Guiyi Fei Tang

Chapter 485 Xu Si's Uproar (A Long Chapter of 10,000 Words)
"Boom——"

On the eve of the Lunar New Year, when Zhu Wen removed his armor and cut his robe, and Wang Jingchong was struggling to make a decision, a rumble of thunder in the Zibo and Qingzhou region seemed to break through the thick clouds, causing a tremor in everyone's heart.

Outside Zichuan City, tens of thousands of Han soldiers surrounded the Zizhou capital on three sides, while another 30,000 laborers dug stones, cut down trees, and built various siege weapons.

The grand spectacle outside the city forced the Yanzhou navy, who were defending the city, to suppress their unease and grit their teeth to hold the city.

"This is already the tenth day. That pig-dog Wei Zhou is an official in Luoyang, right?"

"Damn it! He defended such a fortified city, but he couldn't even hold out for a month before being driven away by that Zhu traitor. Now that the city has been fortified, we're the ones suffering!"

On the front lines of the Han army, several generals and captains couldn't help but curse, while Wang Shi, the commander of the expedition, also felt a great headache.

In the distance, beneath the city of Zichuan, lay the remains of burnt-out chariots, shield chariots, and cloud chariots. Large pits lingered at the base of the city walls, which were uneven and riddled with broken bricks, though the interiors of the bricks remained intact.

Wang Shi frowned, while Zhang Yanhui sought advice from Wang Jian: "Young Master Wang, it seems that the siege of Zichuan City will take another ten days or so, won't it?"

"Ten days or so?" Wang Jian shook his head and sighed, "I'm afraid it will be more than that."

Wang Jian pointed at Zichuan City with his riding whip and said, "Although Zichuan is the seat of Zizhou, it was not a particularly remarkable city before the An Lushan Rebellion."

"Later, during the An Lushan Rebellion, three out of ten people in Henan Province were killed, but Zizhou benefited from the management of Li Zhengji's four generations of people, which led to an increase in population."

"Although the population has not yet recovered to the level of the Kaiyuan era, the more than 200,000 people in the prefecture are enough to make it one of the top in Henan."

"The Li family built more cities in Zichuan and Yidu over four generations. Later, Your Highness rose to power in Longxi. When Wei Zhou learned that our army could use magic to break through the city, he added three layers of bricks to reinforce the two counties of Zichuan and Yidu."

"That's why these are the only two brick cities in Pinglu Town, making them naturally difficult to attack."

"But Wei Zhou, who was guarding the fortified city, was defeated and driven away by the Zhu traitor. He eventually fled to Luoyang to seek refuge with Your Highness, leaving us with these two difficult problems."

"Our army has been attacking Zichuan and Yidu for eight days, and has used more than 30,000 catties of gunpowder, but we still cannot take them down. It will probably take a long time to capture this city."

"Moreover, Ge Congzhou is good at defense. He was able to hold out for nearly a month against Kang Chengxun's tens of thousands of troops in Shouchun City. Now that his troops are well-trained and well-supplied, it will be even more difficult to attack him."

Wang Jian naturally knew Zhang Yanhui's identity, so he treated him with great respect and explained everything that Zhang Yanhui didn't understand.

Upon hearing this, Zhang Yanhui looked at the still-standing Zichuan city wall and couldn't help but ask, "Why not use acupoint attack?"

When asked, Wang Jian shook his head and said, "There are too many rivers here. You can't dig down more than seven feet before water gushes out. In this weather, you can get sick from the cold."

"This method of attacking from a hole is quite effective in places like Hexi, Longxi, and Hedong, but in places like Henan, Hebei, Jiannan, and Shannan, it depends on the season and the city."

Using gunpowder packs in conjunction with acupoint attacks was indeed very powerful, and it was the Han army's favorite siege tactic.

However, tactics need to be adapted to local conditions; the method of attacking from a hole is simply not applicable in the northern winter.

This era had a small population and was at the tail end of a warm period, so even though rainfall was unpredictable, the groundwater level was very high.

In places like Hebei and Henan, where the population is sparse, a well dug a few meters deep is enough to provide drinking water for three generations, barring drought conditions.

Even for farmland far from the river, digging four or five zhang (approximately 10-15 meters) would be enough.

During the severe drought, the main reason why people did not dig wells to irrigate their crops was that wells were prone to collapse once they were dug to a depth of four zhang (approximately 10 meters). Ordinary people could not afford to hire water workers to help with the digging, and even if they had the money to dig, they could not afford to repair the well bricks or use the ceramic rings.

Wells over four zhang (approximately 10 meters) in the Central Plains region were considered deep wells, mostly used by wealthy families, let alone wells over five zhang (approximately 10 meters).

"Giddy up, giddy up, giddy up..."

Suddenly, a fast horse galloped from afar, dismounted in front of Wang Shi, and presented the military document with both hands.

Wang Shi took the military document and glanced at it; his serious face finally relaxed slightly.

He passed the military intelligence to Wang Jian and Zhang Yanhui, instructing them: "Send another fast horse to deliver this military intelligence to Yidu City."

Wang Jian took the military document and immediately began reading it with Zhang Yanhui.

The military intelligence report stated that a few days prior, Li Yangchun had led his army into Tianping, driven Zhu Wen out of Yunzhou, and then led a large army in multiple directions to attack Yanzhou.

