Guiyi Fei Tang

Chapter 338 Fanning the flames
"kill!!"

On the 29th day of the first lunar month, when Pang Xun defeated the Tianping Army in Yanzhou, Wang Xianzhi, who was advancing eastward, had the misfortune to collide with Wang Nian, the right general of the Huainan Army.

The two armies met at Suqian beside the Si River. Wang Nian led 3,000 Huainan armored soldiers to form a large formation, and he personally led 200 elite cavalry to raid the formation.

Beside the Si River, Wang Xianzhi led more than 3,000 armored soldiers to command the central army, while generals such as Shang Junchang, Shang Rang, Bi Shiduo, and Cao Shixiong each led 10,000 bandits to form a formation and charge into the enemy lines.

The three thousand Huainan troops were surrounded by bandits on the plain beside the Si River, but they were like indestructible rocks, and they remained unmoved even though the bandits rushed at them one after another.

Wang Nian led two hundred elite cavalrymen from Huainan to raid the enemy camp as infantrymen. Relying on the horsepower, he used cavalry bows to harass the enemy continuously, and occasionally switched to long weapons to charge.

Tens of thousands of bandits were ravaged by his elite cavalry, and after two hours of fighting, he only ambushed and killed more than ten riders with the help of lassoes and other tools.

"What a bastard! He gathered all the best horses in the army together and killed him personally!"

On horseback, Wang Xianzhi called out, and Chai Cun and others hurriedly gathered together the horses they had looted along the way.

Most of these horses were Turkic horses introduced from the Hehuai region. They were not tall and could not compare to military horses, but they could barely be used as riding horses in combat.

"kill!!"

Wang Xianzhi gathered more than a hundred Turkic horses and led more than a hundred people who were proficient in horse riding to charge towards Wang Nian.

Upon seeing this, Chai Cun immediately commanded 3,000 armored soldiers to support the battle, trying to completely defeat these 3,000 elite troops from Huainan.

As the soldiers pressed forward, the bandits voluntarily gave up the front battlefield.

The three thousand Tianping soldiers holding 1.5-foot-long spears collided with the Huainan soldiers' 1.5-foot-long spears, and countless bandits switched to soft bows and shot arrows to interfere.

The two armies' spears collided, but there was no imagined golden swords and iron horses, only boring and tedious collisions, advances, and falls...

Compared to the boring clashes between infantry, the cavalry fights on the outskirts of the battlefield are undoubtedly more interesting.

The two elite cavalry charged at each other on the battlefield like two dragons. Every clash was accompanied by the sound of metal colliding and the neighing of horses.

Wang Xianzhi was riding on a Turkic horse, holding a hard bow in his hand, and his eyes were as sharp as an eagle.

His riding and archery skills were amazing. He shot the bow left and right on horseback, and the arrows flew towards Wang Nian like meteors.

Unfortunately, Wang Nian was wearing heavy armor, and no matter how accurate Wang Xianzhi's arrows were, they were not powerful enough and were bounced off the armor, failing to cause any fatal damage.

Seeing this, Wang Xianzhi frowned slightly, but was not discouraged.

He quickly put away his bow and arrow, pulled out a heavy iron rod from the victory hook, and shouted, "Follow me!"

Before he finished speaking, Wang Xianzhi led this makeshift cavalry and rushed towards Wang Nian's team like a gale.

The two cavalry units came into close combat in an instant, and the iron sticks and spears collided, making a harsh metal collision sound.

Wang Xianzhi swung his iron stick like the wind, and each swing carried a tremendous force, knocking away Wang Nian's long spear. During this time, he also easily knocked off the horses of several elite cavalrymen who tried to launch a sneak attack on him.

Faced with Wang Xianzhi's powerful stick, Wang Nian could only barely resist, and the cavalry behind them kept falling in the fierce confrontation.

While fighting, Wang Xianzhi shouted loudly: "You, a nobody from Huainan, dare to compete with me?!"

"Wang Xianzhi, you are just a bandit selling salt. Do you think you are worthy of being a king?!" Wang Nian couldn't help but mock Wang Xianzhi.

"You may not know this, but your family has long been captured and executed by the Tianping Army!"

"Your mother's head!" Wang Xianzhi's eyes turned red and he couldn't help but increase the strength of the iron rod in his hand.

The two men's weapons collided again, and it was difficult to tell who was the better of them for a while.

However, as time went on, Wang Xianzhi gradually gained the upper hand.

