Guiyi Fei Tang

Chapter 477 The Hedong Affairs Concluded (A Long Chapter of 10,000 Words)
"Drive! Drive! Drive..."

As the sun set, the sound of rapid hoofbeats awakened the grasslands of southern Mongolia, and hundreds of cavalrymen escorted more than a dozen carriages as they sped northward.

The faint, metallic clanging of the armor plates colliding with each other created an incredibly oppressive and anxious atmosphere, keeping everyone on edge as if their lives were in imminent danger.

"General, my lord, we have broken through the encirclement and can rest now!"

Gai Yu's voice rang out, which finally woke up the numb crowd. Li Guochang and Li Keyong reined in their horses, and their dull eyes regained some of their luster.

"Yang Wu, how is Yang Wu?"

After regaining his senses, Li Keyong hurriedly inquired about Zhou Dewei's situation. At that moment, a carriage at the end of the procession also rushed up to Li Keyong.

Upon seeing this, Li Keyong quickly dismounted and went to the back of the carriage to open the door.

Inside the car lay Zhou Dewei, shirtless and covered in coarse cloth.

"My lord, I'm alright..."

Zhou Dewei spoke with difficulty, and Li Keyong felt a lump in his throat, unable to contain his anger as he punched the carriage.

Li Guochang walked over, but he looked as if he had aged more than ten years, and said dejectedly:
"Tens of thousands of troops were wiped out, and now only these six hundred crow soldiers, our relatives and several dozen bushels of grain remain."

"With such a small force, how can we possibly rise again?" Li Guochang's voice was trembling with tears, while Gai Yu, upon hearing this, approached with Kang Junli, who was also wounded.

"The various Tatar tribes are constantly fighting, but six hundred armored cavalry are enough to make a comeback."

Gai Yu's words were somewhat comforting, but he also believed that as long as Li Keyong and Li Guochang maintained their fighting spirit, they still had a chance to make a comeback.

Even if they cannot return to the Central Plains, it is not difficult to take advantage of the turmoil in the south and north of the Gobi Desert, occupy the grasslands, and gradually advance.

"Right now, we can support the Tatar leaders who are on good terms with the military governor and rely on them to grow stronger."

As soon as Gai Yu finished speaking, Li Guochang replied without hesitation, "If Liu Jilong had not occupied the Hetao region, I was prepared to go and join the Adie and Hun tribes, but now it seems that I can only join the Xijie tribe."

"However, if Liu Jilong's army marches north, then we will have no choice but to continue north and join the Black Cart tribe."

After the Kyrgyz defeated the Uyghurs, although they became the overlords of the steppes, they did not govern.

Originally, many nomadic tribes in the southern and eastern parts of the Gobi Desert were collectively known as Tatars, including the Shiwei, Turks, Uyghurs, Tiele, Dangxiang, Tuyuhun, and Shatuo.

The Adie and Hun tribes mentioned by Li Guochang were the two tribes that roamed the northern part of Yinshan and raided the Tatars in the Hetao region.

The Xi Jie tribe was a neighboring tribe of the Xi people, with nearly 10,000 members and two to three thousand cavalrymen, and its strength was not very strong.

Even so, because of their good relations with the Xi tribe, they were able to occupy the western side of the Luan River to graze their livestock. The Xi tribe had five major tribes, each with 40,000 to 60,000 people, and there was a saying that they had 50,000 soldiers.

In the northern part of the Xi tribe, there were the eight Khitan tribes, which were still divided at this time. Each tribe had between 20,000 and 50,000 people. The Khitan tribes claimed to have more than 100,000 archers, but this was mostly boasting.

Although the Khitan and Xi share the same origin, the two ethnic groups have engaged in numerous open and covert struggles, and supporting the Tatar tribes in the west has been a common practice.

Joining the Xi Jie tribe would allow Li Guochang and his allies to participate in the Xi Jie tribe's battles against the Tatar tribes supported by the Khitan tribes, thereby expanding their own strength.

"In that case, let's go and join the Xi Jie tribe."

Gai Yu made the choice for Li Guochang, not believing that Liu Jilong would send troops north to attack them before the Central Plains were pacified.

After all, the longer the chaos lasts, the more difficult it will be to unify the country. Moreover, the Han army will need time to digest the Hedong and Daibei regions, and there will also be some disputes with Wang Jingchong of Chengde about who owns Yiwu Town.

While he was pondering these thoughts, Li Guochang ultimately chose to head north and join the Xi Jie tribe.

Meanwhile, after An Pohu and Cao Mao defeated Li Guochang's troops, they brought Li Guochang's people, food, and horses back to Yunzhou, and handed over the prisoners and spoils of war, such as armor, to Zhang Jianhui, which can be regarded as a reward for Zhang Yun's military assistance.

After the army withdrew to Daibei, An Pohu dispatched Wang Chongrong with 20,000 troops to garrison Yiwu, while simultaneously sending a memorial to Luoyang by fast horse.

Liu Jilong received the memorial on September 22nd.

