Guiyi Fei Tang

Chapter 244 Everyone has their own plans
"What is Little Gray Water?"

In the gunpowder factory training ground, after Chen Jitong explained how to process saltpeter, Liu Jilong couldn't help but ask about the materials he had never heard of.

"Small ash water is made by mixing ash from burning grass roots and tree bark with water."

Chen Jitong explained, and after Liu Jilong listened, he thought that this seemed similar to the purification he had mentioned before.

The only difference is that I asked the craftsmen to boil the saltpeter powder, and the new method of purification was to add wood ash during the boiling process.

There are many elements in wood ash, and maybe they can be neutralized and analyzed to produce pure saltpeter.

Thinking of this, Liu Jilong couldn't help but ask curiously: "Who came up with this idea?"

"It was Zhao Wei, the grandfather of Zhao Sanlang, who came up with this idea. He was a craftsman who was transferred from Huainan to Xichuan by the imperial court in the ninth year of Taihe."

"Last year, there was a flood in central Sichuan, and he and his family fled to Longyou. After several inspections, it was confirmed that there was no problem. He was then brought into the gunpowder factory to work, and then he offered this method."

"According to him, this is the method used in Huainan to make fireworks."

"It's just that fireworks are expensive and are only purchased by dignitaries, so no one has used them for war or blasting mines. Besides, the fireworks in Huainan are not as powerful as our gunpowder."

Liu Jilong only now realized that Huainan already had black gunpowder.

However, the quality of saltpeter in the mainland is poor and the output of pure saltpeter is not high, which has restricted the development of Huainan black gunpowder.

In comparison, he relied on Hexi and the Western Regions to continuously purchase cheap high-quality saltpeter, which he could naturally use generously to make gunpowder.

Thinking of this, Liu Jilong told Chen Jitong: "From now on, all the old-style black powder that has been produced will be used for blasting mines."

"The production will be changed to new gunpowder. Cui Shu, please remember this." Liu Jilong looked at Cui Shu:

"Promote the craftsman Zhao Wei to the position of Chief of the Gunpowder Factory, and place him at the rank of the ninth rank. He will be given a salary and official land, and a reward of 100 strings of cash!"

"Thank you, Marshal Jie!" Chen Jitong hurriedly thanked Zhao Wei and said:

"General, if we make new gunpowder, the demand for saltpeter will increase, and we will also need manpower to purify the saltpeter..."

Liu Jilong nodded to comfort him: "I will take care of these things, you don't have to worry about it, just study and make gunpowder."

"By the way, how's the artillery going?"

He thought of the artillery, but Chen Jitong shook his head and said, "Our people can't make the things you mentioned. If they do, they will be full of holes and we dare not use them to place gunpowder."

Hearing him say this, Liu Jilong felt a little regretful, thinking that his iron smelting technology was not good enough. Maybe there were craftsmen with qualified skills in Chang'an, but the court would definitely not give the craftsmen to him.

The hungry people are different from the craftsmen. Apart from anything else, Liu Jilian has not yet obtained the court's skills in making Mo Dao, Ming Guang Armor and other weaponry.

Because of this, Longyou mainly used armor, horizontal swords and long spears.

However, these problems have little impact on Longyou. Counterweight catapults and black gunpowder are enough to deal with the current situation.

While he was thinking this, he gave a few brief instructions and asked Chen Jitong to write them down. Then he walked out of the gunpowder factory and returned to Didao City.

He is still busy with teaching in Linzhou, because only by doing a good job in Linzhou can he do a good job in ideological work.

After March, Li Chen dismissed Cui Shenyou and transferred him to Dongchuan as the governor on the pretext of guarding against Nanzhao.

This move made the ministers even more afraid to mention the issue of establishing a crown prince easily.

At the same time, hungry people from Jiannan Road and Shannan West Road continued to flow into Longyou. When Li Chen learned about this, he reprimanded Lu Jun and Wei Mo for dereliction of duty.

Wei Mo submitted a petition requesting to stop the shipment of summer grain and use it to relieve the hungry people, but Li Chen refused.

When the news came back, it was already mid-March, and Wei Mo was very helpless about it.

"If we cannot withhold summer grain for disaster relief, how are we going to provide relief to the more than 50,000 starving people near Qingcheng and the more than 30,000 starving people in the south?"

In the Xichuan government office, Yang Fugong asked Wei Mo, who glanced at everyone and said:
"If we fail to provide relief, the hungry people will inevitably cause chaos, and I don't think this is what you want to see."

"Why don't we raise money and food ourselves? As long as we can hold on until the autumn harvest, that's fine."

After Wei Mo said this, the faces of the officials in the hall changed.

Everyone knows that the wealthy merchants in Xichuan have been borrowed out of all their money, and they will definitely not lend any more food now.

In this case, the only option left for them is probably for officials to raise the funds themselves.

