Guiyi Fei Tang

Chapter 450 A Timely Rain After a Long Drought
"Your subject Gao Pian respectfully reports: In order to recover Hunan and drive the rebels into the Huai River region, I humbly request that all provinces be ordered to assist in the suppression; now, thanks to Your Majesty's divine power and the soldiers' valiant efforts, the entire territory of Hunan has been recovered; Your subject..."

"Okay! Okay! Cough cough cough..."

At the end of March, when Gao Pian's good news reached Heyin, Li Cui, who was already weak due to qi deficiency, cheered repeatedly and even coughed excitedly.

Fortunately, Tian Yun quickly poured him some tea, which made Li Cui feel a little better.

When he looked up again, even the dilapidated Heyin County Government Office seemed brighter.

"Gao Qianli has not failed my favor. Now that the Yellow bandits have been driven to Huainan, as long as the imperial army quells them, we can quell the bandits and demonstrate our power to the world..."

Li Cui pointed out the state of the country as if the Tang Dynasty was about to be revived, but Lu Yan, Xiao Gou and others showed no joy.

Li Cui noticed the strange expressions on the two men's faces and asked, "You gentlemen don't seem to be pleased?"

"Your Majesty, Gao Qianli is loyal and diligent, but his jurisdiction covers Guizhou, Lingnan, Hunan and other places. He also led troops to recover lost territories in southern Jiangxi. Isn't his jurisdiction too large?"

"When I was in Chang'an, I occasionally saw the Ministry of War's documents. In them, Liu Muzhi's southern expedition and his struggle with Gao Qianli for the Three Rivers resulted in the loss of no more than 8,000 soldiers, while Gao Qianli's casualties were no more than 20,000."

"With Gao Qianli's strength, if he wanted to fight Liu Jilong to the death at that time, he could have killed at least 20,000 to 30,000 of Liu Muzhi's elite troops."

"At present, Gao Qianli occupies thousands of miles of land in the southwest and has nearly 100,000 troops. However, he only pursued the Yellow bandits to the Yangtze River. Is there any suspicion that he is using his troops to make himself powerful?"

Xiao Gou presented the facts and reasoned with them. After all, since Gao Pian clashed with Liu Jilong, although he had killed or wounded 30,000 to 40,000 Han soldiers, the number of enemy heads killed in battle was not large, and his own troops only suffered 20-30% losses each time before they began to avoid battle.

Such behavior does indeed raise suspicions of harboring bandits to enhance one's own power and establishing a separatist regime.

In response, Lu Yan, who had already learned of Xiao Gou's attitude through officials from the three provinces, also bowed and defended Gao Pian, saying:
"Your Majesty, Gao Qianli's actions were solely to preserve the imperial army and prevent the entire force from being wiped out, thus avoiding an uncontrollable situation."

"Furthermore, Gao Qianli has always obeyed and carried out His Majesty's decrees without ever being negligent. How can he be considered to be establishing a separatist regime?"

"As for the claim made by Prime Minister Xiao that Gao Qianli chased the bandits all the way to the Yangtze River and then stopped, it was only because the court only ordered him to recover lost territories in Hunan and other places."

"Without imperial orders, how dare Gao Qianli cross the border into Huainan?"

Lu Yan cleared Gao Pian of suspicion in a few words, while also praising Gao Pian: "Of course, Prime Minister Xiao's concerns are also justified."

"I believe it would be better to have Gao Qianli hand over control of Lingxi to Cai Xi, the military commissioner of Annam, and then withdraw his troops from the prefectures of Jiangxi."

"If Gao Qianli is willing to relinquish his military command in both places, then he can be entrusted with important responsibilities and be allowed to continue to lead troops north to punish the Huang bandits."

Li Cui nodded upon hearing this, and subconsciously stroked his beard, thinking that doing so was not a bad idea.

Depriving Lingxi of its territory would at least weaken Gao Pian's power and strengthen Cai Xi's power, allowing Cai Xi to better defend the southwest and restrain Gao Pian.

Thinking this, Li Cui looked at Xiao Gou: "What does Prime Minister Xiao think?"

Seeing that Li Cui had thrown the question at him, Xiao Gou remained calm and respectfully bowed, saying, "I believe that Prime Minister Lu's arrangements are proper and can be followed as they are."