At the same time, the 3,000 Huainan infantrymen on the front battlefield were surrounded by 3,000 Tianping troops and tens of thousands of bandits, and there was no sign of victory.

Wang Nian became anxious when he saw that the situation was unfavorable.

After a long stalemate, he used his strength to block Wang Xianzhi's iron stick and shouted an order: "All troops, listen up! Retreat!"

Following his orders, the elite cavalry behind him quickly withdrew from the battle and continued to retreat towards the Huainan infantry.

Upon seeing this, Wang Xianzhi immediately waved his stick and shouted, signaling his elite cavalry to give chase.

The two cavalry units started a chase on the battlefield, with dust flying and the sound of horse hooves shaking the earth.

But riding a horse is still riding a horse, and it is difficult to compare its horsepower with that of a military horse.

The soldiers and horses were one step faster, constantly charging and killing the bandits, and then rushed into the Huainan formation.

The infantry of the Huainan Army were well-trained and quickly opened a gap to allow Wang Nian and his elite cavalry to enter the formation.

"Withdraw troops to Suqian!"

After returning to the battlefield, Wang Nian did not even have time to relax, and immediately commanded the Huainan Army to fight and retreat towards Suqian County.

The battlefield was only four miles away from Suqian County, and the terrain was flat, so the Huainan Army could barely maintain its formation and retreat.

Wang Xianzhi led 3,000 armored soldiers and tens of thousands of bandits and refused to let go like hungry wolves. Soldiers of the Huainan Army kept falling down and were then smashed to death by the bandits with blunt weapons.

Their armor was stripped off and became the bandits' personal belongings in a moment.

Wang Nian saw it all and was anxious, but there was nothing he could do.

Fortunately, due to proper training, they gradually retreated to the city of Suqian and defended themselves with their backs against the city walls.

Wang Xianzhi saw that Wang Nian was too weak to eat, so he did not linger and gave orders to Chai Cun and the others:

"Clean up the battlefield, take away the armor, ox carts, horse carts, and food, and continue south in half an hour!"

"I obey your command!" Chai Cun and others responded. At this time, Wang Nian saw the bandits under Wang Xianzhi retreating like a tide, so he had time to look around.

Of the two hundred elite cavalry, less than a hundred remained, and of the three thousand armored soldiers, less than two thousand remained.

Looking at this scene, Wang Nian felt very uncomfortable.

"Have the Suqian County Office release a carrier pigeon to warn the Chuzhou and Yangzhou counties to defend themselves. Then send another carrier pigeon to Suzhou to tell the envoy that the enemy army is trying to break out to the south!"

"Yes!" They all bowed in response and then hurried to make arrangements.

Hundreds of pigeons were released and flew away from Suqian County in different directions.

Wang Xianzhi led his men to clean up the battlefield for half an hour, and then broke out to the south with dozens of captured horses, hundreds of horse-drawn ox carts, and thousands of sets of armor.

Wang Nian did not dare to follow and could only wait for Linghu Tao's military order in Suqian County.

Pang Xun and Wang Xianzhi were in the south and the north respectively, and Linghu Tao, who had retreated to Hong County, kept receiving urgent reports from the north and south.

"Urgent report from Yanzhou: Three days ago, the rebels marched north and defeated the Tianping Army in Teng County. The Tianping Army's governor Yang Gonghan fled to Xiaqiu County, the seat of Yanzhou, with only a dozen cavalrymen."

"Two days ago, the rebel army broke through Teng County and went north to surround Zou County. The magistrate of Zou County, Wang Quan, surrendered to the rebel leader Pang Xun. Pang Xun led his troops north. Xia Qiu is in danger!"

"Chuzhou reported urgently that our division commander Wang Nian led his army to fight the bandit leader Wang Xianzhi in Suqian. He was defeated and retreated from the city. Wang Xianzhi fled south, crossed the Huai River, and plundered Huaiyin and Shanyang counties."

On the second day of February, when Linghu Tao arrived in Hong County and learned from Yang Fugong about the whereabouts of Pang Xun and Wang Xianzhi, he knew that he would probably be removed from his position as the envoy soon.

The two states of Xu and Su were indeed recovered, but the rebel army was divided into the north and south, and plundered Yanzhou and Chuzhou.

If I submit this battle report, the imperial court will certainly not be satisfied and will certainly send someone to replace me.

Thinking of this, Linghu Tao did not feel uncomfortable, but felt relieved.

