The Nameless of the Common Clans

"Lord, this is a letter from the deceived eunuch." Taiyuan, Jinyang, Cui Geng handed a scroll of bamboo slips to Chen Mo. After Chen Mo came to Jinyang, he began to increase his efforts to sort out those who had previously resisted Cui Geng's rule. The large and small families ceased their activities one after another, which also made Cui Geng breathe a sigh of relief.

"What did you say?" Chen Mo glanced at the bamboo slips but did not pick them up. He held a few small flags and carefully looked at the terrain on the sand table. He knew almost everything about Shangdang. Now Shangdang is not a separatist force. , the prefect has no ability, the governance is not good, there are many troops, but not much can be used.

"My lord, please move to the party as soon as possible. The governor Zheng Li is willing to hand over the military and political affairs." Cui Geng opened the bamboo slips and read it once. He looked up at Chen Mo who had no big expression and said with a smile: "My lord, did you already know this?"

"Zheng Li is quite capable." Chen Mo nodded. Zheng Li was not well-known, but he was still very good at governance, but it was a pity that he had been put in the wrong place.

"Will the Shangdang charge it?" Cui Geng asked curiously.

"We have to collect it, but not now." Chen Mo shook his head, kept placing the small flag in his hand on the sand table and said: "The biggest problem in Shangdang County is not the clan thieves or the officials, these are easy to deal with. The biggest problem is that the Black Mountain bandits have been harassing for a long time. If we are stationed in Shangdang now, a large number of troops and people will have to be sent to Shangdang. This Black Mountain bandit is different from the Gebei bandit and Baibo bandit we have dealt with before. This Taihang Mountain Hundreds of miles away and the terrain is complex, the Black Mountain bandits can come and go freely, but it is difficult for us to wipe out the Black Mountain bandits. Moreover, this thief Zhang Yan is by no means comparable to Yang Feng and Hu Cai. The entire Black Mountain bandits are all He alone has the final say.”

If the Black Mountain bandits are like the White Wave bandits, even if they are difficult to defeat, they can be divided by tricks, causing them to fight among themselves, and then wiped out one by one. Even if they cannot be wiped out all, they can still be severely damaged.

But the problem is that the Black Mountain bandits are different from the Baibo bandits. Zhang Yan has absolute prestige. The Baibo bandits are entrenched in the local area, while the Black Mountain bandits are seeking survival, so they are more united.

"But the Black Mountain bandits..." Cui Geng muttered: "The scope of their attacks covers several counties. In fact, there are Black Mountain bandits in Hedong, my lord. In addition, Jizhou and Youzhou also have many intruders. On the contrary, Bingzhou is exhausted, and the Black Mountain bandits are very common." If we don't attack, why don't we unite with the princes on both sides of the Taihang Mountains and severely injure them?"

"I want the population of Black Mountain thieves. Zhang Yan is also a rare talent. It would be best if he could be used for his own purposes, so I don't want to create too deep resentment at the moment." Chen Mo said with a smile.

Cui Geng was a little speechless. After working for a long time, he just fell in love with him. But think about it, what Bingzhou lacks most now is population. The Black Mountain bandits are known as millions. Even if there are not that many, there are always 100,000. If the Black Mountain bandits can be If thieves move in, the population of Bingzhou will increase a lot.

"So my lord is going to take Yanmen first?" Cui Geng said amusedly.

"Yes." Chen Mo nodded: "First of all, the spring plowing has passed, and Yanmen can't support the army by relying only on its own food. Secondly, Yanmen is the gateway to Bingzhou, with many important passes, and it also communicates with the Xianbei people. We still have to trade with the Xianbei people, so Yanmen must win. "

Of course, Yanmen's elite border guards were also the reason why Chen Mo wanted to capture Yanmen. Now that he was the governor of Bingzhou, it was reasonable and legal to accept this elite team.

After annexing Li Le, Hu Cai, and Yang Feng, Chen Mo's current number of soldiers has reached 50,000. There are many soldiers and horses, but they are not elite. Chen Mo needs such veterans of many battles.

"The governor of Yanmen has sent letters several times, willing to surrender to the lord." Cui Geng said with a smile. Now that Chen Mo has won Taiyuan and the position of governor of Bingzhou, it is not difficult to capture Yanmen.

"I know, but how to defend after taking Yanmen? It's definitely not enough to have only two or three thousand people like now. The Xianbei people seem to have become more and more aggressive in the past two years!" Chen Mo pinched his brows and said, the big Han was in civil strife, and the barbarians outside the wall were They began to behave unruly. Every year, more and more Xianbei people came from the Yunzhong area to plunder. The defense of the border areas was not enough. The most important thing was that the deterrence of the big men was not as good as before.

If it weren't for the war between the princes, even if there were only one or two thousand people in Yanmen, the Xianbei, Xiongnu and other tribes would not dare to cross the border easily. But at this time, the surrounding tribes' awe of the Han gradually disappeared, and their behavior became more and more wanton.

This problem is actually much more troublesome than that of the Black Mountain Bandits. The Black Mountain Bandits are plundering and setting up troops and horses for defense at various key passes. Although it is somewhat passive and consumes more food and grass, it actually does not cause much harm to the territory.

But Xianbei and the Xiongnu are not just a matter of defense. The two sides also have trade, and Chen Mo is also thinking about the population of the two tribes. Whether there is trade or war between the two sides, there is a huge difference between the pure offense and defense with the Black Mountain bandits. difference.

