Late Tang

For this banquet, not only those wealthy families in Dengzhou who had received the invitations, officials, landlords and merchants, but also many people who did not receive the invitations, also did not invite themselves because they had heard about it a long time ago.Among them, many small landlords and merchants from the four counties of Dengzhou came with generous gifts. They did not have invitations, so they could not attend the banquet. They brought gifts just to leave their names on the account book for receiving gifts.

Although it can't be compared with those distinguished guests who gave tens of thousands of gifts, although the gifts of these people may only be hundreds of thousands of dollars, but they can't stop the many people who give gifts.Since the banquet was repeatedly postponed, everyone in Dengzhou knew about it a long time ago.Not only did people with a little face in Dengzhou come, but many caravans in Dengzhou Port also sent people to give gifts.

In addition to Dengzhou, there are also those caravans in Dengzhou, Laizhou, Qingzhou, and even Mizhou, Yizhou, Haizhou, Sizhou, Xuzhou and other places farther away. Some rich families and officials sent people to give gifts .The gifts these people gave were not light. This gift was not only a congratulation to Li Jing for taking over Dengzhou, but also a desire to get closer to Li Jing, and even to get some cooperation from Li Jing.Some want to buy special and rare products from Li Jing's side, some want to buy liquor, perfume, rock sugar, or even armaments, war horses, cattle and sheep, etc., and some want to buy salt.

For these people, Li Jing naturally would not refuse anyone.

But the most surprising thing today is the generous gifts from the Cui family, Xiao family, Han family and other big families.Several families not only sent [-] guan coins, but also [-] shi of grain.Not only money, but also food, which is more precious than hundreds of thousands of coins in the current food shortage.From this, it can be seen that Cui, Han, and Xiao's family really fully supported Li Jing.

The most eye-catching thing is the nearly thirty forces in Liaodong, as well as the gift from Qinghai Town in Silla.The gifts from each family are roughly 50 guan, but the most important thing is food. Duli Town sent [-] shi, while other forces, large and small, mostly gave cattle and sheep.These forces sent food one after another, making everyone feel an unusual taste.

"The forces established by the Tang people in the southeastern part of Liaodong seem to have bowed to Li Jing this time." The banquet has not yet started, but the guests have already entered the governor's meeting.Today's banquet is divided into more than a dozen halls, large and small, arranged according to different identities.Several acquainted guests sat together, drinking tea while whispering.

Since Li Jing received the appointment of the governor of the Andong Governor's Mansion, he has officially raised his banner. At present, he has moved the official offices and banners of the Andong Governor's Mansion to Beisha City.And immediately issued a notice to those Han forces in Liaodong, asking them to accept the jurisdiction of the Anton Governor's Mansion.The so-called jurisdiction means to recruit these grass-headed kings, but Li Jing will not ask too much at the beginning, but only asks them to submit to the imperial court in name, and Li Jing will grant them official positions under the Protectorate.

But specifically, their own soldiers and territory are still in their hands, and this will not change for a while.In terms of change, they will be Li Jing's subordinates in the future, and they will have to pay some taxes to the Duhufu, and if Li Jing needs it, they will have to cooperate with soldiers.

After this announcement was issued, all forces in Liaodong were silently watching.For them, after a hundred years of freedom in Liaodong, they are not willing to suddenly put shackles on their heads.But they didn't dare to refuse directly. Beisha City was destroyed first, and Duli Town was beaten to sign the alliance under the city. This is a lesson from the past.And Li Jing is no more than a small soldier in Daxie village than before.

Today's Li Jing has become a person admired by the emperor, he has been appointed as a marquis and a general, and his relationship with Song Wei has improved. He has become Song Wei's righteous son, and suddenly became the young commander of Ziqing Town.If Li Jing wants to conquer them by force, no one wants to be the first.

There was no response from Li Jing's side to the silence of the ministries in southern Liaoning.But the more this is the case, the more uneasy the ministries in southern Liaoning become.

Among these people, Duli Town is the most disturbed.Duli Town is located at the junction of Liaodong and Dengzhou, and it is also the forefront of Dengzhou's entry into Liaodong. Moreover, because Qingni City and Beisha City are already under Li Jing's control, plus Daxie Village, Duli Town is almost destroyed. Surrounded on three sides.If Li Jing really wants to use force against Liaodong, Duli Town will bear the brunt.

