Man Tang Huacai

Chapter 536 Military Settlement
In the evening, Xue Bai went to see Li Mi.

Li Mi had been in Fan Yang for several days. Although he was unwilling to assist Xue Bai, he was very curious about the situation in Fan Yang. Every day Xue Bai came to ask for his opinion, and he listened with great interest. In order to get Xue Bai to say more, he inevitably gave some suggestions.

"By the way, today Zhang Zhongzhi's two sons brought a group of people to cause trouble in the state school. I asked Hun Yu to arrest them all."

"It's a bit of an exaggeration." Li Mi said: "A few young men are naughty, and sending out the elite troops of the government army may make the originally minor incident out of control."

"That makes sense." Xue Bai said, "But if we leave these military sons alone, it will only encourage their arrogance and make them look down on the court. We have to discipline them sooner or later, and it's better to discipline them sooner rather than later."

These words may have appeased others, but Li Mi could see Xue Bai's thoughts at a glance and said, "It seems that you are not satisfied with the current situation in Fanyang. Why? Do you want to give those surrendered generals another warning?"

"As expected of Li Changyuan."

"Too much is as bad as too little. Be careful not to overdo it."

"I'm not targeting anyone this time." Xue Bai said, "I want to change the current situation of the Hebei army, and then change the current situation where heavy troops are stationed in Henan, Hedong, and Jianghuai to guard against Hebei. I was just thinking of asking Brother Changyuan what he thinks about this matter."

Li Mi really didn't want to make plans for him, but this matter was beneficial to the country after all. After hesitating for a while, he still responded: "There is a way."

Having said that, he looked over and saw Xue Bai sitting there leisurely, waiting for what to say next, as if it was a matter of course that he would listen to his advice.

"But King Yong should have already thought of this method, so why ask me?"

"Brother Changyuan needs your advice." Xue Bai said, "How about we each write our own?"

Although Li Mi knew that this was another trick of Xue Bai to win him over, he really enjoyed playing such a game that could test intelligence, so he nodded.

"Write it down, each of you."

The two of them then took up their pens and wrote down their answers on pieces of paper. When they exchanged their answers, they both came up with the word “juntun”.

Xue Bai's eyes lit up and he said, "It seems that this is feasible."

"To prevent the separatist regimes in Hebei, we need to restore the military system." Li Mi said, "To restore the military system, we must first restore military farming. But to restore military farming, we must first make the troops obey the orders of the court. Can you do it in such a short time?"

"I'll just give it a try." Xue Bai seemed unsure about this, but still asked, "Brother Changyuan, can you teach me?"

"No."

Li Mi answered very straightforwardly and closed his eyes after that.

He was not used to the dry and cold weather in Fan Yang, and he sat by the fire trying to maintain his noble attitude, but he still had to drink a sip of water from time to time and stretch his hands to warm the fire. When he moved, he couldn't help but ask a few more questions about the things he was curious about.

"After Li Huaixiu was executed, what happened to the Khitan?"

Xue Bai replied: "The Khitans have nominated a man named Kailuo as Khan. I don't know if he is Li Huaixiu's brother or someone else. It's hard to find out."

"There are many people named Kailuo. Li Guangbi's father was named Li Kailuo."

"Ah."

Li Mi asked, "Did the Khitan send an envoy to request submission?"

"That's natural."

Li Mi pondered for a moment and said slowly, "The Fanyang Jiedufu should still have a lot of silk left by the rebels. We can open a trade with the Huihe, Khitan, and Xi people and exchange silk for their cattle. One hundred thousand pieces of silk may be exchanged for thirty thousand cattle. Then forge farm tools. You should be good at this. You once made iron tools for your private soldiers."

Xue Bai said: "National affairs are more important, why do you have to make insinuations?"

Li Mi said: "After we have the farm tools and cattle, we can lend wheat seeds to the troops in Hebei to open up wasteland. When there is a harvest next year, we only need to ask them to pay back double the wheat seeds, and the court will add one-fifth of the market price to the remaining grain to buy it as military rations."

"In this way, the soldiers will benefit, and more and more people will be willing to farm the land in the future, and the problem of money and food will be solved. The soldiers' food and clothing will all come from the court, and they will no longer be instigated by the vassal states to rebel, and the border will gradually become stable."

Xue Bai got Li Mi's strategy, which was worth the trip. However, he did not ask Li Mi for advice on how to subdue the troops in Hebei, as he had his own way.

