Chapter 327 The Envoy from Jingzhou
After silently calculating in his heart, Cao Cao smiled again.
Since Piling surrendered without a fight, it naturally did not consume much of Liu Feng's time.
In this way, being able to win Wuxi is obviously within his own estimation. At most, the journey time from Piling to Wuxi will be faster, which is not as scary as I thought just now.
Cao Cao, who had just relaxed, saw that Xun Yu was still frowning, and couldn't help but ask: "What worries does Wen Ruo have?"
Xun Yu frowned and replied: "A closer look at the letter shows that when the Southern Army attacked Wuxi, they used a large trebuchet that could throw hundreds of kilograms of rocks, which was quite terrifying."
"Oh!?"
Cao Cao's brows couldn't help but frown. He had been fighting for many years and was experienced in military affairs. The number of cities he had massacred reached double digits. How could he not know how difficult it was to attack a city?
After Cao Cao took control of Yanzhou and incorporated the Qingzhou Army, he established an iron law in the army called siege without mercy.
The meaning is actually very simple. As long as they are surrounded on all sides, they will no longer accept surrender and will massacre the city.
Cao Cao's original intention was that it was too difficult to attack the city. He wanted to use massacre to frighten the residents of the city, so that he could defeat the enemy without fighting. At the same time, if you encounter a stubborn person, you can also loot money and food through massacre.
The reason why Cao Cao established such a rule was that regardless of whether his thoughts were good or bad, his behavior was extremely cruel and unscrupulous. One of the root causes was that the city was too difficult to attack.
Let alone a world-famous fortified city, it is an ordinary small local county. As long as the defenders in the city are determined to resist, they can bring great trouble to the army of this era.
How can Cao Cao’s military use be considered first-class in the Three Kingdoms?
Yuan Shu can be said to be the representative of the idiot community in the Three Kingdoms, right?
But Qiao Rui, Li Feng, Le Jiu and Liang Gang still resisted Cao's army in Qiyang for half a year.
In the later Battle of Guandu, Cao Cao relied on his geographical advantages and delayed Yuan Shao for a whole year with only field fortifications.
Those who can quickly attack the city in this era either have internal support or there is something wrong with the defenders’ fighting spirit.
Cao Cao touched the short beard on his chin. There are also craftsmen in Cao Cao's army, and they can also build catapults. It's just that the catapult they built can only launch a stone weighing twenty or thirty kilograms at most. The most important thing is that the distance is only fifty or sixty steps, which is less than a hundred meters.
Therefore, catapults can also be set up in the city and placed on city towers, wall towers, etc. to counterattack catapults. Generally speaking, it is definitely an advantage to have a city wall that is high up and protected by battlements.
"Is this news credible?"
Hearing Cao Cao's question, Xun Yu hesitated and shook his head: "It's unknown. The descriptions in the intelligence are exaggerated and occasionally conflict with each other. Dare to say that. "
In terms of intelligence, it is also about talent. Although Xun Yu is an all-rounder, he is really not as good as Xi Zhong and Guo Jia in this aspect.
If Xi Zhong and Guo Jia were here, they would definitely be able to get more information from the detailed intelligence.
Cao Cao became a little inexplicably irritable. Although Liu Feng's progress was faster than he expected, it was also because Sun Cejun Qu'a suffered a loss and voluntarily gave up on Piling.
If Qu'a's 3,000 men had withdrawn to Piling at that time, the news we got now would most likely be that Liu Feng had captured Piling, or at most that the troops had arrived at the gates of Wuxi.
But compared to my progress in the past six months, the difference is huge.
Cao Cao has been focusing on four things recently, trying to make up for the gap with Liu Bei through hard work.
On the one hand, he sent people to Hanoi to increase his influence on Hanoi. After he obtained the support of the Hanoi nobles, he ordered Zhang Yang to return to Luo to participate in politics by order of the court, and then arranged his own affairs. A close confidant was appointed as the governor of Hanoi.
In this way, wouldn’t Hanoi naturally fall into his hands?
