Xiahou Dun's question directly made Cao Cao confused.
Yes, Cao Cao is no longer as sure as before, and he doesn't know what all this is for?
Before, he could say that it was for the future of the Han Dynasty.
He searched through history and found that no generation of eunuchs could be as fierce as this dynasty and last as long as this dynasty. He himself is from this party, so he naturally knows the quality of those people.
It was precisely this strong sense of morality and mission that made Cao Cao shy of being associated with others of his generation, and he became friends with Yuan Shao and other party members since he grew up.
Because he really believed what they said, the world was plagued by eunuchs.
Therefore, to save the world, we must first eliminate the eunuchs.
But what about this journey?
First, on the night of the mutiny, Colonel Feng Fang said before his death:
"Kill the eunuchs and the Han Dynasty will perish."
At first he didn't understand this sentence, but after what he saw and heard in the Luoyang court, Cao Cao finally understood what this sentence meant.
After the Henan Shihao Allied Forces entered Beijing, they quickly stabilized the situation in the city, and then launched a large-scale purge of the eunuchs stranded in the city.
The eunuchs were ruthlessly purged, and the city of Luoyang was naturally filled with upright people.
At this point, although the Han Dynasty was divided into two due to the country's departure from Guanxi, Cao Cao was satisfied with the overall result.
But then Cao Cao discovered that was not the case.
These celebrities from various families joined the court one after another, which did not bring stability to the court. On the contrary, they caused quarrels over the allocation of positions.
At this time, the ignorant Liu Bian could only cry in the court, but no one cared.
In this way, Cao Cao looked at the noisy and red-faced ministers and listened to the crying of the children, and he was in a daze.
How could the dignity of the Han Dynasty be so ruined?
If these are only positive, it is this Western Expedition that makes Cao Cao even more chilling.
Just like this time, the friendly troops stood still and watched Cao Cao's troops fight with blood. What next?
After the battle was won, they began to grab military glory like wolves and tigers.
This incident was a big blow to Cao Cao, because if there was really a discord, then why was he, Cao Cao, the one who stood up for it?
You know, Cao Cao is one of the main planners of the military coup, and he has contributed to the Republic!
And then you treat the heroes like this?
He, Cao Cao, has paid so much for the Republic, and now he ends up like this?
So when faced with his clan brother's questions, Cao Cao remained silent.
Seeing that Cao Cao was silent, Xiahou Dun shed tears as he lay there, and suddenly asked:
"Is your appearance disfigured?"
Hua Tuo was stunned for a moment. He didn't expect that this rough and powerful general cared about his appearance. Then he told the truth:
"General Xiahou, this scar is certain and will remain in the future. But compared to these, you should be more worried about the healing of the wound later. If you get more excited and the scar breaks, I won't be able to save it. So.
You'd better rest more and replenish your energy."
Upon hearing this, Xiahou Dun turned his head away and stopped talking.
Seeing that his clan brother was not feeling well, Cao Cao withdrew everyone, leaving a maidservant to serve him, and then led the generals out of the tent.
As soon as they came out of the tent, Ding Fei, the military judge who was waiting outside, and his brother-in-law came up and asked:
"This time we arrested a few aristocratic families in Kansai and said they were willing to pay money to redeem themselves. Do we want to let them go?"
Cao Cao said casually:
"Let go? Why don't you ask the dead brothers if they agree? Besides, how much can these people pay? Just kill them all!"
Then Cao Cao said to Ding Fei:
"You don't want to make money from this, understand?"
Ding Fei's nose was dripping with sweat, but he didn't dare to wipe it away. He nodded hurriedly and dealt with the matter.
Ding Fei loves money very much, and he also knows how to make money. This time, it was those members of the aristocratic family who persuaded him, and he came to mention this matter to Cao Cao.
Who would have thought that it was a favor without any expense, but because of his words, those Kansai captives were able to meet their ancestors.
But Ding Fei couldn't care about those unlucky people, he was frightened by his brother-in-law.
Cao Cao is particularly scary today!
…
When the east and west capitals fell into confrontation, the whirlpool of war broke out again in the northern country.
The Taishan Army has been preparing for war. Today, the land and population occupied by the Taishan Army are still too small, making it difficult to support such a large number of military and political personnel.
But before expanding outward, Taishan's army must first be able to sit down and support itself.
Therefore, this matter of consolidating one's foundation and cultivating one's strength is the first priority.
In fact, throughout the previous winter and spring, the Taishan Army had been reinforcing the fortifications and city defenses around Yecheng.
Sun Jian took advantage of the absence of the main force of the Taishan Army to attack Yecheng before, although it failed. However, it also made Zhang Chong aware of the current weakness of Yecheng.
