Elegy of Tang Dynasty

Chapter 788: A Grand Funeral

After Li Sheng returned to Dengzhou, he did not rush to attack Guangzhou, but instead focused on dealing with the Hu merchants who looted Guangzhou and sold the stolen goods in Dengzhou. He killed people, recovered the stolen goods, and registered them.

It stands to reason that speed is of the essence in war, and it is normal to go into battle quickly after receiving the military order. But why did Li Sheng not take any action?

In fact, it’s not that he didn’t want to go to the battle, but the weather didn’t allow it.

Southeast winds often blow on the sea surface of Guangzhou in spring and summer. If a ship from Dengzhou goes south, the sailors who pedal the water wheel will probably have to pedal the water wheel until it smokes before the ship can barely move against the wind.

If there is another typhoon or something, I can only say that this is not the way to play even if you want to die.

Only after autumn, when the northwest wind blows on the sea, can the fleet sail south to Guangzhou.

If the time is not right, there is nothing that can be done.

Until autumn came, Lingnan also entered the harvest season. Li Sheng calculated that if he sent troops at this time, he would encounter less resistance, so he took the local soldiers of Dengzhou, a part of the Silver Spear Army, and the temporarily recruited sailors, a total of 20,000 people.

Riding on a sea ship, they marched towards Guangzhou in a mighty force!
The people occupying Guangzhou now are the leaders of the Liao tribe in Lingnan, Huang Qianyao and Zhen Chongyu. If you ask who these two people are, I guess no one in the court of Bianzhou can tell clearly. Even Zhang Jiugao, who is trapped in Shaoguan, may not be able to explain it clearly. There are such Liao tribe leaders everywhere in Lingnan, and they change frequently.

In Lingnan, the Han people were a minority, and there were countless Liao people, each with their own tribes, with complicated relationships between them. Otherwise, why would people say that Lingnan was the place where officials were exiled during the Tang Dynasty?

Now these kittens have jumped out in twos and threes. Although they have occupied Panyu City, they don't know how to manage the place at all. In the past few months, the drama of changing the king's flag on the city wall has been staged in various places in Lingnan. The Liao tribes have not formed a unified alliance. They all took advantage of the fact that the Tang Dynasty's power in Lingnan was in a state of decline to attack cities and seize territories.

It is typical that there are many turtles in shallow ponds.

When the fleet of the Bianzhou Army appeared on the sea south of Panyu, Huang Qianyao, Zhen Chongyu and other Liao leaders were still lying on the woman's belly! They were not prepared at all!
Just as Fang Chongyong had expected, Li Sheng led his troops to capture Panyu and several surrounding towns formed due to trade with almost no effort, and firmly controlled Panyu and the seaport south of Guangzhou.

Of course, it is not difficult to take this place, but the difficulty lies in how to garrison for a long time and how to enter the hinterland of Lingnan. The mountains and venomous snakes are the biggest problems in front of us.

Li Sheng sent someone to send a battle report back to Bianzhou. After Fang Chongyong saw it, he was overjoyed but remained silent.

After taking over Panyu, the provincial capital of Guangzhou, Zhang Jiugao should have been allowed to return to Panyu to govern the country, which would have expressed the court's "sincerity".

However, how can you spit out something you have eaten?
Even if the casualties were small, there were still casualties in this battle. It was not Fang Zhongyong's style to hand over the territory that the soldiers fought so hard to regain on the battlefield to a vassal commander who only followed orders but not instructions.

……

One afternoon in the autumn, Fang Chongyong had just attended a ribbon-cutting ceremony at a market in Bianliang City. After the ceremony, he returned to the Kaifeng government office and found that Zhang Zheng, the son of Zhang Jiuling, had been waiting outside the government office for a long time.

Hearing that the imperial court in Bianzhou was about to send troops to Hexi, and that the government troops had already recaptured Panyu City and established a solid bridgehead, Zhang Zheng, who had been stranded in Bianzhou, was extremely anxious and wanted his uncle Zhang Jiugao to return to Panyu to govern the country.

It's just that Fang Chongyong is really too busy. Recently, because of the military expedition to Hexi, he has not seen any guests at all. He is always participating in certain activities in and around Bianliang City, such as groundbreaking ceremonies or inspecting some "industrial clusters". In short, he is not at the government office.

Zhang Zheng finally waited for the visit of Mr. Fang today, and he was overjoyed, yet nervous.

After leading the person into the study and sitting him down, Fang Chongyong looked at Zhang Zheng, who was 90% similar to Zhang Jiuling, and couldn't help but sigh.

Back then, Zhang Jiuling was also a big shot, and his name was well known in Chang'an. However, he appeared at the wrong time, and did not meet a wise leader. In addition, his own concept of "civil officials first" did not conform to the development of the times, so he was ignored and abandoned by Brother Ji.

All we can say is that the characters of an era have the fate of that era.

"You've been in Bianzhou for two months. Are you used to living here?"

Fang Zhongyong looked at Zhang Zheng and asked.

