Guiyi Fei Tang

Chapter 138 Recapture of Guzang
"Crackling..."

"Firefighting!"

“Fire!!”

In the dilapidated city of Guzang, when the sound of fire-fighting echoed in the city, the burning fire was put out in less than a cup of tea.

"Where's the fire?"

"Jiedushi!"

When Zhang Huaishen hurriedly rode to the fire, Suo Xun, with a dark face, bowed to him:

"Before Shang Moling withdrew, he had someone set fire to the granary. Although the fire was put out, a small amount of grain was still burned!"

When Zhang Huaishen heard that the fire was in the granary, his pupils shrank and he could no longer remain calm. He quickly dismounted and walked towards the fire.

Several houses in the granary were burned black by the fire. Bags of burnt yellow grain were being moved out. In addition, there were bags of burnt grain piled aside.

“How many granaries are there here? How many were burned?”

Zhang Huaishen turned around to question Suo Xun. Suo Xun had never seen Zhang Huaishen lose his composure like this, so he quickly said, "There were 72 granaries, 13 of which were on fire. All of them were extinguished. The amount of grain burned should be several thousand tons..."

"Bastard..." Zhang Huaishen clenched his fists with a dark face, wishing he could kill Shang Moling who ordered the fire.

At the same time, the sound of horse hooves was heard outside the granary. Zhang Huaishen and Suo Xun looked towards the gate and saw Li Ji leading more than ten elite cavalrymen to dismount and walk towards the courtyard.

Seeing the mess, Li Ji's expression changed slightly, but he still bowed to Zhang Huaishen and said:

"Jiedushi, Governor Liu ambushed Shang Moling in the east city, captured him alive, stabbed Zhe Buluo to death, and captured nearly a thousand elite cavalrymen and women who fled east!"

"Good!" Hearing that Shang Moling was caught, Zhang Huaishen couldn't help but shout "good".

"Let Liu Jilong bring them into the city. I'll go to the government office and wait for him!"

"Yes!" Li Ji agreed and retreated, while Zhang Huaishen looked at Suo Xun: "You clean up here and see how much food is left here."

"Yes!" Suo Xun agreed, but he felt a little disappointed.

He did not get the first chance to climb the mountain. Instead, Liu Jilian killed the general and captured the flag, and he was defeated by him again.

"go!"

Zhang Huaishen ordered the soldiers on his left and right, then walked out of the granary and rushed to the government office.

Guzang is worthy of being the largest in Longyou, as can be seen from the size of its government office.

The architectural layout of the government offices in the Tang Dynasty followed strict regulations. The main buildings were gathered on a central axis. From south to north, they were the screen wall, the main gate, the ceremonial gate, the stone archway, the six rooms, the main hall, the second hall and the third hall, and were equipped with corresponding wing rooms...

Although many Han cultural buildings were destroyed after Tubo took control of Helong, the government office of Guzang, which was the seat of Liangzhou, was not destroyed.

Although people call Guzang Guzang City, in fact Guzang City is two counties.

Shenniao governs the west, Guzang governs the east, and the two counties are merged into one city, which people call Guzang City.

The same principle applies to the fact that people call Chang'an Chang'an City, but do not call it Wan'an County, which is co-governed with Chang'an County.

Since two counties were governed together, the scale of the Liangzhou government was obviously beyond the limit.

The number of east and west halls and side rooms in the backyard far exceeds the scale of a normal government office.

In addition, the six rooms and three halls of the Six Departments in charge of government affairs are larger in scale.

Although it exceeded the regulations, for those who were about to take over this place, the Liangzhou Yamen was undoubtedly the Hexi Jiedushi Yamen in everyone's mind.

After passing through the screen wall, the main gate, and the ceremonial gate and arriving at the main hall, Zhang Huaishen stood there and turned around, feeling indescribably comfortable in this main hall that could accommodate nearly a hundred people for meetings.

The uprising has lasted for more than four years, and today we have finally taken control of the Liangzhou government. It would be a lie to say that I am not happy.

