A Good Landlord in the Tang Dynasty: Emperor Yuan Cong

Chapter 980: Making tea to release military power

imperial city,

Wu Huaiyu and his brother parted at the gate of Shangshu Province.

"Before I leave Beijing, let's go back to Sanyuan Longqiao." Huaiyi suggested.

"Then tomorrow,"

"That's it." Huaiyi nodded, then turned and entered the Shangshu Province, while Huaiyu went to the Ministry of War not far away.

When he was at the door, a chief official greeted him at the door, "Da Sima asked me to wait for Duke Wu here, please come with me."

When Wu Huaiyu walked into the Yamen of the Ministry of War, it felt like going home. After all, he had also served as Minister of the Ministry of War. Although several years had passed, there were still many familiar faces in the Yamen. When everyone saw him, they came to say hello.

"Er Lang is here." Lu Chengqing, the Minister of War, came out of his office and greeted him, but his face was expressionless.

This Fanyang County Duke was still very close to Wu Huaiyu. When Wu Huaiyu was in Youzhou, he took his sister Lu Sanwuniang as his concubine, and they also married him. Wu Siniang was engaged to his daughter.

Lu Chengqing sighed and sat down, "It's so difficult to see Erlang now."

"Let them stop. Enough is enough, otherwise the gains outweigh the losses."

"Really? I don't think this has anything to do with me?" Wu Huaiyu didn't care.

Wu Huaiyu just smiled.

Lu Chengqing sighed again, "Before, Zheng Xuan's family wanted to give you their daughter as a concubine, but you refused, but now you want to take Zheng Renji's daughter as your concubine, and I heard that the saint also gave Zheng Xuan's daughter to Lu Shuang as his concubine.
Erlang, you must also know about Lu Shuang's past affairs with Zheng Renji's daughter, right? "

"Oh, this Hongzhou Shuangjing White Ya is a famous tea from Jiangxi."

"I am here today to be summoned by Grand Sima You."

Shuangjing tea from Hongzhou, Jiangxi has become famous for its excellent production.

"Okay." Wu Huaiyu asked the person in charge who picked him up to tell Doulu Kuan, Minister of War, that he would be there later.

And behind this is the emperor's planning and promotion. Anyone who dares to obstruct it is not as simple as bucking the trend.

The water of the Xijiang River is clear, and the rocks are old. Tea grows on the rocks like phoenixes. The claws are thin and waxy, and the spring air is early. The buds of Shuangjing are the first to grow hundreds of herbs.

Lu Chengqing couldn't take it anymore.
If the Zheng family really dared to resist the decree, there would be no need to care about Wu Huaiyu's attitude.

"I don't dare to resist the decree." Wu Huaiyu chuckled. "Does Zheng Renji dare? Does Zheng Xuanxu dare?"

The second son was Princess Wanchun, the daughter of the great ancestor Li Yuan.

"If you don't want to accept Zheng's daughter, then it's best not to accept her at all."

Lu Chengqing was ranked third in the clan annals this time, and he enjoyed special care from the emperor.

"There is such a thing."

Everything arises from the clan’s will.

White hair follicles are covered with red blue gauze, and ten pounds of tea nourishes one or two buds. Chang'an is a wealthy and powerful house of the Five Marquises, and one sip is worth three months of praise.

Wu Huaiyu stood up and said, "I do have something to do today. If I have time another day, I will visit you again. Let's have a drink."

Wu Huaiyu and Dou Lukuan were also old friends. He and Dou Lukuan's second son-in-law, Dou Lu Huairang, were good brothers. Speaking of which, Dou Lukuan was also quite impressive. Not only had he been Li Yuan's confidant during the Wu De Dynasty, but he had also been Li Yuan's confidant during the Zhenguan Dynasty. , has always been Li Shimin’s confidant,
The Minister of Rites, the Supervisor of the Palace, General Zuowei, the Minister of War,
Duke Rui Guo, the general of the town army, was also the nephew of Emperor Wen of the Sui Dynasty Yang Jian. He also married the daughter of Yang Xiong, the king of Guan of the Sui Dynasty.

