Northern Dynasties

Chapter 1315: Serving the King and Advising the Government

"The King of Linchuan ordered me to report to the Lord. The disturbance in Nanchuan is indeed a concern, but it is not a serious threat to our country. Considering the manpower in our country, we can calmly pacify it. Rashly inviting the northern barbarians to the south is actually opening the door to thieves! Li Boshan, the ruler of the Tang Dynasty, is not a good person. All he wants day and night is to be the ruler of the world. To conspire with him is no different from trying to get the skin of a tiger. Now he is forcing us to offer Guangling, and his evil intentions are obvious. If we still don't take precautions, I am afraid that he will follow in the footsteps of the Qi family. Jiangdong will not be ours, and the ancestral temple will be destroyed overnight!"

Zhang Zhaoda was born into an official family in Wuzhong. He originally had an extraordinary demeanor, but he was blinded in one eye by arrows when he was rescuing Taicheng during the Hou Jing Rebellion. As a result, his appearance now looks a little strange and hideous, especially when he is emotionally excited, the remaining eye also gives people a sense of flashing murderous light.

Now he was repeating the words of King Linchuan, so his posture and tone could not help but sound a little aggressive: "The first lord rose from danger and difficulty to start his business. Thanks to his grace and prestige, the people of Jiangdong were able to maintain peace and live in peace. Your Majesty is fortunate to inherit this business, so you should be more cautious and live up to the trust of the first lord and the expectations of the people! King Linchuan, please lead the elite soldiers of Wuzhong to attack the bandits in Nanchuan. There is really no need for the northern barbarians to cross the river. I implore your majesty to make a careful decision!"

  Chen Chang was already dissatisfied with his cousin Chen Qian's actions. Previously, the situation was deadlocked because of Chen Qian's obstruction. Now that things have finally turned around, he has sent envoys to the court to accuse him in a hypocritical manner. It is not good to rely on external forces, but why does the court rely on external forces? Doesn't Chen Qian know? In this matter, is he really innocent?

"Zhang's words are really ridiculous, claiming to be wise with foolishness! Although I am a commoner, living in a humble house, I still love this place. I inherited this business from my father. If anyone wants to disrupt my country, I will fight to the death! Since I received this business, there have been many twists and turns, and I have never been able to sleep peacefully for a day! Although you eat my salary, you don't share my worries. If you are really loyal and honest, how can you not know why the internal and external troubles arise? Now you come to show off your loyalty and bravery and ask about state affairs. If you really speak and act generously, why would the disturbance in Nanchuan continue until now?"

In a rage, Chen Chang was unwilling to retain even the slightest bit of sympathy in his words, and directly exposed all the deep-seated contradictions. He was also particularly harsh to Zhang Zhaoda, the envoy of Chen Qian, and made many sarcastic remarks and belittlements: "The King of Linchuan is a tyrant in Wuzhong and has no respect for the emperor. If he really wants to act, why does he report to me? There are foxes in the city and rats in the community! When dealing with people and things, you only care about your own interests. When you are in danger, you only sigh that things are difficult and dangerous. Your mean face is ridiculous! Even if I am not a talented and heroic ruler, how can you be loyal and loyal subjects!"

Chen Chang did not feel too happy to vent out the anger he had accumulated in the past few days. His words tore apart the little bit of dignity that still existed between them, but now was obviously not a good time to break up completely.

This also shows his political immaturity. After venting his anger, he secretly felt something was wrong and did not want his angry words to be spread. So he directly ordered Zhang Zhaoda to be detained, and solemnly ordered the courtiers in the palace to keep silent. He also sent an envoy to Wuzhong to reply to Chen Qian, asking him to stay in Wuxing and not to make any unusual moves. As for the Nanchuan rebellion, the Jiankang division and the Tang army had already settled it.

Although the Jiankang court was going to join the Tang army in quelling the rebellion, the troops that Jiankang could mobilize were very limited. Although there were tens of thousands of imperial guards in the capital, they had to maintain the law and order of Jiankang and guard against both the inside and the outside, which was already stretched to the limit, and it was even more difficult to carry out large-scale external deployments.

Chen Tanlang only brought back more than 3,000 soldiers from Guangling this time, and the soldiers and civilians of Guangling remained in the city. In the future, the Yangzhou General Administration of the Tang Dynasty would only take over the defense of Guangling, but the people's livelihood would still be managed by officials appointed by the Southern Chen. Even the taxes in the city would continue to be collected by the Southern Chen, and then used to offset the consumption of food and grass for the Tang army to assist in the battle of Nanchuan.

When the Tang Dynasty interacted with the Southern Chen Dynasty, although its attitude was sometimes strong and aggressive, that was also due to the gap in strength between the two sides. However, as long as an agreement was reached between them, they would always abide by it, so the rulers and ministers of the Southern Chen Dynasty also trusted the Tang Dynasty more.

