Chapter 539: Talk about Huaishu Township

Before Li Heng retreated south, Li Heng deployed about 150,000 troops on Henan Road and Hedong Road. Among them, Hedong Road was forced to give up after the failure of Guannei Road, which formed a blank force. At that time, Li Qing'an and Li Heng reached an agreement. With Taiyuan as the boundary, the seven prefectures north of Hedong Road, including Taiyuan, were controlled by Li Qing'an, and are currently commanded by general Lei Wanchun, 15,000 troops.

The ten prefectures south of Hedong Road were controlled by Li Heng's Guanzhong army. Not only the ten prefectures south of Hedong Road, but even the vast areas of Dugi Road and Henan Road were all stationed by Li Heng. However, when Wang Sili of the Guanzhong army suddenly occupied Tongguan, the 150,000 troops sent by Li Heng were cut off from the retreat route. An Lushan was eyeing him in the north, and Li Mao's army blocked their way around Hanzhong, leaving the more than 100,000 people in an isolated and helpless situation.

After beating Guo Ziyi, Li Qing'an began to launch an Eastern Expedition, with the goal of these 150,000 troops. He wanted to recruit these troops before An Lushan sent troops. Now his troops are weak, and these 150,000 troops are particularly precious to him.

Henan Prefecture and Henan Road are not the same concept. Henan Road is part of today's eastern Henan and Shandong, with a vast territory. To the west of Kaifeng, it belongs to Duji Road, including Henan Prefecture, Zhengzhou, Shaanxi Prefecture, Ruzhou, Huaizhou and other places. It is a strategic location second only to Guanzhong in the Tang Dynasty, and Henan Prefecture is part of Duji Road, which is Luoyang and its surrounding areas.

Whether it is Dujidao or Henan Prefecture, the capital is centered on Luoyang in the eastern capital. Luoyang was fixed as the "major trend of the Central Plains" in ancient China's strategic Feng Shui, that is, those who get Luoyang will get the Central Plains, and those who get the Central Plains will get the world. Luoyang's strategic position can be seen from this, but Luoyang's strategic disadvantage is also prominent. It is surrounded by no dangers, without mountains, and deep canyons. It is only by the Yellow River north. However, in winter, the Yellow River freezes, and Luoyang has no danger to rely on and is easily captured by the army. Therefore, neither the Sui and Tang dynasties chose Luoyang as the capital, but chose Guanzhong Chang'an, which has a dangerous terrain. This is the reason.

At this time, Luoyang's government affairs were still under the control of the court. Yang Shenyu, the left-behind leader of Dongdu, was Yang Shenjin's younger brother and the direct descendant of Emperor Yang Guang of Sui. Although Yang Shenjin went to Chengdu, his younger brother Yang Shenyu refused to be loyal to Li Longji. This was also the two brothers burned an incense each and left a way out for their family.

In addition, Pei Xi, Yin of Henan Prefecture, was the son of Pei Kuan. These two people controlled the government affairs system of Henan Prefecture and were responsible to the Six Ministry of the Shangshu Province and the Political Affairs Hall. However, the military defense of Luoyang Prefecture was not controlled by the court, but was controlled by the army of Ji Guangchen, the governor of Zheng Cai.

In order to occupy the Central Plains before An Lushan, Li Qing'an personally led 80,000 Anxi army to Tongguan east and lead the army to Luoyang. As a support, Guo Ziyi also led 80,000 troops to cross the Yellow River east, and set up troops in Taiyuan, and pointed to Puzhou and Jiangzhou. Guo Ziyi's troops effectively restrained the 20,000 troops of Dong Qin, the governor of Pujiang, and made him unable to support Ji Guangchen in the south. It also made Li Qing'an's troops smoothly, and the army quickly advanced towards Luoyang.

There is about 300 miles apart from Tongguan to Luoyang. This area is a loess hilly area with undulating terrain and ravines. Li Qing'an dared not underestimate the enemy. He ordered Li Guangbi to be the vanguard and command 20,000 troops to set the way forward. He himself led 60,000 troops to walk along the official road, without any offense. That morning, the army drove to Xin'an County, Henan Prefecture.

