Chapter 766: Monk Debate Seeks Help
Compared with the situation in Guanzhong that made the parties involved a bit anxious, the personnel process here in Jingzhou General Manager's Office was much smoother.
As Zhang Xi of the Fan Yang Zhang family was developed into a downline, the personnel penetration in Jingzhou to Jiangling was not just a little smooth. Although Xiao Yi was suspicious by nature and grasped power very tightly, Zhang Xi, as the Huangmen Minister, and his uncle Zhang Wanze was the official of the Shangshu Youpushe, and they had a great influence on Jiangling's political situation.
There is also a more critical point, that is, Zhang Xi was really doing things after receiving the money, such as using Liang Wang Xiaoqi to alienate Zhou Hongzheng, which directly destroyed the influence of the Donggui faction in the Jiangling court. As for other minor requests made by Li Tai in terms of personnel, Zhang Xi also tried his best to meet them, which also made Li Tai feel that what the insider bought was real value.
Li Tai also made great efforts to bribe other people from Nanliang. Guys such as Yu Xin received a lot of benefits from Mianbei, but except for a few poems, they rarely played any role in other aspects. He even supported moving the capital to Jiankang. It was probably particularly sweet to sit on the edge of the Qinhuai River and chew sugar cane.
As for those local Jiangling people, because they have a relatively strong need to protect local interests, they will not obey Li Taiyan, but will only maintain a certain degree of cooperation when the needs of both parties are consistent.
For example, Hu Sengyou, the leading general in Jiangling, became very active when Li Tai arranged for people from Jiangling to return to their hometowns to worship their ancestors. He even sent a son to stay in Mianbei, hoping to use this behavior to improve his family status. In order to integrate into the mainstream of the Gangneung family. After all, as a person who returned from the Northern Dynasty to the South, and a relatively pure military general, he has never been highly recognized in Nanliang society.
However, when Li Tai planned to use his position to show goodwill to some Jianglings, Hu Sengyou was unwilling to do anything. Even the gifts his son received in Mianbei were sent back later. Dare to keep it privately.
Li Tai doesn't have to grovel and bribe people from Nanliang to dare to make plans for Jiangling. People who refuse to drink or drink fines are basically blacklisted. It is not intended to be deliberately inclusive.
One thing that is more regrettable about Jiangling is that Xiao Yi, a fool, ordered the burning of 140,000 volumes of books before Jiangling City was destroyed. After hundreds of years of division between the North and the South, most of the rich achievements accumulated in the development of this line of culture in the Southern Dynasties were burned down.
Li Tai had been paying attention to academic exchanges with Jiangling from very early on, mainly as a source of advice, so he had also coveted Jiangling's collection of books for a long time.
He also learned from Zhang Xi that as Xiao Yi temporarily gave up the plan to move the capital to Jiankang, he also arranged for his subordinates to transport Jiankang's books and cultural relics to Jiangling.
So Li Tai also expressed to Zhang Xi that he hoped to arrange some personnel to organize and edit these books. Even if this cultural tragedy cannot be prevented in the end, he hopes to preserve as much of the content of these books as possible.
In the name of studying abroad, he made a request to Jiangling to send some students from the state school to study. With the advice of Zhang Xi's uncle and nephew and some other Jiangling people, Xiao Yi agreed to this request. So Li Tai arranged for his nephew Li Yuxiang to lead a hundred selected state school students to Jiangling for a one-year study tour.
At the same time, Liu Guangde, the man who introduced Zhang Xi to a great fortune, was also recommended by Zhang Xi to serve as an academic minister like Si Yilang in the Jiangling court. After the books on Jiankang arrived in Jiangling, these outsiders would have the opportunity to come into contact with these books.
Of course, as the situation in Jiangling gradually stabilizes, the interaction with Mianbei is not entirely harmonious.
In mid-October, shortly after Jiangling's newly appointed governor of Yingzhou, Lu Fahe, arrived at the prefecture, he immediately sent envoys northward, hoping to return Xiakou to the Nanliang garrison for management.
Unlike other local tycoons and military leaders in Nanliang who took advantage of the chaos, Lu Fahe was more famous as an alchemist. He governed the army and the people without using criminal orders, and thousands of people were all called his disciples. Ever since he recommended himself to Xiao Yi, his behavior had revealed a strange atmosphere that seemed to be cheating but the effect was not too great.
Li Tai was also curious about such an alien who seemed to be just pretending to be a ghost but seemed to have some real abilities.
However, he did not directly agree to Lu Fahe's request, nor did he reject it. He just ordered his Yingzhou governor Li Yunxin to close the Shicheng border port for ten days, and the goods were stranded in Jiangling. The people naturally helped him give Lu Fahe an answer. It was useless for Li Tai to have people drive him away, and the envoy he sent returned on his own.
