Chastity Layman

  Chapter 372 Born Rebellious

It should be said that since Feng Ye crossed from Goguryeo to the Liu Dynasty and Song Dynasty, the Feng family has been very obedient to the rulers of all dynasties. It doesn't matter whether you are Song Qiliang Chen, or the later Sui and the current Tang, whoever becomes the emperor will be the emperor. Whoever submits to him will never resist.

  But on the other hand, the Feng family also has its own bottom line, which is to ensure that their inherent power is not violated. They want to be the emperor of their own one-third of an acre of land.

   As long as this can be guaranteed, the Feng family is still very obedient.

  Emperors of previous dynasties called the Feng family to send troops, or when there was a rebellion in the Lingnan area, the Feng family also actively sent troops to fight against chaos.

  Even during the Sui Dynasty, Yang Guang recruited Feng An to join the court, and Feng An never refused. He also served as the prefect in Hanzhong, led his children to fight in Goguryeo, and guarded the emperor in Jiangdu.

  Because of these, Qin Lang felt that Feng An could be used or trusted.

  The Feng family is an outsider after all, and he needs the authorization of the imperial court.

  The Central Plains court also needs such pro-court agents to control Lingnan for them.

   Now that it is the year of Zhenguan, Feng An still has this idea, thinking that the court cannot do without his Feng family.

  Although the Feng family did not control the entire Lingnan, it also controlled a small part of the eastern part of Lingnan. After the reshuffle of the melee in the late Sui and early Tang Dynasties, the Feng family is now the well-deserved number one force in Lingnan.

   "Brother Feng, I have heard people say that someone persuaded your father to establish himself as the king of Nanyue, and even established the Nanyue Kingdom, imitating Zhao Tuo, the captain of Qin, to stand on his own!"

  Feng Zhidai was taken aback. This happened indeed. Many people persuaded him, but it is not surprising. After all, the Feng family is so powerful, and Lingnan is far away from the Central Plains. The sky is high and the emperor is far away.

  In fact, as early as Zhi Dai’s great-grandfather Feng Bao in Gaoliang County, someone persuaded the Feng family in this way. Later, Mrs. Xian and Feng An, this kind of voice has not stopped.

   Since the chaos of the Sui Dynasty, this kind of voice has been extremely high.

It's just that the people below are persuading, whether it is Feng Bao, Mrs. Xian, or Feng An, they are actually quite sensible, even Feng An's elder brother, Feng Xuan, who is an outlier in the Feng family, has always been walking in front of others. The guy on Zili Road had supported the rebellion during the Sui Dynasty, and Mrs. Xian personally dismantled the right to inherit the military power, but he never dared to say that he played the banner of establishing a country and becoming a king.

   "Duke Yi, my Feng family is loyal to the imperial court!"

  Qin Lang chuckled, actually disdainful of such rhetoric.

  Is the Feng family loyal?

  Faithful ass.

  The Feng family was born rebellious. Back then, his family served the Murong family in the west of Liaoning. Then I voted for Goguryeo, voted for the Northern Wei Dynasty, voted for Liu Song, and then the Feng An family went through the four dynasties of Song, Qi, Liang and Chen, and then to the Sui and Tang Dynasties, and went through the Six Dynasties.

   Never dispatched troops, let alone other things.

  They are typical fools on the fence, whoever is strong will follow.

   "The same sentence, I also believe in Geng Guogong, but your family must take some actions to show everyone. I believe that as long as your father comes to Chang'an, all rumors will be self-defeating."

Qin Lang patted Feng Zhidai, who was much older than him, "Brother, in fact, these tyrants from Lingnan haven't come to Chang'an to meet the Tang Dynasty. If your father comes first, this is a good opportunity. The court will naturally trust you more in the future." Don’t you? Let me let you in on the inside story by the way, the imperial court intends to adjust the chaotic counties and counties in south of the Five Ridges, to abolish most of the governor’s mansions, and to lose many states..."