"correct."

At the last minute, Xue Bai turned around and said, "Recently, more and more people say that they didn't see the comet that night."

A hint of worry also appeared on Li Mi's calm face.

He was a cultivator and was most proficient in celestial phenomena. He knew best whether there were any unusual changes and whether the calendar should be changed according to the time bestowed by heaven.

But the biggest problem in this matter was not whether there was a comet that night, but that the sage relied heavily on eunuchs, which caused dissatisfaction among court officials.

Even Li Mi had some complaints in his heart.

"Dou Wenyang is a little clever, but that is only his ability to scheme among servants. He has no idea how to govern a country, and he does things by any means necessary. If the sage uses him, I'm afraid there will be a big mess..."

~~
Yingzhou.

After the rebel general Zhang Zhongzhi surrendered, he was apparently dismissed from all his military posts, but in fact he was still very influential in the Pinglu Army.

Feng Changqing is now in charge of Pinglu, but the Anxi Army will withdraw sooner or later. By then, Pinglu will still be under the control of Zhang Zhongzhi.

On this day, he was lying naked in the arms of several concubines, preparing to have a few more sons, but he received a piece of news that surprised him greatly.

"what?"

"Two young men were causing trouble in the school, and the teacher asked Alang to take them away."

Zhang Zhongzhi blinked, but still didn't understand.

It’s not that this sentence is difficult to understand. He has also seen cases where children got into trouble in school and teachers called their fathers to complain.

But after all, his identity was different, so he couldn't help but suspect that King Yong wanted to trick him into Fan Yang and get rid of him.

Otherwise, why would such a small matter come to this?
Zhang Zhongzhi quickly put on his clothes and called his trusted aides to discuss the matter.

"You must be on guard against others. Prince Yong is going to kill you, general. Why don't you make a move first? Gather the troops, march into Fanyang, and rescue your lover!"

Zhang Zhongzhi was a little confused at first and didn't know what to do. But after hearing this advice, he made a decision.

He raised his hand and slapped the counselor, cursing: "Do you want to kill me?!"

If you want to rebel, you have to secretly contact soldiers and generals, get rid of Feng Changqing, and then you can lead troops to Fan Yang.

But when he thought about the famous generals he would face next, such as Li Siye, Hun Yu, and Prince Yong, he had no idea what to do.

"I don't believe he dares to kill me, otherwise Pinglu will rise up in rebellion."

Having said that, Zhang Zhongzhi still sent people to contact several surrendered generals, such as Tian Chengsi, Hou Xiyi, Liu Kenu, etc., prepared generous gifts, and sent people to deliver them to Yan Zhuang to inquire about the specific circumstances of Yan Zhuang's situation.

Many days had passed since this incident. Regardless of the fact that his two sons were imprisoned in Fan Yang, Zhang Zhongzhi had to ensure his own safety first.

At this moment, he realized that King Yong had not actually ordered him to rush to Fan Yang within a certain period of time, and he felt much more relieved.

Finally, Yan Zhuang's reply arrived.

Yan Zhuang accepted the gift and tactfully revealed some of the intentions of the King of Yong. The King of Yong now planned to trade with the Hu people and hoped that the generals would hand over the silk they had looted before.

Zhang Zhongzhi suddenly realized that Prince Yong was short of money and had kidnapped his son for blackmail.

Then go and redeem it.

He then selected more than a hundred of his trusted guards, secretly carrying bows and swords, and headed for Fanyang. He was cautious along the way, fearing that he would be eliminated by the King of Yong.

But when he entered the city gate, no one came to greet him, so he hurried to Prince Yong's mansion to ask for an audience. After a lot of effort, he finally waited for a steward to come out, but he just scolded him.

"The provincial school asked you to teach your son a lesson, why are you here in front of Prince Yong?!"

Zhang Zhongzhi was stunned.

However, the visitor shouted at the generals on his side.

"Why? You know your son is naughty and afraid of being punished by the teacher, so you want the King of Yong to personally plead for you?!"

Zhang Zhongzhi then realized that he was too nervous and treated a trivial matter in the school as a matter of life and death.

Only then did he go to the provincial school.

There was no provincial school in Youzhou City before. Now An Shouzhong’s old house has been opened up and renovated.

