Guiyi Fei Tang

Chapter 179 The Frustrated

"The governor!"

Not long after Huke Siguang sent Xue Kui and others away, Chen Jingchong quickly walked into the yamen.

In front of all the generals, Chen Jingchong bowed and walked over and said, "Governor, the 40,000 pieces of silk and the more than 3,600 prisoners have been arranged."

"Those prisoners are still being divided, but now that spring planting is approaching, let them stay in Longxi to help the people sow seeds, and then relocate them after the spring planting is over."

"I have asked the prisoners. This piece of silk is worth 1,300 yuan if placed in Guanzhong, 1,500 yuan if placed in Guannei Road, and 1,000 yuan if placed in Shannan Road or Jiannan Road."

"If this batch of silk is sold in the inner pass or to Hexi, it will be worth at least 60,000 strings of cash!"

After Chen Jingchong finished speaking, the generals inside and outside the main hall began to discuss.

"Sixty thousand strings of cash... damn, I don't know how much I can buy with it."

"After arriving in Longxi, I have nowhere to spend the money. I don't even know what the prices are like."

"When I was in Hexi before, I remember that one stone of rice seemed to be worth two strings of silver."

"Damn it, doesn't that mean we can buy 30,000 shi of grain?"

"Isn't this enough to pay most of the military pay?"

The Longxi army had been in Wuquan for a long time and trade routes had been cut off, so they had no habit of spending money.

Only by exchanging money for food could they know the value of this batch of silk.

Facing the crowd's clamor, Liu Jilong said calmly: "These silks will be stored in the state treasury as I just said."

He glanced at the generals, and they fell silent. Then he said:

"The imperial court's rewards have not come down yet. If there are any rewards, they will all be deposited in the warehouse and I will distribute them to you."

"From now on, put up a sign in the main hall of the government office and write down every expense on it, so that everyone knows where every penny of money and grain goes."

Liu Jilong wanted to make income and expenditure public and transparent, because he knew very well that people are always worried about inequality rather than lack of wealth.

If the imperial court wants to sow discord among them, then let them do it and see how it goes.

Thinking of this, Liu Jilong continued, "We have recovered the three states, which is indeed cause for celebration, but you must know what the situation is in the three states since you have followed me all the way. I don't need to explain it in detail."

"Right now, the three states are in a state of disrepair and the trade routes are open, but what do we have to sell?"

Liu Jilong asked everyone back, and everyone started talking at once after hearing what he said.

But after all, the only things that Longxi could sell were furs and livestock.

This situation must be changed, so Liu Jilong said in a deep voice:
"Take a good rest. Before the autumn harvest this year, the army will attack Chengzhou and Wuzhou!"

"The last general takes orders!!"

All the generals sang, and Liu Jilian waved his hand to dismiss them.

After they left, Liu Jilong ordered Chen Jingchong to find Shang Duoluo and discuss with him the attack on Cheng and Wu states.

"I want to recruit the two states and six counties of Chengwu to surrender. What do you think?"

Liu Jilong discussed this with Shang Duoluo, who said, "There are more Han people in Cheng and Wu states than foreign people. If we can persuade them to surrender, that would be the best."

"But among these six counties, Yanjing County may not be so easy to surrender."

"I know." Liu Jilong nodded and said, "The foreign bandits occupy the salt wells. With the benefit of the salt, they not only have strong soldiers and horses, but also strong cities."

"If you're talking about attacking Yanjing City, I'm not worried."

"On the way to Yanjing, there is a Changdao County blocking the way. If we attack Changdao, it will certainly arouse Qinzhou's vigilance. At that time, Qinzhou officers and soldiers will either pacify Yanjing County or take advantage of our fierce attack on Changdao to attack Yanjing."

"So I need you to send someone to persuade Chang Dao to surrender. No matter what kind of promises you make, you must persuade Chang Dao to surrender."

At present, there is no one in the seven states of Longnan who can take the lead. Even Shang Yanxin and his team cannot make the three states of He, Lin and Wei govern themselves independently, but each county governs itself.

The seven prefectures and fifteen counties in Longnan were independent of each other and were easily defeated.

