Chapter five hundred and eighty-ninth re-opening Li Sheng
In April of the first year of Zhenyuan, Zhu Si once again launched a war in the Central Plains. Zhu Si's army occupied Xiangyang and blocked the logistics supply line of the Tang Army in the Central Plains. As a result, the 30,000 Central Plains Tang Army had to evacuate to the southeast. In Quebozhou, they encountered a fierce resistance from the army.
, a war broke out between the two sides in Qiao County.
This was a war destined to have no winner. Although the Tang army finally won a tragic victory and defeated the fierce army, it paid most of the price in casualties. Only less than 10,000 people were left in the 30,000-strong army. Li Baozhen was seriously injured and died.
Ma Sui was also seriously injured. Liu Qia led the remaining 8,000 troops to break out of the encirclement eastward and headed to Chuzhou to cross the Huaihe River and go south.
The enemy's losses were even more severe. Only about 20,000 people were left in the 80,000-strong army. The enemy had to lead his army to retreat to Huaixi.
It was Zhu Si and Li Na who had the last laugh. Zhu Si's army took the opportunity to occupy Bozhou and Yingzhou, and Li Na's army occupied Sizhou and Haizhou.
Although Xiangyang fell and a war broke out in the Central Plains, the situation in Chengdu was very calm. Most of the courtiers knew that the territory in the Central Plains would be lost sooner or later when surrounded by wolves. Therefore, the defeat of the Tang army in the Central Plains to the southeast did not cause much shock.
It just caused some controversy at the court meeting, and then nothing happened.
As the saying goes, 'Young people cannot enter Sichuan, and old people cannot leave Shu'. The wealth of the Bashu plain and the sense of security brought by the isolation of the surrounding mountains gradually made many officials forget the original intention of regaining Chang'an and began to enjoy the peaceful and comfortable life of Shu.
Life, even including Emperor Li Shi, who changed the name of Chang'an Palace to Yong'an Palace is the best proof.
Not only that, in the imperial examination held in March, Li Shi personally set the questions. He canceled current affairs policy and focused on literature and Confucian classics. This change was criticized by many knowledgeable people, who believed that it was a sign of forgetting shame.
Performance.
But it also received support from many people. The imperial examination was originally a place to test literature. Young scholars have no experience of world affairs. How meaningful is it to let them write policies on current affairs?
However, the fall of Xiangyang made the court a little nervous. Li Shi also knew very well what the fall of Xiangyang meant. Once Zhu Si's army continued to move south and cut off the Yangtze River water transportation, how would the taxes from the southeast be transported to Bashu?
Li Shi went against his usual behavior and convened the ministers in Yong'an Palace to discuss countermeasures. The side hall was very quiet, with more than a dozen ministers sitting on the right and five eunuchs sitting on the left.
All officials must attend and participate in listening to government affairs.
At first, the ministers objected fiercely, but as time passed, the opposition became ineffective, and the ministers had to slowly accept the reality.
"Your Majesty, I want to know how many more troops we have available?" Li Shi first asked Prince Li Yidao.
Li Yi still served as the supervisor of the country and presided over daily government affairs. Li Shi was obsessed with literature and basically ignored the government affairs, leaving it to the prince Li Yi.
Li Yi stood up and said: "Father, we have a total of 100,000 troops, of which 20,000 are in Huainan and Zhejiang Province, 10,000 troops are in Lingnan, 10,000 troops are in Jingnan, 10,000 troops are in Xiazhou, and Hanzhong
There are 20,000 troops, and then Chengdu has 30,000 troops, including 20,000 Shence troops and 10,000 city defenders, as well as 5,000 guards, not included in the army."
Li Shi frowned, "I still remember that there are many vigilante groups, right?"
"There are 60,000 people in the militia, distributed in all states and counties in Bashu."
Li Shi nodded and said, "Let's talk about it, everyone! How to deal with the situation in Xiangyang?"
There was still silence in the lobby. At this time, Han Huang, the Minister of Civil Affairs, stood up and said: "Your Majesty, please let me say a few words!"
"Xiangguo Han, please tell me."
Han Huang saluted and said calmly: "With the fall of Xiangyang, the biggest threat to us is not the safety of Bashu, but the Yangtze River shipping. Everyone must be aware of this. If the Yangtze River waterway is cut off by the bandits, we will lose half of our tax revenue.
Endow..."
At this time, Lu Qi said impatiently: "Han Shangshu, everyone knows this, His Majesty cannot sit for a long time, so you should hurry up and come to the conclusion!"
Li Shi glanced at Lu Qi with approval. Although Lu Qi was criticized for many things, he was far behind other ministers in caring for and being loyal to himself. Only he thought that he could not sit for a long time, while others could not.
Unexpected.
Li Shi said to Han Huang: "Han Shangshu continues to talk about the conclusion!"
