At the end of November, Shi Jingjiao led the Later Tang army from Sanguan into Shu, the former army went straight through Jianmen, and then approached Jianzhou (now Jiange, Sichuan). Xichuan Jiedu made Meng Zhixiang shocked when he heard the news, so he hurriedly sent 5,000 people from Chengdu to Jianzhou for reinforcements, and transferred 10,000 people from Suizhou to Jianzhou.

At the beginning of December, Shi Jingjiao, the commander of the Later Tang Army, went to Jianmen, and immediately commanded a large army to besiege Jianzhou.

Just when the war between Liangchuan and Sichuan was scorching, Li Congyan was also very irritable in his heart.

The affairs of the Li family in Penglai came to an end, Li Sisheng began to preside over the affairs of the Li family, and Li Siye received the news and went home, but returned to the army after a few days, obviously not very concerned about Li Sichu and Li Siming.

Seeing that the situation of the Li family in Penglai was stabilizing, Li Congyan just breathed a sigh of relief, but he was entangled by Wu Conghan, and his mood instantly turned sharply.

Originally, Li Congyan planned to re-measure the land in Dengzhou when the finances were abundant, and register the poor people who had no land and little land. In the name of the Assassin's Palace, he spent a lot of money to buy surplus land from the family and Haoqiang, and then distributed it to the poor people for cultivation at a low price, or even free of charge, so as to achieve the purpose of redistributing cultivated land and curbing land annexation.

However, as soon as this move revealed some limelight, it was unanimously opposed by the whole of Dengzhou, and even Wu Conghan and other officials of the Assassin Mansion expressed their opposition, and everyone surrounded Li Congyan almost every day for several days to advise, which made Li Congyan upset.

This is not counting, Dengzhou one city and four counties have successively reported to the Assassin History Mansion, not only the local families refused to negotiate the acquisition of land, but also secretly instigated the people who did not know the truth to besiege the local government offices.

The county government of Huang County and Wendeng County were successively surrounded by the local people, and these people7 thought that the Assassin Mansion was going to annex the entire land of Dengzhou on a large scale, and both the family and the people would suffer, and even relying on the family as a hidden household was a luxury. This time it was a thunder that sounded on the ground, and the government offices everywhere suffered.

Although Li Congyan was angry when he heard the news, it was impossible for him to send troops to suppress the people, which would only make those families get their wish. In order to calm down the chaos, Li Congyan had no choice but to post announcements in various counties to explain the facts, and sent people to various places to appease the people.

However, this incident has strengthened Li Congyan's determination to suppress the power of the family, and if he does not control the expansion of the family in various places, he may not make much trouble in the future. And Li Congyan will never allow such a force to exist in Dengzhou.

On this day, Wu Conghan came to the back hall of the mansion again, Li Congyan smiled dumbly when he saw this, and asked, "What are you going to say today?" ”

Wu Conghan forked his hand and said, "The Lord must know it in his heart. ”

"Alas!"

Li Congyan sighed and said: "I asked you to spread the news, I wanted to test the reaction of all parties, I didn't take the family's land for nothing, I bought it at a price two percent higher than the market price!" These families can get cash by selling their land, and they can also be exempted from paying part of the property tax, and there is nothing to lose, right? Why should they object, do they just focus on the annual output of the land? ”

"The Lord doesn't know anything."

Wu Conghan said: "My subordinates are from Luoyang, and I was originally mixed in the market, so I know the thoughts of the children of these families very well. Naturally, they don't look down on the little output of their hard work, and these families don't give up large tracts of land, just to use the land to control the hidden households and increase the population dependent on their families. ”

Li Congyan immediately understood that in this era, population is equivalent to strength, these families control a large number of people through land, and once the family has something, they can pull up a certain number of people from it, which is a means for the family to settle down, and naturally will not give in.

Li Congyan shook his head, he still looked at the problem from a modern perspective, and naturally thought about it biasedly, this is a big problem, and he should pay special attention to it in the future: "I understand!" ”

"If only the Lord understood. Therefore, it is logical that the families from all over the country oppose the acquisition of land by the Thorn Mansion, they will not sell it, and the price will not be high. ”

Li Congyan stood up abruptly and said, "Logical? Dengzhou's land, the family accounted for eight points, they would rather let the land be wasted than take it out for sale, they would rather watch the bones of the poor people in the wilderness, than relieve the people, this is also logical! Which is the truth of Shun? ”

"But all the families in the world are like this, and the saints are helpless about it, the Lord cares about the people, and I admire them, but the Lord can't shake the way of the world."

