Siheyuan: I have a multi-dimensional chat group!

Therefore, Li Ye's current situation is actually in the best interest of Zhu Quanzhong and other warlords in Guandong.

They focused on guarding their own small territory and ignored the affairs of the warlords in Guandong.

Official positions and titles can be bought with money; soldiers are unavailable; grain can be bought with money or exchanged for goods.

It's purely a buyer-seller relationship.

Everyone can rest assured with an emperor like this.

To completely reassure the warlords of Guandong, Li Ye stated on multiple occasions that he was willing to share the empire with them and had no interest in weakening their power.

Well, Kansai, Kanan, and Kanhoku don't count.

Although the warlords of Kanto expressed little belief, they were at least somewhat relieved.

So they started working furiously on it again.

Faced with the Guandong warlords going on a rampage, Li Ye said he was enjoying watching the drama unfold!

The thing I'm not happy about is that I don't know what Li Keyong and Zhu Quanzhong are doing. The spies I sent out don't seem to be of much use to them!

Fortunately, Li Ye didn't lose out; he had successfully established two intelligence networks spanning major powers across the country. One was the one that was out in the open, the Eastern Depot office that Li Ye had modeled after the later Ming Dynasty.

Another hidden entity is the Embroidered Uniform Guard system, which operates under the cover of royal caravans and security escort agencies.

These two intelligence networks also ostensibly help Li Ye with his business dealings.

They sell everything: grain, weapons, cloth;

Minerals, people, livestock, furs. Buy everything!

With years of war in Guandong, these military governors were simply unable to resist Li Ye's blatant extortion.

Through economic aggression, Li Ye gradually gained control of the lifeline of the warlords in Guandong.

Once Li Keyong, Zhu Quanzhong, and other capable and fortunate individuals are eliminated, he can reclaim Guandong in one fell swoop!

Anyway, he's not even thirty yet, and with the skills he's learned in the chat group, he still has a long life ahead of him!

Li Keyong and Zhu Quanzhong are both over fifty, and their days are numbered!

In the fourth year of Qianning (897), the fortunes of Li Keyong and Zhu Quanzhong began to decline, while the fortunes of Liu Rengong of Youzhou and Yang Xingmi of Yangzhou began to soar.

At the beginning of the year, Ge Congzhou helped Zhu Quanzhong take over Yanzhou and Yunzhou, and Zhu Quanzhong finally occupied the heartland of the Central Plains, including Henan, Yanzhou, Qingzhou and Xuzhou.

Then Zhu Quanzhong's domineering aura erupted, and he wanted to conquer Yang Xingmi in the south, who always bullied his younger brother.

Therefore, in November of the fourth year of Qianning, Zhu Quanzhong dispatched two generals, Ge Congzhou and Pang Shigu, to lead an army of 70,000 across the Huai River to conquer Huainan.

As a result, Zhu Jin, a general under Yang Xingmi, seized the opportunity and first sent his navy to defeat the Bianzhou army at Qingkou, capturing Pang Shigu alive.

Then in Haozhou, the city was flooded, and only a thousand people, including Ge Congzhou, managed to escape.

At this point, apart from Niu Cunjie, who crossed the river relatively quickly, seven or eight out of ten of Zhu Quanzhong's southern expeditionary troops were lost.

The fleeing army was caught in a heavy snowfall in Yingzhou, and most of them froze to death.

It was as miserable as could be!

From then on, Yang Xingmi controlled the area between the Yangtze and Huai Rivers, becoming another major enemy that made Zhu Quanzhong die with regrets.

As for Li Keyong, he was defeated by Liu Rengong at Anse in October of the fourth year of Qianning, and Li Keyong escaped with only one horse.

Then Liu Rengong sent the heads of the Hedong army soldiers he had cut off to Zhu Quanzhong, which was considered an alliance with Zhu Quanzhong.

Li Ye was quite pleased with the crushing defeats of Zhu Quanzhong and Li Keyong.

What made Li Ye even happier was that after their crushing defeat, Zhu Quanzhong and Li Keyong had no choice but to buy weapons and provisions from Li Ye on a large scale in order to recover their strength as quickly as possible.

Seeing this, Yang Xingmi, Liu Rengong, and others around him, in order to avoid retaliation from Zhu Quanzhong and Li Keyong who had regained their strength, could only purchase weapons and provisions from Li Ye in large quantities.

