Tibet

Li Dai did not go far. He was waiting for news in Xinye County to the north. Xinye County belonged to Dengzhou and the influence of the Chang family could not be affected here.

Li Dai originally thought he would wait for a few days, but he didn't expect that the next afternoon, Xinye County Magistrate Zhang Chun came with several of Li Ye's soldiers.

Li Dai just learned that the Chang family had been solved, which made him surprised and happy. He was very emotional. As expected, his son acted vigorously and resolutely, and the trouble was solved in just one day.

Li Dai also knew that the Chang family would not survive, but he would be lucky as long as there was no fierce military battle.

He immediately returned to Xiangyang with his family.

From the basement of the Chang Mansion, large wooden boxes were brought out. Jianghan was rich. The Chang family had occupied Xiangzhou for more than 20 years. Not only did they plunder, they also had a large number of shops and ships to transport goods. The profits were very huge. Twenty Years of accumulation are in this basement.

A total of more than a hundred large boxes were moved out, and they counted out 200,000 taels of silver, 20,000 taels of gold, 100,000 taels of copper coins, and a large amount of other wealth.

In addition, there are more than a hundred restaurants and shops scattered throughout Shannan East Road. There are even two five-acre houses in Chang'an. It is normal. Chang Lian is from Chang'an.

There are also two cargo fleets, nearly 300 ships, a dock and a dozen warehouses.

Li Ye planned to turn all these properties into military use. Fifteen thousand troops alone were not enough, but about 50,000 troops were needed.

At this time, Wang Wenzheng, the commander of the department, stepped forward and said: "I checked the list of Chang Lian's party members and found that one person is missing!"

"who?"

"Cang Cao joins the army and Liu Ming!"

Li Ye remembered that Chang Lian's second son-in-law happened to be away from Xiangyang.

"I know that he went to Gucheng County, and I have sent people to arrest him."

"Then there is nothing else. Among Chang Lian's many party members, only this one person slipped through the net."

At this time, if Li Ye felt something, he turned around and saw his father Li Dai walking over quickly with several officials.

"Father is back so soon?"

Li Dai smiled and nodded, "It's in Xinye County. I don't feel the need to go to Nanyang."

He saw large boxes piled up in the open space and exclaimed: "How much wealth has the Chang family accumulated?"

Next to him, Luo Kuan, the magistrate of Xiangyang County, said: "Twenty years ago, he was known as the richest man in Xiangzhou. He has accumulated wealth for another twenty years. It is even more difficult to imagine how much wealth he has now."

Li Ye said lightly: "This is only a small part. There are also a large number of restaurants, shops, ships, docks, and warehouses, which bring them countless wealth every year."

Li Dai pondered for a moment and said, "Do you have any suggestions on how to deal with this wealth?"

Li Ye knew what his father was thinking. The occupational disease of the Minister of Household Affairs recurred again. He smiled and said: "Father, please don't even think about transporting them to the imperial court. Fifteen thousand troops will be intensively trained soon to turn them into official soldiers." The army needs to increase military salaries, which will cost a lot of money, and we need to continue to recruit troops, at least 30,000 troops, otherwise we still cannot defend Xiangyang."

Li Dai was right when he thought about it, there are many places to spend money! The prince could not give him financial support, so he could only rely on himself. Li Dai nodded, "I understand!"

On the same day, Li Dai, as the observer envoy of Shannan East Road and the training envoy of the capital regiment, issued a gathering order to the states, requiring all state soldiers in Shannan East Road to come to Xiangyang within ten days for training.

At this time, the news that the Chang family was exterminated by Li Ye had spread throughout the eastern states of Shannan. The people in Xiangyang cheered and beat gongs and drums to celebrate the demise of the Chang family. The Wang family in Dengzhou and the Wu family in Jingzhou were frightened and did not dare to resist the order and controlled them. State soldiers were sent to Xiangyang to participate in training.

The five thousand troops in Xiangyang have been reorganized. The five generals were deprived of their military rights and retired. Li Ye filled the army with hundreds of soldiers and served as generals, school lieutenants, deputy lieutenants and brigade commanders, firmly controlling the military power.

He also decided to disband all the other 10,000 troops, reorganize them, and fill them with his own soldiers as key generals. In the end, he only had ten soldiers left.

In this way, the state soldiers who were originally divided by region were all reorganized into the new army, and each person was given two guan of money per month. Then each state paid another guan of money and became a formal soldier. Li Ye named it Jianghan Army.