"What's that young soldier's name?"

"It seems to be Zhou Dewei, nicknamed Yang Wu in the Daibei Army. If he hadn't escaped in time, Governor An and Governor Cao should have been able to capture him alive."

"Although Zhou Dewei escaped, Xue Zhiqin, the acting general of the Northern Army, was captured and is currently being escorted south."

Inside the main hall of the Prince of Han's residence, Liu Jilong listened to the report from the fast horse captain and couldn't help but feel a little regretful.

Zhou Dewei, Yang Shihou, and Ge Congzhou are all famous generals he knows well, even though he doesn't delve much into the history of the Five Dynasties.

If I could capture Zhou Dewei and make him work for me, I could save myself a lot of trouble.

Even so, Liu Jilong could only feel regret.

Li Guochang and his son Li Keyong eventually retreated to southern Mongolia. Although they couldn't be kept there, even with their strength, it would have taken them a long time to develop their territory there.

Before they can recover their strength, I will probably unify the world, recuperate, and then begin to expand my territory.

"Your Highness, now that the Hadong Province has been captured and our army will soon be stationed in Yiwu, when will we send troops to Tianping?"

Inside the hall, Wang Shi, the Minister of War, bowed respectfully. At this moment, his mind was no longer on the Tang Dynasty, but on the unification of the world and the well-being of the people.

When asked about his question, Liu Jilong picked up the memorial and carefully examined it for a moment before saying, "We will decide what to do when the tax records from each town arrive."

With the strength of the Han army, it is still possible to open up two fronts, but the production in the three towns of Henan has been damaged too much. The extent of recovery will depend on the arrival of the official documents before a decision can be made on whether to send troops to recapture Tianping.

Moreover, the situation in the north is not yet completely stable, and Liu Jilong is still unclear about Wang Jingchong's attitude towards Yiwu Town.

Liu Jilong of Yiwu Town must be captured. If Wang Jingchong wants to compete with me for Yiwu Town, then we'll have to see how many casualties he can afford.

When Li Guochang and Li Keyong were alive, they could be allies, but now that they have fled north, their alliance has naturally collapsed.

Thinking of this, Liu Jilong thought of Zhang Yunshen, who had taken the initiative to send troops to help him, and then looked at Wang Shi and the others.

"Zhang Jianhui and Li Maoxun have rendered meritorious service in assisting the court in suppressing the rebels. Zhang Jianhui is hereby awarded the title of Earl of Guangping County, and Li Maoxun is awarded the title of Earl of Liaoxi County."

As soon as Liu Jilong finished speaking, Zheng Tian frowned and said, "Does Your Highness intend to support Zhang Jianhui to succeed as the military governor of Lulong?"

"No." Liu Jilong shook his head: "My actions were merely to appease Zhang Yunshen, not to support Zhang Jianhui."

"Moreover, judging from Zhang Jianhui's performance in this battle, he was clearly not good enough to control Lulong Town, and many officers and soldiers in Lulong Town were well aware of this."

"Right now, I'm just using the pretext of supporting him to wait for an opportunity to send troops after the internal strife in Lulong."

Liu Jilong's plan was to pretend to support Zhang Jianhui, then wait for Zhang Yunshen to die of illness and for Lulong to fall into internal strife so he could send troops to intervene, eventually pacifying and recovering Lulong.

However, before that, he must first recover the towns of Tianping and Yichang so that he can launch attacks from multiple fronts.

Lulong Town is not like Chengde or Weibo. Judging from An Pohu's memorial, Lulong's elite cavalry is of good quality. In addition, they are fighting on their home turf, and the local soldiers and generals are particularly arrogant. Therefore, dealing with them is not as difficult as dealing with other vassal states.

Zhu Wen and Yelü Deguang's method was to slaughter all the guards and officers. Although Liu Jilong hoped to exile them, the morale of these guards and officers was really too bad.

If these officers and soldiers refuse to submit, then slaughtering them all would be a last resort.

After calming his thoughts, Liu Jilong continued, "Our army has just annihilated the towns of Hedong and Datong, and is about to recapture Yiwu Town."

“A far-sighted regional military governor would surely transport money and grain, and all of this money and grain would stop at Bianzhou and then be transported to the front line in Huazhou.”

"The imperial edict ordered Hu Siguang and Chen Jingchong to each assemble 15,000 troops in Song and Hua prefectures, and to report the prefectures' finances and the duration of the expedition."

"The imperial edict ordered Cui Shu to conduct a thorough survey of the population and land in Hedong Circuit this morning, appointing An Pohu as the military governor of all towns in Hebei, with his finances and provisions supplied by Hebei Circuit, and to be stationed in Yiwu."

“Yes…” Wang Shi and Gao Jinda and others agreed, and then dispatched fast horses to Hebei, Henan and other places.

As Liu Jilong made his decision, the world was gradually shaken by the destruction of the two towns of Hedong and Datong.

Zezhou, which originally belonged to Zhaoyi, was transferred to Heyang by Li Cui during the Xiantong era in order to guard against Liu Jilong. Later, Heyang came under Liu Jilong's control.

