Datang New Order

Pingzhou is located on the coast of the sea, more than [-] miles away from Youzhou, and was originally the seat of the Anton Dufu of the Tang Dynasty.During the Tianbao period, it was placed under the jurisdiction of Fanyang Jiedu and became an important base for the Anshi Incident. Since then, it has been under the rule of Lulong (Youzhou) Jiedu for a long time.Yingzhou, which is adjacent to the north, has always been the center of various ethnic groups outside the Tang Dynasty. In the decades before Li Chengzhong traveled through, due to the declining days of the Tang Dynasty, the original Jimi states gradually broke away from Lulong Jiedu's rule. The state is also gradually abolished.

In the past few years, the actual control area of ​​Lulong Jiedu Mansion has retreated into the pass, and Lu Long's army has only set up passes along the side wall, guarded by local town soldiers.The large area of ​​land north of the original Yingzhou outside the pass gradually became unclaimed land, and it was a hunting ground for various ethnic groups such as Khitan, Xixi, Sumo Mohe, and Baiyu.In particular, the Khitan people are rising rapidly, and they go south more and more frequently every year. The fertile land north of Xuanshui and on both sides of Bailangshui has become their pasture.The local Han people either fled to the pass, or were taken captive to the north, and became slaves of the Khitan people, and more people who were unwilling to leave their hometowns struggled to survive.

Especially this time, the Khitans took advantage of Lu Long's army's southern expedition to plunder massively. Khitan rangers once appeared under Yuguan. Fan, and then drove the captured Han slaves back with a full load.

From Youzhou to the east, through Lu County, Yutian, and Shicheng, Li Chengzhong ran for three or four consecutive days before arriving at Pingzhou.This is also because he is not familiar with equestrian skills. If he was replaced by an army messenger, he could cover the five hundred miles in two and a half days.Along the way, Li Chengzhong saw people in twos and threes and ragged clothes fleeing to the inland along the official road. When they arrived at the foot of Pingzhou city, they suddenly found that there were refugees fleeing from outside the pass everywhere in the four fields outside the city. Li Chengzhong, who flew past all the way, was in a daze with unwillingness.

Pingzhou Governor's Mansion is in Lulong County, which is Pingzhou City.When Li Chengzhong entered the city, he discovered that there were more people fleeing in the city.Fortunately, Pingzhou Governor's Mansion has set up more than a dozen state sheds, and the refugees can maintain it at least, and nothing happened.It's just that every household closed their doors tightly, and the atmosphere was a little tense.

Li Chengzhong passed the customs inspection at the gate of the city, rode his horse and went straight to the Governor's Mansion. When he arrived at the Governor's Mansion, he was told by the subordinate staff at the gate that Governor Zhang was not in the mansion and was inspecting everywhere.Li Chengzhong had no choice but to wait patiently in the gatehouse.

It wasn't until it was time to light the lamp that Li Chengzhong finally saw this tired fourth-rank official in the study of the Governor's Mansion.

Zhang inspected porridge sheds in and outside Jicheng, and didn't come back until dark. He was so busy that he didn't even have time to eat, and he didn't have any water or rice for a whole day.After wiping the dust off his face, he asked the subordinate staff to serve him a meal. Hearing that Li Chengzhong had already eaten, he was not too polite and asked Li Chengzhong to sit down, and then he started to eat.

The governor's dinner was very simple, a bowl of porridge, two flatbreads, a plate of minced meat and a few pieces of pickles.He smeared the minced meat on the bread, and held the bread in his hands and gnawed it in circles, as if Li Chengzhong was eating pizza in his previous life, which made Li Chengzhong feel a little dazed.

Zhang Zaiji ate a piece of noodle cake in a blink of an eye, took a long sip of porridge, and after relieving the hunger in his stomach, he picked up another piece of noodle cake, smeared it with minced meat, and opened Zhou Zhiyu's letter while eating, and quickly read it stand up.After reading the letter and eating the bread, he closed his eyes and meditated for a while, then asked Li Chengzhong: "Li Peirong, what are your conductors doing these days?"

Li Chengzhong bowed his body and said: "The commander has been running around for the reorganization of the army recently."

Zhang Zaiji said "oh", and said: "I have also heard a little about the whole army, but I don't know how to make a conclusion, do you know?"

Li Chengzhong explained in detail the plan of the Jiedu Mansion to prepare the army.

Zhang Zaiji silently sighed for a long time: "If the Chinese army does not help, and the town troops in each prefecture are reduced by 500%, then what soldiers in our Pingzhou will be able to resist the Khitan invasion?" The new army plan will be reduced to 500 people, that is, two sub-battalions with 250 people in each battalion.With such a small force, it is really hard to resist the Khitan's harassment of the side wall.

Li Chengzhong said: "Commander Zhou is also very worried about the affairs of Pingzhou, but now the capital of the Jiedu government is so tight that it can't afford so many soldiers, and even the battalion of healthy soldiers is also being withdrawn and merged, so I am afraid that I will be powerless. .A certain once heard Commander Zhou say that the commander-in-chief also often lamented about the border affairs, but the military resources were insufficient, so it was really impossible..."

