Emperor Taizong's Growth Plan

Chapter 431: The Envoy of the Cloud State Arrives

In the imperial palace of Jinling City, in the palace, all the important court officials of the Xia Kingdom gathered here at this time.

Holding the memorial in one hand, he took a step forward, bowed and said:
"Qizou Your Majesty, Hailing County has an urgent report! Last year there was Yanding Zhang Shicheng. Because he was dissatisfied with the imperial system, he gathered and seduced more than a thousand Yandings to rebel. Now it is getting bigger and bigger, coercing the people, and has begun to attack the city."

"Under the rule of Hailing County, the four counties of Zilang, Haiyang, Linjiang, and Putao have been attacked repeatedly. Now the local government can only control the city. Even Taizhou, the seat of Hailing County, is often rebelled by rebels. Thief attack!"

When Yu Zhaoling heard the courtier's report, his brows were also tightly frowned. While asking for the memorial, he asked:
"I remember Yandu County reported last year that there were only a thousand people rebelling against Yandu. Why did it only take half a year to sweep half the county, and it became such a climate?"

Zhang Shicheng fled with only a thousand people at the beginning, and such a thing, logically, was classified as a mountain bandit, and Yu Zhaoling shouldn't have known about it.

However, Hailing County is close to the sea, adjacent to the south of the Yangtze River, has the benefits of salt fishing, and has a lot of people and wealth, so it can be called a rich land.In addition, Xia Guo has just started to implement the government-run salt tax system, and Xia Guo's court naturally pays great attention to it. Even the matter of Zhang Shicheng was handed over to Yu Zhaoling.

Hearing Yu Zhaoling's inquiry, the superior courtier showed a tangled look on his face. After a moment of silence, he gritted his teeth and said:

"Your Majesty doesn't know everything. After the rebellion, these Yan Ding raided the arsenal of Zilang County and obtained a large number of armor and weapons. It is only known from the military newspapers reported by the local area that these rebels are now only talking about weapons and even weapons. Even better than the local soldiers in Hailing County!"

Listening to this, before Yu Zhaoling could open his mouth, even if a military official came out, he retorted:

"Impossible! Zilang County is not a large county heavily guarded by troops. The arsenal in the city is full of leather armor and weapons for more than a hundred people. They don't even have bows and crossbows. How can the rebel army be reborn?"

Like Zilang County, which is not an important military town, nor is it responsible for the supply of the surrounding garrisons, the arsenal is nothing more than the equipment of some guards and county soldiers. In any case, the rebels should not be allowed to grow to such an extent!
The courtier, who was refuted, showed embarrassment, opened his mouth, and just murmured:
"When the rebel army captured Zilang County, the bandit leader Zhang Shicheng personally led 17 people, sneaked into the city with poles, sickles, and hoes, killed the magistrate and county lieutenant of Zilang County, and took advantage of the turmoil in the city to directly seize the city. Quite, quite a 'trick'."

"But after that, the rebel army obtained enough armor and weapons, and even under the leadership of the bandit leader, they were able to win a fierce battle with the local county soldiers who came to encircle and suppress them, so that the soldiers of Hailing County did not dare to go out to fight in the field... ..."

Yu Zhaoling is also a person who is familiar with war affairs. Hearing what the courtier said at this time, he suddenly laughed out of breath, and snorted:

"Absurd! There are more than a thousand salt men who have not been trained in the army. Even if they have armored weapons, they can beat the local county soldiers?"

The local county soldiers may look like a mob in front of the regular frontier army.

But in the final analysis, they are also an army, the second-line army of the Xia Kingdom.The soldiers had practiced battle formations and martial arts in the army. Even though their armor was not complete, they were still equipped with many weapons, bows and crossbows.

It sounds ridiculous that a Yan Ding, who has never been trained before and has never killed anyone and seen blood, can win a battle!

The courtier who reported back had implied hints in his previous words.But at this moment, Yu Zhaoling still didn't seem to understand the deep meaning in his words.

He couldn't help sighing, took a deep breath, gritted his teeth and said:

"Your Majesty, I'm actually just telling you that there are many things that are wrong..."

"The bandit leader Zhang Shicheng led people to sneak into Zilang County, and he happened to be able to kill the county magistrate and county lieutenant who were supposed to be in the county government and the county barracks. There are obviously not many weapons and armor in Zilang County, but It is enough to arm thousands of rebels. There are also local county soldiers who went to encircle and suppress, and they were defeated too quickly, and they must..."

"Okay, stop talking!"

Before the courtier could finish speaking, he was interrupted immediately.

At this time, the person who suddenly interrupted was none other than Mei Chong, the elder of the two dynasties of the Xia Kingdom, who is now in charge of promoting the state-run salt tax system.

Mei Chong glanced at the courtier, then turned his head to look at Yu Zhaoling, bowed his hands and said:
"There are too many involved in this matter, and your majesty will ask your ministers to investigate the matter after that!"

