I became a saint by picking up corpses in Water Margin

Chapter 399: A plan within a plan, playing to death

Early spring in February.

The weather south of the Yellow River is still fluctuating between warm and cold, and the land of Hebei is still experiencing winter.

Zhending City, outside the south gate.

Sun An, the commander-in-chief of the Northern Taihang Army, and Liu Tang, the general in charge of the infantry, were looking eagerly at the fog ahead.

It's approaching noon.

The two had been waiting for half an hour, but neither did the person they were waiting for show up, nor did they wait for the morning sun to break through the clouds and dispel the fog in front of them.

"Marshal, why hasn't my brother arrived yet?"

"The weather is bad today, so I guess we'll have to walk a little slower."

"Is he not going to get lost? Should we send a scout to pick him up?"

"What nonsense are you talking about? The King of Jin has the best eyesight in the world. He will never get lost no matter who gets lost."

“But it’s foggy.”

While the two were discussing, Liu Tang vaguely saw two white shadows gradually taking shape in the white mist.

Ok?
That is
"hiss"

Liu Tang was so excited that he couldn't speak and kept patting Sun An on the shoulder.

"What are you doing?"

"No, Marshal, look, isn't that it?"

"What is it? King Jin?"

Sun An looked in the direction Liu Tang pointed. He didn't see the figure clearly at first, but he saw it after a while. He said happily, "It's really the King of Jin. He actually arrived so quickly. It only took him three and a half days to get from Yangqu to Zhending."

"My brother's mount is the Jade Lion of the Night, which can travel a thousand miles a day."

"The third lady is also traveling with us. Her horse seems to be a little behind."

"It's not too far away, let's get ready to welcome him."

Yang Chang was in Jinzhou last month, but because of Su Yuanjing's sudden arrival, he had to stay for a few more days.

He originally planned to spend the Lantern Festival with his wife and children, but ended up staying with Zhu Tong's family in Linfen.

Zhu Tong is about to go on a long journey with a heavy burden, and he deserves special treatment from Yang Chang, but Yangqu lacks him as the protagonist.

By the time he returned to Prince Jin's Mansion, five days had passed since the Lantern Festival.

My wife and children need my company, and military and national affairs need to be decided, so my every day is filled.

This time, Yang Chang could not rush past his home as he did before. He had to stay for a few more days to deal with important matters, so he postponed his trip to Hebei.

In fact, accompanying his family is secondary. The key is that after he was promoted to king and established a government, the rewards for officials at all levels have not yet been announced. Tang Ke, Wen Huanzhang and others have discussed it for several months, and it is now time for Yang Chang to make the final decision.

In addition, a land law must be determined as soon as possible. Otherwise, as the territory expands, the land policies in different places will be inconsistent, which will affect the rule and prestige.

The Song Dynasty implemented a land system of "no established land system" and "no suppression of annexation", and it was a situation of co-governing the country with the literati. Over the generations, land annexation among the people was serious, and a large amount of land property was concentrated in the hands of local gentry.

These gentry, in turn, depended on the literati in power. They evaded or paid less taxes, causing the state to collect less and less taxes, and most of the social wealth flowed into the literati interest groups.

The imperial court needs to function normally, and the royal family and nobles need to be supported, so all kinds of clever ways to make money are used, but in the end it is the lower-class people who pay the bill.

The people could not survive, so they rose up in rebellion, which was the cause of civil unrest.

Due to foreign invasions, the army led by civilians also began to focus on making money. The imperial guards mainly relied on empty salaries to exploit the enemy, and the number of registered soldiers was very different from the actual number.

The border town troops took advantage of foreign wars to engage in smuggling trade with foreign countries. At the same time, each army also engaged in the "tertiary industry", that is, recruiting refugees as soldiers to eat imperial food, and working in the army without having to fight in the battlefield. The profits from the low-priced goods produced in the military camps were divided up by the generals.

So when Tong Guan took back Yanjing by force, the Song army of 500,000 was no match for the Liao army of tens of thousands. Among them, some were soldiers who were paid without working, some were soldiers who only played with needles and thread and not swords. What proportion of them were actually capable of fighting?

The internal and external troubles of the Song Dynasty were caused by the imbalance of the national finances, and the root cause of the imbalance was land.

Starting from Qinzhou to the recovery of Taiyuan and other places in Hedong, Yang Chang has been implementing the two models of military settlement and equal distribution of land, that is, concentrating idle troops and reserve troops on farming, and distributing land to the people according to the number of people, checking the number of registered households every year, and strictly prohibiting the buying and selling of land.

At that time, the Hedong states were on the front line of the war with the Jin people. Most of the scholar-officials who owned properties, as well as the gentry who were dependent on the scholar-officials, took their property and moved to the south, leaving almost a blank area.

As the saying goes, it is easy to paint on a blank sheet of paper. The land policies implemented by Yang Chang in recent years have encountered almost no obstacles, and those officials who stayed and did not escape have become obedient after receiving "education".

This is like playing the development stage of a game. Every time a state or county is recovered, it must be managed carefully, step by step, and steadily. This not only ensures that the people and the army have food to eat, but also earns a lot of prestige.