"it is good!"

"Now that our army is launching a strong attack on Yanzhou, we will surely make Zhu Quanzhong suffer the consequences!"

The two men's faces were full of joy, and Wang Shi nodded in agreement, but he wasn't so optimistic, so he continued:
"Our army has now captured most of Dengzhou, Laizhou, and Zibo and Qingzhou. Zhu Quanzhong only has Yanzhou, Mizhou, Haizhou, and Yizhou left."

"Once we capture Yanzhou, Zeng Yuanyu of the Southern Ganhua Army will know what to do, and it will be much easier to capture Haizhou and Yizhou."

"But what we need to worry about now is mainly the two towns of Weibo and Chengde in the north."

Seemingly in response to Wang Shi's words, another fast horse galloped in from the west, but this time the horse was not as composed as before, and instead seemed somewhat flustered.

The horse galloped up to Wang Shi and his men, its hooves slipping. The Han soldiers on horseback struggled to steer the horses back to their feet before dismounting.

"Lord Wang, urgent report from Weibo!"

The messenger's words immediately moved the three men. Wang Shi took the urgent report and examined it, his expression gradually becoming serious.

He looked up at Zhang Yanhui and Wang Jian, his face grim, and said, "Wei Bo has rebelled. Han Junxiong has led 30,000 troops south to attack Hua and Pu. I'm afraid the two prefectures of Hua and Pu are already under siege. I just don't know how Li Qiebiao has made his arrangements."

"That pig-dog Wei Bo really dares to rebel?!" Zhang Yanhui's face turned ugly.

"What wouldn't they dare to do?" Wang Jian's expression was equally serious, his mind racing with thoughts.

Seeing this, Wang Shi looked at the two men and said, "I will lead the troops to attack this place. You two will now lead five thousand troops from Dizhou, with Guangtu as the commander-in-chief, to control the troops from Cangzhou and Dezhou. Be wary of the invasion from Weibo, and even more so of Chengde."

"Your subordinate obeys!" Upon hearing that he finally had control over tens of thousands of troops, Wang Jian's solemn expression instantly turned into joy.

After all, the land of Qi and Lu was home to Chen Jingchong, An Pohu, Husi Guang, Wang Shi, and others. Even if we don't count them, people like Ma Yi, Gao Huai, and Wang Chongrong all had more seniority than him.

The task of guarding Cang and De prefectures would certainly not have fallen to Wang Shi.

Wang Jian dared not delay. After discussing the details with Wang Shi, he immediately led a dozen or so riders northward at full speed.

Meanwhile, An Pohu and Chen Jingchong, who were besieging Yidu, the capital of Qingzhou, to the south, also received the news.

Husi Guang led Gao Huai and Ma Yi to attack Dengzhou and Laizhou, and is currently unable to spare any resources.

"That pig-dog Wei Bo certainly knows how to pick his timing."

Outside Yidu City, 15,000 Han soldiers, with the cooperation of 30,000 laborers, surrounded the city completely.

The situation in Yidu City was not much different from that in Zichuan City. It had abundant water resources, making it difficult to breach the city walls through tunneling or blasting in winter.

An Pohu and Chen Jingchong led Wang Chongrong and Zhu Mei in a fierce attack using shield carts and gunpowder for several days. Although they blasted the brick wall to pieces, they still did not expose the rammed earth wall.

"The only way to attack this kind of city is by using tunneling and explosives, but our army cannot take Yidu quickly. It will take at least until February of next year."

Chen Jingchong slowly spoke, expressing his concern about the Yidu City, which was guarded by Zhang Guiba and Zhang Guihou.

Upon hearing this, An Pohu couldn't help but say, "The grain supplies for the four prefectures of Pinglu are all in Zichuan and Yidu. Even if Governor Husi has already taken over the two prefectures of Dengzhou and Laizhou, I'm afraid there won't be much grain supply."

"Although transporting grain directly from Qizhou to attack Mizhou would be extremely costly along the way, we have no choice but to do so now."

Chen Jingchong hesitated for a moment, but considering that the longer the delay would last, the more unfavorable the situation would become, he finally nodded and said:

"If that's the case, then we'll transport grain from Qizhou and attack Mizhou first. Then, with Husiguang and Li Yangchun, we can launch a pincer attack on Yizhou and Haizhou. Zhu Quanzhong will then have no choice but to surrender."

"However, this matter must be reported to His Highness so that he may be prepared."

The more than 300,000 shi of grain in Qizhou represented almost 70% of the military rations that the Han army had stockpiled in Henan Province.

With the army consuming large quantities of food, if Liu Jilong were to divert food from this area but finds that the food supply is insufficient, he would naturally be at a disadvantage.

Without hesitation, Chen Jingchong ordered the retreat and then returned to his headquarters to write a memorial, which he then sent to Luoyang.

However, just two days later, Wang Shi, Chen Jingchong, and others who were besieging Ge Congzhou and Zhang Guiba in Zibo and Qingzhou received news of their victory from Yanzhou.

This good news was not only sent to Zibo and Qingzhou, but also to Luoyang after the New Year.

"Crackling..."

"In the year of Gui Mao, Yang Chun defeated Quan Zhong at Sishui. Quan Zhong took off his armor and cut off his robe to escape. Our army captured 5,472 sets of armor, beheaded 7,052 enemy leaders, and captured 3,962 prisoners."

