Three hundred and nineteenth chapters: depending on the weather and season
Natural disasters are coming, livelihoods are lost, man-made disasters are tormenting, and the livelihood is cut off. The people at the bottom can no longer survive. Naturally, trouble will arise. Do we want them to starve to death?
It's impossible, that's against human nature.
Steal, plunder, gather a crowd, and rebel.
Social turmoil and the decline of life are getting worse and worse, and the vicious cycle will eventually lead to the death of everyone. Many people at the bottom will die, and the upper class will not get better. The world is in chaos, and no one can escape.
Many people know this truth, and people with lofty ideals clamor to treat the people well. But what does it mean to treat the people well? Is it to marry more wives or to have more servants? To build more bridges or to open more roads.
How many porridge shops are there?
None.
Treating people well means giving some of the benefits of the upper class to the people at the bottom so that they can survive.
There are many people who know this truth, but want to share their interests?
no!
The collective inertia of the vested interest class is like when a flash flood breaks out. It is useless to stop a few drops of water. The flood will carry all the debris and pour down, making it difficult to stop.
This is called a hard time getting back!
No feudal dynasty can escape such a vicious cycle.
Therefore, Liu Xiang had no idea of reform. He wanted to tear down and rebuild.
The aristocratic families are his biggest obstacle, after all, he has to cut his flesh on them.
Fortunately, Youzhou is remote, with Hu and Han people living together, and the family's power is not very strong. It is recognized as a frontier place, which allowed him to gather the strength to start.
Now, he is planning to plot in Jizhou, which was harmed once by Zhang Jiao, and later he was harmed by him for several years in the name of the Yellow Turban. Even so, the power of the aristocratic family is still considerable.
Need to kill again!
Kill some of them in the name of rebels, selectively absorb some of them, use General Yuan Cong and the low-born Junxun Group to suppress their rise, and the rest will be the enemy.
This is his way to face the aristocratic family, the only way out of all ways.
He really wanted to kill everyone in the aristocratic family and start a thorough class struggle, but the actual situation did not allow it and he couldn't do it.
He has to learn to compromise.
Otherwise, you will die.
The army was mobilized, and Liu Xiang was sitting on a red tug, thinking wildly.
In fact, the biggest power in Jizhou is the clan. Zhongshan State has Zhongshan King Liu Zhi, Changshan State has Changshan King Liu Hao, Zhao State has Zhao King Liu She, Hejian State has Hejian King Liu Bei, Anping State has Anping King Liu Xu, and Qinghe State has Ganling King Liu Zhong. They are all kings.
There are nine counties in Jizhou, and the Kingdom accounts for six of them. Only Wei County, Julu County, and Bohai County are nominally under the direct jurisdiction of the central government.
And Bohai County had just been removed from the country for sixteen years.
No, Liu Xiang realized that Anping King Liu Xu rebelled and eliminated the country four years ago. Jizhou now has four counties.
Although the princes of the Han Dynasty were not as autonomous as they were during the Spring and Autumn and Warring States periods, they still had much greater power than the following dynasties. They had the power to recruit troops and mint coins, and their food and fiefdoms did not have to be turned over to the national treasury.
They are blood-sucking insects lying on the common people.
The officials sent by the imperial court were their subordinates and came to help them manage the fiefdom.
Of course, they are also here to monitor them.
In the name of the Black Mountain Yellow Turban, he occupied the Zhongshan Kingdom, Changshan Kingdom, and Zhao Kingdom. Zhongshan King Liu Zhi, Zhao King Liu She were imprisoned, and Changshan King Liu Hao abandoned his country and fled, and no one knows where he went.
Liu Bei, the king of Hejian, was the uncle of Emperor Ling, and he had always been arrogant to everyone.
Liu Zhong, the king of Ganling, only obeyed Liu Yu, the former prime minister of Ganling, and others could not enter his eyes.
Guo Dian of Julu County gathered troops to defend himself, but did not listen to orders or propaganda.
Bohai County is next to Youzhou and is the main waterway of Youzhou to the south. It has long been out of the control of Jizhou. Anping is sandwiched between Julu, Hejian and Qinghe. In addition, the country has just been eliminated, and the governor of Jizhou has no control over it.
Wang Fen's position as governor was really miserable. Only one Wei county was in the actual control area. The other counties listened when they wanted to, but when they didn't want to listen, he had no choice.
Since he took office, he has been asking for help to recruit troops to suppress the bandits due to the rampant Yellow Turbans in Montenegro.
This time there was a massive production cut in the north, public dissatisfaction boiled over, and the situation became increasingly severe. He once again took to the table with fierce words.
He wanted to control the imperial court's demand for money to build an army. He not only wanted to resist the Black Mountain Army, but also wanted to subdue other counties. He also wanted to kill Emperor Ling and promote the Marquis of Hefei to the throne.
I thought too much and ended up accomplishing nothing until now.
Emperor Ling originally wanted to go back to his hometown of Hejian for a visit. He was not in good health and wanted to see his hometown for the last time. However, he heard that the bandits were powerful and he was dissuaded by the court officials.
He then issued an edict to Wang Fen to return to Luoyang to report on his work, and wanted to explain the issues of building his hometown. After all, his son had no feelings for his hometown, and he wanted to arrange things at home while he was still alive.