Therefore, in the current Hedong Circuit, only Luzhou, which was occupied by Zhaoyi, has not been recovered, while the rest of the provinces belong to Liu Jilong.

Cui Shu led a thousand officials and three thousand clerks drawn from Guanzhong to gradually enter the various prefectures of Hedong. Wang Jingchong, who had already occupied Yiwu, learned that Wang Chongrong was leading troops eastward, so he simply absorbed more than three thousand military officers from Yiwu Town. Liu Hougu surrendered to An Pohu.

Hou Gu surrendered the two devastated prefectures of Yi and Ding. Liu Jilong transferred him to Luoyang and settled him with official positions such as Left Attendant Gentleman of the Palace, Grand Master of the Palace, and Earl of Min County.

The three towns were brought under Liu Jilong's control in an instant, which aroused considerable interest among the neighboring warlords such as Lulong, Chengde, Weibo, and Zhaoyi.

Towns such as Zhaoyi, Ganhua, and Huainan were all waiting for a high price to be offered, and the reward offered by Liu Jilong was obviously not low.

Apart from Cui Xuan, who stubbornly resisted, all the other military governors who were willing to surrender could at least obtain the title of Earl of a Founding County and an official position in both civil and military fields, ensuring their wealth and status.

However, for those warlords who had always tried to establish their own independent regimes, the news of Liu Jilong's recapture of the three towns was bad news.

"Damn it, Liu Jilong acted so quickly, how come the warlords of Hedong and Datong couldn't even last three months before they were defeated?"

In late October, as news of the destruction of the three towns spread, Zhu Wen, inside the Qingzhou government office, couldn't help but curse.

After he finished cursing, he looked up at everyone in the hall and saw that Xie Tong, Zhu Cun, Ge Congzhou, Zhang Guiba, Zhang Guihou and others were all sitting and waiting for him to finish.

After he finished speaking, Xie Tong, Zhu Wen's current chief strategist, took the initiative to speak:

"After Liu Jilong captured the three towns, he will need time to sort out the affairs of the three towns, so he will not continue to use troops north of the Yellow River in the short term."

"After nearly a year of governance by Liu Jilong, the three towns in the Central Plains, despite the locust plague and drought, have enough money and grain transported by each town to help the people of the three towns get through the famine."

"I am now worried that Liu Jilong will take the opportunity to attack and plunder Tianping and Ganhua towns to the east."

"Zhang Sitai of the Taiping Army is relatively easy to deal with; he certainly wouldn't surrender to Liu Jilong. But Zeng Yuanyu of the Southern Ganhua Army has an ambiguous attitude. Perhaps as soon as the Han army enters his territory, Zeng Yuanyu will surrender to Liu Jilong."

"If that's the case, after Liu Jilong has thoroughly consolidated the Ganhua and Tianping armies, he will definitely send troops to attack our army from three sides."

"Although our army now controls eight prefectures with a population of 1.5 million and an army of 50,000, only 60% of the army is armored, and there are still 20,000 soldiers who are not armored."

"Although there are 1,600 military craftsmen in the eight prefectures, they can only produce about 800 sets of armor per month. It would take at least two years to armor 20,000 soldiers."

"Liu Jilong's eastward advance is only a matter of time, and our army will likely find it difficult to stop him then..."

Xie Tong's words caused many people in the hall to murmur amongst themselves, but Zhu Wen only frowned for a moment before saying:

"If Liu Jilong attacks Zhang Sitai, our army will immediately seize Dizhou within the territory of the Tianping Army, and then send troops to attack Yichang."

"Liu Jilong will send troops from Song and Hua prefectures. Even if he captures the four prefectures of Cao, Pu, Yun and Qi within Tianping territory, all of them except Qi prefecture will be devastated. They will be able to support themselves, but they will not have enough strength to send troops eastward."

"Even if Liu Jilong wants to attack our army again, he will have to wait until the summer grain harvest next year. Our army can take this opportunity to strengthen the city's defenses and fight Liu Jilong after the summer."

"At that time, all 50,000 soldiers will be fully armored, and tens of thousands more new soldiers will be recruited. I will confront Liu Jilong and do not believe that Gao Pian in the south and Wang Jingchong in the north will behave themselves."

Zhu Wen's words were true, but Zhang Sitai was, after all, their ally. The thought of betraying Zhang Sitai made Xie Tong, Ge Congzhou, and others hesitate.

However, their hesitation was only momentary, and they soon bowed to Zhu Wen, acknowledging his statement.

Seeing this, Zhu Wen, despite feeling the pressure, tried his best to salvage the situation and then said:

"But that's not enough to fight against Liu Jilong."

"Liu Jilong now controls eight provinces and has even extended his reach into Hebei Province. His troops probably number no less than 300,000."

"Although his territory is vast, his population is mainly in the west, while the Guandong region is in ruins, so he can only rely on the Hedong region."

