The spring of the first year of Tianyou's reign was not so good for Lu Long. Although Hebei's military and civil affairs had leapt to a new level under the strong execution of the General Military Staff Office and the Magistrate's Office, external
The environment appears to be getting worse.
Because Xuanwu temporarily gave up the idea of standing on behalf of the Tang Dynasty and threw out the strategy of "following the Warring States Period", the whole situation took a turn for the worse. One piece of bad news spread to Youzhou one after another, which made the entire Lulong high-level civil and military personnel feel depressed.
There was a heavy layer of haze.
His best ally Li Keyong suffered from an eye sore and unfortunately died of illness. Hedong had already formed a de facto split. Li Cunxu, who lacked prestige, hurried back to Jinzhou and succeeded the Jin Dynasty with the support of his uncle Li Kening and the military supervisor Zhang Chengye.
position. However, his strength was not enough to continue the offensive against the Xuanwu Army, so he had to retreat north to Jinyang, hoping to hold on to this lair that the Li family considered their foundation.
Wang Shifan, the military commander of Pinglu Jiedu who once strongly supported him, suddenly became ambiguous. Liu Wei, who had been holding Yanzhou for nearly two years, gave up this important town and led his army back to Qingzhou safely. A sensible person could tell at a glance that Pinglu and Xuanwu
A certain tacit understanding has been reached between them.
Zhang Anbei, a member of the United Front Work Department of Lulong Jiedu Prefecture, who had been stationed in Fengxiang for just one year, unsuccessfully sought to see King Qi several times, and the post where he lived began to be monitored and restricted by the Fengxiang Army; the United Front Work Department, which was thriving in Qiantang,
Yu Lai, a Khitan man, had a similar experience when he joined the army. Senior officials from Wu and Yue who had known each other well before began to slowly avoid interacting with him.
High-level secret meetings were held in Prince Yan's Mansion in Youzhou for three consecutive days to discuss countermeasures.
The three tiger generals of Hedong, Li Sizhao, Li Siyuan and Zhou Dewei, have already adjusted their army deployment. With the support of Xuanwu's grain and fodder, they have the intention of raising troops to invade Jinyang north. The young King of Jin Li Cunxu sent a formal request for help to the Yan Palace, and he personally revised the letter
A letter to sincerely request support from "Uncle" Li Chengzhong.
Li Cunxu said that after his father's death, the soldiers in Hedong were separated. In just a few days, thousands of soldiers fled to Jinzhou. If it had not been for the strong suppression of his uncle Li Kening and the military supervisor Zhang Chengye, the Black Crow Army would have almost collapsed. I heard that Liang
The king took up the banner of "respecting the king and rejecting the barbarians", and the next step was to launch an attack on the Shatuo people.
Li Cunxu said that although his family was born in Shatuo, both father and son have always been favored by the emperor and have been listed on the lintel of the Tian family. They have always regarded themselves as Tang people and have supported the Tang Dynasty for decades. They are loyal and have never had any different intentions. His father and
Huang Chao fought, fought against Qin Zongquan, and fought against various rebel towns that were not loyal to Li Tang. He never slacked off, but now he is fighting for the vassals all over the world. It is really depressing.
Li Cunxu asked Li Chengzhong, are the Shatuo people not Tang people? Are the Li family members who yearn for the Tang Dynasty really a foreign race? Li Cunxu also said: Although my family, the Li family, is Shatuo, they wear Chinese clothes and guard Xia.
I wish to be a Tang person for generations to come. I hope His Highness King Yan can tell me clearly whether he is a Tang person or not?
"The blood of our ancestors has no choice. How can we stop what our heart desires?"
Seeing the sadness revealed in Li Cunxu's words, Li Cheng felt very uncomfortable. Li Chengzhong always believed that the Tang Dynasty was tolerant and that China was as deep as the sea. The reason why China could stand in the East for a long time was because she could
, and are also willing to absorb members of all ethnic groups who sincerely join this big family. Of course, except for those foreign ethnic groups who want to ride on China's head and dominate, and treat the Chinese as slaves.
If the foreigners who sincerely surrendered to the Tang Dynasty were excluded because of their bloodline, then not only Hedong would be in dire straits. Lulong, which he led, would also fall apart. After four years of governance, the various ethnic groups outside the pass under Lulong's rule,
Including Bohai, Silla, Khitan, Kumoxi, Shiwei, Tuyuhun, etc., they have gradually integrated into the Han family. They are contributing to the development of Hebei all the time: paying taxes, grazing cattle, sheep and horses, and cultivating the land.
, join the army... Without these various ethnic groups who are becoming the "New Han people", Lulong's development will slow down at least half, and the rule outside the pass will always be unstable!
Thanks to the efforts of Zhou Zhiyu, the governor of Yingzhou, in the past two years, the original Khitan governance model of separation of powers of Khan-Da Yue-Yili Jin has gradually weakened. The military and political characteristics of the Khitan Ten-Ministry Alliance are disappearing, and it has begun to shift towards trade and trade.
In terms of cultural transformation, the scale of several settlements such as Raoleshan, Fuyu City, Xincheng, and Huaiyuan Military City has expanded several times, and the various ethnic groups on the grassland are developing from nomadic to settled. Although only the aristocratic class has really settled down,
It is believed that in another ten years, half of the herdsmen will change their lifestyle.
According to statistics from the Magistrate's Office at the end of the first year of Tianyou's first year, the number of registered people of various ethnic groups has reached more than 400,000. This number is increasing by 50,000 every year. The Magistrate predicts that in the next five years, 90% of the grassland ethnic groups will be included in the Yingzhou household registration
Under management. Including the household registrations reported by Balhae Kingdom, Silla Kingdom and Unongjin Prefecture, the number of Dingkou (over 15 years old) under the direct or indirect management of Lulong Jiedu Prefecture outside the customs has reached 4.8 million!
