The Emperor ordered Zhao Tang

Chapter 73 Aftermath and Daily Life

On the fifth day of June in the first year of Jingfu, an imperial edict was issued to dismiss the three military governorships of Longyou, Fengxiang and Bining.

In the first year of Emperor Gaozong's Longshuo reign, the puppet Tuyuhun regime established by the Tang people was destroyed by Tubo. Not long after, due to territorial disputes in Qiuci and other places, the relationship between Tang and Tubo deteriorated again. Based on the principle of striking first, after three years of preparation, Li sent troops to the west to Qinghai. The two sides fought under the Dafei Mountains, but Xue Rengui was defeated. After that, Tubo expanded rapidly to the east, and the Tang people were unable to resist the long-term palace strife and frequent changes of power.

In the second year of Kaiyuan, upon hearing that Li Longji had just been enthroned, Tubo attacked. In October, they attacked again. Xue Rengui's son Xue Na met the enemy. In this battle, Tubo was defeated. After the war, Li Longji established Longyou and commanded the twelve states of Shan, Qin, He, and Wei, and deployed heavy troops to defend against the enemy. The drumbeats of Yuyang shook the earth, and the Long army successively entered to defend, and Tubo then occupied it.

"After the hard times, the civil war in the Holy Tang Dynasty continued. So far, only Qin, Wei, and He are left among the twelve states in Longyou... Don't... mess with me..." Behind the screen in the room filled with the rich aroma of rottenness, the Privy Envoy sat in the arms of the Saint. With both hands on her skirt, her plump body trembled slightly, and there was a trace of saliva at the corners of her mouth, she was weakly telling the history.

"How did you recover these three states?" The saint wiped the water stains on his hands and asked humbly.

"You hurt me." Zhao frowned and glared at him resentfully, then turned her head away: "In the third year of Huichang, there was a civil strife in Tubo. The slaves of Han, Uighur, Tuyuhun, Turkic, Persian, and Arab tribes revolted. The eight towns in the northwest of Beijing took the opportunity to attack and captured Yuan, Le, and Qin, Shimen, Muxia, Tesheng, Xiao... I don't remember the rest."

"Anyway." Zhao took a deep breath, struggled to get up, and said angrily: "These are the three states and seven passes recovered in the Dazhong period! Qinzhou was one of them. During the Chaos Rebellion, it was taken away by Tubo. After Song Wentong became the commander of Long, he seized Qinzhou. In the fifth year of Dazhong, the captive general Shang Yanxin submitted a petition to return to his uncle's country. So the court appointed him as the envoy of travel and command of two states... Let him go!"

The saint understood. The national conditions of Tang and Tubo were basically the same - the chaos of the vassal states and the peasant uprisings. The difference was that the central government of Tubo had collapsed, and Tang was still struggling to support it. However, both sides were essentially warlords, and the border was still in a tug of war. Longyou was close to the western border of He, Wei, and Qin. After Qinzhou was recaptured by Li Maozhen, he used his confidants to garrison it - he had already let the warriors cut it down, and the garrison had more than 2,000 people. He promoted the general Fu Daozhao as the governor - after receiving the news of the battle of Mipi Ze, I don't know if they will surrender.

Hewei is special. After Shang Yanxin died, his son took over the position. At this time, all ethnic groups lived together, the Hu people also farmed, and the Han people also raised sheep. In terms of governance, local nobles also participated, which was similar to Daibei and Xiasui, but much richer. Since Emperor Xuanzong took Shang Yanxin in, the past forty years have been quite peaceful, and the people have lived a comfortable life.

As for the population, according to Zhao, who grew up in Tianshui, there were about 200,000 people, very diverse. During the reign of Emperor Dezong, under the leadership of Li Mi, the Tang Dynasty sent an envoy to meet with the Black Arabs by sea to discuss the siege of Tubo. After that, facing the Abbasid enemy, more than half of Tubo’s domestic troops went to the western front to fight. During the long battle, the Tubo people captured a large number of Persians, Arabs and even Romans. After the demise of Tubo, serfs from various countries who were prisoners of war fled one after another, and the Hewei area, where people’s livelihood was stable, ushered in a wave of dividends.

This has led to the current complex ethnic situation in Hewei.

As for military strength, there must be more than 10,000 soldiers, and if they can recruit men from all over the country, there are probably tens of thousands of them. But there is no need to be an enemy, because they already recognize the imperial court. However, in history, Emperor Zhaozong couldn't even do anything to Li Maozhen, so how could he get involved in Hewei?

The above is the situation in Longyou - Qinzhou was occupied by Fu Daozhao, and Hewei was expected to take over peacefully. Of course, it would be best to destroy Fu Daozhao first, so that the Hewei region would know that the situation had changed, and they could watch the fire from the other side and witness the martial arts of the king's master, so that they could reach a consensus internally.

