Guiyi Fei Tang

Chapter 128 Goodbye Mr. Zhang
"Lanzhou Governor Liu Jilong, meet the Jiedushi!!"

On the twelfth day of the first lunar month in the sixth year of the Dazhong period, as Liu Jilong sang and bowed, Zhang Yichao and Zhang Huairong, who got off the carriage, also cast their eyes on him.

When he saw Liu Jilong, Zhang Yichao smiled, but Zhang Huairong was serious, as if he had forgotten the days when he fought side by side with Liu Jilong.

"It was thanks to your three expeditions to Liangzhou that we were able to recapture Fanhe and create an opportunity for our army to advance eastward."

Zhang Yichao stepped forward and helped Liu Jilong up, looking him up and down with a smile. He looked like an old man who saw his grandson growing up.

"Good, good, good... This body is much stronger than before, and the appearance is even more heroic and handsome!"

Zhang Yichao looked at Liu Jilong, unable to hide his liking for him.

"Let's go in and have a cup of tea first."

He held Liu Jilong's wrist and led him into the yamen, followed closely by Gao Jinda, Zhang Huairong, Ma Cheng and others.

They entered the inner hall, Zhang Yichao sat in the main seat, asked Liu Jilong to sit next to him, and the rest of the people took their seats.

We hadn't seen each other for a year and a half, and Zhang Yichao looked obviously much older than the last time we met.

If we ignore his age, he is 53 years old and looks even like some 60-year-old men. It can be seen how much trouble those insects in Dunhuang took.

"I heard from Huai Shen that you think that after retaking Liangzhou, it is the best time to move eastward to retake Helong. Why do you think so?"

Zhang Yichao asked Liu Jilong with a smile, and his tone did not make people feel any pressure, giving people the illusion that he was chatting with his elders at home.

Liu Jilong himself may not know enough about Zhang Yichao, but Zhang Yichao's choices in history told Liu Jilong that he could trust him.

Because of this, Liu Jilong did not deceive Zhang Yichao, but explained in a tactful way:

"At present, the drought in Helong has not subsided for two years. Lun Kongre's subordinates are divided into pieces. The strongest one, Shang Yanxin, was defeated by me. He has only tens of thousands of people and only three or four thousand soldiers..."

"Except for Shang Yanxin and Shang Bibi, the rest of the states have no more than 2000 to 3000 soldiers, and no more than 1,000 soldiers."

"Under such circumstances, it is time for our army to march eastward and retake the Helong area."

"If the governor trusts me, I will lead 5,000 soldiers to recapture the lands of Longxi!"

This was the first time that Liu Jilong publicly stated that he was going to Longxi, and his answer also made Zhang Huairong, who was sitting in his seat, feel relieved.

He was most worried that Liu Jilian would stay and fight with Zhang Huaishen, but now that Liu Jilian had personally promised to go to Longxi to recover the lost territory, he naturally felt relieved.

Things were developing as the uncle and nephew had expected. The only thing that made people hesitant was the number of soldiers Liu Jilong demanded.

Five thousand soldiers and horses was not a small number. Even if Liu Jilian had conquered Liang Province three times and obtained more than 3,800 sets of armor, it would not be enough.

The entire Hexi army had only more than 12,000 soldiers. If Liu Jilian took away 5,000 of them, there would only be 7,000 left.

Thinking of this, Zhang Huairong felt very reluctant, but Zhang Yichao and Gao Jinda, on the other hand, felt clear as a mirror.

Five thousand armored soldiers may sound like a lot, but Liu Jilian alone obtained more than 3,800 armored soldiers.

If the entire Liangzhou territory is recovered, the number of armors captured from Shang Moling and others alone will be no less than 5,000.

With these 5,000 armored soldiers, Hexi can train another batch of armored soldiers.

Liu Jilian was probably aware of this, which is why he proposed a plan to send 5,000 armored soldiers to recapture Longxi.

"How can you be sure of recovering Longxi? You must know that Shang Moling is a ruthless man who would rather die than live in disgrace. What if he burns down the Guzang granary? What will you do?"

Zhang Yichao wanted to test him, but Liu Jilong said without hesitation: "He can burn down the Guzang granary, but he can't control Jialin and Changsong."

"The granaries in Jialin and Changsong are enough for me to take over Lanzhou and Hezhou!"

"These two states are adjacent to the Yellow River and the Tao River, but the foreign bandits did not know how to make use of them, which led to the displacement of the people."

