Nanping, Jiangling Prefecture, fifty-five-year-old Gao Congjie is already very old.
He stood on the palace wall of the Nanping Prince's Mansion and looked at a horse riding in the distance, feeling very uneasy.
Nanping Kingdom is located south of Xiangzhou and is the smallest among all the kingdoms in the world.
However, it is located in a strategic location, with fertile land and the benefits of fishing from the Yangtze River.
Therefore, although there are only three states and seventeen counties, the number of people is still over 14,000 or 3,000, with a population of nearly 800,000.
The founder of Nanping was Gao Congjie's father, Gao Jixing. He was the domestic slave of Zhu Wen's adopted son Zhu Yourang. Because he was brave in battle and eloquent, he was favored by Zhu Wen and asked Zhu Yourang to adopt Gao Jixing as his adopted son.
Therefore, Gao Jixing was nominally Zhu Wen's righteous grandson. After the fall of Zhu Liang, Gao Jixing took advantage of the situation and became the master of a country from the post of Jingnan Jiedushi of Houliang.
However, the reputations of father and son Gao Jixing and Gao Congjie are not very good. The father and son are collectively called Gao Laizi. They are fond of each other, which is beneficial and they can do anything.
Gao Congjiao was a man who was better than his master. He was a strange person among the kings of the country at that time. He was famous for being shameless and loved to do two things in his life.
The first thing is to recognize the boss everywhere. He recognizes the Hou Tang Dynasty in the Central Plains, the Later Jin Dynasty, the eldest brother Hou Shu and the Southern Tang Dynasty on both sides of the Yangtze River. He recognizes Ma Chu who is about the same strength as him in the south.
Even with people like Nan Han and Wang Min, he was able to curry favor with them and treat them as vassal states.
You know, Wang Min's national power is probably not as strong as that of Nanping.
What you are asking for is, of course, a reward. If you become the emperor, I, Lao Gao, will become your vassal and become your minister. Three melons and two dates cannot be spent.
Ugh! At the beginning, all the countries despised Gao Congjie's character and called him a scoundrel who came to beg for food. It was at this time that the name of Gao Congjie became popular.
But later, after the kings of various countries proclaimed themselves emperors, they suddenly began to reward Gao Congjie lavishly, fearing that he would not pay tribute.
why?
It's very simple! All the countries in the world are standing side by side. You think you can claim the title of emperor with your holy literature, divine power and martial arts, but even Gao Congjiao and Gao Laizi don't come to proclaim themselves ministers. How can you have the face to proclaim yourself emperor?
So in the end, when someone from each country wanted to proclaim himself emperor, they would even notify Gao Congjie in advance and ask him to pay tribute and become a minister. The level of magic is evident.
The second thing Gao Congjie loved to do was to rob and detain missions and even business groups from various countries going to the Central Plains.
Nanping is stuck in Jiangling Prefecture (Jingzhou), an important transportation hub on the Yangtze River. Most of the southern countries going north to the Central Plains and Meng Shu to connect with the Southern Tang Dynasty have to take this road.
Therefore, Gao Congjie made full use of the geographical advantages, gave full play to his own specialties, and embarked on the crime of "I opened this road and planted this tree."
Gao Congjiao's idea of drilling holes in the sky was ruined for all the large business groups and missions heading north.
Of course, Gao Laizi's methods were very mild. He did not kill people or rob them directly. He usually detained people from business groups or missions in the Nanping military camp or other places, and then waited to see the owner's reaction.
The owner sent someone to discuss it carefully, and he would pay a ransom, which would not be too much. Anyway, it was within the scope of the owner's ability to consider himself unlucky.
If the enemy wanted to raise troops to attack him, Gao Congjie would deploy his troops and generals as if he would not hesitate to fight.
Secretly, they bribed the owner's confidants to persuade them in private and try to trick them. In the end, the owner basically admitted that he was unlucky and spent money to eliminate the disaster.
