Guiyi Fei Tang

Chapter 498 Recapture of the He and Huai Rivers (A long chapter of 10,000 words)
"kill!"

"Bang bang bang!!"

"Um..."

"Capture Lujin Pass and recapture Huichuan City!!"

At the end of July in the second year of Qianfu, on the east bank of the surging Yak River (Jinsha River), tens of thousands of Dali elite troops, clad in heavy armor, were launching a fierce attack on Lujin Pass under the command of their banners.

As the second largest pass along the Yak River, Lujin Pass was second only in importance to Tieqiao City, which defended against the Tubo (Tibetan) forces in the north.

In recent years, with the decline of the Tubo Kingdom, Lujin Pass has shown a tendency to become the foremost pass.

However, Da Li's euphoria did not last long. Since the Han army entered Shu, both Da Li and Gao Pian had been in retreat.

The entire territory of Xizhou, which had originally fallen into Dali's hands, as well as most of Lizhou, have now been recovered by Zhang Wu's army.

Moreover, Huichuan City and the two cities and one pass under its jurisdiction, Songwai, Heji, and Lujin Pass, were also occupied by the Han army.

The Han army focused its defense on Lujin Pass, deploying only 5,000 elite soldiers, yet they were able to easily hold off the tens of thousands of Dali elite troops under You Shilong's command.

Moreover, after Lujin Pass is attacked, tens of thousands of elite troops from Xizhou will arrive in less than ten days, making the war extremely difficult.

If Zhang Wu were to lead his elite cavalry south again, Da Li's army would at least be defeated, or at worst suffer thousands or even tens of thousands of beheadings.

Previously, when Zhang Wu led his army south, he had already beheaded nearly 20,000 people north of the Yak River. Later, You Shilong gathered his troops and launched two strong attacks on Lujin Pass, leaving behind nearly 10,000 more corpses.

The deaths and injuries of 30,000 people are a devastating blow to Dali, a country with a population of only two million.

Despite the opposition from many people, Yushi Long resolutely launched a third attack.

"put!"

"Boom bang bang-"

Below Lujin Pass, countless barbarian tribes pushed cloud chariots and Lugong chariots to forcefully attack the pass walls.

Faced with their attack, the Han soldiers, relying on the Three Mile Great Wall Pass and backed by towering mountains, calmly and methodically responded.

Almost every ten crenellations, there was a three-foot-long iron cannon placed at the crenellation, as well as various advanced defensive weapons of the Han army, such as wolf-tooth sledgehammers, yaksha rams, iron owl hooves, gate-blocking chariots, and ten-thousand-person-enemy chariots.

Those barbarian tribes who managed to rush up the ramparts from the cloud chariots and Lügong chariots were met not only by the cannons of the Han army, but also by the barbarian chariots charging towards them. In the end, they were killed on the spot by countless iron balls or blades.

The Yaksha Ram, with its barbs on the surface, was a nightmare for these unarmored barbarians, as it rolled and strangled enemy soldiers on the siege ladders.

A single Yaksha sledgehammer can take the lives of six or seven barbarian soldiers in the blink of an eye, not to mention the Iron Owl and the Ten Thousand Men's Warrior.

Despite the Dali army's three-day assault, Lujin Pass remained intact on the east bank of the Yak River.

Countless corpses lay piled up beneath the city walls, yet no one dared to sweep them away and bring them back.

"Your Majesty, the weather is extremely hot. If the corpses are not removed, a plague may break out."

Looking out at the battlefield and feeling the sweltering heat of the valley, Dong Cheng, the Qingping official who was worried about You Shilong, was trying to comfort him.

In fact, he did not support Yushilong continuing his northward advance to attack Huichuan City.

After all, before Zhang Wu conquered Huichuan, he had already moved more than 100,000 people who had been captured by You Shilong from places like Jiaozhou to the rear.

Although Huichuan has land, its population is not large enough to support Zhang Wu's large-scale military operations in the area.

For You Shilong, however, he had worked so hard to expand the territory for Dali, but now not only had the newly expanded territory been lost, but even the Huichuan region, which had been seized by Dali since the Tianbao era, had been lost. This was undoubtedly a disgrace to him.

In an attempt to wash away the humiliation, he launched three attacks on Lujin Pass, but the results were all unsatisfactory.

“I know, but I also know that Lujin Pass is full of miasma, and the Han people will not be able to stay there for long. Right now, there must be many people in their army who have been infected by the miasma.”

"Take this opportunity to recapture Lujin Pass, and I can then withdraw my troops!"

At this time, Yushilong was twenty-nine years old, and he planned to reclaim the lost territory of Aichuan before he turned thirty.

