Dawn of the Empire

Chapter 462 87 Wei Jun Gu Fang Mausoleum - 1

"The power of our agency is still a bit weak. If we don't cooperate with Jingdong, I'm afraid..."

Chen Dong was worried.In the past, he had the illusion of giving up to me, but under the banner of "respecting the emperor and not obeying 'chaotic' orders", various forces have surfaced one after another.Especially when the prefectures and counties elect officials, the people in Lishe seem to be unable to do what they want.For Cai Jing, Zhao Zhifu and other dynasties, the clear discussions of scholars seem to have some influence.But for the tyrants in the prefectures and counties, the discussion of scholars seems to be nowhere near itching. In other words, the tyrants in these prefectures and counties are themselves the mainstream of the gentry, connected by various in-laws and old friends.Now Lishe seems to have great momentum, but it is actually weak.It is much more difficult for Qingliu gentry to dominate the selection of prefecture and county schools than Hou Huanyin's official power to control the Jingdong Road.Even in places where people in the Lishe have the upper hand, the advantage is not solid enough.

"There is no way," Zhao Xingde murmured, "Now there are more than 30 prefecture and county schools, all of whom are colleagues in our club. If our club can win about ten more county schools, there will be more than 40 , in this way, as long as there are a few other county schools to support the election of Shaoyang's false prime minister, it is enough. It is much easier to win over those who are localized in one state and one county than to win over the powerful Hou Huanyin .”

"However, it's not easy to win ten more county schools." Chen Dongdao, "Some county schools that our colleagues originally had an advantage in, also because some people bought donated students, let the county magistrate and the county school's master of offering wine The position is left behind." He somewhat regretted that he had approved the bad example of donating students to the county school in order to raise military pay.The tyrants in some prefectures and counties did not hesitate to spend money to send some ignorant people to the county school, which not only made the county school a mess, but even excluded the Qingliu scholars who originally occupied the mainstream in the county school.

Zhao Xingde hesitated for a moment, then said softly: "Others can donate their lives, so we can donate too."

"This," Chen Dong looked at him in surprise, "...it's an insult to gentleness."

In the eyes of people in Qingliu, donating life is as despicable as donating officials.Eunuch proctors like Chen Dong scoffed even more.He even planned to block the way of donating life and officials when the money is abundant in the future, so as to clear the source.

"This is forced by the situation, and we have to do it." Zhao Xingde said in a low voice, "Compared with handing over the righteousness and fame to others, what is donating life?" He calculated, "Everyone has the heart of following the crowd. When you are the prime minister, if more than 40 states and counties fully support you, other states and counties may follow suit. Hou Huanyin is a sophisticated person. Under this situation, he will not break the situation with you on the spot. He only needs to give a little The good thing is that you can get the support of the prefectures and counties in Jingdong. Compared with you exchanging the prime minister's title with Hou Huanyin, the price is much lower. Maybe when the election is announced, you can get ten percent of the money With the support of the state and counties, this fake prime minister is what everyone expects, and after the name is justified, the implementation of various matters in the future will be much smoother."

Hearing his calm words, Chen Dong still hesitated and said: "But if donating students to compete for the county school, once this example is opened, the tyrants in the prefecture and county will also donate their lives to fight. The Tao is one foot tall, and the devil is one foot high. Who is the most wealthy and powerful in the competition?" He frowned and said, "A donated student has to donate five hundred guan in silver every year, and every state and county is competing for it. We can't support it with all our wealth."

Zhao Xingde shook his head and said: "The prefectural and county schools have already elected local officials, and after the prime minister has been elected, in the next three years, the county schools will only be a place for the Qing Dynasty to discuss and supervise. Now the power across the southeast is only the Lishe family. Aspirations in the world and aspirations in one corner have different interests, and the tyrants of a state and a county can't afford to lose their families and property and compete with management agencies." He smiled slightly and said to Chen Dongdao, "Besides, all the money donated is used. In public affairs such as food relief. The more you donate, the more money and food. As a person like Shaoyang, for the sake of state affairs, if the money and food are not enough, you have to pay for it yourself even if you go bankrupt. Now it is just It is always beneficial to the great affairs of the world to draw from the left to the outside and change to the right hand. The more donations, the more abundant the treasury of Ezhou. However, the gentry of the prefectures and counties have to pay one more donation for one more donation. A sum of money and food. This account, no matter how you calculate it, is worth it."

Chen Dong was dumbfounded, and sighed after a long while: "It should be so!...unexpected, unexpected!" Looking at Zhao Xingde in disbelief, he followed his train of thought and said, "There are some poor people in the communes in every state and county. Scholars, because you can’t make good friends with local officials, or your family is poor, you can’t go to the county school, so let’s donate our lives for these people.” He paused, his face was a little rosy, and added, "In addition to donating money by yourself, you can also raise money from the society to subsidize those who are ashamed of the same kind of money to study in the county school!"

Zhao Xingde said again: "First figure out the situation in each prefecture and county, and reverse the county school whose power is not much different from that of the local tycoon." He could comfort himself by saying that after the overall situation stabilizes and the world is a bit more peaceful, the county school election system should also be improved Now, various forces don't need to donate their lives to compete for the prime minister.He had mixed feelings in his heart, felt a little guilty in his uneasiness, and said a little extravagantly: "This method of donating life is to act in a hurry. Shaoyang still needs to do things with sincerity. In the future, he who wins the hearts of the people will win the world. I know Shaoyang Taking charge of the world with one body is not greedy for the power of a false prime minister."

