Guiyi Fei Tang

Chapter 139 Liangzhou Has Been Decided
"Screw rustle..."

"Xilulu!!"

In mid-April, the grasslands of Liangzhou were full of life, and the long official road divided the grasslands into two.

The rustling of armor and the whirring of horses...

After recaptured Guzang, the Guiyi Army's eastward expedition army did not stop, but marched towards Changsong with an invincible attitude towards Helong.

After capturing Guzang, the Guiyi Army became even stronger.

A team of three thousand elite cavalrymen from Ganzhou and more than nine hundred elite cavalrymen from Shanzhou, plus more than four thousand five hundred armored soldiers on chariots, more than four thousand elite cavalrymen and tens of thousands of civilian laborers spread across the Liangzhou grassland and slowly advanced along the official road.

"If Dong Ben can persuade Chang Song to surrender, I will follow the agreement we made the day before and allocate a thousand hectares of grassland to Dong Ben in Fanhe. I will also recommend you to the Jiedushi as the Supreme Guardian!"

In the advancing team, Zhang Huaishen stood in a row with Xiduoyu and Liu Jilian, constantly repeating his promise to Xiduoyu.

A thousand hectares of grassland is equivalent to 100,000 acres of grassland, which is not a lot.

The Shang Hujun was a third-rank official. According to Tang law, his annual salary was 400 dan, in addition to 900 mu of official land and 2,500 mu of permanent land.

Of course, all this is nothing compared to the current weight of Changsongdong. After all, Changsong's population ranks second in Liangzhou, and Xiduo Yu obtains a lot of money and grain from Changsong every year.

But the current situation is like this. If Xiduoyu doesn't want his family to be broken up, he can only accept Zhang Huaishen's arrangement.

"These are all easy to say, but my family property..."

Sitayu was more concerned about his own wealth, so he asked tentatively.

Zhang Huaishen chuckled when he heard this: "I only want the government's warehouse, and you can take 30% of the herd."

"Right now, our army is only ten miles away from Changsong. Once we arrive at Changsong, I can give you one night to persuade them to surrender."

"Okay!" Xiduoyu's eyes sparkled. One night was enough for him to do many things.

Thinking of this, the team gradually moved closer to Changsong.

About two hours later, as the sun set and dusk approached, Changsong City began to emerge in the distance, followed by mostly cultivated tracts of farmland.

These fields had just been sown with crops not long ago. Some had already been planted with crops, while others had not. There were also messy footprints in the fields, which showed that the people had just been evacuated.

"Uuuuuu——"

Suddenly, a horn sounded from the direction of Changsong City. Compared with Guzang's stubborn resistance, Changsong did not even deploy any defensive fortifications on the other side of the moat.

Obviously, they were not very strong in resisting.

"Jiedushi, then I..."

Xiduo Yu asked Zhang Huaishen tentatively, and Zhang Huaishen nodded and smiled, "I hope to hear good news from you tomorrow."

"By the way, I'm afraid this thing will help you persuade them."

Zhang Huaishen signaled to Li Yizhong next to him, and Li Yizhong handed the wooden box on the horse's back to Xiduoyu.

"Please rest assured, Governor!"

Xiduo Yu took the box and bowed to the surrounding Guiyi Army generals.

Seeing that no one spoke out to stop him, he tentatively turned his horse around and walked towards Changsong carefully.

As he walked further and further away, Suo Xun frowned and said, "Jiedushi, aren't you afraid that this guy will never come back?"

“Haha…” Zhang Huaishen chuckled and said, “This Xiduo Yu has seen the process of our army taking over Guzang. As long as he is not stupid, he will know what to choose!”

After he finished speaking, Zhang Huaishen looked at Suo Xun and said, "The entire army will set up camp here and wait to enter Changsong tomorrow."

"Yes!" Suo Xun and others responded, and Zhang Huaishen also looked at Liu Jilong, motioning him to follow him.

