Chapter 228: Preparing for war (I)

The midsummer in Longyou always arrives in late June every year, but this year's hot summer is particularly early, and early summer is still coming, and it jumps into the hot season.

In mid-June, the scorching sun shrouded the land of Longyou. The sky was gradually getting hot. The trees were growing and flourishing. There were dark green forests everywhere. The wheat in the fields also turned yellow. The plump ears of wheat were drooping heavily, and the sight of endless on the Longyou Plain.

A few miles north of Jincheng County, near Wuquan Mountain, a team of nearly dozens of people guarding a carriage was galloping north along the official road, passing through a forest, and heading towards a manor in the fields where wheat waves rolled.

The manor is built against the mountains, with hundreds of years of trees everywhere. Several white buildings are completely hidden by thick shades. A stream passes through the shade, and the water is gurgling and clear. The stream is covered with colorful flowers, but the surroundings are heavily guarded. This is a villa in Zhang Huan.

After returning to Jincheng County, Zhang Huan moved to this manor full of flowers, far away from the hustle and bustle, so he needed time to consider the situation in Longyou. Just as he and Du Mei guessed in Shibao City, the Guanlong area east of the Yellow River were only remote counties such as Jincheng, Longxi, Kaiyang, and Didao County in the south, and Wen County, and Pei Jun's 200,000 troops controlled a large area of ​​land north of Guanlong.

The manor is very quiet at this moment. Zhang Huan was wearing a hat and fishing in the back garden. More than a dozen red fish were appearing on his fishing rods, and he pulled the fishing line deep into the water from time to time, but Zhang Huan seemed to be unaware.

There was a case table next to him, and there was a report from the marching Sima Luo Guangzheng. Regarding the family members of the fallen soldiers, Zhang Huan's opinion, each soldier was given 200 guan and a hundred acres of land was given at one time. However, the savings in the army required recruitment of new soldiers and paid the army's food and salary, and at most 200,000 guan. Luo Guangzheng suggested changing the pension to 100 guan and giving 20 acres of land at one time.

Zhang Huan pondered for a long time, but he still wanted to give the families of the fallen soldiers 200 stagnant, especially some elderly people who lost their only son. This money and twenty acres of land could allow them to spend their old age.

"Come on! Beat your dad hard, who told him to ignore us?" Pei Ying's low laughter came from behind, and then a soft little fist hit Zhang Huan's back.

Zhang Huan put aside his thoughts, turned around and smiled and hugged his son on his lap. The little guy was almost one year old. In Zhang Huan's mother's words, he looked like his grandfather. He could stagger with the help of an adult. It was the most naughty and active time. As soon as he reached his father's hand, he grabbed the fish in the water, but his hands grabbed the fishing rod, shouting: "Yes! Yes!"

Pei Ying pulled a bench and sat next to Zhang Huan. She sighed happily and leaned her head on her husband's shoulder. Her husband could come back safely and enjoy family happiness with them, mother and son. What else could satisfy her more than this?

Zhang Huan reached out to wrap her waist, and suddenly had an idea in his mind, asking Pei Ying, "Ying'er, how much money does our family have?"

Pei Ying looked at her husband in surprise, not understanding why he asked this question. After hesitating, she still replied: "About 300,000 yuan, most of which are stored in Wang Baoji in the capital. Why did Huiyan ask about this?"

Zhang Huan was silent for a long time and said, "I want to give more pensions to the fallen soldiers in Hexi, but the army did not save enough money. Can I take out a part of it from my home?"

Although her husband never mentioned the Hexi incident after he came back, and even avoided it, she knew that he had been deeply guilty of the annihilation of the 20,000 soldiers in Hexi, especially the deaths of his masters Lin Delong and Lin Zhiyu, which made him taste the deep pain of losing his relatives. Perhaps taking out his own wealth would make him feel a little atonement.

Thinking of this, Pei Ying smiled gently and said, "Then I went to Chang'an and gave you 200,000 yuan. I wonder if it's enough?"

Zhang Huan patted her hand, with gratitude in her eyes, and hurriedly said, "Twenty hundred thousand coins are enough, but I just need someone to send you there, you don't need to go there."

"I heard that my grandfather was seriously ill. I was worried that he would not be able to survive this summer and wanted to see him." Pei Ying sighed softly, and she bit her lip and said, "And father, the conflict between you is getting more and more acute. I want to try my best to ease you."

Since Pei Jun sent troops to Longyou, they had already torn apart. The conflict would only deepen and ease. It was not easy to talk about it. Although Zhang Huan knew in vain at this time, he did not want to discourage his wife's pleasure. He smiled and asked, "When are you going to go back?"