"Send a message to Sizhou, ordering Li Xiang to gather the troops from the Huainan garrisons to defend Yangzhou, and also dispatch the Zhongwu Army Jiedushi Wang Congjian to lead his troops to rush to Yangzhou's aid."

"In addition, Li Xun of the Ziqing Army was transferred to lead his troops to withdraw to Yizhou for garrison, Li Xun of the Yicheng Army was transferred to lead his troops to rush to Yanzhou for support, and Yang Gonghan of the Tianping Army was assembled to defend Yunzhou to the death."

"Order Xuanwu Army Jiedushi Li Fu to lead the army to strictly guard Caozhou and Songzhou, and never let Pang Xun escape."

Linghu Tao made all the arrangements slowly and then he looked at Yang Fugong:
"I will be stationed in Hong County. Tomorrow, Yang Jianjun will lead his troops to Chuzhou. After joining forces with Wang Nian, they will head south to encircle and suppress the bandit leader Wang Xianzhi."

"I will report the situation of the war here to Chang'an, and Chang'an will make the decision."

"I obey your orders," Yang Fugong did not say much. After all, the situation was like this. Since Linghu Tao had not achieved the goals expected by the court, the only outcome was to be transferred away.

Not long after, Yang Fugong walked out of the yamen, and Linghu Tao also sent someone to deliver the memorial he wrote to Chang'an.

At the same time, the imperial edict sent from Chang'an to Longyou also reached Liu Jilian.

"My disciples..."

In the main hall of the Longyou Protectorate, Chen Ying was reading the contents of the imperial edict, while Liu Jilian was sitting in the main seat, listening with his eyes closed.

Li Ji, Ma Cheng, Shang Duoluo, Gao Jinda, Cui Shu, Cao Mao and others sat in their seats, listening quietly to the contents of the imperial edict.

After Chen Ying finished reading the contents of the imperial edict, Liu Jilong slowly opened his eyes, and Gao Jinda also praised Liu Jilong:

"General, your opinion is great. The enemy army has indeed cut off the grain supply. Now the grain prices in the two capitals have skyrocketed. All the grain and fodder stored in Weizhou can be sold to Chang'an at the market price."

"Since the imperial court wants to buy grain, we will sell it to them at 1,500 coins per stone!" Gao Jinda's voice trembled with excitement. After all, with the current grain price, he could earn an extra coin by selling one more stone of grain in Longyou.

According to the market situation in Longyou and the grain in the hands of the people, this amount alone would be enough to obtain millions of strings of wealth from Guan, and the military expenses for the next three years would be provided.

"The court sent Yang Zhiwen and Zhang Huaiquan here. It seems they are planning to play the emotional card with me."

Liu Jilong spoke slowly, but Cui Shu smiled and said, "We have to sell grain anyway, so it doesn't hurt to do a favor."

"That's true." Gao Jinda nodded in agreement.

The two people's ideas coincided with Liu Jilong's.

No one knows how long Wang Xianzhi and Pang Xun can keep causing trouble in Xusu, so it would be a good idea to take this opportunity to sell grain and earn enough money to subsidize military expenses.

Thinking of this, Liu Jilong said, "I'll leave this matter to you two. As long as it doesn't affect the grain price in Longyou, you can sell as much grain as you can."

"At present, our army has more than 3 million dan of grain stored in the warehouse every year, so there is no need to worry about insufficient food."

Under Liu Jilong's management, this granary in Longyou has continuously set new records in grain production.

In Liangzhou alone, nearly two million mu of wasteland has been reclaimed, and the entire Longyou has more than 12 million mu of virgin and cultivated fields.

In about two years, as the hundreds of thousands of refugees received from Xichuan last year settle down, the number of cultivated fields will continue to increase, and the Helong area will become a bridge between the Western Regions and Guanzhong.

Thinking of this, Liu Jilong couldn't help feeling regretful.

In history, from the time Helong was invaded by Tubo until the beginning of the Ming Dynasty, there was almost no development in agriculture, commerce, or handicrafts.

Even though it achieved some development during the Western Xia period, it was broken apart again by the Mongolian invasion, and its population was even smaller than that at the end of the Tang Dynasty.

Even after more than 500 years of hard work and development during the Ming and Qing dynasties, it fell into ruin again due to internal strife in the late Qing Dynasty.

Fortunately, I came here, and Helong's development has reached a new height.

Today, if the population of the Hexi Guiyi Army is counted in Helong, the population would probably be 1.1 million, and the arable land would be no less than 15 million mu.

