Chapter 284 Arrival in Shouchun
Yuan Shao only saw the advantages of this strategy, but failed to see the difficulty of using this strategy.
Instinctively felt that Cao Cao was his younger brother, Liu Bei was his ally, and the emperor had long been ignored, and he was still the leader of the alliance.
I think Liu Bei, Cao Cao, or the Emperor will all act according to his wishes.
It was just Yuan Shao's plan that he thought was a clever idea, but he didn't get any reaction from his subordinates.
For a moment, the atmosphere in the hall was a little strange.
In the end, Guo Tu, who was the best at figuring out Yuan Shao's thoughts and stood beside Yuan Shao without thinking, was the first to speak: "I think this plan is a great one. Cao Mengde kept saying to help the Han Dynasty and protect the emperor, and asked me to transport taxes from Hebei. Give money and food. In this case, Gongsun Zan did not respect orders and repeatedly raised troops to plunder the place. He was really a big trouble to Hebei and was a rebel."
Guo Tu's words are reasonable and well-founded. It is said that Hebei is not loyal enough by not paying tribute. Now that Hebei has agreed to pay tribute in money and food, isn't he a loyal minister and filial son of the imperial court?
Is it reasonable for a loyal minister and filial son to report a rebellious minister and traitor?
The strange expressions on everyone's faces in the hall made Yuan Shao feel a little unhappy, and even the smile on his face became a little stiff.
But as soon as Guo Tu said these words, Yuan Benchu immediately became calm, and even his stiff smile returned to its natural state.
It’s no wonder that Guo Tu can become the king of internal fighting in the future, blocking and kicking Ju, and killing Feng by Feng. Judging from his ability to figure out Yuan Shao’s psychology and warm up the boss, who doesn’t get promoted if he doesn’t? Promotion?
Guo Tu has now been promoted from a simple scribe to a general. He is also responsible for the military law in the army, which can be said to be a high-ranking position.
Many people think that Guo Tu is just a counselor who makes bad ideas in front of Yuan Shao all day long, but the real fact is quite different from this. He actually leads troops outside a lot of the time.
Guo Zhong, the ancestor of the Guo family in Yingchuan, killed King Lihan of the Xiongnu during the period of Emperor Zhao of the Han Dynasty. Therefore, he was granted the title of Marquis of An due to his military exploits. Cheng'an Marquis was located in Yingchuan, thus creating the Yingchuan Guo Shi.
When the Eastern Han Dynasty was established, Kou Xun, one of the twenty-eight generals of Yuntai, when he was the prefect of Yingchuan, followed the rules and recruited Guo Hong, a famous scholar in Yingchuan at that time, to conquer Cao Cao. He stayed in prison for thirty years and used the law to bring peace. .
Those who were determined by Wei Hong will retreat without any resentment.
What does this mean?
It is Guo Hong, the boss, who has been the boss of the police and prosecutors in Yingchuan for thirty years, and in these thirty years, not a single sentenced prisoner has complained about injustice.
What’s even more amazing is that this Guo Hong lived to be ninety-five years old.
This Guo Hong directly led to two results. The first result was that the Yingchuan Guo family had a huge influence in Yingchuan County and directly entered the ranks of the first-line noble families in Yingchuan County.
The second result is that this family is deeply tied to the law. The only regret is that Guo Hong himself failed to write an influential legal work, which also made Guo Hong The family law could not open up many disciples and continued to expand its influence throughout the Han Dynasty.
In contrast, there are the big du rules and the small du rules.
But even so, the Guo family salty fish, who lost their title during Wang Mang's period, turned around and became awesome again.
Since then, the Guo family has been promoted to the position of Tingwei for four consecutive generations, which has a profound relationship with Guo Hong. Guo Zhen and Guo Xi also served as Taiwei, one of the three princes.
Therefore, the psychological satisfaction brought to Yuan Shao by the Guo family's children flattering him so much was quite impressive.
In addition, Guo Tu can often guess what Yuan Shao is thinking and stands by Yuan Shao in everything. In Yuan Shao's eyes, such a person is not a loyal minister. How can he be Tian Feng, who plays against him every day? , Jushou?
"What Gongze said is exactly what I want, what do you think?"
Yuan Shao immediately joined Guo Tu, and asked others what they thought, what can be done?
If we object again at this time, wouldn’t we be looking for trouble again?
Jushou and others looked at each other in the hall, unable to utter the words of admonishment they just wanted to say.
Forget it, let the lord try it. If it works, it will be a good thing.
If that doesn't work, let the lord know who is the virtuous one.
