As Zhang Chong led the main force of the Taishan Army to the small town of Yanshi, the entire military spirit of the Yellow Turban Army began to stabilize to a degree visible to the naked eye. After all, General Chongtian's invincible gold-lettered signboard had already become the symbol of many sergeants. The confidence is also a kind of belief.
To be honest, this is not a good thing. If the sense of security and belief of many Taishan Army soldiers is only woven by Zhang Chong's continuous victories, it would be too fragile. No one can always be invincible. If you cannot accept victory, Defeat is a common fact for military strategists. Whatever you win now, you will have to pay back twice as much if you lose a battle later. Just like the story of Xiang Yu and Liu Bang in the Chu-Han War for Hegemony.
And Zhang Chong's treatment of Zhang Dan this time is also based on this reason. Now there is a trend in the army, that is, it seems that it can only win the battle, but not defeat it. It seems that whoever loses must swallow gold and commit suicide. But who can keep fighting? To win the battle or not to lose the battle? This is neither realistic nor very possible.
But you can lose the battle, but you must know where you lost and where you learned the lessons, so that you can achieve the next stage of growth.
But Zhang Chong didn’t mean to encourage the generals to lose the battle. Zhang Chong knew the extreme nature of people. As long as you don’t intervene or act, people will swing directly from one extreme to another. For example, if Zhang Chong If Zhang Dan is not punished, many people below will probably say, oh, it turns out that defeating Zhan doesn't matter, so let's just defeat Zhan as much as possible. Naturally, this is not allowed by Zhang Chong.
Then many people are surprised. Qu Shuai, you said that it is okay to lose a war as long as you can gain something, but you also said that a bad war is unacceptable. So where is the boundary between acceptable defeat and unacceptable defeat?
Zhang Chong told them that there was no clear standard and all decisions were made by him.
Zhang Chong and the brothers said:
"Brothers, I, Zhang Chong, have followed me to fight in the world, and I have not shied away from the target. It is not because I, Zhang Chong, have any noble bloodline, nor because I, Zhang Chong, have thousands of possessions. I want to come, just because I think I, Zhang Chong, have some character. I am public-minded, can fight some wars, and have a reputation that is not worth mentioning. Since the brothers believe in me because of these, please believe that I will judge impartially, and let me decide the merits and demerits of everyone."
Seeing that none of the generals had any objections, Zhang Chong was not surprised. This had been expected for a long time, but Zhang Chong felt that he still needed to make some things clear:
"Some things cannot be explained clearly with one or two standards. For example, what do you think is obscenity? Some people will say that not wearing hakama is obscenity. But I can't see it. We have many poor people, and our family She doesn’t even have a big hakama, is that considered lewd? On the contrary, I heard that Liang Ji’s daughter-in-law was fully clothed from head to toe, but she frowned and walked with her waist bent, and the whole world thought she was the most lewd. So that Is the standard of obscenity a bit unclear, but being unclear doesn’t mean that it’s unclear. Right now, if someone stands in front of everyone with a coquettish eyebrow, everyone can tell at a glance, oh, this is obscenity. This is the inner proof , although it’s hard to explain, but it does exist.”
After Zhang Chong thought about it, he felt it was inappropriate and added:
"Now the system is being created and everything is simplified. But in the future, I will work hard to refine this kind of mental evidence into regulations so that people in the future can follow them."
All the generals and staff listened patiently to this process.
But to be honest, most people don't take it too seriously. They can't understand that this is a mental testimony and it's methodical, so why can't you be more straightforward? You can just listen to what he says.
But many people among the staff understood Zhang Chong's subtext and the unfinished meaning.
They feel that Zhang Chong's short words can be almost the essence of his own governance. In the early days, Commander Qu will use his personal prestige to decide the major events of the entire Taishan Army. But in the middle and later stages, it will continue to strengthen
Explanation of legal provisions to avoid imbalance of personal authority.
Because after all, Zhang Chong is also a human being, and he will make mistakes. And if he makes a mistake without any written regulations, then the mistake will definitely happen.
This kind of governing thought is undoubtedly quite enlightened and advanced. In the early days of civilization, the description of crimes and punishments was always spoken verbally without leaving any words. On the one hand, this is indeed because it is difficult to summarize, but on the other hand, it is to let law enforcement
The author monopolizes the absolute right to interpret the law. Later, Zhao Dun of the Jin Dynasty recorded the punishments on the tripod, and it gradually became clear. But there are still only a few monarchs who are really willing to explain clearly what should be done and what should not be done. After all, who
I don’t want to be restricted by a rule.
So after Zhang Chong said this, Dong Zhao, who fully understood, looked at the leader of thieves with a very complicated expression. He realized that he might be about to fall, because the more he looked at the leader of thieves, the more he looked like the Holy Lord.