This level is basically the same as the population and cultivated land during the Yongzheng period of the Qing Dynasty.

In addition, Liu Jilong also put the mining development in Longyou and Liangzhou areas on track.

The number of miners in the fourteen states reached more than 23,000. The value of gold and silver mined each year was about 100,000 strings of cash. The value of the copper ingots mined was about 150,000 strings of cash after being made into coins.

In addition, there are nearly 10 million kilograms of coal and crushed stone slag.

The former was used for iron smelting and replaced firewood for heating the people.

The latter can be used to pave roads, build water conservancy projects, houses, and cities.

The mining industries in Longyou and Liangzhou alone can bring more than 400,000 strings of cash in revenue to Longyou every year.

There are nearly 3,000 salt workers in Chengzhou and Shanzhou, producing nearly 5 million kilograms of salt each year, which not only solves the salt problem of the people in Longyou, but also sells millions of kilograms of salt outside.

With well salt and salt lakes, Longyou can generate tens of thousands of strings of cash in overseas income every year.

The profits brought by commodities such as lithotripsy, cinnabar, vegetable oil, and pepper in Longyou are in the tens of thousands of strings of cash.

This is not all of Longyou’s products. Longyou’s products have gradually changed from agricultural products to handicrafts and textiles.

With the influx of a large number of people from Xichuan, many skilled craftsmen also brought new technologies to Longyou, prompting the rapid development of handicrafts and the textile industry.

The output of handicraft and textile products such as candles, rice wine, porcelain, lacquerware, tea, dragon beard mats, woolen cloth, and wool spinning in Longyou is increasing day by day.

After being connected to a stone mill, the turning waterwheel that Liu Jilong had built in the past could be used not only for processing corn and wheat, but also for the brewing, papermaking, incense making, and oil pressing industries. It became a power source widely used in handicrafts in the Helong area and was cheaper than animal power.

The only drawback is that the rivers in Helong are more dependent on the seasons and cannot circulate throughout the year like the rivers in the south.

Even so, the influx of population from Xichuan also promoted the development of stonework, jadework, carpentry, and ironwork in Longyou.

This is undoubtedly something worth writing about for Longyou, where productivity has always been backward.

Just as Li Shangyin wrote to Liu Jilong:
"People moved to Liangzhou, planted more crops, and planted more trees. They planted wheat, millet, millet, etc., and the harvest was 13 to 4 dou of rice per 2 dou of rice. After being processed in the mill, they could get about 1 shi of grain..."

"All other crops are also abundant, and every family has enough food and clothing. Everyone is happy and contented with their work. Only two or three years are left before the heyday, and it is not inferior to Yangyi."

In the document, Li Shangyin believed that if Liangzhou was given another two or three years, it would be able to develop into a prosperous place that was not inferior to Yangzhou and Yizhou.

Of course, this is probably an exaggeration by literati. At least Liu Jilian does not think that the current Liangzhou can compete with Yangzhou and Yizhou.

However, Li Shangyin's document did make everyone in the main hall of the Protectorate even happier.

"Brother Yishan has managed Liangzhou in an orderly manner. It looks like in two or three years, Liangzhou will become the largest granary among the fourteen states of Helong!"

Gao Jinda said this with a smile, and he didn't mean to be sarcastic. He sincerely believed that Liangzhou would become the largest granary in Helong.

After all, with the influx of tens of thousands of people, the population of Liangzhou has reached 220,000, making it the largest province in Longyou Road and returning to its status as it did during the Kaiyuan period.

Given the lush grass and abundant water in Liangzhou, unless the climate and temperature suddenly drop to that of the late Song Dynasty or the Ming and Qing Dynasties, Liangzhou's prosperity will continue for more than 200 years.

Compared with human power, natural climate and temperature are the factors that determine local prosperity.

Today's climate is pleasant and the temperature is higher than in later generations. Therefore, the grass in Hexi is lush and the water is abundant. Longxi is as humid as Longnan in later generations, and Longnan is as humid as Sichuan. Even on the road from Shazhou to the Western Regions, there are endless oases.

But if the natural climate and temperature drop, even if it does not reach the level of the late Ming and early Qing dynasties, the level of the late Song Dynasty alone will be enough to bring suffering to the people of Longyou.

Shaking his head and throwing these future events out of his mind, Liu Jilong continued to ask Gao Jinda and others:

"How many people have fled to Longyou recently? Has there been any change in Hexi? Is there any movement in the Tuhun Suppression Army and the Six Gangs of Duokang?"

