Prince Li You of the Great Tang Dynasty begs the noble families to their deaths!

Soon, the "people who could be of use" that Li You had mentioned gathered around, totaling more than fifty people.

If this rabble could be considered an army, then Li You was its commander. Yan Hongxin, Yan Hongzhi, Zan Junmo, and Liang Mengbiao were all generals.

These guys who had just gathered were the captains of the team.

The one leading them is called Gao Shun.

"Gao Shun!"

"Your subordinate is here!"

How many soldiers are there in the camp?

"...Your Majesty, I was unaware!"

"How many days' worth of provisions are we going to have?"

"Your Majesty, I was unaware!"

Looking at Gao Shun, who was completely bewildered, Li You knew that there was no need for him to ask any further questions.

He took a deep breath and then started spraying.

"You are rebelling with me!"

"Rebellion will cost you your head!"

"These days, generals don't know their soldiers, and soldiers don't know their generals. Do we still have the leisure to gather together and drink? Are we tired of living?"

"Do you all think that the Imperial Guards of Chang'an—the Feathered Forest Guards, the Dragon Martial Guards, the Divine Martial Guards—are made of mud and water? And that you are all heroes, invulnerable to swords and spears, with heads of bronze and arms of iron?"

Seeing that the King of Qi was angry, all the generals and officers around him knelt down.

At this time, the concept of seniority and hierarchy was very strong.

Moreover, these leaders were all considered retainers of the Prince of Qi's household, and their lives, honor, and disgrace rested on the Prince of Qi's shoulders.

"Gao Shun, I hereby award you twenty strokes of the military rod! Zan Junmo, you come and do the beating!"

"promise!"

Zan Junmo dared not delay and grabbed a military stick to strike Gao Shun.

After twenty strokes of the military rod, Gao Shun was knocked unconscious.

Zan Junmo gave a wink to the soldiers beside him, who understood and dragged Gao Shun away.

"No sleeping tonight! Immediately take inventory of the troops and provisions!"

"promise!"

At Li You's command, the entire military camp immediately descended into chaos.

The noise and the sound of whipping were incessant.

"Sir, it's so late, what are we going to do again... Ouch..."

"Get up here right now and form ranks!"

"Sir, I haven't eaten for two days..."

"You haven't eaten? Neither have I!"

……

It took more than three hours to complete the formation.

Many people, though standing in the queue, kept dozing off.

Some people were too weak to get up because they hadn't eaten, and therefore had no ability to form ranks.

The smallest organizational unit in the Tang army was "fire," which consisted of 10 people.

The fire symbol represents a team, and a team consists of 50 people.

Above the team is the battalion, and a battalion has 500-1000 people.

Approximately three battalions can form an army, which has a strength of around 3000 men.

The six armies of the Northern Army of the Tang Dynasty's central government were: the Left and Right Feathered Forest Army, the Left and Right Dragon Martial Army, and the Left and Right Divine Martial Army. These armies numbered between 3000 and 4000. The "army" was already a relatively large organizational unit, and above the army was the "marching army".

"Marching" refers to a field army formed during wartime. A standard marching army consisted of corps-level units such as the central army, left and right flank armies, and left and right wing armies, with a total strength of approximately 2 people. Even in modern times, a force of 2 people is a very large number.

Looking at the disheveled "camp" below, Li You couldn't help but recall a line from a certain TV series.

I have never seen the people, I have only seen individuals.

Because of the ambition that a leader might have at some point, these poor people are driven together like livestock, forced to stand in neat rows at night without sleep, to be counted.

"Your Majesty, it's finally all marked!"

"There are a total of eighteen battalions, with 500 men in each battalion, totaling 9000 soldiers."

"Where are the provisions?"

"Um... Your Majesty, aren't we counting heads?"

Li You clenched his fist, gently suppressing his urge to lash out.

Well, the fact that they were able to figure out a specific number of people is already a huge step forward.

Before arriving at the ranks, Li You observed his "soldiers" by the light of the fire.

The elderly, the bewildered children, the frail middle-aged... many of them simply cannot fight a war.

Li You picked out a few weak "samples," pointed at them, and gave instructions to his men.

"Based on the appearance of these people, pick out the old, weak, and young children and send them back to camp. The rest continue to form ranks."

"promise!"

The newly formed queue is starting to fall into chaos again.

After the elderly and weak were squeezed out, only eleven battalions, more than 5000 people, remained.

"Liang Mengbiao and Zan Junmo, you two are in charge of separating and managing these 5000 people from the elderly and weak."

"promise!"

"Hongxin, Hongzhi, you two go and take inventory of the provisions!"

"promise!"

After giving the order, Li You felt drowsy and found a place in the camp to rest.

……

The sun rose as usual the next day.

Li You woke up.

This was his first morning after transmigrating, and he was still somewhat dazed.

"Your Majesty, our camp has a total of over 2,600 shi of grain."