If it weren't for the busy spring ploughing, training of new soldiers, and repair of canals and dams, Liu Jilong would not have delayed any further.

"Governor, leave this matter to me!"

Shang Duoluo bowed in response, and Chen Jingchong immediately spoke:

"Governor, there must be spies among these 3,600 people. If the imperial court has not decided on the rewards after the spring plowing, how can we accommodate them?"

"Take them to Linwei and Weizhou, they will definitely figure out what's going on. Otherwise, let's place them in Longxi."

Chen Jingchong was worried that the spy would see that the Longxi army was strong on the outside but weak on the inside, but Liu Jilong shook his head and said:

"I have already made arrangements for this matter. You can first classify them into different groups, and then lead them to do spring ploughing and land reclamation."

"After the spring ploughing is over, I will make my own arrangements so that they won't notice anything."

After Liu Jilong finished speaking, he also explained in detail how to divide the components.

False accusations are classified as Class A, petty theft and fighting are classified as Class B, and murder is classified as Class C.

The A and B classes were given land to cultivate and allowed to live and work in peace and contentment; the murdered were made into miners and sent to mine gold and copper.

After a brief explanation, Liu Jilong continued:

"Now that the war has been over for so long, the people have gradually settled down."

"Most of the brothers in the army are still single, so I want to find a match for the single brothers in the army after the imperial reward is over."

"We were all slaves in the past, so don't look down on the newly liberated girls."

As soon as Liu Jilong finished speaking, Chen Jingchong laughed and said, "What are you saying, Governor?"

"You don't know that if you hadn't repeatedly mentioned the military regulations that forbid soldiers from having contact with those girls, the soldiers would have already married and had children."

"Oh? Haha..." Liu Jilong laughed, "I never thought that I was the one who disturbed you."

"Okay, okay, in that case, then tell the brothers in the four states and ten counties to let them play freely, but remember not to act like hooligans. Those who act like hooligans will be dealt with according to military regulations."

"Hey!" Chen Jingchong responded quickly, then hurried out, told his brothers the good news, and sent out light cavalry to pass the news to other states and counties.

Less than an hour after he left, Huke Siguang, who had escorted Xue Kui and the others away, also returned to the yamen.

Seeing him, Liu Jilong immediately asked, "How is the construction of the National Cemetery in Didao going?"

"Reporting to the governor, Li Zhechong is supervising over there." Huke Siguang just arrived from Didao this morning. Before he had time to report, he was dragged away to serve as a soldier.

Now that Liu Jilong asked him, he naturally told him everything about the National Cemetery.

The construction of the cemetery is not difficult, there are enough people, and it is progressing very smoothly.

According to the situation when Hukesguang arrived, the construction could be completed in a month at most.

Upon learning this, Liu Jilong was very happy, and then asked Shang Duoluo to kill a thousand sheep to reward the soldiers and civilians in the city.

Soon, the aroma of meat wafted throughout the city, and even the prisoners were given mutton and mutton soup after being divided into different groups.

While they were eating meat and drinking soup, Xue Kui also galloped back to Luomenchuan with five hundred elite cavalry.

By the time they walked back to the yamen, it was already night, but fortunately the yamen had prepared meals for them.

All kinds of meat, including chicken, duck, cow and mutton, were placed on the low table, but Xue Kui had no appetite at all.

"I will report today's incident to the Southern Court, and I will ask Wang Dujian to report to the Northern Court."

Xue Kui was talking to Wang Zonghui, who rarely agreed: "That's natural."

Seeing that he cooperated, Xue Kui took a look at the food and had no appetite at all. He stood up and said:
"Please enjoy your meal, I am tired..."

After saying this, he bowed to everyone, then turned and walked into the inner hall.

After he left, Wang Zonghui also stood up and walked out, and Gao Pian could only stand up and follow him out.

"Gao Yuhou, you are also tired. Just have a good rest after dinner. There is no need to see you off."

Wang Zonghui interrupted Gao Pian's actions, but his tone was very gentle and not harsh.

How could he not understand what Gao Pian said today?

If he didn't still need Gao Pian, he really wanted to give Gao Pian a good scolding.