It was the first time for Zhang Zhongzhi to come to such a place. He saw students wearing clean and simple winter clothes walking around the statue of Confucius in the main courtyard. He inexplicably felt a sense of solemnity.

He found the provincial school instructor and told him his name, which was so impressive that it could intimidate the troops. However, the instructor did not even raise his eyes or look at him, and said, "Father of Zhang Weicheng and Zhang Weiyue, follow me."

The teacher took him outside. When passing by the school, he could see young men sitting upright, holding books and reading aloud.

One of the young men turned his head and looked over here, was stunned for a moment, stood up, bowed to the teacher who was teaching, asked for leave, and walked over here.

That was Zhang Zhongzhi’s youngest son, Zhang Weijian.

After not seeing each other for a month, Zhang Weijian's temperament has changed drastically. He no longer walks like a crab, wobbling like a gangster, but walks straight, straight, calm and elegantly.

"Greetings, father. Greetings, instructor." Zhang Weijian came in front of the two men and saluted with his arms crossed.

"Good good."

Zhang Zhongzhi looked at his youngest son with satisfaction and nodded repeatedly.

He was originally from the Xi people, and after years of hard work, he finally gained a foothold in Hebei and his family had a certain status. Seeing his son doing well, he couldn't help but imagine that one day his descendants would be like those aristocratic families.

"Father, teacher, are you going to see my two brothers? I will go with you." Zhang Weijian said.

Thinking of his two naughty sons, Zhang Zhongzhi immediately became upset. With a sullen face, he followed the instructor out of the provincial school, turned a street and arrived at the Education Office.

On the way, he asked Zhang Weijian a question in a low voice.

"Sanlang looks different. What's going on?"

Zhang Weijian said: "My child wants to be like Prince Yong."

Although Zhang Zhongzhi was against Xue Bai and even disliked him in his heart, he thought it would be great if his son could become a person like Xue Bai, so he reached out and patted his son on the back.

"Good boy, ambitious!"

The Education Department was a formal government office with the same specifications as the Transportation Department, and there were two guards standing at the door.

After the announcement, I entered the lobby.

The brothers Zhang Weicheng and Zhang Weiyue were already kneeling in the hall listlessly, while Du Tixue was sitting upright in the hall.

Zhang Zhongzhi looked over and saw that the education official was thin, had sparse hair, and had a sad look on his face.

"Greetings to the Education Commissioner." Zhang Weijian and the instructor bowed respectfully.

In theory, Zhang Zhongzhi's rank and title were higher than Du Fu's, but seeing his youngest son's solemn expression, he inexplicably did not dare to be too arrogant in front of Du Fu, and he also lowered his voice and called out "Examination Officer".

What he respected was not the official position, but the profound culture.

Zhang Zhongzhi was a rough man who used to look down on scholars. If there were scholars in the army, he would even tease them. But today the atmosphere was different. His son respected the teacher, so he followed suit. It is always good to respect teachers.

"The general has neglected to discipline your son." Du Fu began to criticize him. "How can he become a useful person if this continues?"

Zhang Zhongzhi's face, which was full of flesh and murderous intent, suddenly became very solemn. He bowed and said, "What Du Tixue said is very true. We should take care of it! These two damn guys should be strictly disciplined. I will do it now!"

Zhang Weicheng and Zhang Weiyue had been in solitary confinement these days, unable to speak to anyone every day. They had become mentally challenged. They were staring blankly at the scene of their father and brother being extremely respectful to the education inspector, and they were terrified when they heard what they heard.

They knew too well how their grandfather would discipline them.

really.

Zhang Zhongzhi turned his head with a ferocious look in his eyes. He picked up a chair and smashed it to the ground, then picked up a wooden leg and hit Zhang Weicheng on the back.

"I asked you to study, but you went to roast chicken and even used the books from the state school to roast the chicken."

"Grandpa, stop hitting me. I was wrong."

Zhang Weicheng and Zhang Weiyue were beaten so hard that they cried and shed tears. In the end, they had no choice but to beg Du Fu for mercy.

"Du Tixue, I am wrong. I must study hard..."

~~
After teaching his son a lesson and resolving the issue of the provincial school, Zhang Zhongzhi was reluctant to leave Fan Yang.

He felt that the invitation from Prince Yong to Du Fu would not be so simple. If he left rashly, he might miss some important news or even be in danger.

Sure enough, Tian Chengsi also arrived the next day. Tian Chengsi's son followed the Zhang brothers into trouble this time, and he also went to the state school to teach his son a lesson first.