"Why don't you let go? I'm tired..." Zhao's cheeks were flushed and she pinched the saint.

"well."

"Hmph!" She jumped out of the saint's arms, glared at him fiercely, straightened her messy skirt, and dazedly picked up the silk handkerchief to wipe her wet thighs.

"Hahaha." The saint really likes the angry Zhao - a sonorous rose in Tianshui County. She is beautiful and cold, has the talent of a prominent family, and can ride and shoot. The night he first came last year, he was protected by Zhao and fled to Lingfuyuan. He killed more than ten eunuchs along the way. Such a woman is easy to arouse the desire to conquer.

"Remember this," the saint instructed, wiping his hands.

Hearing this, Zhao tidied up her hair and was about to write it herself, but her face suddenly became hot and she shouted outside, "Chu Chu, come here."

The Privy Council added three more officials, who could also be seen as subordinates of Zhao's secretary-general - Lady Yang Kezheng of Xinqin County, Lady Nangong Chongyan of Handan County, and Lady Wenren Chuchu of Xingyang County. They were originally the chief adjutants of the Ye Ting Yousi, and after being selected into the Privy Council, they were all given titles.

Yang Kezheng was from Linzhou and had been in the palace for seven years. He was originally a sixth-rank official. Nangong Chongyan was from Jizhou, Chengde. His ancestors were princes who were granted fiefs in this area during the Zhou Dynasty. In the first year of Guangqi, he was appointed as the Taiji Palace Master, in charge of the palace ladies’ orders, corrections, bans, and punishments. Wenren Chuchu was from a prominent family in Xingyang. In the first year of Wende, he was appointed as a scholar in the Inner Literature Academy, in charge of teaching concubines and palace ladies rhetoric, calligraphy, mathematics, poetry, and painting.

It’s a pity that the emperor loves polo more than beauties, and the palace officials have wasted their time and are still old maids in their twenties.

"Your Majesty, please speak." Wenren Chuchu knelt behind the desk, dipped the brush in the inkstone, spread out the rice paper, and looked at the saint with burning eyes.

"Order the governors of Qin, He and Wei states to come to the court and see me. They are given one month. If they don't come to see me, I will go to see them." If it is not necessary, Li does not want to release Wang Congxun, Helian Weihuan and other murderous gangs. He cannot guarantee that these guys will not harm anyone when they arrive in Qinzhou.

"Let Minister of Agriculture Li Qun continue to recruit refugees at the Tong, Wu, Dasan and other passes." This is a major matter. The more peasants there are, the more capital there is. Qi Town has been trampled into a wasteland. Some of the people must be moved there so that the fields cannot be left uncultivated. Secondly, more than 20,000 Qi soldiers were killed. I don't know whose sons and husbands they are. The Qi people are bound to resent it. We can't do it like Wei Bo, where the old are killed and the young come. One generation after another is killed. The rebellion will never end.

"General Works Department and Imperial Household Department, stop making weapons and armor for now, and give priority to making iron-clad farm tools." In fact, there is no shortage of war tools, and there are still many swords and armors piled up in the armory. After the emperor returned to Beijing, Chengde alone paid tribute to tens of thousands of armors and weapons. This year, we fought two battles against Qibin and captured a lot of spoils. After the group of pigs in the Shen Ce Army were disbanded, they did not expand the army. With more than 40,000 soldiers now, it is more than enough.

It is easy to recruit refugees, but you cannot just leave them alone and mark out a territory for them to fend for themselves. If you do not give them farming tools and seeds, Zhu Wen will be willing to give them, and the Jiedushi who are willing to farm will give them... If they cannot get good things from the emperor, will the refugees still enter the pass to seek refuge?

Wenren Chuchu wrote it down one by one.

"The fourth article is to let the Ministry of Revenue and the Ministry of War work together. After the summer harvest, the peasants in the 30 counties of the capital area who are over 50 years old and under years old will be recruited to come to Beijing for training." The useless people of the Shen Ce Army have proved with practical actions that the children of businessmen cannot be relied on. Zhu Wen also gave the world an answer - the middle-aged peasants who have parents, wives, children and land to protect are the most reliable. After these ignorant, taciturn and honest peasants are fully trained, once they are equipped with weapons and armor, they are no worse than any vassal. The premise is to pull the full intensity of "military training" twice a year like the Qin and Han dynasties to ensure quality. At the same time, the peasants cannot go bankrupt. Although they are defending their country, there must be benefits in fighting.

It is obvious that Zhu Wen's shogunate was implementing this strategy - both cutting costs and correcting the military's atmosphere.

