Guiyi Fei Tang

Chapter 283: Riot in All Directions
"kill!!"

In May, the great official Duan Zongbang led 5,000 elite cavalry and 30,000 barbarians including the Wangjuzi barbarians, the Puzi barbarians and the Luoxing barbarians, and attacked Qianzhong Road, captured 16 cities, and occupied Bozhou and Juzhou. More than a thousand government troops were killed.

On the tenth day of May, You Shilong led an army of 50,000 out of Huichuan and raided Xichuan Shizhou.

When Xiahou Zi, the governor of Xichuan, learned of this, he hurriedly led 5,000 cavalry and 8,000 mule troops from Chengdu Prefecture to the south to provide assistance.

At that time, there were 5,000 soldiers in Shizhou. You Shilong's attack was rapid. Shizhou officials fortified their cities and defended Shaye City.

After You Shilong's fierce attack for more than ten days, reinforcements led by Xiahou Zi arrived in Shizhou, and the two armies were deadlocked inside and outside Shaye City.

At the same time, Wang Shi led his army to defend Guyong County, Annan. The 100,000 barbarians failed to capture the county after a long siege. Instead, Wang Shi led 300 elite cavalry out of the city to attack them several times, and they had no choice but to withdraw.

When the news reached Chang'an, the government and the public were shocked...

"Your Majesty, Nanzhao has raised an army of 180,000 to invade Jiannan, Annan, Qianzhong and other places. The Xichuan Xia envoy requested reinforcements!"

"Your Majesty, Song Ya, the governor of Qianzhong, urgently requests reinforcements!"

"His Majesty……"

In early June, after learning of the war in the south, Li Yi hurriedly convened a regular court in the Xuanzheng Hall.

Half a year had passed since the civil and military officials last saw Li Yi.

Therefore, when they saw Li Yi, they began to play music to attract attention.

Li Yi was very annoyed by this because he did not need officials who asked him questions, he only wanted officials who could solve problems.

"What do you think about the military affairs in the south?"

Li Yi asked the ministers directly, and their answers were varied.

"I request that the troops from Dongchuan be dispatched to Shizhou to prepare for the enemy!"

"I request that the troops from the east and west of Shannan be transferred to Qianzhong Road, and that the Qianzhong Governor Song Ya be ordered to recapture the two states of Bo and Ju!"

"Your Majesty, I request that Gao Pian lead the army to help recover the lost territory!"

"His Majesty……"

The ministers had many suggestions, which basically were to treat a headache by treating the head and a foot pain by treating the foot.

Li Yi could think of such a suggestion himself, so why was it necessary to hold a regular court session?

What he wanted was a proposal that could completely defeat Dali, resolve the military issues in the southwest, and preferably recover the lost territory.

"Your Majesty, I, the Right Imperial Censor Xue Diao, have a word to say!"

Suddenly, an official stood up and solemnly requested to speak.

"Yes!" Li Yi was in high spirits, but he didn't expect Xue Diao to not make a suggestion, but to give advice:
"Since the war began, the imperial court has imposed excessive taxes, causing the people to flee and bandits to multiply."

"I think that the court's top priority is not the military affairs in the southwest and the encirclement and suppression of Qiu Fu in Haizhongzhou, Zhejiang, but to find a way to appease the people and prevent chaos in Guandong again!"

Xue Diao did not talk about the military affairs in the southwest, but instead shifted the topic to people's livelihood.

It may be off topic, but what he said is indeed fundamental.

Although the issues in the southeast and southwest are urgent, they do not threaten the foundation of the imperial court.

But if the people in the Kanto region take advantage of this opportunity to rebel, it would be a major event that would shake the foundation of the country.

"From what Mr. Xue sees, how can we appease the people?"

Li Yi naturally knew that what Xue Diao said made sense, and he also knew why the people were suffering.

After all, it was simply because he felt that the taxes collected by the court were too high, so he chose to flee and become a bandit.

But if taxes were cut, not to mention whether the people could be appeased, the court's finances would definitely collapse.