Zhang Zaiji murmured: "Insufficient military resources..."

Li Chengzhong said cautiously: "Someone sees the crowd of refugees inside and outside Pingzhou. If things go on like this, there may be changes. Why doesn't the governor's office recruit volunteers from them and ask them to go to the top of the city to guard the border?"

Zhang Zaiji stared at Li Chengzhong, and slowly said: "I am a civil official, not involved in military affairs, and the Jiedu Mansion has no order, so I dare to do this..."

Seeing Zhang Zaiji staring into his eyes, Li Chengzhong gritted his teeth and said, "The lowly position is bold. There is no order in Pingzhou to dare to recruit, so I asked the Jiedu Mansion for orders. It is about the safety of the people at the border. My lord, why is your envoy afraid of the head and the tail?"

Zhang Zaiji was terrified and moved when he heard this, nodded and said: "What a 'justice is for the public', whatever, let's try."

Having said so much, there is no need to say any more, Li Chengzhong rushed back to Youzhou overnight, while Zhang Zaiji sat in the hall with his eyes closed and meditated for a long time, after eating the cakes on his hands, he walked to the front hall to sign the bond room.

The light in the signing room was still on. Zhang Zaiji pushed the door open and entered. A young Confucian scholar in robes was leaning over his desk with a pen, reviewing a stack of files.Seeing Zhang Zaiji coming in, the Confucian scholar got up and saluted.Zhang Zaiji smiled and said, "It's late at night, but Tao is still busy?"

The Confucian scholar, surnamed Feng and named Dao, was born in Yingzhou. When he was traveling in Pingzhou, he was picked up by Zhang Zaijiu on the road, and he was immediately recruited into the city and hired as an assistant.He was thoughtful and meticulous in his work, and he worked hard without complaint, which gradually won Zhang Zaiji's appreciation. Seeing Zhang Zaiji's question at this moment, he said: "Your Majesty is worried about Li Shu, and he has not rested until now. Dao'an dares to rest." As he spoke, he took a file on the table Passed it to Zhang Zaiji, and said: "This is the number of refugees and food consumption reported by each county. It has been calculated. The three counties of Lulong, Macheng, and Shicheng have received 330 refugees from outside the customs. Congee 7000 shi, this is just a rough figure, and there should be [-] to [-] people entering the customs one after another. Among them, Zhoucheng has the most refugees. Macheng and Shicheng accept fewer refugees, and they can still last for more than a month. Only Lulong The county government treasury is almost bottomed out, and they said it can last up to ten days."

Zhang Zaiji took the account book and looked at it, saying: "Magistrate Zheng already said when he accompanied a certain person to inspect various places in the city today, and he asked for the opening of the state treasury to support it. The grain and rice in the state treasury can last for two months. Tomorrow Ri called together large households in Pingzhou to discuss, and strive to get another [-] shi of grain. The harvest of autumn grain is in sight, so there is no need to worry about this winter, but what will happen next year? The most worrying thing at the moment is not grain. Pingzhou is rich. The family property will be safe until next year. But the looting by the Hulu outside the pass is the biggest worry. Now Pingzhou is empty, and a certain has blocked the news, only allowed to enter the pass, not allowed to leave the pass, so the Hulu have not yet heard about it. But this is just an expedient measure, if Hu Qi enters the bandits, it will be a catastrophe."

Feng Dao thought for a while, and asked: "The border crisis is so urgent, is it true that the Jiedu government is not willing to send troops?"

Zhang Zaiji sighed: "This time the Southern Expedition was defeated, Lulong's armies were left with very little, and the Jiedu Mansion was too exhausted, and the funds were already insufficient. Just now, a person from Youzhou came to talk about the details of the Jiedu Mansion's reorganization of the army. I'm afraid it won't be expected in the near future." Immediately, he talked about the whole army of Lulong Jiedu Mansion one by one.

Feng Dao pondered for a moment, and said: "500 people? I'm afraid it won't be of great use. Dao has recently observed the situation of the refugees, and he has gained a little. I want to share it with the envoy."

Zhang Zaiji said: "Please tell me."

Feng Dao cleared his throat, and said: "The refugees came from outside the customs, and their homes were destroyed. Dao recently visited some of the Ding households, and all of them harbored deep hatred for Hu Qi. Instead of letting the refugees gather and wait for relief, why don't you write a letter to the Jiedu Mansion, Recruiting young and strong from the refugees to guard the frontier, firstly, it will have the power of defense, and secondly, it will not cause troubles among the refugees. It is only necessary to use the relief food as the army ration, and Taoist thought that there is no need to pay, and the refugees will also respond. .”

