Guiyi Fei Tang

Chapter 186: Adjust measures to local conditions
"Asshole!!"

As the mountains were filled with autumn, a group of tents were set up outside Mumen Valley.

Inside the tent, Zhang Lin was angry about Liu Jilong taking the salt well away, while Wang Kui, whose face was swollen from being beaten, said aggrievedly:

"Governor, Liu Jilong is as cunning as a fox. He incited those hundreds of armored soldiers to kill Li Xi. Otherwise, we would have been able to hold out until you, Governor, arrived."

Hearing this, Liang Zan couldn't help but stand up and bow:
"Governor! We should go to Yanjing and teach Liu Jilong a lesson!"

"Okay!" Gao Pian's brows revealed displeasure, and he shouted at everyone to shut up.

"We still have his escape route, why are you panicking?!"

After Gao Pian's reminder, everyone realized that they should send a thousand elite cavalry to intercept Liu Jilian's Luomen Road on his way back to Weizhou.

Seeing that everyone had calmed down, Gao Pian looked at Wang Kui and asked, "How many soldiers do they have?"

Upon hearing this, Wang Kui hurriedly explained: "I only saw a few hundred elite cavalry and about two thousand armored soldiers, but there were more armored soldiers in the city at that time, so I'm afraid the number would not be less than four thousand."

"In addition, he accepted the surrender of hundreds of foreign soldiers who were in the government office at the time, with a number of no less than 600 people."

After Wang Kui finished speaking, Gao Pian calmed down and said, "If Liu Jilong doesn't want to have a direct conflict with us, he can only go through Dangzhou, go through Minzhou and go back to Weizhou."

"We will retreat to Shanggui and send soldiers to increase the strength of the Luomen Road. We must not let him return to Weizhou via the Luomen Road."

"In addition, send light cavalry to deliver the message to Chang'an, Shannan Road, and Jiannan Road, and ask the two roads to send troops to recapture Wuzhou and Dangzhou!"

"Is it too late?" Liang Zan couldn't help asking, and Gao Pian heard it and said, "It doesn't matter, as long as Chang'an knows about it."

As soon as Gao Pian finished speaking, Lu Ruyue quickly flattered him and said, "The governor's intention is to let the court know that we have blocked Liu Jilong's retreat back to Weizhou, and to tell Chang'an and Jiannan Road about the other retreat route."

"If Jiannan Dao is unable to send troops to recapture Dangzhou and block Liu Jilong from returning to Qinzhou, then that will be Jiannan Dao's problem."

Gao Pian glanced at Lu Ruyue and nodded to acknowledge his idea.

Muddy the water to highlight his achievement of cutting off the Luomen Road.

In this way, even if Chengzhou was occupied by Liu Jilian, he would not be punished.

Thinking of this, Gao Pian ordered the camp to be withdrawn to Shanggui, but Liu Jilian in Yanjing County had just got up.

After a night of fierce fighting, although he had extraordinary energy, he still did not go to bed until dawn because he had to count the accounts and ledgers.

"Tuk-tuk!"

"Sir, are you awake?"

The guard outside the bedroom heard the noise inside and knocked on the door softly to inquire.

"Get up, have people summon all the merchants in the city to the main hall of the government office, and have people prepare meals."

"Yes……"

Liu Jilong gave instructions to the guards outside the door, and the guards outside the door were divided into two.

Several people prepared toiletries for Liu Jilong, while another person went to inform Geng Ming.

Soon, the door was pushed open, and a guard came in with a wooden basin and hot water, another with a toothbrush, towel, and charcoal powder, and another with a wooden tray with a set of clothes on it.

Liu Jilong washed his face and brushed his teeth, and finally put on the silk clothes.

I have to say, after getting used to wearing clothes made of coarse linen, these silk clothes are really comfortable.

I don’t know what those gauze, satin and brocade clothes feel like. When Longxi becomes rich in the future, I will send people to Jiannan Road to buy some to try.

Thinking of this, Liu Jilong looked at himself in the bronze mirror, tidied himself up, and asked the guard beside him: "How are you? Are you still energetic?"

"The governor is naturally energetic!" Several guards said with a smile. Liu Jilong smiled and said:

"You must be tired after guarding all night. I'll ask the chef to give you a small portion of the food when he cooks. Go and rest after you finish eating. Don't go to bed on an empty stomach."

"Hey!" Several guards nodded quickly, drooling.

"Okay, go to the kitchen and keep an eye on it. After you finish eating, go and rest."

Liu Jilong gave some instructions and then walked towards the main hall of the yamen.

