Guiyi Fei Tang

Chapter 371 Five Prefectures Governor
"Tens of millions of years old..."

Seven days have passed in a flash, the New Year has passed, and the Lantern Festival is about to come.

Before this, Li Yi received a memorial sent by Wang Shi. After reading it, he summoned officials from the Southern Court and the Northern Court.

Qi Yuanjian, Qi Yuanshi, Yang Xuanjie, Yang Xuanji, Ximen Jixuan, Yang Gongqing and others from the Northern Division entered the hall one after another.

After they entered the hall, four people from the Southern Court, Xu Shang, Lu Yan, Yu Cong, and Wang Duo, followed them into the Xianning Palace.

Xu Shang and Lu Yan were prime ministers, so it was not surprising that they were summoned. Yu Cong and Wang Duo were the people that Li Yi was investigating.

One of them was the newly appointed Minister of Revenue and the other was the Minister of Rites, both of whom were Li Yi's candidates for prime minister.

Of course, what he most wanted was Liu Zhan to serve as prime minister, but since Liu Zhan was currently serving as the governor of Xuanwu Army, he had to temporarily choose someone to replace Gao Qu.

Thinking of this, Li Yi withdrew his gaze and turned his eyes to the six people from Beisi.

"This is the memorial Wang Shi wrote to me. Please circulate it among yourselves..."

As soon as Li Yi finished speaking, Tian Yun, who was standing next to him, took the memorial, walked down the golden platform and passed it on.

A memorial passed through the hands of ten people in succession, and its contents were known to everyone.

Even so, many of them still frowned slightly because Wang Shi required too much money and food.

After everyone had read the memorial, Qi Yuanjian, the Privy Councilor, was the first to speak:

"Your Majesty, are the requirements for troops, horses, money and food in the royal memorial too exaggerated?"

After he asked the question, many people turned their eyes to Li Yi.

It's not that they are making a fuss out of nothing, but the troops, horses, money and food required by Wang Shi are indeed too many.

First of all, there were the expected troops from the three rivers, 20,000 from Shannan West Road, 20,000 from Dongchuan, and 30,000 from Xichuan.

In addition, there were troops from the eight towns northwest of Beijing and the imperial guards.

But after the Battle of Xichuan, Wang Shi also saw clearly the strengths and weaknesses of the eight garrisons in the northwest of Beijing and the imperial guards, so Wang Shi adjusted the number of troops. The eight garrisons in the northwest of Beijing only needed to send out 40,000 troops, and the imperial guards only needed to send out 20,000 troops.

When they arrived here, 130,000 soldiers had already been mobilized, but Wang Shi did not stop.

He hoped to draw 20,000 troops from the six towns of Xuanwu, Zhongwu, Yicheng, Hezhong, Zhaoyi and Hedong in the Central Plains to rush to the aid of Guanzhong.

In addition, he imitated the method used to suppress the rebellion of Wang Shouwen and mobilized the elite cavalry of Pingxia Tuoba and Daibei Shatuo to station in Shuofang and harass Liang and Lan states.

The total number of troops mobilized was at least 160,000. The rewards for overseas battles alone were no less than 300,000 per month, not to mention the basic military pay and food expenses.

Even if the fighting only lasted four or five months, at least four million strings of money and grain would be consumed. However, judging from the Tang Dynasty's past experience in conquering local governors, it would take at least two to three years to conquer a local governor of Liu Jilian's size.

Although the court has increased taxes on the people, the money and grain accumulated each year is only 2 million strings of cash, and there are still more than 4 million strings of cash in arrears for military pay that have not been repaid.

Even if Longyou was pacified and its population maps and Silk Road trade routes were obtained, the Tang Dynasty would need to reduce taxes for three to five years before it could get out of the shadow of war.

More importantly, Wang Shi also proposed additional strategies such as sending envoys to pacify Duokang Tubo and persuade the Khitans to send troops.

These strategies were good, but the problem was that they cost money. At that time, the Tang Dynasty had limited money and grain, and it was impossible to pacify Longyou according to Wang's plan.