Yu Zhaoling frowned even tighter. Looking around at the courtiers in the hall who bowed their heads silently, he suddenly realized that something was wrong with the atmosphere.

Looking at Mei Chong, he pondered for a while, and then he reacted and said:

"Is it related to the salt tax?"

Mei Chong didn't speak, but just looked up at Yu Zhaoling, with a very solemn expression, and nodded indiscernibly.

Putting the salt industry under state ownership, a decree that seems so flimsy, has directly caused a group of salt merchants to lose their daily wealth.No matter who puts this on, it is obviously impossible to have no reaction at all!

During the rebellion in Hailing County, those many difficult problems can be explained as long as the dissatisfied salt merchants are included.

Helped the rebels to capture Zilang County, helped the rebels to arm themselves, and even tipped off secretly to help them defeat the soldiers of Hailing County who were going to encircle and suppress them.These things are not too difficult for salt merchants who are rich and well-versed!
In the Jinshen Hall, the atmosphere seemed a little dignified.

But after a while, Yu Zhaoling on the dragon chair suddenly laughed a few times for some reason.

"Good thing!"

As soon as this remark came out, all the officials in the hall were taken aback for a moment, and looked at Yu Zhaoling on the dragon chair with a trace of suspicion.

These salt merchants are no longer mere merchants.Maybe there are people who have a close relationship with the salt merchants in the Jinshen Temple at this time, and it is even certain that some people in the hall are directly the big backers and real bosses of the salt merchants!

On one side is the new government policy, which is about taxation.On one side is the powerful salt merchant interest group hidden in the dark.A little careless handling may turn into a catastrophe for the current Xia Dynasty court, which is suffering from foreign aggression...

How can these things be considered good?
Noticing the suspicious expressions of the courtiers, Yu Zhaoling chuckled and said:
"What I envy Emperor Yun the most is that as soon as he came to the throne, he ransacked his home and confiscated the properties of Buddhist temples, and sent a huge amount of gold and silver to the treasury of the Yun Kingdom, which directly supported the financial expenditure of the Yun Kingdom for three years. And , The news just came back from the Southwest before. These days, Emperor Yun is parading, and wherever he goes, he spends gold and silver wantonly to buy people's hearts. Isn't he able to be so lavish because of the original method of raiding the house!"

Speaking of this, Yu Zhaoling lowered his eyes slightly, with a smile on his face, and said in a quiet tone:
"Now that the national treasury is empty, these salt merchants happen to have a strong family background, and they have given the handle to me. Isn't this a good thing?"

Just because Xiao Cheng's "successful" experience is ahead, Yu Zhaoling, who has not been enthroned for a long time, has already deeply comprehended what is the "Emperor's Prosperity"...

As soon as Yu Zhaoling's words came out, many courtiers in the palace were calm and fine, but those who had a little ghost in their hearts suddenly felt cold and sweated, and tried their best not to let their colleagues around them see it.

You know, when Yu Zhaoling, the current emperor of the Xia Kingdom, was first appointed as the crown prince, it directly set off a great purge of the court, which directly wiped out the party struggle that had taken root in the Xia Kingdom's court for more than a hundred years.

In addition, Yu Zhaoling had been in the army for many years, and won the trust of a group of the most elite frontier generals in Xia Kingdom, holding the military power.Zhong Zizhuo, the second-rank embroidered clothes envoy under his command, is now also using the name of inspecting Yunguo spies to plant spies in Xiaguo to monitor the world.

For such an emperor, if he said that he ransacked his house, he really ransacked his house, without any ambiguity...

Previously, Mei Chong was struggling with how to appease and balance the interest groups of salt merchants in the court while implementing the New Deal.

But at this time, Yu Zhaoling's words made him suddenly enlightened.

After painstakingly trying to appease the balance, these people may not be willing to appreciate it in the end.Instead of this, it is better to continue the strict investigation and ransack the homes of all those involved.The assets obtained were filled into the national treasury for the imperial court to use.

Anyway, because the internal affairs of the hundred schools are serious nowadays, there is no shortage in this world, and they are scholars who are willing to be officials!
Thinking of this, Mei Chong's eyes lit up immediately, he bowed to Yu Zhaoling, and shouted:

"Your Majesty is wise!"

The courtiers in the palace first looked at each other in dismay, and then the clever ones hurriedly bent over to salute, and shouted in their mouths:
"Your Majesty is wise!"

Those courtiers who had ghosts in their hearts did not dare to show it at this time, and could only pinch their noses and bowed together to salute.

After discussing these matters, most of the officials in the palace bowed and retired, leaving only a dozen or so important officials in the central government of the Xia Dynasty, who continued to stay in the palace to discuss the confidential and important matters of the court.

"How is the war in the North?"

"Return to Your Majesty, the frontline military newspaper, everything is going well!"