"Alright!" Li Cui nodded, then said to the two of them:
"Two days ago, a message was sent by carrier pigeon from Nanyang that the Yellow rebels had lifted the siege and retreated to the east of the Yu River, where they were defending Tangzhou and Suizhou."

After the siege of Nanyang was lifted, Liu Xiang withdrew his troops from Shangzhou, gathered more than 14,000 soldiers, and reinforced the city of Dengzhou.

"Now that the siege of Nanyang has been lifted, there is no need for Liu Muzhi to send troops to Shannan East Road."

"At present, I intend to transfer Wang Duo to lead troops from Hedong, Hezhong, Heyang, Zhaoyi and other places south to join forces with Kang Chengxun to suppress the bandits."

"What do you two think of my plan?"

After Li Cui finished speaking, he looked at Lu Yan and Xiao Gou. The two of them did not hesitate and bowed, singing, "Your Majesty is wise."

After praising him, Xiao Gou finally spoke, saying, "However, we cannot send too many troops south, and we still need to guard against Liu Muzhi in Hedong."

"I believe that we can mobilize 10,000 troops each from Hedong and Hezhong, and 3,000 troops each from the remaining two towns."

Following Xiao Gou's advice, Wang Duo's southward journey will bring 26,000 troops, which, together with Kang Chengxun's 40,000 troops, will give them a total of 66,000 troops on the eastern front of the He-Huai region.

Meanwhile, Liu Zhan and Xiao Ye on the western front had 20,000 troops, enough for defense.

With Gao Pian readily available to be transferred north from the south, the government forces could mobilize nearly 100,000 troops to suppress Huang Chao, making a mistake highly unlikely.

"In that case, the two ministers will handle this matter. We hope the court can return to Luoyang as soon as possible."

Li Cui simply couldn't stand the shabby Heyin County government office. If it weren't for the fact that his trips to the south or north might cause a stir, he would have gone to Yangzhou or Taiyuan long ago.

"By the way, has the money and grain that Liu Muzhi sent out arrived yet?"

Li Cui thought of the money and provisions promised by Liu Jilong, but when he brought it up, Xiao Gou looked hesitant:

"Liu Muzhi did indeed transport money and grain, but the money and grain were intercepted by Huang Chao's troops. In addition, the Shanzhou section of the river was dangerous, and a lot of it sank. Only five thousand shi of grain and three hundred bolts of brocade were stranded in Mengzhou. Now they have been transported from Mengzhou to Heyin."

"Damn it..." Li Cui was so angry that his chest heaved when he heard that the money and grain had been blocked and only five thousand shi of grain had arrived.

After taking a few deep breaths, Li Cui continued his questioning: "Right now, how much money and grain does the imperial court have left to allocate?"

"Your Majesty," Lu Yan bowed respectfully, "the court has less than 10,000 shi of grain and less than 5,000 bolts of silk and brocade..."

The vast Tang Dynasty couldn't even muster 10,000 shi of grain, which shows how rudimentary it was.

However, if it weren't for the lack of money and food, Kang Chengxun would not have stopped at Wulao Pass and watched Huang Chao conquer the counties of the Eastern Capital.

Hebei and Hedong suffered severe droughts, while Henan and Huainan were plagued by locusts. Jiangnan was able to transport enough money and grain, but Dong Chang occupied Hangzhou, making it impossible to transport money and grain from Zhejiang East. The troops in Zhejiang West also had to be wary of Dong Chang, and thus could not divert money and grain to the north.

Thinking of this, Li Cui took a deep breath and, suppressing his temper, asked, "Could it be that such a vast Tang Dynasty cannot even raise enough money and provisions to send troops?"

"Your Majesty need not worry," Lu Yan reassured Li Cui at the opportune moment.

"I believe that although most of the money and grain in Jiangnan has been blocked, the summer harvest is imminent. In addition, Gao Qianli has recovered the prefectures in Hunan and Jiangxi. The money and grain from the summer harvest can naturally enter the Grand Canal through the Yangtze River and be transported to Heyin."

"The money, grain, and brocade delivered by Liu Jilong can support the court and the troops in various regions for half a month."