The four questions pointed to four different forces. Gao Jinda was the first to answer:

"The number of people fleeing from Jiannan Road and Shannan West Road has dropped sharply. Now, there are only 700 to 800 people fleeing into the country every month. However, the number of people fleeing from Guannei Road and Qinlong Prefectures has gradually increased, with the number of people fleeing into the country ranging from more than a thousand to as few as 400 to 500 per month."

The population of Guanneidao and Qinlong states was originally small, and the number of hundreds or even thousands of people fleeing every month was a considerable number.

Because of this, Liu Jilong's curiosity was aroused: "Why are so many people fleeing?"

"I heard that it was Zhang Zhifang, the governor of Shuofang Army, and Li Chengxun, the governor of Tianxiong Army, who imposed too many taxes on the people, forcing them to demolish their houses to pay the taxes and sell their clothes to pay off their debts."

Gao Jinda immediately explained, and these news made Liu Jilong more energetic: "Pay more attention to it. If possible, it would be best to send someone to stir up the relationship between the local Hu and Han people."

Today, Longyou's development has reached a bottleneck. Except for the relatively insignificant Tuyuhun, the rest of the surrounding areas are relatively stable, and Liu Jilian can't find a reason to expand.

But if the Shuofang Army and the Tianxiong Army fell into civil strife, Liu Jilian would be able to capture these places with justification and expand his influence in Longyou.

"Don't worry, Marshal Jie, I have already made arrangements."

Cao Mao spoke before Gao Jinda did, and bowed as he said, "Huizhou, Lingzhou, Beiwuzhou, Yanzhou and other places in the Shuofang Army are mostly places where the Han and the Hu people live together. In addition, the Shuofang Army only has 5,000 garrison troops. If the Hu people cause any rebellion, they will definitely not be able to suppress it."

"If we can provoke chaos in Huizhou, Beiwuzhou, and even Lingzhou, we will have a chance to go north!"

Cao Mao was in charge of gathering intelligence and supervising officials. If he wanted to sow discord between the Hu and Han peoples in the Shuofang military town, it would indeed be relatively easy. However, Liu Jilong did not expect that this guy could see so far and started planning so early.

"In that case, I will wait for your good news."

Liu Jilong smiled and nodded, then looked at Li Ji, Ma Cheng and Shang Duoluo.

Li Ji bowed and said, "Marshal Zhang has been busy reclaiming cultivated land and resuming production in Xizhou recently, and there has been no other movement."

As soon as he finished speaking, Ma Cheng also bowed and said, "The Tuhun attacking army follows your orders and often sends elite cavalry and cavalry infantry to raid those small Tuhun tribes. Although some people died of cold miasma, the Protectorate has also prepared compensation for them."

"Are there many people who died of illness?" Liu Jilong frowned slightly. The marching and training intensity of the Tuhun attacking army was not high. This was also his arrangement after taking into account the altitude sickness.

Now, the soldiers of the Tuhun punitive army have been living in Fuqi City for several months. Unexpectedly, some of them would die from altitude sickness.

"In the past few months, 76 people died of illness, and they were all given pensions according to the standards for those who died in battle."

Ma Cheng answered respectfully, and Liu Jilong nodded and breathed a sigh of relief.

Seventy-six people are not a small number, but in an army of more than 20,000 people, it is not a large number.

Thinking of this, he looked at Shang Duoluo, who was in charge of the diplomacy of Dokang Liugang, that is, Shang Moyan.

Facing Liu Jilong's gaze, Shang Duoluo shook his head and bowed, saying: "Shang Moyan has been stationed in Jincheng, Weixi. Without your military order, he dared not contact the Nanman in the south."

"But the Nanman have been contacting him. Not only do they want to buy horses, they are also planning to join forces with him to attack Xichuan."

Shang Duoluo brought important information. After hearing it, Liu Jilong laughed and said, "It seems that You Shilong was scared by Gao Pian's beating. Now he dare not go to Dongchuan to cause trouble. He can only go to Xichuan."

When everyone heard him teasing You Shilong, they all started laughing.

After smiling, Liu Jilong looked at the imperial edict from Chang'an on the table, with emotions flowing in his eyes.

After a while, he reached out for a pen and pulled out a piece of letter paper from the table, as if he was going to write a letter:
"The fire in the Central Plains is not strong enough. It seems we have to add fuel to the fire in the southwest..."

(End of this chapter)