Late Tang

Thanks to Laozi dizzy very, franklin, phwei, happy homeless man 1, Wei Weigang, Fen. Feng for your support.The double monthly ticket is about to end, and the gap between us and the front is getting bigger and bigger. Last month, one was thirteen, and this month is already seventeen. Brothers, give a few votes to support, let us borrow the double last Time to rush again!

As soon as Li Jing's convoy arrived at the gate of the city, Zhang Rui, the governor of Songzhou, had already rushed up to meet it.

"The governor of Songzhou, Zhang Rui, welcomes Li Zhenguo!"

Zhang Rui, who was dressed in a purple robe, had a respectful attitude. Although he was the governor of Songzhou in Shangzhou and Zhang Rui was a high-ranking official of the third rank, but this time the grass thieves attacked and entered Songzhou.When the situation in Songzhou was critical, Li Jing, the general of the town [***], led an army to help and frightened the grass thieves away. This incident alone was enough to make the [-] people in Songzhou very grateful.

In the officialdom at this time, the first thing to do is to be born, which refers to a noble family and a Jinshi in the imperial examination.Officials from these two types of origin can almost all have smooth careers.Although Zhang Rui is the governor of such an important city in Songzhou, his background is actually not high.Zhang Rui was born in the rich family of Dangshan, Songzhou. Although his family has millions of fortunes, he is neither a scholar nor an eunuch.However, he passed the Jinshi examination in his early years, which was not bad. In addition, his family was rich and talented, so now he is only about 40 years old, and he has already been appointed as the governor of Shangzhou like Songzhou.

However, although in the officialdom one pays attention to background, qualifications and prestige, in the final analysis, ability is still very important.Li Jing's family background is not high, and he is very young, but Li Jing's current achievements are something that even the governor of Shangzhou like him would look up to.At a young age, he already wears the position of commander-in-chief of the three towns, a duke of the state, and a heavy army in his hand.

Especially this time when the grass bandits invaded, although the imperial court dispatched twelve towns to encircle and suppress them, the town far away in the capital was the first to arrive[***].Therefore, even Zhang Rui, the third-rank governor of Shangzhou who served the purple goldfish, would not hesitate to condescend and welcome him at the city gate.

Gao Sixiang, the pro-military academy lieutenant at the front of the convoy, stopped the horse and waved his hand to signal the convoy to suspend.

A group of Songzhou officials following Zhang Rui all looked at the carriage with their necks raised. The Songzhou soldiers on their left and right looked eagerly, waiting with anticipation for the demeanor of a group of soldiers who were worshiped by Marshal Li.

The curtain of the carriage was lifted, and Li Jing appeared in front of everyone in a robe.

A young face, a strong body, a big purple official robe, a jade belt around the waist, a goldfish bag and an imperial dragon pendant.He has a heroic look on his face, but his eyebrows are filled with the look of a general.

Now Zhang Rui and the others also knew that this young man was Zhongshuling Tongping Zhangshi Fuguo General Shangzhu State Qi Duke Li Jing.

Although Zhang Rui knew that Li Jing was young, he was still very surprised to meet him.Looking at it like that, Li Jing looked more like a young scholar. How could he imagine that this was actually a commander in chief of the town [***] who had won dozens of battles and had no defeats?

Taking a deep breath, Zhang Rui clasped his fists and saluted: "The governor of Songzhou, Zhang Rui, pays his respects to the commander-in-chief!"

Li Jing jumped out of the carriage and took a good look at Zhang Rui. He was no stranger to Li Jing, the Governor of Songzhou whom he met for the first time.Just because he has a daughter, in the history books of later generations, he is the queen of Zhu Wen, the Taizu of the Later Liang Dynasty.What particularly impressed Li Jing was that Zhu Wen, Taizu of the Later Liang Dynasty, was not well evaluated in history. He was a rogue, cunning, despicable, cruel and bloodthirsty. Especially in his later years, he not only wiped out the wife and daughter of his own ministers , Even his own daughter-in-law was not spared. What's even more surprising is that he not only raped one daughter-in-law.

