Liangzhou City, after several years of Zhang Zhao's rule, has not yet returned to the grandeur of the Kaiyuan period.
But in the Five Dynasties, when wars were widespread, Liangzhou, located in Hexi, had become a rare capital city.
At the moment, there are approximately 70,000 people living in Liangzhou. This does not include the merchants who stayed and transited from Liangzhou for a short time. If we include them all, it is estimated that there will be more than 100,000 people living in Liangzhou.
The surrounding area of Liangzhou was even more prosperous, making it difficult for Zhe Deyuan, Yang Hongxin and others to believe it.
Under Zhang Zhao's large-scale spending of money, farmland water conservancy facilities around Liangzhou were complete, and grassroots organizations similar to later rural cooperatives were basically established in the countryside.
A large number of agricultural doctors took charge of cattle farming and water distribution in the countryside.
The sowing season, the prevention of drought and flood disasters, the improvement of selective breeding, and the technology of fertilizing fields and interplanting beans and wheat have also begun to improve.
Even the cow and horse dung that used to be scattered across the countryside has begun to be collected uniformly.
In the past, there were not enough acres of land in Liangzhou and the wild areas were unsafe. Many of these precious cow and horse excrements were wasted.
After all, in Liangzhou in the past, the prevailing rule was to store grain instead of guns. Your house is a granary. As long as I have a gun, everything is a granary forest law.
In that kind of environment, only a fool would do it to patiently farm the land to increase yields.
You have worked hard all year, and when the harvest comes, others will snatch it away from you.
Plant the land! Plant yarn!
Only after order is restored, agricultural production will reach a big level.
Zhe Congyuan, who came from Yanzhou, brought his son Zhe Deku, and Yang Xin also brought his son Yang Chonggui.
As for the other powerful chieftains from Linzhou and Linzhou, they also took their families and a group of two to three hundred people and headed for Liangzhou in a mighty manner.
They had just attended a wedding in a village in Qingxi Village.
The groom was a captain who had participated in the battle with the Khitan people in Hunhe, and Zhe Deqi was very familiar with this captain.
At that time, he was wearing a cotton-padded armor and a ring-shaped chainmail armor, holding two black iron hammers. He was almost the first one to rush into the Khitan army formation.
He killed at least five Khitan Pishi troops, showing his unparalleled bravery.
And the bride’s brother is even more of a heavyweight!
This man, who was born as a right-wing Linwei, was one of the thirteen elite knights who followed Zhe Deyi's younger brother Zhe Deyuan into Yunzhou City.
His archery skills are not even comparable to those of Zhe De and Zhang. When he went on an expedition, he was a leader of fire. When he came back, he was a general. He was promoted to three levels in a row.
Since they were old acquaintances, the chiefs from Fulin and Fulin Prefectures stayed for a day and participated in this powerful alliance wedding in Qingxi Village.
Zhe Congyuan was a little emotional. Eleven years ago, he went to Luoyang to pay homage to Li Siyuan, Emperor Mingzong of the Tang Dynasty.
Compared with the harsh environment in Fulin and Fuzhou, the Central Plains is certainly a prosperous land with abundant natural resources.
But after Zhe Congyuan made a little comparison, he discovered that Liangzhou was more pleasing to his eyes.
In those days, thieves were rampant in the Central Plains, military generals were arrogant, and local wealthy families and officials oppressed good people.
Although the fields are rich, except for the wealthy families who have formed villages to protect themselves and the farmers who have become tenants of noble officials, there are almost no farmers.
And even if there are, those homesteaders are no worse than ordinary people.
With disheveled faces, shabby clothes, and fearful expressions, it is hard to believe that they are farmers living in the capital of the Central Plains.
On the other hand, among the farmers here in Liangzhou, there are some who are full of energy and some who are weak, but there are not many who have good food.
Most of the people were very talkative, and they were not afraid when they saw foreigners, nor did they have any evil intentions to come over and take advantage.
At the same time, the strong martial spirit is almost visible to the naked eye.
Often, a small village can produce a dozen brave warriors or small officers. With the gong, hundreds of people can gather in a quarter of an hour, and everyone has a bow and a horse.
A few days ago, a powerful chief under Yang Xin had a conflict with the locals, and more than twenty people were beaten to a bloody head.
You must know that it is not a good thing to be able to sneak into the position of a powerful chieftain in Fulin and Linzhou. His subordinates are all fierce warriors, but they were defeated by a farmer from a village.
