Three Kingdoms

Logically speaking, Fei lurked in Longyou and Longxi to defeat the Qiang people, and the long-standing ills of the Han Dynasty were eliminated. This kind of thing should be something to be happy about. However, this news was suppressed until the general Cao Cao came to Qingxu in Qingxu. After achieving a staged victory, Fang mentioned it a little bit.

It's like the victory of the hussar general is just a foil to Cao Cao's majestic achievements.

Overall, Cao Cao's results in Qingxu's battle were quite impressive. One fish, three meals, and benefits on all sides. As Jiangdong's army retreated, Cao Cao was not in a hurry to return to the army immediately. Instead, he had time to make some adjustments between Qing and Xu, and promoted Man Chong to Xuzhou Biejia. , and left some soldiers and civilians for Man Chong to rebuild the defense line between Qing and Xu, and had two or three in-depth talks with Man Chong. After feeling that Man Chong had indeed understood Cao Cao's own intentions, he led the army back.

The news of Cao Cao's victory spread wildly.

The children of the Jizhou gentry naturally got the news immediately, and they couldn't help but be shocked when they heard the news. Just like a leader despises his employees for being idle, employees will also feel that the leader is too idle and it is difficult to handle. Cui Yan was shocked when he heard that Cao Cao had captured the dangerous county town where Jiangdong soldiers were stationed in Guangling in one day, and also defeated Jiangdong's navy under the city, beheading thousands and defeating tens of thousands of enemies. Sun Quan, the youngest son of Jiangdong, was defeated in Yangzhou. The messenger was summoned urgently and asked for details.

Cui Yan was more or less a man who knew the military. He didn't believe that he could conquer the county in one day. After all, it was too unbelievable and seemed like bragging. But thinking about it, he felt that Cao Cao would not do such a thing. Lies come. If the lie was exposed, wouldn't it be a hundred times more embarrassing?

After asking in detail, Cui Yan was stunned for a long time, and then he sent someone to call Li Pan and others to discuss.

"This is a great victory for the general..." Cui Yan stroked his beard, "Maybe it's not a lie... So how do you and I deal with it?" 』

This sentence is somewhat confusing, but Li Pan can understand it.

"In this case... I have recently heard that the people in Jizhou are suffering and there is no shortage of food... and there is a little surplus food in the warehouses. We can give it back to the people a little to prevent the people from being unstable... After all, if bandits break out, it will be difficult to kill them..." Li Pan whispered. As he spoke, a slightly cunning look flashed between his eyebrows.

Li Cheng put his palms together and said, "This is a wonderful strategy!" The general must be concerned about the country and the people, so he should commend this move! 』

Everyone here is not a fool, and they all understand what this means. .

Public opinion is often not the real "public opinion".

Shen Rong also said from the side: "Brother Li's words are quite subtle... I have another plan, but..."

"Please tell me, there's no harm in speaking out!" Cui Yan nodded and said.

"This..." Shen Rong stretched out his hand and pointed slightly towards the south and said, "The general is returning to the court... this... It is better to present a memorial to commend the general's service. Only when the emperor and the general live in harmony can we resist foreign enemies. , To govern and revitalize the country, we must not cause the emperor and the generals to get into trouble because of the words of villains..."

After Cui Yan heard this, he couldn't help but look at Shen Rong carefully.

Shen Rong lowered his eyebrows and looked down, with a look of loyalty and honesty on his face.

As expected, people cannot be judged by their appearance...

"That's how it works!" 』

Cui Yan made the final decision.

Because of the Battle of Qingxu, Jizhou was also a little worried. After all, his previous relationship with fellow student Lao Cao was not very friendly...

Even if they later reach a consensus with Cao Cao and achieve a certain degree of cooperation, it does not mean that there will be peace for thousands of years. With Cao Cao's return, it is very likely that he will use the momentum of his victory to do something. matter.

There is not really any sworn hatred between the children of the Jizhou gentry and Cao Cao. If we can all make a fortune together, of course it will be good for you, me or him, but if you want to be ridden on your neck by a bunch of Yuzhou children, , and the poop is thin and sticky and cannot be removed. It is a lifelong resentment and enemy.

Did Jizhou and Yuzhou fight because of Yuan Shao and Cao Cao?

Apparently not.

So……

Wouldn't it be wonderful if Jizhou and Yuzhou could put aside their long-standing grudge against each other and work together?

Of course it's wonderful.

pity……

If you really want to be able to let it go, the big Han, or shouldn't it be said that the Eastern Han Dynasty had already let it go after more than a hundred years?

