Guiyi Fei Tang

Chapter 190 The Heroic Lord of Longyou
"Your Majesty, this time the imperial court sent troops, only Gao Pian from Qinzhou sent troops to stop Liu Jilong. I think Gao Pian really made a contribution!"

In the Purple Palace, after Li Chen decided to promote Liu Jilong and Bai Minzhong, Wang Zongshi quickly stood up and recommended credit for Gao Pian.

Upon hearing this, Cui Xuan said in dissatisfaction: "Gao Pian is the governor of Qinlong, and he has the Chengwu Youyi Army under his command."

"It is reasonable that he should lead the troops to recapture Cheng and Wu states."

"If he had not failed to recapture Cheng and Wu states, why would the court have rewarded Liu Jilong?"

"That's right..." Upon hearing this, Ma Gongru, one of the four nobles, also echoed:

"I remember that Weizhou has no official roads leading to Chengzhou, but Qinzhou has two official roads leading to Chengzhou, Luomen Road and Qishan Road."

"The imperial court has 12,000 soldiers stationed in Qinlong, including 5,000 elite cavalry, but now Liu Jilong has gotten there first."

"Your Majesty, in my opinion, Gao Pian should be punished!"

"Your Majesty, I second the proposal..."

After Ma Gongru finished speaking, Wang Guichang and Wang Jufang spoke up to agree with him.

Although they were all one of the Four Nobles, Gao Pian mainly depended on Wang Zongshi.

Gao Pian's power is already very great. If he is still judged by merit, the balance will be broken.

Instead, taking this opportunity to transfer him from Qinlong would be beneficial to the three of them.

"Your Majesty!" Wang Zongshi bowed hastily, and Pei Xiu also said hastily upon seeing this:
"Your Majesty, I think that both Gao Pian and Feng Ao did not achieve anything, but they were not necessarily wrong."

"Gao Pian has only been the governor of Qinlong for half a year, and the soldiers and generals in Shannan are arrogant. Before that, they massacred the hungry people in Sanchuan. It is not surprising that Feng Ao could not control them."

Pei Xiuming protected Gao Pian, but in fact he was protecting Feng Ao.

If Gao Pian was convicted, Feng Ao would not be able to escape either.

Fortunately, Li Chen had no intention of convicting anyone. He just wanted to make the situation more peaceful.

"Liu Jilong is also my dear son...my loyal minister."

"Although his sending troops to recover Longnan was an act of usurpation, his intentions are clear."

"I was also angry before, so I sent troops to try to retake Wu and Dang states."

"Fortunately, the officers and soldiers of various provinces did not clash with them. I am very relieved. How can I blame them?"

"If Gao Pian and Feng Ao were to be convicted, it would be for obstructing loyal officials from recovering lost territory, not anything else."

"After much deliberation, I have decided to fine the two of them one year's salary and ask them to reflect on their mistakes."

Li Chen turned the topic to Liu Jilian. After all, Liu Jilian had recovered four states in less than two months, and he probably had a lot of troops at his disposal.

Now that it has been determined that he has recovered the four states, his strength will continue to grow, so he should be appeased.

Although the court had granted him the title of Surveillance Commissioner of Longyou, he twice requested the title of Jiedushi of Longyou. This time, the court created obstacles for him to recover the lost territory, and he could not help but feel resentful.

De-fining Gao Pian's salary could not only keep Gao Pian's position, but also avoid implicating Feng Ao, and could also calm Liu Jilian's resentment and appease him.

Thinking of this, Li Chen was very satisfied, but after careful consideration, he was worried that Liu Jilong would threaten Guanzhong, so he slowly said:

"Before I issue the imperial edict, I must order Liu Jilong to recover the remaining five states in Longxi and rescue my people."

"I accept your order..." Linghu Tao responded calmly, and Li Chen glanced at the ministers and said:
"Let's leave this matter at that. Please don't mention it again."

"I accept your instructions..."

All the ministers agreed. Li Chen stood up and walked towards the side hall. However, he stopped after a few steps and said, "I have written a new poem these days. I would like to ask Mr. Linghu to come to the side hall for his guidance."

"I accept your instructions..."

Linghu Tao followed Li Chen's footsteps, while the others left the Zichen Hall with unfriendly looks.

Wang Zongshi looked at Ma Gongru and others who were huddled together, and the coldness in his eyes could hardly be hidden.

Ma Gongru and others completely ignored him, simply because they already had control over the emperor's favorite prince, Li Zi.

Wang Zongshi was dispensable to Li Zi. Once Li Zi ascended the throne, it would be easy to deal with Wang Zongshi.

The three men ignored Wang Zongshi and left. Wang Zongshi clenched his fists and walked to the other side with a cold face.

Cui Xuan and Pei Xiu had nothing more to say, so they went their separate ways.

