Late Tang Dynasty: I

Chapter 126

The next day, the imperial court issued an edict that the right Shenwei army from one to five capitals, totaling 500 people, and the left and right Shenwei cavalry, with 2000 cavalry from the two armies, rushed to Shenniao County, and appointed Feng Jiwen, the defense envoy of the Hexi capital, as the governor of Liangzhou. Politics.

Yin Jifeng, the deputy defense envoy of Hexi Capital, was called to the pilgrimage.

Before granting Yin Jifeng an army, Li Ye still wanted to summon him to see if Yin Jifeng was worthy of entrusting him with important tasks.

Looking at the Central Plains again, after Zhu Wen and Li Keyong stopped their troops, they led their troops back to Bianliang.

But Yang Xingmi lost Luzhou (Hefei) at this time, and asked Shi Pu, the Jiedu envoy of the Wuning Army, and Zhu Wen to attack the bandit Sun Ru.

Zhu Wen dispatched general Pang Shigu with [-] soldiers to join forces with Shi Pu's Wuning Army with [-] soldiers, intending to capture Yangzhou, Sun Ru's old nest.

Unexpectedly, Zhu Wen sent troops to Yangzhou on the surface, but in fact he intended to attack Shi Pu in Xuzhou. Halfway through the march, Pang Shigu led his army to surround the Wuning army.

All the generals and schools in the Wuning Army surrendered one after another, and Pang Shigu's soldiers did not shed blood, and incorporated Shi Pu's [-] Wuning Army.

Zhu Wen immediately beat him up, saying that the Wuning army rebelled and wanted to turn to the bandits, but the Bian army actually suppressed the rebellion.

As for what was going on, the towns were very clear, and Shi Pu, who was in Xuzhou, spewed out a mouthful of old blood.

But before Shi Pu reacted, Pang Shigu immediately transferred his army, and in a blink of an eye he went down to Suqian, stationed in Luliang, and confronted the Wuning army in Pengcheng on the South Road.

And Zhu Quanzhong led his own army, captured Xiao County, and confronted Shi Pu in Xuzhou.

When Li Ye saw the report, he secretly sighed at Zhu Wen's shamelessness, and started looking for allies.

Jing Xiang said: "Zhu Wen's attack on Xuzhou is really food and grass!"

Li Ye asked: "How to say?"

"Your Majesty, last year Li Ke came to Bianliang with his troops and looted all the way. This year, the Hedong Army and the Bian Army have been confronted for a long time, and the farming season has been missed. Before the minister came to Chang'an, the Bianliang Army had only three months of food and grass left. Huainan has frequent battles. The people are in poverty, and only Xuzhou is relatively safe in the surrounding area, which can provide food for the army."

Li Ye has read the annals. During the first year of Kaiyuan, the Wuning army ruled no less than 200 million people. Even if only half of them are left now, there are still a million people.

According to the original history, after Zhu Wen captured Xuzhou, his military strength expanded rapidly, reaching 20 at one point.

"South of Bianliang, Sun Ru and Qin Zongquan were rebels. Yang Xingmi was defeated not long ago, and he was unable to protect himself. Wei Bo in the north refused to obey orders, and Zhu Xuan and Zhu Jin were helpless. The Central Plains is so big that no one can check and balance Zhu Wen. Now In such a situation, what should we do?"

Li Ye tried his best to trigger the battle between Hedong and Zhu Wen. Unexpectedly, the time was delayed tightly.

Jing Xiang pondered.

Li Ye said: "If the imperial court sends an envoy to Qin Zongquan, saying that as long as Qin Zongquan relinquishes the title of emperor, I can appoint an official to attack Zhu Wen. Qin Zongquan and Zhu Wen have a deep hatred, and I predict that he will follow. What does Jing Xiang think?"

Jing Xiang shook his head and said: "No, Your Majesty, Qin Zongquan proclaims himself emperor, and he is already in conflict with the imperial court. If the imperial court appoints officials, how will the world think about the imperial court? I am afraid that there will be many proclaimed emperors in the near future, so this must not be said. "

Li Ye sighed: "It can only be Sun Ru, and there is only Sun Ru around, who has the power to fight Zhu Wen."

Jing Xiang also considered Sun Ru, but the forces of several parties were too entangled. Wuning Army Shi Pu, Bianliang Zhu Wen, and Xuanzhou Governor Yang Xingmi formed an alliance to fight against Sun Ru.