Thinking of this, Zhang Huaishen walked step by step to the main hall and slowly sat down on the chair.

This chair is no different from the one in Ganzhou Yamen, but it makes him feel comfortable.

"Screw rustle..."

Suddenly, he was awakened by the sound of armor outside the hall. When he looked outside, he saw Liu Jilian walking in with several armored soldiers and a foreign general.

"Jiedushi!"

Liu Jilong walked into the hall, bowed and saluted, without looking at the Liangzhou government office for long. After all, he had also seen the Forbidden City in Beijing in his previous life.

It's not easy to get him to look up to you for just the Liangzhou government office.

But his action made Zhang Huaishen wake up and he couldn't help but laugh at himself in his heart.

"Zhang Huaishen, ah Zhang Huaishen... Even Liu Jilong is much calmer than you. Your energy-cultivation skills are still not good enough..."

After self-reflection, Zhang Huaishen turned his gaze to Shang Moling, who was being forced to kneel by the armored soldiers: "Is this Shang Moling?"

"To the Jiedushi, it is..."

"It's you, Grandpa!!"

Shang Moling interrupted Liu Jilong's introduction. Even though he was captured, he was still unruly.

"Heh..." Zhang Huaishen sneered as he listened to Shang Moling's words:

"Shang Moling, you have become a prisoner, how dare you be so domineering?"

"It's probably nothing more than death!" Shang Moling sneered:
"It's simply because I don't care about you, otherwise I wouldn't let you two slaves ride on my head!"

"Kill me if you want. If you frown, I'm not your grandfather!"

He laughed out loud, and Liu Jilong frowned and put his hand on the hilt of the knife at his waist.

But before he could take any action, Zhang Huaishen quickly walked down the platform and in the blink of an eye drew his sword and chopped Shang Moling's neck.

Blood splattered all over his body. Shang Moling, who had just been shouting, twitched and fell down. Liu Jilong also glanced at the two armored soldiers and ordered: "Cut off his head. It will be useful when we recapture Changsong!"

"Yes!!" Two armored soldiers dragged Shang Moling's body out, and blood spread all over the ground.

In response, Zhang Huaishen took out a piece of coarse cloth from his arms, wiped the long knife, then walked to the corner and washed the blood off his cheek in front of the basin on the wooden rack.

Liu Jilian did not find it strange that Shang Moling was killed.

Moli and Manglonghua surrendered and offered their cities, and then moved to Zhangye, so that they could serve as an example for the other Helong states.

Since Xiduo Yu is valuable, we must naturally try our best to win him over.

On the contrary, Shang Moling, who held the city firmly and was stubborn, should be killed to intimidate the other Helong states and teach them what the consequences of holding a city to the death will be.

"Go and tell them to come to the government office for discussion."

With his back to Liu Jilong, Zhang Huaishen wiped his face and gave instructions in a casual manner.

"I obey your command!" Liu Jilong raised his hand and bowed, then left the government office and sent someone to summon the generals.

After he finished giving the order, before the cavalry had gone far, he saw Hu Siguang coming from the east with hundreds of captured foreign generals' families.

"The governor!"

Huke Siguang jumped off his horse and gave a subtle signal with his eyes.

Liu Jilong felt something was wrong when he saw this, frowned and walked forward with him to the street: "What did you do?"

After all, Hukesiguang was one of the generals he brought up, so Liu Jilian naturally knew his character.

"Governor, look at that Hu Ji..."

Hu Siguang smiled and gestured, and Liu Jilong followed his gaze and indeed found a Hu girl on a horse.

The Hu girl was no more than eighteen or nineteen years old, and looked very much like the mixed-race people of later generations, with all the characteristics of a high nose, deep eyes, and a thin waist, not to mention her appearance.

"Whose woman is she?"

Liu Jilong would never think that this Hu Ji was an innocent woman, and Hu Siguang's answer also confirmed his guess: "She is Shang Moling's."

Upon hearing this, Liu Jilong immediately showed a look of disgust. After all, Shang Moling was not good-looking and was defeated by him.

