Guiyi Fei Tang

Chapter 145: Fight without bloodshed

"Drive! Drive! Drive..."

On the second day of June in the sixth year of Dazhong, the sound of horse hooves rang out on the official road north of Guangwu.

Soon, a group of more than ten Tang cavalrymen turned back north along the official road and joined the mighty army marching southward.

Tangqi reported the situation to the general, and then the generals of the front army reported to the central army.

When the sun was high in the sky, Li Ji rode his horse to the center of the army and bowed without hesitation on horseback:
"Governor, Guangwu City is twelve miles ahead. The foreign bandits are hiding in the city and have not sent any foreign soldiers or cavalry out. I guess they don't have enough troops and dare not send troops out of the city."

Following Li Ji's report, the Guiyi Army, after five days of marching, finally arrived at Guangwu.

These days, Liu Jilian led the army along the Wunishui River Valley and found many mature trees along the way. The surroundings were no longer yellow and green like other places, but gradually became more green.

But when they crossed Hongchiling and came to the flatter hills, the places far away from Wunishui were still yellow and green.

As they gradually approached Guangwu, the green around them became less and less, until finally there was only dry weeds and bare earth.

On horseback, Liu Jilong did not relax because he was about to arrive at Guangwu. Instead, he asked Li Ji: "How is the farmland outside Guangwu City?"

"Reporting to the governor, according to the Tangqi, there are thousands of acres of arable land planted with crops, but more land is abandoned!"

Li Ji responded to Liu Jilong's question, and Liu Jilong nodded and urged: "Speed up the army, I want to see the city wall of Guangwu in an hour!"

With his order, the speed of the entire army increased significantly.

Before noon, Liu Jilong and his team finally arrived at Guangwu City.

Guangwu City stands on the east bank of the Wunishui River. Outside the city is a terrain of alternating hills and basins, with tens of thousands of acres of arable land, as well as a moat and countless water channels.

However, the water level of the Wuni River dropped too much, and the moat and canals had long dried up.

The water wheels of that era were simply unable to pump the water from the Wuni River into the canal, so people could only carry the river water on their shoulders and hands to irrigate the fields.

Because of this, many farmlands outside the city have been abandoned for a long time and the ground has become dry and cracked.

Judging from the situation outside the city alone, there are obviously not many people in Guangwu, otherwise they would not be able to cultivate more than 10,000 acres of arable land.

"Geng Ming, build the catapult."

"Li Ji, Hu Siguang, you two lead the elite cavalry to patrol the area ten miles from Guangwu City. Blow the whistle when you see the enemy."

"Shang Duo Luo, send someone to persuade them to surrender."

"Li Yizhong, send the laborers to burn the wasteland and dredge the canals."

"Ma Cheng, lead the soldiers to set up camp and have dinner!"

One mile north of Guangwu City, Liu Jilian issued military orders slowly and steadily.

Under his command, a team of more than 17,000 people began to perform their duties, and the foreign soldiers in Guangwu City also learned their flags.

"Guiyi Army?"

"Never heard of it?"

"There are three star flags, they should be the Tang army in Hexi!"

Looking at the flags of the Guiyi Army outside the city, Rebajian, a small official from Guangwu City, was hesitant.

Since the flag of the Guiyi Army was sent back to Hexi by Li Mingzhen and his men less than two months ago, the surrounding forces still used the direction from which they appeared and the Sanchen Flag as the main basis for judging them.

“Liu?!”

Suddenly, Rebajian saw a banner with the word "Liu" waving outside the city and asked in astonishment, "Is that guy outside the city Liu Jilong from Hexi?"

"Liu Jilong?!" Hearing Rebajian's words, the several centurions behind him looked at each other in surprise.

Liu Jillong's reputation had long spread throughout Helong, especially during the battle of Liangzhou last year. Shang Moling mentioned Liu Jillong in the letters asking for help from Shang Yanxin and Lanzhou and Huizhou, so everyone naturally knew about his deeds.

Although Shang Moling's power is not as strong as Lun Kongre's at its peak, he is still much stronger than Shang Yanxin at present.

Now that Liu Jilian has appeared in Guangwu, it means that Shang Moling in Liangzhou is probably in danger.

Shang Moling is dead, so what can these hundreds of people do?
"Jie'er, they're building a trebuchet!"

The voice of the centurion woke Rebajian up, and they vaguely saw some equipment being built in front of the Guiyi Army.

At the same time, a group of more than ten elite cavalrymen also walked along the official road towards the north gate.

They arrived at the foot of the city, looked at Rebajian and others on the top of the city, saluted and said:
"My governor has been ordered to recapture Lanzhou. If you are willing to surrender, you can keep 30% of your herds and property, but you must give up your land and government warehouses!"