Li Congyan asked, "Do you remember what I said to you when we first arrived in Dengzhou?" I want to ask for the people's lives, instead of watching the people of Dengzhou be displaced and hungry! How to ask for the people's lives? I'm just going to start with the land! ”

"As a record officer and joining the army, you should know how many people in Dengzhou are ruined because of poverty, how many people are left in the grass for their livelihood, and how many families are willing to stand up to help the people?"

Speaking of this, Li Congyan seemed to see countless ragged people gathered, they were skinny but they looked at death as home, they were desperate in their hearts but their eyes were very firm, they roared and waved the hoes and sticks in their hands, sweeping the entire Dengzhou like a hurricane, leaving only broken walls and ruins, and countless corpses and mountains of blood!

"Emperor Taizong once said: The king is the boat, the people are the water, and the water can carry the boat or overturn the boat! I don't want to be swallowed up by countless homeless people one day! ”

After hearing this, Wu Conghan was infected, and immediately crossed his hands and said: "The lord has the world in his heart, and his subordinates admire him to the extreme!" This time, the subordinates will do their best, and please show the Lord! ”

For Li Congyan, although at present, with the income of the Liuli Workshop and the Haiyan Workshop, as well as the support of taxes such as mineral deposit taxes and commercial taxes in various places, the treasury of the Thorn History Mansion is very abundant, but these are only temporary.

In the future, the new army will definitely expand on a large scale, and it will be several times larger, and it will also expand its territory, which will cost a lot of money and food. With the current income, it is simply not able to support it. In the next step, Li Congyan's plans to build could not be carried out smoothly, and it was even more distant to support real industry and commerce in Dengzhou, and then implement it in the world.

What worries Li Congyan even more is that the current ruling foundation of Dengzhou is too weak, if the ordinary people are not settled well, and the people of Dengzhou cannot be fed, even if they lay down more territory, it will be in vain, without a stable and thriving base, the slightest carelessness will be lost!

Li Congyan said: "At present, although the Assassin Mansion has recruited displaced people to reclaim some wasteland, and has also divided a lot of land in previous seizures, these are far from enough, and they cannot alleviate the grim fact of land annexation in Dengzhou. Therefore, it is still necessary to let the local families sell the land, and there is no room for maneuver in this matter. ”

"Lord, during this time, I have also been inquiring around, but the Li family in Dengzhou has not been idle. This time, the attitude of the families in various places is so resolute, presumably the role of the Li family in Dengzhou is not small. ”

Li Congyan sneered, he had already thought of this: "Li Jian naturally will not be idle, he is very life-sparing, and he doesn't have the courage to fight hard with the Assassin Mansion, but he still has the courage to secretly make the Assassin Mansion bad, and there are still many bad ideas!" ”

"Now the Li family in Dengzhou has a lot of weight in speaking, and families from all over Dengzhou are basically looking at the face of the Li family in Dengzhou. If you want to buy the land controlled by the family, you must first take the Li family in Dengzhou, otherwise it will be difficult to succeed in this matter. Lord, this is very difficult! ”

Li Congyan pondered for a while, according to Li Congyan's memory, it won't be long before something happens in the Luoyang Imperial Court, and if nothing happens, Emperor Li Siyuan should not live for two years.

"Will the 5,000 new army in my hands be able to gain a foothold in troubled times?"

Li Congyan's heart was weak for a while, no matter how strong the more than 5,000 soldiers and horses were, it was impossible to survive the stormy waves of the troubled times, not to mention that there were Khitan iron cavalry in the north, as well as the world-famous henchmen and leather room army!

Thinking of this, Li Congyan turned his heart and said: "I originally wanted to take what I need from all over the world, I will pay for it, and they will get the land, so as to remove the hidden danger of Dengzhou land annexation as soon as possible, so that the family and the people can get benefits and get rich together." But now it seems that I thought it was too simple! ”

Wu Conghan saw that Li Congyan's face gradually turned cold, and his heart was suddenly shocked, and he hurriedly said: "The Lord means ......"

"Humph!"

Li Congyan said coldly: "The matter of the land is a hornet's nest hanging on top of my Li Congyan's head, and this hidden danger will be poked down sooner or later!" ”

"Calm down, Lord!"

"I'm calm."

Li Congyan said: "In the name of the Assassin's Mansion, I will go to various families, including the Li family in Dengzhou!" Tell them that I will meet them in three days to discuss the acquisition of land at the Assassin's House. I'll talk to them one last time, just once! ”

When Wu Conghan heard this, he knew that Li Congyan had become murderous, and he couldn't help but be shocked.