Guiyi Fei Tang

Chapter 82 Interest Exchange

"Izhou is recovered! Izhou is recovered!!"

In the cold winter, as a team of cavalrymen rode their horses out of the city gate and rushed towards the government office, the people in the city stretched their necks and looked at each other in confusion.

"Where is Izhou?"

"It seems to be in the west."

"West...it would be better if it was east..."

In the middle of the twelfth lunar month, the news of Zhang Yichao's recovery of Yizhou spread from west to east to Ganzhou. Along with the news, Zhang Yitan and his entourage, who were about to set off, also arrived.

"Xilulu!!"

When the neighing of military horses sounded, at the west gate of Zhangye City, Zhang Yitan, who was wearing winter clothes, dismounted from his horse and looked at Zhang Huaishen who was walking hurriedly.

"Aye, do you really have to go?"

Zhang Huaishen hurriedly walked up to him and started asking about Zhang Yitan without even bothering to bow.

Facing Zhang Huaishen, Zhang Yitan just looked at him with a smile, and finally said: "You have lost weight."

"Aye!"

Zhang Huaishen's tone became more serious, his brows furrowed tightly.

Zhang Yitan still did not answer, but turned around, took a white cloak from the saddle, and put it on Zhang Huaishen.

After he tied his cloak, he nodded with satisfaction: "It looks much stronger now."

Zhang Huaishen was about to explode, but he heard Zhang Yitan say, "This is the cape your mother made for you. I'm afraid it will be difficult for me to come back after I go to Chang'an this time."

"If we are lucky enough to reach Chang'an, you will need to send troops to escort your mother and the others."

"Hexi won't be able to survive without your uncle and you, but even without me, there are still others."

"With you two uncle and nephew here, I feel relieved..."

His smile was restrained but warm, making Zhang Huaishen feel as if he didn't feel the cold at all.

"These are silk books from Dunhuang, which record the promotions of soldiers from Zhangye and Shandan."

"I wanted to go to Shandan to see what the Liu Jilong you mentioned looks like, but I have to go to Juyanze in the north to negotiate peace with the Uighurs, so I'm afraid I don't have time to go there."

"Peace talks?" Although Zhang Huaishen had guessed it long ago, his face still turned grim when he heard these two words.

Seeing him like this, Zhang Yitan couldn't help but sigh: "You are good at everything except managing relationships."

"Every bustle in the world is for the benefit of the future. All the hustle and bustle of the world is for the benefit of the future."

"The Uighurs are jackals, but the Tubo are tigers and leopards. We have to prioritize the urgency of the matter."

"Before we open up Helong, we can only go to the Tang Dynasty through the south of the desert, so we have to negotiate peace with the Uighurs. You know this, but you can't let go of your pride."

"Your unwillingness to lose face will hurt you sooner or later."

"If I were here, I could still protect you, but if I were gone, then you..."

After all, he is his own child, and Zhang Yitan is reluctant to say anything too harsh.

Zhang Huaishen didn't want him to feel bad, so he bent down and bowed slowly: "I understand."

"Come on, show me Zhangye under your rule."

Zhang Yitan signaled him to lead the way, and Zhang Huaishen volunteered to be the tour guide.

He took Zhang Yitan to walk all over Zhangye City, and the situations there made Zhang Yitan sometimes frown and sometimes smile.

After completing the round, the two returned to the inner hall of the yamen to rest, took off their cloaks, sat down, and boiled hot tea to ward off the cold.

"There are still too many foreigners in Zhangye. If time passes, they may become a disaster."

Zhang Yitan expressed his feelings, and Zhang Huaishen nodded in agreement: "I think so too, but now there is a solution."

"Oh? Tell me about it." Zhang Yitan was a little curious, so Zhang Huaishen told him about the transaction between Liu Jilong and Shang Bibi.

"My subordinate Liu Jilong has reached a deal with Shang Bibi of Shanzhou. He will lend Shang Bibi grain to help her through the difficult times, and Shang Bibi will relocate 6,000 Han people from Shanzhou to Ganzhou."

"I will leave the old and weak in Zhangye to farm, and send the young and strong to open up wasteland in Shandan."

"In addition, Shang Bibi and Liu Jilong will start looting Liangzhou in the spring. The captured foreigners will be handed over to Shanzhou, while the Han people will stay in Ganzhou."

"If this continues, there will be more and more Han people in Ganzhou, and Liangzhou will become weaker and weaker."

"Although it hasn't started yet, I'm very familiar with Liu Jilong. He won't say anything he's not sure of, so it will definitely be effective."

"If he can really weaken the Liangzhou bandits, then when we have all the troops in Ganzhou, we will be able to retake Liangzhou."