"Brother Lu, you actually know as well as I do what exactly caused this incident, so there is no need to worry about it anymore. To put it bluntly, it is all your own fault and no one else is to blame. I, Wu Huaiyu, this time You are already restrained and polite enough, otherwise, if I retaliate, the consequences will be even more serious than this."

Wu Huaiyu knew that he was talking about the Eighth Young Master who had risen from the clan's previous ambitions. Among the Eighth Young Masters, there were also children of the Fan Yanglu family. Although they were not from his clan, they were from the same clan after all. Afterwards, the clan members came to him, and he also sent a message to Wu Huaiyu, wanting to talk to him, but Wu Huaiyu ignored him at all.

Their Doulu family is really extremely wealthy.

"I know a little bit, but it's below the imperial decree." Wu Huaiyu said.

"No need to worry about tea. Brother Lu, just tell me if you have something to do. I really have business today."

Lu Chengqing had no choice but to get up and see him off.

Huaiyu looked at this Feipao relative. He was only in his forties and became the Minister of the Ministry of War. It was indeed remarkable. Among today's elites from famous families with five surnames, seven sects and forty-four families, they are all top-notch.

"You have to think carefully about this matter. If you really accept Zheng Renji's daughter, then this matter will completely hurt the Zheng family's face."

"Brother Lu, you are now the Duke of Fanyang and the Minister of the Ministry of War. With such an official title at your age, you have a good future. Why do you need to get involved?"

As Mr. Fan was exiled to Lingnan, Lu Chengqing was also very angry.

"Sit down, what kind of tea do you want to drink?"

Lu Chengqing said coldly, "I have indeed encountered some annoying things recently,"

Jiangsu and Zhejiang are rich in herbal tea, which is fried green tea. The more famous Sichuan tea is Tuancha.

"I know, just have a cup of tea."

"Can Erlang have a few words in private, please excuse me for a moment." Lu Chengqing whispered.

Lu Chengqing said, "I heard that the saint issued a decree to give you Zheng Renji's daughter as your concubine?"

After leaving Lu Chengqing's residence, Wu Huaiyu went directly to Doulu Kuanna.

Following Lu Chengqing into his apartment,
The decoration inside is quite simple, but the advantage is that it is quite large. He is the second-in-command of the Ministry of War, and his treatment is quite good.

"Brother Lu doesn't look very good lately. Are you working too hard? Do you want me to check Brother Lu's pulse and prescribe a prescription to nurse him back to health?"

"I know you like to drink green tea, so I made a pot of Hongzhou Shuangjing White Bud. I wonder if it suits your taste."

Ten pounds of tea will support one or two buds.

After chatting for a while while sipping tea, Doulu Kuan got down to the topic.

"Yesterday the saint summoned and ordered that garrison troops be mobilized from Lingnan and move to the north of Beijing, Hexi, Longyou, Jiannan and other places,"

Wu Huaiyu heard this and sipped the tea carefully, not too surprised.

It seems that this day would come.

When he went south to Lingnan, the imperial court could only control a few places in Lingnan at that time, such as Jiaoguang and Guangxi. Most of the remaining areas were either controlled by powerful chiefs or occupied by barbarians. They were basically the same as central Guizhou today. The rule of restraint.

Wu Huaiyu mobilized troops and generals, recruited troops and horses, suppressed and pacified Lingnan, and finally opened up the situation little by little, and even Lingnan had a powerful army.

Now that Lingnan is basically pacified, the imperial court wants to mobilize troops at this time.

But what can Wu Huaiyu say? After all, from the perspective of the imperial court, Lingnan really does not need such a large elite army now.
Whether it is north of Beijing, Hetao Daibei, Longyou in Hexi, or Qinghai in the south of Jiannan, they are all places that need to strengthen their defense. Even those places are the core areas of the imperial court's strategic defense and security.
It is much more important than Lingnan.

"I obey His Majesty's will and the court's arrangements." Wu Huaiyu expressed his attitude.

