It all started with one person becoming a shaman, but the Stand user...

And why did Zhu Youzhen use the word "escape" when retreating in the original work?

Not to mention that they were ordered by Li Siyuan to ostensibly assist Li Cunxu in his campaign, but in reality to monitor Li Cunzhong, the leader of the "Filial Piety" sect, and Li Cunxiao, the leader of the "Loyalty" sect.

These two are experts from the Tongwenguan.

One major star position, one major celestial position.

Among the Jin army alone, there are Zhou Dewei, Fu Cunshen, Li Jianji and others whose names can be found in history.

Taking advantage of the opportunity, Qinghe Miao used the system to test things out with a few of them while exchanging pleasantries.

It was discovered that these generals, whether famous or not, are generally between level 20 and 40, and their strength is quite remarkable!

Moreover, they are all proficient in battle and warfare.

With so many powerful generals gathered together, and Li Cunxu himself being no ordinary ruler, it's no wonder he had the confidence to compete with Liang's army.

Even if Wang Yanzhang were made of iron, how many nails could he hammer?

Thinking about it this way, I suddenly realized that Zhu Youzhen was also a capable person, and his decision was quite correct.

Over the next few days, Qinghe Miao continued to move around the Jin army camp.

He was born with good looks, spoke eloquently, and was also generous with his money.

The modern fine wines and dishes brought from the main world, coupled with the knowledge and composure that did not belong to this era, easily broke through the barriers of many arrogant and fierce generals.

At the banquet, toasts were exchanged.

Even Li Cunzhong and his companion, who were ordered to monitor Li Cunxu, were not spared.

After they tried it, they inevitably drank a few more glasses.

In this way, Qinghe Miao got along well with these generals who would go down in history.

How much sincerity and how much superficial politeness is involved is not important.

The important thing is that it's never a bad thing to have good relationships with these people.

In order to demonstrate his open-mindedness, Qing Hemiao naturally did not forget to visit the current boss, Li Cunxu.

They took good care of him, making sure he ate and drank well.

When the two got into the mood, they didn't forget to put on an impromptu performance on the spot.

In contrast, there was the "Li Xingyun" incident, which became known throughout the land and attracted countless forces to swarm towards Chang'an like sharks smelling blood.

Li Cunxu, however, remained unusually calm, wisely choosing not to get involved in this mess.

Instead, they prepared to conserve their energy and prepare for battle.

When the world is exhausted and all the heroes are fighting each other and hurt, then the mantis stalks the cicada, unaware of the oriole behind.

With a single move, they marched eastward and swept across the entire land!

Qinghe Miao watched all this from the sidelines, but sighed inwardly.

Li Cunxu was indeed a wise man.

He knew what it took to conquer the world.

It's already on the right track.

But a pity.

Clever, but not clever enough.

With such a large net laid out, how could anyone be allowed to sit outside and watch the tigers fight while the fishermen profit?

Such domineering aura is overflowing, giving him the appearance of a holy king.

Isn't that courting death?

But that has nothing to do with Qinghe Miao.

History has proven that this guy is not the one who can end the chaos of the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period. Just do his job.

With the situation in Luzhou City initially stabilized, this place was ultimately not the territory designated for the Taihang Army.

Their current activities mainly involve being used as guns by others in the mountains.

The main force of the Jin state has arrived, with enough manpower to assist the garrison in completing the initial repairs of the city's defenses and the restoration of order.

Therefore, Qinghe Miao bid farewell to Li Cunxu and prepared to lead his troops back to the depths of the Taihang Mountains.

However, before returning to the mountain, he had one more important thing to do.

Zezhou.

Now that he has been appointed "acting prefect of Zezhou," his official title has been established, and his military seal, official robes, and fish tally have been cast on the spot.

This means that Zezhou is an important town located south of Luzhou and at the foot of the Taihang Mountains.

In name, it is now under his jurisdiction.

Previously, the Taihang Army's survival mode was a typical "fighting to sustain itself."

They seized Liang's military supplies, captured their vehicles and equipment, and incorporated the prisoners into their ranks.

During this period, they not only had enough to support themselves, but also had the capacity to support the garrison in Luzhou.

However, after the Battle of Luzhou, the Liang army contracted its defensive lines, and in a short period of time, there were no large-scale supply lines to seize.

An army of nearly a thousand men was consuming enormous amounts of food and supplies every day.

Without a stable source of supplies, relying solely on mountain reserves can sustain us for a while, but it's not a long-term solution.

When Qinghe Miao came to this world, he also brought some modern, high-yield seeds with him.

However, those seeds were basically only planted on a few hills around the Fenglingyueying Temple.

Moreover, it is very difficult to preserve the seed.

It was not enough to support the army's attrition.

