Chapter 736: Internal and external dependence

Chapter 736: Internal and external dependence

Listening to these people's complaints, Li Qianzhe's thoughts shifted to other places.

Luo Yan, a predecessor, said that the reason why Shu people are greedy and happy is because there are too many poor people and heavy labor. However, in Li Qianzhe's view, there is actually another and very important reason, that is, the rich Desire flourishes.

The accumulation of abuses in Sichuan is not just a day. No matter what dynasty, the government control is relatively strong, but only in the agricultural area of ​​​​the Chengdu Plain. As for the transition zone where the basins and mountains meet on the four sides, the government's control will be sharply reduced, and the powerful local voices It cannot be underestimated.

Take the Qiao clan, a wealthy family in Brazil, for example. It was already a famous Bashu clan as early as the Shu-Han Three Kingdoms period. It still has considerable rural capital and influence today, and is also highly relied on by Xiao Ji, the king of Wuling.

Since the Jin Dynasty alone, there have been political changes in the Chenghan, Qiaoshu, Song, Qi, and Liang Dynasties, including Xiao Ji, the King of Wuling who is now the emperor of Shu. They are just spectators, and the real master of Bashu has been rooted here for generations. A powerful family.

In order to preserve their own rural capital power, these wealthy families will do anything they can. Take this time, King Wuling recruited soldiers from all directions and forced the barbarians in the Daba Mountains to flee to the Hanzhong in the south of the mountain. In fact, the power of the government alone was far from being able to do this. The main reason was that these powerful clans had to bear the burden of the servitude originally given to them. It was passed on to the lower-level Han barbarian people, so it was possible to harass the barbarian mountain people so deeply.

This type of operation is familiar and very simple to the large Bashu clan. As long as it can protect their local interests, they have also used more drastic methods.

Whether it is colluding with the surrounding barbarians, colluding with foreign enemies, or simply separatist power behind closed doors, as long as they can ensure their own interests, they will try any means, and there is no taboo.

Otherwise, just based on the wealth gap between the poor and the poor in ten families in Shu, we cannot bear the evaluation of being corrupt and rejoicing in misfortune. The poor only have one life, and it is over after just one effort. There is neither greed nor happiness. Only these wealthy families can continuously create extremely poor people, and then continue to make troubles to maintain their own interests. Only then can they have the qualifications to be greedy and rejoice in misfortune.

Now these people are gathered here, their faces full of indignation and complaints. On the surface, although they are talking about the Western Wei Dynasty's forced purchase of Sichuan brocade at a lower price, in fact, the inner meaning is much richer.

The origin of Li Qianzhe and the fact that he took orders from General Li of Jingzhou General Administration are no secrets. The market price emphasized by these people naturally does not only refer to Shu Brocade, but also includes their respective wealth, lives and investment costs.

Li Qianzhe had long been authorized by the general, but he was not in a hurry to sell out the reserve price. He just said with a smile: "Whether this matter is reasonable or not, I dare not comment lightly. But King Wuling is still the head of the state. What's his decision on this matter?"

When everyone heard this question, their faces became even more worried. Most of them sighed and fell silent. After a while, someone finally said, "The king did not agree to Wei's request for mutual trade, but he gave Wei three thousand pieces of brocade goods as a gift..."

"Is this happening?"

Li Qianzhe couldn't help being surprised after hearing this. He smacked his lips for a moment before he finally understood the meaning of King Wuling's operation.

Such a request by the Western Wei Dynasty was undoubtedly an act of extortion and extortion. Once King Wuling was forced to agree under pressure, it directly destroyed a value system formed by the development of foreign trade for many years. It was an out-and-out attempt to quench thirst by drinking poison.

But if there is no expression, if the Western Wei Dynasty directly raises troops to attack, Shuzhong will inevitably face a bad situation of being attacked from both sides, and even survival will become a big problem.

If there were negotiations with the Western Wei Dynasty on the price of the Shu brocade market, the current King Wuling did not have such energy. To choose the lesser of two evils, simply send a batch of Shu brocade to the Western Wei Dynasty without even paying the money, so as to stabilize the opponent for the time being and concentrate on carrying out his own plan.

This not only appeased the Western Wei Dynasty, but also did not damage the price trend of Shu brocade trade. It can be regarded as a solution that balances both sides.

Maybe King Wuling was quite satisfied with his response, but he didn't want to think about the opponent he was facing. It was a hegemonic regime led by a group of Beizhen soldiers. Hou Jingdu was a loser among the soldiers and fled to Nanliang in despair. Would these guys with poor nature know enough is enough?