It is foolish to pin hopes on the stronger party to keep the promise, but in many cases, the rulers and ministers of the Southern Chen Dynasty have no better way. Everyone knows that fate is in their own hands, but without sufficient ability, this is just a correct nonsense. At least for the current relationship between the two countries, the Tang Dynasty has always abided by the agreement, which has also formed a certain constraint on the interaction between the two countries. If it is to breach the contract, the destroyed trust is also a cost.

Chen Chang had previously asked Xu Du if he was interested in going to Nanchuan, but in his heart he had already intended to let General Cheng Lingxi be the governor of Jiangzhou. Although Cheng Lingxi was not his confidant, he had also stood on the opposite side of Chen Qian in the previous disputes.

During the establishment of the Southern Chen Dynasty, Chen Chang had been serving as a hostage abroad, so he did not have many confidants in the country. To him, anyone who did not get along with his cousin Chen Qian was a force worth winning over.

The main intention of Southern Chen in this expedition was to take over the prefectures and counties of Nanchuan, and it did not need to serve as the main force. The rebel general Chunyu Liang and his territory in Guizhou of Lingbiao were naturally the rewards for the Tang army's expedition. This was also a tacit understanding between them.

After all, even if Guizhou was returned to the Southern Chen, the Southern Chen would not be able to afford the cost of ruling because the journey was too long. Even Chen Chang and the officials in Jiankang hoped that the Tang Dynasty would take Guizhou, because after Guizhou was taken, it would inevitably attract the Tang Dynasty to invest more forces in the Lingbiao area in southern Hunan, thereby relaxing its attention on the lower reaches of Jiangdong, and also giving the Jiankang court a chance to breathe.

Because there were not many opportunities to directly participate in the battle, the main purpose was to suppress the local powerful forces in Nanchuan. Therefore, the Jiankang court prepared to send out 5,000 troops, led by Chen Tanlang, the King of Nankang, who was specifically asked by the Tang Emperor to go to the expedition. In addition, Cheng Lingxi was appointed as the governor of Jiangzhou and led more than 2,000 people from his own department. In total, nearly 8,000 soldiers were gathered.

Although the number of troops on the expedition was not large, it left a big loophole in Jiankang's city defense. So Chen Chang ordered Wu Mingche to lead a group of Qin County troops to cross the south of the Yangtze River and garrison in Shitou City.

When the army was about to march, Chen Chang personally swore an oath at the altar in the northern suburbs and announced the march, which immediately made the scene very exciting. This time, the Chen army marched by boat and car. Just as the boat and car were about to march, Chen Chang summoned Chen Tanlang to his side and warned him in a deep voice: "Hou Zhen ignored the imperial court's order to march and kept leading the people to hesitate. He also sent his son to cause trouble in the East Palace. His intentions are really sinister. Now that you have entered the country, there is no need to pretend to be nice to him. Just arrest him and bring him to the capital. Disband his troops on the spot and do not let them go elsewhere!"

Previously, Chen Qian sent Zhang Zhaoda to the court to oppose the court's cooperation with the Tang army to quell the rebellion, and volunteered to lead the army. Although he was directly rejected by Chen Chang, he realized that Chen Qian may have had the idea of ​​interfering in Nanchuan for a long time.

Even if the court disagreed, he might send troops without authorization to seize control of Nanchuan while the Tang army and the court were busy fighting Wang Lin and Chunyu Liang's rebels. In order to ensure that the court could take over Nanchuan, Chen Chang would not allow the Tang army to stay in the territory to interfere in the matter, and the court's own power was not enough to eliminate Chen Qian's arrangements and influence.

  If Chen Qian wanted to pull off this operation of taking advantage of the situation, he would definitely need the support of local forces. Chen Chang knew that his cousin was always gloomy and sinister, and he might have planned this for a long time. He didn't know how many local forces he had contacted secretly, but there was no doubt that Hou Zhen, who was exposed, must be a very important role. So Chen Chang planned to take the initiative to control Hou Zhen. Even if Hou Zhen's conspiracy with Chen Qian was not too deep, he had accepted the imperial court's title before, but he was passive and refused to send troops, so he needed to be severely punished!

As the army set out from Jiankang City, the people in Changcheng County of Wuxing were also busy. Changcheng County was the hometown of the Chen family. After Chen Qian left the court in a panic, he did not go to Wucheng, the capital of Zhenzhou, to take charge. Instead, he returned to Changcheng Township and built a royal residence to manage the military and political affairs in the country.

During the Hou Jing Rebellion, Chen Qian was ordered to return to Wuxing to garrison there, so he was very familiar with the people and affairs of the village and had great prestige in the village. His return to his hometown to take charge was like demarcating a territory and becoming the king. Even the governors of prefectures and counties appointed by the court had to go to his palace to ask for instructions, otherwise it would be difficult for them to exercise their powers.

