The Emperor ordered Zhao Tang

Chapter 87: Your Mother
Ever since Wei Zhaodu took command in the Wende period to fight against Tian and Chen, the Shu rebellion has lasted for four years, and the winner has finally been decided.

Yang Shouliang, Shouzhen, Shouhou, Shouzhong, Mancun and others attacked Lutou Pass and after more than 20 days of confrontation, they defeated Wang Jian at Suolongtai.

Wang Jian, who had fled back to Chengdu, was furious that the powerful had turned against him, and was anxious to restore the morale of the army. He tortured the rich and robbed those who were famous in the local area. Everyone did not expect Wang Jian to be so foolish, and secretly discussed inviting the troops from various towns into the city. The plan was not kept secret and failed. Wang Jian slaughtered Chengdu with blood, captured a beautiful woman on the street, and ate her meat. The troops made a commotion and looted the streets and markets.

On the fifth day of July, Zhang Qianyu, the governor of Jiazhou, led his troops north to seek food. Wang Zongbi, the former son of Wang Jian and the defender of Suining, was coerced by the soldiers to rebel, and changed his name to Wei Hongfu, and joined Qianyu. Wang Jian sent the commander Lu Bian to meet the enemy, but the army rebelled when they reached Zhaolie Temple. Lu Bian was rewarded but could not suppress the rebellion, so he was supported as the regent and forced to return. Wang Jian ordered the city gates to be closed, but the defenders of Xianyang Gate also rebelled, and the chaotic army rushed in and killed Wang Jian.

"Melancholy, melancholy! The spears are used to pound rice, the swords are used to cook, the matter is over." The general slowly put down the report. Wang Jian was so arrogant when he expelled the imperial envoys, but he was killed in just three years. He didn't know how to restrain his ambitions and quit when he was ahead. He ended up being beaten to death. Who should he blame?

******
Of course, the fact that Shuzhong was able to avoid the emergence of a powerful vassal state was due to the saint. If he had not tolerated what the world could not tolerate, he would have saved Yang Fugong when he was in trouble. If he had not withstood the pressure and insisted on not clearing Wang Jian's name, how could we be so happy today!

Well, I should reflect on this. I can't judge the loyalty of the governor based on the amount of wealth in the future. Last time, Wang Jian offered more than 200,000 pieces of silk in exchange for the appointment, and he almost tempted. Fortunately, the saint has his own ideas and is firm.

What should the court do next?

The Taiwei was more inclined to join Shu. Sanchuan covered dozens of states, with territory, population, and wealth, it was easy to support 6 soldiers. Not only that, as far as he knew, Shan Xingzhang, a mere governor, had 20 infantry and cavalry under his command. Yang Sheng, the commander of the Weirong Army, led Pengzhou, but had soldiers. The total number of military leaders, big and small, was estimated to be warriors; it was simply shocking.

Prosperity, that’s one of them.

Secondly, recovering Sanchuan would give him room to maneuver. If the country is in trouble, the sage can once again conquer Western Shu, instead of having nowhere to run like last time when Li Maozhen attacked and he could only defend the city.

It would be best if such a treasure land could be taken back. Unfortunately, this place is too easy to make people linger, even he has developed a greedy desire to get it, what kind of warrior is it. If a general is sent to conquer, I am afraid that within half a year, they will breed the desire to establish their own country. Liu Yan, Liu Zhang, Liu Bei, Zhong Hui, Li Xiong, Cui Ning, Wei Gao, Liu Pi, Chen Jingxuan, Wang Jian... Thinking of the ancient and modern people one by one, the general frowned. Moreover, the current atmosphere is bad, and it is child's play for warriors to rebel...

To enter Shu, only a saint could lead the army in person, but this was impossible. Only Fu Jian would dare to risk his life and property and travel thousands of miles. The only feasible way was to follow the precedent and send a prime minister who could handle the heavy responsibility to lead the army, but no prime minister in office could control tens of thousands of warriors.

The imperial court didn't even have troops to invade Shu.

The cavalry and infantry divisions have a total of barely 50,000 soldiers, and it would be good enough if they could keep Guanzhong.

"It's hard to travel, it's hard to travel!" Du Rangneng shook his head.

"General." Liu Chongwang, Li Xi and Zheng Yanchang finally arrived.

The eunuch brought the tea and put it down before leaving quietly. The four of them knelt on the futon together. Seeing that the saint had not arrived yet, they talked about the system first.