"Although our territory is small, our towns are densely populated. If we were to fight against him, with multiple forces restraining each other, we might not be unable to win!"

"Han Junxiong of Weibo, Wang Jingchong of Chengde, Gao Pian in the south, and the forces in Lulong Town in the north that are not subservient to Zhang Yunshen—these are all people we can win over."

Faced with an enemy too powerful to confront alone, Zhu Wen prepared to form an alliance of various towns to attack Liu Jilong. Upon hearing this, Xie Tong decisively stood up and bowed to Zhu Wen.

"Leave this matter to me, I will certainly not disappoint you, my lord..."

"Alright!" Zhu Wen agreed without hesitation, but then continued, "That being said, the autumn grain shipment cannot be stopped this year. It can be less, but it cannot be absent."

"A certain person submitted a memorial to the court, stating that the town was suffering from a severe famine due to locusts, and that only 50,000 shi of grain needed to be transported."

While 50,000 shi of grain is a considerable amount, it is not much compared to the combined output of the two towns.

Zhu Wen made this arrangement mainly because he was worried that giving too little would give Liu Jilong an excuse to attack him, so he set this amount.

Although the amount is not large, it is certainly not small either; it is much better than those warlords who could not refuse to transport supplies.

With that in mind, Zhu Wen dismissed everyone, while Xie Tong began sending out envoys to prepare an alliance to resist Liu Jilong.

In just over half a month, news of what happened in Hedong and Hebei reached Jiangnan. At this time, Gao Pian, who was still stationed in Yuezhou, frowned as he looked at Kuang Shiqian and others after hearing the news.

"How many acres of land are there in Jiangxi and Fujian?" Gao Pian asked. Kuang Shiqian replied without hesitation:
"The documents are all old records from the Huichang era. There are 350,000 households, more than 1.7 million people, and 7.42 million mu of land in the eight prefectures of Jiangxi."

"The five prefectures of Fujian have 120,000 households, 600,000 people, and 3.14 million mu of land."

"However, Jiangxi and Fujian provinces have previously suffered from cholera outbreaks caused by yellow weevils, which may have led to a decline in both population and arable land..."

"Hmph!" Gao Pian snorted coldly, which made Kuang Shiqian look at him in confusion, only to see him say in a cold voice:
"The Huichang era was more than 20 years ago. Has the number of people and cultivated land not increased in more than 20 years?"

"You should all know that most local clerks come from powerful and influential families. Do you think they would truthfully report the number of people, the amount of silk, and the amount of cultivated land?"

“The population of Jiangxi and Fujian is far greater than 2.3 million, and the land is far more than 10 million mu of farmland.”

Gao Pian himself came from the Bohai Gao clan, and he knew all too well the tricks of powerful and influential families.

Even if Huang Chao wreaked havoc in Jiangxi for a long time, how many people could he have killed in just three or four months?

Not to mention that most of the people in Fujian lived in places like Fuzhou and Quanzhou, while Huang Chao stopped at Jianzhou and did not penetrate into the densely populated areas of Fujian.

Furthermore, according to his information, when Huang Chao wreaked havoc in Jiangnan, countless people from Jiangnan flocked to Fujian to pray for peace.

Compared to before Huang Chao's rebellion, Fujian's population has only increased, not decreased.

These powerful and influential families were unwilling to hand over the population tax to themselves, so they created the Huichang Register by deceiving their superiors and subordinates.

If he could, he would also like to follow Liu Jilong's example, slaughter all the powerful and wealthy families in the territory, and then support poor scholars to firmly grasp local governance.

Unfortunately, given his status, he was destined not to do anything that would lower his dignity.

Taking a deep breath, Gao Pian calmly pondered for a moment before saying, "With these two towns in hand, and including Guizhou, Hunan, Lingnan, and Jiangbei, our army has no fewer than six million people under its command and cultivates no fewer than thirty million acres of land."

“From this day forward, I will follow the example of Liu Jilong and abolish the poll tax, merging it into the land tax, with each mu of land taxed at three dou. The Huichang map will serve as the model. Silk, mulberry and hemp will still be taxed as summer tax, while the land tax will be taxed as autumn tax.”

In order to confront Liu Jilong, Gao Pian made a tough decision.

The tax rate of three dou per mu was not high for the Jiangnan region, where the yield was one shi and seven or eight dou per mu, or even two or three shi per mu.

The problem is that the people who helped Gao Pian were clerks from powerful and influential families.

It's highly unlikely that these people would help Gao Pian fight against his own people, so these taxes would most likely be passed on to ordinary people by the tax collectors.

Gao Pian himself was aware of this, but he was even more aware that only by uniting with powerful families could he ensure the normal operation of the bureaucracy, collect taxes and grain, and maintain the army's ability to fight against Liu Jilong.

According to the Huichang Gazetteer, Gao Pian's forces would receive more than nine million shi of grain annually, as well as no less than one million guan of silk, mulberry, hemp, and various other miscellaneous items.

