Guiyi Fei Tang

Chapter 430 Turmoil in the World (Seeking Monthly Tickets at the Beginning of the Month)

"Even the Tang emperor has fled, so where is Governor Li now?!"

"kill--"

In August of the ninth year of the Xiantong era, as the imperial court moved east to Luoyang, news of Liu Jilong's capture of Chang'an spread, causing a stir throughout the land.

On the second day of the eighth month, the people of Guang Prefecture, unable to bear the additional levies imposed by the imperial court, led the village head Chao Yong to expel the prefect Li Ruoweng and proclaimed himself the General of Equalization.

On the 18th, the people of various ethnic groups in Wuling were dissatisfied with the imperial court's forced labor. Lei Man, Qu Jingsi, Zhou Yue and others gathered several thousand people and called themselves the "Langtuan Army". The people elected Lei Man as their leader and attacked Langzhou (Changde).

After Lei Man's uprising, the people of Lizhou in northern Langzhou heard about it and immediately rose up in rebellion as well. Xiang Gui, the chieftain of Shimen Cave, led nearly 10,000 barbarian bandits to capture Lizhou and appointed himself governor.

On the 22nd, Cao Shixiong and Liu Yanzhang, former subordinates of Wang Xianzhi, gathered 3,000 men and captured Yuezhou. Cao Shixiong proclaimed himself Left Military Commander of Tianping, and Liu Yanzhang proclaimed himself Right Military Commander of Tianping.

On the 25th, Chen Yanqian of Guiyang gathered several thousand people, launched an attack on Chenzhou, killed the prefect Dong Yue, and proclaimed himself the prefect of Chenzhou.

During this period, Kang Chengxun led his army across the river and joined forces with Liu Zhan. They defeated Huang Chao in Raozhou. Huang Chao then led his army south and entered Fujian from Xinzhou.

On the 30th, a mutiny broke out in the western Zhejiang army. The mutinous soldiers supported Wang Ying as their leader, seized weapons from the armory, and captured the two prefectures of Suzhou and Changzhou.

Less than two months after Liu Jilong captured Chang'an and established his stronghold in Guanzhong, six more armies rose up in rebellion across the land.

In addition, the garrison troops of Hedong Town forbade Zhang Huaiding to lead the Left and Right Divine Martial Armies to garrison Hedong. Zhang Huaiding had no choice but to temporarily garrison Huoyi.

On the second day of the month, Li Guochang submitted a memorial to the court, requesting to return to his post in Daibei due to concerns about its potential loss.

"That Liu Jilong, he's a bastard! A bastard... cough cough cough!"

The Ziwei City in Luoyang, a masterpiece of Sui and Tang dynasty craftsmanship, at its peak, had a main hall that was 30 zhang high, 30 zhang wide, and more than 20 zhang deep. The pillars used to support the weight alone reached an astonishing 24 wei (36 meters in circumference), so large that it required 2,000 people to pull each pillar.

Unfortunately, after the An Lushan Rebellion broke out, the palaces of Ziwei City were all burned down by the war. Even though the Tang Dynasty spent 400,000 strings of cash to repair them afterward, it was difficult to restore them to their former glory.

Two months ago, Li Cui ordered Tian Yun to send people to rebuild Ziwei City. Although the time was short, the repairs of the three main halls were completed, and there were no problems with people living there.

Unfortunately, Li Cui, who had never left Guanzhong before, caught a cold due to the long journey since fleeing Chang'an.

At this moment, he stood in the Qianyuan Hall, facing the hundreds of officials who had followed him eastward, roaring and coughing.

He was the same age as Liu Jilong and was quite handsome when he was young, but his life of drinking and feasting over the years had emptied him out, making him look as decadent as a forty-five or forty-six.

"Your Majesty, calm down..."

The officials bowed and chanted the salutations, but many harbored resentment in their hearts.

If the emperor had not insisted on attacking Longyou and repeatedly refused the steps offered by Liu Jilong, why would the court have moved east to Luoyang?

It should be noted that their farmland, manor houses, villas and estates were almost all located around Guanzhong, and Liu Jilong's attack on Chang'an was too fast, so they had no time to deal with all their assets in Chang'an.

Many people had no choice but to abandon their fields and houses and flee to Luoyang with their gold, silver and valuables.

Although Luoyang suffered from the devastation of the An Lushan Rebellion and never regained its former prosperity, it was still one of the four secondary capitals, and prices were not low.

Before the imperial court moved east, the price of an ordinary three-courtyard house in Luoyang was only seventy or eighty strings of cash, and even a more luxurious house was only about two hundred strings of cash. The price of land outside the city was only ten strings of cash per mu.

Since the imperial court moved east, the price of residences in Luoyang has skyrocketed several times over. An ordinary three-courtyard house costs two to three hundred strings of cash, while a more luxurious one, like those in Chang'an, is worth a thousand strings of cash.

Even though the officials had no choice, they still had to spend money to buy houses. Although the officials did not buy fields outside the city because they were worried that the rebels might attack at any time, many wealthy families from Chang'an also moved east with the court.

Although these wealthy households were worried that the rebels would reach the eastern capital, they still bought a lot of land.