Perhaps Wang Shi himself was aware of this, so after offering his advice, he still advised Li Yi not to rush to pacify Longyou.

However, after learning about the annual financial and grain expenditure situation in Longyou, Li Yi had already regarded Longyou as an opportunity for the court to restore its prestige. Moreover, preparations had been made for so long. If he did not send troops to Longyou, wouldn't it be a joke for the vassal states all over the world?
Because of this, when Qi Yuanjian raised the question, Li Yi said calmly:

"To pacify Longyou, we naturally need to have everything ready, and the more money, food, and soldiers we need, the better."

Li Yi didn't know how expensive firewood, rice, oil and salt were until he was in charge of the household, but Qi Yuanjian of the Northern Office and Lu Yan and Yu Cong of the Southern Court knew it very well.

"Your Majesty, if we use this strategy to pacify Longyou, even if we succeed immediately, we will inevitably owe tens of millions of military pay. I hope Your Majesty will think twice."

Yu Cong took the initiative to speak up and reminded Li Yi, while Qi Yuanjian of the Northern Division pondered for a moment and couldn't help but think of Gao Pian who was in Xichuan.

"Your Majesty, I think it would be better to send an angel to ask Gao Pian, the governor of Xichuan, to see who has the better strategy between Gao Qianli and Wang Xiaonian."

Qi Yuanjian and Gao Pian were not familiar with each other, but after all, both of them had worked under Wang Zongshi, so he naturally preferred his own people.

His words also won the approval of Ximen Jixuan, the lieutenant of the Right Shence Army, and Yang Gongqing, the deputy envoy, because although Gao Pian defected to Wang Zongshi, he had served in the Right Shence Army and was familiar with the two of them.

Facing Qi Yuanjian's words, Li Yi looked at the four officials of the Southern Yamen. Xu Shang, Lu Yan, Yu Cong and Wang Duo looked at each other, and finally nodded.

Gao Pian had a complicated family background, and there were very few officials who impeached him, whether in the Northern Office or the Southern Court.

"In that case, let's send an angel to ask Gao Pian."

Seeing that everyone agreed, Li Yi nodded in agreement, but at the same time he also said:

"Let's not talk about the deployment of troops from the six garrisons in the Central Plains for now, but it would be better if the Pingxia tribe and the Shatuo tribe in Daibei were deployed as soon as possible."

Although the Pingxia and Shatuo tribes had obtained official positions in the Tang Dynasty, their official status was only to roam around Daibei and Xiazhou as guards.

The local environment was harsh, and they had to face struggles with the Tatars and the Tanguts from time to time and be vigilant and prepared for war at all times, so the people on both sides were brave and good at fighting.

As long as some armor is allocated, it can be armed.

If they can be guaranteed food and given some money after the war, they will undoubtedly be an easy-to-command army.

Compared with the cost of mobilizing the Six Garrisons, mobilizing the Pingxia and Shatuo tribes was not difficult and the cost was not too great.

The ministers looked at each other in bewilderment, and finally bowed and echoed: "Your Majesty is wise..."

"Okay, I'm tired, let's leave."

In less than three quarters of an hour, Li Yi ended the regular meeting, but the officials of the Northern Ministry and the Southern Yamen did not look happy.

In fact, they all know what the current situation is, but they just pretend not to know.

They knew very well why Li Yi was so anxious to pacify Longyou, but they were not in a hurry.

The decline of the Tang Dynasty has already become apparent, but who can guarantee that it will not collapse in their own hands?
As long as it doesn't collapse in his hands, all he will have to do afterwards is to change his dynasty and pledge allegiance.

No matter whether it is the Liu family, the Yang family, the Li family or the Sima family, the emperor always needs their help in governing the world.

While thinking, several people regrouped and walked out, and the court also sent angels to Xichuan.

While the imperial court was taking action, Liu Jilian in Longyou also began to make arrangements in response to the increasingly thick smoke of gunpowder.

The troops of the fourteen towns were already the limit of what Longyou could bear. He did not expand the army, but adjusted the troop deployment of each town.