Li Ye was appointed as the Jianghan Army's military envoy, Hu Kun and Xu Lin served as the left and right deputy generals respectively, and began high-intensity formal military training.

It was already the end of February, and Li Ye was about to return to Hexi.

In the room, Li Ye said to his father Li Dai: "What my father has to do right now is to raise money and food, recruit soldiers, and then convince the people along the Han River to put the ships to the south. It is best for my father to train a navy, which will be good for the future." It is very beneficial to prevent enemy troops from crossing the river."

Li Dai asked worriedly: "Aren't you coming?"

Li Ye smiled slightly and said: "Of course I want to come, but it will be a little late to train the navy after I come."

"I understand, I will arrange it!"

Li Ye added: "Father must pay attention to recruiting talents and confronting the rebels. In the final analysis, it is still a confrontation between money, food and talents."

Li Dai nodded. Although he was a scholar, he also understood this truth.

"when are you leaving?"

"I will leave tonight, and then I will send someone to bring the Xinyue mother and daughter. Once the Hezhong Army reaches Zhangye, I will lead the Hezhong Army south. I estimate that by that time, An Lushan will also start to rebel."

That night, Li Ye left Xiangyang with ten soldiers and rushed towards Shangluo Road.

After passing Wuguan, Li Ye entered Shangluo Road. Five days later, Li Ye arrived in Shangluo County.

Li Ye led his men into the county town, and the noisy and bustling atmosphere hit him. Although it looked shabbier than Xiangyang and the county town was smaller, it was very popular.

Li Ye and his men stayed at an inn. He then took two of his men to the Yahang opposite the inn and found a man from Zhuangzhai Ya.

"It's too easy for guests to rent a house. There are a lot of vacant houses in the county. If you want to rent a house of any size, just tell me and it will be available right away."

"I want a three-acre house. It doesn't matter whether it's old or new. All I ask is that the landlord doesn't bother me."

Ya Ren nodded and said with a smile: "I have two of them. The owners are not in Shangluo and have moved to the capital. I collect the rent for them. One is 20 qian per month. It is a big house along the street where you can do business. The other is more quiet." , only ten strings per month.”

"If you want ten thousand dollars, you will take me to see it, and I will pay you one year's rent directly."

Zhuangzhai Yaren took Li Ye and two of his men to see the house. Not far from the inn, there was an alley called Xiao Qingfeng Lane. At the end of the alley was the house he wanted to rent.

The house was half-new, with three acres. It was quiet and not bad, and Li Ye took a fancy to quietness.

He immediately paid one hundred and thirty taels of silver, including one year's rent and ten taels of silver in between. The man was very diligent and the lease was settled in an hour.

Li Ye rented this house in Pei Ye's name for one year.

He plans to transfer all Feilong's wealth and store it here first, and then transfer it to Xiangyang after his army arrives.

Early the next morning, Li Ye set off with his men again and continued towards Chang'an.

In early March, Chang'an City, inside Dugu Mansion.

In the afternoon, the housekeeper led Li Ye into the inner hall, where Dugu Lie was already waiting.

Li Ye quickly stepped forward and saluted, "See my father-in-law!"

Dugu Lie looked at Li Ye for a moment and said with a smile: "Is this a good son-in-law from Xiangyang?"

Li Ye nodded, "I'm going to Hexi. I have something important to do in Guanzhong. Can my father-in-law invite my second uncle here?"

Dugu Lie went out and ordered the housekeeper, who immediately ran to ask Dugu Ming to come.

Dugulie asked again: "Have you met the Chang family in Xiangyang? That family is famous for being tough. Yuan Huan, the former Shannan East Road observation envoy, told me that the Chang family is very fierce, and with Yang Guozhong as the backing, they will The military power in Xiangyang was tightly controlled, and it was a pity that he left in the end. I guess you will definitely have a conflict with the Chang family."

Li Ye nodded, "On the second day after I arrived in Xiangyang, I killed all the Chang family. Only one son-in-law escaped and his whereabouts are unknown. From this, I took control of the Xiangyang army, and let my own soldiers take control of the military. The state soldiers of other states They were also controlled by me, and I renamed the state soldiers the Jianghan Army, with 15,000 people."

Li Ye told Dugu Lie the whole story in detail.

Dugu Lie was stunned for a moment, then gave a thumbs up and praised: "Well done, decisive in killing. Those who do great things must be so decisive."

At this time, Dugu Ming's hearty laughter came from the hall, "Who is doing great things! King Lu?"