After they intervened, the price of land in Luoyang skyrocketed. Even dry land could sell for fifteen or sixteen strings of cash, while paddy fields could sell for twenty or thirty strings.

In addition, the influx of nearly 100,000 people is a burden for Luoyang, which has a population of just over 300,000.

Luoyang was closer to the Grand Canal than Chang'an, so grain prices were cheaper there.

Before the imperial court moved east, the price of grain in Luoyang was no more than forty or fifty coins per dou (a unit of dry measure), and no more than four or five hundred coins per shi (another unit of dry measure).

As 100,000 people, including members of the imperial family, ministers, wealthy merchants, rich households, Shence Army soldiers and their families, poured into Luoyang, the price of grain in Luoyang soared to 700 coins per shi (a unit of dry measure).

Although it may seem like only a 300-coin increase, for the people of Luoyang who had just suffered from a locust plague, the price of grain had almost doubled. Many people could not afford to eat grain and had to sell their houses and fields to become tenants of the powerful and wealthy.

It can be said that the imperial court's sudden move to the east plunged hundreds of thousands of people in the Luoyang area into dire straits.

Li Cui, who lived deep within the palace, was completely unaware of this, and even thought that grain prices in Luoyang were much cheaper than in Chang'an.

As for what he had seen and heard outside Luoyang City, he had long since forgotten it.

At this moment, his mind was filled with thoughts of how to defend Luoyang and how to control the Hehuai and Jiangnan regions.

"Lord Lu, how are things at Tongguan and other places? Are there any signs that the rebels are attacking the city?"

Li Cui looked at Lu Yan, who bowed and said, "Your Majesty, after the rebels seized Guanzhong, they successively captured the prefectures and counties west of the Yellow River and Tongguan. They are holding Lantian Pass in the south and stationing several thousand troops in Huayin in the east, confronting Tongguan. They have not made any move to invade the east."

"I believe that the rebels have come from afar. Even if they have obtained a lot of food by looting the people in Chang'an, governing such a large area as Guanzhong is not something that can be accomplished overnight."

"Furthermore, Gao Qianli, upon hearing that Guanzhong had been invaded, raised troops to cross the Yangtze River and attack Chengdu in order to relieve the court's burdens and provide support. Liu Muzhi probably needs to resolve the crisis in Chengdu first before he can invade Tongguan in the east."

Upon learning that Liu Jilong was attacking Guannei Road, Gao Pian immediately mustered 20,000 veteran soldiers from the Three Rivers region and replaced them with new soldiers to form another 20,000 veteran soldiers stationed in Li and Rong prefectures, creating a force of 40,000 elite soldiers from the Three Rivers region. They crossed the Yangtze River at Tang'an County and attacked Chengdu.

In response, Zhang Wu adopted a scorched-earth policy, leading 20,000 newly recruited soldiers from Xichuan to resist on the Yangtze River for five days, providing ample time for the people of Wenjiang, Shuangliu, and Guangdu counties to retreat.

After waiting for more than 100,000 people from the three counties to evacuate to Hanzhou, Zhang Wu led his army back to Chengdu, leaving the three empty cities of Wenjiang, Shuangliu, and Guangdu to Gao Pian.

Gao Pian obtained the land and cities of the three counties, but not the population. He could only continue to recruit laborers from Shu Prefecture to launch a strong attack on Chengdu.

Gao Pian has been leading his army to attack Chengdu for more than half a month. Although there has been no progress, this is the first time that the imperial court has been able to counterattack the rebels and recover lost territory.

Li Cui was also very pleased with this, and said while coughing, "Gao Qianli has made a contribution and should be rewarded."

"Your Majesty," Lu Yan said, bowing immediately. "Gao Qianli has submitted a memorial requesting the court to allocate iron ore to the Three Rivers region."

"In addition, the remaining 50,000 new soldiers in Sanchuan are weak and inadequate to resist the southern barbarians, but not enough to fight against the rebels."

"If Liu Jilong leads his elite troops south, the lost territory that has just been recovered will be lost in an instant."

"If Liu Jilong is well prepared, Sanchuan will surely be under heavy pressure. I request the court to transfer money and grain from Shannan East Circuit and Hunan after the autumn harvest to supply Sanchuan."

As soon as Lu Yan finished speaking, the assembled officials looked at each other in bewilderment, and Li Cui also showed a hint of hesitation.

Although most of the rebellions in Hunan were in fact unrest, the amount of money and grain that could be provided each year was still several hundred thousand. Moreover, these rebellions could be quickly quelled by sending troops, and this would also give the prefectures in Hunan that were outwardly compliant but inwardly defiant a chance to become more obedient.

Li Cui could sense that after the imperial court lost Guanzhong, the attitudes of the local garrisons towards the court changed significantly.

Now that we have lost most of the vital lands of the Three Rivers region, as well as Guanzhong and Guannei, if the local towns cease their transport operations, the imperial court will definitely be in dire straits.

Thinking of this, Li Cui took a deep breath and looked at Yu Cong: "Prime Minister Yu, how much grain and money will the court be able to collect this autumn?"