What Li Yi wants is someone who can raise problems and solve them, not someone who only raises questions.

Fortunately, Xue Diao is not such a person, so in response to Li Yi's question, Xue Diao took the initiative to respond:
"The people are exhausted, not because the imperial court imposes too much tax, but because the local officials exploit them too much."

"I think we can send officials to monitor local counties and prefectures to appease the people!"

Xue Diao's words did touch upon the point, but it is not easy to solve this problem.

The corruption of local officials has long been an open secret, but the court needs them to govern the local areas, so it is impossible to punish them severely.

However, in order to appease the people, it is necessary to put on an act.

"Prelude!"

"This matter will be handled by Nan Ya Pei Xianggong. We must bring these evildoers who exploit the people to justice!"

Li Yi waved his hand and immediately agreed to Xue Diao's request, and later ordered Pei Xiu to keep a close eye on the matter.

"I accept the decree..."

Pei Xiu bowed in response to the emperor, and then looked at Linghu Tao, Jiang Shen and Bai Minzhong beside him.

Jiang Shen understood what he meant and immediately bowed and said:

"At present, military events are frequent. The suggestions made by the ministers are all reasonable. However, the court is short of money and grain. The summer grain harvest is only more than 4 million, which is not enough to dispatch troops to rush to the southwest."

All the suggestions are good, but the word "money and food" has become the problem for all the suggestions.

Although the court increased taxes by 9 cents and also raised taxes on salt, iron, tea, wine and other items, the bloated military expenditures made it impossible for the court to accumulate money and grain.

There is only 4 million in summer tax in the treasury now, and how to use this money needs careful consideration.

In this regard, Li Yu could not help but look at Bai Minzhong among the ministers, and Bai Minzhong also felt the emperor's gaze, sighed and said:

"The court currently only has over 4 million in money and grain, but it is still very expensive."

"I think the most important thing is the military pay and rewards for the southwestern border troops."

"Only by paying the soldiers enough can we encourage the soldiers guarding the border in the southwest to fight bravely and protect the country and the people."

After Bai Minzhong finished speaking, Li Yan nodded in approval, and he continued:
"The governor of Dongchuan, Cui Shenyou, led an army of 10,000 to station in Rongzhou to prevent Chief Long (Yu Shilong) from changing his route and attacking Rongzhou."

"Then Gao Pian was appointed as the governor of Lingxi and he went north to recover Juzhou in Qianzhong Road."

"Song Ya, the governor of Qianzhong, just arrived in Chongzhou with 300 yellow-headed soldiers in the middle of last month. You can order him to recruit 8,000 soldiers from Qianzhong and wait for an opportunity to retake Bozhou."

"Qianzhou Governor Suo Xun has military talent. Although he was demoted to Qianzhou because of the loss of Liangzhou, his military strategy is still useful. It would be better to promote him to Bozhou as a punitive envoy and help Song Ya recover Bozhou."

"In this way, the border defense troops of various provinces are about 60,000, and 1.5 million coins and silk can be allocated to reward the people who are heading south."

"The number of troops in the east and west of Shannan is not large to begin with. If we withdraw more troops to the south, it will be too empty."

"It would be better to draw soldiers from Zhongwu, Xuanwu, Yicheng, Tianping and other towns and send them to Lingxi, Guiguan, Rongguan, Qianzhong and other places to guard the border."

After Bai Minzhong's suggestion, Li Yi could not help but nod and said, "This is a very good plan, but I don't know how many garrison soldiers each town can mobilize."

"A thousand people in each town should be enough." Bai Minzhong gave a number.

For these four towns, one thousand people is not a lot.

"Is it too far to transfer troops from Henan Road?"

Linghu Qian frowned and looked at Bai Minzhong, but Bai Minzhong frowned and said:

"The troops that could be mobilized from Jiangnan East and West and Huainan were mostly sent to eastern Zhejiang to quell the rebellion."

