Chapter 574 You can collect the money that should be collected, but don’t accept the money that shouldn’t be collected.
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Gongsun Du knew that it would be difficult for him to get reinforcements and he could only save himself, so what followed was a long period of offensive and defensive battles in Xiangping.
Gongsun Du used the defenses he had prepared long ago to resolutely resist the Wuhuan people's attack. The Wuhuan people were not good at attacking cities, but they regarded Xiangping as a target that must be conquered.
Finally, Qiu Liju personally led people to Xiangping City. He first persuaded Gongsun Du to surrender and tried to lure Gongsun Du to surrender with a large amount of wealth.
As a result, the Han envoy who persuaded him was fried by Gongsun Du in front of Qiu Liju. The frying was so charred on the outside that it was tender on the inside. Qiu Liju was so angry that he trembled all over. He ordered that the sword should not be sealed for three days after the city was broken.
He wanted to make sure that no living person could be seen in Xiangping City.
The Wuhuan tribe was greatly stimulated and they intensified their efforts to attack the city. Gongsundu was also under tremendous pressure for this.
But Xiangping City was never breached by him.
Taking advantage of the strong city defense and the consensus in the city that "if you don't defend the city, you will die", Gongsun Du repelled the fierce attacks of the Wuhuan people many times. He also led his troops out of the city to actively counterattack many times, destroying a lot of the Wuhuan people's camps.
However, due to insufficient troops, Gongsun Du was never able to break the siege of the Wuhuan people.
Different from what Gongsun Du expected, Gongsun Du predicted that it would take at least half a year for him to see reinforcements based on his usual understanding of the Han Empire, or that the Wuhuan people would retreat for some other reason, but this was not the case.
in this way.
Less than two months after he was surrounded and fighting, reinforcements arrived.
Liu Bei led his troops to gallop forward and approached Xiangping City. Here he confronted Qiu Liju, who was on guard. Nanlou came first and told Qiu Liju the news. Qiu Liju was furious and punished Nanlou.
Then he reorganized his troops and prepared to attack Liu Bei.
To be honest, when he learned that Liu Bei had personally arrived with his troops, Qiu Liju was a little frightened because he didn't realize the shadow of the famous tree until the incident happened.
Being able to arrive here proves that Liu Bei not only dealt with Yuan Shao, but also dealt with the southward forces of the Xianbei people, so he could open up a passage and go directly to Liaodong County to find him.
Yuan Shao and the Xianbei people were both killed by Liu Bei. This incident fully proved the strength of Liu Bei and his army, which made Nanlou's earlier persuasion meaningful.
Liu Bei is not easy to mess with. He is a tricky idea. If you are not careful, everyone will be ruined!
Qiu Liju once wanted to back down, but soon gave up the idea.
Even if you want to back off, you can't back off at this time. You have to fight Liu Bei and show your muscles before you can back off. By then, you can even negotiate a good price, right?
So Qiu Liju ignored Nanlou's repeated advice and insisted on attacking to fight Liu Bei to the death. Nanlou was left behind to continue to lead troops to surround Xiangping City to prevent Gongsun Du from running out and causing trouble.
On the first day of February in the first year of Jian'an, Liu Bei's army and Qiu Liju's army encountered each other in the southwest of Xiangping. The two armies faced off for a long time. Finally, the impatient Qiu Liju took the lead in attacking.
Liu Bei then led the entire cavalry lineup to launch a countercharge.
This was a battle in which the number of troops was almost the same. The Han army and the Wuhuan cavalry fought in similar numbers, so the two armies seemed evenly matched. However, after the fight, Qiu Liju discovered that this was not the case.
The mounted archery tactics that the Wuhuan cavalry was good at did not bring them any advantage. In the shooting confrontation with the Han army, their number of casualties was significantly greater. The Han army was not weaker than them in riding skills, and in the
In terms of shooting, the Han army using standard hand crossbows undoubtedly had an advantage.
After a confrontation, the Wuhuan people realized that they could not gain an advantage in these technologies, so they could only choose to fight with their swords and confront the Han cavalry head-on. Then they learned the style of the Han cavalry.
Qiu Liju was dumbfounded and couldn't understand why the warriors under his command suddenly became so weak and weak.
And what's even more frightening is yet to come.
Because many Han generals were eyeing Qiu Liju at this moment, they each led their own subordinates to charge into the formation, fighting bloody battles, and desperately moved closer to where Qiu Liju's flag was. Qiu Liju fought back and forth, and found that he was actually in a
In a state of being surrounded.
Liu Bei did not attack in person from beginning to end, but took senior counselors and guards to sit and command from the rear. He felt that although there were many people on Qiu Liju's side, they were not enough for him to fight in person.
Although a group of beasts are ferocious, they are powerless in the face of human technology and organization. No matter how they roar or struggle, they cannot escape the end of being killed.
Therefore, human beings can stand at the top of the food chain with a weak body.
