Xue Wanche and others knew that Yu Chigong and Wang Mahan had defeated two Tang army counties in succession. They had taken the lead as soon as the battle started and had made many military exploits. They couldn't help but be jealous.
Xu Shiji said: "There is a saying in the Warring States policy that when Qin goes down the Zhi Road, Nanyang will move. Now that we are going up the Zhi Road, the Three Qin Dynasties will be shaken! The people in Guanzhong will have trouble sleeping and eating."
When Xu Shiji said this, all the generals laughed together, and the originally contentious atmosphere in the room suddenly relaxed a lot.
"That's right! I'm going to take the Zhi Road this time! I won't show you the marching route. General Xu must know it well." After Li Chongjiu said this, he turned to Zhang Xuansu and asked, "Transport military supplies on the road. Are you ready for civilian service?"
Zhang Xuansu said: "Reporting to your majesty, two hundred thousand civilians from Hebei have been drafted. These civilians are all rushing to come and take the initiative to join the army!"
Shan Xiongxin said in wonder: "What's going on? Where is the reason to compete for civilian service?"
Zhang Xuansu said immediately: "General Shan doesn't know something. As a civilian in our army, we are never called up without reason. The court gives ten coins as wages every day. And if the civilian is killed in battle, the court will also give the civilian's family a sum of money." As a compensation. That¡¯s why civil servants rush to come.¡±
Shan Xiongxin nodded and said, "I know this."
"In fact, it's more than that," Xu Shiji said. "When His Majesty defeated Liu Heita and gained Hebei, he promised to exempt the counties in Hebei from taxes for three years. Hebei has not experienced major wars. After these few years of recuperation, the people of Hebei live and work in peace and contentment. , but life is better than during the reign of Emperor Kaihuang. Therefore, they are all coming to join the army enthusiastically today to repay His Majesty's past kindness!"
Hearing what Xu Shiji said, everyone smiled. Li Chongjiu said: "Those who gain the right will get many help. Those who lose the right will get little help. But 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. Do not massacre the people."
After hearing what Li Chongjiu said, the generals all accepted the order.
Li Chongjiu mobilized such a large force this time to transport grain and grass because he was worried that after the troops entered the country, they would rob the people due to insufficient military grain.
After all, Guanzhong is about to become the territory of Zhao State. Of course, such a thing will be very detrimental to Zhao State's rule of Guanzhong in the future. To destroy the country is the bottom priority, and the whole country is the top priority. You can occupy a country with as little damage as possible. It will be of great benefit to future rule. Otherwise, the turmoil in a few years or more than ten years would be caused by our Chinese people, and there would be no need to kill each other like this.
Zhao Guozheng and Tang Dynasty deployed more than 200,000 troops in Hedong, but transporting grain and grass required 200,000 civilians. You can imagine how great the pressure was on transporting grain and grass. You must know that in previous battles, whether it was to defeat Liu Heitai in Hebei or to defeat Du Fuwei in the Jianghuai River. They can all use the convenience of waterways to transport grain and grass, but this time they conquered Guanzhong, they did not have this convenience.
However, the advantages of the entire Zhao State in manpower and material resources have also been revealed. From the Imperial College. County schools, many officials of the State of Zhao who graduated from county schools are already working in government offices in various places. Wen Yanbo said to Li Chongjiu back then. The talent training plan that takes ten years to complete is already a success.
It is not an early success. But ten years have passed.
These county schools, students trained by county schools. This has greatly reduced the situation where powerful local nobles controlled the local area in the past. You must know that after the Qin Dynasty unified the world and implemented the county system, the country only managed grassroots personnel down to the county magistrate and county lieutenant levels. In today's Zhao State, many of the lowest-level officials in the yamen learned from county officials. Graduated from school.
In this way, Zhao Guo¡¯s mobilization power at the local grassroots level has been greatly strengthened. When issuing orders from the central government to the local government, it is as easy as moving the fingers, and the government orders are smooth.
Coupled with the abundant manpower reserves after three years of gathering in Hebei, and the country's abundant financial resources, Zhao's national power has been raised to a higher level, far better than Li Tang's today. Therefore, only the current national strength of Zhao State can launch such a large war. On the contrary, Li Tang's current predicament cannot even maintain an army of 50,000 for a month.
This reminded Li Chongjiu of Yang Guang¡¯s expedition against 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 materials are still needed to transport grain.