It’s too late to change players now, so we can only swallow this loss.

"Go slowly, Chief Supervisor."

Upon hearing this, Gao Pian bowed and did not see Wang Zonghui off.

Wang Zonghui walked out upon seeing this. His Qi-cultivation skills were very good and he did not give people the impression that there was a rift between him and Gao Pian.

That night, two groups of light cavalry emerged from the east gate of Wugong County and headed straight for Chang'an.

When they arrived in Chang'an, it was already the tenth day of March.

Inside the Purple Palace, the third round of discussions regarding Longxi was underway.

"If we look at the two memorials from Governor Xue and Supervisor Wang, then Liu Jilong has probably already won back the hearts of the people in the four states, and he probably has no less than 10,000 soldiers under his command."

In the hall, Cui Xuan was talking eloquently, while Pei Xiu beside him was reading Wang Zonghui's memorial carefully:
"There are some differences between the two memorials. In the memorial to Wang Dujian, Liu Jilong actually threatened the court, saying that he could only defeat him with 30,000 troops, or 100,000 troops."

"Humph!" Wang Zongshi, who was standing next to Li Chen, snorted coldly: "This is just the words of a lunatic!"

"If it weren't for your majesty's kindness, it would be a piece of cake to pacify Longxi!"

Although Wang Zongshi knew that Liu Jilian's Longxi army was elite, he could not give in.

The hundreds of thousands of Shen Ce Army not only represent military power, but also the money bag for many eunuchs in the Northern Division. Too many people are involved, so he naturally cannot show weakness.

Pei Xiu didn't want to fall out with Bei Si, but he just couldn't stand the way Bei Si drank the blood of soldiers and acted pretentiously.

If the hundreds of thousands of Shen Ce troops were really as brave as the Beisi eunuchs boasted, the three towns of Heshuo would have been annihilated long ago and would not have waited until now.

Now that Wang Zongshi had applied eye drops, he no longer provoked Wang Zongshi, but just talked about the matter:
"In his memorial, Governor Xue said that if we could obtain 8,000 soldiers from Longxi, we could defeat 30,000 Qin soldiers from Longxi."

"Although this statement is a bit exaggerated, it is an indisputable fact that Longxi is an elite force."

"Xue Kui said that Liu Jilong has the appearance of an outstanding person, so we should be wary and pay attention to him." "I think that the situation in Longyou cannot be solved by Xue Kui!"

Pei Xiu was determined to save Xue Kui. Wang Zongshi snorted coldly when he heard this:
"Xue Kui missed the two states of Lin and Wei, so he should be transferred to another place. Yu Hou Gao Pian had made great contributions in pacifying the Dangxiang before, so he must be able to resist the enemy west of Shanggui!"

Wang Zongshi brought up the old accounts, which made Pei Xiu clench his tablet tightly: "Who is to blame for Linwei? I think Lieutenant Wang knows better than me!"

"Pei Gongmei! I think you are forming a clique for personal gain and abusing your power for personal gain!" Wang Zongshi asked coldly.

"All right……"

Li Chen spoke softly, and everyone bowed.

"I have already made a decision on Xue Kui's matter."

"Transfer him to Jiangzhou as the governor to pacify the Hedong barbarians."

"As for the Qin-Long matter, Gao Pian, the Marquis of Yu, was promoted to the position of Governor of Qin and Long, and Jiedushi of Tianxiong Army."

"In addition, recall the 3,000 Shen Ce troops heading to Qinzhou, and order Gao Pian to recruit 3,000 soldiers on his own."

"In this way, with the previous 5,000 Tianxiong troops and the 4,000 Youyi troops from Chengwu, the total number of troops is 12,000, which is enough to control Longxi."

"As for Liu Jilong's reward for recovering the three states, have you guys figured out the rules?"

Li Chen obviously did not want to investigate further. After all, two previous investigations had led to the conclusion that Liu Jilong had mobilized 5,000 armored soldiers to station in one place, so it was not surprising that he had 10,000 soldiers and generals.

The imperial court has no money or food to attack Liu Jilian. In this case, it would be better to appease him and prevent him from causing any trouble.

