Late Tang

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Firecrackers blared, colorful flags fluttered, and there were lights and festoons everywhere in Licheng of Qizhou, full of laughter and laughter.

On June [-]th, Li Jing led the township to advance eastward along the Jishui River, approaching Qizhou.At the same time, the Pinglu army on the border of Qizi in the east was also gearing up, gearing up and marching westward into Qizhou.Facing the attack from the east and west of the official army, Huang Chao finally persuaded Wang Jingwu to give up Qizhou, which had been in operation for a long time, and the whole army retreated south.

On June 22, Huang Chao and Wang Xianzhi joined forces with 15 soldiers, 20 auxiliary soldiers, and [-] young and strong men and women. After looting the entire ten counties of Qizhou, they retreated southward.

On June 25th, Li Jing led the town [***] into Qizhou along the Jishui River, recovered Shanshi City on the same day, and on the 26th the town [***] entered Licheng.On the same day, Li Jing assigned the troops of the town [***] to quickly enter Qizhou and actually Zhucheng.Immediately after regaining Qizhou, Li Jing ordered all the armies and battalions in the town to carry out a new round of raids on the entire Licheng.This time, Li Jing did not collect the population of Qizhou.After a large number of people were taken away by Wang Jingwu in Qizhou, the population was less than one in ten.

However, as the news of Li Jing's recovery of Qizhou came out, as early as when Wang Jingwu rebelled, he had already seen the situation. A large number of Qizhou's aristocratic families and local landlords and large merchants who fled to other places were the first again. Time returned to Qizhou.

Li Jing protected the property of these people and did not collect them.Moreover, Youzhen [***] quickly swept away the remnants of bandits and rebels in various places and maintained local order. There was not much turmoil in Qizhou. On the contrary, Qizhou was quickly recovering from anger.

The aristocrats of the Qizhou Home Returning Group, rich and wealthy merchants, and ordinary people who had left earlier were extremely grateful to Li Jing for returning to their homeland at this time.

The rich merchants and landowners of big commercial houses in Qizhou took out a sum of money together to condolences to the laborers, and held a lantern festival to celebrate. The whole city of Licheng stayed up all day and night.

The town [***] and these local returning groups from Qizhou released grain and porridge. The refugees from Qizhou flocked to the city, and there were hungry people everywhere outside the city.In Licheng, various markets have also reopened, and the night market is somewhat lively, even more lively than this year's Shangyuan Festival.

The lively lantern festival and market in Qizhou for several days in a row also attracted a large number of other foreign merchants and refugees.Not only Qizhou, but also Jeju, Zizhou, and Yanzhou had a large number of people coming, and even Dizhou under Yichang Town on the other side of the Yellow River also came.

The aristocratic families and even local tyrants and landlords and wealthy businessmen in various states, when they saw Wang Jingwu and Huang Chao fleeing south, they all understood that the territory of Qizhou would return to the Pinglu Army in the future.Most of these well-informed people already knew that Song Wei, the commander of the Pinglu Army, was seriously ill, and had just proposed to the court that his adopted son Li Jing should be the commander of the Pinglu Army.Since Li Jing is Song Wei's adoptive son, they believe that Li Jing will eventually lead Qizhou.

And people from nearby states and counties came here, and most of the people in Kanto had this idea. Li Jing's town [***] is now huge, and Li Jing's prestige is even greater. Maybe he will become the person who is also the commander-in-chief of the four towns again.In this area of ​​the lower reaches of the Yellow River, no one can surpass it in terms of influence.Now that they came here to make friends and make some connections, they naturally wanted to be under the influence of Marshal Li.

Especially some big families in Ziqi and Qizhou, when Wang Jingwu occupied these two places, they had many unclear connections with Wang Jingwu. Now that Wang Jingwu is defeated, they must seek a new backer.

In addition, there are more merchants who come to do business with the town [***].It has almost become a generally accepted fact that the town [***] can not only fight wars, but also do business.

Zhen [***] set up the Dengzhou guild hall in the Bian Song Dynasty, and also set up many mansion shops and commercial houses, and all the way to the east, it also set up guild halls, commercial houses, and mansion shops in Cao, Yan, Pu, Yun, and Ji. , Jishui line, every time the town [***] regains a city, it will immediately establish a guild hall and a mansion shop, and will also set up many shops such as a bank, a grain store, a cloth store, and a salt store.As the town [***] came all the way to the east, these shops are no longer just individual shops, they have been linked together and become the most powerful business force on the Jishui line.

Especially now that the grass bandits and the government army have repeatedly raided, almost all the original business forces in this line have been greatly impacted, and the shops in the town of [***] now occupy a large share.Now that the town [***] has regained Qizhou, these merchants from all over the world rushed here desperately just to discuss business cooperation with the town [***].

The town [***] has a lot of money and power, they can't compete and dare not fight, but the town [***] can't take all the market share in these states right now, the town [***] eats meat, They want to drink soup.Of course, the premise is to cooperate with Zhen [***] and stand together.

Those nobles and merchants who came here were refugees from Qizhou and nearby who had already lost their homes and properties in natural disasters and wars.Everyone knows that wherever the town [***] goes, food will be released to pray for disasters.Although the counties also distribute porridge and food, there are still a large number of refugees who come to Licheng from all directions. These people are not just for the bowl of gruel. According to legend, Dengzhou is known as the Paradise.

