Chapter 247: Title and Salary Move People's Heart

Xuzhou, with its capital in Pengcheng, is known as the "gateway to the south and key to the north."

As an important hub between the north and the south, its strategic position needs no further explanation.

At present, the three counties of Langya, Xiapi and Donghai in Xuzhou are in the hands of the Wagang Army, Pei County is in the hands of Li Yuanhui, and Pengcheng, the most core county of Xuzhou, is still in the hands of Pei Minzhi, the commander-in-chief of Xuzhou's military.

So Li Yuanhui left Cui Xiaotong and others behind and asked Li Qinglian to negotiate the terms of peace with them. On the other hand, he sent a messenger to deliver his handwritten letter to Pengcheng.

At the same time, Zhai Rang's envoy also arrived in Pengcheng.

Both sides have the same goal, which is to take Pengcheng from Pei Minzhi.

As for this war, neither side wanted to fight, but both were very concerned about the ownership of Pengcheng.

"Aye, Zhai Rang and Li Yuanhui have both sent people to deliver letters. What do you think?"

In the court of the Governor's Mansion, Pei Minzhi sat at the desk, maintaining his dignity. He did not even touch the letters placed beside him that were said to be written by Zhai Rang and Li Yuanhui. Instead, he could not let go of the volume of military strategy in his hand.

Seeing that his father was silent, Pei Xingyan also stood patiently beside him without saying anything.

After a while, Pei Minzhi said, "I don't know what is written in these two letters without reading them. They just want Pengcheng. But what can they give in exchange? Don't be anxious. The more chaotic the situation is, the more patient we have to be!"

Pei Xingyan asked curiously, "Father, didn't you say before that the Li family will gain power and Li Yuan has already occupied Guanzhong? Then why didn't you even read Li Yuanhui's letter?"

Pei Minzhi said: "It's true that the Li family succeeded, but the Li family is the Li family, and Li Yuanhui is Li Yuanhui. Now the Li family has not reached the stage where Li Yuanhui is in charge. What can he give me? What price can he afford? Pengcheng is the stepping stone for you and me to advance. In this chaotic world, we must judge the situation and be patient. We will guard Pengcheng and wait for news from Li Yuan."

Pei Xingyan nodded, then went to meet with the messengers of both parties in person and stated the Pei family's position, which was that the Pei family had no intention of selling Pengcheng.

A few days later, Suinan camp.

In the big tent, Li Yuanhui laughed out loud after hearing the news.

"Hahahaha, Pei Minzhi, this old fox, is willing to wait for a good price. Never mind, Pengcheng is of little use to us now, so let Pei's father and son guard it. As long as he doesn't surrender to Wagang, everything will be fine. I don't know if Zhai Rang will be so angry that he will jump up and down, hahaha."

Zhu Deyu was somewhat puzzled and asked: "But if we withdraw our troops and Wagang captures Pengcheng by force, wouldn't that be a benefit to Wagang?"

Li Yuanhui waved his hands and said, "Don't worry about that. If we want to withdraw our troops, both sides must agree on a date and withdraw together. Pengcheng is a strong city, and Pei Minzhi is a veteran. He once dominated the northern border and is better at fighting than Zhai Rang. There's no need to worry about him. If Zhai Rang attacks Pengcheng, Pei Minzhi will definitely ask me for help. That's great. Then it will be Pei Minzhi who will ask me for help, hahahaha."

Afterwards, Li Yuanhui once again brought Zhu Deyu and Zhang Jian to host a banquet for Cui Xiaotong and others.

He also talked about the final conditions for ceasefire and peace. Basically, the two sides would divide the territory according to Sishui, Suishui and Huaihe River. Except for Xiang County, which was still in the hands of the Jianghuai Army, all the cities north of Suishui would be abandoned.

It sounds very generous, doesn't it? But if you look at the map, it is not so generous. It means that several counties in the south of Xiapi have been included in the Jianghuai area. Basically, it is determined by the actual control area of ​​both parties.

After Cui Xiaotong brought back this suggestion, Zhai Rang agreed without much hesitation.

Because he was the one seeking peace, he needed to quickly transfer his main forces.

Li Yuanhui still had his father and brother to support him, so he just had to play a supporting role. But if the Wagang forces were dragged in Xuzhou for too long, they would lose the opportunity to fight for the world.