Li Ye took the opportunity to sign trade agreements with these military governors.

They were required to ensure the safety of the imperial caravans passing through the area, or their supplies would be cut off.

If this agreement had been made during the heyday of Zhu Quanzhong and Li Keyong, it would most likely have been rejected.

But that won't work now!

Natural disasters and man-made calamities have made these regional military governors more economically dependent on the imperial court than ever before, and the imperial court is now absolutely not to be offended.

Now, Li Ye controls several major production areas, including Guanzhong, Hanzhong, Bashu, and Jiaozhou, and his rule is stable with bumper harvests year after year.

Moreover, Li Ye also developed large-scale mining and industrial projects, making him incredibly wealthy.

Chapter 546, Li Ye's Southern Conquest! (Please subscribe!)

Have the heroes of Guandong heard that the soldiers in ordinary prefectures and counties under the emperor's rule are now equipped with excellent iron armor?

The level of luxury is outrageous.

After the envoys from various vassal states who passed through Tongguan returned, they reported that, according to their observations, the passes were filled with powerful bows and crossbows, as well as all sorts of strange and unusual defensive equipment. The soldiers were well-equipped, their morale was high, and the city walls and passes were all well-maintained.

Roads are being built everywhere in Guanzhong, and there are construction sites all over the place.

The city of Chang'an, which was severely damaged in the war, has now been restored and looks as if one has returned to the glorious Tang Dynasty.

The glorious Tang Dynasty is a monument in the hearts of all Tang people.

Even as envoys from regional military governorships, these men, upon seeing the magnificent city of Chang'an, were still filled with excitement for the revitalization of the imperial court.

Countless poems were carried to all corners of the world by these messengers.

Gradually, the regional military governors of Guandong all knew that the imperial court had rallied and that the Tang Dynasty was experiencing a revival.

The Han and Tang dynasties are eternal monuments in history.

After the fall of the Han dynasty, whenever there was chaos, regardless of whether it was a nomadic or Han people, the first choice for the name of the newly established state was Han.

Even after the fall of the Tang Dynasty, countless people of noble character and lofty ideals remained determined to restore it.

However, Li Ye stated that increasing steel production and government investment to stimulate economic growth are basic practices.

Building on these basic operations, Li Ye continued to run officer training courses to strengthen his control over the army.

After expanding his influence to the southwest, Li Ye's imperial guards once again exceeded 300,000.

Moreover, this is already the result after the old and weak have been laid off.

In this era, it was essential to maintain a military presence in various passes and cities.

The officers trained by Li Ye in several guard training courses have already been dispatched.

Through them, Li Ye firmly controlled the 300,000 Imperial Guards.

Officers were exchanged, border troops and imperial guards were exchanged, and military and political affairs were strictly separated to ensure that these troops would not become like regional warlords.

Now that his own territory is peaceful and the rivers and seas are calm, and since he cannot wage war against the Guandong region, Li Ye will continue his conquest southward.

Hundreds of thousands of troops marched from the Yunnan-Guizhou Plateau straight into Hunan, Guangxi, and Fujian.

Compared to the Kanto and Jiangnan regions, the separatist warlords here were weak and relatively subservient to the central government.

It was only because after Huang Chao's death that the north-south transportation was cut off, which gave these military leaders, large and small, the desire to establish their own independent forces.

Perhaps because Li Ye established central authority in a timely manner, the resistance from these separatist forces in the south was very weak when Li Ye's army advanced northward from Jiaozhou.

Lingnan is not yet fully developed, with a hot climate and rampant epidemics and miasma.

There are also many unruly savages and barbarians who occasionally rebel, killing a court official or two without hesitation.

Therefore, the military governors and defense commissioners who came here were actually considered to be in a difficult position, akin to being exiled.

Therefore, Li Ye's strategy for conquering Lingnan prioritized politics.

There were numerous imperial edicts transferring officials, all promoting them to the central government, with the lowest rank being vice prime minister or something similar.

As for whether the central government has that many positions.

Alas, nowadays, which military governor stationed outside the capital doesn't hold titles like "Co-Chancellor of Military and State Affairs," "Grand Commandant," or "Attendant-in-Ordinary"?