Yang Hong lost face and took sixty or seventy people to find the scene.
As a result, someone else rang the gong, and the whole village ran out.
Hundreds of men quickly formed an infantry formation, with horse archers roaming on both sides to harass them. There were five or six sets of armor in the front row.
In addition to the men, the women also held big guns and made noise, the half-grown children also mounted horses and shouted back and forth with hunting bows, and even the old men took out their slings.
The two sides faced off for less than half an hour. Unity archers and Yicong Xiaoqi from several surrounding villages all arrived, and four to five hundred people gathered in a short time.
Later, instead of the county captain flying over to mediate, Yang Xin and the others bought dozens of sheep and treated everyone to a meal, almost escaping.
Even if there was a fight, the five or six hundred farmers might not be able to defeat the two hundred or so soldiers who were considered regular soldiers, but they would definitely not get any favors.
Amidst the laughter, Yang Xin, who had already drank a lot but still looked a little disgraced, ran to Zhe Congyuan and sighed.
"What kind of village is this? How can there be a village where you can easily find dozens or twenty sets of armored stomachs? How can there be a village where you can pull out hundreds of men who look like they can line up with just the sound of a gong?
That's not bad! There are at least 80,000 or 90,000 people around Liangzhou City. If you include the Liugu tribe further away, there will be even more people!
Anyone who wants to attack Liangzhou does not need the King of Heaven to send out imperial guards and town troops. Just around Liangzhou, they can pull out at least 20,000 to 30,000 warriors who dare to fight. They also have so many horses, which is tens of thousands of fine cavalry! "
Zhe Congyuan also nodded. This mobilization ability has put Liang Kingdom in an almost invincible position, but he is more focused on people's livelihood.
"Hongxin, look, why are there so many brave men and women here? The key is that they have nothing to worry about.
A family often owns hundreds of acres of land, which is all good soil, with enough cattle, mules and horses for farming, complete water conservancy, and even selective breeding is organized.
The land tax was not high, and no officials dared to come down to fish and eat. Even if the soldiers went out of the village to fight for a year, they did not have to worry about their families having nothing to eat, or that their families would be bullied.
As long as you make meritorious deeds on the battlefield, you will have a prosperous and prosperous life waiting for you when you return home. The secret that King Liang's army was able to defeat the Li family who was determined to be in trouble so quickly is here."
When Yang Xin heard what Zhe Congyuan said, he couldn't help but nodded in agreement.
"According to what my brother said, if a certain Yang Hongxin were a soldier, he would be willing to serve Prince Liang.
This heavenly king is worthy of being the lower realm of gods and Buddhas in heaven, and only under his rule can such a scene happen."
After hearing this from afar, Zhe Congyuan smiled meaningfully, "This is actually not the first creation of King Liang!"
After Yang Xin listened, he thought carefully and said, "Brother, what do you want to say is that this system is the military system of the previous dynasty?"
"That's right!" Zhe Congyuan stood up and said with emotion.
"The soldiers under Emperor Taizongwen of the great dynasty were like this.
When they go in, they serve as the people, when they go out, they become soldiers, and their combat effectiveness is extremely powerful.
Emperor Taizongwen relied on them to eliminate the heroes of the world, drive the Turks into the desert, destroy the Tubo in the western border, settle the Qiang parties and tribes with benevolence and righteousness, and achieve great achievements in the world."
Yang Xin also stood up, "So, these 300,000 or 400,000 people around Lianglan Prefecture are the soldiers of the King of Heaven?"
"Such villages also exist in Shan, He, Min, Ling, Xia, and Yin states, but they are much smaller.
At this time, it is just like the chaotic times at the end of the Sui Dynasty. As long as there are 50,000 soldiers marching south to Guanzhong and east to Tongguan, the world will be settled!" Zhe Congyuan said softly.
After saying that, Zhe looked at Yang Xin with a smile from a distance, "I saw that last time we were in Luotuoyan, the King of Heaven liked your eldest son Chonggui very much. Although he and my Erlang are ten years apart, why not make them a couple tomorrow?
Brother!"
Yang Xin nodded slowly. He knew what Zhe Congyuan meant, which was to follow the custom at this time and ask Zhe De to become Zhang Zhao's adopted son together with his eldest son Yang Chonggui.
"In this way, I will return the gift sent by Taifu Liu after I return."