"In this battle, 1,060 soldiers died in battle in Tianping Town, and 422 were wounded."

Inside the Prince of Han's residence, Liu Jilong sat in the main seat, listening to the occasional sound of firecrackers and Lu Guimeng reading the victory report, while rhythmically patting his knees.

After Lu Guimeng finished reading the victory report, he slowly opened his eyes. Before him were Gao Jinda, Li Shangyin, Xiao Gou, Liu Zhan, Lu Guimeng, Pi Rixiu, Wei Zhuang and others.

"1,500 dead or wounded, and more than 11,000 enemy soldiers killed or captured. That looks pretty good. But Zhang Wen, the Commandant of Yunzhou, was incompetent in this battle, and his troops suffered heavy losses. I will demote him to a lower rank. So let's make that arrangement."

The casualty ratio of the Han army in this battle seems good, but in reality, out of the 11,000 enemy troops, there were only 6,000 armored soldiers, and more than 500 of them escaped into Sishui County.

If we include the nearly 1,000 captured armored soldiers, then this battle can be said to have resulted in the Han army losing 1,500 men and wounded in exchange for more than 3,000 armored soldiers and more than 4,000 light infantry from Yanhai.

Such battle losses were considered quite poor in the history of the Han army's battles, so Li Yangchun was too embarrassed to ask for credit.

Although Li Yangchun was still stationed in Songzhou when Zhang Wen made a command error, Zhang Wen was, after all, under the command of Tianping.

His command error meant that Li Yangchun, the military governor of Tianping, naturally had to bear the responsibility.

"What is the situation in Huazhou and Puzhou?"

Liu Jilong continued to inquire, and Gao Jinda bowed and said, "Minister Zheng has gathered 15,000 troops from Zheng and Hua prefectures and has set up defenses on the south bank of the Yellow River, where they are engaged in battle with the troops of Weibo Town."

"In addition, before attacking Yanzhou, Qie Biao had already transferred troops from Caozhou to the north. Now there are 8,000 troops in Puzhou and a total of 23,000 troops on the south bank of the Yellow River."

"Although Weibo boasts an army of 50,000, it has been unable to break through our lines. Minister Zheng has submitted a memorial to the court, requesting that the troops in Puzhou be given command and inquiring whether to gather troops to attack Weibo town."

Zheng Tian was originally transferred by Liu Jilong to Xuanwu to procure provisions and laborers for the army. However, when Weibo Town marched south, Liu Jilong sent him north to take command of the three armies.

Judging from the current situation, Zheng Tian probably learned a lot about military strategy from Wang Shi during the year or so that he was imprisoned in Linzhou.

Judging from the content of his memorial, Zheng Tian had defended the Zheng and Hua prefectures with impregnable fortifications.

Le Yanzhen's so-called 50,000-strong army has been unable to break through the defenses for a long time.

"The manpower of Henan Province has not yet recovered, and now more than 200,000 laborers have been mobilized to supply the war in Yanzhou and Haizhou."

"If we were to recruit more laborers to go north, it would inevitably affect spring plowing. Therefore, we should put the advance on Weibo on hold for now and focus on defense."

"Furthermore, order Li Yangchun to focus on harassing Bozhou and absolutely not to attack the city."

Liu Jilong rejected Zheng Tian's request without hesitation, after all, although Weibo was not good at field battles, it was still quite capable in defending cities.

After all, if they couldn't defend the city, the eight thousand soldiers of Weibo would lose all their property, and they would naturally flee for their lives.

There are no extra troops to spare right now, so the right thing to do is to first subdue Zhu Quanzhong, and then gather troops to attack Weibo from three directions.

"I also do not recommend attacking Weibo."

Upon seeing Liu Jilong's statement, Liu Zhan bowed to Liu Jilong and said, "While Chengde and Lulong will certainly pay attention to the rebellion in Weibo, they will not become enemies of the imperial court because of it."

"But if the imperial court were to invade Weibo, the nature of the situation would be quite different. Among the three towns, Chengde has always used the Langya Prince Wang Wujun's philosophy of 'destroying the strong and supporting the weak' to balance the relationship with Hebei."

"If the imperial court adopts the posture of destroying Weibo, then Chengde Town will definitely send troops. And in Lulong Town, even if Zhang Yunshen opposes it, Zhang Gongsu and others will definitely incite the governors of various prefectures to launch an attack on our army."

“Our troops in Yichang and Yiwu are insufficient. Even if Governor Cao leads his troops to arrive, our forces deployed along the border of the three towns of Hebei will only amount to a mere 100,000.”

"Using 100,000 troops to deal with over 100,000 garrison troops from three towns is likely to be a losing proposition..."

Liu Zhan's attitude toward the three towns remained the same as that of the mid-Tang Dynasty, believing that the three towns would advance and retreat together to avoid being defeated one by one by the court.

However, the three towns of today no longer have people like Wang Wujun, Zhang Zhongwu, Tian Chengsi, and Li Baochen.

It's better to hope that Gao Pian will surrender to Liu Jilong because he feels he is too old than to expect them to stand together through thick and thin.

Therefore, in response to Liu Zhan's words, Liu Jilong did not show any conservative attitude. Instead, he affirmed, "The situation in the three towns has lasted for a hundred years. Naturally, I must quell it."

