Time flies to May, Emperor Li Heng changed the reign name to Baoying because he put down the rebellion of An Lushan and Shi Siming.
That morning, an army of about 10,000 people arrived in Fushi County, Yanzhou. Although Li Ye suppressed the news, the imperial court knew about Yanzhou's kerosene production.
More importantly, Li Ye bombed Sanmenxia, exploded the city of Luoyang, and defeated Shi Chaoyi's army. The court used misinformation and thought that Li Ye succeeded with kerosene.
Emperor Li Heng was even more moved by this. Under the repeated instigation of the powerful eunuch Yu Chaoen, Emperor Li Heng ordered Pugu Huai'en, the military governor of Guan Nei, to send troops to seize the Yanzhou oil well.
This army of ten thousand people was led by Pugu Huai'en's son Pugu Bing.
Pu Gubing set up camp and sent someone to notify the governor Zhou Zhifang to come see him. After a while, Zhou Zhifang came in a hurry.
Pu Gubin asked him to sit down and said straight to the point: "The imperial court has issued an order that the ownership of the Yanzhou oil mine will be taken back by the Ministry of Industry. I think you have been notified!"
Zhou Zhifang secretly complained in her heart. She didn't expect that the imperial court would send troops to take it back by force. This would cause a conflict with the Helong Army. The unlucky people would be the local people!
Zhou Zhifang gritted his teeth and said: "The lower official has received the news, but what does it mean that General Pugu led the army to come?"
Pugubing sneered and said, "If I don't lead the army here, will the Helong Army give up the oil well?"
"Let me go and talk to the other party first! Don't have a conflict, it will hurt the harmony."
"Can!"
Pugubing spread out a map. This was the oil well map that the Ministry of Industry sent people to Yanzhou to draw in the early stage.
He pointed at the map and said: "There are currently thirteen oil wells in Yanzhou, right?"
Zhou Zhifang nodded, "Half of them are old oil wells with very low production. There are only six real oil-producing wells, all of which were dug by the Helong Army."
"You go talk to the other party. We don't want to hurt the peace. The court will take back four of the six oil wells and leave the other two to them for everyone to share. Tell them that this is the court's Yanzhou. The court can let them share it. It is already very good.
That’s so generous.”
Zhou Zhifang had no choice but to say goodbye and go to the Helong military camp.
The Helong Army Camp is located in Chenjiagou. There are a thousand troops stationed here. This is also because four of the six oil wells are in Chenjiagou.
The leader of the Helong Army was General Lang Zhao Hui. He was originally Li Ye's personal military lieutenant. After being promoted to General Lang, he was stationed in Yanzhou.
Zhao Hui already knew the news that ten thousand Tang troops were stationed in Yanzhou, and he was also very nervous. The ten thousand Tang troops came with bad intentions, and their target must be oil wells.
"General, Yang Sima is here!"
"Invite him in!"
After a moment, Sima Yang Anxu rushed into the tent like a gust of wind, "General Zhao, things are a bit troublesome!"
Yang Anxu has some personal advantages in the matter of oil wells. The main reason is that the kerosene produced by civilian oil wells was sold to the Longyou Army. They were all cash transactions without any receipts. From last autumn to now, he has received at least two thousand yuan.
The benefits of money.
Therefore, Yang Anxu completely favored the Helong Army.
Zhao Hui said coldly: "I know that 10,000 Tang troops are here, just tell me! What do they want to do?"
"I heard from Governor Zhou that the other side was using the imperial court's order and they wanted four of the six oil wells, and the remaining two were returned to Helong!"
Zhao Hui gritted his teeth and said, "Let's have his Qingqiu dream!"
Yang Anxu immediately said anxiously: "The other party has ten thousand troops, ten times the number of the general. If we fight hard, the general will suffer a big loss. Why not agree to them first, and then report to His Highness, and His Highness will come forward to solve the problem."
Zhao Hui said coldly: "I promise a hammer, unless they step on my body!"
Yang Anxu let out a long sigh and walked away dejectedly.
Zhao Hui immediately wrote an eagle letter and sent it to Jincheng County, and then sent people to Shuofang to ask for help.
Although he put aside the cruel words, Zhao Hui also knew in his heart that it was his mission to protect the oil well. If they were all killed, who would protect the oil well?
