I Xiaoxiong

Chapter 125 Going to Yangzhou ([-])

At the beginning of May, Marshal Fu Maoxiu led an army of [-] cavalry to Jizhou. Deputy Marshal Cheng Jintang led an army of [-] cavalry to Xingzhou. Together with the Hebei army that had already arrived in Xingzhou, there were already [-] troops. Deputy Marshal Qiu Ming He led an army of [-] troops to Yingzhou.And Hedong sent troops to strengthen the defense of Jingjing.A half-encirclement has been formed against the rebels.

However, the rebels bypassed Huolu County, attacked Yizhou, broke through Laishui and Rongcheng successively, and then continued to advance northward, but were resisted by Yizhou Governor Tian Wan to the south of Juma River, and they were at a stalemate.

Geng Zhongguo, Marquis of Changxing in Youzhou, finally heaved a sigh of relief.With the arrival of the imperial army, the prospect of the war has become somewhat clear.

And Fu Jinchuan and his party went south via Bianzhou, after passing Chenliu and Yongqiu, they rested in Songzhou for a day to replenish supplies, and then continued southward.

Although the war is thousands of miles away, the Hebei Road war has become the main point of daily discussion among the staff of the Yangzhou Governor's Mansion.But after all, the leading coach is the father of the governor, so it is closely related.

And Fu Jinchuan does not participate in discussions with his staff every day. Although he occasionally listens to the high-level discussions of talented people, this kind of talk on paper is actually meaningless, and no one has any actual impact on the battle situation.

So even though he was worried about the peace and chaos war, Fu Jinchuan's attention was still put back on Huainan affairs.

What I read every day is about the status quo of the states and armies under the Yangzhou Dudufu.

In mid-May, a group of people rushed to Sizhou, entered the Huaihe River via Bianshui, and entered the boundary of Huainan.

On May [-]th, to Chuzhou.

Chuzhou is one of the seven states under the administration of the Metropolitan Governor's Mansion of Yangzhou. Sima Yang Bing of Chuzhou rushed to the pier in person to greet him.

Fu Jinchuan is also planning to stay in Chuzhou for a few days, and check some Chuzhou defenses by the way.

Yangzhou also received news that the new governor of Yangzhou will arrive in Yangzhou within ten days.

For a while, the bustling city of Yangzhou was also undercurrents.

Shen Garden is located in the south of Yangzhou City, and it got its name because the owner's family is the Shen family of Yangzhou.Because it is a private house, even if the scenery inside is pleasant, few people can enter it.

But today, above one of the pavilions in Shen Yuan, there are people who are full of life.But it turned out that Shen Ying, the head of the Shen family in Yangzhou, was the host, and invited all the seven major salt merchants in Yangzhou to come to the mansion to listen to the opera and watch the scenery, and "by the way" also talked.

"A fisherman's heart is satisfied, and a woodcutter's eyes and eyebrows are happy.

One is just a fishing rod, and the other is just a catty axe.

Lin Quanxia met by chance,
They are two illiterate fishermen and woodcutters.

The two of them laughed and talked about the present and the past."

Inside the screen, a [-]-year-old beauty played a pipa and sang, but the salt merchants outside were not in the mood to appreciate the rare singing voice on weekdays.

"I don't know how long the war in Hebei will last. Damn, where are they fighting? What does it have to do with us? We also need to increase our taxes in Huainan. Why, you fight your own."

The person who spoke was a middle-aged man with a somewhat rich figure, sitting at the table, holding a stewed goose head in his hand and talking while eating.

His name is Wang Tan, one of the seven major salt merchants in Yangzhou.The family is rich, and it is said that there are many connections in Shangjing.

Another salt merchant, Zhao Huizeng, with a thin face, also echoed: "Brother Wang is right, what does the war in Hebei have to do with us? Our taxes will also be increased, and the private salt dealers here will not go to the Dudu Mansion to suppress them. We I can’t even sell the official salt, so how can I pay the court tax?”

"What you two said makes sense, why don't you invite the two of you to the Jinglue mansion and have a good talk with the newcomer Liu Jinglue?"

The speaker had a handsome face and was only in his 20s. He was wearing a brocade round-neck gown and a fur head. He was the new head of the Xiang family, a rich family in Yangzhou, Xiang Han.

This family is from a rich family in Yangzhou, and although Xiang Han is young, he is quite capable.He was the only son in the family, so after his father died of illness, he inherited the position of head of the family logically.After becoming the head of the family, he first went through a noble family in the capital, married the prostitute's daughter in the other's family, and made friends with many heroes.Afterwards, he dealt with several greedy and despicable stewards in the family. For a while, not only did the uncles who coveted the position of the head of the family not dare to cause trouble, but also the outsiders who peeped at the riches of the Xiang family did not dare to despise him.

As soon as Xiang Han said this, Wang Tan and Zhao Huizeng immediately looked ugly.The two of them were just complaining on this occasion, so how dare they go to Jinglue's mansion to find Jin Jinglue envoy Liu Jingming to say this?

