Guiyi Fei Tang

Chapter 76: Promotion of Guo Yi
"Boom boom boom——"

The sun was high in the sky and drums were beating.

Inside the Zhangye government office, Zhang Huaishen changed into the governor's regular uniform and sat in the main seat, with officials wearing robes of different colors on his left and right.

Among them, Liu Jilong, Suo Xun and other people who hurried over from Qilian City could only wear ordinary clothes and stand according to their ranks.

Although Li Wei led his troops back in a hurry, he changed into his official robe and stood in the first seat on the right.

When the drumbeats stopped, Zhang Huaishen spoke slowly:
"During this invasion of the foreign bandits and the Uighurs, a total of 424 soldiers from Ganzhou were killed, and no less than 30,000 dan of grain and grass were looted."

"I will report this matter to Shazhou and suggest that Ganzhou's military quota be increased to 30 regiments, and Shandan Zhechongfu be promoted to Shangfu, with a military quota of 6 regiments."

"Zhang Huairong, Suo Xun, and Liu Jilong have made outstanding contributions, and they have all been promoted to the second rank..."

"Governor!" Upon hearing that Liu Jilong was promoted to the second level, Li Wei stood up as expected.

"Governor, I wonder what merits Liu Bie has achieved in being promoted to the second rank?"

As Li Wei was speaking, Cao Yiqian stood up and bowed, saying, "Li Biejia, you don't know that General Liu defeated the Hu people yesterday. He used 800 elite cavalrymen to chase away 10,000 Hu people and forced them to retreat. This is indeed a great achievement."

"In addition, Qi Liancheng has made great contributions, so it is not excessive to promote him to the second rank."

Liu Jilong didn't know why Cao Yiqian spoke for him, so he looked at Zhang Huaishen.

On the high seat, Zhang Huaishen looked calm: "What Chief Cao said is true."

Seeing this, Liu Jilong finally understood why Cao Yiqian spoke for him. He thought that it was Zhang Huaishen who was fanning the flames behind the scenes. Otherwise, he and Cao Yiqian had no friendship, and there was no need for him to offend Li Wei for his own sake.

"In that case, let's do as the governor says!"

Li Wei had just returned and did not know that Liu Jilong had made another great contribution. After hearing what everyone said and seeing Cao Yiqian speaking for Liu Jilong, he could only endure everything and stand back in the team.

Seeing that he was no longer making a fuss, Zhang Huaishen continued:
"According to the rules, those who are promoted above the sixth rank need to report to Shazhou, but Shandan is our Hexi gateway, so one person must be left to guard it."

"Zhang Huairong and Suo Xun will go to Shazhou to report on their work. Liu Jilong will temporarily take over as the Left Guoyi Commander of Shandan and lead the Shandan Army."

"The last general takes orders..."

Liu Jilong and Suo Xun walked out and bowed, during which Suo Xun looked at Liu Jilong unwillingly.

Although he was promoted to the second level, this promotion was not what he wanted.

In fact, what he wanted more was to achieve the same achievements as Liu Jilong and then be promoted based on these achievements, rather than this.

Liu Jilong didn't notice his peripheral vision, or he didn't intend to notice it.

At this moment, he just felt that his back was straightened.

Li Wei, this old thief, tripped me up every day, but in the end, I slapped him in the face with my achievements.

Even though he had Zhang Huaishen backing him up, Liu Jilong felt relieved when he saw the old thief's ugly face.

"You old thief, I'll be waiting for you. I'll punish you in the future!"

Liu Jilong shouted secretly, stood up and returned to the team.

At the same time, Zhang Huaishen discussed how to manage the polluted farmland outside the city, as well as issues such as Ganzhou's money and grain.

Liu Jilong only listened selectively to these things.

What he cared about were the troops and grain reserves in Ganzhou. These two points were particularly important as they related to when Zhang Yichao would launch an expedition to the east.

After listening for a long time, he roughly understood the current situation in Ganzhou.

At present, Ganzhou has 1,976 armored soldiers, 600 unarmored soldiers, and 1,246 military horses.

In addition, there were countless supplies of food, beans, linen, salt, vinegar, etc., and the overall situation was quite prosperous.

These supplies are enough to feed the people in the city until the autumn harvest next year, and can also pay 40% of the soldiers' salaries.

Although 60% still needs to be filled by the three states of Gua, Sha and Su, the pressure is not too great.

Liu Jilian calculated that if the grain stored in Shandan was added, it would basically be enough to solve the army's military pay, but the people of Shandan would have no food supply.

If you calculate carefully, the gap in Ganzhou is actually only about 40,000 to 50,000 shi.

However, once Ganzhou's army expands to 30 regiments with 6,000 people, the gap will widen to about 70,000.