"By imperial decree, 30,000 soldiers shall be recruited in Jiangxi and Fujian respectively. After the summer harvest next year, I will send troops to take over all of Jiangdong and Liangzhe!"

Gao Pian looked at Gao Qin, who nodded and bowed, accepting the imperial edict without hesitation.

Seeing that they agreed, Gao Pian turned his gaze to Dongting Lake outside Yueyang Tower.

Although the area of ​​Jiangdong and Liangzhe is not large, the population is particularly dense, with no less than four or five million people in the sixteen prefectures.

If he could control Jiangdong and Liangzhe, and then march north to deal with Kang Chengxun, he could rely on the Dabie Mountains and the Huai River and Yangtze River defense lines to confront Liu Jilong. He was already fifty years old, while Liu Jilong was only thirty-eight. Thinking of this, he couldn't help but feel anxious.

Given the speed at which Liu Jilong conquered the three towns, if there were no strongmen in the northern towns, it would only take Liu Jilong two or three years to pacify them.

After two or three years, he still lacked the confidence to manage Jiangnan into a unified entity.

Taking a deep breath, Gao Pian tried to give some more instructions, but at that moment he saw Lie Xiao stride up Yueyang Tower and present a letter with both hands.

"King Gao, urgent report from Jiangxi."

Upon hearing this, Gao Pian frowned, while Gao Qin quickly snatched the letter and handed it to Gao Pian.

Gao Pian opened and read it. When he saw that the letter came from Yanhai Town in the north, the contents of the letter made him smile.

"Zhu Quanzhong, what a Zhu Quanzhong..."

Gao Pian closed the letter and casually handed it to Kuang Shiqian and Gao Qin. The two took the letter, read it, and their faces lit up with joy.

"Since Zhu Quanzhong could come up with such a plan, should our army join forces with Zhu Quanzhong to attack Liu Jilong?"

Gao Qin was somewhat excited, but Gao Pian shook his head and said, "Our army cannot directly confront Liu Jilong for the time being."

"But isn't Zhu Quanzhong lacking armor and provisions? Our army can make a fuss about this."

"By imperial decree, 300,000 shi of autumn grain, 5,000 sets of paper armor, and 3,000 sets of leather armor shall be transported northward."

"150,000 shi were transported to Luoyang, and the rest were all shipped to Haizhou via the Huai River."

The south is hot and humid, and iron armor is prone to rusting. Therefore, starting from the Northern and Southern Dynasties, there was a saying that coarse paper was stacked, hammered, and then inlaid with iron ingots and riveted to make armor.

After the An Lushan Rebellion, although paper armor was not as defensive as iron armor, it was lightweight, inexpensive, and easy to manufacture. Therefore, many armies began to equip themselves with paper armor, calling them white-armored soldiers.

Gao Pian was able to rapidly expand his army by relying on the paper armor from Hunan.

Compared to the production of less than 20,000 sets of iron armor per year with 5,000 artisans, the production of 50,000 sets of paper armor per year with the same number of artisans is undoubtedly more suitable for large-scale deployment.

Of course, Gao Pian also knew that paper armor was only suitable for defense, and that a sufficient number of iron armors were needed for a real offensive northward.

Therefore, his more than 50,000 armored troops were currently deployed north of the Yangtze River and along the Yangtze River to guard against Liu Jilong.

Arming Zhu Quanzhong with cheap paper and leather armor, and then having Zhu Quanzhong constantly wear down Liu Jilong's strength in a protracted battle, would buy Gao Pian time for himself.

Under his orders, 300,000 shi of grain and 8,000 armored soldiers were transported to the north. Meanwhile, Song Wei and Dong Chang, both from the Jiangnan region, temporarily ceased their conflict due to Gao Pian's sudden advance.

The matter of Liu Jilong was too distant for the two of them; they only knew that Gao Pian had already reached their doorstep.

Compared to them, Zhu Wen, who received Gao Pian's reply half a month later, couldn't help but feel happy.

"Han Junxiong, Wang Jingchong, Gao Pian..."

In the Qingzhou government office, Zhu Wen read out these three names and laughed heartily, saying, "I obtained their allocated money, provisions, and armor without losing a single soldier."

“When Liu Jilong sends troops to attack Zhang Sitai, I will occupy Qizhou. At that time, Liu Jilong will surely be furious.”

“With the support of the various towns, I do not believe that I cannot stand up to Liu Jilong.”

At this moment, Zhu Wen was extremely pleased with himself.

Although none of the three towns agreed to send troops to contain Liu Jilong, he believed that as long as he could keep up with Liu Jilong, the three towns would never sit idly by.

Thinking of this, Zhu Wen looked at Xie Tong and asked, "How much money and grain is left in the warehouse for use?"

"The amount of money and silk exchanged for the currency was no less than 300,000 strings of cash, and the amount of grain and fodder was about 500,000 shi, all of which were accumulated by Pinglu Town over many years."