Linghu Tao, who had just walked into the side hall with Li Chen, sat down when he saw Li Chen walk up to him, take out the calligraphy and whisper:

"Sir, I want to get rid of the eunuchs. Do you have any good ideas?"

Li Chen's words frightened Linghu Tao so much that he quickly said, "Your Majesty, killing the eunuchs may harm innocent people. It is better to do it slowly."

"Take it step by step?" Li Chen frowned, and Linghu Tao explained:

"Eunuchs have their own quarrels. Your Majesty only needs to deal with them in a way that those who are guilty do not kill them but expel them. If there are no replacements after the eunuchs are expelled, the eunuchs will naturally be exhausted until they are all gone."

Li Chen smiled when he heard this: "This is a very good plan..."

He put away the calligraphy, and Linghu Tao quickly stood up and bowed: "Your Majesty, I will take my leave..."

"Sir, please take care." Li Chen nodded in agreement. Linghu Tao slowly exited the side hall and then left quickly.

Just as he was leaving, a figure slowly walked out from the pillar at the entrance of the side hall, squinted at his back, and then glanced at Li Chen in the side hall.

After Linghu Tao walked away, he hurried out of the Zichen Hall and caught up with Ma Gongru and others.

"Aye..."

The eunuch hurriedly chased after him. Seeing this, Ma Gongru and others stopped and looked at him in confusion.

Seeing this, the eunuch had no time to relax his breath and hurriedly told Ma Gongru what he had just discovered.

A cold light flashed in Ma Gongru's eyes as he looked at Linghu Tao who was leaving not far away.

"Nan Ya, you are still not honest..."

After he finished speaking, Ma Gongru told Wang Guichang and Wang Jufang, who were also among the Four Nobles, what had just happened in the Zichen Palace.

The two were frightened at first, but after they came to their senses, they had the same idea as Ma Gongru.

"These people have such vicious ideas, so don't blame us for being ruthless!"

"Linghu Tao is highly regarded by the Supreme. You cannot touch him for now, but he also has disciples."

"I'll do it!"

Linghu Tao and Li Chen were still unaware that the matter had been exposed, so the three of them discussed and decided on a counterattack against the Southern Ya's transgression.

A few days later, many officials under the Northern Office continued to impeach the officials under the Southern Court: Linghu Tao, Cui Xuan, and Pei Xiu.

Even though no one told him, Li Chen realized that the matter had been exposed.

The Dazhong Emperor, who claimed to be emulating Taizong, did not show the same sense of responsibility as Taizong. Instead, he studied his long-term medicine in the inner court like a quail.

Because of his non-intervention, the conflict between the Southern Court and the Northern Court gradually escalated and became as tense as fire and water.

Gao Pian, Feng Ao, Bai Minzhong and others were repeatedly impeached, but Li Chen never punished them.

Of course, Liu Jilian was not aware of the turmoil in the outside world. He was still besieging Hezheng in Minzhou.

"call……"

Outside the camp, Liu Jilong exhaled a puff of white mist. A few hundred steps ahead was the Hezheng City across the river.

Although there was enough food in Hezheng City, there was not enough firewood stored.

Fortunately, there are mountains behind the city, and there are plenty of trees available for cutting down.

Because of this, over the past month, the number of trees on the mountains behind Hezheng County has been decreasing, leaving a large area bare.

"If they continue to cut down trees, our army can then take the hillside behind Hezheng County and attack the city from a high position."

Shang Duoluo walked forward with a smile, while Liu Jilong looked at the white snow all around and couldn't help but said with a smile: "With so much snow this year, I think the drought should be over."

"It's all thanks to your good leadership, Marshal Jie. I guess God also saw your efforts, so he sent down the heavy snow." Shang Duoluo flattered him quickly.

"You..." Liu Jilong joked, "You are getting better at flattering people now, but I know myself well. I just did what I should do."

"General, you are too modest." Shang Duoluo shook his head, bowed and said:
"If everyone in the world could do what they are supposed to do, the world wouldn't be in such a mess."

"It is precisely because everyone does not do what they should do that a great leader like Jie Shuai is born in this world!"

If Shang Duoluo only felt that Liu Jilian was unwilling to be a general under someone else in Hexi in his early years, then now after recovering the four states, he has finally seen it.

Not only does our own commander not want to be someone else's subordinate, he also doesn't want to be someone else's subject.

In addition, the weakness of the Tang court also made him realize that the Tang Dynasty might be on the verge of collapse.

"General, there is news from Weizhou. The court has sent an angel to Weizhou to promote you to the rank of Jinzi Guanglu Dafu, the Governor of Longyou, the Inspector of the Ministry of War, the Founding Duke of Longxi County, and a fief of 1,500 households."

"In addition, we will reward our army with 120,000 pieces of silk to reward the officers and soldiers."

