Late Tang

(s)

In order to obtain the emperor's consent, Yang Fugong continued: "Your Majesty has decided to fight to pacify Hebei. The Privy Council believes that if the troops and horses of the towns are mobilized to suppress the rebellion, the military expenditure of 500 million yuan is definitely not enough. Even if all the troops are mobilized to participate in the war, However, if we hope to win a quick battle and expect to win within a year, I am afraid it will be difficult to achieve. The minister believes that the imperial court must be prepared to fight for at least two or even three years. In addition to Hebei, the imperial court also has the ability to deal with the fleeing grasslands. Thieves must also be guarded against. Jingnan, Henan, Shannan East Road, and Shannan West Road cannot mobilize soldiers and horses to go north, and we must strengthen our defenses against grass thieves going west."

"In addition, soldiers and horses in the towns of Hedong and Guanzhong cannot leave the towns. They need to be on guard to prevent unexpected changes and keep the capital safe."

Yang Fugong first pointed out all these difficulties in order to improve the feasibility of his strategy.

"If the Tibetan soldiers were transferred into Hebei to suppress the rebellion, the five armies of Dangxiang, Tuyuhun, Anqing, Sage, and Qibi could have [-] soldiers. In addition, if the four tribes of Shatuo, Tatar, Xi, and Uyghur were recruited again, there would be more It is possible to recruit at least [-] to [-] Tibetan infantry and cavalry within a year. Just nine Tibetan soldiers can get [-] soldiers. And as long as these Tibetan soldiers agree to be rewarded with the money they obtained from Hebei, they can even be exempted from food and grass supply rewards. "

Nine divisions with one hundred thousand Tibetan soldiers, this is definitely a force that should not be underestimated.

Let the Fan soldiers deal with the Hebei rebels, and the court does not need to pay for food and grass, which is a great thing.What the imperial court needs to pay is to confer some official titles on these Hu tribe leaders and allow these Fan soldiers to obtain spoils of war in Hebei.However, since the land of Hebei is the territory of the rebels, this is not a problem.

The soldiers and horses of the imperial court remain still, which can not only preserve their strength, but also serve as a second line of defense.At the same time, it can also monitor the rebels and Fan soldiers.

Of course, in Yang Fugong's plan, these foreign troops cannot be completely counted on.

In the entire detailed plan of the Privy Council, the absolute main position of the entire Hebei battlefield is still reserved for Li Jing's town [***].

In order to restrain Li Jing, the imperial court will set up a west camp in Hedong. Zheng Congxuan will be the commander of the west camp, and Li Jing's teachers Yu Wei and Xin Xuan will be the deputy commanders. Twenty thousand Tang troops from the three towns of Hedong, Zhenwu and Datong will be transferred to join the battle.

In the south, Cui Anqian, Zhang Zimian, and Du Wei are in Luoyang, the eastern capital. They are responsible for defense, not offense.For the southern camp, Cui Anqian served as the capital commander, and Zhang Zimian and Du Ke served as the deputy capital commanders.

In addition, in the east, an east battalion will also be established. Zheng Hanqing, the governor of the Yichang Army, will be the commander of the east camp. The Yichang Army will be the main force, and the Tianping Army, Yicheng Army, and Taining Army will be mobilized Keep their towns to prevent the rebels from invading south.

Finally, a northern camp will be formed in the north, and Cui Yunqing, Li Jing's teacher and Ziqing Jiedu envoy, will be the commander of the camp.

As for Li Jing, Yang Fugong suggested that Li Jing should be given a military commander in four directions in Hebei, as the governor of all the roads.

The whole plan, on the surface, uses Li Jing as the commander-in-chief of Hebei's counter-insurgency, but in fact it uses the nine bands of horsemen as the main force in counter-insurgency.With this plan, regardless of whether Li Jing is willing to send troops to quell the rebellion, the court can still quell the rebellion without mobilizing too many troops.

