Late Tang Dynasty: I

Chapter 178 Borrowing from Li Cunxiao

The imperial court pacified the seven prefectures of Hezhong and Shaanxi, and exchanged taxes with Li Keyong for Heyang and Luoyang with taxes from the three prefectures of Xing, Ming, and Ci, directly expanding the depth of Chang'an to the east by three hundred miles.

The good news is that in this way, the enclave of Zhaoyi Luzhou is connected through Jiangzhou in the river.

Leaving aside the strategic advantages of the terrain, the population of Hezhong and Shanguo is a huge bonus.

There are nearly 30 households in the five prefectures of Hezhong Prefecture, with a population of more than 150 million. At this time, what a huge number.

You must know that the 26 counties under the jurisdiction of Jingzhao Mansion are connected to Chang'an City, and the population is less than one million.

The Suizhou captured from the Dingnan Army is still Shangzhou, with only more than 7 households and [-] to [-] people.

And Jinzhou in Hezhong Prefecture has 40 households and a population of more than [-], which is equivalent to seven Suizhous.

Not to mention taxation, the salt profits of the two salt ponds in Anyi and Xie County are enough for the imperial court to raise [-] elite soldiers, not to mention the fertile fields that can be seen everywhere.

Even Zhang Chengye didn't expect that Hezhong Mansion would be so rich.

"Your Majesty, with the Hezhong Mansion, the Xuanjia Army on the left and right will double in size, and the imperial court will be able to support it."

Li Ye shook his head and said, "I would like to double the size of the army, but what about people? We can't make enough weapons and armor."

The Twelfth Army of the Forbidden Army, except the Zuo Shenwei Army currently in Guizhou, and the remaining Eleventh Army, more than 13 people, were preliminarily selected, and more than 1000 people were selected.

There is no way, the food is so bad in this era, the food in the army is already considered good, that is, one meal of meat every ten days, most people can eat millet and rice openly, which is already top-of-the-line.

Without enough meat, how much strength can increase, in Li Ye's opinion, being able to pick more than 1000 people is already very good.

"The most important thing now is how to digest Hezhong Mansion, Shanguo, and Luoyang smoothly!"

"Digestion?"

Li Ye smiled and said, "That means it is under the rule of the imperial court."

Jing Xiang said: "Your Majesty, the governance of the three places is nothing more than three things to be resolved, one is the division of administrative regions, the other is how to deal with the current Shanguo Army and Hezhong Army, and the third is the appointment of local officials."

"What do you think about these three things?"

"Your Majesty, Hezhong is different from the land of Shu. The land of Shu is closed and there is no worry of foreign invasion. Under the power of the imperial court, how to divide it depends on the righteousness of the court. However, there is the worry of the east of the river in the river. Stability should be the first. I think it is still the same. According to the system, the five prefectures are under the jurisdiction of Hezhong Prefecture, while Guozhou can be assigned to Jingzhao Prefecture, and Shanzhou can be assigned to Luoyang Prefecture.

In this way, if there is an incident in the river, the imperial court can leave Tongguan and arrive at the Hezhong Mansion in one day. If there is nothing wrong with the Hezhong Mansion, the five prefectures will be safe. "

As for the military system, Jing Xiang did not say anything. There are two mature ways for the imperial court to deal with these surrendered troops. One is to remove all the generals and schools, remove the backbone of the Hezhong Army, and use the backbone of the Forbidden Army to fill the soldiers of the Hezhong Army, forming an army of its own. .

The second is that in Sichuan, no changes are made, but the number of people is reduced and the defense area is changed.

Both approaches have their own advantages.

The biggest advantage of the first method is loyalty. Soldiers are trained according to the regulations of the imperial court, but the disadvantages are also obvious. The generals do not know the soldiers, and the soldiers do not know the generals. Without a few months of running-in period, the combat effectiveness will not improve for a while.

The second method can naturally maintain combat effectiveness. As for loyalty, it is not necessarily the case, and some measures are needed to check and balance.

"Shaanguo Army and Hezhong Army, I plan to divide them into four armies, Jinzhou, Xizhou, and Jiangzhou each stationed in one army, and the other army stationed in Luoyang, so that the Zuo Shence Army will be stationed in Hezhong Mansion..."

There are some words that cannot be said on the stage, the meaning of His Majesty the Emperor is obvious.

The main force of the Shanguo Army in Hezhong must be the 34 troops from the Hezhong Mansion. The families of the generals are all in the Hezhong Mansion, and the Zuo Shence Army sits in the Hezhong Mansion, so the 34 capitals must not dare to move.

Not to mention the Shanguo army, when the army leaves Tongguan, it will be Shanguo. With such coercion, it is naturally difficult for such a thing to happen.

As for the thousands of soldiers and horses in Jiangzhou and Jinzhou, they were all scattered and used as auxiliary soldiers. These are the soldiers and horses of Wang Ke and Wang Yao, and His Majesty the Emperor will naturally not give any chance for disaster.