Faced with his stubbornness, Dong Cheng could only sigh.

He was well aware of the current situation in the country. Although Dali had dominated the south for decades, the Pyu Kingdom, Dorabha, and Queen's Kingdom in the south were all dissatisfied with Dali's hegemony.

In addition, the wars waged by You Shilong over the years have caused heavy casualties in many tribes under Da Li's rule, so the barbarians have gradually lost trust in Da Li.

In addition, due to the loss of Huichuan, tens of thousands of people flocked to Dali, which led to increasingly sharp internal conflicts within Dali.

In Dong Cheng's view, what You Shilong needs to do now is not to recover lost territory, but to solve these three major internal problems.

If these three major problems cannot be solved, Dong Cheng really doesn't know how long Da Li can last...

Thinking of this, he couldn't help but look out at the battlefield, but the elite troops and barbarian soldiers on the battlefield still couldn't break through the majestic Lujin Pass.

You Shilong was still directing his troops to launch a relentless attack, while Zhang Wu was on his way with his troops.

Compared to the war in the southwest, what the people of the world were more concerned about at the moment was the news that Zeng Yuanyu had surrendered to Liu Jilong and that Wang Shi and others had led their troops to garrison the Xu-Si region.

"Damn it! Zeng Yuanyu has actually surrendered to the imperial court. What are we supposed to do now?"

Inside Xiapi City, Shi Pu, who had captured Suqian and retreated to Xiapi, was looking at the map with a grim expression, the complaints of the generals in the government office still echoing in his ears.

"enough!"

Shi Pu glared angrily at the generals, which finally silenced them.

They now only occupy the cities of Xiapi and Suqian, while Wang Shi has already led 70,000 troops south and is recruiting starving people in the Xusi area to serve as laborers, providing them with two catties of grain per day.

Two jin of grain may not seem like much, but it's enough for a strong laborer to eat for three days if he's frugal.

For this reason, starving people from places like Xiapi and Suqian fled north.

If Shi Pu hadn't sent troops to stop them, the two cities would probably have become ghost towns by now.

Even so, not many people remained in the two cities, simply because the authorities could not provide food for the people. Those who were left behind either starved to death or were killed while trying to break through the passes.

"I have decided to surrender to the imperial court. What do you all think?"

Shi Pu only had two cities, and he was not far from running out of food. Although he still had more than 8,000 soldiers, he could only last for two months before running out of food.

In this situation, it seems that the only option is to surrender to the imperial court, but if one surrenders, the treatment of officers and ordinary soldiers becomes questionable.

"Surrender is easy to agree to, but the imperial court rarely accepts surrendered soldiers. Moreover, our army only has two cities and more than 8,000 soldiers. How can we get the imperial court to accept our terms?"

Li Shiyue pointed out the main issue, while Shi Pu walked to the table and paced back and forth.

“When Wang Shi took office in Xusi, the Silver Knife Army was wiped out by him. Many brothers had already considered surrendering when they learned that he was going south.”

"If you all exaggerate and say that Wang Shi is leading an army of 100,000, and that there is still a chance to live if you surrender, and that the imperial court will distribute land equally in the Xu-Si region, then naturally some of the brothers in the army will be willing to surrender."

The Xu-Si region is known for its fierce and valiant people, but the once most formidable Silver Knife Army was wiped out by Wang Shi.

Most of the soldiers recruited later were those who had put down their hoes to join the army, and they were skilled at farming when they returned home. As long as the land was cultivated, they would not starve.

However, equal distribution of land is one thing, but how much land the brothers actually receive is another.

That's why Li Shiyue continued, "If it's just about equal land distribution, how much land will the brothers actually get?"

"How many people would be willing to go back to that peasant life?"

“At least give the brothers more land so they can earn a living by collecting rent, then the brothers will support the surrender.”

"That's right, of course we should get more land!"

"In my opinion, if each person is given fifty acres of fertile land, even if they work two days on and one day off, they can still harvest twenty bushels of grain every year, which is enough for the brothers to become rich!"

The generals chattered amongst themselves, but Shi Pu's face darkened as he listened: "Fifty acres of fertile land, you dare to say that?"

If each of his more than 8,000 brothers were given 30 mu of fertile land, that would amount to 400,000 to 500,000 mu.

Four or five hundred thousand mu of fertile land would be too much for the entire Xu and Su prefectures to gather, let alone the fact that they only occupied Xiapi and Suqian.

The combined arable land of these two cities is only about 600,000 mu, half of which is middle and lower fields.

"Then what should we do?" Seeing that he disagreed, the generals couldn't help but continue to ask him, while Shi Pu looked at a young general who hadn't said a word.