When talking about recovering Liangzhou, there was always a barely perceptible gleam in Zhang Huaishen's eyes.

It’s a pity that when facing Zhang Yitan, he seems to have no secrets.

Zhang Yitan knew what he was thinking, but he still reminded him: "That being said, if this continues, aren't you afraid that Shang Bibi will become the second Lun Kongre?"

"No..." Zhang Huaishen shook his head, and then told him what Lun Kongre had done in Helong.

Upon hearing about Lun Kongre killing young men in Helong, cutting off the nose and feet of the old and weak, and piercing babies with spears as a joke, Zhang Yitan was greatly shocked and so angry that even his breathing became heavy.

Feeling his father's anger, Zhang Huaishen said:

"I have had a brief encounter with Shang Bibi. He is okay in terms of strategy, but his deployment of troops is child's play, and his control over his subordinates is even more useless."

"It's better to support him in Shanzhou than to let Lun Kongre dominate alone."

"Besides, the internal strife in the Fan land is serious. Even if Shang Bibi has elite troops and sufficient food, she will not think about fighting for Helong. Instead, she should think about how to lead the Meilu family to unify the Fan land."

"That being said..." Zhang Yitan pondered, "I'm afraid he won't do it when the time comes."

"No." Zhang Huaishen was very confident: "I have seen Shang Bibi's two sons. They are not mediocre, but they are ordinary people."

"Shang Bibi cherishes her life very much, so she even wants to rely on Liu Jilong."

"I think he lacks courage. Even if he has good soldiers and generals, he is just a mediocre person."

After saying that, Zhang Huaishen picked up the teacup and took a sip of tea, but after hearing this, Zhang Yitan became more interested in Liu Jilong.

"Shang Bibi has attached herself to Liu Jilong. Aren't you worried that Liu Jilong will become more powerful in the future and use Shang Bibi as external support to emulate the various towns in Heshuo to establish a separatist regime?"

"He won't." Zhang Huaishen shook his head in denial, his eyes more determined: "Liu Jilong will never betray me!"

"Why?" Zhang Yitan didn't understand where his confidence came from, but Zhang Huaishen couldn't tell either, so he just said firmly: "Feeling!"

“Uh… hehe…”

Zhang Yitan laughed in silence, and finally waved his hand and said, "Forget it, since you said so, then your father will choose to believe you."

He picked up the teacup and took a sip to moisten his throat before continuing, "This time, besides me, Ming Zhen and the others will also follow me to Chang'an."

"Mingzhen has made an engagement with your uncle's youngest daughter. He will get married when he reaches the age of twenty. By then, you two will be considered relatives, so you need to visit each other more often."

"With Ming Zhen in the Li family, they should be able to provide you with some support."

"..." Hearing this, Zhang Huaishen was not happy, but a trace of sadness hung between his brows.

“My ambition has never been to become a governor, but to recover lost territory for the court and become someone like Feng Anxi and Guo Wuwei.

"Hexi... Aye and uncle are enough!"

The "Feng Anxi and Guo Wuwei" he mentioned were Feng Changqing and Guo Xin, who were once the Grand Protector of Anxi.

When he mentioned these two people, Zhang Yitan burst out laughing: "You, you..."

"You are exactly like your uncle. Even the people you like are the same."

"Forget it, forget it. If you two think this way, then I will help you in Chang'an so that you can recover the lost territory and expand the territory for the Tang Dynasty without any worries."

"But before that, you have to write a letter to tell Liu Jilong that our army has recaptured Yizhou and is preparing to negotiate peace with the Ganzhou Uighurs."

"I observed his deeds and found that he was a greedy person who chased tigers and wolves."

"Besides, you said he intends to plunder the barbarians in the east. I am afraid that he will lead his elite cavalry to kill me when I am negotiating peace with Chengle in Juyanze."

Zhang Yitan laughed as he spoke, and Zhang Huaishen also laughed when he heard it, "That's true. I'll write two letters to tell him about it later. I believe he will understand."

The father and son looked at each other and continued to laugh.

Shortly after they finished speaking, Zhangye sent out Tangqi to deliver the letter.

By the time Tangqi delivered the letter to Shandan, it was two days later.

After receiving the letter, Liu Jilong immediately summoned all the military officers at the rank of brigade commander and above in the city, including Li Yizhong and others who had been resting in Shandan for nearly half a month.

Inside the yamen, Li Yizhong sat in the first seat on the left, Chen Jingchong sat in the first seat on the right, and Liu Jilian sat in the main seat.

Behind Li Yizhong were the two captains and four brigade commanders he brought with him, and behind Chen Jingchong were Zhang Chang, Ma Cheng, Li Ji, Geng Ming and others.