But the result made him quite disappointed. Sui Baitu was beaten severely by him back then and even killed several of his brothers. This guy just resented him.
But Zhang Yang and Yang Chou actually didn't pretend to be polite to them, which shocked Cao Cao.
Now Yang Chou and Sui Gu actually turned enemies into friends. Together, they supported Zhang Yang, making Zhang Yang a veritable prefect of Hanoi.
Of course Cao Cao didn't know. Although Liu Feng left Hanoi, he still abided by the contract he made with Zhang Yang, Yang Chou, Sui Gu and others. The frost sugar transported to Hanoi every quarter and Xueyan, all of which are underwritten by the Zhang and Yang families.
At the same time, Liu Feng also purchased war horses, grain and other materials from them, which could make another fortune.
How much benefit can Cao Cao give them?
Even if Cao Cao ignores the three mutual laws and forces Yang Chou to be the governor of Hanoi, the other party may not be willing to do it.
In addition to Hanoi, Cao Cao also began to penetrate into Guanzhong. This direction was much stronger than Hanoi. At least Duan Xuan, who was in Hongnong, was relatively loyal to the court and was more polite to Cao Cao's envoys.
But that’s all.
I'm sorry, but don't even think about it if you want Duan Xuan to surrender and become Cao Cao's lackey.
Considering that Duan Xuan was at the forefront of the Xiliang army, and his thousands of veterans were very loyal and dared to fight, Cao Cao did not dare to force him, but instead wanted to appease him.
The third direction is Chen State. The most important thing about Chen State is taxation, money and food. This county has not suffered any military disasters, is well preserved, can produce a large amount of taxes every year, and also has a large population.
Chen State has never been a large county in the Eastern Han Dynasty, with only nine counties, but it has always been a county with a large population. In other words, except for Lu State and Liang State, the entire Yuzhou has a population of over one million. of large counties.
Originally, Chen State had a population of more than 1.2 million. In recent years, military disasters have occurred in various places, especially in the neighboring populous counties of Yingchuan, Runan and Chenliu. A large number of people have fled and poured into Chen State. This country is a paradise.
As a result, instead of declining, the population of Chen State surged to more than 1.5 million, even surpassing Runan County.
Cao Cao really wanted to take this county into his own hands. It was not only a cornucopia, but also a huge source of soldiers.
In Yanzhou, Sili's population has been depleted and it can no longer provide many new soldiers.
At the beginning, Cao Cao felt that Chen Guo should be easy to handle.
After all, in the sphere of influence originally designated by Liu Feng and him, Chen State was assigned to Cao Cao. Secondly, Cao Cao has already taken control of the government. Isn’t it a matter of great difficulty to replace a prime minister?
But Cao Cao never expected that this matter would be really difficult to handle.
After Cao Cao's edict to replace Luo Jun arrived in the Chen State, it was firmly resisted by Chen King Liu Chong and the people of the Chen State. Chen King Liu Chong even wrote to the emperor, asking the young emperor not to replace Luo Jun. At the same time, there was also a joint request from the powerful nobles of the Chen Kingdom.
Chen Wang Liu Chong himself had tens of thousands of elite troops, among which thousands of crossbowmen were the top priority, an elite force that should not be underestimated.
In addition, Liu Chong himself was also the emperor's close uncle Wang. Emperor Ling had saved Liu Chong's life back then, so Liu Xie naturally had a good impression of Liu Chong.
At the same time, as Liu Xie grew older and Yang Biao and others were assisting him, the royalists finally decided to use this matter to test Cao Cao.
Cao Cao was now in a dilemma.
If Luo Jun is forced to be replaced, the resistance will not be great, and the gains may outweigh the losses.
But if he gives up, he is worried that the royalists will think he is weak and will further seize power.
This matter is still being dragged out so far, and the two parties have not been able to reach a settlement.
The last direction is Yingchuan, which is also the only place where Cao Cao gained real benefits.