Even if Liu Jilong wanted a woman, he would not want the woman Shang Moling had played with.

"Leave it all to the Jiedushi for distribution. I don't need it."

Liu Jilong turned around and was about to walk into the government office, but Hu Siguang was surprised and asked, "You don't even want Hu Ji?"

"If you want, go find the governor yourself." Liu Jilian left him with his back, waved his hand and walked into the yamen.

Hu Siguang felt itchy and followed him quickly into the yamen.

Not long after, when Liu Jilong took his seat, he asked Zhang Huaishen for the Hu Ji. Zhang Huaishen had no reason to refuse and decisively gave her to him.

Upon seeing this, Hukusi Guang hurriedly thanked him, walked out of the main hall, and sent soldiers to escort the Hu girl to the "ownerless courtyard".

After he had arranged everything, Suo Xun, Li Yizhong, Zhang Chang and others who were cleaning up the mess in Guzang also rushed to the yamen one after another.

Faced with the grand scale of the Liangzhou Yamen, the generals who entered it all sighed and couldn't help looking around.

Seeing their performance, Zhang Huaishen breathed a sigh of relief for his previous self, but then he began to admire Liu Jilong again.

Seeing everyone taking their seats, Zhang Huaishen spoke:

"Guzang and Shenniao counties have been recovered. Currently, only Changsong in Liangzhou is still in the hands of the barbarians."

"I have persuaded Xiduo Yu, and Xiduo Yu is willing to persuade Changsong to surrender for us." After saying this, he turned his gaze to Li Yizhong: "Li Yizhong, I want you to recruit 3,000 Han soldiers in Guzang. What do you think?"

Zhang Huaishen did not give a direct order, but used a negotiating tone.

"Jiedushi, I want to follow the army to the east to recapture Lanzhou."

Li Yizhong's answer was beyond everyone's expectations. After all, staying in Guzang and recruiting 3,000 soldiers meant that Zhang Huaishen wanted to hand over the Guzang troops to Li Yizhong for temporary management.

Even if Li Yizhong's contribution was not enough, he could at least be appointed as the Beijia of Liangzhou based on this incident.

Now it seems that Li Yizhong does not want to stay in Liangzhou, and his decision did not surprise Zhang Huaishen.

Seeing this, he nodded and said, "In that case, the matter of recruiting soldiers will be left to you, Zhang Huaiman."

Zhang Huaiman, who was not very prominent in the team, stood up and bowed: "I will obey your orders!"

After he agreed, Zhang Huaishen continued, "In this battle, our army suffered more than 700 casualties, including more than 300 killed in battle, and the remaining more than 400 were all seriously injured."

"The army reorganized for three days, and the wounded were reorganized in one place. Two other regiments were left to assist in recruiting soldiers and training."

"Three days later, our army will march eastward to recapture Changsong, and then discuss how to recapture Huizhou and Lanzhou!"

After he finished speaking, he glanced at the crowd, and seeing that no one spoke, he waved his hand to signal the generals to retreat and rest.

As for the families of hundreds of captured foreign generals, Zhang Huaishen returned the surviving ones to his group of captured foreign generals, while the families of the dead ones were demoted to slaves and distributed to Suo Xun, Li Yizhong and others.

He intended to assign some people to Liu Jilong's side, but Liu Jilong refused. Instead, Zhang Chang and others asked for some pretty women.

Liu Jilong didn't want it not because he was aloof, but because he hadn't settled down yet and it would be troublesome to have a woman with him.

When he arrives in Lanzhou, he will slowly solve his problems.

Thinking of this, Liu Jilong summoned Zhang Chang and others to the ownerless courtyard near the yamen.

Shang Duoluo, Zhang Chang, Ma Cheng, Li Ji, Zheng Chu, Geng Ming, Hu Siguang and others gathered in the hall and sat down, while Liu Jilian sat in the main seat.

Seeing that they all sat down, Liu Jilong spoke:

"It won't take much effort to recapture Changsong. It will only take about three to five days."

