Chapter 1175 Ulterior Motives

Currently, the separatist forces in the Tang Dynasty are divided into three categories: vassal towns, warlords and garrisons.

The vassal court only recognized four people, namely, Zhu Ci, the governor of Youzhou, Li Baochen, the governor of Chengde, Tian Chengsi, the governor of Weizhou, and Li Zhengyi, the governor of Zibo.

The second category of warlords includes Li Xilie, the governor of Huaixi, Tian Shenyu, the deputy governor of Hedong, Wang Zhongsheng, the governor of Xusi, Lai Zhen, the governor of Jingxiang, Xue Song, the governor of Xiangwei, and Li Lingyao, the governor of Huapu.

The third category is the garrison, which currently includes Guo Ziyi of Caozhou Army, Zhang Boyi of Boying Army, and Wei Zhi of Jiangnan Army.

As for the garrisons in various places of Guanlong Army, they are nothing, just the troops dispatched by Li Ye.

The biggest difference between garrisons and warlords is that the commander of the garrison can be transferred back to the court at any time, while the warlords find various reasons not to return to the court.

The money and food of the garrison are borne by the court, while the warlords are between the garrison and the vassal town.

At present, warlords are also divided into two categories, which are more inclined to garrison, mainly Xue Song, the governor of Xiangwei, and Lai Zhen, the governor of Jingxiang.

Then the other four warlords, Li Xilie, Wang Zhongsheng, Li Lingyao and Tian Shenyu, actively evolved into vassal towns.

If Wang Zhongsheng did not intercept the court ships, he would be ranked third and would not be considered until next year, but he touched the bottom line of the court and seriously threatened the interests of the court.

Wang Zhongsheng was the first to be attacked by Li Ye.

Wang Zhongsheng's army has exceeded 50,000. Since he cut off the firewood of Wang Sili and occupied Songzhou and Bianzhou, Wang Zhongsheng has resolutely embarked on the road of vassal towns.

At present, he occupies the five states of Xu, Si, Hai, Song and Bian, forming a narrow and long power zone, but his territory is not stable, and the officials are all hypocritical, obeying him on the surface, but actually secretly reporting to the court.

Wang Zhongsheng was about 40 years old. He was treacherous and mean, and liked to stab people in the back. Since he joined the eunuch party and clung to Yu Chaoen's thigh, he rose to prominence all the way. In just three years, he became a warlord who controlled the three states of Xu, Si, and Hai. He took advantage of the opportunity of the three kings to seize Wang Sili's Bianzhou and Songzhou, expanding his territory to five states at once, and the army from 30,000 to 50,000.

50,000 troops were the threshold of a vassal state. During this period, Wang Zhongsheng was actively expanding his strength in order to become a vassal state.

In Songcheng County, Songzhou, 300 cargo ships covered with oilcloth were moored at the Bianhe Wharf. This fleet was the batch of goods that was intercepted by the court in Fuli County, and was intercepted by Wang Zhongsheng's third son Wang Qinian.

Before that, Wang Qinian also intercepted 300,000 stones of grain from the court in Luoyang, but that was the grain when the eunuch party was in power, which did not cause any disputes, allowing Wang Zhongsheng and his son to taste the sweetness.

A carriage escorted by more than a hundred cavalrymen arrived at the dock. The carriage stopped, and Wang Zhongsheng got out of the carriage and walked directly to the riverside. Hundreds of civilians were unloading the cargo and carrying large sacks ashore.

"What is this cargo?" Wang Zhongsheng asked.

The Cang Cao assistant army hurriedly bowed and said, "My lord, it's alum!"

Wang Zhongsheng was stunned, "What is alum used for?"

"It can be used to refine silver and can also be used as medicine."

Wang Zhongsheng originally thought it was money and grain, but he didn't expect it to be alum that he had never heard of, which disappointed him greatly.

"How much is this thing worth?"

"My Lord, these three hundred ships weigh about one million jin, and are estimated to be worth tens of thousands of guan."

Wang Zhongsheng was immediately angry and said, "It's only tens of thousands of guan, who would want this broken thing?"

"My Lord, just now a Taoist priest was willing to pay 100,000 guan to buy this batch of goods. I said that the Lord must agree."