There are many staff members who "understand" like Dong Zhao. On the one hand, they admire him, but more importantly, they start to wonder, won't they be delegated power to them? Will they be the ones to restrain Qu Shuai?
But if Zhang Chong knew the thoughts of the staff above, he would only say with emotion, you intellectuals really think too much.
After that, Zhang Chong began to reorganize various troops in the camp. He had recruited many battalion leaders along the way. These battalion leaders of three to five hundred people were obviously not suitable for the upcoming Xingyang War. So Zhang Chong decided to organize the troops in Yanshi
The barrier took a good rest, and also prepared and trained these camp heads.
While Zhang Chong and his Taishan army were waiting to gather strength, the Han court also ushered in some major adjustments.
At this time, Xingyang City was no longer in ruins as it had been during He Yi's previous attack. Under the urging of Yang Yi, the commander of Xingyang, who did not show mercy to the people, a solid Xingyang City was once again located on the bank of the river.
What reassures the people in the city more than the strong city defense is that in the past few days, Han soldiers have been arriving from various counties in Gyeonggi. The camps stationed outside the city are expanding every day, and for a while, the bottom of Xingyang City once again turned crimson.
of ocean.
And all this was arranged by Liu Hong, who had inspired himself.
A few days ago, Liu Hong was feeling discouraged when he faced one after another reports of military defeats from defenders from all over the country. He once thought that the Han Dynasty, the ancestral temple and the country were about to be destroyed by his hands. But later, his father Zhang Rang,
With the comfort of his mother Zhao Zhong, Liu Hong regained his strength.
He reorganized the troops at his disposal. Now the soldiers and horses of Youzhou and Jizhou are besieging Taiping Road in Hebei Province, and Qingzhou's soldiers and horses cannot be counted on. Yanzhou's military art has been broken, and Yuzhou's soldiers and horses are working with Zuo Zhonglang General Zhang.
Wen and You Zhonglang general Zhu Jun strangled Runan Taiping Road together. Jingzhou's soldiers and horses were confronting Nanyang Taiping Road. Xuzhou's soldiers and horses were doing their own thing and strangled each other with the Yellow Turban Army in the state. As for Liangzhou's soldiers and horses, now
Because the Qiang people are rebellious, they can neither be counted on nor trusted.
So now, after all, they are Yizhou, Bingzhou, Sili, Yangzhou, and Jiaozhou. The latter two are too far away to be counted on for a while, so the only ones that can be used are Yizhou, Bingzhou, and Sili. But Bingzhou
There is a problem with the border troops, that is, they need to defend the Xianbei people on the fortress, and they cannot be mobilized for a while.
In the end, there are only Sili and Yizhou. Sili has three counties, Henan, Hanoi, Hedong, Hongnong, Jingzhaoyin, Fengyi, and Fufeng. The last three counties are Guanzhong, and they must cooperate with the Yizhou soldiers to attack the Qiang people.
Rebellion, this is a configuration. Among the first three counties, Hanoi mainly cooperates with Hebei, and only Henan and Hedong counties can dig out excess troops to support Xingyang.
After making this plan, Liu Hong did the same. After some discussion with Zhao Zhong and Zhang Rang, he wanted to mobilize the remaining soldiers from the two counties to support Xingyang.
But Zhang Rang and Zhao Zhong looked at each other and asked a question that Liu Hong had not expected. They said this:
"Your Majesty, many counties in these two counties actually don't have many soldiers and horses?"
Liu Hong frowned and asked what he meant.
After that, Zhang Rang and Zhao Zhong told Liu Hong the whole story. These two people were closest to the core of the Han court, and they knew much about the Han Dynasty even better than Liu Hong, the nominal master.
After the two men explained, Liu Hong finally understood what soldiers and horses were on paper and what they were in reality.
In the Gyeonggi region, the soldiers and horses on the surface are the two armies guarding the North and South Palaces. This is what the emperor can see, and it is also the core armament needed to defend the country from humiliation. Therefore, even though it has been nearly two hundred years now, the strength is not
Still maintain.
But there is another part of the soldiers and horses on the books in Gyeonggi, and that is the soldiers in each county. Generally speaking, a thousand people per county is basic, but in the core areas of Gyeonggi, the population is prosperous, so each county
There are hundreds of county soldiers. But this is all on the surface.
There are more than three in the Gyeonggi area. It has a large population, many wealthy households, and many official families. In particular, the latter are official families who came to Kyoto from all over the Han Dynasty to settle down and serve as officials. They are either the family of a high official, or they are born with a family of two thousand stones.
