Chapter 183 Tao An
Liu Yan committed suicide in Wenshuidong, and he should have been praised and compensated for his merits, but this matter was deliberately ignored by the whole country of Jibei.
At that time, Liu Yan's daughter-in-law cried and went to Liu Yan's boss Zhou Feng, asking why other families' pensions had been reduced but theirs had not.
After the Battle of Wenshui, Zhou Feng's troops were all lost, so he took his brother-in-law and three guards back to Sheqiu. Originally, he had been sitting at home waiting for his crime, but in order to seek justice for his beloved general, he found the official and asked the reason.
The department official did not hide it, but directly explained the reason. In fact, it was not complicated. That is, the superiors wanted Liu Yan to bear the responsibility for the collapse of the Wen River.
Most of the hundreds of Jibei soldiers who escaped this time were officers of the Chinese army. They criticized Liu Yan because they felt that the retreat turned into a rout because Liu Yan, who was in charge of the rear, failed in his duty and failed to stop the rebels. This caused the thieves to break into the dock directly.
Nearly seven hundred brothers risked their lives to reach Wenshui River, and even Wenshui River was cut off. It was really tragic. Don't you, Liu Yan, need to be responsible for the drowned brothers?
Yes, the thieves were powerful, and Liu Yan's troops at the rear were also loyal. Liu Yan himself even committed suicide on the spot, which could not be said to be unloyal. But things don’t mean you just have to work hard, what you need is completion. Will the soldiers who drowned in Wenshui rest in peace just because you, Liu Yan, said "you tried your best"?
When Zhou Feng heard these words, he was trembling with anger. He never imagined that these picky officials would be so shameless, leaving the hero's blood and the hero's family members in tears. At that time, Zhou Feng made a big fuss in the government office, but at this time, Zhou Feng, who had lost all his troops, could be said to be a phoenix in distress, worse than a grass chicken. Those subordinate officials didn't tolerate Zhou Feng at all, so they beat him up and kicked him out of the office.
You must know that Zhou Feng is the country's economic captain, and these officials dare to beat him, which is extremely audacious. But no matter how unexpected it is, it is also reasonable, simply because the people who really call the shots in Snake Hill are these powerful subordinates.
Since the Han Dynasty implemented the Qin Dynasty, one of the important responsibilities of the prefects of all dynasties has been to suppress local tyrants.
There are three categories of powerful people. One is the descendants of the nobles of the seven countries. These people were not wiped out during the Qin Dynasty. After the Qin Dynasty, they either formed strongholds to defend themselves or relied on other heroes. After Liu Bang established the world, these people suddenly became the most powerful families in the area.
The second category of powerful men is the military heroes of the Han Dynasty. Liu Bang was an extremely generous man. For him to conquer the world, one hundred thirty or forty people were granted the title of marquis and enjoyed the food and towns. These people basically settled in their own fiefdoms and became powerful local families. Although these people were almost exterminated later, their influence still remained in various places.
And the last kind of power is the powerful local clan. When the world was first settled, Liu Bang allocated fields and houses to his 400,000 soldiers, who were the first batch of self-cultivating farmers. Later, the governments of all dynasties continued to move refugees to cultivate the land, and granted land on a large scale several times. This was an aggressive manifestation of the early dynasty.
However, the efficiency of homesteaders cannot withstand the collective production of powerful clans. Therefore, as long as the world is at peace, these powerful clans will quickly rely on their large numbers and developed production to rise rapidly. Especially in the first thirty years of the Han Dynasty, Huang and Lao's learning was practiced and non-intervention in local areas made this trend even faster.
Therefore, since Emperor Wu of the former Han Dynasty, the prefects of the Han family have begun to crack down on these powerful people. Among them, they have appointed cruel officials and governors, and even issued the "Order to Move Maoling". It is recorded in history that "from generation to generation, officials moved two thousand stones, Gaozi, rich and powerful people merged and merged with each other." "Yu Zhuling", implemented the "relocation to the mausoleum" system to move powerful people from various places to their original places, so that they could not continue to develop and grow. Therefore, young people in Wuling in the Han Dynasty were all descendants of powerful people.