The previous two times, Duli Town used money to buy Li Jing's truce, but this time, Li Jing now has the title of Anton's Protector, which was conferred by the emperor. He took action against Duli Town, That's justifiable.Especially after Li Jing got Qingni City and Beisha City, the soldiers and horses were reorganized. Now the entire Zhendong Army has more than 2 horses. Although Duli Town has recruited troops, it is difficult to recover its strength in a short time.

"50 sheep, [-] shi of grain." A customer clicked his tongue, "Duli Town gave Mr. Li several million dollars, but this time he gave him more precious grain instead of money. See It looks like Duli Town has really given in."

"That is, Li Shijun is now strong and strong, and the emperor and the princes in the court praise him. Qingzhou is also supported by Song Dashuai and Cui Sima. He holds the Zhendong Army in his hand, and he has newly won the land of Dengzhou. At this time, who would dare? To assassinate Li Shijun is to seek death. Besides, if Du Lizhen is subdued, Li Shijun will not do anything to them for a while."

Several people nodded, as if they had become princes in the court, pointing the country.

"Now what Li Shijun wants is the opinions of all parties. At this time, whoever dares to refuse to surrender may be the next target to be attacked by Li Shijun. As for the other people, whether they superficially surrender is secondary. .”

"Yeah, it's a smart move for Duli Town to take out so much food this time, at least the current hurdle has been passed."

The gift givers outside were still queuing up. After the heavy gifts from the Cui, Xiao, and Han families, and the large gifts from the various ministries in southern Liaoning, the gifts from the guests behind were obviously much richer.Some wealthy families in Dengzhou, such as the Xie family, gave away [-] guan coins and [-] shi of grain. Some other families also saw that today's gifts seemed to be all grain, so they added grain to the gift list one after another.Although there is a famine right now, for those powerful clans, they are not short of food.

These aristocratic families themselves are big landlords, with tens of millions of mu of fertile land in their homes, and some even have thousands of hectares of land in their homes.They sell very little grain, and each family has its own granary to store grain. Especially after last year's severe drought, these people did not sell a grain of grain, but hoarded it all.

Those merchants were similar. In the current situation, almost half of the merchants were buying grain and hoarding it.The presents at today's banquet are a bit strange, either money or food, and there are very few extravagant and rare things. It is said that it is because Chief Zhang, the secretary and military officer, once said it accidentally, saying that Li Jing only I am interested in money and food, but I don't like other things, especially luxury things.

In the following list of gifts, basically every family has the same gift, and that is food.For example, Xie Xuan gave [-] shi of grain, ordinary landlords gave [-] shi of grain, and some merchants had no food of their own, so they temporarily borrowed three to five hundred shi from good friends, at least [-] shi of grain.

From time to time, Zhang Hong went to the gift receiving side to look at the ledger, looking at the food figures on the ledger, his face never stopped smiling.

"Young Marquis, the food we received today is at least 100 million shi!" Zhang Hong said to Li Jing with a big smile.

Li Jing was opening and reading a few letters brought by gift-giving envoys from various ministries in Liaodong. The more he looked at Li Jing, the happier he was. The ministries finally had a reply to his previous notice.According to statistics, there are currently 47 Han forces with more than a thousand people in Liaodong, and today, 36 people came to give gifts. They sent gifts and letters, expressing their willingness to belong to the imperial court and accept the jurisdiction of the Andong Dufu. There are nineteen.

Although only 49 forces are willing to express their attachment, there are three major forces with more than [-] troops, such as Duli Town, Shirenzhu, and Shicheng. In terms of power, the strength of these people who have surrendered at the same time has already occupied [-] forces. More than half of them.

Li Jing was naturally happy to accept the gift of 100 million shi of grain, but what made him even more happy was the reaction from the other half of southern Liaoning.Li Jing is not in a hurry to enter Liaodong right now, but the preliminary preparations must be done first. First of all, he must find out the details of the various ministries and recruit those who can be attracted first. At least, he must first recruit these forces in southern Liaoning Incorporated under the Anton Protectorate, the next step is to slowly integrate them.

