Guiyi Fei Tang

Chapter 280: Youthful Vigor (Seeking monthly tickets at the end of the month)

"Come on!"

During the twelfth lunar month, even the Protectorate was covered with snow a foot deep.

Some people in the Protectorate were shoveling snow, but Cao Mao, who had been away for several months, appeared here.

He strode towards the main hall, but Liu Jilong was not there.

It was not until Liu Jilian walked out of the inner courtyard that he saw Cao Mao.

His skin color became much darker and he was much thinner.

"Why did you come back without telling me?"

Liu Jilong hurried forward, took a look at the guy he raised, spread out his hands, and saw a lot of frostbite on the back of his hands.

"I wanted to give you a surprise, so I asked Envoy Li to keep the news secret."

Cao Mao laughed heartily and said, "General Jie, you will never guess where we are this time!"

"Tell me about it." Liu Jilong was quite curious. After all, Cao Mao and Zhang Huaishen had sent out troops in September, and now it was the twelfth month.

Including the time spent returning to Linzhou, they were out of the border for at least fifty days.

"We will meet at Longshou Mountain, and then march north to Juyan Lake."

"After the autumn harvest, Xiali, Dugazhi, Pangteler and others went to the Western Regions. We took advantage of the situation and pursued them from the Juyan Lake all the way to the Jinshan (Altai Mountains), killing thousands of Hu people and capturing tens of thousands of them."

"Ponteler and his men defected to Anxi's Pang Teqin. We did not advance into the Western Regions and withdrew our troops."

"We divided the captured barbarians, cattle and sheep equally with General Zhang Jie. We captured more than 6,000 barbarians, more than 3,000 cattle, more than 8,000 horses, and more than 30,000 sheep, camels and other livestock."

"Marshal Zhang Jie established the Black Water City and the Black Water Army at the Juyan Sea, stationing 1,200 soldiers."

"With Marshal Zhang Jie's troops at the Juyan Lake, we don't have to worry about things in the west."

"By the way, I have one more thing to discuss with you when I come back this time."

Cao Mao was talking excitedly, but Liu Jilong smiled and joked, "I understand your intentions, but in the future, all this information must be delivered to me as soon as possible."

"If everyone followed your example, I wouldn't be able to govern."

Cao Mao was young after all, and this was his first battle leading the army alone. After achieving results, he naturally wanted to show off, which Liu Jilong could understand.

But as he said, if everyone followed his example, Liu Jilong's work would be difficult to carry out.

"Yes, I know I was wrong!"

Cao Mao felt a little embarrassed when Liu Jilong said this and quickly admitted his mistake.

Liu Jilong nodded and said, "I won't reward you this time. I'll make up for my mistakes."

"Thank you, General Jie!" Cao Mao didn't care about the reward. After all, if he was well fed, his whole family would not be hungry.

With his current official position, salary, and official land, as well as the education Liu Jilian had given him, he did not have much utilitarianism.

The only thing he wanted to do was to prove himself on the battlefield and prove that he was more suitable for the battlefield rather than the government office.

"General Jie, how about you send me to Liangzhou as a general?"

"Bai Tinghai and Xiu Tuze must build a city to defend against the Khitans in the north."

"I……"

"Okay." Liu Jilong interrupted this guy's thoughts and said with a smile:

"There will be plenty of opportunities for war, but we need to monitor the affairs of the Censorate now."

Liu Jilong motioned for him to follow, then took him through the inner hall and towards the study in the central hall.

Soon, he handed a booklet to Cao Mao and said, "I can only feel at ease if I leave this office of the Censorate to you."

Cao Mao did not respond immediately, but opened the document and began to read it.

The contents of the documents are basically all the officials that the Censorate has found out in recent days.

Facts have proven that human greed will continue to grow.

Even though Liu Jilian had dealt with a group of people when he returned to Linzhou, after all, the officials in Longyou were still the same people.

Before the students trained in the Imperial College grew up, these former slaves' desires grew after they gained power.