If the people of Ganzhou were to rely entirely on themselves to reclaim wasteland, it would take at least five or six years for them to become self-sufficient. After all, it takes three years to reclaim virgin land to the level of cultivated land.

In six years, at most four batches of cultivated land were cultivated.

If there were enough oxen to work and enough manpower could be freed up, then time could be accelerated.

Thinking of this, Liu Jilong remembered his plan to plunder Liangzhou.

"Liu Jilong, tomorrow you will lead the Shandan army in the city and 600 Zhangye civilians to escort 3,000 shi of rice, 1,000 shi of beans, 1,000 sheep and 400 military horses back to Shandan."

"Among them, 2,000 dan of rice and 1,000 sheep shall be given to Shang Bibi, and Zhang Huairong shall be ordered to lead 20 elite cavalrymen to escort the Zhangye civilians back to Zhangye."

"The last general takes command!"

Zhang Huaishen suddenly called out to Liu Jilong, and Liu Jilong subconsciously accepted the military order.

When he realized what was happening, Zhang Huaishen also stood up and waved his sleeves: "This is the end of the meeting, let's all go."

He walked away with a wave of his sleeves, his back looking very elegant.

Liu Jilong looked at him enviously, and then saw Cao Yiqian walking towards him with a smile.

"Liu Guoyi, I will have someone prepare the supplies the governor mentioned at the East City Gate at noon tomorrow. Please go to the East City Gate to take over tomorrow."

"Thank you for your help, Chief Secretary Cao." Liu Jilong bowed in return.

Cao Yiqian said nothing, returned the gift with a smile on his face, and left.

Liu Jilong stood up and followed the team out of the yamen without even looking at Li Wei.

When he returns to Shandan, he will be able to concentrate on implementing his plan to strengthen the military.

As for Li Wei and Zhangye, when Li Yizhong arrived in Shandan, he would let Li Yizhong run between Shandan and Zhangye every day, and he himself would not come to Zhangye easily.

With Zhang Huaishen in charge of Ganzhou, Liu Jilong didn't believe that Li Wei would dare to trip him up in major matters.

"Liu Jilong!"

As he walked out of the yamen, Liu Jilong saw Suo Xun standing at the door, raising his hand and bowing to him.

"General Suo."

Liu Jilian did not call him Suo Guoyi. After all, Suo Xun was about to be promoted, either to the rank of Zhechou Duwei or the rank of Changshi or Beijia. It was more appropriate to call him general.

"I'll leave Shandan to you. I hope the next time we meet will be when we recover Liangzhou."

Suo Xun had a complicated look in his eyes, but Liu Jilong didn't care.

Perhaps Suo Xun and others felt that the prerequisite for recovering Liangzhou was that the four states and eight cities were on the right track, but for Liu Jilian, the longer the time dragged on, the more difficult it would be to recover Liangzhou.

I guess Zhang Yichao will be able to figure out this problem after the maps and records of the five states are delivered to Shazhou.

However, according to the time calculation, Zhang Yichao might not be able to take care of Liangzhou at this time, so the war against Yizhou is about to begin.

Liu Jilian was destined not to participate in this Western Expedition because he had his own Eastern Expedition to prepare for.

From now until the beginning of next spring, these six months will be my preparation time.

Six months was enough time for him to train the Shandan troops.

"I hope to see you again when we recover Liangzhou, just as the general said!"

Liu Jilong raised his hand and bowed, Suo Xun also let out a long breath, raised his hand and bowed, then turned and left.

Seeing him leave, Liu Jilong turned around and walked towards his own yard.

When he returned, it was already noon, and Li Ji, who had returned early in the morning, was washing in the yard.

"Don't checkmate!"

When Li Ji saw Liu Jilong coming back, he quickly wiped his face and tried to greet him with a smile.

Liu Jilong had no choice but to signal, "Don't worry, wash up first, then eat. After eating, go and gather the brothers and tell them to gather at the East Gate at 1:00 a.m. tomorrow."

"Yeah!" Li Ji responded with a smile, and Liu Jilong also walked back to the main hall, sat down and drank a sip of water.

Time passed quickly, and with the arrival of the You hour, Liu Jilong's courtyard also welcomed visitors.

A forty-year-old Han Chinese man wearing a silk robe came to the gate of the courtyard with two servants. When he was stopped by the soldiers, he bowed voluntarily.

"My deputy learned that Liu Guoyi will lead his troops back to Shandan tomorrow, so he asked me to send some farewell gifts. Please let me know."

As he spoke, he motioned to the servant beside him to put down the box, and he personally took out a small amount of money from his pocket and presented it with both hands.

"You wait."

When the Shandan soldiers saw the hanging money, they couldn't help swallowing, but they still resisted the urge to take the money. One of them went into the courtyard to report.