After everything was agreed upon, Li Ye received a letter from Du Rangneng. His Majesty the Emperor was very surprised that Wang Ke and Li Keyong had already engaged in a marriage.

Li Ye couldn't help but laugh, Li Ke's political wisdom like a pig's head was obvious.

"Your Majesty, you might as well appoint Wang Ke as the envoy of Jiedu in Hezhong, and then give some money and food to King Li, and say that the court wants to attack the Cai thief and false emperor Qin Zhongquan, and borrow his general Li Cunxiao to use it."

Li Ye's eyes lit up.

"If I can get Li Cunxiao here, I am willing to pay a million dollars!"

Jing Xiang laughed and said: "Your Majesty, you can't do this even in business, how can you take out the reserve price all at once, Your Majesty accepts Li Keyong's daughter as a concubine, the dowry gift is very generous, Li Keyong must worry about returning the gift.

The minister has heard that Li Keyong loves money and cherishes face. If you return few gifts, you will lose face, and if you return many gifts, you will be reluctant. Why don't your majesty tell Li Keyong that it is difficult for your majesty to read Hedong, and it is not easy for Li Junwang. You don't need to care about some etiquette, as long as you borrow Li Cunxiao Once it is used by the imperial court, the matter will be dropped, what does your majesty think? "

Li Ye laughed and said, "Aiqing's trick, Aiqing's trick!"

In the eyes of His Majesty the Emperor, it doesn't matter if Wang Ke is a Jiedu Envoy, since the military affairs in Hezhong are under the control of the imperial court, Wang Ke's position as Jiedu Envoy can only be used in the Jiedu Envoy's mansion.

As long as His Majesty the Emperor is willing, he will eat farts in the mansion of the Jiedushi.

However, with Wang Ke as a paper signboard, Li Keyong should not harass Hezhong. After all, Li Keyong would not be able to do such a thing as robbing his son-in-law.

"This matter has to be done! Counting the days, Wang Ke is about to enter Beijing, so Lao Jingxiang made a trip to discuss this matter with Wang Ke. If you need money, you can use it from my internal funds." Expenditure."

"promise!"

……

Two days later, the emperor's messenger rushed to Taiyuan.

After Du Rangneng received the emperor's letter, he hurriedly begged to see Li Keyong.

"Junwang Li, His Majesty's regard for the county king is rare in this dynasty!"

"Why did Duke Du say such a thing?"

"The important town in Hezhong, His Majesty didn't want to use Wang Ke at first, but when His Majesty heard that Wang Ke is the son-in-law of the county king, he immediately said: "The county king's son-in-law is my brother-in-law, and we are all family members. What else can you worry about?" ?', Your Majesty wishes for this, I am very happy to congratulate you!"

Li Keyong grinned and said, "I thank Your Majesty for your kindness!"

Du Rangneng said: "It's more than that!"

Li Ke asked curiously, "What else is there?"

Du Rangneng said with a smile: "Your Majesty, Your Majesty understands that it is not easy for He Dong. The King of the County has worked so hard, and specially asked the old minister to tell the King of the County that there is no need to return the gift for His Majesty to accept the concubine!"

"This……"

Li Keyong was taken aback. His Majesty the Emperor really treated him unusually. The emperor accepted the concubine, and the dowry gifts of coral, jewelry, gold and silver, and silk and satin were packed in more than a hundred carts.

According to normal etiquette, the natal family will naturally have to make an apology, and on the basis of 20 guan, some more will be added, so it should be 30 guan.

His Majesty the Emperor will exempt you with a word!

Before Li Keyong could recover, Du Rangneng continued: "The false emperor Qin Zongquan is still raging. Your Majesty wants to attack Qin Zongquan, but the imperial army is weak and useless. I want to borrow the help of the general Li Cunxiao from the county king. I don't know. What does the county king think?"

Li Ke said with a smile: "Your Majesty shouldn't worry about some small things. I will add another five hundred cavalry from the east of the river to help your Majesty put down the bandits together with Cunxiao."

"Thank you, Prince!"

His Majesty the Emperor felt that this deal was a success, and Li Keyong also felt that it was a success.

There is no shortage of warriors in Hedong, and Li Keyong's fierce generals are emerging in an endless stream. In Li Keyong's view, Li Cunxiao has courage, but no handsome talent. After the battle of Heyang, Li Keyong even beat Li Cunxiao to the sidelines.

In his eyes, five hundred cavalrymen are worth more than Li Cunxiao, let alone 30 yuan.

This is also because Li Cunxiao's reputation is not obvious now, and his military achievements are not obvious. Heyang was defeated and defeated, and he lost the Yellow River Ferry, which made Li Keyong quite annoyed.

If you wait for Li Cunxiao to make meritorious service, how can a mere 30 guan be compared!

(End of this chapter)