Cuoben tried to persuade the enemy to surrender at the foot of the city, and after he stated his conditions, Rebajian and others on the top of the city looked at each other in bewilderment, unable to make a decision.

"Please wait a moment, Your Excellency. We will give you the answer after discussing for an hour!"

Rebajian stuck his head out to respond to Cuoben, then he led several centurions into the tower and said anxiously:

"There are only 327 people in the city, and there are at least 8,000 or 9,000 Tang troops outside the city. How can we defend it?"

"Why don't we ask for help from Muruna Qiliben!"

"How can we ask for help? It's nearly 200 miles from here to Wuquan. By the time the reinforcements from Wuquan arrive, we will be dead!"

"Surrender! The one outside the city is Liu Jilong, and his force is more than ten times ours. Even if we gather all the slaves in the city, there are only more than 3,000 people. We can't stop them at all."

"Yes, if you surrender now, you can still keep 30% of your herds and your property. If you surrender too late, you will lose everything!"

Several centurions were discussing the current situation, and without exception, they were all thinking about surrendering.

Seeing that someone was giving him a way out, Rebajian immediately slammed the table and said, "Since you have said you will surrender, then prepare to surrender!"

"Could they be planning something tricky?" a famous centurion asked worriedly.

"No, I heard that the Tang army in Hexi is familiar with Shang Bibi. If they are bloodthirsty, they probably won't befriend Shang Bibi."

As soon as the captain's words came out, they were refuted by others.

The fact that the Hexi Guiyi Army and Shang Bibi were on good terms was no longer a secret as early as the period when Lun Kongre ruled Longxi.

After sorting out the details, Rebajian also walked out of the tower with several centurions, leaning on the parapet and shouting to the outside world: "We are willing to surrender!"

Upon hearing this, Cuo Ben, who was waiting outside the city, immediately said, "Lead the troops out of the city, take off their armor, and lay down their weapons!"

"As long as you don't do anything else, my governor won't make things difficult for you!"

Under Cuoben's persuasion, Rebajian soon led more than 300 soldiers out of the city to surrender.

Cuo Ben stayed where he was to monitor them and sent a good rider to report back the news.

Upon learning that Rebajian had surrendered, everyone smiled. Zhang Chang even laughed and scolded, "This bandit from Longxi is such a coward! He surrendered without even a fight!"

"We were able to capture Guangwu without bloodshed, all thanks to Governor Liu's reputation."

When Li Yizhong saw that Guangwu, where he was stationed, was easily persuaded to surrender by Liu Jilian, he immediately began to flatter him.

Seeing this, Liu Jilong explained to Li Yizhong in advance: "I need to recruit civilians from Guangwu to Wuquan."

"In Guangwu, I will leave the family members who are accompanying the troops. According to the current season, you can let them grow crops such as beans, hemp and cabbage."

"But I need to take 50% of the beans and hemp harvested in the autumn."

It is now early June. If you want to sow crops, beans, hemp and cabbage are undoubtedly the best choices.

Of course, if the speed is faster, millet and wheat can also be cultivated, but there is not enough time and the harvest will not be much.

Guangwu City surrendered so quickly, obviously there were not many defenders and civilians in the city.

Liu Jilian had more than 4,500 family members following his army, including nearly 3,000 adult men and women. If they were driven to cultivate crops, they would be able to cultivate all the arable land outside the city.

"Your Excellency, you are very thoughtful. I admire you."

Li Yizhong responded respectfully. Seeing this, Liu Jilong began to order new soldiers to enter the city and take over Guangwu.

Under his military order, more than 800 new soldiers entered the city to take over Guangwu, while the remaining elite cavalry and armored soldiers remained stationed outside the city.

Everyone rode their horses forward, and soon they led their troops to the city gate.

More than three hundred soldiers took off their armor and placed it on the side of the road.

Liu Jilong signaled Zhang Chang to lead the troops to take away the armor, and then looked at Rebajian: "I will leave 30% of my wealth and herds to you, but I want to know the situation of Jincheng Pass and Wuquan City."

Rebajian looked up at Liu Jilong, and marveled at his heroic and majestic appearance, and quickly answered his question:

"There are more than 200 people stationed at Jincheng Pass, and less than 400 people in Wuquan County, but they are basically armored soldiers."

Hearing this, Liu Jilong frowned slightly: "How many people are there in Lanzhou?"

During the Kaiyuan period, Lanzhou had a population of more than 14,000 and a garrison of more than 1,000 troops. Although it was not prosperous, it was a vital throat after all.

Although Liu Jilian was prepared, he did not expect that Lanzhou could not even mobilize a thousand armored soldiers.

