Late Tang

(Thanks to Lin Shuangyi for the support of the monthly ticket, asking for the monthly ticket three times in a row in the early morning!)

At the beginning of October, Li Jing once again welcomed the angels from Chang'an in Liaodong City.

I hurried all the way from Chang'an, ran [-] miles a day, first rode to Dengzhou, then took a boat to land in Liaodong Bay, and then went north along the Liaoshui River, [-] miles, the envoy only spent five days desperately Time rushed from Chang'an to Liaodong City, bringing the emperor's imperial edict.

When he arrived, it happened that the whole army in Liaodong Chengzhong Town [***] was celebrating the demise of Goguryeo.After hearing that Goguryeo had been destroyed by Li Jing's army, the travel-stained envoys were also very surprised.

But then he became happy again. The last time Li Jing refused to be recruited by the imperial court, one of the important reasons was that Li Jing believed that it was the time for Guan Jian to destroy Goguryeo, so he would be outside, and the king's order would not be accepted.

Now that Goguryeo has perished, Li Jing should always accept the dispatch of the court.Especially this time the imperial court added Marshal of the Northeast Province to Li Jing, and returned the military power of Zhen [***] to Li Jing.

The angel was full of joy and read the imperial decree to Li Jing and the officers and men face to face. In the imperial decree, a lot of Li Jing's words of praise for Li Jing's achievements were said. Finally, the court established a new Northeast Road and added Li Jing as Marshal of the Northeast.In addition, Li Jing was added with the title of Marshal of Hebei and the commander of the troops and horses of the four camps in Hebei.

In addition, Cui Yunqing, the envoy of Ziqing Festival, was decreed to be the commander of the army and horses in the north of Hebei.

Of course, the previous decree to abolish the town[***], the last five towns only retained 1 troops from the two armies.Now the emperor naturally knows that Li Jing abolished all the armies in accordance with the order, but at the same time he axed the most elite Tenth Army, and then recruited the tooth soldiers who were his Marshal of Hebei Province.Now when the imperial court employs people, it simply issued another decree to transfer all the ten armies recruited by Li Jing privately into the tenth army of Marshal Li Jing's tooth soldiers.In addition, the [-] united troops and township soldiers that were abolished also belonged to Li Jing's subordinates again.

All the armies and generals in the town [***] also have their orders sealed.For all officers above the head of the gang, they are all promoted to the first rank of Wu San rank.

In short, the imperial court not only did not say a word about Li Jing's previous disobedience, but instead gave him a big reward.

I just begged my grandpa to tell my grandma, begged Li Jing to send troops.

After the imperial decree was announced, the fat eunuch who declared the decree said to Li Jing eagerly: "The emperor and all the princes of the court hope that the county king will immediately lead the towns of the northeast to enter the pass to suppress the rebellion, hoping to suppress the rebellion as soon as possible and pay back Yunei .”

Li Jing just smiled lightly after receiving the order, and there was no joy or excitement on his face.

"Angel has worked hard all the way, and I asked my father-in-law to go with the guards to rest."

"I don't know when the county king can send troops?" the eunuch asked eagerly.

"I have to discuss this matter with the generals." Li Jing said lightly.

After asking the guards to take the eunuchs away, Li Jing summoned the generals.

The faces of all the generals were full of joy. Goguryeo had just been destroyed here, and the emperor finally decreed to return the military power to Li Jing.

Although the town [***] has not been restored, Li Jing was directly promoted to the post of marshal, controlling the five towns, and still holds the power of the town [***].Especially for civil and military officials like Li Zhengaiyu who have just been promoted to important positions in the Jiedu Envoy and Jiedu Mansion, in this way, their positions will not need to be taken back, and they can still retain the position of Jieshuai.Everyone has selfishness, so it is better to be the commander-in-chief of a town than the governor of a state.Not to mention, according to the system, the festival commanders of each town not only serve as the investigation and disposal envoy of the town, but also serve as the branch camp envoy, and also serve as the governor of the shogunate.

The power of the commander-in-chief is much greater than the power of the governor who had been re-modified by Li Jing.

But the only thing is, right now there are 20 soldiers and horses, only 5 are retained by the Marshal of the Five Towns, and the remaining 15 belong to the Northeast Marshal Li Jing.This one also made the new Jie Shuai still respectful to Li Jing.Without military power, Jie Shuai is not as good as an observer.

Relying on the military power in his hand, Li Jing still actually firmly controls the current 21 states.

Regarding the imperial court's award and recruitment this time, many generals thought that since everyone had already taken the benefits, they should do something.After all, take people's money and eliminate disasters with others.

At the meeting, Li Jing didn't say a word, just watched Zhu Wenwu's speeches and discussions.

Li Jing has his own ideas, and even said that Li Jing has a great ambition.

This ambition is to occupy the Northeast Plain and build the Northeast into a stable Han Chinese-dominated granary.

Although the Goguryeo Kingdom is now destroyed, in fact, the area it controls is only slightly larger than the later Liaoning Province.The three major plains in Northeast China only occupy the middle and lower reaches of the Liaohe Plain.

