Chapter 857 Jiangdong
Wu Jing is the younger brother of Sun Jian's wife Wu, but he definitely did not get to this point through nepotism.
He had some knowledge of Confucianism and good military skills, and was well-known in Wuzhong. He was already a first-class hero before joining Sun Jian's group.
It is precisely because of this that Wu Jing still maintains a certain degree of independence even after joining the Sun Jian Group. Many of the heroes of the Three Wus have devoted themselves to Wu Jing.
And Wu Jing can support so many people.
When Sun Jian was tricked by those Han commanders, it was Wu Jing who won over the brothers in the camp. Although most of the elite soldiers were still taken away, he still brought back the backbone of the small group back then.
Later, Wu Jing and others were dormant in their hometown, waiting until Sun Jian came back to set up flags and defect to him.
It was with the joining of Wu Jing and others that Sun Jian was able to regain his momentum and revive Jiangdong.
With such great achievements and being Sun Jian's brother-in-law, how could the counties and counties in Yangzhou not regard Wu Jing as their primary supply target?
In fact, since Wu Jing established Shouchun, he has been called Beifu, just like his counterpart in Sun Jian's shogunate in Jiangdong.
Now, Wu Jing, who was high-spirited and had strong soldiers and horses, stood on the top of the city in Shouchun, watching the training at the school field below.
Since being assigned to Huaixi by Sun Jian, Wu Jing began to organize and train the army, because this was the foundation of his status and power.
Although Jiangdong is a small place, it has many "dragons", and these dragons and snakes are all local heroes in counties and counties, and they have their own tribes.
After Sun Jian returned to Jiangdong, although he integrated all the forces in Jiangdong in a short period of time, he actually directly controlled Wu County and the counties in northern Kuaiji, with a household registration of only 800,000 people.
Even after the war in the north, many people fled here, but the registered population is still less than one million.
Of course, as the most fertile area in Jiangdong, the actual population of Wu County must be more than this, but they are all absentees, so what does it have to do with Sun Jian?
With a population of less than one million, Sun Jian tried his best but could only train an army of 40,000, and then he became the leader of the Jiangdong region.
Yes, Sun Jian, the governor of Yangzhou, is essentially an alliance leader. These local heroes are all his subordinates and have their own spheres of influence.
Among the six counties in Yangzhou, Wu County and the northern part of Kuaiji were Sun Jian's sphere of influence and direct command area, while the other five counties each had their own military leaders.
For example, on the Jiujiang County side, the northern area of the county within the Shouchun area belongs to Wu Jing. Behind him, in the area of Hefei and Chaohu, is the hero Zheng Bao of Jiujiang County. Then in the southeast of Jiujiang County, the Liyang area close to the Yangtze River , is owned by the local aristocratic family Hu Min.
In other words, in the small county of Jiujiang, there are three relatively independent military leaders. This does not include Chen Lan, Meicheng, and Lei Xu who were previously recruited by Sun Jian.
Wu Jing had the strongest military force here. In addition to the 5,000 naval troops left by Sun Jian, he also had more than 10,000 local new soldiers who he had trained and trained, all of which relied on Shaopi's supply.
Zheng Bao was a water thief in Chaohu. Later, when he saw the chaos in Jiangdong, he went out to occupy Hefei and concentrated on himself. Later, he also obeyed the situation in Jiangdong and relied on Sun Jian's shogunate.
This is still the situation in Jiujiang, and the situation in Lujiang next door is similar.
Due to the existence of Tongbai Mountain in Lujiang County, the main registered population is actually concentrated in the narrow section between Shannan and Jiangbei.
This area focuses on two places, one is Wan County further west, and the other is Shu County slightly closer to Jiujiang.
There are old noble families in these two places. Among them, the Zhou family in Shu County is Zhou Yu's family. The current head of the family is Zhou Yu's uncle Zhou Shang.
On that day, two brothers, Zhou Yi and Zhou Shang, protected the Queen Mother He and successfully broke out of the capital under the leadership of Zhou Yu. The ministers who followed, including Zhou Yi, felt that Chen Deng would be more loyal than Sun Jian, so they persuaded the Queen Mother He to stay. Guangling.
After that, Zhou Yi followed Guangling, while his younger brother Zhou Shang returned to his hometown and began to recruit troops to fight the Taishan Army to the death.
Their family really had a feud with the Taishan Army. Zhou Yi, Zhou Shang's brother Zhou Zhong and their brother's son Zhou Hui all died in the decisive battle of Zhongren Pavilion.
Coupled with the fall of Luoyang and the death of the emperor, they hurried southward.
All of the above made the Zhou family eager to eat the king's skin and flesh.
As the leader of Shu County, the Zhou family was already very powerful, and they quickly mobilized thousands of troops to dominate the north of the Yangtze River. Coupled with other wealthy families nearby who only obeyed the Zhou family, the Zhou family alone could pull out two to three thousand troops.