But a person like Zhu Wen was once infatuated with his queen, Zhang Shi, because he met once in the early years, and he never forgot it, and when he met again ten years later, he married Zhang Shi.And for Mrs. Zhang, he obeyed.In history, Zhang was a very virtuous queen.Zhu Wen's metamorphosis mostly broke out after Zhang's death.

Li Jing stepped forward and grabbed Zhang Rui and said with a smile, "Thanks to Zhang Shijun's kind invitation, but Li is not respectful."

Seeing that Li Jing is so young and in a high position without the slightest arrogance, Zhang Rui couldn't help but have a better impression of Li Jing.Now join hands with Li Jing and introduce to him one by one the officials of Songzhou who came to greet him in front of the city gate.After exchanging pleasantries, Li Jing directly pulled Zhang Rui into his carriage and entered Songzhou City together.

Songzhou played a very important role in the Tang Dynasty, especially after the Anshi Rebellion.It is more prosperous because it is located on the edge of Bianqu.

The Bianqu in the Tang Dynasty, also known as the Tongji Canal in the Sui Dynasty, was an important channel for water transportation from Chang'an to Yangzhou at that time. Most of the grain and taxes in the southeast had to be transported to Luoyang and Chang'an through the Bianqu.Due to the frequent transportation, many metropolises have sprung up on the Bianqu line, and Songzhou is one of the most prosperous cities.With a population of [-], there are countless boats and vehicles.

At Tianbao, it was renamed Suiyang County, but later it was restored to Songzhou, with ten counties under its jurisdiction.

Songzhou guards the traffic arteries, and three hundred miles to the west is Bianzhou, which is known as the place of the Fourth World War.The two prefectures of Song and Bian were evaluated by the people at that time as the key land between Liang and Song Dynasties, which suppressed Qilu and controlled the diversion of Jianghuai.Emperor Lian Dezong once decreed that in the land of Liang and Song Dynasties, water and land hubs, transportation throats, and royal barriers.

Songzhou borders Bianzhou in the west, Xuzhou and Yanzhou in the east, Caozhou in the north, and Huazhou and Weizhou in the north. Weizhou is also an important place where land and water meet, and is the metropolis of Hebei.To the south of Songzhou is Bozhou, and further south is Yingzhou.The Yingshui River in Yingzhou was another important waterway from Nantong to North in the late Tang Dynasty.Yingshui in Yingzhou connects with Caishui in Chenzhou, and finally enters Bianshui to reach Dongdu line, becoming another important waterway for water transportation.

Since the Anshi Rebellion, whenever there is a rebellion, Songzhou must become an important place for military strategists to compete for. From the time of the Anshi Rebellion, Zhang Xun stood firm in Suiyang, which effectively prevented Anlu Mountain from going south.The most famous incident of killing and eating meat to defend the city in the history of the Tang Dynasty was this battle.In the later battles against Li Xiyeol and Pangxun, Songzhou embodied an important strategic position.

After Huang Chao captured Yizhou this time, he suddenly returned west and came to Songzhou because of the good location of Songzhou.Songzhou is not only rich and can quickly supply and strengthen the grass army, but also Songzhou is located in a position where it can advance or retreat, and the possibility of being besieged is very low.

Huang Chao rushed into the territory of Songzhou at once, with a ferocious attack, and even seized the two counties of Shanfu and Chuqiu to the east of the Bianhe River. Seeing that if Yucheng was broken again, Songcheng, the seat of Songzhou, would also be in danger.On the one hand, Zhang Rui summoned state soldiers and soldiers from all counties and towns, and urgently called all counties to unite the villagers.On the one hand, they urgently reported to Xuanwu Army Commander's Mansion, but at this critical moment, Xuanwu Town Commander Mu Renyu went to the capital and did not return. Without Mu's command, the rest of Xuanwu's troops could not be mobilized.

