Zhao Yun came back and reported: "Lord, the city walls, treasury, and main streets have all been occupied. The deserters and bandits have been hunted down. The chaos in the city has been extinguished. Huguan is completely controlled by our army."
Most of the defenders at Huguan abandoned their weapons and surrendered. There were almost no street fighting in the city. A few deserters were caught, and then there was no source of chaos.
Liu Xiang was very satisfied with the result. He nodded: "The list will be released early tomorrow morning to bring peace to the people."
There are more than 30,000 people in the city, most of them are old, weak, women and children. The young and strong people are almost all taken away by Liu Yu. No, that is not accurate. It should be said that the local gentry who support Liu Yu are doing their best to help him in the Northern Expedition and form private armies.
All the people went north, and all the young people among the people were mobilized.
In one month, 40,000 to 50,000 troops and 30,000 to 40,000 civilians were gathered. The mobilization ability was really strong.
"Zilong, do you think the people in the city will be of the same mind as us?" He was afraid of the people in Huguan City.
Upon hearing this, Zhao Yun's heart skipped a beat. His lord's murderous intent has become more and more intense recently. Hundreds of thousands of people in Liaodong fell under the butcher's knife. Fortunately, they were all barbarians. He didn't think it was such a big mistake, but
This is Han territory and we cannot do the old things in Liaodong. I hurriedly persuaded:
"They are just some weak women and children who have no ability to cause trouble. My lord must not kill them too much!"
Liu Xiang was stunned for a moment. He was just worried that the people in Huguan were against each other and that there would be chaos in the city when the Bingzhou army attacked the city, but he had never thought about killing people.
Zhao Yun's words were subconsciously contradicting his recent behavior.
Maybe, there really was too much killing.
There must be no misunderstanding with his personal guard general. He slowly explained:
"Zilong can rest assured that I am by no means a butcher bent on killing. The purpose of reducing the number of people in the northern Hu lands is to facilitate Hanization. I want to slowly assimilate the Hu barbarians in the north into Han people and fundamentally resolve the border issues.
Unrest is the long-term strategy for the border in the future. If we bear more bloody sins, future generations will be able to enjoy more blessings."
As soon as he said this, Zhao Yun was filled with shame. He couldn't understand the lord's far-reaching wisdom. Instead, he denounced this strategy of stabilizing the country, which was too inappropriate and shallow.
He bowed his hands and bowed to plead guilty: "My lord has a far-sighted vision and is beyond the reach of clouds. He makes selfish speculations. His crime is serious. I hope my lord will punish you!"
Liu Xiang held up Zhao Yun's arms and said with a smile: "Zi Long is really a gentleman, what crime is he guilty of? Please get up quickly, I need someone like Zi Long around me, who can always advise me so that I can correct my heart and morality."
.”
Zhao Yun thought about the experience of the past three years and the changes in the people of Youzhou, and said with emotion: "My lord is benevolent and righteous, and has benefited the people. Zhao actually suspected that my lord wanted to massacre the city. I really shouldn't, I am ashamed, I am ashamed."
Liu Xiang smiled, extended his hand to invite him, and the two sat down next to the case.
He solemnly said: "I know a truth, it is called using copper as a mirror to correct your clothes; using people as a mirror to understand gains and losses; using history as a mirror to understand the ups and downs. I am not a sage, and I will always make mistakes.
I need someone around me to advise me all the time. Zilong, would you like to be my mirror?"
Zhao Yun felt that these words of using copper as a guide were too reasonable. If he were not an eternal Mingjun, he would never be able to say it. He was lucky enough to meet such a wise master in his three lifetimes. This life was worth it!
He also solemnly replied: "Yun, it is a great honor. I am willing to follow my lord until death."
Liu Xiang was very satisfied. The loyalty of his subordinates was a major issue that could not be ignored. It should be considered before it is too late and should not be dealt with until the person has become disloyal.
After solving the problem of Zhao Yun possibly losing his loyalty, he still has to face the reality of Huguan.
He was worried about the people in the city because there were problems with the social structure of Shangdang County.
Shangdang County in Bingzhou is very close to Luoyang, just across the Yellow River. The Tianjingguan exit at the southern end of Taihang County is less than two hundred miles away from Luoyang, which is about the same distance as the modern Yanjiao to Beijing. If the barrier between the Taihang Mountains and the Yellow River is not considered,
, the cavalry can reach the gates of Luoyang within two days.