Zhang Zhongzhi got the news, held a small banquet and invited Tian Chengsi.

"Let's not drink anymore. Let's cut to the chase. We are all surrendered people. If someone with ulterior motives reports us to King Yong, it will be hard for everyone."

They were all surrendered generals. Tian Chengsi surrendered earlier and had a higher status. After sitting down, he didn't even touch his chopsticks.

Zhang Zhongzhi asked quickly, "I heard from Yan Zhuang that Prince Yong wanted to confiscate our silk and trade it with the Hu people, so he took advantage of this issue?"

"You can even use idioms." Tian Chengsi asked back, "Then do you know what we trade with the Hu people for?"

"Change what? Stability?"

"That's awesome." Tian Chengsi was somewhat disgusted that there was no news about Zhang Zhongzhi, and a look of impatience appeared on his face.

Zhang Zhongzhi was stunned and didn't realize what the cow was.

Tian Chengsi had no choice but to say, "Now that we have land, we naturally need to cultivate it."

"Tuntian?"

When faced with a critical issue, Zhang Zhongzhi was still very perceptive. After thinking for a while, he said, "If we send our soldiers to cultivate the land, who will obey our orders in the future?"

"That's true." Tian Chengsi said, "What do you think? Are you going to rebel again?"

"Brother Tian, ​​what do you think?" Zhang Zhongzhi asked, "Let alone when An-Shi founded the country, we were granted titles of vassalage. Even before the rebellion, we were much freer than we are now. Now we are controlled by King Yong and are restricted."

Tian Chengsi sneered, glanced at him sideways, and said nothing.

"What? Brother Tian, ​​just speak frankly."

"I think you haven't figured it out." Tian Chengsi asked, "To you, what's the difference between Prince Yong in Fanyang and An Lushan?"

"Prince Yong was the imperial court, and An was our own governor at that time..."

Zhang Zhongzhi stopped speaking halfway, seeming to understand something.

Tian Chengsi smiled and said, "You followed An Lushan and wanted to establish the merit of founding the country. Then let me ask you, how is Prince Yong worse than An Lushan?"

Zhang Zhongzhi suddenly understood.

Of course he knew that Prince Yong was not worse than An Lushan, but much better.

So, since he could follow An Lushan in rebellion, why couldn't he help Prince Yong seize the throne?

If Prince Yong ascends the throne in the future, he will still be a founding hero, and his status will be much more respected than those aristocratic families in Chang'an City now.

"Have you figured it out?" Tian Chengsi snorted coldly, "You've been in the city for such a long time, but you didn't show your loyalty to King Yong, and instead came to invite me to a banquet. Are you trying to implicate me?"

After saying that, he left without even drinking a glass of wine.

Zhang Zhongzhi drank all the wine on the table and couldn't wait to see Xue Bai.

Being stopped at the door, he did not waste any words and directly said that he wanted to offer advice to King Yong to reduce the military expenditure of the Fanyang garrison and to eliminate the long-standing malpractice of military generals not obeying the court's orders.

This time, Xue Bai met him quickly.

"I pay my respects to King Yong!"

It turned out that poetry, books and etiquette were still useful. Zhang Zhongzhi only went to the provincial school once, and his manners and etiquette immediately became much more decent. After greeting Xue Bai, he immediately offered a good plan and was willing to serve in the military settlement.

Xue Bai was not too surprised at Zhang Zhongzhi's confession of loyalty.

Xue Bai did not even ask Li Mi how to subdue the generals in Hebei. He had already made up his mind to give these people a new hope.

If the Prince of Dongping can become emperor, why can’t the Prince of Yong become emperor?

~~
Xue Bai's affairs in Fan Yang have been going smoothly recently. Some domineering generals have bowed to him, and the affairs of military settlement and education have gradually been carried out.

But in October, when the Diao brothers returned from Yangzhou, they did not bring Yan Yan and Qing Lan with them, but only brought a few letters.

Yan Yan said in a coquettish manner in the letter that Fan Yang was so cold and she was weak, so she didn't want to come.

Afterwards, she spoke seriously, thinking that at a time when Xue Bai's every move was being watched, it would not be appropriate to bring his family to Fan Yang, giving people the impression that he was intending to secede.

In the end, she bet that Xue Bai would not be able to stay in Fan Yang for a few months and would have to return to Chang'an soon.