What's more, the current estrangement and confrontation between Jizhou and Yuzhou was not what the people of Jizhou and Yuzhou wanted at first, but a situation deliberately created by some people. How can it be said that it will be eliminated now? of?

It's just that Cao Cao still needs to go to Yuzhou first, and then hold a ceremony to sacrifice prisoners in Yuzhou, and then have time to return to Jizhou. He probably won't arrive in Yecheng until the autumn, so he should hurry up before the autumn harvest...

So at the moment, we still have two months to prepare, uh, wrong, it’s coordination.

Jizhou's current situation really has nothing to offer. After Yuan Shao's death, his status has plummeted. He finally had a fight with Cao Cao and was still worried. He did it through Mi Heng's name. I was really afraid of losing it. Cao Cao was so angry that he bloodbathed Jizhou.

Cao Cao endured it last time, but this time, who can guarantee that Cao Cao can endure it? What to do? Waiting to die? Just like those who paid first in later generations wanted to lead and pay later, they just asked to lead a whole area. Those who paid first were unwilling and wanted to cause trouble. What's more, now Lao Cao is asking those who paid first in Jizhou to hand over their authority?

While people in Jizhou were discussing countermeasures, the prisoner sacrifice ceremony prepared in Xu County was also in full swing.

Although a lot of Hu soldiers and Qiang people were killed on the Husband's side, it was impossible to transport all the heads to Xu County, so they sent some heads of Qiang leaders, and some were selected from prisoners of war. The rebellious men and old and weak soldiers were brought to Chang'an.

As for those strong Qiang prisoners of war, Fei Qian of course kept them for himself...

So in fact, the number of prisoners who arrived in Xu County was not large, only about three or four hundred. As a result, they stayed in Yangcheng for a long time. Some were originally injured, old and weak, or were not accustomed to the environment, or Angry and worried, and unable to get any treatment, many people died one after another, and in the end there were only more than two hundred and less than three hundred left.

This number is naturally much less than the number of prisoners of war offered by General Cao Cao.

If the number is small, of course the momentum will be small.

Is there strength in numbers...?

Of course, the common people don't know the specific difference between the battle between the hussars and the generals, and they don't know the specific situation. Anyway, they just watch the excitement. Of course, if there is excitement there, they think it makes sense, just like after certain incidents. Flowers appear suddenly as do fresh eggs.

If they are really dissatisfied and want to vent their anger, will the truly simple, diligent and thrifty Chinese people be willing to use flowers and fresh eggs?

Keep the rotten eggs and plant flowers and grass at home to fertilize the fields!

If you have that time, you might as well make two more trips, weed two more blades of grass, and earn a little more money! Then why do you have time to travel all the way and spend money to express your "anger" somewhere?

Therefore, the prisoner sacrifice ceremony that had been planned and prepared for a long time in Xu County did not attract much attention from the people at all. Of course, it's not that no one comes at all. After all, some people are relatively easy to be incited, especially idlers.

If the people are really busy and under the pressure of life, and those people who do not do anything for a day will not eat for a day, they will not be able to spare time to participate in any ceremony.

Unfortunately, here in Xu County, these people who are forced to be busier and harder make up the majority. Therefore, although the prisoner dedication ceremony was held to stabilize the hearts of the emperor, officials, and even the soldiers and civilians around Xu County, there were actually very few people who came to watch the ceremony. If some problems had not been discovered in advance, the surrounding counties would have recruited people He met some villagers and so on, and it was hard to say that he was extremely embarrassed on the spot.

The overall ceremony was still decent. All the officials gathered around the emperor and arrived at the altar in the eastern suburbs. They watched the general Cao Cao, dressed in military uniform, return to the altar. The emperor and the general held hands to accept the congratulations of the officials, and then watched the soldiers. The prisoners of war were escorted to the altar, and the ceremonial officer announced the crimes of these prisoners of war. After burning and offering sacrifices to three animals, they beheaded the prisoners of war and offered blood sacrifices to heaven and earth. Finally, the emperor returned to the palace to perform the ceremony of suing the temple to thank his ancestors. shelter……

The ceremony was certainly grand, but it was a pity that there were only a few spectators and it was not lively enough.