He immediately summoned two captains to discuss countermeasures. Captain Huang Jidao said: "Actually, I feel that since the other party has notified the governor to inform us, it means that they do not want to start a war. Can we use this to delay time? For example, we tell the other party that we have already informed the other party.
His Highness reports that if His Highness agrees, we will withdraw from Yanzhou."
Zhao Hui nodded, "This method can be used, but what if the other party doesn't fall for it?"
Another captain, Zhang Yiran, said: "If the other party doesn't fall for the trick, we don't have to fight them head-on. We just need to ensure that his fuel oil cannot be transported out."
Zhao Hui frowned, "If they send five thousand people to escort them to deliver oil, there's nothing we can do."
Huang Ji, the captain of the school, laughed and said: "Actually, it's okay. Let's set up an ambush and shoot the kerosene jars with gunpowder arrows. If we don't engage in combat with them, they won't be able to transport the kerosene."
Zhao Hui gritted his teeth and said, "We will continue to do nothing and fill up all six oil wells. The kerosene in the warehouse will be transported away immediately. We will wait for an opportunity to sabotage their actions."
The three of them agreed that if they could, they would drag the well; if they couldn't, they would fill the well with soil.
Everyone divided the work. Huang Ji, the captain of the school, was responsible for arranging the manpower to transport the 10,000 jars of kerosene in stock. Zhao Hui went to the governor Zhou Zhifang and asked him to be the coordinator and delay the other party's time as much as possible.
After listening to Zhou Zhifang's words, Pugu Bin immediately understood the other party's intention, which was to delay time. He said coldly: "I have no power to make any decisions. I only act according to orders. I will give the other party three days to evacuate. After three days,
My army will take over all the oil wells, and if they want to fight, I will accompany them!"
"But has General Pugu ever thought about actually going to war with the Helong Army? The general will have to bear the consequences!"
Pugu Bin said calmly: "I have my own way, don't worry the governor, just tell the other party and ask them to evacuate within three days!"
Zhou Zhifang had no choice but to ask Yang Anxu to inform Zhao Hui.
Zhao Hui led the soldiers to fill up all six oil wells with soil. The army immediately withdrew from Chenjiagou and disappeared without a trace.
Three days later, Pugu Bin led his army to Chenjiagou and found that the oil wells were gone. They were all covered with thick soil and there were no traces at all. Pugu Bin was so angry that he stamped his feet and cursed. His father Pugu Huai'en was extremely jealous.
The Honghe Long Army's kerosene ordered his son to seize the oil well and get a batch of kerosene back first. Unexpectedly, the other party was so mean and filled up all the oil wells.
Pu Gubin was so angry that he cursed loudly and asked the governor Zhou Zhifang to find the man who drilled the oil well. However, he was still a step too late. The king of the well, Dalin, had already received the news and ran away with his disciples.
None of the other well diggers know where the oil well was originally located?
With no choice but to use a stupid method, Pu Gubin had to let the mastiff smell the smell of fire oil and find the location of the oil well through the smell.
Coincidentally, Li Ye was in Lingzhou to inspect the refugee information at this time, and the person accompanying him to inspect was Sima Liu Yan.
Jia Shen, the governor of Lingzhou, introduced to Li Ye: "Your Highness, some people in Hebei have indeed begun to return to their hometowns, but there are not as many as the rumors. At that time, the number of people resettled in Lingzhou was 60,000 households and more than 300,000 people.
It is rumored that half of the people in Lingzhou have returned to Hebei, but in fact, only about 10% of the refugees have returned to Hebei, accounting for 6,300 households."
Li Ye asked: "Will they wait until the autumn harvest before returning to their hometowns in large numbers?"
"This possibility cannot be ruled out, but I feel that more people are waiting to see whether the policy in Hebei is true? If it is true, many people will go back, but there is nothing that can be done."
An important reason for the large-scale return wave is the end of the Anshi Rebellion, especially the population decline in Hebei. Li Baochen, the Chengde Jiedushi, and Tian Chengsi, the Weibo Jiedushi, also began to implement a land grant tax exemption system in order to attract people from Hebei to return home.
Fifty acres of land are granted to people, and the land is tax-free for five years.
This move is indeed very attractive. A large number of refugees from Hebei who fled to the south and Longyou began to return home, and refugees from Hebei in Helong also saw a wave of return.