"The troops have not yet assembled and need rest."

"First, we should defeat Zhu Quanzhong. After the busy spring planting season in Yiwu, Yicheng, Tianping, Yichang, and Daibei is over, we can launch an attack on the three towns once the summer grain is harvested."

Since Liu Jilong had promised Zhang Yichao that he would pacify the world within three years, he naturally would not back down.

It is now the second year of Qianfu. Last year, we pacified the five towns of Hedong, Datong, Yiwu, Yichang and Tianping. This year, we should pacify the four towns of Yanhai, Weibo, Lulong and Chengde, and subdue the two towns of Huainan and Ganhua.

At that time, apart from the eight prefectures north of the Yangtze River controlled by Gao Pian, the rest of the land north of the Yangtze River would belong to him, and it would be time to start planning the southern expedition.

"Your Highness..."

Suddenly, the sound of ceremonial announcements rang out from outside the hall. Everyone looked in the direction of the sound and saw three officials dressed in green robes standing at the door with stacks of documents.

"The maps and records of the three towns of Hedong, Datong, and Yiwu have arrived. Would Your Highness like to review them now?"

Three and a half months have passed since the three towns were captured. Cui Shu, who was sent to Hedong, has finally re-registered the land and population of the three towns.

Liu Jilong nodded to the three of them and said, "Bring it in."

Upon hearing this, the three bowed slightly in greeting, then placed the wooden tray on Liu Jilong's desk and left.

Liu Jilong picked up the document and began to browse through it. Although there were many documents, most of them were about trivial matters, which Liu Jilong could save to read slowly in the evening. For now, he could mainly look at the summary.

After a brief review, Liu Jilong addressed the assembled officials in the hall: "The maps and registers of the three towns have been re-established. The towns of Hedong and Daibei have more than 254,000 households, more than 1.26 million people, and more than 4.7 million mu of land."

"Yiwu Town has more than 40,000 households, 230,000 people, and 1.33 million mu of land."

Liu Jilong briefly explained the situation to everyone, and then continued, "Now the entire Hedong region is in the hands of the imperial court, but the number of households is only 470,000 and the population is only over 2.2 million."

“Recalling the Kaiyuan era, there were 660,000 households and 3.9 million people in Hedong, but now it is less than 60% of what it used to be. It is sad and lamentable.”

His words inevitably made the courtiers sigh inwardly, but they were not sighing about Hedong Circuit, but about Yiwu Town, which belonged to Hebei Circuit.

It should be noted that in the past, Yiwu's territory had more than 100,000 households and nearly 800,000 people, but now only 230,000 remain.

A century has passed since the An Lushan Rebellion, yet the population has still not recovered to its former level. This is partly due to the Tang court's continuous troop withdrawals from the three towns of Hebei, coupled with the historical instability of Hebei.

"Now the imperial court governs eight circuits with a population of over 1,700, but this is less than the population of Hebei and Henan circuits in the past."

"The people are now subject to a fixed tax of two-tenths. No exorbitant taxes or levies may be levied without government decree. Anyone found doing so shall be hanged."

Liu Jilong originally thought that the population of Guandong would be large, but now that he has conquered most of the country, the population is only 17 million, of which hundreds of thousands are the result of the population increase over the years since Liu Jilong recovered Guanxi.

Based on the current situation, Hebei Province can only raise a maximum of five million people, or even less.

If the war remains deadlocked, the number of civilian casualties in Hebei Province will increase, and too many casualties will seriously affect Liu Jilong's subsequent plans for development in the northeast.

Leaving aside the Bohai Kingdom, at least Liaodong must be recovered, and the Xi and Khitan people north of the Yanshan Mountains also need to be dealt with.

In short, Liu Jilong had too many things he wanted to do. Since the An Lushan Rebellion, the living space of the Han people in the Tang Dynasty had been shrinking. He had to regenerate the shrunken parts and even expand them.

This plan requires a large population, and another thing Liu Jilong needs to do is to minimize the burden on the people so that the population can grow.

The burden on the people mostly came from exorbitant taxes and levies. However, Liu Jilong incorporated these taxes and levies into the land tax and the poll tax into the land tax, while also leaving sufficient funds and grain for the local areas. Under these circumstances, as long as the local areas did not suffer from a major disaster that affected several prefectures, they could basically be self-sufficient and even have a surplus.

Therefore, it is only right that officials who dared to impose exorbitant taxes under such circumstances were hanged.

Anyway, there are still hundreds of thousands of students in Kansai waiting to graduate and become officials, so Liu Jilong is not afraid of getting too involved.

If the world weren't still in turmoil, he would have already begun a crackdown...

"If there is nothing else, you may all leave. Yishan, please stay."

"Your subject (so-and-so) takes his leave..."

Liu Jilong gestured for everyone to leave, and Gao Jinda and the others all departed, leaving only Li Shangyin behind.

After Li Shangyin stayed behind, he consciously sat in the first seat on the left, closer to Liu Jilong.

Looking at him, who was fifty-nine years old but still full of energy, Liu Jilong couldn't help but sigh.

He recalled that historically, Li Shangyin seemed to have died of illness and depression in his forties, but now he not only held a high position, but was also full of energy.

Given his current state, he will likely not only witness the beginning of peace but also the end of it.

