Guiyi Fei Tang

Chapter 203: Attack with troops
"Shannan West Circuit Governor Feng Ao and Longyou Surveillance Commissioner Liu Jilong have become father-in-law and son-in-law. What do you think?"

Inside the Taiye Pavilion, Li Chen placed the memorial on the table and looked at Lu Jun with a calm tone.

Lu Jun had just become prime minister, so naturally he had to show some abilities.

As for Liu Jilong, he had been secretly studying him for a long time, so after Li Chen asked, Lu Jun said slowly:
"Liu Jilong named the Shangshu his father-in-law just to open up trade routes and relocate people to fill the population of Longyou."

"Liu Jilong was born in Hexi, and Zhang Hexi, the governor of Hexi, was his mentor, and Zhang Huaishen, the defense envoy, was a close friend of him."

"I think that there shouldn't be a strong vassal west of Longshan, but now there are two strong vassal towns, so we should restrain them."

"Liangzhou Governor Zhang Zhifang repeatedly submitted memorials stating that Hexi Defense Envoy Zhang Huaishen had disregarded the emperor's will and should be punished."

"If we can transfer Zhang Huaishen away from Liangzhou and appoint Zhang Zhifang as the defense commander of Hexi, it will be like cutting off the seven inches of a snake and cutting off the right side of Long."

What Lu Jun said was right. If Liangzhou was in the hands of Zhang Huaishen, then Hexi and Longyou could help each other.

The best way to cut off their connection is to transfer Zhang Huaishen and let Zhang Zhifang take charge of Liangzhou.

Although this method was good, it was somewhat indecent, so Li Chen did not respond to Lu Jun, but looked at Linghu Tao.

Linghu Tao knew that the emperor valued dignity, so he sighed inwardly and had to agree:

"Your Majesty, Prime Minister Lu's plan is feasible, but with the Chishui Army under Zhang Zhifang, it may be difficult to compete with Zhang Huaishen, so we should increase the troops."

"Your Majesty!" Hearing the words of increasing the troops, Wang Zongshi could not help but say, "The Chishui Army's garrison period is less than ten months."

Upon hearing this, everyone remembered that the imperial court had promised a three-year garrison period to the former Tianping Army generals and soldiers in the Chishui Army.

Li Chen felt the situation was difficult, and after a moment's hesitation, he said, "Since the garrison period has expired, let them return home and recruit another 5,000 soldiers to garrison Liangzhou."

"Your Majesty..." Pei Xiu couldn't help but bow and said:
"If we want to recruit new soldiers to go to Liangzhou now, we can only recruit them from Guandong, and then send the recruits from Guandong to Liangzhou."

"I roughly calculated that if we include the armor, horses, food and drink along the way, and rewards, it should be no less than 250,000 strings of cash, and the military pay on the way should be no less than 50,000 strings of cash, so the total is 300,000 strings of cash."

Pei Xiu couldn't help but do some economic calculations, and Lu Jun suggested:

"Your Majesty, instead of recruiting new soldiers from Guandong to replace them, it would be better to allocate half a year's military pay to reward the army and let the Chishui Army guard for another three years."

Li Chen hesitated a little after hearing this: "The soldiers have been guarding the border for three years and I am afraid they will miss their hometown."

Lu Jun shook his head when he heard this and said, "Most soldiers join the army for money. If this is the case, why would the court reward the Chishui soldiers with money and let them stay for another three years?"

"The salary of the three thousand Chishui soldiers is only 30,000 strings of cash if they are given an extra half year's salary. Besides, there are many hungry people in the Guannei Road. It would be better to recruit them as new soldiers and transfer them to Liangzhou, which would also save money and food."

After hearing what Lu Jun said, Li Chen hesitated, and soon looked at Pei Xiu:
"If we follow what Prime Minister Lu said, how much money and grain can we save?"

Pei Xiu bowed, and after calculating in his mind for a moment, he spoke:

"If we reward the troops at Chishui and recruit another 2,000 new soldiers from Guannei Road and transfer them to Liangzhou, the cost will save more than 100,000 strings of cash compared to directly recruiting 5,000 soldiers from Guandong and then transferring them to Liangzhou."