Therefore, the Taihang Army will be supplied with provisions, weapons, and silver in the future.

Theoretically, we should prioritize self-sufficiency in this area.

Therefore, it is crucial to ensure that Zeju remains a "legally designated supply location".

Qinghe Miao, accompanied by a few personal guards, rode lightly and entered Zezhou City first.

He was greeted by a group of officials from the prefectural government, led by a judge surnamed Zhou, who had a thin face and bowed extremely low when he greeted them, but spoke very fluently:

"I was unaware of Your Excellency's arrival and have failed to greet you properly. Please forgive me! The prefectural government's accounts and storerooms are all ready; please take a look, Your Excellency..."

Qinghe Miao didn't stand on ceremony with him and went straight to getting the tax records of Zezhou in recent years.

But the moment he unfolded the case file, he felt as if half of his blood had turned cold.

Leather tax, tree felling tax, toll tax, door and window tax, land tax, poll tax, salt tax, wine tax...

The sheer volume and variety of taxes made him dizzy.

Qinghe Miao swore that he had never seen so many types of taxes in his two lifetimes combined.

Some tax categories are even the kind that normal humans wouldn't even be able to imagine.

Chapter 95 Liu Zhiyuan

The accounts were so detailed that they practically wanted to collect a fee from every citizen who went out for a few extra breaths.

What does "as fierce as a wolf or a tiger" mean?

That's it.

They were fully prepared to chew up and swallow the still-breathing living person, bones and marrow.

The people weren't alive; they were basically just waiting to die in the same spot.

Qinghe Miao, who came from a later generation, felt that he was still ignorant and remained silent for a long time.

"Let's go."

After a long while, under the puzzled gazes of his guards behind him, he closed the ledger, waved his sleeves, and left without taking a single piece of food.

He didn't even utter a single word of reproach to Judge Zhou.

He could deliver as many impassioned speeches as he wanted, and if needed, he could even copy down a poem on the spot: "If I ever achieve my lofty ambitions, I will dare to laugh at Huang Chao for not being a true man."

But in this day and age, there's really not much to say.

Because Qinghe Miao did not believe that this official was capable of managing things properly and would reasonably squeeze out the supplies provided to them from the existing benefits.

More likely.

In the blink of an eye, he will shift "his share" onto the shoulders of ordinary people who are already on the verge of collapse.

Every grain of rice that is taken away will become, a hundredfold, the last straw that breaks the camel's back for some families.

His scope of authority is awkward.

Qinghe Miao could set quotas, supervise the allocation of weapons, and order wealthy households to "happily contribute" to the stipend.

If these people are dissatisfied or make mistakes, he can even replace the officials and deal with them without anyone saying anything.

This was the status of military men during the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period.

But that doesn't change anything.

Qinghe Miao has absolutely no ability, foundation, or manpower to change the policy implementation of a prefecture.

Moreover, during the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period, the "territory" given by military governors and prefectural governors to their subordinate generals mostly meant the same thing.

Here's a spot for you. If you're so capable, go and scrape it yourself.

Whether you scrape a lot or a little, whether you can scrape it off or not, that's your own business.

All the higher-ups care about is getting soldiers, food, and winning battles; they don't care about the lives of the common people.

Li Cunxu naturally shared the same idea.

This was a common practice during the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period.

Unfortunately, Qinghe Miao ultimately couldn't bring himself to do it.

Garlic bird, garlic bird.

In the end, he had to figure out the solution for food supplies and weaponry himself.

Let's give these ancient Shanxi folks who love vinegar a break.

After all that trouble, most of the most tangible benefits of Li Cunxu's thick stack of rewards were gone.

However, the trip was not entirely fruitless.

On the way back to the Taihang Mountains, Qinghe Miao's personal guard had an additional taciturn, thin young man.

This person was about seventeen or eighteen years old, not much younger than Qinghe Miao, but had a dark complexion and rough, cracked hands.

It's clearly the result of years of hard labor.

He spoke very little, but his eyes were unusually calm.

This person's name is Liu Zhiyuan.

Qinghe Miao was someone who was easily "transferred" from Li Siyuan through Li Cunxu's connections.

At that time, Liu Zhiyuan was poor and destitute. He had married into the Li family and suffered all kinds of contempt.

Later, he joined Li Siyuan's army and became a low-level stable boy, responsible for raising horses.

That's why they say horse breeders produce talented people.

This was the founding emperor of the Later Han Dynasty during the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period.

Qinghe Miao guessed that the reason he was able to bring the person under his command was not necessarily because the person was currently unknown, but also because Li Cunxu had enough influence.

Li Siyuan's side is probably happy to make a fuss whether there are dates or not.

Before Liu Zhiyuan arrived, he had given him most of the instructions.