"Official schools in Guanzhong, except for those in Longyou, can almost all stop enrolling students."

Liu Jilong's words surprised Li Shangyin, and Liu Jilong did not shy away from the topic, directly taking out the document about Hedong from the table and handing it to Li Shangyin.

Li Shangyin got up and took it, then frowned after glancing at it briefly.

Although Li Shangyin claimed to be a member of the Li Tang imperial family in his early years, his family was not wealthy and he had very few relatives within five degrees of kinship, so Liu Jilong did not need to avoid him.

"This is the map of Hedong Town. Of the more than 3.6 million mu of arable land in Hedong Town, 50% was divided up by powerful families, while the remaining 50% was divided equally among the more than one million people."

"In this situation, a change must be made. What the aristocratic families rely on is nothing more than the emperor needing their help to govern the country, but I will not use them."

"There are so many students in Kansai, we can't let them go back to their hometowns to farm after graduation. The official positions in the country are reserved for them."

“The imperial court spends millions of strings of cash every year to train them, all for the next five years, and now that time is almost up.”

"Except for Longyou, official schools in Guanzhong will be temporarily suspended for five years. After five years, students will be recruited again. However, official schools will no longer provide paper, pens, inkstones, or food. They will only provide free accommodation."

Liu Jilong's words made Li Shangyin understand his attitude, but after understanding, he couldn't help but say: "If we want to achieve fairness, Longyou should also do the same."

"Otherwise, if all the people flee to Longyou, then..."

Li Shangyin stopped mid-sentence, looked at Liu Jilong in surprise, and seemed to understand something. He couldn't help but ask, "Does Your Highness intend to send all the people to Longyou?"

"Yes!" Liu Jilong nodded in agreement. In the end, he was using free education to attract poor people.

In this era, even in the most impoverished circumstances, studying required more than twenty strings of cash per year, roughly equivalent to the output of forty acres of land today.

Ordinary people naturally couldn't afford to study there. Even if the imperial court reopened official schools later, the people still had to pay for paper, brushes, ink, and food themselves. Ten strings of cash were always needed each year, which was equivalent to the output of more than ten acres of land.

If a student were to attend primary school and university, it would take ten years and cost over a hundred strings of cash. If they moved to Longyou, they could save over a hundred strings of cash.

Li Shangyin clearly knew this too, but he couldn't help but frown and say, "Even so, the number of people who can be attracted is ultimately only a minority."

"Hmm." Liu Jilong nodded in agreement, but then added, "But what if in the future, all university graduates could participate in the imperial examinations, and even if they failed, they could still become clerks and rise through the ranks to become officials?"

Li Shangyin couldn't sit still any longer. From today's perspective, Liu Jilong's methods seemed to be using official positions as bargaining chips to attract the people.

Li Shangyin dared not imagine what officials trained with this kind of thinking would be like if they actually became officials.

Liu Jilong saw through his thoughts and said, "It is greedy for commoners to become officials and clerks, and it is also greedy for sons of powerful families to become officials and clerks."

"Corrupt people cannot be eradicated; we can only patch things up. When there are no more patches left to patch, it is only natural that the building will collapse."

Few people can speak of the downfall of their dynasty with such magnanimity as Liu Jilong. Li Shangyin looked at him and couldn't help but say, "Your Highness truly has the spirit of Emperor Gaozu..."

This Gaozu is clearly not Li Yuan.

Liu Jilong chuckled in response: "I know it's wrong to do this, but as I said, there are different methods for every period of time."

"How many years has the imperial court lost Liaodong? And how many years has it lost Nanzhong and the Western Regions?"

“These places need people, but once the world is at peace, the only way to relocate people will be through forced relocation.”

“People who are forcibly relocated will eventually leave; only those who move willingly can stay in the local area.”

Li Shangyin understood that Liu Jilong was not pursuing the long-term stability of the dynasty, but rather the recovery of lost territories and the stabilization of the region.

"Some things are easy to start but hard to finish."

Li Shangyin still wanted to persuade Liu Jilong, but Liu Jilong shook his head and said, "If we can't even defend our territory, what's the point of talking about finishing things up?"

"I still vividly remember the scene of everyone speaking the Hu language in Hexi."

"I am only good at speaking Mandarin, yet I have been able to receive continuous promotions from the King of Dunhuang (Zhang Yichao)."

"I never want to see that kind of scene again..."

Liu Jilong's words really persuaded Li Shangyin, after all, he had been in Liangzhou for several years, and he was very clear about the fact that Tibetan was the language spoken there for the first few years.

When he was working in Liangzhou, he even needed a translator to understand what his subordinates were saying, which was quite difficult.

They are of the same ethnicity, but they speak different languages, and even their lifestyles and cultures are contradictory.

At that time, Li Shangyin thought that if Liu Jilong had not appeared out of nowhere, in a few decades, there might not even be any Han people in Hexi who could speak Mandarin.

"Even if Your Highness is willing, will Your Highness's descendants possess Your Highness's magnanimity and grace?"

Li Shangyin sighed, but Liu Jilong laughed heartily and said, "I only care about my life. As for what happens after I die, it is enough that the world can maintain peace."

Liu Jilong had long been prepared for the possibility that a person's death would lead to the collapse of their regime.

Many of his ideas were out of step with the times, which meant that not many people could understand him.

Perhaps not long after he dies, all his decrees will be abolished.

