Chapter 854 Central Plains
When the crowd of partial troops was like a handful of sesame seeds scattered on the land of Yuzhou, as the main force this time, Zhang Chong's camp was stationed in Kaifeng.
Four years ago, Zhang Chong and his brothers rushed up from the blockade area of Mount Tai, briefly occupied the small city of Kaifeng, and dealt a fatal blow to the Han army camped in Kaifeng at that time.
But although everyone had achieved another victory at that time, most of them were confused about the future. They just relied on their instincts and rushed away with Zhang.
Because at that time, Taishan's army had no more than ten thousand soldiers and no more than a thousand cavalry. Compared with the mighty Han Empire, they were like ants.
But four years have passed, no one is confused anymore, everyone is firmly following King Zhang, willing to crawl behind him and witness the great master achieve one miracle after another.
No one would doubt King Zhang's foresight and courage. Judging from the achievements of the Taishan Army in the past four years, who would dare to question the king's decision?
In just four years, Taishan's army defeated the giants of Tianzhu and gained half of the world.
Now, the king wants to stop the army in Kaifeng. Although the generals are puzzled, after all, they were in such a hurry when they sent out the troops, why did they stop now.
But no matter how upright the general was, he restrained his intelligence in front of Zhang Chong.
After all, no matter how wise you are, can you compare to the wise king?
In this case, after the army stayed in Kaifeng, it was stationed in different camps according to the divisions of the base camp.
Of course, although the base camp has temporarily stopped in Kaifeng, the operational planning for each army has not stopped.
Since December, after the base camp was stationed in Kaifeng, various ministries began to enter the Yanzhou area. On the one hand, they established winter camps there to prepare for the winter, and on the other hand, they used this winter to eliminate the remaining powerful local forces.
Yanzhou's overall strength is not weak, but when Yuan Shao increased his troops, many of the elite troops of these small army leaders were transferred by Yuan Shao, so now their strength is greatly reduced.
But when he was already weak by more than one level, and he encountered the overwhelming force of Taishan Army, the outcome could be imagined.
During this winter, these Taishan troops stationed in various places began to attack everywhere, using the cover of the cold winter to continuously attack and break through the powerful dock walls.
After liberating a large number of people, these Taishan troops began to measure land and establish communities in the hinterland of Yanzhou based on Hebei's experience.
With the help of the Taishan Army's 100,000 troops, in just one winter day, a large number of homesteaders were scattered in the Yanzhou area. Simple wooden row houses rose from the ground, and a team of supporting field soldiers were constantly being trained.
The Taishan Army does all this for one purpose, which is to establish a solid base in the Yan and Henan areas so that when spring comes next year, it can organize large-scale production resumption activities.
The severe drought this autumn is undoubtedly a huge natural and man-made disaster. Almost the entire Central Plains region was destroyed by this drought.
Although the disaster relief activities put a huge financial burden on the Taishan Army, they also brought the legitimacy of the regime to the Taishan Army.
A political power that can save the people from fire and water is naturally the power of the people in Guizhou and is under the orders of the people!
In addition, due to the severe drought, the grassroots organizations in the Yanyu area were basically paralyzed. At the same time, the affected powerful and powerful people wanted to quickly make up for their losses, so they stepped up their efforts to exploit those Guizhou leaders and disciples.
Therefore, when the Taishan Army entered the Yanzhou area, there were already many Guizhou armed forces who spontaneously revolted and were attacking local powerful forces.
In this way, the Taishan Army successfully pacified the Yanzhou area with the help of local rebels and began to rebuild on the paralyzed grassroots organizations.
A new village was planned on the ruins and the people were allowed to accept the governance of the Taishan Army. The whole process became a matter of course.
When the army was clearing land and establishing communities in the Yanzhou area, the Jinqiao bridges on the Yanjin rivers were also busy with traffic.
In order to restore the productivity of the Central Plains region and allow them to become the base for the Taishan Army to conquer the world, the aid order personally issued by the chief disciple Duman at the political hall in Yecheng was also sent to all districts in northern Xinjiang.
A large number of grassland herdsmen, escorted by the Northern Goblin Riders, drove countless grassland cattle south to the Central Plains.
Just to supply the fodder for these cattle along the road, Yecheng Zhengshitang spent a lot of money. Just the fodder purchased from households and local communities increased the market price of the fodder by half.
This was acquired by Taishan Army using the grassroots organization Lishe. If it were bought directly from the market, it would be possible to increase the price even by three or four times.
However, although the purchase of fodder this time was a bit hectic, it also taught the political officials a vivid lesson.
In the past, when these think tanks of the Taishan Army implemented the Lishe system, they considered it more from the perspective of land and administration, believing that this was the foundation of the Taishan Army's business and the stone of legitimacy.
But this time, using the Lishe to purchase fodder, the disciples saw another huge role of the Lishe system.
That is, it can absorb social resources at a very low cost. Today they can purchase fodder through Lishe, and tomorrow they can purchase other crops.