The entire Licheng City of Qizhou is now like a huge temporary camp, with more than 20 people in the town [***], and more than [-] young and strong are stationed outside Qizhou City.In addition to those swarms of refugees, as well as those gentry merchants, Licheng was even more lively than before the war.

The huge team of more than 20 people in the town of [***] was followed by an equally huge team, which was a team composed of countless small caravans.They followed the town [***] all the way, and when they camped every day, they stopped a few miles away and immediately became a huge grass market.They brought all kinds of goods and served the soldiers and even the young and strong in the town [***], and exchanged goods for the money in their hands.There are thousands of these merchants, and they follow wherever the town [***] goes.

After nightfall, Qizhou is so bustling that people will temporarily forget that this place has just experienced a huge looting.When the watch drum sounded at Haishi (nine o'clock in the evening), Li Jing sent away another batch of local gentry from Qizhou who came to ask for a visit.

Stretching, she saw Zhang Hui walking in with a food box.

"Husband is really desperate for his life when he does things. We agreed to have dinner together tonight and then go to see the lanterns, but he forgot everything when he got busy. Husband doesn't remember the concubine's body, but he doesn't even remember the meal." Eat, your body is yours if you are starved." Zhang Hui pouted a little dissatisfied, but her tone was full of concern.

Li Jing stretched out his hand to grab her jade hand apologetically, and smiled apologetically, "There are too many things these days, Qizhou has just been recovered, and there are too many things up and down. I am really sorry for neglecting my lady."

When Zhang Hui came in just now, he saw that there were still people queuing up outside to be interviewed. Knowing that her husband would be busy until late tonight, she said a few words to Li Jing, and told her to go back to her room earlier to rest, and then she got up and went back.

These days, Li Jing hasn't even had a sound sleep, and almost only sleeps for about two hours every day.Not only Li Jing, but also the high-level officials in the whole town [***], especially Xiaoqi Division and Staff Division, have been almost sleepless during this time.

Since entering Jeju, Li Jing has been making various arrangements, all of which are just for the current strategic planning of the town [***].

Li Jing's roots are in Dengzhou, which is located in the easternmost part of the entire Henan Province and is close to the sea. Although he has no worries and can develop with peace of mind, as long as there is chaos and war, Dengzhou's position is actually not good.If he wanted to do something, at the very least, Li Jing had to fight for Ziqing Town first, then Taining Town, and then Tianping Town.

This is actually the practice of Ziqing Town in the early years when Li Shidao separatized Ziqing Town, that is, from east to west, the current two towns of Taining and Tianping were included under his command. Si, west of the canal.

In terms of the geographical situation of the entire Tang Dynasty, the area of ​​Shandong belongs to the third step of China. From the east of Taihang Mountain, Funiu Mountain, and Dabie Mountain, to the south of Youyan, and to the north of Jianghuai, there is an endless plain. This is the North China Plain. and the Huanghuai Plain.

In the east of this great plain, there is a low mountain and hilly area, which is called Yuzhongnan low mountain and hill.

The north, west and south sides of this piece of low mountains and hills are plains, and the east side is the Shandong Peninsula, surrounded by the Bohai Sea and the Yellow Sea.

The low mountains and hills in central and southern Shandong are composed of Mount Tai, Mount Lu, Mount Yi, and Mount Meng, forming the main body of Shandong's topography.

The Yellow River flows into the sea from the north side of the low mountains and hills to the east, and Surabaya flows into the sea from the west side of the low mountains and hills to the south.

Most of the strategic points in Shandong are located on the four sides of this low mountain and hilly area, surrounded by mountains and rivers, and are completely based on the situation of these mountains and rivers.

Li Jing compared the sand table east of Taibie Mountain and north of Huaihe River, thinking constantly in his mind, thinking about the future strategy of the entire town [***].

Mount Tai is in the south of Qizhou and the north of Yanzhou.Lushan is located in Zizhou between Qizhou and Qingzhou.Yishan is located in the north of Yizhou and the south of Qingzhou, between Yizhou and Qingzhou.Mengshan is located in the middle and west of Yizhou, between Yi and Yan.

Qi, Yan, Yi, Zi, and Qi, these five prefectures can be said to be the key places of the whole Shandong. It can be said that the four mountains of Tai, Lu, Yi, and Meng occupy the commanding heights of the entire Shandong, occupying the Then the entire large area east of Funiu Mountain and Dabie Mountain, south of the Yellow River, and north of the Huaihe River can be smoothly controlled.

And if you can't occupy the mountains and rivers of these four mountains, Dengzhou on the Shandong Peninsula is not enough to defend.

But to occupy this piece of low mountains and hills, there is one most important place that must not be ignored, and that is Qizhou. There is Qizhou on the northwest side of this piece of low mountains and hills.Qizhou is adjacent to Mount Tai in the south and blocks the Yellow River in the north.Military strategists commented on the status of Licheng, saying that "Qizhou should be the center of all directions. If you don't have Qizhou in the south, you can't ask for Heji; if you don't have Qizhou in the north, you dare not look at Huaisi; if you don't have Qizhou in the west, you can't achieve Linzi. If you don’t have Qizhou in the east, there is no competition for balance in Ajuan. Therefore, when Shandong is in trouble, Qizhou is often the center of battle and defense.”

Li Jing stared at Qizhou on the sand table, and did not move away for a long time! (To be continued.)