Late Tang Dynasty Floating Life

Chapter 595 Conditions
The night in late autumn is getting colder and frost is everywhere.

Shao Shude returned to the barracks outside Shacheng Town, and had an interview with several officials who hurried over.

"How many people did Ximen Palace Supervisor gather?"

Ximen Zhong hesitated for a moment, and said: "There are more than four thousand people, mainly the left army of Shence."

"Have you ever given out rewards to the sergeants?"

The recruitment system of the country is not very mature.Strictly speaking, the sergeants had no wages, and a little food was given to family members who came with the army every month, and some cloth was given to make clothes in spring and autumn, and rewards were only given out on important festivals.

When Mu Zong first came to the throne, he gave each of the Shence soldiers 60 cents, but usually it might only be a few cents—the income of the Shence sergeants is indeed so rich that the sergeants in other towns are jealous.

Rewards account for almost half of a sergeant's income, which is different from the "reward" in the normal understanding of later generations, which is actually wages.

"I was given two strings of money and four bolts of silk." Ximen Zhongsui was a little ashamed, and the rewards were much less than usual. It is understandable that the soldiers were dissatisfied.

"So much?" Shao Shude was surprised, it was much more than the reward Shuofang Army gave at one time: "Where did you get the money?"

Ximen Zhongsui was a little embarrassed and didn't say anything.But everyone understands that it is probably stolen from somewhere nearby under the threat of looting, right?

"Ximen palace inspector, how do you think the imperial court should revive?" Shao Shude stopped asking about the sergeant's reward, and asked another question instead.

Well, it sounds a bit silly, but the meaning contained in it is not simple, it involves Bei Si's attitude.

Marshal Shao has already decided to intervene deeply in the government affairs.Constrained by the current situation in the world, of course he will not directly intervene, but indirect influence is inevitable.

Logically speaking, Ximen Zhongsui has worked with him for a long time, and he is a very good candidate to control Beisi.But the problem is that Ximen Zhongsui did not completely fall for him, he has his own position.

There was no other reason for the happy cooperation in the past. Zhongguan Beisi only wanted to stabilize his position, and he didn't want any changes in the court.Coupled with the fact that the court officials are constantly plotting ridiculous conspiracies one after another, it is not surprising that Ximen and Shao joined forces, and they just got what they needed from each other.

But now Shao Shude clearly wanted to usurp their power.He was looking for an agent, not a collaborator.Or even if it is not an agent, at least it must be an in-depth collaborator who cooperates in major matters.

Ximen Chongsui was well aware of the seriousness of this question, and after thinking about it for a while, he still replied: "The imperial court should keep it quiet."

Shao Shude was not very satisfied with this answer, and asked again: "I want to present Wang Bian as Fengtian Jiedu envoy and guard Qianling for the imperial court. How about it?"

Ximen Chongsui's expression remained unchanged, and he asked, "May I ask Your Highness, where is Fengtian Jiedu Envoy?"

"The five counties of Fengtian, Haojuan, Wugong, Yuquan, and Liquan were set up as Ganzhou, and it was the jurisdiction of the Fengtian Jiedushi." Shao Shude said.

This is the jurisdiction of Qi Kejian when he served as Fengtian Jiedushi in the first year of Zhonghe.At that time, the background was that Huang Chao entered Chang'an and might invade westward at any time. The court regarded Qi Kejian and Qi Kerang as loyal brothers, so they were appointed as Fengtian Jiedu envoys to help the court stand in the front line.

Of course, after Huang Chao was pacified, the court swiftly dismissed Qi Kejian from his position.

The imperial court still wanted to work hard to control the Jingzhao Mansion, and did not want to be taken away by anyone.

However, after the rise of Li Maozhen in history, he became a dominator in Guanzhong and once controlled most of the places except Jingzhaofu and Huazhou, even Yanzhou in the north of Guanbei and Shannan West Road, and went south. An attempt in Shuzhong.Li Maozhen is so powerful, of course, it is impossible not to extend his hand to Jingzhao Mansion. Qianzhou and Yaozhou were successively established to control it.It's just that his soldiers are really bad. Li Ke used them to abuse him at will, and Zhu Quanzhong also abused him at will when he came over. He was even beaten by the Bian army with an epic battle result of [-] to [-].

Shao Shude's desire to set up Qianzhou was also the first attempt to control Jingzhao Mansion.If it goes well, Yaozhou may be invited later to govern the six counties of Huayuan, Fuping, Sanyuan, Yunyang, Tongguan, and Meiyuan.