Of course, it would be cool if the owner of the property just ignored him. Gao Congjie would usually wait for a month or two. If the owner really didn't come to ask for it, he would keep the property and drive the person away.
Gao Congjie and Liu Yuan of the Southern Han Dynasty were truly an indescribable pair.
A shameless beggar who goes around and likes to be a bandit and rob people on the road.
One turned all his ministers into eunuchs, and then often led the navy to sea as pirates.
However, objectively speaking, Gao Congjie's ability to govern the country is at least a few steps ahead of Liu Yuan's.
This person goes rogue everywhere, not to satisfy his selfish desires, but to strengthen the Nanping Kingdom.
At home, he could respect civil servants and generals, treat virtuous and corporal officers with courtesy, lived simply in food and clothing, liked to read classics and historical works, and was able to avoid simple punishments and light corvee and low taxes.
In his hands, Nanping Kingdom has always been quite stable and prosperous.
The people of Nanping are extremely grateful to the Gao family and his son for protecting them in troubled times, and this is what the people want.
This is also the key reason why Nanping, a small and weak country, can still survive well in the cracks of major powers.
It can be said that among the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms, Gao Congjie was the third person in governance ability after Zhou Shizong Guo Rong and Wu Yue King Qian Miao.
It's a pity that Nanping is too small. Gao Congjie tried to expand several times, but he won first and then lost because of his small size. In the end, his efforts were in vain.
No, Gao Congjie, who was already in his sixties, made another huge mistake. When he learned the result of the battle between Yongliao and Luoyang in his mansion, he passed out directly.
Because when Yelu Deguang first entered the Central Plains and Zhang Zhao had not sent out troops, Gao Congjie made accurate judgments based on more than ten years of paying attention to the political situation in the Central Plains.
He judged that the Khitans would not stay in the Central Plains for long, and according to the world practice since the Later Tang and the Later Jin Dynasty, Gao Congjie believed that the one who finally had the ability to clean up the mess and establish a new dynasty must be Liu Zhiyuan, who was born in Daibei Wuxun and was always popular.
.
Therefore, Gao Congjie decided to make a bet in advance. According to his usual style, he went to the Khitan people to express their surrender and pick up Yelu Deguang's wool.
On the other hand, he secretly sent an envoy to communicate with Liu Zhiyuan, expressing that Nanping was willing to support Liu Zhiyuan in proclaiming himself emperor.
It can even supply grain, grass, soldiers and horses, as long as Liu Zhiyuan hands over Yingzhou (Zhongxiang, Hubei) to his management after the matter is completed.
Shortly after the emissary set off, the situation in the world further confirmed Gao Congjie's judgment. The Khitan people not only conquered the Central Plains violently, but also raided grass and valleys. For a time, there was a surge of resistance.
At this time, a piece of news deeply stimulated Gao Congjie.
That was Li Jing, the leader of the Wu and Tang Dynasties, who received the surrender of Hu Cile, the military commander of the Wuning Army in Xuzhou of the Later Jin Dynasty.
Wu Tang took the opportunity to annex his territory Haizhou to Xuzhou, renamed it Huaihai Jiedushi, and stationed himself in Xuzhou.
Li Jing conferred the titles of Hu Cile as the Grand Protector of the School, the Military Envoy of Huaihai, the Military Commander of the Wuning Army, the Duke of Xu, and was given the title of 5,000 pieces of colorful silk and 20 million in money.
He also transferred the Jianwu Army from the north of the Yangtze River to Xuzhou to assist in the defense. He appointed Hu Ci's eldest son Hu Wei as the deputy commander of the Longwu Army of the Imperial Army of the Southern Tang Dynasty. He went to Jiangningfan, the capital of the Wu and Tang Dynasties, to stay as a guard and used his clan daughter as his wife.
By this time, the Southern Tang Dynasty basically had Huainan land.
