When Zheng Miao heard Qiu Yizi's agreement, he immediately became happy and said, "My dear brother, don't go alone. Let your militia serve as my guards and go south with me. Then we two brothers will feel more at ease."
Qiu Yizhi was stunned when he heard this and said, "Didn't Third Brother bring the Imperial Guards here? Why do you want us, the miscellaneous troops, to follow behind and cause trouble?"
Zheng Miao said seriously: "Not following behind, but acting as the center and being my personal guard!"
Qiu Yizhi was puzzled and said, "The Imperial Guards are all the foundation of the old Youyan Dao. They are strong in combat and loyal. Don't blame me for being unreasonable. Why did Third Brother do this?"
But Zheng Miao said bitterly: "What a great foundation of the old Youyan Dao. I think there is only one foundation left now. Let me and my brother tell you slowly..."
Zheng Miao paced around the pavilion twice before saying, "Actually, after the rebellion was successfully suppressed, the old Youyan Dao soldiers began to gradually retire. These soldiers were all veterans who had made great contributions and could not serve in the capital for long. Therefore, most of those who could read and write were given official positions, and the rest who could not be promoted were given silver and land and sent back to Youyan."
"Doesn't that mean that, except for a few officers and backbones, the current imperial guards are no longer the old Youyan Army?" Qiu Yizi asked tentatively.
Zheng Miao nodded helplessly: "There is nothing we can do about it. Originally, Youyan Dao had 200,000 soldiers, which was enough to be supported by the financial resources of Youyan Dao. But now the emperor is no longer the King of Youyan. He must consider all the affairs of the country. Now the court's annual income of more than 70% is not enough to support the army, so how can we support this elite force?"
But Lin Shuhan interrupted and said, "Your Majesty, this is the difficulty. If you want to reorganize the army, you have to cut redundant soldiers and spend money. If you spend money, you have to save money. If you save money, you have to take back the ruling power of Lingnan Road. But if you want to subdue the Prince of Lingnan, you have to raise troops. This actually puts you in a dead end."
Zheng Miao praised: "Sir, you are indeed a great talent. This is what my father and master meant when they discussed this. Only if we can solve one of the three problems of reorganizing the army, amassing wealth, and removing the feudal lords, can the other two problems be solved easily. We have considered it over and over again, and it seems that only the problem of removing the feudal lords involves less aspects, and it seems that we can still find a way to solve it..."
As Qiu Yi listened, he thought: The Prince of Lingnan has been in power for decades, and he has countless elite soldiers and generals under his command. He has also been rebellious, and he is probably always preparing for how to deal with the court. It would be impossible to remove him without a life-and-death struggle.
However, facing the two things of restoring the New Deal and rebuilding the national strength, abolishing the feudal system is the simplest one. It can be seen that Emperor Zheng Rong, who is in power, has to do a great cause that will affect the world.
Thinking of this, Qiu Yizi suddenly became excited. He stood up involuntarily and said to Zheng Miao: "Such a big matter, even if I devote all my energy and die, I will help my third brother to get it done for the emperor!" His face was serious as he spoke.
His action actually startled Zheng Miao who was still talking. He smiled awkwardly and said, "Brother, what's wrong?"
Qiu Yi said: "I just agreed to go to Lingnan Road, brother, out of consideration for our brotherly love. However, it seems that the withdrawal of the feudal system is a top priority for the country and the well-being of the people. If I continue to decline, wouldn't I be ashamed of my teacher's earnest teachings for more than ten years?"
Lin Shuhan, who was standing by, smiled and said, "I have also been reading books of sages since I was young. As the saying goes, 'If you want to bring peace to the world, who else can do it in this world but me?' Although I don't have any ability, I am willing to go south with Lord Qiu to meet the King of Lingnan."
Zheng Miao was overjoyed when he heard this. He immediately stood up and patted Lin Shuhan on the shoulder: "Mr. Lin has such an idea, which is a role model for all the scholars in the world. It's a pity that Mr. Lin has no intention of pursuing a career in politics... So, on behalf of the people of the world, I will pay my respects to you!" As he said this, Zheng Miao stood up solemnly and bowed to Lin Shuhan.
Lin Shuhan quickly stood up to return the greeting, but said, "I have a bad temper, and it is useless for me to talk to you about justice. I am just speaking from the bottom of my heart. I am impressed by your character and demeanor, so I want to help you do something."
Zheng Miao was a little nervous when he heard Lin Shuhan put him before the "great justice of the world". Just when he was about to say something humble, he heard Lin Shuhan say, "Don't be too modest, Your Highness. Just now at the dinner, Your Highness has met Lin's wife, Wu Ruofei. I wonder what you think of her?"
Zheng Miao was a little surprised when he heard this: "How can an outsider like me praise or criticize your Madam?"
Lin Shuhan waved his hand nonchalantly: "Your Highness, please feel free to speak."
Zheng Miao thought about it carefully and said, "She is very beautiful, like a fairy from heaven, but it's a pity that she has been in the secular world for a long time, so she is inevitably a bit vulgar."
"That's exactly what I said!" Lin Shuhan praised, "There are only two kinds of ordinary people who see Ruo Fei. One kind is fanciful, frivolous and timid, and wants to take her for himself; the other kind is an old scholar, a family scholar, who denounces her as a beauty who brings disaster, but in his heart he doesn't know what kind of thief and whore she is..."
When Qiu Yizi and Zheng Miao heard what Lin Shuhan said, they agreed with it in their hearts - they were both people with very wide social connections, and they had met countless people from all walks of life. It was exactly the same as what Lin Shuhan described.
But Lin Shuhan continued, "However, in front of Ruofei, there are only two people in my life who can rely on their conscience and treat it normally. One is the seventh-rank county magistrate of Shanyin County, and the other is..." He deliberately dragged out his tone, "The other is you, the Third Prince!"
