Chapter 350: Going South and Going West, the Future Pattern
Ye County is renovating an empty house and preparing to store books. Ten miles east of the city, on the north bank of the Zhang River, a site has been selected for building the city. Teams of hard laborers have been mobilized from various places and are building camps for themselves.
Farmers in You, Bin, and Hebei provinces began to clean greenhouses, clear flues, and do preparatory work for seedlings.
The river bankers are sending messages to all counties, urging them to inspect the rivers, pay attention to floods, and be on guard against dams and blockages.
In spring and February, the earth recovers and people start to get busy.
The Yellow River defense line has been adjusted again. This time instead of increasing troops, 100,000 people were laid off.
Zhou Cang's troops were stationed on the north bank of Pingyuan County, Qingzhou. They had been in contact with the Yellow Turban Army in Qingzhou and Yanzhou. The number of defectors continued, and more than 100,000 people gathered on the north bank of the Yellow River.
Liu Xiang doesn't need so many troops, he can't afford them.
Therefore, all the Yellow Turbans were abolished, and the government provided interest-free loans to provide seeds, cattle and rations, allowing them to disperse to farm in Pingyuan County and Bohai County. They also allocated 10,000 Jizhou troops to Zhou Cang to guard against the Qingzhou official army on the south bank.
, and continued to contact the Yellow Turban Army in the uprising.
Taishi Ci led 22 main warships, more than a hundred patrol boats, hundreds of supply ships, and a total of 5,000 Yunfanying sailors to move to Liyang. The defense level of the Yellow River was greatly improved.
The thousand-mile Yellow River defense line from Liyang to the mouth of the sea was divided into three defensive fulcrums, and stationed 20,000 Jizhou regiments, front troops, and left troops, a total of 30,000 infantry, and 5,000 naval troops.
In Chaoge, not far to the west of Liyang, eight thousand Chinese troops were stationed on foot and cavalry, watching over Wang Kuang, the prefect of Hanoi, and guarding the east exit of Taihang County.
Further to the west, on the Tianjingguan line of Bingzhou, 10,000 people of the Bingzhou Army and the right army Xu Huang's troops were stationed.
Zhang He is still immigrating to several counties under the jurisdiction of Hanoi County on the north bank of the Luoyang River. Preliminary statistics show that 240,000 people have migrated to the north. They will go to Xinding Basin and Datong Basin to divide their fields and enrich the northern part of Bingzhou.
s population.
On the boundary mountain line between Taiyuan County and Hedong County, 10,000 people from the Bingzhou Army were stationed to guard against the Baibo bandits and the remnants of the Southern Huns.
Since Dong Zhuo led his troops to Sanfu to quell the Liangzhou rebellion the year before last, Hedong has been in chaos again. The Baibo bandits have resurrected and brought together 70,000 or 80,000 people. In addition to the Huns stranded there, Hedong is now in chaos. After Zhang He immigrated,
We still have to go back to Taiyuan to strengthen our defenses, or look for opportunities to go south to Hedong.
Another part of Bingzhou's troops are stationed in the Hetao area, which is the area around Wuyuan County and Yunzhong County of the Han Dynasty. The Duliao camp led by Yan Rou, the rear army, and the Bingzhou Army are 10,000 people, with a total of 20,000 infantry and cavalry.
Now that the military supplies are insufficient, they are repairing in place. Shuofang County, Xihe County, and Shang County have to wait until the autumn harvest before they can continue to attack.
The good news is that they don't need to transport supplies in large quantities. Yan Rou has a way to get food: robbing barbarians.
The five thousand barbarians from the Duliao camp were divided into small groups and crossed the Yinshan Mountains to plunder the Xianbei tribe on the grasslands around Shoujiang City.
I heard that the food was good, and I slaughtered sheep and cows, so I had a good fat year.
The five thousand Hu cavalry under Yan Rou's command have actually joined the Han army. They were based on the five hundred Wuhuan Hu cavalry who raised troops in Yuyang in 184 and expanded by absorbing the miscellaneous Hu warriors. Over the years, they have been fighting with the north.
They fought with the barbarians and went to the grasslands to plunder. It was commonplace for them.
Liu Xiang's attitude towards the grassland peoples was perfectly interpreted by them.
Reduce tribes every day, and kill tribes whenever you find an opportunity.
Gongsun Zan, the White Horse Chief Historian a few years ago, has long been forgotten. Now the northern barbarians in Youzhou only know one name: King of Hell.
Wherever the king of hell passes, not even a blade of grass will grow!
All the people were killed! All the cattle and sheep were robbed! All the grassland was burned!
There is no royal court in Monan?
No, Xianbei people are almost invisible in Monan.
The Han people there looked down upon them, and the Xianbei did not dare to stay. Only some bastards with random names survived. Those who did not open their eyes and did not know how to surrender to the Han people were almost dead.
This situation is continuing to unfold in northern Bingzhou.
Reduce, weaken, annex, conquer the grasslands, conquer the deserts, conquer the whole world.
The Han Dynasty upholds prestige and leads all nations. Wherever the sun and moon shine, and wherever mountains and rivers reach, they are all Han territory, and all barbarians inside and outside are all ministers and concubines.
