Monk Xiao ran away, which was very bad news for Zhu Youde. This man had a strong will to resist Daliang and was the representative of the main war faction in the Southern Tang Dynasty against Daliang.
Zhu Youde planned to use the Southern Tang court to kill Monk Xiao. Without this person, it would be much easier for Daliang to destroy the Southern Tang Dynasty in the future.
But he still overestimated the capabilities of the Southern Tang Dynasty.
As expected, Monk Xiao was able to run away. There must be something fishy about this matter. From now on, we can no longer trust others for this kind of thing. We have to have our own people come forward.
However, from another perspective, it is not necessarily a bad thing that Monk Xiao ran away. Daliang always had a reason to go to war with Southern Tang.
In a certain month of a certain year, Monk Xiao attacked Daliang, but he was never caught. The Southern Tang court wanted to give Daliang an explanation.
If not, then start a war.
From a political perspective, it is true that Monk Xiao's death or not will not change Daliang's strategy of destroying the Southern Tang Dynasty.
However, Daliang's main strategy now is still with the southeastern rebels. After taking Mingzhou, the southeastern rebels can only huddle in a corner of eastern Zhejiang, and the opponent has little room for maneuver.
The strategic space has been greatly compressed, although it is said that there are still 200,000 troops!
But everyone knows this is fart.
It is already difficult for Lao Zhu to support the troops in the southeast. The two sides combined have more than 500,000 troops, and the southeast alone cannot afford to support them.
Daliang's current supplies are all mobilized from all over the country. Wherever the wealthy families in the southeast can mobilize them, they can only squeeze them.
At this time, because the situation has changed, Lao Zhu has to adjust his strategy.
Zhou Chaozong and He Qingfeng hoped to wipe out the rebels quickly so that the army could take a rest and the local people could take the opportunity to breathe a sigh of relief.
Especially in places such as Zhaozhou and Mingzhou, which have just experienced rebellions, the local people want to resume production, and the court also needs significant financial support. Just reducing taxes and allocating land is not enough.
Farmers need seeds, tools and cattle for farming. Winter has come, and they also need winter clothes. There are many mountains in Zhejiang, and the water vapor in the mountains can freeze people to death.
The military expenditure plus the expenditure to appease the people put too high financial demands on Daliang.
This is only the southeast, Daliang is fighting with the Mongols in the north.
Zhu Youde's young master doesn't know how long he can support it.
"Your Majesty, the key is next spring. If production in the southeast cannot be resumed, the southeast will be in bad shape for a whole year and the people will be unstable. Even if the army destroys the rebels, there is no point."
Zhou Chaozong looked at Lao Zhu with a solemn expression. Military victory alone was of no use.
If we cannot restore the production of the people in the southeast, we will rebel again.
At least within the occupied area, we must ensure that people resume production and survive the winter smoothly.
The people in the southeastern land were originally serfs from wealthy families, but now they have become free people, so the court will have to bear the burden.
He Qingfeng nodded and said: "After the Jiangnan Camp captured Xiangyang, Your Majesty asked Wang Potian to stop the attack. I think it was right. The imperial court's finances can no longer support it. Even if there is money, the local grain, vegetables and meat from the southeast can still be eaten.
There are other military supplies that have also been consumed by the army, and now the court must organize production immediately to help the people survive the winter."
What an annoyance!
Lao Zhu was not in a very happy mood, but there was nothing he could do about it. This was a situation he had to face.
Military victory still needs to be coordinated with a political offensive.
"You all think this should be the case?"
Zhou Chaozong and He Qingfeng nodded: "I and others all agree that this should be the case. The pressure from the southeastern rebels is greater than ours. It will be too late to annihilate them together after next year's spring plowing. With this period of time as a buffer, the court will be relieved."
The tone has come back."
Since everyone thinks this should be the case, there is nothing more to say.
Zhu Youde agreed: "Let Zhang Ye continue to carry out high-pressure attacks on the rebels, but there is no need to annihilate them. Zhaozhou and Mingzhou have sent officials to let the people resume production as soon as possible. In addition, the Southern Tang Dynasty can also take advantage of it."
Zongdao of the Zhou Dynasty said: "We can buy grain from the Southern Tang Dynasty."
"Whatever you want to buy, of course ask for it directly!"
Zhu Youde smiled and said: "I have money, but why should I give it to the Southern Tang Dynasty? Send someone to ask the Southern Tang Dynasty to ask for it. If they don't give it, let Wang Potian send troops from Xiangyang to fight. Why should I give money if I can rob it?"
"This... Your Majesty, our country has finally ceased war with the Southern Tang Dynasty."
"That's on the premise that they send Monk Xiao to Daliang. If they don't kill Monk Xiao, then the agreement is not completed. I have a legitimate reason to ask for it, so...it will cost me 500,000 dan of food.
North Korea’s compensation.”
Zhu Youde smiled and said: "I can't ask for too much!"
Five hundred thousand dan of grain to buy a Ping'an is a good deal, okay? Of course, this kind of robbery should not be done in a shameful way, and it should also give Nan Tang a decent face.
For example, friendly brothers help each other.
After all, Daliang and Southern Tang are brotherly countries. Now that the brothers need food, a little support from Southern Tang will make sense.
This news soon reached the Southern Tang court, and the intermediary was a certain Sanjiang County magistrate.
When the officials of the Southern Tang Dynasty heard this, they first breathed a sigh of relief, and then began to discuss. What they discussed was not the issue of whether to give it or not, but the issue of whether Daliang's request for 500,000 dan of food would be enough.
"What if it's not enough? The beam will come back again, and it will still be our disciples who die!"
"It makes sense. It's better to give it all at once and let Daliang and our country sign a letter of credence of non-aggression."
"Yes, with this kind of credentials, Zhu Youde will have no excuse to start a war with our Southern Tang Dynasty."
"Good meeting, good meeting!"
It was true that the ministers of the Southern Tang Dynasty were frightened by Daliang's army. Their fighting power was so strong that important towns like Xiangyang were captured.
Originally relying on Xiangyang, the Southern Tang Dynasty could still provoke Daliang from time to time. Now that Xiangyang is gone, Daliang's army can come from across the Yangtze River at any time, and the Southern Tang Dynasty has completely lost a strategic location.
The ministers still saw clearly that Southern Tang's army was incomparable to Daliang's, and only Monk Xiao could fight, but now he has run away.
He also took away 50,000 elite soldiers from the Southern Tang Dynasty.
Basically, Southern Tang had lost the confidence to compete with Daliang.
As long as the beam can be stopped, everything will be easy to discuss.
In the end, these old friends made a calculation and decided to give Zhu Youde 800,000 days of grain.
Although the food has not yet been delivered, the relevant news has been passed to Lin Changxin.
Looking at the documents sent by the Southern Tang Dynasty court in his hands, Lin Changxin's hands trembled.
So excited!
That's it, that's it?
Wouldn’t the Southern Tang Dynasty perish sooner?
His decision to stay in Daliang was really a wise one. He was worried that the Emperor of Daliang would not have enough food, so he took the initiative to increase the price. Wasn't this giving him credit in vain?