After Pei Xiu and Lu Jun settled the accounts, Li Chen became a little hesitant.

Seeing that he was hesitant, Linghu Tao took the initiative to speak: "Your Majesty, the court is short of money and grain, so we should save as much as possible."

"Alas..." Li Chen pretended to be embarrassed and sighed:
"The three thousand Red Water soldiers are all my people. I feel uneasy letting them guard for another three years."

"But the situation is so difficult, so I have no choice but to let them suffer and let me bear the blame."

"Your Majesty is wise!" The ministers bowed and sang, and Li Chen also spoke:

"The matter of Liangzhou has been settled, but what do you think about the matter between Liu Jilong and the son-in-law of the Minister Feng?"

Li Chen's attitude towards Feng Ao was not good, so he also wanted to take this opportunity to transfer Feng Ao away from Shannan West Road.

In response, Linghu Tao and the other three looked at each other, while Ma Gongru and others remained silent.

Liu Jilong has always had a tough attitude towards the imperial court. Now that he and Feng Ao have just become father-in-law and son-in-law, the imperial court immediately transferred Feng Ao. Isn't this obviously targeting Liu Jilong?

If Liu Jilian were to mobilize his troops in a hurry, with the strength of the Tianxiong Army and the Chengwu Army, could they really stop Liu Jilian west of Qinzhou?
Everyone was confused and fell silent.

After a while, Lu Jun bowed and said, "Your Majesty, Feng Ao should be transferred, but not now."

"I think it would be better to wait until Liu Jilong and Feng Ao's relationship becomes normal before transferring Feng Ao to another place."

Li Chen did not agree immediately because he was worried that Liu Jilian would take advantage of Feng Ao's tenure to continuously obtain money, food and supplies from Shannan West Road.

But he also knew that he couldn't push Liu Jilong too hard, so he thought about it before speaking:

"How about ordering Liu Jilong to recapture the two states of Shankuo?"

As soon as he finished speaking, everyone's eyes lit up.

If Liu Jilian sent troops to recapture the two states of Shankuo, he could use his strength on Shang Bibi. Even if he won, his strength would be weakened.

Moreover, if he won, the court could also use the opportunity of commending him to commend Feng Ao for finding a good grandson-in-law, and take the opportunity to transfer Feng Ao to the capital, thus promoting him in name only and demoting him in reality.

"Your Majesty the Holy Ming..."

The ministers praised Li Chen, who nodded and said, "If that's the case, let me issue the imperial edict."

Upon hearing this, all the ministers bowed, and Li Chen also raised his wine glass to Cui Xuan, who had not spoken for a long time.

"Let's get back to the point. Today we are here to see Prime Minister Cui off. Let's all give him a toast."

"I wish Cui Xiangma success..."

Everyone toasted Cui Xuan, and Li Chen also praised him:

"Haiyue Feast Xiantong, seven years of holding the four seasons."

"Now I have sent my closest friends to take care of him, and he has been brought to Suzhou from the prison market."

Although Li Chen praised Cui Xuan so much, Cui Xuan only felt a chill on his back.

Even so, he still gritted his teeth and accepted Li Chen's praise: "As your majesty wishes, I will do my best to solve the famine in Huainan!"

As he drank the cup, there was one less Prime Minister Cui in Chang'an City and one more Prime Minister Lu.

The next day, Cui Jun went to Huainan to take up his post under the escort of light cavalry, while light cavalry in Chang'an city also headed west with imperial edicts.

A few days later, Cui Shu also arrived at Guangwei County, the seat of Guzhou, under Liu Jilian's military order.

Now that the autumn harvest has passed, the crops in the arable land outside Guangwei County have disappeared, and the ragged slaves are recultivating the land or reclaiming wasteland in the cold winter.

Looking at these people who were related to him by blood, Cui Shu felt very uncomfortable on horseback.