That's why he built a military defense wall in the south of Yecheng and built Santai in the west of Yecheng.
These three platforms store coal, grain, salt, armor and weapons, and then set up pavilions between them to facilitate communication. It is a huge dock.
This place is so advantageous and dangerous that only a thousand men can be stationed there to resist thousands of enemy troops.
As a strategic master, Zhang Chong built these three towers not only for Yecheng, but also for the entire Northern Kingdom.
Among the defenses on all sides of Ye City, the east and south of the city are open, so a solid city wall is the best fortification.
But the situation is different in the west and north of Yecheng. It faces Fukou, an important pass from the Jizhou Plain to the Shangdang Plateau. All the enemies to the west come from here.
Therefore, it is necessary to set up three fortifications in the northwest. On these platforms, not only the newly developed crossbows are set up, but also millet, salt, sauce, and soldiers are stored, which can last for half a year.
Of course, Santai's fortifications are not yet complete. The main body is still constructed of earth. After the manpower has slowed down later, they will all be replaced with turning stones. This will be a truly permanent fortification.
Another big change is the internal structure of Yecheng.
After the Taishan Army moved to Yecheng, as external pressure eased, it began to communicate with base areas in various parts of Qingyan.
Although it is not yet organized, a force across the river is rising.
Originally, controlling these areas required a large number of officials, but the Taishan Army put its tentacles into grassroots rural communities, which required even more grammar and legal officials.
Therefore, in order to house these training institutions and offices, Zhang Chong opened a special school district and administrative district in Yecheng.
The layout of the entire Ye City is like a district-style layout, with each district within the city being independent. This is to allow the sergeants to rely on the districts to hold on after the outer city wall of Ye City falls.
Then there is the East-West Avenue between Jinming Gate in the west and Jianchun Gate in the east, dividing the entire Ye City into north and south districts.
The North District is where the Taishan Army shogunate is located, with arsenals, warehouses, and grain depots all nearby. Then the South District is where the offices and schools of various organizations are located.
As for each gate and the four corners, they are all garrisoned camps.
It can be said that Yecheng is a huge military camp and school, just like a heart, continuously providing strength and blood to the Taishan Army.
However, Yecheng also has hidden dangers, that is, there are still too many people in the city.
As an urban population, these people neither benefited from the Taishan Army's land distribution policy nor found a position in the Taishan Army's shogunate, so Zhang Chong was uneasy about these people.
Zhang Chong's plan was to gradually relocate these people to nearby farming sites and turn them into farmers. Then, the vacant space would be reserved for the soldiers of the Taishan Army.
At this time, most of the officials in the Taishan Army had not yet married, but as things stabilized in the future, they would definitely marry and have children.
Even if they are not in a hurry, Zhang Chong, as the leader of an army, must be anxious for them.
Because when Zhang Chong made the oath in the forest, he said that these people should have names and successors. Moreover, after these people marry and have children, they can also strengthen the foundation of the Taishan Army.
Naturally, these official scrolls cannot be placed outside the city. Otherwise, once foreign enemies attack these garrison points and capture these official scrolls, will the officials still have the will to fight?
In addition to settling the families of officials and officials, there were also obedient local magnates who had to relocate their families to Yecheng. This aspect is quite similar to the tomb-relocation system of the former Han Dynasty.
Although Zhang Chong broke through the powerful power and divided the land.
But Zhang Chong also understood that not all powerful forces dared to fight Taishan's army with swords. Some powerful forces used the idea of conquering strength with softness, and they were submissive on the surface, but in fact they wanted to change their color within the system.
For these unstable people, it is impossible not to move them out of their hometowns.
In addition, the children of the chief officers with specific responsibilities in each base area will also come to Yecheng to study and join the army. On the one hand, it is to ensure that the superiors and superiors are not trusted, and on the other hand, it is also to train the next echelon.
In fact, Zhang Chong has considered these things very long-term, but now Yecheng is only the center of a place. If he can really become the master of the world later, then some Huns and border barbarians will also send their children to Ye. This is politics.
However, there is still a difficulty for Zhang Chong to complete these.
That is how the people who originally lived in Yecheng were willing to go to the countryside?
Based on the development of conventional warfare, if Yecheng was captured, most of its people would be killed or injured.
However, Zhang Chong did not besiege the fallen city of Ye, but attacked it. In this way, the people in the city were almost saved.
This matter is quite difficult to deal with, because if something goes wrong, it will trigger a civil uprising and greatly affect the reputation of the Taishan Army.
So things are still at a standstill. The poor households in the city will be relocated to communities outside the city first. The homeowners in the city have not yet been moved.