Liu Xiang longed for the majesty of the Han Dynasty in its heyday, and hoped that one day, this sentence would spread throughout the wilderness again.
Take your time, don't be in a hurry, walk the road step by step.
The first step is to digest all the land on the north bank of the Yellow River.
Hanoi and the two counties of Hedong are his next targets. As for the Kwantung Allied Forces in Henan, even though they are scattered now, if Liu Xiang really leads his troops to fight there, those people will immediately form a united front. It is difficult to predict who will win and who will lose.
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Therefore, we cannot put too much external pressure on them. We must give them space and allow them to rebel.
Liu Xiang is looking forward to the drama of the two Yuans fighting for hegemony. When Fatty Dong kills Yuan Wei, Yuan Shao and Yuan Shu will become wild dogs that have escaped from their stiffness. The two branches of the Yuan family in Runan will split. It must be a dog biting a dog with a hairy mouth, and they will get angry.
, formed a blood feud, and the opportunity came to go south to the Yellow River.
Just wait for the opportunity with peace of mind.
Jushou strongly agrees with the principle that movement is worse than stillness. After more than half a year of understanding and thinking, he offered advice:
"When my lord was a young man, his fame had spread all over the world, and he was powerful in the northern territory. The foreign barbarians inside and outside were submissive and obedient. Now he should sweep across the north of the Yellow River, merge the four states, recruit heroes, gather the population, and harass the enemy with light cavalry.
It only takes three to five years to conquer the Central Plains. By then, we will have millions of soldiers under our command, marching south and west, and great achievements will be accomplished."
The idea was a little different from his own, but it was pretty much the same. Liu Xiang joked: "I thought Gong Yuhui proposed to narrow the emperor to order the princes, why are you just thinking about occupying the territory?"
Jushou tugged at his beard and said solemnly: "As a member of the royal clan, my lord can only appease Nan. King Qin must not bring the emperor to his side. Otherwise, he will be the target of public criticism. Don't act like this."
Liu Xiang understood what he meant. As a member of the clan, he only needed to pass through the line of King Hejian, adopt the branch of Emperor Ling, become the younger brother of Emperor Ling Liu Hong, and make the death of Emperor Xian Liu Xie more "reasonable".
He legitimately ascended the throne and proclaimed himself emperor.
Neither aristocratic families nor even slightly ambitious warlords would agree.
If you want to take the emperor to your side, if there is too much resistance, you will definitely become the public enemy of the world. The gains outweigh the losses. It is far better to occupy the territory, expand the strength, and fight for the world with soldiers and horses.
"I understand your intention. Advancing into the Central Plains will definitely be the main strategy in the future. I also know that we should not be impatient and should plan for it slowly. However, I pay more attention to the northwest." Liu Xiang stood up and took the map, pointing to the Longmen of the Yellow River and the Pu River in the lower reaches.
Sakazu said:
"From this two roads enter the land of three auxiliaries, occupy Guanzhong, and then connect to the Hanzhong Basin, then Bashu and the Central Plains will be in our hands. If we break through the Yellow River in the south of Jizhou, the warlords from all walks of life in the Central Plains will definitely flee to the west and to the south. There is the Yangtze River natural chasm to the south.
, There are dangerous mountains and rivers in the west, and the war is protracted. When will we be able to unify?"
Jushou tugged at his beard and thought for a while, then said in embarrassment: "Dong's thief's army of more than 100,000 people is about to retreat into Guanzhong. It will be too difficult for our army to take this place. I know what your lord wants. Let's occupy the favorable location in Guanzhong first and block the enemy."
It is too risky for the army to flee westward to pave the way for unification of the world. It is difficult for our army to deal with two battlefields at the same time."
He frowned and shook his head, disagreeing with the plan to attack the northwest first.
"My lord, think twice. The two battlefields are more than a thousand miles apart. If one side changes, it will be difficult to support it. It is too risky. During the decisive battle in the Central Plains, our army can send out a branch to the east of Hedong to occupy the Qinling Pass and block the enemy's retreat to the west. This is also
It can achieve what the Lord wants."
Liu Xiang knew that Dong Zhuo would die in the next few years, the Liangzhou Group would collapse, and the Guanzhong Plain would be weak for a period of time. He wanted to take advantage of the chaos to occupy Guanzhong. If he fought again in the future, he would have to attack the dangerous pass in the Qinling Mountains, which would be too difficult.
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But Ju Shou didn't know about this. In his eyes, Dong Zhuo's hundreds of thousands of troops occupied Sanfu. Instead of fighting for Guanzhong, it would be safer to encroach on the Central Plains.
Liu Xiang thought about it for a while. It's hard to explain. How should I put it? I calculated with my fingers. Dong Zhuo will die in two years. His subordinates will fight together and Guanzhong will be in chaos.
If it’s hard to explain, let’s not explain it at all. Anyway, we have to wait a few years and start running the business in Hebei.
"It's just an idea. Don't worry, sir. I won't be in a hurry to send troops. The world is changing and no one knows what will happen in the future. Make a preview first so that you won't be in a hurry when the time comes."
To be honest, whether we can take advantage of the chaos to seize the Guanzhong Plain depends on Sun Jian's performance. This is the fulcrum of the westward advance plan.