Great Zhou Empire: Kill Zhao Kuangyin at the beginning

Chapter 48 The Huainan Rebellion () (Special thanks to book friend Qiong Zhu for the reward!)

Tang Hao thought for a long time and said:
"Your Majesty, in the battle of Huainan from the 3rd to 5th year of Xian De's reign, the Great Zhou Dynasty was so powerful that our military commander He Yanxi died in the battle.

If I send troops to attack Liu Chongxue, Dazhou will definitely send troops from Huainan to attack me.

Judging from today's situation, I am afraid that the armies of the Great Zhou Dynasty will be even more difficult to stop. I think that the only way to defeat the Zhou army and revive the power of the Tang Dynasty is to draw fire from the bottom of the cauldron! "

Li Jing was surprised and happy, and asked quickly.

Tang Hao said:
"Your Majesty, during the "Bianjing Incident" in November last year, Empress Dowager Fu secretly issued a secret edict that Zhang Yongde, the Jizhou Jiedushi envoy, and Li Chongjin, the Huainan Jiedushi envoy at that time, went to Beijing to kill Zhao Ni and his party.

Afterwards, Li Chongjin was promoted to the commander of the German army and the Marquis of Huaizhou due to his merit. He replaced the three states of Ying, Mo and Yi of the Tianping Army of the Great Zhou Dynasty, and Han Lingkun's Tianping Army guarded Huaizhou. "

Li Jing said in surprise:

"Ai Qing, you mean to send someone to instigate Han Lingkun to rebel?"

Tang Hao praised: "Your Majesty is indeed a wise master!

As far as I know, Han Lingkun was a brave general of the Great Zhou Dynasty, and he was good to Xiang and Zhao Kuangyin. The two had rescued each other on the battlefield several times.

After the Empress Dowager Fu of the Great Zhou Dynasty and the young emperor killed Zhao Ni's party, they led Li Chongjin to the German army to replace Han Lingkun's Tianping Army. They also had the intention of not trusting Han Lingkun.

Moreover, Han Lingkun had always looked down upon the little emperor who ascended the throne at the age of 7, and now he was being ostracized in the Zhou Dynasty. I thought I could bribe Han Lingkun with a lot of money to make him rebel against the Zhou Dynasty. "

After listening to this, Li Jing pondered for a long time and said:
"My dear, I'll just follow your plan! It's just that the most important problem of my Tang Dynasty is the Great Zhou Dynasty. If I stay here, I'm just a scabies scabies!
I secretly sent you as an envoy to Huainan to rebel against Han Lingkun, and then pretended to send troops to conquer Liu Congxiao. When the Empress Dowager Fu and the young emperor of the Great Zhou Dynasty sent troops across Huainan to attack us in the south of the Yangtze River, Han Lingkun suddenly launched an attack and attacked the Great Zhou Dynasty together with the Tang Dynasty. ! You can expect to win!

I promise to make Han Lingkun the King of Huainan afterwards! "

The monarch and his ministers discussed for several hours and finalized all the details.

Just after the end of September and a half on the fifth day, Tang Hao carried a heavy treasure and set off from Jinling, the capital of the Southern Tang Dynasty, to Yangzhou, where the Huaizhou Jiedu Palace was located in the Great Zhou Dynasty.

The name of Yangzhou was first seen in "Shang Shu Yu Gong": Huaihai is Yangzhou.

Yangzhou is located in Huainan, known as Jiangdu and Guangling in ancient times. It has a flat terrain and dense water network. It has always been a place of fierce competition between the northern and southern separatist forces in China during the great chaos.

Since the war in the late Tang Dynasty, Huainan has changed its owner several times. Two years before Xian De, it was ruled by the Southern Tang Dynasty.

From the second year of Xiande (955) to the fifth year of Xiande (958) of Yangzhou, Zhou Shizong conducted three southern expeditions. The population was greatly reduced and the economy was devastated by war.

Over the past year, there has been a slight recovery.

Tang Hao disguised himself as a merchant engaged in maritime trade in Quanzhou, and brought several of his cronies to disguise themselves as clerks. They declared customs at the south gate of Yangzhou City in the morning and entered the city.

Thinking that more than a year ago, this place was still the territory of the Southern Tang Dynasty, Tang Hao, as the privy envoy, felt sad.

After the group of people stayed in an inn with many guests in the city, a few of his cronies went out to explore the situation in the city. Tang Hao sat in the guest room drinking tea and waiting.