As soon as these two prefectures were established, almost half of the Jingzhao Mansion was taken away. One can imagine the mood of the imperial court.I don’t know how they managed to maintain it in history. Maybe it’s because they don’t need to raise many troops. They only need a few thousand or ten thousand soldiers to maintain the order in Chang’an.

"Your Highness, this matter is difficult." Of course, Ximen Chongsui knew that Shao Shude's words were intended to test him, and if he answered badly, it might lead to disaster, but he still felt that he had to fight for it: "Jingzhao Mansion, the imperial court The division of the five counties into Qianzhou may cause financial difficulties for the imperial court and cause chaos in Beijing."

Shao Shude took a serious look at him, then suddenly smiled, and said, "The Ximen palace supervisor is really a loyal man, your majesty is expected to be rejuvenated."

Ximen Zhongsui is also a person who has been in power for many years and shows no signs of emotion or anger. However, when facing the martial artist who directly flips the table at every turn, he still finds it difficult to resist. Hearing Shao Shude's words, cold sweat broke out on his back, and he couldn't help sighing in his heart.

Perhaps, those words just now had greatly offended King Xia.

……

In Shacheng Town, the sage was discussing matters with three prime ministers Cui Yin, Wang Tuan and Zheng Yanchang.

As for the former celebrity Cui Zhaowei, he has already lost the qualification to participate in the confidentiality, and the next step is likely to be relegated from Beijing.The possibility of being a Jiedushi is not very high, it would be nice to be a governor.The worst case is being demoted to a remote military state to join the army as a resident, such as Yazhou, Qianzhou, etc. This is often a prelude to death.

Zhang Jun, the former "confidant" of the saint, was like this, but he secretly hooked up with Zhu Quanzhong, and now he has gone to Henan, and the court cannot interrogate him.

Cui Zhaowei is the second generation celebrity before Shengjia, and the saint once obeyed his advice.But as the saying goes, climbing high and falling hard, once a sage hates a certain person, the hatred will be monstrous, and Cui Zhaowei can only ask for luck.

"I didn't expect the Yan army to create such a mess." The sage's eyes were slightly red, and he said, "I have lost my way, and I have brought trouble to all the ministers."

Cui, Wang, and Zheng also looked sad.

After a long time, Cui Yin still said: "Your Majesty, it is advisable to quickly settle the rebels and return to the palace. If you move away for a long time, there may be changes."

"What's the matter?" The saint had some guesses in his heart, and his voice was a little bit wrong.

"Your...I sent people to the capital to investigate." Cui Yin replied, "There is turmoil in the capital, and rebellious soldiers are raging. There are rumors that Li Kuangwei and Shi Zan want to establish King Ji as emperor."

"What?" The saint looked like he was about to shed tears just now, but now he was furious, and turned to look at Luo Quanguan, the lieutenant of Shence Right Army.

"Your Majesty, someone has heard about this matter." Luo Quanguan is a middle-ranking official, and his speech is not as polite and tactful as court officials. He only heard him say: "Kang Wei rebelled, saying, 'Your Majesty is tired of coming to the throne. , May King Ji supervise the country, and please take care of your Majesty in the East Palace.'”

Of course, Luo Quanguan still saved some face, because what Li Kuangwei said in the rumors was even worse, such as "what the lord does is not the lord of the country", and what "abandoning the faint and making the bright, the country's great plan" and so on, almost put It's useless to belittle today.

No matter how domineering Luo Quanguan was, he wouldn't be able to irritate the saint so much, it wasn't necessary.

The saint pursed his lips tightly after hearing this, not knowing what he was thinking.

Cui Yin, Zheng Yanchang and others made eye contact and were about to say something when the saint suddenly spoke.

"Looking at it now, Shaoqing is actually the most loyal." The saint's face was blue, and he said in a cold voice: "I have come to Linyu, and I always admire the virtue of living, and I have no desire to kill. I don't want some people to be so arrogant and rebellious." !"

Obviously, because there are always people who single out King Ji to speak out, the saint has murderous intentions towards him.

In addition, the sage's definition of loyal ministers is too unreliable.The same person is sometimes a rebellious minister and a traitor in his mouth, and sometimes a loyal minister and virtuous, which makes people puzzled.

"Your Majesty—" Cui Yin's complexion changed, and he said anxiously.

