All Heavens and Worlds Modified History System

Chapter 227 The Wind Rises

Li Kui, who was left with only a skeleton, fell from the pillar, was thrown onto a cart and dragged to a mass grave outside the city, where he became food for wild dogs.

The Ruan brothers, Chao Gai and others could no longer hold on and died early.

Surprisingly, the one who persisted to the end and was still breathing was Song Jiang.

After resisting for seven days and being stabbed thousands of times, Song Jiang was still alive.

When he saw Tie Niu's skeleton being dragged away, the last thought in his mind was, 'It shouldn't be like this. I should have become the supreme ruler of Liangshan, and with the help of Liangshan, I should have been summoned to the court and risen to prominence from then on.'

Song Jiang felt that his fate should not be so miserable, but the bloody reality was right before his eyes.

Filled with resentment, bitterness, doubt, anger and despair, he fell completely silent.

'The modification of the plot character Song Jiang has been completed, and the rewards are now issued.'

'Note: The skill is released: Bow down (The favorability of male characters is enhanced. The more famous you are, the higher the favorability is.)'

"I will go back this time and come back in a few months at most."

After receiving the system notification, Chen Ran turned around and told Hua Rong and others, "You must take up positions in the city as soon as possible, guard the city gates and warehouses, especially the warehouses where weapons and armor are stored. You must also try to win over those impoverished imperial guards and use them for your own benefit. The topographic map of Tokyo City, the garrison forces at important locations, etc., etc., the work is very heavy."

"Brother, don't worry!"

Wu Song took the lead in saluting, "We will not let you down, brother!"

Everyone responded generously, saying, "Brother, rest assured, we will definitely get things done."

Before leaving, Chen Ran visited Ma Zhi again.

Since he changed his attitude, stopped promoting the Song-Jin maritime alliance, and even expressed that aid should be given to the Liao Kingdom, Ma Zhi's status plummeted.

Facing his worries, Chen Ran comforted him with words, "Things will get better eventually, just wait patiently for now."

Ma Zhi would be the most suitable person to be sent as an envoy to the Liao Kingdom in the future to provide support to the Liao Kingdom so that it could hold out for a longer period of time and consume more of the Jin people's manpower.

Riding his horse out of Nanxun Gate, Chen Ran turned around and looked back at this extremely magnificent and huge capital city.

"Next time I come, I will become the master of this place and reverse the fate of this place being completely submerged in the long river of history!"

After returning to Qingfeng Town, Chen Ran stepped up the training of troops and expanded his strength.

At the same time, he sent people to send gifts to Li Qingzhao in Jeju every now and then.

At the beginning, people who gave gifts were driven out along with their gifts.

Later, after Chen Ran expressed his intention to visit in person, he finally accepted the gift, but there was no return gift or reply.

He didn't care about it because he knew that some things only need to be done once, and they will happen countless times.

On this day, the informant Chen Ran arranged in the Qingzhou government office brought him official documents from the court.

It is clearly recorded above that the Caimo Cult in Suzhou and Hangzhou started an uprising and was invincible in attacking cities and killing officials.

The leader was named Fang La, who called himself the Holy Lord and founded the reign title "Yongle"!
"This reign title." Seeing this, Chen Ran couldn't help laughing, "Zhu Di must have been tricked~~~"

In order to maintain the terrible consumption and financial expenditure, the imperial court desperately squeezed the local areas, and the richer the place, the heavier the squeeze.

The people in the south of the Yangtze River had a hard life. Not only did they have to pay extremely heavy taxes, but they also had to perform labor service and transport flowers and stones, which was exhausting.

Under such unbearable circumstances, the local people were already "unable to bear their lot, so they all turned to banditry".

Fang La was a local tyrant, and his own industry was also targeted by the government.

Fang La, who was on the verge of bankruptcy due to constant demands, simply started a rebellion.

He took the people along the way with him and swept across dozens of prefectures in the south of the Yangtze River.