This difficult part is to transport grain and grass from Youzhou, the end point of Yongji Canal, through the Daling River Valley, and finally to Tongding Town on the front line of western Liaoning. This is a land route, there is no trickery at all. The people went deep into the barren land of western Liaoning to transport grain and many died on the road. Then local officials colluded with the powerful, and then were exploited at the middle level. In the end, this led to the Conquest of Liao Dynasty, which consumed too much national power and made Emperor Yang of the Sui Dynasty bear an eternal burden. infamy.
So Li Chongjiu took a short rest in Heyang City, leaving Cheng Minzhen to guard Heyang, and then he led the army to march forward.
Along the way, he switched from being a boatman to a land traveler.The journey will inevitably be tiring. But He Chou, the minister of the Ministry of Industry, took care of this trouble for Li Chongjiu.
He Chou was originally a skilled craftsman. He designed a movable wooden city for Yang Guang to conquer Goguryeo. It is recorded in the history books that the city was eight miles in circumference. The city and the female wall were ten meters high. They were decorated with soldiers, stood up poles and built flags. There were ques at the four corners. Look at the other side and look at the three gates below. It was completed late in the Ming Dynasty.
When Zhou returned to Bali, Nuyuan was ten years tall. This record is too exaggerated.
"However, He Chou still designed a five-seater large carriage for Li Chongjiu, which could accommodate seven or eight people, and still did not mind being crowded. Li Chongjiu gave three cars to his concubines, and he and his staff each took one. If there is any military information, the staff in the other car can report the military information at any time.
Li Chongjiu lay alone in the carriage, watched Zuo Chuan for a while, opened the curtain and looked out, but saw soldiers marching forward on the long road.
Xu Shiji's 30,000 garrison troops and horses have already joined Su Dingfang's troops in front. In front of Xu Shiji's troops are the fierce general Luo Shixin's 3,000 light cavalry. After Luo Shixin's three thousand light cavalry joined forces with Su Dingfang's troops, they would cross the Zhi Road and attack Li Tang's base camp Jiangzhou in Hedong together with Yuchi Gong's troops who had just left the Taihang Mountains.
Once Jiangzhou was captured, Li Tang's defense in Hedong was declared to have collapsed.
By looking at the strength of the Tang army's resistance in Jiangzhou, we can know Li Shimin's plan. Can he lure our army deep into the city and wait for an opportunity for a decisive battle?
Thinking of this. Li Chongjiu knocked on the car window.
Immediately outside the car window, a court guard asked: "What's the matter with Your Majesty?"
"Immediately ask Zhang Xuansu if there is any movement of the main force of the Tang Army in Chang'an in the Rumor Department!"
Li Chongjiu closed his eyes again. After a while, the imperial guard reported back: "Your Majesty, there is no news yet. Li Shimin has blocked the Pujinguan pontoon bridge, and no news from Chang'an can be delivered here."
"That's it!" Li Chongjiu said thoughtfully, "Back off!"
The imperial guard did not leave but said: "Your Majesty, Shilang Zhang has one more thing to report. I heard that the three heads of the Pei family, Hedong Xue family, and Hedong Liu family came together to greet Your Majesty fifty miles ahead. Does Your Majesty want to See you?"
Wen Xi Pei. The three surnames of Hedong Xue and Hedong Liu are known as the three major surnames of Hedong, while Wei, Pei, Liu, Xue, Yang, and Du are also known as the six major surnames of Guanxi, except for the Li family of Longxi. The Guanlong clan belongs to these big families and is the most powerful.
"We can meet, and by the way, we'll have a banquet. Don't neglect it."
"No!"
The carriage moved forward, and when it was almost noon, it stopped at a village beside the official road. Li Chongjiu got off the carriage. The three clan chiefs knelt down beside the road to greet each other.
Li Chongjiu said: "The three of you came here to see me. What's the matter?"
Wenxi is the patriarch of the Pei family. Obviously the leader among the three, he said: "I heard that His Majesty is conquering Li Tang. Therefore, the three of us are here to help."
As he said that the Zhao official next to him sent a gift note, Li Chongjiu glanced at the gift note, put it aside and said: "You three are interested. I know that you three clans have many nephews and nephews serving in Li Tang and Great Zhao respectively. I didn't interfere before, I just didn't want to make things difficult. Now that the war is about to begin, I'm afraid of accidentally hurting these children, and I want some clan leaders to persuade them to give up the dark side and turn to the bright side as soon as possible."