So, everyone bowed down and worshiped together: "Ming Gong, please see me, and we will bow to you."
Seeing everyone bowing to each other, Yuan Shao was quite satisfied, and for a moment he felt that he was very resourceful, so it was logical. came up with a second idea.
"Luozhong was harmed by Dong's thieves. The royal palace has become a ruined building. The once sacred capital is now desolate."
Yuan Shao became more and more confident as he spoke, and it was obvious that he had at least convinced himself: "I want to invite you. Do you think it is possible for the emperor to move to Yecheng? "
Everyone in the hall was stunned. Does this lord really think that the world belongs to him?
How dare you make such an outrageous request?
Are you really not afraid that Cao Cao and Liu Bei will join hands to fall out with you?
Seeing that everyone in the hall looked wrong, even Guo Tu, who supported him the most, lowered his head and remained silent.
This is no different than just now. The previous proposal can be tried no matter what. Even if it doesn't work, the blame won't fall on Guo Tu.
Now this idea is completely different. The consequences of this may be extremely serious. How could a smart person like Guo Tu get involved in such a thing.
Yuan Shao realized something was wrong. After hesitating for a moment, he took the initiative to lower his request: "If it cannot be moved to Yecheng, it is also feasible to move it to Juancheng. Juancheng is a large city in Yanzhou and is adjacent to Puyang. It is also very convenient for me to transport money and food to Hebei. I think the emperor and the court will support this suggestion, right?"
Yuan Shao didn't say anything. This addition made Ju Shou unable to bear it. .
"Ming Gong, I have repeatedly asked you to send troops to Hedong to welcome the emperor back to the emperor, but you always shied away, and finally sat back and watched Liu Shijun and Cao Shijun welcome the emperor back to Luoyang."
Jushou stood up and spoke, with a gloomy face and deep resentment in his tone: "Now the emperor is living in Luozhong, everything is going well, and the Central Plains is stable. At this moment, you want to move the emperor to Yecheng. In this way, Liu How will Shijun and Cao Shijun view Duke Ming? How will the emperor view Duke Ming? "
Yuan Shao's expression was very embarrassing.
What was even more embarrassing was that what Jushou said was all true, leaving him unable to refute.
In the end, I could only explain helplessly: "I am not doing it for my own selfish interests. In fact, Luozhong has long been in ruins. How can the emperor stay in Hebei for a long time? I asked the emperor to come to Hebei, but it is really for the emperor's consideration. Meng De and Xuande have always been loyal and unswerving to the emperor, so they can definitely understand my feelings. ”
Yuan Shao secretly changed Yecheng to Hebei, which was also a hint to Ju Sue and the others, don't you want the emperor to come to Hebei?
This can be regarded as hitting the weakness of the scholars in Hebei.
How could they not want the emperor to stay in Hebei?
When Guangwu founded the country, they Hebei people were the major shareholders, and they had the most money and food. It can be said that the big man tortured me thousands of times, and I treated the big man like my first love.
If you really didn’t want to, why would you have repeatedly advised Yuan Shao to welcome the emperor?
As a result, Tian Feng, Shen Pei and others who originally wanted to speak fell silent and made eye contact with each other.
How about giving it a try?
Maybe Liu Bei and Cao Cao were really possessed by evil spirits and sent the emperor here?
After all, my father-in-law would occasionally be possessed by evil spirits and did a lot of stupid things.
********
Just when Yuan Shao and the scholars in Hebei were thinking about welcoming the emperor to Yecheng, a large army also came out and continued to march north towards Shouchun.
After detailed discussion and discussion, Liu Feng finally approved the plan discussed by Zhou Yu, Taishi Ci, Liu Ye, Zhang Liao and others.
Liu Feng did want stability, but the temptation to successfully attack Shouchun was too great.
If it were a frontal siege of Shouchun, even with the assistance of an artifact like a counterweight trebuchet, there would still be quite a lot of casualties.
Yuan Shu's army did stretch a bit in field battles, but when defending the city, its performance cannot be measured by field battles.
Even though there were only about 20,000 regular troops left in Shouchun City at this time, according to Liu Feng's judgment, if it was a frontal siege, Liu Bei's army would probably lose more than 10,000 people.
So it would be great to be able to win Shouchun at a smaller cost.
For this reason, Liu Feng finally approved their plan and asked Zhang Liao to select 800 elite people, Zhou Tai and Jiang Qin each selected 500 people, and mixed with Xu Sheng into Zhou Yu's command, pretending to be Jiujiang reinforcements. All of Sun Xiang's troops stayed in Chengde City, and were replaced by Pan Zhang's troops.