"As far as the general knows, although the Xianbei forces in the Yanmen and Taiyuan areas are now considered Xianbei orthodox, the eastern part of Xianbei has already rebelled since Tan Shihuai's death. Later, Tan Shihuai's son He Lian neither had the talent to serve the masses, but his temperament He was also greedy and promiscuous, and the law was unfair. More than half of the tribesmen under his command rebelled. Hou Helian was shot dead by a stray arrow when he raided Beidi County in the fourth year of Guanghe. His son Qianman was young, so his brother Kuitou replaced him. Most of the Xianbei tribes who are now entrenched in the Taiyuan and Yanmen areas are their tribes." Cui Geng detailed the information collected during this period to Chen Mo.

Chen Mo pondered: "In other words, the leader who causes chaos every year is the one who ordered it?"

"That's not necessarily the case." Cui Geng shook his head and said, "My lord is not here, so I don't know the habits of these barbarians."

"I'd like to hear the details." Chen Mo's eyes lit up when he heard this. Although the book mentioned some habits of the barbarians, Chen Mo didn't have much clear idea of ​​how Xianbei managed his tribe. Chen Mo had a very high confidence in what he didn't know. Curiosity.

"The Hu people are not like my Han family. Although the Chanyu looks a bit like the Han emperor, his binding force on the tribes is not as strong as my Han family. They are usually dominated by small and large tribes. Although they all respect the Chanyu, they On weekdays, even the Chanyu does not have the ability to gather all the tribes. During the spring and summer, each tribe will look for land for grazing. In the autumn, after the vegetation dries up, each tribe will organize large-scale hunting. At this time, if I find that my border guards are not able to Yan will take the opportunity to go south to invade the border. If the Shanyu intends to go south, he will usually organize various ministries to go southward on a large scale at this time. Judging from the scale of Xianbei's southward march in recent years, it is not led by the Shanyu." Cui Geng said with a smile. This is just what I got from asking the border people during this period. I don’t know if there is anything more detailed.”

"Somewhat similar to the enfeoffment during the Shang and Zhou Dynasties." Chen Mo groped his chin and thought: "But when Xianbei was strong, it started from Liaodong in the east and reached the Western Regions in the west. Its territory may be wider than my Han Dynasty, but its people are Far from it. Is it possible to find the leader?"

"It shouldn't be difficult." Cui Geng nodded. After all, the Xianbei Chanyu had to contact various ministries. Even if he was nomadic and had no fixed place, he should be able to find it by asking along the way.

"Find him. I want to strengthen the trade between the two tribes. By the way, do they lack salt?" Chen Mo asked.

"There is a salt lake in the North Sea. Xianbei should not be short of salt. Even though Xianbei has been split into several tribes, there are still transactions between them." Cui Geng shook his head. He understood what Chen Mo meant and hoped to use salt to open up trade relations between the two parties. , but it is difficult to use this to control the other party.

"What is the main focus of border transactions in general?" Chen Mo asked.

"My Han Dynasty's silk and porcelain are very popular among the Xiongnu leaders. In addition, my Han Dynasty's grain can also be traded with them. Of course, if it is ironware and crossbows..."

"This won't work!" Before Cui Geng finished speaking, Chen Mo directly interrupted and refused. The Hu people are good at riding and shooting, and they come and go like the wind. The Han Dynasty has been able to suppress the Xiongnu over the years, firstly because the Han Dynasty has strong soldiers, and secondly, because of its weapons. The advantage in military affairs has been suppressing the Hu people. If weapons are used to trade with the Hu people in large quantities, it may indeed bring huge benefits at the moment, but in the long run, it will strengthen the fighting power of the Hu people. Chen Mo will never allow this .

Although Chen Mo wants to open up more cooperation, he never wants the Xianbei people to become powerful because of this transaction. What he wants is to strengthen himself.

"The general will understand!" Cui Geng said quickly.

"Anyway, let's contact the leader first." Chen Mo stood up and said, "I will get up and go to Yanmen tomorrow. You order people to find the leader. I want to discuss the matter with them. In addition, find someone who can speak the language of the Hu people. , I want to learn this.”

"My lord, is that not necessary?" Cui Geng said in surprise: "How can I, a great Han, learn the language of a foreign race?"

"We will interact more often in the future, whether friends or enemies. Only by understanding their language can we get twice the result with half the effort." Chen Mo smiled and said: "It won't hurt us to know more? In addition, Qianman, the son of He Lian, should also grow up now. Is it done?”

Ten years have passed since the fourth year of Guanghe. He Lian's son was only five years old back then, and now he is fifteen, and he is qualified to do big things.

"If he hadn't died in infancy, he should have." Cui Geng nodded.

"It's best to find him." Chen Mo thought, "If you can't find him, then find a Xianbei boy of similar age." Chen Mo said with a smile.

"This is not difficult." Cui Geng nodded, then looked at Chen Mo and said, "My lord wants to..."

"Be prepared." Chen Mo said with a smile: "If the leader is willing to show goodwill to us, then everything will be easy. I generally don't like to use force to convince others, but if the leader ignores the hundreds of years of kindness between the two countries, Then try to get them to replace Shanyu. Even if you can't, you have to secretly support a group of Xianbei people to fight against the leader. Only if they are in chaos can we be at peace."

"My lord is wise!" Cui Geng smiled at Chen Mo and said, "I will eventually know what to do about this matter."

"Also, if you do anything excessive regarding Yang Ping, please tell me, but don't deal with it yourself." Finally, Chen Mo looked at Cui Geng and said.

"General, I understand." Cui Geng nodded. In fact, Cui Geng was aware of it when Yang Ping came with Chen Mo's documents.