Zhutian: Starting from the Space-Time Merchant

Chapter 400 When will the spring flowers and autumn moon end? How much of the past do we know?

Where is this place?

Arriving once again at the banks of the Yangtze River, gazing at the surging waves, Lin Dao inquired of the generals around him.

"His Majesty."

Cao Bin, who had previously served as a military supervisor in Tongguan and was recruited into the Palace Guard for Lin Dao, volunteered to say, "This place is Wujiang County."

"Oh?" Lin Dao turned around. "Could this be the place where Xiang Yu, the Hegemon-King of Chu, committed suicide?"

“This is the place.” Having seized the opportunity to speak, Cao Bin immediately explained, “There is a river here called the Wujiang River.”

"It is said that when Xiang Yu broke through the encirclement at Gaixia and arrived here, the ferryman of Wujiang wanted to ferry him across the river, but Xiang Yu refused."

"This is the origin of the legend that Xiang Yu refused to cross the river to return to Jiangdong and committed suicide on the banks of the Wujiang River."

"I see." Lin Dao nodded repeatedly. "You know a lot."

Upon hearing this, all the generals around him turned their heads in disapproval.

Cao Bin remained outwardly calm, but inwardly he was secretly groaning.

His Majesty has essentially thrown himself into the fire.

Turn your gaze back to the mighty river.

Lin Dao calmly began, "To live, be a hero; to die, a ghost of valor. Even now, I think of Xiang Yu, who refused to cross the Yangtze River!"

Upon hearing this, the surrounding generals all cheered.

Flattery came in droves, offered one after another.

It's not just scholars who know how to flatter; martial artists are equally adept at it.

Lin Dao laughed upon hearing this, but did not offer any further explanation.

He was simply expressing his feelings without considering that Li Qingzhao's work had never been published.

But so what if he copied it? Anyway, Lin Zihou didn't become a high-ranking official or marry a princess in the dynasty by copying books and poems.

Occasionally copying others' work is no big deal.

"His Majesty."

Yang Ye rode up from afar and reported, "The envoy of the Commander of the Lingbo Army of the Tang Dynasty has arrived. Should Your Majesty go to see him?"

Upon hearing this, all the generals around him showed a hint of displeasure.

Is Yang Ye some kind of idiot?

What's so special about a mere envoy from a mere commandery lord? Why did the emperor have to meet him in person?

Are you out of your mind?

Sure enough, everyone saw Lin Dao frown and say, "He's gone. Just pass on the message."

“If he is willing to surrender, he can continue to lead the navy here.”

"In addition, there were rewards of gold, silver and other valuables."

"Nothing more than that."

The emperor of the Southern Tang Dynasty died of illness, and a new emperor had not yet ascended the throne.

The domestic situation is turbulent, with the crown prince's men and veteran officials vying for power.

Given such a chaotic situation, it was only natural for the generals of the Southern Tang to seek their own way out.

"Even without the Lingbo Army," Lin Dao said with a smile, "I still have a way to lead you across the river."

He told the truth.

He had led troops across the Yangtze River many times in other timelines before, so he was already very familiar with it.

As for the Lingbo Army, it was the elite navy of the Southern Tang Dynasty.

Its origin, however, stems from dragon boat races.

The elite navy was forged through dragon boat racing.

After discussing with his confidants, the commander of the Lingbo Army decided to accept Lin Dao's conditions.

Next, the generals were summoned in the name of a military council.

They ambushed and killed all those loyal to the Southern Tang, as well as those with whom they had long-standing grudges.

Afterwards, he led a large fleet of ships and arrived in Jiangbei in a grand procession.

Large numbers of Qin soldiers crossed the Yangtze River and reached the south bank.

Meanwhile, the Southern Tang court in Jiangnan was still engaged in fierce fighting, and no one even knew that the Qin army had already crossed the river.

It wasn't until the Qin army's advance reached Caishiji that the Southern Tang court, upon learning the news, finally calmed down.

But it's too late.

Lingbo Army blockaded the Yangtze River and the Qinhuai River, while Lin Dao personally led a large army to blockade Jiangning City.

The city was filled with fear and unease, experiencing three frights a day.