When Yu Cong heard the emperor ask him a question, he took a deep breath, stepped forward, bowed, and said:
"Your Majesty, since August, I have been working with officials from the Ministry of Revenue and the Ministry of Finance to compile documents on this matter."

"Although the situation is not yet clear, we can roughly estimate the current situation."

"At present, the imperial court has lost most of the three rivers and Guannei, Longyou and Jingji regions, and the Hehuai region has been hit by a locust plague, resulting in a complete crop failure."

"Nowadays, the only places where money and grain can still be transported are Jiangnan, Hedong, Hebei, and Lingnan."

"However, since August, all the towns in Hebei have been annihilated by the garrison soldiers. Their families need to be compensated. Please stop the transport."

"Taiyuan Prefect Cui Xuan reported that the soldiers and officers of Hedong were demanding pay and blocking the official roads. Only by rewarding the soldiers and officers of Hedong could the transport of goods be guaranteed next year."

"There have been rebellions in Hunan, Jingnan and other towns. The amount of goods transported should be reduced to 50% of the old standard. The amount of goods transported in Lingnan should be less than 40% of the old standard."

"In Zhejiang East and Zhejiang West, we request that the amount be reduced to 70% of the old standard to help the two circuits prepare for defense against bandits and to quell the rebellion of the Suzhou and Changzhou generals."

"In my estimation, the taxes collected by the Ministry of Revenue this autumn, after being converted into silver, will likely be less than seven million taels..."

As soon as Yu Cong finished speaking, the entire court erupted in uproar, and Li Cui's face grew even paler.

It should be noted that at this time three years ago, the imperial court's revenue from grain, wheat, silk, and other goods, after being converted into cash, amounted to more than 18 million strings of cash.

Now that Guanzhong and the Three Rivers have been lost, coupled with the locust plague in the Yellow River and Huai River basins, all the provinces have requested to reduce the amount of tax revenue collected, and the imperial court can only collect seven million strings of cash.

What can seven million strings of cash do?
Thinking of this, Li Cui couldn't help but speak, but then coughed because of an itchy throat.

Tian Yun brought over some honey water, which Li Cui drank to moisten his throat before calming down and asking, "How is the court's budget going right now?"

"Your Majesty..." Yu Cong bowed again in response:
"The towns in the northwest of Beijing have been invaded by rebel forces, and the Shence Army has suffered heavy losses. At present, the court only needs to maintain part of the military pay for Yiwu, Zhaoyi, Yichang, Shanguo, Heyang, Hezhong, Hedong, Datong, and Sanchuan, as well as maintain the Shence Army and the Imperial Guard."

"I have investigated the military expenses required by the various garrisons and found that the court should provide 2.7 million strings of cash, 740,000 strings of cash for the six armies of the Northern Army, and more than 1.2 million strings of cash for the salaries of all officials."

"There are still expenses required for the Shence Army, but the Shence Army has yet to submit its troop registers, so the Ministry of Revenue and the Ministry of Finance cannot calculate them..."

Yu Cong's words caused Li Cui to look on with surprise.

He never expected that after fighting Liu Jilong for more than a year and losing the Three Rivers region, the towns in northwestern Beijing, and Guanzhong, the imperial treasury would actually turn positive.

Previously, the more than 100,000 government troops in the towns northwest of Beijing, plus the so-called 120,000 imperial guards of the Shence Army, occupied nearly 8 million strings of cash in military funds every year.

In comparison, although the soldiers and officers of the towns in Hedong and Hebei also needed supplies from the imperial court, they could supply the majority of their own needs through self-sufficiency, so they did not consume much of the military funds.

Now that Liu Jilong has wiped out the eight towns in northwestern Beijing in one fell swoop, he has not only saved more than four million strings of cash in military pay, but also no longer has to pay more than three million in back pay.

The Shence Army was said to number 120,000, but it was annihilated by Liu Jilong twice. The Ministry of Revenue and the Ministry of Finance removed no fewer than 70,000 of them from the military register.

Even if the Shence Army's troop registers were falsified, they could only be falsified to a maximum of 50,000, and the military pay used could never exceed that of previous years.

That is why the Northern Commandery has been slow to hand over the Shence Army's troop registers. The number of troops has been reduced from 120,000 to 50,000, and now that everyone has moved east, the distribution of benefits cannot be settled in just ten days or half a month.

For this reason, Qi Yuanshi, who was in the hall, took the initiative to stand up and said, "Your Majesty, the Shence Army has also suffered heavy losses, and a new military roster is being compiled."

"I believe that the Shence Army has only about 50,000 men. Now the rebels could attack Tongguan at any time. I request Your Majesty to allow the Shence Army to be expanded by 30,000 men."

Qi Yuanshi wanted to get something out of Li Cui, but Li Cui wasn't stupid.

The imperial court's financial situation has finally improved; if he were to work diligently to govern, there might still be a chance to restore the old capital.

If he were to make concessions to the Shence Army, wouldn't he then be subject to their control again?
Now, the Eastern Capital has nearly 10,000 troops in Shaanxi and Guozhou, and the Eastern Capital, while the Shence Army has to divide its forces to guard Tongguan, leaving less than 7,000 men in Luoyang.

