Chapter 274

Lijiazhuang garden is called manor, but it is actually a fortress. Although Zhang county is located in Longxi, it is still close to the border. To the west, across Lanzhou and Hezhou, is the border between Datang and Tubo. The old land of Tuyuhun, that is, Qinghai Province in the world.

Tubo often invaded and looted. Even when Wei Ran was eight years old, he allied with Huihe and captured the whole Longyou road. Naturally, Wei Ran's hometown did not escape this robbery.

After that, Li Chengye led the army to fight with the enemy for five years and defeated the Tubo Huihe coalition army. Returning to his hometown, Li Chengye saw his ancestral home burned to ashes by the Tubo people and his family property destroyed wantonly.

At that time, they organized manpower to repair the ancestral house. He was not an honest man, but also had great power. He easily annexed a large number of ownerless land nearby after the war, and mobilized civilian men to build the huge fortress in front of him.

The overall layout of the fortress refers to the snowflake six battle of Wei Gong's art of war. The whole large fortress is composed of seven small fortresses. The central fortress is not only the residence of the owner, but also the core of the whole fortress. Ancestral halls, granaries, weapon depots and other important places are here.

It is surrounded by six smaller docks, just like the hexagonal shape of snowflakes. On the periphery of the seven fortresses, two circular fortress walls were built to surround and wrap the interior. It can defend, hide soldiers and counterattack.

Had it not been for the deaths of many civilian men who built the fort, which almost led to riots, and Li Chengye dared not embezzle too much military funds, otherwise he even wanted to build horse faces around the circular wall to increase the counterattack ability of the fort.

The whole fortress has a daily resident population of up to 3000. Its internal economy is self-contained. Even if it is blocked, it can be self-sufficient in food, clothing, housing and transportation. This is a typical feudal manor economy, which is essentially the same as the local gentry in the Eastern Han Dynasty. It has little dependence on the external world economy, which is conducive to the multi generation accumulation of wealth, but also affects the operation and circulation of the folk economy in the Tang Dynasty.

Wei Ran looked at this behemoth. Even if tens of thousands of Tubo troops attacked, it would be difficult to capture this place in a few months by their means of attacking the city. In wartime, they can even hide troops here. If the Tibetans attack the mainland, they can send troops to break their way back at any time.

Although his adoptive father set up the fort with selfish intentions, he could not deny that he had a profound military intention to hide it.

Now Wei Ran is in disguise and wanted again. Naturally, it's difficult to enter here. The internal personnel of the fortress are familiar with each other. Strangers are usually not allowed to enter.

Besides, his uncle doesn't know himself and even dislikes him. Wei Ran doesn't want to ask for trouble in front of that guy when his parents are not around. It is convenient to live in a dilapidated temple in the countryside.

Four days later, Li Chengye came back a little later than Wei Ran expected.

With a Li's help, Wei Ran waited for the lichengye family on the road and met them with a sigh.

But his home was in front of the road, and some local gentry and old friends came to meet him. Wei Ran didn't want to reveal his identity, so he entered lijiawu castle with his family as a monk.

In the fortress, Wei Ran was naturally a guest, and he was given a temporary residence in a side house. In the daytime, Li Chengye had a big dinner at home with his hometown gentry and old friends. It was not until evening that he had time for the family to get together quietly.

In the yard of this side house, Wei Ran's uncle is not here. Only the original family and ah Li, who has become a fox again, are reunited here.

Unexpectedly, Li Chengye didn't ask about Wei Ran's escape, but a very heavy news.

"I received a message on the road the day before yesterday. Your majesty... Died..."

Wei Ran's heart jumped and his eyes widened, but he didn't ask the authenticity of the news. He believed that his father's intelligence resources would not make mistakes.

"Can the left Shence army in Henan Province return to Chang'an?"

He asked a question that seemed irrelevant. Li Guangsi and Li Jianxing didn't expect that big brother would ask, so they looked at him strangely. Only Li Chengye understood the subtext Wei Ran wanted to express. Zuo Shence army is an important force to check and balance courtiers, honourable officials, relatives and eunuchs. If it is not there, no one knows what will happen at the critical juncture of power transfer.

Li Chengye suddenly felt that the eldest son's political acuity was even higher than himself. If he were in his position, he might not be in today's embarrassment.

"Your Majesty previously ordered the Zuo Shence border army stationed in Lintao, Longyou to return to Beijing and appointed Princess Shouning as the commander temporarily."

Wei Ran frowned and said, "Princess Shouning is a woman. How can she convince a group of tigers and wolves in the border army. If the troops stationed in the outskirts of Changan were good, after all, when the establishment of the war hospital, the royal highness of the princess had won many military commands and could command them.

Li Chengye sighed, "the affairs in the court are now treacherous, but the Chu Jun has been established early, and his majesty has only this descendant. There should be no problem with the new emperor's accession to the throne."

Wei Ran also feels that they are now far away from the Jianghu and have no ability to worry about the king of the temple. Moreover, he himself has become a bandit and can't turn over without an amnesty. However, it may not be impossible for the new emperor to ascend the throne and ask for an amnesty.

"Dad, the new emperor's accession to the throne may be a good thing for our family. Now the imperial court has gone through a counter insurgency battle, which is a time when its national strength has been greatly damaged. These ambitious border town envoys, if not, should do something while the new emperor ascends the throne.

Now there is no one in the court who can fight, that is, Zhang Zhen, a eunuch. A Xuzhou war completely exposed his foundation. Even a group of traitors born in farmers can't fight. How can we expect him to deal with these wolf like Jiedu envoys? "

Li Chengye seemed to remember that in Wang Xianzhi's army, there were 3000 elite cavalry from Lulong Jiedu envoy. It was these 3000 elite cavalry that wiped out all Zhang Zhen cavalry who broke through the siege, and their combat effectiveness was quite strong. If it were not for the eldest son's plan, the outcome of the battle in Xuzhou would not be known.

"This may be an opportunity to be a father, but it may not be a good thing. The imperial court is financially difficult. If there is a saving order and the imperial court sends troops to suppress it, it will have to double the tax on the people. However, the drought has not passed yet. If taxes are levied again, I'm afraid it will provoke popular unrest. At that time, even if you are a father... "

"I can only be the mounter, paste the east wall, and then mend the west wall, watching the world go to the end, right?"

Li Guangsi frowned when he heard Wei Ran say so.

"Big brother, things may not be so bad."

Wei Ran said with a smile, "of course it's not that bad, although people's survival is becoming more and more difficult. But don't forget Du Fu's poem, Zhu men's wine and meat stink, and the road is frozen to death! There are still a lot of oil and water in the family of rich families. Wang Xianzhi only plundered four or five Chuzhou counties, which was enough to rally hundreds of thousands of troops against the imperial court. "

Only Li Chengye, Li Guangsi and Wang understood the meaning of Wei Ran's words. Nowadays, most of the world's wealth is concentrated in the hands of the local gentry. The imperial court can't afford money. The only way to do this is to fight these local gentry, or it can save a certain situation.

Li Guangsi said, "brother, if the imperial court attacks the gentry, I'm afraid it will lose the support of the people, it will be doomed."

Wei Ran smiled innocently, "they are almost terminally ill. A strong dose of medicine will either belch fart or revive. In fact, it may not be so bad. After all, there is a place of wealth and wealth in the southeast. As long as the money and grain collected from Jiangnan Road will not be intercepted by places with ulterior motives. The new emperor is a little more reliable, or he can revive the situation after the natural disaster in Datang. But that requires great wisdom! "

Li Guangsi listened and curled his lips. He had seen the prince and didn't think he could have any great wisdom.