Han Huang had no choice but to continue: "I have two suggestions. One is to recapture Xiangyang as soon as possible, and the other is to train the navy to protect the Yangtze River waterway. I humbly recommend General Li Sheng as the governor of Shannan East Road to take up the task of regaining Xiangyang."
For the important task, I will recommend General Hun Yao as the commander-in-chief of the navy and order him to prepare for the establishment of the navy."
These two options are feasible. Li Shi nodded and turned to the eunuch, "Does the lieutenant have any suggestions?"
Song Chaofeng said calmly: "It takes money to recruit troops to recapture Xiangyang, but it also takes money to build a navy. We would like to ask Prime Minister Lu, how much money does the court have?"
Song Chaofeng raised this issue with a hint of dissatisfaction. The shelf tax they drafted last year could no longer be implemented three months after it was introduced. In the end, it could only be implemented in Bashu.
All states and counties outside Bashu boycotted the move on the grounds that the rich would move to Guanzhong and the north to avoid the tax. This was of course an excuse. The main reason was that the tax infringed on the interests of local wealthy families, and the authority of the imperial court had been reduced.
, all states and counties resisted, and the imperial court had no choice but to announce the suspension of intervening taxes in areas other than Bashu.
This made the eunuchs very dissatisfied, thinking that the imperial court's execution ability was too poor, so today Song Chaofeng took the opportunity to attack.
Lu Qi coughed twice and said: "Building a naval army is not a matter of a day or two, and the money does not need to be allocated all at once, but also in batches. Moreover, there are also some warships in Jiangning and Fuzhou that can be transferred to Jiangling.
As for recruiting an army to take back Xiangyang, it won't cost much. We can use the determination of the local people to drive out the red thieves! We calculated that it would only be about 100,000 guan at the beginning, and the court can still get 100,000 guan."
Song Chaofeng sneered, "Without the space tax, how can the court still get money?"
Prince Li Yi couldn't hold back the anger in his heart. He stood up and said to Emperor Li Shi: "Father, the situation is very critical now. Since the imperial court has come up with a plan to solve the crisis, it needs to be implemented immediately. Once Zhu Si's army goes south to cut off the Yangtze River waterway, it will
It’s troublesome, I suggested that we don’t need to discuss it any more, and immediately ordered Li Sheng and Hun Yao to start recruiting troops. Father, time does not wait for us!”
Li Shi was not stupid. He knew that the situation was critical, so he convened today's emergency meeting. He waved his hand to the eunuchs and signaled them not to make further attacks. He then said: "Han Shangshu's plan can be implemented, I have approved it!"
Li Yu immediately issued an order to make General Li Sheng the governor of Shannan East Road, ordering him to recruit troops to regain Xiangyang. At the same time, he made General Hun Yao the commander-in-chief of the navy, and ordered him to prepare for the establishment of the Yangtze River Navy in Jiangling.
........
Li Sheng has been sitting on the bench for a year. Ever since his army was taken away by the emperor, renamed Shence Army, and controlled by eunuchs, he has been doing nothing. Although his status is high, he has no real power.
He wrote several times to the imperial court requesting the Northern Expedition, but he never received a response from the imperial court. Just when he was a little discouraged, a turn of fortune finally came. The emperor appointed him as the governor of Shannan East Road and ordered him to recruit 30,000 troops.
Recover Xiangyang.
This news made Li Sheng overjoyed, and he hurried to the East Palace to meet with the Crown Prince.
Li Yi thought highly of Li Sheng. He smiled and asked Li Sheng to sit down and said: "This time I convinced the emperor not to appoint a supervisory army. Without the constraints of the supervisory army, I hope you can regain Xiangyang as soon as possible."
Li Sheng was overjoyed. Without the supervision of the army, his mission was half successful. He quickly bowed and said: "Thank you for your trust, Your Highness. I will definitely regain Xiangyang as soon as possible."
Li Yi added: "The Holy One asked you to recapture Xiangyang before the end of the year. Can you do it?"
"Do your best in your humble position."
Li Yi shook his head, "It's not about trying your best, but it's about doing it."
Li Sheng had no choice but to agree. He asked again: "Recruiting an army requires money and food. I wonder how much food the court can provide?"
"Before the end of the year, I will give you a total of 200,000 guan of money and 100,000 shi of grain. It will be given to you in two installments. During recruitment, I will give you 100,000 guan of money and 50,000 shi of grain. I will give you the other half in October. In addition, the money and grain expenses will be borne by the imperial court.
Send Du Zhi to take charge."
Duzhi is the accountant, which means that the financial power is not in the hands of Li Sheng, but in the hands of the imperial court. This is not only a check and balance on Li Sheng, but also a kind of protection for him. At least no one will impeach him for embezzling military salaries.
.
"Okay! I will start recruiting part of the army tomorrow. I hope the court's money and food can keep up!"