Moreover, through finance rather than administrative orders, this method of extracting supplies is made more gentle and efficiency is improved.
It can be said that the Lishe system, which was combined by the Taishan Army and the current situation, has finally become a means of mobilizing and allocating social resources.
Therefore, it will definitely become the ancestral method of Tai Tai for a long time.
In addition, the reason why Zhengshitang was able to cooperate so quickly with the Central Plains Base Camp in carrying out relief activities this time was also related to Duman's decision to make a decision on the world.
After Zhang Chong defeated Yuan Shao in the Heluo area, a consensus was formed in Yecheng that the strategic focus of Datai in the next stage was to manage the Central Plains.
Although Duman and the others later exchanged views with Zhang Chong of Luoyang and learned about the king's considerations on the east and west sides, they understood that although the east side was very important, Guanzhong in the west might change at any time.
Therefore, Zhang Chong was more responsible for the preparations for the Kansai side at that time, and also had a strategic plan of first Kansai and then Kanto.
But no one could have imagined that the situation in Guandong would change so quickly. Qing and Xu, who were supposed to be mortal enemies, would actually unite. They would see Qing, Xu, and Yang forming a new encirclement network around the Central Plains in the Jianghuai region.
At that time, Zhang Chong immediately decided to refocus his strategy on the Central Plains region.
In fact, from the perspective of Yecheng at the time, this was the right path, because the Taishan Army had its roots in the Central Plains.
First, Guan Yu of Mount Tai fought hard for three years in the Wenshui area, and then the base areas in central and southern Shandong and Heji were like huge magnets, attracting the population of the Central Plains and became the living sign of the Taishan Army in the East.
Therefore, when it comes to managing the Central Plains, the Taishan Army has an inherent advantage over the Jianghuai heroes.
Moreover, the Central Plains region is too important.
Although it has experienced three months of severe drought and frequent wars, the Central Plains region is the core region of the empire in terms of strategic geography, population, and culture.
At that time, Duman of Yecheng emphasized the importance of the Central Plains region to Datai in his memorial to Zhang Chong.
In his memorials, Duman's opening statement is one sentence:
"Whoever wins the Central Plains will win the world, and whoever wins the hearts of the people in the Central Plains will win the world."
In just one sentence, the importance of the Central Plains to Da Tai was clearly emphasized.
Now, the situation in the Central Plains region has undergone tremendous changes.
With the alliance of Jianghuai heroes, they are invading the Central Plains region. Among them, many powerful people from Liang, Pei and other places near Surabaya have fallen into Xuzhou.
If the Taishan Army cannot quickly occupy the Central Plains and restore production in the Central Plains, it will face many difficulties in the confrontation between the north and the south.
Therefore, when Zhang Chong was still dispatched to the forbidden west to conquer Guanzhong, Duman made the decision to mobilize the grassland cattle herds south to Jizhou in advance, against all opinions.
After doing this, Duman wrote down his views on the situation in the Central Plains and our army's response, and sent it to Zhang Chong at the Heluo camp. When writing these articles, Duman actually had some kind of awakening.
That is, although he may seem to be right, his actions essentially eroded a lot of the authority that belonged to the king.
How many appointments, money and food were involved in transporting tens of thousands of grassland cattle to the Central Plains? Is the whole operation directly decided by the political hall?
Although Duman made a detailed report afterwards, the big mistake had been made and could not be undone, so Duman's self-appointed memorial was actually a form of apology.
And how did Zhang Chong feel when he received this memorial?
Zhang Chong was very happy for Duman's subjective initiative. He knew the behavior of bureaucrats, that is, as long as they had the choice, they would play the two-faced role.
As long as you don't do things, you won't go wrong. Put your hands in your sleeves and talk about your character and morality. He is indispensable for glory and wealth.
But Duman did what was most unfavorable to him.
Zhang Chong understood that Duman could of course ask him for instructions first, and then send official documents to the north and grasslands, and then prepare to move the cattle south.
But when all these things are over, winter will come. With heavy snow and cold winter, people will not be able to stay in the wild and how to rush on their way.
As soon as the cold winter passed, spring plowing began, and the cattle were still north of the Yellow River. By then, Da Tai spent so much energy, money and food to drive the cattle to the Central Plains, but in the end it was all in vain.
Therefore, if Duman wants to do this, he must be arbitrary.
The more he understood the basic conduct of a bureaucracy, the more Zhang Chong cherished his subordinates like Duman, who could do things and take charge of things. This was the true prime minister.
Therefore, with a stroke of his pen, Zhang Chong agreed to Duman's decree and endorsed his subsequent series of appointments.
At this point, the combination of Zhang Chong's open-mindedness and Duman's courage led to this winter's feat.
Hundreds of thousands of grassland cattle continued to move south from the Yanjin area, along with a large number of seeds and farm tools. Yecheng even organized a large number of good farmers to go south to the Central Plains to guide the Guizhou leaders in farming.