He was the son of Liu Chang, Marquis of Jieduting, after Liu Kai, the Xiaowang of Hejian. He was born and grew up in Hejian, and there is his ancestral grave there. Unfortunately, his sons did not think so.
What's even more pity is that Wang Fen thought that the rebellion was exposed, so why did he summon him to Luo to report his duties for no reason? He had something in his heart, so he was so frightened that he abandoned his official position and fled. Soon after, he couldn't bear the pressure and committed suicide. Ling Emperor Liu
Before Hong had time to appoint a new Jizhou governor, he fell ill and had no chance to arrange things in his hometown.
Liu Xiang received these two pieces of good news in early October.
The center of the imperial court was caught up in the transfer of imperial power. From the emperor to the courtiers, who dared not to pay attention to the struggle for the right to inherit the throne at this time? Who had time to care about other things? The ownership of the emperor's position has attracted the attention of all high-level officials.
People like him, a little grasshopper from a despicable land, are too lazy to pay attention to him at this time.
As for Wang Fen's resignation, Jizhou lost officials who could coordinate all parties and was completely divided, which was convenient for him to win over one by one.
At this time, the food available to the people was completely exhausted. Bingzhou, Jizhou, Qingzhou, Yanzhou, Yuzhou, Sili, and several other states rebelled. The Yellow Turbans resurrected with great momentum, and millions of rebels spread throughout the Yellow River Basin.
This was the last large-scale Yellow Turban uprising, and after that it was the end of the dynasty with warlords everywhere and both swords and guns.
Liu Xiang was not a saint. He could not save so many people, so he simply put aside his compassion and took the opportunity to strengthen himself.
"Send troops, go south!"
Ten thousand troops from the Jizhou Army were left to inspect the main road at the eastern foot of Taihang Mountain and garrison the territory of the three counties. The Chinese Army's thirty thousand troops, under the banner of the Yellow Turban Army's Divine Envoy, marched south from Handan and within fifty miles reached Liangqi County, Wei County.
The army approached the city, but the county magistrate surrendered without a fight, leaving behind a thousand infantry. Liu Xiang continued southward without stopping, crossing the Fu River and the Zhang River, marching more than eighty miles until he reached Ye County.
Ye County is the county seat of Wei County and the seat of the governor of Jizhou. It is located on the south bank of Zhang River. It is four miles long from east to west and three miles long from north to south. It has a circumference of about fifteen miles. The city wall is three feet high and has six gates.
There are Pingyang City and Wuwei City more than ten miles east and west to assist in the defense.
Legend has it that this place was the city of great achievements in the era of Yao, Shun and Yu, the base of Hanoi in the lower reaches of the Yellow River, the north of the great river, the Lingshan Mountains at the foot of the Taihang Mountains and the capital of Jizhou, the first of the nine states in ancient times.
The defense system is complete, making it easy to defend but difficult to attack.
Unfortunately, the Anping Army arrived too quickly. The Zhangshui defense line in Ye County to resist the invasion from the north was easily broken through. Pingyang and Wuwei, who were assisting in the defense, had no time to take any action. Especially in Wuwei City, which is located in the northwest of the river, the Zhangshui defense line fell to the enemy.
In the hands of the army, they couldn't do anything to rescue him.
The army camped five miles west of the city, on the banks of the upper reaches of the Zhang River. Liu Xiang looked at Ye County, which had closed the city gates, and ordered people to shoot letters urging surrender into the city.
The letter promised to abolish the tyrannical government, divide the fields, provide food and clothing, and also promised that as long as the city surrendered, no harm would be done to them and they would be allowed to go on their own.
He didn't expect that persuading people to surrender would be very effective. There were too many scholars in Ye County, and they were naturally in conflict with the Yellow Turban Army. He was just going through the process.
The real target is Wuwei and Pingyang. If these two small cities are not captured, it will be difficult to besiege Ye County. It is now October, winter has arrived, and he has not forgotten how cold it was last winter, so he must encircle it as soon as possible
Ye County, and then dug a hole in the ground to escape the severe cold.
Liu Xiang hesitated whether to send troops again next spring, but Ye County was not easy to fight. If he sent troops in the spring, he could only besiege the city and attack it. It might take a year and a half to defeat it. How many lives would it cost?
Therefore, he decided to besiege the city in winter and take advantage of the severe cold to freeze to death a large number of defenders.
From Handan to here, the supply line is only more than a hundred miles. Our army is digging underground for warmth under the city, and there is coal to provide fuel. We only need to take turns to fight and pretend to attack. Do the defenders dare not go to the city to deal with it? After the siege, the city must be short of fuel. Those aristocratic families
Will the rich keep themselves cold and let the soldiers at the bottom keep themselves warm?
They are not so noble.
Liu Xiang wanted to see if Ye County could survive a winter. Even if they could pass the border and camp on the upper reaches of the river, he would be able to give them a surprise during the spring floods.
These are all benefits that are not available when sending troops after the beginning of spring.
The cavalry is more troublesome. After sweeping away the surrounding troops, they have to quickly withdraw to Handan. Therefore, Zhou Cang's 20,000 infantry are coming from Heishan to Ye County.