Liu Feng kept his word, and except for a few counties in the south, all other counties gave way.
Although there are no people, the land in places like Yangzhai is mature farmland.
Although Yanzhou is also short of people, no matter how short of people it is, the powerful nobles will not allow Cao Cao to use their vacant land to distribute to the poor.
Therefore, Cao Cao recruited a group of landless refugees in Yanzhou, plus part of the Qingzhou Yellow Turbans, and immigrated to Yingchuan.
At the same time, Wang Bi, his favorite general, was appointed as the prefect of Yingchuan, and Zao was appointed as the military commander of the field.
These two people are Cao Cao's loyal ministers and confidants.
Although they have little role in the novel and are rarely seen in official history, these two people are definitely no less important to Cao Cao than Guo Jia.
Everyone knows what position Xiahou Dun is, and Wang Bi is Xiahou Dun among civil servants.
When Liu Dai died in the battle in Yanzhou, Wang must have firmly supported Cao Cao in entering Yanzhou, and later became a minister of Cao Cao.
Later, he went to Chang'an to pay homage to the emperor for Cao Cao, and then became the chief registrar.
Wang Bi's political achievements in his tenure as chief registrar were quite good, but it was his words that killed Lu Bu that will go down in history.
The passage about Brother Big Ear in the novel was actually said by Wang Bi.
Lu Bu was indeed asking for help from Brother Big Ear, which was a model of shamelessness.
But Big Ear Brother is Big Ear Brother after all, and he did not add insult to injury. On the contrary, Wang Bi, the chief clerk, stood up and persuaded Cao Cao not to let Lu Bu go, but to kill him.
Before Cao Cao hanged Lu Bu in the end, he teased him: "I wanted to give up, but the chief secretary refused to listen, so what?"
Later, Cao Cao appointed Wang Bi as the The county magistrate Xu led his troops to guard the emperor, which shows that Cao Cao trusted Wang Bizhi.
After Cao Cao became prime minister, Wang Bi was not surprised to continue to be promoted and served as the chief historian of the prime minister's office, and continued to look after the emperor.
Cao Cao was able to fight abroad, and the king must have contributed a lot.
As for Zaozhi, he was from Yangzhai in Yingchuan. When Cao Cao started his army, he had already followed him and served as Dong'aling.
Later, Cao Wei's farming plan was also dedicated to Cao Cao by Zao Zhi, and he worked diligently and specialized in farming, cultivating a large amount of military grain for Cao Cao. These two people died early, otherwise they would never be as unknown as they are now.
Cao Cao hesitated again and again and said: "Wen Ruo, we have to be careful about this matter. We must not let Qiao Qi and his son misunderstand."
Although the current situation is not stressful, it does make Cao Cao quite tired. , if Yuan Shu in the south had not been dealt with by Liu Bei, he would have been even more anxious.
Now the progress of Hanoi, Guanzhong, and Chen Guo has been frustrated, and Yuan Shao of Hebei has been adding obstacles to him, using different methods to disgust him.
Last time, it was thanks to the support of Liu Bei and his son that they felt proud.
Therefore, Cao Cao clearly realized that he now had to win over Liu Bei and his son, and he could not lose the big for the small.
Xun Yu also understood this truth, and he also agreed with Cao Cao's view, so he nodded and said: "General, don't worry, I already know it."
Then, Xun Yu's face showed a sign of hesitation. look.
Cao Cao laughed when he saw it: "Wen Ruo, there is nothing we can't say between you and me."
Xun Yu smiled and shook his head: "It's not that we can't say it. It’s just that the hope is not great.”
Cao Cao became curious: “What did Wen Ruo say?”
Xun Yu thought about it and said: "Now there are some achievements in the field work in Yingchuan, but there is still a lack of food in Fuzhong and Luozhong. If the Hussar can donate some food, it will greatly alleviate the price of food in Luozhong."
When Cao Cao heard this, he shook his head like a rattle.
"Wen Ruo, we can't do this."