On the fifteenth day of the first lunar month, Liu Jilong established the Governor-General of Xichuan and the Governor-General of Dongchuan. The four towns of Wuzhou, Minzhou, Songzhou and Diezhou moved south and were renamed Xichuan Left Town, Xichuan Right Town, Dongchuan Left Town and Dongchuan Right Town.

The governor of Xichuan controlled the two towns of Xichuan and governed three states including Maozhou, Weizhou and Yizhou.

The governor of Dongchuan controlled the two towns of Dongchuan and governed four states including Songzhou, Longzhou, Wenzhou and Fuzhou.

Liu Jilian appointed Shang Duoluo as the governor of Xichuan and Yang Xin as the chief secretary of the governor's office.

Zhang Chang was appointed as the governor of Dongchuan, and Chen Ying as the chief secretary of the governor's office.

After the four towns moved south, Taozhou Town and Chengzhou Town were left in Longnan. The two towns were renamed Longnan Left Town and Longnan Right Town. A Longnan Governor was appointed to control the troops of the two towns and govern the six prefectures in Longnan.

Liu Jilian appointed Chen Jingchong as the governor of Longnan and Geng Ming as the chief secretary of the governor's office.

The Longxi Military Governor's Office was established in the four prefectures of He, Lin, Wei and Lan, with Li Ji as the military governor and Cao Mao as the chief secretary of the military governor's office. The four towns were renamed the Longxi Left, Right, Front and Back Four Towns.

The Liangzhou Military Governor's Office was established in Liangzhou, Kuozhou, Shanzhou and Fuqi City, with Ma Cheng as the military governor and Li Shangyin as the chief secretary of the military governor's office. The four towns under the jurisdiction of the three states were renamed the Liangzhou Front, Back, Left and Right Towns respectively.

After this adjustment, there were five military governorships under the jurisdiction of Longyou Protectorate, among which Liangzhou and Longxi were the strongest, each controlling the troops of four towns and having 18,000 soldiers.

The remaining three military governorates of Longnan, Dongchuan and Xichuan each controlled only two towns of troops with a total of 9,000 soldiers.

From Liu Jilian's arrangement of the troops and jurisdictions of the various military governorates under the jurisdiction of the Longyou Protectorate, it is not difficult to see that the south is mainly for defense and the north is mainly for offense.

Because of this, Liu Jilong, who had stayed in Shiquan County, Maozhou for more than half a year, also returned to Didao County, Linzhou after the Lantern Festival.

"Rustle..." The sound of armor continued. Liu Jilian, Gao Jinda, Cui Shu and Li Ji walked into the main hall of the Protectorate and sat down.

As soon as the four of them sat down, Cui Shu took the initiative to bow and said, "General Jie, do we still need to keep General Cao to stir up trouble between the Han and the Hu people in Shuofang Town?"

"No need, call him back." Liu Jilian shook his head. Now that the court has decided to take action against Longyou, there is no need to play any tricks to stir up people's hearts.

There were 63,000 combat soldiers in Longyou, of which 100% were armored, 100% were archery proficient, and 50% were crossbow proficient. Among the combat soldiers, there were 8,000 semi-armored elite cavalrymen wearing horse armor.

Liu Jilian had basically transferred the eight thousand elite cavalry to the four towns under the jurisdiction of the Longxi Military Governor's Office. If the imperial court marched westward, Liu Jilian would have his own way to rely on the elite cavalry to destroy the government army.

In addition to the combat troops, there are also 40,000 provincial soldiers and garrison troops in Longyou. Although the provincial soldiers only have breastplates, they are fully equipped with bows, crossbows, arrows, swords and spears.

Although the soldiers stationed in the countryside do not have armor, they usually train two days a month. When necessary, they can wear breastplates and serve as combat escorts, which makes them better than ordinary able-bodied men.

63,000 combat troops and 40,000 state troops and garrison troops.

Such a number of combat soldiers, state soldiers, and garrison troops, if the abundant draft horse herds in Longyou are taken into account, can at least ensure that the army can fight within a range of 200 miles outside the country without mobilizing civilian laborers from within the country to transport food and fodder.

If the provincial troops and garrison troops were gathered together and cooperate with the eight thousand elite cavalry, there would be no need to conscript civilians within a radius of five hundred miles.