"That's true, but how can we make it to the summer harvest?" Li Cui asked, seemingly indignant, to which Lu Yan quickly replied:
"Your Majesty, rest assured. With the nation in peril, I am willing to donate a thousand strings of cash and silk. I believe the other ministers will also eagerly contribute upon learning of this."

Xiao Gou was surprised that Lu Yan would donate so readily, but fortunately, he had already donated the money and silk brought by the mission team beforehand, so he was not afraid of being questioned by the emperor.

"So good..."

Seeing Lu Yan donate a thousand strings of cash, Li Cui was deeply moved and felt that Lu Yan was his most trusted advisor.

"I'll leave this matter to you two gentlemen."

After he finished speaking from the heart, he slowly got up with Tian Yun's help.

Seeing this, Lu Yan and Xiao Gou bowed and left the county office.

After they left, Lu Yan returned to his residence in Heyin County, where many officials had already gathered in the main hall.

"Lu Xiang..."

Upon Lu Yan's arrival, dozens of high-ranking officials bowed respectfully. Lu Yan nodded, walked to the head seat, and gestured for everyone to sit down before speaking:

"At present, the country is in decline, the court is short of money and grain, and the Yellow rebels are constantly trying to attack Zhengzhou."

"I will set an example today by donating a thousand strings of cash and silk to help the court overcome the national crisis."

To everyone's surprise, Lu Yan actually gestured for them to donate money, but seeing that Lu Yan had taken the lead, they had no choice but to speak up one after another for the sake of their future.

"This humble official is willing to donate one hundred strings of cash."

"So it is for me too..."

One after another, people expressed their support and soon donated several thousand strings of cash.

With them setting an example, other officials will probably have no choice but to donate as well.

However, given the current state of the war, even if tens of thousands of strings of cash were thrown in, let alone thousands, it would be difficult to make a ripple.

With grain prices soaring in the He and Huai regions, even if one were to buy grain from Hebei or Hedong, tens of thousands of strings of cash could only buy a mere ten thousand shi (a unit of dry measure) of grain, after accounting for losses along the way.

This amount of food is enough for defense but not for offense, so Lu Yan has to turn his attention to others.

"Alright, that's settled then. You may all return."

"This humble official takes his leave..."

The group left after being dismissed by Lu Yan, who then looked at his servant beside him and asked, "Has Yu Gongchu arrived?"

"We are waiting for you in the main hall, sir," the servant replied respectfully. Upon hearing this, Lu Yan stood up and walked towards the main hall.

Before long, when he arrived at the main hall, he indeed saw Yu Gongchu, the envoy from Gao Pian's Imperial Secretariat in the capital.

Yu Gongchu remained composed and unhurried. Upon seeing Lu Yan arrive, he rose and bowed, saying, "Prime Minister Lu..."

Lu Yan smiled and nodded, glancing around the room and indeed seeing three neatly arranged large boxes.

Knowing Lu Yan's character, Yu Gongchu saw that he was distracted and immediately walked over to the three boxes next to him with a light laugh, opening them one by one.

The first box was filled with newly minted silver, and on top were dozens of gold bars the size of a thumb.

In terms of value alone, this chest of silver and gold is worth no less than three thousand strings of cash.

As for the second and third chests, they contained rare and precious treasures such as glass, pearls, and coral, with a value of no less than a thousand strings of cash.

With four thousand strings of cash in front of him, even Lu Yan, with his excellent composure, couldn't help but twitch his eyes and curl his lips upward.

"I have heard that Prime Minister Lu has just donated thousands of strings of cash to the court. I am deeply impressed."

"These are all gifts from King Gao. Please accept them, Minister Lu."

Yu Gongchu persuaded him with a few words, but Lu Yan did not immediately agree, because he knew that Gao Pian's gifts were never easy to obtain, and besides, he also needed Gao Pian's help.

Thinking of this, Lu Yan walked up to the main seat and sat down, then spoke to Yu Gongchu:

"Now that the country is in peril, both Prince Gao and I must rely on the Great Tang."

"Now that the nation is in peril, I wonder if Prince Gao can extend a helping hand to the court to help it overcome this crisis?"

Upon hearing this, Yu Gongchu raised an eyebrow and then said, "Currently, the imperial court is short of funds and provisions, and there is no way to pay the 100,000 armored soldiers under Prince Gao's command."

"King Gao was well aware of the court's difficulties, so he did not ask the court for money and grain, but prepared to be self-sufficient in farming and warfare."