At least Liu Xie thinks so. He has been looking forward to this day for a long time. He is like a bird that has been locked in a cage for a long time, imagining how beautiful and vast the outside world is. However, after finally flying out for a day, he encountered It was windy, raining and hailing. Not to mention flying between heaven and earth, almost all the feathers of the bird were wiped out. I was almost exhausted, and I didn't feel the excitement in my heart. The physical fatigue was secondary, but mainly the inner feeling. tired.

Of course, in the entire ceremony, General Cao Cao's victory in the Battle of Qingxu was the focus of the commendation. Even at the beginning, the tone of scolding the envoy from Chang'an was thought out.

For example, "How can he be an important minister of the country if he behaves like a urchin in the countryside and is so narrow-minded?" ! 』

Another example is, "The land of the Han Dynasty is not divided into east and west, and people are not divided into north and south. How can one be more important than the other?" ! 』

In the next half month, news of Cao Cao's victory over Jiangdong gradually spread, and all the prefects and magistrates of various counties under Cao Cao hurriedly sent envoys to Xu County to congratulate him. They have always been like this. Once Cao's army wins, no matter it is a big victory or a small victory, they will inevitably show a "loyal minister" face that moves the world and is inexplicably excited. However, whenever Fei Qian's side wins some victory, it will not be the same. He calmly said nothing, as if the things in Guanzhong were trivial matters.

In early May of this year, Fei Qian's third group of envoys entered Chang'an City and reported the news of the rebellion of the Di people in Hanzhong and Sichuan and Shu. This time the envoy had a slightly higher status. He was Zhuge Jin, a lieutenant under Fei Qian. After meeting with the emperor and presenting the memorial, Zhuge Jin openly asked and said that the news of the Cavalry General's victory in Longxi had long been known. It has been delivered, and even the prisoner presentation ceremony is said to have been held. Why is there no imperial edict to commend Fei Gong?

Of course, Cao Cao didn't bother to answer this question, but Xun Yu, the minister of the Shangshu Desk, had to respond, saying: "The Hussar has restored peace in Longyou, so he should be commended." 』

Immediately, he dug a hole for Zhuge Jin and said, "I wonder what Qiao Qi wants?" 』

Zhuge Jin replied in a neither humble nor arrogant manner: "Fei Gong only wants to expel the Hu bandits and redefine the country. He has nothing to do." However, when the country is in chaos, it is especially important to clarify rewards and punishments and to stabilize people's hearts. Since the Qiang Rebellion of the late emperor, the king's army has been unable to determine for a long time and has been repeatedly defeated. The damage continues to this day. Without Fei Gong's planning and planning, such a victory would not be possible. Save. The achievement of reaching the Western Regions before was not rewarded, but now it has wiped out the Han Dynasty's long-term illness, making the government and the public proud and elated. They will not bow their knees before the barbarians, and will not abandon their ancestors' land. If the court does not commend these achievements, so what? Inspire loyal ministers and righteous men to serve the emperor? 』

Xun Yu pondered for a long time, but finally had nothing to say. He could only say perfunctorily again: "The imperial court will finally make a decision. Please wait for a few days..."

Speaking of which, Fei Qian completely quelled the Qiang rebellion that had been going on for thirty or forty years in the Eastern Han Dynasty, wiped out the upper-class Qiang tribal leaders headed by Beigong, and completely dispersed and gathered the Qiang people. While completely solving the hidden dangers of the Han Dynasty in Longxi and Longyou for many years, it also made the Shandong gentry a little embarrassed.

It was precisely because the Jizhou and Yuzhou people in the Eastern Han Dynasty were too weak. They only knew how to recruit mercenaries for foreign wars and were stingy and refused to give money. This eventually led to the rebellion of the Qiang people who continued to have their blood drawn, and the Southern Huns... …

The Eastern Han Dynasty strategy that had to adopt the mercenary model was because Emperor Guangwu Liu Xiu was not sure about the force of Bingzhou and Liangzhou, and deliberately suppressed and restricted it, making the military strength of the local frontiers weak...

In the summer of the first year of Emperor Yongchu of the Han Dynasty, the Eastern Han government sent Cavalry Commander Wang Hongzheng to send the Qiang people to garrison in the Western Regions. Most of the Qiang people fled because they were afraid that they would not be able to return. The Han Dynasty overreacted to the Qiang people's desertion, and immediately sent troops to besiege the Qiang people in the Qiang land, and even burned their homes, which in turn triggered a large-scale rebellion by the Dianling tribe and the Zhong Qiang tribe of the Xianling Qiang tribe.

