Elegy of Tang Dynasty

Chapter 243: Disaster starts from the beginning
The Anren Army was established by Guo Zhiyun, a famous Kaiyuan general, on the front line against Tibet.

Guo Zhiyun is skilled in bow and horse and has great strategies.From the second year of Kaiyuan to the ninth year of Kaiyuan, he served as the governor of Longyou. He lived in the town for eight years and was very feared by the barbarians.

He was as famous as his successor Wang Jun of Hexi and Longyou Jiedushi, and people at that time called him "Wang and Guo".

These two men were both fierce generals under Brother Ji back then and had outstanding military exploits.

Ordinarily, the Anren Army was an old unit with meritorious service back then, and was not the temporary "small army" with only about 1000 people that was temporarily established when they attacked Tubo. They should not have mutinied.

But if the government soldiers change to recruit soldiers, the new model will also bring new problems.

It's not like the former soldiers didn't think about mutiny, but they didn't have the capital to do so.

The benefits of being a soldier have become better than nothing since Zhenguan, and most of the benefits of being a soldier are for the benefit of his family, rather than being enjoyed by the soldier himself.After all, the family members of those who serve in the imperial army can still receive tax exemptions and other preferential treatment from the court.

If there is a mutiny and the court pursues the case, what will the family do?
Because of such concerns, since Zhenguan, there have been frequent vicious incidents involving Shangguan deceiving the soldiers to kill them somewhere, and then embezzling their property.The repeated defeats of the frontier armies during the Wu and Zhou Dynasties were not entirely due to improper command.

The collapse of the military system was also a major reason.

The government soldiers have changed to recruiting soldiers, and the soldiers can return home if they are paid. These people either have their families working in the border towns, or they simply have enough to eat for one person and the whole family is not hungry.The army does not issue winter coats for several years, which is similar to military pay being cut in half, and the remainder is not enough.

And the Anren Army served in a bitterly cold place, and their treatment was much worse than that of the Lintao Army who stationed in Shanzhou City.

On the one hand, the military pay is not uniform, and on the other hand, it is bitter cold while guarding the border. How can people not complain?
However, although the Anren Army mutinied, Gai Jiayun was not very worried.After all, the Lintao army in Shanzhou City would not mutiny. This army had always been given preferential treatment when Du Hope was the governor of Longyou, had never been in arrears of military pay, and was well-equipped.

Du hopes that he can no longer be a director, so Gai Jiayun will be the acting envoy of the Lintao Army. In fact, the Lintao Army has always been managed by Gai Jiayun personally, and Fang Chongyong cannot take this position away.

"Angel, Fang Chongyong has not arrived in Shanzhou yet, and the appointment letter from the imperial court cannot be delivered to him.

According to the responsibilities of Liu Hou, a certain person will now temporarily take over the post of Longyou Jiedushi. This appointment will be discussed later.He also asked the angel to explain it to the saint after he returned to Chang'an. "

Gai Jiayun said expressionlessly to Bian Lingcheng, crossing his hands and saluting.This wave of "stuck spots" is really impeccable!No flaws can be found in the program!
He temporarily acts as the military envoy of Longyou, so after Fang Chongyong comes, he will still "stay behind"!It is his replacement as the temporary envoy!

And Gai Jiayun can suppress the Anren Army's pay dispute with just one hand!
The Anren Army is just a frontline guard, and they have been scolding their mothers and asking for pay in private for more than a day or two.

As long as they can be "persuaded", these people will "consciously" go back to serve.Longyou Town is suffering from cold and poverty, where else can they run?
Finally, by killing the leading mutinous soldiers as a warning to others, the dispute can be settled.

If you urge the court for military pay, if you pay a part of it, you'll be fine.

It has to be said that most of the military envoys present, except Ge Shuhan, thought so.

So at this moment, they all looked at Bian Lingcheng, wanting to see what tricks this eunuch from the palace could play.

