Chapter 1315: Serving the King and Advising the Government

Chapter 1315: Serving the King and Advising the Government

"The King of Linchuan ordered his ministers to report to the Lord. The disturbance in Nanchuan is indeed a worry, but it is not a serious concern for our country. Considering the manpower in our country, we can calmly pacify it. To rashly invite the northern captives to come to the south is actually to open the door. I'm a thief! The Lord of the Tang Dynasty, Li Boshan, is really not a kind person. He wants to be the master of the world day and night. To conspire with him is to seek the skin of a tiger. Now he forces me to dedicate himself to Guangling. His thief's intentions are revealed. If he still doesn't take precautions, he may be in danger. Following the footsteps of the Qi family, Jiangdong is not mine, and the ancestral temple is destroyed day and night!"

Zhang Zhaoda was born in a family of officials in Wuzhong. He was originally very handsome, but he was blinded by arrows while rescuing Taicheng during Hou Jing's Rebellion. Therefore, his appearance now looks a bit strange and ferocious, especially when he is emotional. One eye also gives people a hint of fierce flashing light.

Now that he was going to repeat the words of King Linchuan, his posture and tone inevitably seemed a bit aggressive: "The former Lord was born in crisis and had difficulties in starting a business. Thanks to this grace, all the people in Jiangdong were able to maintain peace and live in peace in their hometown. Your Majesty. Fortunately for you, you should be careful and self-defeating, and live up to the trust of the late lord and the expectations of everyone! King Linchuan invites the elite soldiers from Wuzhong to attack the thieves in Nanchuan. There is really no need to cross the river from the north. Please make a careful decision. !”

Chen Chang was originally dissatisfied with his cousin Chen Qian's actions. In the past, the situation was at a stalemate because of Chen Qian's obstruction. Now that things have finally turned around, he sent an envoy to the court to treat him sanctimoniously. Accusation. It is not good to rely on external power, but doesn't Chen Qian know why the court needs to rely on external power? Is he really innocent in this matter?

"Zhang's words are really calling stupidity wisdom, which is extremely ridiculous! Even though he is a humble citizen in Guizhou and has a poor family, he is still narcissistic and unwilling to give up. I am the heir to my late father and I have been able to enjoy this industry. Whoever wants to disrupt our family and country will definitely I will not stop until I die! Since I received my karma, there have been many twists and turns, and I have never been able to sleep peacefully! Although you have taken advantage of me, you have not shared my worries. If you are truly loyal and upright, how can you know why you are suffering from internal and external troubles? If we are loyal and courageous, responsible for state affairs, and true to our words and deeds, how can the Nanchuan chaos still exist today?”

In anger, Chen Chang did not even want to retain the slightest emotion in his words, and directly exposed some deep-seated contradictions. His tone towards Zhang Zhaoda, who was Chen Qian's envoy, was also particularly harsh, with many sarcasm and belittling words: "Lin. The king of Sichuan is autocratic in Wuzhong and has no superiors. If he really wants to do something, why should he bother me? The foxes and rats in the city have their own people! It’s ridiculous! Even if I’m not a hero, how can you be a minister of integrity?”

The anger accumulated in his heart over the past few days was vented, and Chen Chang didn't feel much happiness in his heart. His words can be said to have torn apart all the dignity that still existed between them, but now is obviously not a good time to break up completely.

This also shows his political immaturity. After venting his anger, he secretly felt something was wrong and did not want his anger to be spread, so he directly ordered Zhang Zhaoda to be detained and detained. With a serious expression, he ordered all the courtiers in the palace to keep quiet, and sent another envoy to Wuzhong to reply to Chen Qian, telling her to guard Wuxing and not to make any strange moves. As for the Nanchuan Incident, it was put down by the Jiankang Division Brigade and the Tang Army.

Although the Jiankang court will send troops together with the Tang army to quell the chaos, the troops that can be mobilized in Jiankang are also very limited. Although there are tens of thousands of forbidden troops in the territory, they have to maintain Jiankang's public security and guard against internal and external problems. They are already stretched thin, and it is even more difficult to carry out large-scale external deployment.

Chen Tanlang returned from Guangling this time and brought back only more than 3,000 soldiers. The soldiers and civilians of Guangling remained in the city. In the future, the Yangzhou General Office of the Tang Dynasty would only take over the city defense of Guangling, but people's livelihood matters would still be handled by the south. Officials appointed by Chen were responsible for governance. Even future taxes in the city will continue to be collected by Nanchen, and then used to offset the grain and grass consumption of the Tang army to help Nanchuan.

When Datang interacted with Nan Chen, sometimes although his attitude was relatively strong and a bit aggressive, this was also due to the strength gap between the two parties. However, as long as an agreement was formed between them, they would always keep the agreement. Therefore, Nanchen Junchen also trusted Datang.

