Guo Song ordered Pan Liao to be solely responsible for the resettlement of the refugees, and ordered Li Bing to lead two thousand soldiers to assist in arranging the refugee matters. Guo Song set out overnight with more than a hundred cavalry, and rushed back to Zhangye County two days later.
At this time, Lieutenant Commander Pang Xiu had arrived in Zhangye City for a long time. He brought back a large amount of property this time and walked for a full month before arriving in Ganzhou. He was really exhausted and had to rest for several days before he gradually recovered.
In the morning, as soon as Pang Xiu finished breakfast, an entourage came to report, "Captain Guo is back!"
Pang Xiu was overjoyed and quickly had his horse prepared. He carried the imperial edict and came to the governor's office surrounded by a large group of followers. Guo Song and several officials greeted him in front of the office.
Most of the officials went to Jiuquan. The main civil servants in the governor's office were only Zhang Qiu'an, who was a clerk and joined the army, and a few others joined the military.
Pang Xiu had been to Guo Song Mansion and met Guo Song. He recognized Guo Song at a glance and said with a smile: "Guo Governor, long time no see!"
Guo Song cupped his fists and saluted and said, "Eunuch, you have worked hard all the way!"
"It's a bit hard, but our family has to handle the things that the Holy Father has asked us to do properly, otherwise we won't be able to explain them when we go back."
Pang Xiu turned over and dismounted and said with a smile: "How about we hurry up and read out the imperial edict?"
"The incense table has been set up in the lobby. Please come, Eunuch Pang!"
When everyone walked into the lobby, Pang Xiu saw that the incense table had been set up, so he took out the imperial edict and loudly said: "Declaring His Majesty's edict, Guo Song, the Governor of Ganzhou, will receive the edict!"
Guo Song knelt down in front of the incense case, and several officials knelt down behind him. Pang Xiu unfolded the imperial edict and read loudly: "Since ancient times, the important town in Hexi, the gateway to Chang'an, the fertile land of the Tang Dynasty, and the beauty of the country, have been exposed to military disasters many times.
, life was in ruins, Guo Song, the governor of Ganzhou, shouldered my great trust, generously went to the border, tried his best to save the crisis, and defeated the border chief Shatuo. With his loyalty and courage, and his iron-blooded wrist, he revived the glory of the Tang Dynasty. Chief Hu looked at it and ran away.
, I will reward you based on your merits. I will confer the title of Duke of Xia, the title of Purple Gold Guanglu Doctor, the title of Hexi Jiedu Envoy, Yushi Doctor, and concurrently serve as the governor of Liang, Gan, and Suzhou. I will reward you with 10,000 taels of gold. The other generals and the governor's office will be rewarded.
All officers will be promoted to one level, and at the same time, the three armies will be rewarded with 500,000 guan of money and 300,000 pieces of silk as a token of celebration and reward!"
Guo Song is very happy, everyone is eagerly looking forward to it! This reward comes at the right time.
"I would like to thank Your Majesty for your kindness!"
Guo Song kowtowed to receive the order, and Pang Xiu said with a smile: "Congratulations to Governor Guo, it should be Governor Guo!"
Guo Song received the imperial edict and said with a slight smile: "It is Eunuch Pang who brought us the good news. We must thank Eunuch Pang very much!"
Pang Xiu was overjoyed and said to Guo Song: "There is also a decree to confer the honorable lady. I heard that the lady is pregnant, so there is no need to declare the decree. I will bring the decree directly to the envoy."
"Thank you! Thank you!"
"In addition, the emperor also has an oral message, which I want to dictate to Ambassador Guo!"
"Father-in-law, please tell me!"
Pang Xiu thought for a while and said slowly: "Recovering the Hexi Corridor has always been the late emperor's last wish. I hope Governor Guo can assess the situation and make a decision based on the changes in the current situation."
Guo Song asked in a low voice: "Does the emperor want me to decide whether to regain the Hexi Corridor?"
Pang Xiu nodded, "That's what I mean!"
Guo Song distributed the emperor's rewards to the three armies. The three armies cheered loudly. The promoted generals and civil servants were also beaming with joy. With the rewards, the soldiers went to the streets to spend money. All the shops were opened. The whole Zhangye looked like a festival.
Guo Song also followed Pang Xiu to Liangzhou and handed over the military power of Liangzhou to Zhang Guangsheng. Zhang Guangsheng was also promoted to Yansui Jiedushi, taking charge of the armies of Yanzhou and Suizhou.