However, once a certain foundation is developed and the expansion phase begins, there is no energy left to manage the details.

Last year, Yang Chang's power expanded rapidly. He first took over all the states in Hedong, then took over ten states outside Taihang, and at the end of the year he also captured Xixia, more than doubling his territory.

The situations in these places are different in each region, and the land policies are also different.

The states in the northwest of Hedong Road, because they bordered Liao and Xia, mostly existed in the form of military. Local nobles such as the Zhe family had greater autonomy in various places, and most of the land was concentrated in their hands. Even if they surrendered to the Jin Kingdom later, they still maintained their original power and only had to pay taxes to the Jin people.
As the Jin army occupied the states outside Taihang, there was a serious population loss and much land was left barren. The powerful and powerful also basically fled south, and those who stayed had to rely on the Jin people. There were even many scholar-officials whose land was controlled by the Jin people. In order to keep their property, these people secretly worked for the Jin people in the East and West courts.
As for the newly occupied Western Xia, the old system is temporarily used. The local garrison only needs military supplies, and the original distribution will not be changed.

As a result, the four major regions under Yang Chang's command have different land policies.

Except for Western Xia, which has not yet established itself and cannot promote equal distribution of land for the time being, the other two new areas must be gradually integrated into the main theme through laws, otherwise they will affect each other.

To formulate a new land system is to set rules for the newly incorporated prefectures and counties.

During Yang Chang's stay in Yangqu, he finalized several important clauses, but he did not have enough manpower to implement them comprehensively, and was also afraid that people with ulterior motives might cause trouble. So, after discussing with Tang Ke and others, he decided to conduct pilot projects in Fuzhou and Huaizhou first, and then expand them step by step.

Chai Jin and Yang Jian were appointed by Yang Chang as envoys for equalizing the distribution of land, and they went to the two places to carry out pilot supervision.

It was already early February when I finished all this.

Yang Chang was nominally accompanying his family, but in reality they only had dinner together in the evening.

Fortunately, Hu Sanniang and others understood the righteousness of the matter. After finishing a few important matters, they hurried to set off, and asked Qiu Qiongying to follow and take care of them. Zhao Fujin stayed in Yangqu, so that if there were any important things in the rear, they could report to the front in time. Since returning from the Jin Kingdom, Yang Chang has been working non-stop every day, just like a cow or a horse.

He told Su Yuanjing that he had "no interest in being an emperor", which actually came from the fact that if he wanted to be a good emperor, he would have to be busy all day long.

If he was a corrupt and incompetent ruler, he would not have such responsibilities and worries, but Yang Chang had seen too much suffering and really did not want to repeat the mistakes of the Zhao and Song dynasties.

Being a good and diligent emperor, many people would have exhausted their health, but this guy has the ability to cultivate Qi, and can actually stay awake for a long time. He is destined to devote himself to the country.

Yang Chang had the possibility of cultivating immortality, but it was not in accordance with the will of heaven for him to remain on the throne for a long time, so he asked Hu Sanniang and Qiu Qiongying to teach martial arts since Yang Huang was three years old.

At this time, he was just ten years old, and Wen Huanzhang was kept in Yangqu to teach him to read and write.

When the country is back on track, I plan to let my son shoulder this responsibility.

The visit of Yang Chang and his wife to Zhending was not widely publicized; this was his special request.

After being welcomed to the Marshal's Mansion and seated, Sun An was about to make arrangements for a welcoming party, but Yang Chang interrupted him with his hand and said sternly, "There's no need for us to engage in such things as welcoming and seeing off each other. Let's talk about the situation in Hebei first. It won't be too late to drink after we drive away the Jin people."

"Ok."

Sun An stood up and clasped his fists. Seeing Yang Changyi's gesture, he sat back down and replied, "Your Majesty's strategy of confusing the enemy is very effective. The Jin army was cautious and did not dare to move in the past two months. It has only recently gathered in Dingzhou, Baozhou, Hejian and other places. I guess there will be new actions, but I didn't know you were back."

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"At the end of last year, I invaded Western Xia, and Li Qianshun said he would ask for help from Yunzhong. Has the news not reached Hebei yet?" Yang Chang looked surprised.

Sun An said with a smile, "The intelligence must have been passed on, but Salihe, Wushu and others were frightened by your previous attack. They must have mistakenly thought you were plotting against them, so they have not dared to act rashly. They have suddenly made some moves recently, which must be because the news of Xixia's demise has spread, so they have become bolder."

"The reason why I came here secretly is to catch them off guard. Do you have a clear understanding of the specific strength of the Jin army? It would be best to decide the outcome in one battle this time."

"Of course, Dingzhou, Baozhou, Yongning Army, and Hejian have assembled about 100,000 troops, some of whom should be recruited locally, so their combat effectiveness will not be too strong. You used 20,000 troops to destroy Xixia, and now there are 40,000 troops stationed in Zhending. It should be easy to wipe out Hebei."

"no the same!"