In this situation, having finally gained leverage in negotiating with the Northern Bureau officials, he naturally wouldn't cut off his own arm.

Thinking of this, he composed himself and said, "The imperial court's funds and provisions are insufficient, so the expansion of the Shence Army shall be temporarily suspended."

"Shaanxi and Guo are strategic locations, and they are responsible for the defense of Tongguan and Hongnong. I have decided to appoint Li Changfu as the defense commissioner of Shaanxi and Guo and recruit an additional 5,000 soldiers to make up the total number of 10,000."

"In addition, all the passes and fortresses in Tongguan, Hongnong, Shanxian, Xiashi, Yanling and other places were fortified."

“Since Li Changfu was able to break through from Longdong and go south, he must have had extraordinary abilities. His brother Li Changyan was transferred to Hezhong to serve as the Left Military Commissioner.”

Li Cui's words made Qi Yuanshi's expression less than pleasant, but given the current situation, he dared not break ties with the court during such a turbulent time.

After all, their current power is indeed not much different from that controlled by the Southern Court and the Emperor.

If relations were to break down, and Liu Jilong were to invade the east again, they would truly regret it too late.

"Your Majesty, Li Guochang, the military commissioner of the Shatuo Army, requests to be transferred back to Daibei on the grounds that his troops are not suited to the climate of Jiangnan."

"I believe that Li Guochang's troops should be transferred north to join forces with Zhang Shenwu, and then, together with Cui Shixiang, suppress the arrogant troops in Hedong and regain control of the northern capital."

"Therefore, Li Guochang can be promoted to the position of Defense Commissioner of Datong, in charge of the three prefectures of Yun, Shuo, and Wei."

"In addition, Li Guochang's son, Li Keyong, could be appointed as the military governor of Zhenwu Army, to give him the determination to recover Zhenwu."

Among the officials, Wang Duo took the initiative to offer his advice, and Li Cui nodded thoughtfully after listening.

Now that Liu Jilong has conquered Guannei and the capital region, if he were to advance eastward in the future, he would certainly conquer Hedong and Dongji.

To attack Hedong Road from Pujin Pass, one still needs to cross the Yellow River, but Liu Jilong has already captured Zhenwu, so he can now send troops through Dingxiang to invade Datong.

Although Li Guochang and his son had suffered a crushing defeat at the hands of Liu Jilong, it was precisely because of this that their hatred for the rebels was even greater.

If Li Guochang and his son could be supported to garrison Datong and defend against the rebels in the west, the pressure on the imperial court would be greatly reduced.

Thinking of this, Li Cui nodded and said, "This matter will be entrusted to Minister Wang. I request that Minister Wang personally lead the Shatuo and Shenwu Army to quell the arrogant officials and soldiers of Hedong."

"In addition, an imperial edict was issued to Gao Qianli, stating that the funds and provisions for Shannan East Circuit and Hunan Province must be clarified by the court before they can be distributed."

"Your subject obeys the decree..." Wang Duo breathed a sigh of relief upon hearing this.

After his defeat in Shannan West Road, he finally received the emperor's forgiveness.

If I can suppress the arrogant officials and soldiers in Hedong this time, I believe I can regain the emperor's trust.

"The court session is adjourned..."

Li Cui stood up, and the Minister of the Court of State Ceremonies announced the ceremony. All the officials bowed deeply, and Li Cui followed suit and stepped down from the Golden Terrace.

As the court assembly concluded, the Three Rivers region, more than two thousand miles from Luoyang, was also bustling with activity.

"put!"

"Bang bang bang-"

Hundreds of catapults were lined up outside Chengdu city, continuously launching stones at the South Market.

At this moment, the South Market outside Chengdu had become a Han army camp. The Han army dug three layers of trenches on the south side of the South Market and confronted the Three Rivers Army with catapults and triple crossbows.

The trenches were already filled with the corpses of many soldiers from the Three Rivers Army, and many Han soldiers were also wounded.

Gao Pian launched a fierce attack on Xichuan, which only had new recruits, with the last 40,000 veteran soldiers of Sanchuan. Although Zhang Wu was no match for him, he still relied on the layout of the South Market and the population of Chengdu to lead 30,000 new soldiers to confront Gao Pian outside the city.

The two sides fought for more than half a month, and the Han army suffered many casualties, as did the Sanchuan army.

Under the banner bearing the character "Gao," Gao Pian's face was solemn, while Zhang Lin rode up from afar, bowed before him, and said, "King Gao, after three attempts, the brothers still can't break through."

"These don't seem like new recruits who have only been trained for half a year. Moreover, they have more armored soldiers than we do. If we continue fighting like this, we'll probably run out of food supplies in Shu Prefecture before we even capture Chengdu."

As Zhang Lin finished speaking, Gao Pian looked at him solemnly and asked:
"Have the people from Qingcheng, Daojiang, Tangchang and other counties all moved away?"

"Reporting to King Gao, all 40,000 people from the three counties have migrated south, but the amount of money and grain seized is only a little over 100,000, and the number of carts and horses is no more than 4,000."