"Such actions have already relieved the court of its burdens..."

Lu Yan understood Yu Gongchu's meaning, but the court was indeed in a difficult situation. If Gao Pian didn't intervene, the court alone certainly couldn't solve the problem.

Therefore, after Yu Gongchu finished speaking, Lu Yan took the initiative to say, "The imperial court has issued an order to seize the three prefectures of Yuan, Ji, and Qian in Lingxi and southern Jiangxi. If Prince Gao is loyal, he can lead his troops north to quell the Huang bandits in Huainan."

Lu Yan's arrogant attitude led Yu Gongchu to believe that Lu Yan had secured a benefit for his family.

Now it seems that not only will they have to give up at least ten states, but even the eight thousand soldiers stationed in Lingxi will be taken away.

After hearing this clearly, Yu Gongchu gradually became angry, but remembering King Gao's instructions, he suppressed his anger.

"This matter is beyond my authority; I must inform King Gao and seek his opinion."

“That’s natural,” Lu Yan replied without hesitation, while also reminding him:
"The imperial court is our foundation. If the imperial court is in trouble, neither of us can be protected."

Upon hearing this, Yu Gongchu did not explain, but simply smiled and bowed to indicate that he understood.

Seeing his expression, Lu Yan knew he was unhappy and nodded, saying, "Since there's nothing else, you may leave."

"This humble official takes his leave." Yu Gongchu bowed and departed, never arguing with Lu Yan from beginning to end.

When he left Lu Yan's residence and walked outside the neighborhood, he turned back to look at the neighborhood gate and then surveyed the streets on both sides.

A few days ago, Li Cui felt that there were too many refugees, which could easily lead to the spread of plague, so he sent people to drive all the refugees out of the city.

As a result, the city became much cleaner, but the area outside the city became a dog-eat-dog world.

"Is such a court worthy of my reliance?"

Yu Gongchu gradually stopped smiling and turned to walk towards his residence.

Half an hour after he left, a troop of fast horses galloped out of the city and headed southeast.

A few days later, as Lu Yan initiated the donation drive, hundreds of officials who had followed Li Cui in his escape donated, eventually raising over 40,000 coins and silk.

Li Cui sent men to transport 40,000 coins and silk north to buy grain, but this amount of money and grain was still insufficient to drive the army westward.

For a time, the situation in the Hehuai region was deadlocked. Huang Chao's troops continued to advance eastward, while the Tang army relied on the Ying River for defense.

After a stalemate of half a month, Wang Duo, who was far away in Taiyuan, also received a transfer order from the imperial court.

Li Cui not only demanded that Wang Duo lead his army south, but also that Zhang Huaiding's Left and Right Divine Martial Armies follow him south.

However, although Li Cui ordered them to go south, he made them raise their own money and provisions, which stumped the two of them.

Zhang Huaiding didn't care about anything; he only knew how to demand money and provisions. Therefore, the heavy burden of money and provisions fell on Wang Duo's shoulders.

In order to raise money and supplies, Wang Duo had to run around trying to find the right amount, but he was still unable to do so.

With insufficient funds and provisions, and given the arrogant and fierce nature of the generals and soldiers of the various towns in Hedong, it was impossible for them to march south. Therefore, Li Cui's plan to attack Huang Chao from three sides was delayed for a long time.

In contrast, Huang Chao, who had occupied Luoyang for three months, launched a counterattack.

On the second day of the fourth month, Huang Kui led an army of 50,000 men, with Zhu Wen and Zhu Cun as the vanguard, and successively captured He and Chu prefectures. Song Wei, who was stationed in Huainan Circuit, could only retreat to Yangzhou.

When the news reached Heyin, Li Cui kept urging Wang Duo to lead his army south, and Wang Duo could only continue to try to raise money and food.

The consequence of the imperial court losing territory was that many regional military governors who were initially hesitant due to Liu Jilong's reconciliation with the court began to grow stronger.

On the seventh day, Bi Shiduo, a former general of Wang Xianzhi who had surrendered, drove out the governor of Chenzhou, proclaimed himself the defense commissioner of Bozhou, and joined Huang Chao.

Huang Chao sent Li Hanzhi with his army to welcome Bi Shiduo and granted him the official titles of Prefect of Chenzhou and Defense Commissioner.