He walked quickly and came to the main hall and bowed: "Guo Yi, someone outside said that the deputy driver sent a farewell gift, please take a look..."

"Miss? Li Wei?" Liu Jilong, who was sitting in the main seat, was originally happily watching Li Ji eating with big mouthfuls of food, but suddenly he saw a soldier running in and saying that it was Li Wei who gave him a gift, so he couldn't help but feel curious.

But when Li Ji heard this, he raised his head and cursed without even wiping his lips: "Don't you know that Li Wei is targeting Guo Yi? Tell him to get lost!"

"Hey!" Liu Jilong stopped Li Ji who was about to continue scolding him, and looked at the soldier with a smile:
"Let him in. I want to see what gift the eldest brother of the Li clan leader can bring me."

"Yes……"

The soldier responded guiltily and turned to walk out.

Liu Jilong was waiting with great interest for the person sent by Li Wei.

A few days ago, he learned about Li Wei's situation among the elite cavalry. Although he was the eldest brother of Li En, the patriarch of the Li family in Shazhou, he and his younger brother were illegitimate sons, and Li En was the legitimate son.

Because of this, although Li Wei also obtained a high position and generous salary, his voice and status were not as good as Li En's.

Thinking of this, Liu Jilong also saw the soldier leading three people into the courtyard. The two servants behind them were each carrying a small box.

"This box... can't hold much money..."

Liu Jilong murmured, and Li Ji beside him chuckled after hearing it, but the soldiers could not hear it.

"Liu Guoyi, my family's deputy driver learned that you will be leaving tomorrow, so he specially sent a farewell gift. Please accept it."

The old face of the manager was smiling like a chrysanthemum. Liu Jilong glanced at the box and nodded without thinking:

"Please excuse me for making this trip. I will accept the gift. I am busy with military affairs, so I will not bother Li Biejia at his house."

"As for Guoyi." When the old man saw Liu Jilong accepting the gift, his smile became even brighter. He probably didn't expect Liu Jilong to be so easy to talk to.

"In that case, I will not disturb Guo Yi any more. I will take my leave..."

The old man bowed and saluted, and Liu Jilian also nodded to signal the soldiers to escort them out.

Under his watchful eyes, the old man and his companions were quickly led out of the yard, and Liu Jilong also looked at Li Ji: "Bring the box over here."

Li Ji didn't expect Liu Jilong to let Li Wei and the others go so easily, and his face looked obviously unhappy.

Even so, he still put aside his dandy attitude, walked out of the main hall, brought back a box and placed it on the table next to Liu Jilong, and said indignantly: "Guo Yi, are you so relieved?"

"Relieved? What a joke." Liu Jilong said contemptuously and raised his hand to open the box.

Inside the box was a layer of copper coins at the bottom, and on top were ten gold bars as thick as thumbs.

"gold?"

Liu Jilong's eyes lit up. He picked up one to examine it, and at the same time stroked the rest of the gold bars with his hands. He was extremely happy.

In the Kaiyuan period of the past, a dou of rice in Shandong cost five cents, a dou of rice in Luoyang cost ten cents, while a dou of rice in Guanzhong cost twenty cents, and a dou of rice in Hexi cost thirty or forty cents.

At that time, one tael of gold was only worth two thousand.

However, after the Anshi Rebellion, prices soared across the Tang Dynasty, and a dou of rice costing 100 coins became the norm.

Although grain prices in the Tang Dynasty fell during the reign of Emperor Xianzong, they rose again to dozens of yuan per dou of rice after Emperors Wen and Wu ascended the throne.

Liu Jilian found all this information in the books in the Shandan warehouse. It was not uncommon for merchants from Guanzhong to smuggle in Hexi, and there are records of this before the civil strife in Tubo.

Tubo does not produce copper, so rare commodities such as gold and silver are often used for trade.

At least according to the records in the documents, during the Taihe period of Emperor Wenzong of the Tang Dynasty, one tael of gold was worth five thousand, and that was when smugglers took kickbacks.

This gold bar weighs at least five taels, and there are ten gold bars in a box, which means at least fifty taels.

"Look in that box!"

Liu Jilong's eyes lit up. Li Ji was also stunned when he saw the gold, but he quickly reacted and hurriedly went to bring another box.

After opening it, there were indeed ten bars of gold inside, adding up to at least one hundred taels.

Liu Jilong didn't expect that Li Wei was willing to invest so much.

This gold plus the copper coins at the bottom are worth at least a thousand strings of cash.

"Guo Yi, why did Li Wei give you so much money?"

Li Ji did not expect Li Wei to be so generous, but Liu Jilong happily grabbed the gold bar:

"His son has been transferred to Shandan and will probably take up the position in one or two months."

"People say that the county magistrate is not as good as the current manager. Now I have become the Zuo Guoyi and the chief clerk of Shandan. If he doesn't want his son to be bullied by me, he can only buy peace with money."