Therefore, there was a constant flow of people and vehicles going to and from Changcheng Township to the Linchuan Prince's residence. In recent days, there were so many people gathering here that the roads in the township became extremely congested.

These people gathered in the residence of Prince Linchuan, and expressed their opposition to many of the imperial court's policies. They hoped that Prince Linchuan would be more sympathetic to his hometown and fight for the rights and interests that his fellow villagers and old acquaintances should have.

Among those who visited the Linchuan Prince's residence, quite a number of them were dressed simply, wearing robes made of hemp cloth produced in Wuzhong. This was not only because they were poor or lived a simple life, but also because it was a trend in Wuzhong that people were proud of wearing hemp cloth robes.

Since the Yongjia Rebellion, a large number of people from the north came to Jiangdong to escape the war, and they also brought advanced farming and weaving techniques from the north, which greatly developed Jiangdong's farming and weaving industry.

However, there are still many hemp and ramie cloths produced in various parts of Wuzhong, and the court also collects a lot of taxes on cloth. Therefore, weaving is also an important pillar industry in the Three Wus. Many powerful families have many slaves and servants, who work hard day and night to weave cloth and sell it in the market.

However, with the development of trade between Liyang, Gusu and other places, a large amount of silk fabrics such as silk from upstream poured into the territory of Southern Chen. These silk fabrics were more exquisite and comfortable than cloth, but cheaper than those produced in Wuzhong. After entering the market, they immediately formed a monopoly, which directly caused a sharp drop in the sales of various weaving products in Wuzhong and almost kicked it out of the market.

These powerful families in Wuzhong may be sensitive to the general trend of the world, but they are very aware of their own gains and losses. A large number of textiles are piled up in their homes, and even if they are occasionally sold, the price is extremely low.

Many families whose income from textiles accounted for a large proportion of their family income even went bankrupt. Even if they wanted to sell themselves as slaves, they had nowhere to sell them, because those wealthy and powerful families were also facing the same dilemma. The income from the labor of the retainers had dropped sharply, making sheltering the population a losing business. The retainers in the garden became negative assets, so many powerful families simply released a large number of slaves, expelled them, and left them to fend for themselves.

Therefore, Chen Qian's previous statement that bandits were rampant in the country was not entirely a lie to the court. Because a large number of households went bankrupt and slaves were released, these people wandered around the countryside and had no way to make a living, so they could only steal and rob, making the overall security situation in Wuzhong become worrying.

Although the villagers were short-sighted, they had already felt the pain, so they could not help but riot and groan. Boycotting goods from upstream, especially silk fabrics, and advocating the use and consumption of local products became a trend. They naturally hated the northern barbarians who had forced their villagers to reduce their income and make their livelihood difficult.

Since the King of Linchuan was expelled from the capital for opposing an alliance with the Tang Dynasty, in such an atmosphere of local sentiment, many powerful people in Wuzhong regarded him as their leader and gathered under his command, hoping to fight against the exploitation from the Northern Dynasties.

When his uncle Chen Baxian died, Chen Qian tried to take control of power. However, he was forced to leave the capital due to the intervention of the Guanzhong government and the opposition of the ministers. However, he did not expect that he would gain such widespread support after returning to his hometown. His power and courage grew rapidly, and his attitude became tough again.

Although he is now hiding in the countryside, he has more extensive and reliable support, especially in terms of public opinion, which is more reliable than the control of his uncle Chen Baxian. Therefore, he has more room for imagination and operation for the future of his country.

When the court's reply was transmitted back to Wuxing, Chen Qian gathered his confidants and powerful men and said with a sigh, "The Lord is still stubborn and insists on luring the northern barbarians to the south without considering the difficulties of the first lord's founding. The northern barbarians are wolves in nature. They have already annexed the old enemy in the east. Now they are coming south. Their intentions must be not simple. It is easy for them to come, but it is difficult to send them away. If the situation continues to deteriorate, my hometown may never have peace! What do you think about this?"

"The ruler is incompetent and the government is in chaos. There is no peace or stability! Now that things have come to this, the only thing we can do is to march north to assist the king and advise him on politics in order to save the country from this crisis. Apart from that, there is no more doubt!"

The first person to speak was a man in military uniform. It turned out to be Hou Andu, the governor of East Yangzhou who was supposed to be stationed in Kuaiji.

The generals of the local garrison have always been required to guard their place and were not allowed to leave without orders, otherwise it would be tantamount to conspiracy. Hou Andu actually left Kuaiji and came to Wuxing, and the first thing he said was such a rebellious word. If the people in Jiankang saw this scene, they would definitely be shocked.