Guiyi Fei Tang

Chapter 315 Prosperity

"Drive! Drive! Drive..."

In September, when the express horses from Chang'an were constantly changing horses and heading south, Wang Shi, the Protector General of Annan, who was far away in Jiaozhou, was wearing casual clothes, sitting in the study in the back hall of the government office, writing and drawing.

At the age of fifty-two, he is very satisfied with his current situation, so he still has a head full of black hair and looks no more than forty-five or forty-six.

Although his attention was on the calligraphy on his desk, four officials from the Protectorate were reporting on their work in front of him.

Wang Shi had been in charge of Annan for several years, and gradually he figured out why the natives of Annan were so unruly.

It’s not that the natives of Annan are inherently rebellious, but that all the successive Protector-Generals of Annan have done too badly.

For example, the former Protector of Annan, Li Zhuo, was corrupt and tyrannical, and was very harsh to the natives under his rule. He often appointed his cronies to force the natives to buy and sell their horses and cattle at a low price of one bushel of salt per cow.

Whenever the locals tried to gather together to demand an explanation, they would be severely suppressed by Li Zhuo.

Li Zhuo was just a microcosm of all the successive Protector-Generals of Annan, which is why the natives of Annan would rather collude with the Great Li than obey the discipline of the Tang Dynasty.

After realizing that cunning officials exploiting the people was an important cause of the people's rebellion against officials, Wang Shi began to rectify the administration of officials.

He gathered all the upright soldiers in the army and named them "Changshan Du", with a thousand soldiers under the command of his eldest son Wang She. The army was specifically responsible for patrolling all prefectures and counties in the territory, bringing to justice and executing the clerks and evil gentry who monopolized the profits from fishing and salt trading.

In addition, Wang Shi ordered Wang She to lead troops to suppress a group of local tyrants and bullies who were causing harm to the people and who could not be controlled by the prefectures and counties.

Because of his measures, ethnic conflicts in Annan were eased and there has been no civil unrest for three years.

At this time, Wang She, the commander of Changshan, was reporting to Wang Shi. The content was mainly about how Wang She led Changshan to repel the invasion of Linyi in Huanzhou a few days ago.

"Aye, the Linyi invaders have no more than 10,000 soldiers and horses, only half of them are wearing leather armor, and the rest are mostly shirtless. The weapons they use are the soft bows and long spears provided by the southern barbarians."

"Although this group of barbarians can barely form a battle formation, they can only fight when the wind is favorable. I led Changshandu to fight with them, but in just two quarters of an hour, we defeated their front and killed more than 3,000 bandits."

"According to the confession of the Linyi generals I captured, the Linyi invasion was instigated by the Southern Barbarian Chief Long. It seems that Chief Long was severely injured by General Gao Jie, otherwise he would not have allowed the Linyi to contain us."

"You did a good job on this!" Wang Shi nodded, slowly put down the brush, looked up and looked at Wang She, who was in his early thirties, with satisfaction in his eyes.

Although it was difficult for Wang She to lead tens of thousands of soldiers, he had no problem leading thousands of people as vanguards.

Wang Shi did not expect his children to surpass him, he just hoped that they could maintain their wealth and status.

Wang She's performance had exceeded Wang Shi's expectations, so he was very happy to praise him:

"It is mainly your contribution that enabled us to defeat Linyi this time. I will report this to the Southern Court."

"I believe that after seeing this, the court will issue an order to promote you..."

Before Wang Shi finished speaking, hurried footsteps were heard outside the hall. A seventh-rank official in a green robe stood outside the hall and bowed to the people inside.

"Protector General, the imperial court has sent an angel to announce the decree, and along with him comes the Hunan Governor Cai Xi!"

"Everyone, please follow me to the main hall to welcome the angel!"

Upon hearing this, Wang Shi immediately took Wang She and others to the main hall of the yamen.

Soon, they arrived at the main hall, where stood a eunuch in his twenties and an official in his forties wearing a scarlet robe.

Without any explanation, Wang Shi knew the identities of the two and immediately saluted the angel:
"Protector King of Annan, I pay my respects to the angel..."

"Please stand up, Protector Wang!" The eunuch was so tired from the long journey that he was no longer able to observe so many mundane courtesies.

Right now, he just wanted to finish reading the imperial edict as soon as possible, and then go to Yin Hotel in the Protectorate to have a rest.

"My disciples..."

The eunuch began to read the contents of the imperial edict, and Wang Shi also hurriedly received it.

When he learned that the Wuning Army had rebelled and expelled the Jiedushi, and that the court had sent him to the Wuning Army and allowed him to take his guards with him, Wang Shi immediately understood the court's attitude.

"It seems that the imperial court can no longer tolerate these arrogant and brave generals..."

While thinking, Wang Shi stood up to receive the order, and the eunuch introduced him:
"Protector Wang, this is Protector Cai who will take over as your successor."

