After the temple plan was settled, Wang Zheng immediately sent an order, ordering the Ba Mansion to immediately start formulating a battle plan. At the same time, together with the Sima Mansion, they began to select and mobilize the troops for the expedition, as well as to raise and prepare food, grass, ordnance and other supplies.
This is the first time that the Bafu has played its true role since its establishment. Wang Zheng gave them a half-month deadline, and Geng Geng specifically told Zhang Zhao that Yu Jin could not participate. This was not without the factor of training Wu Sheng's overall planning ability.
At that time, Xu Fang had gone to Pengcheng Town to guard the western flank. Now Wu Sheng had no one to help him, so he had to take charge of civil affairs for the first time.
At the same time, Wang Zheng ordered Gu Jian to contact Guan Cheng. In the afternoon of that day, Gu Jian took a few soldiers and left the city in disguise. One night ten months later, a white sail came to the entrance of the Pi River.
Among the group of people Gu Jian brought back this time, in addition to Guan Cheng, there were also a group of unfamiliar faces, all dressed in warrior attire. The most eye-catching thing was the fierceness of their bodies.
In particular, there was a burly man among them, with thick arms and legs, long hair shawl, and a silver forehead band. His face was thick and broad, his shoulders were broad, his eyes were like copper bells, and he always had a sinister and cunning look on his face.
Under the leadership of Gu Jian, the group of people walked in no hurry.
This was due to Guo Jia’s prior explanation.
After the discussion, Gu Jian explained to Wang Zheng and Guo Jia that although there were many Yellow Turbans entrenched in the Beihai, only Guan Cheng was a water thief. If they wanted to completely control the Bohai area, they might not be able to do so.
After hearing this, Wang Zheng looked at Guo Jia subconsciously. Seeing that the young man had already made up his mind, he smiled and said to contact Guan Cheng first and explain the importance of the matter face to face. If he could guarantee that everything would be foolproof, that would be the best.
Otherwise, Gu Jian can suggest Guan Cheng to contact other pirates and work together to complete the matter, and Wang Zheng will not hesitate to reward him.
Guo Jia's next talk was a popular science for Wang Zheng.
Different from other dynasties in later generations, since the Warring States Period, the maritime traffic of the Celestial Dynasty has basically been concentrated in the lands of Yan and Qi. The ports around the Bohai Sea, represented by Xuxiang, Zhifu (fu), Miaojin Islands, Dajin, etc., are becoming more and more perfect day by day.
, or the first signs of it, by the Han Dynasty, the development of routes around the Bohai Sea had gradually matured, and the earliest pirates in the Chinese Dynasty also came into being.
At the end of the Western Han Dynasty, a great maritime uprising led by Lu Mu broke out, gathering tens of thousands of people to attack the county. If they encountered a large group of officers and soldiers, they would return to the island to defend, and put into practice the guerrilla tactics of "the enemy advances, we retreat, and when the enemy is tired, we attack"
The ground was so vivid that the Xinmang regime at that time was unbearable, and several encirclement and suppression campaigns were unsuccessful.
In the late Eastern Han Dynasty, although these pirates did not cause too much trouble in the Central Plains, the small country next door, Korea, suffered greatly.
They crossed the Bohai Strait from the Shandong Peninsula, passed through the Liaodong Peninsula, and went to the Korean Peninsula and the Japanese Islands. They either burned and killed, or occupied land and became kings. For example, in the 13th year of Emperor Gaozu of the Han Dynasty, the Yan people Weiman led thousands of people into Korea and since then
He was named King of Han and established his capital in Wangxian (near today's Pyongyang). It was called Wei's Korea in history.
At this time, the New Year has just passed, and a large number of pirates must still be huddled on the Bohai Islands. As long as they are promised generous rewards, they are not afraid of not having brave men.
In Guo Jia's view, compared to bandits who make a living by drinking blood from the edge of a knife, pirates are more cunning, cruel, and tolerant, and difficult to tame. When attracting such people to come to Pi with huge profits, they have to
When meeting someone, show him power first, and then show mercy.