This move by King Wuling will never bring concessions from the other party. Instead, it exposes his cowardice and weakness and his ulterior motives. What he will receive will only be stronger demands that break through the bottom line! Maybe even this step is omitted directly, and the next step is to directly send troops to Shuzhong.

Li Qianzhe was not ordered by the Chinese and Foreign Affairs Office, so he naturally did not know the next step of the country's requirements. However, seeing that the people present had a bleak look on their faces when talking about this matter, it can be seen that from their perspective, King Wuling's approach undoubtedly had another meaning. .

He sacrificed heavy goods in order to make good enemies, but at home he did his best to mobilize troops and prepare for war. There was no doubt that he was trying to compete with Jiangling for supremacy. This shows that King Wuling has planned to give up his mission of guarding Bashu and choose to fight Jiangling.

The people of Bashu didn't care about King Wuling's dominance. All they cared about was the safety of their own three-acre land. King Wuling, who was supposed to be in charge of Shu, was no longer concerned about this, and the Western Wei Dynasty was like a barbarian wandering at the door. This made them feel frightened and worried, and they were also full of confusion about the way forward.

Li Qianzhe's original situation was similar to that of these Bashu people, and he could empathize with them. Fortunately, he met General Li's active solicitation, so that he quickly found his new position in the process of the general trend, and successfully transitioned, directly taking this uncertain and difficult step.

Now he looks at these people's entanglements with the attitude of a person who has experienced it, and he is also quite sad. However, he is here with a mission, so it is not convenient to discuss related issues with these people too emotionally.

"King Wuling has many rebellious ambitions and no heart to keep his business. For the people of Bashu, it is really a tragedy. In this troubled time, disasters will happen in a moment. You really need to make more plans, or you can avoid disasters."

Li Qianzhe sighed, commented on the current situation in Shu, and saw that everyone around him was pale.

Although these Bashu clans are local tyrants and survived all kinds of wars and disasters, they all paid a painful price in the process. The reason why they can exist stubbornly is the result of hard work and hard work. Those who can't survive will naturally die.

A middle-aged man of medium build stepped forward and looked at Li Qianzhe eagerly and said: "Li Hou is a wise man on the surface. He is well-known both inside and outside the mountains. Now he is also trying to protect himself and seek good fortune. I wonder if there is any good strategy to teach us the people?"

This middle-aged man is called Luo Zongyi. He is from Guanghan and serves as the Sima of Baxi County. He is responsible for raising all the labor and materials consumed in the construction of the sugar city where they are located. He is also the core figure in the trade between the two sides.

What Li Qianzhe called protecting himself was to surrender to General Li of Jingzhou. It is conceivable what Luo Zongyi wanted to hear when he asked him for good strategies. Even a county lieutenant has such thoughts. It is conceivable that the people of Bashu are now scattered. This is probably one of the reasons why King Wuling is eager to attack Bashu.

Another short and strong man who looked quite capable said more bluntly: "Lord Li, you are now following the orders of General Li of Wei to travel within the territory. We are not alienated because you have surrendered to Wei. We still take good care of you and cater to you. In addition to the mutual benefit of trading with each other, we also want to have more options in times of crisis. Lord Li, you must have a bigger plan.

Now that King Wuling is about to abandon the town and Wei is eyeing it covetously, it is time to make a decision or you will die. Lord Li, if you have any plan to lure the masses, you can tell us now and let us discuss it. In short, as long as it is not the cruel method of the Wei envoy to treat Huajin as plain cloth, everyone can bargain."

Hearing this, everyone present, including Li Qianzhe, became a little unnatural. Although this is the truth, it is so straightforward that both sides have less room for maneuver in the dialogue.

Li Qianzhe was fine. After all, he had the authorization of General Li, and he was absolutely sure that he could convince the Bashu tyrants in front of him. The only difference was how much effort they were willing to put in to complete General Li's subsequent plan.

But the faces of those Bashu tyrants were somewhat not very good, but no one dared to directly scold this person, as if they were a little afraid.

This also surprised Li Qianzhe. He also knew this warrior. His name was Li Guangci. He was originally a Ba chief. Because he became the son-in-law of the Qiao family in Bashu, he became one of the famous tribes in Bashu. This was the role of those big tribes absorbed from all sides to serve as thugs. Although the power was strong, the status was not high. After all, it was highly replaceable.