"The troop numbers of the towns in Guannei Road have just been reduced. Except for Fengxiang and Tianxiong, no other towns can mobilize any soldiers."

"However, the Fengxiang and Tianxiong armies are mainly responsible for guarding the Longyou and Hexi towns, so they must not be moved lightly."

"Now, we can only recruit soldiers to guard the border from Henan Province."

After Lieutenant General Bai Min analyzed the situation, everyone realized that even in such a huge country like Tang Dynasty, it was so difficult to mobilize thousands of soldiers to guard the border.

There are a million soldiers and the annual military expenditure is more than 10 million, but it takes a long time to discuss even the dispatch of a few thousand people.

As the ministers sighed, Bai Minzhong continued, "Your Majesty, yesterday Xuzhou reported that Tian Mou, the governor of Wuning Army, died of illness while in office. Please send a governor."

"Envoy Tian died of illness?"

Li Yi was stunned. He didn't expect that Tian Mou died of illness just two years after being transferred to Wuning Army.

"This... Envoy Tian died of illness. I wonder who should be sent to take over as the military governor of Wuning Army and the governor of Xuzhou, Sizhou and other four states?"

The Wuning Army can be said to be the most troublesome vassal state in the Jianghuai region after the Huaixi Rebellion was pacified.

During the Dazhong period, they drove out the Jiedushi three times, and now Tian Mou finally took charge for two years before dying of illness again.

It is impossible for ordinary people to suppress the Wuning Army.

"Wen Zhang, the governor of Xuanzhou and Shezhou, is very strict in his military discipline. After he arrived in Xuanzhou, the Xuanzhou army, which had been in chaos in the past, was put in good order under his leadership. Why not transfer him to be the governor of Wuning Army?"

Linghu Tao took the initiative to bow and speak, but Bai Minzhong frowned and said, "No!"

"The rebellion in eastern Zhejiang has not yet been quelled. It may be inappropriate to hastily transfer Wen Zhang away."

After he finished speaking, Bai Minzhong looked at Li Yi and bowed:

"Your Majesty, I have observed that Yang Zhiwen, the envoy who was sent to the Southern Barbarians last time, was cautious. It would be better to transfer him to be the military governor of Wuning Army."

"This..." Li Yi frowned slightly, and Pei Xiu also spoke at the right time:

"Yang Zhiwen has never led an army in battle. I'm afraid he can't suppress the arrogant and brave generals of the Wuning Army."

"No problem!" Bai Minzhong said confidently, "Tens of thousands of troops from the imperial court have gathered in eastern Zhejiang."

"If the Wuning army rebels, we can order Cui Shixiang to lead the army north to suppress it and then divide it up."

From Bai Minzhong's perspective, the area under the jurisdiction of the Wuning Army is too large and too deadly.

The four states of Xu, Si and others were located in important locations and were important routes for water transport. In addition, the Wuning Army was domineering with its silver knife, carved flag and horse-carrying troops. It could be said that the Wuning Army was a bonfire that could catch fire at any time.

If we can take this opportunity to eradicate it, it will be a good thing for the court in the future.

"In that case, let's do as Prime Minister Bai says!" Seeing that the state affairs had almost been discussed, Li Yi could no longer wait and stood up.

Upon seeing this, the Minister of the Honglu Temple immediately shouted: "Dismiss the court!"

"Tens of millions of years old..."

All the officials sang the salute, and this regular court session still did not last more than three quarters of an hour.

After the court was dismissed, Li Yi returned to Xianning Palace to listen to music and watch opera.

Although all the civil and military officials knew about his actions, they did not discuss the matter.

After all, even their own mansion had no shortage of actors and musicians, just not as many as in the palace.

All officials withdrew from the court one after another, and the emperor's edict and the court's decrees were sent to various places one after another.

During this period, the defense line of Shizhou defended by Xiahou Zi began to loosen.

You Shilong led his army to capture the counties of Shaye, Yueshi, Kequan, Pu'an, and Suqi in Shizhou, and Xiahouzi retreated to Taideng County.