"Young Marquis, the feast is on!" Zhao Jiang came in to report.

Li Jing put away the letter, came to the hall, delivered a congratulatory speech, and officially started the feast of thousands of people.

There are many people going to the banquet, the banquet is lively, and the food and drink are quite rich.And at today's banquet, Dengzhou's most famous dance troupe, Jianwu Pavilion, was invited to add to the fun. In addition, Dengzhou's official dancers were also called over, and even a few opera troupes were invited to sing and play the piano Add to the fun.

Li Jing led the officers of the Zhendong Army to each hall to toast a glass of wine, and then returned to the main hall.He sat there and blocked a few people's toasts, and other people didn't dare to come to toast. Everyone was talking and laughing, but it was very lively. This scene is unimaginable in the city of Dengzhou. In addition, there are still countless refugees who are displaced, suffering from cold and hunger in the shacks.

In the middle of the banquet, Li Jing suddenly let out a long sigh.

Everyone looked at Li Jing, Zhang Hong stepped forward with a smile and said, "Today's banquet has invited the most famous cook from Dengzhou. Could it be that it doesn't suit the taste of the Marquis?"

Li Jing sighed again, and after everyone put down their wine glasses and the kabukis stopped playing silk and bamboo, he said slowly, "Today is a day of great joy for me, but just now, this Marquis suddenly remembered Du Gongbu. The wine and meat of Zhumen smell bad, and the road is frozen to death. Doesn’t this poem describe our current situation, we are here in the wine pool and meat forest, having a feast of singing and dancing, but I think of the thousands of refugees I saw in the south of the city today , They are hungry and cold right now, drinking dew in the night wind."

As soon as the words that ruined the atmosphere came out, everyone didn't know what to do.Although these people also pay attention to their reputation, they will give relief to their neighbors in times of disaster, but relief is relief. For example, if you go to the south of the city now, it is already a rare act of kindness to take out some rice for porridge every day. .It can't be because those bitter people have nothing to eat, so they can't be happy.

"Today, a banquet was held to celebrate the victory of suppressing the bandits and the chaos. I heard what Zhang Lu said. Thanks to everyone's love, I received a million shi of grain. Now I have decided that half of the 100 million shi of grain I received today will be reserved for the east of the town. The other half of the army rations is used as food for disaster relief. Zhang Lushi, do the math, is this enough food for disaster relief?"

Zhang Hong pretended to take out the counting chips in his carry-on counting bag, and started to calculate directly on the table.

"The summer harvest time is over now, but there is no harvest, and now the summer planting has begun, but the drought in the ground has not eased in the slightest, and it is difficult to harvest this autumn. In this case, we have to wait until next spring for spring plowing. If the weather is good next year, There will be no food until the summer harvest. In this way, from now on, it will take at least a whole year, and the people will have no food to harvest. If there is a disaster, it will take another year."

"There are more than 30 people in Dengzhou, and at least 30% of the 50 people have run out of food and need disaster relief. In addition, the situation in Daxie Village, Qingni City and Beisha City is not much better. Get up, at least 50 people are waiting for the release of grain to shake the disaster. An adult man's daily grain is two liters. If the minimum standard is used, the average person has half a liter per day, and the annual ration needs about one stone. This is already the minimum standard. , if you get some wild vegetables or something, you might be able to survive. 50 people, [-] shi a year. That’s enough.”

One and a half liters a day, one stone a year, calculated, only ten catties of grain a month, only three taels a day.

Li Jing shook his head and said: "You just underestimated one thing just now, that is, these grains have not been shelled. If the shells are shelled, you can only get about 100% of them. An average of half a liter of grain per person is not much? Short The time is not bad, one year, so even if it lasts until next year, the body will be straddled at that time. Calculated as one liter per day, it will only be seven times after shelling. In this way, one year is [-] million stones."

"Your Majesty, we only have 50 shi of food, so there is at least 50 shi left!"

Although 100 million stone rations were received today, Li Jing just explained that half of them were to be used as military rations.All the people here are representatives of major families in Dengzhou. When Li Jing said these words, how could they not understand Li Jing's meaning? It seems that the difference of 50 shi will fall on them in the end. body.

(To be continued)