Recreating the prosperous Tang begins with summoning players

Chapter 669 Qi Lu's Attitude To Master Wang
Li Heng put down the report and asked:
"Is there anything else going on in Chang'an City?"

Mu Rong couldn't figure out what Li Heng was thinking, so he asked cautiously:
"Officials and people in Chang'an City are celebrating Fan Yang's victory."

Li Heng said: "I know this, have the people said anything about the emperor?"

Mu Rong's heart skipped a beat, but he still said honestly:

"The people all say that the royal family is friendly."

Li Heng's complexion improved slightly, and he waved his hand to let Mu Rong back down.

When Mu Rong walked out of the Hanyuan Hall, he really accompanied the emperor like a tiger. Li Heng, the emperor, really changed his mind too quickly.

On June [-], Guo Ziyi attacked again and launched a surprise attack on Shi Siming in Heyin. This time the Shence Army performed well in the raid, especially the newly recruited soldiers fought bravely and broke through Shi Siming's camp in one fell swoop.

Shi Siming could only continue to retreat from Heyin to Xiangzhou, and Guo Ziyi completely regained the front along the Yellow River.

The news of the victory in this battle was sent back to Chang'an, and Li Heng was overjoyed. He directly decreed that Guo Ziyi's Duke of Fenyang should be promoted to King of Fenyang County. Even Li Fuguo, who supervised the army in the army, also gave him the title of Duke of Anguo .

In addition, the imperial court continued to confer titles to Wang Xuanzhi of Liaodong, Yuchixin and Qin Chuan, who had become famous, and the imperial court was not stingy with rewards. They gave Yuchixin the Fanyang Army Jiedu Envoy, and gave Qin Chuan Pinlu Army Jiedu Envoy to stay. At the same time, let them hang a regular fifth-rank chief position in the Ministry of War.

Hu Yu, who fought bravely in Xichuan, was awarded the post of head of the Ministry of War after he was awarded the military governor of Xichuan Army.

In Lanzhou, Su Tong, the governor of Lanzhou, was directly given the position of minister of the Ministry of War, and his son Su Wuwei was appointed as the school secretary, and the officials of Lanzhou were rewarded.

Guo Ziyi fought steadily and continued to build fortifications along the Yellow River, and was not in a hurry to pursue Shi Siming who fled to Xiangzhou.

This time, Li Heng did not command blindly. The previous few attempts to quell the Anshi Rebellion fell short, which made Li Heng understand the truth that the war should be done by experts.

Li Fuguo also sent a secret report to the emperor, saying that although Shi Siming was defeated these two times, the loss of the main force was not large.

Li Fuguo said so, and Li Heng didn't continue to urge the army, but just continued to deliver supplies to the army through water transport.

Shi Siming's main force was not lost, and he was able to retreat to Xiangzhou, but it was not so easy for Shi Chaoyi who attacked Qingzhou.

Zhang Wu attacked Zizhou and cut off Shi Chaoyi's retreat.

Without the supplies from Zizhou, Shi Chaoyi's army did not have much food in stock.

What's worse is that almost all the disciples of Shi Chaoyi's army are from Fan Yang. Now that Fan Yang has been restored by Tang Dynasty, the hearts of the army are floating, and a wave of defeatism is spreading.

But Shi Chaoyi had nothing to do about it. Zizhou's escape route was cut off, and Qingzhou could not be attacked for a long time. He called his confidant Luo Yue and asked:

"Should I regret not listening to the public opinion? What should I do now?"

When they first started going south, Luo Yue suggested that Shi Chaoyi and An Qingxu contact each other to deal with the Tang army in the Qilu area.

Luo Yue also suggested that Shi Chaoyi give up attacking Qingzhou, and attack Pengcheng together with An Qingxu, and invade the Jianghuai area of ​​Datang.

But at that time, Shi Chaoyi was unwilling to join forces with An Qingxu, and felt that he had fought for so long without gaining an inch, and wanted to make some military achievements with his father Shi Siming, so Shi Chaoyi did not follow Luo Yue's suggestion and did not cooperate with An Qingxu.

Now that An Qingxu was destroyed, Datang's army cut off his retreat, and the morale of the army was low. Shi Chaoyi had no choice but to ask Luo Yue for advice.

Luo Yue lowered his head and said:
"The minister has two strategies, and I don't know which one the prince will listen to."

Shi Chaoyi looked at Luo Yue and asked:

"Let's talk about the next strategy first."

"The worst strategy is to escape into the mountains between Qizhou and Zizhou, and ask the old commander for help. As long as the old commander sends troops, we will attack Zizhou together. As long as the main force is not lost, the old commander will not blame the prince."

Shi Chaoyi shook his head, he hadn't accomplished an inch in his journey from Fanyang to the south, and lost a lot of supplies.

Moreover, if they escape into the mountains, some soldiers will definitely flee. When Shi Siming gets through Zizhou, I am afraid that almost all of his men will flee.

At that time, there were no soldiers in his hands, and I was afraid that his father would abolish his position as the eldest son.

Shi Chaoyi is very aware of his father's character. Shi Siming is a shady person and has very strict requirements on his subordinates.

But his position as the heir is not stable, his younger brother Shi Chaoqing works beside Shi Chaoyi, Shi Chaoqing is the youngest son, and his biological mother is favored by Shi Siming.

This time he failed to make meritorious service in Qilu, then Shi Chaoqing will inevitably slander his father.