"I have met the Protector General..."

The two looked at each other and saluted, followed by a round of greetings.

Seeing that the two were getting along well, the eunuch said, "I am tired from the journey and will not attend the banquet with you two."

"Angel, go slowly..."

Wang Shi bowed and saluted, then looked at Wang She and said, "Da Lang, lead the angel to Yin Hotel."

"Yes!" Although Wang She agreed, he hesitated to speak, obviously he had something to say to his father.

However, he also realized that his father was trying to get him away, so he took the eunuch to Yin Hotel, intending to ask his father after returning.

Wang Shi looked at Wang She's departing back and felt a little relieved.

Wang She's performance in repelling Linyi's invasion was remarkable. Not only did he command properly, but he was also able to judge the situation, attack decisively, and achieve fruitful results.

Although it cannot be seen from his way of deploying troops that Wang She is only a vanguard general, this is enough. After all, he does not expect a dragon or phoenix to appear in his family. It is best for him to live in peace...

Thinking of this, he gradually came out of his thoughts, sat down with Cai Xi next to him, and exchanged experiences on governing Annan.

After several exchanges, he found that Cai Xijun's strategy was mediocre, but his character was pretty good.

Even if it is impossible to resist the invasion of the southern barbarians, it will not cause Annan to face internal and external troubles.

As long as he can hold Fengzhou, Annan's gateway to the Southern Barbarians, and then seek help from Lingxi, he should be able to hold Annan.

After making a rough judgment, Wang Shi promised to go to Xuzhou within half a month, and during this period he would take Cai Xi to familiarize himself with the various armies.

Faced with Wang Shi's kind and dedicated handover, Cai Xi felt a little guilty.

After all, Wang Shi managed Annan without internal strife for three years, which shows how popular he is among the people of Annan.

Faced with Cai Xi's guilt, Wang Shi smiled heartily and held a banquet.

At the banquet, Cai Xi kept toasting Wang Shi, and Wang Shi readily accepted the toasts.

Although he didn't drink much, he had a good alcohol tolerance and soon got Cai Xi drunk.

After three rounds of wine and five dishes, he ordered people to send the drunk Cai Xi back to Yin Hotel, and he turned around and went back to his study.

The drunkenness was still on his face, but deep down he was already thinking about the upcoming trip to Wuning.

He had long heard of the reputation of the Wuning Army. Expelling the Jiedushi several times was indeed a tricky mess, but Wang Shi was not afraid. Instead, he felt that this was an opportunity.

While he was thinking, Wang She, who had disappeared for a long time, pushed the door open and walked in with a hesitant look on his face.

Wang Shi looked up at him, put down the teacup in his hand and asked, "What else?"

Wang She hesitated for a moment, and finally said, "Father, after thinking it over, I still think that the matter of Wuning Army should not be underestimated."

"They expelled the Jiedushi several times, and some even lost their official positions because of this."

"Aye, I'm afraid it will be extremely dangerous if you go there. Why don't you..."

Wang She hesitated for a long time before finally saying, "Why not let me go on your behalf and find out the situation first before making plans."

Wang Shi smiled slightly when he heard this, and shook his head, saying, "Da Lang, I understand your intentions, but I have to go there in person to deal with the Wuning Army's affairs."

"Although you have some talent, you are still young and lack prestige, so it is difficult to convince others."

"Besides, since the imperial court transferred me to be the governor of Wuning, it must be because of my ability to command the army in Annan."

"If I act timidly, wouldn't that be a betrayal of the court's trust?"

Facing his father's words, Wang She frowned, still worried: "But father..."

"The Wuning Army has been arrogant for a long time, I'm afraid they won't obey discipline easily."

"What if they secretly make trouble for you, or even...even harm you?"

"Hahahaha..." Wang Shi laughed loudly upon hearing this, then stood up, walked forward and patted Wang She on the shoulder, his tone firm:
"Da Lang, remember, a general should have courage and determination."

"No matter how arrogant the Wuning Army is, they are just a group of bullies who only bully the weak and fear the strong."

"As long as I use thunderous means to intimidate them, they will naturally obey my orders."

"You don't need to worry about this matter. Just follow my instructions, select the best soldiers and generals to be incorporated into Changshandu, dismiss the soldiers who don't want to go, and then go to Xuzhou with me."

Seeing that his father had made up his mind, Wang Shi had no choice but to nod in agreement, then stepped back and bowed solemnly, saying:

"Don't worry, father. I will do my best to help you." Wang Shi nodded with satisfaction, sat back at the desk, and continued to make tea to sober him up.

Wang She saw this and stopped disturbing him, and quietly left the study.

Starting from the next day, Wang Shi took Cai Xi to visit the military camps outside Jiaozhou City every day and to inquire about the people's livelihood in the counties within Jiaozhou.

