Zhong Wei believed that Deng Feng still had a high chance of winning the Battle of Duxiang, so now that Liu Xiu appeared on his territory, he could not sit idly by and ignore it.
Under Zhong Wei's order, all the county soldiers and government officials in Caiyang County gathered. Then, the county magistrate Zhong Wei and the county lieutenant Zhang Qing personally led a group of county soldiers and government officials to Chongling.
Caiyang is not a strategic location, it is just a small county town located in the south of Nanyang. The county soldiers and dozens of government officials in the county can barely make up 500 people.
On the way to Chongling, Zhong Weicai suddenly realized a very serious problem. He called the officials who went to Chongling to inquire and asked: "How many soldiers and horses did Liu Xiu bring to Chongling?"
The officials looked at each other in confusion, and one of them said: "Reporting to your lord, there are probably... about a hundred riders."
Zhong Wei raised his eyebrows and asked uncertainly: "Only a hundred riders?"
Several government officials nodded together and said in unison: "That's right, sir! There are indeed only more than a hundred riders, and we can all see it clearly!"
Zhong Wei secretly breathed a sigh of relief. If Liu Xiu only brought more than a hundred cavalry, it would not be impossible to capture Liu Xiu with more than 500 men on his side.
Zhang Qing said from the side: "Liu Xiu's courage is too great. He dared to go deep into Chung Mausoleum with only a hundred cavalry. Sir, it seems that today is the day for us to make a great contribution!"
Zhong Wei thought for a while and said, "Don't be careless. Liu Xiu is not a human being. Since he dares to go to Chongling with only a hundred riders, he must have something to rely on!"
Zhang Qing took a breath and thought about it carefully. Zhong Wei's concerns were not unreasonable. He asked cautiously: "Sir, Liu Xiu... Liu Xiu didn't set up an ambush near Chongling, right?"
"Ah?" Hearing his question, Zhong Wei felt unsure, and felt a chill running down his spine.
He swallowed hard and said: "Why don't we go to Chung Ling, or... let's go back to the city first!"
Zhang Qing thought for a moment, shook his head and said, "Sir, we must go to Chung Ling now!"
"How do you say this?" Zhong Wei looked at him in surprise.
Zhang Qing said: "If you don't go to Chongling this time, Deng Feng will blame you. We really can't explain it. But if you go to Chongling, no matter whether you fight Liu Xiu or not, we will have something to gain from Deng Feng's side."
Say it!"
After hearing this, Zhong Wei thought about it carefully and nodded thoughtfully.
Chung Ling.
Liu Xiu held a banquet at the old house of Liu Liang's family and entertained the whole village.
In the past, the Liu family had a common surname in Chongling, but now the Liu family has basically moved to Luoyang, and there are many fewer people in the village, but even so, the courtyard is full.
There were men and women, old and young, and it was quite lively. Liu Xiu did not sit inside the house, but sat on a mat in the courtyard like all the villagers.
After the banquet started, Liu Xiu picked up his wine glass, raised it to everyone present, and said: "When Xiu was in Chung Ling, I was grateful to all the folks for taking care of me. I am grateful to you. Here, I would like to propose a drink to all of you!"
"Your Majesty is too kind!"
"Your Majesty, you are so cruel to this villain!"
The villagers quickly picked up their wine glasses and toasted to Liu Xiu.
Everyone drank the wine in the cup. As soon as Liu Xiu put down the cup, an older middle-aged man couldn't help but asked: "I heard that your majesty is fighting Deng Feng in Duxiang. I wonder if your majesty is sure about this battle?"
"
Hearing his question, the villagers present all looked at Liu Xiu. This was the question they wanted to ask but did not dare to ask.
Liu Xiu smiled calmly and asked, "What does Uncle Zhang think?"
"Uh..." The middle-aged man hesitated and didn't know how to answer. Zhang Yi glared at him and said loudly: "Since your Majesty can return to Chong Mausoleum to worship his ancestors, it means that your Majesty is fully confident about this battle!"