It is certainly foolish to place hope on the stronger party to keep the contract, but in many cases, for Nan Chen Junchen, they have no better way. Everyone knows that fate is in their own hands, but without sufficient ability, this is just a correct nonsense. At least for the current relationship between the two countries, Datang has always abided by the agreement, which has also created certain restrictions on the interaction between the two countries. If there is a breach of contract, the trust destroyed will also be a cost.

Chen Chang had previously asked Xu Du whether he intended to leave the town of Nanchuan, but in his heart he had already decided to let the leading general Cheng Lingxi serve as the governor of Jiangzhou. Although Cheng Lingxi could not be said to be his confidant, he was on the opposite side of Chen Qian in the previous disputes.

Chen Chang had been serving as a proton outside during the establishment of Nanchen, so he did not have many confidants in the country. For him, as long as he did not deal with his cousin Chen Qian, he was a force worth winning over.

Nanchen's main intention for sending troops this time was to take over the counties of Nanchuan, and he did not need to serve as the main force. Chunyu, the rebel general of Guizhou, Lingbiao, and his territory, were naturally the reward for the Tang army's sending troops. This was also a tacit understanding between them. .

After all, even if Guizhou is returned to Nanchen, Nanchen will simply not be able to bear the cost of governance because the journey is too far. Even Chen Chang and the Jiankang court officials hoped that the Tang Dynasty would capture Guizhou, because after Guizhou was acquired, it would inevitably attract the Tang Dynasty to invest more power in the areas outside the mountains of southern Hunan, thereby relaxing its focus on the lower reaches of the Yangtze River and east of the Yangtze River. It can give the Jiankang court a chance to breathe.

Since there were not many opportunities to directly participate in the battle, the main purpose was to suppress the local powerful forces in Nanchuan. Therefore, the Jiankang court prepared to send 5,000 troops this time, led by Chen Tanlang, the king of Nankang who was named by the Tang Emperor to go out, and Cheng Ling. Xi was appointed as the governor of Jiangzhou and led more than 2,000 people from his headquarters to go together, which can be regarded as gathering nearly 8,000 soldiers.

Although there were not many troops on the expedition, it still left a lot of holes in Jiankang's city defense, so Chen Chang ordered Wu Mingche to lead a group of troops from Qin County to cross the Yangtze River and garrison the stone city.

When the expedition was underway, Chen Chang personally swore an oath at the northern suburbs altar to announce the expedition, which made the scene exciting for a while. During this expedition to Nanchuan, Chen's army was advancing by boat and chariot. Just as the chariot and vessel were about to depart, Chen Chang summoned Chen Tanlang in front of him and warned in a deep voice: "Previously, Hou Zhen ignored the imperial order and kept the crowd at bay. I sent my son to get into trouble in Dongfu before, and he really had ulterior motives. After my brother enters the country now, there is no need to deal with Xu and Zhezi, and he will be arrested and tied up in Ji. His troops will be disbanded on the spot, and he will not be transferred to another place!"

Previously, Chen Qian sent Zhang Zhaoda to the court to oppose the imperial court and cooperate with the Tang army to quell the chaos, and took the initiative to ask Ying to lead the army there. Although Chen Chang directly rejected it, it also made him realize that Chen Qian might have had the idea of ​​​​infecting Nanchuan for a long time.

Even if the imperial court disagrees, they may send troops without permission to seize control of Nanchuan while the Tang army and imperial troops are busy fighting Wang Lin and Chun Yu's rebel divisions. In order to ensure that the imperial court could take over Nanchuan, it would be inconvenient for Chen Chang to allow the Tang army to stay in the country to interfere in the matter. However, the imperial court's own power alone was not enough to eliminate Chen Qian's arrangements and influence.

If Chen Qian wants to complete this operation of taking chestnuts from the fire, she must have the support from local forces. Chen Chang knew that his cousin had always been sinister and sinister, and he might have been planning this for a long time. Secretly, he didn't know how many local forces he had contacted, but there was no doubt that Hou Yi must be a very important character in the open. .

Therefore, Chen Chang planned to take advantage of Hou Qian first and then control him. Even though the conspiracy between Hou Qian and Chen Qian had not gone too far, he had accepted the imperial title but had a negative attitude and refused to send troops. It also requires severe punishment!

The expedition troops set out from Jiankang City, and Wuxing Changcheng County was also busy with personnel. Changcheng County is the hometown of the Chen family. After Chen Qian left the court in embarrassment, she did not go to Wucheng, the capital of Zhenzhou, to take charge. Instead, she returned to Changcheng Township and built a royal residence to manage military and political affairs within the territory. .

During the Hou Jing Rebellion, Chen Qian was ordered to return to Wuxing Township to garrison. Therefore, he was very familiar with the personnel in the township and had deep prestige in the countryside. Returning to his hometown to take charge of the army this time, he had the intention of demarcating the territory and becoming the king. Even the governors of prefectures and counties appointed by the imperial court had to go to his palace to ask for instructions, otherwise it would be difficult to exercise their powers.