Yanjing City was not big, with a circumference of only a little over three miles, so while Liu Jilian was washing and changing his clothes, the merchants in the city came to the main hall of the yamen to respond.

As Liu Jilian walked out, Shang Duoluo, Geng Ming, Hu Siguang, Li Ji, Wang Sifeng and more than a dozen merchants stood up one after another.

"Don't be nervous. I'm hosting a banquet today mainly to talk about the well salt business."

Liu Jilong raised his hand to calm everyone, then walked to the main table and sat down.

Seeing him take his seat, everyone took their seats one after another, and Liu Jilong also spoke:

"I have reviewed your business dealings with Li Wei, and there is no problem."

"Now that I'm here, business is still going on. Besides, I hope our business will not be limited to well salt."

Liu Jilong's frank conversation made many merchants look at each other in surprise, as they did not expect Liu Jilong to be so abiding by the rules.

If it were the generals and military governors of Heshuo, Lianghuai and Guannei Road, they would have taken the opportunity to use intimidation long ago, and there would be no question of bribery at all.

"Your Excellency wants us to become ivory merchants in Longxi?"

A merchant asked Liu Jilong cautiously, and his words cheered up many merchants.

Since the An-Shi Rebellion began, the imperial court was short of money and grain, and had no choice but to allow each town to "return to trade for profit" and generate their own military pay.

Because of this, in order to earn their own military pay, each town had to start its own business.

At the beginning, the people in charge of commercial activities and store management in each town were some low-level military generals, the so-called "Huiyi young generals" and "Huitu military generals".

They held corresponding titles and pursued profits under the command of the chief of Huituwu, with their footprints spread all over the territory and outside of the Iihan Town.

For example, Qing Zhixia, a well-known general of Zhaoyi Army, was appointed as "Huitu General" by Zhaoyi Army's Office during the Dazhong period, and was successively in charge of Zhaoyi Army's trade in Huainan, Liangzhe, Jiannan and other routes.

This situation initially occurred mainly in the north, but as time went on, it also appeared in towns in the south.

But military generals are military generals after all, and doing business is not their main job, so it is difficult to guarantee profits and losses.

Many military generals were arrested before they could return to their towns because they lost money and grain due to poor management.

Because the military commanders were not good at managing finances, many military governors found another way. They recruited and appointed businessmen who were good at doing business from the public, granted them military posts in the town, and then sent them to run businesses outside the town.

What Liu Jilian wanted to do was to recruit these private salt dealers to run business for the Longxi Army.

Although he had appointed Chen Ying to go north to Guannei Road to sell linen after the autumn harvest, Chen Ying's power alone was still too weak and it was far less practical than winning over these private salt dealers.

"Thank you for not despising me, Yu Conghui from Shannan West Province is willing to help you share your worries!"

"Wang Tao of Jiannan Road is willing to share your worries!"

"Ren Ze from the East Road of Shannan is willing to share your worries!"

"Shannan East Road Wu..."

At one time, these private salt dealers expressed their willingness to serve in the military under Liu Jilian and become the "Huiyi young generals" of the Longxi Army.

Hearing this, Liu Jilong nodded and said, "Don't worry, everyone. Anyone who is willing to serve in our army can get in touch with all the businesses in our army. Well salt is just the tip of the iceberg."

"The tip of the iceberg?" Many businessmen felt curious when they heard this new term by chance.

Although they had never been to the Arctic Ocean, let alone knew about sea icebergs, they understood the tip of the iceberg mentioned by Liu Jilong as the tip of a snowy mountain.

"Starting next year, our army's draft horses, riding horses, sheep, linen, tea and other businesses will be granted to you to run one after another."

"For now, let's promote the business of more than 2,000 dan of well salt in Yanjing City. Afterwards, I will grant you the fish tokens of the Longxi Army to prove your identities so that you won't be exploited by the local petty officials."

Liu Jilong said, without waiting for everyone to react, he looked at Li Ji: "Li Ji, take out some of the roasted tea we brought and show it to everyone."

"Yes!" Li Ji agreed, and then sent someone to get the roasted tea.

Although the three prefectures of Hezhou, Linzhou and Weizhou are not suitable for growing tea, Fenglin County of Hezhou has dozens of acres of tea plantations.

Although the output is small, it is enough for daily drinking by the generals in the Longxi army.

Of course, if Liu Jilian wanted to use roasted tea as a selling point, he naturally had to obtain tea-producing areas, and these places were Minzhou, Dangzhou and Wuzhou.

Among them, Minzhou produces the most tea with the highest quality, followed by Dangzhou and Wuzhou.