"Liu Zhijun, you tell me what should be done!"

He spoke to Liu Zhijun, who then stood up, looked at the generals, and after gathering his thoughts, said:
"If we don't surrender now, Wang Shi might make an example of us..."

As soon as he finished speaking, the hall fell silent. Shi Pu was the first to react, his face darkening as he said:

"You mean, the Wang family is planning to wipe us out in order to intimidate Kang Chengxun of Huainan?"

Liu Zhijun nodded and then said, "We have only about 8,000 people, only two cities, and most of our people have fled to the north. We are not worth accepting their surrender."

"If we had surrendered sooner, we might have been able to secure a decent minor official position and preserve our wealth and status before Wang Shi made a final decision on this matter."

"If this continues, I'm afraid I'll have to meet you all in the afterlife..."

Faced with Liu Zhijun's words, none of the generals in the tent dared to refute him. After all, if Liu Zhijun had not been decisive in his battles, Xiapi might have already been captured by Zeng Yuanyu.

"This……"

The generals looked at each other, none of them daring to be the first to surrender.

Seeing their hesitation, Shi Pu said, "Let's first go and ask for their surrender on the condition that each person has twenty mu of fertile land and that their wives participate in the distribution."

"As long as Wang Shi is willing to accept it, I will discuss the rest with the brothers!"

Twenty acres of fertile land is already quite a lot. If one's wife, children, and relatives can all participate in the land distribution, then the amount of land obtained will also be considerable.

Shi Pu felt that even if he couldn't satisfy everyone, he could certainly satisfy most people.

Thinking this, he looked at Liu Zhijun and said, "Young Master Liu, please write a memorial for me."

"Yes!" Liu Zhijun stepped forward to write the memorial to Shi Pu, and then Shi Pu sent Li Shiyue to Pengcheng to present the surrender document.

Li Shiyue acted swiftly; after obtaining the surrender document, he led more than ten cavalry and infantrymen north to Pengcheng.

Xiapi and Pengcheng are only a hundred li apart. The next afternoon, Li Shiyue encountered the government army's cavalry. After explaining his purpose, he was taken to Pengcheng by the cavalry.

Before dusk, Li Shiyue entered Pengcheng and was settled in the Yinbin Hotel of the Xuzhou Prefecture Government Office to rest.

His arrival made Wang Shi and others, who were discussing how to make an example of him, frown.

"It seems that Pu has some insight at this point, as he has come to surrender so decisively."

Wang Shi sat in the main seat in the hall, stroking his beard in thought. To his left and right sat Chen Jingchong and Li Yangchun, respectively, and behind them were Lu Yanhong, Han Jian, Deng Yan, Tan Kai, and others.

Liu Song, the Commandant, led 5,000 troops to garrison Yanhai to prevent the disbanded Yanhai army from causing trouble.

"Now that they've surrendered, why make an example of them?"

Chen Jingchong frowned, but Li Yangchun said to him, "Governor, although they want to surrender, we should also look at their terms for surrender."

"No matter what conditions they put forward, we will always maintain the upper hand. It doesn't matter if we delay for a few days, so that Kang Chengxun can know our army's attitude."

"Qie Biao is right." Wang Shi stroked his beard and nodded, then gave the order:

"You, Qie Biao, will personally negotiate this matter. If they can accept our terms, then it's not too late for them to surrender."

"Our main purpose in heading south this time is to recover Xuzhou, Sishui and Huainan. If we can subdue the enemy without fighting and then recover Xuzhou and Sishui, then it will be fine to launch an attack in Huainan."

"As you have all seen, the people's hearts depend on food, and Kang Chengxun has lost the people's hearts because he cannot produce food."

"Our army has soldiers, food, and popular support, so we are not afraid of not being able to take Huainan."

Seeing that Wang Shi was not insisting on the strategy of making an example of someone, Li Yangchun's burden was lessened.

However, he did not go to see Li Shiyue immediately. Instead, he discussed many military matters with Wang Shi and the others before summoning Li Shiyue late at night.

Li Shiyue had already seen the well-trained Han army along the way, so he was very humble. When he saw Li Yangchun, he bowed very low and raised his hands in a gesture of respect.

"Li Shiyue, the commander of Xiapi, pays his respects to Commander Li..."

Faced with Li Shiyue's attitude, Li Yangchun did not put on airs. He simply took a sip of tea and gestured, "Are you all prepared to surrender?"

"We have never betrayed the court. We were misled by Zhu Quanzhong and made a mistake. Please give us a chance, General!"

Li Shiyue hurriedly explained, but Li Yangchun did not respond, only looking at the memorial that Li Shiyue had brought.