These slaves were all Han people. Seeing their skinny appearance, Cui Shu suppressed his temper and led more than a dozen elite cavalrymen from Longyou, and followed Shang Moyan who came to receive him into Guangwei City.

I have to say that Shang Bibi is quite good at governing the place.

Compared with other cities under the rule of Tubo Qiliban where feces and urine were everywhere, the sanitation of each county was managed after Shang Bibi took over Guzhou.

Although the roads in Guangwei City are dirt roads, there is no feces or urine on the streets.

Although the aboriginals and Han slaves were dressed in rags and lived in thatched houses, most of them were still able to survive.

Cui Shu observed the soldiers patrolling the city and the defenders on the city walls.

At a rough glance, Guangwei's army may be no less than a thousand soldiers, and there are people grazing horses outside the city, so Guangwei's military strength should be more than a thousand.

There were six counties in the two states of Shankuo, two of which were ruled by Tuoba Huaiguang and four were ruled by Shang Bibi.

Before arriving in Guangwei, Cui Shu had already passed through Michuan County in the south, and the number of guards in Michuan County was no less than five hundred.

In general, Shang Bibi probably has no less than three to four thousand soldiers, and Tuoba Huaiguang's troops will not be too few either.

Michuan, Guangwei and other counties had built stone walls. Even though Longyou's catapults were extremely powerful and had the support of gunpowder, they might not be able to capture them quickly.

"Marshal Jie is right. We really should not be impatient with Shang Bibi."

Cui Shu secretly sighed that Liu Jilong had a long-term vision, and at this time Shang Moyan also turned over and dismounted: "General Cui, please go in."

The 33-year-old Shang Moyan has become much more mature and stable.

In response to his invitation, Cui Shu also dismounted and turned to instruct the elite riders who followed him: "Wait here, I will come out later."

"Yes!" everyone responded. Upon seeing this, Cui Shu turned around and walked into the Guzhou Jiedushi Yamen with Shang Moyan.

The Guzhou Jiedu Yamen was just an ordinary provincial government office with a small scale, so after they passed through the main gate and the ceremonial gate, they soon saw the main hall.

Many generals gathered in the courtyard outside the main hall, all wearing armor. It was obvious that Shang Bibi wanted to show Cui Shu his strength.

In response, Cui Shu remained calm, followed Shang Moyan past the crowd and walked into the main hall.

After three years of no contact, Shang Bi Bi looked even older. Her hair was already gray before she was sixty, and it was no longer black.

He was even fatter than when he was in Ganzhou, and looked like a mountain of flesh sitting on the chair.

All the ordinary seats in the hall were occupied, leaving only the first seat on the left and the first seat on the right.

Shang Moyan took the first seat on the left, and Cui Shu glanced at him, then bowed to Shang Bibi:

"I haven't seen you for many years. How is your health, Jiedushi?" "Hehe..." Shang Bibi smiled and spread out her hands, showing them:

"General Cui sees it clearly, but I am already much older."

"If not, Envoy Liu will not be able to recover the Longxi states with peace of mind."

Shang Bibi first showed that she was old, and then used words to show that although she was old, the soldiers under her command were still elite.

But facing his display, Cui Shu's expression remained calm: "I came here this time because I need to discuss two matters with the governor."

"The first thing is that Lun Kongre of Mochanchuan has gathered more than ten tribes and is preparing to invade Hezhou and Kuozhou."

"In response to this, my commander has already dispatched 3,000 elite cavalry and infantry to Fenglin, and troops from other states are also being mobilized."

"Lun Kongre will definitely not dare to attack Hezhou after seeing the strength of our army in Longyou, so he can only attack Kuzhou."

"The second thing is, my commander-in-chief wants to invite you to Linzhou, but considering your health, I'm afraid I can only ask the junior governor to go."

Cui Shu told Shang Bibi the two things, but she remained calm.

"Your commander has just recovered Tao, Die and Song states. Even if Lun Kongre doesn't dare to invade Hezhou, does he not dare to invade these three states?"

"Your Hezhou has strong troops, so my Kuzhou may not be empty."

