The people, soldiers and civilians in Jingyi and Yizhou were filled with indignation and requested the Sichuan army to conquer Nanzhong and put an end to the rebellion in Nanzhong.
For a time, ordinary people applied for the army and businessmen donated money and food. Before Liu Zhang gave an order, the entire Jingyi was mobilized, including the people in the four counties of southern Xinjiang who were looking forward to a better life after breaking away from the control of the wealthy families.
Liu Zhang went to the palace for a military meeting, and hundreds of civil and military officials arrived. The generals were all murderous, and the civil officials were whispering to each other.
"Everyone, Meng Yao, the barbarian king of southern China, has raised an army of 100,000 to invade my Han territory. Please tell me how to deal with it."
"What else can we do? Fight." Gao Pei said loudly.
"Yes, hit."
"These barbarians, if we don't teach them a lesson, they really think we dare not touch them."
Huang Zhong came out and said: "I have always heard that there are many strange and powerful warriors in the south, and the great general is one of them. He is truly worthy of his reputation. This time we are going to conquer the southern barbarians, and the last general is willing to be the vanguard to see the strength of the barbarians."
"The little barbarian still uses the old general to attack. He will be the vanguard in the end. If he fails to win, the old general will attack again."
"I'm over fifty, General Yang is less than thirty, why bother arguing with me."
"The old general is strong and healthy. It is not a problem to live to be two hundred years old. If Yang gives in, he will never give up in his lifetime."
"What are you trying to grab? Check your ears. I'm from Nanzhong. I'm familiar with the geography of Nanzhong. I'd like to be a pioneer."
"Have you forgotten me, Gao Pei?"
"We will wait for a decisive victory by force." Huang Zhong shouted.
The generals were arguing, but Liu Zhang suppressed it and said to the civil servants: "Do you think this time the fight will be a peace? How to fight? How to make a peace?"
Liu Zhang's eyes swept over the civil servants. Qin Mi, who was always taciturn and only worked hard, stepped forward and said: "The barbarians invaded the border. It is also a sensitive period when the four counties in southern Xinjiang have just been pacified. If there is no fight, southern Xinjiang will never stop."
Without peace, there is no way to talk about the Silk Road. My subordinates suggest a conquest. Of course, I don’t know how to do it."
Xu Jing came out and said: "The barbarians in southern Xinjiang have never been accustomed to be kings. The four counties in southern Xinjiang have become morally corrupt. The barbarians should have been taught a lesson long ago and will not dare to set foot in southern Xinjiang from now on, so that the people of the four counties in southern Xinjiang will not be tolerated.
Its vulgar influence means re-bathing the Han etiquette."
Liu Zhang asked the generals: "Are you confident that you can win this battle?"
"Yes." All the generals responded in unison.
Liu Zhang turned to the civilian officials again, "Do we have the strength to win this battle?"
All the civil servants said that although they had just experienced the Xiqiang War, the war was short-lived and did not mobilize troops from the hinterland of Jingyi. They only used the troops stationed in Hanzhong without breaking any bones. They also robbed Tianshui.
Many came back.
What's more, spring has just passed, the spring rice and spring wheat are ripe, and there is already some grain in stock. These civil servants all know it.
I originally thought that after leaving the clan, the grain production would be greatly reduced. However, it was only in the season when the clan was calmed down that the rice fields were reduced due to lack of management. Later, there was no longer exploitation and concealment by the clan. The people paid taxes directly, but grain production increased.
Coupled with the influx of a large number of barbarian people and refugees from Guanzhong, the introduction of new agricultural tools and the popularization of cattle, food subsidies and political clarity have increased farmers' enthusiasm for growing grain, and the grain has greatly increased. The grain that originally took two years to produce is expected to be produced in one year this year.
If it can be completed, civil servants will naturally feel confident when speaking.
"Huang Quan, why don't you speak?"
Liu Zhang was a little surprised when he saw that all the civil servants had spoken, but Huang Quan and Wang Fu did not speak.
Huang Quan came out to pay his respects and said: "My lord, the conquest of the Southern Barbarians is a major event. Now our Sichuan army officers and men are high in fighting spirit, and the civil and military forces are working together. In addition, my lord is wise, and the officers and men are dedicated to their lives. Although the food is not much, it can be sustained for a period of time. Little barbarian
, when it can be destroyed with the snap of a finger, it’s just.”
Huang Quan hesitated and said: "Although the morale of my soldiers and logistical support are guaranteed, my lord should know that we are opening the Southwest Silk Road. The Southwest Silk Road has just built the outline of four counties and will soon leave Southwest Yi.
Most of them are barbarian areas. If we defeat the barbarians this time and the barbarians are resentful, even if they can't revolt for several years, it's still okay to destroy the roads."
Huang Quan paused and said: "If my lord decides to conquer the barbarians, please my lord to immediately cancel the opening of the Silk Road."
"What?"
After Huang Quan finished speaking, everyone in the civil service and military changed their minds, including Cai Ming. They were all in disbelief. The Southwest Silk Road has been implemented for nearly a year, and countless manpower and material resources have been invested. How many people's hearts are concerned about this road?