By the Xuanhe period, the combat effectiveness of the Song Dynasty army had already declined to an appalling level.

After a century of suppression by the literati, the status of warriors has fallen to the same level as beggars.

Being a soldier means having a tattoo on your face, having no social status at all, and even the salary is not enough to support your family.

Under such circumstances, when Fang La's rebel army attacked various places, the local garrisons basically fled in panic.

After all, the soldiers are not numbers. It is impossible for them to work for a court that suppresses them and even almost starves their families to death.

"Of the more than 80 million guan of revenue the imperial court received each year, 70% was used for military expenses."

Chen Ran laughed at this. "With so much military spending, we have managed to raise an army that can't even beat the bandits. Where did all the money and food go?"

Where can I spend it?

From the palace, those eunuchs and officials, to the court, the high-ranking officials and the ordinary clerks.

Then there are the royal relatives, military generals, generals at all levels, and so on.

Almost everyone with a little power is reaching out for military spending.

More than half of the annual money and grain had already been lost before it even left the city of Bianliang.

The rest arrived at the army, and they kept reaching out to the people up and down, and more than half of them disappeared again.

Only one or two out of ten would eventually fall into the hands of the soldiers?
The Song Dynasty had an army of one million. This was not just bragging, but a real army of one million.

If only one or two tenths of the tens of millions of strings of cash spent on military expenditure each year goes into the hands of the soldiers, on average each person would only have a few strings of cash!
It's hard to support yourself with just a few coins, let alone support the whole family.

Therefore, the army of the Song Dynasty did not train. They were busy working everywhere every day. They could play various musical instruments, cook, do carpentry, carry crops, and so on, but they could not fight.

In reality, it was impossible to distribute it evenly, and most of the available military funds were used on the Western Army, which supported the so-called "elite Western Army".

Many local troops, especially the garrison troops in various places, did not even have a few strings of money and food a year.

Under such circumstances, if you ask them to work for the government and fight against the rebellious Fang La's troops, the soldiers will spit in your face!
"It finally begins."

Putting down the official documents, Chen Ran immediately ground ink and picked up the pen to start writing the letter.

He wrote to the prefect of Qingzhou, Murong, and the prefect of Jizhou, Zhao Mingcheng, asking them to take the initiative to write a letter to express their opinions, saying that the court should transfer the elite troops of the Western Army to quell Fang La's rebellion.

The Song Dynasty was the world of scholars and officials. Anyone with a turban was qualified to write a letter to discuss such military and political affairs. Even students in the Imperial Academy had this qualification.

On the contrary, a military man like Hu Yanzhuo is only qualified to obey orders.

It's ridiculous that the big-headed turbans who are only good at talking and boasting are planning how to fight the war.

Those who truly understand what war is can only do things according to the arrangements of the turbans.

It was done, and the credit goes to the turbans.

If things went wrong, it was natural that the soldiers deliberately did not contribute, and the soldiers' heads were chopped off to intimidate the army.

Prefect Murong became famous among the civil officials because he cleared out the bandits in various parts of Qingzhou, and Prefect Zhao became famous among the civil officials because he made great plans and defeated Liangshan. They were given the elegant title of "military experts".

Naturally, their memorials were taken seriously.

Of course, the main reason is that Governor Murong has the support of his sister, Imperial Concubine Murong.

Zhao Mingcheng's father was a member of the Yuanyou Party, commonly known as the Old Party. All the Old Party figures in the court supported him and obviously wanted to promote him.

Their memorials soon formed an opinion, which was to mobilize the elite troops of the Western Army to the south of the Yangtze River.

"The most capable Western Army?"

Chen Ran put down the document in his hand and said, "When you arrive in Jiangnan, I will take over Bianliang City. If we cut off your logistical supplies, I wonder how you can still be so elite!"

Jeju Prefecture Office.