Shang Bibi wanted to show off the strength of Guzhou, but Cui Shu interrupted her:
"My commander-in-chief has two regiments, six armies, and eighteen regiments of soldiers in three states, four cavalry and six infantry."

"If Lun Kongre wants to cause bloodshed under the city, he can just go to the three states to attack."

Cui Shu simply said one sentence and stopped Shang Bibi from saying anything.

Eighteen regiments have a total of 3,600 people, with 4 cavalry and 6 infantry. That means there are more than 1,400 elite cavalry and more than 2,200 infantry in the three states.

The troops of the three states alone were more than those in Shang Bibi's hands, which surprised Shang Bibi and the foreign generals from Guzhou who were present.

"I wonder how many soldiers and horses are under the command of General Liu?"

Only then did Shang Bibi put away her contempt and asked tentatively.

He didn't expect Cui Shu to answer, but Cui Shu said calmly: "There are nine towns, 27 armies and 81 regiments in Longyou, with a total of 16,200 soldiers."

"Except for the 3,000 or so newly recruited soldiers who don't have Ming helmets and armor, the rest are all elite warriors wearing Ming helmets and armor."

"If the Jiedushi doesn't believe me, why not send a junior Jiedushi to go with me and see how strong Longyou is?"

Shang Bibi had come into contact with Cui Shu many times. He knew very well that Cui Shu's talent was not outstanding. He just followed Liu Jilian early and because Liu Jilian had too few civil servants under his command, he was able to stand out.

If he had no one to rely on, he would never dare to come to Guzhou and speak nonsense in front of me.

Thinking of this, Shang Bibi broke out in sweat under his armpits. He knew very well that Liu Jilian wanted to recover the entire Longyou area, and Shankuo was his next target.

Originally, he thought that he could gather 3,500 soldiers and defend Guzhou to the death, forcing Liu Jilian to give up on recovering Guzhou.

It now seems that if Liu Jilian really sends troops, Guzhou will not be able to stop him.

Just from Cui Shu's remarks, Liu Jilian was not only thinking about attacking.

"Shang Moyan..."

Shang Bibi suddenly asked, and Shang Moyan also stood up and bowed: "Father."

"Would you like to go to Linzhou?"

Shang Bibi asked Shang Moyan, who had a good impression of Liu Jilong and did not think that Liu Jilong would do anything to him, so he nodded and said, "I dare!"

"Okay, in that case, you can take more than a hundred elite cavalry to escort General Cui back to Linzhou."

"Yes!" Shang Moyan agreed decisively, but Cui Shu said:
"I wonder if the Jiedushi can control Tuoba Huaiguang?"

“……”Hearing his question, Shang Bibi fell silent.

Ever since he let Tuoba Huaiguang take charge of Shancheng, Tuoba Huaiguang has indeed been somewhat disobedient to orders, and Shang Bibi had long anticipated this kind of thing.

Cui Shu's question was obviously not as simple as it seemed, so he said in a deep voice: "What if it can be controlled? What if it can't be controlled?"

Hearing this, Cui Shu said calmly, "If it can be controlled, then I only need to go to Kuzhou."

"If it can't be controlled, then I have to go to Shanzhou again."

Seeing his attitude, Shang Bibi remained silent for a long time before she said, "I'm old now, and I don't like being in charge anymore."

"Okay!" Cui Shu nodded and looked at Shang Moyan: "Then please ask the Junior Governor to escort me to Longzhi, and wait for me in Longzhi when I return from Shanzhou, and then go south to Linzhou."

Shang Moyan did not respond, but looked at Shang Bibi.

Seeing Shang Bibi nod, he responded to Cui Shu: "Okay!"

"Then I'll take my leave." Cui Shu didn't stay long. He bowed and walked out.

The foreign generals looked at each other, but Shang Bibi had already guessed what Liu Jilong wanted to do.

He thought that he wanted to pacify the two states of Shankou, or try to persuade them to give up the tens of thousands of Han slaves.

It's a pity that he still underestimated Liu Jilong at this time, because Liu Jilong at this time no longer just wanted people, but also wanted land.