Yang Chang interrupted Sun An and reminded him solemnly: "The situation of Western Xia is special. Their main force went to Guanzhong. I used blitzkrieg to capture cities and kings along the way. Then I used Li Qianshun to spread the message to various places. The Jin army in Hebei has been guarding against us. Even if we kill Salihe and Wushu, we can't achieve the same effect as Western Xia, so we must not underestimate the enemy."

"Yes"

"Shi Qian and the Night Owl Army have been behind enemy lines for several months. Have you received any news?"

"There is."

Sun An replied excitedly: "They have already recruited 2,000 men in Baozhou and Hejian. If we march to these two places, we may not need the king's magical powers to capture the city, but we have to repel the garrison inside the city."

"What about Dingzhou? Did Sali go back to Anxi?"

"Yes, maybe he knew that the king had gone to Xixia, so he led his army south from Tang County and stationed in Anxi again to set up defenses, with the intention of heading south to Zhending."

"hehe."

Yang Chang suddenly laughed, "It seems that this guy is really afraid of me. Why don't we start the battle in Hebei from Dingzhou? But before that, you have to send people to feint and lure out Wuzhu's main force. We can defeat him in the wild. Otherwise, if we attack the city directly, the troops he left in Shandong may cross the river to attack him from behind, and the Ruan brothers will have to do more."

"Wait a minute." Sun An interrupted Yang Chang and reminded him, "Your Majesty, you may not know that Shandong has also made new moves recently. Liu Yu, who had surrendered to the Jin people, suddenly proclaimed himself the King of Qi in Jinan Prefecture. He must have turned against the Jin people and may not dare to touch your majesty's tiger whiskers."

"Liu Yu, King of Qi?"

"Yes, he killed Guan Sheng, the prefect of Jinan. He probably saw that Zhao Gou moved the capital to Jiangnan, Wuzhu was confronting us in Hebei, and Shandong was now a wasteland, so he wanted to take advantage of the chaos to become emperor for a few years."

"hehe."

Yang Chang suddenly laughed for no apparent reason, thinking that although he had changed history, there seemed to be no shortage of historical situations. Previously, there was the Miao Fu mutiny, and now there was Liu Yu proclaiming himself king.

What will happen next? Will Zhao Gou be searched and inspected? Will Yue Fei be given twelve golden medals?
Seeing Yang Chang laughing, Sun An curiously asked, "Why are you laughing, Your Majesty?"

"How many soldiers does Liu Yu have? Shandong is not well defended. If he declares himself king at this time, do you think he has no one to rely on?"

"What the king meant."

"I guess the Jin people are supporting them and using Liu Yu to contain Zhao Gou so that they can focus on dealing with us."

Sun An nodded repeatedly when he heard this. Liu Tang beside him couldn't help but say, "Since Liu Yu is supported by the Jin people, that means he is the Jin people's dog and will help bite us? Don't we have to leave someone to watch them?"

"That's possible. So we need to lure the enemy deep into our territory, and then defeat them head-on. Then we can attack them all at once, not giving Liu Yu a chance to react. Once Wushu and his men are defeated, how can he have the guts to cross the river to help?"

"Yeah, so how are we going to fight? I can't wait any longer."

Seeing Liu Tang ready to fight, Yang Chang asked Sun An to bring the map, then pointed at the map and said seriously:

"Half of the 40,000 troops stationed in the north of Taihang are stationed in Pingji, Zhaozhou. You can order Li Yanxian to send an army to make a feint attack on Shenzhou in a big way to test the reaction of the main force in Hejian. If Wuzhu leads his troops to rescue, we can directly eat them up if they have few troops, and retreat to Zhaozhou for defense if they have many troops."

"Retreat? Isn't it a battle in the wild, a head-on defeat?"

Liu Tang couldn't help but ask again, but Sun An turned his head and glared at him, as if to say: Don't be rude in front of the King of Jin.

Yang Chang did not blame him. He waved his hand and explained, "Have you forgotten what I said just now? The first battle in Hebei started with Salihe. Since he wants to stay in Hebei, we should not let him escape back to Yunzhong. While the attention of the Jin army is drawn to Shenzhou, we should take Dingzhou in one go and cut off Wuzhu's hand first."

"Okay, okay, let's attack Dingzhou, don't forget me."

Liu Tang didn't remember at all and just patted his chest frantically to sell it.

Sun An asked, "I will send a message to Li Yanxian right away, but how should we attack Dingzhou? Salihe is very fast."

"It's very simple. When Li Yan's soldiers arrive in Shenzhou, you will lead them to Anxi. My wife and I will lead a small army to capture Tang County from behind and cut off Salihe's retreat."

"I'm going to attack Anxi openly? Is it necessary to make a big show?"

"unnecessary."

Yang Chang waved his hands hurriedly and reminded him, "You must be weaker than Li Yanxian in momentum, so that Salihe will misunderstand that you are making a feint to the east and attacking in the west, and scare him from making any rash moves. In fact, you are making a feint to the east and attacking in the west twice, which is a trick within a trick, so that he won't be able to react and his retreat will be cut off."

"This makes my head spin."

Liu Tang slapped his forehead, stared at Yang Chang and said, "Brother, do you want to kill yourself by drinking?"

(End of this chapter)