"Although we have more than 3,000 men at the moment, the Shandan troops are not ours. We can only use the more than 900 brothers in Shang Duoluo's hands."

"Although the Jiedushi has promised us that he can lead troops to recapture Lanzhou, it is still too early now. I would like to recruit soldiers in Changsong before heading south."

As soon as he finished speaking, Zhang Chang bowed and said, "That's how it should be!"

"Well, there are not many people in Lanzhou, so we can recruit some single men with clean backgrounds to join the army in Changsong." Ma Cheng also nodded in agreement.

Shang Duoluo, Zheng Chu and others didn't say much, but just bowed and said, "All is up to the governor!"

Seeing this, Liu Jilong turned his gaze to Shang Duoluo: "Now outside the city, in addition to the civilians, there are also Shanzhou families, craftsmen and their families we brought with us."

"I will leave these people to you and your brothers to protect. When the army arrives in Changsong, I will naturally talk to the Jiedushi about recruiting soldiers."

"Yes!" Shang Duoluo bowed to receive the order, and Liu Jilong glanced at everyone:

"In that case, let's all go down and rest. The army will set out in three days. Take advantage of these few days to rest well."

"Yes!" The generals stood up and bowed, then left the yard.

At the same time, the city of Guzang gradually became noisy.

As the Sanchen flags were planted in the streets and alleys of Guzang, all the Han people were notified door to door that Guzang had been recovered and they no longer had to bear the name of slaves.

Upon learning of liberation, the Han people in the city took to the streets to help the Guiyi Army soldiers clean up the streets. Some even asked people to take out their stored food from their homes, cook and place the food in front of their doorsteps, and pass the food to the Guiyi Army soldiers who were resting.

Although Liu Jilian and others had experienced such scenes many times, the newly recruited soldiers from Shandan, Zhangye, Fanhe had never experienced such a scene.

They accepted the food with red faces, ate it with big mouthfuls, and showed satisfied expressions on their faces.

Seeing how satisfied they were with their meal, the Han people in Liangzhou City also started laughing.

That smile was like relief, as if all the burdens on his shoulders had been lifted.

Before they could get over the good news of being liberated, news came from the Guzang government office, ordering soldiers to deliver one stone of grain to every household in the city, regardless of whether they were Han or foreigners.

This operation made the ordinary aboriginals, who were originally worried, feel relieved.

Looking at the food delivered to their doorsteps by the Guiyi Army soldiers, the native people who usually lived frugally could not help but smile.

How could Shang Moling be so generous when he was alive?
Even if the whole family worked as herders for the nobles for a month, they could only earn five dou of grain.

They had not done anything yet, but the Guiyi Army gave them one stone of grain, so they were naturally happy.

Zhang Huaishen completely stabilized Guzang City with only more than 10,000 shi of grain, and the warehouses and storehouses in Guzang City were very abundant.

Starting from the recapture of Guzang, it was not until the evening of the second day that the hundreds of soldiers accompanying the army completed the counting of supplies in the warehouse and presented the documents to Zhang Huaishen.

"The government warehouse has distributed more than 12,800 dan of grain, but there are still more than 157,000 dan. The confiscated grain in the homes of these foreign generals also has more than 70,000 dan..."

Zhang Huaishen looked at the grain stored in the Guzang government warehouse and could not help but exclaimed: "Shang Moling is really exploiting the people to the point where they have no means of survival."

"That's right..." Li Yizhong, who came with the document, nodded as he sat down.

"I heard from the people that Shang Moling, Zhe Buluo and others regarded Guzang as their own private property. There were more than 397,000 acres of arable land outside the entire Guzang city. 50% of the grain produced was stored in the government warehouse, 20% was stored in the homes of the foreign generals, and the remaining 30% was returned to the people."

"These people work hard for a whole year, but they only get two shi and three or four dou of grain."

"If you want to avoid starvation, you have to help these foreign generals herd livestock. The whole family has to help, but you can only earn five dou of rice after herding for a month. It's really miserable."