"That's enough!" Gao Pian nodded. After several encounters with Zhang Wu, he knew that this fellow was quite capable, so he made two preparations.

We have now captured 40,000 people from three counties in Pengzhou. Although the money and grain we have gained are less, it is still enough.

"Order the three armies to break camp and retreat to Shu Prefecture at dawn tomorrow."

"Yes!!"

As soon as Gao Pian finished speaking, he turned his horse around and returned to the camp, while Zhang Lin also sounded the retreat.

As they sounded the retreat and left, the new recruits in the Han army breathed a sigh of relief.

Zhang Wu relaxed, and Li Shangyin, who was watching the battle from inside the city, immediately rode his horse out of Chengdu and went to the front line to see the exhausted Zhang Wu.

"Gao Qianli truly lives up to his reputation. If it weren't for your presence in Xichuan, our losses in this battle would probably have been even greater, and several markets outside Chengdu might have been burned down."

Upon meeting Zhang Wu, Li Shangyin showered him with praise, but Zhang Wu shook his head and wiped his sweat, saying:
"Besides the King of Han, I'm afraid no one in the army can lead the troops to steadily suppress Gao Qianli."

"We were able to win this battle thanks to the veterans in the army who helped me stabilize the situation, but we also suffered a lot of casualties."

"The training time for new recruits is still too short. After more than half a year of literacy training, less than 30% of them can recognize more than 500 characters."

"With too little literacy, if the formation suddenly changes to a complex one, the new recruits will have difficulty recognizing the flags, drums, and other commands."

"If all the soldiers in Xichuan were old soldiers who could read more than a thousand words, I should be able to stop Gao Qianli on the mudflats of the Yangtze River in this battle, and prevent him from penetrating deep into Chengdu."

Zhang Wu was filled with regret, but Li Shangyin stroked his beard and laughed, saying, "The Yangtze River is only about thirty miles from Chengdu, so how can we talk about going deep into it?"

"Besides, Gao Qianli is quite capable, and he led veteran soldiers to attack. You have done a good job of holding him off for so long. There is no need to blame yourself."

"Our army only needs to continue training and literacy education, and in a year or two, it will surely be completely transformed."

The literacy of soldiers was the foundation for the Han army's ability to defeat stronger opponents. On the battlefield, literate soldiers could grasp the "flag and drum commands" more quickly, reducing battlefield misjudgments. Therefore, whenever the Han army and the Tang army were locked in a stalemate, even though the "flag and drum commands" were issued simultaneously, the Han army's reaction speed was always faster than that of the Tang army.

The faster reaction time, the more adjustments made, and the greater tolerance for error are the reasons why Zhang Wu was able to defeat the veteran soldiers of the Three Rivers Army several times.

Although many regional military governors of this era were training their soldiers to read and write, they could not achieve the same level of literacy as the Han army due to the cost of papermaking and printing.

Of course, as the territory expanded and the army grew, the speed of literacy education in the Han army inevitably slowed down.

If placed in Longyou, with sufficient resources and manpower to recruit soldiers and provide literacy education, it would take only a little over six months to transform the army from being completely illiterate to being able to recognize at least 500 characters.

After the expansion of the army, the number of literacy instructors and teaching materials could not keep up. In addition, there was too much drill and too little cultural education. Most of the new soldiers recruited by the Han army in Sanchuan could only recognize two or three hundred characters.

The Han army had a very low standard for literacy; as long as one could recognize 500 characters, one could get rid of the label of illiterate. Compared with the later standards of 1,500 characters in rural areas and 2,000 characters in cities, this was many times lower.

Even so, it remains very difficult to educate these recruits on basic literacy.

"Gao Pian, the governor of a certain region, will soon withdraw his troops. The crops and people in six counties along the Yangtze River in Xichuan will likely be difficult to preserve. Fortunately, the population of the three counties in Wenjiang has been relocated, but the more than 40,000 people in the three counties along the Daojiang River..."

Li Shangyin's brows furrowed in complex emotion, and in the end he could only sigh and say, "Once our army has completed its training, we will naturally rescue them."

After saying this, Li Shangyin turned to look at the Han army in Xichuan. He saw that although they were taller than ordinary people in Xichuan, they were thin and weak, unlike the old soldiers from Longyou who were broad-shouldered and burly.

After the autumn harvest, we still need to find ways to increase the meat supply so that we can train the soldiers to be strong.

Thinking this, Li Shangyin seemed to have thought of something else and looked at Zhang Wu, saying, "Governor Gao wrote a letter hoping that we could persuade the Prince of Han to ascend the throne, but I think it is not possible."

Li Shangyin's words helped Zhang Wu pull himself out of the shadow of defeat, and he couldn't help but ask, "Why?"

In Zhang Wu's view, since Li Shangyin was the first to urge Liu Jilong to become the King of Han, he should now urge him to become the emperor.

In response, Li Shangyin explained: "Our army currently occupies five provinces, but two of them are incomplete, and the population and land situation of each province has not yet been clarified."

"Furthermore, our army has expanded too rapidly and should be consolidated."