The Hexi Jiedu Mansion is still in Zhangye, Ganzhou. For Guo Song, the biggest advantage of being promoted to Hexi Jiedushi is that he can use Hexi as a chess game, fully consider the layout of the Hexi Corridor, and the total military strength has reached 30,000.
Although Liangzhou is in the rear, we should not take it lightly, especially to guard against sneak attacks by party members. Liangzhou must have at least three thousand troops stationed in it.
The remaining 20,000 troops were stationed in Suzhou.
At this time, Guo Song faced a new problem, that is, how to deal with the more than 4,000 prisoners of war exchanged from Shatuo?
If they are re-organized into the army, but the court has already regarded them as dead in battle and removed their military status, that is to say, no more military salary will be allocated to them, how should the military salary of these four thousand people be solved?
This is one, and the second is that Guo Song soon encountered a common problem faced by all Jiedu envoys, that is, insufficient military expenditures. This did not happen to the Ganzhou Army, but the Liangzhou Army was not immune.
"What means?"
Guo Song banged the table with great dissatisfaction and said angrily to Shi Liluo, the governor of Liangzhou who came from Guzang to report: "The general of the Liangzhou army told me before that the imperial court still owed the brothers three months' salary. Now you
He also said that the imperial court does not owe any salary, what is going on?"
Li Lue said helplessly: "I'd like to inform you that the imperial court has indeed allocated the salary of the Liangzhou Army. However, the imperial court has financial difficulties and can only pay half the salary to the troops who did not participate in the war. However, Governor Zhang did not dare to tell the soldiers the truth."
, it can only be said that the imperial court owes three months of salary. In fact, the military salary of the imperial court has been allocated to last month. We are all anxious and don’t know what to do. At this time, Governor Zhang has been transferred, and the mess can only be left to us.
Let you solve it."
"When did the half-stipend start?"
"It started in October last year. Originally, the Ganzhou Army also had half-salary, but when Shatuo invaded, Ganzhou allocated full-salary. I estimate that the Ganzhou Army will also implement half-salary soon, unless it is Jiangnan.
Jianghuai's tax revenue was shipped to Chang'an in time."
Guo Song gently pressed his head. No wonder Zhang Guangsheng was so happy to lend him 10,000 troops. It turned out that he was digging a hole and waiting here!
The 12,000 Liangzhou Army only has half salary, which is definitely not possible. If the soldiers know the truth, they must rebel, and the other half must be made up by themselves, which means there are 6,000 people, plus more than 4,000 Tang Army prisoners of war who will be exchanged.
, they also have no military salary. In fact, it is the military salary of 10,000 soldiers and they need to find a way to solve it themselves.
Thirty thousand guan a month is 360,000 guan a year, and it will be doubled during wartime. Who can afford such a large military salary?
Thinking of these troublesome problems, Guo Song realized the root of the separatism of vassal towns in the late Tang Dynasty. Jiedu envoys had to solve the military salary problem by themselves. Of course, within their own jurisdiction, they would withhold all taxes to support the army. In the final analysis, this is
After the military system of the Tang Dynasty went bankrupt due to land annexation, the imperial government could not spend huge military expenditures to support the army. Isn't this how the Anshi Rebellion broke out?
In fact, there is no way. The only way is to disarm, let the soldiers return to their fields, and reduce the military strength to the range that the imperial government can bear. But who in the major vassals is willing to disarmament? If you only reduce the army directly under the imperial court, it will undoubtedly be self-destruction.
, this is the question of which came first, the chicken or the egg. This unsolvable problem has always troubled the Tang Dynasty for more than a hundred years and could not be solved until it perished.
Guo Song paced back and forth in the room with his hands behind his hands. Where should he get money?
Generally speaking, you rely on the mountains to eat, and you rely on the sea to eat. In the Hexi Corridor, you can only rely on the Hexi Corridor for food. The army can farm to solve the source of food and meat. Military salary can only rely on side jobs. What is the Hexi Corridor rich in? Leather,
Livestock, and wine from Zhangye.
But the immediate urgency is the three-month salary arrears of the 12,000 Liangzhou Army, which is almost 110,000 guan, which must be settled in the near future.
Guo Song thought for a long time and decided to walk on two legs. On the one hand, he continued to pursue military expenditures from the emperor. Since the emperor asked him to regain the Hexi Corridor, at least the army must ensure it. On the other hand, he brainstormed and everyone sat down to figure out a solution.
Guo Song suddenly remembered that he had another reason to recover military expenses. He had recovered the Dadou Valley and annihilated 8,000 Tibetan troops. He had not reported it yet. The Liangzhou army also participated in this. Not to mention the reward, at least
The Liangzhou Army’s military expenses must be replenished!