The supply range of 500 miles was enough for Liu Jilian to gather a large army from Lanzhou to capture the entire Shuofang Town, and enough for him to send troops from Weizhou to capture the entire Qinlong.

As long as Shuofang and Qinlong were captured, he could calmly lead his troops south and take over the entire Sanchuan.

However, by that time, the imperial court would probably be thinking about peace talks before he even goes south.

Thinking of this, Liu Jilong said, "People say it takes ten years to sharpen a sword. We have been sharpening this sword for a full ten years. It is time for it to be unsheathed."

"Keep a close eye on the developments in Chang'an. In addition, sell off the Three Immortals Tower. The spies in the counties and prefectures must protect themselves first and then wait for an opportunity to pass on the news."

"Call Wang Tao, Yu Conghui, Ren Ze and other dental merchants to move their families to Linzhou. If they don't want to move, let them make a decision with us as soon as possible for outsiders to see."

"Send someone to tell Shang Moyan of Duokang that I will soon go to war with the imperial court, and tell him to prepare 10,000 elite troops and wait for my order."

"Send another envoy to the north to tell the people of Khitan that the imperial court cannot take me down, and that our trade will continue at the previous prices."

"If they betray me, I will lead my troops north to conquer the Khitans!"

"Ask Zheng Chu to go to Xizhou and tell Envoy Zhang that the imperial court is about to mobilize troops against Helong."

"I don't need him to do anything. He just needs to digest Tingzhou well. It would be best if he could recover Qiuci and Yanqi during my battle with the imperial court. Also, tell him to be careful of the Khitans."

After the military affairs, Liu Jilian made many diplomatic arrangements.

Win over Shang Duoluo, threaten the Khitans, inform Zhang Huaishen and the merchants under the jurisdiction of Longyou, etc.

Although Wang Tao, Yu Conghui, Ren Ze and others were businessmen, they were dental dealers in Longyou and had been helping Liu Jilong for more than ten years.

If Liu Jilian ignores them, who will dare to be loyal to him in the future?
Local spies do not have much power. As long as they can protect themselves and wait for the war to end, that would be the best outcome.

If we withdraw to Longyou rashly, all our efforts over the years will be in vain.

"I'll wait for orders..."

Gao Jinda and his companions bowed one after another to receive the order, while Liu Jilong continued:

"Tell Shang Duoluo and Zhang Chang to reinforce Gutaoguan Pass as soon as possible as well as Jiangyou County, Shiquan County and other city passes that face the troops from Dongchuan and Xichuan."

"If a war breaks out, don't act on your own. Just defend the six states and wait for me to march south!"

"The same applies to the troops of all the garrisons. If you follow my orders and are defeated in battle, you will not be punished after the battle."

"If you send out troops without authorization, even if you win, it will be considered a defeat and your achievements will be in vain!"

"Yes!" Gao Jinda and Cui Shu bowed in response. They did not think that Liu Jilian's arrangement restricted the generals' actions.

As for the generals in Longyou, except for Chen Jingchong and a few others who had experienced the test of major wars, the rest of them were just encircling and attacking the remnants of the Tibetan bandits, and the intensity was not high.

Liu Jilong was able to lead everyone from Suzhou to where they are today, so his ability is unquestionable. Even though Li Ji and his men formed cliques and factions on a daily basis, when faced with war, they still had to respectfully obey Liu Jilong's military orders.

The three of them responded to Liu Jilong's military order one after another, and then Gao Jinda asked:
"Should I let Mr. Feng know?"

The Mr. Feng he mentioned was Liu Jilong's brother-in-law Feng Bangyan.

In response, Liu Jilong shook his head and said, "The court is attacking us because of its own interests, but the court will not attack you, brother."

"Even if we are absolutely sure, the court will keep you for future negotiations."

Seeing that Liu Jilong was confident, Gao Jinda stopped trying to persuade him, but stood up and left the main hall with Li Ji and others, and sent Liu Jilong's military orders to each military governor's office one by one.

At the same time as the military order was issued, the newly established military governorates began to operate one after another in accordance with Liu Jilong's military order.