"This is the best! Although Taifu Liu is also an outstanding person, he did not dare to take on the people from Yunzhou, so he lost a move.
The talent pool in Hedong has been declining in recent years. Although there are tens of thousands of people including Tuyuhun, Bai Chengfu, etc., they are still far behind compared to the Supreme Merciful Dharma King and Qingyuan Miaodao Erlang Xiansheng Zhenjun.
Even if Bai Chengfu and others can fight, they can't compare to Xiang Shatuo and other Qiang tribes in Lingwu, Longyou, Hexi."
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On the upper floor of Guiyi Tower in Kaifeng Mansion, Tokyo, Murong Nobunaga was sitting in the main seat, with Zhao Kuangyin and Wang Shenqi guarding him like two generals.
It's just that the table in front of me is filled with delicacies and fine wines, but no one comes to touch the table.
This is because they are waiting for someone, someone who is about to take the bait.
Not long after, the sound of footsteps came from the wooden stairs downstairs, and a middle-aged man wearing a purple robe, with a proud face and a high-spirited expression walked up. It was Jing Yanguang, the commander of the Guards Ma Bu Qinjun.
Although Jing Yanguang's official position did not change at all after Shi Chonggui ascended the throne, his power actually increased greatly.
Because originally Jing Yanguang's bodyguard, Ma Budu Commander, was only responsible for commanding one of Shi Jingtang's imperial guards, and he happened to be guarding Daning Palace that night.
But now, this position has not changed a word, but it has become the supreme commander controlling the Forbidden Army.
In addition to greatly improving his status in the military, he can now enter the court and participate in political affairs in a dignified manner.
In a few years, this position will have a new name - the inspection of the horse steps in front of the palace.
"Captain, can you see the white sail in the distance?" Jing Yanguang did not sit down immediately, but stood by the window on the second floor.
He also took a look at the large table that Murong Nobunaga saw. The use of this large square table for dining has almost become a trend thanks to the promotion of Guiyi House.
Murong Nobunaga did not move, but said calmly: "It seems that the commander-in-chief still let Yang Guangyuan go? That is more than 100,000 guan of wealth."
Seeing that Murong Nobunaga did not follow his lead, Jing Yanguang hesitated for a moment and then walked over.
"The captain knows so clearly? Could it be that Yang Guangyuan told you?"
This sentence is a bit threatening and also a bit ridiculing.
The threat is because Yang Guangyuan is a stinking shit now, and anyone who gets involved will have a bad reputation.
The ridicule is to show that those in power who did what Yang Guangyuan did have to move town obediently.
Shi Chonggui's position as emperor has been firmly established, and Empress Dowager Li has completely lost power. Former consorts like Murong Nobunaga should not cause more trouble.
Murong Xin looked at Jing Yanguang with a non-smiling smile, waved his hand and asked Wang Shenqi to pour wine for them.
"Of course I know, because Yang Guangyuan didn't take away much of the ship's goods at all, because all his money has been exchanged for silver notes in Luoyang, so I know how much property he has."
Although Zhang Zhao is currently doing well in all aspects of the banking industry, it is still easy for Murong Nobunaga to learn information from it that is difficult for ordinary people to know.
This is the biggest problem with paper money in this era. It is difficult for rulers to resist the temptation of printing money all over the sky.
Jing Yanguang glanced at Murong Nobunaga blankly for a few times, and then he realized that he could not just regard Murong Nobunaga as a has-been prince-in-law, nor as a big wealthy man in Tokyo City.
Instead, we should regard him as the prince of Liang Kingdom and the hand extended to Tokyo by Zhang Zhao, the King of Great Liang.
"In the court, the Duke urged the emperor not to surrender to the Khitan. Now the Khitan's envoys to question him are about to arrive in Tokyo. Doesn't the commander-in-chief really know that he is in danger?"
Murong Nobunaga sneered. Others looked at Jing Yanguang and thought he was a passionate, powerful and unyielding person.
But in Murong Nobunaga's opinion, Jing Yanguang is just good at using such words to package himself.
He spoke loudly, but in fact he was not prepared at all, and he had no determination to fight the Khitan to the death.
The reason why he is so sure is because Murong Nobunaga has seen what a truly healthy and passionate person is like who takes the world as his own responsibility.
That was his father, the Great Liang King Zhang Zhao. Murong Nobunaga, who was only seventeen or eighteen years old at the time, accepted this stepfather because he was moved by Zhang Zhao's sentiments.