Except for the 5 Tang troops camped to the west of Zheng Congyu, there were only two groups of soldiers and horses transferred to Luoyang and the main roads in the south of Shannan.The remaining towns stick to their own towns and do not need the imperial court to provide troops.

As a result, the Privy Council's plan is not less than the original number of troops, but the supply required is reduced by two-thirds.

The imperial court supplies 30 soldiers and horses with food and grass, but has [-] to [-] counter-insurgency troops.

In the four towns of Hebei, although Lulong town was in turmoil one after another, there were still many soldiers and horses.In addition to the two major towns of Chengde and Weibo, the four towns add up to at least 20 people in Ma Buquan.There are no less than one hundred thousand elite soldiers.Moreover, the four towns are recruiting soldiers, and within a short period of time, they can arm [-] soldiers.

The folk customs in Hebei are tough, and these young and strong people are equipped with a force that cannot be underestimated.

When calculating the military strength of the imperial court, the Privy Council was confused about Li Jing's attitude, so in the end they didn't dare to use the town [***] as the main force, but instead used the nine foreign troops as the main force.The towns and towns of the imperial court did not move their troops, which was also a countermeasure against Li Jing's possible rebellion at this time.

The Hebei rebellion has been going on for more than half a month, but the imperial court has yet to come up with a specific counter-rebellion plan.The biggest reason is that Li Jing's attitude is ambiguous.

As early as Chang'an received the news of the Hebei rebellion, the emperor Li Xuan discussed with Yanying of Zhengshitang, and then immediately sent envoys to Liaodong to declare to Li Jing, ordering Li Jing to lead the town[***] into the pass to attack the Hebei rebels. military.

As a result, Li Jing replied to the envoy that he had handed over the military power of Zhen[***] to the imperial court, so he had no right to mobilize Zhen[***].

The envoy rushed back to Chang'an with this result. Hearing Li Jing's answer, the court was in an uproar.

Li Xuan has always believed that Li Jing should be loyal to the court and him, but now Li Jing's attitude is so ambiguous, obviously planning to wait and see.

This result, it can be said that the monarchs and ministers in the court have suffered a heavy blow.Although Li Jing did not follow the rebellion, it was already a very bad signal.Li Jing's current attitude no longer wants to enter the customs, but wants to wait and see.Next, Li Jing will either hold his troops and not send out, just sit and wait and see, which is still a good situation.In the worst case, Li Jing is very likely to collude with the rebels in the four towns of Hebei, rebelling like Li Xilie did back then.

Regarding this, although Li Xuan was extremely angry in his heart, he felt that Li Jing had betrayed him.But there was nothing he could do about it. Li Jing held a heavy army and stayed in the distant Liaodong. Now the imperial court was separated from him by the rebellious Hebei, and there was nothing he could do about them.

And at this moment, the imperial court did not dare to make any drastic actions, so as not to irritate Li Jing.If Li Jing was just waiting and watching, but because of the actions of the court, he also rebelled, then the court would really fall into a nightmare.

Now the Privy Council's anti-insurgency plan does not dare to use Li Jing's town [***] as the main force in anti-insurgency.

However, at this time, he did not dare to leave Li Jing behind.

Originally, the imperial court was not too worried about Li Jing and Zhen [***], thinking that Li Jing had only been in Dengzhou for five years, and his foundation was not deep.

But now, when Hebei rebelled, the imperial court discovered for the first time that they needed Li Jing so much, needed Li Jing's money, and needed Li Jing's soldiers.It was also the first time that Li Jing possessed such a powerful force and such an important position.

When Li Jing no longer made confessions to the court and no longer obeyed the orders of the court, the monarchs and ministers of the Manchu Dynasty found in a daze that they didn't even have a means to sanction Li Jing.

Especially when Li Jing's current ambiguous attitude, the imperial court sighed even more, Li Jing is completely untouchable and unstoppable now.According to the news brought by Zhang Tai and the envoys who went to Liaodong later, although the imperial court had previously decreed that Li Jing's military power should be released, Li Jing's subordinates were promoted, the town [***] was split, and he was promoted to the commander of the five towns.