"Good!" Zhu Wen pondered for a moment and then continued, "Order Sanlang to recruit 20,000 soldiers for training, and transfer 100,000 shi of grain to Zouping County. Ge Dalang and the Zhang brothers will lead 30,000 troops north. If Liu Jilong considers Zhang Sitai a traitor, our army will attack Dizhou and advance north to Yichang."

"Yes!" Xie Tong replied, then hurriedly left the yamen to prepare to mobilize troops and supplies.

While Zhu Wen was preparing to advance north, Liu Jilong received documents regarding money and provisions from various regions on the eve of the winter solstice.

The winter solstice in the eleventh month is undoubtedly one of the most important days in the ancient solar terms. Therefore, the imperial court usually held a grand court assembly on the winter solstice, and this is still the case today.

"Living for tens of millions of years..."

"prosper!"

Inside the Qianyuan Hall of the Ziwei City in Luoyang, when the fifteen-year-old Li Yi, dressed in imperial robes, sat lazily in the main seat before everyone, officials such as Xiao Gou and Liu Zhan, who still had their hearts set on the Tang Dynasty, couldn't help but feel complicated emotions, as if their hearts were being squeezed and clenched with pain.

Since Liu Jilong entered Luoyang, Li Yi has been allowed to run wild under Liu Jilong's laissez-faire management.

Liu Jilong's only requirement for Li Yi was that he not cause trouble and should operate strictly under the supervision of the Six Armies of the Northern Army.

Even when he wanted to leave Luoyang to hunt around the area, Liu Jilong did not stop him.

Anyway, the amount of money and silk allocated to the palace each year was only so much, and with Yang Gongqing, Ximen Junsui, and Zhang Ying constantly supervising, he didn't need to worry about it at all.

For Li Yi, who has a strong sense of playfulness, even though he knows he is a puppet, this kind of life still makes him happy.

"His Majesty……"

Suddenly, Liu Jilong, who was standing in front of the officials, took the initiative to speak. After he spoke, Li Yi, who had been somewhat lazy, couldn't help but sit up straight, afraid of being scolded by Liu Jilong.

Even though Liu Jilong never scolded him, every time he saw Liu Jilong, he could feel a suffocating pressure from him.

"This year, the imperial court's annual revenue was over 4.2 million strings of silk and miscellaneous goods, and 17.25 million shi of land tax. After deducting the expenses for supporting the army and maintaining the operation of the imperial court and local government offices, it was still able to accumulate 2.46 million shi of tax grain."

"In addition, the various garrisons have submitted a memorial requesting the transport of 560,000 shi of summer grain and 720,000 shi of autumn grain. This batch of grain and fodder will be transported entirely to Hua and Song prefectures."

“Zhang Sitai of the Tianping Army took advantage of the court’s suppression of the rebellion to cause trouble. The late emperor had no choice but to hereby appoint him as the military governor of the Tianping Army.”

"However, this official has refused to transport the goods time and time again. I believe that if we do not quell the rebellion, we cannot demonstrate the majesty of the court."

"In addition, Lu Jianfang, the military governor of Yichang, has not set out for campaign for two years and has refused the court's urging several times. I believe he should be included in the campaign to quell the rebellion."

As Liu Jilong finished speaking, many officials in the court who were loyal to the Tang Dynasty sighed inwardly.

If Liu Jilong were to send troops to pacify Yichang and Tianping, then only the three towns of Hebei and the five towns of Zhaoyi and Yanhai would remain in the north.

Huainan and Xusi have ambiguous relationships with Liu Jilong. Once Liu Jilong pacifies the five towns, the two towns will probably submit to him in no time.

If the area north of the Huai River were to belong to him, how far would it be from the point where he declined the offer three times? And what would become of the hundreds of members of the imperial family in Luoyang at that time?

These ministers were deeply worried, including Zheng Tian, ​​who was in the Han camp but whose heart was with the Tang.

"I am still young, let the Prince of Han decide this matter..."

Li Yi knew he was a puppet, so after initially living in constant fear, he gradually came to terms with reality and began to live a life of hedonism.

He didn't know how much longer he could live. After all, since the Northern and Southern Dynasties, many royal families had been overthrown and slaughtered. The most recent dynasty, the Former Sui, was not completely wiped out, but only Yang Zhengdao's lineage remained.

Yang Zhengdao survived only because Li Shimin was in power at the time. If it had been Li Yuan, Yang Zhengdao's fate would most likely have been similar to that of Yang You.

The Sui and Tang dynasties were at least related by blood, and Li Shimin was benevolent enough. As for Liu Jilong and the Tang dynasty, not to mention his grudges with Li Cui, just the fact that Li Chen targeted Liu Jilong several times was enough to make Liu Jilong harbor a lot of resentment.

If Liu Jilong were to hold all these grudges against him, he would probably only have two or three good years left.

Thinking of this, Li Yi felt a lump in his throat, but Liu Jilong in the hall didn't think as much as the others.

Having achieved his goal, he bowed respectfully and then returned to his seat.

Seeing that he did not speak, the officials of the Court of State Ceremonial could only begin to recite congratulatory memorials, and then hastily ended the grand court assembly.

