Fu Song

Chapter 137 Yanzhou
Zuo Qiuming, who was in his early forties, was the same age as Li Xu. He was also Li Xu's most trusted general and confidant, and had guarded Yanzhou for many years.

Yanzhou, as the first strategic location after leaving Hengshan Mountain, also has more than [-] natural salt lakes in Yanzhou, and it is also an inexhaustible bank for the Dingnan Army. Its importance is naturally it goes without saying.

Salt looks extremely cheap, but because it is an indispensable thing in daily life and something that everyone uses every day, its huge sales mean huge profits.And it has always been listed as a strategic material of the country at the same time as iron, and it is a special commodity that the imperial court must firmly control.

Li Xu, because of these dozens of natural salt lakes, began to grow step by step.

The salt produced in Yanzhou became the most powerful weapon for Li Xu to stick out his tentacles.

His tentacles have extended to Qinfeng Road and Qingtang, and his caravan has even reached far away in the Western Regions and other places, and the two most important commodities are salt and tea.

In these trades, Li Xu not only made a lot of money, but also began to penetrate deeply into various forces in these places, and the countless tribes in these places gradually regarded Li Xu as their leader. Over the years, these tribes have either been forced or voluntarily joined the Dingnan Army, making Li Xu's power and strength stronger and stronger day by day.

With Ganzhou, Dingzhou and other places as his core ruling area, his influence is like an octopus, protruding in all directions.

While doing this, Li Xu tried every means to deceive the court.Countless money was transported to Bianliang by truck by truck, sent to the homes of some key officials, and also sent to the homes of many Qingliu scholars and literati who had the right to speak.

Then, in the mainstream opinion of the imperial court, Li Xu's series of actions in the land of Gan Ning became actions to show the imperial court's power and show the mind of the Emperor Song.

In the folk, articles and poems praising Li Xu appeared one after another, and the gatherings of scholars were full of praises that Li Xu was a pillar of the middle-class mansion in the frontier of the Song Dynasty.

When these people were spending the bribes sent by Li Xu like water, when they were playing with those exquisite jewelry and bright gems with great interest, they never thought that Li Xu was constantly recruiting troops, Forging weapons, one tribe after another was continuously moved to the Ganning area, where villages appeared one after another, and patches of farmland were reclaimed.

With the fertile Hetao area and the population that has been migrating over the years, Li Xu has the foundation to dominate.And when the Song court discovered all this, Li Xu was already out of control.And at this time, Li Xu finally revealed his hideous face.

The imperial court invited him to return to Beijing to report on his duties many times, but he refused on the pretext of illness. At first, he sent his son to Beijing to deal with the errands, then he only sent his subordinates to respond in vain, and finally, he simply didn't bother to pay attention to the imperial court's orders. up.

The most embarrassing thing for the imperial court is that you have to pay the Dingnan Army's annual military salary and supplies exactly.

According to some people in the court, it is impossible to anger Li Xu and give Li Xu an excuse to rebel with such a small amount of money.

In order to maintain such a situation, the imperial court continued to add officials and promote Li Xu. Now, Li Xu has almost no chance of promotion. With his current position, if he really wants to return to the capital, Chen Gui will have to let him go immediately. Come out to know the seat of the Privy Council.

Of course, if Li Xu dared to return to the capital, what awaited him would be shackles and a cart.

Of course the imperial court wanted to exterminate Li Xu.

Li Xu also wanted to establish an independent country as soon as possible and fulfill his ultimate dream.

Besides the general trend between Song and Liao, what controlled all of this was the attitude of Hengshan Dangxiang.

It doesn't matter to the Hengshan small tribe, whoever gives more money and food will follow whoever.

If you have milk, you are a mother, which is the way of survival for these small tribes.

It is the big tribes like Tuoba, Weiming, and Renduo that really control the situation in Hengshan.

People who can grow their own tribe to such a large scale are naturally not fools.If they seek greater benefits for the tribe, they will consider it. As for whether to be loyal to Li Xu or to the court, it is also not a problem.

Under the guidance of this idea, when Li Xu was relatively weak at the beginning, people like Tuoba Yangwei and Ren Duozhong did not hesitate to turn their buttocks to Li Xu's side.

Their attitude made the court's desire to wipe out Li Xu as soon as possible come to naught.After several tentative battles to attack Hengshan in the name of suppressing bandits, all of which lost troops and suffered disastrous defeats, the Song court finally realized that if they wanted to deal with Li Xu, they had to eliminate or win over the Hengshan Party.

What the Song court realized, of course Li Xu also understood, and the Hengshan party members naturally also realized it.

Over the years, the Hengshan party members' buttocks have been crooked to get more benefits from both sides.

They didn't want the two sides to decide a winner at all.

