Ximen Zhongsui was sitting in his garden, brewing a pot of tea with his own hands.
It’s not that there are no servants, it’s actually Ximen’s own hobby, which he euphemistically calls “cultivating sentiments.”
Tea is produced in Lingzhou.
Wu Yuanheng once wrote a poem: "Under the green rocks of Lingzhou, the catkins are just beginning to spread their fragrance. They are still covered with dew, and the baskets are not full when they are picked." It is talking about the tea produced in Lingzhou. It sounds incredible, but it will be warm.
In the wet season, Huazhou's Xiaohuashan tea production is huge, occupying a large market in Guanzhong. The climate in Lingzhou is better than that in Xiasui Yinyou, so it is not surprising that tea is produced.
In fact, tea may be produced in Hengshan, but it is the territory of the Dangxiang people and no one has ever tried it.
The imperial court is really in trouble now. It needs money but no money, and no food. Most of the Shence Army are recruits recruited from Shu, and their combat effectiveness is worrying.
Ximen Zhongsui had served as the governor of the northern camp when he was conquering Huangchao, and he had been in charge of the First Division of the Shence Army for a long time. He had a professional vision. In his opinion, the combat effectiveness of the newly-built Shence Army was not as good as that of the local state soldiers, but it was so high.
The reward is simply ridiculous.
He suddenly remembered the moment when Huang Chao had just broken through Tongguan and entered Guanzhong. The Shence Army newly recruited by the imperial court was plundered by soldiers and horses from eight towns in the northwest of Beijing. He did not dare to let go or fight back.
How can such an army protect the imperial court? It is better to let the vassal soldiers enter the capital. At least they can fight, and the food and salary requirements are extremely low.
That’s all, we must take note of Dong Zhuo’s rebellion in the Later Han Dynasty.
But Tian Lingzi's people were so abominable that he and Yang Fugong temporarily united to resist, but the reason was that they still had no troops at hand.
The current Shence Army are all Shu soldiers, how can they be willing to listen to them?
Without soldiers, even daily necessities are scarce. Alas! Tian Lingzi enjoys Sichuan Mengshan tea with "full clouds deep in the cave sky", "three spring leaves cut with ice pins", and "unparalleled flowers with fragrant chalcedony". And they
You can only enjoy Huazhou tea, Lingzhou tea, and Xingyuanfu tea intermittently. It all depends on whether Zhuge Shuang is willing to pay tribute.
Fortunately, I didn't lose the tea tripod at home, otherwise I would have to make tea in a pot like the warriors in the army did, which would be a disgrace to the scenery.
"Sit and drink the cool water, watch the stewing dust, and finally there is still water for making tea." Ximen Zhongsui took action himself, putting down the salt and pepper when it boiled for the first time, scooping out a ladle of water from the pot when it boiled for the second time, and then taking out the grinding water from the paper bag.
Add good tea foam and stir slowly to let the tea foam sink into the water.
"Bi Chenxia's feet are broken, and the fragrance is as light as milk flowers." Ximen Zhongsui chanted a few words from where he was, and said cheerfully: "It's good to have cakes."
Then the tea water in the ladle was poured into the stone cauldron that was boiling for the third time. This step was called "nurturing the flowers".
After everything was done, Ximen Zhong poured himself a bowl. When he was about to enjoy it, he saw a servant coming in and tipping his ear.
"Invite him in." Ximen Zhongsui straightened his robe and said.
Soon, someone was invited in.
"Xiazhou Sima Li Hang has met the Palace Supervisor of Ximen." Li Hang saluted as soon as he came in.
Ximen Zhongsui is now serving as the commander of the right army of the Shence Army and the general of the right guard, which is similar to the position that his uncle Ximen Sigong (also known as Ximen Kuangfan) once held.
There have been eunuchs named Ximen for generations since the mid-Tang Dynasty. Ximen Sigong was very senior. Before, Tian Lingzi and Yang Fuguang brothers were fighting openly and secretly, so they liked to win over Ximen Sigong. But after they defeated the Yang brothers together,
Tian Lingzi ignored Ximen again, which made people quite angry.