   "The more than 20 prefectures currently under the command of your Feng family and his son will most likely be merged into the five prefectures of Gaoluoleiyadan and placed under the leadership of the Metropolitan Government of Guangzhou..."

   Some words are more effective if they are limited.

  Feng's territory has more than 20 prefectures, and the province is divided into five prefectures, two of which are still Hainan Island, and Feng An's original post of governor of eight prefectures has not been mentioned, and it is obvious that it will be abolished.

  Feng Zhidai felt uneasy.

   "Mr. Yi, please be loyal on behalf of the Feng family. I will write to my father immediately, and invite my father to come to worship and see the emperor!"

  Qin Lang smiled and nodded, letting Feng Zhidai go.

   Waiting for him to walk away, Qin Lang turned to ask Chengqian.

   "You just watched from the sidelines, but what did you see and what did you learn?"

   "I don't think the Feng family will rebel."

Qin Lang nodded, "That's right, the Feng family will not rebel, they dare not rebel. At the end of the Sui Dynasty, they never made themselves kings, and now they will not. The Feng family in Lingnan has gone through six dynasties, and they have never rebelled against the court. So it won't happen now. Feng An has entered the court several times, so this time he will come to Chang'an."

   "Teacher, can you trust the Feng family?"

"No, although the Feng family will not rebel, they want to be the local emperors of Lingnan, and the fact is that Lingnan will be separated, and the court will never allow it. It's just that the situation in Lingnan is still relatively complicated, and there are some stupid people who are worse than Feng An. Arrogance is more arrogant, so we have to prioritize and deal with those people first, and as for the Feng family, just take it step by step."

  In Lingnan, there was a dispute between Han and slang first, and then there was a dispute between the central government and local separatist forces. In dealing with slang, the imperial court and the Feng family have the same interests.

   "Will Feng An really come to Chang'an? After coming, will the court detain Feng An?" Cheng Qian asked again.

  Qin Lang asked the prince who had begun to learn to think, "If you were to make the decision, what would you do? Would you detain Feng An?"

   "I feel that Feng An might first send his eldest son, Feng Zhidai, to Beijing to meet the emperor, and he would bring a large amount of property and tribute to him. First, he would stand in front of him, and second, he would come to see the wind direction. If the wind direction is good, Feng An might come."

Feng Zhidai is actually Feng An's second son, but he is the eldest son. Compared with his elder brother, Zhi Dai is very similar to Feng An. He is courageous and resourceful. prestige.

  When he was young, he followed Feng Ang into Luoyang Chaotianzi, personally commanded the elite division of the headquarters, and participated in the battle of Goguryeo. After seven years in the Central Plains, he led his troops back to Lingnan.

  At that time, the Central Plains was in chaos, and there were separatist regimes everywhere. Feng Zhidai led his troops to fight and advance all the way, and fought all the way to his hometown Gaoliang County in Lingnan, where he joined forces with his father.

   It is said that Feng Jiahan now has 100,000 soldiers and horses, and Feng Zhidai alone commands 50,000.

  Thus, although Zhidai's current official position is only the governor of Chunzhou, he is the core figure of the Feng family in Lingnan.

  Feng An asked Zhi Dai to come to Beijing first, which can indeed not only show his attitude, but also leave room for it.

   "Feng Anruo comes to Beijing, if you are asked to make a decision, how do you plan to deal with it?"

"You can keep Zhidai in Beijing as the general of Nanya, and make him a Marquis. You can reward Feng An and let him return to Lingnan. You can add him to the post of Sima in the Metropolitan Governor's Mansion in Guangzhou. You can also be awarded the governor of Gaozhou, and one of his sons will be the governor of Leizhou. , and then Gao Lei can select a general from Chang'an to take up the post of governor of Luozhou."

   "For the two states on Yazhou Island, one state will be awarded to Feng Baoche, who is at odds with Feng An, and the other state will be awarded to Feng An's brother."