"I am willing to sell the utensils in my house and donate 2,000 dan of grain."

"I am willing to donate 500 shi of grain."

"I am willing to donate fifty stones..."

"I am willing to donate 80 stones..."

"certain……"

After Wei Mo launched the call, Yang Fugong immediately expressed his willingness to donate 500 dan of grain. As for other officials, the donations ranged from a dozen dan to several dozen dan.

By the time dozens of officials in the hall had finished speaking, they had found out that the amount of grain they had raised was only over 3,200 dan.

This amount of food is only enough to feed the hungry people for half a month at most.

"Since the imperial court doesn't care, we might as well sell some of the starving people to Longyou as slaves and horses. After we get the money, we can buy grain to help the victims."

"Yes, even if we sell half and save half, it's better than letting them all starve to death or cause chaos, right?"

Seeing that their own food and grass supplies were not enough, the officials, who were afraid that Wei Mo would ask them to pay again, actually began to turn to Longyou on their own initiative.

"you……"

Yang Fugong couldn't help but glare at everyone, because he knew how wealthy these people were.

It is true that the amount he donated was not much, but this was the most food and fodder he could give out.

If he took more, he would probably attract the attention of the court, and officials from the Southern Court and the Northern Court would impeach him for corruption.

In order to protect himself, he could only donate 500 stones.

"Okay, you guys leave first, Zi Ke stay."

Wei Mo suddenly spoke, and everyone understood what was going on, and they all breathed a sigh of relief.

"I'll take my leave..."

Delayed when coming, hurried when leaving.

Looking at the ugly appearance of this group of people, Yang Fugong clenched his fists. After everyone left, Yang Fugong immediately bowed and said:

"Prime Minister, I am willing to donate another 2,000 shi privately!"

"Not enough..." Wei Mo shook his head, his face turned sickly pale, and he coughed from time to time.

The climate of Bashu was indeed very uncomfortable for him as a northerner, and his lung disease almost never stopped.

"If the 80,000 starving people are not properly handled, it will inevitably lead to a civil uprising."

"Ahem...what they said does make sense."

"I have decided to use the young and strong among the starving people as slaves and horses to lead them to Longyou. The money and food they sell will be used for disaster relief and for repairing the pass."

"It's just that for this matter, you still need to go, Zike."

When Wei Mo said this, his face turned even paler.

He had been honest and upright throughout his life, but he never expected that he would have to do such a thing when he was old.

Yang Fugong was a little reluctant, but Wei Mo continued:
"If I can save 80,000 starving people on this trip, it will be my last good deed as an official, ahem..."

He looked at Yang Fugong, who also knew that Xichuan could not be in chaos, so he could only bow and kowtow: "Your subordinate... obey the order!"

He bowed and withdrew, then galloped northward without stopping.

By the time he arrived in Didao, Linzhou, it was already the second day of April.

He was taken to the main hall of the Protectorate, where Liu Jilian had been waiting for a long time.

Gao Jinda, Li Shangyin, Cui Shu, Zhang Chang, Cao Mao and the other five people looked at him, and he immediately bowed and said:
"There are starving people in Xichuan. The commander should know about this."

"I am not here to inquire about the famine victims who fled to Longyou, but to trade horses."

Although Liu Jilong did not guess Yang Fugong's purpose, he vaguely knew that Xichuan needed money.

I thought it was a grain trade, but it turned out to be a horse trade.

Thinking of this, Liu Jilong's eyes flickered: "What does Yang Jianjun mean?"

Seeing that Liu Jilong was still playing dumb, Yang Fugong took a deep breath and said:
"There are nearly 100,000 starving people in Xichuan. If we don't allocate money and food to help them, they will become hungry sooner or later."

"I hope that the Prime Minister will have the virtue of loving life, so I hope to sell horses and horses to raise money and food to help the hungry people."

"Although it was justified by the sale of human flesh and horses, its real purpose was to provide relief to the hungry."

Liu Jilong nodded when he saw this, and then asked, "Are you going to use the old and weak as mouthpieces?"

He was teasing Bai Minzhong about his previous experience of selling the elderly and the weak as slaves. Yang Fugong naturally knew about it, but he looked calm and his energy-cultivation skills were very good.

"The Wei envoys took the hungry people as their primary concern and knew that the old and weak could not reach Longyou, so they used the young and strong as slaves to move to Longyou. I would like to ask General Liu Jie to set a price."

Liu Jilong really wanted population. Seeing Yang Fugong's anxious look, he immediately said, "It is a good deed to provide relief to the hungry people. As the hungry people flow into Longyou, I will protect the territory and the people and let them live and work in peace."

"The Wei envoy has done a good deed, and I am willing to lend a helping hand."

"How about this? I am willing to buy and sell the horses for three strings of cash for men and two strings of cash for women. What do you think, Yang?"