If there is really a victory or defeat, they will have only one master left, and that day will be difficult.In the earliest days, a mere low-ranking official in the Song Dynasty was able to humiliate their dignified patriarch, and they didn't want to go through this kind of humiliation again.

But such a sloppy life will eventually come to an end.

The overall situation between Song and Liao changed, and when the Song court finally made up its mind to solve the Northwest issue, the Hengshan party members had to make their final choice.

Among this choice, the Wei Ming Department chose Li Xu, while Tuoba, Ren Duo and other departments chose Da Song.

The Weiming tribe who stood on the wrong team was uprooted by Xiao Cheng, and the clan was wiped out. The demise of the Weiming clan also represented the final attitude of the Hengshan party. Yanzhou became Li Xu's first battle against the court. Wire.

"Uncle Shi, it is inevitable for us to fight the imperial court." The young Li Hao sat opposite Zuo Qiuming, sipping warm wine while saying to Zuo Qiuming.

On behalf of his old man Li Xu, he came to Yancheng to condolences to the Yanzhou garrison. Along the way, because of the sudden snowstorm and the muddy road, he was late for several days. When he arrived in Yanzhou City, it was already New Year's Eve .

The army is the foundation of one's life. Li Xu is very clear about this, so the soldiers of the Dingnan Army are treated very well. Compared with other troops in the Song Dynasty, they are completely different. In the Fourth Army, the treatment of the Dingnan Army is probably envious, and such a well-supported army for more than ten years has also cultivated the Dingnan Army's absolute loyalty to Li Xu.

This time, Li Hao brought over a thousand people, a large amount of wine and meat, brand new quilts, and shining copper coins to reward the Yanzhou garrison.

Zuo Qiuming in Yanzhou is rich with golden chickens that lay eggs. Yanzhou does not lack these things, but they have been transported from Ganzhou for thousands of miles, so the meanings are naturally different.

This represented the importance Li Ji attached to this army, and Zuo Qiuming certainly understood this.Just because he understood, he chose to keep silent about this kind of behavior that wastes people and money.

Sometimes what ordinary people see as a waste of money has another unusual meaning for the superiors.

Depending on where you are, you naturally have different starting points and angles when looking at the same thing, and you naturally have different expectations for the consequences it will produce.

"It's definitely going to be fought, and it won't be too long!" Regarding Li Hao's judgment, Zuo Qiuming nodded in agreement: "After Wei Mingbu was destroyed, we became blind and deaf in Hengshan, Tuoba , Renduo and other tribes have all voted in, and other small tribes will naturally follow suit."

"The money spent in Hengshan these years is really fed to the dogs!" Li Hao said bitterly: "A group of unfamiliar white-eyed wolves!"

To Li Hao's passionate words, Zuo Qiuming just smiled: "Da Lang doesn't have to be so angry, we didn't expect them to be people who can confide in us. It's a pity that Wei Mingbu, we underestimated That Xiao Cheng, otherwise he wouldn't be as passive as he is today."

"Second uncle's matter is really done so that people have nothing to say." Li Hao said a little discouraged.

The second uncle he was talking about was Li Xu's brother Li Du.

"Dalang, after the spring of next year, Yanzhou City must increase its troops. According to the information I have found, after Xiao Ding arrived in Hengshan, he began to form the Fan army. You also know that once the imperial court starts recruiting Fan soldiers, it means War is imminent."

"Uncle Shi, don't worry. After next spring, father will be free. By then, the army in Yanzhou will not be less than [-]." Li Hao said: "Now it's not to subdue those barbarians over there. Has the transfer passed? Now the Yuzang Department on the Qingtang side has expressed surrender to father, and the two sides have formed an alliance."

"The Yuzang Department?" Zuoqiu Ming said happily, "In this way, with Yuzang's strength and prestige in Qingtang, we can recruit more troops there."

Li Hao nodded: "Uncle Shi, you have seen the ferocity of these people before. When the time comes, let Song people see how powerful these people are? Hahaha!"

"In this way, we are rich in terms of military strength, but these people are also a double-edged sword. Once they are not fed enough, troubles will easily arise." Zuo Qiuming said. "What did the Liao people say?"

A gloomy look appeared on Li Hao's face, "Second Uncle is back, the Liao Emperor has no sincerity, he does not want to send troops and wants to seize our Montenegro area. When he came back, Second Uncle went to Nanjing Road Yelujun, the governor of the country, got some weapons and armor support, but do we need these things?"

"Aren't the Liao people willing to do something? This is beneficial to both of us." Zuo Qiuming sighed.

"Yelujun said, let us support it for about a year, and he might help us!" Li Hao said: "Father said, Yelujun must be planning something."

"About a year?" A gleam of light flashed in Zuo Qiuming's eyes.

(End of this chapter)