Although Xiao Yi seems to have eliminated all domestic competitors and became the only heir to Zuo of the Southern Liang Dynasty, he must of course exclude Liang Wang Xiao Qi. This guy has now been expelled from his nationality and clan status by default.
However, divisions within Nanliang have also taken shape, not to mention the more remote areas, even along the river. For example, the Xilu Xida brothers of Jiangbei Jin Dynasty who had defected to Li Tai before, and Lu Fahe who had just taken office in Yingzhou, also made their own decisions when they sent people to recover Xiakou.
Almost at the same time, Wang Sengbian, who was still in the lower reaches of the town, also sent envoys to Jingzhou, hoping to have some military cooperation with Jingzhou.
After a few months, the Northern Qi Dynasty once again launched an offensive against Jiankang and other places in the lower reaches of the Yangtze River. This time, the main force was also Guo Yuanjian and the remnants of Hou Jing's rebellious army. At the same time, he accepted the Nanliang clan's Xiangtan Hou Xiaotui, and sent general Bu Dahan Sa and others as the successor divisions to come south again with great momentum.
Wang Sengbian had already rushed to Gushu, dispatching troops to set up defenses, and sent his brother Wang Sengmin here in the hope that Li Tai could send troops to cooperate and disrupt the Northern Qi operation.
"The people of Qi are ruthless and stubborn, and they often invade the country because of their strength. The people of Huainan were tortured and tortured. The young men were taken captive and their bodies were filled in battle formations. The women and children wailed and were miserable! General Li knew the soldiers and was good at planning, and he set an example of benevolence and righteousness. I sincerely request you to send troops to frighten the stubborn thieves and save the people of Huainan from the desperate situation..."
Wang Sengxin bowed to Li Tai and said sadly. Of course, he was not just asking for moral help. He then told the conditions Wang Sengbian offered: "The old Hou Jing, the great bandit, started in Shouyang and Huainan." I don't own the land. General Li conquered the rebels in Huaihe River, and the whole world was impressed by him!
Today, my brother has been ordered by the king to guard the south of the Yangtze River. Although he has the desire to regain Huainan, he also knows that he is weak and cannot handle it. Instead of sitting back and watching the bandits steal the territory and repeatedly raising troops to invade, it is better to show his virtue and righteousness to strengthen the reputation of the general!
Today, the Qi army's bandit divisions have not yet arrived, but the evil bandit Guo Yuanzhen is lingering in Hefei alone. If the general is willing to send troops to cooperate, then my brother will not be in a hurry to attack his army, and can continue to deploy troops on land and on land to wait for the thieves to arrive. When our armies attack, the general can intercept them from behind and annihilate the thieves in Huainan. Then everything from the north of Hefei will belong to the general, and everything below Dongguan will belong to our army. We swear not to invade each other. If we violate it, both heaven and man will spit on us! "
Li Tai did not doubt Wang Sengbian's sincerity. Because today's Dajiang defense line can be said to be leaking everywhere, from Jingkou to Huancheng, there is no place that can be called rock-solid, and there are places for breakthroughs everywhere.
Under such circumstances, abandoning the area north of Dongguan and handing it over to the relatively friendly Li Tai can also relieve some of the pressure on the river defense, and concentrate superior forces on the lower reaches to attack or defend, which will make it more flexible. Moreover, Li Tai was weaker than Beiqi in terms of his own strength and the offensive nature he displayed.
This deal is quite cost-effective for Li Tai. The reason why he refused to occupy Shouyang and Hefei before was indeed because he was unable to do what he wanted. He was worried that the defense line would be stretched and the gain would outweigh the loss.
But the situation is different now. Wang Sengbian and Chen Baxian's armies are now concentrated in the lower reaches of the Yangtze River. They have the need to regain the lost land in the north of the Yangtze River. Especially Chen Baxian, because he himself did not belong to the direct line of Jiangling, in order to expand his power, his desire to attack was much stronger than Wang Sengbian.
At present, Wang Sengbian is willing to use Jiankang as bait, and his troops will bear the pressure from the front of the Northern Qi army, creating an opportunity for Li Tai to steal the enemy's retreat, which can be regarded as full of sincerity.
Under such circumstances, it would not be a dream to cooperate with Wang Sengbian and Chen Baxian to sweep the Northern Qi forces out of Huainan. The reason why Li Tai wanted to defend Yiyang before was precisely because he had this in mind, hoping that one day in the future he would be able to take greater initiative when the conditions were right and make this an option.