Chapter 663: Increase Troops
When the news of the Xianbei army's attack on Xinxing reached Pingzhou, Lu Songli was not surprised. Qin Heng and she had predicted before that there would be a major war between the three forces in the next one or two years.
Bingzhou and Jizhou were destined to become the main battlefields of the three parties. If the war expanded, it might also sweep into Yanzhou, Qingzhou, and even Yongzhou.
This is just the beginning.
Some sharp-eyed guys noticed the movements of the three major forces.
The Xianbei are gathering.
Dali was also mobilizing troops to the north to provide support.
In order to cope with this war, Pingzhou also began to send reinforcements to Shanggu, Jizhou, Zhuozhou, Hejian, Leling and other border areas belonging to Pingzhou.
The three parties simultaneously increased their troops, and a three-way war was about to break out.
At the same time, news of Pingzhou detaining talents also spread.
In the early stages of the three-way melee, it did not prevent the three parties from fighting each other in other aspects.
Dali's loyal ministers and lackeys ran around and appealed.
Pingzhou is too dangerous, you must not go there.
They had previously claimed that people in Pingzhou could come and go freely, but that was all a lie. The Pingzhou governor broke his promise, and anyone who believed their lies never returned.
In particular, Dali imitated the newly opened third-rate newspaper of Pingzhou Newspaper and even fabricated the story that Pingzhou Governor Lu Songli had an unclear relationship with his subordinates.
This made everyone in Pingzhou very angry. It was despicable, shameless and vulgar!
Lu Desheng was so angry that he led the writers from Liaodong Academy to fight back.
How could he tolerate his daughter being bullied?
So, all the messy things that happened in the homes of the people involved in the arrangement were dug out and written into erotic stories.
For a time, Pingzhou's newspapers were extremely popular, and even restaurants in various places became more lively.
At the same time, the Xianbei were also trying hard to recruit Han people.
"Come to our Xianbei. We, the Xianbei, promise you high office, generous salary, fine horses, and beautiful women."
Tuoba Khan now understood that their land still needed Han people to cultivate it. When Han people came, they were equivalent to their slaves, and their life's labor would be dedicated to them.
It would be better if a talented Han person came. It would be even better if the Xianbei people had assistance when they attacked the Han territory.
As soon as the Xianbei moved, Lü Desheng immediately turned his spear around and scolded them, "You Xianbei are not good people either..."
Seeing her father arguing with the children in an energetic manner, Lu Songli smiled, ignored the disturbance, and came to a secluded valley escorted by her personal guards.
When Gu Zhang saw Lu Songli, his eyes lit up, "The governor is here?"
He waved at her, his voice cheerful, "Come over here and see what I've got!"
Lu Songli looked at the thing he took out like a treasure and raised her eyebrows. Is this a Molotov cocktail?
Gu Zhang took her outside to test the power of the Molotov cocktail.
Lu Songli nodded and said, "You should also study how to control Molotov cocktails." You can't just kill and not bury them.
"Okay." Gu Zhang agreed reluctantly.
Gu Zhang was extremely satisfied with his life over the past two years. His food and drink were taken care of, and he only needed to do what he loved. If he needed anything, he only had to ask, and Governor Lü Songli would do his best to get it for him. His life couldn't be better.
Before leaving, Lu Songli ordered Hu Guangcong, the person in charge of the secret base, to guard and protect the two secret weapons: explosives and Molotov cocktails.
Lu Songli had been keeping the explosives that Gu Zhang had made before and not allowing them to be used.
First, there weren't many of them, and second, she intended to use them as a trump card. If she used them, she had to achieve significant results. Using them for minor battles wouldn't be worthwhile.
Once this thing is used, there is a risk of exposure.
She never underestimates the heroes of the world.
The explosives hadn't been exposed this time, thanks to the clever timing of their use the previous two times.
Chang'an, Imperial Palace
After Xie Zhan returned to Chang'an, he did not go back to the Grand Marshal's Mansion, but went directly to the palace.
In the imperial study, Xie Zhan lifted his robe and knelt in obeisance, "Your humble servant pays respect to the Emperor."
When he came in just now, Xie Zhan took a quick look and found that after not seeing them for some time, their emperor's cheeks had become thinner and the dragon robe he wore looked cumbersome and loose.
Song Mo didn't say anything, but directly threw the teacup in his hand towards Xie Zhan.
