Late Tang Dynasty Floating Life

Chapter 646

Outside the city of Xiao County, a banquet has just ended.

Li Fan returned to the station with deep emotion.

Xiao County, a place that has been desolate for an unknown number of years, has actually become a place with a stable supply of money and food.

Pooh!That's why party people can see it.

There are mountains everywhere, although it is not without flat land, but it is difficult to connect them.A small mountain col can often only contain dozens or even a few households.Dale land is good, but too little.

However, King Xia was willing to spend so much money to get so many livestock.The mountain has lush vegetation and gurgling streams. It is an excellent place to herd livestock, similar to Hengshan.

Xiao County is just another Hengshan Dangxiang settlement.

"Today's Dajiu, the mutton is very good. The people of Dangxiang are really good at raising sheep."

"That's Hexi sheep, not Shayuan sheep, you've eaten less."

"Actually, fish are not bad. How can the party members also raise fish?"

"If there are agricultural students teaching, there is no problem."

"Why are there no agricultural students coming to Shanzhou?"

Outside the post station, the guards chatted in twos and threes, reminiscing about the feast that had just ended.

Li Fan strode into the station.

As soon as I entered, I felt something was wrong.The inner three floors and the outer three floors were full of sergeants, with their knives out of their sheaths and their bows drawn up. Zhao Guangfeng sat on the innermost side and looked at him with a smile.

The sound of horseshoes sounded outside the post station, and there may be hundreds of horses at that density.

Li Fan's expression suddenly changed.

"What is Li Shuai still standing there for?" Zhao Guangfeng got up to invite him, and said with a smile, "Yixing Yangxian tea, come and taste it together."

"Should have thought of such a day." Li Fan shook his head and smiled wryly.

He stopped the soldiers from moving blindly, took off his saber and bow tip and handed them to his followers, sat down in front of Zhao Guangfeng, and asked, "Is this what King Xia meant?"

Zhao Guangfeng nodded.

"It's not bad, I've been the commander-in-chief for four years." Li Fan smiled self-deprecatingly, perhaps a little unwilling after all, and asked again: "If King Xia does this, he won't be afraid of the hearts of heroes in the world, and no one will vote for him." Is it?"

"If the general trend has not been achieved, maybe I would not dare to do this, but now the general trend has been achieved." Zhao Guangfeng said succinctly.

Li Fan was speechless.

Helping King Xia become powerful also has his share of credit.No, last year I just ran to Nanyang with [-] soldiers to defend Luyang Pass.He also fought twice with Liang people in Sanya Town and Lushan County, causing nearly a thousand casualties.

So ironic!

"Zhu Quanzhong won't last for a few more years." Zhao Guangfeng continued: "Li Keyong has sworn in Jinyang and sent troops to Youzhou, so he has no time to take care of the overall situation in the Central Plains. The king just won a big victory in Huainan, and even won Shen Guangshou'an Four prefectures and nineteen counties. The flying dragon army broke into the land of Liang, causing the world to turn upside down, and Quan Zhong couldn't control it. With such a big situation, what can I say?"

Li Fan became more silent.

He fought with Liang people on the front line, so he knew the situation perfectly.

In the battle of Heqing last year, Quanzhong lost a lot.This year, I felt that the total strength of the Liang army did not seem to be effectively compensated. How much did Huainan lose this time?

According to the information obtained from inquiries, Shi Shucong lost more than 1 people, and Zhang Quanyi and Ding Hui lost several thousand more.I just don't know how many of them are yamen soldiers, how many are prefectural and county soldiers, and how many are Tutuan peasants, but there must be losses of three to five thousand descendants, or even more.

Yang Xingmi took the opportunity to capture Chu and Hao, and Zhu Quanzhong's territory was further reduced.Coupled with the toss of the Feilong Army, the spring farming in some counties and counties of the Liang people was affected, and most of the soldiers and horses lost this year would not be made up again unless taxes were raised.

The less people are fighting, the smaller the territory is. This is the general trend.

"How did King Xia arrange for me?" Li Fan asked weakly.

"Maybe you can enter the dynasty."

"Not bad." Li Fan smiled wryly, and asked again: "What will happen to Shanguo Town?"

"Stop Tonghua Town, and merge Tongzhou into Shuofang. Set up Shaanxi Town, lead the four prefectures of Shaanxi, Guo, Hua, and Shao, and govern Shanzhou." Zhao Guangfeng said.

In fact, Binning Town will be dismissed. It was a plan made at the end of last year, but due to various delays, it has only been officially launched now.

再算上邵树德刚刚上表请罢的凤翔镇，“夏国”直控的地盘将有24州、108县，483000余户、248万4000余口。

The expansion is still very fast. This year's task is to digest it well, transform Xindezhou County, and replace it with reliable officials.The state military system also needs to be vigorously rectified, and the post stations, colleges, and school systems are fully integrated. In short, there are a lot of things to be busy-the most important thing is to let the people in these states and counties know who the "true" saint is.

"What about the soldiers?" Li Fan asked.

Zhao Guangfeng didn't answer him.

Li Fan understood, he probably wanted to cut through the mess quickly and deal with it quickly.

Before he set off, Li Tangbin ordered him to select thousands of elite soldiers to go to Mianchi.

I didn't want to take orders, but I didn't dare to refuse after all. Instead, I helped persuade these sergeants to go east.Now it seems that most of them have been annexed, and they have been scattered and added to the various armies to make up for the gap in battle damage.

Gao Renhou asked him to "select thousands of warriors" to escort grain and grass to Heyang.Thinking about it now, most likely it was not the escort of food and grass, but the annexation.I heard that they were attacking the two cities of Guanghe and Banzhu of the Liang people. There should be many casualties, and this is to make up for the vacancy.