But these people can't hold on much longer.
In fact, in this era, the urban population either relied on the government or the rural sages outside the city.
Now that the Taishan Army has divided the land outside the city, the small landowners in the city have lost their source of income. Even if they want to travel to Yecheng, they do not have the ability.
As for the population serving the government, Zhang Chong took over after conquering Yecheng. For these, Zhang Chong divided them into various craftsman camps according to their skills.
The reason why Zhang Chong was so careful about the population under his rule was because he wanted to vigorously develop agriculture in Yecheng. Especially now that spring plowing is approaching, the demand for population is even greater.
In fact, the area of Yecheng is not very suitable for farming.
Because when the water at the eastern foot of Taihang Mountain flows down the mountain, it carries a large amount of salt and alkali from the mountain. These saline and alkali are deposited one after another after flowing into the plain, making Yecheng land rich in salt water and barren.
Therefore, Yecheng and even Jizhou were very poor places before the Warring States Period. But later during the Warring States Period, the Wei State occupied this place and diverted water from Zhangzhou to irrigate the Yetian fields, making it a fertile place.
However, the governance of the Han Dynasty in Hebei was not good. For example, many of the water conservancy projects near Yecheng were in disrepair. Therefore, if Zhang Chong wanted to take root in Yecheng, the first step was to dredge these old water conservancy canals to facilitate agricultural water use.
But the productivity in this world is too low. If those channels overgrown with weeds were left in later generations, an excavator would be able to solve them in a week, but here it is just as big a project.
The first major thing Duman did when he returned to the Yecheng shogunate was to mobilize manpower to dredge the old canals.
This period of time will only lead to a busy and dark time.
After exploring the nearby canal network, he even prepared a plan to dig a canal at the suggestion of a local water conservancy official.
This plan is to use the water channel of the old river to dig a canal from Yecheng directly to the river. With this water channel, the Taishan Army's bases on both sides of the river can be connected.
It is said that this plan was planned by Zhang Ze, the former prefect of Wei County, and this water conservancy official happened to be one of the people who participated in the planning of this matter.
When Duman presented this plan to Zhang Chong, Zhang Chong inexplicably remembered Zheng Guoqu.
Is this canal good? Of course it is. How can it not be bad if it relies on the Guhe waterway to open up the connection with Qingyan in the lower reaches of the river?
By then, relying on this waterway, the Taishan Army will really be able to radiate its military power to the entire Qinghai, Yanzhou, Henan, and even directly to the Jianghuai River.
But now that Zhang Chong can't dig, how much money, food and manpower will be consumed for such a large project? Maybe the Taishan Army will go bankrupt by then and the canal won't even be dug.
So this plan can only be left to the future.
Zhang Chong is not discouraged about shelving this matter, because he is also aware of these disadvantages. He brought it up this time so that he can manage this matter smoothly in the future.
In the future, this canal will be called Du Shui or Full of Water. Isn't it wonderful?
Afterwards, Duman returned to the previous task of repairing the canal. He still had spring plowing to do, so he couldn't rest.
To be honest, Zhang Chong was a bit ruthless when he spent so much money, and he felt a bit like a rich man treating a long-term worker.
But there is no other way, Zhang Chong also has to be busy with big things, which is to reorganize various departments.
It has been almost five years since the Taishan Army was founded by Xue Shibi. There have been no less than a hundred battles, big and small. It can be said that there is no such good fighting force in the world.
But after fighting for so long, Zhang Chong always found that he always defeated more with less. Although it sounded nice, fighting this kind of battle was still timid.
But do you want to say that Taishan's army is small in number?
In fact, it was quite a lot. There were five captain divisions with a full strength of 20,000 people. This was already the standing strength of the Northern and Southern armies of the Han Dynasty in the past.
Let's put it this way, with this elite force of 20,000, the Taishan Army is enough for any battle. Even in a so-called combined battle with hundreds of thousands of troops in history, the total number of elites from both sides may only be 100,000.
So there is that sentence:
"Raise a hundred thousand soldiers and march across the world."
But why is the strength of Taishan Army not enough?
It's just that Taishan's army lacks an intermediate standing reserve.
Now the Taishan Army's field regiment consists of five captain corps and ten cavalry corps. These combined operations are enough.
But as the situation becomes more serious, the transitional battle in the past will turn into an occupation battle to seize the city and seize the territory.
To pacify an area, it is necessary to garrison some troops. If field troops are used to garrison, the current strength of the Taishan Army is simply not enough, so the Taishan Army needs to establish a more general local force that can garrison in local areas.
In the Han Dynasty, these were actually county soldiers in each region. In other words, Zhang Chong was about to establish a local army of his own.