In the Northeast, Goguryeo is not the Goguryeo 300 years ago, it is just the weakest branch.

Even the weakened Bohai State is a large Haidong country with an army of 500 million to 30.Moreover, there is the Khitan, a powerful horse tribe, and there is also a Xi. If the Khitan, Xi, and Bohai cannot be eliminated, it is impossible to truly occupy the Northeast.Even the elimination of Khitan, Xi, and Bohai was nothing more than temporary stability.

In order to truly occupy and transform the Northeast, the Tatars, Tatars, and Silla all need to be eliminated.

Only by fully defeating them, fully occupying them, and then fully immigrating to build cities and reclaim them, so that the Han people occupy a real majority here, can it be possible to truly hold this black land in our hands forever.

However, it is very difficult to achieve this, and perhaps the efforts of several generations may not be able to be truly completed.

But at least now he has gained a good foundation, as long as Li Jing is given a few years of stability to develop fully, he can make a big difference here.

To be honest, Li Jing didn't really want to participate in the battle in the Central Plains right away.

It is not to say that the Central Plains is hundreds of times better than the Northeast after the Northeast is not there.But such a good place also means fighting, war, and even repeated arguments.It is impossible to have a chance to develop with peace of mind. It will only be chaos and wars on all sides.

Li Jing was originally based in Dengzhou, but he crossed the sea and went to Liaodong, because although Liaodong is bitter and cold, it is a place where he can develop with peace of mind.After defeating these Hu tribes, Li Jing can freely move them away, and then relocate a group of people. There is no so-called local tyrants.A piece of white paper can be freely spread and developed according to the system and concept imagined by oneself.

Just like his development in the past few years, he has developed rapidly, but the court has never really paid attention to this territory before.

And if Li Jing marches into the Central Plains, no matter whether he sends troops out of Shandong or Hebei, although Li Jing can guarantee that his soldiers and horses will have an advantage, he can even lay down a large area of ​​land.But military victory is not equal to political victory.

If you can't really possess and control, it is not real success.

And no matter whether it is Shandong or Hebei, no one is willing to sit back and watch Li Jing's expansion.

The current imperial court still possesses great power, and under the orders of the imperial court, it can be said that everyone will follow.

Just look at the Hebei rebellion, and you should know the reaction of the towns and towns of the imperial court. The 300-year-old Li Tang Dynasty still occupies an orthodox position in the hearts of the people all over the world.

If Li Jing rebels at this time, what awaits Li Jing may be the siege and strangulation of the whole country.At that time, Li Jing can only fight with all his strength, and the only places he can really rely on are Denglai Qingqi and a few areas in southern Liaoning, and Li Jing's biggest reliance on industrial and commercial manufacturing and commercial trade will inevitably suffer a devastating blow.

Without the support of industry and commerce, Li Jing would not be able to maintain his current advantage.The town [***] has not been established for a long time, and it is not considered the strongest. At least, Li Jing thinks that the town [***] is still somewhat distant compared with the Shatuo army and Dangxiang cavalry.Zhen [***] relies on equipment advantages, mobility advantages, and quantity advantages, but he has estimated that if he is an enemy of the entire Datang at this time, when Datang imposes a blockade on Zhen [***]'s products, Their advantage may become the town's biggest weakness.

Therefore, although the town [***] has been expanding rapidly, Li Jing is not so conceited that he doesn't know his own details.

He started from scratch, without a deep family background, first relying on the support of Cui Yunqing, Yu Yu, Song Wei and others to get through the initial stage.Later, he did not hesitate to please the emperor, and a large amount of money saved Li Jing through the most vulnerable period.Then he fought for the court several times, in exchange for a higher official position.So frightened to the present, finally have enough capital.

But this capital is more than enough to protect itself, but it is not enough to challenge Datang.

Li Jing didn't want to go head-to-head, he knew the trend of history, and he was willing to wait.That's why he focused on expanding to the northeast, immigrating to build cities, and reclaiming wasteland.

An Lushan rebelled and was defeated.

At the beginning, each of the three towns in Hebei had 10,000+ soldiers, and they also lost time and time again.

Even the Li family in Ziqing Town, which owns thirteen prefectures and controls [-] soldiers, and Ziqing Town is the richest in the world, has enough soldiers and food, and even formed an alliance with the four towns, but they were still defeated.

In addition, the rebellions in Huaixi, Shannan and other places were all invincible.

Qiu Fu raised an army and was defeated.

Pang Xun raised troops and was defeated.

Wang Xianzhi raised an army and was defeated.

Li Ke raised his troops, but was still defeated.

Although the current situation is gradually different from that in history, Datang has not yet reached its weakest point.

A hundred-footed worm, dead but not stiff.

A skinny camel, he is also bigger than a horse.

In history, Zhu Wen was able to kill the Tang Dynasty, not because he was strong early, but because at that time in the Tang Dynasty, the wall was already overthrown by everyone, and he was just the last one to laugh.