A scout rushed to report: "Report to the general, the Xin'an County Magistrate led the people to reward the army, and it has arrived!"

Li Qing'an looked at an official road north and saw dust flying in the distance, and a convoy was faintly sailing towards him. He nodded and ordered: "The army will rest on the spot for half an hour!"

The soldiers sat down one after another, some rested, some drank water and dried food, and Li Qing'an looked around again. This was a plain area, and the official road was surrounded by endless fields. The wheat had been harvested and the seedling cultivation was over. The farmers were busy planting rice. In the distance, a small river was in the distance, and several huge water trucks stood by the river, pumping the river water into the ditches beside the fields.

Li Qingan turned over and got off the horse and walked towards an old locust tree not far away. There were more than a dozen old farmers sitting under the big tree. When they saw the army coming, they were scared to avoid it. Later, they saw that the army had no intention of invading them, so they came back one after another and sat back under the big tree to enjoy the cool air.

When more than a dozen old farmers saw more than a hundred soldiers coming around with a general, they were so scared that they stood up one after another and were at a loss. The personal captain comforted them and said, "Don't be afraid, everyone, my general wants to talk to you, without any malice."

An old man mustered up his courage and asked tremblingly: "Who are you generals?"

"My family's general is His Highness Zhao, the governor of Anxi, and now he is General Tiance."

At this time, Li Qing'an came over and said with a smile: "What are you doing to report so many official names? Just say it's Li Qing'an."

Only then did the old farmers realize that the general in front of them was actually the famous Li Qing'an. They were stunned. After a long time, they knelt down one after another and bowed and bowed and said, "We don't know that your highness is here. How offensive is it. Please forgive me!"

Li Qingan quickly helped everyone up and said with a smile: "Everyone, get up quickly, there is no offense, please get up quickly!"

Li Qing'an helped everyone up. When the old farmers saw that Li Qing'an was kind and friendly, without the airs of a high-ranking official, nor as fierce as the legendary evil spirit, they all felt relieved. Someone smiled and said, "Your Highness, sit for a while!"

Li Qingan sat cross-legged on the ground happily, waved his hands to everyone and smiled, "Sit down, everyone!"

The old farmers sat around Li Qing'an, and Li Qing'an said to everyone: "Dear fellow villagers, what do you think I look like?"

The old farmers looked at each other, and one of them said boldly: "It is said that your highness is ten feet tall and has a green face and fangs."

Someone said, "Your Highness likes to eat raw meat. He grabbed a live chicken and ripped it out and ate it..."

A young rural farmer behind him smiled and said, "Some people say that Your Highness is very powerful at night..."

Before he finished speaking, the farmers in the village turned around and glared at him, scaring the farmer in the village that Nian didn't dare to say anything. Li Qing'an smiled and said, "It's okay, I won't be angry. Let's talk, what else do you have to say?"

A young farmer smiled bitterly and said, "It means that your highness is different from ordinary people, and he wants to control ten girls at night."

Li Qingan laughed loudly, "I'm not that powerful, I'm simply a demon."

In fact, Li Qing'an offended many royal family members. When he was not in the Central Plains for a long time, these royal family members took the opportunity to send people to slander Li Qing'an's image among the people and demonize him. These rural farmers only saw the real Li Qing'an today, and then they realized that the legend was not that true, and they all sighed at the terrible rumor.

At this time, Xin'an County Magistrate Cui Qu arrived with hundreds of carriages loaded with grain and live pigs. The personal soldiers led the county Magistrate Cui Qu to the old locust tree. The old farmers knew their county magistrate, which was more important than Li Qing'an. Everyone quickly stood up to greet him.

In front of Li Qing'an, Cui Qu dared not to show off his airs. He hurriedly said, "Don't be polite to all the villagers, please sit down!"

