At present, the separatist forces of the Tang Dynasty are divided into three categories: vassal towns, warlords and garrisons.
The imperial court in the feudal town only recognized four people, Zhu Si, the military governor of Youzhou, Li Baochen, the military governor of Chengde, Tian Chengsi, the military governor of Weibo, and Li Zhengji, the military governor of Ziqing.
Secondly, the warlord category includes Huaixi Jiedushi Li Xilie, Hedong Jiedushi deputy envoy Tian Shenyu, Xusi Jiedushi Wang Zhongsheng, Jingxiang Jiedushi Lai Qi, Xiangwei Jiedushi Xue Song, and Huapu Jiedushi Li Lingyao.
Next is the garrison category, which currently includes Guo Ziyi of the Caozhou Army, Zhang Boyi of the Boying Army, and Wei Zhi of the Jiangnan Army.
As for the garrison troops stationed in various places of Guanlong Army, they are nothing but troops sent by Li Ye.
The biggest difference between garrison and warlord is that the garrison general can be transferred back to the court at any time, while warlords find various reasons to refuse to return to the court.
The money and food for the garrison were borne by the court, while the warlords were between the garrison and the feudal town.
At present, warlords are also divided into two major categories, one is more focused on garrisoning, and the main ones are Xue Song, the military envoy to guard Jiedushi, and Laigui, the military envoy to Jingxiang.
Then the other four warlords, Li Xilie, Wang Zhongsheng, Li Lingyao and Tian Shenyu, actively evolved into vassal towns.
If Wang Zhongsheng had not intercepted the imperial ship, then he would have been ranked third and would not be considered until next year, but he had touched the imperial court's bottom line and seriously threatened the imperial court's interests.
Wang Zhongsheng was the first to be targeted by Li Ye.
Wang Zhongsheng's army has exceeded 50,000. Since he wiped out Wang Sili's troops and occupied Songzhou and Bianzhou, Wang Zhongsheng has embarked on the road of vassaling without hesitation.
At present, he occupies the five states of Xu, Si, Hai, Song, and Bian, forming a long and narrow area of influence. However, his territory is not stable. The officials are all duplicitous. They obey him on the surface, but in fact secretly report to the court.
Wang Zhongsheng is about forty years old. He is treacherous and despicable and likes to stab people in the back. Since he defected to the eunuchs and embraced Yu Chaoen's thigh, he has been on a meteoric rise. In just three years, he has become the master of Xu. The warlords of the three states of Si and Hai took advantage of the opportunity of the three kings' rebellion to seize Wang Sili's Bianzhou and Songzhou, thus expanding their territory to five states and their army from 30,000 to 50,000.
Fifty thousand troops is the threshold for a feudal town. During this period, Wang Zhongsheng was actively expanding his strength in order to become a feudal town.
In Songcheng County, Songzhou, 300 cargo ships covered with oilcloth were moored at the Bianhe pier. This fleet was the same cargo that the imperial court intercepted in Fuli County. It was intercepted by the army led by Wang Zhongsheng's third son, Wang Qinian.
Prior to this, Wang Qinian also intercepted 300,000 shi of grain from the Luoyang court, but that was the grain when the eunuch party was in power, so it did not cause any disputes and allowed Wang Zhongsheng and his son to taste the sweetness.
A carriage, escorted by more than a hundred cavalry, arrived at the dock. The carriage stopped. Wang Zhongsheng got out of the carriage and walked directly to the river. Hundreds of civilians were unloading the goods and carrying large sacks ashore.
"What kind of cargo is this?" Wang Zhongsheng asked.
Cang Cao joined the army and quickly bowed and said: "Return to my lord, it's green vitriol!"
Wang Zhongsheng was startled, "What is green vitriol used for?"
"It can be used to refine silver, and it can also be used as medicine."
Wang Zhongsheng originally thought it was money and food, but he didn't expect it was green vitriol that he had never heard of, which made him disappointed.
"How much is this thing worth?"
"Replying to my lord, these three hundred ships weigh about one million jins and are estimated to be worth tens of thousands of guan."
Wang Zhongsheng suddenly said angrily: "It's only tens of thousands of dollars, who would want this crap?"
"Reporting to my lord, there was a Taoist priest who was willing to pay 100,000 yuan to buy this batch of goods. I said that I need your lord's consent."