Xie Zhan didn't dodge or evade, letting the cup hit his forehead and then roll onto the carpet.
Xie Zhan bowed his head and said, "Your Majesty, please calm down and don't let your anger damage your body."
"You still remember to come back?" Song Mo said sarcastically, "It took four imperial edicts to summon you, Xie Zhan, back. You really don't take me seriously."
"Your Majesty, please calm down. The situation on the front line was critical, so I had to stay here for a few days." Xie Zhan explained.
Song Mo sneered, "What's the point of you disobeying the order and refusing to return? Didn't we lose Leling County, Zhuozhou, Hejian, Bohai and other places one by one? Didn't we also suffer defeat in the war? Didn't the Xianbei still bully our Dali?"
Xie Zhan bowed again, "I am incompetent, but I beg Your Majesty to listen to my explanation."
Song Mo didn't say anything, and the look he gave Xie Zhan was extremely deep.
Xie Zhan didn't look up, but went straight to talking about the current situation on the northern border.
“…It’s very likely to spread into a three-way melee.”
"Actually, a three-way melee is not without benefits for us in Dali."
"Right now, we in Dali are under attack from both sides, like fighting four fists with two hands. Conversely, the Xianbei and Pingzhou aren't fighting each other, only fighting Dali. It's as if Pingzhou and the Xianbei have joined forces."
"If we guide them and force the Xianbei and Pingzhou to fight, and each consumes the other, it will be beneficial to us Dali."
Listening to this, Song Mo's expression kept changing. Xie Zhan could be dealt with at any time, but Dali was in need of people right now...
"Tell me. In your opinion, how can we stop the Xianbei from moving south? How can we stop Pingzhou from expanding?" Song Mo sat back on the dragon throne. At this time, the sky was gradually getting dark, and his expression was hidden in it and could not be seen clearly.
After asking, Song Mo said in a deep voice, "Lv Songli currently has four states." Dali currently has only seven states left.
Xie Zhan said, "The only solution now is to move our troops north."
Neither of them spoke, they both knew that this was the only way at the moment.
As the saying goes, "before the troops move, the food and fodder must be prepared first." When mobilizing troops, one must consider the food and fodder.
Moreover, this war is a battle of manpower and food supplies, and ultimately it is a battle of the overall comprehensive strength of the three forces.
Song Mo summoned Wu Chunyu.
This time, Wu Chunyu did not cry poor, but directly presented the national treasury book.
After reading it, Xie Zhan fell silent again. How could Dali be so poor? The annual tax revenue was a mere 12 million taels of silver. It was only the beginning of May, and the treasury had only 4 million taels of silver available.
Although Xie Zhan didn't know how many soldiers and horses Lu Songli had in total, Pingzhou had seven major military regions, and the daily consumption should be considerable. How did Pingzhou manage to hold on?
Xie Zhan took a deep breath and could only try his best to think of a solution.
"Your Majesty, the new tax law must be implemented." After Zhang Zhongxian sorted out the new tax law, he secretly presented it to Song Mo before showing up.
Song Mo hesitated. If the new tax law was implemented, the royal family would inevitably become alienated from the powerful officials of the aristocratic families.
"Your Majesty, if the new tax law is not implemented, where will the money and food for the war come from?"
"Can't we increase taxes?"
Xie Zhan replied seriously, "No, the taxes on the people of Dali are already heavy enough now."
Song Mo frowned, very dissatisfied. Speaking of which, the taxation in Dali was relatively light compared to the previous dynasty.
"Is the tax rate in Pingzhou the same as ours in Dali?"
"Yes, Pingzhou's taxes are the same as Dali's, but the people of Pingzhou enjoy very good welfare in other aspects. This can completely make up for the damage caused by taxes."
If there were no Pingzhou, it would be perfectly fine for Dali to collect a little more taxes.
But there is no harm without comparison. The common people have suffered enough, and spreading the pressure evenly among them and increasing their burden will only force them to flee Dali and throw themselves into the arms of Pingzhou.
Pingzhou has been absorbing population, and Xie Zhan has also paid more and more attention to the population.
The situation now is that Dali is like a giant tree, its people being exploited to the point of being unable to survive. The leaves are almost plundered, and the main trunk cannot be moved, so only the thick branches can be moved.
"Okay, I'll leave this matter to you."
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