After learning of his idea, Cui Xuan and Pei Xiu were stunned. After all, they were thinking about how to split Longxi and resolve the threat to Guanzhong, not how to appease Liu Jilong.

When Linghu Tao learned that the emperor had changed his mind, he immediately bowed and said:

"Your Majesty, I think you can promote Liu Jilong to the rank of Silver and Green Guanglu Dafu, Left Sanqi Changshi, Founding Marquis of Longxi County, with a fief of 1,000 households, and Inspector of the Ministry of War."

"In addition, we should approve the 12 provincial governors he requested, and award them 100,000 rolls of silk as a reward for the three armies."

Promising a bunch of empty positions and offering 100,000 pieces of silk to appease Liu Jilong seemed a good deal to Linghu Tao, and it was better than actually granting him the title of Jiedushi of Longyou.

The total of 140,000 pieces of silk was nothing to the imperial court, but it should be enough to feed Liu Jilian.

"I second the proposal..."

Wang Zongshi bowed hurriedly. After all, he didn't have to pay any money. He just wanted to quickly decide on Gao Pian's appointment as the governor of Qin and Long.

"I… second the motion."

Cui Xuan glanced at Pei Xiu, then reluctantly agreed.

Seeing this, Pei Xiu, who was in charge of the money, got a headache.

"Your Majesty, if Liu Jilong recaptures Longnan and then asks the court for military pay, what should the court do?"

Pei Xiu raised a question. After all, Liu Jillian's actual position was still the defense envoy of He, Lin and Wei states. He should raise the military pay for the three states by himself. But if Liu Jillian recovered Longnan and used this as an excuse to demand military pay, what should the court do?
You must know that although the court now has an annual income of more than 14 million strings of cash, it has to spend nearly 12 million strings of cash just to maintain the army.

If Liu Jilian continued to expand his power and then demanded military pay, the Ministry of Revenue would be in big trouble.

"Let's wait until he recovers Longnan."

Wang Zongshi served as a mouthpiece for Li Chen, who nodded in satisfaction and said, "As you said, Lord Wang."

"Yes..." Pei Xiu had no choice but to agree.

Seeing that the matter had been settled, Li Chen had no intention of discussing the affairs of Longxi anymore. Since it could not be divided, he would just feed them with money and food from time to time and prevent them from causing trouble.

"Sanchao..."

Seeing that Li Chen was getting impatient, Wang Zongshi immediately interrupted Pei Xiu who was about to speak.

"Tens of millions of years!"

Pei Xiu and his companions bowed and saluted, then left the Zicheng Hall.

Seeing them leave, Li Chen said irritably: "Call the imperial physician Li Yuanbo and ask him to bring the longevity medicine!"

"I accept your instruction..." Wang Zongshi responded hastily, and then sent someone to summon the imperial physician Li Yuanbo.

Soon, as Li Chen took the long-term medicine, the irritability in his heart also dissipated.

At the same time, when Pei Xiu and his men returned to the Southern Court, the imperial edict to reward the Longxi Army was also drafted.

Before the imperial edict was delivered to Chen Ying and others in Beijing, the news had already spread to all the powerful families in Chang'an.

"The founding marquis of Longxi County was awarded 100,000 pieces of silk..."

Inside the mansion, Zhang Yitan murmured about the court's rewards to the Longxi Army and found it unbelievable.

The affairs of the Longxi Army are not difficult to find out as long as one is willing to spy and spend money.

Zhang Yitan still had a good impression of Liu Jilong, so when he learned that Chen Ying and others had entered Beijing, he sent people to gather information.

The court's move a few days ago to exile prisoners to Longxi and reward them with 40,000 pieces of silk was enough to chill him to the bone.

But now, facing Liu Jilian's arrogance, the imperial court actually promoted him to many official positions and awarded him 100,000 pieces of silk.

One hundred thousand rolls of silk...

Zhang Yitan seemed to have lost all his strength. The official next to him said indignantly, "We recovered the entire Hexi region and Huilan Prefecture, but the court never gave us a penny or a piece of silk..."

"Now that Envoy Liu has recovered the three states, he has rewarded me with 140,000 pieces of silk and promoted me to the rank of founding county marquis!"