"The water I used in Shandan can be used to turn the carts, which is enough to irrigate the land of the two states. Next year, we can store enough food and recover Linzhou and Weizhou."

"If we take over the three states of He, Lin and Wei, the bandits in the other states will surely surrender when they see that Shang Yanxin is dead and gone."

"When the time comes, our army will seize the opportunity and attack. In three years at most, we will be able to recover all eleven states except Shanzhou!"

It took four years to recover the eleven states. Only Liu Jilian would dare to say such a thing.

Even at the peak of his power, Longxi was only unified in name.

"Three years?"

Zhang Huairong, Gao Jinda and others showed surprise on their faces, but only Ma Cheng firmly believed in his own governor.

As for Zhang Yichao, he showed neither distrust nor determination, but smiled and said, "Everything is possible."

After that, he did not continue to ask Liu Jilong questions, but stood up and said: "Jilong, come with me."

Liu Jilong stood up and followed. Seeing this, the others also wanted to follow, but were interrupted by Zhang Yichao with a smile: "You don't have to, just prepare the food, it won't take us too long."

Upon hearing this, they knew that Zhang Yichao had something to say to Liu Jilong, and it couldn't be heard by others.

The two men stood up and walked outside. When they reached the street, Zhang Yichao didn't say anything for a long time, but just took Liu Jilong through the streets and alleys.

More than ten steps behind them followed the armored guards, ensuring that they could not hear the conversation between the two while also being able to protect Zhang Yichao in time.

Zhang Yichao glanced at this and chuckled, "I am only fifty-three years old, but they think I am old. They don't realize that I was also the first person to climb the city wall of Dunhuang four years ago."

"The governor is in good health, but we are all worried about your safety."

Liu Jilong did not doubt Zhang Yichao's health. After all, Zhang Yichao lived to be over 70 years old in history.

Liu Jilian forgot his exact age, but he should have died before the Huang Chao Rebellion.

"Haha, what you said is quite pleasing to the ear."

Zhang Yichao was very happy, and smiled as he and Liu Jilong came to the city wall.

Seeing this, Liu Jilong knew that Zhang Yichao wanted to go up to the city wall with him to discuss the matter.

This is not surprising. The city wall is wide. If the voice is deliberately lowered, people more than ten steps away will not be able to hear the news and can only guess based on the lip shape.

"If you want to climb up to see the scenery, the only things in the city that can meet your needs are the city walls and the bell and drum towers."

Zhang Yichao walked onto the horse path with a smile, and then said as Liu Jilong expected: "Your talent will surely surpass Huai Shen in time."

"It is reasonable for me to leave you in Hexi, but it is a pity..."

Zhang Yichao sighed, with a hint of helplessness and regret in his tone: "The water in Hexi is too muddy, and you have no background, so keeping you here is not a good choice."

There was nothing wrong with what he said, even though Liu Jilong himself did not want to stay in Hexi.

If he were really allowed to enter the Dunhuang government office to discuss matters, he was really afraid that he would not be able to resist killing those noisy insects.

Regardless of his past and present lives, his experiences have told him one thing... A newly recruited team is always more useful than the old team left by the old staff.

He would rather go to Longxi to open up wasteland than stay in Hexi and take over the rotting Hexi.

Putting aside other things for now, if he were in charge of Hexi, he would definitely have to recover Longxi, and then obtain population from Shannan Road and Jiannan Road to stabilize the situation in Helong.

Such behavior would easily give them an advantage, and if the Tang Dynasty sent someone to reprimand him, those guys in Guasha would certainly keep chattering and constantly throwing sand in their faces.

Although Liu Jilong was confident that he could get rid of them within three to five years, how many three to five years could he afford?

In this case, we might as well go to Longxi and form a team to fight and practice at the same time.

Once Longnan is taken, he can take advantage of Longnan's terrain to sit back and watch the fight between two tigers, and then take advantage of the situation.

Although Ma Cheng, Zhang Chang, and Li Ji were loyal to the Tang Dynasty, if they were asked to choose between the Tang Dynasty and themselves, they would definitely support themselves after seeing the ugly face of the Tang court.

Thinking of this, Liu Jilong took the opportunity to say: "My going to Longxi is a good thing for Hexi and myself."

"If I become powerful in Longxi, I can then completely 'break away' from Hexi, and make the court support Hexi to restrain me."

"This will be a good thing for me and Hexi..."