Now that the market in Jingyi is saturated, sales in Jiangdong and the north have basically solidified, and it is difficult to pass the Yumen Pass, merchants in Sichuan and Shu can only count on this Southwest Silk Road. Otherwise, their workshops and merchants will not be able to expand, and their family wealth will not be able to grow. Then
It will cut off their development prospects.
How many businessmen are looking forward to it?
Officials in Shuzhong, even if they are not from merchant families, hope that the areas and offices under their jurisdiction will have more money so that they can do more things. For example, Qin Mi is responsible for the food subsidy. If the money collected is reduced,
How can this policy continue?
Not to mention subsidizing merchants who buy grain from the northeast of the Yangtze River.
It can be said that Jing Yi's yamen is also changing. They are gradually adapting to the business model and are used to using money to do certain things. The more money they have, the more things they can do. If there is no money... what else can they do?
Many officials predict that future political achievements will be achieved under the condition that business develops normally and must not stagnate. In other words, the opening of the Southwest Silk Road, an important measure to prosper business, cannot be stopped.
"Master Huang, is it as serious as you said?" General Yang Huai came out and said: "I see that my lord conquered the Western Qiang and destroyed the entire Xianling Qiang. Now isn't the Western Qiang doing well? By then we will be in Nanman again.
Wouldn’t it be enough to cultivate a force?”
"Yes." Xu Jing, a civil servant, came out and said: "I'm afraid Mr. Huang is overly worried. The Western Qiang can see the favor we have given them and immediately obey us. Can't the Southern Barbarians do the same? The Southern Barbarians live better than the Western Qiang people.
If you are still poor, I don’t believe those mud-legged people are not tempted.”
"That's right, if you first use force to deter people, then support gentle people and provide benefits, then southern Xinjiang will be safe."
All civil and military officials agreed.
After Huang Quan listened carefully to everyone's discussion, he bowed to Liu Zhang and said: "My lord, I heard clearly what my colleagues said, but my lord, Nanzhong is different from the Xiqiang. No matter how barbarian the Xiqiang people are, they have accepted more Chinese culture than the barbarians.
, many people understand Chinese, and no matter how hidden those Qiang villages are, traces of them can still be found by galloping war horses.
But the barbarians are different. The roads in the barbarian areas are deep in the mountains and old forests, the roads are completely blocked, the mountains and rivers are dangerous, and the barbarians can't even speak a word of Chinese. The Western Qiang strategy in the southern barbarians has several insurmountable difficulties. The first is that it cannot be used like in the southern barbarians.
The Western Qiang also intimidate the Southern Barbarians. Only if the Southern Barbarians send out troops, we can annihilate them together. If we attack them, it will be very dangerous.
Secondly, the barbarians hold grudges. We have beaten them once. If we kill their tribesmen, they will always hate us. They are different from the Western Qiang, which is relatively open. Moreover, the ethnic group is relatively homogeneous. The Southern Barbarians are composed of many foreign races and are very conservative.
I heard that as long as the Southern Barbarians kill their own people, they will carve the names of their enemies on the statues and they will not forget them for a hundred or a thousand years. How can such a nation first use force and then be inspired by kindness?
Even if we preach kindness, we need someone to listen. The roads in the Nanman area are impassable and the area is very wide. Who will help us preach kindness?
In short, in a hard-on battle with the Southern Barbarians, it is easy to defeat but difficult to destroy them. They retreat to the mountains and forests and are our eternal enemies. At that time, the chaos in southern Xinjiang will never end and the Silk Road will never be opened."
"According to Mr. Huang, if the Southern Barbarians invade, we should just stare at him?" Gao Pei said loudly.
"Of course not." Huang Quan replied: "We can send a large army to intimidate, and after defeating the barbarians for a few games, we can ask them to hand over the people of the Zhu family, the Yong family and the Wang family, and stop the army to make peace. Only in this way can we continue to open the Silk Road.
road."
"It's ridiculous to ask for peace after winning." Gao Pei curled his lips.
Liu Zhang looked at the civil and military officials and said to Huang Quan: "I understand what Mr. Huang means. To conquer the southern barbarians, it will be easy for us to defeat them in southern Xinjiang, but the barbarian road is difficult and dangerous, and it is difficult to penetrate deeply. It is impossible to hurt them.
The Southern Barbarians are remote and their kindness cannot be shown clearly. If we kill their tribesmen, they will hate us forever and the Silk Road will be completely cut off, right?"
Huang Quan nodded: "Master Mingjian."
"So we need to teach them a lesson, let them hand over their criminals, and then both sides stop fighting? Well, if the barbarians know the power of our Sichuan army, we can indeed achieve the goal of peace, and we can continue to open the Silk Road.
But have you ever thought about it, Mr. Huang? Doing so will have two bad effects. First, even if we make peace with the barbarians, after this incident, the barbarians and us will be separated. In addition, Cao Cao granted Meng Yao a title to a southern barbarian.
King, we must be more hostile than friendly.
Second, if we sue for peace this time, the barbarians will definitely think that we are easy to bully. Not only will they intensify their harassment of the four counties in southern Xinjiang in the future, but what will happen to them when we fight Cao Cao and Sun Quan?"