All 4,000 people under Pan Zhang's command changed to wear the uniforms of the Sun family, replacing the Sun family troops, and were commanded by Sun Xiang.
Jia Kui's troops pretended to be Chengde County soldiers and wealthy tribes, and were forcibly recruited by Zhou Yu when he passed by.
In addition, Xu Huang's personal command of three thousand fine cavalry followed closely behind, and there was a highway between Chengde and Shouchun. The loss of horses was quite small. Even if urgent reinforcements were needed at a critical moment, too many horses would not be consumed.
Tai Shici took the remaining three thousand cavalry to guard Chengde and look after the way back.
Before setting off, Liu Feng personally opened Chengde's treasury, borrowed a sum of money from Zhu Zheng and other powerful men, and distributed all of it to reward the entire army. Not only Zhou Yu's tribe was rewarded, but everyone in Jiujiang was also rewarded.
This wave of rewards directly distributed goods worth three million yuan, winning the loyalty and high morale of the entire army.
Not only that, Liu Feng also announced that as long as they can successfully capture Shouchun this time, everyone will receive ten times the reward.
For Liu Feng's approved rewards, the Jiujiang tribe and people who followed Zhou Yu were not very accustomed to it.
After all, in this era, most rewards are allowed to wash the city for a number of days, or even massacre the city.
In contrast, the Xuzhou Army is already used to it, because they know that as long as it is the reward Liu Feng promised, there will be no mistakes, and it will be distributed to everyone on time, and it will not be Any deductions.
Because of this problem, Pan Zhang was even beaten up by Liu Feng, and several of the middle and lower-level officers below even lost their heads.
That is to say, Pan Zhang, Xu Sheng and other parts were all pulled up by Liu Feng with his hands and feet, otherwise it may not be enough even if the heads are lost several times.
Liu Feng's big wave of money was not for anything else. The most important thing was for the smooth implementation of this plan so that all the soldiers participating in this plan could see the benefits.
After all, this kind of action pays the most attention to confidentiality, and interests are one of the important bargaining chips for people to keep secrets.
In addition, Liu Feng also introduced many details to Zhou Yu and others, and made many plans.
The best situation is to take the initiative after being fully prepared. If there are special circumstances, then launch according to the pre-made plan.
The army moved very fast, and its daily speed increased from thirty miles to forty miles.
Now that the plan has changed, Zhou Yu no longer has to deliberately slow down his speed. On the contrary, he has also increased the marching time.
Thirty miles a day is the marching speed in a war zone, but now Theoretically, they were still in the heart of their own territory and did not need to worry about being suddenly attacked by the enemy. The marching speed should not have been so slow.
If Sun Xiang hadn't wanted to arrive in Shouchun early, he would have informed Zhou Yu to speed up.
It only took Zhou Yu and the others four days to complete the one hundred and eighty mile journey.
On the way, they also met an envoy sent by Yuan Shu to urge them to speed up, and also brought an order for promotion.
On the morning of the sixth day, the Xuzhou Army finally arrived at the south gate of Shouchun City after resting for a day.
After hearing that Zhou Yu's troops had arrived, Yuan Shu was immediately overjoyed and hurriedly summoned Zhou Yu and Sun Xiang into the city to meet them. At the same time, he also ordered the army to enter Shouchun and station themselves in the nearby South Gate military camp.
At this time, Shouchun had a circumference of more than 7,000 meters, covering an area of nearly four square kilometers. It was generally a square city, with one side adjacent to Feishui, and in the distance were the buildings built by the Chu State during the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period. The Shaopei water conservancy project irrigates half of Lujiang County.
Shouchun can live in more than 100,000 people. Today, there are only more than 40,000 residents in the city. Plus about 20,000 people and horses, the total is less than 70,000, leaving a large number of people. Houses and barracks are habitable.
What shocked Liu Feng and others was that Yuan Shujun, who was guarding the city, easily let them enter the city, only doing a symbolic and basic inspection.
After entering the city, Zhou Yu quickly placed his troops, especially the civilians, in the military camp and strictly prohibited them from going out.
Afterwards, he and Sun Xiang went to Yuan Shu's palace to ask for an audience with Yuan Shu.
On the way there, Zhou Yu specially apologized to Sun Xiang and said: "Brother Wenyang, I had to deceive the two masters before. Please don't take offense."
Sun Xiangxun glanced at Zhou Yu and realized that he had been deceived all the way, which directly led to his being in a desperate situation. How could this resentment be easily eliminated?
