Late Tang Dynasty Floating Life

Chapter 1042 It is all about women

The sun is shining in the forest, the birds are chirping, jumping and singing on the branches.

Chu Shi woke up from his sleep.

Zhang Hui has already washed and washed, and is practicing calligraphy in front of the desk.

Mrs. Zhu of Pengcheng County also came.She is a woman who can't stay idle, so she made breakfast by herself early in the morning, and then served it together with Wang Shi, Zhang Shi, Shi Shi, Qi Shi and others.

Seeing that Mrs. Chu was awake, Mrs. Qi and Mrs. Rong stepped forward and helped her up.

Mrs. Chu is pregnant again, which makes these women very envious.Only after giving birth to a child can one have status, otherwise she would be an ordinary court lady who worked in the Ye Ting Bureau until her death, Wang Yanfan was not a kind person.

King Xia felt pity for these women captured by him, enjoyed them all the time, made them pregnant, and then escaped from the sea of ​​suffering—well, at least that's what Shao Shude said.

"Chu Silang has become the commander of the Xuzhou Army." Zhang Hui walked over, sat on the head of the bed, and put his arms around Chu.

Chu nodded.She received the letter, and her younger brother's joy and excitement almost jumped out on the paper, and Mrs. Chu was also very happy.

She was very much loved by King Xia, and she was pregnant three times in four years. After the children grow up, it is not a bad thing to have uncle to take care of her.

"Ms. Sheng, your family also has many uncles and brothers in the army, right?" Zhang Hui glanced at the Qi family who was standing cautiously aside, and asked.

Mrs. Qi nodded lightly: "Mostly work under Chang'an Wang Shaoyin's tent. Recently, the clan has selected a few sons who have practiced martial arts hard for more than ten years, and they have been working for Ma Zhi."

The Qi family in Qianzhou, like the Chu family in Henan Province, is not a scholarly family, but a local tyrant with a thriving population and a family of martial arts.There are a lot of fields, a lot of people, and a lot of martial arts. They have always been the targets of the local generals. Because they continue to provide a large number of children who are skilled in bows and horses. Maybe there will be one or two general stars, which in turn further consolidated the family power. The family pays more attention to investing in martial arts, which is actually the same as investing in education in later generations, but the direction is different.

The Fengtian Qi clan originated from Shenzhou, Hebei.During the civil strife in Chengde, the Boye army was slaughtered, and Yu Zhong fled in a hurry to Chang'an. Later, he was settled in Fengtian County, Jingzhao Prefecture, and gradually developed into a local tyrant.

Qi's mood is very complicated now, and he doesn't know how to describe it.

Her father was killed by her husband Zhu Jin, and the rest of the family did not dare to stay in Yanzhou for a long time. They returned to Fengtian one after another inland within a year, and they lost contact since then.Last month, she received a family letter from the Fengtian Qi family, saying that many of the Yan clan's descendants would serve the Prince Xia's son, and they wanted to gain fame, which made her even more disturbed.

"His Royal Highness defeated Yang Xingmi in Huainan, and now he is going north to Weizhou. If the bandits are repelled, some things will not be far away. The position of the prince is as stable as Mount Tai. If you succeed in conquering Shu, it is also a good way out to make Jin the crown prince." Zhang Hui Said: "Don't think too much. Even a woman like me can understand the overall situation of the world. From now on, there will not be so many opportunities. The Qi family in Qianzhou voted a little late..."

Qi raised her head and looked at Zhang Hui.

Zhang Hui smiled at her, and said: "The King of Xia wants to move powerful people from all over the country to Beijing. If the Qi family in Qianzhou can set an example, it may be valued."

Qi was silent for a long time.

Zhang Hui didn't urge her, but chatted with Mr. Chu about some interesting things.

"Annan Jiedu envoy Mo Zaisi's nephew married a niece from one of our clans, and he just got married in Songzhou." Zhang Hui said with a smile: "The young man is powerful in martial arts and skilled in bow and horse. This time he came to Luoyang and offered many tributes. It is a rare and rare item in the Central Plains.”

"What strange things?" Mrs. Chu asked curiously.

"Jiaozhou offers [-] sheets of shark leather, [-] pieces of anaconda snake gall, [-] pieces of gold and silver wares, and [-] bags of betel nuts," Zhang Hui said.

"Fengzhou offers some silver wares, tin wares, rattan wares, anaconda gall, and cardamom."

"Lu Zhou offered silver wares, incense sticks, and tortoise shells."

"Aizhou offers gold and silver wares, ivory, rhino horn, agarwood, emerald feathers, etc."

……

Shark leather is shark skin, and anaconda is actually boa constrictor.Cardamom and carapace can be used as medicinal materials, and they are also one of the raw materials of spices.Hawksbill, ivory, and rhinoceros horns are also rare commodities in the Central Plains, and green feathers are the bright feathers of some tropical birds.

"It's been a long time since Mo Zaisi went to Annan, right? I heard His Highness said that there was a military disturbance there, and I don't know what's going on now." Chu said.

"After His Highness attacked Yun, Yan, and Qi towns, the towns in the south were terrified, and they sent envoys to make friends one after another." Zhang Hui said, "Although Mo Zaisi is His Highness's confidant, he may not be able to completely decide everything. Paying tribute is obviously inseparable from His Highness repeatedly breaking enemy towns."

Shao Shude has a bad habit.

He likes to rest his head on a woman's chest or lap, close his eyes, and let the woman next to him read the official letter to him.Therefore, people like Zhang Hui and Chu Shi are well-informed to death.

It is true that Mo Zaisi has been Annan's governor for some years.He replaced An Youquan, the Hedong general who had served as the governor of the Jinghai Navy in history, and took [-] sergeants to the post.After arriving in Jiaozhou, relying on the elite soldiers in his hands, he overwhelmed the local tyrants from all walks of life and barely maintained the situation.

