Chapter 226 Anne
Is it difficult to ensure that the people under your rule have enough food to eat?
It was really difficult. At least Liu Yuanqing felt that it was not an easy thing for him and his hundreds of thousands of people to have food every day. It can be said that this sentence made Liu Yuanqing feel that perhaps surrendering to Li Yuanhui was the right choice.

After several days of discussion, Li Baishi, Sun Lingxiu and Lu Xun finally finalized all matters.

Liu Yuanqing, Sun Lingxiu and Lu Xun led the people to surrender and sent all the old, weak, women and children to the southern part of Pei County and the areas of Longkang, Hongxian and Guyang in Huaibei for resettlement.

These counties are close to the north bank of the Huai River, and settling them there is tantamount to serving as hostages.

Yangzhou needs to ensure that they are allocated at least 10,000 dan of grain and 10 dan of coarse salt every month. If the Xuzhou rebels fight with the Wagang army, they need to send troops to rescue them.

The Xuzhou rebel army wanted to control the entire Pei County and obey Li Yuanhui's orders to resist the westward or southward advance of Wagang.

When Li Baishi went back, Liu Yuanqing and Sun Lingxiu went with him. After all, this was not an alliance, but a surrender.

Therefore, Liu Yuanqing and Sun Lingxiu both needed to go and pay a visit to Li Yuanhui, while Lu Xun stayed behind.

The group went all the way south and arrived at Huangjue Temple in Zhongli a few days later, where they met General Zhennan Li Yuanhui again.

The Zen room was large enough and had become Li Yuanhui's temporary office and residence.

After Liu and Sun followed Li Baishi into the meditation room, they were a little surprised to see a young man wearing a dark round-necked robe and a fu hat in front of them.

Even though they knew that the governor of Yangzhou was a young man under the age of 20, they still found it a little unbelievable after seeing him in person, sitting cross-legged on the couch, writing furiously on the low table.

"Liu Yuanqing pays respect to Governor Li."

"Sun Lingxiu pays respect to Governor Li."

The two of them bowed in unison.

When Li Yuanhui heard the greeting, he put down his pen and did not show any ecstasy. He just smiled calmly and said, "No need to be polite. I have been waiting for you for a long time. Come and sit over here."

After saying that, he pointed to a chair near the wooden couch.

Liu Yuanqing and Sun Lingxiu glanced at Li Baishi, who nodded at them, and then the two of them followed him and sat down.

Li Yuanhui called for tea again. The servant came in and served tea to everyone, then came to Li Yuanhui and added some water to the teacup.

"I heard that General Liu did not harm anyone in Pei County, and anyone who robbed the people was killed, so everyone in Pei County praised your kindness. Is this true?"

Liu Yuanqing stood up and bowed, saying, "To the governor, Pengcheng in Pei County is just across the water from me, and is my hometown. Langya in the East Sea is also a close neighbor, and they dare not wreak havoc on my hometown. It can't be considered a favor."

Li Yuanhui held the cup of tea in one hand and gestured for him to sit down and talk. "General Liu has such insight. It is a blessing for Xuzhou."

"Uh" Liu Yuanqing was speechless for a moment, not understanding the hidden meaning. Wasn't this a compliment to him?
The meeting was not long. After drinking tea and chatting, Li Yuanhui had someone take them downstairs to rest.

Liu Yuanqing, who had just left the meditation room, let out a long sigh, "Master Sun, this Governor Li is so majestic. I always feel like I have nowhere to hide in front of him, as if everything I'm thinking has been seen through."

Sun Lingxiu was stunned for a moment after hearing this, then smiled and said, "As the saying goes, wealth breeds pride, and success breeds dignity. Governor Li has been in a high position for a long time, so he is different from ordinary people."

Li Baishi was kept, and after the two left, Li Yuanhui's smile became even brighter.

"Li Canjun has been in the north for only a month, and he has persuaded an entire county to submit to me. This is truly a great feat."

Li Baishi said modestly: "I went north only because of the reputation of Lord Tang and the governor and his son. I just walked a little further and I dare not take credit for it."

Hearing Li Yuanhui's call of "Li Canjun", Li Baishi was very satisfied. Jishi Canjun was in charge of confidential matters and military affairs in the shogunate, which was a very important position.

"Li Canjun, I will return to Xunyang from now on. The follow-up of Pei County's affairs will be handed over to you. All the counties south of the Huai River, including Huailing and Xutai, must be controlled in your hands and must not be given to Wagang."

The two counties mentioned by Li Yuanhui are both under the jurisdiction of Xia Pi, but they are both south of the Huai River from Xia Pi, so they are currently under the control of the Yangzhou Military Governor's Office.

The task that Li Yuanhui left him was to digest these territories, which tested his ability in domestic affairs.

