Han Hai Tang Ergui

Chapter 533 The rogue king, the king of robbery

Nanping, Jiangling Mansion, 55-year-old Gao Congjiao is very old.

He stood on the palace wall of the Nanping Prince's Mansion, and looked at the smoke and dust galloping in the distance, feeling very disturbed.

Nanping Kingdom is located in the south of Xiangzhou, and it is the smallest of all the kingdoms in the world.

However, it is located in an important point, and the land is fertile, as well as the benefits of the Yangtze River fish.

Therefore, although there are only three prefectures and seventeen counties, the number of people is still as high as 140,000, with more than 800,000 households and a population of nearly [-].

The founder of Nanping was Gao Conghui's father, Gao Jixing, who used to be the slave of Zhu Yourang, Zhu Wen's adoptive son. Because of his bravery in battle and his eloquence, he was favored by Zhu Wen, and Zhu Yourang took Gao Jixing as his adoptive son.

Therefore, Gao Jixing was Zhu Wen's adopted grandson in name. After Zhu Liang's demise, Gao Jixing saw the wind and took the rudder.

However, the reputation of Gao Jixing and Gao Conghui's father and son is not very good. The father and son are called Gao Laizi.

Gao Conghui was born out of blue and was better than blue, and he was a rare flower among the lords of the country at this time. This gentleman was notoriously shameless, and he loved to do two things in his life.

The first thing is to recognize the boss everywhere. He recognizes the Later Tang and Later Jin dynasties in the Central Plains.

Even people like Nan Han and Wang Min, he could lower his face to curry favor and treat them as a vassal state.

You know, Wang Min Guoli is not as strong as Nanping.

What you want is of course a reward. If you proclaim yourself emperor, I, Lao Gao, will serve as your vassal to proclaim your vassal. Three melons and two dates can’t be dismissed.

Uh!At the beginning, all countries despised Gao Congjiao's behavior and called him a rascal who came to beg for food. It was at this time that Gao Laizi's name was carried forward.

But later, after the lords of various countries proclaimed themselves emperors, they suddenly began to reward Gao Congjiao wantonly, fearing that he would not come to pay tribute.

why?

It's easy!All the countries in the world stand side by side, and you think you are proclaimed emperor with sage, literary and martial arts, but even Gao Conggao, Gao Laizi don't come to proclaim your minister, how can you have the face to proclaim yourself emperor?

So in the end, whoever wants to proclaim himself emperor will even notify Gao Conghui in advance and invite him to pay tribute and proclaim his minister, which shows the degree of magic.

And Gao Conghui's second favorite thing to do is to rob and detain foreign missions and even business groups going to the Central Plains.

This Nanping is stuck in Jiangling Prefecture (Jingzhou), an important transportation hub on the Yangtze River. The southern countries go north to the Central Plains, and Meng Shu communicates with the Southern Tang Dynasty. Most of them have to take this road.

So Gao Congjiao made full use of the geographical advantage, gave full play to his own strengths, and started this road is my own, and this tree is my thieves.

For all the big business groups and missions going north, Gao Conghui's idea of ​​digging holes into the sky was robbed.

Of course, Gao Laizi's method is very gentle, neither killing nor directly robbing, usually detaining members of the business group or mission group in the Nanping military camp or other places, and then waiting to see the reaction of the owner.

The owner sent someone to discuss it carefully, and he would pay a ransom, which would not be too much, anyway, it was within the range that the owner could consider himself unlucky.

If the loser wanted to raise troops to fight him, Gao Conghui would dispatch troops to pretend he would not hesitate to fight.

Secretly, by bribing the owner's confidantes, people persuade and fool them in private. In the end, the owner basically thinks he is unlucky and spends money to eliminate the disaster.

Of course, if the owner doesn’t ask for it, it will be fun. Gao Congjiao will usually wait for a month or two.

This Gao Conghui and Liu Yan from the Southern Han Dynasty are really a pair of indescribable living treasures.

A shameless beggar everywhere, and also likes to be a bandit blocking roads and robbing.

One turned all his ministers into eunuchs, and then often led the navy to go to sea to be pirates.

However, objectively speaking, Gao Conghui's ability to govern the country is at least a few blocks behind Liu Yan.

This person is a scoundrel everywhere, not to satisfy his selfish desires, but to strengthen Nanping Kingdom.

In China, he can respect civil servants and military generals, treat virtuous and corporal officers with respect, eat and wear very simple, like to read a collection of classics and history, and can save and simplify punishments, lighten corvee and pay less.