At least for now, Li Keyong is still grazing in the north of Yinshan Mountain, Huang Chao is still wandering in Jiangxi, and the four towns in Hebei are still in panic.

Has this time already come to that time?

Li Jing asked himself, and finally he shook his head.

No, not yet.

It has only been five years since he was in town [***], and he has built territory in more than 20 states, but in fact only five or six states are truly wealthy and self-sufficient.The rest of the sites, such as city building, road construction, immigration, military settlements, construction of water conservancy, etc., are all in vain, and a lot of money is being thrown in. It won’t be three to five years before they will be seen. benefit.

In fact, after the rebellion of the four towns in Hebei, it was the biggest opportunity for Li Jing.

As long as the rebellion in the four towns of Hebei is not over, Li Jing will never have to worry that the court will be against him.

As long as the four Hebei towns are still there, the imperial court will not dare to release Li Jing's military power as easily as last time.

It is precisely because of the existence of the rebels in the four towns of Hebei that Li Jing's town [***] can really enter the era of self-reliance.

Huang Chao is chaotic in the southeast, and the four towns are rebelling against Hebei. Now Li Jing can sit on the Diaoyutai leisurely.

With this south-north rebellion, Li Jing estimated that it would be difficult for the court to quell it.

Li Jing can have time to develop Liaodong with peace of mind. He can expand his territory and increase his influence without entering the Central Plains and fighting with the imperial court and various towns.Maybe when they kill you to the death and the winner is determined, Li Jing can pass the call to decide the Central Plains.

The next day, Li Jing met with the angel and said that after a short rest, the soldiers and horses of the five northeast towns would go to the pass to suppress the rebellion.

Hearing this news, the emissary finally set off happily to return to Chang'an.

In the north of Yinshan Mountain, Shatuo Camp.

Fleeing to the grassland in embarrassment, Li Keyong finally licked his wounds after a few years. In several battles against the Yinshan Tatars, Shatuo won.After repeated plunders, Shatuo gradually regained his vitality, and even attracted small tribes from all over the world to vote.Tiele people, Sogdian people, Uighur people, Xi people, Tatar people, Khitan people, and even Han people, Tuyuhun people, Dangxiang people, etc. Li Keyong now has [-] tents.

The newly formed Black Crow Army has 12 fine cavalry, and has a population of 60 to [-]. In the grassland, all the people are soldiers and herdsmen tribes. Once needed, men over the age of [-] and under the age of [-] can join the army. He is fully capable of summoning [-] soldiers and horses.Even if the elite are young and strong, they can reach [-].But in today's Shatuo, strong young women can also join the army. Li Keyong's wife, Liu Shi, has a women's army of [-] people.

Today's Shatuo magpies occupy the dove's nest, but the Yinshan Tatars, the masters of the original generation, kept migrating to the north and east.Li Keyong's prestige has reached its peak, and the Shatuo tribe has begun to call Li Keyong the Shatuo King.

However, what Li Keyong never forgot was the prosperity of the Central Plains. In his heart, the Shatuo King on the grassland was really incomparable with the Jiedushi of the Tang Dynasty.

Moreover, when Dai Bei suffered a disastrous defeat, countless members of the Shatuo tribe died under the iron hooves and swords of the court, and Li Keyong was almost killed by Li Jing's Zhen [***] several times.This hatred, he still can't forget it.

For countless days and nights, he was waiting for the opportunity to return to the Central Plains.

When he heard that Li Jing's power continued to grow, and he even became a king with a different surname, he thought that with Li Jing in this life, he would never be able to step into the Central Plains again.Even after hearing that the Tatars had found Li Jing as a backer, he even repeatedly ordered his subordinates not to trouble the Tatars again.

Unexpectedly, the four towns in Hebei turned against each other, which made him see an opportunity, an opportunity to return to the Central Plains.

After some manipulations by him, he finally reached an alliance with Brother Yang Fugong, and finally got a chance to return to the Central Plains in an open and honest manner.

The envoy sent by Chaoyan was announcing the imperial decree loudly, and the emperor pardoned Li Keyong and the Shatuo clan for all crimes.At the same time, the emperor named Li Keyong the governor of Yinshan Mountain, the military envoy of Shatuo, the Jiedu envoy of the camp north of Yinshan Mountain, and the deputy governor of the camp in the west of Hebei Province, and formally transferred Li Keyong and Shatuo Army into Guan to quell the Hebei rebellion.

The eunuch Chen Jingsi who came to deliver the decree is also the new military envoy of Shatuo. After announcing the decree, he smiled and said to Li Keyong: "This time, His Majesty pardoned Shatuo and reused the governor. Your Majesty and the court are a blessing from God." Hao Lang, the next step will depend on the performance of the governor's loyalty."

Li Keyong held the imperial decree, a single eye flashed a firm gaze on the dark face that was blown by the wind outside the Great Wall, and said firmly: "Li Keyong swore to die for His Majesty and Datang, and will never disappoint His Majesty's grace !” (To be continued.)