But in fact, Li Jing still controls this army and the territory of these sixteen states. Moreover, not only Li Zhen and others are loyal to Li Jing, but Li Jing's teacher Cui Yunqing still supports him.

Li Jing didn't obey the order, not only did the court have nothing to do with him, but he didn't even dare to say a word of reprimand.Once Li Jing was in a hurry, he brought 20 soldiers to the territory of the sixteen states and directly raised the flag to rebel, that would be a big deal.

It is a very high honor to give Li Jing the post of commander of the four-sided battalion, the nominal supreme commander of the Hebei battlefield.

However, Tian Lingzi, Simon Sigong, Lu Xie, Dou Luxuan, Cui Hang, Yu Cong, Li Wei and others all knew that this position was not enough.

Yang Fugong also knew clearly in his heart that a small camp in all directions would not allow Li Jing to obey the imperial court's order and lead troops into the pass to suppress the rebellion.But he didn't dare to mention too high a position. This can only be proposed by the emperor Li Xuan.

Sure enough, Li Xuan shook his head helplessly when he heard that the Privy Council proposed that Li Jing be the commander of the four-sided camp.

What Li Jing needs now is not the position of commanding everything, but the imperial court to take back the military power that lifted him.Otherwise, Li Xuan believed that Li Jing would never obey the imperial court's transfer and dispatch one soldier at a time.

This is Li Jing's choice of a good opportunity, it's up for grabs.

Li Xuan began to regret a little, he shouldn't have released Li Jing's military power so lightly.

But at this time, it is impossible to merge the split five towns back, let alone allow Li Jing to hold the post of commander-in-chief of the five towns.If this is the case, what is the face of the imperial court? I am afraid that Cui Yunqing, Li Zhen and others will become more determined to be with Li Jing from now on, and I am afraid that it will never be possible to touch Li Jing in the future.

Prime Minister Dou Luxuan thought for a while and came out, "Your Majesty, I think that the five towns will be designated as the Northeast Road, and then Li Jing will be appointed as the Marshal of the Northeast Road to control the soldiers and horses of the five towns in Yuanzhen [***]."

In the Tang Dynasty, there were generals of the world's soldiers and horses, generals of the world's soldiers and horses, and deputy marshals.The Marshal of the Army and Horses of the World is generally held by the Prince, and the Marshal of the Army and Horses of the World is generally held by the Prince.In addition, the positions of deputy marshals such as Deputy Marshal of Hedong and Deputy Marshal of Hebei were awarded to the generals of each theater for unified command.For example, Guo Ziyi and Li Guangbi all served as deputy marshals.These positions of marshals are generally temporarily set up during wartime, and once the war is over, the positions will be revoked.

Dao originally had administrative planning since the Northern Wei Dynasty, above the state.At the beginning of the Tang Dynasty, there were ten ways, and later there were fifteen ways.But now, all feudal towns are also called one, and the system of Dao in the whole country has become chaotic, and there are forty or fifty Dao in the world.Now Doulu's meaning is to set the original town [***] as a new road, build the Northeast Road, and then use Li Jing as a marshal.In this way, Li Jing's original soldiers and horses can be restrained, and the court does not need to revoke the original will.And because the marshal was dispatched temporarily, the court could take it back after the war was settled.

Sitting on the throne, Li Yan frowned and thought about it. Although he is quite angry and resentful towards Li Jing now, he also knows Li Jing's important surname now.In the end, he gritted his teeth and said in a deep voice: "Immediately draw up an imperial edict, with the five towns of Ziqing, Liaoxi, Denglai, Hengqing, and Jian'an as the Northeast Road, and Li Jing is specially appointed Marshal of the Northeast Road to control the soldiers and horses of the five towns. "After thinking for a while, he said again: "In addition, Li Jing, Marshal of the Hebei Dao Bing, and the Commander of the Battalions and Horses on all sides of Hebei, commanded all the troops to quell the Hebei rebellion." (To be continued.)