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Chapter 840
Xue Wanche and the others knew that Yu Chigong, Wang Mahan and Wang Mahan defeated the two counties of the Tang army in a row, they were the first to win the battle, and they made many military exploits, they couldn't help being envious.

Xu Shiji said: "There is a saying in the policy of the Warring States Period. The Qin Dynasty followed the Dao, and Nanyang moved. Now we are going against the Dao, but the Sanqin is shaken! People in Guanzhong will be restless."

When Xu Shiji said that, all the generals laughed together, and the atmosphere of fighting in the room suddenly eased a lot.

"That's right! I'm going to take the road this time! I won't show you the marching route. General Xu must know it well." After Li Chongjiu said this, he turned his head and asked Zhang Xuansu, "Transport the military rations on the road. Are you ready for civil service?"

Zhang Xuansu said: "Reporting to Your Majesty, 20 Hebei civil servants have already been conscripted. These civilians are all competing to come and ask to join the army!"

Shan Xiongxin wondered: "What's going on here, where is there any reason to compete for civil service?"

Zhang Xuansu said immediately: "General Shan doesn't know something. As a civil service in our army, he is never conscripted for no reason. The court gives ten coins a day as wages. And if the civil service dies, the court will also give a sum of money to the civil service's family." As a pension. That's why the civilian service is rushing to come."

Shan Xiongxin nodded and said, "I know that."

"In fact, it's more than that," Xu Shiji said, "When Hebei was acquired by His Majesty, he promised to exempt the counties in Hebei from taxes for three years. Hebei has not experienced any major wars. After these years of recuperation, the people of Hebei live and work in peace and contentment. , life is better than Kaihuang years. Therefore, they came to join the army today, they are all to repay His Majesty's kindness in the past!"

Hearing what Xu Shiji said, everyone smiled.Li Chongjiu said: "Those who gain the way will be helped more, those who lose the way will be less helped, and those who win the hearts of the people will win the world. After you lead the army into Guanzhong, you should restrain the military discipline and not slaughter the people."

After hearing what Li Chongjiu said, all the generals were ordered together.

Li Chongjiu mobilized such a large force this time to transport food and grass because he was worried that people would be looted due to insufficient military food after the troops entered the country.

After all, Guanzhong is about to become Zhao's territory right now, and of course such a thing will be very detrimental to Zhao's rule of Guanzhong in the future.Breaking the country is the bottom, and the whole country is the top. Occupying a country with as little damage as possible will be of great benefit to future rule. Otherwise, the turmoil of a few years or more than ten years will be caused by my Chinese people, so there is no need to kill everyone like this of.

Zhao Guozheng and Tang deployed more than 20 troops in Hedong, but [-] civilians were required to transport grain and grass. One can imagine the pressure of transporting grain and grass.You must know that in previous battles, no matter whether it was Liu Heita in Pinghebei or Du Fuwei in Jianghuai, they could use the convenience of waterways to transport grain and grass, but this time the crusade against Guanzhong did not have this convenience.

However, the advantages of Zhao's manpower and material resources are also revealed.Many officials of Zhao State who graduated from Guozijian, county school, and county school are working in government offices in various places.At the beginning, Wen Yanbo told Li Chongjiu that the talent training plan that took ten years to complete was already a success.

It is not an early success, but ten years have passed.

These county schools and the students trained by the county schools have greatly reduced the situation where the local powerful gentry dominated the place in the past.We must know that after the Qin Dynasty unified the world and implemented the system of prefectures and counties, the state only managed personnel at the grassroots level up to the county magistrate and county lieutenant level. Graduated from school.

In this way, Zhao Guo's mobilization power to the local grassroots has been greatly strengthened.Orders are issued from the central government to the local government, and the government orders are smooth.

Coupled with the fact that after three years of gathering in Hebei, the reserve of sufficient manpower, coupled with the country's abundant financial resources, has made Zhao's national strength rise to a higher level, far better than today's Li Tang.Therefore, only the current state of Zhao's national strength can launch such a big war. On the contrary, with Li Tang's current predicament, it is impossible to maintain an army of [-] for a month.

This reminded Li Chongjiu of Yang Guang's conquest of Goguryeo. Because the Yongji Canal had just been opened at that time, Yang Guang mobilized a million troops to attack Goguryeo in order to show off the transportation capacity of the Yongji Canal.But despite the Yongji Canal, countless resources are still needed to transport grain.