Before Liu Jilong could finish, Zhang Yichao stopped and looked at him: "Someone else must have taught you this!"

"This..." Liu Jilong wanted to lie, but he didn't say it in the end because he knew he couldn't fool Zhang Yichao.

"I knew it..." Zhang Yichao shook his head.

Although he had only met Liu Jilong for a short time, he knew that Liu Jilong was not good at political schemes. Fortunately, he was still young, and perhaps in another seven or eight years, he would be better than Zhang Huaishen.

"Your personality is indeed not suitable for staying in Hexi. You are quite right about that."

"As for the constraints you mentioned..." Zhang Yichao shook his head: "Don't worry, just do what you have to do."

Zhang Yichao didn't want to use this method to gain the support of the Tang Dynasty. After all, he had lived a dark life under the rule of Tubo in the first half of his life, and he didn't want to live like that again.

In response to his words, Liu Jilong could only nod to show that he understood, but he couldn't say anything.

Seeing that he didn't speak, Zhang Yichao sighed inwardly and could only sigh to Liu Jilong: "You and Huai Shen are very similar sometimes. You only believe in your own reasoning."

After he finished speaking, he continued walking with Liu Jilong, looking towards the city from time to time.

Finally, he ended the topic and changed the subject: "The situation of the people in Jiuquan City is much worse than that of Shandan under your rule."

"If you go to Longxi, without the financial support from Hexi, the first few years will probably be very difficult. Aren't you worried that your soldiers will be disappointed?"

Zhang Yichao saw the matter clearly. The reason why Shandan was able to have a big pot of rice was simply because it relied on transfusions from the other four states.

But once the blood transfusion is cut off, it will depend on whether the Shandan military and civilians can survive this period of pain.

This is true for Shandan and Longxi as well.

Longxi is currently suffering from a severe drought. Even if Liu Jilian recovers Longxi, he will still have to face the problem of food shortage.

Faced with this question, would the Shandan soldiers, who were well-fed by Liu Jilong, still be willing to continue with him?
Everyone says that they can endure hardships, but it is easy to go from frugality to extravagance, but it is difficult to go from extravagance to frugality.

When the day of drinking porridge really comes, how many of these soldiers who are used to eating rice and meat can refuse to be disloyal?

"You can never keep people who want to leave. If they want to leave, let them go."

Liu Jilong was quite open-minded. This kind of character was what Zhang Yichao was most satisfied with him. In comparison, Zhang Huaishen was not so good.

After confirming Liu Jilong's idea, Zhang Yichao stopped probing him.

"I heard Huai Shen talk about the things you want to do. Do you really think you can help the people of the world have books to read and food to eat?"

Zhang Yichao changed the subject, his expression showing three parts appreciation and seven parts doubt.

Liu Jilong did not answer immediately, but nodded and said: "As long as we work hard in this direction, it will be realized one day."

"That's true..." Zhang Yichao thought about how he recovered the lost territory and allowed the people in Hexi to live a life without being enslaved.

He and Liu Jilian stood on a corner tower, overlooking the scene in Jiuquan City. They could see many people working in their own yards.

Although they couldn't see the expressions of these people, they could hear the faint happy laughter from the children playing and fighting.

"Jilong, what do you think is the most difficult thing about governing the people's livelihood?"

Zhang Yichao looked at everything in front of him and asked in a calm tone.

Faced with the question, many images flashed through Liu Jilong's mind, and he answered without hesitation: "Official Administration!"

"Throughout history, the taxes, miscellaneous taxes and corvée labor imposed by the imperial court have been heavy, but not so heavy that the people could not survive."

"At the beginning of each dynasty, although the people had a hard time, overall, they were still able to get by."

"It was only in the middle of the dynasty that, as the population continued to grow, the court's lack of attention to officialdom led to lower-level officials beginning to exploit the people in various ways."

"I have heard from Gao Zhuanyun and Wuzhen Dade about the affairs of the court. I heard that local officials used the capital of the government office to embezzle money, lend money to Jianghuai, Bashu and other places, force merchants to take one of the four taxes, and impose taxes on the people, levying green seedling money, idle money, and levies, etc...."

"These taxes are already heavy, and the officials of various departments have to go out of their way to collect them and ask for some bribes."

"If the people don't pay, the officials will list all kinds of miscellaneous taxes, such as silkworm salt money, farm tool money, cowhide tax, cattle rent, koji wine money, water field money, livestock and poultry tax, fruit and vegetable tax, tea tax, mulberry planting tax and other miscellaneous taxes to exploit the people."

