Chapter 31: We are professionals in delivering food and fodder!
To everyone's surprise, Li Shimin took a few steps forward, helped the wounded Yuan Chao up, and then untied him himself.
Yuan Chao was also stunned, then stared at Li Shimin warily:
"What on earth are you trying to do? If a man wants to kill, then kill him swiftly!"
Li Shimin looked at Yuan Chao, who was wearing tattered clothes in front of him. He quickly saw the crisscrossing whip marks on his back through the holes and asked:
"Who hit me?"
Yuan Chao didn't know what Li Shimin was going to do, so he simply kept silent. Li Shimin then asked:
"I heard that you were once a local county official and an official of the Tang Dynasty. How did you become the leader of a civil unrest?"
"Yes, I used to be a minor official in your Tang Dynasty, but before I became your official and exploited the people and levied heavy taxes on them, I was also a commoner, a human being!"
When he was chosen by the county magistrate to be an official, all the grandparents in the village who saw him would praise him and say that he had made great progress.
However, Yuan Chao discovered that being a minor official was not necessarily a good thing.
The higher-ups asked him to collect grain taxes, and he had to collect the money and grain no matter what.
The imperial court recently raised the price of salt by more than a hundred times. Even the wealthy families in the village could only dip their fingers in the salt to taste it.
Fortunately, everyone still had some food left. However, the hard times didn't last long before a group of people, either Tang soldiers or escapees from the rebel army, attacked their village in the middle of the night. Every household was robbed of their rice, grain, and money.
When he went to collect taxes, the hungry children and the trembling grandparents who didn't even have winter clothes looked at him eagerly, begging him to make the decision for them.
But what can he do as a minor official without even a rank?
The county magistrate was pressing him, and the imperial court had raised taxes significantly compared to last year. Unable to bear the consequences, he refused several times, and the county magistrate immediately hung him at the yamen gate and flogged him, with all the people and officials watching.
When the common people heard that he was being punished for not taking their money and grain, they were all furious. They rushed into the yamen with sticks and sickles, set the gate on fire, and tied up the county magistrate.
Then, things got out of control.
Since we're going to die anyway, instead of forcing our fellow villagers to starve to death, we might as well rebel together! At least we can live a few more days!
"And then? What are you going to do after the rebellion?
Secede Jiangdong and proclaim yourself emperor?"
When Li Shimin asked this question, Yuan Chao was stunned.
proclaim oneself emperor?
He never thought that he could become an emperor. The villagers all rebelled, and the people of several nearby counties and towns also followed him and regarded him as a great benefactor.
But he himself was just a minor official who had not received much education and could only read a few words. How could he have the ability to become emperor?
Yuan Chao was a little confused and muttered to himself:
"I don't know, I don't know..."
He didn't know where the future lay, but he knew that there was a raging fire burning in his heart. It felt like his heart was constantly burning and tormenting, forcing him to do something!
Even if they, the common people, are no match for the Tang court in the end, he wants to let the almighty emperor and those powerful families see that the lowly people cannot allow them to be bullied like this!
Those grasses and insignificant things that people look down upon are also human beings!
When the grass and insignificant people pick up the knife, they can still stab it into the hearts of these powerful people in power, chop off their heads, make them tremble, and let them know fear!
Why should they struggle hard to survive, working from morning till night without a break, only to be trampled into the mud and plundered and toyed with like animals by those powerful people who only care about living a life of luxury?
"Your bravery has long surpassed that of all the nobles in the court!"
Li Shimin patted his shoulder and sighed:
"I have long been fed up with this court of idlers.
The previous emperor and the current emperor are both like this.”
Hearing this, Yuan Chao was stunned.
He had heard of the reputation of the Prince of Yan who defended Chang'an and won numerous battles. He knew that the Prince of Yan was the son of the current emperor and a member of a noble family whom they could not even see normally.
But he is standing here today and telling me that he looks down on the current emperor?
"Are you lying to me?
What value do I have in you that you can use?"
After hearing this, Li Shimin simply asked his subordinates to stay away. Then he squatted on the ridge of the field, and handed Yuan Chao a gourd of yellow wine he had brought with him, without any etiquette.
"It's cold in winter, drink something to warm your body."
Yuan Chao looked at Li Shimin, then at the wooden gourd of wine, silently took it and poured it down his throat. His body felt a little warmer, but his heart felt even colder and more bitter.