Isn't it wonderful to cross the river by feeling the way through the Bian River? In history, the imperial court also wanted to implement it, but the Jiedushis came to help the imperial court "cheer up" as soon as they got wind of it.

Wenren Chuchu wrote them down one by one.

"Finally, prepare to use military force against Tongzhou." The sage did not want to keep Wang Xingyue for the New Year, and only waited for his father-in-law's letter to arrive - confirming that Hezhong would not interfere, or that a certain price could be paid to make Hezhong not interfere - to immediately lead his troops to destroy the bandits. First, Tongzhou has seven counties and one prison under its jurisdiction, with a dense population and wealthy people. Second, it is the gateway to the interior of the country, and it was directly governed by the Qin and Han dynasties. Gao Huan attacked Yuwen Tai, Li Keyong attacked Huang Chao, and the three towns attacked Tian Lingzi, all of which took the road from Tongzhou. If there is a highway, why bother to fight to the death at Tongguan? If this piece of land is not in hand, maybe one day a military governor will drive straight in from here to "serve the king".

Hearing this, Wenren Chuchu's pen was suspended in the air, with a little worry in his eyes: "I am afraid it will arouse suspicion from the vassal states and give them an excuse to cause chaos."

"Write it down first." Looking at the beautiful lady from Zhengdi who was full of girlish aura, the saint sighed: "In the short term, no one will come to clear the court, so don't worry."

"Your Majesty, please be cautious and timid. I don't want to be like the maids and concubines of the previous dynasty, who were abducted and played with by thieves." In the past ten years, how many concubines were raped to death, and how many maids were missing. Shen, the white moonlight of Daizong, disappeared after Luoyang was captured by Shi Chaoyi. Was she really missing? The concubines of Emperor Yizong of Tang and the previous emperor who fell into the hands of the nest of thieves, were tortured to the point of crying, and hanged themselves, were not ten or eight.

Who is not afraid.

"Go." The saint had no intention of comforting them. If they won two more times, people inside and outside the palace would regain their confidence and sense of security.

"I'll take my leave." After finishing the documents, Wenren Chuchu left with a heavy heart. Next, the Privy Council will forward these instructions of the saint to the relevant departments. The Hanlin Academy will draft them, and the Prime Minister's meeting will be held. The six ministries of the Shangshu Province will implement them, and after the left and right servants confirm them, they will be sent to the officials for execution.

When the eunuchs are in power, don't think about it. If they don't like your ideas, they will just shut you up. The eunuchs' own forged edicts were extremely resistant to the Southern Court. In general, the power in your own hands is really good, better than He Yuqing, Chen Chen, and Pei Zhenyi.

very good!

The Southern Court will soon select high-ranking envoys to go to the three states of Longyou, Qin, He, and Wei to announce the king's order and invite the governors to come to the court.

The three prosperous states will be within reach!
Fengxiang, Qi, and Long were already in our hands. The warriors had all been killed, and the bodies in the Mei Pond were probably almost eaten by fish and shrimp. There was nothing to worry about. We just had to wait for the Ministry of Personnel to test the Jinshi or the National History Museum and other idle officials, and appoint a group of energetic and ambitious young people to go down to Chencang, Qishan, Linyou, Fufeng, Mei, Yong, Guo, Purun, Wushan, Weiyuan, and Weiyang 11 counties to be fathers and mothers.

I don't plan to set up a governor for the time being - at least there is no need for it now. The territory is so small, let these county magistrates be directly responsible to the court. It's just one county, let's see how you rebel.

There was no need to send troops to guard the Dasan, Anrong, Taihe, and Dazhen passes. If the Qi people still had power, they would have to be controlled, but now, the warriors of Fengxiang have all gone to the underworld to rob the King of Hell. The military leaders south of Dasan Pass responded to the call of the Wai Zhai Lang and entered Shu one after another to compete with Wang Jian for territory. There was no one to defend against.

Even if he needed to deploy troops, the saint would not send them. Now, with Xiao Wang by his side, he could ensure that he would not rebel. But if he was sent out to be a military governor, without restraint, it was hard to say whether he would return to his nature. Even Xiao Wang did not dare to pat his chest, let alone other warriors. Secondly, the troops were in Chang'an, and he would often show up, reward them, and lead them in battle, and his prestige would slowly accumulate.

If you are transferred out, the prestige belongs to the generals, will the troops become someone else's? Most likely. Don't test the loyalty of generals, this is a taboo for a monarch. Be emperor for another two years, win a few more battles, and when the army building is effective, send the troops out again.

As for public security issues such as tiger infestations, bandits, and deserters, small groups of troops were often dispatched, since they were nearby anyway.