Therefore, there was an endless stream of people traveling to and from the Linchuan Prince's residence in Changcheng Township, across the road. In recent days, so many people have gathered here that the roads in the countryside have become extremely congested.

These people gathered in the residence of the Prince of Linchuan, complaining and objecting to the imperial decrees. They hoped that the Prince of Linchuan would be able to express their nostalgia and fight for the rights that the villagers and old folks should enjoy.

Among the people who came to and from the Lanchuan Prince's residence, a considerable number of them were simply dressed in robes made of kudzu and hemp fabrics produced in Wuzhong. This is not just because their families are poor or live a simple life, but it is now a trend in Wuzhong Township that they are proud to wear kudzu and linen robes.

Since the Yongjia Rebellion, a large number of northerners have come to Jiangdong to escape the war. At the same time, they have brought advanced farming and weaving technology from the north, which has greatly developed the farming and weaving industry in Jiangdong.

However, there is still a lot of production of kudzu and hemp fabrics in various parts of Wuzhong, and the imperial court also collects household taxes on cloth. Therefore, weaving is also an important pillar industry in Sanwu. There are many powerful families with many slave tribes. Working hard day and night weaving cloth to sell in the market.

However, as the mutual trade between Liyang, Gushu and other places began, a large amount of silk fabrics such as silk fabrics from the upper reaches poured into Nanchenjing. These silk fabrics were more exquisite and comfortable than cloth, but the price was lower than those produced in Wuzhong. After flooding into the market, they suddenly It became a monopoly, which directly caused the sales of various weaving products in Wuzhong to drop sharply, and it was almost kicked out of the market.

These powerful households in Wuzhong may be sensitive to the general trend of the world, but they are also keenly aware of their own gains and losses. They have a large backlog of textiles in their homes, and even if they are occasionally sold, the prices are extremely low.

Many private households where the sale of textiles accounted for a large proportion of their household income even went bankrupt. Even if they wanted to sell themselves into slavery, they had nowhere to sell, because those powerful households with rich assets also faced the same predicament, because Buqu Laboratories The income generated dropped sharply, which directly turned the sheltered population into a loss-making business, and the tribes in Manyuan directly became negative assets. Therefore, many powerful families simply released a large number of slaves, expelled them, and allowed them to fend for themselves.

So Chen Qian's previous statement that bandits were rampant in the country was not entirely deceiving the court, because a large number of households went bankrupt and slaves were released. These people wandered in the suburbs and had no way to make a living, so they could only steal and rob, making the overall security situation in Wuzhong worrying.

Although the villagers were short-sighted, they had already felt the pain, so they could not avoid rioting. Boycotting goods from upstream, especially silk fabrics, and advocating the use and consumption of local products became a trend. They naturally hated those northern barbarians who forced their villagers to reduce their income and make their livelihoods difficult.

Since the King of Linchuan himself was expelled from the capital for opposing the alliance with the Tang Dynasty, in such a rural atmosphere, many Wuzhong tyrants regarded him as their leader and gathered under the King of Linchuan, hoping to fight against the exploitation from the Northern Dynasty.

When his uncle Chen Baxian died, Chen Qian tried to control power. As a result, he had to leave the capital because of the intervention of the Guanzhong regime and the opposition of the ministers in the country. However, he did not expect to gain such widespread support and support after returning to his hometown. His power and courage also grew rapidly, and his attitude became tough again.

Although he is now dormant in the countryside, he has more extensive and reliable support, especially in terms of public sentiment, which is more reliable than his uncle Chen Baxian's control. Therefore, he has more room for imagination and operation for the future of his country.

When the court's reply was transmitted back to Wuxing, Chen Qian gathered his confidants and powerful men and said with a sigh: "The Lord is still stubborn and insists on bringing the northern barbarians to the south without considering the difficulties of the first lord's entrepreneurship. The northern barbarians are wolves in nature. They have already annexed the old enemy in the east. Now they are coming to the south. Their intentions must not be simple. It is easy for them to come, but it is difficult to send them away. If the situation continues to deteriorate, my hometown may never have peace! What do you think about this?"

"The Lord is in chaos and there is no peace! Now that things have come to this, the only way is to go north to serve the king and persuade the government to save the crisis. Apart from this, there is no doubt!"

The first person to speak was dressed in military uniform. It turned out to be Hou Andu, the governor of East Yangzhou who was supposed to be in Kuaiji.

Generals in charge of local garrisons have always been required to guard their places and are not allowed to leave without orders, otherwise it would be tantamount to conspiracy. Hou Andu actually left Kuaiji and came to Wuxing, and the first thing he said was such a rebellious word. If the people in Jiankang saw this scene, they would definitely be shocked.