Liu Jilong was the first to walk out of Qianyuan Hall, and then, surrounded by Gao Jinda and others, he walked towards the outside of Ziwei City.

After he left, all the officials dispersed and returned to their respective offices to continue their duties.

However, during this time, Prime Minister Liu Zhan and Xiao Gou met in the Secretariat. Both were deeply worried, first ignoring those around them, before speaking:
"Liu Muzhi pacified the three towns in March, and now he is about to take action against Yichang and Tianping."

"At this speed, I'm afraid that shortly after he pacifies Dingchang and Tianping, he will turn his attention to Zhaoyi and Yanhai, then begin to subdue the three towns of Hebei, and finally raise an army to march south..."

Liu Zhan spoke with deep concern, while Xiao Gou pondered and said, "Judging from the precedents of past dynasties, if things are like this, even if Liu Muzhi does not want to become emperor, he has no choice."

"Now, Luoyang is filled with Liu Jilong's troops. Although I have tried my methods, I cannot insert a spies into the city."

"If Liu Jilong unifies the north at that time, his officials will surely urge him to ascend the throne."

"The trend is inevitable and neither you nor I can stop it, but how can the bloodline of Emperor Taizong be allowed to die out?"

"Why not follow the example of Consort Yang and marry the emperor's daughter to Liu Muzhi?"

As soon as Xiao Gou finished speaking, Liu Zhan hesitated: "This...this...it seems there is no imperial daughter in the inner court."

Liu Zhan was naturally thinking of Li Yan or Li Chen's daughters, but most of these daughters were born during the Huichang and Dazhong eras and were basically betrothed to other people by Li Cui.

Xiao Gou thought differently from him, so after he spoke, Xiao Gou said, "Princess Tongchang was favored by the late emperor and is of suitable age. If she marries Liu Muzhi, she will surely have children."

"There are many people in the world who are devoted to the Tang Dynasty. Although we are powerless to support the Tang Dynasty, Liu Muzhi still needs our support. Therefore, marrying the princess can stabilize the court and the country."

"This!" Liu Zhan's eyes widened. He really didn't expect that Xiao Gou would want Liu Jilong to marry Li Meiling. After all, Liu Jilong and Li Cui were the same age. Although Liu Jilong's eldest son was only thirteen years old, they were still of the same generation.

By having Liu Jilong marry Li Meiling, isn't this indirectly making Liu Jilong twice as inferior to Li Cui?

Given the feud between Liu Jilong and Li Cui, Liu Zhan believed that Liu Jilong would not agree.

In response, Xiao Gou explained: "I know Liu Mu's character well. He values ​​integrity and the people. If he can marry the princess and stabilize the situation, he will not be concerned about these details."

"If you do not believe me, I can invite Ministers Zheng, Li, and Wang to come. I am sure that the three of you would not want the bloodline of Emperor Taizong to be harmed."

"Well, sigh..." Liu Zhan sighed, then could only nod and say, "I'm afraid the three of them won't come."

Liu Zhan was well aware of how badly Yang Xuanji and others from the Northern Division had wronged Wang Shi and Zheng Tian. During Li Chen's reign, the Southern and Northern Divisions had constantly made things difficult for Li Shangyin. Therefore, Liu Zhan was somewhat uncertain about whether the three of them would come.

In contrast to him, Xiao Gou, who had once served under Liu Jilong, was very clear that for this group of people, Emperor Taizong and the Tang Dynasty were two different things.

As long as the request is reasonable, the three have no reason to refuse.

"I will take care of this matter now."

Xiao Gou nodded, then got up and walked outside. Wang Shi, Zheng Tian, ​​Li Shangyin and others who were also working in the Southern Office soon received an invitation from Xiao Gou.

The three men reacted almost identically: they all sent someone to inform the Prince of Han's residence and waited for Liu Jilong's response before heading to the Ministry of Personnel.

In less than an hour, when the three arrived, there were already many officials inside the government office.

Among them were Liu Jilong's maternal brother (brother-in-law) Feng Bangyan and Zhang Huaicheng, who worked in Beijing.

After Liu Jilong arrived, although he didn't interact much with Feng Bangyan, he still bestowed many rewards upon Feng Bangyan and Zhang Huaicheng.

At present, Feng Bangyan serves as the Vice Minister of the Ministry of Revenue, while Zhang Huaicheng serves as the Vice Minister of the Ministry of Justice. Both of them also hold the honorary titles of third-rank civil officials and county earls.

Seeing that so many people had arrived, the three men, led by Wang Shi, relaxed their guard.

The three of them were seated at the head of the left, while the head of the right was reserved for Zhang Huaicheng, Feng Bangyan, and others.

The hall was filled with dozens of officials, most of whom were officials of the fifth rank or above, many of whom were transferred from Chang'an by Liu Jilong, but were former officials of the Tang court.

