Hengdao Sixteen Kingdoms

Chapter 737 Dongfeng

The firewood and mulberry trees are in control, and the Yangtze River flows unimpeded.

The navy can go straight to Jiankang.

Li Yue's army had not yet set off, and various places in the south of the Yangtze River either asked to surrender or waited silently. Overnight, only the counties and counties on both sides of the lower reaches of the Yangtze River were left in the Chu State.

Territory shrinks dramatically.

Li Yue rewarded Huan Mi and his subordinates who surrendered generously. According to the old practice, the surrendered troops were reorganized and handed over to Xie Xuan.

Xie Xuan's troops increased greatly, with more than 34,000 men.

They clamored to break up Jiankang and divide the fields.

In the past, the war was for the so-called Jiangdong court, but now it is for themselves, and their morale is higher than that of the Black Cloud Army.

Dividing land does not happen all the time. Many northern refugees have only changed from white citizenship to ethnic citizenship over several generations, but they do not have any land.

Li Yue kept his word. When he was stationed in Chaisang, he gave some of the fields in Jiangling, Wuchang, Chaisang and other places to the surrendered soldiers, and gave them the citizenship of Daliang and became common people.

The surrendering troops went from being skeptical at the beginning to being ecstatic.

"If I had known that Daliang would allocate land to us, why would I have to sacrifice my life for Jiangdong?"

"Thanks to Emperor Hongxing's benevolence and righteousness!"

Li Yue, accompanied by his personal guards, inspected the camps and was surprised by the enthusiasm of the surrendered troops.

But after thinking about it for a moment, I felt relieved. Since the Qin and Han Dynasties, ordinary people had not had many opportunities to directly receive land.

The military achievements of the Qin Dynasty were awarded to the fields, which provided the driving force to unify the six kingdoms.

The Han Dynasty followed and ushered in a magnificent era. In the middle and late Eastern Han Dynasty, the powerful nobles began to rise, and the land was annexed. The people were in dire straits, which led to the Yellow Turban Rebellion. The Wei and Jin Dynasties continued the shortcomings of the Eastern Han Dynasty, but still went above and beyond, and then the Five Husties disrupted China.

Later, Feng Tai of the Northern Wei Dynasty issued an order to equalize land and implemented land renting, so that all people could obtain land. The north quickly stabilized. On this basis, the Sui and Tang Dynasties created a glorious and prosperous age. However, the Anshi Rebellion was also caused by the collapse of the military system of the equalizing government.

The imperial court had no land to give to the growing population, but the new population still had to bear taxes and labor, and the powerful nobles still annexed land...

In Li Yue's view, the land system is closely related to the fate of a dynasty.

Therefore, if the Liang State wanted to avoid the same mistakes as the Wei and Jin Dynasties, it had to make a fuss about its land.

The land collapsed, and with it, the fate of the entire nation fell into the gutter.

This war is just an appearance. In essence, it is a redistribution of land through war.

Victory can only be achieved through political victory.

Li Yue is no longer a simple military commander, but stands on a higher historical dimension.

If this land distribution can be completed, a prosperous Sui and Tang Dynasty can be expected, but the premise is that the descendants are somewhat mature.

"May I ask Your Majesty, when will our army attack Jiankang?" Xie Xuan seemed to be more anxious than Li Yue.

"Don't worry, let the people and soldiers in Jiangdong know the national policy of Daliang." Li Yue always paid attention to public opinion propaganda.

Although the army did not continue to attack the city and plunder the territory, the officials of Xizuo and Honglu had dispersed to various places.

Today, Huan Wen and the Jiangdong nobles are already the turtle in the urn, it just depends on how Li Yue eats them.

"Five days ago, Huan Wen launched a counterattack in Ruxu and was repulsed by our army." Lu Qing cupped his hands and said.

Li Yue nodded, "In this battle, I was able to go down the river and advance straight in, all because of the efforts of the armies on the east route to contain them."

The army continued to be stationed in Chaisang.

However, signs of the epidemic began to appear in the army. More than fifty soldiers suffered from vomiting and diarrhea. They were extremely weak and could not even stand firmly.