   "The positions of governors of the five prefectures and Sima are all selected by the Ministry of Officials to serve."

  Qin Lang smiled, Cheng Qian's method is still possible, but it seems a little hasty.

   "One prefecture on Yazhou Island confers on Feng Anzi, one prefecture confers on Feng An's wife and elder brother Xian, but don't give it to Xian Baoche. Although he is also from the Xian family, he is at odds with Feng An."

   "In addition, the imperial court only selects Sima to go to each state, and the long history is temporarily recommended by Feng An."

  Things have to be done step by step, don't be in a hurry.

  Send a Sima over there, just understand the situation there first, and don't rush to interfere or seize power for the time being.

   Before the real strength is deployed, a long history and Sima will not be able to seize power.

Cutting off prefectures and merging counties is actually for the convenience of future imperial court management, reducing prefectures and counties. On the other hand, it will naturally reduce those officials such as governors and county magistrates. appointed.

"Actually, there is another good strategy available." Qin Lang told Chengqian with a smile, "The imperial court can abolish the prefectures and counties, and at the same time allow Feng An, the king of land, to naturalize the fields, and tell them that the prefectures and counties under their control should be cleared and registered. If you have registered permanent residence, half of the two taxes collected on this basis can be kept in the state, and half can be turned over to the imperial treasury."

  Qin Lang believed that Feng Ning, Chen Xian, and other local chiefs would definitely be willing, so that taxes could be collected in the name of the imperial court, and half of them would be retained.

But as long as they do this, the **** and barbarians will definitely be dissatisfied. After all, the barbarians in Lingnan have rebelled many times because of naturalization and tax collection issues. Before, they even paid half the tax. refused to pay.

  These conflicts come together, and it is inevitable to start a war.

  In this way, provoking them to fight will not only weaken the strength of both sides, but also give the court a reason to intervene, and then it will be able to send troops in.

   Once the Tang army enters the country, it is easy to ask God to send God away, and then set up Zhechong mansion on the spot, deploy mansion soldiers, and even build army forts and post stations. This is a real killer move.

  Of course, in addition to these, cooperation is still necessary.

  For example, Qin Lang also told Feng Zhidai just now that he will increase the purchase price of gray sugar this year, and plans to set up commercial ports along the coast of the Feng family's Gaoluo and other states to expand trade with the Feng family.

The Feng family has a lot of native products, such as rhino horns, pearls, ivory, etc. In addition, there are also a lot of food and slaves. Not to mention, there are many gold, silver, copper and iron mines on the Feng family's territory. The gold and silver output in Lingnan accounted for more than half of the output at that time, not to mention that there were also a lot of iron mines in Lingnan.

   As for partnering to grow sugar cane, Qin Lang has no interest. He is not one of those greedy Chang'an nobles who want to grab any profit he sees, leaving no room for others.

  Compared to planting sugarcane, he is more interested in slaves. As long as the slave transaction price is raised a little, Qin Lang believes that Feng An will naturally plunder and sell many scumbags without mercy.

The demand for slaves in the Central Plains has always been huge, so this business has always been profitable, more profitable than sugarcane, and it can also use this to exacerbate the conflict between Feng An and other Han chieftains and the slang, and can further weaken the slang. Quantity and strength, why not do it.

With the current momentum of the Tang Dynasty, no matter how powerful the Feng family is, they can only be local tyrants. If you cut a knife today and stab a sword tomorrow, the Feng family will become a tiger without claws within a hundred years. After all, Lingnan will eventually be completely brought under the direct rule of the Central Plains.

   "Teacher, can the same be done for the Ning family in Lingnanxi?" Chengqian asked.

"Of course, the Ning family controls the entire Beibu Gulf, and also controls the route from Lingnan to Jiaozhi. Although the Ning family rebelled a few years ago and lost a lot of power, they are still the strongest in the west of the Yunkai Mountain Range. Yes, to control this area, the first one has to tame the Ning family!"

  (end of this chapter)