But he did not dare to sit down, bowed to Li Qing'an and said, "I am not good at ease, please see Your Highness!"

Cui Qu is about thirty years old this year and is also a child of the Cui family. Although he is young, he has a high seniority in the Cui family. He is a brother of the clan and is a Jinshi in Tianbao for six years. He was first appointed as the chief clan in Wenxi County, Hedong for a few years. He was transferred to Xin'an County as a county magistrate three years ago. He can be said to have been an official at the bottom and has a very good understanding of the people's livelihood conditions at the bottom. Li Qing'an specially met him to understand the people's livelihood conditions at the bottom of Henan Prefecture.

"Mr. Cui doesn't have to be restrained. Just sit down and have a chance! Let's talk together."

Cui Qu sat down with fear. Although he claimed to be a fair official, there were more or less criticized in his years of official career. He was afraid that these villagers would speak freely and expose his old secrets in front of Li Qing'an.

Seeing that everyone was not saying a word, Li Qing'an laughed and said, "Then I will throw my bricks and attract jade first! County Magistrate Cui, I want to learn about the land annexation situation in Xin'an County first."

When Li Qing'an mentioned land annexation, Cui Qu felt relieved. Although the land annexation in Xin'an County was also very serious, those were done by the powerful and had little to do with him. He nodded and pointed to the surrounding fields and said, "The general saw that there was no field. They were all raised in the fields. One acre of rice and three stones can be produced, but these lands are not owned by the farmer. This is the land of King Rong, with a total of 4,800 hectares. The land several miles eastward is his place.

Yes, this is actually just a leaf of autumn forest. Most of the land in the entire Duji Province was annexed by the royal family and powerful people. Some were directly rewarded, some were purchased at a low price in the year of disaster, and some were forced to buy and sell. Take our Xin'an County for example. The county chronicles record that there were 60% of the self-cultivated farmers in the early years of Kaiyuan, but so far this year, only 20% were left, and basically they were water-deficient and could only plant one season a year. The powerful people looked down on them and were spared. ． ． ． ． ． ． ． ． ． ． ． ． ． ． ． ． ． ． ． ． ． ． ． ． ． ． ． ． ． ． ． ． ． ． ． ． ． ． ． ． ． ． ． ． ． ． ． ． ． ． ． ． ． ． ． ． ． ． ． ． ． ． ． ． ． ． ． ． ． ． ． ． ． ． ． ． ． ． ． ． ． ． ． ． ． ． ． ． ． ． ．

At first, Cui Qu said carefully, afraid that saying the wrong thing would be bad for him, but he became more and more excited as he spoke. The dissatisfaction and depression in his heart over the years were all expressed, "It's good to have a good harvest, but I'm afraid that the year of disaster will not rain for a few months, and the rivers will dry up. At that time, the victims flocked to the county, and the streets and alleys were hungry, but there was no food in the official warehouse. The grain of the powerful and powerful was so moldy that it was smelly, but we were reluctant to take out a piece of rice to provide relief. At that time, we hated us, the small officials at the bottom, the powerful and powerful, and the people below hated us, and both ends were angry!"

Seeing that all the farmers in the village lowered their heads, Li Qingan asked them, "Are you all tenant farmers?"

An old farmer said: "Report to your highness, we are all tenants. Magistrate Cui said it well. This twenty-mile land is basically owned by King Rong."

"What about taxes?"

