching, deploying troops and training soldiers.

But there are too few logistical talents, or rather, there is only Chen Ran himself.

He urgently needed an expert in financial management to manage logistics and military supplies.

That day, Li Ying did his usual thing. After dinner, he practiced martial arts and then went to the study to take care of the documents sent by various businesses.

In the past, no one dared to disturb him when he was working, but today he was interrupted by a hurried knock on the door.

"My Lord, something bad has happened. A large number of people are coming towards our farm!"

Li Ying was shocked, but he did not rush to gather people to fight. Instead, he asked, "Where are these troops? Are they government troops?!"

This is critical.

If they are government troops, you can use your connections in the government office to give them bribes of money and food.

If they are bandits who come to rob houses, then go and call Zhujiazhuang and Hudiazhuang for help.

You need to first figure out who is coming so that you can respond effectively.

The housekeeper quickly responded, "The flag they are flying is the Jingdong Two-Way Bandit Suppression Envoy~~~"

"Hiss~~~"

Li Ying knew this. After all, his caravan often went to Qingzhou next door. He naturally knew that almost all the heroes from all over Qingzhou had been annihilated by this bandit-suppression envoy.

He didn't take it seriously before, on the one hand because he didn't think that the summoners were bandits, and on the other hand because that was the business of Qingzhou next door, and they wouldn't come to Jeju to cause trouble. After all, if they crossed states, the local governor would not tolerate it.

Now that I know they are really here, I am a little confused for a moment.

Fortunately, he reacted quickly. He first hurriedly arranged for the officials to take money to the provincial capital, use his connections in the yamen to ask the prefect to come forward and repel the troops that had crossed the border.

On the other hand, he immediately arranged for people to summon Zhujiazhuang and Hujiazhuang for help.

Finally, he dressed in his armor, took up his weapons, mounted his horse, and went out to fight with the farmhands and men who had been urgently summoned.

It's called a fight, but more of a desire to negotiate with the newcomer. We shouldn't interfere with each other's business. You came all the way from the next state just to make money.

Come up with a number, and then offer some money to withdraw the troops.

But when he left the village and met Chen Ran's troops head-on, he immediately gave up the idea of ​​bribing them.

On the opposite side are thousands of soldiers lined up in neat rows!
(End of this chapter)