After witnessing Zhang Zhao's strong national sentiment and urgency to put an end to the troubled times, Jing Yanguang's performances seemed to Murong Nobunaga to be as fake as they were fake.
"Scaremongering! If the captain came to a certain person just to talk about this, there would be no need to go to such trouble."
After all, Jing Yanguang had experienced storms, and of course he would not be frightened by Murong Nobunaga's words.
"Then I would like to ask the commander-in-chief, how should we respond when the Khitan envoy arrives?"
Murong Nobunaga took great time to treat Jing Yanguang to drinks and dinner, and was not affected by the impatience on Jing Yanguang's face at all.
Jing Yanguang smiled coldly, "What's the point of asking? Of course we have to argue with reason. When it comes to ethics, it is a private matter for the emperor to call the Lord of Khitan his grandfather.
But it is absolutely impossible for me, the Jin Dynasty, to surrender to the Khitan again!"
"Then the Lord of the Khitan Kingdom must be very angry. What if the cavalry goes south?" Murong Nobunaga continued to ask.
Jing Yanguang raised his head with an incomparable air, "If we want to move southward, we should use Taifu Liu from Hedong, Taiwei Du from Yecheng, Fu Yanqing, and the commanders of various towns in Gaoxingzhou to divide their forces to resist the attack.
If the leader of the Khitan Kingdom goes south in person, I will lead the elite soldiers of the imperial army and attack him with a hundred thousand people sharpening their swords!"
Although Jing Yanguang had the power of the court, he actually wanted to command Liu Zhiyuan, Du Chongwei and other important ministers now.
I'm afraid it's Fu Yanqing. It's not certain to what extent Gao Xingzhou can obey his orders.
"Then..." Murong Nobunaga drawled his voice.
"What if the Liang army suddenly goes south to Guanzhong at this time, then leaves Tongguan and goes straight to Tokyo? What can I do?"
Jing Yanguang's eyes widened violently. He thought for a while and found that he had no means to stop the Liang Kingdom's army.
Let alone leaving Tongguan in the east and reaching Tokyo in the end, just entering Guanzhong, the hearts and minds of the Jin Kingdom might collapse.
"The world is already divided into three parts. Khitan is the strongest, followed by Jin, and Liang is the weakest. In addition, Meng, Shu, and Tang are all mediocre people. Don't they all want Jin to fight one against two?
"Murong Nobunaga asked in a low voice.
Jing Yanguang managed to calm down and stared at Murong Nobunaga's expression.
"The late emperor's father's affair with the Khitan has already caused the world to boil. If King Zhang Tian wants to cooperate with the Khitan to invade, no one will be convinced even if he takes Guanzhong."
Haha! A martial artist like Jing Yanguang actually started talking about people’s hearts. It’s really ridiculous!
It seems that this person didn't have much preparation at all and actually wanted to provoke the Khitans.
"Let me make a guess. If I, the Great Liang, and the Khitan act together, the emperor will have only one choice, and that is to stop his troops and seek peace.
Commander-in-Chief, let me guess what conditions my Khitan father-in-law would put forward if he asked for peace.
I think it’s nothing more than killing Jing Yanguang before we can make peace!”
When Jing Yanguang heard this, big drops of cold sweat began to fall from his head. His heart moved, and he began to feel that he was indeed a little too reckless?
But unexpectedly, Murong Nobunaga's strange and sinister voice sounded again.
"The commander-in-chief must be thinking that after returning, he will persuade the emperor to suspend relations with the Khitan.
But it's a pity that it was you, Jing Yanguang, who proposed not to be a subject. Now you are proposing to be a subject. What will the emperor think if he can't stand it?
Besides, if you continue to be a vassal of the Khitan, why do you, Jing Yanguang, need to be in charge?
In terms of your relationship with the Khitan, your closeness to the emperor, and your ability to govern the country, are you better than Sang Weihan?
Once we make peace, the commander-in-chief will inevitably lose all his current authority, are you willing?"
After Jing Yanguang listened, he finally couldn't bear it any longer. The arrogant look he had when he first went upstairs disappeared and he cupped his hands.
"The captain will not talk to so-and-so in plain words. If you have any assignments, please make it clear that you will obey me."
Murong Nobunaga raised his wine bowl and asked Jing Yanguang for a bowl of the finest purple wine, and then he sighed and said with emotion.