Bi Shiduo's act of surrendering and then rebelling enraged Li Cui, but something even more infuriating was happening in Dengzhou.

"Screw rustle..."

In Nanyang County, Dengzhou, as the sound of armor plates echoed through the streets, soldiers holding the Zhongwu Army Command Flag were breaking down doors and searching, while the people of the county cried out in anguish.

At the same time, the atmosphere inside the Nanyang County government office was also very tense.

"Commander Qin, do not make a mistake!"

Inside the main hall of the yamen, Liu Zhan, bound by ropes, was trying to persuade the person in front of him.

A young general, around twenty-seven or twenty-eight years old, sat in the main seat of the county government office, while several bloody heads were placed on the table beside him.

"Self-mistaken?"

The young man stood up, approached Liu Zhan arrogantly, and said, "I, Qin Zongquan, don't know what it means to make a mistake. Right now, the court can't even allocate money and grain, yet a bandit like Huang Chao was able to capture the capital. Continuing to be stubborn and delusional is what makes a mistake!"

He turned to look at the heads on the table and couldn't help but say, "Their deaths are not my fault; they were just stupid!"

"After today, Dengzhou belongs to me, and as for you, Lord Liu..." Qin Zongquan did not move his body, but slowly turned his head and glanced at Liu Zhan out of the corner of his eye: "I will not kill you, but I must make the decision for the Zhongwu Army!"

Before Liu Zhan could react, he immediately said, "Men, escort Lord Liu out of the city and south!"

"Yes, sir!!" Upon hearing this, the guards on both sides stepped forward, grabbed Liu Zhan, and began to walk outside.

Seeing this, Liu Zhan continued to persuade him: "The imperial army still has hundreds of thousands of troops. Don't make a mistake. There's still a chance to admit your error..."

Liu Zhan's voice gradually disappeared into the Nanyang County government office as he was taken away.

The two generals stepped forward and bowed to Qin Zongquan: "General, what should we do now?"

"What should we do?" Qin Zongquan glanced at the two of them and couldn't help but ask.
"Liu Zhan is a scoundrel who doesn't know how to command troops. If I had been in command, how could so many brothers have died in battle?"

"Now that the decision has been made to expel them, the natural course of action is to occupy Dengzhou and wait for a better price."

Upon hearing this, the generals on either side exchanged glances and quickly guessed Qin Zongquan's thoughts. They then hurriedly bowed and said, "In that case, we are willing to serve as your generals!"

"Good!" Qin Zongquan nodded upon hearing this, straightened his back and bowed to the soldiers around him: "I am honored by your high regard, and I will certainly not look down on you like that old scoundrel did."

"Regardless of the attitudes of the imperial court and Huang Chao, we will follow whoever offers the highest price."

"As long as we swindle money from our brothers, even the Emperor himself will be dragged down from his throne!"

"it is good!!"

Qin Zongquan's words indeed won cheers from the surrounding Zhongwu Army.

They were besieged in Nanyang for months, forced to eat leather belts and cold food, and now that they have finally been relieved, the court has not made any response for half a month, and they have long harbored resentment.

Now, Qin Zongquan is leading them to expel Liu Zhan, which is their way of venting their dissatisfaction.

If the Tang court doesn't know what's good for them, they'll join the Yellow Turban rebels and work for whoever gives them the most.

In any case, apart from Xuzhou, the other two prefectures of Zhongwu Town were occupied by Huang Ze and Bi Shiduo, so they were not afraid of being retaliated against.

Thinking of this, Qin Zongquan also said, "I will write a letter now and ask Huang Chao and Bi Shiduo to return our relatives."

"If they refuse, I will lead my brothers to attack eastward and see how they can stand against my Loyal Warrior Army!"

As Qin Zongquan finished speaking, he was once again showered with praise, which made him gradually become smug.

While they were making their clamor, news spread that as Liu Zhan fled south into Xiangzhou, Qin Zongquan had driven Liu Zhan out, led the Zhongwu Army in rebellion, and coerced soldiers from Shannan East Circuit to seize control of Dengzhou.

Meanwhile, Gao Pian, who was in Yuezhou, was standing on Yueyang Tower, where Huang Chao had once stood, gazing at the vast expanse of Dongting Lake.