Once these 2000 people left, there were only [-] soldiers left in Shanzhou.But there are quite a few Xia troops who are resting and stationing there, as long as they are tricked out, such as disarming them in the name of rewards, they are almost rectified.

In the final analysis, the Shanguo Army is too weak.If they had 2 people and were prepared, they would not have been annexed so easily.

Alas, it's too late to say anything!

The Shanguo Army, which evolved from the Shence Army stationed in Shaanxi, will disappear in smoke.Perhaps the military titles such as the Baoyi Army will still be retained, but what does it have to do with the Shaanxi people?

Weak, really "guilty".

……

"It seems that your lord is very comfortable in Chang'an." In the Chongming Pavilion of Huaqing Palace, Shao Shude poured a bowl of tea for Xiao Yu himself.

Xiao Yu was very satisfied with Shao Shude's gesture, at least on the surface he still respected them.Unlike some warriors, they simply used knives to coerce rather than cooperate.

"The imperial court is at peace." Xiao Yu said: "Ximen Zhong then resigned, and Liu Chongwang took away another 2 people. Now there are less than [-] soldiers in the city. Even if he wants to do something, it is not easy. Han Gongjian should be very clear."

"With Mr. Ling in charge of the overall situation, Xiaoxiao naturally dare not make mistakes." Han Quanhui smiled apologetically.

In the past six months, Chang'an has experienced many personnel changes.

Ximen Zhong, the envoy of the Tenth Army, resigned, and Han Quanhui took over. However, Liu Jishu also divided powers to maintain a new balance.

Prime Minister Cui Zhaowei was relegated to Fengzhou Sima, and Xiao Yun, the former deputy envoy of Longyou Jiedu, went to Beijing to serve as Shangshu of the Ministry of Industry, Minister of Zhongshu, and Zhangshi of Tongping.Now the four prime ministers are Xiao Yun, Zheng Yanchang, Wang Tuan and Cui Yin, and Feng Yanqing is in charge of the key post of minister of rites. Over time, this imperial court will be tamed more and more obediently, and at the same time - more and more The more worthless.

"Those who are trapped by the imperial court are only financial schemes." Xiao Yu said again: "Last year, several kings were crowned, and this year they should be able to support the past. If there is another war, the imperial court will have no rice to cook."

"I can only watch it again." Shao Shude couldn't solve this problem.

You can't tie up the feudal towns and make them confess, can you?What's more, Shao Shude himself was poaching the corner of the imperial court, cutting off 30 people in five counties of Qianzhou at once, which made the imperial court's financial plan even worse.

"If you only raise [-] magic tactics troops, the financial plan can still support it." Han Quanhui added a sentence beside him.

Xiao Yu and Shao Shude both understood that if Liu Chongwang's 2 people couldn't come back, wouldn't they be saving money?
"This year, 80 people will be selected for the scientific examination." After talking about the financial plan, Xiao Yan talked about another matter: "There are not so many positions in Jingzhao Mansion, and many people have not yet obtained official positions."

"There are still many vacancies in the five counties of Fengtian and the counties of the original Fengxiang Town. Let's pick some reliable people to go there." Shao Shude said.

In the past few years, the number of candidates for the imperial examination has increased from 30 to [-], and then to [-], which is praised by scholars from all over the country.Many of them gave Feng Yanqing the papers, and all of them can be used.

The five counties of Fengtian, Fengxiang, and Binning don't actually have so many vacancies, but isn't this cleaning up the bureaucracy?The unreliable ones stood aside and replaced with students from Guanbei State University and non-local scholars.

Of course, these people also need to be investigated. If their loyalty is not absolute, they will be replaced one after another in the future.

Shao Shude didn't want to think that when he was doing something unspeakable, there would still be people who would dare to stand up against him on the basis of Kansai.

Officials loyal to Li Tang's royal family will be slowly found out and let him go.

As for the possible existence of generals and schools loyal to the imperial court in the army, it is not without them, but they are definitely much fewer than the civilian group.After all, when the prestige of the imperial court was still relatively high, these warriors dared to rob the emperor and plunder the palace, expecting them to be loyal to the imperial court and be loyal to the saints. Know if you can exceed the number of hands.

"Your Majesty is considerate." Xiao Yu nodded approvingly.

The flattening of the Guanzhong feudal town, the gradual replacement of local prefectural and county officials, and the steady expansion of the behemoth dubbed "Xia Guo" are all solid and fundamental moves, and Xiao Yu appreciates them very much.

Only by doing so, will it not cause major turbulence when the dynasty changes, at least the Kansai basic market cannot be reversed.

Xiao Yu had a very strong premonition that Shao Shude might be the first among the princes in the world to proclaim himself emperor and change his dynasty.

This is of course beneficial, but it also has great disadvantages - shoot the first bird, the first to do this is always easy to be disgusted, accused, reviled and even hated by the world.

In such a situation where people criticize everyone, it is very important to have a stable basic disk support.

Kansai cannot be opposed, and even loud voices of opposition are not allowed. This is the minimum requirement.

"The matter of Chang'an, so be it." Shao Shude said: "In a few days, I will go to Heyang. There are more than 13 people in Menghuai counties, and the first batch of millet and wheat has been harvested this month. There is autumn sowing, and more fields will be planted this time. This is a big event, and I must be there in person. The affairs of Guanzhong are all up to you."

"Your Majesty must not be distracted." Xiao Yu and Han Quanhui replied.

On July 21, the second year of Qianning, the Tianxiong Army collected the grain and grass and set off first.

On the 23rd, Shao Shude personally led Yi Congjun and Tielin Army's right wing to leave Huaqing Palace and march towards the river.

The world situation may be entering a new stage.

(End of this volume)
(End of this chapter)