Chen Dong nodded, and said with emotion: "The parents who gave birth to me, and Yuan Zhi who knew me."

The town camp is not far from Ezhou Zhizhou's mansion, so Chen Dong and Zhao Xingde did not ride horses and sedan chairs, they walked and talked, suddenly, a person hurried over in front of him, he looked around, and suddenly saw Chen Dong, his face was " Se' was overjoyed, hurriedly strode forward and said: "Master Chen, I have found you." He bowed to Zhao Xingde again and said: "Mr. Zhao."

"Guodong, why are you panicking?" Chen Dong asked.The person who came to report was not an ordinary Ezhou scribe, but an imperial scholar from Bianliang, whose surname was Xu and whose name was Guodong, and he was also a member of Lishe.Chen Dong has always regarded the people in the Lishe who came to join him as his friends, even if they were ordinary scribes, he would not regard himself as an official.

"Fangzhou is in a hurry!" Xu Guodong said, "Five thousand cavalrymen from the Liao Army coerced tens of thousands of signed troops to attack Fangzhou. The document of Zhizhou Gao Zhen's emergency has just been delivered to the state capital." Fangzhou is a nail in the west. In recent days, When Zhao Xingde was thinking about defending the Liao army, he paid a lot of attention to this place.

"Fangzhou?" Chen Dong turned to Zhao Xingde with a look of worry on his face, "This Gao Zhen is also a member of our company. He was born in Xuanhe in 11 years. There is quite an official voice on Jinghu North Road. He was beheaded a while ago. The envoy of the Liao thieves to persuade them to surrender." He looked back at the town's camp, hesitantly said, "Yuanzhi, this Fangzhou has to be rescued, look...?"

The 11th year of Xuanhe was the year when Zhao You died and Zhao Ke succeeded to the throne. In this year, Chen Dong was appointed by the new emperor, and many scholars in Lishe became officials.Therefore, "Xuanhe was born in 11 years" is also a symbol of seniority for Lishe.He couldn't just leave Fang Zhou alone, but Chen Dong was still angry, and he didn't want to ask Yue Fei to send troops, so he turned to Zhao Xingde.

Seeing this, Zhao Xingde nodded and said: "Raise soldiers for a thousand days, and use them for a short time. Let this matter be handed over to the Baoyi Army."

"Straightforward and righteous," Chen Dong cupped his hands, "Thank you in advance on behalf of the elders of Fangzhou." Because the Baoyi Army had just been established and the food and salary were not enough, I thought Zhao Xingde would hesitate for a while, but I didn't expect him to agree so readily .After thanking Chen Dong, he said: "For the rescue of Fangzhou, if the Baoyi Army lacks military supplies, they can go to the treasury to get them."

A part of the town's army has already entered the Jianghuai River eastward, and some people are scattered in various counties to support the Lishe scholars. The elite soldiers of the town's army in Ezhou are only more than 4000 people, and they will go northward against the Han River to open up the Xiangyang grain road. , and to help Fangzhou, Ezhou has become very empty.

Zhao Xingde secretly sighed, this battle can be won but not defeated, and it must be decided quickly.There are two ways to enter and aid Fangzhou, one is to go up against the Han River, to Xiangyang and then to the west.The other way is to go up the river, go ashore in Guizhou, and use the ancient Bayan road to go north to Fangzhou. There are no Liao soldiers on this road, but the road commonly used by salt merchants from Guizhou to Fangzhou is narrow and rugged, and it is not easy to walk. .The Baoyi Army itself didn't have much baggage, so Zhao Xingde decided to take this route after a little thought.Just in spring, the east wind is blowing on the Yangtze River, which can make up for some troubles of sailing against the current.

Back at the camp of the Baoyi Army, Zhao Xingde called Shi Jingkui, Lu Mingyu, Luo Xian and other ten generals, first told about the aid to Fangzhou, and then explained his own considerations, asking the generals for their opinions.

Lu Mingyu said conveniently: "In Fangzhou there is a Qingfeng village, the owner of which is named Liu, and another Taiping village, whose owner is surnamed Qin. There are about two to 3000 people in total, and they all sent people to say that they are willing to act on the orders of the military division. It's time to use them."

Since the formation of the Baoyi Army, the treaty negotiated by the heroes has spread everywhere, and there has been an endless stream of heroes who defected. In just over a month, the Baoyi Army has expanded to more than 6000 soldiers and horses. There are countless water bandits in the green forest.As long as these people don't do things that are too harmful to nature, Zhao Xingde also acquiesces in their doing so, and even discussed with Yue Fei to allocate a part of money and food from the Ezhou government treasury to these Jingxiang heroes.In this regard, Yue Fei coincided with him, and even proposed to draw another sum of money and food, and when the Liao bandits were not able to gain a stable foothold, they contacted heroes from Henan and Hebei as their internal support.Ezhou had to support two armies, and it also had to support the money and food of these contact heroes. It is conceivable that the treasury is empty. If it weren't for this, Chen Dong would not be 'forced' to the point where he agreed to donate students from the prefecture and county to collect money.

Now, raising soldiers for thousands of days and using them for a while, whether it is to open up the Hanshui waterway or rescue Fangzhou, these reckless heroes like local snakes are all needed. "Counting it all together, this group of people saved food and money for transporting luggage on the road because of their food." Zhao Xingde thought to himself.There is a lack of food and pay everywhere in Ezhou. Since he took charge of the Baoyi Army, he has unconsciously contracted this "fault" of careful calculation.