The people who occupied Wan County were also a clan, and they were more established than the Zhou clan. They were the Qiao clan.
Yes, it was the family of the old Captain Qiao Xuanqiao, and unfortunately, the Qiao family, like the Zhou family next door, had a blood feud with the Taishan Army.
There are three young people in the contemporary Qiaoxuan family, the eldest son Qiao Yu, the second son Qiao Hairao, and the clan son Qiao Mao.
But how did Qiao Yu die? At that time, he was the Prime Minister of the city. When Zhang Chong moved to Yanzhou, he was killed by the cavalry general Li Hu in the battle of Fengqiu.
How did Ziqiao Hairpin die that time? When Xi Shen and his gang of evil boys broke the law in Kyoto, they robbed and killed this bridge hairpin. Although Xi Shen died at the hands of Zhang Chong later because of his unruly and cunning, the blame still has to be placed on your Taishan Army.
Then let’s see how Qiao Mao died.
His death was not tragic. He was assassinated by his family disciples when Kyoto was besieged.
Although it was true that Qiao Mao's harsh words to his subordinates aroused Tu Li's murderous intention, but if your Taishan army had not besieged Kyoto, would Tu Li have the courage to commit such a crime?
So the death of your Taishan Army and Qiao Mao doesn't matter?
Looking at it this way, only three of the core disciples of the Qiao family died at the hands of the Taishan Army.
Do you think this hatred is deeper than the sea?
Of course, the current leader of the Qiao clan in Wan County is Qiao Rui from the side branch. Although he is from the side branch, he is powerful and is the right person to protect the clan in troubled times.
However, what really allowed Qiao Rui to secure his position was that he had two charming daughters. One of them was promised to Sun Jian's eldest son Sun Ce, and the other was promised to Zhou Yu, a handsome figure from the Zhou family who was his ally next door.
It can be said that Qiao Rui relied on her two daughters to not only attract powerful allies next door, but also to gain a foothold in the emerging martial arts family of the Sun family.
Of course, as a large county in Huaixi, Lujiang's real power is not just Wanxian and Shuxian. Their real strength is still the Shanliao, group bandits and Shanyue people in Tongbai Mountain.
These groups of elite soldiers have always been coveted by Sun Jian. Previously, because he had always had no connections, he had no way to bring these powerful troops from Tongbai Mountain down.
After all, no matter how famous you Sun Jian is, you still have some reputation in Jiangdong. What does it have to do with the heroes in my mountains?
But after the Qiao family and the Zhou family joined Sun Jian, the situation changed greatly.
As we all know, although living in groups in the mountains can protect you from exploitation by the Han people, it is unrealistic to say that you are self-sufficient and live a happy life.
Because of the salt alone, all parties in Tongbai Mountain had to get in touch with people outside the mountain.
Usually, these people would always rob nearby caravans to see if they could get salt. But this relies too much on luck, and sometimes it takes a long time to rob a salt team. But people need to eat salt every day. If they don't eat it for three days, they will become weak.
Therefore, in order to obtain a stable salt road, these heroes of Tongbai Mountain still have to trade with the Han wealthy families outside the mountain.
As for trading, naturally there is buying and selling. What is being bought in the mountains? Mainly salt and cloth, and other things such as grain and ironware, the mountains can be self-sufficient.
So what is sold in the mountains? Mountain goods? Of course people outside want these things, but they are not necessary. What they can really sell is their own lives and the people captured during the conflict inside the mountain.
These things are what the wealthy families outside really need.
As the two largest clans in the south of Tongbai Mountain, do you think the Qiao and Zhou families have any sellers in the mountain?
Of course Sun Jian understood this truth, because when he was in Kuaiji, this was how the wealthy families there played. There was no reason why it wouldn't work in Lujiang.
Therefore, Sun Jian asked Gu Yong, a famous Jiangdong scholar, to marry his son Sun Ceqiu to Qiao Rui's daughter. This would not only win over the public power in Lujiang, but also draw on the population resources in Tongbai Mountain through the Qiao family's relationship.
And sure enough, after Sun Ce became the daughter of the Qiao family, he quickly recruited more than a thousand elite soldiers from the mountains. Because they could go to heaven and earth as if they were on the ground, Sun Ce regarded them as his own soldiers and named them "Tian Ce", which means "Tian Ce". God bless him Sun Ce.
This is the case in Jiujiang, the same is true in Lujiang, and the same is true in Danyang.
Danyang is the upper reaches of Wu County and is home to the best soldiers in the world, so there are many powerful people in the county.
Originally, the heroes of Danyang all went north to Xuzhou to join Tao Qian. Because Tao Qian was from Danyang and liked to use his own township party, for a period of time, the upper class of Xuzhou was full of Danyang people.
But later Tao Qian died suddenly, and Chen Deng, a native of Xuzhou, came to power, so the Danyang native was no longer in the position. These people, such as Cao Bao, Xu Dan, Zuo Rong, Lu You, Zhang Jie and other Danyang generals, could only return to their hometowns.
