Chapter 379: The Storm of Jianghuai (Sixth)

In the Tai Chi Palace in Chang'an, Cui Xiaofu felt that the constraints of the guards in the palace seemed to be gradually relaxed. Not only did some small eunuchs leave the palace to purchase items more frequently, but the procedures also became simple. They no longer needed to add seals to the generals of the Central Army. They could be released from the palace by just saying it to the on-duty lieutenant. Cui Xiaofu was puzzled by this change. If Zhang Huan wanted to take office, then the supervision of her should be tightened. Why did she relax? Out of a temptation, Cui Xiaofu ordered her close eunuch Feng Endao to leave the palace. Unexpectedly, Feng Endao also left the palace smoothly, which really surprised Cui Xiaofu. This incident was like a cluster of flames, rekindling Cui Xiaofu's almost dead heart.

At noon, Cui Xiaofu just woke up from a nap and was closing her eyes to enjoy the head combing done by the palace maid for her. Although Tai Chi Palace is older than Daming Palace, Cui Xiaofu has to admit that the living conditions in Tai Chi Palace are much better than that of Daming Palace. Not only are the food, clothing and consumption and food, but the fresh fruit varieties supplied are also greatly increased compared to before. This is her favorite point, but Cui Xiaofu really cares about this.

"Is Feng Endao back?" Cui Xiaofu asked again. Feng Endao went out early in the morning and has not returned yet. Cui Xiaofu has asked about this three times.

"If you go back to the Queen Mother, my father-in-law has not come back yet."

"After he comes back, he will come to see me immediately." As soon as Cui Xiaofu finished speaking, she heard a little eunuch outside the door report, "My father-in-law is back."

The door was slowly pushed open, Feng Endao walked in worriedly, Cui Xiaofu turned around and asked impatiently: "How, have you seen him?"

Feng Endao's eyes were drooping, as if he was avoiding Cui Xiaofu's anxious gaze. After he hesitating for a moment, he slowly said: "I have seen him."

"You all retreat." Cui Xiaofu scolded several palace maids and carefully closed the door. Then she stared at him and asked: "What did Li Mian say? You must not hide the Ai family at all."

"Li Shangshu said that the reason why the guards' constraints on eunuchs entering and leaving the palace became loose was that he spent a lot of money to manage Li Dingfang, and it only took one month, so he hoped that the Empress Dowager could seize the time."

Cui Xiaofu's eyes lit up. Li Mian did not disappoint her. She seized the opportunity of Zhang Huan to go to Jianghuai and started to act. She restrained her excitement from laughing out loud, and asked again: "Have he given you any letters?"

"Yes!" Feng Endao took off his hat, took a pair of scissors and cut it along the edge of the hat, pulled out a white silk from the interlayer of the hat, and handed it to Cui Xiaofu, "This is his letter to the Queen Mother."

Cui Xiaofu couldn't wait to put the white silk on the table and read it carefully. Li Mian's plan was very simple. Whether Zhang Huan was conferred King Yong or appointed as a ruling, he was granted the title of the Empress Dowager's edict. However, in fact, the Empress Dowager did not issue such an edict. Instead, Zhang Huan used the national seal to forge the edict without authorization. Therefore, he hoped that the Empress Dowager could explain the matter to the ministers and the royal family. Once the charge of the throne of the throne was confirmed, Zhang Huan would definitely be dissatisfied with the people of the world. He might not be able to ascend to the throne of the Tang Dynasty. At the end, Cui Xiaofu suddenly saw Li Mian's name with a bloody note, and the dark red word "Li Mian" showed his loyalty to him. Cui Xiaofu's eyes suddenly became wet, and true feelings were seen in times of adversity. Only at this time can she see a truly loyal minister.

All afternoon, Cui Xiaofu was repeatedly pondering Li Mian's plan. Although this plan was not the best, it was already the ultimate they could do. She finally made up her mind that if she didn't succeed, she would be successful. She would rather take a risk than enjoy the rich clothes and food given to her by Zhang Huan. She would rather die brilliantly than be in the cold palace. Cui Xiaofu immediately wrote a reply letter with white silk, sewed it into Feng Endao's hat with his own hands, and solemnly handed it to him: "You go find Li Mian again, give him the letter, and tell him that I will cooperate with his actions."

Feng Endao stared at Cui Xiaofu with excitement in his eyes. After a long time, he sighed helplessly, put on his hat, and left the palace again.