The clerk next to him stepped forward, took the memorial, and presented it to Li Yangchun.

Li Yangchun took it and glanced at it. After reading the contents, he couldn't help but laugh and said, "Thirty mu of fertile land per person?"

"This..." Li Shiyue was a little embarrassed. He hadn't expected that the court wasn't just boasting, but had actually brought 70,000 armored soldiers.

With such strength, they still dare to make such demands; they are truly arrogant and ignorant.

"This is just a suggestion from the military commander. If the general thinks it's too much, we can reduce or even eliminate it."

Li Shiyue couldn't care less about anything else now. After all, with the court's strength, if they really attacked Xiapi, Xiapi definitely wouldn't be able to hold out for even a day.

"Those above the rank of Ya Jiang shall be granted honorary titles, while those below the rank of Ya Jiang shall be dismissed. Each person shall be given a travel allowance of eight dou of rice, and the money and grain in the treasury shall not be touched."

Li Yangchun presented extremely harsh conditions, but Li Shiyue nodded without hesitation upon hearing them: "We are willing to surrender!"

His decisiveness even surprised Li Yangchun for a moment, causing the atmosphere to freeze on the spot.

After a long pause, Li Yangchun finally came to his senses and nodded slightly: "If that's the case, then go back and tell your military commander to prepare for the surrender in five days."

"Yes!" Li Shiyue bowed humbly before leaving the study.

After he left, Li Yangchun turned to the clerk beside him and said, "It seems that the price I gave was still a bit too high."

The clerk dared not say anything, and could only smile and nod in agreement.

While he was talking with the officials, Li Shiyue returned to the Yinbin Hotel. After resting for two hours, he took advantage of the daylight and led more than ten cavalry and infantrymen south to Xiapi.

Two days later, Li Shiyue, weary from his journey, returned to Xiapi, where Shi Pu and his entourage came to greet him.

However, Li Shiyue himself knew that the conditions he had accepted were somewhat harsh, so he did not dare to tell everyone in a big way. He could only tell Shi Pu and the others what he had seen and heard after they returned to the yamen.

When Pu and his men heard the terms, almost everyone pointed at Li Shiyue and started cursing.

However, when Li Shiyue revealed that the imperial court had mobilized 70,000 armored soldiers and gathered over 100,000 laborers, ready to march south at any time, they all fell silent.

"Seventy thousand armored soldiers, is that truly what you saw and heard?"

Shi Pu managed to squeeze out the question, and all the generals looked at Li Shiyue.

Li Shiyue nodded firmly: "The camp outside Pengcheng is at least two miles from the camp gate to the city gate, and the entire camp has at least 200,000 people."

"It was precisely because I saw this situation that I agreed to such harsh conditions."

Seeing Li Shiyue's certainty, no one dared to say anything.

Of their eight thousand men, less than seven thousand actually wore armor.

Fighting 70,000 against 70,000, especially on a plain with no natural defenses, would have been a formidable foe even if Emperor Taizong were alive.

Surrender would be ideal, but the price offered for surrender is far too low.

"With so little food, the brothers certainly won't agree to surrender."

"Why not distribute the military rations and give some money to appease the brothers?"

"But doesn't the imperial court forbid the private use of government funds and grain?"

"You damn idiot, you blockhead, why don't you just scribble a few lines on the document?"

In order to surrender smoothly, these officers came up with various ideas.

Finally, after their discussion, the government issued 8,000 shi of grain and 50,000 guan of cash to dismiss the soldiers.

This batch of grain and money is enough to last until the imperial court sends people to provide disaster relief and distribute land equally.

Seeing that everyone had come to a conclusion, Shi Pu immediately followed the method and asked Li Shiyue to revise the document.

Three days later, when the imperial army and civilians, numbering over 200,000, marched south and arrived in Xiapi, many generals who had previously harbored doubts, as well as soldiers who were unwilling to accept only this small amount of dismissal, all fell silent.

Shi Pu surrendered with his troops, and his men were dismissed. The army continued to rest and reorganize, preparing to march south to Sizhou the next day.

When the army arrived in Hong County, spies had already sent a fast message to Kang Chengxun, who was indulging in revelry in Jiangdu, about the situation of the Han army.

"Two hundred thousand troops?"

"No, the army I saw on the battlefield numbered at least fifty or sixty thousand, and there were also more than one hundred thousand civilians. The line stretched for more than thirty miles, so it must have been no less than two hundred thousand people."

Inside Jiangdu City, Kang Chengxun, sitting in the main seat of the Yangzhou Governor's Mansion, immediately sensed something was wrong after hearing about the troops and laborers mobilized by the imperial court.