Danyang has a difficult terrain and is adjacent to the four counties of Jiujiang, Wujun, Kuaiji and Yuzhang. It is the core hub of Yangzhou.
As soon as these generals who returned from Xuzhou returned to their hometown, they were in awe and looked down upon themselves, and they did not take Sun Jian in the east seriously.
And can Sun Jian endure it? After that, he led his elite troops to attack Danyang several times, defeated the disobedience in the county, killed two generals, Cao Bao and Zhang Jiao, and forced the remaining generals. After that, all three counties of Danyang surrendered, and Sun Jian also obtained 8,000 elite troops from it.
Finally, Sun Jian appointed his nephew Xu Kun as the governor of Danyang, commanding one county and sixteen counties.
But unfortunately, due to the complicated situation in the county, Xu Kun only led the counties on the south bank of the Yangtze River and north of Wuhu. Those that went deeper into the interior of Huangshan Mountain were still led by local marshals.
If the situation in Jiujiang, Lujiang, and Danyang is already very complicated, compared with Yuzhang and Kuaiji, it is nothing.
Because these four counties, including Wu County, have been developed by the Han people for a long time, and they already have many counties.
But this is not the case in Yuzhang and Kuaiji. There are not many places where counties have been established.
In terms of land area, these two counties are the largest in Yangzhou, but what about their registered populations? But it was blank.
There are several towns in Yuzhang surrounding Poyang Lake, but the farther south you go, the fewer towns there are, and they all belong to Manyue.
The situation is the same in Kuaiji. The few counties and cities are all on the edge of Hangzhou Bay. The farther south you go, there is almost no civilization.
This is the situation in Yangzhou as a whole, so we can understand why Sun Jian must attack Jiangdong.
Wu Jing, who was in Shouchun at this time, was a faction that supported Sun Jian in fighting out, and he had greater ambitions. He wanted to conquer the Central Plains and compete with the Taishan Army.
It's not that Wu Jing is arrogant, but that he understands that now is his chance.
At this time, King Zhang had already moved out with his main force and was stationed in Kaifeng on the edge of the chasm. It was obvious that he was heading to Xuzhou.
At this time, the Central Plains was empty. He, Wu Jingzheng, could lead his troops along the Huai River and enter the Central Plains to collect people and supplies to enrich the south.
He doesn't intend to engage in a decisive battle with your Taishan Army. He just wants to use his advantageous boats to harass the tired enemy troops everywhere.
And don’t think this is of little use.
Didn't Peng Yue, during the Chu-Han struggle for hegemony, harass the Chu army's rear areas and then be crowned king?
And Wu Jing can also do what Peng Yue does. When the time comes, you Xuzhou people will definitely contribute to the frontal battlefield in Pengcheng, and you will have Cao Cao from Qingzhou to help you. I think you can hold it.
It goes without saying that Wu Jing didn't come to support you in Pengcheng. Just the fact that he left the Central Plains from Shouchun and attacked the Taishan Army Food Road can be regarded as the first achievement.
And this is also the most beneficial to Yangzhou. Let you Xuzhou people die, but let us Sanwu descendants get rich.
Ha ha!
Thinking of this, Wu Jing couldn't help but look towards the Huai River to the north.
The Huai River, as full as a belt, is really the Qiancheng in their south. Relying on the Huai River, the Shouchun Navy could enter the Central Plains through the Ru River, Ying River, Wo River, and Si River.
I, Wu Jing, said that I want to support Pengcheng, so I can support Pengcheng. It is enough to support the Yuan family with the withered bones in the grave. Isn't it just a matter of the navy walking a little farther against the current and reaching Rushui?
Of course, Wu Jing was not interested in maneuvering to support allies on the east and west sides. What he really cared about was that he wanted to go deep into Liang, Pei and other places along the Whirlpool River to rob people.
Sun Jian had already given Wu Jing the authorization to rob people from the Central Plains in the north.
In addition to robbing people, Sun Jian also asked Wu Jing to destroy the grassroots organizations established by the Taishan Army in the Central Plains, so that the Central Plains would become a scorched earth again.
This was Sun Jian's backup plan. He knew very well that the Taishan Army, which occupied half of the world at this time, was already a behemoth. Even if Qing, Xu, and Yang worked together, they would not be sure of victory, let alone the three of them. Everyone has their own agenda.
Therefore, Sun Jian must leave a way out for himself.
In his plan, the Central Plains must be broken. Otherwise, if the Taishan Army stands firm here and mobilizes the manpower and material resources of the Central Plains, the so-called Huai River defense line will be empty.
Only by setting the battlefield of both sides in the Central Plains and letting the Central Plains continue to lose blood can the entire South be saved.
To achieve such a goal, it can only be accomplished by sending troops from Shouchun to Liang Pei.
Therefore, throughout the winter, Wu Jing was training troops in Shouchun City. After all, only the navy could not penetrate deep into the interior.
Today is the time for him to accept the results.