Zheng Miao blushed and said, "When I first met Miss Wu, I just thought that there was such a transcendent woman in the world, but I didn't have any other thoughts in my mind. How dare I accept such a compliment from Mr. Lin?"
Lin Shuhan shook his head again: "I always judge people well, Your Highness, please stop being modest. If you have such a sincere heart, I will definitely treat you with sincerity... But although I intend to go to Lingnan, I wonder if Your Highness is willing to take me with you?"
This was of course what Zheng Miao wanted, so he quickly agreed: "Yes, yes, of course. Then please give me more advice along the way, Mr. Lin."
In this way, everyone had made up their mind and stayed in the "Liaochen Palace" for another day. Qiu Yizi asked Zhao Chengxiao to gather all the soldiers and horses, take the military supplies, and protect the Third Prince Zheng Miao. They first went east to Nanjing to pick up the accompanying ceremonial guards, and then set out from Nanjing to Lingnan Road in a mighty manner.
The Han Dynasty was dominated by Han people in all provinces. Even in Youyan Province, the northernmost province, which was under great pressure from nomadic tribes, Han people still dominated the government. Lingnan Province was a place where Han and Yi people lived together. Yi people mostly lived in deep mountains and forests. They did not speak the same language as Han people, so it was very difficult for the court to control them.
The inability to implement the imperial decrees was secondary. The important thing was that these barbarians were poorly educated and had different customs. Among them, there were many cunning, greedy and ignorant tribes. When the imperial court in the Central Plains declined, they often listened to the instigation of Annan, Siam and Myanmar to rebel, often endangering one side and even corrupting several regions.
Therefore, when Emperor Xianzong carried out the reform, he wanted to change the chieftains into officials, and gather the chieftains of several large tribes in Lingnan Road in the capital or other places to live out their lives in honor, and then have officials sent by the court to restrain and manage them, so as to eliminate future troubles.
However, this matter was too complicated, and even the wise and decisive Emperor Xianzong only discussed it with a few close ministers, and did not actually implement it. As a result, the Lingnan Road continued to rebel every year, and the court continued to send troops to suppress it every year.
It was not until the reign of Emperor Muzong that Emperor Zheng Yong, who was fond of Taoism and neglected state affairs, and who thought his fourth brother Zheng Gui, who was in charge of the military, was too much of an eyesore in the capital, sent him far away to Lingnan Province, hoping that he would be distracted by the trivial matters in Lingnan Province and would have no intention of causing trouble.
Who would have thought that Zheng Gui, who was named King of Lingnan, was very capable. As soon as he entered Lingnan, he quickly suppressed several rebellions with both kindness and force, subdued several leading chieftains, and deployed troops to the border several times to suppress Annan, Siam and other countries. From then on, there was no major rebellion in Lingnan.
Despite this, the Han Dynasty, including the Lingnan Palace, still could not penetrate deeply into Lingnan. Except for the coastal areas of Fuzhou, Quanzhou, Zhangzhou, Chaozhou, Guangzhou, Huizhou, Leizhou, etc., the rest of the area was always under the control of the barbarians. Therefore, the Lingnan Palace always had the responsibility of suppressing Lingnan and the surrounding countries, which could only make it grow stronger day by day, and it had gradually become too powerful to be eliminated.
The ceremonial procession of His Royal Highness the Third Prince Zheng Miao set out from Jinling City, the capital of Jiangnan Road, and headed south along the East China Sea. After a short rest at the headquarters of Left General Cui Nan in Wenzhou, they left the jurisdiction of Wenzhou and arrived in Fuzhou, thus entering Lingnan Road.
As soon as they entered Lingnan, the official road under their feet became very tortuous and narrow. Some of the paths over the mountains and ridges were only wide enough for three people to walk side by side, and Zheng Miao's imperial sedan chair had to be extremely careful to pass through. Zheng Miao's ceremonial guards naturally could not be laid out on such a small road, so he simply gathered them up and put them on the accompanying carriage, only asking his men to drive the carriage carefully, and he rode his horse slowly forward under the protection of the soldiers.
After walking for two or three days, Qiu Yizhi suddenly heard the scout sent by Zhao Chengxiao to explore the road come back and report: "Sir, there is a flat road ahead after going around a mountain, and there is a big city. There seems to be someone waiting to welcome you at the city gate."
Qiu Yizi nodded, told the scouts to go back and rest, weighed the situation for a moment, walked to Zheng Miao, and said, "Fuzhou City should be ahead. According to reports, there are people waiting to welcome us. It seems that our whereabouts are already under the control of others."
Zheng Miao smiled and said, "This is the Lingnan prince's plan to scare the enemy. It's no big deal. We can't show our weakness. Once we get to the wide road, we must set up the imperial envoy's guards and let them see the majesty of the Han Dynasty!"
Qiu Yizhi nodded after hearing this, and then instructed Zhao Chengxiao who was following closely behind him: "Brother Zhao, did you hear everything? Tell all the brothers to cheer up and don't let people look down on you!"
These militiamen under Qiu Yizi's command were originally elite troops recruited on the basis of merit. As soon as they were formed, they fought head-on against the vicious Japanese bandits and the martial arts masters of the underworld. After pacifying these two troubles, they often participated in the government army's anti-bandit operations in Jiangnan Road. They have become a powerful force that has experienced many battles.
Zhao Chengxiao, the direct commander of this powerful army, heard Qiu Yizhi's order and simply put on a show. He ordered his soldiers to take off their dusty old uniforms and put on new uniforms made before the south. He also took out all the elite weapons such as giant shields, powerful crossbows, long spears, Japanese swords, etc., held them in their hands, formed a formation, shouted slogans, and marched forward. (To be continued)