"Cui Qing, don't be impatient." The sage stopped Cui Yin's words, and said: "Order Shude to be the commander of the camps on all sides of the capital, so as to win Kuang Wei and Shi Zan."

Having said that, he paused, thoughtful.

There are some words that he is not convenient to say.King Ji is not arrogating the throne now, but he is a great treasure, and he can also be coerced under excuses. At that time, there must be many courtiers pleading for mercy, and most of them will be fine.

The saint deeply felt the threat of King Ji, Gein, not once or twice.From the day of the first emperor's great journey, the virtuous and elderly King Ji has shrouded his heart like a dark cloud, biting his heart all the time.

It would be great if it could be eliminated once and for all.

……

"The agricultural tools, seeds, and cattle needed by the households in Huazhou need to be prepared." After sending Ximen Zhongsui away, Shao Shude seized the time to deal with official duties.

"Don't worry, Marshal. All the treasuries in Lingzhou have accumulated reserves, and they can rent them out to the people." Chen Cheng said, "It's just that the forced relocation of civilian households still requires a large army to escort them. What department did the Marshal order?"

Ten thousand Huazhou households will be forcibly relocated to Lingzhou to enrich the local household registration.

This prefecture has only three counties, with a population of more than half a million, and the average household has less than ten mu of land, which is really too crowded.

Tongzhou is similar, but not so exaggerated, only more than [-] people.

After discussing with the officials of the palace, Shao Shude decided to move [-] households from Tongzhou and Huazhou to Lingzhou, and then move [-] households from Huazhou to Heyang.On the one hand, it can delay the pressure of Huazhou's population and land, and on the other hand, it can also enrich the household registration of Guanbei and Heyang, killing two birds with one stone.

"There are [-] Zhen Guojun troops. Today, [-] are in Qingtang, and [-] are in Pujin Pass and Fenglingdu. You can choose [-] soldiers to escort the people of Huazhou to Lingzhou. Send an order to Ren Yuji to let him Send state soldiers to escort [-] households from Tongzhou to Lingzhou." Shao Shude ordered: "Wang Bian still has [-] soldiers on hand, explain to him clearly that we will escort [-] households from Huazhou to Heyang. Find him a good place."

"Obey." Chen Cheng thought for a while, and felt that there was nothing wrong with this arrangement.

"Marshal." Zheng Yong, the tenth personal soldier, called softly from outside.

"What's the matter? Come in and tell me." Shao Shude glared at him and said.

"Marshal, the sage sent the inner court female officer Yang Shi to come here, saying that there is something important to discuss." Zheng Yong walked in and reported.

Chen Cheng and Zhao Guangfeng made a guess almost instantly, and smiled at each other.

How could they not know the news that Cui Yin could inquire about?In fact, they know better.

Li Kuangwei is already holding a state supervision ceremony for King Ji, and has arrested some court officials who have not escaped in time, intending to let them pay homage.

The saint probably knew about this at this time, so one can imagine his mood.

Neither middle officials nor court officials were sent to contact, but only female officials from the inner court were sent. Why do you come, is it not clear?
"Marshal, this may be a condition..." Chen Cheng said vaguely.

Shao Shude nodded slightly, indicating that he knew.

After tempting Ximen Chongsui, he had already sentenced him to death.It is not necessary to kill him, but it is necessary to change to an obedient person.Zhongguan Han Quanhui was Shao Shude's preferred candidate, but he still planned to have a talk with Han Quanhui before he could make a final decision, that is, who would give this fortune.

In addition, the court officials of Nanya also need to make arrangements.

He wanted Xiao Yun to be the prime minister, but he felt that his qualifications were insufficient and his age was too young - he was only in his thirties this year, not even in his forties, this age was too young for a prime minister up.

If it doesn't work, Du Rang can only be allowed to return to Beijing.

Of course, Shao Shude hoped to search again in the capital to see if anyone took the initiative to join him.Cui Yin is also an option, but further observation is needed.

This person must not have too many ambitions, so as not to cause a mess and set his backyard on fire.At the same time, you must have a little skill, you can settle many affairs in the court, and you have to be smooth and not make everyone feel in danger.

Finally, loyalty must be enough, this is the most basic.

It's really hard to find this candidate.

"Let Mrs. Yang come in." Shao Shude asked to put away the map, letter, and military report on the table, and ordered.

(End of this chapter)