"The Imperial Academy cannot provide enough students. If we were to declare ourselves emperor now, we would inevitably have to expand eastward, but there would be a shortage of officials for such expansion."

"You have seen many scenes of local strongmen causing trouble in Sanchuan before."

"The number of powerful families in the Three Rivers region is not many compared to those in Hedong, Hebei, Hehuai, and Jiangnan."

"If we were to persuade the King of Han to declare himself emperor at this time, there would inevitably be compromises due to the eastward expansion."

"Compromise is normal, but too much compromise will create hidden dangers."

"In the past, dynasties such as Qin and Sui all suffered from too many hidden dangers because they made too many compromises after unification."

"I suspect that the King of Han is also able to recognize these things, so he must have his own plans."

"Then he won't declare himself emperor?" Zhang Wu couldn't help but ask. Li Shangyin shook his head.

"I will certainly declare myself emperor, but not now, but a few years from now."

"It will take two or three years at the earliest, or three or four years at the latest, for the military governor to choose to become emperor."

After Li Shangyin finished speaking, he couldn't help but look into the distance at the Sanchuan military camp, and frowned, saying, "If we want the rear to be stable, we must first defeat Gao Pian."

"The King of Han originally intended to first conquer Guannei Road, destroy the troops led by Zheng Tian, ​​then send troops south to defeat Gao Pian, and then seize Sanchuan and Qianzhong before heading north to seize Guanzhong."

"Who knew that conquering Guannei would be so easy? The King of Han could only take advantage of the situation to conquer Guanzhong, but Guanzhong was densely populated, and it would be no less difficult to take Xichuan as well."

"Right now, the King of Han is probably too busy to manage Guanzhong. Let Gao Pian run rampant for a while longer. When the King of Han leads his troops south, he will perish on his own."

Li Shangyin's judgment was correct; Liu Jilong was indeed having a headache over the governance of Guannei Circuit and Jingji Circuit at that moment.

While he was lecturing Zhang Wu, the documents piled up in front of Liu Jilong were like a mountain.

Inside the Southern Office of the Imperial City, Liu Jilong sat in the Ministry of Personnel, surrounded by officials constantly on the move.

In a month and a half, Gao Jinda used his troops to besiege the Tang army at Anrong Pass and Zhisheng Pass. When the Tang army ran out of firewood, he persuaded them to surrender. After the Tang army surrendered, Gao Jinda sent them back to their hometowns and then immediately restored the Qinlong official road.

The grain, officials, and new army from Longyou immediately entered Guanzhong via this official road.

More than 3,000 officials and more than 6,000 clerks entered Guanzhong, bringing with them 30,000 new soldiers and 280,000 shi of grain.

"The journey was too long. The original shipment was 400,000 shi, but 120,000 shi were consumed along the way. I beg the King of Han to punish us."

Standing in front of Liu Jilong, Gao Jinda, Cui Shu, and Han Zhengke bowed deeply.

Facing the three, Liu Jilong rubbed his brow and said, "It's normal to experience some wear and tear on the journey; there's no need for this."

"You have just arrived and do not yet understand many things, so let me explain them to you now so that you can be prepared."

Liu Jilong stood up, stretched his body, and then said, "The documents from Guannei, Jingji and other regions are all copied from the old Huichang period. The documents show a population of over 600,000 households and over 3 million people."

"However, as you also know, powerful families and officials such as the Northern Bureau often conceal people as a form of wealth."

"Before our army captured Guanzhong, many people in Guanzhong fled to Hedong, Shannan East Road and Dongji and other places. Now we need you to find out how many people there are."

“Yes…” Everyone bowed in response, and Liu Jilong continued:
"When the imperial court fled east, there were more than a thousand officials left in Guanzhong. However, they all had their own agendas. Many of them surrendered to our army, but only to gather intelligence for the court. Therefore, we must guard them closely and not let them learn our army's secrets."

"Gunpowder will continue to be produced in Longyou and transported to the various armies."

"The number of fields in Guanzhong is unknown, and the imperial court has not conducted an investigation for many years. Now that our army has arrived, the unclaimed fields must be reclaimed."

“Anyone who dares to falsely claim ownership of land shall be exiled to Anxi and Beiting.”

"Furthermore, now that all the officials have arrived, it is not appropriate to forcibly manage Chang'an with the army."

"Many generals and soldiers were wounded in this battle. Despite their injuries, they are still capable of commanding and training, and it is feasible for them to be transferred to civilian positions."

"You can select them, and then select 3,000 people from the laborers brought from Longyou this time to reorganize the Left and Right Jinwu Guards, each with 1,500 people, with the same organization as the army."

"The Jinwu Guard will not be in charge of patrolling, guarding, ceremonial guards, or protecting the palace for the time being. They will only have one task: to patrol and guard the streets outside the palace city day and night."

He paused, then looked at the three men and continued, "Others may not know, but Governor Gao should know how arrogant the scoundrels and thugs of Chang'an are."

"When these people saw that our army had taken over Chang'an, they all hid and dared not show their faces."

"But if our troops withdraw from Chang'an, they will rise from the ashes and return to their old ways."

“I don’t want to see this group of people. All those with criminal records should be exiled to the Western Regions and the Northern Court.”