Since Tubo gained the three states, it has had a stable source of tea, and now they will be in Liu Jilong's pocket. While he was thinking, Li Ji also distributed the roasted tea they brought to the more than ten merchants.

These merchants had never seen this kind of tea product before. They put it in their mouths and chewed it. After a while, they saw the process of roasted tea turning into tea water as Li Ji made tea smoothly.

The origin of tea frying can be traced back to the Tang Dynasty, but the complete tea-making technique was not perfected until the Ming Dynasty.

Most merchants taste Longxi's fried tea with a curious attitude.

When the bitter tea entered their mouths, everyone frowned slightly, until the tea became sweet, their brows slowly relaxed, and then their eyes brightened.

"Yes, this fried tea has a unique flavor."

"If it is used as a commercial commodity and flows into Shannan, Jiannan and other roads, it will surely become a valuable product in time."

Any product entering the market requires a lot of publicity investment in the early stages, but this group of people happens to have money and connections.

For them, promoting tea roasting was not a difficult task, not to mention draft horses, riding horses and sheep, which were all in-demand commodities in Shannan Road and Jiannan Road.

As long as Liu Jilong sells, they will buy as much as he has.

"Since everyone is satisfied, let's set a time and place."

Liu Jilong discussed with everyone: "Well salt is still traded in Chengzhou, but roasted tea needs to be traded in Wuzhou."

"As for draft horses, riding horses, and herds, we need to go to Linzhou to buy and sell them."

"But please rest assured, Wuzhou will be in my hands within a month. By then, the official roads in the six states under my jurisdiction, including Helin, Weilan, Chengwu, will be unobstructed, and there will be no foreign bandits or bandits posing a threat to you."

"Besides that, whenever you are about to leave, I will send soldiers to escort you out of the country."

He negotiated terms with many dental dealers, and then continued, "During your visit to Chengzhou, some of you have done business, and some have not."

"Since I'm hosting a banquet today, let's finalize the business first."

Liu Jilong took the document from the officer beside him and said, "Chengzhou still has 2,466 dan of salt. According to the previous price, each dan is 100 jin and each dan is 8,300 coins. How much can you eat?"

"I want 500 dan!" Yu Conghui, the governor of Shannan West, was the first to ask for 500 dan.

Upon seeing this, Wang Tao from Jiannan Road, Ren Ze from Shannan East Road, Wu Jun and others divided up the remaining 1,900 dan one after another.

Before long, Liu Jilian had more than 24,600 strings of cash in his hands.

The deal was finalized, the chef had prepared the dishes, and Liu Jilong immediately ordered someone to serve the dishes.

Soon, the four tables in the main hall were filled with fried dishes. The tempting aroma and taste of the dishes undoubtedly made these merchants who traveled far and wide applaud.

Seeing this, Liu Jilong simply said, "I need to run a wine shop outside. If you are willing to cooperate, I will be the chef, and you will provide the connections and money. How about we open wine shops all over Jiannan, Shannan and other roads?"

Everyone present was a smart person, and when they saw Liu Jilong proposing cooperation, they naturally did not dare to refuse, not to mention that the dishes tasted really good.

Seeing this, everyone applauded, and Liu Jilong also proposed a 70% to 30% profit split.

70% went to the merchants who contributed money, and 30% went to Liu Jilong who contributed people.

As for the wine shops, Liu Jilong did not expect them to make money, all he wanted was an intelligence network.

With the help of these merchants, even if there is only one tavern in each state, he can still know the information of every state in Jiannan, Shannan and other roads.

The merchants had never seen such an easy-going general, and they toasted Liu Jilong one after another.

Liu Jilong raised his glass to drink with others, and the atmosphere at the banquet was extremely lively.

However, this kind of excitement was soon interrupted by the armored soldiers who hurriedly walked into the yamen. Li Ji immediately stood up and went to ask what happened.

Not long after, Li Ji frowned as he listened to what the armored soldier said, and hurried to Liu Jilong's side, bowed and whispered: "Governor, there is urgent news from Luomen Road."

"Okay." Liu Jilong's heart sank, but he didn't show it on his face. He stood up and raised his glass with a smile, saying, "Everyone, enjoy your meal. I have some military affairs to take care of, so I'll let my Chengzhou Governor Geng accompany you!"

"How can you say that, sir!"

"Your Excellency is busy with military affairs. If you can use us, please let us know."

"Let me offer a toast to Governor Geng first!"

"Geng the governor..."

Liu Jilong introduced Geng Ming to everyone, then stood up and took Li Ji to the inner hall.

After a few breaths, the two of them left the main hall. Li Ji said in a deep voice, "Gao Pian sent General Lin Ruzhen to lead a thousand elite cavalry to cut off the old road leading to Longxi."