It has always been said that to defend the Yangtze River, one must defend the Huaihe River. Whether the Jiangnan regime can survive is completely different with or without Huainan.
In addition to Wang Min's repeated encounter last year and Zhu Wenjin's regicide and independence, Li Jing took the opportunity to send General Zha Wenhui to lead an attack and completely destroyed Wang Min.
Against the background of the great chaos in the Central Plains, Wu Tang, who regarded himself as the clan of the Tang Dynasty, actually gained the momentum of being the greatest country in the world.
Gao Congjie's jealous eyes turned red. Why? Why did Gao Congjie, who had worked hard for seventeen years, not do as well as Li Jing, the second generation ancestor?
So Gao Laizi couldn't wait for the messenger to come back, so he decided to make enough food and clothing by himself.
Huh! I, a high-profile kid, have been pretending to be a grandson for most of my life, why can’t I stand up for myself?
Wu and Tang could touch the territory of the Central Plains, but we, Nanping, couldn't touch it?
So Gao Congjie first sent ten thousand naval troops up the Han River to attack Xiangzhou.
Although the people on Shannan West Road were panicked at this time, Xiangzhou Defense Commander Jiao Jixun had great prestige. He personally went to the city head and led the soldiers and civilians to defend the city. The Nanping navy could not take any advantage and could only withdraw in disgrace.
Then Gao Congjie, who was unwilling to give up, sent another 6,000 infantry troops to attack Yingzhou. The result this time was even worse.
Yin Shi, the governor of Yingzhou, heard about the arrival of the Nanping army. Instead of being afraid, he was very excited and felt that the opportunity to make meritorious deeds had arrived.
So, the Nanping Army, who said they were going to capture Yingzhou, were stopped and beaten by Yin Shi and hundreds of warriors before they reached Yingzhou City.
The 2,000 men at the vanguard of the Nanping Army collapsed at the first touch, which then led to the collapse of the entire army. The damaged troops retreated to Nanping, and only close to 4,000 men were gathered.
This battle was so shameful that Gao Congjie, who was in Jiangling, was so angry that he lay in bed for several days.
As a result, today at just one o'clock, I woke up and drank a bowl of sugar porridge, and the bad news came.
The person in front of Gao Congjie was a Jiangling businessman. The businessman had received orders from the envoy of the State of Zhou and came to inform Gao Congjie that he should prepare to clean his butt and prepare for a slap in the face.
"The Khitan army of 100,000 people was completely wiped out? Even the leader of the Khitan Kingdom, Yelu Deguang, died?" Gao Congjie asked the merchant in a scream, almost in tears.
Damn your mother, aren’t you Khitans riding cavalry outside the Great Wall like the wind?
If you can't win, you can't run away. Even the emperor died in the battle. Isn't it a shame?
You should at least hold on for a few more fucking months so that I can have a chance to make amends for my mistake!
Gao Congjie, who was on the verge of collapse, sent greetings to all eight generations of Yelu Deguang's ancestors.
"Back to your Majesty, this is absolutely true. When the servant came to Kaifeng Mansion in Tokyo, the Khitan masters were all transformed into emperors and returned north.
It is said that tens of thousands of Khitan heads were chopped off under Yanshi City, and the city was built as a temple. Many people saw it with their own eyes."
Gao Congjie believed what the merchant said, because the merchant's whole family was in Jiangling, so he dared to say whether he wanted the whole family's life?
"Do you know where the angel of Zhou is? Are you trying to scare you?"
Gao Congjie still refused to believe that things had reached this point, and asked with luck.
The businessman shook his head like a rattle, "When I started to leave, the Emperor of Zhou appointed Zhou State General Er Zhujing as the military envoy, leading the Zhou State's 2,000 forbidden troops and 1,500 Wei Sheng army tooth soldiers, who were already heading south.
, Li Gongcunhui, the adopted son of the emperor, even asked his servant to bring a message to the king."