At the end of last month, the emperor issued an edict to open four subjects: erudition and eloquence, martial arts, loyalty, filial piety, chastity, and actuarial agriculture. Some people have signed up for the exams, so the exam time must be determined as soon as possible. In addition, who should pass the exam and who should not pass the exam must also be considered in advance.

Liu Chongwang talked about several bloody battles between the vassal states, saying that a spy in a certain place had sent back secret information, which might lead to the use of military force.

Zheng Yanchang hastily echoed a few words, but didn't say much. In fact, his ancestors for generations were all talented in both civil and military affairs. His grandfather Zheng Yuqing was a prime minister in the court, and a general in the capital. He was transferred to several towns and no warrior dared to act rashly. His cousin Zheng Congtang was stationed in Hedong and managed to kill five Jiedushi's Yajun and make them convert and surrender.

He is also familiar with military affairs and has been to the front line to fight against Huang Chao, but he has no interest in this field. His main job now is to make money.

"Chengde offered 30,000 dan of grain, 500 jin of silver, 6,000 sets of armor, 1,000 Mo Dao and other materials, which will arrive next month." But Zheng Yanchang was not happy, saying, "It is Wang Rong who is asking for something! Li Cunxiao, the governor of Ming and Ci, was treasonous, and Rong lured him back to Zhao. Ke Yong was angry and wanted to send more troops to punish him. Rong was afraid, so he asked the court for reconciliation."

If Wang Rong accepted the benefits but could not help others get rid of their misfortunes, he would not make any more contributions in the future. But how could he persuade Li Keyong?

This one-eyed man is really a troublemaker! Helian Duo, Li Kuangwei, Zhu Quanzhong, Tuoba Sigong, Wang Rong, Luo Hongxin, everyone wants to kill him. What's the difference between him and a street rat?

"Don't bother with Keyong, Hedong!" The general was quite displeased. He borrowed 30 shi of grain without even asking for it, and the Imperial Household Department went to buy horses. Most likely, the saint was forced into a corner by Zhuxie.

What, are you sure that the saint is kind and merciful?
"Liangzhe has also sent out a cargo of goods. There are 15,000 pieces of silk, one cart of gold, five carts of tea, three carts of spices, and 20,000 bushels of salt." Li Xi listed all the treasures, and said quietly, "In this world today, the only people who are respectful are Quanzhong, Dong Chang, Wang Rong, Wang Shifan, and Zhao Kuangning. I want to show Dong Chang my favor and make him the acting prime minister, the prime minister, and the prince of a county."

The financial problem was pressing. The fighting in the country was getting more and more intense, production was barren, the feudal lords were getting poorer and poorer, and the tributes were getting less and less. Several prime ministers were sentenced to three courts each, and they tried their best to make money, but they still felt worried.

Tap, tap, tap. Suddenly, the sound of wooden clogs was heard, and the Saint and the Privy Councilor arrived together.

Several people stopped talking, stood up and saluted.

The saint returned the gift.

"After the rebels killed Wang Jian, they pushed the commander Lu Bian to be the governor of Xichuan and stationed him in Chengdu. Shouliang and others gathered more than 100,000 soldiers to besiege the city, all of whom wanted to seize the commandership. How should we deal with him?"

"We have discussed the establishment of three additional towns."

Li Xi had already made a plan, and said slowly: "The four states of Shu, Qiong, Ya and Li will be the Ya'an Army. The two states of Lu and Chang will be the Luzhou Defense Envoy. The six states of Ba, Lang, Guo, Qu, Bi and Tong will be the Bazhong Observation Envoy."

Ya'an Army... As the name suggests, it means peace in Yazhou. By coincidence, it gave rise to the place name of later generations.

The Defense Commissioner of Luzhou was in charge of the area of Luzhou, and also included some of Changzhou, Chongqing, and Neijiang.

The Six Prefectures of Bazhong are located between the Jialing River to the east and the Qu River to the west, with river valleys, hills, mountains, plains, and bamboo forests. This division is not bad, with rivers on both sides, it is very difficult to make external advances.

The above, including the Jiedushi of Jiamei and Rongzhou, Penghan and Maozhou, the Defense Envoy of Suining, the Jiedushi of Longjian, the Dongchuan Army, plus the Xichuan Town of Chengdu Prefecture, are nine little thieves. With the territory divided into such a mess, the Jiedushi of Xichuan can be demoted to the Defense Envoy of Chengdu.