Liu Jilong shook the reins and came to the grass not far from the team with Zhang Huaishen and stood side by side.

The two watched the troops spread out and set up camp. After a while, Zhang Huaishen finally spoke: "According to what we said before, Changsong's armor will be yours, but you can only take 30% of the food and grass with you."

"Yes..." Liu Jilong nodded, but then continued:
"But in addition to these two points, I would like to ask the governor to approve one thing."

Zhang Huaishen frowned slightly, but still nodded and said, "Go ahead."

Seeing this, Liu Jilong took a deep breath and said, "I want to recruit single soldiers without families in Changsong, regardless of whether they are Han or non-Han."

"After being recruited, they can serve as garrison protection laborers and follow the army south to Lanzhou."

"After I recover Guangwu and Wuquan in Lanzhou, I will keep them here."

After he finished speaking, Liu Jilong did not dare to move his eyes and stared at Zhang Huaishen.

However, facing his conditions, Zhang Huaishen did not agree immediately. Instead, he hesitated for a moment before nodding and saying, "Okay!"

But before Liu Jilong could thank him, Zhang Huaishen raised his hand and said, "Don't be in a hurry to thank me. I also have something to discuss with you."

"Jiedushi, please feel free to speak!" Liu Jilong nodded, and Zhang Huaishen also took the opportunity to say:
"The general stationed in Guangwu needs to be replaced. I want Li Yizhong to lead 2,000 Zhangye armored soldiers to follow you south to recapture Lanzhou."

"After retaking Guangwu and Wuquan, Li Yizhong will stay in Guangwu and you will stay in Wuquan."

"I will give you two years. After two years, regardless of whether you have recovered the entire Hezhou, you must give up Wuquan and go to Hezhou."

"Then I will ask my uncle to appoint you as the governor of Helinwei and Weizhou, and let Li Yizhong be the governor of Lanzhou!"

What Zhang Huaishen said to him sounded good, but was actually empty.

After the Shandan troops were taken back by him, Liu Jilian was left with only more than 900 elite cavalrymen from Shanzhou and 24 generals including Zhang Chang.

This group of people together does not even number one thousand people. Even if Changsong's newly recruited lone soldiers are included, it is difficult to exceed two thousand people.

In comparison, Shang Yanxin, who controlled the three states of He, Lin and Wei, had at least four to five thousand armored soldiers.

Faced with such a powerful enemy, Zhang Huaishen only gave Liu Jilian two years, and the conditions were undoubtedly very harsh.

Even so, Liu Jilong still raised his right hand: "A gentleman's word is his bond..."

"It's hard to catch up with him!" Zhang Huaishen high-fived him and swore an oath, thus establishing the appointment in Lanzhou.

At the same time, Xiduoyu, who was heading to Changsong, also rode his horse to the foot of Changsong city.

"Pig-dog guy, look who I am!"

After arriving at Changsong's gate, Xiduo Yu regained his old temper and started shouting and cursing at the top of the city wall.

While he was shouting and cursing, several heads popped out from in front of the city gate tower.

"Old Dongben (Daddy)!!"

Exclamations of surprise were heard, and Zheduosibie, Cuoben, Xilunqin and the soldiers were all stunned.

They thought the visitor was an envoy of the Guiyi Army, but they did not expect that the Guiyi Army would release Xiduo Yu directly.

After seeing what happened to Xiduoyu, Zheduosibie immediately tightened the hilt of the knife at his waist and glanced at Xilunqin.

He was worried that Xilunqin would shoot and kill Xiduoyu who had "escaped" in order to protect his own status.

Fortunately, he had always overestimated Xilunqin, because when Xilunqin saw Xiduoyu, he urged him: "Why are you still standing there? Open the city gate!"

At his urging, the city gate was opened and Xiduoyu also rode into Changsong City.

Xilunqin and the others trotted to the city gate and saw Xiduoyu dismounting. Xilunqin immediately went up to him and hugged him: "Father, you escaped back?"