But Annan's environment really made the northern warriors uncomfortable.Over the past few years, more than half of the [-] soldiers have withered due to combat and epidemics. The loss is really amazing.Even Mo Zaisi himself had a serious illness and almost didn't survive it.

There is actually no other reason for sending envoys to the court this time, but to recruit soldiers.

Shao Shude received the news on the way to Weizhou.He attached great importance to it and immediately summoned his staff to discuss countermeasures.

He will definitely agree to Mo Zaisi's request to recruit soldiers.

The feudal town of Jing Haijun is, to be honest, considered submissive.Compared with the Central Plains feudal towns where military riots erupted at every turn, they are simply obedient, and there are fewer military riots.

This may have something to do with Datang's power.After all, just over thirty years ago, Gao Pian had just defeated the Annan rebels and the Nanzhao army in the local area.Moreover, the Annan people's rebellion did not really want to rebel, but the former Jiedu Envoy Li Zhuo was too greedy and cruel, killing people and looting property at every turn. In terms of heart, he was ruled by the Tang Dynasty for more than [-] years and wanted to be king and emperor. Very few.

Shao Shude deeply knew that it was much easier to control Annan at this time than to destroy it after it became truly independent.

People's hearts cannot be changed, and once changed, it is difficult to recover.People in Annan Eleven States still recognize the brand of Datang. The local tyrants have no information, and they may not know the current situation in the Central Plains. They think that the Li family sage can still mobilize five troops to suppress the local area like 30 years ago——Yes , The five managements are originally one. If there is an accident in one of the feudal towns, the remaining four towns will be mobilized to attack, and there is no need for additional troops from the central government.

But then again, after all, more than thirty years have passed, and people have changed generations.Datang's weakened control can be felt slowly.Just like the towns in the Central Plains, the power of local tyrants and mid- and lower-level indigenous generals in Lingnan, Annan and other feudal towns will inevitably rise slowly, and they will gradually ignore the orders of the imperial court.

The three thousand party soldiers that Mo Zaisi brought over greatly slowed down Jing Haijun's progress.After all, the Annan native soldiers are also registered sergeants of the imperial court. After more than 200 years, there is still inertia. The matter of rebellion and self-reliance has not yet reached a consensus, and no one has dared to launch it.

At this time, it only needs to send a mere one or two thousand soldiers and horses to achieve an effect that would be difficult for a hundred thousand troops in later generations.

There is another very important reason why Shao Shude agreed to Mo Zaisi's recruitment: he wanted to usurp the throne.

After the fall of the Tang Dynasty, are these remote military towns still obedient?
History tells us the answer: not necessarily.

Ding Nanjun is considered obedient, and he still recognizes the Central Plains court, but the Northern Song Dynasty didn't play well, and he lost him by his own mistakes, and raised something like Xixia.

The Guiyi army was weak and was wiped out by the Uighurs. In fact, they were willing to obey, after all, the external threat was too great.

But the towns in the south basically don't listen to the Central Plains court, and at the last time they retain a semi-independent status.

Now the five pipes have shown bad signs.The military governor of the Qing Dynasty just died of illness last year. As a result, the shogunate marching army Sima left behind and began to expand. The signs are very bad.He even tried to attack the Jing Navy through the water channel that Gao Pian dredged back then, but was repelled by Mo Zaisi.

Shao Shude was worried that as soon as he founded the country and proclaimed himself emperor, the feudal towns far away from the emperor would all become kings and hegemons one after another, and the situation was out of control.

Therefore, he planned to maintain Annan, a place with relatively strong control, and slowly clean up Liu Yin in Guangzhou.

"Although there are many rare things in Annan, there are still many unrest in the five managements, and some people may rebel." Zhang Hui said suddenly: "Among all the towns, the Jing Navy is more obedient. Annan is guarding."

Mrs. Chu is also a smart person, and she knew it when she heard it, and said, "Ordinary soldiers, I'm afraid they won't believe it. If the incident of Pang Xun happened again, it would not be beautiful. My disciples of the Chu family have practiced martial arts for many years and have no chance. I don't know. Maybe go to Annan?"

"Your Highness also means the same." Zhang Hui said with a smile: "If the Chu family's children are willing to go, they must be appointed as generals. If anyone in the Qi family is willing to go, they can also be appointed as officials."

Qi Shi hesitated to speak.

Zhang Hui smiled, stepped forward to hold her hand, and whispered: "It's not like you don't know what your Highness likes. How the Chu family got rich, the Qi family can do the same."

Qi's face flushed when she heard this, and she felt aggrieved at the same time.King Xia didn't look at her directly. Fortunately, she was eaten several times in the flower field, by the river, or on top of a tree trunk, and her clothes were torn to pieces.

But what Zhang Hui said is right, King Xia is a pervert, and he likes it that way.In addition, the Qi family really misses their younger brothers and sisters a little bit. It would be good if they could be given a way out—go to Annan to serve as an official or general. It is a shortcut to promotion.

Besides, Annan may not be that bad.Jiang Gongfu, the prime minister of the Dezong Dynasty, was from Aizhou (now Qinghua, Vietnam) under the rule of Jing Haijun. In recent years, there have been Annan scholars who have been admitted to the Jinshi in Chang'an and Luoyang. The places that can cultivate so many scholars, at least the cities It shouldn't be bad here. Jing Haijun is among the five managements, and it should also be a relatively wealthy town.

"Okay." Mrs. Qi bowed her head in response.

Zhang Hui smiled, took Qi Shi's hand and sat down, then whispered something in her ear, Qi Shi's face turned red in an instant, and at the same time, there was a look of longing.

(End of this chapter)