However, he also understood that Zhou Yu's apology at this moment was not just an apology, but also a hint.
Both parties are now in the same boat. Any problems can be solved privately, but the business cannot be delayed.
Sun Xiang nodded slightly: "Since the two masters of the score have to do it, then why should Captain Zhou apologize? But don't worry, I will naturally cooperate with you later."
< br>Sun Xiang's meaning is also very clear. The previous matter cannot be forgotten by apologizing, but it is indeed not the time to care about it now, so now he will cooperate with Zhou Yu well.
Zhou Yu nodded with satisfaction. Although Sun Xiang said that the matter was not over, he didn't mind. After all, as long as it did not affect the current plan.
The two soon met Yuan Shu.
At this time, Yuan Shu's eyes were covered with black circles, and he obviously did not get a good rest.
Qiao Rui has just reported that Liu Bei outside the city has received reinforcements from the west, and another 10,000 troops have joined the siege.
Liu Bei's army outside Ruyin City has nearly 40,000 people. They are building siege weapons day and night. It is expected that the general offensive will not take too long.
As soon as he saw Sun Xiang and Zhou Yu, Yuan Shu didn't care about anything else and asked first: "Wenyang, Gongjin, and Ruyin came one after another, saying that Liu Bei's army's general attack outside the city was imminent. Please pray for your birthday." Chun sent reinforcements, what do you two think?”
Shouchun is almost two hundred and eighty miles away from Ruyin, and we need to cross the Xian River on the way. The journey takes about seven to nine days.
Now there are about 30,000 troops gathered in the city, plus nearly 10,000 people from Ruyin, the total is only 40,000.
But according to the news from Ruyin, it was said that Liu Bei's army outside the city already numbered nearly 40,000, and Yuan Shu couldn't help but hesitate again.
This can’t be blamed on Yuan Shu. He and Liu Bei have already fought against each other. Eight thousand Yuan Shu’s army was defeated by six thousand Liu Bei’s army in the field.
Now there are only more than 30,000 people in Shouchun City, and some are left to guard Shouchun. Only more than 20,000 people can be mobilized.
In addition, Ru Yin's troops are not as large as Liu Bei's army.
If you fight with more than you have, you will lose. If you fight with less than you have more, what will be the result? Not to mention that Yuan Shu's troops were divided into two parts inside and outside the city.
"Ming Gong, now Liu Bei's army is strong and we have few soldiers, how can we still go out of the city to fight in the field."
Zhou Yu first said: "Ruyin City is high and deep, with a large population and bridges. The general is a veteran and can definitely defend the city. If our army is dispatched rashly, it will be a trivial matter if we fail to rescue the siege. If the army fails, Shouchun will really become an empty city. "
Yuan Shu's heart sank. , Zhou Yu explained what he was most worried about.
He currently has too little capital. If he sends troops to rescue Ruyin, and if the rescue is successful, everyone will naturally be happy.
But if something goes wrong while sending troops, not only will Ruyin not be able to save him, but even Shouchun will be in danger.
"Wenyang, what do you think of this matter?"
Yuan Shu thought for a moment, then turned to ask Sun Xiang for his opinion.
“The general is not optimistic about sending reinforcements either.”
Sun Xiang shook his head in Yuan Shu's sight, frowning tightly: "Gong Jin has made it very clear about the risks of sending reinforcements. The general has another worry."
Yuan Shu He asked: "What happened?"
Sun Xiang said: "I heard that Liu Bei's army laid siege to Ruyin half a month ago, but they have not launched an attack yet. The general suspected that Liu Bei was using Ruyin as bait. Deliberately deceiving our army to go to Ruyin to rescue the siege, so as to find an opportunity to fight with our army?"
Yuan Shu's face suddenly became extremely ugly. After thinking for a moment, he stood up and walked around for a few times, and suddenly cursed: "Chang Shi, the chief secretary mistook me!”
It turned out that Yan Xiang and Yang Hong had made a speech to Yuan Shu, begging him to concentrate his troops on Ruyin.
Yan Xiang and Yang Hong were actually right. They firmly believed that the intelligence collected by Xi Zuo must be accurate, and Liu Bei's army probably did not have as many as 40,000 people.
Besides, the purpose of sending troops is not to fight Liu Bei decisively. Even if they are just stationed in Shen City, Liu Bei's army will inevitably focus part of its attention on reinforcements, and will not be able to attack Ruyin with all its strength.
Even if it is just this, it can bring a lot of help to Ruyin.
(End of this chapter)