The villagers present nodded and felt that what Zhang Yi said made sense. Zhang Yi turned to look at Liu Xiu again and asked, "Your Majesty, I wonder if this villain is right?"
Liu Xiu looked up and smiled, praising: "Uncle Zhang's words are very good."
As he spoke, he picked up the wine glass and had a drink with Zhang Yi alone. Liu Xiu's easy-going attitude made the villagers present feel more relaxed, and the atmosphere of the banquet became more and more cheerful.
As everyone drank more and more, people started talking more and more, especially the women who usually loved their parents' shortcomings. They even started chatting and discussed some things about Liu Xiu's childhood.
Among them was a middle-aged woman whose face was red from drinking. She stood up, walked unsteadily to Liu Xiu's table, and said, "Axiu was taciturn and withdrawn when she was young. But who would have thought that Axiu would
When you grow up, you can be so promising and even become the emperor!"
As soon as these words came out, the eyes of Fu An, Long Yuan, Long Zhun, Long Bo and many Yulin guards who were present all fell on the middle-aged woman.
In front of the emperor, saying that the emperor is taciturn and withdrawn is not asking for death?
Another middle-aged man quickly stood up, walked quickly to the middle-aged woman, pulled her hard, and then bowed to Liu Xiu with fear and fear, saying: "My wife made a mistake and contradicted me.
Please don’t blame me, Your Majesty!”
Liu Xiu didn't take it seriously at all, and waved his hand to the middle-aged man, indicating that he would not be polite. He turned to look at the middle-aged woman, smiled and said softly: "I thought that as a person, you should be careful in your words and deeds. In fact, governing a country is also a matter of course."
As a human being, you should listen more, do more, and talk less. If the monarch talks less, the ministers can talk more, so that they can pool their wisdom and come up with good strategies for governing the country!"
The middle-aged woman seemed to understand what she heard, but she still pretended to understand. She asked with a smile: "Ah Xiu, now you are the emperor, and Chung Ling is the imperial hometown. When you defeat Deng Feng,
When managing Chung Ling, will taxes be reduced or reduced?"
When a village woman called her by the nickname "Axiu", Liu Xiu was not angry. Instead, he burst out laughing, stroking his hands and said, "Tax exemption for two years, and after two years, a tax of one per fifteen will be implemented."
Fifteen taxes and one means that one-fifteenth of the annual income is paid to the government. When Wang Mang was in power, the tax was changed from ten taxes and one to eight taxes and one, and seven taxes and one. In addition, there are many other
Miscellaneous taxes.
The life of the common people was miserable, and the families at the bottom could not survive at all, so they had to sell their sons and daughters.
Now Deng Feng is in charge of Nanyang, and he also imposes heavy taxes. But there is really no way around it.
Deng Feng had more than 100,000 troops under his command. The armies under Yancen and Dong Xin also needed Deng Feng to support them. So many soldiers and horses needed to eat, drink, wear and use every day. It was all money, but where did the money come from?
?You can’t rob, you can only tax.
Such a large army could only be supported by Nanyang. If he did not impose heavy taxes, what else could Deng Feng do?
Under such circumstances, when I heard Liu Xiu say that if he ruled Nanyang and implemented a tax of fifteen to one, people all showed joy on their faces, clapped their hands and said: "Your Majesty is wise, your Majesty has not forgotten his roots!"
"Yes, Your Majesty really takes care of the Imperial City."
Liu Xiu smiled at everyone's reaction. He believed that his words would soon spread throughout Nanyang.
As the saying goes, attacking the enemy is from the bottom, and attacking the heart is from the top. Deng Feng, Yancen, and Dong Xin, they have so many soldiers and horses, all gathered in Nanyang, and they only rely on Nanyang to support them. You can imagine the life of the people of Nanyang.