"But I never thought that this bird thief would be so willing to do so."

Liu Jilong couldn't hide the smile on his face. You know, more than 200 Shandan soldiers died in this battle. Although each county would provide compensation, Liu Jilong couldn't be stingy.

Moreover, the dead will be compensated, and the living will be rewarded.

The money in these two boxes was not much, but it was definitely not too little either. At least together with the money in the Shandan treasury, it was enough for Liu Jilong to solve this problem.

"Li Ji, keep these things safe. The brothers' pensions and rewards are settled now!"

Liu Jilong reluctantly put the gold back into the box and patted it after closing it.

Li Ji did not find it strange to hear this. After all, he had long known his own stubborn temper. Therefore, when he saw this batch of money, he knew what it was used for.

He neatly put the two boxes of money into Liu Jilong's bedroom. Although the food was cold when he returned, he still ate it with relish.

Liu Jilong also sat back in his seat, waiting to see if anyone else would give him any gifts.

However, it turned out that he was overthinking it. He sat there for most of an hour but no one came to visit.

However, the old man from the Li family returned to the Li family during this period and told Li Wei about Liu Jilong's acceptance of gifts.

When he came back, Li Wei was playing chess with a young man.

After he finished speaking, Li Wei slowly spoke: "Common people only love money, and Liu Jilong is no different."

"Uncle, do you think that he won't embarrass my elder brother if he takes the money?"

The young man sitting opposite Li Wei spoke, and Li Wei was hesitant after hearing this. After a while, he made his move and said:
"I will tell Boyu to be careful and not to go out with Liu Jilong."

"As long as he is in Shandan City and in my Li army, I won't worry that he will attack Boyu."

After he finished speaking, he looked at the young man in front of him and said, "It's just that you are too young, Mingzhen. Otherwise, with your marriage relationship with Zhang Jiedushi, it would be very easy for you to deal with Liu Jilong."

"Thank you for the compliment, uncle." Li Mingzhen chuckled and shook his head, explaining:

"Liu Jilong is highly valued by Governor Zhang, who has promoted and protected him several times. Even Governor Zhang has mentioned him to Governor Zhang several times."

"At least from my nephew's perspective, it is unlikely that Jiedushi Zhang would target him because of my nephew's relationship."

"Humph, I see!" Li Wei snorted coldly: "In order to protect Liu Jilong, Zhang Huaishen actually won over Cao Yiqian."

"And Suo Xun, as the future patriarch of the Suo family, he couldn't even suppress Liu Jilong, and his military power was taken away from him on the battlefield. I don't think he is as talented as everyone says."

"No..." Li Mingzhen shook his head and interrupted Li Wei. He said firmly:

"Suo Xun is still a talented general. He failed to overwhelm Liu Jilong simply because he is not as talented as Liu Jilong."

"If Liu Jilong couldn't even deal with Suo Xun, then Jiedushi Zhang wouldn't have chosen him to assist Zhang Huairong."

"Otherwise, with Zhang Huairong's ability, how could he easily force back the Uighurs and stop Shang Yanxin?"

"It's our fault that we didn't judge him well enough to take the initiative and win him over."

"To win him over now, the price we need to pay is too high, and we can't afford it."

Li Mingzhen's words gained Li Wei's approval, but he still felt a little sad about the two boxes of money that were given away.

Although Li was a powerful family in Shazhou and had gained many benefits on the way eastward, the loss of thousands of taels of wealth was still a loss for him.

"After this battle, unless we recover Liangzhou, it will be difficult for Liu Jilong to achieve any more achievements."

Li Mingzhen was talking as if no one was around. Li Wei also asked after hearing this: "Zhang Jiedushi has transferred soldiers from Guazhou. I think he will attack Yizhou after the spring, right?"

"No..." Li Mingzhen shook his head: "It will only be earlier, so I will return to Shazhou with Zhang Huairong, Suo Xun and others in a few days."

"Suo Xun has made a great contribution this time. After being transferred back to Shazhou, he will probably take up an important position in the Western Expedition under the operation of Suo Zhongyi."

"Yizhou has a population of over 10,000, most of whom are from Hankou. After retaking Yizhou, Jiedushi Zhang will probably send an envoy to Chang'an."

"But before heading to Chang'an, we still have to negotiate peace with the Ganzhou Uighurs."

"Oh..." Li Wei sighed when he heard Chang'an.

"We have sent more than ten teams to Fengzhou via the southern desert, but no news has been sent back yet."

"I wonder who the Jiedushi will send to Chang'an to recover the four states this time, and whether they will be able to arrive..."

Hearing this, Li Mingzhen also looked up at the dusk outside the house.

"Do your best and obey fate."

(End of this chapter)