"Well, in just a few years, Duke Wu created an elite force in Lingnan. Pingyun opened up the mountains and swept the left and right streams. The Fujian Liuqiu barbarians refused to obey, and even wiped them out with lightning speed. What's even more rare is that, To raise troops and fight wars, the court has not spent a penny in these years,"

Wu Huaiyu didn't want to talk about this anymore.
He only cared about the Emperor's specific plans.

The emperor's plan was very complicated. First, Annan was separated from Lingnan Road and Annan Road was separated. The governor's office of Jiaozhou was promoted to the governor's office of Annan, and Qiu Xingze was still appointed as the governor of Annan and the governor of Jiaozhou.

The seven prefectures of Fujian, Jian, Quan, Ting, Zhang, Liu, and Changtai were transferred back to Jiangnan East Road, and the Fujian Governor's Office was dismissed.

Lingnan Road governs the four governor's offices of Guang, Rong, Gui and Yong.

Wu Huaiyu was still the Lingnan Road Observer and Deposed Ambassador, but he changed the strategy from Seven Prefectures to Four Prefectures.

Fujian and Annan are no longer under his jurisdiction.

In addition to this zoning adjustment,

The most important thing is the adjustment of the Lingnan army.

Originally there were seven towns with 35,000 garrison troops, and he had 6,000 military commanders, 3,000 garrison camps for each of the seven governors, 3,000 naval forces, and 3,000 coastal patrols. check,

The number of garrison troops in Lingnan reached 68,000.

In addition, there are 14,000 Zhechong soldiers in Lingnan.
The rest of the group training and so on are not included.

This time the emperor decreed that all 35,000 garrison troops from the seven towns should be transferred back, not temporarily, but permanently.

"Five of the seven town numbers in Lingnan and Annan are reserved: Guangzhou Qinghaijun, Guizhou Jingjiangjun, Rongzhou Ningyuanjun, Yongzhou Jianwujun, Jiaozhou Jinghaijun,

Each army retains 3,000 men, who are transferred from the original seven guards to capture the camp. "

Wu Huaiyu listened quietly.

The original garrison camps of the seven governors totaled 21,000, but now 15,000 were taken out to form five new military towns.

There are still 6,000 defenders left, plus his 6,000 commanders, these 12,000 people are just enough for his commander and five governors, each with 2,000.

The two battalions of the Navy and the Inspection Battalion have 6,000 people. Each of them will deploy 1,000 to Annan, and then each will deploy 1,000 to Liuqiu, Fujian.

Lingnan Road, four military towns, 12,000, four capture camps, 8,000, one management camp, 2,000, plus the navy and inspection camp, 1,000 each,
Wu Huaiyu still has 24,000 people in hand.

Annan Dao Qiu Xingze had 7,000 men in his hands.

Two thousand people were allocated to Jiangdong Road.

Fourteen zhechong mansions were allocated to ten of Lingnan Road, with a total of 10,000 soldiers. These soldiers took turns going to Lingnan Military Town, guarding, and patrolling, and there was no need to go to Beijing.

Except for some of the 24,000 soldiers in Lingnan who are on duty, most of them are recruited from the local area.

The emperor suddenly took away two-thirds of Wu Huaiyu's soldiers and reduced the territory under his jurisdiction by half.

"I completely obey the imperial court's arrangements, and will ask Grand Sima to send people from the Ministry of War to coordinate in the future."

Doulukuan didn't expect Wu Huaiyu to be so easy to talk to and so cooperative.

"The retention of officers in Lingnan can be done at Duke Wu's request," Doulu Kuan revealed.

"It's better to follow the court's arrangements. Who stays and who goes depends entirely on God's will."

Wu Huaiyu smiled and said to Doulu Kuan, "Lingnan Road Observation Envoy, Economic Envoy, Salt and Iron Envoy, Farming Envoy, etc. are all dispatched envoys. Now that the situation in Lingnan has changed, it is normal for the court to make timely adjustments. , I naturally obey the arrangements of the court.