Four days later, Cui Shu traveled light and arrived at Huangshui City in Shanzhou, exhausted.

The garrison commander of Huangshui City also sent someone to inform Tuoba Huaiguang of Shancheng about Cui Shu's arrival.

Facing Cui Shu's arrival, Tuoba Huaiguang was somewhat wary, but he also had his own plans, so he let the garrison commander of Huangshui City let him pass and prepared to meet Cui Shu.

Compared with Shang Bibi's governance in Guzhou, Tuoba Huaiguang's governance in Shanzhou can only be described as barbaric.

Shancheng was the seat of Shanzhou. The streets were lined with dilapidated earthen houses and thick piles of animal manure in each household’s yard, which were dried and burned as fuel.

The main roads in the city are full of potholes and have not been repaired for many years.

Although there were many armored soldiers on the city walls and streets, their defense was lax, as if they had expected no one to attack them.

Of course, although the houses and streets in the city were dilapidated, Tuoba Huaiguang's Jiedushi Yamen was built extremely spacious.

The restaurants and Yin Hotel on both sides of the Jiedu Ya Changdao have disappeared, replaced by an open space covering more than ten acres.

Hundreds of elite cavalrymen honed their martial arts here and used the front yard of the Jiedushi Yamen as a training ground.

Cui Shu frowned as he passed by here. Soon he passed through the ceremonial gate and saw Tuoba Huaiguang in the main hall.

He was sitting in the hall with several foreign generals, and on the table were roasted and cooked beef and mutton.

Without waiting for Cui Shu to take a seat, they started eating.

Cui Shu was not angry at all. He just stood at the door and bowed to Tuoba Huaiguang in the court, and said in Tibetan:
"Tuoba Qiliben, I am here on the orders of my commander-in-chief. I would like to ask you to send a trusted person to Linzhou to discuss matters."

"If you are willing, my commander is willing to open up trade routes and support you as the leader of Tuyuhun."

In the face of Cui Shu's words, Tuoba Huaiguang ignored him and just chatted and laughed with others, discussing the tenderness of beef and mutton.

Seeing this, Cui Shu did not feel embarrassed, but nodded and said: "Since you don't want to, I will take my leave."

As soon as he finished speaking, he turned around and was about to leave, but the foreign soldiers at the door stopped him, and Tuoba Huaiguang threw the bones on the table.

"Where do you think I am? Can I come and go as I please?"

"I'm telling you, I'm not Shang Bibi, Liu Jilong has no right to order me around!"

Tuoba Huaiguang spoke domineeringly, but Cui Shu turned around and looked at him calmly.

The look in his eyes was as if he was looking at a clown, and when Tuoba Huaiguang saw him looking at him like that, he couldn't help feeling a little scared.

When he met Liu Jilong at the beginning, he was so overwhelmed by Liu Jilong's aura that he dared not act rashly.

Now that he has become the lord of Shanzhou, he wanted to put on airs, but he didn't expect this man to be so stubborn.

"What can Liu Jilong do to help me?"

Tuoba Huaiguang wiped his greasy hands and cheeks with a rough cloth, and Cui Shu also got straight to the point:

"My commander has opened up trade routes. We have no shortage of tea, iron, cloth, or anything else. We can trade everything."

"As long as you fight to support the war and actively send troops, you will be the ruler of Tuyuhun in a few years."

Tuoba Huaiguang's eyes lit up. Ever since Liu Jilian recovered the Longyou states, he could only trade with Hexi, but Zhang Huaishen imposed many restrictions on him, so he had not been able to develop.

If Liu Jilian really opened up trade to him as Cui Shu said, then it would not be difficult for him to become the ruler of Tuyuhun.

But he also knew that there is no free lunch in the world, so he asked cautiously: "Why does he help me, what does he want?"

In response, Cui Shu slowly glanced at everyone, and then set his sights on Tuoba Huaiguang.

"You leave all the Han people behind and lead your people out of Shanzhou..."

(End of this chapter)