Compared with the understatement of dealing with the former assassin Shi Yan, for the subsequent sacrifice of Zeng Gon and his party, the disposal of Li Ju, the former Guan Gui Jingluo, is a little complicated.

As the assassin of Jiaozhou, he can be said to be a mediocre character, so it is easy to be hollowed out by those local wealthy families, and continue to be used as a bright decoration; Therefore, even if the impact on the rebels is let go, it is harmless, but it is conducive to creating a reputation for forgiveness and commitment.

But as the former Guan Gui Jingluo, Li Zheng is different, this was once a fierce rival and old opponent of the rebel army, and he is also an experienced veteran general who has been fighting the border for many years. In the early days, it relied on the limited garrison and Tutuan soldiers, as well as the natural geographical advantage of the mountainous Lingxi; The main force of the rebel army, which had a large advantage in strength from the Cantonese side, was blocked between the mountains on the line from Liuzhou to Pennsylvania, and it was difficult to achieve an inch of success for several months.

If it weren't for the drawbacks of the gradual inability to supply food and clothing due to the cutting off of the grain route later, it would gradually be revealed and erupted over time; As a result, the hungry and cold officers and soldiers began to start civil strife, and the soldiers who were eager to return to the army mutinied and expelled him as a strategic envoy; I'm afraid that most of the rebels who are circling in the mountains have not had a chance to touch the city of Guizhou (now Guilin).

You must know that before this, the Guiguan Jingluo envoy had Gui (now Guilin, Lingui, Xing'an, Lipu, Yongfu, Longsheng), Zhao (now Pingle, Gongcheng), Meng (now Mengshan), Fu (now Zhaoping), Wu (now Wuzhou, Cangwu), Xun (now Guiping), Yulin (now Yulin), Pingqin (now Yulin), Bin (now Binyang), Cheng (now Shanglin), Xiu (now Guiping), Liu (now Liuzhou, Liujiang), Rong (now Rongshui, Rong'an) thirteen states;

and 6 prefectures, including Guisi (all now Xincheng), Sishun, Fan, Shukun, and Hot Springs (all now Yizhou). There are only 1,000 local Long March soldiers who have been compiling all year round; The others are all guest troops who are transferred and left, as well as local soldiers who are recruited by the local government, and regimental training to maintain the situation;

Although the territory of Guiguan Jinglu looks quite large, it is mountainous and barren, with limited hukou and strong people. Over the years, there have been a bunch of barbarians with the surnames of the Xiyuan Barbarian Youjiang tribe, who have jumped out from time to time to cause chaos.

It can be said that he has a very good set of skills in governing the army and leading the government, and he is also quite strategic in suppressing the barbarians; If you really let it go, you will be suspected of letting the tiger return to the mountain, and the previous Jiaozhou Rebellion was that he echoed in the middle and cooperated with the foreign Zeng Gon to get it out;

Although capricious betrayal is always despicable, if you turn your face and don't admit it and kill people directly, it will hinder the credibility and reputation of the rebels in Annam, not to mention, no one may dare to surrender to the rebels in the future, which can be said to be a relatively hot trouble;

However, this man also had a weakness, that is, he had a large family in the area; This is also the reason why he did not hesitate to lead someone to sell Zeng Gon, who had fled, after the situation took a turn for the worse; In fact, Zhou Huai'an didn't particularly care about running away from a self-proclaimed protector Zeng Gon;

Although this guy has some means and decisions, he is an outsider who has parachuted in; If there is no local force to echo it, it can be said that it is basically difficult to move an inch, and it is difficult to make any waves in recent years; However, there is such an external threat as him, which is on the run, which can further stimulate and maintain those local forces, and be more united and attached to the rebel army represented by Zhou Huai'an.

After thinking about it, in the end, Zhou Huai'an could only order Li Jian to be kept under strict guard, and wait for a period of cold treatment to dilute his impact before making a decision.

After the basic interests of Jiaozhou and even Annan are basically stabilized, whether he "dies of illness" due to old age and frailty, or whether he can't think of "suicide", it will no longer be relevant to the overall situation; Not many people find it particularly abrupt or have more knock-on effects.

It's just that a few days later, Zhou Huai'an stood on the head of the city of Dongluomen, and watched the whole family of the former assassin Shi Yan, who was released from the stream, along with several large boats full of family assets;

"Just let this guy go."

Chai Ping, the military master and deputy who was standing beside Zhou Huai'an, said a little depressedly.

"I always feel a little unwilling. There are so many people's fat and people's ointment. ”

"Do you remember what I said at the seminar, about the dialectical approach to looking at things from multiple angles, and the contradictory theory of prioritizing things?"

Zhou Huai'an didn't care about his words.