"In fact, I am only now slowly figuring out a lot of things."
Li Shimin took back the wine gourd and drank a few sips. Then he thought of the death knell after his death and saw the end of the Tang Dynasty.
Huang Chao rushed into Chang'an City and killed almost all the members of the Li Tang royal family and the aristocratic families. The Zhuque Street in the former Chang'an City was turned into a river of blood.
He was extremely angry at the time. As the founding emperor of the Tang Dynasty, he absolutely could not accept the end of the Tang Dynasty.
But after he was reborn in Li Neng's body for such a long time, and when these descendants thousands of years later commented on the Tang Dynasty from another perspective, he found that he could face all this more and more calmly, and face the final failure of the Tang Dynasty.
We can only blame the incompetence of the descendants of the Li family. Once they become stupid and foolish one after another, we can't blame the loss of royal power.
If power cannot be balanced and restrained, the aristocratic families will inevitably become more powerful, and the people who cannot afford to eat will also rise up in rebellion like at the end of the Sui Dynasty.
He could also be blamed for his own incompetence. When he was in power, he only thought about controlling the aristocratic families and balancing the power and prestige among the Guanlong, Shandong, and Jianghuai families. However, his governance of the Tang Dynasty still relied on the aristocratic families, and he never thought about eradicating this cancer of aristocratic families.
“I also want to give the Tang Dynasty a brand new look and ensure that the people have enough food to eat.
But the Tang Dynasty is already plagued by too many problems. If we were to resort to force, it would only affect the entire body.”
Li Shimin then told Yuan Chao his thoughts on the aristocratic families and the court, saying that if the aristocratic families were no longer in control in the future, everyone would enter the officialdom through the imperial examinations based on their talents.
Even if the ruler is an incompetent emperor, the people can still live a good life and will not be exploited like they are now.
Yuan Chao was confused at first, because the concepts of humble families and the balance of power were beyond the comprehension of a commoner like him.
But the more he listened, the fire in his heart burned more fiercely, until the blood in his body was boiling with Li Shimin's words.
He seemed to be in the vast darkness, but suddenly a ray of light shone in, pointing him in the direction of the way forward.
Li Shimin stood up at this time, with his hands behind his back, standing in the wind, looking quite handsome and sharp. He said:
"I will not kill you, nor do I want to. I will report this as a common bandit rebellion to the court."
"Why?"
"Because perhaps in the future, I will need you to help me do something, something that other nobles and officials would never dare to do.
Do you dare?
Hearing this, Yuan Chao took a sip of wine, wiped the wine from the corner of his mouth, and laughed wantonly:
"I've already rebelled, so what's there to be afraid of? It's just death anyway!"
"Okay! I want you to kill the people of the aristocratic families, those leaders of the Five Surnames and Seven Families who have been high and mighty for hundreds of years!
Don’t you want to scare them? Then let all the noble families in the world see it!”
"Well, let these aristocratic families see how we, the lowly people, trample them underfoot! We pull them down from their pedestals!"
Yuan Chao also wanted to know: when these high-ranking officials were trampled underfoot and beheaded by a commoner like him, would they cry like the people they tortured, or would they be afraid and beg for mercy?
As for the King of Yan?
He had no idea what the Prince of Yan was ultimately planning, nor could he fathom it. As a commoner, he couldn't fathom the intricacies of the court.
But the person in front of him gave him a feeling that any difficult problem could be easily solved in front of him.
"If people like you were the ones who governed the Tang Dynasty and the world in the future, I would be able to die with a smile on my face."
Before leaving, Yuan Chao said this to Li Shimin seriously.
After listening to this, Li Shimin said nothing. He stood on the top of the mountain and watched him leave, standing alone in the wind for a long time.
After his rebirth, he actually felt lost at times. Eliminating An Lushan and winning the battle were just trivial matters to him.
But will the future of governance repeat the fate of the Tang Dynasty? Will another Huang Chao storm Chang'an and trample on the bones of the nobles?
[Erfeng, don’t take all the responsibility on yourself and don’t put all the blame on yourself!
Have you ever been traumatized by the PUA tactics of your subordinates? Are you used to taking the blame every day?
Some things just can't be stopped! It's the natural law of history!
[I'm dying of laughter. This is the first time I've seen subordinates scold their boss so much that he takes the blame.]
Er Feng's sense of responsibility is simply too strong! He'll be responsible for everything that happens a hundred years from now!