Even though there was the knife of the Censorate hanging over their heads, they still chose to take the risk.

"There are also twelve officials in the Censorate who have committed crimes. When you come back this time, check yourself first."

Liu Jilong sat down and did not forget to give instructions to Cao Mao.

After Cao Mao finished reading the document, he cursed, "These damn beasts!"

"The salary you give them is definitely not low, and they also have official land, yet they still dare to do such a thing!"

"No one would complain about having too much money and grain." Liu Jilong responded calmly, having expected this.

The system of the Censorate was still very crude, consisting mainly of four levels: chief envoy, deputy envoy, supervisory envoy, and inspector envoy.

The chief envoy is Cao Mao, the deputy envoy is Han Zhengke, and the inspector is responsible for supervising the inspectors, while the inspectors are constantly inspecting the prefectures and counties.

The chief envoy of the Censorate was of the fifth rank, the deputy envoy was of the fifth rank, the supervisory envoy was of the sixth rank, and the inspector was of the seventh rank.

In terms of official land and salary, even the seventh-rank inspector had 350 acres of official land and an annual salary of 80 dan.

The output of the official land, after paying taxes, plus salaries and other firewood, oil, salt, sauce, vinegar and tea, was worth at least 240 dan of grain.

It is enough to feed forty people, and can allow more than a dozen people to have enough food and clothing and meat for every meal.

Liu Jilian's original intention was to maintain high salaries to keep officials honest, but facts have proved that even with high salaries to keep officials honest, corrupt officials in Longyou continued to multiply.

However, he had been mentally prepared for this. After all, his past life experience told him that the struggle must be persistent, and once he stopped, all his previous efforts would be wasted.

"Don't curse them. First, conduct a self-examination of your own internal affairs. After you find out who should be investigated, you can also transport their families to Hexi."

After explaining, Liu Jilong motioned for him to sit down, and then continued:

"Linzhou University, you can visit from time to time."

"That's the people I prepared for the entire Longyou, but they haven't been honed yet."

"You go get familiar with them first. After I have trained them, you can select a group of people from them to join the Metropolitan Censorate."

"The current system of the Metropolitan Procuratorate is not perfect yet, but it is sufficient to deal with the fourteen states of Longyou."

"Yes!" Cao Mao agreed without hesitation. Liu Jilong exchanged pleasantries with him for a few more times, and the two said goodbye after dinner.

Liu Jilong returned to the inner courtyard and naturally saw Feng Hui and the baby in her arms.

The baby was only fourteen months old and should have been able to walk, but Liu Jilong did not urge Feng Hui and the maids to let him walk, but instead let him crawl more.

"yeah……"

"Tiger head, don't bother your father."

Wawa reached out to Liu Jilong but was interrupted by Feng Hui.

Tiger Head is the baby's nickname, as for his real name...

"Liu Bilie, let Aye hug you!"

Liu Jilong stretched out his hand and pulled Liu Bilie out of Feng Hui's arms.

Only Liu Jilong could come up with such a shocking name.

Of course, in the eyes of others, Liu Jilong might have given his child this name because he hoped that his child would be more strong-willed in the future.

Liu Bilie was in his arms, laughing like a silver bell and dancing constantly.

When Feng Hui saw this, he immediately smiled and said, "Only when he is in your arms will he be so honest."

"Hahaha..." Liu Jilong laughed heartily, and then continued to walk back and forth while holding Liu Bilie.

Seeing this, Feng Hui also took out a letter and said:

"This is the letter that Grandpa just sent. Would you like to take a look?"

Feng Hui seldom bothered him with letters from home, so when she opened her mouth, Liu Jilong knew that this letter was probably not just a letter from home.

Liu Jilong put Liu Bilie in Feng Hui's arms, took the letter and read it.

Sure enough, the content of the letter was mainly that Feng Ao felt that he was old, and Feng Bangyan and others were unable to support the overall situation of the Feng family.