This difficult place is to transport grain and grass from Youzhou, the end point of Yongji Canal, through the Daling River Valley, and finally arrive at Tongding Town on the front line in western Liaoning.This is a land route, there is no trickery.The common people went deep into the barren land of western Liaoning to transport grain and died on the road, and then went to the local officials to collude with the tyrants, and then exploited from the middle layer, which finally led to the first battle of the Liao Dynasty, which consumed too much national power and made Sui Yang Emperor bear the burden of the ages infamy.

So Li Chongjiu took a rest in Heyang City, left Cheng Mingzhen to guard Heyang, and then led the army to march.

Along the way, from a boat master to a land traveler, the journey will inevitably be hard.But He Chou, the minister of the Ministry of Industry, solved the hardship for Li Chongjiu.

He Chou was originally a skilled craftsman. He designed a movable wooden city, Liuhe City, for Yang Guang to conquer Goguryeo.According to historical records, the city of Liuhe is eight miles in circumference, and the city and the female wall are ten ren high. Armored soldiers are placed on the top, battles and flags are erected, and gates are placed in the four corners.

Zhou Huibali, the height of the female wall is ten ren, this record is too exaggerated.

However, Why Chou still designed a large five-seater carriage for Li Chongjiu, which can accommodate seven or eight people, and still does not dislike being crowded.Li Chongjiu distributed three cars to his concubines, and he and his staff took one each.If there is any military situation, the staff of the other car can report the military situation at any time.

Li Chongjiu lay alone in the carriage, looked at Zuo Zhuan for a while, opened the curtain and looked out, but saw the soldiers on the long road, with their heads buried in their heads.

Xu Shiji's [-] garrison guards had joined up with Su Dingfang's troops in front, and in front of Xu Shiji's troops were the [-] light cavalry of fierce general Luo Shixin.After Luo Shixin's Three Thousand Qingqi joined forces with Su Dingfang's troops, they would cross the Zhe Road and attack Li Tang's base camp in Hedong, Jiangzhou, together with Yuchi Gong's troops who had just left the Taihang Mountains.

Once Jiangzhou was captured, Li Tang's defense in Hedong would have collapsed.

Looking at the strength of the Tang army's resistance in Jiangzhou, you can know Li Shimin's plan, and see if he lures our army to go deep, waiting for an opportunity to fight?

Thinking of this, Li Chongjiu knocked on the car window.

Immediately outside the car window, a court guard asked, "What's the matter, Your Majesty?"

"Immediately ask Zhang Xuansu if there is any movement of the main force of the Chang'an Tang army in the Rumor Department!"

Li Chongjiu closed his eyes again, and after a while, the court guard replied: "Your Majesty, there is no news yet. Li Shimin blocked the Pujin Pass Floating Bridge, and no news from Chang'an can reach here."

"That's it!" Li Chongjiu said thoughtfully, "Back off!"

The court guard did not leave but said: "Your Majesty, Zhang Shilang has another report. The three chiefs of the Wenxi Pei family, the Hedong Xue family, and the Hedong Liu family came together to meet your majesty fifty miles ahead. Do you want to See you?"

Wenxi Pei, Hedong Xue, and Hedong Liu are known as the three major families in Hedong, while Wei, Pei, Liu, Xue, Yang, and Du are also known as the six major surnames in Guanxi. Except for the Li family in Longxi, the Guanlong clan belongs to These big clans are the most powerful.

"We can see each other. By the way, let's hold a banquet and entertain you. Don't neglect it."

"promise!"

The carriage moved forward, and when it was almost noon, it stopped at a village beside the official road.Li Chongjiu got out of the carriage, and the three patriarchs knelt down beside the road to greet him.

Li Chongjiu said: "The three of you came here to see me, what's the matter?"

The patriarch of Wenxi Pei clan is obviously the leader among the three, he said: "I heard that His Majesty is going to attack Li Tang, so the three of us are here to ask for help."

Talking about the Zhao official next to him sending a gift list, Li Chongjiu glanced at the gift list, put it aside and said: "The three of you are interested. I know that there are many sons and nephews of your three clans serving in Li Tang and Da Zhao respectively. I didn’t interfere before, I just didn’t want to make things difficult, now that the big battle is about to start, I’m afraid that I’ll hurt these children by mistake, so I want a few patriarchs to persuade them with good words, so that they can abandon their darkness and turn to the light as soon as possible.”