Why is it prestige?
Nothing more than a strong military and a strong influence.
When they were at the port, Wang Zheng, who had already received the message from the ancient sword, arranged for some of the elites of the Tianzhu battalion to greet them. Even though a group of pirates were frightened, Guan Cheng even praised the leading man repeatedly, saying that the Tianzhu army was so powerful.
Competent and capable, his performance is not comparable to that of ordinary Yellow Turbans.
After showing the strength of the military, the next step is to show the power of Li Yi. As the newly designated capital of Xuzhou, Xiapi has always been the top priority in governance. We just took this opportunity to show them the financial power of the royal government.
big.
Looking from far and near, there are many villages.
In the neatly divided farmland, many of the crops under cultivation have poked their heads out and grown quite tall. They are filled with a fresh smell. In the dusk, the fields are becoming more and more green. Smoke is everywhere, and the farmers who have returned late are leaving together.
, when the burly man saw this, he couldn't help but nod secretly, and turned to Guan Chenggang to speak, but then he heard a melodious sound of bells, drifting in the evening wind.
The man looked up and saw a tall house standing on the roadside not far ahead. The sound of the bell came from there. The door opened, and a dozen or twenty young children came out in a swarm.
.
Then a middle-aged man dressed as a Confucian scholar chased out and kept shouting: "Go slowly, go slowly. Be careful of falling!"
The children stood up, turned around, lined up, bowed respectfully to the middle-aged man, and all said, "Sir, please come back. See you tomorrow."
In the clear voice of the child, the middle-aged man straightened his clothes and bowed in return: "See you tomorrow."
He is a childish person with unkempt hair and a straight face. He responds politely and behaves politely, which makes everyone look at him.
The burly man looked up and saw a horizontal plaque hanging on the house. He immediately recognized the two words: "It turns out this is a village school."
After walking less than ten miles, they saw a similar house on the roadside. They probably passed by it too late. The house was empty. Looking through the window, there were complete tables and chairs. It was obviously another village school.
At this time, the burly man was finally moved. He looked sideways at the ancient sword in surprise, and couldn't help but said: "Brother Gu, Xiapi is actually a school within ten miles?"
Seeing Gu Jian smiling and saying nothing, the burly man frowned slightly and thought to himself.
It is normal for culture and education to prosper in the capital of the state, but that was also a matter of peaceful times. But in today's chaotic world, it is not easy for officials and people alike to make a living. Who can worry about this?
He had heard of Wang Zheng's name, and knew that this young man had become the number one figure in the Shandong Peninsula in the past two years, but he never expected that the other party, not only being so majestic in military affairs, would have such an emphasis on literature?
Seeing the burly man silent in silence, Gu Jian secretly cried out that it was a pity. It wasn't that he didn't want to show off, but... he really didn't understand.
Most of these village schools were built recently. On the one hand, Gu Jian paid more attention to military matters. On the other hand, it was during this period that he often traveled back and forth between Xu and Qingzhou, so naturally he didn't know much about it.
On New Year's Day, Wang Zheng tortured Yan Yan by quartering his body with five horses, and then brandished a butcher's knife to completely wipe out the Yan family in Pengcheng.
But it has had results.
Among the few people who refused to cooperate, most of them had no choice but to surrender due to fear and the persuasion of their tribesmen.
Some of them who were talented and famous, such as Bu Zhi and others, were arranged by Wang Zheng in Bo Ju Guan and given important positions. Their actions were observed, their words were heard, and they were reserved for future use.
As for those who lacked talent and reputation, they were arranged to enter the official school. After that, the official school was established in Guangxing. Every time a school was built, one person was selected to teach.
It is not true that there is only one school in every ten miles. There are naturally more official schools in densely populated places, and there are naturally fewer in sparsely populated places.