At this time, the little guy in Zhang Huan finally grabbed the fishing rod. Unexpectedly, the fish was dragged away by the fish. The little guy suddenly burst into tears with a 'wow'. Pei Ying hurriedly carried him over to comfort him. Finally, she waited for the child to stop crying. She said to Zhang Huan: "I'm going to leave the next day. I'll clean up a little, and the child will be entrusted to Cui Ning."

Zhang Huan pondered for a moment and said, "Cui Ning can't leave her Chunlei Hall, so we will move back to the city tomorrow. You will also go back to Chang'an and bring someone back for me."

"Is it that Yang Chunshui?" Pei Ying asked with a smile on her lips.

Zhang Huan nodded, "Since I have promised her, how can I break my promise?"

"I understand. You are the dignified Longyou Jiedushi and the champion general. Naturally, you will not break your trust in a little girl." Pei Ying said angrily: "Last time when I was a child, I wanted to marry you, but you pushed you to the point of being a woman. I really thought you were not close to women. I wanted to find it myself for a long time. When I go back this time, I will find hundreds of Li Chunshui, Wang Chunshui and others to come back to choose for you. You are happy now!"

Seeing that his wife looked angry, Zhang Huan knew that she was a little jealous, so he pulled her over and whispered in her ear: "Don't be angry, I'll make good compensation for you tonight, okay?

"Go, there are personal soldiers watching over there! Don't pull and pull." Pei Ying broke free from Zhang Huan's hand, angry, but she was also a little worried.

Zhang Huan looked for a woman and took a concubine Pei Ying did not object, but she did not want Zhang Huan to marry another wife again, especially the political marriage with the Guanlong Group, which would threaten her status. Ma Lin had implicitly proposed to grant her second daughter his second daughter to Zhang Huan as a flat wife, but Zhang Huan was just going to expedition to Hehuang in the west and put it aside for the time being. It would take at least one month for her return to Chang'an this time, and she had to discuss it with Cui Ning.

At this time, she saw a soldier running towards her from afar, and then held the child's hands and smiled: "Qiqi and her mother practice boxing, and teach her father a good lesson tonight."

Speaking of this, she gave Zhang Huan a cute and charming look and took her son away.

Zhang Huan kept looking at the mother and son and walked away, then asked his personal soldiers: "What's the matter?"

"Governor, Master Xin is asking for a meeting outside the door."

Xin Yunjing came, Zhang Huan stood up and smiled, "Please go to my study, and I'll arrive later."

After Zhang Huan returned this time, he made great personnel adjustments, especially the importance of Longyou Group. He appointed Xin Lang, son of Xin Yunjing as the General of the Central Army and the General of Lintao Military and Horse Envoy, and was fully responsible for the government affairs of Lintao County. He also appointed Ma Lin's second son Ma Guorui as the General of the Central Army and the General of Ningxiang Military and Horse Envoy, and was also fully responsible for the government affairs of Ningxiang County. Bai Guangyuan's eldest son Bai Sheng was appointed as the General of the Xiping County Registration Office, and Li Fei Ming Erlang, son of Li Fei Ming, was appointed Hechuan Military and Horse Envoy. In this way, several leading figures of the Longyou Group were firmly tied together with him. Even Li Qiao, a royal family member far away in Hue County, moved his family to Jincheng County.

After a moment, Zhang Huan changed his clothes and walked into the study room. The study room was one and three rooms. The innermost part was where Zhang Huan handled official duties, and the outermost part was where his clerk Meng Jiao pre-processed the files, and the middle part was where the meeting and meeting subordinates were held.

Xin Yunjing was sitting alone drinking tea. When he saw Zhang Huan coming in, he stood up and bowed and smiled, "The governor really enjoys it. He handles official duties in this place that is just like the immortal palace, but lets me wait and run back and forth on the road."

Although Xin Yunjing was hired by Zhang Huan as the deputy chief of the military academy, nominally a subordinate of Zhang Huan, he was a veteran of the four dynasties and had a high reputation in the court. Even Cui Yuan, Pei Jun and others had to respectfully call him the elder. His eldest son Xin Gao was the young minister of Dali Temple in the court. Some of the other dozen sons were officials in the Tang Dynasty, while others were in charge of various farms. Xin Yunjing was originally a veteran at home. For the future of the family, he resolutely pressed his treasure on Zhang Huan, and he himself came out to serve Zhang Huan again.