Zhang Zaiji nodded: "Someone also has this intention, but he is afraid of meddling in the military and arousing the commander's suspicion." Since the mid-Tang Dynasty, the governors of various states have great power and have the right to set up bureaus. Many governors even recruited troops. A feudal town, but these governors are all governors under the jurisdiction of the imperial court, and the governors of feudal towns are not included.Zhang Zaiji belonged to the governor of Lulong Jiedu Mansion, all the military power was in the Jiedu Mansion, and the governor mansion itself only had the power of civilian governance.The feudal town itself uses military power outside the imperial court, and is the most sensitive to the states' meddling in the military. Therefore, Zhang Zaiji's most troublesome key lies here.Although he promised Li Chengzhong to write a letter to the Jiedu Mansion, he didn't know how to proceed.

Feng Dao smiled: "It's simple. Today, after the Pingzhou Township's southern expedition, none of them have been returned. There are only dozens of old and weak left guarding the pass city. Even if young and strong are recruited, the governor's office will not be able to train them. So you can write a letter Jiedu Mansion, please ask Jiedu Mansion to send dozens of troops to Pingzhou to preside over the recruitment.” This idea is very ingenious, for Zhang Zaiji, he has no intention of military power, and it doesn’t matter who leads the army, as long as there is Soldiers can guard the border. As far as the Jiedu Mansion is concerned, Pingzhou, in addition to the annual handover regulations, raises disaster relief food and salaries for the Jiedu Mansion to support the army. How can such a good thing be rejected?It can be said to kill two birds with one stone.

Zhang Zaiji was overjoyed, but then he looked embarrassed: "It's just that the Chinese army is being re-established now, who is willing to come to Pingzhou to serve as a town soldier? Not only should the military salary be halved, but also the face-to-face battle is dangerous..." His words point to another key issue.In the Tang Dynasty, the governors of the feudal towns were not all determined by the Jiedushi. Although the Jiedushi was the nominal master in the feudal towns, they did not keep their promises.Especially in traditional feudal towns such as Lulong, Weibo, and Chengde that have been passed down for more than a hundred years, the military power is actually owned by the generals.If Jiedushi can satisfy the generals below, everyone will naturally support him. If he treats the generals favorably, fails to convince the crowd, or even suppresses the generals under him at will, causing dissatisfaction, he will naturally be abandoned by the military leaders.

Take Liu Rengong as an example. Six years ago, he was still the border town general. At that time, the military governor of Lu Longjun was Li Kuangwei.The new post has little experience in staying in the post, and he didn't pay much attention to Liu Rengong's department who asked for an internal rotation after the border guard period. He was full of thoughts on his brother who had gone to the Chengde Army to take refuge, and he was only thinking about how to get rid of this trouble.So his inexperience finally led to a catastrophe. Liu Rengong's troops, who felt that they had been neglected, simply raised the banner of rebellion and drove directly to the city of Youzhou.Unexpectedly, the newly appointed Li Kuangchou did not follow the rules. Not only did he not speak well to comfort Liu Rengong's subordinates, he agreed to his request for internal transfer, but instead sent troops to beat up Liu Rengong's subordinates.

This suddenly aroused a collective rebound from the generals in Lulong Town.After Liu Rengong ran to Hedong, he cried to Li Keyong, attracted the Hedong Army, and attacked Youzhou in one fell swoop under the support of Lu Long's major army leaders.In this unique era, Liu Rengong's rebellious behavior occupied the righteousness, so he got the tacit support of most of the Lu Long Army leaders, so he became the new Lu Long Army Jiedushi.

What Zhang Zaiji was talking about was such a tradition, if the generals in Youzhou were unwilling to come to Pingzhou to serve as town generals, the Jiedu Mansion could not force them.

Feng Dao, who is a native of the Northland, of course knows this tradition, but he smiled immediately and said: "It is different now, just now the envoy said that the Jiedu Mansion is in the process of reorganizing the army, and although the commander is newly defeated, his status is getting worse It is stable, and the Jiedu Mansion ordered, who would dare not obey now?"

Zhang Zaiji shook his head and said, "There is a huge difference between being forced to come and coming voluntarily!" A general who had to obey orders to come to the town can imagine the effect he can have, and he doesn't care about it. What do you expect.

Feng Dao thought for a while, and said, "Shi Junshi just said you came from Youzhou?"

Zhang Zaiji hesitated a little, but decided to tell this young man whom he admired more and more: "Yes, a certain person is acquainted with Commander Zhou of the Jianzhu Battalion, and he sent someone to inform a certain matter." He took out Zhou Zhiyu's letter from his sleeve and handed it over.

Feng Dao took it over and read it carefully, and said with a smile: "You don't need to worry, someone will come to Pingzhou."

Zhang Zaiji was taken aback: "You mean..."

Feng Dao smiled without saying a word, Zhang Zaiji was suddenly stunned, and stroked his palm and said: "Great kindness! I beg Ke Dao to work so hard, write your words overnight, stamp them with the seal of the governor's office, and send them to Youzhou tomorrow morning!"

Feng Dao bowed slightly: "Dare not to obey orders!"