For every ten official schools, there must be one Xuezheng, who is literate in the Tianfu Army and Tianji Camp. There is no need to lecture. The daily responsibilities are inspection, supervision, coordination, and communication.
As for the teaching materials for these official schools, they are all compiled by the Official School Department of Sima Mansion.
In fact, there is a ready-made textbook in the Han Dynasty, Chapter 102 of the "Exercise and Compilation".
"Xun Zhuan Pian" was adapted from "Cangjie Pian". This book was compiled by a teacher in the early Han Dynasty by combining "Cangjie" written by Li Si of the Qin Dynasty, "Yuanli" written by Zhao Gao, and "Boxue" written by Hu Wujing.
Together, this book basically includes the characters that appeared in the "Six Classics" and various classics at that time.
Because there were many repeated characters in the book, Li Shang took the correct characters in it and made it "Yuan Shang Pian" during his reign. During his reign, Yang Xiong deleted the repeated characters in "Cangjie Pian" and added a batch of useful characters to make it "Yuan Shang Pian".
"Exercise and Compilation Chapter" has 89 chapters, and Ban Gu of the Eastern Han Dynasty continued it with 13 chapters, for a total of 102 chapters, with no repeated words.
From these textbooks, in accordance with Wang Zheng's instructions, some vague words were subtracted, and some basic knowledge of planning and agricultural farming was added.
Ordinary farm families are considered wealthy if they can afford food and clothing, but they have no spare money for their children to study.
Therefore, Wang Zheng exempted all tuition fees, and the teacher's salary was paid by the Official Education Department.
At the same time, we also take into account that it is not easy for Cao Cao to survive, so we only hold classes during slack periods and not during busy periods.
The only thing is that all children over the age of six must attend classes during the off-season. There is absolutely no question about this.
Wang Zheng had no choice. In fact, in the feudal era of the Celestial Dynasty, no matter the royal family or the aristocratic family, they were not closed to basic knowledge.
It's just that most ordinary people have no time to think about their children's education because of their difficult lives. This is increasingly the case in today's troubled times.
It was difficult to change this concept for a while, so forced methods had to be adopted.
The port was still dozens of miles away from Xiapi. Gu Jian looked at the sky and saw that the dusk had gradually turned into night, but the city wall was still vaguely visible, so he said: "Brothers, let's go faster."
"You must enter the city before nightfall to avoid the trouble of closing the city gates."
Everyone responded and started to rush their horses. Before they had traveled three or two miles, a group of people came running towards him on the road.
There were a large number of people, about three to four hundred at a glance. The leader shouted slogans, and the others lined up neatly, running and shouting loudly.
So many people shouted together, the sound was very loud, and the frightened birds flew around, startling everyone.
The burly man comforted his mount and asked, "What are they shouting? Why do they sound like singing?"
Gu Jian directed everyone to make way and replied: "It's originally a song, singing one, two, three, four. One, two, three, four..."
Amidst the billowing smoke and dust, no one in this group of people turned around to look at the pirates when they passed by them. They all kept their eyes straight, full of energy, kept the order of the ranks, and ran past quickly.
Seeing this, the burly man asked: "Is this the garrison in Xiapi?"
"The drill is correct, but it's not the garrison in Xiapi. They didn't bring weapons..."
Gu Jian pointed at the flag at the head of the team and said, "The pattern on this flag represents the military camp. They are people from the nearby military camp. If the garrison is training, they will be fully armed and carry heavy loads in the morning and evening, at least thirty miles each. Training
The intensity is far inferior to that of the military garrison."
After listening to Gu Jian's statement, several pirates were speechless.
According to what he said, isn't this military camp just a group of auxiliary farmers?
Even these auxiliary soldiers can maintain such discipline and have such a style. I really can't imagine how strong and rigorous Wang Zheng's regular army is?
The burly man exchanged glances with his men, and praised repeatedly: "You can tell autumn when you see a leaf. With such a strong army under Wang Zhoumu's command, it's no wonder that such a foundation has been achieved in such a short period of time!"