The situation in the world is becoming increasingly chaotic, and anyone with a discerning eye can see it.

Therefore, Feng Ao thought carefully and decided to move some of the Feng family members to live in Longyou, but this did not include Feng Bangyan and others who were already officials.

If the people were to be relocated here, Liu Jilian would naturally be willing.

However, the Feng family is a noble family after all. Even if they have fallen on hard times, they are still a noble family.

Whether their arrival will affect the current situation in Longyou requires Liu Jilong to consider carefully.

Liu Jilong did not answer immediately, but thought for a while before nodding and saying:
"Write back to Aweng and tell him that you can ask Yang Xin from the Jinzouyuan to send someone to escort them to Longyou."

"I plan to relocate them to Lanzhou, which is not far from Linzhou and will not affect Linzhou."

After Liu Jilong finished speaking, Feng Hui said with a hint of worry: "If it's inconvenient, then..."

"No." Liu Jilong shook his head and interrupted, then explained:

"Longyou will always have to contact the noble families and common people. It's just a matter of time."

"We can take this opportunity to let the nobles and commoners from all over the country see what our attitude towards them is." In this era when nobles and commoners coexist, a vassal state like Longyou, which is dominated by children of common people, is undoubtedly an outlier among many vassal states.

However, in another twenty or thirty years, there will be more and more generals who are farmers or rogues, and there will be more and more feudal lords dominated by commoners.

Although Liu Jilong already has his own team, expressing his attitude appropriately can still reduce a lot of unnecessary trouble.

They can integrate into Longyou, but Longyou will not cater to them.

As long as they don't cross Liu Jilong's red line, they can still survive.

Thinking of this, Liu Jilong looked at Feng Hui, reached out and touched her belly and asked, "How are you recovering?"

Feng Hui immediately understood what Liu Jilong wanted to do, so he reached out and patted his hand and said:
"My dear, you can visit the eight ladies in the West Flower Hall and the East Flower Hall more often."

"it is good……"

Liu Jilong agreed, but did not leave.

While he was busy, Yang Zhiwen, who hurried back to Xichuan from Nanzhao, had no time to rest. He hurriedly wrote a memorial about his experience and sent it to Chang'an by express horse.

Faced with the provocation of the sixteen-year-old Yu Shilong, the twenty-six-year-old Li Yan also became angry.

"Stop!"

Inside the Xianning Palace, while the actors and musicians continued to dance and play, Li Yi, who was sitting in the main seat, snorted coldly and shouted to stop them.

All the dance and music came to an abrupt halt. More than a hundred actors and musicians looked at Li Yi nervously, only to see him wave his sleeves and say, "Everyone, leave!"

Upon hearing this, all the actors and musicians left the hall, and Li Yi looked at a eunuch in his forties and said, "Send it to the ministers and the inner minister!"

"This slave accepts the order..."

The eunuch left the hall and returned after a while.

Half an hour passed like this, and Pei Xiu, Wang Zongshi and others entered the Xianning Palace one after another. But from their calm expressions, they might have already known what had happened.

Yang Zhiwen's memorial was written in great detail. It not only deduced the military strength of Nanzhao, but also clearly described You Shilong's ambitions and methods.

When this memorial was submitted to the Southern Court and the Northern Court, Linghu Tao and others already knew the result, but they submitted it anyway.

It is obvious that You Shilong intends to use military force against the Tang Dynasty. Playing the sidelines at this time will not solve the problem. Only war can promote talks.

"What is the situation in eastern Zhejiang?"

As the ministers walked into the hall, Li Yi immediately started asking questions directly.

Since the winter month, Li Yi, who had been suppressed for too long, began to release himself.

He seldom organized court meetings in Xuanzheng Hall, Zichen Hall, or Hanyuan Hall, and usually called upon the ministers from the Southern Court and the Northern Court to discuss matters.

Even when discussing matters, they only chat for a quarter of an hour or two every day, and rarely for more than three quarters of an hour.

