Late Tang Dynasty: I

Chapter 163
Jingnan, Guizhou

Guizhou governs Zigui and Badong counties. There are many mountains here, and there are no large tracts of fertile land. The terraced fields on the hillside are like steps, and there are layers of terraces at a glance.

The Yangtze River rushing to the east is like a sharp sword, cutting through the mountains, and chiseling with axes on the steep mountain walls.

More than 1000 years ago, the great poet Qu Yuan threw himself into the river here, and his fame has lasted through the ages.

During the Kaiyuan period, there were [-] households and [-] people here, and the population at this time was less than [-]%.

This is the case all over the world. In fact, Zigui is much better than the Jiangling Mansion next door.

Cheng Na gets the reward, the angel has arrived, but he still doesn't believe it.

"It can't be a liar, how could an angel come to such a small place as Zigui?"

"Is my name so resounding in the imperial court?"

Sima Liu Changmei said: "Maybe it's because the envoy asked the imperial court to challenge the battle last month. Is this the echo from the imperial court?"

Cheng Rui doubted: "Since that's the case, what should we do?"

"Your Majesty, this is a good thing. Your Majesty attacked Zhang Gui before he could return to the state. Last month, he went to the table to ask for a battle. It was just to let the court become the governor of the Messenger. Now that the angel has arrived, so that you can get what you want, what else is there to do?" Satisfied!"

When Cheng Rui thought about it, it was the same. He himself was seeking an official, so he was busy burning incense to set up a case, and greeted the angel in the inner hall.

"...Accredited as Chengrui Jingnan Defense Envoy..."

Cheng Rui lowered his head and bowed, his mouth slightly opened. The Jingnan Defense Envoy is much higher than the Inspector, and he is in charge of the military affairs of Jingnan prefectures, which is much better than expected. The next step should be the Jingnan Jiedu Envoy.

However, when he heard that His Majesty the Emperor had sent the Zuo Shenwei Army to Jingnan, under the control of Cheng Na, he was a little dazed.

After sending the angel to the post station, Cheng Rui hurriedly summoned Sima Liu Changmei and his general and lieutenant Xu Cun to discuss the matter.

"I spent four years in Guizhou, only to get [-] elite soldiers. Now the imperial court has sent [-] troops, and I will control them. Why?"

Xu Cun said carelessly: "Why bother with this? The imperial court sent [-] troops, under the control of the envoy, and sent them directly to Jiangling Mansion to attack Wang Jianzhao. If he takes it down, I will accept it. If he can't take it down, just eat it."

Liu Changmei shook her head and said, "Commander, did the imperial army come from Dongchuan?"

Liu Changmei's words made Cheng Rui and Xu Cun stunned on the spot.

Just now, these two people were still thinking about the [-] troops, but they never thought about where the [-] troops came from and what it meant?
"Has Your Majesty pacified Shu?"

"Chen Jingxuan was wiped out?"

"The imperial court has enough power to send a large army to the south, and it must be the land that controls the three rivers."

Liu Changmei said: "A few days ago, someone from Shu came to Guizhou to sell well salt, saying that the emperor led the army to destroy Wang Jian. At that time, we didn't believe it. I'm afraid it was true!"

Cheng Rui said: "The imperial court issued an edict to the world that the Son of Heaven personally conquered Tian Lingzi, Chen Jingxuan, how did Wang Jian be destroyed? After Wang Jian was destroyed, what about Gu Yanlang, who is now the envoy of Dongxichuan Festival?"

Liu Changmei shook her head and said, "I'm afraid that Liangchuan will no longer have Jiedu envoys. The commander-in-chief can see the news from Guanzhong."

Xu Cun frowned and said: "The imperial court has never sent such a large army in such an unclear way before, and it is still under the control of the commander-in-chief. Why?"

"Why?"

No one could tell, the whole thing revealed a bit of weirdness.

Have you taken a fancy to the territory of Guizhou?

Guizhou is a place where birds don't shit, there are not many people, and it's not rich, so what's the point?

The three thousand soldiers and horses trained by the general?

That's even more impossible, the imperial court gave an order to gather more than tens of thousands of soldiers, how could they look at only three thousand southern soldiers.

Cheng Rui said: "The army will arrive in two days, we don't need to worry about the food and grass, but I heard that the imperial army's military discipline is lax, I am not afraid of their numbers, but I am afraid that they will harm the village and plunder the people!"

Liu Changmei also frowned after hearing this. After all, they are imperial imperial guards, and they are in control in name, but can they really control it?If the army loots, what can they do?
Guizhou has recruited refugees in the past few years, and its governance has just started to improve. If it is harmed by these gangsters, it will be like crying without tears.

"Let's take a step, let's take a step. If you are really such a jerk, I am not a vegetarian."

……

Two days later, Cheng Na led his army to Padang to greet him in person, and saw that Zuo Shenwei's army was well-armored and marched in a well-organized manner.

Cheng Na shook his head and said, "It's said that the imperial army is a bunch of bandits, now it seems that rumors are sometimes not very credible?"