"There should be about 8,000 to 9,000 people," Rebajian explained. "When the drought started three years ago, many people died of starvation."

"Later, many tribes and soldiers fled to Shanzhou. Now there are only more than 3,000 people in Guangwu, only a few hundred people in Jinchengguan, and only 5,000 to 6,000 people in Wuquan." After Rebajian finished speaking, Liu Jilong breathed a sigh of relief, but Li Yizhong next to him had an ugly expression.

Obviously, like Liu Jilong, he never expected that so many people from Lanzhou would flee.

"Okay, let's go into the city."

Liu Jilian shook the reins of his horse and led more than 800 people into Guangwu City, replacing the flag on the top of the city wall with the Sanchen Flag.

At the same time, the people in the city stood on both sides of the street, looking at the Guiyi Army entering the city.

The people here are no different from the people in Hexi before liberation. They all have dull eyes, unkempt hair, and half-dressed appearance.

Even when they saw the Sanchen Flag, they had no reaction.

More than ninety years of slavery had long made them forget Mandarin and everything about the Tang Dynasty.

When officials from the Tang Dynasty passed through this place more than fifty years ago, they treated them as foreigners. Now it seems that what they said was true.

For them, they didn't care about the Tang Dynasty at all. They only cared about how the new army would treat them.

Liu Jilong remained silent on this matter until he led his troops to completely take over Guangwu. Only then did he let Chen Jingchong and others who were literate and had learned some arithmetic in Shandan go to count the government warehouses and county treasuries.

He brought Li Yizhong, Zhang Chang, Shang Duoluo, Cuoben, Rebajian and others to the Guangwu Yamen.

Although the houses of the common people in the city had fallen into disrepair and looked shaky, this government office was built cleanly and majestically, and even the courtyard was paved with stone slabs, which was quite gorgeous.

"You guys will enjoy it..."

Liu Jilong sat in the main seat, teasing Rebajian and the others.

In this regard, Rebajian and others could only use awkward laughter to ease the embarrassment.

Liu Jilong did not evade the question and said directly: "You can leave 30% of your property and livestock, and the soldiers in the city will now be converted into civilian households."

"The farmland outside the city will be distributed equally to all households in the city after being distributed equally to the soldiers' official fields and permanent fields."

After that, Liu Jilong looked at Li Yizhong and asked, "What do you think, Governor Li?"

"I will follow the governor's arrangements." Li Yizhong knew very well that Liu Jilian was good at restoring people's livelihood and governing the people, so he was happy to see this.

In his opinion, as long as Liu Jilian decided on the policy for governing Guangwu, he would just follow suit.

"In that case, Shang Duoluo, you should lead the troops to settle the accounts of your families."

After all, Li Yizhong still had to govern Guangwu, and the more than 300 people including Rebajian and their families numbered at least 1,000 to 2,000 people, accounting for more than half of the people in the city.

If Li Yizhong were to confiscate their property and offend them, Guangwu would probably not have peace in the future.

Only by letting Shang Duoluo play the bad guy and Li Yizhong play the good guy can Guangwu be stabilized.

But this bad guy is not played for nothing. If the rule of the Guiyi Army in Hexi collapses in the future, Li Yi Zhong will have no choice but to rely on himself.

Otherwise, with his ability, it would be impossible for him to fight back to Ganzhou.

Thinking of this, Liu Jilong looked at the Guangwu Yamen as the owner.

After Shang Duoluo and Rebajian left, Liu Jilong continued:

"Today we will check the government warehouses and county treasuries, as well as the property of these foreigners, and then hold a regular meeting at night."

"There's nothing to do now, you guys take a rest first."

After Liu Jilong gave the instructions, he got up and strolled around the city.

Guangwu City is close to the Wuni River. Although it suffered a severe drought, there was not much dust in the city.

If the people were not wearing tattered clothes and living in dilapidated houses made of loess and thatch, you would not be able to tell that this place is experiencing a drought.

Liu Jilong walked around the city and found that the people basically avoided them, which deprived him of the opportunity to get to know the people.

However, judging from the vacant houses in the city, there should have been more than a thousand households in Guangwu at its peak, but now 30% of them are vacant. Those 30% of the people either starved to death or fled from famine.

Before dusk, Liu Jilian returned to Guangwu Yamen, and Zhang Chang and his men had also returned, apparently having resolved everything.

Seeing that Rebajian was not there, Liu Jilong signaled: "Call Rebajian and grant him the position of county lieutenant. He is needed to govern Guangwu."

"Yes!" Li Yizhong nodded upon hearing this and quickly sent someone to summon Rebajian.

Rebajian rushed over after hearing the news. At over 40 years old, he had long lost his so-called enterprising spirit and just wanted to live a peaceful life in Guangwu.

