At the end of the first June of this year, Li Mao served as the envoy of Cao, Pu, and Yi as the envoy of Liaodong Economic Strategy, and went to Cao, Pu, and Yi to proclaim and appease. The rebellion of the displaced people in the three places was basically quelled after entering the summer, but the place was still unstable, and the imperial court wanted to select foreign officials to proclaim the appeasement, and Li Shigu recommended Li Mao.

Xuanfu is only incidental, and the focus of Li Mao's trip is actually to supervise the collection of two taxes in the three places.

The Ximatang Incident on the evening of 13 May only resolved the internal contradictions of the Li brothers, but the power that had fallen on the side could not be recovered for a while, and Ziqing's finances were on the verge of exhaustion.

The two taxes are now the only financial source that Li Shigu can still control, and the lifeblood of Ziqing.

Li Shigu's most important financial assistant, Jia Zhiyan, was impeached and lost his official position because of suspected corruption, and was recently expelled from the shogunate and demoted to Linpu County, Puzhou, to become a county governor in name only.

The downfall of Jia Zhiyan was once regarded as a weather vane for the change of the political situation in Ziqing, indicating that the younger brother has gained the upper hand in the internal strife of the Li brothers, and the once invincible elder brother is now losing Maicheng, and some things that have happened since then seem to confirm this judgment, for example, not long ago, Li Shidao concurrently served as the deputy envoy of the branch as the deputy envoy of observation, and he took the financial power in his hands again openly, and at this speed, he will be in charge of military affairs just around the corner.

This is the interpretation of the latest political situation in Ziqing by some officials who have been mixed in the local area for decades, and Qingmo listened to it from the wine table and told it to Li Mao as a joke.

In Ziqing, the military government is always mysterious, and what happened inside has always been difficult for outsiders to fathom.

After 13 May, Li Mao and his wife had the privilege of going wherever they wanted, and they no longer had to look at other people's faces.

After Pei Junyan was beheaded, the governor of Tonghutou Yunzhou was vacant, and with the support of Li Shigu, Li Mao temporarily took charge of the matter as the capital of Liaodong. The root of the copper tiger head is in Ziqing, and the backbone is also in Ziqing, and the most powerful of the four governors is the governor of Yunzhou.

Su Qing decided to use this privilege immediately, she went to Dengzhou in a hurry, Haidong Trading Company has been in operation for nearly a year, but the business is tepid, there are many problems in the middle, because Li Mao went out she was grounded, and the result of remote command is that many problems cannot be completely solved.

The ban was lifted, Su Qing said goodbye to her husband and daughter, and went east to Dengzhou with Zheng Xiaozhang, the head of the family account. On the same day, Li Mao also set off for the west.

Xuanfu made the imperial court to comfort the local area, and he was very powerful, but because Li Mao was Li Shigu's confidant, his identity seemed a little embarrassing. Half a month has passed since the Ximatang Incident, and in this half month, Li Shigu has basically eliminated Li Shidao's influence and influence in the shogunate, Yunzhou and the army, but in the locality, Li Shidao's influence still exists.

In particular, some short-sighted officials who do not know the situation clearly can not see the subtle changes that have taken place in Yunzhou, and they are still dreaming of changing the day and turning over to be the master, disobeying Li Maoyang and obstructing Li Maoyang's actions in every possible way.

Li Mao's butcher's knife was unsheathed, and the cadres were degraded, withdrawn, closed, and killed, setting off a bloody storm all the way. When he walked to Puzhou, both virtuous and foolish saw signs of a change in the direction of the wind. bowed down to Li Mao and obeyed him.

The speed of the collection of the two taxes has suddenly accelerated, but Li Mao's mood has become heavier and heavier, in recent years, the wind and rain have not been smooth, the territory of Ziqing has been plagued for many years, and the livelihood of the people has been in difficulty, there was originally a salt, iron and horse fields plus overseas trade profits, the dependence on the two taxes is lighter, and he can still rest with the people, and now the food and drink of 100,000 officers and soldiers depend on the two taxes, and the burden on the people has suddenly increased.