The three patriarchs looked at each other. They didn't expect that Li Chongjiu stopped him before he could say anything.They came here to make friends with Li Chongjiu, so that when they attacked Tang, they could spare the children of the three clans who surrendered, and at the same time protect the property of the three clans in Guanzhong.

Li Chongjiu looked at the patriarch of the Pei family and said: "My Honglu Temple Minister Pei Ju is from the Pei family, and he is indeed a minister, but after Pei Ji of the Pei family entered the Tang Dynasty as the prime minister, now more of the Pei family's children are in Li Tang." Now that you have become an official, your patriarch's statement is very important. '

After hearing this, the patriarch of the Pei clan said quickly: "Your Majesty, to be honest, Mr. Pei's life is not easy at present. '

"How do you say that?"

Originally, Mr. Pei was trusted by the Supreme Emperor and supported the crown prince and opposed the King of Qin. Later, the new king of Qin came to the throne. In order to win over the old ministers, he increased the number of Peiji Shiyi to [-] households, and then took the opportunity to go on an outing. achievement. '

'But all this is only temporary. Later, the new master took the throne firmly, that is, he cut the Duke Pei's position many times with excuses, and said that your merits, talents and learning are not enough to occupy the current position. It is only because of the favor of the Supreme Emperor to you Ranked first.During the reign of Wude, there were many mistakes in politics and law, and local officials were in disorder in their governance. You should also be responsible for this!I remember my old love, and I don't impose capital punishment on you. Now I demote you to Yuanwailang, which is a great kindness. '

"I see." Li Chongjiu said in his heart.Li Shimin in history is also such a character. Li Shimin can tolerate Wei Zheng and Xue Wanche who joined the prince's party.But the suppression of the other faction is also very severe. For example, Pei Ji was beaten to the end by Li Shimin in history, and his fate in this time and space is not very good.

Seeing the patriarch of the Pei clan, Li Chongjiu secretly breathed a sigh of relief when he saw that his face was slightly relaxed, obviously he was also under a lot of pressure.Unlike the anxious face of the Patriarch of the Pei clan in front of him, the other two patriarchs were much more relaxed.

Especially the Patriarch of the Xue Clan of Hedong, he even explained: "Your Majesty, the Pei Clan of Hedong is a big family with tens of thousands of children, it is really hard to guarantee that there are a few unworthy children, so don't open your eyes to serve Li Tang. "

The relationship between the Xue family in Hedong and the state of Zhao is well known. Xue Wanche and the four brothers of the Xue family served in the state of Zhao. Xue Deyin, one of the three phoenixes in Hedong, served as a member of Zhongshushe under Li Chongjiu.

After Patriarch Xue finished speaking, Patriarch Liu also said: "Yes, Your Majesty, there are always some stupid people in the clan who don't understand the general trend and try to block the traffic with their arms. Will argue with them."

Li Chongjiu hummed.

None of the three patriarchs understood what Li Chongjiu meant.Li Chongjiu glanced at the three of them and said: "I have heard a saying in the past, that is a century-old dynasty, a thousand-year-old family. Since the end of Jin Dynasty, the world has been changed. How many kings have been changed? The land of the Central Plains has been devastated."

"But you and other nobles don't think about being loyal to the country. They have a source of wealth. No matter which ship sinks, they can immediately jump on another ship and continue to be rich and prosperous. It is this reason that they don't think about being loyal to the country. There are only rebellious officials and thieves in the country, what use does the country need you? On the contrary, the country and the country are often corrupted by people like you. Today I tell you that there is no such cheap thing!"

With a wave of Li Chongjiu's sleeve robe, the three of them were dripping with sweat from their foreheads, and they all fell to the ground hastily and said: "The little people are terrified, and they offended His Majesty, and I hope His Majesty will calm down."

All three of them know that with Li Chongjiu's power today, even if he doesn't want to wipe out any clan completely, as long as the official career of the people in the clan is cut off, then as long as no one in the clan is an official in the court, it will not take a few years for this big clan to die. Decay immediately.Of course, this is under the premise that Da Zhao seized the world.

Li Chongjiu did not insist on being tough, but helped the three of them up one by one and said softly: "I am not an unreasonable emperor. Since the founding of the country, I have said that this big Zhao is not a world of one family, but a The well-being of all the people in Dazhao lies. No matter the humble gentry, the Han people, or the scholars and businessmen, I treat them equally as my people. If one day, you find that I abolish public affairs only for my own self-interest, then this emperor, You can abolish it at any time!"