She also joked that if Xue Bai had not returned to Chang'an when the new year came and the weather got warmer, she would go north. But if she won, Xue Bai would go to Yangzhou to pick her up.

After reading the letter, Xue Bai felt sad.

For a moment, he even thought of going to Yangzhou in person.

But the bet made by Yan Yan was a bit arrogant. She made the bet without considering Xue Bai's judgment.

In fact, Xue Bai also thought that he couldn't stay in Fan Yang for too long.

After all, back in Chang'an, Li Cong has been causing more and more trouble.

In addition, the beginning of the new year will not be like the warm spring with blooming flowers, because Li Cong changed the beginning of the year, and the beginning of the new year is still the cold winter.

~~
October 7th.

The New Year is approaching, but there is still no festive atmosphere in Chang'an City.

Even though the imperial court repeatedly issued edicts to remind people, the people were still not used to the fact that November was the official month of the year.

The messenger came from the north and entered the city gate, only to see people squatting where the notice was posted and talking.

"So, this year is only ten months long."

"It's the off-season anyway, so I might as well celebrate the New Year."

"What do you think the eunuch wanted to do, to change our New Year's Day?"

"I heard that a sorcerer predicted that he would have a bloody disaster on the first day of the twelfth lunar month in the second year of Yingshun. In order to avoid the prophecy, he changed the New Year's Day."

"Damn eunuch!"

After someone cursed, everyone heard the sound of horse hooves and dispersed.

The messenger rushed all the way to the palace and handed the information about Fan Yang to Dou Wenyang.

Because they were unable to place spies around Xue Bai, all they could find out were situations that all the officials in Fanyang knew.

"King Yong vigorously established official schools, smelted agricultural tools, and opened up military settlements in Hebei..."

Just by looking at the various figures listed in the newspaper, Dou Wenyang could feel the rapid changes in Hebei.

He couldn't help but wonder how Xue Bai had so much money to be able to spend so lavishly.

"Did Lord Dou forget? The large amount of gold, silk, and children that the Fanyang rebels looted became the spoils of the King of Yong."

Dou Wenyang suddenly realized and slapped his knees, saying, "No wonder, I said he stayed in Fanyang, it turns out that this was his intention."

In this way, if we compare financial resources, the saint is far inferior to Xue Bai. After all, as far as he knows, there is not much money left in the treasury.

He took the intelligence and went to see Li Cong.

As the two analyzed Xue Bai's movements in Hebei, they felt a stronger sense of urgency.

"Sage, if Prince Yong acts this way, within two years, the hearts of the troops in Hebei will be won over by him."

They were not stupid, they knew that the sons of generals were all taught by Xue Bai, and the soldiers would reclaim the grain and then Xue Bai would buy it, so they would firmly control the Fanyang Army. Moreover, Xue Bai still had a lot of money left by the An and Shi families, and the court could not wait until his money ran out.

In this way, the longer they keep Xue Bai in Hebei, the more dangerous they will be.

Li Cong wanted to deal with it and win people's hearts, but he had no money, so he couldn't help but sigh deeply.

"What should I do?"

"I have two ideas." Dou Wenyang rolled his eyes and said, "First, the court should collect taxes from Hebei. This way, one will increase while the other will decrease. But I'm afraid that Prince Yong will not obey the order."

Li Cong also believed that Xue Bai was intent on establishing his own regime and would definitely not pay taxes in compliance with the emperor's order.

"What's another way?"

Dou Wenyang said: "Since we can't collect taxes from Hebei, we can only collect them from other places."

It sounds simple, but Li Cong knew that this would not be easy, so he asked, "Yan Zhenqing controls the court, he will definitely not agree."

Dou Wenyang had already prepared a plan, and responded: "The rent, labor service and various miscellaneous taxes cannot be increased. Since the reign of the Supreme Emperor, local officials have had the custom of paying tribute to the emperor."

Tribute is different from tax collection. It is paid into the emperor's left treasury instead of the national treasury. Li Cong's eyes lit up when he heard this.

"But officials from all over the country have not yet taken the initiative to pay tribute to me."

"Have you forgotten, Saint? When the Emperor was in Shu County, he arranged for military governors and county officials to go to various places in the world to collect taxes and tributes, such as Prince Yong."

Li Cong immediately realized that it was time for him to need the support of his father and brother...

(End of this chapter)