It was true that Xichuan suffered a disaster, but due to years of grain reserves, major grain merchants in Xichuan did not dare to raise grain prices.

The price of grain in Xichuan is now 500 coins per dan, which is only slightly more expensive than in previous years by less than 100 coins.

At the price offered by Liu Jilong, a man could sell six stone of rice and a woman could sell four stone of rice.

If Xichuan sells 20,000 young and strong men, it can get 120,000 shi of grain, which is enough for the remaining 60,000 hungry people to eat until the autumn harvest.

Yang Fugong knew that Liu Jilong had given a fair price, so he did not bargain, but said directly:

"In that case, please ask the commander to escort the money to Songzhou. I will naturally arrange for the hungry people to enter Songzhou from Yizhou."

"Okay!" Liu Jilong agreed, and then signaled Yang Fugong to go ahead.

Yang Fugong did not stay either. He turned around and left the Protectorate, riding his horse back to Chengdu in a hurry.

After he left, Gao Jinda spoke up, "There are so many starving people in Xichuan, why doesn't the commander lower the price?"

"No need." Liu Jilong shook his head.
"This is a good opportunity. There is no need to waste time for those few thousand guan."

"What's more, if Wei Mo's actions were known to the imperial court, I'm afraid he would not be able to continue his post as the governor of Xichuan."

"It's better to finalize this matter as soon as possible!"

After he finished speaking, Liu Jilong looked at Cao Mao and said, "Didn't Shannan West Road express its position?"

"No." Cao Mao shook his head.

"Although there are many famine victims in Shannan West Road, Lu Jun intercepted the autumn grain to provide relief to the victims, and the Sanchuan area with the most victims has been pacified."

"There are only about 10,000 to 20,000 disaster victims in the north. Some have been resettled in various counties and prefectures, and the rest have fled to Longyou."

"Since the New Year's Day this year, over the past three months, more than 3,800 people have fled from Shannan West Road alone, and more than 7,000 people have fled from Jiannan Road."

After Cao Mao finished speaking, Gao Jinda bowed and asked:
"General Jie, will these civilians purchased from Jiannan Road also be settled in Lanzhou as before?"

"Yes, they will be placed in Guangwu County, Lanzhou." Liu Jilong nodded in response and said:
"News came from Liangzhou that Envoy Zhang is preparing to raise 6,000 troops and move to Ganzhou on April 15th."

"I will write a letter later. Cao Mao, you send someone to deliver it to Ganzhou via the Dadouba Valley Road. Tell Li Yizhong that after handing over Ganzhou, he can continue to serve under Envoy Zhang with my letter."

"If we resist stubbornly, not to mention General Zhang's troops, Longyou will also send troops to attack Ganzhou."

Liangzhou is right in front of him, and Liu Jilian can't just do nothing.

The faster Zhang Huaishen moved his capital to Ganzhou, the more suspicious the Tang court became of Suo Xun.

Without the influx of population from the Tang court, Suo Xun's rule in Liangzhou would have been short-lived and collapsed in an instant.

Regardless of whether Suo Xun died or escaped, for him, this was an opportunity to take control of Liangzhou.

Even though Hankou had been moved away by Zhang Huaishen, for him, the hundreds of thousands of acres of cultivated land in Liangzhou were more important.

As long as he took Liangzhou, he could relocate the people and station troops in Liangzhou.

After plundering the population of Xichuan in the future, there will be a place for them to settle down.

Reclaiming cultivated land is much easier and cheaper than reclaiming wasteland.

Thinking of this, Liu Jilong continued, "How much money and silk is left in the treasury?"

The reason why he asked was that Chen Ying had not yet returned from escorting the money to the north, and it was only two months away from the payment of the second half of the military pay, and he did not want to be left without money to hire people.

"Don't worry, General. There are still 120,000 strings of cash and 60,000 strings of gold and silver in the treasury."

Gao Jinda spoke to appease Liu Jilong, who nodded and said, "Send the money to Songzhou. 120,000 strings of cash are enough to buy 40,000 to 50,000 hungry people."

"Since Wei Mo is trying to help the hungry, I don't think he will sell a lot."

"Yes!" Gao Jinda agreed. Liu Jilong dismissed everyone upon seeing this. He returned to the inner hall to look at the seal situation, then turned around and went to Linzhou University.

He continued to lecture at Linzhou University, and letters on his behalf were taken to Shanzhou by light cavalry, who were preparing to take the Dadouba Valley Road to Zhangye, Ganzhou, to persuade Li Wei and his son who occupied Zhangye to surrender.

Time passed little by little, and in the blink of an eye it was April 15th.

On this day, Zhang Huaishen assembled two thousand elite cavalry, four thousand armored soldiers, ten thousand civilians and more than fourteen thousand of their families in Fanhe and marched towards Ganzhou.