Jiu Juyan was preparing for the border in Qilian City, while Zheng Chu was guarding against the Uighurs in Longshou Mountain. Facing the news from Zhangye, Liu Jilong simply glanced at the content of the victory report, and then opened the other two letters and a silk book.

After reading it, he raised the victory report: "A great victory in Yizhou. The Jiedushi led his troops to recapture Yizhou while taking advantage of the heavy snow."

"it is good!"

Although they already knew what happened exactly, when Liu Jilong said it himself, everyone couldn't help but exclaim.

In response, Liu Jilong put down the victory report, picked up two letters and wrote:

"These two letters talk about a lot of things. One of them is that after the Jiedushi led his army to recapture Yizhou, the Uighurs in Xizhou, Tingzhou and other places responded with their troops. Pugu Jun and An Ning besieged Xizhou and Tingzhou respectively."

"In addition to them, Khotan in the west and Zhongyun in the south also responded to our army and expelled the Tibetans in the city."

Compared to the great victory in Illinois, the contents of these two letters are undoubtedly more exciting.

This meant that the remaining forces of Tubo had been completely wiped out of the Western Regions, and they would no longer face the threat of Tubo forces in the west.

Of course, this is just everyone's idea, not Liu Jilong's idea.

"The three Western Regions Uighur forces, An Ning of Xizhou, Pu Gujun of Gaochang, and Pang Teqin of Anxi, have all submitted their loyalty to our army and are willing to accept the Tang Dynasty as their legitimate government."

"Among them, An Ning and Pu Gujun presented the map of Xizhou, but..."

Liu Jilong glanced at the crowd and said, "Don't think that they are our people because they presented us with the map of Xizhou. Don't forget the title of Ganzhou."

He reminded everyone that Cheng Le had once formed an alliance with them, but chose to invade just a few days after the alliance.

"These barbarians only care about fighting and not eating!"

"A bunch of barbarians. I think they will invade Yizhou and Shazhou sooner or later!"

"When we open up Helong in the future, we must subdue them!"

"right……"

Liu Jilong's reminder immediately made the Shandan generals wary of the Uighurs in the Western Regions.

But before they could prepare, Liu Jilong said solemnly: "The last thing in the two letters is that Zhang Changshi went to Juyan Lake to prepare for peace talks with the Ganzhou Uighurs..."

"Peace negotiation?!"

"This bunch of bastards don't keep their word at all. How can Zhang Changshi put himself in danger?!"

"That's right. The Uighurs had defrauded Yang Beiting before. Now..."

"Okay!" Liu Jilong interrupted these messy speculations in a deep voice and put down the two letters in his hands.

"Although Chengle is greedy, he is not a fool after all."

"Although he looted Zhangye, he also suffered the consequences."

"The cost of plundering Zhangye is so high, would he be so stupid as to attack Zhang Changshi?"

"This peace talk will most likely be successful, but even if it succeeds, we Shandan should be on guard against them. This is what I want to tell you."

After saying this, Liu Jilong glanced at the crowd, and they all bowed to him, indicating that they had listened to his words.

Seeing this, Liu Jilong began to prepare for the next topic. Li Yizhong, who was sitting in the first seat on the left, looked at the changes in the crowd and couldn't help but admire Liu Jilong's status in these people's hearts.

Chen Jingchong and his friends had almost unconditional trust in Liu Jilong, and they would choose to believe whatever Liu Jilong said.

Li Yizhong was also glad that he did not compete for power with Liu Jilong, otherwise he would inevitably get into trouble.

After spending more than half a month together, Li Yizhong also understood what Liu Jilong was trying to do.

Li Yizhong could only say that his idea of using war to support war was very bold. If it were him, he would definitely not do so, but would honestly guard Shandan City and wait for the future expedition to Liangzhou from Hexi.

But this also shows that he has come to the right place. With Liu Jilong's ideas and actions, he will not have to worry about not getting credit.

Liu Jilong had already discussed with him that as long as he defended the city honestly, his merit would be recorded in the documents no matter what, and this was what he wanted.

Thinking of this, Li Yizhong also lay down completely. He only needed to guard Qilian City, Longshou Mountain and Shandan City, and leave the rest to Liu Jilong.

While he was thinking this, Liu Jilong picked up the last silk book.

Facing this silk book, everyone sat upright, because they all knew that this was a promotion document sent by Dunhuang.

Even though you are not the one being promoted, if you are disrespectful at this time, you will inevitably give people a chance to criticize you.

"The Shandan Zhechong Prefecture was promoted to the upper prefecture. The former Shandan lieutenant Liu Jilong was promoted to the second rank and appointed as the left Guoyi Duwei of the Shandan Zhechong Prefecture. Li Huaizhong was appointed as the right Guoyi Duwei, and Jiu Juyan was appointed as a lieutenant general..."