The brothers Yan Hongzhi and Yan Hongxin, their faces red with blood, came to report to the King of Qi.

Li You patted them on the shoulders: "You two have worked hard."

Two thousand six hundred shi of grain, calculated at a ration of 1.5 shi per person per month, would only be enough to feed 5000 people for 10 days.

In other words, if Li You fails to gain momentum within 10 days, his own troops will fall into chaos due to insufficient supplies, even before the imperial army can attack.

Li You closed his eyes and began to think.

We must find a way to break the deadlock and reverse our current disadvantage.

"Your Majesty, perhaps... we could borrow some more grain from Lord Pei?"

Li You suddenly opened his eyes: "Lord Pei? Who is Lord Pei?"

The brothers Yan Hongzhi and Yan Hongxin exchanged strange glances.

How come Your Majesty doesn't even know who Lord Pei is?

"Lord Pei, that is Pei Hong, the governor of Qi Prefecture."

"Does he have any food?"

"Uh... Your Majesty, you forgot, Governor Pei lent half of the grain from the official granary to support us, a total of... yes, a total of three thousand shi."

Upon hearing this, Li You was both amused and exasperated.

"So, the provisions we're using for our rebellion are actually borrowed from the government. And to make matters worse, they only borrowed half... I say, are you really planning a rebellion, or are you just playing house? Why don't you just rob someone?"

"Rob? Your Majesty, are we borrowing or robbing...?"

"Borrow, borrow, borrow your mother's head!"

"We are rebelling! We want to seize the empire from Li Shimin!"

"borrow?"

"Li Shimin was such a hero, would he really lend you this vast empire to play with for nothing?"

"Only by turning the world upside down, making Li Shimin's life miserable, and even killing him, will the world truly belong to us, and only then will the people of the world bow down and submit to us!"

"That old bastard surnamed Pei, do you really think he's a compassionate and benevolent person? A Buddha? A Bodhisattva?"

"That damned old scoundrel Pei, who knows how she's mocking me now!"

"You're all idiots! Pigs! Useless trash!"

Seeing Li You fly into a rage once again, the Yan brothers, Yan Hongzhi and Yan Hongxin, lowered their heads in shame.

Starting from yesterday, this is the second time the King has scolded them, and the scolding was very vulgar.

Looking at the two brothers, Li You felt a little guilty.

"Hongxin, Hongzhi, this is also the first time I've ever rebelled."

"I was wrong; I shouldn't have scolded you."

"Your Majesty, we...we brothers are indeed foolish and cannot think of any good solution."

"A good idea?"

"Hongxin, you need to understand that good ideas won't come our way; we can only use the brute force method."

Li You took a deep breath and sorted out the plans in his mind.

For a rebellion to succeed, one must have two or three of the following factors: favorable timing, advantageous location, and popular support.

Take the recent Sui Dynasty uprising as an example. The most important factor in the eventual conquest of the Central Plains by the Li family of Taiyuan was the human element.

His son, Li Erlang, was indeed exceptionally talented in both literature and military strategy. Moreover, during the rebellion, he continued to recruit talented individuals from all walks of life.

In terms of geography, Taiyuan and Guanzhong were both good places to start a rebellion.

In terms of timing, the end of the Sui Dynasty was marked by widespread war and chaos, and everyone wanted to make a good profit.

If others can do it, why can't I? Let's just do it first and see what happens.

Unfortunately, the King of Qi chose to rebel at a time when the country was at peace and there was no major war.

From a celestial perspective, it is very unsuitable.

Li You made a tough decision: Since there is no chaos, then let's create chaos!

The most famous rebel during the Tang Dynasty was Huang Chao.

Coincidentally, Huang Chao's final title for himself was "Chongtian Taibao Junping Dajiangjun, Emperor of the Great Qi".

The reason why General Huang wanted to go to the Heavenly Street and crush the heads of all the nobles in the world was because the powerful families had taken too much.

They not only occupy all the land in the country, but also firmly control the upward mobility channels for those from humble backgrounds.

Even in the early Tang Dynasty, powerful families possessed land, grain, manpower, and, most importantly, prestige.

At that time, it was extremely difficult to marry a woman from a prominent family.

Even for Emperor Li Shimin, it would have been difficult to accomplish this.

Li You was aiming for the first three things that aristocratic families possessed: land, grain, and manpower.

"Hongxin, who exactly is that Prefect Pei?"

"He...he is a member of the Pei family of Guanzhong."

Well, another aristocratic family.

The Pei family of Guanzhong, along with the Wei, Xue, and Liu families who were also in Guanzhong at the time, were collectively known as the "Four Families of Guanzhong".

Although they cannot compare to the "Five Surnames and Seven Noble Families," these four families are still undoubtedly powerful clans.

With this in mind, Li You decisively gave the order.

"Hongxin, from the eleven battalions selected yesterday, take five battalions and come with me to choose the government offices!"

"promise!"