In the early days of the dynasty, the landlords were beaten and the land was redistributed, and the people were able to live a better life.
By the middle of the dynasty, land rights began to be concentrated, and the powerful families occupied a large amount of land, and the people began to suffer.
At the end of the dynasty, a foolish ruler was in power, the royal power was lost, and there were internal and external troubles. The people rose up in rebellion, and eventually it would be time to fight against the local tyrants and divide the land, and settle the legacy of the previous dynasty.
Every dynasty will eventually fall, but some dynasties are short-lived and fall apart quickly, perishing in the second generation, while others last for hundreds of years. The Tang Dynasty was quite good!
"Periodic Law... Does that mean I should be happy?"
Li Shimin seemed to be looking down at the long river of history from another perspective. Soon, the haze in his heart was swept away, and he felt suddenly enlightened:
"Then I will work hard to make the prosperous Tang Dynasty last a little longer. Three hundred years is not enough, we need five hundred or eight hundred years!
I want the Tang Dynasty to become the longest-lasting and brightest star in China!"
The longer it lasts, the later the chaos will come, and the people can live in peace for hundreds of years. This is the best he can do.
After figuring it out, Li Shimin felt much better, so he returned to the outskirts of Jiangling City and watched the modern people report the progress of shipbuilding to him every day.
Finally, when the ship was built and ready to be launched, the eunuch Cheng Yuanzhen, who was in charge of the army, could no longer bear it and repeatedly urged Li Shimin to attack Jiangling and capture Prince Yong.
"Prince Yan has been hesitant to act. Could it be that he harbors the same rebellious intentions as Prince Yong?"
Eunuch Cheng Yuanzhen was a member of Li Fuguo's staff, and Li Fuguo and Yu Chaoen had a serious feud. Hearing that Yu Chaoen might be close to the Prince of Yan, Li Fuguo became suspicious and sent his trusted confidant Cheng Yuanzhen to investigate.
Li Shimin naturally understood Cheng Yuanzhen's little thoughts. He was also fed up with these eunuchs supervising the army, so he smiled at him kindly:
"Very well, then I will mount my horse with you and fight to slay all of Prince Yong's rebels. Eunuch, let's go together!"
"Alas, I'm not fighting. I'm here to supervise the army, not to fight on the battlefield! What are you doing, King Yan?"
While the pale-faced eunuch was still speaking, Li Shimin grabbed his collar and threw him onto a tall warhorse. Then he slapped the horse's butt, and the horse galloped away for a long distance.
Li Shimin soon caught up on horseback and ordered his troops to follow, preparing to attack Jiangling City directly.
Cheng Yuanzhen, who was almost vomiting from the shaking on horseback, shouted in panic amid the dust raised by the horse's hooves:
"King Yan, what do you mean? Let me get off the horse and let me go!"
"Didn't the eunuch suspect me of treason? Then I will take you with me to personally kill Prince Yong, so that my father won't disbelieve me."
Cheng Yuanzhen wanted to stop the horse, but Li Shimin grabbed his reins and then hit the horse, making it run faster and faster, shaking him so much that he couldn't speak and his hair was all messed up.
Li Shimin had already made arrangements with Prince Yong, so when they saw Li Shimin leading his troops to attack the city, the soldiers defending Jiangling City began to shout, as if they were going to fight hard, looking brave and fearless.
"Prince Yan, do you think our Prince Yong is afraid of you?
Come on, if you have the guts, and watch our Prince Yong kill you!"
These hundreds of soldiers all received orders from Prince Yong, so each one howled louder than the other, and their roars merged into one.
These provocative words also aroused the morale of Li Shimin's soldiers. Everyone was eager to fight and kill, and Li Shimin immediately ordered an attack on the city:
"Prince Yong's fate has ended. Those who surrender will not be killed!"
"Bah! We'd rather die in battle than surrender. Attack us if you dare!"
However, although the soldiers shouted very loudly, their movements were very slow. They just raised their swords and shouted, but did not really take action. They worked with their mouths but were idle with their hands.
After the city gate was broken open, Prince Yong's soldiers on the city wall immediately dropped their weapons and surrendered, giving the other side no chance to kill them.
[Ahahahahahahaha! After all the hard work of yelling, you surrendered so quickly!]
Reject the Frenchification of the Tang Dynasty! 】
【France: ??? This can also be cueed!