In Guangling, the ten-day deadline given by Zhang Huan has been six days. Although Zhang Huan promised not to attack Jiangdu, it did not mean that he would remain calm. On April 23, the 40,000 Lin Jiuhan army attacked from the south crossed the Yangtze River in Dangtu County and rushed along the north bank of the Yangtze River. Two days later, the army arrived in Jiangning County. The 20,000 Chu family naval troops stationed in Jiangning County surrendered to the court under the leadership of Shan Yue, the deputy governor of the navy, and the more than 1,300 warships anchored by the Yangtze River were all taken by Zhang Huan. The Longyou Army also established the first naval army. Zhang Huan immediately appointed Shan Yue as the rank of the navy and stationed in Jiangning. At the same time, the thousand canal ships detained by the Chu family in Jiangning County were also escaped, carrying three million jin of tax money towards Xiangyang.

On the same day Lin Jiuhan arrived in Jiangning, Chu Jinglei, who was deploying defense in Yangzi County, suddenly learned that the enemy had crossed the river in Dangtu. In desperation, he led 10,000 naval troops to abandon ships and rushed to rescue Jiangning from the north shore, but encountered Lin Jiuhan's 3,000 vanguard troops in Baisha Town, Yangzi County. The two armies fought fiercely. The Longyou Army was ineffective and was forced to retreat to Liuhe County. The Chu family army lost more than 3,000 people, and Chu Tianlei was also injured by arrows. He knew that Jiangning was out of the way, so he had to lead more than 6,000 remaining troops to retreat to Jiangyang County with regret and guard the southern gate of Guangling.

Gaoyou County is only more than 100 miles away from Jiangdu County. The Grand Canal runs through the entire territory. It is also the northern gate of Jiangdu County. When night falls on April 27, 80,000 Longyou Army crosses the border from Gaoyou.

Teams of soldiers on both sides of the canal rode horses and lined up. The lit torches merged into two bright rivers, stretching more than ten miles away, and shining with the Milky Way in the sky. In the canal, there were also canals carrying food and grass, with lanterns hanging on the bows, like a bunch of stars, swaying in the night wind, and long horns sounded on the river surface, reminding the civilian ships in front of them to avoid them.

Zhang Huan has been feeling a little sick these days. The military doctor said that he had suffered from a cold and needed to rest for several days. However, he refused to stay in Linhuai for recuperation and had to follow the army south. His subordinates had no choice but to place him on a large ship. Although he was sitting on the ship, he was not relaxed. From morning to night, he either received local officials or was thinking about the direction of the Tang Dynasty.

At this time, Zhang Huan had just sent off Gaoyou County Magistrate and County Magistrate who came to report his work. In his conversation with them, he realized that thousands of refugees who fled from Qiao County during the Central Plains Rebellion last year were stranded in Gaoyou County. Most of them rented land from large farmers in Gaoyou County to make a living. Gaoyou's rich fish and rice land and peaceful life formed a sharp contrast with the war-torn Central Plains. These thousands of refugees were unwilling to return to the Central Plains, which caused trouble to the local government. The court never had a clear statement on the resettlement method of these refugees. Whether they were to be sent back to their hometowns or to enter Huainan, it was difficult for the local government committee to decide whether the jurisdiction was territorial or household registration. But if they were excluded from their jurisdiction, they lived in the local area and had a large number of people. If they were not in good relations with the local people, it was very likely that the cause of the turmoil would be caused.

As soon as he saw off the local officials of Gaoyou County, Zhang Huan immediately wrote a letter to Pei You in the court. Considering his preparations to develop the national policy of Jiangnan, he tended to keep the people of the Central Plains in the Jianghuai River. Not only could he keep the advanced agricultural technology in the north in the south, but more importantly, the land annexation in the south is much lighter than in the north, which is conducive to re-granting land to achieve population transfer.

Therefore, Zhang Huan's letter to Pei You clearly put forward his own opinions, allowing refugees to be naturalized nearby as migrants in the south, and included in the jurisdiction of the local government.

After writing the letter, he felt that his physical strength was starting to be exhausted, so he put down his pen, tidied up the documents on the table, and prepared to go to bed to rest. Suddenly, he heard someone shouting on the shore, as if calling him. Zhang Huan was surprised, so he quickly walked to the window and pushed open the window. A slight fishy river breeze blew towards him. His drowsy mind suddenly became clear. On the shore five hundred steps away was a river of red flames composed of countless torches, flowing southward.