In his hands, Nanping Kingdom has always been quite stable and prosperous.

The people of Nanping are extremely grateful to the Gao family and their sons for protecting them in troubled times, which is the aspiration of the people.

This is also the key reason why Nanping is such a small and weak country, and can still live well in the cracks between major powers.

Gao Congjiao, it can be said that among the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms, his ability to govern the country is the third person after Zhou Shizong Guo Rong and Wuyue King Qian Miao.

It's a pity that Nanping is too small. Gao Conghui tried to expand several times, but because of his small size, he won first and then lost, and finally worked for nothing.

No, Gao Conghui, who was nearly sixty years old, made another huge mistake, which made him pass out directly when he learned the result of the battle between Yong, Liao and Luoyang in the mansion.

Because when Yelu Deguang first entered the Central Plains and before Zhang Zhao sent troops, Gao Conghui made an accurate judgment based on his attention to the political situation in the Central Plains for more than ten years.

He judged that the Khitan people must not stay in the Central Plains for long, and according to the world practice since the later Tang and later Jin Dynasties, Gao Conghui believes that the one who has the ability to come out to clean up the mess and establish a new dynasty must be from the well-respected Liu Zhiyuan .

Therefore, Gao Conghui decided to place a bet in advance, and he followed his usual style to persuade the Khitan people to express their submission and gather Yelu Deguang's wool.

On the one hand, they secretly sent envoys to communicate with Liu Zhiyuan, expressing that the Nanping Kingdom was willing to support Liu Zhiyuan in proclaiming himself emperor.

It can even supply food, grass, soldiers and horses, as long as Liu Zhiyuan hands over Yingzhou (Zhongxiang, Hubei) to him for management after the matter is completed.

And shortly after the secret envoy set off, the situation in the world further confirmed Gao Conghui's judgment. The Khitans were raging in the Central Plains, not to mention tyranny, and they even fucked up the grass, and the resistance was surging for a while.

At this time, a piece of news deeply stimulated Gao Conghui.

That is Li Jing, the lord of the Wu Tang Dynasty, who was surrendered by Hucile, the Jiedu envoy of the Wuning Army in Xuzhou in the Later Jin Dynasty.

Wu Tang took the opportunity to merge his own land Haizhou into Xuzhou, renamed Huaihai Jiedushi, and stationed in Xuzhou.

Li Jing named Hucile as the inspector Taibao, the Huaihai Jiedu envoy, the military commander of the Wuning army, and Xu Guogong, and gave him 20 pieces of colored silk and [-] million money.

He also transferred the Jianwu Army from the north of the Yangtze River to Xuzhou to assist in the defense. Hu Wei, the eldest son of Hucile, was appointed as the deputy commander of the Longwu Army of the Southern Tang Dynasty.

At this time, the Southern Tang Dynasty basically had the land of Huainan.

It has always been necessary to guard the Huaihe River to guard the Jiangnan. Whether the Jiangnan regime can survive safely is completely different with Huainan and without Huainan.

In addition to Wang Min's repeated encounters last year and Zhu Wenjin's regicide and self-reliance, Li Jing took the opportunity to send general Zha Wenhui to lead the attack, completely destroying Wang Min.

Against the background of the chaos in the Central Plains, Wu Tang, who regarded himself as the great Tang clan, had the aura of a kingdom in the world.

Gao Conghui's eyes were red with jealousy, why?Why is he not as good as Li Jing, the second generation ancestor, who has been working hard for 17 years?

So Gao Laizi couldn't wait for the messenger to come back, so he decided to make enough food and clothing by himself.

snort!I, Gao Laizi, pretended to be a grandson for most of my life, so I can't stand up?
This Wu Tang can touch the territory of the Central Plains, but I can't touch Nanping?
So Gao Conghui first sent [-] sailors up the Han River to attack Xiangzhou.

Although people in Shannanxidao were in panic at this time, Jiao Jixun, the defense envoy of Xiangzhou, had great prestige. He personally went to the top of the city to lead the army and the people to defend the city.

Then Gao Conghui, who was unwilling to give up, sent another [-] infantry to attack Yingzhou, and the result was even worse this time.

Yin Shi, governor of Yingzhou, heard that the Nanping army was coming, not only was not afraid, but was very excited, thinking that the opportunity to make meritorious service had arrived.

So, the Nanping army who said they were going to take Yingzhou, had not yet arrived at the city of Yingzhou, but was stopped and beaten by hundreds of strong men led by Yin Shi.

The 2000 people who were the forwards of the Nanping Army collapsed at the first touch, and then led to the collapse of the entire army.