Liu Jilong was not saddened, but just smiled and said, "Twenty years to pacify the world, twenty years to maintain peace. I hope I can live to be seventy years old, and I hope Yishan can live to be ninety years old."

Upon hearing Liu Jilong's frequent references to being seventy or ninety years old, Li Shangyin's initial sadness vanished instantly.

He was increasingly suspicious that Liu Jilong didn't need any family genealogy at all; his magnanimous personality was exactly like that of Liu Bang in the historical records.

"I will go back and draft a plan for this matter first. However, I am afraid that the officials and generals in Kansai will have objections. This is something that Your Highness can only resolve."

Li Shangyin gave Liu Jilong a heads-up, and Liu Jilong nodded with a smile: "Don't worry, I have my own plans."

Seeing this, Li Shangyin said nothing more, but simply rose, bowed to the court, put the document back on the table, and turned to leave.

After he left, Zhao Ying came out of the side room and bowed to Liu Jilong.

"Have these people behaved themselves during this time?"

Liu Jilong glanced at him, while Zhao Ying respectfully replied, "Many officials, such as Xiao Gou and Liu Zhan, are relatively honest, but there are still quite a few officials who are trying to overthrow Your Highness."

"Hehe..." Liu Jilong couldn't help but laugh. If these old officials really had such methods, they wouldn't have been bullied so badly in history.

"Ignore them for now, just keep them under close surveillance."

“If necessary, we can also act as a bridge for them, connecting them with those local powerful families.”

As soon as Liu Jilong finished speaking, Zhao Ying guessed his intention.

Instead of investigating and confiscating each household one by one, it would be better to create a major case and take them all down at once.

Although it's not the right time to eliminate them yet, when Liu Jilong needs them, none of them will be able to escape.

"By the way, transfer the Dongchuan navy to Jiangling and have Geng Ming prepare to build warships."

"Five thousand naval troops are still too few. Let's expand the army to twenty thousand."

"Furthermore, how is the artillery in Linzhou? Has it been cast yet?"

Liu Jilong posed the question, and Zhao Ying nodded without hesitation: "Thirty bronze cannons are already on their way to Daibei. However, the cannons are heavy, and even with the cannon carts that His Highness ordered to be made, they can only travel thirty li per day. It will take at least four months to reach Daibei."

Due to insufficient cannon casting technology, the caliber and barrel length could not be improved for the time being, so the cannon was heavy and its range was only four hundred paces.

Even so, its power was far greater than that of modern catapults.

Liu Jilong was not surprised by the weight of the cannons. After all, hundreds of years later, during the Ming-Qing transition, the cannons of the Ming and Qing armies usually took two or three times longer to arrive.

If the Han army were to be transferred from Linzhou to Daibei, it would take at least fifty days, and it wouldn't be surprising if artillery took four months.

"Have the artisans in Linzhou resolve the issues of cannon hull and caliber as soon as possible. If they cannot resolve them, then begin casting cannons in October. All cast cannons should be transported to Jiangling to equip the naval warships and allow the sailors to become familiar with the cannons."

"Yes!"

Seeing that Zhao Ying agreed, Liu Jilong felt a little relieved, because he dared to tell Zhang Yichao that the premise for pacifying the country in three years was the use of artillery.

If we can defeat Gao Pian's main force in Jiangbei and then defeat his Yangtze River navy, pacifying the entire Jiangnan region will not be too difficult.

With that thought in mind, Liu Jilong dismissed Zhao Ying, leaving only the sound of him turning the pages of documents in the hall.

While he was making preparations, Zhu Wen, who had been defeated by Li Yangchun and forced to remove his armor and robe, had already fled directly to Linyi in Yizhou, taking advantage of the speed of his army's horses.

Linyi is located in the center of Yanzhou, Mizhou and the sea, with Wulian Mountain as the eastern barrier, Yimeng Mountain and Nishan Mountain range as the western barrier, and Muling Pass and Mushui River as the northern barrier.

Except for the flat terrain to the south, which offers no natural defenses, the overall terrain is quite favorable.

But that's why Zhu Wen hastily retreated to Linyi.

"Damn it! The tide has turned. If Chengde doesn't raise an army now, their defeat will be the one after mine!"

At this moment, Zhu Wen had changed into a brocade robe, and walked along cursing with a grim expression.

Xie Tong and Zhu Cun followed him into the yamen, while Zhu Zhen was left behind in Fei County, located between Mengshan and Nishan in the west.

If the Han army wants to advance south, it must attack Fei County, located between Mengshan and Nishan. If they can fortify the area properly and prevent Li Yangchun from breaking through, they will still have a chance.

"Our army has suffered heavy casualties. If Zeng Yuanyu in the south knew this, he would surely send troops to attack us in order to ensure our future stability in Luoyang."

"My lord, we must be on guard..."

Xie Tong watched as Zhu Wen sat down and immediately raised the most crucial issue at hand.

The land south of Yizhou and Haizhou is flat, and Zeng Yuanyu is both a scholar and a warrior. Even Huang Chao died at his hands. When he marches north with his troops to attack, he will definitely tie down a large number of Yanzhou's navy.

Once Li Yangchun has rested and recuperated, his army will surely march straight from Feixian to Linyi.

Zhu Wen could think of all these things, but when faced with the problems, he lacked the resources to solve them.

