Guiyi Fei Tang

Chapter 26: The pursuit of profit is unstoppable
"Screw rustle..."

At night, Shazhou soldiers wearing armor kept moving around the city holding torches, and the rustling of their armor could be heard.

The people hid in their houses, laughter could be heard from time to time, and they were all happy that they had gained their freedom.

In the military camp, the wailing of wounded soldiers due to their injuries was heard one after another, and the whole place was filled with sorrow.

Unlike these small characters, many "big characters" in the Jiedu Yamen of Zhangye City were quietly waiting for Zhang Yichao to speak.

Inside the dim government office, the captains and brigade commanders who came from powerful families were calm and composed, while Zhang Yichao, who was at the head of the group, was flipping through documents.

His desk was filled with documents, but he didn't want to read all of them, just some of them.

After a long time, as Zhang Yichao closed the document, everyone looked at him.

The war is over, and it's time to divide the profits.

Looking at the flickering eyes of the people below, Zhang Yichao felt physically and mentally exhausted.

If he closed the document and looked down to see the generals asking for orders to recapture Shandan, he would only feel refreshed.

But in reality, when he looked down, he only saw everyone's eyes full of interest, which made him feel tired.

"Zhangye has suffered from cholera caused by foreign bandits for many years, and the population has dropped from more than 22,000 to more than 19,800 today."

"In addition, during the day, the people in the city revolted, causing a lot of casualties while our army was holding back the bandits. This part has not been counted in the records, so the population in the records will only be less, not more."

Zhang Yichao tried to awaken everyone's ideals, but everyone only cared about their own interests.

Considering the population of Zhangye, what they are thinking about is who can gain more and greater benefits.

"One hundred and seventy-six of our soldiers were killed in this battle, and 526 were wounded, of whom I'm afraid no less than 200 were disabled."

Zhang Huaishen was the first among the generals to discuss the casualties of soldiers. His face was solemn, with an unremovable sorrow between his brows.

"Only by taking Shandan in the east can the people of Zhangye farm in peace. However, our army now has less than 1,300 soldiers and horses. Taking Shandan..."

Zhang Huaishen hesitated for a moment, but was eventually caught by someone.

"Captain Zhang, what you said is not right. No matter how many people we have left, we must take Shandan."

"That's right. If Captain Zhang is so soft-hearted, he is probably not suitable to be in charge of Ganzhou."

"Rewards should be given according to merit, but more consideration should be given to the right people."

"Ugh……"

A group of Shazhou tyrants sighed and shook their heads, constantly making use of the situation to make Zhang Huaishen look even uglier.

Zhang Yichao saw all of this, but did not speak directly. Instead, he waited until everyone had nothing to say before he slowly spoke: "That's all..."

His tone was somewhat unfriendly, which made the powerful people who had just mocked Zhang Huaishen look unhappy.

"If we change the order we agreed upon before the war, I don't know if there will be any trust and loyalty in our army!"

Zhang Yichao mocked everyone and expressed his own attitude.

His eyes scanned everyone and finally landed on Zhang Huaishen, whose expression had relaxed.

"The 12th and 13th Regiments captured East City. This is Zhang Huaishen's ability and his credit."

"From now on, Zhang Huaishen will serve as the governor and defense envoy of Ganzhou, and Zhang Huairong will serve as the Sima of Ganzhou."

The main officials of a state in the Tang Dynasty included the governor in the top position, the Beijia in the second position, the Changshi as a civil official, and the Sima as a military officer.

Normally, a state had a recorder and a six-department system, which was modeled after the three-province and six-department system. These officials together formed the core management team of the state-level administrative unit in the Tang Dynasty, each of whom assumed different responsibilities and jointly maintained the normal operation of the state.

As for the Defense Commissioner which Zhang Huaishen concurrently held, in fact, this official position appeared after the Anshi Rebellion. It was usually held concurrently by a Governor or Surveillance Commissioner, and was the military and political chief of a state or town.

No one dared to have any major objection to the fact that Ganzhou was firmly handed over to Zhang Huaishen by Zhang Yichao. After all, Zhang Huaishen did do what they said before the war.

However, now that the provincial governor and the Sima had been assigned by Zhang Yichao, the remaining Beijia and Changshi had become the objects of competition among everyone.

"Li Wei was appointed as the deputy governor of Ganzhou, and Cao Qianyi was appointed as the chief officer of Ganzhou."

Zhang Yichao then announced the other two major official positions in Ganzhou, and said to Zhang Huaishen: "For the remaining official positions, I will leave it to you to select the right candidates."

"I obey your command!" Zhang Huaishen responded neither humbly nor arrogantly. Even though he was already mentally exhausted at this time, he still appeared to be energetic.

"May I ask, Governor, how many regiments of soldiers should be stationed in Ganzhou?"

Suo Zhongyi below suddenly asked, and Zhang Yichao did not wait for the others to look at him, and simply said:

"Although Shandan has not been taken, Ganzhou is after all the front line of our army against Tubo. In addition, it is a populous province. I want to set up 20 regiments, including 15 in Zhangye and 5 in Shandan."

As soon as Zhang Yichao opened his mouth, everyone in the hall frowned.

At this time, the Shazhou Army had no more than 30 regiments. If another 20 regiments were added, the total number would reach 50 regiments, and the force would reach 10,000.

Of the original thirty groups, Zhang Yichao could control nearly twelve, the Suo family controlled six, the Li family controlled five, and other families like the Wu family, the Cao family, the Qinghe Zhang family and others controlled seven each.

Twenty more regiments were added now, but Zhang Huaishen was appointed as the governor and defense envoy of Ganzhou.

In other words, the number of troops under Zhang's control suddenly increased from 2,400 to 6,400.

Zhang Yichao wanted to increase the military power of the Zhang family and at the same time support Zhang Huaishen. This was the judgment of everyone after they reacted.

However, even if they knew, they did not dare to turn against him. After all, Zhang Yichao had proved himself once again in the Battle of Zhangye.

Thinking of this, everyone remained silent.

Zhang Huaishen didn't have time to argue with this group of people. He bowed respectfully to Zhang Yichao and said, "Governor, since the matter has been settled, I will return to the camp first."

"Go ahead, and remember to report the merits of the first soldiers to reach the summit."

Zhang Yichao said this, and Zhang Huaishen nodded and left the yamen.

After leaving the yamen, he took more than ten soldiers from the 12th Regiment to the Zhangye military camp.

It was late at night and many people were sleeping peacefully in joy, but Zhang Huaishen could not rest yet.

After rushing to the military camp without stopping, he immediately summoned the military officers who were still able to move from the 11th, 12th and 13th Regiments.

Zhang Huairong and more than ten people came to Yamen at the call of Zhang Huaishen. After they arrived, Zhang Huaishen went straight to the point and told them that he had become the governor of Ganzhou and concurrently the defense envoy.

"The governor has appointed me as the governor and defense envoy of Ganzhou. Huairong, you will serve as the Sima of Ganzhou. Ganzhou will grant you 20 regiments of troops."

As Zhang Huaishen explained everything, the brigade commanders and team leaders in the Yamen looked at each other, with a hint of excitement in their eyes.

"Huai Shen, what are you going to do?"

Zhang Huairong didn't say it very clearly, but the meaning was very clear, that is, it was time to reward and distribute the benefits.

In response, Zhang Huaishen glanced at the dozen or so military officers in the Yamen, and spoke slowly in a deep voice...

(End of this chapter)