To be honest, I feel that the situation in Lingnan is now on the right track. There is no need for me to be an observer or manager. I can just leave it alone and then return to the DPRK. "

Doulu Kuan added some tea to Wu Huaiyu, "Your Majesty said that although the situation in Lingnan is very good, we should not be careless. The court still needs Duke Wu to be in charge in order to maintain this vibrant situation where everything is flourishing."

Annan Road, Annan Protectorate, governs thirteen prefectures, thirty-nine counties, and thirty-two Jisi prefectures.

Lingnan Road, fourteen prefectures in the east, twenty-three prefectures in the west, seventy-two Jisu prefectures,
Row back to Jiangdong Qizhou.

Wu Huaiyu now also governs thirty-seven Zhengzhou and seventy-two Jisuzhou in the east and west of Lingnan, with 24,000 town soldiers and 10,000 government soldiers.

"Dou Lu Gong, Lingnan suddenly lost more than 40,000 town garrison troops, and another 4,000 government soldiers. I feel that the burden on me has been relieved a lot.
This year, we have saved a lot of money on raising troops and military expenses. There are 50,000 horses. It’s hard to know how much it costs to eat horses and chew them for a year. Now it’s easier. Lingnan Road’s finances can have a lot of surplus. We no longer have to spend all day thinking about increasing revenue and cutting expenditures. . "

Doulu Kuan couldn't help but laugh when he heard this.
The original 68,000 Lingnan garrison troops, plus the 14,000 government troops, the daily equipment, training expenses, and even the expenses for suppressing the barbarians and encircling and suppressing pirates were all the responsibility of Lingnan itself. Think about it, then It is indeed a huge expense.

Now Wu Huaiyu suddenly lost 50,000 soldiers and two-thirds of his military burden. Although his territory was reduced by half, in terms of taxes, he lost at most one-third.

No matter how you calculate it, Wu Huaiyu has definitely made a profit.

After talking about business, Wu Huaiyu and Dou Lukuan talked about Dou Lu Huairang. Dou Lu Huairang is now the governor of Shaozhou, and he is a little happy to miss Shu there.

Nowadays, Shaozhou is a rich and prosperous place. Just one bile copper field now accounts for 80% of the annual copper output of the Tang Dynasty. Countless pig iron is gathered in Shaozhou and copper is produced through the bile spring leaching method.
Shaozhou Qianjian has several mints below. Each mint has hundreds of coin furnaces. One furnace mints 3,300 coins per year, and one mint mints 330,000 coins per year.

Last year alone, there were ten mints in Shaozhou Qianjian, with a total of one thousand minting furnaces working hard, and the total mintage in a year reached an astonishing 3.5 million coins.

It has been spread to almost all households across the country, and every household has the same policy.

It can be said that Shaozhou has become the richest in the world just by smelting copper and minting coins, and it is close to Guangzhou, guarding the Jiangxi-Guangdong waterway, which is the most prosperous trade route today. The maritime trade of Guangzhou Port has created so many Rich.

Doulu Huairang succeeded Wu Huaiyu as the governor of Shaozhou for only three years, but he really wanted to have political achievements, and he also made countless private benefits. There was no need for corruption. To occupy such a favorable position and arrange for his family to do whatever he wanted was all violence. rich.

Doulukuan didn't know this, so he still accepted Wu Huaiyu's favor.

"I heard that Dang Hongren made everyone hate him after he took office as the governor of Guangzhou. Is this guy greedy and bold?" Doulu Kuan asked.

Wu Huaiyu smiled, Dang Hongren is indeed a bit greedy, and he may be a bit simple-minded, or too arrogant and domineering. In fact, he became the governor of Guangzhou. With the current situation in Guangzhou, if he is smart and low-key, he can make money easily. There is no need to be greedy for countless amounts of money.

But Dang Hongren chose the simplest and crudest path. He was not only greedy, but also always blocked people's financial paths. Anyway, after arriving in Guangzhou, he soon offended almost everyone, even the savages in the mountains. I had to search it several times, and it almost made people angry.

This gang of Hongren even reached out to Shaozhou and wanted to snatch food from Doulu Huairang's pot.