The rest of the time, he basically stayed in the Zichen Hall and the Xianning Hall listening to music, or playing polo, or riding and shooting.

Now that he asked about the affairs of eastern Zhejiang so earnestly, it was obvious that he was already prepared.

Thinking of this, Linghu Tao took the lead in bowing and said, "At the beginning of the month, Qiu Fu was defeated in Yiwu and lost Chuzhou and Wenzhou."

"There are only 20,000 bandits at the moment, occupying Mingzhou and Taizhou. But I heard that the bandit leader Qiu Fu sent people to build a city in Haizhongzhou, store food and fodder, and build a navy."

“Qiu Fu’s move is probably an attempt to retreat to Haizhongzhou and fight with the navy and the imperial court.”

As soon as Linghu Tao finished speaking, Li Yi said impatiently: "It's only two states, and Prime Minister Cui has 50,000 soldiers. We should pacify him quickly!"

"Send a message to Prime Minister Cui, he must recapture Ming and Taizhou before the end of the year and behead the rebel Qiu Fu!"

"also……"

Li Yi raised the memorial in his hand and continued, "Yang Zhiwen, the envoy sent by the court to Nanzhao to express condolences, was ignored by You Shilong in the foreign embassy. This is disrespectful to the late emperor and should be punished!"

"Send a message to Xichuan Jiedushi Xiahou Zi, order him to drive out the barbarians from Xichuan, block the official road, and stop any contact with Nanzhao!"

Although Li Yu was impatient, he was not stupid.

It is impossible to mobilize troops right at the beginning of a war. Instead, one should use other means to force the other side to mobilize troops first, thereby obtaining an excuse of "having a legitimate reason to do so".

Although Nanzhao's skills were not much different from those of the Tang Dynasty, many materials had to be purchased from the Tang Dynasty.

If Xichuan blocked the official road, Nanzhao's business would inevitably suffer.

Thinking of this, Li Yi showed a kind of confidence in his heart, and Pei Xiu frowned and bowed when he heard it:
"If your majesty makes such an arrangement, then you should first have the troops in Xichuan, Dongchuan, Qianzhong, Annan, Lingxi and other places defend themselves strictly and prepare for the barbarians to counterattack."

"Prime Minister Pei is right!" Li Yi did not refute, but readily agreed, then looked at Linghu Tao:
"This matter will be handed over to the ministers."

"Your Majesty!" Wang Zongshi suddenly said, "This You Shilong offended the imperial envoy, and his name violated the taboo of Emperor Xuanzong. He should be asked to change his name and submit an apology!"

"That's right!" After hearing Jiang Shen's words, Li Yi realized that You Shilong's name was taboo for Emperor Xuanzong of Tang, Li Longji.

As a minister of a vassal state, it is a serious crime to not avoid using the name.

Thinking of this, Li Yi felt that his method of punishing Nanzhao was still too lenient.

"His Majesty……"

Pei Xiu still frowned, which made Li Yi a little unhappy, but he knew that Pei Xiu still had real talents and knowledge, so he was willing to listen to his suggestions.

Facing Li Yi's probing gaze, Pei Xiu said slowly:

"Nanzhao's move is definitely intended to force our dynasty to mobilize troops, and our dynasty must not be fooled."

"Not to mention that our dynasty is short of money and grain, and the problem of expenditure has not yet been solved, the Qiu Fu Rebellion has not yet been quelled, and Liangzhe is still at risk."

"I think that we should punish Nanzhao, but we must not take the initiative to attack."

Pei Xiu’s words made Li Yi feel a little uncomfortable.

Rather than sitting there and waiting for death, he wanted to gather troops and wipe out Nanzhao in one fell swoop.

However, he also knew that Pei Xiu was not exaggerating, so he nodded and said, "Let Prime Minister Pei arrange this matter."

"Also, is there any news on when Mr. Bai will be able to enter the capital?"