Liu Changmei was a little absent-minded. For the past few days, he had been thinking about what His Majesty did after he ascended the throne.

Remove Yang Fugong, defeat Li Maozhen, put down Tuoba Sigong half a year ago, and now Sanchuan.

In the Central Plains, Liu Changmei couldn't understand the imperial court's magical manipulation. In his opinion, Qin Zongquan should be the first to be eliminated by the imperial court.

The reason is very simple, there are no two suns in the sky, and there are no two masters in people. Qin Zongquan proclaimed himself emperor, which must be the primary goal of the court, but His Majesty the emperor just pretended not to see it.

He summoned the strong army in Hedong, but in a daze, he dismissed Zhu Quanzhong, the great hero.

why?

Why is this?

Liu Changmei had a headache. Seeing the army in front of her, even if she had never fought before, she still felt uncomfortable.

Cheng Rui was originally a ruthless person. When he was young, he had a bad temper. For a woman, he even killed a son of an official with his own hands.

As he got closer, he immediately smelled the same kind of breath.

"This army has seen blood."

Cheng Rui unconsciously compared his 3000 men and shook his head in disappointment.

He doesn't think the soldiers trained under him are inferior to this army, but the equipment is far worse.

Almost everyone on the other side is wearing armor, but compared to his own 3000 troops, they are a group of beggars.

There are only a few officers who can wear armor.

Not to mention those archers, who still wear waist knives and paper armor.

Cheng Rui looked at his mouth watering.

But Liu Changmei was thinking, why did the imperial court send this powerful army to Guizhou?I'm afraid that little Jingnan won't be able to catch the emperor's eyes!
He didn't think he was full and had nothing to do.

"Qin Zongquan!"

When this name appeared in front of Liu Changmei, all doubts disappeared immediately.

"Your Majesty must be for Qin Zongquan."

"The emperor's internal political affairs, and the external peace of Guanzhong and Xishu, now that he has freed up his hands, he must destroy Qin Zhongquan."

Generous!Attack from north to south.

"Sima Liu!"

"Sima Liu!"

Cheng Rui urged from the side.

"Ah! Commander, what's the matter?"

Seeing that Liu Changmei was in a trance, Cheng Rui said, "If Liu Sima is unwell, you might as well go back and have a rest!"

Liu Changmei understood that the generals of the Zuo Shenwei Army were walking towards him.

Cheng Na and his entourage didn't dare to be too big, so they hurriedly got off their horses to meet them.

"The last general, An Fujiang, is here to serve as a defense envoy!"

"Haha!" Cheng Rui bowed back and said, "With General An here, Jingnan's recovery can be expected!"

An Fujiang hurriedly said: "The last general should be dispatched as a defensive envoy."

Cheng Rui laughed and said, "Don't dare, you and I will discuss it, discuss it!"

A ten thousand strong army, just handed over to him like this, Cheng Rui is also panicked...

Xu Cun was a little heartless, he was very curious about the forbidden army, he pointed to the cages of pigeons in the army and said, "General An, what are you doing with so many pigeons, do you want to eat them?"

Cheng Rui had seen the world, his face turned cold, and he shouted: "This is a carrier pigeon, idiot."

Tang Shi's communication was very backward, and His Majesty the Emperor had no choice but to develop carrier pigeons.

Carrier pigeon stations are set up in the states under the administration, and each station will send cooked pigeons to Chang'an regularly, and then bring the cooked pigeons raised in Chang'an back to this station.

This is a one-way transmission of information, and no matter how far the pigeon is, it can always find its "home".

But once the carrier pigeon is raised in one place, it will not go back, and the information transmission will fail.

Therefore, the seemingly simple carrier pigeons imply heavy logistics. Li Ye asked people to estimate that no less than 3000 people and [-] carrier pigeons are needed to serve the Sanchuan Guanzhong.

Now there is a shortage of people, and there is a shortage of carrier pigeons, so we can only contact a few major sites.

In the eyes of the emperor, Guizhou is naturally one of the key points, and there are hundreds of pigeons on the carriage.

Half of them are raised in the army. After they are matured, [-] of them will be sent to Chang'an every month.

If His Majesty the Emperor has an edict, the information can be sent quickly through the thirty pigeons sent every month.

An Fujiang said with a smile: "If the defense envoy has something to say to His Majesty, the last general can do it for you. This carrier pigeon travels thousands of miles a day, and it will arrive in Chang'an in two or three days."

Cheng Rui laughed and said, "I've seen it before, but I haven't used it. It's so amazing...?"

An Fujiang nodded and said with a smile, "You can just try as a defensive envoy."

Cheng Rui waved his hand and talked to the emperor, he didn't know what to say?

Of course, at this time, the emperor couldn't receive it either.

At this time, Li Ye was trekking on the Jinniu Road, and the weather was getting colder.

"Your Majesty, seeing that Yangping Pass has passed, we will be able to reach Chang'an in ten days."

(End of this chapter)