The person in charge was an old man brought from Dunhuang by Zhang Yitan, so there was such a big reaction.

You should know that Zhang Yichao is only a founding county earl now, and although Liu Jilian did not get the title of Jiedushi of Longyou, he surpassed Zhang Yichao in title.

The head was not jealous of Liu Jilian, he was just angry about the unfairness of the court!
"Shanbo, send this news back to Dunhuang..."

Zhang Yitan was tired. He didn't want to make any decision, nor did he want to associate anything with it.

He just wanted to tell Zhang Huaishen and Zhang Yichao the news and let them make their own choice.

Before Liu Jilian recovered the three states, he could still use the excuse that Hexi was too close to the imperial court to fool himself.

But now Liu Jilian's attitude towards the court and the court's attitude towards Liu Jilian are in front of us.

All these things are telling Zhang Yitan one thing, that is, the crying child gets the milk.

He passed the message back and let Zhang Yichao and others make their own choice.

After giving the order, Zhang Yitan stood up and walked back to his bedroom, his steps unsteady and his back hunched.

"boom--"

"I'm coming!"

When Zhang Yitan was feeling disheartened, in a tavern in the West Market of Chang'an, a private room was roughly pushed open, followed by excited voices.

In the private room, the drunk Chen Ying was sitting at the same table with the man they saw when they arrived in Chang'an. When the two heard the noise, they turned around to look.

The man who came was one of the soldiers of the Longxi army sent to Chang'an by Liu Jilian. He had been drunk and was sent back to Qinglong Temple.

As a result, not long after he arrived at the temple, he met an angel sent by the court and received the imperial edict from the angel.

After putting the imperial edict away, he hurried back to the West Market.

"Chen Ying! The imperial edict has come down!"

He hurried to Chen Ying's side and excitedly pulled her, saying, "We can go back to Longxi now!"

"What? What did you say?" Chen Ying, who was originally drunk, shuddered, and his dazed eyes became alert again.

"The imperial edict has come down, we can go back to Longxi!"

The visitor spoke excitedly, and Chen Ying also stood up excitedly upon hearing his words, and looked at the thirty-year-old man at the same time.

"Mr. Huang! My family has received the promotion to the governor!"

"Haha! Just come down! Just come down..."

The man called Mr. Huang also laughed a few times, and then said: "You can go back to Longxi, then I should go back to my hometown too!"

He laughed out loud, but there was some sadness in his laughter.

Seeing this, Chen Ying knelt down and grabbed his shoulders: "Mr. Huang, you are good at riding and shooting, and you have literary talent. Why don't you come with us to Longxi!"

"Yes! Mr. Huang!" The man next to him also said:
"My envoy will definitely use you. Come with us!"

"No! I won't go to Longxi!" Huang Langjun broke free from Chen Ying's hands and staggered.

After finally holding onto the window of the tavern, he pushed it open, raised his hands to the outside, and shouted:
"I will come back in a few months. I don't believe I can't get into Chang'an!"

Upon hearing the noise, passers-by on the street looked towards the private room on the second floor. Seeing that Mr. Huang was drunk, they shook their heads and left, with no intention of watching the fun.

It has been more than half a month since the imperial examination results were announced, and there were more than one person who went crazy due to drunkenness. Everyone had lost interest long ago.

Huang Langjun felt angry when he saw that the people on the street were not even willing to stop for him for a second.

He turned and walked towards Chen Ying, grabbing her arms: "Mr. Chen! Do you believe me?!"

"Of course!" Chen Ying nodded, and then added: "But you don't have to take the imperial examination to become an official."

"If you come with us to Longxi, my envoy will definitely arrange an official position for you!"

"You don't understand!" Huang Langjun shook his head and stepped back. After staggering a few steps, he sat on the ground and muttered in a low voice.

"I have studied hard for many years, why can't I make the list?"

"I studied hard..."

He questioned himself several times with this simple sentence, and then he couldn't help laughing out loud, with some madness in his laughter.

After a long while, he looked up at Chen Ying and the others and said loudly:

"When the results are announced next year... there will definitely be a place for me, Huang Chao!"

(End of this chapter)