Li Hongji, the crown prince of Southern Tang, who was in mourning, did not receive the traditional three refusals and three concessions, but instead received Lin Dao's army.

He was completely confused.

Dressed in mourning clothes, he roared wildly inside the palace hall.

"Where did these 100,000 Qin soldiers come from?!"

Even at this point, he was still unaware that the Lingbo Army had already betrayed him.

"Your Highness," Zhong Mo, the Vice Minister of Rites, couldn't stand it any longer and explained, "The Lingbo Army has rebelled, and the entire navy has been transferred to the Qin army."

The navy, which should have been a solid defensive line against northern invasions, defected to the enemy due to internal strife within the court.

This is undeniably ironic.

The people in the Crown Prince's palace are too impatient, and their eating manners are too unsightly.

At this critical juncture, they actually tried to seize control of the Lingbo Army, directly forcing them to defect and surrender.

Zhong Mo was speechless; the country deserved to perish!

Li Hongyi was shocked and quickly grabbed Li Jingsui's hand, anxiously asking, "Uncle, what should we do now?"

Li Jingsui, who had once served as the Crown Prince of the Southern Tang Dynasty, twitched the corner of his mouth.

His expression was extremely grim, and he finally managed to say with difficulty, "Let's surrender."

Without the naval barrier, even the city of Jinling was surrounded.

The city is short of manpower, supplies, and provisions, making it extremely difficult to defend.

More importantly, if the Lingbo Army could betray, then others could too!

If they betray Kaesong and commit suicide, the entire Li family will likely face certain death.

The Li family of the Southern Tang Dynasty were actually quite similar to Chai Rong.

Their founding emperor was Li Bian, who later became Xu Wen's adopted son and inherited the family business.

Unlike Chai Rong, after he became emperor, he changed his surname back to Li.

Moreover, he claimed to be a descendant of the Li imperial family, saying that he was the son of Emperor Xianzong of Tang and the fourth-generation descendant of Prince Jian, Li Ke.

Afterwards, he not only changed his surname back to Li, but also changed the name of his dynasty to Tang.

This kind of thing is common and nothing to be surprised about.

Now, the Li family is at a critical juncture of life and death. "No."

Li Hongyi shook his head repeatedly. "That Lin Dao once said that if we cannot find those monks who plotted against Chai Rong, then all the men of the Li family will be buried with him."

"There are no monks to be found now; surrendering means death."

On one hand, they were afraid of dying, and on the other hand, they were reluctant to give up the throne they were about to obtain.

Li Jingsui naturally understood his nephew's thoughts.

After several unsuccessful attempts to persuade him, all that could be done was to sigh and let him go.

However, the commotion within the city was much faster than he had imagined.

Anyone with eyes can see that the Southern Tang dynasty is doomed.

There were plenty of clever people who wanted to switch sides, and on the very next day, the city's garrison launched a rebellion.

The entire Li clan was exterminated. Even Li Jing, who died of illness and was waiting to be buried in the mausoleum, was cut down and collected by the rebels and sent to Lin Dao.

"Pity."

Lin Dao shook his head repeatedly, "I had promised to leave Li Jing with a complete corpse."

Previously, Li Jing had returned Chai Rong's body, and Lin Dao had promised to leave him a complete body.

Now that his head has been chopped off, it can be considered that he broke his promise.

"Find a skilled craftsman," Lin Dao instructed Cao Bin. "Sew Li Jing's head back on and bury it in the mausoleum."

"As for the members of the Li clan, they should also be buried together."

"Your Majesty," Shi Shouxin stepped forward and bowed, "There is still one member of the Li family outside."

"Oh?" Lin Dao asked, "Who is it?"

"Li Jing's sixth son, Li Congjia."

Lin Dao suddenly realized, "It's him."

The name Li Congjia might be unfamiliar, but the name he changed after ascending the throne is now known to everyone.

After ascending the throne, this person changed his name to Li Yu, becoming the last ruler of the Southern Tang Dynasty.

This refers to Li Yu, who wrote the lines: "When will the spring flowers and autumn moon end? How much of the past do we know? How much sorrow can one have? It's like a river of spring water flowing eastward."

At this time, Li Hongyi, the crown prince of the Southern Tang Dynasty, had not yet been deposed for poisoning his uncle, Li Jingsui.