Afterwards, Li Yuanhui instructed his cousin Li Xuandao to lead three cavalry battalions to station in Yinling in preparation for Wagang's southward advance.

Yinling is not far from Zhongli, only a few dozen miles away, and only two or three hundred miles away from Liyang. Cavalry can reach it in two days.

After making all these arrangements, Li Yuanhui led Luo Shixiang's 500 cavalrymen back to Hefei, and then went to Shouchun to meet with Zheng Shandao, the governor of Huainan. At this time, it was already September, the time of autumn harvest.

Whether it was military settlements or civilian farms, everyone was working hard.

The two men walked in the fields and chatted for a while, and then Li Yuanhui told them the purpose of his visit.

"What do you think of the current situation in the world, Brother Zheng?"

Zheng Shandao looked at the Fei River not far away, and after a while he said, "The situation of the world depends on Lord Tang and the governor, father and son, brothers. Why ask me?"

Li Yuanhui said: "Brother Zheng, you are too polite. The wish of my father, son and brothers is only to support the Yan family and protect the people. Now Liang is about to fall, and the only disloyal people in the world are the two Caos. I am stationed in Jianghuai, working hard to protect the country and the people. When my father and brothers pacify Guanzhong, I think the two Cao thieves here will not be a problem."

Zheng Shandao heard this and said, "General, what you said is very true, but I wonder if Lord Tang has the ambition to be the general of the Western Expedition?"

Li Yuanhui was stunned for a moment after hearing this. General Zhengxi? Then he realized that this was a metaphor.

Cao Cao once said that his ambition when he was young was to be the General of the Western Expedition of the Han Dynasty. Gao Zhixing was simply asking, does Li Yuan want to be Cao Cao, the Emperor Wu of Wei?
"My father has made his own decision on this matter, and I have no say in it. However, I don't know whether my father wants to be a general who conquers the west, but he definitely doesn't want to be like Han or Peng."

I don’t know whether my father wanted to be emperor or not, but he certainly didn’t want to be like Han Xin and Peng Yue, who conquered the world for others and then were abandoned by them.

Zheng Shandao nodded. He knew that this was understandable. Once you reach that position, you can't just quit if you want to.

Once the Li family conquered Guanzhong, they would occupy nearly four states and control an army of more than 200,000. Such power would be enough to compete with the Luoyang court.

Li Yuan's defeat of Liang Rebellion must be a great achievement. How will the court deal with him then?

What was the fate of Han Xin and Peng Yue?
What was Huo Guang’s fate?
What is the matter between the Sima family and the Cao family?
With all these stories before our eyes, could Li Yuan give up his power and be killed?

This is just wishful thinking.

No matter whether it is a powerful minister or a vassal state, when his strength threatens the imperial power, even if the emperor himself can tolerate it and believe in the loyalty of his ministers.

But those who were dependent on the emperor could not tolerate it. They would advise and instigate the emperor to do things over the years.

The officials in the Luoyang government must have been trying every possible means to weaken the Li family.

They have not made any move yet, because they still want to use the Li family to eliminate Murong Zan of Xiyan as soon as possible. Therefore, they will turn a blind eye to the expertise of the father, son and brothers of the Li family.

Once Western Yan is gone, the imperial court will probably immediately begin to dismantle the power in the hands of the Li family.

Unless the Li family immediately raises the banner of rebellion.

It was precisely to avoid falling into an embarrassing situation that the situation in Guanzhong came to a stalemate. Otherwise, with Li Erlang's might in repelling the Turkic army with ten thousand cavalry, could a mere Wei River stop him?

Li Yuanhui was well aware of this, so he would directly send troops to take over some counties in Xuzhou this time, and next he would directly expand the military farm to the north bank of the Huai River.

And now the biggest unstable factor in the whole Yangzhou is actually Zheng Shandao, the prefect of Huainan, who has always cooperated with him.

The second is Yangzhou Governor Gao Zhixing. Although Gao Zhixing expressed his full cooperation when he came, and did not fight or compete during this period, he was a close confidant of the late Emperor Murong Ying, and the Bohai Gao family was the Han noble family that was most closely connected with Murong Xianbei.

Therefore, Li Yuanhui felt that it was necessary for him to resolve these internal instability factors before the critical moment arrived.

Don't worry, while we are fighting a fierce battle with Cao Yuanjing in Xunyang and Chaisang, the imperial army is heading south and cutting off our retreat.

Zheng Shandao has a close relationship with the Li family, but his father is the left general Zheng Guo, who is the most trusted general in the Luoyang court by Emperor Guangping.

Moreover, Shouchun is opposite Yingkou. If Shouchun is lost, the imperial army can go south along the Fei River. At that time, the entire Jianghuai area will face the dilemma of being attacked from both sides.

So Li Yuanhui came to see Zheng Shandao to get things clear.

How do you want to stand on this team?

(End of this chapter)