The old farmer sighed and said, "The taxes from the court are barely acceptable. Summer tax, 6 liters of tax on land and 4 liters of land; autumn tax, 5 liters of tax on land and 3 liters of land and 3 liters of land and 3 liters of land and 3 liters of land and 3 liters of land and 3 liters of land and 3 liters of land and 3 liters of land and 3 liters of land and 3 liters of land and 3 liters of land and 3 liters of land and 3 liters of land and 3 liters of land and 3 liters of land and 3 liters of land and 3 liters of land and 3 liters of land and 3 liters of land and 3 liters of land and 3 liters of land and 3 liters of land and 3 liters of land and 3 liters of land and 3 liters of land and 3 liters of land and 3 liters of land and 3 liters of land and 3 liters of land and 3 liters of land and 3 liters of land and 3 liters of land and 3 liters of land and 3 liters of land and 3 liters of land and 3 liters of land and 3 liters of land and 3 liters of land and 3 liters of land and 3 liters of land and 3 liters of land and 3 liters of land and 3 liters of land and 3 liters of land and 3 liters of land and 3 liters of land and 3 liters of land and 3 liters of land and 3 liters of land and 4 liters of land and 4 liters of land and 4 liters of land and 1 liters of land and 1 liters of land and 1 liters of land and 1 liters of land and 1 liters of

The old farmer pointed to the young farmer and said, "He is a manor slave. He works hard all year round. My wife still has to go and wash clothes for the farmer. It's so miserable!"

The young farmer's head was lowered deeply and almost touched the ground. Li Qing'an nodded silently and turned around to ask Cui Qu: "I remember that Emperor Jingzong's land reform order was issued nationwide to implement it. Why is there no movement at all in Dujido?"

Cui Qu smiled bitterly and said, "Jingzong is a recognized weak emperor. His land restriction order cannot be out of Tongguan at all. His army investigated and dealt with in Guanzhong. It's better, but Duji, Henan, and Hedong, who would listen to his land restriction orders? Officials are indifferent to the targets, setting indicators, writing plans, measuring land, etc. On the surface, they are more active than anyone else in doing things, but in fact? It takes three or five years to measure a land. Emperor Jingzong drove him.

The land limit was lost. Later, after the regent ascended the throne, he issued an order to abolish all the land limit orders of Emperor Jingzong. In this way, no one offended the powerful. Your Highness, I'm going to say that all the officials knew that the land problem was serious. Maybe the Tang Dynasty would destroy the country because of this. But in order to protect their own official hats, who would like to mention it? Even the Chang'an temple had an ambiguous attitude, let alone the officials in the prefectures and counties below. Everyone was doing it every day, and this was the current situation."

Although Li Qing'an knew that the Tang Dynasty was full of dangers, he did not expect it to be so serious. No wonder he was so enthusiastic when recruiting immigrants from Anxi in Henan and Guannei Roads. If he hadn't been unable to survive, who would have been willing to leave his hometown and make a living in Anxi thousands of miles away?

At this moment, Li Qing'an felt that the responsibility on his shoulder was extremely heavy, and a sense of urgency burned his heart. He slowly said to everyone: "I will work hard to solve the problem of land annexation as soon as possible. I also know that many crises are imminent and cannot be delayed anymore. So this time I led my troops to the east, and at the same time to alleviate the land annexation problem of Duji, Hedong and Henan. First of all, your land is yours in front of you. I can tell you that King Rong has died in Chengdu, so I will start with him first. His land is all unbroken land, and all of them will be redistributed to farmers, his food will be confiscated, and his Zhuang slaves will release their free self. This is my decision, and it will be implemented now!"

All the farmers in the village were shocked. When they reacted, they were so excited that they knelt down one after another. Many people couldn't help crying loudly, "Your Highness, you are our reborn parents!"

The young rural farmer couldn't help but feel excited and ran away along the ridge of the field. He waved his arms and shouted to the farmers in the field: "God! We have land, we have land!"

"We are free..."

He shouted to the end, and fell to his knees on the ridge of the field, covering his face and crying bitterly. He was a manor slave. He and his wife and daughter have been other people's property for the rest of their lives, and they can be bought and sold and humiliated by others. Now he has finally gained freedom.

Li Qing'an sighed in his heart. He originally wanted to start cleaning up the land after the Eastern Expedition, but what he saw and heard in front of him made it difficult for him to wait any longer. He told Cui: "King Rong's land and Zhuang Nu can be cleaned up immediately, the grain can be collected into the official warehouse, and the land will be returned to the farmer. I believe you know better than anyone else in other land annexed land in Xin'an County. Within three days, you will make a list for me and I will send an army to assist you in clearing the fields. In two months, the supervisor will review it. If you do well, this is your capital for promotion. But if you dare to disobey me, set any indicators, make plans, and do superficial articles, then I will be executed by military law. Do you understand?"