The same principle applies to human wars. Those who are good at using strategies and terrain advantages can defeat those who only know how to win with brute force. In terms of military art, organization, and tactics, the Han army with professional education is far away.
Better than the Wuhuan people.
Therefore, he is not worried that his subordinates cannot win, he just wants to watch.
By the way, let me talk about some of my ideas for the post-war period.
"I heard before that when the king was in Liangzhou, he used a large number of Xianbei prisoners of war to do hard labor in Liangzhou. He used them to repair many roads, water conservancy projects and city walls. Many facilities in Liangzhou were brand new. It was this group of people who relied on them.
After the current battle, I don’t know how many more prisoners of war will be obtained. What do you plan to do with them this time?"
Cheng Yu looked at Liu Bei and asked slowly.
Liu Bei thought for a while and sighed.
"Youzhou was so badly destroyed. This time, let the captured prisoners of war repair Youzhou from beginning to end. The cities, roads, bridges, water conservancy, everything that needs to be repaired, will be used by these prisoners.
Renovate it.
With their efforts, the people of Youzhou will be able to focus on this year's spring plowing. It is very difficult to fully recover, but at least in the west of Liaoxi County, I want to restore agricultural production, so as to at least ensure that Youzhou can be restored this winter.
There will be no famine.
After surviving this year and going all out next year, it will take about three years of work. Production in Youzhou will be almost restored, and I won’t have to worry about any major changes in the situation in Youzhou.”
"But this time, Youzhou lost not only money, but also a large number of people. Youzhou's population is not large to begin with. This loss may turn a lot of land into wasteland."
Cheng Yu sighed: "Youzhou is located on the border. If you want to immigrate to the border, I'm afraid there will be many officials who will object, right?"
"I had the same trouble in Liangzhou, so I did three things."
Liu Bei smiled and said: "First, crack down on illegal tyrants, search for people who are not registered in the household registration, and re-register them. Second, betroth the captured Xianbei women of working age to Liangzhou residents and include them in the local household registration.
This will increase the current population and also increase the number of children in the future. Thirdly, I asked the government to pay the oral tax on my behalf."
Cheng Yu was greatly surprised when he heard this.
"You asked the Liangzhou government to pay the oral tax on your behalf?"
Obviously, what surprised him was not the first and second things, both of which had been done with good results, but the third thing...
That would cost real money and money.
He really had never understood these things before.
Liu Bei nodded.
"The people are illiterate, but they are not stupid. As long as they can avoid doing things that are not beneficial to them, they will not do it. The pressure of giving oral gifts is too great, and they cannot afford it, so they do not have children.
If the population of Liangzhou is to grow, this problem must be solved, so I ordered the government to pay the oral tax. I spent this money from the income of the Liangzhou Salt Administration, and it is not a big expense at the moment."
"Then what if the population of Liangzhou increases greatly in the future and the cost is too high?"
Cheng Yu said worriedly: "You can't always let the government pay for you, right? And I heard before that there are people in the court who are dissatisfied with the fact that you are still serving as the shepherd of Liangzhou. They think that it is unheard of for a general to concurrently serve as a local official.
You may face some trouble."
"So, I don't plan to bear this cost forever."
Liu Bei turned his head and looked at Cheng Yu: "The fortunes cannot be changed for a while, so I want to abolish the fortunes first and put an end to this bad government."
"Abolition of oral duties?"
Cheng Yu looked at Liu Bei in surprise: "This matter is of great importance. Luoyang, the local area, and a large number of officials can get a share of it. You will benefit from the salt policy by promoting it in Liangzhou, but there will be no benefits in other places."
, even if you want to push it forward, you will probably face many obstacles, both positive and negative."
"I know, it is very simple to collect money. Everyone will help me collect it, and then they will take the big part and leave the small part to me."
Liu Bei sneered and said: "But once I don't let them collect it, they will disobey it openly and secretly, and then continue to collect it secretly. Then they will swallow it all themselves and not give me a cent."
Cheng Yu was speechless.
It really is.
If you are complicit with the bureaucrats, you can at least part with them.
If bureaucrats are not allowed to be corrupt, they will not only continue to be corrupt, but they will also swallow up all the money they have embezzled, and then shift the blame to the person who prevents them from being corrupt, leaving this person unable to defend himself.
Therefore, generally no one is willing to do this kind of thankless work. At most, they will not take the money and become a confused follower, ringing the bell as a monk for a day.
but……
Liu is not this kind of person.
"You can collect money that should be collected, but don't collect unscrupulous money that shouldn't be collected."
Liu Bei said coldly: "If they still want to take it behind my back, I will let them know that the army I have will fight to the end for me and will always be willing to fight to the end for me."
Cheng Yu seemed to feel the flame in Liu Bei's heart.
A fire that cannot burn down the entire ancient law will burn itself completely.
The ambition in the heart of this great general seems to be different from what everyone thinks.
Cheng Yu came to the conclusion silently.
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PS: Is there any connection between the Genshin Impact update and my update?