Taideng County is the last line of defense of Shezhou. If this place is also lost, the Dali army will be able to enter Lizhou and approach the Dadu River.

Because of this, Xiahou Zi continued to mobilize troops and horses, including 20,000 cavalry, mule troops and elite cavalry, to defend the city.

When the news of the defeat at the front spread to the rear, the people in Jiannan Road panicked, and many wealthy families in Rong, Jia, Mei and other states sold their property and moved towards

At the same time, the price of grain in Jiannan Road also rose from 700 wen per stone to 900 wen per stone.

As the grain prices in Jiannan Road rose, the grain prices in Jingji, Shannan, Jiangnanxi and Huainan Roads also began to rise.

Coupled with the constant demand for payment from corrupt officials, the number of people fleeing increased.

An official from Huainan Road reported that "more than half of the people in Huainan had fled", but Li Yi was not worried and handed the matter over to the Southern Court and Northern Court to handle.

The chain reaction caused by the increase in grain prices in Jiannan Road was very serious, and even Longyou Road was affected a lot...

"More and more people are fleeing from Jiannan Road, and the price of food is rising too fast, isn't it?"

"Yes, the barbarians haven't even come to attack us yet, but they are already in disarray."

"What do you mean by losing your composure? I think it's clearly the grain merchants in Xichuan who are driving up grain prices and hoarding grain."

In the Didao City Protectorate, officials in the six departments were constantly discussing the affairs of Jiannan Road, and they didn't even notice Liu Jilong walking in.

"what's the topic?"

Liu Jilong suddenly spoke, and everyone was startled. They quickly stood up and bowed: "General Ji!"

"Any news from the south?"

Liu Jilong walked into the Household Department and picked up the document on the table to read it. Gao Jinda, who was sitting in the inner hall of the Household Department, also came out.

He glared at the dozens of officials in the Household Department, then bowed and explained:
"It's still the same old things, but the impact is getting bigger and bigger."

After communicating with Liu Jilong for so long, Gao Jinda's spoken language became more and more straightforward.

Liu Jilong flipped through the documents and then exclaimed, "The price of grain in Chengdu has risen to more than 900 per stone?"

"Yeah..." Gao Jinda also sighed:

"The people who have fled to the country in the past few months are basically from Jiannan Road, especially from Xichuan."

"Many merchants went to the countryside to buy grain at low prices and store it, then brought it back to the city to sell it at high prices."

"If the people want to buy cheap food, they can only go to the countryside to buy food, and they are not allowed to trade in the city."

"If you trade in the city, you will be immediately charged by the officials and your entire family will be confiscated."

Gao Jinda's words made Liu Jilong frown, and he turned to the page that counted the number of hungry people who poured into Longyou last month.

"Eight thousand eight hundred and fifty-two people, that's a lot of people..."

As Liu Jilong said this, Gao Jinda also said, "People are having a hard time, so naturally there are more of them."

"But since May, the number of people fleeing into the country has not exceeded 10,000."

"Although there are many people in Jiannan Road, after all, there are nearly 400,000 people pouring into Longyou, so it is not surprising that the number is gradually decreasing."

"In the entire Jiannan Road, except for Yizhou and Shuzhou, the remaining states have a population of at most 340,000 to 350,000 people."

"So many people have fled in less than five years. I guess the government offices in East and West Sichuan are having a hard time."

What he said made sense, but for Liu Jilian, 400,000 people were just the beginning.

"How much have we spent bribing those officials in Xichuan this year?"

While Liu Jilong was flipping through the document, he couldn't help but ask Gao Jinda, and Gao Jinda looked at the people in the household department.

Seeing this, they immediately began to look through the documents and use the abacus.

A quarter of an hour later, a booklet was handed to Gao Jinda, who then handed it to Liu Jilong.

Liu Jilong flipped through the book and saw the detailed records of bribes and horse trade between the Protectorate and officials of Jiannan Road and Shannan West Road every year.