However, these people never expected that the question Bian Lingcheng was thinking about now was: Is he a supporter Fang Chongyong who openly fights, or is he a supporter Fang Chongyong quietly and quietly?
Although these Qiu Ba people in front of me don't look easy to talk to, but... Fang Chongyong's father, Fang Youde, is in Chang'an, serving as a general of the Imperial Army next to the emperor!

You can meet Brother Ji every day!

As a eunuch in the palace, he is the emperor's mouthpiece.Isn’t it clear at a glance who is close and who is distant?

Who is the master of Gaijia calculations?
Although Fang Youde never gave Bian Lingcheng any money, but... Fang Chongyong secretly gave Bian Lingcheng a pair of precious luminous pearls from the Western Regions, which he then gave to Gao Lishi!

It was precisely because of the constant giving of gifts to Gao Lishi that Bian Lingcheng was able to receive one assignment after another.

Currying favor with Gai Jiayun would not bring him any benefit; but currying favor with Fang Chongyong would bring him real benefits.

Bian Lingcheng was silent, thinking about what should be done to give Fang Chongyong the official position of "staying behind".

However, at this moment, another messenger hurriedly rushed into the lobby of the Jiedushi Yamen. Looking at his attire, he turned out to be a soldier from Heyuan who was stationed in Shancheng.
Unlike the remote Anren Army, the Heyuan Army was stationed in Shancheng, which was more than ten miles away from the Longyou Jiedushi Station.

That is the urban area of ​​Xining City where Fang Chongyong lived in his previous life.This is a plain terrain surrounded by mountains, with an irrigation system. It is one of the few farming sites in the Longyou area.

When Guo Zhiyun was stationed here, the men from his farm households were the soldiers of the Heyuan Army.

Moreover, the Heyuan Army was an old and meritorious force from the Kaiyuan period. Heiji Changzhi, Lou Shide, and even Guo Zhiyun himself had all served as military envoys here.The current head unit of the Longyou Army, the Lintao Army, was the absolute main force transferred from Didao County in the "rear area" in order to strengthen the defense of the Longyou front line. It was directly under the jurisdiction of the successive Longyou Jiedushi and served as military envoy.

This situation is somewhat similar to a certain team in a football league. There is a veteran star who has worked in the local area for many years and is the boss of the dressing room, and is regarded by local fans as the backbone of the team.

But in order to strengthen the team, the team manager introduced a new player with better skills and stronger strength, but had nothing to do with the locals, overshadowing the big brother.

From a power structure point of view, this can be regarded as some kind of check and balance within the Longyou Army, because there is no Sogdian Hu force in Longyou similar to Hexi, and naturally there will not be a unique and absolute big brother like the Chishui Army.

"What on earth is going on? How is it appropriate to be in such a panic?"

Gai Jiayun, who is still serving as a post-retention officer, scolded the messenger in displeasure.

The military envoys from Longyou didn't speak, and Bian Lingcheng didn't speak either. Everyone wanted to see what happened.

"The Anren Army mutinied..."

The messenger from the Heyuan Army stammered. He looked at the faces of everyone present and didn't know what to say.

"Then what happened?"

Ge Shuhan asked in a deep voice. As the envoy of the Anren Army, it seems that his situation is the most embarrassing and the worst at present.

"The Heyuan Army dispatched thousands of people to capture all the fleeing soldiers of the Anren Army, and set up camps on the outskirts of Shancheng to resettle those deserters..."

The messenger picked up the nice words and said that if things really went so smoothly, he probably wouldn't have just barged into the lobby of Jiedu Mansion without being notified.

Shancheng is the only way to Qinghai Lake, and it is also a key node from Longyou to Dadouba Valley and to Hexi.The Anren Army station is in the canyon passage north of Shancheng.

The Anren soldiers mutinied and fled the military camp. It was impossible to bypass Shancheng. It was only natural that they would be arrested by the Heyuan Army.

"It's over? It's gone?"

Ge Shuhan was so angry that he stamped his feet. He was the envoy of the Anren Army. Of course he knew the virtues of the Qiu Ba under his command.In other words, none of the military envoys in Longyou were blind.