But just dozens of steps away along the coast, more than a dozen cavalrymen were following his boat and shouting: "Governor, Chang'an is in a hurry!"

Before he could send an order, several personal soldiers shook a small boat and moved closer to the shore. Soon, the small boat returned and brought back a messenger from the Internal Affairs Department. In order to facilitate the transmission of Feige's intelligence, the Internal Affairs Department specially set up intelligence points in some larger towns. This urgent message from Chang'an was received in Pengjun, and then sent by the messenger.

"Governor, the first-level emergency received this morning was not afraid to delay the messenger." The messenger took out the message barrel from his arms and poured out a red pigeon letter from it. According to the importance and urgency of the matter, the pigeon letter was divided into three levels: red, yellow and green, among which red is the highest level.

Zhang Huan obviously knew what would happen in Chang'an now. He calmly opened the pigeon letter. The letter was written by Li Fanyun, the chief of the Internal Affairs Department. On the third day after he left Chang'an, Li Mian started a secret activity. He visited a total of eighteen princes or princes, and also visited some backbones of the former Empress Dowager Party, such as Shangshu Zuo Pushe Wei Yan, Jin Zi Guanglu Dafu Wang Ang, etc. These were all things Zhang Huan expected. He smiled indifferently and continued to look down. Just below, he finally saw what he wanted to know: 'Li Mian gave money to 10,000 yuan to bribe Li Dingfang to freely enter and exit the Tai Chi Palace with a quasi-patriarch.'

Seeing this, Zhang Huan finally smiled coldly. I don’t know if it was laughing at Li Mian and Cui Xiaofu’s stupidity or their ignorance of the current affairs. Things have reached this point today. Can you find a few princes without power and position? Just Duan Xiushi’s thousand shrimp soldiers and crab generals, the heaven of the Tang Dynasty can be transformed back?

He unfolded a piece of paper, picked up a pen and wrote several orders, handed it to his personal soldiers and said, "Send it to the Chang'an Internal Affairs Department immediately with the highest level, and there must be no mistakes."

When it was almost dawn, an army of 80,000 arrived at Shaobo Town, thirty miles away from Jiangdu, and set up a camp there. Hundreds of cavalry rushed to the city of Jiangdu like lightning, and shot hundreds of Anmin notices into the city with arrows.

At this time, the atmosphere in Jiangdu City was unprecedentedly tense, but the people here had not experienced military disasters for a century. Compared with the people of the Central Plains who escaped life as the first principle, the level of disaster relief in Jiangdu people obviously lacked technical content. They were nothing more than hiding the money from their uncle's family at their uncle's house, or digging a hole in the bed and burying the earthen jar filled with gold, silver and jewelry. Then the whole family confessed unanimously: My family is very poor, and I haven't eaten for three days, and so on, but I completely ignore where the fat came from.

However, no matter how nervous the city was, there was no major riots in Jiangdu City, especially in the shops, none of which were smashed and robbed, and there were very few people who fled out of the city, basically maintaining a stable state. In fact, this is inseparable from the efforts of the acting governor Zhao Yan. Before the outbreak of the Battle of Yancheng, Zhao Yan convened a meeting of local officials in Guangling and deployed a series of specific measures to maintain stability, such as implementing the lizheng and local security responsibility system, mobilizing all lizheng and local security guards in Guangling area to appease the hearts of the people in their jurisdiction, and organizing joint defense to maintain public security. After various measures, the situation in Guangling area was finally stabilized.

Early in the morning, carriages quietly drove out from major shops, and drove towards the governor's yamen as if they were making an appointment. It was indeed an appointment. Yesterday afternoon, governor Zhao Yan sent more than 100 invitations, asking the owners or shopkeepers of major shops in Jiangdu to gather in the prefecture yamen to discuss how to deal with the Jianghuai crisis.

The status of merchants in the Tang Dynasty has always been very low. It can be seen from the "best married into a businesswoman" that an elderly and debilitated prostitute feels wronged when marrying a businessman. Although the status of merchants in the middle Tang Dynasty has been improved, Li Longji has met with merchants several times, especially after Qingzhi, the imperial court issued many measures to improve the status of merchants, such as abolishing business registration, allowing merchants to ride horses, carriages, and allowing merchants to wear Confucian robes, etc., the tradition of despising merchants among the people has always been difficult to completely change. Even more than a thousand years later, speculation has become one of the crimes in the criminal law.