“Ge Lang and Zhang Lang have been surrounded by the Han army in Ziqing for more than ten days. Although the city has enough firewood and food to hold out for half a year, this is not a solution.”

“If Chengde and Zhaoyi do not raise troops, we and Weibo alone will certainly not be able to stop the Han army’s offensive.”

"Although Yizhou, Haizhou, and Mizhou have 20,000 troops, only 8,000 of them are armored. 3,000 white-armored soldiers have been transferred to Feixian County, and 3,000 leather-armored soldiers have been transferred to Muling Pass. Now, only 2,000 white-armored soldiers can be mobilized in the city."

"If Zeng Yuanyu attacks again, his troops will number no less than 10,000, and our army will be in grave danger."

Zhu Cun was also somewhat anxious. Upon hearing this, Zhu Wen became agitated, slamming his fist on the table and pacing back and forth.

Seeing Zhu Wen's anxiety, Xie Tong stood still, constantly thinking of a solution.

A moment later, before they could come up with a solution, the officers entered the yamen and hurriedly came over to bow to them.

"General, it has been discovered in Haizhou that the Ganhua Army has crossed the border and marched north, numbering over ten thousand."

"Straight bitch!"

Upon hearing this, Zhu Wen knew without much thought that Zeng Yuanyu had already learned of his defeat in Yanzhou and was preparing to take advantage of the situation to show his attitude to Liu Jilong.

Two thousand against ten thousand? Zhu Wen wasn't that confident, so he asked, "Who is leading the troops? Go and find out!"

"Yes!" The colonel quickly withdrew, and the atmosphere in the hall became very solemn.

A moment later, Zhu Wen, perhaps unable to bear it any longer, got up and left the main hall.

After he left, Xie Tong and Zhu Cun couldn't stay any longer and left one after the other.

The next morning, when Xie Tong and Zhu Cun arrived, Zhu Wen was already sitting in the hall, but he was obviously not asleep, and his whole person exuded a sense of dejection.

"Ming Gong..."

The two men bowed, and Zhu Wen looked at the military dispatches on the table: "Zeng Yuanyu has sent Shi Pu as general, leading 10,000 troops from Xiapi to attack Linyi, which is no more than 100 li away from Linyi."

"Currently, there are only two thousand White Armor soldiers in the city. I plan to withdraw the White Armor soldiers from Fei County and use five thousand to fight against Shi Pu's ten thousand troops."

Zhu Wen had a general idea of ​​the strength of the Ganhua Army. He knew that he might not lose if he faced them with 5,000 white-armored soldiers, but Li Yangchun would definitely not let go of this opportunity to attack Fei County.

Therefore, after defeating Shi Pu, he had to continue his standoff with Li Yangchun in Linyi.

Xie Tong stepped forward, took the military document, looked at it, and then handed it to Zhu Cun, remaining silent.

Zhu Cun then took the document and looked through it, but he didn't have any good ideas.

After he put the military document back, Xie Tong suddenly said, "My lord, the people of Xusi have always been arrogant and unruly. Although Wang Shi quelled the Silver Knife Army in the past and was later killed by Kang Chengxun in Mount Tai, the atmosphere in Xusi is still like this, and the arrogance of the soldiers is the norm."

"If you, sir, were to write to Shi Pu to explain the current situation, I believe Shi Pu would certainly not go north."

Xie Tong's suggestion immediately caught Zhu Wen's eye.

He was very familiar with the social atmosphere of Xusi, having lived in Xiaoxian for many years.

Even if the Silver Knife Army is quelled, the prevailing atmosphere remains, and the recruited soldiers are certainly not good people.

If one understands the dangers, one might even be able to persuade Shi Pu to defect.

Thinking of this, Zhu Wen got up and paced back and forth, and soon came up with an idea.

He hurriedly went to his desk, picked up his pen and began to write a letter explaining the advantages and disadvantages, and then handed the letter to Xie Tong.

"This letter must be delivered to Shi Pu."

"Yes, I will go personally." Xie Tong knew Zhu Wen all too well; Zhu Wen's performance just now clearly showed that he knew how to deal with the current predicament.

He dared not delay, and hurriedly left the yamen, personally leading several soldiers to rush south.

Before dusk, Xie Tong encountered the Yanhai Army's cavalry, while Shi Pu's troops were already only sixty li away from Linyi.

Originally, Shi Pu did not want to meet Xie Tong, but after thinking about it, he summoned him into the tent and also summoned the military officers and sergeants to prevent Zeng Yuanyu from suspecting him afterward.

At Shi Pu's behest, the military officers and soldiers quickly filled the tent, and hundreds of soldiers lined up outside, clearly intending to give the messenger from the Yanzhou Navy a show of force.

Xie Tong did not show any fear. Instead, he took the letter and entered the tent, presenting it with both hands: "I, the military commander, have heard that the military commander is about to encounter disaster, so I have come to offer a plan to help him out of this predicament."

"Ha ha ha ha……"

Xie Tong's words quickly caused the officers and soldiers in the tent to burst into laughter. Shi Pu also laughed until his stomach ached, and he couldn't help but say, "Zhu the traitor is about to die, and he still dares to clamor for my help?"

"It's not too late to laugh after the military commander has read the letter." Xie Tong wasn't embarrassed at all, and calmly gestured for him to open the letter.

