Taiping Inn

Li Xuandu took over as the patriarch of the Li family, and Emperor Tianbao was finally able to rule. Although the royal family had a clan mansion, the emperor's honor was the de facto patriarch.

After taking power, Emperor Tianbao was full of ambitions and wanted to achieve great things and make a difference like many emperors who left their names in history. The biggest problem before him was Liaodong.

As the saying goes, how can others snore on the side of the bed? The northwest and the imperial capital are separated by Zhongzhou and Jinzhou, but Liaodong is too close to Zhili, just a pass away. If Liaodong launches troops south, it will be soldier in a blink of an eye. When Emperor Lin was in the capital, he could not ignore it in terms of emotion and reason.

To this end, Emperor Tianbao invited important officials, high priests, mountain masters, and hermits from the Confucian sect to discuss this matter several times. Everyone's answers were different, but the one who best suited Emperor Tianbao was Mr. Bai Lu. In a sense, It is said that Emperor Tianbao truly regards Mr. Bai Lu as an imperial teacher.

Today, Emperor Tianbao summoned Mr. Bai Lu in his study again and asked Mr. Bai Lu for advice on Liaodong.

Mr. Bai Lu just walked into the study and listened to Emperor Tianbao's orders: "Give him a seat."

A eunuch walked in with an embroidered stud about one and a half feet high, one foot square, and hollowed out patterns on it, and placed it behind Mr. Bai Lu.

Emperor Tianbao was always very gentle when he got along with Mr. Bai Lu, and even showed a bit of respect from his disciples to his teacher.

"Sir, please sit down." Emperor Tianbao said casually without getting up.

"Thank you, Your Majesty." Mr. Bai Lu did not refuse and sat directly on the embroidery pier. The embroidery pier is hollowed out, and a small brazier is placed inside. It is made of sandalwood as charcoal. It is burned red and will not cause coldness when sitting on the embroidery pier. Although Mr. Bai Lu has long been invincible for the cold and heat, he is still very grateful for Emperor Tianbao's feelings.

Emperor Tianbao sat down after the desk, put down the book in his hand and said, "In the past few days, I...I have read many memorials about Liaodong, some of which were approved by the previous emperor, some of which were approved by Zhang Suqing on his behalf, and some of which were approved by his mother and queen. These memorials extend a very important question. From the first year of Wude to the nine years of Tianbao, which is about to arrive, what happened in the past twenty years? Why did my years of operation in Liaodong finally make it for Qin Qing. Wedding dress? How did Liaodong become a major concern for the Wei Dynasty?”

Mr. Bai Lu replied: "This question cannot be explained clearly in just a few words, but as the biggest problem facing the court today, it cannot be ignored. Therefore, I can only do my best to make a detailed summary for Your Majesty. ”

Emperor Tianbao nodded slightly: "I hope to hear the details."

After pondering for a moment, Mr. Bai Lu said, "In fact, Liaodong has developed to this point today, not overnight, but can be roughly divided into three stages."

"The first stage was from the 40th year of Ming Yong to the first year of Wude. This stage included several major wars. Your Majesty had already learned about the passage from several high priests and mountain masters, so I will not repeat it, just talk about it. Talking about the consequences of these wars. The protagonists of these wars are not today's Liaodong Iron Cavalry, nor the Qin family, but our Liaodong Border Army of the Great Wei Dynasty and the Iron Cavalry of the Jin Horde. The result of this war is the Liaodong Border Several generals of the army were killed in battle one after another, and the border army suffered great losses and almost no system, so the court had to collect Liao pay to rebuild the Liaodong border army."

"At this time, the Liaodong border army was still devoted to the court, and most of the leading generals were loyal and brave people who refused to surrender. The fundamental reason for the defeat was that the alternation of the two generations of emperors led to drastic changes in the court situation. The former Liaodong, who was old in military affairs, was a veteran in military affairs. Governor Lu Guangbi stepped down and replaced himself with the new Liaodong Governor Yuan Nanhai, who was a purely literati but did not know the military. His strategic care and mistakes directly led to the loss of the entire Liaozhou and the half of Fengzhou."

"Even if Lu Guangbi was re-activated later, the situation in Liaodong had collapsed completely and was irreversible. The elite border troops were completely lost, and a large number of long-time generals died in the battlefield. At this time, there was only one way before Lu Guangbi, that is, give up. Liaodong, retreated to Youzhou, and even retreated to the front line of Yuguan."

"This is the first stage I have mentioned, and the situation in Liaodong is completely corrupt."

Emperor Tianbao said thoughtfully: "But when I was young, Liaodong had already returned to the hands of the court, and turned to attack on the northwest line."

Mr. Bai Lu continued, "This is the second stage that I want to talk about, from the second year of Wude to the first year of Tianbao."

"The three prefectures in Liaodong are already vast and sparsely populated. After Lu Guangbi retreated to Youzhou, Fengzhou and Liaozhou were almost barren. The people in Jinguan did not work in farming. The two prefectures could not gain a foothold and could only continue to attack. At this time, the Liaodong border troops, which were rebuilt with Liao pay and re-established from various places, had arrived in Youzhou. The Jin tent people were not attacking the whole country. They were just a group of partial troops unable to capture Youzhou, which had accumulated heavy troops, and could only withdraw from Liaodong. "

"However, the Liao salary has a very far-reaching impact. For various reasons, the Liao salary was not distributed to the wealthy Jiangnan, but to the poor northwest, causing refugees to spread everywhere, which led to the growth of the five northwest sects, which indirectly led to the subsequent development of the later The Jin Treasure Army attacked the northwest, Liangzhou and Qinzhou fell, and Qi Ying became the governor of Qinzhong and presided over the northwest defense line. "

"At this point, the court's confidant troubles have changed from Liaodong to Northwest."