But these people's acting is terrible, isn't it? You should at least put on a show of resistance, or how will we, Er Feng, explain ourselves?
The enemy surrendered before our soldiers even took action. We came here with such great momentum but didn't kill a single person and didn't achieve any credit at all?
All the soldiers were dumbfounded, and Li Shimin looked up at the sky speechlessly.
This naive and naive Prince Yong, doesn't he know how to let others pretend to be more like him?
At least resist a little!
Even the eunuch Cheng Yuanzhen noticed that something was amiss and asked doubtfully:
"They just surrendered like that?"
The other party's acting skills were not good enough, so Li Shimin had to make up for it himself. So Li Shimin said with a serious face:
"It's indeed as my father-in-law said. There might be something strange about this matter. But no matter what, let me lead the others in to investigate."
After saying this, Li Shimin did not allow any further explanation and immediately pulled Cheng Yuanzhen in.
The soldiers behind saw that their leader was almost gone, and without caring whether there were any traps in the city, they quickly rode their horses to catch up.
However, the soldiers inside the city surrendered more quickly.
Before the horses even crossed over, weapons fell to the ground with a clang, and hands were raised higher than the other, as if they were afraid that if they were a second late, the enemy soldiers would get the kill and win military merit.
The Tang army soldiers fought their way into the city with great momentum, but now they were speechless.
[Hahahahahaha, after all this fierce operation, the result is only 0.5?]
[This won't work. A group of people rushing into the city and winning without even drawing their swords?]
Indeed, fortunately, Li Shimin had other arrangements. He had long wanted to get rid of this eunuch through Prince Yong.
As they rushed towards Prince Yong's residence, a barrage of arrows suddenly erupted from nowhere, prompting the soldiers to immediately begin resisting. However, Cheng Yuanzhen was unlucky and was struck by an arrow, killing him instantly.
Li Shimin was shocked instantly, and immediately dismounted to check, surrounding Eunuch Cheng and shouting loudly.
After shouting for a while, he saw that Eunuch Cheng was already dead, and he immediately acted in grief:
"Oh no! Prince Yong is so cunning that he has set an ambush. There are traitors in the palace!
Soldiers, follow me and capture Prince Yong to avenge Eunuch Cheng!"
Li Shimin shouted loudly but with little action, and immediately rushed south. The soldiers who had originally wanted to catch the group of sneak attacks saw that Prince Yan was running away in a hurry, so they gave up these small fry and immediately followed the main force.
【Hahahahahaha, we still have to rely on our Erfeng’s strength! 】
[Nonsense, Erfeng is clearly an idol! If you don't believe me, just look at the number of likes on our post!]
Even though Er Feng is already married, the number of likes on his post is increasing at an alarming rate, and now there are over 50,000 people who want to sleep with him!
[Wow! If you keep working hard, you'll definitely reach 100,000. Throwing flowers! Congratulations!]
Li Shimin: ……… What are you congratulating me for? What on earth is there to be happy about?
Li Shimin was very angry, but he had no place to vent his anger, so he could only make his horse run faster. As a result, he almost accidentally captured Prince Yong.
Prince Yong was hesitating to board the boat with his family, but Prince Yan's horse ran so fast that he didn't even care about the luggage and immediately ordered the boat to leave.
When they reached the river bank, Li Shimin and his soldiers saw the large seagoing ship built by modern people.
Unlike the wooden boats of the Tang Dynasty, the boat was made entirely of steel and looked incredibly sturdy. It was tall and large, with a deep draft, yet it moved remarkably smoothly. The turbulent river before it was cut through like a thorny bush.
Such a heavy ship can float lightly on the water, which is truly a masterpiece of ingenuity!
How fast things have changed in just a thousand years!
At this time, the modern sailors on the ship saw the real Erfeng for the first time, but they did not expect that they would become enemies.
Everyone was scratching their heads, thinking that they couldn't shake hands with Li Shimin this time, nor could they get his autograph, but they were still unwilling to give up. So the captain immediately shouted loudly:
"I'll be back!"
"I'll be back soon! Just wait patiently!"
[Hahaha, what kind of catchphrase is that?! Seriously, stop waving your hands! If you keep waving, you'll be exposed, okay?]
Li Shimin couldn't help laughing in his heart, so he could only pinch his thigh, then his face showed anger and he raised his sword to shoot.
The captain cried out "Oh my God" and lay down on the boat.
[You can't act cool for more than three seconds! Er Feng, we're on the same side, is it necessary to aim at me and shoot?