By late afternoon, the cronies rushed back one after another and reported to Tang Hao:
Everything is as usual in Yangzhou City, and Huaizhou Jiedushi Han Lingkun is in his mansion.

After Tang Hao pondered for a moment, he left a confidant at the inn to deliver a message back to Jinling, and went out with a large amount of jewelry and several other confidants.

In a short while, he arrived at the gate of Huaizhou Jiedu Envoy's Mansion.

A confidant handed the name sticker and ten taels of silver to the gatekeeper.

The general threw the silver ingot in his palm and said with a smile:
"Every merchant, please wait here for a moment. I will go in and report to my Lord Jiedushi."

The general turned around and walked into the mansion. Han Lingkun, who was sitting idle in the main hall, opened the name sticker and saw the name of a store owner of a business in Quanzhou written on it. He thought that it turned out to be a large business that wanted to come to Yangzhou to operate a business line. There was a lot of money to be made there, so he immediately ordered the doorkeeper to Will pass them in.

The general walked back to the front door of the mansion and led Tang Hao and his party inside.

After entering the main hall, Tang Hao and others saluted Han Lingkun and asked his close relatives to present heavy gifts.

Han Lingkun, who was sitting in the main seat, looked at the gift list, nodded, and said with a smile:

"Shop Manager Tang, please take a seat."

After sitting down and exchanging a few words, Tang Hao said:
"Master Han, I came to Yangzhou Mansion recently. Why did I see that the business in the city's market was not as good as last year?

The flow of people is also much less. "

Han Lingkun sighed and said:
"Shopkeeper Tang doesn't know something. Our Yangzhou is located on a land and water transportation route. Business used to be very easy. Anyone who opens a store in Yangzhou will make money!"
It’s just that this year, the Zhou court has implemented a new policy on “night markets”. My Huaizhou Jiedu Prefecture has two states under its jurisdiction. In June, the court also sent personnel to build a “night market”, so most of the guests went there. Went to the night market for shopping. "

When Han Lingkun heard this, he quickly asked for details.

When he heard that the "Night Market" was supervised by the Royal Palace Tax Supervisor, and only collected 20% of the business tax, and there were no miscellaneous taxes, Tang Hao was moved in his heart and said with a smile:

"Master Han, that's it! No wonder the business in the market is not as good as before.

It doesn't matter whether we merchants have day or night markets. I'm just afraid that the tax revenue received by the Jiedushi government will be much less? "

Han Lingkun frowned and said:
"Of course! I am worried about this.

I wonder who in the court came up with the bad idea and asked the Queen Mother and the young emperor to implement this policy? Although the imperial court issued a decree not long ago to reduce or reduce some taxes paid by various Jiedu prefectures, how much effect does it have compared to our reduced tax revenue? !

I have so many soldiers to support, so I can't lower their salaries, right?
These ministers in the DPRK really don’t know how hard it is for us to be officials in these places! "

Tang Hao whispered:
"Master Han, the villain's business name also has a branch in Bianjing.

I heard that this "New Night Market Policy" was promoted by the Queen Mother and the Little Emperor! Otherwise, the palace would send so many tax inspectors to various places to supervise night markets. "

When Han Lingkun heard this, he remembered that it was becoming increasingly difficult to pay the salaries of his soldiers according to the previous treatment, and he couldn't help but cursed.

He was born as a martial artist and had a rude personality. Seeing that Tang Hao was a businessman, he didn't take it seriously.

So the more he scolded, the more energetic he became, and he even complained that "the Queen Mother and the little emperor killed military generals and heroes indiscriminately."

Tang Hao saw that the fire was almost done, so he bowed respectfully and said:

"Master Han, I have something from the bottom of my heart that I want to tell you. Can you please get rid of the idle people?"

Han Lingkun was slightly surprised, thinking that the businessman in front of him had something else to ask of him, and that was to receive a big gift.

Han Lingkun immediately waved his hand and ordered several servants to withdraw from the main hall, leaving only ten soldiers in the standing hall.

Han Lingkun was a little impatient, looked at Tang Hao and said:

"Shopkeeper Tang, if you have anything to say, just say it! Everyone here is my confidant."

Tang Hao nodded and whispered:
"Master Han, I am actually Tang Hao, the Privy Councilor of the Tang Dynasty!
Now the wealth and hegemony of the former Huaiyin Marquis Han Xin who became the king must be dedicated to Lord Han! "

(End of this chapter)