"With such heavy taxes, I wonder how long the people can hold on..."

What Liu Jilian called "public office capital", "caught money", "rate loan", "free writing" and other taxes, to put it nicely, was simply "loaning of public funds" by government offices.

The interest rates on these loans are extremely high, almost doubling the principal every year.

The money and grain earned from lending were basically distributed to officials by the government offices as "monthly allowance".

With the tacit approval of the imperial court, local government offices frequently forced loans, failed to provide sufficient loans or even refused to provide loans, and charged interest rates several times that of the loans.

Under this phenomenon of forced lending, many places even set up government offices to forcefully lend money to the people and plunder a quarter of their property as "collateral."

Imagine that a commoner returns home from work and suddenly his door is kicked open. Under coercion and inducement from the government, he signs a promissory note. Not only does he not get the full amount of the loan, he has to repay double the principal and interest, and a quarter of his home's property will be taken away by the government.

Not to mention ordinary people, even some wealthy businessmen with no background would be targeted and would have to be skinned clean before they could repay the "loan", and the collateral could basically not be recovered.

Once targeted, it would be equivalent to handing over more than a quarter of one's property to various government offices.

Liu Jilong felt a chill at the mere thought of such a scene.

If he was born in Lianghuai and Bashu, he would have become a bandit long ago and brought a little "Huaixi shock" to the Tang Dynasty.

Fortunately, he was born in Hexi. Although he suffered slavery, he finally waited for Zhang Yichao and others, and thus ascended to his current position.

"I know everything you said..."

Faced with Liu Jilian's move to unveil the face of the Tang Dynasty, Zhang Yichao felt bitter but did not refute.

"The Tang Dynasty is like this, and I, as a minister, have let down the Tang Dynasty and the people."

Zhang Yichao's words made Liu Jilong's eyes widen. Before he could speak, Zhang Yichao continued:

"I can't help the whole world, but I can at least let the people of Hexi live and work in peace and contentment."

"But I think you also know that those people have ambitions and desires. If there is no justice from the court, even if I can subdue them, what about Huai Shen?"

Zhang Yichao asked Liu Jilong, but Liu Jilong clenched his fists and said, "There is a way... that is to kill!"

"Kill?" Zhang Yichao was stunned, then smiled bitterly:

"You will understand in the future that killing alone cannot solve the problem."

"No!" Liu Jilong interrupted Zhang Yichao. When Zhang Yichao looked at him, he took the initiative to bow and said:

"When I go to Longxi, if the Jiedushi has a chance to pass by, he might as well take a look at what Longxi looks like under my rule!"

Liu Jilong just didn't believe it. With the printing technology and the knowledge in his head, even if he couldn't change the world, couldn't he change a small Longxi?
"Hopefully."

Zhang Yichao didn't know why Liu Jilian was so confident, but he didn't refute him. After all, this kind of rebellious spirit was rare and precious.

Maybe he had resisted, but the cruel reality made him realize everything.

In his opinion, Liu Jilong will face the reality and give up this unrealistic illusion in the future.

"Let's go, the banquet at the government office should be ready."

He explained, turned around, and took Liu Jilong down the city wall and returned to the yamen.

During the banquet, he also praised the stir-fried dishes made by Liu Jilong.

In response to this, Liu Jilong basically just chuckled and nodded.

He and Zhang Yichao didn't need too many conversations to improve their friendship, perhaps because they both knew who the other was.

Zhang Yichao wanted to rescue the people of Helong, and Liu Jilian's trip to Longxi could help him fulfill this wish.

As for the follow-up issues caused by Liu Jilian's trip to Longxi, they can only be resolved at that time.

Neither of them was able to predict or stop these things that had not yet happened.

As the cups were exchanged, more and more people left. In the following days, Liu Jilong followed Zhang Yichao to travel all over Jiuquan.

During these days, Liu Jilian could feel that Zhang Yichao did not think he could change the situation where the powerful and the aristocratic families ruled the world.

However, Liu Jilian was personally very confident. After all, the group of powerful people in Guasha simply monopolized knowledge, forcing the rulers of this land, such as the Tang Dynasty, Tubo, and Zhang Yichao, to cooperate with them.

But when he arrived in Longxi, with movable type printing and the official school system, he didn't believe that he couldn't kill these insects.

(End of this chapter)