Being so close to the capital, its political status is naturally very high. The power of the gentry is extremely powerful. Political families of all sizes are intertwined. Homeowners are almost extinct. Guizhou has long been reduced to slaves and tenants of various major families.
Not only are the people severely oppressed, but the powerful landlords have little room to survive. This is the territory of the gentry. If they are willing to support you, you can raise an army and gather money and food in a very short period of time. If they are unwilling to support you
, this place is a quagmire. If you want people, no one wants money, and you don’t have money, you can’t do anything.
The same situation as Dang County was in Taiyuan County. The people either attached themselves to aristocratic families or fled into the mountains and became mountain people. Many soldiers of the Black Mountain Army were Bingzhou people who fled into the Taihang Mountains.
Such a social structure has caused the people in Huguan City to live dependent on aristocratic families. They all have relatives in Liu Yu's army, and it is difficult for them to use it for themselves. When Bingzhou's army attacks the city, the people in the city will definitely be ventilated.
Report the news, maybe there will be other tricks.
Not keeping an eye on them would be a huge hidden danger, and sending someone to guard them would involve a lot of troops. He was in a bit of a dilemma.
Huguan is surrounded by the remnants of the Taihang Mountains to the east and the Taiyue Mountains to the west. There is a tributary of the Zhuozhang River flowing from the southwest to the northeast near the city. The two mountains are sandwiched by a river. It can indeed block the army from the north, but it is afraid that small groups of troops will penetrate into the south.
To launch a sneak attack, Tunliu County, which is twenty miles to the west, was also occupied by separate troops to intercept the enemy's partial division going south.
There are a total of 12,000 people, who are divided into groups to defend the city, guard the prisoners, keep an eye on the people, and distribute them in various directions. How many people can concentrate on defending the city?
The enemy is seventy or eighty thousand young and strong, and their strength is several times that of his. He cannot take it lightly. He does not want to stumble in Huguan.
Zhang He and Xu Rong want to keep an eye on Bai Bo and Huang Jin, and Zhou Cang's troops don't know when they will arrive. Although he has a good chance of winning, he doesn't want to sacrifice too much, so he must try to eliminate hidden dangers.
"What would Zilong think if the people were allowed to leave the city and go to the south to escape the military disaster?" He wanted to hear Zhao Yun's thoughts.
"Lord, there are many family members of the enemy soldiers in the city. They will definitely surrender to the enemy. They are not willing to fight. Why let them go out of the city? What threat can those women and children pose?" Zhao Yun did not care.
"The enemy has 70,000 to 80,000 people, and only a few thousand of them have family members in Huguan. More people still want to break through the pass and return to the counties in the south. The leaders of the Bingzhou Army are all children of aristocratic families, and there are not many family members here.
They don't care about these people in Huguan City. I don't want the people in the city to involve our troops, nor do I want them to waste the food in the city. Once the battle begins, the supply line will be cut off, and we have to point to these ten
We live on 30,000 shi of food and grass.”
Zhao Yun thought about it and realized that this was the truth.
"Please, my lord, give me an order on how to deal with these people?"
"Tomorrow we will issue a notice to calm the people. Tell the people that they can leave the city and go to the southern counties to avoid the military disaster. Remember to cut off the path to the north and only allow them to go south. Also, send more scouts to investigate the intelligence of the settlement. We must capture the settlement in the next few days.
Stay in the county seat, divide the divisions to garrison, and be careful to guard against the enemy's troops sneaking across the mountain roads."
"The general will obey the order."
"Send someone to pretend to be a commoner going south, sneak into Changzi County to investigate, and see the actions of Zhang Qi, the Shangdang governor. Find out how many troops he still has, whether he wants to go south to resist Zhou Cang's troops, or go north to attack us. If there is a chance,
I want to capture Changzi County."
Changzi County is the county seat of Shangdang County. After it is captured, the other counties may be able to wait and see, Zhou Cang can quickly support Huguan, and the supply line will be established again.
This will make it more secure.
He didn't want to fight in the field with the hundreds of thousands of Liu Yu and Bai Bo coalition forces, so he took the risk of dividing them, but that didn't mean he liked taking risks.