Li Yu naturally did not become the crown prince.

To avoid the struggle for the throne, he traveled to various places, indulging in pleasures and sensual pleasures.

That's why they managed to avoid disaster.

“In that case,” Lin Dao pondered for a moment, then made a decision. “To make up for the promise I failed to keep, I will appoint Li Congjia as an attendant official, give him a salary, and let him live a peaceful life from now on.”

Like Zhao Ji, Li Yu was a person with extremely high artistic talent, as high as a three- or four-story building.

But he was not suited to be an emperor.

Compared to Zhao Ji, who led to the downfall of his kingdom and the extinction of his people, Li Yu is clearly more deserving of sympathy.

Especially his story with the two Zhou sisters~
Thinking about this, Lin Dao seemed to be deep in thought.

As the army entered the city, the people along the way were all bowing in submission.

In this chaotic era, massacres of entire cities were commonplace.

Even without massacring the entire city, people were often arbitrarily arrested and served as food on the chopping board.

In such a terrifying living environment, who wouldn't be afraid?
Fortunately, Lin Dao did not massacre the city, nor did he arrest people on the street to be cooked.

He issued a proclamation to reassure the people, stating that peace was imminent and that the various human tragedies of the past would never happen again.

Afterwards, Lin Dao interviewed the civil and military officials of the Southern Tang Dynasty in turn.

Those who are talented and virtuous will be placed in appropriate positions.

Those who possess both talent and virtue should be entrusted with important responsibilities.

Those who are virtuous but lack talent are often placed in quiet government positions.

Those who are talented but lack virtue should be sent to remote and isolated places.

Those who are neither talented nor virtuous should naturally go home and eat their own food.

There are prerequisites for selecting people for the forest road project.

That means one cannot be born into a powerful local family in Jiangzuo.

He habitually purged local powerful families, so naturally he wouldn't allow anyone from such backgrounds to become an official.

The situation in the north is much better.

Local warlords fought each other for years, several dynasties came and went, and the Liao Dynasty's Khitan people continued to raid their territory.

Raiding is robbery, and when robbing, the priority is naturally to target wealthy and powerful families with money and grain.

As a result, the powerful clans in the north were almost completely wiped out after the An Lushan Rebellion.

The situation in the south is much worse.

There weren't many battles here, and they weren't that intense.

This led to the continuous growth of local powerful families, who, through collusion with Buddhist sects, formed a powerful local force.

During the Song Dynasty, there were a total of 137 prime ministers, 73 of whom came from the Jiangnan region, and the number of other officials was also very large.

They seized land and plundered the people's wealth, leading to numerous uprisings, including the Fang La Rebellion.

Towards the end of the Song Dynasty, he even reached an agreement with Kublai Khan to exchange the preferential treatment of the tax farming system for the price of betraying the Song Dynasty.

Later, during the Ming Dynasty, they went even further and ultimately destroyed the Ming Dynasty.

It wasn't until the Manchus entered the pass that they were taught how to pay taxes with the sword.

With these thoughts in mind, Lin Dao decided to cut the problem at its source.

He didn't care whether any of the powerful figures were innocent.
Those who become local tyrants are never wronged; they all rose to power through cunning and force.

Using the might of the founding army, these local powerful clans were completely eradicated.

Without eradicating these malignant tumors, many subsequent things cannot proceed.

Just like India in the modern world.

They wanted to undertake large-scale infrastructure projects, but the land was controlled by local powerful families.

We can't do it without their permission.

To get their agreement, you have to share the profits and give them preferential treatment, etc.

Therefore, it must be eliminated.

While dispatching troops to various parts of the Southern Tang to take over prefectures and counties, these troops also carried out missions.

After eliminating local powerful figures, the soldiers and Lin Dao split the seized wealth and supplies equally.

Lin Dao, on the other hand, was stationed in Jinling City, directing operations while selecting talented individuals.

On this day, Lin Dao summoned Zhou Zong, the ailing Minister of the Southern Tang Dynasty.

After some casual conversation, Lin asked.

"I've heard that your daughter, Zhou Ehuang, is engaged to Li Congjia?"

(End of this chapter)