"What are you talking about? Tell me more." Gao Congjie asked cautiously with the last glimmer of hope in his heart.
The merchant's expression became a little strange, and he replied hesitantly: "Li Gong asked his servant to ask the king, since the Gao family has submitted to all directions, why does it not submit to the Zhou Dynasty alone?
Is it because the Sixth Army of the Emperor is not powerful enough, or does the King feel that Jiangling City is impregnable?"
"I have been cautious all my life, but I made such a big mistake when I was old. My Gao family's ancestral temple is in danger!"
After saying that, Gao Congjie hammered his chest fiercely. He felt extremely depressed. Suddenly, his face was like gold paper, he screamed, a mouthful of blood spurted out, and he passed out again.
Just when Gao Congjie passed out and died, 3,500 people led by Er Zhujing had actually arrived in Xiangzhou.
The position of Jiedu Envoy of Shannan West Road, where Xiangzhou is located, has not been established since An Congjin's rebellion. Jiao Jixun has always been in charge of the work in the name of Xiangzhou Defense Envoy.
Jiao Jixun, a native of Xuzhou, had great ambitions when he was young. He once said, "A man should make meritorious deeds in foreign lands and win the title of marquis from ten thousand households. How can he be diligent in writing and inkstone!"
However, the current situation was chaotic, and Jiao Jixun did not get the opportunity to express his ambition. Instead, he became a country knight, basically doing nothing except fighting injustices.
It was not until he went to see Shi Jingtang dressed in Confucian scholar's clothes, and the two had a long talk that he was given an important position, and he made great achievements in guarding Tiannan for several years.
In fact, it was Jiao Jixun who suppressed the An Congjin rebellion a few years ago, and also gave the Southern Tang Dynasty a beating.
The reason why Jiao Jixun did not go to Tokyo to pay homage to Yelu Deguang was also very simple. First, Gao Congjie was causing trouble and he could not leave.
Second, he was promoted by Shi Jingtang. Feeling Shi Jingtang's kindness, Jiao Jixun did not want to pay homage to the Khitans who destroyed Shi Jin.
Of course, there is another internal reason, that is, how could a man like Jiao Jixun, who had little ambition and whose idol was Ban Chao, be willing to surrender to Hu Lu.
Zhang Zhao now sent Zhu Jing to go south with 3,500 men, but he was not replacing Jiao Jixun.
On the contrary, after the Khitans entered the Central Plains, among the three powerful local factions who did not go to court, Liu Zhiyuan's intentions were well known to everyone.
Huchile, on the other hand, had gained huge benefits by joining the Southern Tang Dynasty, so of course he would not go to worship the Khitan.
Only Jiao Jixun didn't do any good, so he just resisted and didn't go to worship.
No matter what his reasons are, looking at it at this time, he is a very loyal minister!
He is the moral model that Emperor Zhang wants to set up and reward, so who would send someone to take his place?
In fact, Zhang Zhao asked Jiao Jixun to stay in Xiangzhou, and the edict to promote him to Shannan West Road Jiedushi was almost ready.
But Jiao Jixun personally wrote a letter with sincere words, requesting to come to Tokyo to see Zhang Zhao.
What is this? This is knowing how to behave and having a pattern!
Yelu De couldn't even invite him. As soon as Zhang Zhao entered Tokyo, he personally wrote a letter earnestly asking to come. He gave Emperor Zhang such great honor, how could he not be reused?
Zhang Zhao immediately agreed to Jiao Jixun's request and sent Zhu Jing to lead his army south to replace him.
When Er Zhujing arrived at Xiangzhou City, Jiao Jixun even packed up the salute, and the handover ceremony between the two was held outside the city gate.
It was also the first time for Er Zhujing to encounter such a scene, and he was a little embarrassed for a moment. It seemed that he, Er Zhujing, couldn't wait to be the governor of Shannan West Road.