However, different regions and different degrees of contempt for merchants are also different. Guangling County is the commercial center of the Tang Dynasty, especially in Jiangdu County, where 30,000 shops are located. Based on an average of ten people per household, almost half of the people in Jiangdu City are in business. In addition, Jiangdu is far away from the political center of the Tang Dynasty, and he cannot feel the dignified and dignified official spirit. Therefore, the tolerance of the people in Jiangdu City to merchants is the best in the Tang Dynasty.

Carriages arrived at the yamen on time. In a moment, the originally empty yamen was filled with various carriages. The merchants, contrary to their usual habit of meeting and greetings, entered the yamen with gloomy faces and without saying a word. This is no wonder, rich and powerless businessmen are like fat sheep, and will always become the first victims of war. The clouds of war cover Jiangdu, how can they laugh?

The venue was set up in a large room with miscellaneous items. It had been cleaned up slightly. More than 100 seats were laid according to the number of invitations. Merchants entered the room one after another and sat at will. At the beginning, everyone was still silent, but soon some careful people found that none of the shops with official and business backgrounds had arrived. The merchants were surprised at first, and then speculated. Everyone whispered, and the venue gradually became lively, talking about the people's notices that shot into the city in the early morning; talking about the impact of the reopening of the Silk Road on maritime trade; denounced all kinds of unfair competition by officials and businessmen using their power, etc.

"Sir, the governor!" A yamen runner shouted, and the venue suddenly became quiet.

Zhao Yan, who was smiling, quickly walked into the venue. Several businessmen sitting at the door quickly stood up and saluted. Zhao Yan waved his hand to signal everyone to sit down.

"Everyone, I am entrusted by Your Highness of the Superintendent to specially convene everyone for a short meeting." As soon as Zhao Yan said this, it immediately caused a huge wave among the merchants, and a buzzing sound was heard. No one expected that this meeting was the instructor of the Superintendent, and some people were even so excited that they burst into tears. The first thing the supreme ruler of the Tang Dynasty thought of was their merchants. However, Zhao Yan's following words suddenly turned into ashes.

"This Central Plains Rebellion, millions of people were displaced, and Hebei also suffered military disasters. A large number of refugees flowed to Hedong and mourned the people everywhere. The court's finances were very tight and he was unable to help them. Therefore, His Highness the Superintendent wanted to ask you to help the court through this difficulty."

The venue was silent, and everyone felt the pain of the fat sheep, which was so painful that it was so painful that Zhang Huan went to Yangzhou. Of course, the first thing he thought of was them. He should not feel strange at all. No wonder those officials and businessmen did not come.

Zhao Yan seemed to understand everyone's mood very well. He smiled and then said to everyone: "Don't worry, this time the donation is based on the financial resources of each store. The larger ones offer more, and the smaller ones offer less, which is definitely within the range that everyone can bear."

"What about their officials and businessmen? They can't come out!" A slightly brave businessman finally shouted out everyone's voices, and the quiet venue suddenly felt like a burst of noise, and the curses were in chaos.

"Silent everyone! Quiet!" Zhou Gui, the owner of Gantaixiang Silk Village, the oldest businessman, called everyone, and the venue was quiet again. He stepped forward and bowed to Zhao Yanshen, "Mr. Governor, you are honest and dedicated to the public and do practical things for the people. You have always been respected by us businessmen. If you ask us to have a meeting, none of us dare not come, but Governor asked for money, which really made us difficult to accept. I would like to ask, if we don't give money, will the army be unable to protect the military discipline after entering the city?"

"I can assure you that there will be no military discipline incompleteness!"

Zhao Yan solemnly said to everyone: "And I can tell you clearly that Your Highness, the regent, has told me in advance that at most, only 5,000 people have entered the city to maintain order, and the army will not violate it."

Zhou Gui nodded and said, "We have always believed in the reputation of the generals of the country who loves the people, but I still want to ask, has His Highness the country considered asking the officials and businessmen to pay? Their business scale is more than ten times that of ours, and they do not pay a single tax at all. Sharing the country's worries is the responsibility of the people. We dare not refuse, but if we want to pay money with convincingly, we hope that the officials and businessmen will also bear the donation."

"Yes! As long as the officials and businessmen pay money, we will do our best to help the court." The merchants below responded one after another.
Chapter completed!