As soon as Liu Jilong finished speaking, Gao Jinda and the other two understood his meaning.

As the most densely populated and commercially prosperous capital of the Tang Dynasty, the capital naturally had some unemployed people.

These people engage in extortion, theft, gambling scams, revenge killings, and other similar activities.

Merchants were forced to hire bodyguards, and ordinary people had to travel in groups.

This group was not small; before the Han army occupied Chang'an, there were tens of thousands of ruffians and hooligans in the city.

Although many have fled to Luoyang, quite a few have remained in Chang'an.

During this month, after the Han army's investigation, it was found that there were still more than 64,000 households and more than 325,000 people in Chang'an.

Although many people had already fled, the number of those who remained was even greater.

These scoundrels and thugs have amassed considerable wealth. If they could be rounded up, it would not only satisfy the officials and people of Chang'an, but also bring in a substantial sum of money.

"King of Han, how much money and grain are left in the granary?"

Gao Jinda inquired, but he also knew that there probably wasn't much money or grain in Chang'an, otherwise Liu Jilong wouldn't have asked him to transport grain to Chang'an.

In response, Liu Jilong said, "After our army entered Chang'an, there was not much resistance from officials and powerful families. In addition, the court moved east, so we did not gain much."

"Half of the money and grain seized from the prefectures and counties in Guanzhong were transported to the capital granaries and outer treasuries."

"Currently, the capital's granaries contain only 470,000 shi of grain, and the equivalent value of money and silk is less than 500,000 guan."

"Of these, 400,000 strings of cash are to be used to reward the soldiers of the three armies. The rest are for your discretionary use. If it is not enough, you will have to make up for it yourselves."

After Liu Jilong said so much, Gao Jinda and the others understood what he meant.

To put it bluntly, there are many unclean people in Chang'an City, including local thugs and officials who outwardly pledge allegiance but secretly act as spies.

If these people can be captured, the amount of money and grain obtained will surely be substantial.

Putting aside everything else, just consider the grain that officials sold off at low prices before they fled. Ordinary people couldn't afford that much, so it was mostly hoarded by this group of people.

However, Guanzhong is still unstable, so people cannot be arrested arbitrarily; arrests must be based on evidence.

How to find evidence and how to arrest people—that depends on Gao Jinda and his two companions' abilities.

Thinking this, the three of them wore thoughtful expressions, and Liu Jilong spoke up:

"The Shuofang Governor-General's Office controls the Guannei Circuit. In addition, the Jingji Governor-General's Office is established, with Gao Jinda as the governor-general and Cui Shu as the chief secretary. Han Zhengke will continue to be in charge of the legal affairs of the various governor-general's offices and concurrently serve as the chief censor of the Censorate."

“The vacancies in the troops in each province should be filled as soon as possible. The Gyeonggi Province is temporarily allocated 50,000 troops, including the 30,000 officers and soldiers stationed in Gyeonggi.”

"Order Chen Jingchong to withdraw from Shannan West Circuit, and temporarily appoint Zhang Chang as the Governor of Longyou, while Zheng Chu is promoted to Governor of Hexi."

"Yes, sir..."

Seeing that Liu Jilong was about to leave, the three of them followed him and saw him off out of the Secretariat.

Liu Jilong mounted his horse and left the Secretariat, leaving the three men looking at each other in bewilderment.

"Why don't you urge His Highness to ascend the throne?" Cui Shu couldn't help but ask, but Gao Jinda frowned and said:

"After your last attempt to persuade him to ascend the throne, have you forgotten his attitude after returning to Linzhou?"

"Becoming a king is different from becoming an emperor. If Your Highness is interested, Cao Mao will be the first to receive the news."

"Besides, you should be aware of the current situation."

"Expanding the army and increasing the number of officials both require financial and material support."

"Currently, Longyou has less than 500,000 in cash and grain reserves, while Chang'an and Chengdu have less than 1 million."

"Our army is short of money and food, so we can only wait until after the autumn harvest and tax collection to decide whether to urge them to advance."

"What we should do most now is to get Gyeonggi Province under control as soon as possible, and we must not delay this year's autumn harvest."

"Only by collecting the money and grain and turning the situation from danger to safety can we persuade His Highness to ascend the throne."

As soon as he finished speaking, without waiting for Cui Shu to ask any further questions, he turned and walked into the Ministry of Personnel.

At the same time, Liu Jilong summoned An Pohu and, with three hundred elite cavalry as guards, went out of the city to check the situation.

Half an hour later, he walked more than twenty miles from Jinguang Gate, reined in his horse and stopped by the official road outside Chang'an. Looking around, the fields were full of autumn millet, and among the millet were many hunched figures.

It is now the Mid-Autumn Festival in August, and the autumn harvest is just over a month away.

But the people in the fields swayed precariously like withered reeds; the strong women wore tattered clothes, while the men were shirtless, revealing their dark, cracked skin.

In the distance was a village, with earthen walls and mud houses inside. The roofs were covered with dry grass, and the children were all naked, while the women had some tattered clothes to cover their bodies.

"King of Han!"