"Quickly, gather everyone in the main hall for a meeting!"

"Yes!"

The clerk hurriedly withdrew, and Kang Chengxun also quickly got up and walked towards the main hall, where he pondered behind the screen.

He asked Liu Jilong for grain because of the severe drought and food shortage in Huainan. Now, millions of people in Huainan have no food to eat and can only eat wild grass and tree bark.

The Jiangnan region, which originally produced grain, saw a surge in grain prices due to the war between Gao Pian and Song Wei, Dong Chang, and others.

Now, all he can rely on is the Jiangling and Bashu region in the upper reaches of the Yangtze River.

However, he only wanted food; he hadn't decided whether to surrender to Liu Jilong.

Now it seems that, regardless of whether he has thought it through or not, Liu Jilong is preparing to march south and bring Huainan, which he has occupied, under his control.

As he was thinking this, footsteps sounded behind the screen, and officials from Jiangdu City arrived one after another.

Seeing that most of the people had arrived, Kang Chengxun stepped out from behind the screen.

"General!"

The sight of everyone bowing and scraping before Kang Chengxun made him feel pleased, but he was also afraid of losing this power.

With feelings that were hard to describe, Kang Chengxun gestured for everyone to sit down before speaking to them:

"News has come from the north that Zhu Quanzhong, Zeng Yuanyu, and Shi Pu have all surrendered to the court. Wang Shi is currently leading an army of about 50,000 south, or even more."

"Based on what the spies saw, there were at least 200,000 soldiers and civilians, at least 50,000 troops, and possibly as many as 100,000."

Kang Chengxun glanced at everyone and continued calmly, "They came here for me this time."

Upon hearing this, everyone's expression changed slightly, because the Huainan army numbered only 30,000, and nearly 10,000 of them were under the control of Li Hanzhi. Li Hanzhi was currently occupying Chuzhou and seemed to be obeying orders but not summons.

In other words, Kang Chengxun only had 20,000 troops, and if he wanted to defend the city, he could only muster a little over 10,000 troops.

To defeat tens of thousands or even hundreds of thousands of enemies with tens of thousands of blows is not something they could possibly achieve, especially considering that they were facing the King's style.

If the late emperor hadn't transferred Wang Shi to Guanzhong, with Wang Shi's abilities, it wouldn't have taken much effort to resolve the nascent rebellion of Wang Xianzhi and Pang Xun.

Now that Wang Shi has arrived, his troops are several times larger than theirs, and his supplies are far more plentiful.

Not to mention them, even Kang Chengxun didn't know how to fight this battle.

Moreover, throughout history, whenever a dynasty has occupied Guanzhong, Sichuan, Hedong, and Hebei, it has almost always begun to conquer the entire country.

If the world were divided into two piculs, Liu Jilong would have five piculs, Gao Pian would have three piculs, while Huainan and Jiangdong and Liangzhe would only have two piculs.

Given this situation, not to mention that Liu Jilong had already pacified Hebei and Shandong, even before he had pacified them, Kang Chengxun never considered being Liu Jilong's enemy.

Therefore, he has summoned everyone here mainly to inquire about their attitudes and then decide whether to surrender to Liu Jilong.

"If Wang Shizhen were to march south with 50,000 troops, our army should perhaps surrender..."

"The imperial court has never labeled the military commanders as rebels. If that is the case, then the military commanders are naturally subjects of the imperial court, as are we."

"I wonder what conditions Liu Jilong is willing to offer for our army to surrender?"

The generals of Huainan were not as conflicted about surrendering as the generals of Hebei and Ji Pu, mainly because the Huainan soldiers had already died in Longxi and Longdong, as well as in the later campaigns to suppress Huang Chao.

Currently, less than 20,000 of the troops in Huainan are veterans, while nearly 10,000 are new recruits who have been trained for less than two years.

Of the 20,000 veteran soldiers, nearly half were from Li Hanzhi's troops, so they were not worried that surrendering would lead to the soldiers turning against them.

Although the military atmosphere in Huainan was also quite arrogant, it was not to the extent that Hebei and Xuzhou frequently killed military governors and expelled regional inspectors.

As long as the soldiers are dismissed and the court distributes land equally in the Huainan region, the soldiers will not have too many complaints.

"I will personally inquire about this matter from Wang Xiaonian."

Kang Chengxun was older than Wang Shi. Although the two did not have much interaction, they were both Tang officials after all.

As long as he shows an attitude of surrender, Wang Shi will not target him.

Thinking this, he continued to survey the crowd, and only after confirming that no one showed any dissatisfaction did he stand up.

"If that's the case, then everyone may leave."

"This humble general takes his leave..."