It has been more than three months since the expedition. The climate in the south of the Yangtze River is hot and humid, and many northern soldiers are not accustomed to the climate.

Li Yue quickly isolated the military camp where they were located and ordered the accompanying military doctors to take good care of them.

Liang Jun has rich experience in dealing with epidemic diseases, with smooth logistics and food channels, and all kinds of medicinal materials are readily available.

Most of the sick soldiers recovered, and only two died. Fortunately, the epidemic is still under control.

Li Yue dispersed the troops and stationed them, but this brought about another problem. The troops were scattered. If they encountered an enemy surprise attack or rebellion, they would be caught off guard.

Defenses can not do without.

Seeing that the time was almost up, Li Yue simply asked Xie Xuan to lead the surrender army as the vanguard, and went down the river straight to Ruxu.

Most of the surrendered soldiers grew up in Jiangdong and were more adapted to the soil and water of Jiangdong.

Just in case, Li Yue asked Liu Laozhi to lead five thousand cavalry to follow closely and "look after" each other.

As for the civilian husband, he returned to Wuchang.

Once people were evacuated, the epidemic was immediately relieved.

On the battlefield on the east road, Huan Wen launched three more counterattacks, with one victory, one defeat, and one draw, but failed to repel Deng Xia and Liang Xiao.

Both of them are veterans, and they know how to cooperate strategically without Li Yue's orders.

He fought steadily and did not give Huan Wen any opportunity to take advantage of.

During these counterattacks, the Chu army unknowingly became a tired army.

"Your Majesty, His Royal Highness the Crown Prince comes to express his regards." Lu Qing came holding a memorial.

Li Yue felt warm in his heart, as he still cared about his own flesh and blood.

Although the Wei and Jin Dynasties were decadent, they still observed filial piety. The two Han, Cao and Wei dynasties actually governed the world with filial piety. Even the Jin Dynasty of the Sima family shamelessly claimed that "the Fuwei Holy Dynasty governed the world with filial piety"...

With the harmony between father and son, the Liang court had a stable foundation.

Although Li Jian did not take the lead in this battle, he showed excellent co-ordination skills.

In Li Yue's view, this is actually one of the most important abilities of a qualified emperor.

Marching and fighting are secondary.

In addition to greetings, Li Jian's letter also asked when the war would end. In a few months, half of the national treasury had been accumulated over the years.

"Half of it is gone, isn't there the other half? The world is unified and doesn't care about the money and food." Li Yue said with a smile.

Lu Qing immediately came up with compliments, "Your Majesty said that if we conquer Jiankang, we will have money and food to make up for the shortfall."

Li Yue shook his head, "After all the troubles Jiangdong Jing Huan Wen has done, how can there be any money in the treasury?"

Huan Wen recruited 60,000 to 70,000 new troops. Even if he had money, it is gone now.

The results of Gengxu's territorial destruction had been handed over to Liang Guo during the first two Northern Expeditions to Hefei.

If you want to get money and food, you still need to rely on the pirate army.

However, the navy has been setting off for more than a month and has not landed yet. This makes Li Yue worried. In case of a hurricane or other accidents, Li Yue's deployment will be disrupted.

Anything can happen at sea. Even in the Yuan Dynasty, the fleet attacking Japan encountered hurricanes twice.

As an emperor, it is best to maintain a bright image and let others do the dirty work.

"No news has come back from the sea?"

All is ready except for the opportunity.

"I am also surprised. Logically speaking, I should have landed in Kuaiji half a month ago." Lu Qing's face looked a little ugly.

"You report good news instead of bad news. Something abnormal happened half a month ago, and you are reporting it now?" Li Yue's face darkened.

"Your Majesty, I forgive you. I just saw your Majesty's hard work..." Lu Qing quickly handed over his hand.

Not only him, but everyone around him is praising his virtues and flattering him. Living in this environment all day long, it is no wonder that there are so many foolish kings in history.

"After this battle, I will promote you to be the governor of Jiangzhou."

(End of this chapter)