Wang Zhongren stood behind him and respectfully read aloud the contents of the letter sent by Yu Gongchu.

When Gao Pian learned that the court required him to cede the three prefectures of Lingxi and Jiangxi, and also to transport the money and grain himself, Gao Pian frowned slightly and glanced at Wang Zhongren.

Wang Zhongren felt his gaze and couldn't help but speak up: "Your Majesty, the court is quite arrogant. The situation is so chaotic right now, and instead of trying to stabilize you, they want to reduce your troops. No wonder the Emperor was so foolish in the past that he forced Liu Muzhi to rebel."

Gao Pian nodded slightly, clearly agreeing with Wang Zhongren's words.

"King Gao, perhaps we should..."

Seeing Gao Pian's approval of his words, Wang Zhongren wanted to go further, but Gao Pian stopped him with a look.

"Now is not the time. I have heard that the Emperor is in poor health and has been trying to recover for several months without success."

"If I disobey the imperial decree, even if the court is too busy to intervene, have you forgotten Liu Muzhi?"

Wang Zhongren couldn't help but feel nervous. He naturally wouldn't forget Liu Jilong, but now they were only clashing with Liu Jilong in Qianzhong Road. It wouldn't be so easy for Liu Jilong to break into Qianzhong Road.

"King Gao, our army has built many passes along the Qianzhong Road. Many of these passes are easy to defend and difficult to attack. Even if Liu Jilong wants to take advantage of this, he will probably find it difficult to succeed. What is there to fear?"

"What if he asks to pass through?" Gao Pian asked Wang Zhongren, which stumped Wang Zhongren.

If Liu Jilong were to use Jiangling as a route to directly attack Hunan, then Hunan, which they had just acquired, would be lost.

"The rice fields in central Hunan are bountiful, therefore Hunan is not to be missed."

Gao Pian walked to the viewing corridor, looked out at Dongting Lake, and then said: "Hunan has a population of one million and millions of acres of rice fields, which will surely be our army's granary for the next two or three years."

"If the imperial court needs grain, then we will send tens of thousands of shi (a unit of dry measure) to them."

"The most urgent task at present is to eliminate those barbarian tribes west of the Xiang River and wait for the autumn harvest to train the troops."

"As for the three prefectures of Lingxi and Jiangxi, it doesn't matter if they are handed over; the troops there can be replaced with new soldiers."

"Yes!" Wang Zhongren was still unwilling, but there was nothing he could do.

Although Gao Pian had lost the sharpness of last year, his speech had become more composed.

"I've heard that rebellions are about to break out in Dengzhou, Chenzhou, and other places. I'd like to see if Liu Jilong will use this as an excuse to cause trouble..."

His gaze fell upon the shimmering Dongting Lake, as if he were wondering what Liu Jilong was planning to do.

However, his guess was not wrong. Ever since he learned that Qin Zongquan had caused trouble, Liu Jilong had the idea of ​​moving east.

While Qin Zongquan was still trying to wait for a higher price, Husi Guang had already gathered 20,000 troops in Shangzhou, while Liu Jilong in Chang'an was waiting for the Tang court's response.

"Cuckoo..."

Above the simple outer city of Chang'an, birds chirped and Han soldiers patrolled back and forth. Among them, several figures walking in the opposite direction from the soldiers stood out.

"Your Highness, why bother with the Tang court's opinion? Just send troops to take Dengzhou directly."

"That's right, Your Highness. Once we capture Dengzhou, our army will be able to march south at any time to recapture Xiangyang and seize Zigui and Yiling."

Ma Yi and Wang Jian, both dressed in official robes, spoke one after the other, but Gao Jinda shook his head and explained:
"Now that we have reconciled with the court, and the Guanzhong Plain is suffering from a severe drought, the people are in great pain, and most of our army's money and supplies have been used for disaster relief. If we ignore the court and send troops directly, it will inevitably cause trouble again."

His voice carried on, causing Liu Jilong, who was walking ahead, to look out of the city.

Outside the city were rows of buildings, but the receding water level of the moat showed that Guanzhong was suffering from a severe drought.

"Has the number of people affected by the disaster increased...?"