This battle was so embarrassing that Gao Conghui, who was in Jiangling, was so angry that he lay on the bed for several days.

It turned out that it was just one o'clock today, and when I got up and drank a bowl of white sugar porridge, the bad news arrived.

In front of Gao Conghui was a Jiangling merchant. The merchant had been ordered by Zhou Guo's envoy to inform Gao Conghui that he was going to wash his butt and get ready to be boarded.

"The [-] Khitan army was wiped out? Even Yelu Deguang, the leader of the Khitan, died?" Gao Conghui asked the businessman with a scream, tears were about to come down.

Fuck you, don't you Khitan people come and go like the wind outside the Great Wall?
Can't win or run away?Even the emperor died in battle, is it shameful?
You should at least have a few more fucking months, let me make a wrong bet like this, there is a chance to make up for it!
Gao Congjiao, who was on the verge of collapse, greeted all eight generations of Yelu Deguang's ancestors.

"Returning to Your Majesty, this is absolutely true, when the servants came to Kaifeng Mansion in Tokyo, the Khitan Lords were all made emperors and set off to return north.

It is said that tens of thousands of Khitan heads were chopped off at the foot of the Yanshi city, and the city has been built as a capital. Many people have seen it with their own eyes. "

Gao Conghui believed the merchant's words, because the merchant's whole family was in Jiangling, so he dared to talk nonsense about whether the whole family's life should be taken?
"Do you know where Angel Zhou has gone? Did he scare you?"

Gao Conghui still refused to believe that things had come to this point, and asked out of luck.

The businessman shook his head like a rattle drum, "When I started to leave, the emperor of Zhou ordered Erzhu Jing, the general of the state of Zhou, as an envoy, and brought two thousand imperial troops of the state of Zhou and [-] soldiers of the Weisheng army, and they were already heading south. Li Gong Cunhui, son of the Son of Heaven, even asked his servant to bring a message to the King."

"What? Let's talk." Gao Conghui asked cautiously with a last glimmer of hope in his heart.

The merchant's expression became a little weird, and he replied hesitantly: "Grand Li asked his servant to ask the king, since the Gao clan surrendered to the Quartet, why didn't he surrender to the Zhou alone?
Is it because the emperor's six armies are not powerful enough, or is it because the king thinks that Jiangling City is impenetrable? "

"The old man has been cautious all his life, but he made such a big mistake when he was old. My Gao's ancestral temple is in danger!"

After finishing speaking, Gao Conghui thumped his chest violently, feeling bored and unbearable, and suddenly his face was as golden as paper, he screamed, a mouthful of blood spurted out, and passed out again.

Just when Gao Conghui passed out, the 500 people led by Er Zhujing actually arrived in Xiangzhou.

The Jiedushi of Shannan West Road, where Xiangzhou is located, has not been established since An Congjin's rebellion. Jiao Jixun has always been in charge of the work in the name of Xiangzhou Defense Envoy.

Jiao Jixun is a native of Xuzhou. He was young and ambitious. He once said, "A man should make meritorious deeds in a foreign land and take thousands of households."How can I work diligently on pen and inkstone! '

However, the current situation is chaotic, Jiao Jixun didn't get a chance to show his ambitions, and instead became a country hero, basically doing nothing but fighting against injustices.

It wasn't until he went to see Shi Jingtang in a Confucian costume, and the two had a long talk, that he was reused, and he made great contributions to guarding Tiannan for several years.

In fact, the An Congjin rebellion a few years ago was suppressed by Jiao Jixun alone, and by the way, he slapped Nantang all over his head.

The reason why Jiao Jixun did not go to Tokyo to worship Yelu Deguang is also very simple. One is that Gao Conghui was making troubles and he couldn't leave.

The second is that he was promoted by Shi Jingtang, and Jiao Jixun didn't want to pay homage to the Khitan who destroyed Shi Jin because of Shi Jingtang's kindness.

Of course, there is also an internal reason, that is, how could Jiao Jixun, who has little ambition and regards Ban Chao as his idol, be willing to surrender to the Hulu.

Zhang Zhao is now sending Erzhu Jing to lead 500 people to the south, but it is not to replace Jiao Jixun.

On the contrary, after the Khitan entered the Central Plains, among the three powerful local factions who did not go to court, everyone knew Liu Zhiyuan's heart.

Hucile took refuge in the Southern Tang Dynasty and gained great benefits, so of course he would not go to worship Khitan.

Only Jiao Jixun, that was of no benefit, forcibly refused to go to worship.