Zhang Huan did not dare to neglect, so he quickly replied, "Thank you for your hard work, I will prepare to go back in a few days

The two of them took the seats separately. Before Zhang Huan could speak, Xin Yunjing bowed and thanked: "Thank you, the governor, for using Xin Lang more."

"Your Madam Xin, you don't have to be polite. Brother Bailing is both civil and military, and it should be of great use." Zhang Huan picked up the teacup, sucked the tea gently and asked, "I have ordered that any officers above the lieutenant must go to Longyou Military Academy to study for one year. The first batch of 300 people should come to report!"

"They have arrived the day before yesterday. Please come and take a look in a few days."

Zhang Huan nodded, and he pondered for a moment and said, "I have been thinking about what I lack most in Longyou these days? It should be talents, but talents will not fall from the sky. We need to discover and cultivate them. Like Wang Siyu, He Lou Wuji, Lin Jiuhan, Li Panyu, etc., they are all promoted step by step from small soldiers, so I thought, I should establish a set of methods to select talents, such as starting a martial arts competition in the army, so that the small soldiers can also have a day to stand out, be able to pass the martial arts exam, and then go to the Military Academy to study, so that my reserve talents will be inexhaustible. What does Master Xin think?"

"The governor said it very well." Xin Yunjing stroked his beard slightly and smiled: "I have two things here today, one of which is similar to the governor."

"I hope to hear it carefully!"

"The first thing is not my personal intention, but when I chatted with Ma Lin and Bai Guangyuan a few days ago, I heard that 100,000 scholars from Chang'an imperial examinations took the exam this year, but in the end, only 12 people were hired as officials by the Ministry of Personnel. A large number of outstanding poor scholars have no choice but to seek official positions. But if they recruit them at will according to the previous method, it is inevitable that good and bad will be difficult to distinguish. So I suggest that the governor simply open an examination and openly recruit outstanding talents from all over the Tang Dynasty to stay in Hehuang as an official. Anyway, Hehuang was taken by the governor, and even if the court is dissatisfied, he would just ignore it."

After hearing this, Zhang Huan just smiled faintly. He also understood that Xin Yunjing had selfish intentions. Now he has been using the situation in Hehuang to drag the court with the unstable situation in Hehuang. However, long-term delay is not a solution. Once the court appoints the governor to Hehuang to take office, the first thing that will be impacted is the interests of Xin Yunjing and others. Therefore, their best way is to encourage Zhang Huan to appoint officials in front of the court, but this is also the effect Zhang Huan hopes to achieve, tie them to his own chariot.

He had actually discussed this matter several times and had a preliminary plan. Thinking of this, Zhang Huan smiled slightly and said, "Don't worry, Master Xin, the soldiers of the Xiliang Army exchanged Hehuang for blood, and they would never give it to the court. What is the second thing?"

Xin Yunjing kept watching Zhang Huan's expression. Seeing that he had made it clear that he would not give in, a stone fell to the ground in his heart, he smiled and took out a note and handed it to Zhang Huan, saying, "The second thing is the actual actions we took to support the governor's expansion. Yesterday, we had more than a dozen Longyou clans discussed it and decided to take out 500,000 jin of money and one million jin of grain. Please accept it with a smile. In the future, there will be money and grain support."

Zhang Huan stood up quickly. After this Helong revolution, he learned from his mistakes and decided to build an elite army of 200,000 people in three to five years. Thinking about this, it would be easier to do it. He did not have the accumulation of major families such as Cui and Pei, nor did he not have the rich land and a large population like Zhu Li.

Although he seized the vast land of the eight counties of Hehuang, most of them were high-altitude lands, which were more suitable for raising horses and not suitable for farming. The court was only willing to give him 75,000 people money and grain according to the customs of the Longyou Jiedushi. The recruitment and support of the remaining 125,000 people had to rely on him to raise money and grain by himself. Now, with the 80,000 troops collected from the liberated slaves in Hehuang, he actually had 180,000 troops. He could collect 20,000 troops from the liberated slave militia in Hehuang, or find ways to buy young and strong slaves from Guanzhong, Hedong, and Shuzhong.

These problems are not big, but how to solve the food and military pay required to support the 120,000 army every year has become his biggest headache. Military farming can solve part of the food problem and can also be purchased from other places, but what about the money? Where does the minimum million chunks of money come from each year?

Even if he seized all the Jincheng, Kaiyang and Longxi counties, the tax revenue was far from enough. Of course, he could mine and mint and mint money, or breed livestock, encourage mulberry and hemp, and develop trade with the eastern counties, but these all take time and are difficult to work in a short period of time. Now the Longyou clan is willing to support himself, so why doesn't he be overjoyed?
Chapter completed!