Therefore, he was cautious and particularly concerned about Liu Jilong's arrangements for him.

"Provincial Governor..."

Rebajian followed the others and bowed to Liu Jilong. Seeing this, Liu Jilong also said, "Inspector Li recommended you for the position of Guangwu County Lieutenant. I thought about it and I think you are indeed suitable. What do you think?"

Rebajian obviously didn't expect that he could still be an official, so he knelt down and kowtowed to Liu Jilong and Li Yizhong: "Thank you for your grace, Governor!!"

Li Yizhong did not expect that Liu Jilong would actually play the good guy for him. He felt touched, but only a little.

"Okay, get up and take a seat."

Li Yizhong said in a serious tone: "Governing Guangwu still requires your efforts, sit down and listen carefully."

"Yes!" Rebajian stood up carefully after hearing that, and then sat down at the last seat in the yamen.

Seeing him sit down, Liu Jilong picked up the document and started reading it.

"After the inventory, the government warehouse currently has 5,724 shi and 7 dou of grain, 254 shi of beans, and 756 pieces of linen."

"There are 454 cattle, 1,246 horses, and 6,754 sheep and camels in pastures inside and outside the city."

"In the county treasury, there are 327 sets of armor, more than 700 pieces of military equipment, 72 kilograms of asphalt, 2,875 strings of copper coins, and 424 kilograms of copper..."

Liu Jilong stopped reading halfway and looked at Rebajian in surprise: "How come there are pounds of copper in the county warehouse?"

"Reporting to the governor, there is a small copper mine near Guangwu. If there are enough people, it can produce more than 3,000 kilograms of copper every year!"

Rebajian flattered: "The reason why Guangwu has been able to survive the drought is that it relies on this copper mine to exchange grain with Huizhou for a living."

"If Mu Runa Qiliben hadn't taken so much, there would be at least more than 2,000 kilograms of copper in the county treasury."

"Copper mine?!" Li Yizhong, Zhang Chang and others showed surprise on their faces when they heard Rebajian's words.

Although Liu Jilong was also surprised, he subconsciously looked at Li Yizhong.

Feeling his gaze, Li Yizhong also hurriedly bowed and said, "Guangwu was conquered by the governor, so naturally the governor will allocate the copper mine!"

At this time, Li Yizhong had already forgotten what Zhang Huaishen said. After all, Liu Jilong was the current governor, and Zhang Huaishen had to worry about the affairs of the three states of Gansu, Liang and Hui, and could not take care of Guangwu at all.

"Three thousand catties of copper can make more than five hundred strings of cash, which is not a small amount."

Liu Jilong calculated the number of three thousand kilograms of copper coins, and then said, "Let's discuss it after we capture Wuquan. For now, let's reward the troops first."

After that, he said to Li Yizhong: "Kill 750 sheep to reward the soldiers and civilians in the city, so that the people will know that things are different now than they were in the past."

"In addition, each of the more than 4,500 soldiers in the army will be given 200 yuan, and the civilians will be given 50 yuan!"

"I obey your command!" Li Yizhong bowed in response, and Liu Jilian also turned his gaze to Shang Duoluo and Cuoben.

"Guangwu is already in such a state, I think the situation in Wuquan is not optimistic either."

"Our army is in urgent need of food. I am going to send someone to Guzhou to ask Shang Bibi to borrow food. What do you think?"

No one had expected that they would be reduced to the point of having to borrow food from Shang Bibi. They looked at each other with embarrassment on their faces.

Liu Jilong, on the other hand, remained calm and did not feel ashamed at all.

The reason why he responded to Shang Bibi's every request was not just for the present situation, right?

Borrowing grain is just the beginning. Once he settles down, it will be time to keep the enemy at bay.

"Shanzhou and Kuzhou do have food, but I don't know if Qiliben will lend us some."

Shang Duo Luo and Cuo Ben looked at each other and responded with some guilt.

Liu Jilong was very calm. He said to the two of them, "I will write a letter later. You can choose one of you to take it to Shang Bibi. After he reads the letter, he will naturally agree to lend the grain."

"Yes..." The two bowed and responded, and Cuo Ben even volunteered: "Governor, I'll go!"

"Okay!" Liu Jilong agreed, then looked at Li Yizhong:

"I will lead the army to set out in three days. You will leave 500 soldiers to garrison Guangwu, and the remaining soldiers and civilians will continue to follow me to recapture Wuquan."

"After we capture Wuquan, I will send someone back with them to escort the family members accompanying the army south to Wuquan."

"I will obey your orders!" Li Yizhong nodded in response, and Liu Jilong also glanced at everyone and said:

"Take a good rest during these three days. We will set off for Wuquan in three days!"

(End of this chapter)