"We can't keep people like Dang Renhong, so we have to get rid of him as soon as possible." Doulu Kuan said this, which showed that he was willing to join forces with Wu Huaiyu to kill Dang Renhong, the governor of Guangzhou.

Wu Huaiyu is not in a hurry. Although this kind of person is greedy and annoying, in fact, it is not very destructive to the entire Lingnan Road, or to the Guangzhou Governor's Mansion. It is tolerable if he has to endure it. After all, he is not Dare to attack Wu Huaiyu.

Doulu Kuan took the initiative. Firstly, Dang Renhong wanted to steal food from Doulu's family. Secondly, Doulukuan obviously wanted to get rid of Dang Renhong's queen, and then help his son Doulu Huairang to take over as the governor of Guangzhou.

After all, Wu Huaiyi was promoted from the governor of Shaozhou to the governor of Guangzhou.

"If the imperial court hears some rumors about Dang Renhong's corruption, I support the imperial court to send people to investigate clearly. If there is nothing wrong, then the governor of the party can be cleared as soon as possible,"

"Of course, if there is really corruption, if it is discovered early, it can also avoid losses for the court."

Doulu Kuan chuckled and said, "The imperial court will definitely investigate this matter, but as Lord Wu, as the Lingnan Observer, it is also your duty to monitor Lingnan officials, and your full cooperation is also needed in this regard."

The two laughed and made a secret agreement.

Doulu Kuan reciprocated the favor and agreed to adjust the generals of the Fifth Army, Sixth Battalion and Ten Prefectures of Lingnan Road according to Wu Huaiyu's request.

For example, Jia Runfu was still the envoy of the Qing Dynasty. Five thousand soldiers were transferred north, but he and the main officers remained in office.

Similarly, Niu Jianwu, the envoy of the Ningyuan Army in the original Rong Prefecture, and Xi Junmai, the envoy of the Jianwu Army in the Yong Prefecture, also remained in office.

The Yongning Army was disbanded, and military envoy Gao Rong was transferred to Jingjiang Military Envoy in Guifu.

Chen Xing, deputy envoy of Ningyuan Army, succeeded Wu Huaiyu as military envoy.

Other generals, such as Hou San, Zhao Xin and Gao Ning, also stayed in the armies in Lingnan and served as military envoys, guard envoys, Zhechong captains, deputy envoys, and Guoyi captains.

Not long after Wu Huaiyu left, Doulukuan drafted a memorial and went to see the emperor.

"Wu Gong completely obeys the court's arrangements,"

After hearing this, Li Shimin nodded, "He is still very knowledgeable. Sometimes I think about it and feel that it would be a waste if he continues to stay in Lingnan."

Doulu Kuan did not answer this. He had already guessed the reason why the emperor kept generals like Wu Huaiyu and Li Ji stationary.

So just listen to what the emperor says,
"I originally planned to divide Lingnan Road into east and west roads, forget it, let's leave it like that."

Lingnan Road thirty-seven states, twenty-four thousand soldiers,
"Doulu Shangshu thinks there are still too many soldiers in Lingnan. Can we send some more to the north?"

These words made Doulu Huairang uncomfortable. Emperor, you took away 35,000 yuan at once, and if you do it again now, it would be too harsh.

"In this way, each of the four governor's offices in Lingnan Province will retain a thousand people in the guarding camp. The governor's office will also retain a thousand people, and the thousand people who were previously transferred from Beiya to Wu Huaiyu will also be transferred back."

Take away another five thousand,
Annan Road has 3,000 town troops, 2,000 guard and capture camp troops, and 1,000 patrol and navy troops each.

"Draw another thousand from Annan's guard."

There are 19,000 soldiers left on Lingnan Road and 6,000 soldiers on Annan Road.

Thirty-five thousand town troops, plus six thousand battalion troops, were able to draw 41,000 soldiers and horses from Lingnan who had been trained in actual combat. Li Shimin was satisfied.

It can not only greatly increase the wave of Jingbei, Helong, and Jiannan, but also weaken the wave of Lingnan, which is very balanced.

(End of this chapter)