In terms of bribes alone, the Protectorate spent more than 4,000 strings of cash in gold, silver, and copper coins to bribe officials in Jiannan Province this year, and more than 33,000 strings of cash on horses.

Many people fled in, but even more people bought in.

Starting from the seventh year of Dazhong, they spent nearly 1.7 million strings of cash on bribing officials and horse trade.

All this money was earned by the Protectorate and the people in the territory from growing crops and making hemp, and then selling it abroad. It was the hard-earned money of the people in Longyou.

Fortunately, with the increase in population, more and more wasteland has been reclaimed, and the states and counties have become more and more prosperous.

When Liu Jilian recovered the entire territory of Longyou, basically only the county town was inhabited. Outside the city, apart from the mountains and farmland, there were only post stations and beacon forts with people.

Now, seven years have passed, and each county has at least two or three townships and eight or nine villages under its jurisdiction.

“How many states and counties do we have now?”

Liu Jilong put down the document and started asking Gao Jinda questions, and this kind of question was not difficult for Gao Jinda to answer.

He did not look through the documents, and answered subconsciously: "Fourteen states, thirty-six counties, ninety-five townships, and three hundred and ninety-five villages."

"Um……"

Liu Jilong smiled and nodded, then motioned for him to follow him outside.

Gao Jinda decisively followed his footsteps, and the two of them walked out of the Household Department and headed out of the Protectorate.

When they walked into the street, they found that the Didao city, which was sparsely populated in the past, had become bustling.

Even in front of the Protectorate, there were always common people walking around, and most of them were wearing sackcloth. When they saw Liu Jilong, they immediately bowed and said, "General, Gao Changshi!"

"Have you eaten?" Liu Jilong asked with a smile, and the people responded with a smile that they had eaten.

Most of the people in Linzhou are relatives of martyrs who have been resettled.

If even they can't live well, let alone the people in other states and counties.

It is now early July, and there is not much farm work to do except clearing the land.

So the men wore linen clothes to work, while the women wore silk clothes and made linen at home.

After all, the hemp stalks are harvested three times a year, and the women rarely have time to stop and rest.

Everywhere on the streets you can see widows who have lost their husbands and whose children have not yet grown up, as well as orphans who have grown up.

"How many people are there in Didao City now, and how many are there in Linzhou?"

While greeting the people, Liu Jilian asked Gao Jinda.

In response, Gao Jinda lowered his voice and said, "There are nearly 8,000 households and more than 49,000 people in Linzhou."

"In Didao alone, there are more than 4,200 households and more than 25,000 people."

"More than 8,000 households?" Liu Jilong murmured the number, and after walking a few steps, he sighed:

"We killed more than 3,000 households and sacrificed more than 5,300 of our brothers."

"Five thousand three hundred and twenty-four." Gao Jinda silently said a string of numbers. Liu Jilong looked at him and said in approval:

"You are better than me. I can only remember the general idea..."

"This is as it should be." Gao Jinda was worried that Liu Jilong would feel uncomfortable, so he hurriedly explained:
"You have so many things to do, and Linzhou University has been taking up so much of your attention. It's probably good enough that you can remember it."

"That shouldn't be the case." Liu Jilong shook his head.

"I have to remember them, and so do you."

"Without their sacrifice, how could Longyou be what it is today?"

"Longyou is peaceful now, but we cannot let our guard down or become corrupt just because it is peaceful..."

"People like you and me must protect the people of this world and not let them go back to their old miserable lives."

Liu Jilong stopped and looked back at Gao Jinda.

Gao Jinda was stunned, not knowing why his commander said this, but he nodded after a moment of silence: "You are right."

"Hmm..." Liu Jilong turned around and continued to walk forward, and finally said:

"You go back first and arrange a meeting between me and Shang Moyan in three days."

"Yes..." Gao Jinda responded and then stopped.

He stopped where he was and watched Liu Jilong walk forward.

After Liu Jilong's figure disappeared at the end, he took a detour to the right alley without thinking and returned to the Protectorate.

(End of this chapter)