"We, the Liang people, are the subjects of the great dynasty after all. How can we be willing to help the Khitan attack our homeland?
Besides, the Khitans have entered the Central Plains and are of no use to me in the Great Liang.
But someone heard that Feng Yu, Li Yanbi and others were inciting the emperor to block the Hexi trade route, strictly prohibit the circulation of banknotes in Hexi, and even blockade Danzheng Gorge and the passes west of Fengxiang.
Haven't they ever thought that if this happens, our Great Liang cavalry will definitely go south?"
Jing Yanguang actually looked down upon Feng Yu, Li Yanbi and others.
The latter two, one is the brother of Wu Guo's wife Feng, and the other is Feng's servant in the palace. It is impossible to say that he has any connection with Feng.
Moreover, Jing Yanguang knew that Shi Chonggui wanted to make Feng his queen in Jin Dynasty. When the time comes, I am afraid that these two people will be called Jing Yanguang along with him.
For a warrior who is in charge of the imperial army at this time, it is simply a shame and a great humiliation to be called together with such a person!
Everyone in the world will think that Jing Yanguang is incapable.
So Jing Yanguang was very cooperative and told the truth.
"This is actually an attempt by Feng Yu and Li Yanbi to extort the wealth from going to the west to enrich themselves. The emperor has no intention of cutting off exchanges with Hexi."
Murong Nobunaga snorted coldly, "You don't know how to live or die, and if you blackmail me into doing business in the West, you are provoking me, Great Liang!"
The emperor has no intention of cutting off contacts with Hexi, but I am afraid that he cannot resist Mrs. Wu's pillow, right?"
Jing Yanguang also felt helpless, "Feng Yu is timid, so I might be able to dissuade him, but Li Yanbi is extremely greedy, so I'm afraid it's not that easy to dissuade him."
"The Commander-in-Chief must know that this is not about doing something for someone, but about the Commander-in-Chief's family and life.
I can tell the commander of the capital truthfully that once the Hexi trade route is blocked, the Liang cavalry will probably arrive before the Khitan army."
When Murong Nobunaga saw that Jing Yanguang was still a little confused, he could only give him a small reminder.
Jing Yanguang gritted his teeth and said, "Captain, can you tell me what the King wants?
Now that the emperor is not willing to surrender to the Khitan like the late emperor, is it possible between Jin and Liang...?"
Murong Nobunaga nodded slowly, "The King of Heaven still admires what the Emperor does.
If the emperor is sure that he will not surrender to the Khitan, it is not impossible for Liang to come to court again.
If the capital commander wants to solve this big problem for the emperor, Li Yanbi, a fool, must solve it as soon as possible."
Hearing this, Jing Yanguang glanced at Zhao Kuangyin and Wang Shenqi beside Murong Nobunaga with some hesitation.
"Jing Gong said it doesn't matter, Zhao Erlang and Wang Dalang are both close to someone."
"Then Li Yanbi hid an outer room in the west of the city, and sometimes he would spend the night there.
A certain person has found out the specific location, which is not far from the residence of Murong Yanzhao, the capital of the Forbidden Army. With only three hundred strings, Yanzhao will surely kill him!"
A smile finally appeared on Murong Nobunaga's face, "In this case, I will wait for the good news from Jinggong."
However, just after Jing Yanguang came downstairs, Murong Nobunaga immediately said to Zhao Kuangyin and Wang Shenqi.
"Xiang Hai'er went to inform Murong Sanlang and asked him to be careful not to silence Jing Yanguang after killing Li Yanbi.
Hmm..., you can let him go to Daxiangguo Temple, and someone will take him to Anxi.
You two are also getting ready, we will go to Liangzhou together then, how come you guys have never seen the windy sand in Hexi and why don’t you ride the Liangzhou Pegasus!"
Murong Nobunaga still planned to go back early and not contact Bai Chengfu and other Tuyuhun tribes in Hedong.
Although their family belongs to the Tuyuhun royal family, they are the direct descendants of Murong Fu, the last Tuyuhun Khan and King of Qinghai.
But now it is not known whether Bai Chengfu and the others still admit it.
The most important thing is that Murong Nobunaga did not want to miss the war against the Gaochang Uighurs.
Rather than scheming in Tokyo, he could also enjoy galloping on horseback, facing the wind, rain, and snow, enjoying his grudges.