A piece of silk book, whose content includes the promotion of hundreds of people of all sizes in Shandan.

Liu Jilian was appointed as the Left Guoyi Commandant, Jiu Juyan was appointed as the Special General, Chen Jingchong, Ma Cheng and others were appointed as Colonels, Hu Siguang was appointed as the Captain, and so on.

In addition, the soldiers who participated in the battles of Qilian City and Zhangye were promoted one level.

Hukusiguang was promoted to the position of team leader, and many other soldiers also took up positions such as team leader and team leader.

However, Shandan did not have so many official positions, so Dunhuang meant to be promoted in name only, but still lead the original number of troops.

When the number of troops increases in the future, they will be appointed to actual positions.

Otherwise, according to the number of soldiers after this promotion, Shandan would need at least 5,000 soldiers to command this group of people.

A piece of silk book made the captains and brigade commanders on Li Yizhong's side turn red in the eyes. No one did not envy the people on Liu Jilong's side.

You have to know that they were able to serve as colonels and brigade commanders basically by working their way up, while many people on Liu Jilong's side were promoted through fighting within a few months.

Following Liu Jilong's promotion, this statement is not an empty promise.

"Hehe, now we are also captains."

"Ahem, today I have to go to Guo Yi's mansion and kill two fat chickens to try."

"You greedy devil, sooner or later all the poultry in the city will be destroyed by you."

"If you have the guts, don't eat it later..."

Chen Jingchong was whispering to each other. Seeing their impetuous appearance, Liu Jilong couldn't help but cough and said:
"Okay, that's all. Don't be too happy too soon. Although your official position has been promoted, the most important thing is the ability to lead troops in battle."

"I don't care whether you are a lieutenant or a lieutenant. You still have to attend literacy classes in the barracks as usual, and you still have to do the training yourself."

"Sweat more in peacetime so you can bleed less in war."

In response to Liu Jilong's reminder, everyone perked up and responded.

Seeing that they had a serious attitude, Liu Jilong stopped talking to them and started talking about business.

"It will be the New Year in half a month. We will have three days off. In addition, we will slaughter 500 sheep in the city, and all the soldiers and civilians will go to the barracks to eat a big pot meal."

"Chen Jingchong, you and Cui Shu should make arrangements for this matter. Don't let anything go wrong."

"I obey your command!" Chen Jingchong bowed in a deep voice, very seriously.

Seeing him like this, Liu Jilong didn't know what to say. He simply gave a few instructions and let everyone leave.

In the following days, Liu Jilong lived a life as usual. He went to the military camp to supervise training every morning, and went outside the city in the afternoon to check water conservancy, soil gullies, fattening and other matters.

He did not rest at night, but practiced calligraphy seriously in the house, and went to the military camp from time to time to check on the progress of literacy.

The army's literacy campaign has been going on for more than two months. Most soldiers can now speak a few words of Mandarin and can fluently write their own names, places of origin and units they belong to. They know nearly a hundred characters.

The progress was not fast, because the Zhibais were still busy with county government affairs during the day, and the time left for the literacy class was only two hours in the afternoon.

Since population affects production, the output of Shandan's mining, papermaking and other industries is extremely limited.

If Shandan wants to develop well, population is an indispensable factor in handicraft productivity, so Liu Jilian has been waiting for the spring, waiting for the arrival of the five or six thousand Han people from Shanzhou.

Time passed little by little, and as the military camp was filled with tables, chairs and benches, the New Year's Day of the fifth year of Dazhong arrived.

There were no firecrackers, no red envelopes, and it could even be said that there were no festive colors. There were only crowds of people filling the school grounds.

Five hundred sheep were cleaned and served on the table through cooking methods such as boiling, frying, and roasting, along with dried vegetables prepared before the beginning of autumn last year.

More than 3,000 soldiers and civilians in Shandan welcomed the new year with laughter and joy.

Brand new supplies such as linen, coarse salt, Hexi plows, hoes, etc. were distributed on this day. Although their lives were not rich, compared with the past under the rule of Tubo, today's days can be described as prosperous.

They could finally wear Han Chinese clothes, wear Han Chinese hats, speak Chinese, and write Chinese characters without worrying about the eyes of other ethnic groups.

Faced with such a scene, Liu Jilong, who was once a shepherd slave, was deeply touched.

At his call, everyone raised the mutton in their hands and started eating it in big mouthfuls.

From early morning to noon, everyone was full and almost everyone left with their backs hunched.

However, all material consumption needs to be replenished, and the 500 sheep slaughtered will also be replenished in other ways.

As the most important town in Hexi, Liangzhou would be the source of all supplies, and this was the reason why Liu Jilong dared to be so "extravagant"...

(End of this chapter)