Jiao Jixun laughed and said to Er Zhujing: "General, don't be surprised. A few years ago, I heard about the emperor's reputation for benevolence and wanted to pay him a visit. However, the mountains are high and the road is far away, and I have responsibilities.
Since I have arrived in Tokyo today, I naturally want to go and see you right away."
People like to hear compliments, and Er Zhujing is no exception. Exaggerating is more useful than praising himself, so he immediately bowed to Jiao Jixun.
"Jiao Gong said this, I feel relieved. The emperor has been in Tokyo for a long time, looking forward to meeting Jiao Gong."
So the two began to quickly deliver soldiers, money, food, horses, stomachs, etc.
When the delivery was about to be completed, Jiao Jixun looked at Er Zhujing and asked: "General, does he know what is the most important thing on Shannan West Road at the moment?"
Er Zhujing raised his hand and said, "Are you going to ask Mr. Jiao for advice? I heard that the Gao family in Nanping has always been coveting Xiangzhou?"
Jiao Jixun shook his head, "Nanping is a small and weak country, and Gao Congji has grown old. If he had known that the emperor had defeated a hundred thousand Khitan elites and cut off Yao's bones, he would not have dared to come up and stroke the tiger's beard, and it would be too late to kneel down and beg for mercy.
What the general is worried about should be the mighty army and teeth soldiers under your command.
Three years ago, they were ordered to go north to attack the Liao Dynasty, but they were kidnapped by Song Yanyun and surrendered to the Khitan people, and were subsequently defeated by the emperor.
Tomato free reading
After serving in the army for three years, he was able to return home. Only 20 to 30 people out of 10 returned home.
What's more, some people expected that they would die in the north and not be able to return south. In addition, Dengzhou's Wei Sheng Army had never appointed Jiedu envoys.
Therefore, the powerful military leaders took the opportunity to quarrel with the soldiers, and the dissatisfaction among the superiors and subordinates was like a mountain fire.
The Duke is the emperor's heart and should report this matter to everyone immediately.
Dengzhou is stuck on the main road between Xiangzhou and the imperial court. Once trouble breaks out and Xiangzhou is corrupted, then it will really be unable to suppress Nanping and Wutang, and disaster will be close at hand."
Er Zhujing was in a hurry and did not stop when he passed Dengzhou. Therefore, he did not know that the situation in Dengzhou had deteriorated so much, so he bowed respectfully to Jiao Jixun.
"In this case, please ask Duke Jiao to appoint a few people who are familiar with the situation in Dengzhou. After a certain family conducts a brief investigation, they will immediately submit a letter to the emperor."
.
.
Gao Congjie was furious and vomited blood. Jiao Jixun was selling Zhang Zhao in Lirenzhu and waiting to be reused. Er Zhujing, who was serving as a senior official for the first time, was also carefully learning to govern the place.
Zhao Pu, however, lived his life as a mad dog, the kind of vicious dog with sharp teeth and a sharp mouth that could bite anyone with a single bite and bleed profusely.
Having him here is truly the blessing of Tokyo Lanruo, the kind of 'blessing that can only be cultivated after several lifetimes of doing evil!'
After being appointed by Zhang Zhao as Yuan Wailang of the Department of Household Affairs, and asking the envoys in brocade to cooperate with him, Zhao Pu tasted the sweetness of power for the first time. It was so dizzying!
As soon as he got the official position, the deputy commander of the Jinyi Messenger, who beat his brother Zhao Anyi and coveted his beautiful sister-in-law, immediately became brothers with him.
He used to look like a ferocious city fox and a community rat, but now he behaved like a little sheep in front of him.
In the past, a single amount of money could make the whole family ecstatic, but this time, the emperor gave him thirty pieces of money and a large amount of silk, cloth and brocade.
When these belongings were picked up for him by several household clerks and helpers to take home, his wife's illness seemed to have improved a lot, and her face had a look of vitality that symbolized hope.