"Let's talk about it when we get to the government office." Xiduo Yu didn't want to explain in public why he was able to come back.

Soon, he returned to Changsong Yamen after being away for more than half a year, surrounded by Zheduosibie and others, and sat in the main seat of the Yamen.

"Everyone, take your seats!"

Xiduo Yu motioned for everyone to sit down, then reached out and opened the box that Zhang Huaishen had given him.

When the box was opened, he couldn't help but frown, but he was mentally prepared.

"Look what this is..."

Xiduoyu asked an armored soldier to pass the box down, and the first person to be passed down was Xilunqin.

"Uh! This..."

Xilunqin was frightened by the box. Cuoben, who was sitting next to him, reached out to steady him, and the armored soldier also came to him with the box.

"This this……"

Cuoben was so frightened by what was in the box that he was speechless, and the soldiers continued to pass the box around.

Soon, everyone saw the object in the box, and everyone's face turned pale.

What was inside the box was none other than Shang Moling's head.

Shang Moling, who had been active in Liangzhou for more than ten years, was beheaded by the Guiyi Army, which shocked everyone.

"You've seen it all, right?"

Xiduo Yu took a deep breath and said, "Guzang has been breached. More than 3,000 elite cavalry and armored soldiers in the city were killed or captured. Even Shang Moling and Zhe Buluo were killed by Liu Jilong."

"Right now, Zhang Huaishen and Liu Jilong are leading tens of thousands of troops outside the city, waiting for news from me."

"If we surrender, Zhang Huaishen is willing to give us pastures and herds, and let us live out the rest of our lives with honors."

"If you don't want to..."

Xiduoyu glanced at everyone and sighed, "Then this is our fate."

As soon as he finished speaking, everyone's faces looked unhappy.

They thought that Xiduoyu had escaped, but they didn't expect that Xiduoyu was released and persuaded to surrender.

But the shock he brought was indeed too great. The generals had originally wanted to surrender, and after being frightened by him, their determination became even stronger.

Cuoben and Zheduo looked at Xilunqin, but Xilunqin was still immersed in the scene of Shang Moling's severed head, and did not come back to his senses for a long time.

"Xi Lunqin, surrender now."

Xiduoyu explained to Xilunqin: "Zhang Huaishen promised to give me the third-rank scattered honors, and you will get the fourth-rank." "In addition, the property of the surrenderers will not be confiscated, and you can take 30% of the herds with you."

"Although I also feel it's a pity, our army is indeed no match for Zhang Huaishen and Liu Jilong."

"If you surrender now, you can still keep your wealth for the rest of your life. If you want to resist, then..."

Sitayu did not continue speaking, but everyone understood the meaning of his words.

Shang Moling and Zhe Buluo were both killed, so how stubborn could this group of people be?
Thinking of this, Tsumoto asked tentatively: "I wonder what kind of Sanxun we are?"

"The Dongben is a third rank, the Duhu is a fifth rank, the Jie'er is a sixth rank, the Xiaojie'er is a seventh rank, and the Baihu is an eighth rank. No one below the Baihu rank will be canonized..."

Xiduo Yu then explained the treatment of these ratings, for example, the lowest rank of centurion was awarded the title of Sanxun, an eighth-rank Xuanjie Xiaowei.

The salary of the Xuanjie Colonel was 67 dan per year, 250 mu of official land, and 200 mu of permanent land, totaling 450 mu.

An annual salary of 67 shi plus 450 acres of arable land, this treatment immediately attracted the centurions in the yamen.

Although they also have herds, there are only a few hundred of them, and only a few horses and oxen. The annual salary is only 80 dan, and the arable land is only 200 to 300 acres.

Although they had to give up 70% of their herds, they gained 450 acres of arable land in return, and they no longer had to live on the edge of a knife.

Thinking of such a day, the centurions looked at each other, obviously they were all moved.

The surrender treatment given by Zhang Huaishen, in general, benefits the middle and lower levels and harms the upper levels.