Even if you get through Zizhou and join forces with your father, you may be deprived of military power.

Luo Yue hesitated and said:
"The best policy is to discuss peace with Tang Jun."

After saying this, Shi Chaoyi was also silent.

Luo Yue bit her lip and said:
"My son, if Fan Yang really falls into the hands of the Tang army, how can he compete with Datang only by relying on the town of Hedong?"

Shi Chaoyi closed his eyes, and Luo Yue said again:
"The world has been in turmoil for a long time now, and people's minds are settled. What do you think of the people in Qizi and Zizhou?"

Shi Chaoyi was also silent. When he first invaded Zizhou, the people of Zizhou could be said to welcome Shi Chaoyi's army.

Shi Chaoyi waved Luo Yue away and fell into deep thought.

The Qilu area has been neglected by the Tang court for a long time. Whether it is taxation, imperial examinations or other aspects, it has suffered completely unfair treatment from Guanzhong.

The Qilu region itself has a tradition of going northward to open up wasteland. Culturally, it is more closely connected with Hedong, and it is also the region that most actively responded to the Anlu Mountain rebellion.

But things have changed.

Zhang Wu looked at the gentry and representatives of the people who "welcome the king's teacher" in Linzi City, and thought of the conversation he had with Zhang Duanyang before Liangshan parted.

At that time, the two killed An Qingxu in Liangshan, and when they were walking in front of the water park, Zhang Wu couldn't help asking Zhang Duanyang, a university professor, how he would face Qilu's problems in the future.

Zhang Duanyang just smiled and said:

"Qi Lu's support for An Lushan is the result of the Tang Dynasty's long-term financial and educational discrimination policies."

Zhang Wu nodded. This is already the consensus of all players. Posts explaining the internal causes of the Anshi Rebellion are flying all over the forum, so Zhang Wu naturally knows about it.

Zhang Duanyang said: "In fact, it is similar to the four provinces of mountains and rivers. Today's Datang, Hedong and Qilu, and the areas of Henan Province except Luoyang are the four provinces of mountains and rivers in Datang."

"The upper-middle class of scholars has long been discriminated against by the imperial court, and the admission rate of the imperial examination is much lower than that of other regions."

"In fact, the situation in Jiangdong Sidao is not much better today, but Jiangdong's economic situation is good. Even if you fail the imperial examination, there are other ways out. Moreover, as the economic center of the Tang Dynasty, Jiangdong does not have the burden of border defense."

"In comparison, Hedong and Qilu are miserable. They are politically discriminated, have a large population, the land is not as fertile as Jiangnan, and the climate is not as livable as Jiangnan. They also have to bear the corvee, military service and taxes of the northern military defense. Naturally, it is even worse. It's easy to rebel."

Zhang Wu nodded, Qilu's situation was indeed similar to that of Hedong.

Zhang Duanyang added: "In fact, these things have little to do with ordinary people. The imperial examinations these days are not college entrance examinations, and have nothing to do with most people."

"But in the era of the Tang Dynasty, it was the small number of scholars and gentry who could influence the people, and the emotions of the people were also stirred up by them."

"But Zhang Wu, you don't have to worry. When you enter Zizhou, these gentry gentry will eat pots and milk to welcome Master Wang."

Zhang Wu asked suspiciously, "Why?"

Zhang Duanyang sighed and said: "Power and status, these are high-level needs after eating a full stomach. If you can't save your life, you can't even eat, who will pursue fame and fortune? After fighting for so many years, Qi Lu has long been dragged collapsed."

Zhang Wu was silent for a while, Zhang Duanyang continued:
"The population growth in the Jiangdong area actually started from the Anshi Rebellion. Now many people in Jiangdong fled from the north at this time."

"The Anshi Rebellion reduced the population by a large amount, and made the Qilu area with a large population become depopulated, but it also reduced the population of Juan. If there is no Juan, everyone naturally wants to be stable and does not want to continue to fight after Shi Siming."

Zhang Wu was completely silent.

In the torrent of history, everything has become nothingness, the pursuit of the past has been almost forgotten, and only the desire to live remains.

Where are those Qilu people who have dreams and want to change the unfair situation before?

Zhang Duanyang sighed and said:
"Datang's external expansion has reached its limit, and there is no room for further economic expansion, so it will naturally turn inward."

"Introduction creates a sense of injustice and further divides society. Without the Anshi Rebellion, there will be other rebellions."

"But to put it cruelly, the Anshi Rebellion also forced Datang to make changes, and the population also decreased, which opened up new opportunities, which instead allowed Datang to continue its life."

Zhang Wu clenched his fist and asked:

"Is there no better way?"

Zhang Duanyang said: "Yes, all contradictions are distribution contradictions. If a dynasty can spontaneously change the distribution model, the life of the people will be better, the society will be more fair, and the contradictions will be less."

Zhang Wu was silent. This is a truth that almost everyone knows, but how difficult it is for the powerful to carry out distribution reforms for themselves.

Zhang Wu and Zhang Duanyang parted in Liangshan, and Zhang Wu entered Zizhou. As Zhang Duanyang said, the people in Zizhou were determined and did not want to fight with Shi Chaoyi again.

And Zhang Duanyang took [-] "private soldiers" from Linhuai to the south on a water transport ship, and arrived in eastern Zhejiang where he took office.

(End of this chapter)