After rebirth, I joined forces with my mortal enemy to seek revenge.

After successfully capturing Qingyuan, Li Xiujing changed the original commander's mansion into his own military mansion. Both the inside and outside are guarded by the sharpest and most agile among his bodyguards and Shence sergeants. Anyone who enters must disarm and take out their swords at the door. This ensures the safety of the coach and at the same time prevents rebellion by rebels who surrender in tandem.

At this time, two high-ranking generals of the Shence Army, He Liang and Feng Yuanxian, lined up on both sides. Further down are the deputy generals of the Shence Army and General Xu. On the right are the generals of the Shence Army who participated in the battle, and on the left are the generals of the Yiwu Army.

The atmosphere in the room was solemn. After all, they had been fighting fiercely in Qingyuan for several days. Moreover, he had been holding back his anger on the battlefield in Weizhou before. Although Li Xiujing had strictly prohibited his subordinates from looting, some people still took the opportunity to loot in the city and bully the people. Now it was taken by He Liang and kept at the door waiting for disposal. The victims were also invited over.

The two people who violated the order this time were one from the Shence Army and the other from the Rebel Army. As a coach, he is naturally unwilling to punish his soldiers. After all, the anger of many days of fierce fighting needs to be vented. But if the imperial court wanted to accept Heshuo, it would be useless to just rely on hegemony. If he did not punish the sergeant who violated the order after this incident, the road for the court would be even more difficult. The people of the prefectures and counties that have not yet surrendered will also be aroused to be rebellious against the imperial court.

However, even if he captures Qingyuan and temporarily cuts off the connection with Youwei, it does not mean that everything is safe. Therefore, it is not advisable to punish these meritorious sergeants too severely, so as not to lose people's hearts and cause disaster. And it is necessary to ensure that the benefits obtained by the rebel army are equal to the divine strategy. These people are now siding with the imperial court. But after all, it is a vassal town that holds military power, and they are all waiting to get the rewards they deserve from the court after victory.

After thinking for a long time, Li Xiujing finally issued the military order. Those who committed the crime were each punished with twenty sticks, but as the commander of an army, he was not strict in his control, which led to this incident, and he was given forty sticks. He Liang was also asked to allocate money from his private property to the injured people as compensation.

Not long after, He Liang had already led his people to set up stools in front of the main hall.

The two sergeants who committed the crime. After thanking Li Xiujing, they each lay down. The sergeant in charge of the execution did not dare to be vague in his approach, even twenty sticks were used.

When it was Li Xiujing's turn, the two people holding the staff looked hesitant.

"Fight, don't hesitate." Li Xiujing said.

Seeing this, He Liang hurriedly said: "General, this matter is not your fault!"

The others quickly followed suit. Asking Li Xiujing to take care of the situation. It is wartime. If these forty sticks are used, it will take at least several days to recuperate. If the rebels invade by then, who will lead the crowd to retreat?

Hearing this, Li Xiujing sighed and looked ashamed, "I am a commander-in-chief. I have issued military orders, but my subordinates disobeyed them, which is a dereliction of duty. If you don't punish me, how can I convince the public? What about the people? appease?"

Hearing his words, the people from those households looked at each other. He hurriedly said: "General, you are serious, you don't have to do this! You have already punished the main criminal, so why punish yourself again?"

"If you don't punish me, wouldn't it be against military orders?" Li Xiujing glanced at the unbearable-looking sergeants on both sides, and said in a deep voice: "Go ahead, don't worry."

"If the general really feels that he needs to punish himself, why not cut off his hair instead of being punished, which can be regarded as punishment." Feng Yuanxian said.

As soon as Feng Yuanxian finished speaking, the generals and people beside him all echoed his words. He Liang took the opportunity to help Li Xiujing stand up.

Looking at the generals and people around him, Li Xiujing sighed again. After much hesitation, he still had his head undressed and his hair cut off in lieu of punishment. And he spread it throughout the city to reassure everyone.