No matter what his reasons are, but at this moment, he is a loyal minister!
He is the moral model that Zhang Tianzi wants to establish and reward. How could he send someone to replace him.

In fact, Zhang Zhao asked Jiao Jixun to stay in Xiangzhou, and the edict for his promotion to Shannan Xidao Jiedushi had to be written.

But Jiao Jixun personally wrote a letter, with earnest words, asking to come to Tokyo to have an audience with Zhang Zhao.

what is this?This is how to be a man and have a pattern!

Yelude couldn't even invite him. As soon as Zhang Zhao entered Tokyo, he personally wrote a letter requesting to come. He gave Zhang Tianzi such a big face, can he be reused?

Zhang Zhao immediately agreed to Jiao Jixun's request, and sent Erzhu Jing to lead the army south to replace him.

And when Er Zhujing arrived in Xiangzhou City, Jiao Jixun even packed the salute, and the handover ceremony between the two was held outside the city gate.

It was also the first time Er Zhujing encountered such a scene, and he was a little embarrassed for a while, as if Er Zhujing couldn't wait to be the Jiedushi of Shannan West Road.

Jiao Jixun chuckled, and said to Er Zhujing: "General, don't be surprised. A few years ago, I heard the name of the emperor's benevolence, and I wanted to visit him a long time ago, but the mountains are high and the road is far away, and I have responsibilities.

Since the son has entered Tokyo today, he naturally thought of going to see him right away. "

Everyone likes to hear compliments, and Er Zhujing is no exception. It is useful to exaggerate Zhao than to praise himself, so he saluted Jiao Jixun immediately.

"Jiao Gong said so, so I feel relieved, the emperor has long been looking forward to seeing Jiao Gong in Tokyo."

So the two began to quickly deliver soldiers, money, food, horses, armor, etc.

When the delivery was about to be completed, Jiao Jixun looked at Er Zhujing and asked, "General, do you know what is the most important thing on the Shannan West Road at present?"

Er Zhujing arched his hands and said, "Are you going to ask Duke Jiao for advice? I heard that the Nanping Gao clan has always wanted to covet Xiangzhou?"

Jiao Jixun shook his head, "Nanping is small and weak, and Gao Congjiao is old, if he knew that the Son of Heaven had defeated a hundred thousand Khitan elites and cut off Yao's bones, how would he dare to come up to stroke the tiger's beard and kneel down to beg for mercy before it was too late.

What the general is worried about should be the soldiers of the Weisheng Army under your command.

Three years ago, they were ordered to attack Liao in the north, but they were hijacked by Song Yanyun and defected to the Khitans, and then defeated by the emperor.

After serving in the army for three years, only two or three out of ten returned home.

It is also because some people estimated that they would die in the north and could not return to the south. In addition, the Weisheng army in Dengzhou has not appointed a Jiedu envoy.

Therefore, the military leaders took the opportunity to exploit the family members of the soldiers, and the dissatisfaction from the top and bottom was about to rise like a wildfire.

The public is the heart of the emperor, and he should immediately present this matter to everyone.

Dengzhou is stuck in the main channel of communication between Xiangzhou and the imperial court. Once there is an incident and Xiangzhou is corrupt, then it will be really powerless to suppress Nanping and Wu Tang, and disaster will be imminent. "

Er Zhujing was on his way in a hurry and didn't stop when he passed Dengzhou, so he didn't know that the situation in Dengzhou had deteriorated so much, so he bowed respectfully to Jiao Jixun.

"Since this is the case, please ask Mr. Jiao to appoint a few people who are familiar with the situation in Dengzhou. After a certain family investigates for a while, they will immediately write a letter to the emperor."

. . . .

Gao Conghui vomited blood in a hurry, Jiao Jixun sold Zhang Zhao in Liren and waited to be reused, and Er Zhujing, who was a senior official for the first time, was also carefully learning to govern the place.

However, Zhao Pu turned himself into a mad dog, the kind of dog with sharp teeth and sharp mouth, which can bite people with bleeding profusely.

With him around, it is really a blessing for Lan Ruo in Tokyo, the kind of blessing that was cultivated by doing evil in several lifetimes! '

After being appointed by Zhang Zhao as a member of the Department of the Ministry of Household Affairs, Wailang, and the Envoy in Jinyi to cooperate with him, Zhao Pu tasted the sweetness of power for the first time, which made people dizzy and elated!

As soon as he got the official position, the Deputy Commander of the Jinyi Envoy who beat his younger brother Zhao Anyi and coveted his beautiful sister-in-law immediately became brothers with him.

