Hexi Jiedushi Mansion, Hexi Jiedushi Fang Guan, who had just returned home from the Poetry Festival, looked drunk.
This Shazhou-yaki is really strong, but after drinking half a pot, the brain becomes like a paste, but Fang Guan likes this feeling of drunkenness.
It feels so good to not have to think about the future or worry about the present.
After taking off his clothes with the help of the steward, Xin Na's concubine came up to wipe Fang Guan's face. At this moment, a staff member suddenly asked to see Fang Guan outside the door.
Chuzhuang, this is the staff recruited by Fang Guan in the capital. Since King Jianning captured Zhangye City, most of Fang Guan's disciples have fled.
Even the masterminds like Dou Shen ran away, and of course other counselors knew that Fang Guan, the governor of Hexi Province, would soon fall.
Instead of waiting for Fang Guan to fall and then be implicated, it is better to leave early and find another way out.
Chu Zhuang still stayed by Fang Guan's side after all the other staff members had fled, which made Fang Guan think highly of him.
This Chu Zhuang was a scion of a small family in Jingzhao. He had an ugly appearance and had to stop studying. When he saw Fang Guan recruiting staff, he immediately defected to Fang Guan and followed him to Hexi.
In the Tang Dynasty, apart from talent and learning, appearance was also a very important factor in selecting scholars. People with looks like Chu Zhuang were not even qualified to take the Jinshi examination.
Chu Zhuang was very grateful to Fang Guan as his mastermind. He was unwilling to leave Fang Guan. On the one hand, Fang Guan was really good to him, and on the other hand, it was difficult for him to find another job with his appearance.
Chu Zhuang asked to see him at this time, and Fang Guan was a little unhappy.
But now that most of his staff are running away, Fang Guan must act like a polite and virtuous corporal.
I wiped my face with the towel in my concubine's hand and ordered the steward to call Chu Zhuang in.
As soon as he saw Fang Guan, Chu Zhuang said: "Commander Jie, Zhuang has something important to discuss!"
Fang Guan had sobered up a little from his drunkenness. At this time, Chu Zhuang wanted to talk to him alone, so Fang Guan waved his hand and dismissed the concubine and personal steward, leaving Chu Zhuang alone.
After everyone had exited, Chu Zhuang suddenly said in a low voice: "Jie Shuai, you have to worry about your life!"
Fang Guan was suddenly startled, and most of his drunkenness dissipated. He looked at Chu Zhuang's solemn expression and said sternly: "Please teach me, Mr. Chu, where does worry come from?"
After all, Fang Guan was also a prime minister. This behavior of "courteous and virtuous corporal" made Chu Zhuang very satisfied. He said slowly: "The worry comes from the Chishui Army under the control of the Hexi Jiedu Envoy."
Hearing the words "Chishui Army", Fang Guan's face also showed a hint of panic. It was obvious that Chu Zhuang did not mean to scare Fang Guan.
The largest army is none other than Chishui, which covers an area of 5,180 miles, with Tubo in the front and Turks in the north. It is the strongest army in Hexi.
The Chishui Army was originally based in the west of Liangzhou. During the Emperor's reign, the Chishui Army defeated the Tibetan invaders. However, the Emperor was unwilling to use money and silk from the treasury to reward the Chishui Army.
Yang Guozhong, the prime minister at that time, took the initiative to take back the fields stationed by the Chishui Army to the imperial court, and then turned them into Yongye fields and rewarded them to the meritorious generals of the Chishui Army.
The emperor was overjoyed when he heard about this method. According to Yang Guozhong's method, he rewarded the military garrison fields that originally belonged to the Chishui Army to the generals of the Chishui Army.
The generals of the Chishui Army were naturally overjoyed at this result, and they constrained the soldiers to accept the reward from the imperial court with satisfaction.
However, the Chishui Army lost its farmland and the farmland was turned into the private property of the generals. The task of supporting the army fell on the Hexi Jiedu Envoy Office.
Nowadays, Fang Guan, the Hexi Jiedushi, only has one state left in the four towns in Hexi. It is difficult to support the Chishui army with the grain harvested from Liangzhou alone.
They were forced to do nothing. A few days ago, Fang Guan sent an envoy to count the number of soldiers in the Chishui Army and to find out the number of soldiers who had no pay.
This is also a common occurrence in border towns. Many armies will use fictitious soldiers to take the imperial court's free pay, and check and clear out the number of soldiers who have been paid free of charge. This is also something that many military governors will do when they take office.
But Fang Guan's problem is that he doesn't have any talents who understand military affairs, so he can only use people from the Chishui army to serve as inspection envoys.
The result was that some soldiers who were actually registered were dismissed as empty pay.
The men of the school captains and brigade commanders were left with empty pay, but they continued to receive military pay from the imperial court.
The military leaders in the Chishui Army, in turn, used Fang Guan to send inspection envoys to clean up the soldiers to provoke the soldiers, saying that the imperial court was unwilling to pay the soldiers' military salaries.
Fang Guan also knew that the Chishui Army was in turmoil. After hearing Chu Zhuang's report, he broke out in a cold sweat.
"Sir, teach me!" Fang Guan couldn't care less about Jiedushi's airs and immediately said to Chu Zhuang.
When Chu Zhuang saw that his purpose of seeking an audience with Fang Guan was accomplished, he said: "Jie Shuai, what happened to the Chishui Army was all because the reward of money and silk was insufficient. As long as the money and silk are in place, the Chishui Army will be able to stabilize immediately."
Fang Guan said with a sad face: "But the treasury has no money, what can we do?"
The change of horses into mulberry failed to be implemented successfully. Fang Guan still owed a lot of debt. If he couldn't come up with the money, Fang Guan would be crazy and deduct the military pay of the Chishui Army.
Chu Zhuang suddenly lowered his voice and said: "Jie Shuai, someone is willing to give you money."
When Fang Guan saw Chu Zhuang's expression, he suddenly felt a little scared.
But Chu Zhuang approached him and said: "Yesterday, Tibetan merchants came to find me and wanted to do business with Jieshuai!"
Fang Guan's face turned pale with fright. The relationship between Tubo and Tang Dynasty was now delicate. If the Tubo people came to visit them, wouldn't they be seeking the skin of a tiger?
But Chuzhuang did not give Fang Guan a chance. He said directly: "The Tubo people want the Chishui Army to withdraw from the fortress west of Liangzhou!"
At this time, Zifang Guan was so frightened that he almost cried out.
Chu Zhuang immediately said: "Tubo is not planning to attack Liangzhou, it is just planning to attack Zhangye!"
Fang Guan calmed down a little and said: "No! Zhangye is also under the jurisdiction of the Hexi Jiedushi Mansion. If Zhangye is lost, the court will definitely hold me accountable!"
But Chu Zhuang said: "Commander Jie! Now that King Jianning has invaded Zhangye, your memorial has been sent to the emperor! The imperial court asked King Jianning to take charge of Longyou. If Zhangye makes mistakes, it will be King Jianning's responsibility!"
Fang Guan calmed down a little. Yes, the lawsuit between him and King Jianning caused quite a stir in Fengxiang Mansion. The court clearly knew that Zhangye was controlled by King Jianning, so if it was taken over by the Tubo people, it would not be able to do so.
Hold yourself accountable.
Chu Zhuang added: "Moreover, Jieshuai also knows that the imperial court has long proposed abandoning Long. As long as Jieshuai can guard Liangzhou, the imperial court can only report your merits and cannot trace your faults. Instead, it will praise you for guarding Liangzhou."
The state has merit!"
Fang Guan and Chu Zhuang did not know that their plans had been heard from beginning to end.