Xue Wanche and others knew that Chi Gong, Wang Mahan and the others broke through the two counties of the Tang Army in a row, and as soon as the war started, they took the lead and made many military exploits, and they couldn't help but be hot-eyed.

Xu Shiji said: "The Warring States Policy has clouds, and the South Yang moves under the Qin, but now we are going against the road, but the three Qin are shaking!" The people in Guanzhong are going to have trouble sleeping. ”

When Xu Shiji said this, all the generals laughed together, and the atmosphere in the room that was originally fighting for each other suddenly eased a lot.

"Not bad! I'm going to take the road this time! I won't show you this marching route, General Xu must know it from the bottom of his heart," Li Chongjiu said this, then turned his head to Zhang Xuansu and asked, "Are you ready for the civilian service of transporting military rations on the road?" ”

Zhang Xuansu said: "Back to His Majesty, 200,000 Hebei civil servants have been levied and issued, and these civil servants are all vying to come and take the initiative to ask to join the army!" ”

Shan Xiongxin said in surprise: "What's going on, where is the reason to compete for civilian servitude?" ”

Zhang Xuansu said immediately: "General Shan doesn't know anything, as a civilian service in our army, he never levies money for no reason, and the court gives ten wen every day as a salary. And if the civil servant dies, the court will also give the civil servant's family a sum of money as a pension. That's why the civil servants will rush to come. ”

Shan Xiongxin nodded and said, "I know." ”

"In fact, it's more than that," Xu Shiji said, "Your Majesty promised to exempt the counties of Hebei from taxes for three years when he was in Hebei. Hebei has not gone through a major war, after a few years of recuperation, the people of Hebei live and work in peace and contentment, and their lives are better than in the Kaihuang period. Therefore, they came to join the army enthusiastically today, and they all came to repay His Majesty's kindness in the past! ”

Hearing Xu Shiji say this, everyone had a smile on their faces. Li Chongjiu said: "Those who have attained the Tao will be more helpful." Those who have lost the way have little help, but those who win the hearts of the people win the world. After you lead the army into the customs, you should be bound by military discipline. Thou shalt not slaughter the people. ”

The generals listened to what Li Chongjiu said and were ordered together.

Li Chongjiu mobilized such a large force this time to transport grain and grass, because he was worried that after the entry of men and horses, because of the shortage of military food, there would be a robbery of the people.

After all, Guanzhong is about to become the territory of Zhao State at present, and of course such a thing will be very unfavorable for Zhao State to rule Guanzhong in the future. Breaking the country is the bottom, the whole country is the top, and the occupation of a country can be as low as possible. It is very beneficial for the future rule, otherwise it will be a few years, more than ten years of turmoil, all of which are my Chinese people, and there is no need to kill you like this.

Zhao Guozheng Tang deployed more than 200,000 troops in Hedong, but 200,000 civilian servants were required to transport grain and grass, so you can imagine how great the pressure was to transport grain and grass. You must know that in the past, whether it was Liu Heimin in Pinghebei, or Du Fuwei in Xiajianghuai. They can all use the convenience of waterways to transport grain and grass, but this time they did not have this convenience in Guanzhong.

However, in this way, the advantages of the entire Zhao State in terms of manpower and material resources are also revealed. From the country of prison. County school, many of the officials of Zhao State who graduated from county school are already working as errands in yamen in various places. At the beginning, Wen Yanbo said to Li Chongjiu. The talent training program, which took ten years to complete, has been a success.

Not early success. Rather, ten years have passed.

These county schools, the students cultivated by the county schools. It is very advantageous to reduce, and the local Haoqiang clan used to control the local situation. You must know that after Qin unified the world and implemented the county system, the state's personnel management at the grassroots level was only at the level of county orders and county lieutenants, and today's Zhao State, even the lowest level of the yamen's official clerks, many of them graduated from county studies.

In this way, Zhao Guo's mobilization power to the local grassroots has been greatly strengthened. Orders are issued from the central government to the localities, and the government decrees are unimpeded.

In addition, after three years of life and reunion in Hebei, the reserve of sufficient manpower, coupled with the country's abundant financial resources, has made Zhao's national strength rise to a higher level, far better than today's Li Tang. Therefore, only the current national strength of Zhao State can launch such a big war, and on the contrary, with Li Tang's current predicament, he can't even maintain an army of 50,000 for a month.

This couldn't help but remind Li Chongjiu of Yang Guang's conquest of Goguryeo, because the Yongji Canal had just been opened at that time, so Yang Guang mobilized a million troops to attack Goguryeo in order to show off the transportation capacity of the Yongji Canal. However, despite the Yongji Canal, countless material resources are still needed to transport grain.

