Chapter 277 Main Line Advancement
The roundup in Jingzhao Prefecture failed, but the big guys all breathed a sigh of relief. The little thief knew he was being targeted, so at least he wouldn't dare to be so arrogant in the future.
So Zhao Yushu tried again and found that no one dared to accept his calligraphy and paintings, so he gave up. When the deadline came, the two wandering ghosts were caught and confessed their crimes. The calligraphy and paintings of Taiji Palace and the dukes were returned. Wan Qiming received a small teapot specially awarded by the prince. The bad guys rubbed their sleepy eyes and drank wine with satisfaction. A world where only Mr. Chen was injured was achieved.
Even though the prince knew that the people in Jingzhao Prefecture were playing tricks on him, he had no choice but to grit his teeth and admit it, then hold on to the plan even tighter.
Completed the side quest and got S+ grade.
Two or three days later, the storm gradually subsided, and Zhao Yushu finally got his main mission.
Mr. Chen came out of his grief and began to send people to test the situation.
The person who was testing him was a scholar who was at the gathering together at the time, and he was also the first scholar to ask Chen Yuanwai what they were talking about.
"Brother Bai, you live in such a remote place, it's hard for me to find you."
The scholar was brought here by the Fang Zheng. According to the scholar, he had been asking in every market for several days before finding them. If Zhao Yushu had not seen the two scholars enter the Fang Zheng's house the next day after the party, he would have believed his lies.
"Master Fangzheng, I wonder if there is any quiet place in your Fang where I can have a good chat with Brother Bai?"
Fang Zheng quickly pointed to a tavern, and the scholar laughed: "Brother Bai, you won't refuse, will you?"
"That's what I want, please."
Yong'anfang is very big and there are many taverns. It was daytime at this time and there were not many people in the taverns. The two of them found a tavern on the second floor facing the street, ordered a pot of wine and a few dishes, and started chatting casually.
"Last time, we were far apart and couldn't have a good chat. I'm Zheng Pan, a native of Xijing. I was moved by Brother Bai's lofty ambitions and sincere words, so I've always wanted to make friends with him."
Zhao Yushu responded with a few words with a smile and waited for the other party to get to the point.
After two glasses of wine, Zheng Pan let out a long sigh. Here it comes, the sighing method commonly used by the ancients has arrived. What should I say at this time?
Zhao Yushu coughed and asked, "Brother Zheng, why are you sighing?"
"Alas, it's still about the imperial court borrowing troops. Brother Bai's words earlier were very inspiring. Zheng sighed that he was not as good as you. But Brother Bai, if we don't borrow troops, do you have a foolproof plan?"
Zhao Yushu leaned back slightly tactically. It was okay, it was stable. Old Mr. Chen and the Zheng Pan in front of him were both princelings.
Not in a hurry to express his opinion, Zhao Yushu fished for a while longer, and then sighed: "I said last time that Bai is not familiar with military affairs."
Zheng Pan smiled and said, "Brother Bai, you are too modest. If you don't understand military affairs, how can you tell from the words in the court report that the root of the South lies in the people rather than the army?"
Zhao Yushu was startled. He thought he had underestimated the scholars of this era. After reading the books of sages for more than ten years and becoming a candidate for the princeling party, how could they not find the problems that even a keyboard warrior like him could see?
I just don't want to say it openly.
"Since Brother Zheng knows this, he should understand that borrowing troops is not the best strategy to help Honglian out of this crisis."
In fact, Zhao Yushu's impression of the Red Lotus Sect is still far greater than that of the Xijing court. A small part of it is because of Fang Sanniang who risked her life to save him, and a large part of it is because of the old helmsman who went to the government office alone to exchange food for the refugees.
Therefore, solving the problem of the Red Lotus Sect is very simple. Reduce taxes and corvée labor, provide disaster relief when there is a disaster and rest when there is no disaster. If the superiors don't make trouble, the people below will naturally live a good life.
With food to eat and clothes to wear, who would have the time to rebel?