Wang Zhongsheng nodded, "One hundred thousand yuan is fine, but don't unload the goods. Once you pay, we will deliver it to your door. I will leave this matter to you!"
"I understand the humble position!"
Wang Zhongsheng came excitedly, but returned disappointed. He returned to the government office.
As soon as I arrived at the gate of the official office, I heard a loud Taoist call, "Infinite Heavenly Lord, poor Taoist Zhang Luanzi, I have been waiting for the Jiedu Envoy for a long time."
Of course Wang Zhongsheng knew that Zhang Luanzi was Li Xilie's special envoy. They had interacted with each other many times and became allies through Zhang Luanzi's help.
He quickly ordered the car to stop, stepped out of the carriage and said with a smile, "When did the immortal arrive?"
Zhang Luanzi said with a smile: "I just arrived, I heard that Wang Shijun made a windfall?"
"Hey! I thought it was money and grain, but it turned out to be green vitriol, weighing one million catties, and it wouldn't cost much to sell."
"Green vitriol is the treasure of alchemists. If you find the right buyer, it will be very valuable. If Jiedushi is willing to transfer it, I can buy this batch of goods for 100,000 guan."
It turns out that the Taoist priest Cang Cao was talking about when he joined the army was Zhang Luanzi. Wang Zhongsheng smiled and nodded, "It turns out that the immortal wants it. It's easy to talk! It's easy to talk! Let's go in and talk slowly. Please come in, please!"
"Jiedu envoy please!"
Zhang Luanzi, of course, came to deceive Wang Zhongsheng on Li Xilie's order. When Li Xilie heard in Shouchun that Wang Zhongsheng had intercepted the imperial fleet, he knew that Wang Zhongsheng was a fool.
Now everyone is afraid of being attacked by Li Ye and is shrinking his neck desperately. Wang Zhongsheng is so good that he actually intercepted Li Ye's fleet. Isn't this looking for death?
Li Xilie immediately sent Zhang Luanzi to Songcheng County to continue to trick Wang Zhongsheng into showing up.
Green vitriol was not worth much at all, and no one would ask for a million pounds. However, Zhang Luan was afraid that Wang Zhongsheng would return the goods to the court, so he deliberately said that he was willing to pay a high price to buy the goods.
The two of them sat down separately in the distinguished guest hall, and Wang Zhongsheng asked his soldiers to serve tea.
"That's one million kilograms of green vitriol. I wonder what the immortal will use it for?"
Zhang Luanzi shook his head, "It's not for me, it's for us to refine silver and copper, and we also need boats."
"If we also need a boat, one hundred thousand guan will not be enough."
"I know, eighty thousand taels of silver, how about it?"
Wang Zhongsheng shook his head, "One price, one hundred thousand taels of silver!"
Zhang Luanzi pondered for a moment and said: "It takes time for us to refine silver, and we will deliver it in half a year. We pay one hand and deliver the goods the other hand."
"Don't you need green vitriol to refine silver?"
"We still have tens of thousands of kilograms in stock, but we won't have any more in the future."
Wang Zhongsheng was also worried that the other party would delay the payment, so he smiled and nodded, "Then it's a deal, and the money and goods will be settled in half a year!"
Zhang Luanzi's purpose was to hold Wang Zhongsheng back from returning the goods to the court. When he saw that the other party took the bait, he smiled and said, "That's it. Then I'll talk about today's business!"
Zhang Luanzi pondered for a moment and said: "Jiedushi also knows that my lord is preparing to expand to Jingxiang, but we have Zhang Boyi's 20,000 troops behind us. My lord wants our two families to join forces to remove Zhang Boyi's nail."
Wang Zhongsheng had long had the idea of attacking Bozhou and Yingzhou and seizing Zhang Boyi's army. He asked quietly: "How can we join forces?"
"Two plans. In the first plan, we send out 20,000 troops to attack from south to north, and Jiedushi will be responsible for attacking from north to south. Then the prisoners of war will be given to us and the land will be given to Jiedushi."
Wang Zhongsheng was reluctant. He wanted both prisoners of war and territory, especially Zhang Boyi's 20,000 troops, which were relatively elite. Wang Zhongsheng had already taken a fancy to them.
"What about the second option?"
(End of chapter)
This chapter has been completed!