Wang Jinlan, the envoy of the Heyuan Army, also looked unhappy and stared at the messenger under his command, wondering what they wanted to do.

"He... the officers and men of the Heyuan Army asked me to ask Commander Du Jie when the winter clothes owed by the Heyuan Army can be distributed.

I heard that the Anren Army mutinied after they had not been issued winter clothes for several years. It seems that the Heyuan Army was also owed winter clothes..." The messenger said incoherently, and he was so stupid that he accidentally told the truth.

All the generals present shouted in their hearts: Damn it!
Can this kind of thing be said in front of the palace eunuch?
This is not the middle and late Tang Dynasty and the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms. The middle and lower-level officers and ordinary Qiu Ba in the Tang Dynasty took different paths from military envoys like them, both in terms of promotion channels and treatment.

The upper class attaches great importance to military merit, while the lower class attaches great importance to wealth and silk. There is little overlap between them.For military envoys like Ge Shuhan and others, it doesn't matter whether they have military pay or not!What matters is whether he can perform meritorious service, whether he can receive a reward, whether he can be promoted, and whether he can become a general or a prime minister.

Wang Rao grabbed the messenger by the collar, glared at his big and intimidating eyes and shouted angrily: "Are you trying to rebel?"

It's not surprising that he was so excited, because compared to Ge Shuhan, the situation Wang Rao encountered was actually more dangerous.

There was some trouble in Wang Nannan's family last year. After his father Wang Sijing became the general of the Jinwu Guard, a coup broke out in Chang'an and the loyal king Li Heng launched a rebellion.

In the process, Wang Sijing, who secretly cooperated with Li Heng, was killed by Fang Youde, the Lingnan economic envoy who returned to Beijing to report on his duties.

However, Brother Ji did not go on a killing spree afterwards. After all, there was no direct evidence of collusion between Wang Sijing and the loyal king Li Heng. In order to stabilize the political situation, Brother Ji did not do anything to Wang Rao.

It was as if he didn't know that he was Wang Sijing's son.

As for seeking revenge from Fang Youde, Wang Rao didn't dare to think about it at all. Nothing was as important as surviving and retaining his official position.

Ji Ge didn't know what Wang Nan had found out, but he still had some idea whether his father really deserved to die.

In order to avoid suspicion, Wang Rao even immediately burned everything related to Li Heng's house.

Why do you say that? Because not only does Wang Rao dare not think about revenge, he even asked his grandfather to sue his grandmother. He prays silently in his heart every day and begs God to let Brother Ji never think of the fact that he is Wang Sijing's son!
He was able to serve as the military envoy of the Heyuan Army. In addition to his bravery and fighting skills, the loyal king Li Heng also contributed a lot.If Li Heng's coup was successful at that time, the Heyuan Army and even the Longyou Army might have marched eastward to King Qin of Guanzhong.

The undercurrent of strife within the royal family was particularly obvious to Wang Rao, who had a close relationship with the prince's influence.

In fact, it was because of Du Hope's protection that Wang Ru could continue to serve as the military envoy of the Heyuan Army at this moment, otherwise he would have been dismissed after the failure of Li Heng's coup.

Hearing that the Heyuan Army actually followed the Anren Army to "make pay", Wang Rao's heart rose in his throat.If this horse-trampling incident gets serious, there is no guarantee that the emperor will not remember his father Wang Sijing's favoritism towards Li Heng back then and use his rare head to quell the trouble.

"Envoy Wang and General Gao Xiuyan also tried to persuade them, but the soldiers didn't listen. They were all dragging their families with them..."

The orderly soldier replied timidly, fearing that Wang Ran would cut him with a knife.

The thoughts of the officers and men of the Heyuan Army were very simple.

The Anren Army mutinied on pay because the imperial court was in arrears with military pay, and our Heyuan Army was also owed winter clothes.

The Anren Army can make troubles about pay, but we can’t make troubles?
The Anren Army mutinied, but we did not mutiny. Even if the superiors wanted to hold the people responsible, they would have to kill the more than 1 Anren Army before it was the turn of the Heyuan Army to behead them, right?