After the generals took their leave, Kang Chengxun immediately wrote a letter and sent it to Sizhou in the north, intending to express his stance to Wang Shi.

Two days later, as the Han army entered Xuyi County, Sizhou, the envoy sent by Kang Chengxun also arrived in Xuyi with his letter.

After reading the contents of the letter, Wang Shi passed it around for everyone to see, saying at the same time:
“I know Kang Jingci very well.”

"None of his children were outstanding. Although he coveted power and wealth, he knew how to assess the situation."

"Moreover, Huainan has been ravaged by war for several years and is now suffering from a severe drought and food shortage. The people are eating wild grass and tree bark. Even if he wanted to resist, he did not have the strength to stop them."

Therefore, the contents of this handwritten letter are credible.

Since Wang Shi had spoken, everyone nodded in agreement, and Wang Shi continued to add:
"We still need to carefully consider how to accept Huainan's surrender."

"Huainan has supplied grain to the imperial court several times, and has not engaged in any rebellion. Therefore, the attitude towards it cannot be compared with that towards other regional military governors."

His words made some sense. After all, the imperial court's pacification of the various towns in Hebei, as well as Zhu Quanzhong and Shi Pu of Xusi, relied on their illegal actions before the imperial court sent troops.

Kang Chengxun was law-abiding and did not only deliver the money and grain on time, but also did not respond to any official documents.

As for how to persuade him to surrender, and what conditions to use to persuade him to surrender, this was clearly not something that Wang Shi and the others could decide.

"I heard that His Highness has already traveled south to Bozhou. If a fast horse is sent to deliver the message, it will take no more than ten days to travel back and forth. I think Kang Chengxun can wait for that."

Li Yangchun spoke first, and Wang Shi nodded slightly after hearing it: "I also have the same idea. I wonder what Governor Chen thinks?"

When Wang Shi inquired about Chen Jingchong, Chen Jingchong had no objection and nodded, saying, "Minister Wang should take the lead."

"If that's the case, then I'll send someone to inquire with Your Highness."

Without any hesitation, Wang Shi quickly wrote a memorial to the throne, then smuggled in a letter from Kang Chengxun and dispatched a fast horse to take it north.

With the fast horse traveling day and night, changing horses but not riders, the memorial was delivered to Liu Jilong in just four days.

However, at this moment, Liu Jilong was outside Liaocheng City in Bozhou, directing hundreds of thousands of people in Hebei to frantically dig wells.

Hebei still had abundant water resources in this era, but no matter how abundant the water resources were, they couldn't withstand five months without a drop of rain.

There are still two weeks until the autumn harvest, but many millet ears have already shown signs of being empty.

This is not only due to insufficient soil fertility, but also to water shortage.

For this reason, Liu Jilong recruited waterworkers from all over Hebei Province to prepare for large-scale well digging in the region.

Since the people are short of food anyway, digging wells through work-for-relief programs can not only benefit the people, but also solve their water shortage problem once and for all.

"The water is coming out! The water is coming out!"

"Don't get excited, keep digging down. All the wells need to be dug to a depth of four zhang (approximately 10 meters). Be slow."

Beside the well, a waterworker was directing the apprentices and villagers to continue digging, even though water was gradually seeping under their feet. He still ordered them to continue digging.

Under his guidance, after about half an hour, the well was finally dug to a depth of four zhang (approximately 10 meters).

"Watch out for what's above us. I'll have someone lower stones and clay rings down right now, and you can just stack them up layer by layer!"

"Yes!"

The plumber spoke briefly with the apprentice at the bottom of the well, then signaled to the laborers on either side to begin lowering the clay ring and stones into the basket.

The three-foot-wide ceramic ring was slowly lowered, followed by sand, charcoal, and smoothed stones.

The apprentices and laborers below began to fix the pottery ring in place, and then piled up sand, charcoal and stones layer by layer.

Then they put ropes around their bodies, and the people above lowered the clay rings while hoisting them up.

After an hour, a fairly neat and sturdy well was formed.

After the apprentice was hoisted out of the well, the waterworker instructed the laborers on either side: "Now you can start laying the stones for the well."

Upon seeing this, the laborers quickly began to build up the wellhead with rammed earth and blue bricks, and fixed the well pulley used for drawing water.

When all the work was done, the waterworkers and laborers, despite their aches and pains, grinned happily.

Seeing them like this from a distance, Liu Jilong couldn't help but smile with relief.

Because in front of him, there were more than a hundred similar well-building sites.

This is just the progress of more than 20,000 laborers in Liaocheng in one day, with each well corresponding to 20 mu of land.