It can be said that everything is ready and waiting for next spring.
At the same time, as the policy of "going south to the Central Plains" was endorsed by the entire base camp, Yecheng was able to mobilize a large amount of manpower and materials to go south to support the Central Plains.
Among them, Du Manguang sent all the officials who were assessed in Hebei this year to the Central Plains counties, preparing to cooperate with the local Taishan Army to establish county-level administration.
At the meeting to mobilize county magistrates to go south, Duman once again emphasized the importance of the Central Plains to the Taishan Army.
Duman is kind to everyone:
"The sooner we restore the Central Plains, the sooner the world's poor will suffer less. The sooner we restore the Central Plains, the sooner the world will be healthy."
It can be said that the process of recovering the Central Plains directly determines the process of recovering the world.
In this way, under the slogans of "fully support the Central Plains", hundreds of Hebei officials headed south along the Yecheng Road to the Central Plains.
They will follow the Yanjin to Baima area, waiting for the arrival of Wang Shangxing Camp, and then they will head to various counties and counties in the Central Plains under the unified arrangements of the base camp.
When Zhang Chong arrived in Kaifeng with more than 60,000 troops, he unexpectedly accepted this unexpected blessing.
It can be said that it was due to the proper deployment of Yecheng that the Taishan Army was able to control the Central Plains area so quickly.
And this is the first batch of government officials to enter the Central Plains.
When it was determined that the king's camp would spend the winter in the Kaifeng area, Duman began to organize the second batch of cadres to enter the Central Plains.
Based on the situation in the Central Plains, Duman dispatched a large number of military, government affairs, logistics and other officials from Ji, You, and Bing to go south to the Central Plains.
Duman even cooperated with Ji Sun and sent a large number of Taiping Taoist officials southward into the Central Plains together.
Duman knew very well that at this time, the people in the Central Plains region would believe in Huang Tian and gain spiritual comfort and a safe identity.
In this way, the order from Yecheng Zhengshi Hall was as urgent as a spark, spreading throughout the entire Hebei region in an instant.
The newly appointed officials were in a hurry and could not gather in Yecheng first. They rode horses, walked, or took boats, traveling hundreds of miles day and night, and all gathered on the white horse on the other side.
In the end, the number of the second batch of aid military and political officials alone reached a thousand, which shows Hebei's determination to restore the Central Plains.
It was Hebei's support that brought a large number of cadres, which made Zhang Chong decide to stay in Kaifeng for the winter.
In fact, when he went south to the Central Plains, Qingxu began to reduce its attacks on the Taishan area, and began to consciously build defense lines along important rivers such as Suishui and Surabaya.
The other side's initiative to cool down also stopped Zhang Chong from rushing eastward.
Because Zhang Chong understood deeply that at this time, he did not have the conditions to go directly to the Huaisi area for a decisive battle.
This is not a lack of military strength, but that the Taishan Army does not have a stable logistics base.
When Zhang Chong led the main army into the Yanzhou area, the army's logistics relied on the powerful grain reserves captured in the Yuzhou area.
However, because they were collected from various places and then transported to the frontline troops, the Taishan Army pulled a long supply line behind them.
Since then, countless thieves and hungry people have begun to harass the convoy and loot food.
It wasn't just the rebels who looted the logistics convoys. In fact, in some places, people all over the place also started looting.
It's not that they don't know how good the Taishan Army is, it's that they are so hungry that they can't help it.
If they don't compete with their fellow villagers for the convoy today, their children will starve to death tomorrow.
In this way, when more and more news of logistics attacks reached Zhang Chong's ears, he knew that he could not continue like this.
Instead of leading thousands of troops to fight thousands of miles back then, he now leads an army of nearly 100,000. The original logistics and supply logic has undergone fundamental changes.
Back then, the local rebels were potential allies and reserve forces of the Taishan Army. But now the Taishan Army not only has no way to gain strength from them, but also spends a lot of manpower and material resources to support them.
In this way, if we continue to advance with light troops as before, once the army encounters a setback on the front line, there is a danger of the entire army being destroyed.
At this moment, the 60,000 main troops in Zhang Chong's hands are basically the elites who followed him to fight in the world. Once all the elites are lost here, the consequences will be even worse than Cao Cao's Battle of Guandu.
Maybe the timeline that is supposed to unify the world will have twists and turns due to this.
Therefore, there was no room for Zhang Chong to be careless at this time.
Now, Qingxu's enemy troops are beginning to fortify the walls and clear the country. It's just right that I will camp here in Kaifeng for the winter, and then use one winter day to build the Central Plains into a stable rear area.
As for why you chose Kaifeng? What could be the reason?
Isn't it just because once the spring water floods, he can lead his army along the Chaoshui River directly into Jishui, transfer to Surabaya, and directly attack the destination this time, Pengcheng!
As we all know, Pengcheng is the place that determines the rise and fall of dynasties.
Right and wrong, there will eventually be a result.