The dense clouds of war seemed to cover the entire Longyou and even the northwest region. Even the common people who usually lived in peace and contentment on the land seemed to have sensed that something was wrong.

Under such circumstances, Gao Pian, who was training troops far away in Xichuan, quietly led his troops south and launched a surprise attack on the lost land on the north bank of the Dadu River.

When the barbarian soldiers stationed in the city saw Gao Pian's flag and heard that Gao Pian was leading his troops, they lost some of their courage before even starting the battle.

The subsequent war did not consume too much manpower. Relying on the counterweight trebuchet in his hand, Gao Pian took the lead in conquering Hanyuan County and Tongwang County without waiting for You Shilong to send reinforcements from the south of the Dadu River.

Hanyuan County and Tongwang County were recovered by the Xichuan Army, and Gao Pian's prestige in the army also increased further.

Under such circumstances, the angel sent by Chang'an also appeared in front of Gao Pian carrying the imperial edict.

"My disciples, the court has appointed Gao Pian as the governor of Xichuan. I heard that..."

In Hanyuan County, although the bloodstains on the ground had been cleaned, flies and mosquitoes could still smell the blood on the ground and kept flying around in the hall.

The eunuch Li Weizhou read out the contents of the imperial edict irritably, and finally presented the edict after reading it.

Gao Pian took it with both hands. Li Weizhou also asked with a smile: "Your Majesty sent me here, in addition to pacifying the three armies, to ask Envoy Gao for a policy paper on attacking Longyou. Please write down the policy paper and I will take it to Chang'an."

Li Weizhou thought he had behaved quite friendly, but in response to his overtures, Gao Pian did not rush to respond, which made him feel cold and his smile inevitably became a little awkward.

However, Gao Pian did not have so many thoughts. The reason why he did not answer immediately was because he was surprised by the news.

Although he realized that Li Weizhou was in a bad mood after he reacted, Gao Pian did not express any apology. After all, Li Weizhou had no background and was not worthy of his apology.

"Angel, please wait a moment. I will start writing the policy paper now and hand it over to you in half an hour."

"Envoy Gao, it's light..."

After the two exchanged some pleasantries, Gao Pian left the main hall and went to his study to write his policy essay.

At the same time, Wang Zhongren, who often followed Gao Pian, greeted the guests and arranged meals for Li Weizhou.

A quarter of an hour later, two meat dishes and two vegetable dishes were served on the table. Li Weizhou frowned slightly but did not say anything.

After eating a few bites with chopsticks, he waited quietly for Gao Pian to bring out the policy paper.

Not long after, as time gradually passed to half an hour, Gao Pian also appeared in the main hall with the policy paper that had been revised several times.

He presented his policy paper, then bowed and said, "This is my policy paper. Please ask the angel to take it to Chang'an."

"Thank you, Lord Gao." Li Weizhou took the policy paper with a smile, then stood there for a few breaths. Seeing that Gao Pian did not respond, he smiled and said:

"Without further delay, I will set off to return to Chang'an."

As soon as he finished speaking, Li Weizhou walked out of the government office, while Wang Zhongren looked at Gao Pian and whispered, "General, do you want to give something to this..."

"Hmph!" Gao Pian snorted coldly. He naturally saw through Li Weizhou's little intention of asking him for a gift, but he didn't want to express it at all.

After all, he is from a famous family and is relied upon by Qi Yuanjian and others in the Northern Department. Why would he need to curry favor with a humble Nei Si Bo?
After responding, Gao Pian turned and walked towards the central hall. Wang Zhongren could only shake his head and follow him to the central hall.

Li Weizhou, who did not receive any gifts, did not express his opinion along the way. It was not until he left Hanyuan County that he gritted his teeth and said:
"Gao Qianli, you dog and rat, actually treat me so lightly!"

"Father, do you want to go back to Chang'an..." The eunuch next to him asked tentatively, but Li Weizhou frowned and said:
"No, Gao Qianli is an important minister that Prime Minister Qi relies on after all. However, if I have the chance in the future, I will definitely take revenge..."

(End of this chapter)