No matter how you look at it, there won't be such a big movement in the court, otherwise it will simply be to take advantage of the Tubo people.

When the Anren Army made a fuss about pay, our Heyuan Army also followed suit.

If the imperial court wants to make up for the winter clothes, if the Anren army is defeated, it will take the blame first. The Heyuan army will bear minimal risks.In the end, it probably came to nothing.

In this case, why are you so polite?Of course, they took advantage of the time when the military envoys went to the meeting to cause trouble!

The expressions of the military envoys in the lobby of Longyou Jiedu Mansion's yamen changed slightly. The Heyuan Army claimed to be capturing the mutinous Anren Army deserters, but in reality they were gathering those deserters to fight for pay!By the way, find someone to take the blame!

Of course, this is in line with the "big brother" mentality of Heyuan Army.

The soldiers in the Heyuan Army were mostly soldiers stationed around Shancheng, while the soldiers in the Anren Army were mostly Long March athletes from other places. The situation was slightly different.

The An army was stationed in the wilderness, and there were no families or children in Longyou.They just wanted to run away, but the Heyuan Army didn't want chaos in Longyou. They had no other place to run, and they didn't want to suffer the consequences of being owed winter clothes by the court.

So following the Anren Army to fight for military pay was the most cost-effective solution for the Heyuan Army.

But even so, the Heyuan Army still takes the overall situation into consideration.

They are "courtesy first and then soldier".

First send someone to the Jiedu Envoy Yamen to ask about the situation. If you are a soldier and have to pay for your food, you are the first to default on your military pay. We are not being unreasonable, right?

If Jiedushi does not agree, it is difficult to say whether the Heyuan Army will take the next step.

For example, the possibility of collaborating with other frontier troops in Longyou to raise wages cannot be ruled out.

By then, it is estimated that only the Lintao Army, which is fully staffed and fully paid, will not participate.

If that day really comes, every one of the military envoys present will probably have a lively walk on Huangquan Road.

There was a lot of emotion within the Anren Army, and all the generals present knew it, otherwise Ge Shuhan would not have sent Guan Chongsi to Chang'an to pay homage to the dock.But the chain reaction of this kind of military mutiny was something they did not expect.

After all, this kind of game that was played several times within the vassal town in the middle and late Tang Dynasty was unimaginable when the military system of the Tang Dynasty was in power.For everyone present, this was the first time for a big girl to get on the sedan chair!
"Angel, you've seen it too. The stakes are very high now. Du Jieshuai is unconscious and unable to serve as director, and the new Liu Hou has not arrived in Shanzhou.

After a certain stay, he went to the army to appease the soldiers.

If Du Jieshuai wakes up, the matter will be decided by Du Jieshuai.If the new appointee arrives after staying, he will act as agent in this matter.

The angel placed the letter of appointment in the Jiedushi Yamen and returned to Chang'an to resume his appointment. "

Gai Jiayun said to Bian Lingcheng, crossing his hands and saluting.

The Heyuan Army threw a big pot that everyone was afraid of, and he retreated decisively!

Gai Jiayun knew very well that it would be difficult for the army on the right side of Longxi to attack Tubo and ask for military pay.You can use your knife to attack the Tubo people, and you can chop them in any way you want; but they can't use your knife to attack the Emperor of Chang'an!
Wang Nan and others all looked meaningfully at Gai Jiayun, who was about to become the acting envoy of the Lintao Army, and laughed secretly in their hearts.

They thought that Gai Jiayun was an arrogant and ignorant idiot, but they didn't expect that this guy was not stupid either. When he saw that something was wrong, he immediately calmed down!
At this time, the official position after staying in the post is no longer an opportunity, but a big black pot that can't be avoided. Where can I run to pick up the head?

"That's fine. I'll just wait for Yushi Fang to arrive in Shanzhou City. For other military matters, generals, please do it yourself. I won't interfere."

Bian Lingcheng said with a reserved look on his face without changing his expression.

I feel sad and happy at the same time.

(End of this chapter)