This difficult place is to transport grain and grass through the valley of the Daling River from Youzhou, the end point of the Yongji Canal, and finally arrive at Tongding Town, the front line of western Liaoning. This one is a land route, and there is no place for tricks. The common people went deep into the barren land of western Liaoxi to transport grain and died on the road, and then the local officials colluded with the powerful and powerful, and then exploited them from the middle layers, and finally led to the first battle of Liao, which consumed too much national strength, making Emperor Yang of Sui bear the infamy of the ages.

So Li Chongjiu rested in Heyang City for a while, and after leaving Cheng Mingzhen to guard Heyang, he led the army to march.

Along the way, the journey from a boat master to a land trip will inevitably be hard. But He Chou, the waiter of the Ministry of Works, solved this hardship for Li Chongjiu.

He Chou was originally a skilled craftsman, and he was the one who conquered Goguryeo for Yang Guang back then, and designed the movable wooden city and Liuhe City that could be moved. It is recorded in the history books that this Liuhe city is back to eight miles in circumference, the city and the female wall are ten miles high, the cloth armor is on it, the flag is built in battle, the four corners are placed, the face is not seen, the three gates are viewed, and the late Ming is finished.

Zhou Hui Bali, the female wall is ten miles high, this record is too exaggerated.

However, why Chou still designed a five-seat large carriage for Li Chongjiu, which can provide seven or eight people to ride, and still does not dislike crowding. Li Chongjiu gave three cars to his concubines, and he and his staff each took one car. If there is any military information, the staff of the other car can report the military situation at any time.

Li Chongjiu lay alone in the carriage, looked at the left pass for a while, opened the curtain and looked out, but saw that on the road, the soldiers were burying their heads in the advance.

Xu Shiji's 30,000 tun guards and horses had already joined Su Dingfang's troops in front, and in front of Xu Shiji's troops were 3,000 light cavalry of the fierce general Luo Shixin. After Luo Shixin's 3,000 light cavalry joined forces with Su Dingfang's troops, they would cross the Yidao and attack Li Tang's base camp in Jiangzhou, east of the river, together with Wei Chigong's troops, who had just left Taihang Mountain.

Once Jiangzhou was captured, Li Tang's defense in Hedong had already collapsed.

Looking at the strength of the Tang army's resistance in Jiangzhou, we can know Li Shimin's plan, and see if he lures our army to go deep and wait for an opportunity to fight a decisive battle?

Come to think of it. Li Chongjiu knocked on the car window.

Immediately outside the car window, a court guard officer asked, "What's the matter with Your Majesty?" ”

"Immediately ask Zhang Xuansu if the Fengwen Division has any movement of the main force of the Tang Army in Chang'an!"

Li Chongjiu closed his eyes again. After a while, the court guard replied, "Your Majesty." There is no news yet. Li Shimin blocked the Pujin Pass pontoon bridge, and no news from Chang'an could be transmitted here. ”

"That's it!" Li Chongjiu thought for a moment and said, "Stand down!" ”

The court guard officer did not leave but said: "Your Majesty, Zhang Shilang has another thing to tell you, Wen Xi Pei's family, Hedong Xue clan, and Hedong Liu clan's three patriarchs came together to greet His Majesty fifty miles ahead." Do you want to see you? ”

Wen Xi Pei's. The three surnames of Hedong Xue and Hedong Liu are known as the three major families of Hedong, while Wei, Pei, Liu, Xue, Yang, and Du are also known as the six surnames of Kansai, in addition to the Li family in Longxi. The Guanlongmen valve belongs to these clans, and it is the most powerful.

"You can meet in person, by the way, a banquet will be held. Don't be lazy. ”

"No!"

The carriage moved forward, and when it was almost noon, it stopped at a village on the side of the official road. Li Chongjiu got out of the carriage. The three patriarchs knelt down to greet each other by the roadside.

Li Chongjiu said: "The three of you came here to see me, I don't know what happened?" ”

Wen Xi is the patriarch of the Pei clan. Apparently the leader of the three, he spoke: "I heard that His Majesty is conquering Li Tang. Therefore, the three of us came to work as a teacher. ”

Saying that the official of Zhao State beside him sent a gift list, Li Chongjiu glanced at the gift list, put it aside and said, "The three of them have a heart." I know that many of your three clans have sons and nephews who serve in Li Tang and Da Zhao respectively, and I didn't interfere before, but I just didn't want to make trouble with each other, and now that the war is about to start, I am afraid that I will hurt these children by mistake, and I want several patriarchs to persuade them to abandon the darkness and turn to the light as soon as possible. ”

The three patriarchs looked at each other, they didn't expect that before they could say anything, Li Chongjiu blocked the words in advance. They came here to make friends with Li Chongjiu, so that when they attacked the Tang Dynasty, they could let go of the children of the three clans who surrendered, and at the same time protect the property of the people of the three clans in Guanzhong.

