Datang: What's wrong with my fief being a billion points larger?

Chapter 18: Lingnan's Big Trouble

The three men stood up, saluted again, and then retreated in unison. When they arrived in front of the palace gate, they ran straight towards it. Only then did the three men breathe a sigh of relief.

The three of them all had expressions as if they had survived a calamity. Today's Li Yuan was really too depressing for them, especially Li Jiancheng and Li Shimin. They were really afraid that Li Yuan would use this incident to directly favor the other side.

Li Shimin was the most worried. Who made him give the least to Li Yuanji?
Now that Li Yuanji did this, Li Yuan really believed that he was the one behind it, and he had no place to cry.

At the moment, Li Shimin was only the Prince of Qin, and it was still a long way for him to become the Heavenly Khan or the Emperor of the Tang Dynasty.

After the three people left, Li Yuan in the hall suddenly laughed, and then began to ask people to prepare what Li Yuanji needed, and also prepare the imperial edict.

After finishing, Li Yuan did not look up and said solemnly: "Go and invite Prime Minister Pei, go quickly."

On the other side, Li Yuanji and the other two looked relaxed after walking out of Taiji Palace. The three who seemed to be in harmony with each other were now each thinking about their own things and moving a little further away from each other.

Li Yuanji was the first to break the silence.

"Big Brother, Second Brother, I am sorry to bother you this time. I really have no other options.

But big brother, second brother, you guys should handle your own affairs. There is no point in talking any more. I have to go down and prepare to leave for Lingnan. The day is getting closer and closer, but it is very urgent, so I will leave first. "

After Li Yuanji finished speaking, he strode away first. Li Jiancheng and Li Shimin looked at each other and also separated. After all, they were on different paths and there was nothing much to talk about. They all wanted to find someone to discuss today's matter together.

When Li Yuanji returned to the palace, he found Xie Shufang, Xi Junmai, and Su Dingfang.

When the three men arrived, they all looked exhausted. This trip to Lingnan was really different from marching to fight. There were too many things that needed to be paid attention to, especially as there were a small number of elderly, children, women and children in the team. This preparation almost cost several people their lives. They were very busy during this period.

"See you, Your Majesty."

Li Yuanji motioned for the three to stand up, and then began to speak.

"Now everything that needs to be prepared has been almost completed. The remaining items will be delivered in the next two days.

Now we have an army of 32,000 people, plus other people, a total of more than 60,000 people. This team is not large, but it is very different from previous marches. You all know the old, young, women and children among them.

We cannot set out together for Lingnan this time, otherwise it will be too chaotic. Dingfang, you will lead 5,000 troops first, and take a batch of supplies and craftsmen with you to walk in front to open the way for the team behind.

At the same time, set up camp in advance so that you can rest easily. Also, you should pay attention to the movements of Lingnan. The journey may be peaceful or not, no one knows, so you must remain vigilant.

Now all 32,000 men are armed and have sufficient weapons, and there are still 3,000 more men. If we meet some good talents along the way, we can recruit them into the team first. However, we have to get far away from Chang'an before we can do so.

That's it, go down and prepare now. "How could Li Yuanji not be worried? Lingnan? Do you really think it's a paradise? It's very chaotic there, with few major wars but constant small wars. The first place he was going to was the northern part of Lingnan occupied by Tan Dian, now the area of ​​Guangxi.

Feng Ang occupied the eastern part of Lingnan, the area of ​​present-day Guangdong. Jiaozhou (Vietnam) west of Lingnan was also occupied by the five Liaoren tribes. Although they were divided into five tribes, people outside gave them a unified name: the Liaoren tribe, which means local people or indigenous people.

South of Lingnan, Feng Ang had the strongest influence, but there were also two other major forces mixed in. Among them, there was a Nanfuzhou, occupied by Chen Longshu. This place was the Douzhou established during the Zhenguan period after Feng Ang suppressed the rebellion.

These are broad divisions. If we look at it more carefully, we will find that the various forces are so densely packed that it is even more complicated than the current Tang Dynasty.

If he went to Lingnan now, although Feng Ang was named Duke of Geng (formerly Duke of Yue, later changed) by Li Yuan and occupied the area east and south of Lingnan, which was Lin Shihong's territory before, it was still unknown what Feng Ang would do now that he had gone there.

This is why he particularly values ​​military commanders. Not only does he want to gather all the troops he needs, but he also wants to find Su Dingfang. If he doesn't have anyone, he will be a lamb to be slaughtered when he goes to Lingnan. Which of these people can be easily persuaded with words? He, Li Yuanji, is not the emperor of the Tang Dynasty!
These people all existed during the Sui Dynasty. They fought their way through the mountains of swords and the sea of ​​knowledge. Which one of them is easy to get along with?

He dared to go alone. The day Li Yuan fell would be the day when Li Yuanji would die.

Li Yuanji felt a headache when he thought about all this. He had not been doing nothing these days. He had checked a lot of records about Lingnan. Combined with his own understanding of his past life, he knew that Lingnan was not always smooth sailing.

If he hadn't gathered all the things needed for the army, he wouldn't even bother to look at Lingnan. That place is very difficult to survive without any strength. He was shameless enough to gather all these things.

Although the forces in Lingnan are not small, well, they seem to be quite large, but it depends on who you compare them with. In Chang'an, he has to deal with the two brothers Li Shimin and Li Jiancheng. Whoever wins at that time will suffer.

Compared with Li Jiancheng and Li Shimin, don’t the people in Lingnan seem particularly easy to bully?
Lingnan is not a small place at all. He can handle Guangdong, Guangxi, Hainan, Vietnam, and part of Yunnan. He is not afraid of any changes in Chang'an. If he can't handle it, he can only wish him good luck.

Su Dingfang listened to Li Yuanji's words and responded solemnly. They all knew about the situation in Lingnan, and they all felt heavy-hearted about this trip.

Those people in Lingnan are indeed loyal to the Tang Dynasty on the surface, but who knows what they are doing in secret?
Except for Feng Ang, who was more reliable, even Tan Dian surrendered to Li Shimin later.

Lingnan has been conquered twice, successively by Li Jing and Li Daozon, but it is never peaceful because it is really difficult to manage, as most of these people (natives, which will not be explained later) are not included in the household register of the Tang Dynasty.

why?
Because once you become a citizen, you need to pay half of the taxes stipulated by the Tang Dynasty. Doesn't that sound good? It's half less than the taxes paid in other places in the Tang Dynasty, but these places are poor and can't afford to pay half of the taxes, so basically there is no temptation to become a citizen.

These tribes are all led by provocative people. To use a phrase often used by literati, they are: they do not submit to the king's rule.

Fortunately, there are still many Han people in Lingnan now, because many of them were exiled to Lingnan.

Li Yuanji stopped thinking about it. These things could only be solved slowly when he arrived in Lingnan. It was useless to think about it now.

(End of this chapter)