A bunch of city foxes and sheshus that he used to look fierce and fierce, now in front of him, they are as obedient as little sheep.

In the past, consistent money could make the whole family ecstatic, but this time, the emperor gave thirty guan and a large amount of silk and brocade.

When these goods were picked up for him by a few household officials and helpers, his wife's illness seemed to have improved a lot, and there was hope on her face.

My sister-in-law looked at him with watery peach eyes on her pretty face like a peach blossom, full of admiration, and her younger brother, Zhao Anyi, rolled around the room in excitement.

what is this?This is power!
This is what power can bring to a man!

And this is just a little bit of power. If you become a privy envoy, how glorious will the positions of servants under the door and servants of the minister be?Zhao Pu didn't dare to think about it anymore.

So the next day, Zhao Pu took the spies headed by Jinyi Envoy and household officials to find out six places where Lanruo Bank would hide the stolen goods.

After confirming that it was conclusive evidence, Zhao Pu brought an envoy in brocade clothes to invite an army to Zhang Zhao again, and raided the secret base of the Lanruo Bank where monks and thugs were kept.

Hundreds of people were arrested at one time, and a large number of heavy weapons such as crossbows, armor, spears, axes and hammers were confiscated.

By the way, I also dug up the account books of the bank, so that even the work of counting is saved, and all the points are the same.

Good guy!When Zhang Zhao got the report, he was taken aback. These monks were far more courageous than he thought.

Not only monks and soldiers, but also bows and crossbow armor, eh!They can directly be charged with rebellion, which is simply a perfect cover.

So Zhang Zhao, who was only going to take back the bank and swallowed the ill-gotten gains, quickly took this as a breakthrough, and directly deducted a privately hidden bow and crossbow armor from Lan Ruo Bank, intending to assassinate the king and kill the king, usurping and rebelling charges.

As for why the monks rebelled?Uh.It's not easy to explain. It can't be said that the host master of Daxiangguo Temple wants to be the emperor, right?

But fortunately, so far, no one with a brain problem has questioned it.

On the contrary, Zhang Zhao, who was eager to stabilize the political situation, took the initiative not to involve Lan Ruo in Tokyo, but limited the word rebellion to the Qianzhuanghui.

Of course, this is only superficially irrelevant, but inside, the middle and upper-level monks in each monastery are controlled by Zhang Zhao.

Anyone who dares to speak up will be branded as an accomplice or even the mastermind of the Qianzhuanghui.

These can be said to be the wealthiest monks in the world. After discussing for several days, they had no choice but to admit defeat. Who told Qianzhuang to dare to collect bows and crossbows and armor?

Although these things were actually hidden by them in order to defend their assets against the Khitan Rangers, how can they tell now?
As a result, Gelanruo in Tokyo spat out a large amount of land obtained through refuge, annexation, and forcible occupation in the chaotic situation, paid a large amount of grain and grass as a fine, and handed over the control of the Qianzhuanghui.

Of course, it is only the right to control, and the right to share profits is still there.

Zhang Zhao chuckled, he deliberately reserved this for the great monks to reassure them.

The Qianzhuanghui is not a simple organization, it is a whole set of financial organizations!
A large commercial bank that can undertake the functions of mortgage, lending, deposit absorption, and remittance, etc., now in the hands of Zhang Zhao, has also obtained the power to issue currency, and suddenly became the central bank again.

If you think about it, you will know that the profit of issuing currency alone is huge. Compared with its other functions, the mere profit is not worth mentioning at all.

And even these profits are temporarily accumulated in the hands of the great monks.

After Zhang Zhao dealt with Liu Zhiyuan, dealt with Li Jing, the leader of the Southern Tang Dynasty, who had jumped recently, and stabilized the situation, there was more time to deal with them.

It's just that there is a key question that Zhang Zhao hasn't figured out yet.

That is, the Qianzhuanghui, which now has more than [-] employees, should it be turned into a government department?
Or is it owned by the royal family?
Or turn it into a central bank with a special status like later generations?He hasn't thought it through yet.

However, this did not affect Zhang Zhao's plan to win people's hearts.

After Liu Tao, Zhang Lieming, and Zhao Pu picked out the gold and silver jewelry of the people in Tokyo that clearly bears the imprint, Zhang Zhao did not immediately return them to the people in Tokyo.

Instead, he planned it carefully, and he wanted to maximize the benefits of this matter.

　There are a lot of guests at home during the Mid-Autumn Festival, and I have to go to the countryside to visit the elderly. It is a bit late. Please forgive me. I will try to fix the update time after the festival.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)