Therefore, the Lulong Jiedu Mansion speculated that after the war in Hedong, King Liang would definitely use this as an excuse to summon the princes of the world to attack Lulong. The relationship between Lulong and Hedong was closely related.
We must not sit idly by and watch Li Cunxu's demise. Everyone understands the meaning of death.
Lulong's senior officials, including Li Chengzhong, all understand that Hedong must not be given up. Hedong is too important, and Li Cunxu's existence is not just as simple as Lulong needing allies.
The Xia was established in Hedong, the Shang Dynasty took Hedong as its belly, the five hegemons of Zhou became the Jin, and the following Qin, Han, Wei, and Jin all relied on Hedong to consolidate the world; the hegemons of the Northern Dynasties and the rise of dragons in the Tang Dynasty all arose from the Jin. For thousands of years, Hedong was the opposite of
The political and military situation in the north and even the Central Plains plays a decisive role.
If you look at it from a simple perspective, this effect depends largely on the geographical situation of Hedong - because it is located on a highland, it is like a roof extending from north to south, overlooking the Central Plains from a high position. If you retreat, you can hold it firmly.
The Taihang River and the Yellow River can flow down to the heart of China at will. This situation made it inevitable for all dynasties and generations to occupy the east of the river to compete for the world.
Therefore, Hedong cannot be lost. With Hedong, only the western part of Hebei will be safe, and we can truly rely on the dangers of Taihang to defend the peace of Lulong together with the Yellow River.
But Lulong faces not only the Hedong problem, but also the Qingqing problem. Bochang is now a military city under the actual control of the Lulong Army. However, except for Bochang, there is no fortress south of the river that can rely on each other. Now Pinglu
It's just an ambiguous attitude. Once the situation becomes clear, Lu Longjun will be prepared to be revenged by Ping Luen.
As for Fengxiang and Wuyue, Li Chengzhong no longer cares about the two towns. It is only a last-ditch effort to retain the permanent envoys of the two towns. Li Chengzhong has already realized that the permanent envoys will be expelled from the two towns.
So, how should we support Jinyang? How should we maintain Bochang? How should we face the pressure from King Liang to "follow the Warring States Period"? How should we deal with the presence of Prince Li Zhen in Youzhou? So many problems left the top brass of the Lu Long Army at a loss.
Young Feng Dao, young Han Yanhui, young Liu Shenzhi, young Zhang Xingzhong, young Jiang Miao, young Zhou Kan, young Li Chengyue, Gao Xingzhou, Gao Xinggui, Wang Sitong, Zhao Ba... this generation...
Lu Long is very young and they have no experience in dealing with such a complicated political situation.
As for the elders Zhou Zhiyu, Guo Bingcheng, Zhang Zaiji, etc., they are limited to long-term middle and lower-level official positions, and they also do not have good coping strategies and vision.
What to do, Li Chengzhong, a similarly young time traveler, had no idea. Li Chengzhong was very anxious. He once sighed long nights and secretly laughed at himself. Maybe he was the only time traveler who was about to face an attack by all the forces in the world? Isn’t it terrible?
What about failure?
The military meeting lasted for three days, with no results. No one knew how to reverse such a dangerous situation. In Li Chengzhong's words, King Liang lowered his profile, corrected his position, and temporarily gave up his ambition to become emperor, paying such a heavy price.
, and the rewards were astonishing. Because he knew the general direction of history, Li Chengzhong understood very well that King Liang’s strategy must be to pool the world’s resources and eliminate the primary enemy first. After Hedong and Hebei were eliminated, there would be no more enemies in the world.
If you resist and change your course when the time comes, who can stop you?
But Li Chengzhong understood that, but it did not mean that the feudal lords all over the world understood that everyone thought that this was the real "implementation of the Warring States Period". Everyone thought that the Tang Dynasty would usher in the three generations of rule in ancient times, and that everyone could safely protect the Emperor of the Tang Dynasty.
, each ran their own small court, and their family traditions were passed down for thousands of years. If King Liang hadn't insisted on using Youzhou as the boundary to separate the southern states of Hebei, I'm afraid many people in Lulong would support King Liang's policy.
The military meeting was fruitless, so Li Chengzhong had no choice but to order Lu Long to join the alliance. This was his most basic understanding that he could not isolate himself from the princes of the world. In any case, this time, the Eastern Metropolis League, which was related to the general trend of the world, Lu Long had to
Send people to participate, even if you can't get the results you want, you must try your best and strive for it, and you must listen and see for yourself to know what the princes in the world think.
Han Yanhui was temporarily named Secretary-General of Prince Yan's Palace. Lu Longjin sent an envoy and was ordered to go to the Eastern Capital on behalf of Li Chengzhong. He set out from Youzhou on March 23. In order to arrive in Luoyang before April 1, he
He only brought four personal guards, each with two horses, packed the simplest luggage and hurriedly set out on the road. He traveled 1,500 miles in seven days. Even if he brought the document inviting the alliance from the King of Liang, he would not be able to withstand it.
The Xuanwu Army's resistance was also a very difficult journey.
At the same time, Li Chengzhong established the King of Yan's office in Handan, the ancient city of Mingzhou. Except for a few remaining personnel, the Military General Staff Office and the Magistrate's Office all moved south to Handan, reducing the distance from Luoyang by half to facilitate communication.
A war with the Prime Minister is very likely to come.