Li Chongjiu looked at the patriarch of the Pei family and said: "My Honglu Temple Qing Pei Ju is from the Pei family, and he is indeed a minister, but Pei of the Pei family is the prime minister of the Tang Dynasty, and now the children of the Pei family are more in Li Tang, and your patriarch's statement is very important at the moment." ‘

When the patriarch of the Pei clan heard this, he hurriedly said: "Your Majesty, it's really not a secret, and Pei Gong's life is not easy right now. ‘

"What do you say?"

'Pei Gong had always been trusted by the Emperor Taishang, and supported the crown prince, against the King of Qin, and the new lord of the King of Qin ascended the throne, in order to envelop the old ministers, Pei Lin increased the number of households to 1,500, and then took the opportunity of the outing, praising Pei Gong for his life. ‘

But this qiē was only temporary, and later the new lord sat on the throne, that is, he used the excuse to cut the Duke of Pei many times, and said that your merits and talents were not enough to occupy the current position, and it was only because of the emperor's favor to you that you were ranked first. During the Wude period, there were many mistakes and fallacies in politics and law, and the local officials were disorderly in their governance, for which you should also be responsible! I remember the old feelings, and I will not punish you with death, and now I have demoted you to a foreigner, which is already extraordinarily gracious. ‘

"I see." Li Chongjiu said in his heart. Li Shimin in history is also such a figure, and he can be tolerant of Wei Zheng, Xue Wanche, and Li Shimin who joined the prince's party. But the suppression of the other faction is also very severe, such as Pei Lin was pushed to the end by Li Shimin in history, and his fate in this time and space is not very good.

When Li Chongjiu saw the patriarch of the Pei clan, he saw that his face was slightly softened, and he secretly breathed a sigh of relief, obviously under a lot of pressure. Unlike the Pei clan patriarch in front of him, the other two patriarchs were much more relaxed.

In particular, the patriarch of the Xue clan in Hedong even explained: "Your Majesty, the Pei clan in Hedong is a big family, and there are tens of thousands of children, it is really difficult to guarantee that there are a few unscrupulous children, so you don't open your eyes to serve Li Tang." ”

The relationship between the Xue family in Hedong and the Zhao State is well known, not to mention that the four brothers of the Xue family of Xue Wanche worked in the Zhao State, and Xue Deyin, one of the three phoenixes in Hedong, served as a scholar under Li Chongjiu.

After the patriarch of the Xue clan finished speaking, the patriarch of the Liu clan on the side also said: "Yes, there are always some stubborn and stupid people in the clan who don't understand the general trend and try to block the car with their mantis arms, but how can such a person's majesty be in the bottom of his eyes, and he will not care about them." ”

Li Chongjiu snorted when he heard this.

The three patriarchs did not know what Li Chongjiu meant. Li Chongjiu's gaze swept over the three people: "I have heard a sentence before, it is a century-old dynasty and a thousand-year-old family. Since the end of the Jin Dynasty, there has been a lot of chaos. The world has changed, and how many kings have changed. The land of the Central Plains is devastated. ”

"But the great lords of the noble clan do not think of being loyal to the country, and they are left and right, no matter which ship sinks, they can immediately jump on another ship and continue to be prosperous and rich. If you don't want to be loyal to the country, there are only rebellious ministers and thieves in the gate, what use does the country want from you? On the contrary, the state and society are often corrupted by people like you. Today I tell you that there is no such cheap thing! ”

Li Chongjiu's sleeved robe waved. The three of them were dripping with sweat on their foreheads, and they immediately bowed to the ground in a hurry and said: "The little people are frightened, and they have offended His Majesty, and I hope that His Majesty will be angry." ”

The three of them all know that with Li Chongjiu's current power, although he does not say that he will completely wipe out any clan, as long as the career of the people in the clan is cut off, then as long as no one in the clan is an official in the court, it will not take a few years for this big clan to decline immediately. Of course, this is on the premise that Da Zhao seizes the world.

Li Chongjiu did not blindly go tough. Instead, he helped the three of them up one by one and said, "I am not an unreasonable emperor. Since the founding of the People's Republic of China, I have said that this Da Zhao is not a family with one surname, but the well-being of all the people of Da Zhao. Regardless of the Han family, the Han people, the Hu people, the scholars and merchants. I treat everyone equally, and we are all my people. If it's any day. You have found that I have done away with it for my own personal gain. Then this emperor, you can abolish it at any time! ”

"Xiaomin doesn't dare!" The three of them all said it together, and Li Chongjiu said this kind of thing casually, but even if he said it, who would dare to believe it.