Cao Cao sighed: "Xuande is a good man. If you really talk to him, you can get more or less. But. But That boy in his family is not an easy talker. I have seen through it. He is a cunning and slippery boss. If you want to ask for food from him, we might have to pay for something, so forget it. "
Xun Yu was a little reluctant after hearing what Cao Cao said, but he also admitted that what Cao Cao said made sense.
If you think about it carefully, although Cao Cao is now a general, Liu Bei is also a hussar general, and Liu Feng himself is a general who conquers the south.
Cao Cao really had nothing valuable to exchange with Liu Bei.
You can’t exchange land for food, right?
The two looked at each other and fell into silence.
Cao Ah Man bared his teeth, wondering how Liu Xuande could have such a good man.
I, Lao Cao, also want such a big boy.
********
Liu Bei of Shouchun naturally didn’t know what Cao Cao was thinking. He had not been idle in Shouchun in the past few months, and was even busier than Cao Cao. .
First of all, the entire Lujiang water conservancy project has been launched. County magistrates and county magistrates in various places have been replaced almost once. Almost none of the dismissed officials are useful. This fully illustrates the people of the two counties in Jiangbei. What a wonderful life they lived under the officials appointed by Yuan Shu.
Although Liu Bei is kind-hearted, he is kind to the common people and powerful to the nobles. When Liu Bei should be ruthless, he is not merciless at all.
After Liu Bei got the news, he immediately ordered all these county magistrates to be escorted to Shouchun for trial. At the same time, he appointed Du Ji as the chief judge, with Xu Xuan and Shu Shao as assistants.
This combination arranged by Liu Bei is quite impressive.
Du Ji is a native of Du Ling, Jingzhao County, and is a descendant of Du Yannian, the imperial censor of the Western Han Dynasty. The Du Law and the Du Law are the origin of their family's family education, and Liu Feng also recommended them to Liu Bei. Talented, and particularly good at solving cases.
Therefore, Liu Bei arranged for Du Ji to be the chief judge and entrusted him with important tasks, which made Du Ji feel like he met Bole.
At the same time, Liu Bei appointed Xu Xuan, a Haixi native from Guangling, Xuzhou, and Shu Shao, the local representative of the general, as his deputies. Both of them had a reputation of loving the people and being strong. Shu Shao was also an official under Yuan Shu, so for these corrupt officials The dirty official is quite familiar.
It is just right to use these two people to attack Du Ji, and Liu Bei can also gain the loyalty of these people. After all, these three people will leave their names in history for loving the people in later generations.
After that, Liu Bei sent talented people from all walks of life to serve as county magistrates and county magistrates, responsible for the water conservancy projects in each county. At the same time, he also transferred more than 100 Liu Erying from Xuzhou The orphans were arranged to work as followers below.
Although these orphans were literate and had received a certain amount of official education, Liu Bei still felt uneasy.
After all, they are too young and inexperienced. If they are tricked by the officials below, they will suffer a big loss.
Therefore, Liu Bei simply assigned them to celebrities as followers, and at the same time asked them to watch more, learn more, and do more, just as learning.
None of the celebrities had any objections to Liu Bei's arrangements, so they went to their respective posts and started work as soon as possible.
This matter has just been arranged, and the envoy from Jingzhou has also arrived.
The visitor was naturally Pang Ji, who brought Pang Tong and Pang Hua to Shouchun.
When the envoy from Jingzhou came, Liu Bei naturally received him with high standards.
Even now that Liu Xun has defected to Jingzhou and there has been a rift between Jingxu and Jingzhou, the trade that has lasted for a year has brought great benefits to each other. All should be treated with courtesy.
Liu Bei invited Xun You, Lu Su, Guo Jia, Du Ji, Jia Xi, Yuan Huan, Yuan Ba, Yuan Min and others to attend to receive Pang Ji.
Chen Deng is still on the road at this time, otherwise he would definitely be at the head of the ministers, above Xun You and Lu Su.