Ximen Sigong is now the lieutenant of the Youshence Army, but in fact he has no control over the Shu soldiers. They obey on the surface, but secretly flatter Tian Lingzi. Ximen Sigong originally had another job, that is, to unify all the Taoists and urge all the people to do so.
Dao Jinjun and other envoys gave it to the Saint of Zhonghe for three years. It is hard to say whether it is still useful now. After all, Huang Chao is dead.
Today, Ximen and his former enemy Yang Fuguang have come together to deal with the powerful Tian Lingzi.
"Li Sima is a Confucian official in Xiazhou. What do you want to do with a man like this?"
"I came here to punish Tian Lingzi," Li Hang said.
Ximen Zhongsui poured a bowl of tea for Li Hang with a calm expression, and Li Hang held his hand in thanks.
"It's not about hatred." Li Hang said: "He is greedy and repeatedly asks for troops, horses, money and silk, which makes the king very annoyed. Rather than dealing with such a person, it is better to find an old friend and feel comfortable."
Hearing the word "old friend", Ximen Zhong understood that this was a sign of his old friendship with Ximen. They didn't like Tian Lingzi and felt that he was greedy, insatiable and difficult to cooperate with. They wanted to push Ximen.
But is Yang Fugong so easy to get along with? Even though he said he was ill at home and looked worse than their Ximen family, Ximen Zhongsui did not dare to underestimate this person.
"Li Sima might as well try this Lingzhou tea. Although it is not as good as the treasures from Jingnan, Jiangnan, and Sichuan, it still has a unique flavor." Ximen Zhong then said with a smile.
Li Hang picked up the tea bowl and took a sip, and said: "The tea is indeed good. We, the well-dressed people from the frontier fortress, are satisfied if we can have some Lingzhou tea to relieve our fatigue. We don't have to think about it."
"Li Sima is a member of the shogunate, don't you want to try Guanzhong tea?"
"I am fond of hunting and am used to the wind and moonlight in the north of Saibei. Now my family has moved to Xiazhou and Guanzhong. I no longer think about it."
"Prince Lingwu..."
"In the spring, the king of my family goes to the old gentry of Suiyinhui Township, kills cattle and sheep, and buys wine to celebrate. In the summer, he goes south to Hengshan to cool off, meet with other parties, and hunt tigers and leopards in the mountains. In the autumn, he goes to Lingzhou, drinks horses from the Yellow River, and shares the good harvest with the people.
Qing. In the winter, he went north to the grassland to worship heaven and make alliances with other tribes. The king once said that the scenery in the north of the Great Wall is not inferior to that in the south of the Yangtze River in Guanzhong, and you can feel great at ease." Li Hang said: "Also, I have been favored by the imperial court, so I can stay in Xia.
The state opened a government office and built a government office. If something happens in the pass in the future, the imperial court will issue an order and Xia soldiers will arrive."
Ximen Zhongsui nodded slightly.
Let's draw a line first and see if we can reach an agreement. It's not interesting to hide and tuck in at this time, so it's better to make things clear.
The bottom line of Prince Lingwu is very clear. The four directions of southeast, northwest, and southeast recognize his rule over this territory. Don't cause trouble, don't think about making enemies for him, or play some power balancing tricks. As long as everyone stays in peace.
In return, the King of Lingwu County also remained obedient to the court and maintained the authority of the court. If anyone wanted to cause trouble in Guanzhong, the court could order them to send troops to serve the king. As for the price of being loyal to the king, we can discuss it in detail later. Anyway, at this time
My attitude is clear: I am a loyal minister.
Ximen Zhongsui didn't know how long this agreement from Prince Lingwu would last. In fact, he couldn't think that far ahead. In this situation, isn't it just one day at a time?
Li Keyong sold a large number of war horses in Hedong, raised money and silk, and rewarded all the armies. What did he mean? It was not just to attack Zhu Wen, but he hated Zhu Wen for what he had done to him.