Li Chongjiu said: "It would be good if you could understand my intentions." There is a Xue Shu in the Xue family in Hedong, who is a close confidant of Li Shimin. Xue Shui once came to Youjing, and designed the confidant minister of the rebellion, Xue Wanshu, the secretary of the Criminal Department, this is also a member of your Xue family. As for the Hedong Liu family, Li Shimin's henchman Liu Zheng is a member of your Liu family, I still remember that it was he who persuaded the Duke of Pushan to surrender to the Tang Dynasty, and his uncle Liu Heng was also a general of the Wagang Army, but he was ungrateful to the lord and persuaded the master to surrender to the Tang Dynasty. ”

The three patriarchs listened to Li Chongjiu coming together, not to mention that Zhao Guo's intelligence work was really good enough, but only that Li Chongjiu's memory was really amazing. In this world, there seems to be nothing that is not in the hands of the emperor in front of him.

The three of them had nothing to say at the moment, and the patriarch of the Pei clan said: "What does Your Majesty want us to do, please instruct, we will definitely comply." ”

Li Chongjiu smiled with satisfaction and said: "Knowing the current affairs is Junjie, I will use your influence now to tell those children who work for Li Tang that if they continue to serve in Shitang, then they will not be able to become a great Zhao in the future.

If they are stubborn, they will kill them, and their direct descendants will never be able to be officials in my Dazhao. If they see Zhao, no matter what position they hold in the official, they will all retain their original position, and their salaries will be increased by 30% compared with the original. If you don't obey either, you can resign and return home, and you can not blame the past for what you planned for Tang in the past. ”

The three patriarchs looked at each other, all of them looking shocked and embarrassed at the same time. This simply subverted the position that their clan maintained during the change of dynasty. Their principle is simple, don't put all your eggs in one basket.

Bet on both sides, this is the long-term way for a scholar to survive in the troubled times. You don't even have to bet on both sides, one side fails, and then you can change the court immediately, so in history, Wei Zhengneng changed his master six times, Pei Lian, Feng Deyi and others needless to say. Therefore, the children of these gate lord clans will far oversee the interests of their families above the interests of the country.

Even if there was no Yang Xuangan back then, there would be another disciple of Guan Longmen who stood up against Yang Guang.

Li Chongjiu asked, "Why are you not satisfied?" ”

The three patriarchs hurriedly said: "Don't dare, Your Majesty is a grace for the children of our three clans, and the little people will go back immediately!" ”

Now that the knife is on the neck, where do they dare to go against Li Chongjiu's intentions.

"Don't worry," Li Chongjiu said with a smile, "I have already prepared a thin wine, and the three of us will eat before leaving." ”

The three of them didn't dare to disobey the moment: "That little people are better to be respectful than to obey their orders." ”

After the feast, the three patriarchs hurried away, anxiously wondering what kind of shock the news they had brought back would bring to the people of the clan.

At this time, Ji Chuan came to ask for a meeting. As soon as Ji Chuan saw Li Chongjiu, he said: "Your Majesty's move to defeat the Tang Dynasty, Weichen doesn't think it's inappropriate, but now Weichen has to speak up about this matter." ”

Li Chongjiu smiled softly and said: "Ji Aiqing, when have you talked to me in a hurry, if you don't speak out, it's not your style, but it's okay to say it, I listen." ”

Ji Chuan rolled up his sleeves and said loudly: "Your Majesty, you need to know that the scholars like to ride on the wall, and they don't like to stand in line until the end." But now His Majesty is so tough, asking the three clans in Hedong to line up now, it's too hasty, this move will certainly shake some people, but it will also push some of the gate lord clans closer to Li Tang, forcing them to be more loyal to Li Shimin, so that it is even more unfavorable for us to cut down Tang, but let Li Shimin get more help, and his subordinates will gather a group of die-hard people. ”

Speaking of this, Ji Chuan paused and said: "Your Majesty, when Zhou destroyed the Qi State, he did not kill the Hedong Shi clan, but gave high-ranking officials and lords, but did not give them the power to control the army." As for Yang Guang's annihilation of Chen, he even promoted a large number of Southern Chen's ministers. ”

"But you forgot Emperor Wu, and he also used a large number of Jiangnan Shi clans, which aroused the opposition of the Guanlongmen valve and was killed." Li Chongjiu retorted.

Listening to Li Chongjiu's words, Ji Chuan was speechless for a moment. (To be continued......)