However, in order to survive, the top management had no choice but to sacrifice the car to save the driver.

"Father...I won't accept this!"

Xi Lunqin came to his senses and said unwillingly, "Hundreds of thousands of acres of farmland outside the city are being given away just like that?"

"And our herds of livestock number tens of thousands. Are we going to give them all up at once?"

"What else?" Xiduoyu had already seen the situation in the yamen and knew that the centurions supported him, so he used the method of scolding Xilunqin to scold those who tried to resist.

"Shang Moling and Zhe Buluo are both dead. The Tang army outside the city attacked from Fanhe, but only a few hundred people were killed or wounded, while more than 5,000 armored soldiers surrendered or died..."

"You want to resist, do you want to die and your wife and daughter to be enslaved?"

Xiduo Yu's words immediately persuaded many of the wavering Xiaojie'er and Jie'er to calm down.

Although they have thousands of acres of arable land and livestock, they still need to be alive to enjoy them.

Having most of the land and 70% of the livestock taken away is better than dying and having the wife and daughter become slaves.

"Dong Ben, we are willing to surrender."

"Dong Ben, we too..."

For a moment, they changed their names and called Xiduoyu Dongben. Seeing this, Xiduoyu nodded and said:

"Zhang Huaishen gave me one night. Now go back and gather the soldiers in the city to hand over their armor and weapons and store them in the armory."

"Yes!" Upon hearing this, all the generals stood up and left, and Cuo Ben was one of them.

After they left, only Xiduoyu, Xilunqin and Zheduoxibie were left in the yamen.

Seeing this, Xiduo Yu dismissed the soldiers in the government office and then told the two men:
"Zhang Huaishen has given us one night. Now you should gather your trusted followers and move the grain from the government warehouse to your own backyard!"

Hearing this, Xilunqin and Zheduoxibie's eyes lit up, but Zheduoxibie still frowned and said, "We have moved away, they won't use this as an excuse to confiscate our house, right?"

"No!" Xiduoyu shook his head and said, "Zhang Huaishen is also giving me a chance. As long as we don't move too much, moving a few thousand stones won't be a problem."

"Yes!" After getting the affirmation, Zheduosibie did not hesitate any more.

He stood up and walked out, ready to gather his confidants and fill his own courtyard, Xilunqin's courtyard, and the empty rooms in the backyard of the yamen with food.

To fill up these empty rooms, there would only be a few thousand or tens of thousands of dan of grain, while the government warehouses still had enough grain to feed the people in the city for more than a year. Zhang Huaishen would not say anything when he saw it.

Soon, the sky became completely dark, and many people tossed and turned all night.

After recapturing Changsong, the situation facing the Ganliang Guiyi Army became very complicated.

Zhang Huaishen's prestige will reach a new height, on par with Zhang Yichao.

Liu Jilian had to leave, and Suo Xun would also go to Huizhou.

When the news reached Dunhuang, the group of guys rushed forward like jackals smelling something, and Zhang Huaishen could stop them, but he couldn't.

Liangzhou has a population of over 100,000, and the amount of manpower required to govern them is not a small number.

Although Liu Jilian left the Shandan Army to Zhang Huaishen, the soldiers of the Shandan Army had too little time to learn and they were unable to govern Liangzhou well.

The same is true for Liangzhou and Hexi.

It is precisely because of this that Zhang Huaishen needs to face those insects, and Zhang Yichao also needs to tolerate them, because without them, this uncle and nephew will not be able to attract enough scholars.

It is precisely because of this that Zhang Yichao felt that the path Liu Jilong wanted to take was too difficult and too unrealistic.

To people of that era, educating children of common people to study and then governing people's livelihood sounded like a fantasy.

But they all didn't believe it, but Liu Jilong insisted on doing it!

"Screw rustle..."

"Provincial governor."

At the hour of Mao, before the sky had completely brightened, Ma Cheng's voice was heard outside Liu Jilong's tent.

"come in!"