But it's not possible. Human desires are endless. I eat vegetables today and want to eat meat tomorrow. I eat meat tomorrow and I want to eat more meat the day after tomorrow. When I have eaten enough meat, I will try things that I don't see on weekdays. When I no longer have the desire for food, I still want to play with calligraphy and painting and play with teapots. As for you saying that you are starving to death, what does it have to do with me?
Since you dare to rebel, I will suppress the rebellion. I will give the five years' taxes of the four counties in the south of the Yangtze River to the Liao people instead of giving them to you rebels!
The rise of the Red Lotus is inevitable. The Red Lotus may fail, but there will be more Red Lotuses, and their victory is also inevitable.
Zheng Pan shook his head: "The imperial court will never compromise with the Red Lotus thieves."
"Then mobilize the troops. The Sixteen Guards have hundreds of thousands of troops. Aren't they enough?"
Zheng Pan smiled, dipped his finger in water, and drew an oval on the table: "This is our Tang Dynasty."
Then he drew several figures of different sizes around the oval: "To the north is Liao, to the northwest is Uighur, to the west is Tubo, to the east is the Three Barbarians (Bohai, Silla, and Dongying), and to the southwest is Nanzhao. These cannot be moved. Only the two capitals are left. The Eastern Capital Guard cannot be moved, and the Western Capital Beiya Army Longwu and Yulin Guards cannot be moved either."
Zhao Yushu was dumbfounded. He only had a rough idea of the locations of these armies. It was impossible for him to know them as clearly as these people who were born and raised in this world. After hearing what Zheng Pan said, he suddenly realized that the Tang Dynasty had hundreds of thousands of troops, but it really couldn't mobilize any troops to quell the rebellion?
No, General Sun of Nanyang said that the core purpose of the Duke of Yue writing a letter to force the Nanyang refugees to death was to gain military power. What military power did he want?
Zhao Yushu slapped his forehead and said, "Brother Zheng, you missed a few."
Zheng Pan smiled bitterly: "Brother Bai, you can't move these either."
Among the ten armies of the Northern Yamen, except for the emperor's personal guards, the Left and Right Dragon Warriors and the Left and Right Yulin, there are also the Left and Right Divine Warriors, the Shence, and the Shenwei Armies. These people add up to tens of thousands of people, and they are the best-equipped troops in the entire Tang Dynasty. It is no exaggeration to say that they are able to defeat ten enemies with one.
"Why can't you move?"
"Because of the kings."
Zheng Pan was like a teacher, answering Zhao Yushu's questions bit by bit: "The death of the previous emperor was sudden. Although the prince was popular, several princes still had some thoughts that they shouldn't have. Some bigwigs in the court also bet heavily on them. They ignored the danger of the country and only wanted to profit from it for their own selfish reasons, trying to gain the credit of following the emperor. Your Majesty, you have to be on guard. Brother Bai, if there is a change in the capital, it would be a foolish dream to think of suppressing the rebellion."
Zhao Yushu understood that the prince was afraid and had to hold the final military power. It didn't matter whether the south was peaceful or not, the big problem was that his throne would be in jeopardy.
So, like his father, he would rather borrow troops from the Liao Kingdom than take action against those troops.
It seems that the reason why the Duke of Yue played that trick back then was not only to gain military power, but also to transfer the Beiya Army away to give someone an opportunity to take advantage of it.
What a mess.
Zhao Yushu couldn't help but hold his forehead with his hand. Things had come to this point. The other party had revealed the secret of the royal infighting to him. If he didn't stand on the side decisively, it would not be as simple as failing to win them over and then walking away in anger. He might even be shot in the back with dozens of arrows and commit suicide tonight.
"Is the situation so serious? I am not talented, but I also want to help the country. I wonder what Brother Zheng can teach me?"
Zheng Pan let out a long sigh and laughed happily: "Hahaha, I am just a scholar, how dare I teach you? If you are free tonight, Brother Bai might as well come with me. Let's go and meet the teacher who can teach my two brothers."
Zhao Yushu raised his glass and clinked it with Zheng Pan's: "I'm very honored."