Beijing officials from such wealthy families will generally bring a large group of servants and clans with them after entering the capital. On the one hand, they want material enjoyment, and on the other hand, they provide support to their relatives and local parties. When there are more people, it is natural to build a large dock.
Wall villa. This construction requires manpower.
I don’t know which generation started, but these officials began to set their sights on the soldiers of counties and counties in Gyeonggi Province. These people were powerful, well-organized, and most importantly, had a very low sense of existence. So, the soldiers of these counties and counties began to attack one after another.
I changed careers and started working in construction.
And these pawns are also happy. Because of official corruption, these county pawns cannot always receive money and food. Instead, they might as well work as slaves for those wealthy families, but they can also have food and clothing.
But now the problem arises. Now Liu Hong wants to use troops, and the soldiers in the counties and counties in the Eight Passes and Capital Region are all empty troops. What should we do now?
Finally, Liu Hong thought of a method that Zuo Zhonglang general Zhang Wen had used before, which was to send powerful troops to help the army. But just after he said this plan, Zhang Rang and Zhao Zhong shook their heads again.
This time, Zhang Rang and the others gave the following reasons:
"Most of the powerful people in the capital are descendants of the first party rebellion. They must not be allowed to re-enter the officialdom."
Liu Hong was angry:
"Haven't these people been pardoned?"
Zhang Rang shook his head and continued to explain:
"Your Majesty, those we pardoned before were those who were implicated, but some of the core members of the party, especially those who followed General Liang Ji, were not included."
Liu Hong still doesn’t understand:
"These are old things from 20 years ago. The people involved are all dead. Now they are the sons and nephews of those people. What does it have to do with what happened back then? Their parents are their parents, and they are themselves. We cannot generalize."
This time it was Zhao Zhong who answered:
"Your Majesty, you must not think like this."
Liu Hong was confused:
"Why?"
"Your Majesty, it is human nature to have a close relationship. Even a childless person like me will worry about the reputation of his father and the future of his descendants. If he shares this thought, are those with prosperous families more important than old slaves?
What do you think?"
What Zhao Zhong said was reasonable, and Liu Hong couldn't help but nod.
Then Zhao Zhong continued:
"Since this is the case, are the descendants of the group of people who lost the struggle always thinking about overturning the verdict of their fathers so as to restore their names? In the past, they could not do it because they
They have been deposed and belong to the category of people who will never be officials. But if we hire them again now, I am afraid that if we wait for a hundred years, the other generation will come to the court, and I will give you a bad posthumous title and give this old slave an eternity.
It’s a shame. That’s why we are determined to imprison the party members because we don’t want party strife to break out in the future and repeated strife to the point where the country will be ruined.”
Good guy, Zhao Zhong has a sharp tongue, and he always turns his personal interests into public concerns.
But regardless of whether Zhang Rang or Zhao Zhong was really public-minded, Liu Hong was horrified after hearing this, because he realized that what Eminem said was not a possibility, but had a high possibility of becoming a fact.
But, again, what can Liu Hong do? Does he have any choice at this time? The current situation before him is that he has no soldiers, but some powerful people have soldiers. If he does not compromise with these people, then
Can the big man really survive this time?
It was not a choice for Liu Hong to choose whether to be the sinner of the Liu family's descendants or bear the infamy behind him. Although he was greedy for money, promiscuous, and loved BMWs, Liu Hong still felt that he was a good emperor. A strong man cannot be ruined by himself.
On hand.
Finally, Liu Hong finally issued an edict asking the powerful forces in the capital to help the army. But when he thought that he would bear an evil posthumous title in history in the future, Liu Hong still shed tears.
But he also comforted himself that there was no need to think about so many useless things. He was already dead, so he couldn't care about the future.
Now that the troops and horses have been gathered here, it is time to finalize the commander-in-chief.
Then who should be chosen to be the commander? After Liu Hongsi thought about it, he found that there was no one to lead him, so he appointed Huang Wan, the Mu of Yanzhou, as the general of the army in the east camp, with a false ax to command the troops in the capital.
After all, Huang Wan was loyal to his duties, and he was a party boss who could get along well with these reinforcements. Moreover, he still had more than a thousand remaining soldiers under his command, so he could also serve as a guard.
In the end, Liu Hong cobbled together 10,000 reinforcements and asked Huang Wan to circle back to Luoyang from Hanoi and lead troops to support Xingyang again.
The last wave of reinforcements from the Han army arrived on September 3, and then both sides repaired for another seven days. Then on September 10, the Han army in Xingyang and the Taishan army in the Yanshi camp unexpectedly chose this day.
Go to war.
So, on September 10, the sixth year of Guanghe reign, the second Battle of Xingyang broke out.