Both sides withdrew their troops in early May. Although Li Yuanhui already knew that his father Li Yuan had entered Chang'an and occupied the three states of Yong, Liang and Yi, he did not officially receive the letter and appointment from Chang'an until he returned to Hefei.

General of the Southern Expedition, Governor of Yangzhou, Sikong, Duke of Guzang, and Grand Minister of the Imperial Court.

This series of official positions and titles already ranked second among the current forces in Chang'an. Among Li Yuan's four sons, only the fourth son, Li Yuanhui, was given the title of governor of a state and Sikong, one of the three highest officials, and also had the power to establish a government office.

This was certainly related to the fact that Li Yuanhui needed a high enough position to command a group of people when he was alone outside, but there were also some thoughts that could not be told to outsiders. Li Yuanhui understood this after learning about the official positions of his three brothers.

Although the eldest brother returned last, as the eldest son, he was also the son his father trusted the most. Although he was not given the title of general or governor, he was in charge of the central army as the general of the army.

At the same time, he was also the chief secretary of the Prime Minister's Office, in charge of government affairs. This was equivalent to clarifying and strengthening the status of the eldest son.

The second and third brothers were both generals and governors-general of a state, but they were excluded from the central army. It was obvious that they were vassal states.

Li Yuan probably didn't want his second and third brothers to compete with the eldest brother for power in the central army and the court.

This is probably the treatment of the eldest son, right?

As for the fourth brother, who is the youngest, he was granted the title of Sikong, one of the Three Dukes, and was also a governor of a state. This was probably meant to attract attention to the eldest brother.

However, it is hard to say whether the third and second brothers, who are smart people, will do as he wishes and put the blame on the fourth brother.

In other words, half of the fourth brother's current business was given by his father-in-law, Emperor Zhaowu Murong Ying, and the other half was earned by himself.

The second brother also relied on his troops and reputation in Longyou to conquer Liangzhou.

In fact, all the Li family members are currently under the framework of Dayan. Li Si was already the governor and general Pingnan during the reign of Emperor Zhaowu.

His seniority and foundation were higher than those of his elder brothers. Therefore, the second and third brothers were already psychologically accustomed to the fact that the fourth brother held a higher official position than them.

But whether they can trust the boss who has not achieved anything is not something that others can know.

Although he was suspected of being a target, for Li Si, the governor's arrival was very timely.

Now we can manage government affairs with justification and mobilize all resources more thoroughly.

Honorary titles such as General of the Southern Expedition, Sikong, and Kaifu Yitong Sansi also increased the value of the official positions he was granted after he established his government, which could better win over the hearts of the people.

In addition, Chang'an also appointed Gao Zhixing, the former governor of Yangzhou, as the Shaofu, and Lu Xiang, the governor of Lujiang, as the assistant minister of the Ministry of Revenue. This also gave Li Yuanhui a lot of room for maneuver.

Later, Li Yuanhui also made some adjustments to his personnel based on the reforms in Chang'an.

Guo Fenghe was officially appointed as the governor of Huainan and the left guard of Huai.

Because of his contribution in breaking through the Wagang Water Fort at Suishui, Zhu Deyu was appointed as the commander-in-chief of the army and the general of the Huben Army, in charge of the Huainan Right Camp and the Lujiang Right Camp.

Chang Yanheng went north to harass Wagang, fought dozens of battles in a hundred days, assisted in breaking the water stronghold, and was promoted to the commander-in-chief of the army for his merits. He was in charge of four light cavalry battalions.

When the school lieutenant Xu Qiande broke into the water stronghold, he was the first to enter the stronghold and became the commander of the Huainan Right Camp and was given the title of Yingyang Langjiang.

Although Captain Wang Bi fought hard and made great contributions, he was appointed as the commander of Huaiyuan Camp and was given the title of Yingyang Langjiang.

In addition, the naval commander Lu Qin was the general manager of the naval affairs and still served as the general of the tower ship. He was the most meritorious among all the armies in several battles in Xunyang, Sishui and Suishui, and was granted the title of Marquis of Nanchang County.

Lu Qin was also the first among Li Yuanhui's subordinates to be granted a title.

(End of this chapter)