Binning Town was relatively difficult to deal with, because the Bin people were not completely wiped out like the Qi people. After Wang Xingyu's 20,000 main forces failed at Dazhen Pass, the remaining several thousand soldiers were also killed on the way to join the Qi people to attack the capital, but Wang Xingyu would not leave no soldiers to defend his home. According to Prime Minister Liu Chongwang's estimate, there should be more than 3000 to 5000 people in Bin, Ning and Qing.

The three states were able to support more than 20,000 soldiers, which shows how aggressive they were.

The sage still wanted to recover these three states. The reason was that the big state of Bin governed four counties, namely Xinping, Sanshui, Yilu and Yongshou. Qingzhou governed 4 counties, namely Shunhua, Heshui, Lepan and Maling. Ningzhou governed five counties, namely Pengyuan, Pengyang, Anding, Xiangle and Zhenning, for a total of 10 counties.

But after careful consideration, the conditions are not met at present - Bining is connected to Jingyuan in the west, Fufang in the east, and Shuofang and Dingnan in the north. If we attack directly, what will the four towns of Jing, Xia, Fu, and Shuo think? When the local geopolitical security is seriously threatened, will these people join hands to deal with the court like those thieves in Hebei?
The probability is very small, but not zero. From the emperor's perspective, even if it is only one in a thousand, it should be treated as 100%. Because with the current wealth, there is no capital to bet, and if you lose, you will be doomed. Behind you are your wife and children, and the people's support is against you. Do you dare to gamble?

Well, if the Bin people push for another governor, we can acknowledge him first.

Tongzhou is the top priority now. As soon as my father-in-law replies, I will kill that guy Wang Xingyue.

The remaining things are to cultivate the land, support the people, and fight. In another month, when the summer harvest is initially completed, the young and strong farmers from the 22 counties in the capital will come to the capital for training. It is a good time to win people's hearts and cultivate party members. The saints don't like these recruits now! But there is no replacement, so they have to trust - emphasizing agriculture and suppressing commerce is indeed the first priority of the ruler. Whoever gets the farmers will conquer the world.

After counting, there are now 22 counties in Kinai, 11 counties in Qidi, and 3 counties in Huazhou, a total of 36 counties, more than soldiers capable of fighting, and more than million civilians. Looking at the world, can it be called a strong vassal?
"It would be nice if we could get Tongzhou again."

If the father-in-law dares not to allow it, he will beat his precious daughter every night! Make Zhu Xiewusi unable to walk or get out of bed, humph!

Tomorrow, he plans to make a low-key inspection outside the capital, just like the last time he visited Wugong County in the west. His main purpose is to inspect the military farming work of Li Qun, the Minister of Agriculture. It has been going on for so long that he needs to check it out.

Those wealthy families and large and medium-sized landlords have a way of dealing with the registered common people. It is also a basic operation for officials to take bribes and fool their superiors. To put it bluntly, the nature of landlords has always been the same since ancient times. They will not restrain themselves unless they are hurt.

The sage did not intend to ask them - he would suddenly rush to a certain village in a certain county in the capital and visit the people in their homes. Was the land really granted? Was the quantity sufficient? Was the seed given? Was the cattle, draft horses, and farm tools borrowed? What was the tax rate? Whoever cut his leeks to serve himself, let him die!

"It's noon now, you should take a rest. I'll go to the Privy Council." Zhao took a sip of water and stood up to leave.

Concubine? The saint noticed the change in how Zhao called herself. Most of the time, she used to call herself "minister" seriously. When they were playing around, she called herself "I". The way she addressed him, the emperor, also suddenly changed. In the past, when she was in a good mood, she would call him "everyone" or "official", which was very intimate. Otherwise, she would call him "sage", "your majesty", or even "emperor", which were formal and unfamiliar.

Now I call myself "concubine" and refer to "you"...

"Don't worry." The saint grabbed her hand and pulled this Steel Rose, who was about 130 meters tall and weighed more than kilograms, into his arms.

"What is the emperor doing!" Zhao's beautiful hair was disheveled, her shoulders and collarbones were exposed, and she grabbed her own collar.

"What do you think I want to do?" Looking into her charming and beautiful eyes, the saint said happily, "I want my wife to give me a son."

"In this world, is it a crime to be born?" Perhaps worried that He Yuqing and Zhu Xiewusi, two big names, would suddenly arrive, Zhao turned over and broke free, saying anxiously: "Wenren Chuchu and the others are new to the Privy Council and are not familiar with it yet. I'll go take a look and talk after dark. I've already made the emperor very happy just now, aren't you satisfied?"

"I know."

"I just fell for your tricks again." Zhao was going crazy. She sighed and put her hands on her collar. After a pause, she slowly pulled her clothes open and said solemnly: "Manage state affairs well. This country depends on the government to revive. It's hard to have hope. Ah."

(End of this chapter)