Although this amount of water is a drop in the ocean compared to the severe drought, it's better than nothing.

"Your Highness, Minister Wang's memorial."

Cao Mao walked to Liu Jilong's side and presented him with a memorial. Upon hearing this, Liu Jilong stopped smiling, turned to the side, took the memorial, and began to read it.

Liu Jilong was not surprised that Kang Chengxun would surrender, after all, Kang Chengxun was not an ambitious person.

What he desires is wealth and power, which I cannot give him, but I can give him enough wealth.

"By imperial decree, Kang Chengxun, the military governor of Huainan, is to be recalled to Luoyang, and is granted the titles of Grand Master of the Palace, Minister of the Imperial Secretariat, Grand Tutor of the Crown Prince, Pillar of the State, and Duke of Ningguo, with a fief of three thousand households."

"The generals of Huainan who have rendered meritorious service in defending the territory have all been granted the honorary titles and honorary ranks, and transferred to the northern capital to take up their posts."

For those who did not cause trouble, Liu Jilong naturally treated them better. Even though Kang Chengxun was not very powerful, he should still be granted the title of Duke.

As for the generals of Huainan, it would be acceptable to transfer them to places like Beidu, where they would not be threatened, and grant them official positions that would not involve military power.

"Your subject obeys!" Cao Mao bowed respectfully, while An Pohu rode up from a distance, followed by Wang Jian and Zhang Yanhui.

The three men dismounted and quickly walked towards Liu Jilong, bowing respectfully: "Your Highness!"

"What is it?" Liu Jilong asked, seeing their expressions. He guessed that something had happened.

Sure enough, after he asked, An Pohu spoke first: "There are old soldiers in Zhenzhou and Pingzhou who have caused trouble and driven out the governor, county magistrate and a group of officials sent by our army."

"They said the military training was harsh, and they were dissatisfied and made a fuss, which..."

"Suppress them all!" Liu Jilong interrupted An Pohu before he could finish speaking.

The so-called "old soldiers" are nothing more than the veterans retained by Chengde and Lulong.

They must have learned they were heading south, and then they started their traditional clamor.

However, Liu Jilong was not a military governor of any of the various towns, and could not be manipulated by them at will.

Since they like haggling, let them go haggle with the King of Hell in the underworld.

"Yes!" An Pohu quickly bowed in response, while Liu Jilong looked at Zhang Yanhui and Wang Jian.

"Young Master Zhang, please make your preparations and return to Luoyang soon."

"Yes." Having spent a long time in the army, Zhang Yanhui had learned the Han army's principle of obeying orders and dared not openly bargain.

Seeing how honest he was, Liu Jilong found his son-in-law more and more pleasing to the eye, and nodded in satisfaction before turning his gaze to Wang Jian:

"Wang Jian, if you were transferred to Dongchuan, would you dare to lead troops to recover Qianzhong?"

"I dare!" Wang Jian replied without hesitation, bowing. He knew that whether he could become a governor in the future might depend on this battle.

Seeing this, Liu Jilong instructed him: "There are 45,000 troops in Jiannan Road. I have decided to promote you to the position of Governor of Qianzhong and recruit 50,000 soldiers in Dongchuan."

"One year from now, I need you to lead your army into central Guizhou, and then further into Lingxi and Annam. Are you confident in your ability to do so?"

"Yes!" Wang Jian was naturally confident. Even though he had never been to Qianzhong Road, after witnessing the power of artillery in the army these past few days, he felt that even the so-called important cities of Qianzhong Road could not withstand such artillery attacks.

"If you encounter any difficulties, please feel free to mention them."

Seeing his straightforwardness, Liu Jilong knew he must have conditions, and Wang Jian, seeing this, looked slightly embarrassed, then continued bowing and saying:

"If possible, Your Highness, please allocate fifty... no! Thirty cannons to me."

"Six months from now, I'll transfer fifty doors to you." Liu Jilong agreed without the slightest hesitation.

Upon seeing this, Wang Jian was somewhat taken aback, and then belatedly realized that he had taken too little, secretly clicking his tongue in surprise.

Seeing that he agreed, Liu Jilong then looked at An Pohu and said, "You don't need to worry about things in the south anymore. You can continue to lead your troops to garrison in Hebei and wait for the imperial order to return to Hedong."

"Yes!" An Po bowed and agreed without any questions.

Seeing this, Liu Jilong then looked at Cao Mao and instructed him: "Chen Jingchong shall be appointed as the Governor of Henan Circuit, and Li Yangchun as the Governor of Huainan Circuit. Each of them shall recruit 45,000 soldiers."

"Zhang Chang was transferred to be the Governor-General of Guannei, Liangzhou was dismissed, and Zheng Chu was appointed as the Governor-General of Longyou."