But the imperial court was also involved in this matter. If Li Keyong could not protect the situation, he would not attack Zhu Wen, and then led his troops into the pass to ask for an explanation. Tian Lingzi really failed to succeed and failed, and he even thought of solving the trouble by assassination. It is really
ridiculous!
With so many enemies, Li Keyong used Dingnan, Xuanwu, Tiande, Zhenwu, Datong, Zhaoyi, Lulong, and Chengde, which added up to nearly 200,000 troops. It took very little time to kill Li Keyen, who had only 50,000 men under his command.
is it hard?
Shao Shude was very smart. He asked the court in a subtle way not to play with fire and instigate the towns in Guanzhong to unite to deal with him. The Dingnan Army had dangerous mountains and rivers, making it difficult to attack. If there was an emergency, it would not be King Qin's army that went south.
"What does Prince Lingwu plan to do?" Ximen Zhongsui asked.
"May I ask Palace Superintendent Ximen how to make Tian Lingzi lose power?" Li Hang asked in return.
"There is nothing better than a great defeat, when everyone betrays their relatives and leaves."
"This is very true." Li Hang said with a smile: "Wang Chongrong has more than 30,000 soldiers, how many can Tian Lingzi recruit? The Shence army is newly recruited, and it is not strong enough to fight. Only elite soldiers from the eight towns in the northwest of Beijing can fight, and Tian Lingzi will definitely gather them.
Deliberately win over. My king does not like Tian Lingzi, so he can only hold the saint hostage and order soldiers from Jingyuan, Xingning, Fengxiang, Yifang and other towns to come to help. However, how many will come is unknown. It should be noted that the court now has no
money."
If you don’t have money, you can’t fight. This is a truth that everyone understands. It’s not that the soldiers in the eight towns northwest of Beijing can’t fight, the main reason is that after Huang Chao entered Chang’an, his salary dropped drastically and his morale was low. If the imperial court can squeeze out food and salary, it can help the soldiers.
If reinforcements are sent in, we might be able to defeat Wang Chongrong in one go, but this is so difficult!
There are more than 10,000 officials in the court, and the annual salary expenditure is millions of yuan! The 35,000 sergeants of the disaster relief army, the total annual expenditure is only 900,000 yuan. The saints must be dignified, and the court needs airs, so it is necessary to maintain a huge
bureaucracy, otherwise wouldn’t it be downgraded to a local government?
Before Shao Shude traveled through time, he was a little confused. Why, in the last years of the dynasty, the emperor still controlled a large territory and population, and was no worse than the largest warlord at that time in strict terms, but had no money or food? The reason is this. There is no palace.
Without the Nanyabei Division, the money saved can be used to train hundreds of thousands of elite soldiers, but how can this money be saved? If it is saved, will you still be the emperor?
If you be ruthless and don't show off and insist on saving money, the ministers, eunuchs, and nobles will probably not let you go. They will use various methods to persuade you. If it doesn't work, just change someone else.
The emperor at the end of the dynasty did not have this kind of authority. Many times, he was the scapegoat of the corrupt system and the puppet of the ministers. All kinds of nonsense happened endlessly, and it was impossible to achieve anything.
To save money, save money, why not urge the towns south of the Yangtze River to send taxes to Beijing!
"Tian Lingzi can be defeated, but he cannot plunder Chang'an." Ximen Zhongsui said.
"With the soldiers of the Dingnan Yamen here, who can disturb the Holy Master?" Li Hang said with a smile: "My king has a good command of the army and has won many battles. He only needs a decree from the imperial court to lead an army of 30,000 to the south. A few native chickens
How dare you, a tile dog, to control the beard of a tiger in trouble?"
"In this way, I feel relieved. Chang'an has been in ruins after several wars. Last year, some large trees were donated to Hedong and some palaces were slightly repaired. If the soldiers burn and loot again this time, everything will be over." Ximen Zhong then sighed.
"Chang'an is the capital of the country, and it should preserve its vitality." Li Hang said: "Ximen Palace Superintendent can rest assured."