Oh, by the way, the imperial court can appoint the governors of the six states of Bazhong. After Wang Jian left, this place was in a state of being ownerless. Other towns were busy dealing with Wang Jian and could not take care of it. Well, it would be useless even if they could. The mountains are high, the water is deep, and there are many rivers. There are southern barbarians everywhere, and the men are cunning and the women are violent. It is difficult to manage it with twice the effort. Prince Zhanghuai was exiled here, and he could not keep the ambitious people.

"Who can do it?" asked the sage.

The conditions were indeed a little worse, but the six states had a population of several hundred thousand people. With a few years of patience, there would be a bright future. Since Wang Jian was dead, this was the only benefit the court could actually get, so it had to be cherished.

"We haven't decided on a candidate yet." Du Rangneng said. It's not enough to appoint just one inspector to the six states. There must be at least a hundred people, including deputy inspectors, military commanders, farm commanders, training commanders, governors of each state, and officials of all ranks in the shogunate. How to build a bureaucracy still needs to be carefully considered.

"How to deal with people like Yang Shouliang?" the sage asked again.

"Cannot be replicated." Liu Chongwang hesitated for a moment: "These are all arrogant ministers who can't wait to attack Chengdu and fill their stomachs. Before they get tired of killing, there is nothing we can do." These people fight to the death, and the court can't control them. This will be out of reach, so they can only adhere to the bottom line of not having a strong vassal.

Anyone who tries to unify Bashu will be attacked.

"Your Majesty, Chengde is paying tribute." Li Xi talked about what happened just now: "Li Situ is angry that Rong has induced his adopted son Cunxiao to rebel, and is about to raise troops to attack. Rong is afraid, so please issue an edict for reconciliation, and there should be envoys to go to Bian. If it is not handled properly, I am afraid that Chengde will completely turn to Quanzhong. I have thought about this matter again and again, and I still need your majesty to help..."

The voice of the latter sentence is very soft and can only be understood intuitively.

The saint's eyelids jumped. Why did he feel like he was serving his wives and concubines? Oh, I have to have another in-depth discussion with Concubine Xian tonight. Let her persuade me not to act like a flat-headed brother - this kind of talk is better to be discussed in private in the boudoir. It is easy to cause conflicts between husband and wife when it is said at ordinary times.

Looking at the sage's painful expression, he should have understood... If the matter could be properly mediated and Wang Rong could be spared from being attacked, the court would also gain a lot of benefits. Compared with the affairs of state, the joy, anger, sorrow and happiness of the sage are not worth mentioning!
Li Xi consoled himself with a few words, and struck while the iron was hot, saying, "Qian Liu, the defense envoy of Suzhou and Hangzhou, and Dong Chang, the governor of Zhejiang, have been paying tribute continuously and are very respectful to the emperor. It would be better to promote Liu as the governor, and make Chang the inspector of the Ministry of Personnel, the prime minister, and confer him the title of prince, so that he can protect the land of Wu and Yue for your majesty, and the court will not have to worry about the southeast. In this way, when the harvest in Liangzhe is good, there will be more -"

"Good!" Before Li Xi finished speaking and the sage was still thinking, the commander-in-chief unexpectedly agreed.

"Dong Chang has been offering countless treasures, grain and salt every year, year after year, so why not fulfill his wish and make him a prince first?" According to his original intention, it is of course not possible to give away titles indiscriminately, but wealth is tempting. Now there are many princes in the world, so it is no problem to reward Dong Chang with one.

In addition, the officials of Zhejiang Province hinted more than once that if Dong Chang could be promoted to King of Yue, Dong Chang would be willing to offer another 400,000 pieces of silk and 500 carts of salt as a reward to the emperor. However, this concept was completely different, and the court would definitely not lift the ban at the moment.

"Your Majesty, you can promote Dong Chang to the rank of Duke of Sangong, concurrently as Prime Minister, and confer him the title of Prince of a County; and promote Qian Liu to the rank of Surveillance Commissioner." Zheng Yanchang seconded the motion.

"Your Majesty may agree." Liu Chongwang also nodded.

Fine.

After discussing so many things, the sage was a little tired, so he ordered fresh cakes, fruits, and cold drinks to be served and took a rest. Du Rangneng sighed about the summer harvest in the capital this year. The weather was good, there was no war, the farmers were happy, and the price of wheat in Chang'an dropped again.