"Cao Mao was appointed as the Governor-General of the Eastern Capital Region, in charge of the troops in the Eastern Capital Region."

"This subordinate obeys!" Upon hearing Liu Jilong's instructions, Cao Mao quickly agreed.

Nominally, each dao (a military district) has 45,000 troops, but in reality, many dao only have 30,000 troops.

Currently, the imperial court controls ten circuits, with a total of only 350,000 troops. Including Zhang Huaishen's troops, the total is only 380,000.

If we include Huainan, which is about to be recovered, then there are eleven circuits under our control, with 425,000 troops stationed there.

For Liu Jilong, the army should not be too large. After the country is unified, the main force should be concentrated in the capital and the frontier, while the forces in places such as Henan and Jiangnan can be reduced as appropriate.

However, once the world is at peace, these fifteen provinces will also need to undergo changes.

In the early Tang Dynasty, when the population of the two regions in the east and west of Jiangnan was insufficient, it was not a problem. However, with the arrival of the prosperous Tang Dynasty, the outbreak of the An Lushan Rebellion, and the current chaos in the Central Plains, countless people from the Central Plains fled south.

Liu Jilong recalls that it was around this time that a large influx of people entered Fujian, which led to its rise.

Adjust administrative regions, reform the system, centralize power in the central government, and then conduct large-scale research and development of firearms, build ships to go to sea to search for new crops overseas...

If all of these are accomplished, China's actual territory will quadruple.

Thinking about this, Liu Jilong sighed, wondering to what extent he could accomplish these things in his lifetime.

The crops available in the Central Plains today are sufficient for the Han people to firmly grasp their existing territory, but they are still somewhat insufficient for areas with many high mountains and slopes.

To control these areas, we need to introduce new crops...

Thinking about this, Liu Jilong felt that he was still a long way from achieving his goal of bringing peace and prosperity to the world.

"Water's coming out! Water's coming out!!"

At this moment, the cheers of the people not far away pulled Liu Jilong back to reality. He looked at the people in the distance embracing excitedly and jumping for joy, and immediately felt a sense of relief.

If he can't even accomplish those things, how can he live up to his life's expectations?

"Send out fast horses to deliver the imperial edicts to all the provinces!"

Liu Jilong gave instructions and then walked towards the well where the water was coming out.

Cao Mao and his companions exchanged glances before finally stepping back and dispatching a fast horse to deliver the imperial edict to the various circuits.

A few days later, while Liu Jilong was still leading the people of Hebei in their drought relief efforts, Liu Jilong's imperial edict also reached Wang Shi's hands.

Upon receiving Liu Jilong's imperial edict, Wang Shi felt much more at ease and subsequently summoned the envoy sent by Kang Chengxun.

He didn't say much, but simply handed the edict to the man for a look.

A moment later, the man bowed eagerly to Wang Shi and asked, "When does Minister Wang plan to travel south to accept the surrender?"

"Let's set it for seven days from now, around the time of the Mid-Autumn Festival when we recover Huainan. His Majesty and His Highness will be pleased to know that."

Wang Shi's words made everyone in the yamen nod in satisfaction, and the envoy also nodded repeatedly: "Indeed, indeed. If that is the case, then I will hurry back to Jiangdu and tell Governor Kang about this matter."

"Go." Wang Shi waved for him to leave, and the envoy did not dare to delay, so he rode a fast horse to Jiangdu, which was two hundred miles away.

When he returned to Jiangdu, it was already the tenth day of the eighth month, five days before Wang Shi went south to accept the surrender.

Upon learning the contents of Liu Jilong's edict, Kang Chengxun felt both excited and melancholy.

He was excited because he had been promoted, and his wealth and status were safe.

What saddens him is that after returning to Luoyang, he will likely only be able to consider himself wealthy and powerful, while real power will probably be irrelevant to him as a minor official.

He was slightly surprised that Liu Jilong had allowed all his generals to take up official positions in the Northern Division.

After all, the generals in the various towns were all granted honorary titles, while his subordinates were granted official positions.

I imagine my generals will be pleased to hear this, and it won't be too difficult for me to persuade them.

Even Li Hanzhi, who was entrenched in Chuzhou, should be content to accept the imperial decree and head north.

Thinking of this, Kang Chengxun took a deep breath and said to the clerk beside him:
"Transmit the court's attitude to the prefects, county officials, and generals of all prefectures and counties."

"An imperial edict commands all prefectures and counties to open their gates and submit to the imperial court by the Mid-Autumn Festival. Anyone who dares to disobey will be executed!"

(End of this chapter)