Before nightfall, everyone finally arrived at Xiapi City.
The moat outside the city was recently expanded to a width of ten feet, and the water is bottomless. There is a spacious bridge outside the city gate for passage, and the city is high and thick.
At the entrance of the crenel, strong bows, powerful crossbows, and soldiers with bright armor could be seen patrolling among the lights.
Although it was getting late, the city gate was bustling with people going in and out.
When the burly man observed carefully, Guan Cheng, who had been silent all this time, asked: "Gu Xiaowei, you just said that the city gate was about to be closed. How come there are so many people leaving the city?"
"In recent years, there have been frequent wars, and many people have been displaced and have no food to eat. My state pastor provides work for relief, and organizes manpower to dig water canals in the countryside, or repair traffic roads, and strengthen the city. The people who leave the city just finish their work.
A farmer who has just received his meal and returned home."
When everyone saw it, it was indeed good. Some of those who left the city carried baskets, and some carried small basins, which were filled with food.
Today, there is a lot of chaos. Some of these pirates have skills passed down from their ancestors, and some are newcomers to the industry who have lost their livelihood, such as refugees. They have seen a lot of burly men, so they don't find it strange at all.
However, there were also many wars in Xuzhou, so where did Wang Zheng get such sufficient food?
Not only do you want to support your own army, but you also provide work-for-relief to these refugees?
This is somewhat unexpected.
"The last time I came here, the state pastor was still Tao Qian. Except for Langya, the people's livelihood in the territory was in decline and food was in short supply." The burly man glanced at the ancient sword and said with a smile: "How can we get here in just a few years?
When Wang Zhou was pastoral, Xuzhou was so prosperous?"
"Does General Tiangong really have some magical powers?"
Hearing this, Gu Jian laughed dumbly, pointed at the city gate and said: "Chief Zhang, have you seen these people entering the city?"
The burly man followed the fingertips of the ancient sword and looked at it. His vision of robbing families was naturally sharp, and he immediately saw it.
"The people on the side are all common people, and these few...are businessmen?"
"Yes, more than half of these merchants are grain merchants. After my Lord Zhoumu pacified Xuzhou in one fell swoop, the chaotic situation was changed, and the country was peaceful. In addition, Xuzhou now has a policy of mercantile, and those who transport grain are exempted.
Go to tax. If the quantity is large, we will even give you a certain amount of encouragement. No matter where you are in the north of the Yangtze River, merchants will come eagerly. To tell you the truth, our heavenly army lacks everything except food!"
Gu Jian boasted so much that the pirates were stunned for a moment.
How come the Heavenly Army is not short of food? Some of what Wang Zheng brought to help the people was indeed purchased from several aristocratic families in other states, but some of it was stolen from Beihai Kingdom, where the wool came from sheep.
Not long ago, a new army of 20,000 people was established. After simple training, nearly a thousand old soldiers were mixed into it to form the backbone. Eight thousand people have already entered the battlefield in advance, led by Huang Zhong, starting from Dongwu County in Langya.
The southern part of Beihai Kingdom is constantly harassed.
Since he was involved in a feint attack, under Wang Zheng's order, Huang Zhong did not launch a formal attack on Pingchang, Gaomi and other counties, but only started to wreak havoc on countless villages between those cities.
Kong Rong was not good at being a gangster, but he had a few tricks up his sleeve in internal affairs. Beihai was already extremely wealthy due to its developed commerce, and the common people had always had the habit of storing grain. If they attacked every three days and plundered every five days, the grain they obtained would not be enough.
That's quite a lot.
It not only played the role of training the army, but also confused the attention of Beihai Kingdom for the upcoming offensive, and at the same time suspended the immediate emergency. It can be said to be the best of all three.
After entering the city, Gu Jian led the group to the post house to rest.
The next day someone sent an order and Wang Zheng, the prefectural shepherd, summoned him.