Liu Jilong asked, and Gao Jinda frowned and said, "No less than 440,000. Three counties have basically suffered a complete crop failure. The Ministry of Revenue has already dispatched grain to the local granaries to ensure a stable grain price in the three counties."

"The local people have no harvest this year, so officials from the three provinces and six ministries discussed and decided to recruit workers in the three counties starting today to repair the official roads, city walls, government offices, and so on."

"If we can stabilize grain prices and ensure that one person in each household can work, we can get through this year and make it to next summer's harvest."

After Gao Jinda finished speaking, Liu Jilong nodded in satisfaction, thinking that he had done a good job. At the same time, he asked, "How many wealthy families have gone east recently?"

"With only 24 households, the government redeemed more than 16,000 mu of land, all of which were purchased at low prices, costing more than 86,000 taels of silver and silk."

Gao Jinda responded, and then explained: "Since the appearance of poems like 'Miscellaneous Satires' on the market, many wealthy families have become aware of the chaos in Guandong. Although they are unwilling to abide by the rules under our army's rule, they are even less willing to go east to suffer."

"They've got a good plan," Liu Jilong scoffed.

He looked down on these wealthy and powerful families, but he had no choice but to appease them for the time being.

After a long period of compromise, Liu Jilong became increasingly eager to expand eastward, but he also had to consider the overall situation.

Human affairs can be changed, but natural disasters cannot.

If it weren't for this drought, he could at least have occupied Hedong instead of making peace with the Tang Dynasty.

Now that the opportunity has presented itself, he naturally won't miss it.

"Keep a close eye on Dengzhou. Once the supplies to the front lines have been delivered, tell Husi Guang to send troops immediately."

Liu Jilong had no intention of paying attention to the Tang court, since Dengzhou was already part of his plan anyway.

Capturing Dengzhou would not only resettle some of the Tangut people, but also some of the disaster victims from Longdong.

More importantly, once these people arrived in Dengzhou, they could easily reclaim the land, thus advancing the Han army's supplies by hundreds of miles.

"Your Highness, wouldn't this be..."

Gao Jinda was somewhat conservative, but Liu Jilong interrupted him without turning his head, saying, "Right now, the right place to resettle disaster victims is Dengzhou, which has a million acres of arable land and abundant water resources. If we don't seize this opportunity, are we going to leave it to Huang Chao?"

"Yes..." Seeing that Liu Jilong was determined, Gao Jinda stopped trying to dissuade him and quietly walked the rest of the city wall with Liu Jilong.

When they reached Mingde Gate, Liu Jilong stopped and looked towards the South Market outside the city.

Outside the city gate stretched a complex of buildings for miles. After the redevelopment, the market was a chaotic mess, with shops hawking their wares along the street, and the walls of the old city had been demolished.

This was Liu Jilong's first step in changing the market system: demolishing the walls of the market areas and collecting commercial taxes based on the businesses operated by shops.

Nowadays, salt, iron, tea, wine and other commodities are all state-run, and the annual tax revenue is no less than 700,000 strings of cash. In addition, with the commercial taxes from shops in various cities, Liu Jilong estimates that the direct tax revenue collected this year will be no less than one million.

If we include the gold, silver, and copper mines in Longyou, the direct acquisition of copper coins would be even greater.

"This year's land tax will be reduced to 30%."

Liu Jilong suddenly spoke up, which surprised Gao Jinda, who said, "Your Highness, this year is a year of disaster. If taxes are reduced again, I'm afraid the annual revenue will be very low..."

"No," Liu Jilong shook his head and said, "Our army has just acquired more than ten prefectures in southern Sichuan. Even if Guannei Road and Guanzhong are affected by disasters, the tax burden will not be reduced too much."

"A 30% tax rate is not low to begin with; it's just that the imperial court collects too much, which makes it seem like we collect less tax."

"We should not compare ourselves to the court in terms of inferiority, but rather in terms of excellence. Comparing ourselves in terms of inferiority will only make things worse."

"Moreover, now that we have reconciled with the imperial court, spices from the Western Regions can be directly sold to Jiangnan. This year's annual income will only be more than last year's, not less."

He explained to Gao Jinda, and seeing his certainty, Gao Jinda had no choice but to believe him and make a note of the matter. At the same time, he asked, "Do we still need to collect the remaining half-grain from the community granary?"