The heat and humidity in Lingnan were unbearable, but the climate in Bianzhou was much drier. Zhang Zheng had no complaints about it. In addition, the commodity economy in Bianliang City was well developed and one could buy whatever one wanted, so he naturally got used to living there.

If he was dissatisfied, it was probably because Fang Zhongyong had left him alone for more than two months. But he could only think about it in his mind and never speak it out loud.

"Returning to your Majesty, Bianzhou is a place of outstanding people and beautiful scenery, and I live very comfortably here.

I am just worried about the situation in Lingnan. I wonder what the government has considered. I heard that the government troops have recently recovered Panyu. How will the court deal with the situation in Lingnan?"

Zhang Zheng asked with lowered eyebrows and a pleasing look, choosing his words carefully and not daring to express any dissatisfaction at all.

"Panyu is a small place and cannot sustain itself. Even if you send your uncle to Panyu, it will not be able to solve the problem of food and grass for the garrison. Now everything in Panyu City must be imported by sea from Dengzhou. Your uncle cannot command the government of Dengzhou. I am afraid that it is not realistic to ask him to return to Panyu to manage it in the near future. After all, Panyu is now under military control, and the war situation is changing rapidly. It cannot be ignored."

Fang Zhongyong spoke a long and eloquent speech, leaving Zhang Zheng confused.

Should I pay it or not? Or if I don’t pay it now, I can pay it in the future?

Zhang Zheng was confused but didn't dare to ask, so he could only wait on the side with an awkward look on his face. Because Liu Yan had already walked in with the account book, and seemed to want to discuss something.

"You've come just in time. I previously instructed similar shops and workshops to settle down according to the region. How is it going?"

As soon as they met, Fang Chongyong asked Liu Yandao directly without waiting for the other party to speak.

"Go back to the government, this matter is being processed. Shops are easy to arrange, but many workshops were already established before we took over Bianzhou. I'm afraid it will be quite troublesome to relocate them."

Liu Yan saluted Fang Zhongyong with his hands crossed.

“A short pain is worse than a long one. In the future, anyone who opens a workshop must report it and open it in an area designated by the government.

Glass workshops must be opened in the north of the city, textile workshops must be opened in the west of the city, and papermaking workshops must be opened in the south of the city, and they are not allowed to be opened on both sides of the canal.

Things like these must be done according to the rules. Similar workshops can be opened together to learn from each other's technology and skills, which is of great benefit to the development of the industry."

Fang Zhongyong waved his hand and said.

"Yes, I know what to do now."

Liu Yan saluted Fang Zhongyong with his hands crossed.

"what's up?"

Fang Chongyong suddenly remembered that Liu Yan came here on his own initiative.

“Sir, this year’s harvest is good, but I’m afraid the low price of rice will hurt farmers, so the government will need to spend a large sum of money to buy grain.

It would be better to have some gold, silver and copper coins as ballast. It would be difficult to stabilize prices relying solely on salt permits.

Now that the imperial court controls most of the country, the old method of collecting money through salt vouchers is becoming less and less effective. "

Liu Yan glanced at Fang Zhongyong and explained in a low voice.

“Ask Dengzhou to send some of the stolen goods to Bianzhou for auction. The proceeds will be used to purchase the grain that was just harvested this year at the market price of previous years.

Don’t let the people suffer more in good years than in normal times.”

Fang Zhongyong nodded slightly and said, "Sir, after the autumn grain is harvested, the army can set out to Guanzhong."

Liu Yan reminded calmly that it was more likely that he was speaking to Zhang Zheng who was standing beside him rather than to Fang Zhongyong.

The purpose is naturally to deter.

The imperial court in Bianzhou has well-trained soldiers and sufficient food supplies, and the government cares about the people. Why don’t you vassal states come and surrender to us?
Facing an opponent like us, you should think about how to lose, right?

As expected, Zhang Zheng's expression changed several times, but he pretended not to hear anything, lowered his head and said nothing. Then, Liu Yan put the file on the table for Fang Zhongyong to review, and quietly left the study.

Looking at the thick stack of files on the table, Zhang Zheng felt emotional.

He actually hoped that Fang Qing was a fool, the kind of person whose brain was full of muscles and who knew nothing except how to fight.

However, from what we have observed over the past few months, it seems that this Official Fang is by no means unfamiliar with government affairs. Not only does he understand them, he is very proficient in them and can properly handle all kinds of emergency matters.

The man who started out in Bianzhou and was able to conquer the world in just a few years was indeed not famous for nothing.

However, Fang Qing is very powerful, which means that his uncle Zhang Jiugao and their Lingnan Zhang family have very little room for political maneuvering.

At this moment, I feel a bit like a fish on the chopping board. Seeing the butcher sharpening the knife, I feel a little nervous, but helpless.

"By the way, where were we just now?"

Fang Zhongyong looked at Zhang Zheng and asked.

"Go back to your house. I want to ask you something about my uncle..."

