Xiangyang is not only the north gate of Nanjun, but also the base camp of Dingyuan.
In recent years, Xiangyang has been radiated by Nanyang's business, coupled with Ding Yuan's implementation of new policies in Nanjun, the entire northern part of Nanjun has been in a period of rapid development.
After three years, Ding Yuan also accumulated a lot of wealth, and almost all of it was hoarded in Xiangyang.
Qin Hao used a sneak attack to lead his army south this time. It only took half a day to conquer Xiangyang, and there was no time to transfer the supplies in the city. Ding Yuan had accumulated all his wealth for three years, and this time he was able to gain advantage of Qin Hao all at once.
After occupying Xiangyang, the first thing Qin Hao did was to open the treasury for inventory.
With full granaries, sophisticated ordnance, and all kinds of materials, the income of Xiangyang city simply exceeded Qin Hao's imagination.
It is true that Ding Yuan was not very good at fighting, and basically relied on Lu Bu alone, but he was still good at governance, otherwise he would not have accumulated such a rich family fortune after only serving as the shepherd of Jingzhou for three years.
According to Qin Hao's rough estimate, the money, food and materials hoarded in Jingzhou were enough to feed the Qin army of 100,000 people for a year.
Note that this is the Qin army, not the army of other princes.
You must know that the daily expenses of the Qin army are much larger than those of other princes.
The Qin army's cost of raising one ordinary soldier was enough for other princes to raise two or three, while the cost of an elite battalion was even greater.
The money and grain hoarded in Xiangyang can support 100,000 Qin troops for a year. If this is converted into Jingzhou troops, it will be 200,000 Jingzhou troops.
Ding Yuan had such a huge amount of money and food, but he was reluctant to strengthen the army, and he was worried about the remaining power of the Han Dynasty and did not dare to expand the army at will.
Just imagine, if Ding Yuan had 200,000 Jingzhou troops, even if he would still lose in the chaos of Chang'an, it would definitely consume Dong Zhuo's huge strength.
Ding Yuan had a treasure trove but didn't dare to squander it. Now Qin Hao had all the advantages, but Qin Hao didn't have as many scruples as Ding Yuan.
In Qin Hao's view, no matter how much money and food he has, it is just a number. Only when it is converted into strength will it belong to him forever, so Qin Hao chose to let Yue Fei expand his army without hesitation.
Nanyang originally had an army of 130,000, but when he attacked Xiangyang this time, Qin Hao took away 60,000 and brought back 50,000, so now Nanyang still has an army of 120,000.
Qin Hao left Yue Fei 10,000 troops, 5,000 wounded soldiers, and 30,000 prisoners of war in Xiangyang, and also gave Yue Fei the right to expand his army by 60,000.
If Yue Fei can quickly organize and train an army of 60,000, then Qin Hao will have an army of 180,000.
At this stage, except for Dong Zhuo and Qin Wen, no prince has such a large number of troops, and Qin Hao will also become the third largest prince in terms of military strength after Dong Zhuo and Qin Wen.
"Pengju, although you are going to Xiangyang mainly for defense, don't forget to open up new territory. The north of the Yangtze River is our army's goal."
Qin Hao showed a serious look on his face and warned in a deep voice: "But remember not to cross the Yangtze River, otherwise it will cause other princes to join forces, and the gain will outweigh the loss."
Yue Fei frowned. He wanted to take advantage of Jingzhou's greatly reduced strength to capture the remaining six counties for Qin Hao and directly unify Jingzhou, but Qin Hao told him that he could only take Jiangbei and not Jiangnan.
This was like a piece of meat placed in front of him, but he could only look at it but not eat it, which made Yue Fei feel a little uncomfortable.
Of course, Qin Hao also knew this. He also wanted to take over Jingzhou, but for the great cause of unification, he had to give up something.
As the Manchu and Qing dynasties in the Yuan and Mongolia in the north grew stronger, and the Qin family had another stronghold in Bingzhou in the north, so the Qin army must be based in the north in the future.
Qin Hao is planning an alliance to challenge Dong. The biggest goal is to capture Sizhou and border Bingzhou, so as to get rid of the embarrassing situation of one family but two places.
If Yue Fei had fought across the Yangtze River, the Qin army's front would have been too stretched, which would have triggered a joint attack by the southern princes, thus affecting the Qin army's future deployment of troops.
Yue Fei was not a stupid person. He quickly figured out the key. He took a deep breath and said solemnly: "My lord, I understand."
Qin Hao nodded and said: "The Nanjun family is quite resistant to our army's new policy. When you attack Nanjun, you must remember to attack it steadily and never be greedy for success."
What Qin Hao said was completely nonsense. Yue Fei was the top commander in history, so how could he make such a small mistake as greedy for merit and rash advancement?
"Liu Xiu still has 10,000 to 20,000 troops in Nanjun. With the support of his family, he can gather 30,000 to 40,000 defenders. The attack on Nanjun will definitely take a long time.
Therefore, I plan to make Xiangyang a separate county, and transfer eight counties including Xinye in the south of Nanyang to Xiangyang County. As for the selection of Xiangyang Prefect, I will leave it to you, Pengju. You can use Xiangyang County as the foundation to gradually encroach on Nanjun.
"
Yue Fei's mouth suddenly opened up after hearing this, and he was excited and moved in his heart.
The post of governor was in charge of both the military and government. However, both the Qin and Jin armies implemented the separation of military and political affairs. The military did not care about government and military affairs. Therefore, there were very few military generals in the Qin and Jin armies who could hold the post of governor.
Currently, among the Jin and Qin armies, the only people who can serve as prefects as military generals are Qin Jian, the prefect of Yanmen, and Yang Ye, the prefect of Yinshan. Qin Jian is the third uncle of Qin Hao, and Yang Ye is an in-law of the Qin family.
Apart from them, even Bai Qi, who has made astonishing achievements, can only be the Grand Governor.
If Yue Fei serves as the prefect of Xiangyang, he will be the only outsider who has no relationship with the Qin family but can serve as the prefect in the Qin army. This shows how much Qin Hao trusts him.
Yue Fei's eyes gradually became moist and he choked with sobs: "My lord, I am just from a humble family. I am not qualified for such a big job. For the post of prefect, please select another talented person."
Doesn't Yue Fei want to be a governor? Of course he does, but he knows his own advantages and disadvantages better.
The identities of Yue Fei and Qin Jian Yang Ye are different. Even if they serve as prefects as military generals, they will not attract criticism because they are both relatives and from aristocratic families. However, he is from a poor family. Serving as prefect will definitely attract criticism for Qin Hao.
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Qin Hao couldn't help laughing when he saw this. Yue Fei refused the post of governor because he didn't want to cause trouble for him, but he didn't know that this issue was not a problem at all in Qin Hao's eyes.
"Does Pengju not have confidence in himself?"
Qin Hao deliberately provoked the future, and the effect of this move was very good. Yue Fei thought that Qin Hao thought that he had no confidence, and immediately said excitedly: "Of course not, it's just a county in Xiangyang, how can it be fair?"
Qin Hao put his hand on Yue Fei's shoulder, looked into his eyes and said without doubt: "Then it's settled, you Yue Fei will be the governor of Xiangyang selected by me, Qin Hao."
"Lord..."
Yue Fei could no longer control himself, and the nine-foot tall man acted like a child, crying bitterly in front of Qin Hao.
The scholar died for his confidant, and Yue Fei felt that his life had been worth it.