In the Tang Dynasty, one dan was equal to 120 jin, and one dan was equal to 10 dou. That is to say, a family of five helping the foreign general to graze for a month could only get 60 jin of food, with an average of only 12 jin of food per person per month.

All in all, each person could not even eat half a pound of food a day, and could only survive by grazing and eating dairy products.

With such exploitation, it is no wonder that the official granaries and foreign generals in Guzang had so much grain.

"Have you found Gu Zang's herd?"

Zhang Huaishen closed the document and asked Li Yizhong, who nodded and said, "They are all in the valley in the south. There are more than 10,000 horses, 7,000 to 8,000 cattle, and the sheep may be no less than 150,000."

"Yes!" Zhang Huaishen nodded and said, "The north of Liangzhou is flat and easy to be plundered by the Umos."

"Send someone to take the sheep and horses to Ganzhou. Shandan is a place that Liu Jilong has run well and can be used as a horse farm."

"As for these cattle, you should pick out the strong ones and give them to the people to train as working cattle."

"By the way...how is the recovery of the farmland outside the city going? Have you explained the government's policies to them in detail?"

Guzang had just been recovered and there was still a lot to do, so Zhang Huaishen wanted to keep Li Yizhong.

It’s a pity that he has his own ideas and Zhang Huaishen can’t force him.

"I've said it all!" Li Yizhong nodded and said, "If the natives are willing to move to Ganzhou, we will give them 100 hectares of pasture, 30 sheep, and 10 dan of grain per household."

"The people who stayed in Guzang cultivated land outside the city and divided it equally, and collected grain at a tax rate of one-tenth of the autumn harvest."

"For the farmland reclaimed by the people themselves, taxes will be exempted for three years, and taxes will only be collected in the third year after the land is reclaimed and registered."

After finishing his words, Li Yizhong could not help but sigh: "This Guzang used to have over 500,000 acres of fertile land, but now only 390,000 acres remain. It's really sad."

"I don't know how long it will take to restore the past glory..."

Hearing this, Zhang Huaishen also nodded in approval, and then said:

"You want to go to Lanzhou with Liu Jilong. What are your plans?"

He pointed out that Li Yizhong wanted to go to Liangzhou. Li Yizhong didn't panic when he saw the topic change so quickly. Instead, he bowed calmly and said:
"I would like to stay in Lanzhou. I wonder what the governor thinks..."

Li Yizhong's words disrupted Zhang Huaishen's plan to settle down in Lanzhou, but he did not panic. Instead, he said:

"The governor of Lanzhou is Liu Jilong. Although the Jiedushi intends to send him to Longxi, Lanzhou will still be under his control for the time being."

"If you want to go to Lanzhou, you can only temporarily stay in Guangwu, one of the two counties in Lanzhou, while Governor Liu will stay in Wuquan."

"Only after he recaptures Hezhou will you have a chance to control Lanzhou. You must think carefully..."

Zhang Huaishen made his point clear, but Li Yizhong nodded and said, "I am willing to stay in Guangwu."

"Okay..." Seeing that he was going to Lanzhou, Zhang Huaishen could only nod:
"After I recover Changsong, I will talk to Governor Liu. You can go down first."

"Yes..." Seeing that he had got the opportunity to stay in Lanzhou, Li Yizhong left with satisfaction.

Looking at his departing back, Zhang Huaishen let out a long sigh, and Zhang Huaiman walked out behind him.

"Does Li Yizhong want to take root in Lanzhou?"

Zhang Huaiman was a little unsure, but he said, "If Liu Jilong leaves, Huaishen will have few useful people under your command."

"When the guys from Guasha come over, I'm afraid we won't be able to govern the two states of Gan and Liang."

"If we can keep him here, I'm afraid that when the guys from Guasha come, they won't be able to get away with it. It's better to..."

"He has to leave eventually." Zhang Huai took a deep breath and interrupted Zhang Huaiman's words.

Then he stood up and walked to the main hall door, looking up at the blue sky.

"If the insects in Guasha knew that I had recovered Liangzhou, they would probably find me soon."

"We have to prepare in advance before they arrive..."

(End of this chapter)