"The current situation under Annan's rule is no longer the main contradiction and confrontation with the strong Liang Hao clan oppressing the ordinary people, making them suffer and cornered."

"But the long-term struggle between the people of the Han family who live and reproduce in the local area and those native barbarians is the fundamental crux and contradiction. This is also the direction we have been striving for and working towards. ”

"Therefore, if we continue to rigidly continue to use them without change and adjustment, the strategies and methods we have implemented in Guangfu will either be treated and screened without discrimination, or even indiscriminately. . . ."

"I'm afraid that we won't be able to mobilize many people to follow us, but we will divide people's hearts and get a half-effective or even counterproductive effect."

Speaking of this, Zhou Huai'an continued to be tempting.

"Or to put it another way, do you think we have full control over the strength and leeway of Jiaozhou now? The focus of the rebels was always in the north, not in the south. ”

"In this case, if we want to ensure a relatively stable rear and a stable production area that provides rice products for a long time, we must use corresponding compromise means to rely on and retain some local pro-vis forces."

"In this way, we can provide a steady stream of follow-up strength for the continuous development and growth of the rebel army in Guangfu and the improvement of local people's livelihood with less cost and future maintenance costs, which is the need for a more long-term overall situation."

"Well, or maybe what you say makes sense."

Chai Ping sighed heavily, and he could be regarded as revealing this matter.

"Then let's wait until I have enough momentum and spare strength in the future to change all this."

Zhou Huai'an smiled but said nothing, in fact, in the thirteen prefectures of Annan today, most of the land is occupied by the local Turkish chiefs who are under the constraints of these imperial courts, and the rest are the descendants of Tang immigrants and military households and soldiers who live with them; Therefore, if the local people do not rely on the form of personal dependence and strong clan settlement, it is difficult for them to gain a foothold in the local wilderness and intricacies of the Tu tribes;

This is a natural result of the harsh environment of the early years; However, the exploitation of ordinary people by the local powerful clans is not as deep and cruel as in the mainland; On the one hand, the relative output of resources is limited and the land is poor, and the scarce material conditions lead to the disparities and boundaries between classes are not so obvious;

on the other hand, it is because they have to rely on them all the year round to confront and restrain the local barbarians and mountain barbarians; It can be said that the traditional class contradictions have given way to the struggle and confrontation of living space between ethnic groups.

Do you think Zhou Huai'an should have a choice to continue to maintain the basic status quo, or should he learn from the indiscriminate motherbitch and the like who others care about him as long as I am comfortable in my heart, and go to the distance to produce American-style love and tolerance for those "non-my race" native barbarians.

Therefore, if we do not indiscriminately implement the inland set of eating big households and public trial of the powerful, rebuilding the grassroots political power and the limited number of villages to elect self-government, I am afraid that we will lose the support of the people, not to mention the chaos of the position, and also give those barbarians and mountain barbarians who have been fighting and seeming for a long time and give a cheap discount in vain.

And here he has something that is not suitable to hand over; As a well-informed modern person, why use a knife if you want to cut the flesh of a certain target; As long as the other party arrives in a prosperous city like Guangfu, there is naturally a way to slowly concoct and harvest it.

It's just that it can be said that "the tree wants to be quiet and the wind does not stop", not to mention Zhou Huai'an, who is on the cusp of the wind and waves; Subsequently, he received a great petition led by the city's leading and powerful people.

They actually wanted to jointly nominate themselves as the envoys of the Jing Navy to protect Annan, and the specific reason was very simple, they rescued the thirteen states of Annan from the ravages of the barbarians; And this is also one of the conventions that the successive Annan protectors or envoys have routinely completed.

In fact, these Xiyuan barbarians, who have repeatedly risen like psoriasis, are the copies used by Annan to brush up their achievements; Basically, every time you want to make a difference and establish authority, you will brush up on it; However, the geographical environment of the mountainous heights and easy to hide ensured that after they suffered heavy defeats, it was difficult for them to be deeply cut down by the Tang army, so there were always people to harvest them for generations.

It is just to take advantage of the Annan Protectorate or Guiguan, Huguan and other territories, when there is civil strife and weakness, come out and rob the fire, but as long as the Han land is a little reinvigorated or there is a strong man to take the lead, there is a high probability that after paying a certain price, such an invader will be killed. Annam was originally known for its wealth, and even the population lost by this could be slowly replenished through recuperation and immigrants from Fujian and Lingdong from the sea.

And can I assume this role and important status, and then leave a name in history and even dominate one side? At least Annan's environment is enough to allow him to survive the turbulent times at the end of the Tang Dynasty.

However, after this kind of related longing only existed in Zhou Huai'an's mind for a moment, he was resolutely ruled out without hesitation this somewhat murderous suggestion;

(End of chapter)