The three clan leaders looked at each other. They didn't expect that before they could say anything, Li Chongjiu would stop them in advance. They came here to befriend Li Chongjiu, so that when they attack the Tang Dynasty, they can spare the children of the three tribes who surrendered, and at the same time protect the property of the three tribes 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. However, after Pei Ji of the Pei family became prime minister in the Tang Dynasty, more of the children of the Pei family are now in the Li Tang Dynasty." If you want to become an official, your clan leader's stance is very important right now. ¡®
After hearing this, the Pei clan chief said quickly: 'Your Majesty, to be honest, Mr. Pei's life is not easy at the moment. ¡®
"How do you say this?"
'Pei Gong was originally trusted by the Supreme Emperor and supported the Crown Prince against the King of Qin. After the new king of Qin came to power, in order to win over the old ministers, he increased Pei Ji's settlement to 1,500 households. He also took the opportunity of outings and praised Duke Pei for his ability to serve. achievement. ¡®
'But all this was only temporary. Later, when the new master was firmly on the throne, he used excuses to reduce the title of Duke Pei many times, saying that your merits and talents were not enough to reach your current position. It was only because of the favor of the Supreme Emperor that you were able to reach this position. Ranked first. During the Takenori period, there were many errors and mistakes in politics and law, and local officials' governance was chaotic. You should also bear responsibility for this! I remember my old friendship, so I don't impose the death penalty on you. Now I demote you to Yuanwailang, which is extremely merciful. ¡®
"That's it." Li Chongjiu thought to himself. Li Shimin in history was also such a figure. For Wei Zheng who joined the prince's party,Wan Che, Li Shimin can be tolerant. But the suppression of the other faction was also very severe. For example, Pei Ji was beaten to the end by Li Shimin in history, and his end was not good in this time and space.
When Li Chongjiu saw the leader of the Pei clan, he secretly breathed a sigh of relief when he saw that his face softened slightly. He was obviously under a lot of pressure. Unlike the anxious look on the face of the Pei clan leader in front of him, the other two clan leaders were much more relaxed.
In particular, the head of the Xue family in Hedong even explained: "Your Majesty, the Pei family in Hedong is a large family with tens of thousands of children. It is difficult to guarantee that there will be a few unscrupulous children, so they will serve Li Tang without opening their eyes. "
The relationship between the Xue family in Hedong and the State of Zhao is well known. Not only did the four brothers of the Xue family, Xue Wanche, serve in the State of Zhao, Xue Deyin, one of the Three Phoenixes in Hedong, served as the official of Zhongshushe under Li Chongjiu.
After the Xue clan leader finished speaking, the Liu clan clan leader said: "Yes, your majesty, there are always some stubborn people in the clan who do not understand the general trend and try to block the car with their arms, but your majesty does not pay attention to such people. I will argue with them.¡±
Li Chongjiu snorted after hearing this.
None of the three clan leaders knew what Li Chongjiu meant. Li Chongjiu glanced at the three people and said: "I have heard a saying before, that is a century-old dynasty, a millennium-old family. Since the end of the Jin Dynasty, China has been in chaos. The world has changed, and how many kings have been changed. The Central Plains has been devastated."
"But you and other noble nobles don't want to be loyal to the country. They play both sides. No matter which ship sinks, they can immediately jump on the other ship and continue to be prosperous and wealthy. Such lack of loyalty to the country makes the family members There are only rebellious officials and traitors, so what use does the country need from you? On the contrary, the country and the country are often corrupted by people like you. Today I tell you that there is nothing so cheap!"
Li Chong waved his nine-sleeved robe. The three of them had sweat dripping from their foreheads, and they all hurriedly prostrated themselves on the ground and said, "The common people are frightened and have offended your majesty. I hope your majesty will calm down."
The three of them all know that with Li Chongjiu's current power, even if he does not say that any clan will be completely wiped out, as long as the official career of the clan members is cut off, as long as no one in the clan is an official in the court, this big clan will be destroyed in a few years. Decline immediately. Of course, this is under the premise that Zhao will conquer the world.
Li Chongjiu did not insist on being tough. Instead, he helped the three people up one by one and said warmly: "I am not an unreasonable emperor. Since the founding of the country, I have said that this country of Zhao is not a world dominated by one family and one surname, but the well-being of all the people of Zhao. . Regardless of whether they are poor nobles, Han Chinese or barbarians, or scholars or merchants, I treat them all equally, and they are all my subjects. If one day, you find that I abolish public affairs just for your own personal gain, then you can abolish this emperor at any time!"
"You don't dare!" The three of them said at the same time. Li Chongjiu could just say this casually, but even if he said it, no one would dare to believe it.