After paying a heavy price, although it was temporarily calmed down, hidden dangers were also laid. The three assistants in Guanzhong were severely damaged by a large-scale rebellion. At this time, the Eastern Han Dynasty court was still thinking about its own three-acre land, and He was unwilling to give sufficient support to the Sanfu area in Guanzhong, and even wanted to cede this land at one point. This also led to the subsequent inability to find peace in the Longyou area of ​​Guanzhong, and riots occurred again during the period of Emperor Ling of the Han Dynasty...

In the initial period after hearing the news about Longyou's rebellion again, many gentry children in Xu County were gloating about the misfortune, as if they saw someone about to jump off a building due to being owed wages, but he could still continue to be employed by the company. It's like the boss is acting like a dog, and a full sense of happiness arises leisurely. Some people even cursed with words such as "there will be today" and so on.

Then I realized that things were not quite right...

Fei Qian actually managed to defeat the Xiqiang, and he did it smoothly while also defeating the Xiqiang. No, he must have planned to deal with those thorns in Hanzhong, Sichuan and Shu!

And many people don't even know how all of this happened and what kind of strategy was used!

Even Xun Yu only had some speculations with Guo Jia, and then was slapped in the face by Fei Qian's record. Immediately, this result also stimulated Cao Cao to jump to his generals and send troops to deal with the Taishan Army and Jiangdong Army at the risk of possible subsequent hidden dangers.

It can be said that if it weren't for Fei Qian's record, Cao Cao might have thought of a safer way to deal with the group of people in Taishan. After all, those people did not show any rebellion to a certain extent, and they were not considered Shandong. The most difficult thing in the court right now.

Boss Cao has such a strong character...

Now that Fei Qian has taken action to arrest these powerful locals, how could Cao Cao be able to endure it?

The next step for the Taishan Army to be dealt with is Yingchuan, and then Jizhou. Xun Yu was very helpless about this matter. On the one hand, he felt that this matter should not be like this, but on the other hand, he felt that he had no good way to prevent it from happening.

All we can do is delay and prevaricate like we did with Ge Jin.

But the problem is, this can't be delayed for long...

It was like being forced into a corner by Zhuge Jin.

In fact, Xun Yu had discussed with Cao Cao several times through letters before, and even discussed it in the Chancery Hall on how to reward General Fei Qian of the Hussars. However, several important officials were involved.

What Cao Cao means is that Fei Qian's current official position is already very high, and he is basically unable to be promoted. The Cavalry General is already considered a second-grade general. He is half a level higher than the Cavalry General and the Guard General. The next level up is the first-grade general. Cao Cao cannot give up the position of this general. Come out and hand it over to Fei Qian?

The shortcomings of the relatively crude and flat military rank system in the Han Dynasty were vividly demonstrated at this moment. Sometimes Xun Yu couldn't help but blame the emperor in his heart, saying why he upgraded Fei Qian to three levels at once, so much, otherwise couldn't he have adjusted it up slowly, half a level and half a level? How could we encounter the current embarrassing situation?

But at that time, the entire framework of the court had collapsed, not just Fei Qian. When Xiliang was in chaos, all the riders were in chaos. Even though it became a little more stable later, Yuan Shao didn't immediately call himself Changed from Cavalry General to General? Yuan Shu also called himself a post-general. Didn't even Cao Cao himself jump from a fourth-grade junior general to a second-grade general in one fell swoop, and then inherited Yuan Shao's legacy?

In this regard, the only role that Emperor Liu Xie can play is to choose to stamp or not.

So at first some people thought that they should just do what they did last time, and the only reward that could be given was Jue Lu. Adding some food to Fei Qian, an increase of 5800, should be very generous, right?

It's just that Xun Yu expressed some worries. Of course, he knew that doing so was naturally in the best interest of the Shandong nobles and others. Anyway, the things given to him were all Fei Qian's own, just like the capitalists' portion of the value produced by the laborers. As a reward, he also said that this is a blessing, and you should know how to cherish it. If no one pierces this window paper, maybe you can live in peace, but if it is exposed, it will be quite embarrassing, and it will look a lot The county is becoming increasingly incompetent...

It's impossible to pretend that you can't see or know about it. After all, the prisoner sacrifice ceremony was held, and the ancestors of the Emperor of Han were even sacrificed with it. This is equivalent to the fact that even the gods of heaven and earth have acknowledged this matter. Of course, it is impossible to continue to treat it as such. Nothing happened, nothing happened.

Want to reward, but not easy to reward. Otherwise, even Cao Cao would not be able to carry out the next strategy...

So, what should we do now?