"Under this situation, a famous debate between Lu Guangbi and Qi Ying, that is, the dispute between the northwest border defense and the Liaodong border defense. Should the court focus be placed on the northwest or on the Liaodong? In the end, with Zhang Suqing's support Next, Qi Ying won, and the court decided to solve the problems in the northwest first. On this point, Zhang Suqing and the late emperor's decision was very correct, because the situation in the northwest was more complicated. In addition to the Jinguan army, there were five sects in the northwest and refugees everywhere. , if you are not careful, it will affect your whole body, and it will be true later. "

"But even if the court focuses on the northwest, Liaodong cannot ignore it. So Lu Guangbi proposed the strategy of "The Liao people defended Liao territory, and the Liao people raised Liao people". In this way, it can greatly alleviate the court's Financial difficulties.”

"From the perspective of pure military affairs, Lu Guangbi's strategy is not unreasonable. The rebuilt Liaodong border army further grew. In the early days, it mainly focused on the source of troops from various places, and in the later days, it fled from Liaozhou and Fengzhou to Youzhou. The 300,000 people fled to Liao, all of whom had a deep hatred with the Jin tent, and they regained their hometowns, so they fought extremely bravely, and thus were able to regain Fengzhou and Liaozhou."

"But Lu Guangbi's strategy also laid hidden dangers for later. The advantage of "The Liao people defended Liao territory, and Liao territory raised Liao people" is that the Liaodong border army began to cultivate farms and did not rely too much on the court. The disadvantage is that the Liaodong border army gradually began to start Developing towards the direction of the vassal states.”

"This is the second stage, but the recovery of Liaodong also lays hidden dangers."

When Emperor Tianbao heard this, his face became solemn. Mr. Bai Lu said slowly: "Then it is the third stage, from the first year of Tianbao to the present."

"The strategic failure of the first stage is attributed to the changes in the dynasty of the two generations of emperors, and the third stage is actually the same. The year before Your Majesty ascended the throne, Lu Guangbi died of illness, Zhao Zheng became the governor of Liaodong, and the year when Your Majesty ascended the throne, the year when Your Majesty ascended the throne, Lu Guangbi died of illness, Zhao Zheng became the governor of Liaodong, and the year when Your , the court did not change any major, but Your Majesty must still remember the major change in the second year of Tianbao. The impact of this major change was even more profound. Many people only remember that Qin Xiang, who had just recovered the northwest, was wrongly imprisoned, but I don’t know that Liaodong also benefits from this incident.”

"First of all, the Qingyang Cult Rebellion. This Qingyang Cult Rebellion started in the northwest and spread rapidly to most of the world, with the momentum of Taiping Road rebellion back then. Then, the pseudo-Zhou pattern in the northwest was independent, and they happened to be defeated in the Jinguan. During the civil strife of the court, the three prefectures of Shu, Liang and Qin were seized in one fell swoop. Dan Taiyun's pseudo Zhou had many contacts with the Jin tent, and the Earth Army and Badu Khan had a close personal relationship, so the Jin tent no longer used troops in the northwest. He repeatedly attacked Liaodong."

"To make an inappropriate example, the court at that time held down ten fleas with ten fingers. In this case, the King of Jin, who succeeded Zhang Suqing, had to delegate personnel power to the local governors and governors, and let them raise money and recruit soldiers on their own , either to quell the Qingyang Rebellion, such as Qizhou, or to resist the attack of the Jinguan Army, such as Liaodong. In this way, the local governors had the power of financial power and personnel, and combined with the already military power, they could He was self-dedicated in everything, which was also the reason why the Xinjiang officials became more powerful later."

"In the past years, there were two key points for the imperial court to control Liaodong. The first point was financial power, that is, military pay, food and grass. Although the Liaodong border troops tried their best to farm, they just did not rely too much on the imperial court and could not be self-sufficient. The second point was the power of personnel. The personnel appointment, removal and promotion of the Liaodong border army still has to go through the Governor's Office and the Ministry of War. These two points are like two chains, and this time the delegation of power is the court who personally untied the chain on Liaodong. "

"When the Liaodong border army was not yet destroyed, the Liaodong tyrants had close ties with the border army. When the Liaodong border army was disbanded by the Jin tent, the remaining border army and 300,000 Liao people fleeing to Youzhou for generations. The Qin family and other local tyrants living in Youzhou began to make arrangements. With the reconstruction of the Liaodong border army, the Qin family's power further penetrated into the rebuilt Liaodong border army, which had a great influence on it. However, in the past years, The Qin family always hides behind the scenes. Until this time, the Qin family led by Qin Qing finally came from behind to the stage. He began to vigorously integrate the interior of Liaodong, and develop trade and military farms, supporting the Liaodong border army with his own strength. Finance, coupled with the previous arrangements, the Liaodong vassal states were officially formed. "

"Your Majesty, if the Liaodong border troops eat the Qin family's meals, take the Qin family's money, wear the Qin family's clothes, and even their families have to rely on the Qin family's military farms, workshops, and caravans to survive, then they will be loyal to them. who?"

"This is the third stage that I have said. Although the King of Jin and the Queen Mother made up for it, such as the intention to remove Zhao Zheng from his position as governor, it was useless. At this time, the court no longer dared to do anything about Liaodong unless It was a real war, but could the court fight against Liaodong, which had been in charge of military affairs for many years? This is no longer a problem, and the initiative fell completely in the hands of Liaodong. At this time, the things that could restrain Liaodong were only left with illusory names. .”

"What's even more terrifying is that with the chaos in the court over the years, people's hearts gradually shifted to the Liaodong side, and even the invisible chain of Dayi's name began to gradually untied."