Hearing Yang Kai's words, Chang Sheng's heart suddenly trembled. The thing he was most worried about happened. No matter for whatever reason, Li Zhongyong and Chen Liqiu launched troops to attack other cities, which completely cut off their retreat. They added guilt to crime. No possibility of recruitment.
Chang Sheng calmed down and raised his hands to tie the buttons of his coat, "When did they send out troops?"
Yang Kai replied, "The Ministry of War received the first battle report at noon yesterday. They sent troops to attack Zhizhou the night before yesterday. By the third watch of the night, the second battle report was also delivered by Kuai Ma. They had already captured Zhizhou. Zhizhou and continue to send troops southward."
Changsheng fastened the buttons, pulled out the wooden chair and sat down, "Zhizhou is a lower state, not rich. Their goal is not Zhizhou, but Shuzhou to the south of Zhizhou. Shuzhou is adjacent to the river in the south and the land is fertile. There is a large amount of grain in Shuzhou's treasury, but they still go there for grain."
Yang Kai didn't answer because Chang Sheng obviously didn't finish what he said.
After a brief pause, Changsheng said again, "If they capture Shuzhou, they will not only be able to get supplies of food and grass, but they can also rely on the natural dangers of the river to intercept the officers and soldiers coming from the south. To the north, there are Pingzhou and Shenzhou forming a horn to resist the troops coming from the north. Officers and soldiers, even if they are ultimately defeated, can still take a boat to the east or go upstream."
After Chang Sheng finished speaking, he raised his head and looked at Yang Kai, "What do the emperor and the ministers think about this matter?"
Yang Kai said, "Because they were marching south and had no intention of going north to invade the capital, the emperor and his ministers did not think they were facing a serious enemy. They just regarded it as a ringworm on their hands and feet rather than a serious problem, so they did not attack the capital." He sent troops to suppress it, but only ordered Zhu Quanzhong to go and conquer."
Changsheng nodded slowly. At this time, the vassal town was divided, and the military governors from all walks of life respected themselves. Unless it was beneficial to themselves, no one would send troops easily.
"Sir, do you still want to see them?" Yang Kai asked.
Chang Sheng raised his head and glanced at Yang Kai, and after pondering, he said, "It's not appropriate to see them at this time, let's wait and see."
While the two were talking, Datou came over from the front yard carrying hot water. After entering the house, he first made tea for the teapot on the table, and then poured the hot water from the kettle into the basin for Changsheng to use for washing his face. .
After a simple wash, Changsheng Datou called Yu Yi and Shi Xuanming over. Everyone sat around the table and talked. They were not just chatting aimlessly, but discussing what should be done next and how to do it.
Collecting money is the top priority. Almost all the officials in the capital have been raided. Next, we should attack local officials. Inspections must be sent out as soon as possible. Supervising local officials is not a day and night task. Every time we go to a place, we need to verify the accounts, which is time-consuming. It will take a long time, so finishing it within a year is considered fast.
Since Yu Yi once worked in Dali Temple and was familiar with officialdom and experienced in investigating cases, she was specifically responsible for supervising local officials.
In addition, after the Ni family moved to the Western Regions, they left all their property and business to Chang Sheng. Da Tou was good at calculations, so he left the Ni family's business to him. In fact, there were specific people in charge of each business and store. Da Tou was The main task is to supervise these people to prevent them from slacking off on their jobs or enriching themselves.
There are three hundred arrests in Yushitai. Recently, these agents have caused Shi Xuanming to complain endlessly. Shi Xuanming was also very annoyed by these agents with mediocre qualifications. Changsheng took the initiative to remove the arrests from Yushitai. It will soon be reduced to two hundred, and those who cannot be reused will be transferred.
Shi Xuanming, a few idiots who taught less, was naturally willing, and Datou and others also understood the reason why Changsheng did this. Previously, the emperor promoted all four of them to the fifth rank when commending and promoting them, which showed that the emperor had recognized them as immortals. Best friends, throughout the dynasties, what the emperor dislikes the most is the clique among his ministers. In addition, Chang Sheng had previously accomplished the feat of turning the tide and eliminating the eunuchs. He had too many troops that could be mobilized, and the emperor would be suspicious and wary.
The five of them had lunch together. During the meal, everyone discussed the current situation. The current situation of the Tang Dynasty was not caused by a specific bad person or an evil force, but by the accumulation of many reasons. As a result, the separatist rule of vassal towns is one of them, the eunuchs' monopoly is one of them, and the corruption of officials is also one of them. In fact, what hurts the vitality of the Tang Dynasty the most is Huang Chao's rebellion. In order to suppress Huang Chao's rebellion, the imperial court not only exhausted its troops, but also emptied its money. Treasury.
At this time, the situation of the eunuchs' monopoly power has been improved, and then the Yushitai also began to rectify the official administration. However, these two things are just targets, not the foundation. The separation of vassal towns and the self-respect of Jiedushi's troops will hurt the court most. Fundamentally, the imperial court formed a new army precisely to defeat the Jiedushi envoys from various places and reverse this situation.
In the afternoon, Changsheng took Datou around the city. Many businesses in Chang'an were owned by the Ni family. He had to show up and introduce Datou to the shopkeepers and shopkeepers.
Things didn't happen every day, and it was very quiet for a while. All the inspection censors had been sent out. Changsheng worked at the censor's desk every morning, and went to the household department to handle official business in the afternoon.
The imperial examinations are held at the beginning of each year. Since a large number of officials were implicated in the purge of the eunuchs, this year Enke admitted a large number of candidates and Jinshi, filling various ministries and filling the vacancies.
The eight purple energy masters sent Ni Zhuo and others to their destination and then returned to China. However, they did not return to Chang'an. Instead, they rushed directly to Huainan to join Zhang Shan and others who were recruiting troops there. Ni Zhuo also explained before Although some of the magical artifacts collected in the Taiping Inn could be given to them, they did not return to Chang'an and could only leave them for the future.
Changsheng always kept Zhang Shan's words in mind, and read a lot of books in his spare time to broaden his horizons and increase his knowledge. However, he never read the emperor's chronicles, only the explanations of his ministers. What he read the most were ancient books related to Zhuge Kongming. Appreciating this person is one of them, and another very important reason is that he knows that he also has the emperor's spy around him. Someone must tell the emperor about the books he usually reads. He hopes that the emperor can know that he intends to imitate Zhuge Kongming. After all, Zhuge Kongming He is one of the few powerful ministers who has the ability to usurp power but remains loyal all his life.
In the dead of night, Changsheng would quietly leave the city to practice martial arts and study spells. Official positions were something external to the body, while martial arts and spells were the foundation of a life.
During this period of time, Chang'an was very peaceful, so peaceful that it was a bit boring. Chang Sheng repeated yesterday every day. He knew very well that places outside Chang'an were not peaceful, and many things happened every day. However, he was in charge of the Ministry of Household Affairs and the Yushitai. He is a first-level official who is responsible for everything, and he is no longer a young man who can wander around.
Having experienced the ups and downs before, Changsheng cherishes his current peaceful life. He needs time to learn and grow, and he also needs time to practice spells. Although he is often bored, he gains something every day and never wastes every day...
