The sky has just cleared up, but the snow on the ground is still frozen solid.
The messenger rushed into the post station outside the city and dismounted.
This weather is so cold!
"Prepare the horses and get some more food. I'm starving. If there is wine, that would be great." The messenger panted. On a cold day, smoke kept coming out of his head like a steamer.
The coachman of the post station skillfully took over the horse, and the cook brought him steamed cakes and mutton soup.
“Where is the postmaster?” the messenger asked while eating.
"Going to the city." Several postmen were putting up a wall. The wooden wall had cracks everywhere, and the cold wind penetrated into people's bones, making it extremely uncomfortable.
“Which city?”
Liangzhou has seven cities in total.
Starting from the city of Gaizang built by the Huns, it continued to expand during the Qianliang period, forming five cities.
At the end of the Sui Dynasty, Li Gui continued to build, and finally formed the seven cities of the imperial dynasty - of course, this was before the fall of Tibet.
After the fall of Tibet, Tubo demolished the city walls. Some were completely demolished, and some were demolished half a wall. Liangzhou City was very vast, and some parts remained. After the state established the town, it continued to repair it.
, basically built along the old city outline, but due to lack of manpower and material resources, it has not yet been completed.
“City of Divine Birds.” The postman sat down on the horse. He was old and the weather was freezing. He didn’t want to move at all.
The messenger stopped talking and concentrated on eating.
Shenniao City, also known as Shenniao County, is within the scope of Liangzhou City. The entire Liangzhou was once called "Bird City". It was on the former land of Luanniao County in the Han Dynasty. Therefore, the city is irregular in shape and has
It has two wings on its head and tail, hence its name.
Liangzhou City, Lixi of Guzang County, Lidong of Shenniao County, and the rest are state cities, as well as the palace city, Cangcheng, Fangcheng, etc. of the previous dynasty. It has always been the male county of the country, the residence of the Hexi Jiedu envoy, and the Tianbao period.
The Chishui Army is stationed in the prefecture city, with 33,000 soldiers and 13,000 horses. There are more than 100,000 people in the five counties, who are engaged in farming and animal husbandry.
After eating the food, the messenger said goodbye to everyone at the post station, changed his horse, and continued towards the city.
As he approached the city, he encountered a patrol of scattered cavalry. The messenger spat, "Shatuozi!"
The leader of "Shatuozi" is called An Xiuxiu. The people of Liangzhou don't know his origin. They only know that he was sent by Shuofang Jiedushi Li Shao, escorting a large amount of money, silk, millet and wheat.
On the day they entered the city, there were more than a thousand camels and hundreds of carriages. The soldiers and civilians of Liangzhou almost burst into tears: How long has it been since Guangming's last nest entered Chang'an, and how long has it been since the imperial court rewarded them?
The state requisitioned the property of the Tibetan tribe and used their savings to barely support it until the second year of Guangqi. However, the food and salary from the court were delayed. With no choice, they had no choice but to send envoys to Shazhou. Two waves of envoys were sent out, but they returned to the rebel army.
Refusing to provide food and salary, the mission was unable to resume its mission and was forced to stay in Shazhou for a long time.
It was not until September last year that Zhang Huaishen received news from the Guiyi Army's Jinxi Academy that the imperial court was inclined to support him in obtaining the post of Jiedushi and changed his inspector from the Minister of the Ministry of Industry to the Minister Zuopushe, so he relaxed and agreed
Send food to Liangzhou.
But he did not give it immediately. Instead, he waited until the end of October, after the imperial envoys arrived in Shazhou, and then sent people to gather grain and wheat and send them to Liangzhou in carts, horses and camels - to put it bluntly, this was an exchange of interests.
The Shunyi Army arrived in mid-November, a few days earlier than the Shazhou grain team. Before they arrived, Zhang Hongxin, the Yamen who had been staying in Lingzhou for a long time to collect food and wages, couldn't help but send someone back to Liangzhou to report the news in advance.
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It’s not a pleasant feeling to be an orphan!
Two waves of military rations arrived in Liangzhou, and there was no need to worry about food and grass for a while! But after An Xiuxiu brought more than 3,000 cavalry into the city, they refused to leave, which made Liangzhou hesitant. It was just whether they had brought them with them or not.
A small amount of money and silk came over and rewards were given to the original garrison soldiers. The sergeants were very happy and could not say anything for a while.
After the messenger entered the city, he quickly went to Jiedushi Yamen to deliver the urgent message, and it was not long before it was delivered to the desk of Hexi Capital Defense Shi Wenggao.
“Okay! Okay!” After Weng Gao opened the urgent document and read it, he immediately stroked his beard and smiled.
“Ming Gong smiled and said nothing, something good must have happened.” Zuo Sima Li Mingzhen said with a smile: “Could it be a matter of Chang’an?”
Weng Gao stood up and opened the window, and a gust of cold wind blew in, refreshing him.
Li Mingzhen was the military commander of the Left Marching Army of the shogunate in Liangzhou, but there was no more military envoy in Liangzhou. His predecessor, Zheng Shangshu, was defeated by Weng Gao in an internal fight and was driven back to Chang'an. Li Mingzhen defected to the shogunate, but he still served in the shogunate.
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Liangzhou Town nominally governs the three prefectures of Liang, Gansu, and Su. In fact, it is difficult to control Liangzhou. It is difficult to use government orders outside the prefecture.
The neighboring Guiyi Army is similar. It nominally governs the four prefectures of Sha, Gua, Yi, and Xi, but it only actually controls the two prefectures of Sha and Gua.