Wherever the two men passed, the people, both native and Han, praised Wang Shi, unaware that the Protector General Wang in their hearts would be transferred away.

In less than half a month, Cai Xi had become familiar with the situation in Annan, and Wang She, in accordance with Wang Shi's instructions, released the Changshan soldiers who were unwilling to leave back to the barracks and re-incorporated the soldiers who were willing to go to the Central Plains.

At the end of September, the people of Annan just learned that Wang Shi had been transferred, but Wang Shi had already led Wang Shi and Changshandu's 1,000 soldiers north to Xuzhou...

"The Wuning Army is in turmoil, so are we dispatching Wang Shi to suppress it?"

When Wang Shi just embarked on his journey to Wuning, Liu Jilian, who was in Longyou, just learned of the court's plan.

He looked through the intelligence collected by Yang Xin, and after careful screening, he determined that this was the only major event in the court recently.

Gao Jinda, who was sitting at the left seat in the middle hall, could not help but ask, "General, didn't the court only say that Wang Shi would be transferred to Xuzhou to serve as the governor of Wuning Army? When did it say that the Wuning Army would be suppressed?"

Gao Jinda was a little slow to respond to the military situation, and Liu Jilong explained to him:
"If it was just a transfer, then why was Wang Shi allowed to bring his troops with him?"

"Wuning has seven armies. At the beginning, the seven armies only had 2,000 people. Now, the Silver Sword Army has 2,000 people, and the other six armies have 1,000 people each, totaling 8,000 people."

"Below the eight thousand guards, there are more than ten thousand state and battalion soldiers, which make up the entire Wuning Army."

"That being said, the Silver Sword Army is the most ferocious among the seven armies. They are recruited as fierce and heroic soldiers, so the other troops are suppressed by the Silver Sword Army all year round."

"This Wen Zhang subdued the other six armies, but was expelled because he could not suppress the Silver Blade Army."

"The Wuning Army expelled the Jiedushi several times in the past, and the Silver Blade Army often took the lead."

"It's fine if the imperial court can't suppress the three towns of Heshuo and our big vassal towns, but if the Wuning Army, which has less than 20,000 soldiers, can't suppress them, then where is the dignity of the imperial court?"

"What's more, the Wuning Army guards the strategic location of the canal. If we don't suppress them now, they will rebel again in the future. By then, Chang'an's millions of grain will be cut off in the Yangtze and Huaihe Rivers."

"It is reasonable for the court to suppress the Wuning Army, and Wang Shi and Gao Pian are undoubtedly the best candidates."

"But now it seems that the court has chosen Wang Shi instead of Gao Pian."

Liu Jilong said a lot, and after Gao Jinda listened, he realized the seriousness of the matter.

But he thought about it for a while, then shook his head and said, "General, although this matter is important to the court, it doesn't seem to be important to us, right?"

As the Chief Secretary of Longyou Protectorate, Gao Jinda had long been aware of the situation of the government troops from various intelligence sources such as Sanxianlou and Jinzouyuan.

Although the Wuning Army has nearly 20,000 soldiers, only the seven armies including the Silver Knife and the Horse-Jacked Army can be called elite.

Even if these seven armies rebelled, the Wuning Army was surrounded by the Tianping, Yanhai, Huainan, Yicheng, Xuanwu and other armies.

Gao Jinda didn't think that the Wuning Army could cause any trouble, not to mention that Wang Shi, who was transferred to be the governor of the Wuning Army this time, was no ordinary person.

Wang Shi was able to lead the Annan army, which was facing internal and external troubles, to repel an invading group of 100,000 barbarians, and then pacify Annan, which had been in turmoil for many years.

In terms of ability alone, Gao Jinda felt that no one in Longyou could match him except his own commander.

"Wang Shi's transfer to Wuning Army is indeed not that important. What's important is other things."

Liu Jilian acknowledged Gao Jinda's conjecture, and the other thing he mentioned was Pang Xun, one of the culprits of the peasant uprising in the late Tang Dynasty.

At this time, Pang Xun should have been just a team leader or captain, otherwise he would have died on the way to Wang Shi's suppression of the Wuning Army.

Liu Jilian remembered that Wang Shi seemed to have captured all the top generals of the seven armies of Wuning without much effort.

Although he didn't know whether Wang Shi could defeat the Wuning Army as he did in history, and he didn't even know whether Pang Xun could survive, he had to pay attention to this matter.

If Pang Xun had not emerged, the small commoners and the poor would not have been able to see through the weakness of the Tang Dynasty, and the large-scale peasant uprising might have been postponed.

If this is really the case, then I have to find a way to force Tang Ting.

Rather than letting the Tang Dynasty die slowly and eventually usher in the chaos of the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms, it would be better to let the Tang Dynasty die faster and conquer the world by myself.