Now, the looting of Qingyuan is basically over. As for the treatment of prisoners, except for the stubborn prisoners who had been killed before, the rest were not held accountable. The number of those who died while defending the city was also counted and certain subsidies were given. The claimed corpses were moved outside the city for burial to avoid plague caused by the hot summer. If no one is around, they will be burned on the spot and then buried.

After taking control of the situation in Qingyuan, Li Xiujing immediately counted the military merits of the sergeants who accompanied him on this expedition. Along with the letter to Pei Jiaoran, he was sent to Chang'an.

It was already a month later when the letter arrived in Pei Jiaoran's hands.

Pei Jiaoran looked at the letter in his hand with deep eyes. Half a month ago, Dugu Bo was called the King of Ji, Wang You was called the King of Zhao, Tian Min was called the King of Wei, and Li Gao was called the King of Qi. They followed the example of the vassal states and regarded Wei Ting as the emperor of Zhou. A few days later, they were led by Cai Xilie. Cai Xilie called himself King Jianxing and Marshal of the World.

The war started from the beginning of Heshuo to Huaixi. In order to force the imperial court to make concessions, these people specially asked Li Gao to send cavalry to guide Cai Xilie to block the payment road in Bianzhou. Although Huabo Jiedu envoys dug through the Cai Canal to transport grain and wages from the southeast into Chang'an, this time the food was out of bounds. Grain consumption is very extensive, and grain and salary in the southeast are simply a drop in the bucket.

Putting away Li Xiujing's letter, Pei Jiaoran rubbed his forehead. The gloomy color in his eyes is still there. Although Cai Xilie's rebellion put Zuo Zang's wealth in danger and forced He Jingwen to jump over the wall, he not only increased the intermediary tax and the money for eliminating strangers again, but also came up with a way to replace copper coins with iron coins to enrich Zuo Zang.

This method did not work, and people in Chang'an were filled with resentment. Emperor Wei dismissed He Jingwen's official position, and at the same time ordered her to be the Minister of the Ministry of Household Affairs and to be in charge of all matters of the Ministry of Household Affairs.

But the mess in front of her was beyond her expectation.

"Shang Shu, the princes of the Political Affairs Hall would like to ask you to come over."

Listening to the servant's words, Pei Jiaoran was brought back from his thoughts. In response, he stood up, smoothed the wrinkles on his clothes and went to the political hall.

The summer sun was shining brightly above her head, and the Jinwu guard at the door nodded politely to her and called Pei Shangshu.

Hearing this, Pei Jiaoran nodded and walked forward to knock on the door. After getting the response, push the door open and go in.

As soon as I walked in, I felt a rush of heat. Even if there were ice mirrors placed around me, I couldn't resist the heat.

He held the book in his arms, bowed respectfully, and then knelt down consciously. Placing the book on the table, Pei Jiaoran raised his head and looked at the group of purple-clothed people in front of him, slightly curling his lips.

I have to say that the ancestor of the Wu family who changed the setting of the political hall was really original. The prime ministers' positions were surrounded by a half circle, with a case and a cushion set up in the middle. The visitor sat in the middle, and several pairs of eyes all around him fell on him.

Those who don't know may think that there is a torture hall in Zhengshi Hall. This move puts the visitor's mentality to the test.

Although she is also in the third rank now, when she came back this time, she was dismissed from the title of political participation governor, and was only given the post of envoy of Judgment Branch and the casual official position of Dr. Jin Ziguanglu. Just as I was about to discuss the fact that the power and voice in her hands were far less than those of these purple-robed sages.

Spreading out the book in his hand, Pei Jiaoran raised his head and looked at Jia Gonglu who was guarding him in the middle, his lips and teeth moving.

"The lower official has calculated Zuozang's remaining resources. I made a rough estimate..." Pei Jiaoran paused in his voice and said with regret in his eyes: "The soldiers and horses in front of us are frugal and can probably support three more people." Months. Coupled with the two million yuan that He Jingwen confiscated from wealthy businessmen in the city, it should be able to last for the first half of the year."

Wang Yu glanced at her, "Can it only be half a year? Is there no other better way?"

"Yes. But..." Pei Jiaoran smiled slightly.