Without hesitation, Liu Jilong replied, "We will continue to collect grain from the community granaries. When the country is at peace and people are able to recuperate, and we have the capacity to replenish the community granaries, it will not be too late to abolish them then."

As he finished speaking, his gaze turned to the pedestrians on the streets of the southern city outside the city.

Although he had never been to Northeast China, he could still see the suffering of the people there at that time from Lu Guimeng's "Miscellaneous Satires".

Compared to the people of Kanto, the people of Kansai, although ravaged by the severe drought, were at least able to survive under the "work relief" policy organized by the government.

Liu Jilong could see an old farmer dressed in coarse cloth standing in front of a government-run grain shop with two boys of about twelve or thirteen years old, talking to the shop assistant inside.

The shop assistant was getting impatient, while the old farmer looked helpless, probably because he didn't have enough money to buy enough food.

For Liu Jilong, these scenes were particularly heartbreaking.

Since he is going to take over power, he should naturally make sure the people live well. Even without his past life experience, he should still make sure the people live well.

Now that the people of Kansai are suffering so much, he naturally has to bear the responsibility.

"If the people are like this, the blame lies with me."

"I just hope that God will be kind and send down two rain showers before the rainy season."

Liu Jilong sighed deeply, looked up at the cloudless blue sky, and felt that the blue was particularly dazzling.

"This is not Your Highness's fault."

Gao Jinda and others bowed deeply to plead for Liu Jilong's innocence.

In their view, this really had nothing to do with Liu Jilong; after all, it was God's fault for not sending rain, so the blame should fall on God.

"Let's go and take a look at the government offices in the capital."

Liu Jilong stepped off the city wall and soon saw the carriages displayed on the street.

At some point, Liu Jilong also began to ride in a horse-drawn carriage.

On the way to the imperial city, the people on Zhuque Heavenly Street all looked in his direction, clearly very familiar with the carriage.

After all, in the history of Chang'an, there have been few officials and even emperors who have been able to go out of the city so frequently to care for the people, not to mention Liu Jilong going almost every two or three days.

Has His Highness the Prince of Han left the city?

"Alas, if you ask me, Heaven should send down rain now that His Highness is working so hard."

"There has been no rain or snow for more than seven months. I heard that many fields in Longdong have cracked and the rice seedlings have withered and died."

"Ugh……"

Liu Jilong's actions were seen by the people, and indeed no one blamed him. However, he felt somewhat guilty for failing to enable the people to live a peaceful and prosperous life after taking on such a great responsibility.

The carriage traveled for half an hour over a distance of more than ten miles, and by then the sky was gradually darkening.

Wang Jian was the first to notice, and quickly spurred his horse to catch up with Liu Jilong's carriage, opening the window and saying, "Your Highness, clouds are drifting over!"

"Clouds?!" Upon hearing that clouds were drifting in, Liu Jilong immediately looked outside and saw that there were indeed clouds drifting towards Chang'an from the south.

"parking!"

Liu Jilong stopped the carriage, and then, when the carriage stopped, he climbed up the nearest pagoda.

The ten-zhang-high pagoda was built during the Da Zhong era and has now become Liu Jilong's vantage point.

Dark clouds stretched out from the southwest, crossing the Qinling Mountains, leaving everyone astonished.

"It's raining!"

Liu Jilong has the best eyesight, so he could naturally see the rain curtain brought by the dark clouds.

"Damn it! It's finally raining!"

"It must be because the heavens saw Your Highness leaving the city every day that the gods sent down heavy rain!"

"Ha ha ha ha……"

Wang Jian and the other two laughed heartily, and Liu Jilong couldn't help but laugh out loud as well.

The dark clouds moved very quickly, and in less than a quarter of an hour, they had arrived over Chang'an.

The sound of pattering rain grew louder as it approached, the heavy rain blowing into the pagoda and onto Liu Jilong and the others, yet they made no attempt to dodge it.

Feeling the raindrops hitting their faces, everyone burst into laughter.

"It's raining! It's raining!"

"It's finally raining!!"

On the Vermilion Bird Heavenly Street, many farmers came to the street to enjoy the sweet rain that fell from the sky.

Looking at the excited people taking to the streets, Liu Jilong laughed heartily and reached out to catch the raindrops:

"This downpour is worth more than ten million taels of gold!!"

(End of this chapter)