"Xiaomin dare not!" The three of them said at the same time, and Li Chongjiu could only say such words casually, but even if he said it, no one would dare to believe it.

Li Chongjiu said: "It's good if you can understand my intentions. The Xue family in Hedong has Xue Shou, he is Li Shimin's confidant. Xue Shou once came to Youjing to plan against my confidant, Xue Wanshu, Shangshu of the Ministry of Punishment. He is also from your Xue family. As for the Hedong Liu family, Li Shimin’s confidant Liu Shi is from your Liu family. I still remember that he was the one who persuaded Pu Shangong to surrender to Tang Dynasty, and his uncle Liu Heng was also a member of the Wagang Army. He is a great general, but he betrayed his master and ungrateful, and persuaded his master to descend to Tang, and with this dedication, he is now the governor of Qiongzhou!"

The three patriarchs heard Li Chongjiu come one by one, not to say that Zhao Guo's intelligence work is really good enough, but only that Li Chongjiu's memory is really amazing.In this world, there seemed to be nothing that was out of the grasp of the emperor in front of him.

The three of them had nothing to say at the moment, the Patriarch of the Pei clan said: "What does Your Majesty want us to do, please give us your instructions, and we will definitely obey."

Li Chongjiu smiled with satisfaction and said: "Knowing the current affairs is a hero, I will use your influence now to tell those children who work for Li Tang that if they continue to serve in Tang, then they will not be able to serve as my great Zhao in the future.

If they are stupid, they will be killed, and their direct descendants will never be able to be officials in my Great Zhao.If they fall to Zhao now, no matter what their official position is, they will keep their original positions when they go to Zhao official, and their salary will be increased by [-]% compared with the original one.If you don't follow the two, you can resign and return home, and you can forget the past for the things you planned for Tang in the past. "

The three patriarchs looked at each other with expressions of shock and embarrassment at the same time.This simply overturned the position of their aristocrats when the dynasties changed.Their principle is very simple, that is, don't put all your eggs in one basket.

Betting on both sides is the long-term way for a gentry to survive in troubled times.You don't even need to bet on both sides. If one side loses, you can just change the court immediately. Therefore, Wei Zhengneng changed his master six times in history, Pei Ji, Feng Deyi and others needless to say.That's why the children of these powerful and noble families put the interests of their own families far above the interests of the country.

Even if there was no Yang Xuangan back then, there would have been another disciple of the Guanlong clan who would stand up against Yang Guang.

Li Chongjiu asked: "Why are you not satisfied?"

The three patriarchs hurriedly said: "Don't dare, Your Majesty is a kindness to the children of our three clans, and I will go back and do it immediately!"

Now that the knife rests on the neck, how dare they go against Li Chongjiu's intention.

"Don't worry," Li Chongjiu said with a smile, "I've already prepared some thin wine, the three of you will leave after eating."

The three of them dared not disobey the present and said: "It's better to obey orders than to be respectful."

After the banquet, the three patriarchs left in a hurry, while anxiously thinking about what kind of shock the news they brought back would bring to the people in the clan.

At this time, Himekawa came to see him.As soon as Ji Chuan saw Li Chongjiu, he said, "Your Majesty's act of attacking the Tang Dynasty, I didn't think it was inappropriate, but now I have to speak out about this matter."

Li Chongjiu smiled broadly and said: "Ji Aiqing, when have you hesitated to talk to me, if you don't speak bluntly, it's not your style, but it's okay, I'm listening."

Ji Chuan raised his sleeves and said loudly: "Your Majesty, you need to know that the gentry like to sit on the wall, and they don't like to stand in line until the end. But His Majesty is so tough now, and it's too hasty to ask the three tribes in Hedong to line up now. Although this move will shake some people, it will also push some elites and nobles closer to Li Tang, forcing them to be more loyal to Li Shimin. With his help, he will gather a group of loyalists under his command."

Speaking of this, Ji Chuan paused and said: "Your Majesty, when Zhou destroyed Qi, he did not kill all the gentry in Hedong. Instead, he gave high-ranking officials rich titles, but did not give them military power. As for Yang Guang's extermination of Empress Chen , and even promoted a large number of Southern Chen surrenders."

"But you forgot that Emperor Wu also used a large number of gentry in the south of the Yangtze River, which aroused the opposition of the Guanlongmen Clan and was killed." Li Chongjiu retorted.

Hearing Li Chongjiu's words, Ji Chuan was immediately speechless.

(End of this chapter)