Seeing his reaction, Shi Pu couldn't help but feel uneasy. He then took the letter, opened it, and began to read it.

Time passed slowly, but Shi Pu's expression kept changing as he read the contents of the letter.

"boom!"

Suddenly, Shi Pu stood up, his expression unfriendly, and placed his hand on the hilt of his sword at his waist: "Does that traitor Zhu think he can deceive me like this?"

"Whether it's deception or not, the military commander surely knows better than anyone else."

Xie Tong showed no fear, even puffing out his chest: "At that time, the wealth and status of Commander Zeng and Military Commissioner Shi will be preserved, but the wealth and status of you all will be hard to say!"

He deliberately raised his voice, arousing the curiosity of the officers around him. They all looked at Shi Pu and asked, "Young Master Shi, what is written in the letter?"

"That's right, show it to us!"

"Someone who can read, go up and read the contents of this letter!"

Before Shi Pu could refuse, a sergeant immediately stepped forward, picked up the letter that Shi Pu had thrown on the ground, and read it aloud.

In fact, Zhu Wen didn't say anything; he simply wrote down Liu Jilong's attitude and treatment of the generals and officers of the Guandong vassal states.

"Commander Zeng and Military Commissioner Shi have quite the scheme. When our army is annihilated, you will enter the court with your military merits and obtain official positions, while the generals here will be given honorary titles. As for the other colonels... tsk tsk!"

"You scoundrels, don't try to sow discord!"

Shi Pu was furious and was about to rush forward when the officers, sensing something was wrong, stepped in front of Xie Tong.

"You son of a bitch, Shi Pu! You look like a guy with thick eyebrows and big eyes. I thought you'd have a good time with the brothers, but it turns out you're the one playing them for fools!!"

The officers were furious, their hands resting on the hilts of their swords, while the lieutenants stood in the corners, afraid of being caught in the crossfire.

Upon seeing this, Shi Pu wanted to shout out, but a soldier said, "Damn it! Brothers outside the tent, surround this place! Zeng Yuanyu is planning to surrender to the court, sell us for pigs and dogs, and send us home to farm!"

Several officers shouted outside, which immediately attracted the attention of the soldiers gathered outside Shi Pu's tent.

Seeing this, Shi Pu quickly said, "Don't listen to this person's provocation!"

"Bullshit!" a colonel interrupted him, drawing his sword and pointing it at him, saying, "If it weren't for this man, we wouldn't know anything!"

"You dog-and-rat bastard, if you say you know nothing now, I'll cut open your chest with a knife and see if you're truly heartless!"

Shi Pu had no doubt that this group of people would dare to do such a thing, after all, the atmosphere in Xusi had been like this for decades.

"You have all made contributions and will certainly not be mistreated, so do not be misled by this official!"

Shi Pu didn't expect that Xie Tong could stir up this group of people with just a few words. He tried to explain, but Xie Tong only added fuel to the fire.

"If the military commander wants to prove his innocence, wouldn't that be simple?"

“A certain military commander is willing to allocate 20,000 shi of grain to the military commander, who can then lead his troops back to Xuzhou to question Military Commander Zeng.”

Xie Tong's words immediately stirred up a thousand waves of anger: "If you dare not, then you are an accomplice, and we will act on behalf of Heaven today!"

"That's right! Acting on behalf of Heaven!"

"Do justice for heaven! Do justice for heaven!"

The clamor of the crowd put Shi Pu in a dilemma.

He was naturally aware of Zeng Yuanyu's plan, but he did harbor some resentment, feeling that the reform army was quite powerful and there was no need for them to compromise with Liu Jilong.

But given the current situation, if he doesn't lead his troops back, he will definitely be hacked to death.

Thinking of this, he could only bite the bullet and say, "If you don't believe me, I will take you back to Xuzhou to question the military governor!"

Sure enough, after Shi Pu agreed to take the lead, the dental students immediately stopped making noise, and Shi Pu breathed a sigh of relief, wiped the cold sweat from his forehead, and looked coldly at Xie Tong.

Although Xie Tong concealed it very well, a hint of smugness could still be seen on his face.

Shi Pu walked towards Xie Tong. Xie Tong's expression changed slightly, but she still tried to remain calm.

"When the military commander realized his mistake, I would like to offer my congratulations to him."

"Stop talking nonsense!" Shi Pu was too lazy to argue with Xie Tong, so he grabbed Xie Tong by the collar and pulled him in front of him.

“Commander Zeng is a man of high moral character. He has provided us with plenty of food, clothing, and wine. He would never betray us. There must be some villains around him who are trying to seduce us.”

"I only led the troops back to question Commander Zeng, not to betray my lord."

"The expenses incurred by this large army will all be charged to you. You don't have enough food; you need at least 50,000 shi!"

Xie Tong breathed a sigh of relief upon hearing this. He had been genuinely worried that Shi Pu would kill him. So he smiled and nodded, "Fifty thousand shi will arrive in three days."

"Get out!" Shi Pu pushed Xie Tong away. Xie Tong straightened his robes, bowed to Shi Pu, and then turned and left.

He walked out of the camp with his chest out, mounted his horse, glanced back at the camp, and a mocking smile appeared on his lips.

"Right now, it's Zeng Yuanyu's turn to have a headache..."

(End of this chapter)