But this method is just a way to stop the boiling water, and the trend of the rise of wealthy families cannot be reversed. After Xiao Yuan, the system of moving tombs was directly abandoned. But no matter how you say it, the former Han Dynasty adopted a policy of suppressing the powerful, but after this dynasty, this policy has been completely reversed, from suppressing the powerful to relying on the powerful.
On the one hand, it was during the last years of Xinmang that various wealthy families gathered to protect themselves. In the name of protecting the village, they gathered clans, guests, and villagers to stabilize the place in the form of dock walls. In other words, the Han family controlled the city, while the powerful controlled the countryside.
Although there were many cruel officials after the Later Han Dynasty, especially in the Guangwu Dynasty, they still upheld the Han tradition and suppressed the wealthy families. For example, there was a cruel official in Guangwu named Li Zhang. His family had five generations and two thousand stones. He compiled "Yan's Spring and Autumn Annals". Later, he was ordered to pay homage to Yangping for Guangwu. At that time, Zhao and Wei Hao often gathered in villages, and Zhao Gang, a surnamed Qinghe man, built a dock wall at the county boundary to repair armored soldiers, but he was killed. After Li Zhang took office, he directly held a banquet to entertain Zhao Gang. When the local tycoon named Zhao went to the banquet, he brought a sword, a quilt and a feather coat, and led more than a hundred soldiers. He was indistinguishable. But what happened next? During the banquet, Li Zhangjian beheaded Zhao Gang, and all his followers were also killed.
But there will be very few cool officials like Li Zhang in the future. Because the fate of cruel officials is often not good, they are either removed from their posts or sent to other positions. Therefore, after the subsequent chief officers took office, they began to adopt the harmonious line of being friendly to each other. Later, they directly appointed powerful and influential children as department officials.
Since then, the power of the Han family has fallen into the hands of powerful children, and the chief officials of Piju are often pure Confucianists who only read the classics and are not familiar with common affairs. When he came to power, he sat with his arms folded, and his plans were made by officials, and Qian Gu knew nothing about the lawsuit.
It can be said that these powerful local officials are the ones with real authority, and they have controlled it for generations and used marriage to form a deep-rooted network. It can be said that the chief officer is a flowing official and the official is an iron-clad official. At first, there were still some governors who wanted to cheer up, but with power vested in powerful families, no matter what they did, they would ultimately fail.
To take a simple example, there was a prime minister in the Jibei Kingdom who opened a channel along the Jishui River to irrigate farmland. Originally this was something that benefited the country and the people. But the bad thing is that the prefect at that time was an ancient sect who suppressed powerful people, so the powerful people messed up the matter.
How? Because they control the public opinion in the countryside, when the officials of the Prime Minister of Jibei went to the countryside to inspect the fields along the Jishui River, these powerful people told the villagers that these officials came to inspect the fields and water of each family, and that they would build ponds later. , just divert water from this Jishui, and then the water from each of your houses will be taken away.
When the subordinate official who went to the countryside stayed at a farmhouse, he was burned to death by the excited villagers.
This is just one example, there are many more. For example, if the number of civilians mentioned above is to be recruited to build waterways, then these powerful people will recruit ten times the number below. In short, as long as these powerful officials do not follow their lead, no matter what policy they apply, they will cause public dissatisfaction and prevent the policy from being implemented.
As a result, the officialdom of this dynasty has formed a culture of "taking officials as teachers". Among the chief officials, ignorant people regard subordinate officials as their eyes and ears, lazy people regard subordinate officials as their spirit, and greedy officials regard subordinate officials as their hawks and dogs. But I just sit in the office and talk about mysteries.