After Pang Ji went to the court, he saw the hero with a face like a crown of jade, greased lips, and ears hanging down from his shoulders, looking at him with burning eyes.
Pang Ji was naturally able to guess that this person was General Hussar, Yuzhou Mu, and Qiaohou Liu Bei.
So Pang Ji hurriedly took two steps forward and paid homage: "Foreign Minister Xiangyang Pang Ji pays homage to General Hussar."
"Mr. Pang, please get up."
Liu Bei's voice was as gentle as jade, not impatient or impatient, and seemed to have the ability to soothe people's hearts.
Listening to Liu Bei's voice, Pang Ji's heart slowly calmed down.
"Thank you, General!"
Pang Ji straightened up and saw Liu Bei looking at him with a kind face and said: "Sir, please take your seat first."
Pang Ji felt warm in his heart and couldn't help but admire. He had heard for a long time that Liu Qiaoqi treated his soldiers generously. When he saw him today, he really lived up to his reputation.
In fact, Liu Biao was also known for his generosity in his early years. However, as his rule over Jingzhou became more stable, Liu Biao's temper gradually became worse.
Of course, Liu Biao's temper is actually divided into two parts, and part of it is his true temper. After all, the powerful Jingzhou Mu is the third most powerful vassal in the world, how can it be possible for him to be as close to the people as before.
Even if he was as generous and magnanimous as Liu Bei, wouldn’t he still want to continue playing music and dancing after taking over Jingzhou territory?
But the difference between Liu Bei and Liu Biao is still very big. Liu Bei's kindness and kindness are deep down, while Liu Biao only stays on the surface.
Liu Bei had killed four ministers in his life. After his adopted son Kou Feng was eliminated, only three were left.
Among these three people, Peng Yi rebelled, Chang Yu sought death, and Yong Mao died in politics. He firmly opposed Liu Bei's proclaimed emperor. And even if it was so serious, Liu Bei only executed the person involved and did not implicate the three clans.
For the same crime, if it were Wei and Wu, the three tribes would have to be exterminated at the very least.
Peng Yi repented before his death and wrote a letter to Zhuge Liang, which was truly sincere.
As for Chang Yu, he was even more crazy and seeking death.
Chang Yu had a thick beard. When Liu Bei met him, he told a joke to tease Chang Yu. As a result, Chang Yu retorted and laughed at Liu Bei for not having a beard (Liu Bei did not have a beard but had no sideburns). In the Eastern Han Dynasty, it was quite serious to ridicule others for not having a beard. thing, it means you are insinuating that the other person is a eunuch.
The nobles and eunuchs of the Eastern Han Dynasty were in a life-and-death situation. One can imagine how excessive Changyu's counterattack was.
But Liu Bei still endured it, thinking that it was his own fault and that he should not make fun of the other person's beard first.
Chang Yu was later executed because he firmly opposed Liu Bei's Northern Expedition to Hanzhong.
Even though Liu Bei had captured Hanzhong, he still firmly opposed it and spread rumors in Shu, saying that although Liu Bei had won Hanzhong now, he would definitely lose it again in nine years.
Faced with such remarks, Liu Bei couldn't bear it, so he ordered Zhuge Liang to be executed regardless of Zhuge Liang's plea.
Yong Mao's matter is even simpler. As Liu Bei's confidant and chief secretary, he actually opposed Liu Bei's proclaiming emperor, and he was also the leader of the opposition party.
Liu Bei could not forgive him in public or private matters.
Comparing the entire Three Kingdoms, no one can surpass Liu Bei in terms of being a monarch, being generous, understanding people and treating people well.
In addition to his true temper, Liu Biao also had a false temper.
This is a trick often used by superiors. You have made no mistake, and I obviously cannot deal with you, so I will use my anger to deal with you.
Liu Biao actually punished many famous people in Jingzhou in his later period, such as Han Song, who was imprisoned by him for several years.
The purpose was also to weaken the power of the Jingzhou nobles and consolidate their own rule, but compared with Liu Bei, they were obviously inferior.
(End of this chapter)