The sister-in-law's pretty peach-like face looked at him with watery peach-blossom eyes, full of admiration, and her younger brother Zhao Anyi was even more excited and rolling around the room.
What is this? This is power!
This is the glory that power can bring to a man!
And this is just a little bit of power. How glorious would it be to be in positions like Privy Councilor, Attendant, and Minister? Zhao Pu no longer dared to think about it.
So the next day, Zhao Pu led the spies and household officials led by the Jin Yi messenger to find six places where Lanruo Bank would hide stolen goods.
After confirming that there was conclusive evidence, Zhao Pu once again brought his envoys in brocade to ask Zhang Zhao for an army and raided the secret base of Lanruo Qianzhuanghui where monks and thugs were kept.
Hundreds of people were arrested at one time, and a large number of heavy weapons such as crossbows, armors, spears, axes, and hammers were confiscated.
I also dug out the bank account books by the way. In this way, I don't even have to do statistics. I can just do the same thing.
Good guy! When Zhang Zhao got the report, he was shocked. These monks were far more courageous than he thought.
Not only are there monk soldiers, but there are also bows and crossbows, eh! We can directly charge them with rebellion, which is a perfect cover.
So Zhang Zhao, who was originally just planning to take back the bank and swallow the ill-gotten wealth, quickly used this as a breakthrough and directly confiscated a secretly hidden crossbow from Lan Ruo's bank, intending to assassinate the king and usurp the throne.
The charge of rebellion.
As for why the monks rebelled? Well...it's not easy to explain. It can't be said that the master in charge of Daxiangguo Temple wants to be the emperor, right?
But fortunately, so far, no one with a bad brain has come forward to question it.
However, Zhang Zhao, who was eager to stabilize the political situation, took the initiative not to involve Lan Ruo from Tokyo, but limited the word rebellion to the Qianzhuanghui.
Of course, this was only superficially irrelevant, but on the inside, the upper-middle-class monks in various temples were all controlled by Zhang Zhao.
Anyone who dares to chirp will immediately be labeled as an accomplice or even the mastermind of the bank association.
After these monks, who can be said to be the richest in the world, discussed for several days, they had no choice but to admit defeat. Who would dare to collect bows, crossbows, and stomachs?
Although these things were actually hidden secretly by them at that time in order to protect their assets and deal with the Khitan roving cavalry, how can it be said clearly now?
As a result, Tokyo Gelanruo spit out a large amount of land acquired through defection, annexation, and seizure in the chaotic situation, paid a large amount of grain and grass as fines, and handed over control of the bank association.
Of course, it’s just the right to control, but the right to share profits is still there.
Zhang Zhao chuckled. He deliberately reserved this for the great monks to reassure them.
The Bank Association is not a simple organization, it is a whole set of financial organizations!
A large commercial bank that could undertake mortgages, loans, deposit-taking, remittances and other functions, now fell into Zhang Zhao's hands, and also gained the power to issue currency, and suddenly became a central bank.
If you think about it, you will know how huge the profits are just from issuing currency. Compared with its other functions, a mere profit is not worth mentioning at all.
And even these profits are only temporarily accumulated in the hands of the great monks.
After Zhang Zhao dealt with Liu Zhiyuan, dealt with Li Jing, the leader of the Southern Tang Dynasty who had been violent recently, and stabilized the situation, he had plenty of time to deal with them.
There's just one key issue that Zhang Zhao hasn't thought about yet.
Qianzhuanghui, which currently has more than 300 employees, should it be turned into a government department?
Or will it be taken over by the royal family?
Or become a central bank with special status like in later generations? He has not yet thought clearly.
But this does not prevent Zhang Zhao from starting his plan to win over people's hearts.
After Liu Tao, Zhang Lieming and Zhao Pu selected the gold and silver jewelry of the Tokyo people that clearly bore the mark, Zhang Zhao did not immediately return them to the people of Tokyo.
Instead, he planned carefully to maximize the benefits of this matter.
This chapter has been completed!