I was scared to death, woooo! 】
Li Shimin continued to pretend to be anxious and ordered his soldiers to shoot a few arrows at the boat. Seeing that the arrows could not penetrate the hull, he wanted to send people to find a boat to chase.
Seeing that the ship was moving too fast, his subordinates hurried to dissuade it. Finally, Li Shimin sighed reluctantly, confiscated the rebels' supplies, and returned to the camp.
This time, without sacrificing a single soldier, they seized all of Prince Yong's troops, supplies, and food. Unfortunately, due to the lack of a fast boat, they were unable to capture Prince Yong's family, forcing them to flee to sea.
Li Shimin was considering writing a memorial to Li Heng, while Tianmu was discussing:
[Now that Er Feng's mission is complete, should we pack up and return to Chang'an to hand over our military power?]
[This is so frustrating. I finally managed to escape, but now I’m going back without even fighting a battle?
Luoyang has not been taken yet, and the Uighur army has not been dealt with yet! 】
"Of course I won't go back like this."
Now he really didn't have the patience to play house with Li Heng.
He regarded Li Yuan as his father, so he had the patience to play house with his biological father at Xuanwu Gate, but who was he, Li Heng?
He has already led the troops out, so of course he has to find a reason to do something.
For example, when he was marching back north, he might have accidentally gotten lost and passed through Xia Suiyang City.
[Ahaha, what do you mean by accidentally getting lost?
Er Feng simply said that it was Gao De who had caused the navigation to go astray, and thus he incidentally resolved the dilemma in Suiyang City and dealt with Yin Ziqi's 120,000 rebels!
What do you mean by "cleaned it up while I was there"? Could you please not say it so harshly?
It was Yin Ziqi who blocked our Er Feng's way home! Er Feng had no choice but to beat him up!
This reason sounds pretty good, why not use it next time?
Li Shimin laughed as he watched, and quickly took out the defense map to check the terrain and situation around Suiyang City.
Zhang Xun was indeed a formidable general. Initially, he led his army to defend Shangqiu, defeating the enemy with only 3,000 men.
Later, when Suiyang City was besieged, he came to Suiyang to relieve the siege and held it for ten months. He blocked Yin Ziqi's 120,000 troops and pinned down the rebels' vital forces!
[And most importantly, behind him is Jianghuai, which is the lifeline of the court's grain supply.
Zhang Xun blocked the rebels' advance southward for ten months and made great contributions to the Tang army's recovery of the two capitals!
Defend one city and shake the world! 】
Yes, it’s a pity that the price is too high!
Li Shimin had been thinking about Zhang Xun from the very beginning. The scene he first saw on the system screen made him feel heartbroken.
In order to defend the city, Zhang Xun led his army to cannibalize 30,000 people, which really kept him awake at night.
[It is said that there were originally 40,000 people in Suiyang City, but by the time the city was broken, there were less than a few hundred people left.
As descendants, we are not qualified to judge who is right and who is wrong, even historians.
Seeing this history, future generations can only feel horror and shock.
"Zhang Xun has been defending Suiyang for over five months now, and the city's food and fodder are probably almost exhausted.
I will lead my army north to support him. But, did you mention that you have couriers? Can I hire you to deliver food and fodder first?"
[Ahhh, it’s finally my turn as the delivery guy, it’s a must!
YTO Express goes everywhere! 】
[Forget YTO Express, of course you have to choose our Post Office. Erfeng, please check out our Post Office EMS! ]
[Postal service is rubbish! My package hasn't arrived in five days! Is your package traveling around the country?]
You must choose SF Express. Look at us, Erfeng. We have a drone delivery team, the fastest speed and the best service in the country!
This time, there was no need to use the system to select. Just looking at the skylight, everyone supported SF Express the most, so Erfeng immediately decided.
"However, transporting food and fodder from our army base in Jiangling to Suiyang requires crossing mountains and rivers, and there's a possibility of encountering bandits or rebels along the way. Can you modern people really do it?"
Li Shimin was deeply impressed by the weak martial arts of modern people, so he was skeptical.
Perhaps it is because the modern environment is too safe and there won't be any bandits appearing along the way, so their transportation speed is so fast. But now we are in troubled times, so these modern people should not get into trouble, right?
[That’s true, then let’s change all of them to air transportation!]
Ten thousand aerial delivery drones, ready to take off!
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