Seeing that Xiao Gou and Liu Zhan had summoned so many people, they were all relieved. Xiao Gou and Liu Zhan, seeing so many people had arrived, then said:

"Throughout history, whenever dynasties changed, the imperial family of the previous dynasty was often slaughtered. Now, Emperor Taizong's bloodline numbered only about 160. If any of them were to be lost, we, his subjects, would suffer a terrible loss."

After Xiao Gou said this, many officials in the hall frowned, since Xiao Gou had practically laid out the future in the open.

They wanted to leave, but seeing that Li Shangyin, Wang Shi, and Zheng Tian had not left, they all patiently waited.

Xiao Gou also knew that he couldn't say too much about things that were too targeted at Liu Jilong, so he changed the subject and said:
"Dynastic changes are indeed ordained by fate. The Tang Dynasty has lasted for 254 years, the longest in history. Heaven's favor has ended here, and there is nothing we can do about it."

Although the concept of the Han Dynasty flourished in the Tang Dynasty, many people still do not agree with it and often refer to the Han Dynasty as lasting for four hundred years.

However, this was clearly not the time to argue about this, so the officials did not refute Xiao Gou's words, but continued to listen.

"The King of Han is benevolent, but many of his subordinates are of commoner origin, which may threaten the bloodline of Emperor Taizong."

"After discussing with my brother, I hope that all of you colleagues will persuade the Prince of Han to marry the princess, so as to protect the bloodline of Emperor Taizong."

The Li Tang imperial family actually numbers over 1,800 people to date, but the majority are descendants of Li Yuan and his brothers. The descendants of Li Shimin were mostly purged by Wu Zetian and Zhu Ci, leaving only a little over 160 survivors.

Based on Xiao Gou and Liu Zhan's attitude, it was inevitable and unstoppable for Liu Jilong to ascend the throne in the future, and what they had to do was to preserve the bloodline of Emperor Taizong.

One solution was to marry Princess Tongchang to Liu Jilong. After all, given Liu Jilong's personality, he couldn't possibly kill all of Li Meiling's brothers and sisters, could he?

As long as Li Cui's branch of the imperial family could be preserved, Liu Zhan and Xiao Gou didn't care how the other members of the imperial clan were dealt with, or rather, they couldn't care less.

After the two finished speaking, the officials in the hall began to ponder.

There are indeed many officials who are devoted to the Tang Dynasty at present, but it would be more accurate to say that they are devoted to the Tang Dynasty during the reign of Emperor Taizong rather than the Tang Dynasty itself.

Liu Zhan and Xiao Gou's approach not only preserved Emperor Taizong's bloodline to the greatest extent possible, but also reassured officials who were loyal to Emperor Taizong, thus gaining their support. No matter how you look at it, it was a good thing.

"The King of Han was strong-willed. Years ago, the Kyrgyz demanded that the King of Han divorce his wife and remarry, citing the need to provide 100,000 troops. The King of Han rebuked the Kyrgyz envoy, which led to the Battle of Qikou."

"If she were to marry a princess, she could only be a lady-in-waiting and could not compete for the position of princess consort."

Li Shangyin spoke slowly when everyone was silent, which caused many officials who were loyal to the Tang Dynasty to change their expressions slightly.

The Tang Dynasty had strict restrictions on the concubines of princes. The princess was of the first rank and could only have one. The concubine was of the fifth rank and could have two. The next rank was the maidservant (dowry) of the sixth rank, and the limit was four. Finally, there were unranked concubines who were not restricted.

Liu Jilong never appointed any concubines, so the status of a concubine was quite high.

Xiao Gou and Liu Zhan had also studied this matter, which is why they wanted Li Meiling to enter the Han Prince's mansion as a concubine; otherwise, they wouldn't have dared to call Feng Bangyan over.

After all, Feng Bangyan's sister, Feng Hui, is a princess and the future empress. If they dare to compete for her, Feng Bangyan will definitely fight them to the death.

"Two people also thought so, and Princess Tongchang could be made a concubine."

As Xiao Gou and Liu Zhan finished speaking, everyone turned their attention to Feng Bangyan.

Feng Bangyan felt somewhat uncomfortable. He naturally hoped that his younger sister could keep a firm grip on Liu Jilong, but he also knew that this was impossible.

Feng Hui is now thirty-three years old, his youth is fading, and he can only rely on his sons now, rather than Liu Jilong's favor.

No matter how much Liu Jilong valued integrity, he was still a man, and no man could resist the allure of young, beautiful women.

Thinking of this, Feng Bangyan couldn't help but feel a little nervous.

In Liu Jilong's inner quarters, the youngest concubines are all twenty-seven or twenty-eight, while Li Meiling is only twenty. If she marries into the Prince's mansion, she will surely be favored by Liu Jilong.

He couldn't stop Li Meiling from entering the Prince's mansion, so he had to find another way.

Thinking of this, Feng Bangyan nodded and said, "That's very good."

Seeing Feng Bangyan nod, everyone breathed a sigh of relief. Xiao Gou then said:

"In that case, after the New Year's Day court assembly, I would like to invite you all to present your memorials together."

"Can!"

(End of this chapter)