But now, Zhu Wen broke the covenant, attacked Shi Pu, and asked Sun Ru to save his enemies, would Sun Ru be willing?
Maybe, there are no people inside and outside the court, but the situation is even worse.

Besides, if you want to use Sun Ru, you must first give Sun Ru an official position. Huainan suffered from Sun Ru for a long time. If Sun Ru was granted the Huainan Jiedu Envoy, what would the people of Huainan think?
No matter how you think about it, it is wrong.

"Your Majesty, only the Jiedu Envoy of Pinglu (formerly the Jiedu Envoy of Ziqing, now Zibo, Weifang, Qingdao, Shandong Peninsula) Wang Jingwu, together with Zhu Xuan, the envoy of the Tianping Army, and Zhu Jin, the envoy of the Taining Army, will join forces. Soldiers, to save the Wuning army. If Sun Ru is used, there will be endless troubles."

Li Ye also understood that if he used Sun Ru and Qin Zongquan, he would undoubtedly be drinking poison to quench his thirst. If the court was orthodox, if he linked Qin Zongquan, he would be disappointed. Huang Chao could recruit security at the beginning, but after he became emperor, he could only exterminate him. This is the bottom line.

The complicated situation made Li Ye a little worried.

"Can Wang Jingwu accept the edict?"

Jing Xiang said: "Wang Jingwu is old and wants his son Wang Shifan to inherit the position of Pinglu Jiedushi, but most of the generals under Jingwu do not agree with Wang Shifan."

As soon as Li Ye heard it, he understood that the feudal town and the imperial court were actually exchanging benefits, so he said: "This is very good, Wang Shifan lacks the righteousness of the imperial court, I can give it to him, and I will send an envoy to tell Wang Jingwu that if we send troops to hunt for thieves, I will give it to him." Give his son Wang Shifan the post of Pinglu Jiedu envoy."

Jing Xiang said: "If this is the case, I expect Wang Jingwu to send troops. There are more than [-] soldiers in Pinglu, and Zhu Wen is also afraid. If Zhu Wen can't go east, he can only go south to Huainan, and the court should make arrangements early."

Li Ye nodded, but Huainan had less room for manipulation.

"After Shu was conquered, the imperial court had the power to manage the Central Plains and Huainan. Recently, Zhaoyi was quite injustice. Li Hanzhi, the governor of Zezhou, attacked Luzhou and was repulsed by the Youlongwu army. Li Keyong also asked the imperial court for help. Take the land of the three states of Xing, Ming, and Ci."

Jingxiang said: "Your Majesty, it is not appropriate for Zhaoyi to start another war at this time. It is time to gather military supplies and strengthen the city defenses, waiting for the right time. As for the request from the east of the river, you can ignore it. I expect Li Keyong will not use the land of the three states. , and meet the imperial court in arms."

At this time, the imperial court's big game is to maintain the stability of the towns. Li Keyong lost troops in Heyang and lost his generals. I am afraid that he wants to make amends in Zhaoyi. Li Ke used the appetite.

Li Ye thought for a while, and also agreed with Jing Xiang's analysis, Li Keyong is the land of three states, and it is very unlikely that he will turn against the court.

But no matter what, we still need to be on guard. Li Ye immediately issued an edict, ordering Zhaoyi Jiedu envoy Wei Zhaodu to supervise all the troops to strengthen training, accumulate armaments, and the states to strengthen the city walls and dig deep moats.

"The imperial court has 4 soldiers in Zhaoyi, and another [-] soldiers in Zhaoyi Township, a total of [-] horses. The aggressiveness is not enough, and self-protection is still no problem. Your Majesty does not need to worry about it."

Li Ye nodded, the military strength is still not enough, the Tang Dynasty has 200 million soldiers, and the imperial court directly controls only a little over [-] soldiers.

With the current financial resources of the imperial court, raising 10,000+ soldiers and horses is already the limit, and recruiting more soldiers would be a waste of money, and taxes must be increased. This step, if forced, will definitely not be chosen by Li Ye.

The advancement of the loom gave Li Ye a different way.

His Majesty the Emperor ordered that craftsmen be summoned to make looms.

Before cotton was widely planted, silk and silk were used first to open up the situation, and a large silk and weaving workshop was set up in Yeting Palace.

The current price of silk cloth is 3000 two hundred cash per piece, and a piece of silk needs [-] catties of cocoons, and the price of [-] catties of silkworm cocoons is only two hundred cash.

Moreover, raising silkworms can also increase the income of the common people, so there is a lot to do!
(End of this chapter)