"..." Liu Jilong frowned when he heard that, and quickly calmed down while breathing.

"I had thought that this might cut off my retreat, but I didn't expect it to happen so soon."

"Governor, what should we do now?" Li Ji was a little worried, but Liu Jilong comforted him:

"It's OK. Although Gao Pian has cut off our army's retreat, there is more than one road to Longnan."

"I thought that many brothers would be killed or injured in the process of retaking Chengzhou, but fortunately the situation is not as bad as I expected."

"Have you counted the number of casualties in the army last night?"

He asked Li Ji, and Li Ji responded without hesitation: "Thirty-two brothers were killed, 217 were injured, and 182 of them were only slightly injured and not a problem."

"In addition, among the one thousand soldiers, twenty-five were killed and eighty-two were seriously injured or disabled."

Hearing this, Liu Jilong frowned slightly.

These foreign soldiers were merely following the Longxi Army and fighting a favorable battle, but the result was that their casualties were close to a hundred.

Thinking of this, Liu Jilong said, "All the soldiers who died or were injured, whether they were Han or foreign soldiers, will be paid the normal pension."

"In addition, the two regiments of soldiers from Weizhou Town who are accompanying the army on this expedition will be stationed in Chengzhou along with the wounded soldiers for Geng Ming to deploy."

"Let Geng Ming select the more than 1,500 foreign soldiers who surrendered or were captured in Chengzhou, and eliminate the old, weak, and cunning ones, leaving only 600 of them."

"Leave behind 600 sets of armor and order Geng Ming to recruit another 600 Han soldiers to set up Chengzhou Town. The rest of the armor will be disposed of after I open up the official road back to Hewei."

"The last general takes command!"

Liu Jilian established Chengzhou Town with just a few words, and the garrison in the town still consisted of one town, three armies, and nine regiments, with a total of 1,800 people.

With a population of 20,000 in Chengzhou, maintaining 1,800 soldiers was a heavy burden on the people.

Fortunately, Chengzhou had the advantage of well salt, and sufficient money and food, so it was no problem to support eighteen thousand soldiers.

After giving a brief instruction, Liu Jilong continued:
"We have to go back to Weizhou. The only way is to take the official road through Dangzhou and Minzhou. Wuzhou is a place that must be recovered, so I plan to concentrate my main forces to attack Dangzhou, and take Minzhou from Dangzhou. Wuzhou will be handed over to you and Wang Sifeng. Do you have confidence?"

Hearing this, Li Ji straightened his back immediately and said, "Please rest assured, Governor. If we cannot recover Wuzhou, I will cut off my own head to apologize!"

"How many soldiers do you want?" Liu Jilong asked Li Ji. After thinking for a while, Li Ji said:
"I have read the Yuanhe County Atlas in the Didao government office. Wuzhou governs three counties. During the Kaiyuan period, there were only 15,000 people. Now, due to the scourge of foreign bandits, the population is even smaller."

"Although the local area has the advantage of tea production, there are not many tea fields. The main tribute is candles, pepper (Chinese prickly ash), and cloth, which can not support many soldiers and horses."

"I only need twenty catapults, two hundred elite cavalry, five hundred armored soldiers, and one thousand five hundred civilians!"

Li Ji made a promise, and Liu Jilong nodded and said, "Go to Shanglu now. There are 500 elite cavalry and 500 armored soldiers there."

"I will allow you to take 200 elite cavalry and 500 armored soldiers with you, and recruit 1,500 local civilians."

"As for the fifteen catapults, you are allowed to lead three hundred soldiers and drive the carriages away from here."

Liu Jilian gave Li Ji one thousand elite Han and foreign cavalry and one thousand five hundred civilian laborers.

With this kind of strength, it will be no problem to take Wuzhou.

"Governor, what should I do after I take Wuzhou?"

Li Ji bowed and asked. He remembered that he was the governor of Minzhou. Now Liu Jilian had recovered Minzhou, but he could not follow him. Naturally, he had to ask clearly.

Liu Jilong pondered and said, "Although Wang Sifeng has been with us since Shandan, he doesn't have much experience after all."

"If you can recapture Wuzhou, you can temporarily guard Wuzhou with him. I will consider it again after I return to Weizhou."

"I will obey your orders!" Li Ji bowed and Liu Jilong also nodded:
"Okay, go call Geng Ming first, and then you and Wang Sifeng will mobilize the foreign soldiers to escort the catapults to Shanglu."

Following Liu Jilong's instructions, Li Ji hurried out and soon disappeared at the end of the corridor...

(End of this chapter)