As for jobs, you can always find one if you squeeze in!

With such a large country and so many things to do, it's perfectly reasonable to have hundreds of prime ministers!

In any case, what Li Ye is doing now is selling official positions.

Selling more official positions in Chang'an would allow them to exchange for real territory, which was quite a good deal.

It must be said that Li Ye's strategy was very effective.

This was especially true for those military governors, defense commissioners, and observers who were civil officials or graduates of the imperial examinations.

For example, Pang Juzhao, the military governor of Yongzhou and Rongzhou, which are close to Jiaozhou, readily handed over his territory and several thousand troops and returned to Chang'an to become a government official.

In later generations, the southern part of Guangxi thus came under the control of the imperial court.

It gets even more interesting as we move further north.

Zhou Yuanjing, the military governor of Jingjiang, was just assassinated by Liu Shizheng, the commander of Anzhou, and Jia Sheng, the defense commissioner.

Then Liu Shizheng sent men to kill Jiasheng, just as he was about to take over the chaotic Jingjiang army.

As a result, when the imperial army arrived, the Eastern Depot and the Embroidered Uniform Guard took over the Jingjiang Army first and issued a reward for Liu Shizheng.

Soon, power-hungry underlings brought Liu Shizheng's head.

This saved Li Ye from having to issue several edicts to the prime ministers and grand commanders.

This era was rife with attacks, killings, and conspiracies, which is why many civil officials and military governors in remote prefectures were overjoyed when they received the recall edicts.

Being a military governor in a remote and impoverished area means you could be beheaded by your colleagues or subordinates at any time.

Wouldn't it be better to go back to Chang'an, boast a little, and write some poetry?

Guangxi was conquered in one fell swoop, and the imperial army advanced into Guangzhou.

At this time, the military governor of Guangzhou was Li Zhirou, the Prince of Xue, appointed by the imperial court.

He was a coward; he was almost refused entry by the guards in Duanzhou and Zhaoqing.

It was Liu Yin, the actual ruler of Guangzhou, who sent troops to welcome them into Guangzhou.

On the surface, Liu Yin appears to be a good official who is loyal to the court.

But in reality, this local powerful figure in Lingnan had long harbored ambitions of separatism.

Any attempt by surrounding forces to enter Guangdong will be met with a firm and decisive response.

When Li Ye's army entered Guangzhou, it was attacked by Liu Yin.

Unfortunately, this time he ran into a brick wall.

His small force collapsed before it could even launch a decent attack when faced with the imperial army, which was armed to the teeth.

This was even after he had occupied key locations and laid an ambush beforehand.

This level of warfare is completely overwhelming.

Therefore, Liu Yin, the founder of the Southern Han dynasty during the Five Dynasties period, did not have time to realize his ambitions before he became a collectible in a dark room in Chang'an.

The biggest obstacle to conquering the south is actually in Fujian.

The Wang brothers had pacified the entire Fujian region. After Wang Chao passed away last year, he passed the Fujian region on to his capable brother, Wang Shenzhi.

Wang Shenzhi in history founded the Great Min Kingdom.

Fortunately, Li Ye's arrival of the army was perfectly timed, as Wang Shenzhi had just inherited his brother's position and the internal situation was not stable.

Those generals who fought their way up through countless battles were unwilling to easily relinquish their power.

However, despite the internal instability, because Chang'an and Fujian were separated by thousands of miles, far from the emperor's reach, Wang Shenzhi felt that he had the ability to challenge the court.

So he assembled an army of 70,000 to meet the 30,000-strong imperial army that came from Guangdong.

However, what he didn't know was that he was facing not only the 30,000-strong army on the surface, but also the Embroidered Uniform Guards and Eastern Depot spies scattered throughout Fujian.

Just as Wang Shenzhi led his army to the border between Fujian and Guangdong, in Fuzhou, his brother Wang Chao's foolish sons were turned against him by the imperial court.

He heard that his nephews had confiscated the grain, fodder, and weapons that were being sent to the army.

Meanwhile, the mountain people and local warlords who had just been subdued by the Wang brothers began to rebel again, instigated and supported by the Embroidered Uniform Guard and the Eastern Depot.

Chapter 547, Pacifying Jiangnan, Observing the World from Afar! (Please Subscribe!)