"Zihou, how come you have time to come to my place?" Zhao Mingcheng was very happy to see Chen Ran coming to visit him. "Please sit down and serve tea."

After the greetings, Chen Ran stated his purpose, "Brother Defu, have you ever thought about returning to Tokyo?"

As soon as these words came out, Zhao Mingcheng sighed, "Why haven't I thought about it before? But now I am the governor of the government, how can I leave my post without permission?"

"Tokyo City is really lively. The last time I was there," Chen Ran recounted his previous experience in Tokyo City, which aroused Zhao Mingcheng's great interest. He then turned the topic back to "Now there is a great opportunity to return to Tokyo City. Brother Defu must seize it."

"Oh?"

Zhao Mingcheng immediately became interested and asked, "What do you mean?"

For these big turbans, Tokyo is the only place in the world where people can stay, and other places are all remote and poor areas!
He dreamed of returning to the bustling city of Tokyo.

Chen Ran didn't speak directly, but instead said, "It's getting late."

Zhao Mingcheng was stunned for a moment, then suddenly realized, "Come here, arrange a banquet, and ask the lady to come out."

A banquet was set up to entertain Chen Ran, but Li Qingzhao was nowhere to be seen.

Zhao Mingcheng, who was anxious to know how to return to Tokyo City, got up impatiently and went to look for her.

After a long while, Li Qingzhao, with an unhappy look on her face, appeared in the flower hall.

Chen Ran, smiling, stood up and saluted, "Sister-in-law~~~"

"Pooh!"

"What are you doing?" Zhao Mingcheng frowned. "Zihou rarely comes to visit. What are you doing?"

Li Qingzhao'（＞﹏＜）'

"You idiot, you're still speaking for him. I'm so mad at you!"

They all sat down, and Zhao Mingcheng warmly invited Chen Ran to have a drink.

Chen Ran's skin was as thick as a city wall. Even though Li Qingzhao beside him glared at him from time to time, he acted as if he saw nothing and continued to smile and joke with Zhao Mingcheng.

After three rounds of wine, five flavors of food.

After putting down the wine glass, he started to talk about the main topic.

"Brother Defu." Chen Ran said slowly, "You have wiped out the Liangshan bandits, so you can be considered knowledgeable about military affairs. There is trouble in the southeast right now, and it is the right time for the court to use troops. If you can manage it properly, it may not be a bad idea for you to join the Privy Council."

As soon as these words came out, Zhao Mingcheng's eyes lit up. "Yes! If I am transferred to the Privy Council, I can go back to Tokyo City!"

It is not easy to join the Privy Council.

But Zhao Mingcheng had already met the prerequisite at this time. He had made contributions in military affairs, and both the court and the public recognized his knowledge of military affairs.

Of course, simply having merit and ability is not enough, you also need help from noble people.

"Brother Defu, your father has many friends, and they can help speak for him in the court." Chen Ran took the initiative to offer advice, "I have some questions for the Qingzhou prefect, and I would like to ask Prefect Murong for help."

Zhao Mingcheng was puzzled. "What ability does Murong Yanda have?"

Chen Ran and Li Qingzhao rolled their eyes.

Li Qingzhao, who had been silent the whole time, could not help but speak up, "Prefect Murong's sister is Imperial Concubine Murong!"

"Oh I got it."

Zhao Mingcheng suddenly realized that sometimes the words of husbands are not as effective as pillow talk!
"30,000 strings of cash." Chen Ran held up three fingers. "This amount of money is enough to convince Governor Murong to help. Governor Murong is a real man, and he will definitely help if he receives the money."

"But where did I get the thirty thousand strings of cash?"

Zhao Mingcheng sighed repeatedly.

Although he also plundered money, he had been in office for a short time and did not plunder so much wealth at all.

"No problem." Chen Ran said with a smile, "I'll pay for this money."

"I only ask Brother Defu to help me after he joins the Privy Council and let me get a sinecure in the Privy Council."

(End of this chapter)