For example, in the three prefectures of Cao, Pu, and Yi in the west, floods and droughts have been plagued for many years, and the people have repeatedly been in trouble due to hunger, and the government does not want to pay compensation, but vigorously collects the two taxes accumulated over the years according to the original standards. This move is undoubtedly worse for the people in distress.

But if this is not the case, the 100,000 officers and soldiers may fall into chaos due to lack of salary, lack of food, and lack of food, shaking the cornerstone of the rule, choosing the lesser of two evils, knowing that it is to quench thirst, the person in charge of Ziqing has to drink this cup of poisonous wine brewed by his own hands.

Li Mao gave an order, and the local officials in Puzhou immediately sent a fast horse to pick up Jia Zhiyan.

Jia bluntly said that he was very angry in Linpu, and the Linpu county commander recognized that Li Shigu was gone, and in order to flatter the new master, he made it difficult for the degraded Jia bluntly, and often scolded Jia Zhiyan in public like a small official, which made him lose face.

Up and down, the officials and officials don't want to see this former marshal who was demoted because of corruption.

The people are warm and cold, the world is hot and cold, Li Maoshen feels sorry for Jia Zhiyan. But when they met, they saw that Jia bluntly said that his face was ruddy, the ecology was as usual, and there was no embarrassment after the disaster. Li Mao praised from the bottom of his heart: "Jia Gong is really broad-hearted, if it were me, I was afraid that I would leave early, how could I stand such a wretched spirit." ”

Jia said with a straight smile: "You are different from me, you are a monk, everything is empty, you can see everything, naturally you can't stand the grievances of this world." I'm different, I'm a layman, an official who loves stacks, I've been in officialdom for decades, I'm used to seeing the ebb and flow of the Huan Sea, ups and downs, and if I see too much, it's dull, and it's over with one eye open and one eye closed. ”

Li Mao said: "The marshal asked me to come and see you, I hope you can understand his hardships." ”

Jia bluntly wiped away his tears, he was not ignorant of what happened in Ximatang, but he also understood that even if Li Shigu succeeded in turning the tables, it would not be easy to use him again.

At the beginning, he was afraid that Li Shigu would be suspicious and deliberately corrupt himself, but now he was caught by these stains and kicked into the eighteenth layer of hell, making a bad reputation, disgraced, and ruining his reputation as an official, how easy is it to get up again?

After participating in the local reception banquet, Li Mao asked Jia alone to go to the back garden of the Thorn History, the Thorn History was very knowledgeable, and turned into a tail and embellished it far away, which was convenient for Li Mao to summon at any time, and never interfered with the whispering of the two.

Li Mao briefly talked about the supervision of the collection of two taxes in the three states, and Jia stomped his feet bluntly: "Why did you accidentally make this situation." ”

Li Mao said: "Fortunately, everything has passed, the most important thing at the moment is to get through this pass, 100,000 officers and soldiers spend 3 million yuan a year, the monthly fee is 250,000 yuan, Ziqing's annual tax income is only 1.8 million, and it will take time for overseas taxes to be taken back from the right wing. ”

Jia bluntly exclaimed: "The festival marshal let you be the deputy envoy of the branch? ”

Li Mao smiled and replied, "That's not true." ”

Jia bluntly said excitedly: "Then you are purely mediocre and self-disturbing, and depending on how the deputy envoy of the branch is at the mercy, you just need to do the current thing." ”

Jia bluntly said that today's step of the field is all due to Li Shidao, and it is understandable to say such words in anger, after a moment of silence, Li Mao asked in a low voice: "Jie Shuai is a cautious person, how could he miss their way?" ”

This question has been haunting Li Mao's heart, and he can't figure it out, with Li Shigu's male guess, he will never give his trust to a person, how did Gao Mu avoid the layers of guards and pour that bowl of poisonous soup into him? If Li Shigu's body hadn't been broken, how could the military and political power he had held in one hand fall to others? I missed someone else's way.