"Since ancient times, I know of very few people who have received such an honor before the age of 22, and there is only one Jiedushi in this dynasty." "Although the Jiedushi's banner has not been bestowed, you have already held the position of an inspector."

"When our army recaptures Tao, Die, and Song, I'm afraid the Jiedushi will be granted the banner and seal."

Shang Duoluo was optimistic, but Liu Jilong shook his head and said, "No."

"It's not that easy to get the banner of the Longyou Jiedushi. Don't forget that there are still five states in Longxi that are not in our hands."

"It's not difficult to recover the three states you mentioned, but it's not so easy to recover the two states of Shankuo."

He mentioned Shang Duoluo's former employer Shang Bibi, and Shang Duoluo fell silent after hearing that.

Liu Jilong glanced at him and said calmly:

"Next year, I will not go to the front line in person to recapture the three states. You, Hu Siguang, and Cuo Ben will lead the troops to recapture them."

"After we recover the three states, I want to send you to Kuzhou and Shanzhou."

Shang Duoluo's heart skipped a beat, and he bowed quickly and asked, "The governor is planning to attack Shankuo?"

"If they knew what was best for them, I would not attack Shankuo." Liu Jilong responded:
"I must recapture Shankuo, otherwise there will always be a knife behind me that can attack the three states of He, Lan, and Tao at will."

"As I said before, I am willing to support Shang Bibi to go south to Duomai, and even compete for Gongzhou and other vassal states."

"As for Tuoba Huaiguang, I am willing to support him in unifying the Tuyuhun region."

"If the two of them are willing, they only need to give up Shankuo and the other two states. The foreign people can be taken away, and Hankou must be left to me."

After Liu Jilong finished speaking, Shang Duoluo frowned and said, "But they have six or seven thousand armored soldiers and thousands of elite cavalry. If they attack by force, we..."

Shang Duoluo hesitated again and again, but Liu Jilong interrupted him and said, "Even if their military strength doubles, I will recapture Shankuo and the two states!"

Although he had a cooperative relationship with Shang Bibi before, and he even owed Shang Bibi a batch of food, these did not prevent him from sending troops to recapture Shankuo.

If Shankou is not recovered, Lanzhou and Hezhou may be stabbed in the back, and Liu Jilong will not let this happen.

I hope these two people can make it clear whether to be the lord of Shankuo or the lord of Anduo.

Thinking of this, Liu Jilong turned around and walked back to the camp, leaving Shang Duoluo standing there alone, struggling.

The days passed quickly and it was already the end of the year in a blink of an eye.

On New Year's Eve and New Year's Day, Liu Jilian and more than 7,000 soldiers and civilians who went on the expedition spent the two days outside Hezheng County.

Bamboo can grow in the three states of He, Wei and Minzhou, not to mention the Minzhou area.

During these two days, there were constant sounds of firecrackers outside Hezheng County, and the Minzhou Tubo in Hezheng County saw that Liu Jilian was determined to take Minzhou, so after holding out for nearly three months, they came out of the city and surrendered on the Lantern Festival on the fifteenth day of the first lunar month of the ninth year of Dazhong.

Although they resisted for several months, Liu Jilian still promoted Qilibenzannai, the Tubo leader of Minzhou, to the rank of fifth-rank Shangqi Duwei, thus guaranteeing him wealth and honor for the rest of his life.

More than 17,000 people in the city were registered, and Liu Jilong laid off 700 of the 200 elite cavalry and 1,200 armored soldiers and made them civilians, leaving only 500 people.

As the dust settled on the war, Liu Jilong did not enter Hezheng County. Instead, he ordered his men to take over and then withdrew his troops back to Yile County, more than ten miles away.

Minzhou is rich in resources, including open-air asphalt, coal, bran gold, as well as thousands of acres of tea fields and more than 800 acres of pepper. These scarce resources became Liu Jilong's possession.

In view of Minzhou's rich resources, Liu Jilian immediately began to govern Minzhou.

All households are registered as civilian households, but the able-bodied laborers in each household have different tasks.

However, whether it is mining tallow, coal, bran, or taking care of tea fields and pepper, all of these are paid.

All work is rewarded according to labor. Even if it is just taking care of tea fields and peppercorns, there are set annual tasks and reward standards.

Corvée labor harms people, but if we want to quickly resume production, we cannot do without free corvée labor.

To this end, Liu Jilian still followed the old method. Although he conscripted the people to work, the work they did was beneficial to the people, and the people's three meals a day were also guaranteed.

Under Liu Jilong's governance, the uneven distribution situation in Minzhou was quickly improved.

In March, as the snow melted, Liu Jilian also led his troops back to Linzhou.

At the same time as he returned to Linzhou, Chen Ying, who had previously led his elite cavalry to Hetao to sell linen and silk, finally sold out all the silk and cloth in his hands.

"Chen Yaya, if you need to buy or sell linen and silk in the future, please consider me."