He knew very well how heavy the burden was on the people of Nanyang in order to raise so many soldiers and horses. He could also understand the eagerness of the people of Nanyang to reduce their burden, so he publicly stated that after defeating Deng Feng and taking over Nanyang, he would In Nanyang, a tax of fifteen to one tax was implemented. This was also the reward for his imperial hometown as the emperor.
After hearing Liu Xiu's words, the people in Chung Ling were naturally overjoyed. They were all grinning from ear to ear. They wished that Liu Xiu's Han army could defeat Deng Feng in one fell swoop, and that Liu Xiu could take over the entire Nanyang County in no time. No need to suffer from heavy burdens.
Just when the villagers were rejoicing, Cai Yang ordered Zhong Wei and Cai Yang Wei Zhang Qing, along with county soldiers and government officials, rushed to Chongling.
Long Bu, who was on guard outside, saw many county soldiers and government officials arriving. He quickly walked into the courtyard, came to Liu Xiu's side, and whispered in his ear.
After hearing this, Liu Xiu asked in a low voice: "Have you seen clearly how many county soldiers and government officials there are?"
Long Bo said: "There are about five hundred people."
Liu Xiu curled up his lips and said, "Cai Yang ordered us to bring out all the available people."
"Exactly, Your Majesty, where are we now?" Long Bo looked at Liu Xiu.
At this time, Zhang Yi, smelling of alcohol, staggered over and asked curiously: "Your Majesty, has something happened?"
Liu Xiu looked at Zhang Yi and then at the other villagers, and found that everyone was looking at him with big eyes and small eyes. He said with a smile: "It's nothing, Cai Yangling and Cai Yangwei are here."
He said it lightly, but the expressions of everyone present changed. Zhong Wei and Zhang Qing had already taken refuge with Deng Feng, and now they came to Chung Ling to capture His Majesty.
Before the villagers could react, they heard rumbling footsteps outside.
The commotion outside made people's faces look even more ugly. Liu Xiu didn't take it seriously. To be precise, he didn't take Caiyang's county soldiers and government officials seriously at all.
He calmly lowered his head to Long Yuan on the side and said: "Open the door. Since the guests are here, we have no reason to turn them away."
Long Yuan bowed in response, then walked quickly to the courtyard door, and with a bang, he opened the door forcefully.
Zhong Wei and Zhang Qing, who were originally standing in front of the courtyard gate, were startled by the sudden opening of the gate. They subconsciously took a step back and at the same time raised their hands to hold the swords under their ribs.
After seeing clearly, the people standing outside were indeed Cai Yangling Zhong Wei, Cai Yang Wei Zhang Qing, as well as numerous county government officials and government servants. Some of the Chungling villagers were very angry, and young and strong young men stood up one after another. They were carrying small wooden tables inside, and some people were holding bowls and chopsticks in their hands, and they were glaring angrily at the people outside.
Liu Xiu waved his hands to the young men who stood up, signaling everyone to be calm. He raised his head and looked at the people outside the door, and asked slowly: "Who is Cai Yangling Zhongwei, Cai Yangwei Zhang Qing?"
Zhong Wei and Zhang Qing stared blankly at the people in the yard, no one dared to answer.
Long Yuan stepped forward and walked out of the yard. He first came to Zhong Wei and Zhang Qing, looked them up and down, and then walked directly past them.
Going further, there were numerous county soldiers. He came to a county soldier sitting on a horse, looked up at the man on the horse, and said word by word: "Even if you are a minister of the DPRK, after meeting
There’s no one like me who doesn’t dismount!”
The implication is that you, a mere county soldier, dare to sit on your horse after seeing me?
The county soldier first looked at Long Yuan, then at Zhong Wei and Zhang Qing, wondering whether he should take action now or not. Just as he was waiting for Zhong Wei and Zhang Qing to make a clear statement, Long Yuan suddenly
Holding the horse's neck with one hand, he took a step forward with both feet. He shouted suddenly, and a roar was heard in his ears. The county soldier on horseback was unexpectedly thrown to the ground by Long Yuan, both man and horse.