But with the power of the Han Dynasty, the powerful people could no longer control them, and their harm to the people was nothing more than ordinary. From officials in government offices, provincial monasteries, counties and counties, down to township pavilions, warehouses, and treasury officials, as long as it involves taxation, labor, cashiers, and accountants, any slightest profit will be exploited a hundred times.
Therefore, even if Zhou Feng was beaten by these rough and treacherous officials, there would be no way to appeal. When he returned home with a bruised nose and a swollen face, he heard that Liu Yan's wife had hanged herself due to being pushed by the officials. Zhou Feng spat out a mouthful of blood, lost energy and fell ill at home.
Zhou Feng couldn't figure it out. The country was in so many difficulties. Shouldn't we think about and use good generals? Why do you treat them like pigs and dogs? ——
Taishan County, Bo County.
Since Zhang Chong defeated the 500 cavalrymen from Nanxian County of Taishan County, the 4,000 Lu soldiers from the east bank of Surabaya River, and the 4,000 Jibei soldiers from the east bank of Wenshui River, the Taishan Army truly stood firm in Mount Tai. Among them, Zhang Chong's series of actions by Zhang Chong of the Taishan Army to calm the people, provide disaster relief, and encourage the victims to produce goods also made many dissatisfied Han courtiers see the potential of the Taishan Army and joined the army one after another.
Among them, after Zhang Chong entered Bo County, a local Confucian scholar recommended himself. He was a member of the Party, and the elders in his family were all members of the anti-Han faction of the Party. Originally, they had planned to flee to the mountains and join the savages, but the appearance of the Taishan Army made it difficult for them to do so. They saw different possibilities.
The self-recommended person was named Tao An, who studied the Book of Changes at home. The first thing he said when he saw Zhang Chong was:
"The general has the appearance of a dragon and a phoenix. He is a very human being. We now have a master."
He offered a message to Zhang Chong: "In today's world, the Han Dynasty has no virtue, and the mountains and rivers are about to collapse. At that time, the world will be full of chaos, heroes will fight for it, and the four battles between Qing and Yan are not the place for heroes. I hope the general can follow the method of the great ancestor. , drive the troops westward, pass through the Wuguan Pass and enter the Central Pass. When the time comes, the unfortunate woman will not grab the jade and silk, but will collect the horses and soldiers from the Western Passage to consolidate the foundation. Once there is a change in the east, they will follow the heavens and respond to the people, and the world will not be peaceful. Also.”
Zhang Chong was overjoyed because Tao An was the first counselor to present him with the overall strategy of his power. It can be said that any counselor who can plan such a general trend in the world has the potential to become a mastermind. Just like Zhuge Liang presented "Longzhong Dui" to Liu Bei, and Lu Su presented "Couch Policy" to Sun Quan, they are both first-rate great strategists.
Moreover, Tao An was also very creative, that is, he did not limit Zhang Chong's current sphere of influence, but looked at the world and pointed out that the most successful place in the world was Guanzhong. It captures the mountains and rivers of the state on the left and the riches of the state on the right. In addition, the soldiers and horses of the Western Provinces, once they go east, who in the world can take over?
Zhang Chong has actually been thinking about future strategies. With his consecutive victories against the Han Dynasty, he greatly encouraged Taiping Dao's enthusiasm for the uprising. As for the letters he has recently received, not only the letters from Qu Shuai of Qingzhou and other counties are related to his , build an offensive and defensive alliance. Even the Taiping Dao of Yingchuan and Runan sent people to send a group of religious elites to the Taishan Army so that they could learn the art of battle formation and cultivate military backbones for future uprisings.
Therefore, Zhang Chong had anticipated that the Taiping Dao uprising was imminent, but unfortunately Zhang Chong felt that this was not optimistic. Because the overall strength of Taipingdao is still too far behind that of Hanting, and all parties are still doing their own thing and cannot integrate. In this state, how could it be possible to defeat Hanting?
(End of chapter)