"You are too polite, Wang Yaya. Our army has just recovered the four prefectures in Longnan, and the imperial court has just sent us rewards. If my envoy is interested in selling them, I will definitely look for you."

In front of the Xiazhou government office on Guannei Road, Chen Ying, who had disappeared for more than half a year, had a more mercenary and shrewd look on his face, while the forty-year-old general in front of him was even more mercenary.

"In that case, I won't send you off."

"Wang Ya Ya, please stay."

After exchanging a few pleasantries, the two men prepared to leave, but at this moment a team of carriages and horses stopped in front of the yamen.

Dozens of horse-drawn carriages were transporting a lot of iron materials, and a rough estimate is that the weight was no less than ten thousand pounds.

"Wang Yaya, is the Xia Sui army planning to expand its army?"

Chen Ying asked curiously. Upon hearing this, Wang Yaya took Chen Ying aside and whispered, "This is a business trip to Fengzhou..."

Upon hearing this, Chen Ying immediately understood who these things were traded with. He nodded and said, "Thank you, Wang Yaya, for reminding me."

"Well, Chen Yaya, take care, and don't forget me after the autumn harvest." Wang Yaya said with a smile, and Chen Ying also hurriedly shook his head.

After a few greetings, Chen Ying left the Xiazhou government office with more than a dozen elite cavalrymen and headed for the camp outside the city.

On the way back, the elite riders laughed and said with relief:

"I've been out for more than half a year, and I've finally sold all the silk and linen."

"Now we are just waiting to go to Lingzhou, and then we can buy some draft horses and cattle to go south, and then we can go home and have a good rest."

"General Chen, once this business is over, you will be promoted to captain."

"Haha, now it's time to change the name to Captain Chen."

Faced with the teasing of the elite cavalry, Chen Ying was in no mood to respond.

They started their six-month trading journey from Linzhou, passing through Huizhou, Lingzhou, Fengzhou, Shengzhou, and then turned south to Linzhou and Sui, Yin, Xia and other states, only then did they sell all the silk and linen in their hands.

Now he has nearly 300,000 strings of cash in his hands, which is a huge fortune no matter how you look at it.

Fortunately, the Longxi Army won victory after victory in Longnan, and Chen Ying had many elite cavalry under his command, so the military governors of various towns did not dare to offend him.

Although 300,000 strings of cash is a lot, it is not much for the entire Longxi.

Not to mention anything else, if this money was used to buy draft horses and cattle in Lingzhou, it would only be enough to buy 30,000 to 40,000 heads.

Fortunately, there are quite a few herds of cattle in Longxi, so they only need to buy a few thousand heads and move south.

Most of the money still had to be brought back to Linzhou, and then go to Jiannan Road, where supplies were abundant, for trade.

Of course, if it was just a matter of money and goods, Chen Ying wouldn't be so frowned and depressed.

The reason he did this was that in the past six months, he had seen too many merchants smuggling in Hexi.

The smuggling targets of these merchants were none other than the Umu and Uighurs who were secretly supported by the Tang Dynasty.

Although the Tang Dynasty's support for them was limited, after the trade route was opened, a large number of smugglers engaged in smuggling for profit.

The Shuofang Army turned a blind eye to these smugglers because the profits they offered were high enough.

Chen Ying had lost count of how many smugglers he had seen heading to Hexi. The supplies they brought were enough to equip hundreds of elite cavalry.

If this continues, Chen Ying dare not imagine what the Hexi Army will face.

"We must report this matter to the envoy as soon as possible."

Chen Ying made a secret decision and then led his troops back to the camp.

If three hundred thousand strings of cash were to be pulled by horse-drawn carriages, at least thousands of carriages would be needed, so Chen Ying exchanged most of the money for gold.

The next day, Chen Ying led four hundred elite cavalrymen to guard more than thirty vehicles and rushed towards Lingzhou.

However, most of these carriages were loaded with food and fresh water, and only the first five carriages were loaded with gold and a small amount of copper coins.

The business of Chen Ying and his group had long been known to all the Taoists in Guannei.

However, faced with the 400 elite cavalrymen from Longxi, most of the vassal states did not dare to rob openly.

In Guannei Road, the only ones capable of capturing Chen Ying were the Xia Sui Army, the Shuofang Army, and the Dangxiang Army that had just been appeased by the Tang court.

The two towns each had their own merchants, and Liu Jilian had integrated Longxi. Many of Longxi's commercial goods were in short supply for them, so there was naturally no need to rob the Longxi army.

Therefore, Chen Ying and his men only needed to avoid the Dangxiang, so the route Chen Ying chose was south, away from the Dangxiang nomadic area.

After rushing for more than half a month, they finally arrived in Lingzhou safely.

At the same time, Liu Jilong also returned to Linzhou...

(End of this chapter)