An Pohu found an old farmer from the fields at some point. The old farmer looked to be in his fifties, with a face full of wrinkles and sunspots, dark and cracked skin, and was very reserved.

Especially when he heard An Pohu address Liu Jilong as the King of Han, he broke out in a cold sweat and his legs went weak, causing him to kneel on the ground.

"Old man, there's no need to panic. I just wanted to inquire about the situation of the people around Chang'an."

Before Liu Jilong could reach out, An Pohu helped the man up and supported him, allowing his legs to gradually regain strength as he calmed down.

After he regained his footing, An Pohu let go of him, and Liu Jilong said with a smile, "How old are you, sir? What is your family like? How many acres of land do you own?"

"I, I, I..."

He stammered for a long time without being able to speak, and when he finally managed to say something, he saw An Pohu grinning cruelly next to him, and he couldn't say anything more.

Fortunately, Liu Jilong was patient, and his appearance and demeanor were reassuring, so he eventually stammered out the confession.

“My name is Zhang Tian. I am thirty-five years old. My parents are still alive. I have a wife and two sons.”

“The two boys were captured by the government troops five months ago. Later, when the Prince of Han attacked, thanks to the kindness of the soldiers, they were given a bushel of millet, which allowed them to return to the village half a month ago.”

“We don’t own any land. All the land belongs to the Prince of Chang’an. He sent a steward to tell us to grow grain honestly, and then he disappeared.”

"The autumn harvest is approaching, but they still haven't arrived. We don't know if taxes need to be paid on the land and grain, what will happen after the taxes are paid, or if that Manager Wang will come back to demand the grain back..."

For some reason, Zhang Tian, ​​who usually trembled with fear when facing the head of the royal family, suddenly felt confident in front of Liu Jilong, the high and mighty Prince of Han, and spoke about his own situation.

Liu Jilong listened attentively, and when he heard that Zhang Tian was only thirty-five years old, the same age as him, he immediately felt a lump in his throat, unable to exhale or swallow.

He looked Zhang Tian up and down again, and saw that the man's hair was graying, his forehead was deeply etched with wrinkles like furrows, and his dark face was covered with patches of sunspots.

He was shirtless, with only a pair of trousers covering his legs, and several barely noticeable purplish-black whip marks on his exposed upper body and calves were particularly eye-catching.

His shoulders bore the marks left from pulling a plow.

Liu Jilong was heavy-hearted, pretending to be nonchalant as he looked at the endless fields of autumn millet.

"Are all these fields the lands of those important figures in Chang'an? Don't you have any land of your own?"

“No…” Zhang Tian shook his head: “Apart from the village head’s family having three mu of dry land, none of us have any land.”

After listening, Liu Jilong nodded, having roughly understood the situation in Guanzhong. He also composed himself and took the opportunity to reassure Zhang Tian, ​​saying, "In a few days, the government will send people down to measure the fields and register them."

“There will be no more corvée labor or poll tax in the future; instead, taxes will be levied based on the amount of land owned.”

"When you get back, you can tell the villagers the news, and tell them that when registering the population, no one should be hidden. This registration is related to the future equal distribution of land, regardless of gender, the land will be distributed according to the number of people."

"If you miss the opportunity, it will be difficult to register later."

"Equal distribution of land?!" Zhang Tian's eyes widened in disbelief; he couldn't believe the imperial court would actually implement equal distribution of land.

Although they had heard their ancestors say that land was redistributed when the Tang Dynasty was founded, it was a pity that their family had fallen on hard times and all their land had been sold to others. They just listened to it as a story and never thought that they would actually encounter such a good thing as land redistribution.

"Equal, equal whose land?"

Zhang Tian swallowed hard, while Liu Jilong glanced sideways at the field full of autumn millet: "Naturally, it is all-inclusive, ownerless land."

As soon as he finished speaking, he turned around, put his hand on Zhang Tian's shoulder, and chuckled, "From now on, you will be the masters of this land."

Zhang Tian was stunned. He couldn't believe that the Han army was going to distribute all the land to them, these peasants, and he couldn't believe that he, whose ancestors had all been tenant farmers, would one day be able to get land that belonged to him.

"Is it really true that land is distributed equally among all farmers?!"

He belatedly realized what had happened and couldn't help but ask, only to find that the King of Han had already disappeared.

He frantically searched, fearing he was dreaming, but thankfully he turned around and saw the person already sitting on horseback.

Liu Jilong also heard his surprised yet delighted voice. A smile appeared on his lips, and he looked at Zhang Tian, ​​nodding solemnly: "Of course!"

Before Zhang Tian could speak again, Liu Jilong shook the reins and, escorted by a large number of elite cavalry, continued to explore deeper into the suburbs.

After receiving an affirmative answer, Zhang Tian realized that his hand was heavy with money. He had somehow received a reward from the King of Han.

The reward money wasn't much for Liu Jilong, only a hundred or so coins, but it gave Zhang Tian a glimmer of hope for survival.

Only then did he belatedly realize what was happening, his legs went weak, and he knelt on the official road, his face filled with disbelief.

"I...I actually spoke with the King of Han...Will the land distribution really be equalized...?"

(End of this chapter)