The reason is that the so-called recovery of lost territory at the beginning relied heavily on the local slave forces after the collapse of Tubo, such as the Momo, Uighurs, Dangxiang, Tuyuhun, etc. They each had their own territories, soldiers and horses, and nominally submitted to the Tang Dynasty, but
In fact, they went their own way, and the two towns of Liangzhou and Guiyi Army were weak in strength, and the situation has not changed to this day.
The most troublesome thing is that the relationship between the two towns of Liangzhou and Guiyijun is not very harmonious. Guiyijun has always wanted to annex the feudal town and control Liangzhou, and the court is deeply suspicious of it.
On the contrary, the Ganzhou Uighurs have always been very obedient, constantly sending envoys to pay tribute, sending envoys from the imperial court to and from the court, and taking the initiative to send troops to escort them. In the early years, there were incidents in Zhongyuan, and they occasionally sent troops to help the imperial court conquer. Generally speaking, the imperial court treated Liangzhou Town more favorably than the Ganzhou Uighurs.
Trust, but not much trust in the Guiyi Army who has been trying to annex neighboring towns - the Suzhou Long family is now paying tribute to the Guiyi Army.
“The imperial court is going to establish Hexi Town.” Weng Gao looked excited and had a smile on his face. He was obviously in a very good mood.
Li Mingzhen was both happy and worried after hearing this.
The current situation in Hexi is not worth bothering with!
“Ming Gong’s long-cherished wish for many years has now come true, so congratulations.” Although he was full of worries, Li Mingzhen still congratulated him.
Weng Gao's current position is the defense envoy of the Hexi capital, including the defense, recruitment, admonishment, and control of the three prefectures of Liang, Gan, and Su. But as the saying goes, the name is not justified, and the defense envoy is the defense envoy, not the military envoy.
Zhang Huaishen has been unable to find Jiedushi for many years. Ask him if he is happy?
To a certain extent, the Hexi Observation Envoy who was also the former Shuofang Jiedushi Envoy was much more noble than the Defense Envoy.
"The imperial court still remembers something that has been done for many years." When he said this, Weng Gao was also a little sentimental. All his youthful years were spent at the foot of the Qilian Mountains. It is not easy for the imperial court to run Liangzhou, and it must not be taken away by ambitious people.
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"Zhang Huaishen and Shao Shude covet the land in the three states in Hexi. They must work together in the future." Weng Gao sat back at the desk, picked up his pen, and prepared to write a letter to his old friend in Beijing.
Although it is difficult, Weng Gao does not intend to let Shao Shude take away Liangzhou easily. The court still has to allocate money and food, even if it is only a little.
In addition, the news that the imperial court established Xin Shuofang Town has reached Liangzhou. With thirty-five counties in ten prefectures and tens of thousands of soldiers and horses, Shao Shude's power is almost the same as that of Shuofang Jiedushi before the Anshi Rebellion.
Weng Gao had been thinking before that if this person was blocked from advancing eastward and had no courage to go south, he might advance westward and seize the states in Hexi.
If one person serves as the governor of Shuofang, Longyou and Hexi towns, how is it different from Anlushan?
Hexi is the Hexi of the imperial court. There are many things happening in the world today, and tributes from various roads are intermittent. If Hexi is managed well, it can also pay tribute to livestock from time to time as it did before the Chao Rebellion.
They say Liangzhou is poor, but is it really poor? No, it’s just that it doesn’t receive tribute.
There are more than 200,000 tribes of all sizes, such as the Tuyuhun, Dangxiang, Uighur, and Yanqi tribes. If they can all pay tribute and wealth, they will not be able to support more than a thousand state soldiers.
Looking at Weng Gao being so excited, Li Mingzhen hesitated to speak.
Before Zheng Shangshu left office, he had been fighting with Weng Gao for many years and finally lost. Will there be another fight between Jiedushi and Observer in the future?
Generally speaking, the Jiedushi envoys will also lead the observation envoys, but in the Hexi Town that is about to be established, the two are separated, which gave Li Mingzhen a bad feeling.
"Ming Gong, An Xiuxiu commanded thousands of people. As soon as they entered the city, they majesticly controlled a large area of the city, including Cangcheng and the palace city. The state soldiers were weak and there were no rewards. Ming Gong should make plans early.
." Li Mingzhen reminded.
“We still have to go to Ganzhou to find a solution for this matter,” Weng Gao said thoughtfully.
Using one's own strength to fight against one's own strength is a special skill of court officials.
The Ganzhou Uighurs were once defeated by the Yimo, Longjia, and Guiyi armies, and fled elsewhere. However, they have regained momentum in recent years and are the second largest force in Liangzhou Town after the Yimo.
Li Mingzhen’s mouth opened wide. The thing he was most worried about happened. Liangzhou was going to fight among itself again.
When Zheng Shangshu was in power, Liangzhou was occupied by Shi Mo and was recovered by the Guiyi Army. After the recovery, food and salary were also extremely dependent on Shazhou's supply, but Zheng Shangshu and Weng's defense envoys still united and drove away the Guiyi Army.
Even if you have no money or food to eat, you cannot lose your power!
There are not many soldiers in Liangzhou. To be honest, the court can afford this small amount of money and food. More than 10,000 bolts of silk a year, several thousand coins, and 20,000 dendrobium of grain are almost enough. Besides, some food, cattle and sheep can also be raised locally.
.I am afraid that the imperial court has no time to take care of it and only wants to pay salaries to the officials of the Nanya and Bei Division to support the army and not give food and salaries to Hexi.
After Li Mingzhen left the envoy's office, he went straight back to his residence.
Not long after, the servant came to report that Zhang Hongxin, the superintendent of the government, had come to visit.
Li Mingzhen was stunned. Zhang Hongxin's current position is very suspicious. After a trip to Lingzhou, he asked for food and salary, and he also praised the Lingwu County Prince a lot. Could he be acting as a lobbyist when he came to visit at this time?