"Our army started to prepare for the attack on the Turks last year. The food, ordnance, medicine and other preparations are very sufficient. However, the grassland tribes suffered heavy losses due to last year's snowstorm. Caught off guard, the forward army has broken through 10 troops. There are two large tribes with more than one person, seven medium-sized tribes with tens of thousands of people, and the rest of the small tribes are useless.”

Hearing this, Yu Zhaoling nodded slightly, and said sharply:

"The purpose of sending troops this time is to take advantage of Yunguo's inability to continue going north and the loss of the Turkic forces, to eliminate the threat of the northern border in one fell swoop, so as to prevent the danger of being attacked by enemies in the future. Therefore, in this battle, we must take the initiative to attack the Turks. Wang Ting. Along the way, all the grassland tribes encountered were slaughtered, leaving no one behind. Even if the Turks cannot be wiped out, their vitality will be severely injured, and they will not dare to look south within ten years!"

The words are full of chilling meaning, and the breath is uplifting.In a daze, the Yu Zhaoling in front of him seemed to have changed into the vigorous look he had when he was King Qi and served in the northern army...

"Yes!" All the officials saluted in unison, and the voice of shouting also had a certain momentum.

"Where is Yunguo?"

When mentioning Yunguo, the ministers were immediately stunned by the high-spirited momentum facing the Turks.

"The armies that have been withdrawn have been reorganized. Now the soldiers and horses of Yuzhang County and Rong County are under the control of Lieutenant General Sun Qianfang. The soldiers and horses of Nanyang County and Xunyang County are under the command of Hanchuanhou and Liyi General Liao Gu."

Hearing this, Yu Zhaoling breathed a sigh of relief, nodded and said:

"Lieutenant General Sun Qianfang is a veteran on the battlefield with rich experience. Liao Gu, Marquis of Hanchuan, is also a famous general of our new generation in Daxia. He is courageous after knowing his shame. Now even Wu Zixu from Yunguo can't stand in front of him. What a bargain..."

"The Yun army is now standing still, and has no intention of continuing to attack. It has lost its sharpness. With Sun Qianfang and Liao Gu in charge, we can rest assured for the time being."

When Jiangzhou City had just been captured, the Yun army sharpened their knives and was on the verge of destroying Xia Kingdom in one fell swoop.The Turks in the north are even more determined to go south, with the intention of taking advantage of the fire to loot.

A lot of news spread to Jinling City, the government and the public were inexplicably terrified, and some even fled Jinling City in a panic, showing signs that the country was in turmoil and the country was about to perish.

Up to now, the southwest line of defense has been stabilized again, the cloud army has also stopped moving forward, and the offensive in the north has been very smooth, and the situation has improved again.

Even though the territory of Yun Country is no worse than that of Xia Country.However, relying on the prosperity of Xia Kingdom's territory, as long as the current situation is maintained and a little breath is taken, there is no need to worry about anything at all.

Mei Chong continued to stand up, bowed and said:

"Your Majesty, the battle in the north is now going well, and the Southwest New Army has begun to reorganize and train, and the situation has improved... The only problem is that the treasury is empty again."

With the national treasury full, he could send troops to conquer and buy people's hearts like Emperor Yun Xiao Cheng did in the past few years, and he didn't have to be as restrained as Yu Zhaoling.

Hearing this, Yu Zhaoling nodded slightly, and said without hesitation:

"The second-rank embroidered clothes envoy Zhong Zizhuo happened to go to Liyang County more than a month ago to investigate the spying of the Yun Kingdom. I immediately ordered him to go to Hailing County. The matter of the salt merchants just mentioned will be handed over to him." He took care of it. With his ability, the people of Yunguo can't escape his eyes, let alone those salt merchants!"

When Mei Chong heard this, he immediately recalled the deeds of Zhong Zizhuo, the second-rank embroidered clothes envoy.

Born as a former minister of Qiandi in the Southwest, he served under his command when His Majesty was King Qi, and he was loyal and reliable.Entering the Embroidered Clothes Envoys and arresting many Yun Kingdom spies, he has made outstanding achievements and gained a good reputation.

Isn't it easy for such a person to check the salt merchants!
At that time, the property of these people will be confiscated, the New Deal will be implemented smoothly, and the treasury will be completely filled.Now many embarrassing things in the DPRK and China can be easily solved.

As for Zhang Shicheng, the bandit leader who swept across half of Hailing County, without the support of the salt merchants, he would not be able to overcome the storm, so Mei Chong didn't pay much attention.

After Yu Zhaoling and Mei Chong finished their discussion, at this moment, outside the hall, a palace attendant trotted into the hall, bent over and knelt down on the ground with a memorial in hand, and reported:

"Your Majesty, Honglu Temple has reported that the envoys of Yun Kingdom have arrived..."

　Something went wrong with the keyboard, for some reason, it became too responsive.Constantly typing typos makes me irritated...

　　
　
(End of this chapter)