Wang Zhongsheng nodded, "100,000 guan is fine, then there is no need to unload the goods. We will deliver them to your door after you pay the money. This matter is left to you!"

"I understand!"

Wang Zhongsheng came excitedly, but returned disappointed. He returned to the government office.

As soon as he arrived at the gate of the government office, he heard a loud Taoist name, "Wulian Tianzun, I am Zhang Luanzi, waiting for the governor for a long time."

Wang Zhongsheng certainly knew that Zhang Luanzi was Li Xilie's special envoy. They had been in contact many times, and with Zhang Luanzi's matchmaking, they became allies.

He quickly ordered the carriage to stop, got off and said with a smile: "When did the immortal arrive?"

Zhang Luanzi smiled and said: "Just arrived, I heard that Wang Shijun made a fortune?"

"Hey! I thought it was money and food, but it turned out to be green vitriol, one million kilograms, which can't be sold for much money."

"Green vitriol is the treasure of the alchemist. It is very valuable if you find the right buyer. If the governor is willing to transfer it, I can buy this batch of goods for 100,000 strings of cash."

It turned out that the Taoist priest mentioned by the Cangcao assistant general was Zhang Luanzi. Wang Zhongsheng smiled and nodded, "So it was the immortal who wanted it. No problem! No problem! Let's go in and talk slowly. Please come in, immortal!"

"Jiedushi, please!"

Zhang Luanzi was of course ordered by Li Xilie to come and fool Wang Zhongsheng. Li Xilie heard in Shouchun that Wang Zhongsheng intercepted the imperial fleet, and he knew that Wang Zhongsheng was a fool.

Now everyone is afraid of being hit by Li Ye, and they are shrinking their necks desperately. But Wang Zhongsheng actually intercepted Li Ye's fleet. Isn't this courting death?

Li Xilie immediately sent Zhang Luanzi to Songcheng County to continue to trick Wang Zhongsheng into showing up.

Green vitriol is not worth much, and no one would want one million catties, but Zhang Luan was afraid that Wang Zhongsheng would return the goods to the court, so he deliberately said that he was willing to pay a high price to buy the goods.

The two sat down in the VIP Hall, and Wang Zhongsheng asked his personal soldiers to serve tea.

"That's one million catties of green vitriol. I wonder what the immortal is going to do with it?"

Zhang Luanzi shook his head, "It's not for me, it's for us to refine silver and copper, and we also need boats."

"If you also want a boat, one hundred thousand guan won't be enough."

"I know, eighty thousand taels of silver, how about it?"

Wang Zhongsheng shook his head, "One price, one hundred thousand taels of silver!"

Zhang Luanzi pondered for a moment and said: "It takes time for us to refine silver, and we will deliver it in half a year. We pay the money in one hand and deliver the goods in the same hand."

"Don't you need green vitriol to refine silver?"

"We still have tens of thousands of kilograms in stock, but we won't have any more in the future."

Wang Zhongsheng was also worried that the other party would delay the payment, so he smiled and nodded, "Then it's a deal, and the money and goods will be settled in half a year!"

Zhang Luanzi's purpose was to hold Wang Zhongsheng back and not allow him to return the goods to the court. When he saw that the other party took the bait, he smiled and said, "That's it. Then I'll talk about today's business!"

Zhang Luanzi pondered for a while and said: "The Jiedushi also knows that my lord is preparing to expand to Jingxiang, but we have Zhang Boyi's 20,000 troops behind us. My lord wants our two families to join forces to remove Zhang Boyi's nail."

Wang Zhongsheng had long had the idea of ​​attacking Bozhou and Yingzhou and seizing Zhang Boyi's army. He asked quietly: "How can we join forces?"

"Two plans. In the first plan, we send out 20,000 troops to attack from south to north, and the Jiedushi is responsible for attacking from north to south. Then the prisoners of war will be given to us and the land will be given to the Jiedushi."

Wang Zhongsheng was reluctant. He wanted both prisoners of war and territory, especially Zhang Boyi's 20,000 troops, which were relatively elite. Wang Zhongsheng had long taken a fancy to them.

"What about the second option?"