While thinking about this, Liu Jilong asked Gao Jinda: "What is the scope of the Three Immortals Tower now?"

Seeing Liu Jilong asking, Gao Jinda quickly responded: "We have to ask General Cao about this matter."

"Call Cao Mao over." Liu Jilong nodded, and Gao Jinda saw this and sent someone to find Cao Mao.

Soon, Cao Mao came to the central hall and took his seat after bowing. At the same time, after Gao Jinda's explanation, he reported to Liu Jilong:

"General Jie, the Sanxianlou now includes Jiannan Road, Shannan West Road, and Shannan East Road."

"In addition, the three towns of Shuofang, Tiande, and Jingyuan in Guannei Road also have Sanxian Towers. Only Beidu in Hedong has Sanxian Towers. Only Chang'an and Luoyang in Gyeonggi Province and Dugi Province have Sanxian Towers."

As if worried that Liu Jilong would be dissatisfied, Cao Mao quickly explained: "The dishes of Sanxianlou are very popular, but the taxes imposed by the local government are not low."

"It has been a rapid expansion for ten years now..."

After Cao Mao finished speaking, Gao Jinda also echoed, "General, the Protectorate has given a lot of support to Sanxianlou, but many local businesses are occupied by local vassal dealers, so we can't get in even if we spend money."

Sanxianlou was originally an intelligence agency built in various counties and prefectures in Longyou with the help of brokers such as Yu Conghui and Wang Tao.

Of course, although it is called an intelligence agency, it can actually only gather some small intelligence. It is very difficult to touch the core intelligence because it means spending money.

It is true that Longyou's finances are abundant, but compared with the expenditure on intelligence, the surplus of Longyou's finances is not enough to meet the expansion of Sanxianlou.

Liu Jilong did not expect to obtain much intelligence from the Sanxian Tower. It was enough for him to get the general situation of each state.

Because of this, facing the helplessness of Gao Jinda and Cao Mao, he also spoke to comfort them: "It's okay, this is enough."

"If we can continue to open Sanxianlou along the banks of the Yangtze River and Huai River, that would be even better. If not, that's fine too."

After Liu Jilong finished speaking, he asked Gao Jinda:

"Almost a month has passed. Has there been any news from Songzhou?"

"Yes!" Gao Jinda said without hesitation:
"This Cui Xuan really set up defenses in the north on purpose, just to bring the refugees to trade with us."

"After Yang Fuguang's letter arrived in Chengdu, Cui Xuan relocated a large number of refugees from Xichuan to Yizhou on the pretext of settling the people there."

"After the refugees arrived in Yizhou, he sent someone to pass a message to Hukui Guang in Songzhou, asking Hukui Guang to send someone to receive the refugees."

"Huo Siguang sent someone to deliver news this morning, saying that there are nearly 8,000 refugees in Yizhou, and there are tens of thousands more to come."

"Yang Fuguang has arrived in Yizhou and asked to exchange these refugees for draft horses first."

"Huo Siguang asked the Protectorate to prepare 5,000 draft horses to go south. What do you think?"

After Gao Jinda finished speaking, he looked at Liu Jilong, who then asked, "Send 10,000 draft horses south."

"According to the previous rules, these 10,000 draft horses can be exchanged for 60,000 refugees."

"How is the ranch doing? Will it be affected by trading away so many draft horses?"

Facing Liu Jilong's question, Gao Jinda nodded and said, "There are some..."

Hearing this, Liu Jilong pondered for a moment, and then thought of Zhang Huaishen in Hexi.

"Doesn't Envoy Zhang want population? This is a good opportunity."

"Send a letter to Ganzhou, telling Jiujuyan that one draft horse will be exchanged for three refugees."

"If Envoy Zhang agrees, we will have them send the draft horses to Liangzhou first, and then have our people forward them to Hezhou, Weizhou, and Minzhou."

"The people who moved in this time were all settled in these three states to open up wasteland, bringing the population of the three states to over 100,000 people each."

The price agreed upon by Longyou and Xichuan was six people for one draft horse, and one person for seven stone of grain.

There is a shortage of food in Hexi, and it needs to be imported from Longyou, so naturally food cannot be used for trade.

But Hexi has many horse farms and there must be enough draft horses, so they can trade with draft horses, and Longyou can take 50% of the fees.

I think even if Zhang Huaishen knew, he would be willing to change, because the price of horses in Guannei Road is more expensive and immigration is not so easy to get.

"Yes!"

Cao Mao and Gao Jinda bowed in response, and Liu Jilong nodded and said:
"Go down, and remember to keep a close eye on Wang Shi's situation."

At his command, Cao Mao and Gao Jinda slowly left the hall, and Liu Jilong threw the intelligence sent from Chang'an into the incense burner, watching it turn into ashes...

(End of this chapter)