As early as in the previous dynasty, Li Yi had secretly observed many ministers, among whom Pei Xiu and Bai Minzhong were undoubtedly capable prime ministers.

It was for this reason that Li Yi dismissed Xiao Ye and sent him to Jingnan as the governor, and transferred Bai Minzhong to the court.

For this reason, he did not hesitate to give up Zheng Hao and transferred Zheng Hao, who had a grudge against Bai Minzhong, to Henan.

"Your Majesty, the people have already entered Shang County and will be able to return to the capital to report on their duties at the beginning of the first month."

After Linghu Tao answered the question, Li Yi no longer had any questions. Instead, he urged them to draft an imperial edict and sent someone to rebuke You Shilong.

"In that case, then we should resolve the Nanzhao issue as soon as possible and rebuke You Shilong to change his name and apologize."

After giving the instructions, Li Yi was ready to dismiss the court, but Jiang Shen, seeing this, bowed and said:

"Your Majesty, if a war breaks out between our dynasty and Nanzhao, I wonder how long the nine-cent tax will last."

"If the war expands, I'm afraid we'll have to raise taxes."

"I think this matter should be handled properly. As for the matter of You Shilong's name, for the time being..."

"No!" Li Yi flatly refused, and then said:

"The small country of Nanzhao has taken advantage of my accession to the throne to provoke me. If I do not punish them, how will the vassal states around the Celestial Empire view the Celestial Empire?"

"Your Majesty..." Jiang Shen's face turned bitter, and he bowed quickly:
"The people of Henan, Huainan, and Liangzhe are suffering, and the price of grain has been kept down, all thanks to the transportation from Jiannan Road."

"If a war breaks out in Jiannan Road and threatens Xichuan, the price of grain on both sides of the Yangtze River and Huai River will definitely rise sharply. At that time, the people will flee and all lives will be lost..."

Jiang Shen's worries were not without reason, but Li Yi, Pei Xiu and others saw You Shilong's ambition.

Even if the Tang Dynasty did not take action, You Shilong would find a way to force the Tang Dynasty to take action.

If he showed too much weakness, it would only inflate Yu Shilong's ambition.

If we act tougher, maybe we can make Yu Shilong afraid and delay the war.

"I have already made a decision on this matter. There is no need to discuss it further!"

Li Yi dropped the topic, and Jiang Shen sighed helplessly.

"Do you have anything else to report?"

Li Yi hurried to resolve the issue, thinking about playing polo after resolving the issue.

Seeing that he was anxious, Linghu Tao hurriedly stood up and bowed, saying, "Your Majesty, Xichuan Jiedushi Xiahouzi has something to report."

"Since the imperial court increased taxes, many people from Xichuan have fled to Longyou. Despite repeated bans, this has not stopped them. I hereby request the imperial court to make a ruling."

"Liu Jilong?" Upon hearing this, Li Yi immediately thought of what his father had said before his death, and couldn't help but frown:
"If the imperial court mobilizes troops, how many troops will it take to defeat Liu Jilong?"

"Your Majesty, you can't do that!" After hearing Li Yi's words, whether it was Linghu Tao, Pei Xiu, Jiang Shen, or even Wang Zongshi from the Northern Division, they all spoke up.

Nanzhao was difficult to deal with in the first place, and if Liu Jilian was provoked further, the Tang Dynasty would have to fight on three fronts, which would be too much for the country's finances.

"Haha, I'm just asking. Since the ministers agree, let's put this matter aside for now and order the northern passes of Xichuan to be strictly guarded."

Li Yi felt a little uncomfortable, but facing everyone's unanimous opposition, he gave up the idea.

"Take care of Nanzhao first, then it won't be too late to take care of Liu Jilong later."

Thinking of this, Li Yi exchanged a few words with his ministers. It was rare that the discussion lasted more than three quarters of an hour.

After the ministers had dispersed, Li Yi ordered people to set up the polo field and went to play polo with the actors and musicians...

(End of this chapter)