Before Zhang Zheng finished speaking, Fang Chongyong interrupted him with a wave of his hand and said, "Your uncle cannot control the situation in Panyu. Your family is from Shaoguan. Your uncle led his troops to station in Shaoguan and was able to protect himself because he was able to persuade the villagers to obey his orders. But the situation in Panyu is different. Even if your uncle went there, it would be useless. Take a look at this battle report."

Fang Chongyong took out the battle report sent by Li Sheng from under the paperweight and handed it to Zhang Zheng.

Kill, kill, and kill.

The more Zhang Zheng read, the more frightened he became. This battle report was very detailed (mainly for the purpose of reporting merit, so he had to go into detail), telling about the counterattack by the Liao tribe that the Dengzhou army and part of the imperial army encountered after they conquered Panyu and surrounding towns.

It talked about how they fought back and how they scared the surrounding Liao tribes so much that they dared not show up.

Every now and then there are reports like "hundreds of heads were beheaded" or "such and such town was destroyed by war", which makes people imagine a lot.

In fact, the reason why Zhang Jiugao chose to garrison Shaoguan was because he was worried about such things. Lingnan is called a wild land, but that is only for the Han people! In fact, the population of Lingnan has been large since ancient times! The Tang Dynasty also adopted a policy of divide and rule here, without actual control.

Only a few large cities near the sea, such as Guangzhou and Panyu, have established decent government institutions and markets. Panyu also rose because of maritime trade, and the output of surrounding land is limited.

Zhang Jiugao had already anticipated these situations. Before Zhang Zheng came to Bianzhou, he had told him to "act within his ability." This old bureaucrat from the old times actually had no hope for this. Of course, the Bianzhou court was still quite powerful. It was not that they did nothing. At least they conquered Panyu and the surrounding areas.

Having the ability and having the willingness are two different things.

"How about this, I will write a letter and you can take it back to Shaoguan and give it to your uncle. We need to think about this matter carefully, as the current situation is not stable."

Fang Chongyong said with a smile.

His attitude was very good and he spoke in a gentle manner, but he refused to give in at all and never mentioned giving Panyu City to Zhang Jiugao.

No matter what, at least Panyu is now in the hands of the Bianzhou court, not in the hands of the Liao people.

Zhang Zheng had to comfort himself and accepted the result helplessly.

"In that case, I will trouble you, your Excellency. I will be grateful to you."

Zhang Zheng saluted Fang Zhongyong with his arms crossed and said, although he tried his best to appear happier, he couldn't hide the lonely expression on his face.

Zhang Zheng is older than Fang Zhongyong, but when it comes to experience, he is far inferior to the other. When they met today, he was suppressed by Fang Zhongyong and couldn't say a word of rebuttal.

The situation is stronger than people, nothing more than this.

After Zhang Zheng left, Fang Chongyong looked at the large map hanging on the wall again. The pattern of Liangzhou City, which looked like a flying bird with long wings, was circled in red ink.

It looks particularly dazzling.

Fang Chongyong took out a rag, dipped it in a box of "correction fluid" on the table, and gently brushed it across the red circle, then wiped it off. This kind of ink erasing gadget was invented by our ancestors in the Tang Dynasty. It is very easy to use and is almost a must-have item in government offices.

"Dazalugong, are you ready? My crown only needs your head to wear it."

In his hand he was playing with the fish token of the Silver Spear Xiejie Army. It was made of gold and felt heavy in his hand.

To be fair, Fang Zhongyong and Dazha Lugong had no personal grudges against each other, and it could even be said that they admired each other. However, life is like this, and one's background and personal choices often determine one's future path.

He could only realize his life ambition by giving Zhalugong a grand funeral.

Da Congming walked in cautiously, tiptoeing with a letter in his hand. He saw Fang Zhongyong staring at the map hanging on the wall in a daze, waiting quietly by the side.

"Tell me what's going on."

Fang Zhongyong asked without turning his head.

"Your Majesty, Che Guangqian has sent a letter saying that he has led his troops to Weizhou and joined forces with Wang Nandai. According to scouts, the Tibetans have deployed a large number of troops in Liangzhou, and Shanzhou seems to be poorly guarded.

How the army should respond, please let the emperor decide. "

After that, Da Congming repeated the belief written by Che Guangqian. In short, the Tibetans seemed to have given up the defense of the Hehuang Valley, concentrated their forces in Liangzhou, and shrunk their defense lines.

To strengthen everywhere is to weaken everywhere. The method of employing troops is to combine the real and the virtual and to concentrate forces to fight a war of annihilation.

Dazalugong was obviously an expert at this, and he gave up places that didn't need to be defended, just for the sake of a decisive battle with the Bianzhou army!

"Write a letter to Che Guangqian on my behalf, saying that the central army will march out immediately, and ask him and Wang Nan to hold their troops in place until I can deal with Dazha Lugong!"

Fang Zhongyong snorted coldly and said, his domineering attitude revealed!

My dear brother, let me chop off your dog head with my own hands.

He muttered to himself.

(End of this chapter)