At this time, the owner of the garden, Shen Ying, hurriedly smoothed things over, "Come here, let's drink and drink. I invite you to come here today. First, I want to listen to the ditties and see the scenery. Second, I want to discuss with you. The governor of Yangzhou has arrived. We are in Chuzhou, and we will be in our Yangzhou in a few days, how to deal with this Marquis of Wu'an requires that charter."

Shen Ying has a very high prestige among the salt merchants in Yangzhou, and only he can gather these salt merchants with evil intentions to sit down and discuss matters.

Here Wang Tan said: "What else can I do? Do what he likes. If he likes beauties, we will give him beauties, and if he likes money, we will give him gold and silver. Anyway, the governor of Yangzhou doesn't care about the salt administration, so let's give him something sweet." , it’s just a matter of courtesy.”

Shen Yingdao: "The governor of Yangzhou doesn't care about the salt administration, but the governor of Yangzhou controls the defense and military of half of Huainan Road. This is where we need to sell salt. This Marquis of Wu'an is also the son-in-law of Wu Zong, so he is only weakly crowned. In other words, such a person is even more difficult to get along with than Liu Jinglue."

The rest of the people frowned when they heard about Liu Jinglue.

Liu Jingming, the former minister of the Ministry of War, came to Huainan Road for only two months, but these salt merchants suffered a lot.

Unlike his predecessor, Han Jinglue, this Liu Jinglue can be said to have no oil, salt, or water.After taking office, the first thing is to check the tax arrears, count all the taxes owed by each salt merchant, and then send them to each salt merchant to ask when they can pay them off.

Later, he cleared the land and his mu, and tracked down the land tax.

It has only been two months, and the three fires of Liu Jinglue's tenure have not yet been burned, and the imperial court has sent a 20-year-old military general Xungui to be the governor of Yangzhou.

The point is that this "baby boy" who, as they say, "is still wet" is also a famous general of the dynasty who the two northwestern captives killed by Bian Zhen dared not invade Bian.

This kind of killing star, why didn't the imperial court put him in a border town, and put him in Yangzhou?

On the other hand, Xiang Han said: "I really think what Wang Daguan said is right, just do what he likes, what he wants, we will give."

After hearing this, Shen Ying frowned slightly, giving whatever she wanted, what she said was so light.
Xiang Han continued: "The governor of Yangzhou, who oversees the military affairs of the seven states in Huainan, controls tens of thousands of troops. The sword is in his hands. Whatever he wants, we just don't give it to him. I don't know about the matter of going to Beijing a few months ago. Listen to me. Have you said that, this Marquis of Wu'an dared to surround the Golden Tent Mission for the sake of a few tenants. Afterwards, he was only reprimanded by an order to settle the matter. To put it bluntly, he killed a few people in Yangzhou and treated him as Don't you dare?"

Speaking of these words, the faces of the salt merchants became even more ugly, Xiang Han's father-in-law is a noble from Shangjing, and few people would doubt what he said.

Zhao Hui once said: "I don't think this Marquis of Wu'an needs to worry too much. Before he came to Yangzhou, Zhao Wenjie was also a veteran general of Bianzhen. How about coming to Yangzhou? Even the few military envoys under him can't be restrained. I think This Marquis of Wu'an doesn't have to worry either. As long as we feed these envoys, we don't care who the governor is."

When Xiang Han heard this, he just sneered and didn't speak.

In the end, Shen Yuan's meeting broke up unhappy.

After the crowd dispersed, Shen Chuyang came to his father Shen Ying's side, "Aye, what's the result?"

Shen Ying, who was sitting on the couch, shook her head, "I should have known that there would be no results, and it was useless. When you went to Beijing, Jiulang, did you hear about this Marquis of Wu'an?"

Shen Chuyang thought for a while, and then said: "Aye, do you still remember what I said about being in prison for a few days?"

Shen Ying nodded upon hearing this.

"Later, Uncle Xie told me that the one who ordered the embroidered clothes guards to arrest me was the wife of Marquis Wu'an, who is now Princess Ningguo. Xiuyiwei and Huangchengsi are very powerful in Shangjing, I am afraid that these two nobles came to Yangzhou because they were not kind, and this also shows that the palace treats us salt merchants."

Shen Chuyang didn't continue talking, and Shen Ying understood the meaning of his words.

The Emperor Daojun, His Royal Highness the Crown Prince, and even Li Xiang, who was in charge of the government, were extremely dissatisfied with Yangzhou and Huainan Road.

Otherwise, the Huainan economic envoy and Yangzhou governor would not have been replaced successively.

Liu Jingming was born as the governor of the frontier, a civil servant who knew the soldiers, and also served as the Minister of the Ministry of War, and he was vigorous and resolute.

Fu Jinchuan is an honorable military general with great military exploits, and he is a valiant general in all battles. In addition, there is also Li Shizhong, the Duke of Wei in the south of the Yangtze River, who is in charge, so the court's intentions are also clear.

It is already ready for chaos in Jianghuai.

(End of this chapter)