Then, when I got the news that the imperial court had ordered Twelve Towns to encircle and suppress the grass bandits, it didn't take long for me to be happy, the grass bandits had already breached Yucheng, and the front of the soldiers went to the west bank of the Bianshui River. The bandit army's forward was only fifty miles away from Songzhou.

But at this time, Song Wei, the envoy of the soldiers and horses in the twelve towns to recruit the bandits, was still far away in Zizhou, and the other towns had just left their towns slowly.Just when he was about to despair, Li Jing led the town [***] to rush all the way from Chang'an, and arrived at the city of Songzhou before the surrounding towns rescued him.

Songzhou officials finally stared at the reinforcements all the way, and at this time they were afraid that Li Jing would leave, so Zhang Zhangrui should come forward and invite Li Jing to the city for a banquet.This banquet was quite rich. Although the news of the attack of the grass thieves came, countless people fled from the originally bustling Songzhou City, but after all, it is a big city with 10 people, and the city is still not comparable to ordinary small cities. .

When the wine was half drunk, Li Jing put down his glass and turned to Zhang Rui, "Mr. Zhang, can you know the details of the bandit soldiers?"

"The thieves are powerful. According to the investigation, the grass thieves crossed the border like locusts all the way from Yizhou, crossed the state and counties, plundered the air, and kept recruiting soldiers. Now there are thieves everywhere, and the thieves have already numbered [-]. But according to our judgment, the grass bandits now have at least [-] soldiers, and that's not counting the people they've coerced." Zhang Rui said worriedly.

Li Jing sneered, "It's just a group of mobs. If it was normal, I would be willing to send troops to destroy them. But now, I have to wait for the order from the Taoist camp to recruit the grassroots envoy Song Dashuai before we can act."

Hearing this, Zhang Rui and the others were worried for a while, "Commander, Song Shuai is still far away in Zizhou, and he can't command the overall situation for a while. Right now, the enemy soldiers are invading the country, and the people everywhere are suffering. Please, the Duke of Qi, relieve the people from hanging upside down, and save the people from the fire and water."

Li Jing leaned back slightly, tapped his fingers on the table, then picked up a linen cloth and gently wiped the corners of his mouth.He smiled and said: "Everyone, there is a saying that before the soldiers and horses are moved, the food and grass go first. My town [***] rushed all the way from Chang'an, although I also intend to go to the battlefield to kill the enemy immediately, but everyone should know that Yang Fu, the envoy of the army, respects Yang The military envoy has not yet arrived, nor has his food and salary, there is no food and salary, what can we fight with, the emperor does not send hungry soldiers."

Zhang Rui was stunned for a moment, and immediately understood the meaning of Li Jing's words.He only had one contact with his colleagues, and he had already reached an agreement.

"Marshal, although Songzhou is only a small place, we can't watch the soldiers in the town [***] go hungry. We are willing to collect 20 shi of grain for the town [***] to make military rations, but we beg The soldiers of the town [***] can send troops to help recover the lost counties of Yucheng, Shanfu, and Chuqiu." 20 shi of grain is not a small number, but for Songcheng, a famous metropolis on the Bianqu Canal, it is worth taking out These grains are not difficult.

Li Jing smiled slightly, stretched out his right hand, and lit up his palm. "If Songzhou wants our town [***] to send troops to recover the three cities, that's not a problem. However, only supplying 20 shi of grain is not enough. I also need a full set of equipment for 5000 people, including 50 sets of leather armor, Five thousand spears, knives, longbows, shields, tents, and wagons and pack horses to carry them, plus half a million arrows."

Zhang Rui did some calculations in his mind, such 50 sets of equipment, at least 20 guan, plus [-] stone grains, already exceeded a million guan.

"[-] sets of equipment plus [-] stone grains!" After Zhang Rui calculated in his mind, he reduced the price a little.Even so, this has already reached a million.

"Okay, it's a deal." Li Jing stood up very satisfied.Then a waiter was recruited, and after asking about the latrine, he smiled and said to everyone: "Rong will leave for the time being, and go to change clothes first." (To be continued.)