Li Chongjiu said: "It would be great if you could understand my intentions. The Xue family in Hedong has Xue Shou, who is a close confidant of Li Shimin. Xue Shou once came to Youjing and planned to instigate rebellion against my close minister, Xue Wanshu, the Minister of the Ministry of Punishment. This He must also be from your Xue family. As for the Liu family in Hedong, Li Shimin¡¯s confidant Liu Shi must be from your Liu family. I still remember that he was the one who persuaded Pu Shangong to surrender to the Tang Dynasty, and his uncle Liu Heng was also a member of the Wagang Army. He was a general, but he betrayed his master and was ungrateful and persuaded his master to surrender to the Tang Dynasty. With his contribution, he is now the governor of Qiongzhou!"
The three patriarchs listened to Li Chongjiu come together one by one. Not only that Zhao Guo¡¯s intelligence work was really good, but also that Li Chongjiu¡¯s memory was really amazing. There seems to be nothing in this world that is not under the control of the emperor in front of him.
The three of them had nothing to say at the moment. The leader of the Pei clan said: "What do you want us to do? Please give me your instructions. We will definitely comply with it."
Li Chongjiu smiled with satisfaction and said: "A wise man knows the current affairs. I will use your influence now to tell the disciples who serve Li Tang that if they continue to serve in the Tang Dynasty, they will not be allowed to serve in the Zhao Dynasty in the future.
If they are stubborn, they will be killed, and their direct descendants will never be able to serve as officials in our country, Zhao. If they are to be transferred to Zhao now, no matter what their official positions are, they will retain their original positions and their salaries will be increased by 30% compared to the original ones. If he fails to comply with both, he can resign and return home, and his past plans for the Tang Dynasty can be forgotten. "
The three clan leaders looked at each other with shocked expressions, and at the same time they were very embarrassed. This simply overturned the position that their noble family maintained when the dynasty changed. Their principle is simple: don't put all your eggs in one basket.
Betting on both sides is the long-term way for a noble clan to survive in troubled times. You don't even have to bet on both sides. If one side fails, you can just change the family immediately. Therefore, in history, Wei Zheng was able to change his master six times, not to mention Pei Ji, Feng Deyi and others. That¡¯s why the children of these noble families put their family¡¯s interests far above the national interests.On.
Even if Yang Xuangan hadn't been there, there would have been another disciple of the Long clan who would have stood up against Yang Guang.
Li Chongjiu asked: "Why are you not satisfied?"
The three clan leaders hurriedly said: "I don't dare. Your Majesty is a gift to the children of our three clans. I will go back and take care of it immediately!"
With the knife at his neck now, how dare they go against Li Chongjiu¡¯s wishes.
"There's no need to worry," Li Chongjiu said with a smile, "I've already prepared a small amount of wine. The three of you will have a meal before leaving."
The three of them did not dare not to obey and said: "It is better for the common people to obey orders than to be respectful."
After the banquet, the three clan leaders left in a hurry. At the same time, they were anxiously thinking about how the news they brought back would shock the people in the clan.
At this time, Himekawa came to ask for a meeting. As soon as Ji Chuan saw Li Chongjiu, he said: "Your Majesty's move to attack the Tang Dynasty did not seem inappropriate to me, but I must speak out about this matter now."
Li Chongjiu smiled kindly and said: "Ji Aiqing, when have you ever hesitated to talk to me? If you don't speak out, it's not your style, but it doesn't matter, I'm listening."
Himekawa rolled up his sleeves and said loudly: "Your Majesty, you need to know that the nobles like to sit on the fence and have both sides, and they don't like to take sides until the end. But right now, His Majesty is so tough and requires the three tribes of Hedong to line up now. It is too hasty. Although this move will sway some people, it will also push some nobles and nobles closer to Li Tang, forcing them to be more loyal to Li Shimin. This will be even more detrimental to our conquest of the Tang Dynasty, and will allow Li Shimin to gain greater gains. With his help, he will gather a group of die-hard loyalists under his command."
At this point, Ji Chuan paused and said: "Your Majesty, when the Zhou Dynasty destroyed the Qi Kingdom, they did not kill all the nobles in Hedong. Instead, they gave high officials and noble titles, but did not give them military power. As for Yang Guang's destruction of Empress Chen , and even promoted a large number of Nanchen Jiangchen."
"But you have forgotten that Emperor Wu also used a large number of Jiangnan nobles, which in turn aroused the opposition of the Guanlong clan and led to his death." Li Chongjiu retorted.
After hearing what Li Chongjiu said, Ji Chuan was immediately speechless. (To be continued, please search Piaotian Literature. The novels will be better and updated faster!