Jia bluntly sighed and said, "I don't know this question, you came just in time, let's take a closer look." ”

The two turned around and went to the water pavilion in the garden, and the thorn history and his party who were dotted in the distance stopped to chat, never daring to come up.

"I remember that in the eighteenth year of Zhenyuan, the Qing Navy was subdued, and Haizhou and Yizhou were included in the territory of Yunzhou.

After that, the marshal attacked repeatedly, the four surnames of the rule were honest, the right wing of the beating bowed down to obey orders, 100,000 troops were well-armed, the grain and grass were sufficient, there were strong reinforcements outside, there were no hidden dangers inside, the generals used their lives, and the people's hearts were available. What a spectacle it was!

But for some reason, since August last year, he suddenly changed his strategy, first reusing Li Gon, then delegating power to Mizhou, and finally sending the general Huang Xiao to go north to seize Dizhou. Dizhou's salt mines supply the entire Hebei to break his promise, the profit is very considerable, has always been what he wants, but the blatant use of troops against Dizhou will undoubtedly offend Hengzhou, and it will also make Weizhou uneasy, and the loss of two strong reinforcements will be greater than the loss.

"The imperial court is afraid of the wealth of the twelve states of Ziqing, fearing that I am rich and strong, and I have foreign aid, so I dare not act rashly. And sending troops to the north and going to foreign aid from them is not exactly giving the imperial court an opportunity to take advantage of? Today, it is still Li Tang, and Emperor Chang'an is still the lord of the world, which is different from the Zhou family, and it is by no means the time to fight for hegemony in the world. ”

"It's a pity, the commander was bent on seizing the salt pond in Dizhou at that time, and it turned out later that sending troops to Dizhou was worth the loss, which not only wasted strength, but also aroused the vigilance of the three towns in Hebei, and gave the court an excuse to hang the people and cut down the crime. Han Hong of Xuanwu repeatedly provoked on the border, and even openly sent people to infiltrate our territory to support the displaced people against the government, so that the city of Yizhou was broken and hundreds of officials were killed. ”

Jia bluntly said that when he said this, he beat his chest and feet, and the pain was indescribable.

The city of Yizhou is thick and heavily guarded, and suddenly fell into the hands of the displaced people, and the blow to the morale of the army is fatal, if it were not for Liu Wuye's surprise army to capture He Sancai, so that the rebels were leaderless, and finally surrendered without a fight, this change may only become the fuse of the entire Ziqing crisis, resulting in an uncontrollable situation.

He Sancai was originally a hunter in Chengwu County, in the old days Li Mao had met with him when he was in Gushan Town, this time the disaster in three places, the local collection of two taxes, the hungry people gathered in the mountains, forests and rivers to make chaos, encountered the official army to suppress, there was nowhere to hide, so he raised a rebellion, the day was known as "36 road Tiangang descended to earth, 72 earth came to the world", the momentum was very huge.

He Sancai's department was unknown at first, only listed at the end of the seventy-two evils, wandering in the countryside, fighting local tyrants, eating big households, and doing some small business that could not be put on the table, and his fame was only overnight.

Xuanwu Town sent a team of more than 100 people to infiltrate Ziqing, and selected potential civilian troops to support them, because they saw that He Sancai acted fairly, and his troops won the hearts of the people in the countryside, so they deliberately supported him, sent instructors to help him train soldiers, sent veteran staff officers who can fight well, and supported He Sancai's department with a large amount of funds and weapons and equipment.

He Sancai, who was funded by the Xuanwu Army, greatly increased his strength, and took advantage of the lax defense of Yizhou City to break the city in one fell swoop, slaughtering hundreds of officials, and shocking the entire Ziqing for a while. (Dissertation College)