The civil and military officials were startled, and then they realized that Jing Yi was not the only enemy of the Southern Barbarians. Cao Cao did not take action because he was still competing with the remaining forces of the Yuan family in the north. When Cao Cao took action, it would be a life-or-death battle.
At that time, all the hundreds of thousands of Jing Yi's infantry would probably have to be dispatched. By then, the rear would be empty, and there would be a barbarian who was "more hostile than friendly" in the rear, which would indeed be a serious problem.
"If our Silk Road really brings benefits, will the barbarians covet it? Will they use the road to threaten us? What will we do then? Will we continue to compromise?"
"My Lord, you mean that we must fight?" Huang Quan was speechless in answering Liu Zhang's question, but in his heart he still could not accept a head-on confrontation with the Nanman.
"That's right."
"What about the Silk Road? My Lord, I forgive my ignorance. I feel that in the current situation, the Silk Road and the heavy damage to the barbarians cannot have both fish and bear's paws. I can only give up one of them. If I conquer the Southern Barbarians, I will
My lord, please stop building the Silk Road immediately, and wait until after the conquest by force, and the Southern Barbarians have quietly subsided, and then we can discuss it again."
"ah?"
All civil and military officials were in a dilemma, especially the civil servants, who were unwilling to stop the construction of the Silk Road. However, Huang Quan was right. If the barbarians were really beaten and the barbarians hated Yizhou, the Silk Road would not be opened.
"My subordinates think that Mr. Huang's plan is feasible. We need to suspend the weapons for a decisive battle with Cao Cao later. We can leave one army to guard the southern border." A civil servant came out and said.
"I second the proposal."
"I second the proposal."
"That's nonsense." Gao Pei said loudly: "Do you know what a decisive battle is? There is still one soldier and horse left in southern Xinjiang. The Southern Barbarians have a hundred thousand troops. How many soldiers and horses should be left to ensure that there is no chaos in the rear? There are so many soldiers and horses left.
You are still fighting a decisive battle in the rear. It is not you who dare to fight. You can stand and talk without pain in your back."
Gao Pei rolled his eyes.
Liu Zhang smiled and said: "You can't have both fish and bear's paws. Let me think about it. If I want to have both bear's paws and fish, I must overcome several difficulties. One is to severely damage the barbarian army, and the other is not to arouse the hatred of the barbarians."
, do you want to join us like the Xiqiang?"
"Master, don't you think the two are contradictory?" Huang Quan said.
Liu Zhang said: "Actually, although the barbarians have a complex ethnic group, they are still human beings, and they are also attracted by majesty and gratitude. The problem now is that we cannot penetrate the high mountains and dangerous places of the barbarians by erecting majesty.
Kindness, we can't even enter the hinterland of the barbarians, so what kind of kindness can we talk about? If we really get in and kill too many people, the vengeful barbarians will not be grateful for our kindness.
Isn’t the situation clear now? My strategy is to penetrate into the hinterland of the barbarians and let the barbarians know how powerful we are, but we cannot kill too many barbarians, win over the barbarians who favor the Han, and use barbarism to rule the barbarians. Does any of you have a good idea?
?”
All the civil servants lowered their heads, and the generals remained silent. How could this be possible if they wanted to break into the barbarians' hinterland and let the barbarians know how powerful they were, but they couldn't kill too many people.
"Why do you care so much? Let's talk about it after the fight." Gao Pei said dullly. He didn't expect that fighting a battle would be so complicated, and he was so frustrated.
"How can military and national affairs be trivial?" Wang Fu said.
"Okay, you guys go back and think about it, then let's disperse first." Liu Zhang waved his hand.
After the civil and military officials dispersed, Liu Zhang did not leave. He wiped his face with his palms and fell into deep thought. Cai Ming crawled beside him, resting his head on Liu Zhang's lap, and said softly: "Is there really nothing you can do about it, husband?"
Liu Zhang gently stroked Cai Ming's soft hair and sighed, "There is a way, but it is difficult to achieve."
"What can I do?"
"Seven captures and seven attempts."
As a modern person, how could Liu Zhang not know how Zhuge Liang pacified the southern border? Although the barbarians are not accustomed to education, they are still human beings. After being kind and powerful, they will be tamed.
But it was so difficult. Zhuge Liang entered Nanman with a map, and also experienced the poison of Lu River, the weak water of Xi'er River, Sanjiang City, Wudu Spring, and Peach Blossom Water. He escaped from the disaster a few times by coincidence, and even survived.
If the mountain god appears, I can't guarantee that I will have that kind of luck.
Mountain gods are fake, but the poor mountains, poisonous springs, and poisonous rivers of the Southern Barbarians are real in modern Yunnan and Guizhou. Regardless of whether Zhuge Liang has encountered them in history, it is likely that he will encounter them anyway.
The most important thing is that Liu Zhang did not have the legendary "Pingman Zhizhangtu" at all.
Lu Kai had surrendered to the Sichuan Army, but Liu Zhang sent someone to ask. They didn't know what the "Pingman Zhizhang Map" was. Lu Kai was only in his twenties, and he was not old enough to draw a map. (To be continued)