If this can be maintained for another year next year, people will feel at ease.

"Speaking of summer harvest, I heard that the harvest under the Xuanwu Army was so abundant that it could support tens of thousands of soldiers to besiege Xuzhou. It was shocking." Liu Chongwang casually started a new topic: "The spy reported it secretly. Quanzhong was dissatisfied with your majesty's marriage with Taiyuan, and said rudely: The saint has failed me. I have made countless tributes over the years and I am still your enemy. When peace is restored, I will come to the court to plead guilty."

"We still need to be on guard against fires and send out generals to guard the pass in case of emergencies." He looked at the other three people, his tone gloomy.

The palace maids and eunuchs serving on the side trembled unconsciously when they heard this. Is another vassal state going to rebel?
"It's just a threat!" Zheng Yanchang coughed and said, "The words of apology in the court are just a threat to the court to give him the four towns of Yan, Yun, Xu and Heyang. Shi Pu is about to be defeated and Bian is rich, Your Majesty needs to make up your mind early..."

"Does Lord Zheng think that I am a beggar? Zhang Quanyi has been appointed as your commander-in-chief, Zhang Cunjing has been appointed as Cai's commander-in-chief, and Ge Congzhou has been appointed as Yan's commander-in-chief. They are all Quanzhong's confidants. Zhao Kuangning of Xiangyang also pays tribute continuously, but he only governs four states." The sage waved his sleeves and said unhappily.

"Your Majesty..." Zheng Yanchang felt that Quanzhong's capture of the three towns was a foregone conclusion, and there was no need to make enemies over a piece of cake. No matter what, he would make some money from him first.

Zhu Quanzhong ruled over 20 states including Chen, Cai, Ru, Zheng, Song, Bian and Hua. He was so rich, shouldn't he be profited from?

Several major issues have been settled and the atmosphere has become much more relaxed.

"Has Jin Shangjun's defense envoy Feng Xingxi entered the court?"

"I'm on my way to Beijing."

"Have the envoys who are going to comfort the Tiande Army set out yet?"

"We should have passed Xiazhou."

Very good, the gold merchants can expect to get it. If the Tiande Army is not too arrogant, they will be recalled to strengthen the army.

"Your Majesty, recently I have seen soldiers in fancy clothes and on fine horses parading through the streets from time to time. I have also heard that some of them are visiting prostitutes and drinking in Pingkangfang. They laugh, scold, and act like knights and assassins." Liu Chongwang said casually, frowning, "This military discipline..."

"What a bunch of bastards!" The sage cursed, and said, "I will go to check the troops tonight at midnight. Anyone who is not in the camp, drunk, gambling, or visiting prostitutes, will be arrested by the chief military officer."

"I heard that Your Majesty inspects the troops every three days? That's certainly diligent, but I think it would be best if you went every morning and evening."

"It should be so." The saint said with a sullen face.

If you inspect the army every three days, there will be some brave people who dare not return home at night and sneak out to have fun. If you go every ten days...

The Privy Councilor Zhao, who was sitting on the side, observed the expressions of the people and sighed twice. Just now, the king and his ministers made decisions on military and political affairs, and they were calm and composed. When the mention of the military man messing around was mentioned, his expression changed instantly.

"Everyone, the Sanqing Palace reports that Master Weixia committed suicide out of grief." Lady Wenren Chuchu of Xingyang County suddenly entered the palace to report.

The five people were shocked.

Du, Liu, and Zheng all looked at the saint in unison. Wasn't Master Weixia the concubine of the previous emperor, Meng Cairen? They knew that the Ministry of Rites had previously requested that the nuns of the previous dynasty be relocated to Xuandu Temple. Because Xuandu Temple had not been fully repaired, the nuns were temporarily practicing in Sanqing Hall. Why did she commit suicide out of grief?

Could it be——

"Fortunately, he was found by the waiter. He is currently unconscious, and Concubine Shu hurried over." Wenren Chuchu added.

"That's good." The saint's suddenly nervous mood calmed down a little.

How could I be worthy of my royal brother if I let this sister-in-law who looks so much like Nagasawa Masami die at the age of 31?

"Let's go and see Master Weixia." The saint stood up and left.

Sister-in-law, sister-in-law, you can't be so depressed.

　Judging from the current situation, I am heading west alone, while you and your friends are heading east. I have no tickets and no words. Melancholy, melancholy!
　　
　
(End of this chapter)