Cui Qu felt awe-inspiringly and bowed, "I must do my best to do my best to clean the fields in Xin'an County!"

"Okay, I'll wait for your news!"

Li Qing'an stood up and said to the farmers in Zhongxiang: "It's time for me to set off. Please rest assured. I will inherit the will of Emperor Jingzong and implement the land limit order to the end. Please wait for good news!"

After saying that, Li Qingan returned to the army. He turned over and ordered: "The army sets off and march towards Luoyang!"

The army set out again in a mighty manner. At this time, Li Qing'an's order to divide the fields had spread in the fields. The farmers who planted rice seedlings in the fields dropped their work and rushed to both sides of the official road. They knelt down for Li Qing'an. An old man raised his soil high in his hand and shouted loudly to Li Qing'an: "Your Highness, King Zhao, you are our god!"

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As the main force of the central army, Li Qing'an was not fast, but the vanguard Li Guangbi had already occupied Luoyang at this time. Ji Guangchen, the governor of Zheng Cai, was afraid of the Anxi army. As early as when the Anxi army left Tongguan, he led his army to leave Luoyang and retreat to Zhengzhou to watch the changes in the situation. Ji Guangchen was a local from Luoyang. When he retreated from Luoyang, he restrained the soldiers and strictly prohibited the soldiers from taking the opportunity to plunder the people's wealth, so that Luoyang would not suffer any damage.

Ji Guangchen was about forty years old. He loved military tactics and cavalry since he was a child. In the 23rd year of Kaiyuan, he entered the officialdom with military commanders and military commanders in the local area. He was later transferred to Chang'an to be the general of the Sixth Army Commander of the Eastern Palace. He was appreciated by Li Heng. After Li Heng ascended the throne, he was reused and appointed him as the governor of Zheng Cai and the defensive envoy of Dujidao, with 30,000 heavy troops in his hand.

Ji Guangchen was deeply moved by Li Heng's kindness and was very loyal to Li Heng. When Li Qing'an led his army back from Anxi, he realized that Li Heng could not stay in Chang'an, so he planned to go to Guanzhong to retreat south with Li Heng. Unexpectedly, Wang Sili suddenly occupied Tongguan, shattering his plan.

In the more than a month since Li Qing'an entered Guanzhong, Ji Guangchen had been worried. He wanted to give up the Central Plains several times and go to Nanyang to Hanzhong. However, Li Mao seemed to know his thoughts. He stationed 60,000 troops in Nanyang and did not allow him to transit. At this moment, Ji Guangchen received the order from Li Heng, ordering him to defend Duji Road and prepare to attack Xiangyang with the Southern Tang army. Ji Guangchen understood Li Heng's strategy. Li Heng did not want to give up Luoyang. He wanted to take down Jingxiang and connect Duji Road with Jingxiang to block Li Qing'an in Guanzhong.

But Li Heng was slow to launch an attack on Jingxiang, while Li Qing'an's army had already reached Luoyang, which made Ji Guangchen deeply worried about where he should go.

At this time, Ji Guangchen had gathered 30,000 troops distributed from all over the country, all stationed outside Xingyang County. Xingyang County started in the Sui Dynasty and was a famous granary in the world. There were dozens of large official warehouses here. Most of the grain taxes collected in the Central Plains were stored in Xingyang. Since Li Yu's large-scale investigation of the powerful and wealthy people in Guanzhong, the imperial court's grain reserves soared, and he no longer transferred grain from the Central Plains to Beijing. The accumulation over the past two years has brought the grain reserves of Xingyang's official warehouse to 1.5 million stones.

This is an extremely important strategic resource. Ji Guangchen would rather give up Luoyang than give up Xingyang easily.
Chapter completed!