Liu Jilong's voice came out, and Ma Cheng also lifted the curtain, and then asked in surprise: "You didn't rest?"

In front of Ma Cheng, Liu Jilian was wearing armor and a cloak, sitting behind a desk, obviously not resting.

"No, let's rest later..."

Liu Jilong took a deep breath and continued to write with his head down: "After we recapture Changsong, we don't have much time to stay here."

“I am not worried about taking over Lanzhou, but I am very worried about its future governance.”

"Longxi doesn't have that many scholars for us, and I don't want to be in the same boat with those guys in Dunhuang, so I have to find some of my own talents."

"One of our own..." Ma Cheng murmured as he stepped forward, only to see that Liu Jilong was not practicing calligraphy, but writing an article in a book.

Ma Cheng was taught to read by Liu Jilong, but it was only two years in total, so he did not understand many of the words written by Liu Jilong.

"What are you writing?"

Ma Cheng asked curiously, and then said: "Why don't I recognize many of the words on it?"

"It's normal that you don't recognize it." Liu Jilong put the brush aside, blew dry the ink and closed the book.

Including the booklet in his hand, there are a total of five books on the table.

"You must learn the contents of these five books in the future. Only in this way can we solve the problem of relying on those guys."

He sorted out the five books and put them carefully into the box.

"Why did you come to me?"

After doing all this, he remembered the purpose of Ma Cheng's visit, and Ma Cheng quickly bowed and said:
"News has come from Changsong City. Envoy Xiao Zhang has ordered the army to break camp and stay in Changsong."

"it is good……"

Liu Jilong stood up, straightened his clothes, washed his face, and went out with Ma Cheng.

Outside the tent, the soldiers had already gotten up, put on their armor, and prepared to go to Changsong for dinner.

Liu Jilong mounted his horse, rode out of the camp, and waited by the official road.

Although it is spring, the northwest wind is still so strong and fierce.

Ma Cheng, Zhang Chang and others gathered behind Liu Jilong, and Huke Siguang stood behind them holding a flag with the word "Liu" on it.

The west wind blew the flags, and the army was assembled in the camp and set out towards Changsong.

Suo Xun, Li Yizhong, Zhang Huaishen and others passed by them one after another and then stopped.

They looked at Liu Jilong with complicated eyes, but Liu Jilong smiled as usual.

After taking down Changsong, he can be himself and no longer have to cater to everyone.

"You're going to Lanzhou?"

Suo Xun asked Liu Jilong, and Liu Jilong nodded, but then smiled and said, "I should go north, and you should go south."

"You want to go to Huizhou?" Suo Xun asked in surprise. Zhang Huaishen and Li Yizhong also turned around in surprise and looked at him.

But Liu Jilong shook his head and said, "It's the same in the north and south. There's no difference whether I go to the south or the north."

As the words fell, the sky gradually brightened, and the sun slowly rose from the east, illuminating the road for the army to advance towards Changsong.

"I want to visit the border on my own bike, passing through Guyuan, a vassal state. The expeditionary army leaves the Han frontier, and the returning geese fly into the Hu sky."

"The desert is filled with smoke, the long river is filled with the setting sun. I met a scout at Xiaoguan Pass, and he said that the governor was at Yanran..."

Zhang Huaishen suddenly recited a poem written by Wang Wei in the past. Liu Jilong smiled and said, "I have a poem here. Do you want to listen to it?"

He no longer called Zhang Huaishen "Jiedushi", but called him "you", as if the two were close friends who had known each other for many years.

Zhang Huaishen was not angry, but smiled happily: "Read it to me!"

Hearing this, Liu Jilong took a deep breath, turned his horse around and marched eastward with the army, his voice as loud as a rumble:

"The west wind is strong, and the geese are calling in the sky, and the frosty morning moon."

"Frosty morning moon, the sound of horse hooves and the sound of trumpets."

"The long road ahead is as hard as iron, but now we can start over again..."

(End of this chapter)