The army, with flags flying, marched towards Yanzhi Mountain.

However, at the same time, Zhang Huaiman led 500 armored soldiers to garrison Changsong City, giving Suo Xun no chance to seize Changsong.

Suo Xun was not in a hurry. After all, as long as Zhang Huaishen moved town, he would have plenty of opportunities in the future.

What's more, there was something that made him feel very difficult at this time, and he and Wang Duanzhang, who was an angel, were very anxious about it.

"The five hundred veteran Tianping soldiers under Wang Shouwen and Wu Wei are very brave. If they knew that the court would not allow them to return home, they would definitely incite the Chishui Army to revolt."

"I'm afraid it will be difficult to stop them with the 2,500 elite soldiers under your command."

Inside the government office of Chishui City, Wang Duanzhang was extremely anxious, with cold sweat pouring down his forehead.

In response to this, Suo Xun's face was gloomy, and he knew in his heart that what Wang Duanzhang said was true.

There are only eight months left for the 5,000 Chishui troops to complete their garrison period. If they want to leave early, there is no reason to stop them.

However, if they really left, his plan to occupy Hexi, attack Zhang Huaishen in the west, and attack Liu Jilian in the south would be ruined. Maybe even the Uighurs and Umu would dare to step on his head.

Thinking of this, Suo Xun looked at Wang Duanzhang with a dark face and said, "Don't tell them about this for now. Wait until Zhang Huaishen moves to Ganzhou."

"In addition, please ask the angel Wang to explain the current situation in Liangzhou to the court, and ask the court to first relocate enough people to Hankou to help me."

"If we have enough Hankou and armor, even if the Chishui Army returns to the east, the two of us can recruit brave warriors in Hankou."

"Okay!" Wang Duanzhang had no opinion of his own and was timid and cowardly, so he basically did whatever Suo Xun said.

The two men hid the court's order without informing Wang Shouwen and Wu Wei.

While they were making their plans, Gao Pian, who had been sitting on the bench in Qinzhou for several years, couldn't help it anymore.

He was unaware of the plans of Liu Jilong, Zhang Huaishen and Zhang Yichao. He only knew that he was thirty-seven years old and was still only a governor of Qinlong and the governor of Tianxiong Army, which was not what he expected.

For this reason, he summoned the generals in the army and gathered them in Shanggui Yamen.

Inside the hall, Gao Pian sat in the main seat, and on his left were Zhang Lin, Liang Zun, Lu Ruyue, and on his right were Wang Zhongren, Lin Ruzhen and others.

Facing the crowd, Gao Pian also spoke:

"I have put a lot of effort into Chang'an these days, and I think there will be results soon."

"I summoned you all here today mainly to ask you, if I am transferred away from Qinlong, are you still willing to follow me to other places?"

As soon as Gao Pian finished speaking, Zhang Lin bowed immediately:
"What do you mean, lord? I walked out of the Shen Ce Army with you. If you go somewhere else, I will follow you!"

"I think the same thing!" Liang Zan and Wang Zhongren also bowed in agreement.

Seeing this, Gao Pian turned his gaze to General Lin Ruzhen and Lu Ruyue.

Lu Ruyue and Lin Ruzhen also realized at this time that the target of this meeting was exactly them.

Lu Ruyue expressed his opinion very quickly. After all, in his opinion, as long as Gao Pian was promoted, there would be no problem in following him.

As for the tribesmen who have already settled down, those who are willing to leave will follow, and those who are unwilling to leave will be another matter.

"Of course I will follow you. No matter where you go, I will follow you closely."

Lu Ruyue bowed and saluted, but added: "However, many of my subordinates are unwilling to leave Qinzhou, so I can only try to persuade them."

"Okay!" Gao Pian nodded with satisfaction and looked at General Lin Ruzhen.

Seeing this, General Lin Ruzhen was silent for a moment before saying, "I should follow the envoy, but Liu Jilong killed my master. I cannot rest in peace if I don't avenge him."

Gao Pian narrowed his eyes and said, "Protector Lin Ru can rest assured. Liu Jilong is restless and will definitely cause chaos in the future."

"If it were someone else, they might not be able to control him. Then the court would have to recruit us to fight him. There would be no shortage of opportunities for revenge."

After Gao Pian said this, General Lin Ruzhen no longer hesitated: "In this case, I am willing to follow you."

"Good..." Gao Pian cheered with a smile, and then raised his glass to everyone:

"You are so kind, I offer you a toast!"

"Your Excellency is so righteous..."

Everyone raised their glasses in response, and Gao Pian felt very comfortable.

As long as he could take away some of the troops as his support, the imperial court would have to consider his own affairs.

Thinking of this, Gao Pian raised his lips slightly, and felt that the day of his promotion would be in the Ming Dynasty...

(End of this chapter)