"General Li is now appointed to assist in the defense of Langzhong, and he is very trusted by the Qiao envoy."

Luo Zongyi, who spoke before, saw Li Qianzhe's somewhat surprised look, so he explained in a low voice.

After hearing this, Li Qianzhe understood a little. The city defense of the Southern Dynasty was equivalent to the city defense commander of the Western Wei Dynasty, and the military of a city was under his control. Langzhong is also the seat of Baxi County. Since Li Guangci served as the assistant defense commander of Langzhong, he was equivalent to the general left behind in Baxi County.

Among the Baxi clans, the one with the highest status in Shuzhong now is Qiao Yan, the governor of Liangzhou. Li Guangci is his brother-in-law. He recommended him to the position of assistant defense commander of Langzhong, which shows his trust in him.

But Li Qianzhe looked at Li Guangci and had doubts in his heart. He knew that King Wuling trusted Qiao Yan and had never tried to contact him before.

But now the assistant defense commander of Langzhong recommended by him sounded like he wanted to lead him to surrender to the Western Wei Dynasty, which made him a little unsure whether it was Qiao Yan's idea or Li Guangci's own decision, and whether he was sincere or setting a trap for himself?

If Qiao Yan also wanted to surrender to Wei, with his status and position in Shuzhong, he could do a lot of things, and even repeat the previous attack on Nanzheng City and directly enter Chengdu City to arrest King Wuling and send him to Jingzhou!

So he didn't rush to reveal his conditions, but clasped his hands and bowed to Li Guangci and said with a smile: "I didn't know that General Li was promoted. It's really a cause for celebration. Congratulations!" Li Guangci waved his hand and said: "If Lord Li really wants to congratulate me, I will set up a banquet to drink with you in the future. But now is not a good time to discuss these trivial matters. Since I have revealed my feelings to you, you must give me a reply today, otherwise the people here will not be at ease!" As he spoke, he put his hand on the handle of his sword, as if he was going to draw his sword against him if they disagreed.

Naturally, Li Qianzhe was not frightened. When he saw that this man could not say more than a few words, he was full of emotions and looked wary. His heart was moved, and he sneered: "There are many close followers of mine inside and outside this city. Does General Li make this gesture because he thinks I don't have the strength to fight with you? Or is he worried that I will expose the matter to you?"

After Li Guangci heard this, his expression became a little unnatural. Next to him, Luo Zongyi hurriedly opened his mouth and smoothed things over and said: "Marquis Li should be familiar with the personnel here. A closer inspection shows that all the people who came to see you today are carefully selected. There is no need to worry about the plot being leaked. To be honest, Qiao Shijun does have a lot of help." We think of big things, but we, the countrymen, don’t have such grand ambitions. We just hope to protect the peace of our country and prevent our countrymen from suffering harm!”

"Yes, if King Wuling goes, no matter whether he wins or loses, Shuzhong will probably be uneasy. In this critical time, only by forming an alliance with the strong can we be safe. We and the masses want to recommend General Li to guard Langzhong together. Jiange has Yang Tongzhou is garrisoned, and it will be difficult for the Wei people to defeat them in a short period of time. Brazil can still stay away from the war to observe the development of the situation, but I am afraid that Wei soldiers will climb over the mountains and go directly to Danqu. If Li Hou can prevent the Wei people from outside the mountains for us, , then the inside and outside depend on each other..."

Someone else added a speech next to them, detailing their plans.

Li Qianzhe originally thought that these people did this because they wanted him to introduce them to the Jingzhou General Manager's Office, so he felt that this mission should be completed easily.

But he still underestimated the wild ideas of these Bashu powerful men. They were not eager to join the Western Wei Dynasty, but wanted to segregate the country immediately to wait and see the situation. They also proposed to provide Li Qianzhe with manpower and material resources to help him in Daba Mountain. Beilu resisted the Western Wei's advance, while they settled in the rear to watch the development of the situation.

After understanding the thoughts of these people, Li Qianzhe couldn't help laughing, but after laughing for a while, he said: "Now that you know that I am working for General Li, how do you think you can rely on me to win over him?" Abandon the other and rely on this? If what you say can make me tempted, this proposal is not unreasonable. "

After everyone here heard this, they looked at each other, with excitement in their eyes. They originally thought that Li Qianzhe would be difficult to persuade, but they didn't expect that he would be so direct that they could talk. It seems that he is in Wei Life is not very happy even under human rule.