Silver Fox of the Three Kingdoms

Chapter 93 Mu Xiu Yu Lin
After leaving Liu Biao's mansion, Shen Chen was thinking on the way back.

He has been laying out the layout since he started farming in Nanyang.

The refugees from Guanzhong and Nanyang Yellow Turbans in Runan had a population of 50 million, most of which belonged to Liu Biao.

The tax in the Han Dynasty was poll tax, but it was roughly the same as the tenth tax, that is, one tenth of the land property became the court tax.

But farming is different, and the tax paid is much higher than that of the imperial court.For example, in the later Cao Wei garrison, the official cattle were used as officials, the six people were four, and the private cattle were divided [-]-[-].

In the later period of Cao Wei, the share ratio continued to rise, and even once reached the level of eight officials and two people, and [-]% of the annual harvest had to be turned over to the imperial court, which led to a large number of villagers fleeing and rebelling, and rebellion continued.

And Liu Biao's farming is calculated according to the [-]-[-] share of the official cattle and the [-]-[-] share of the private cattle.

But even so, the harvest wealth brought to Liu Biao every year is also a very large number.

Shen Chen suggested to put the farmland in Nanyang, mainly because the Nanyang Basin is now less populated and has a lot of land that can be reclaimed.

At that time, Liu Biao had not yet broken with Cao Cao. On the surface, Liu Biao-Cao Cao-Yuan Shao were allies, and they all dealt with Gongsun Zan-Tao Qian-Yuan Shu's ally group.

So neither he nor the advisers thought about the problem of farming in Nanyang after the break with Cao Cao.

Now that Cao Cao is going south to attack Zhang Xiu, there are only two ways in front of Liu Biao. One is to abandon the Nanyang Basin and shrink the defense line to the periphery of Xiangyang.

The second is to fight Cao Cao and drive Cao Cao out of Nanyang.

In history, he actually chose the second one. When Cao Cao came, he sent troops to join Zhang Xiu and Cao Jun to fight to the death.

At that time, Cao Cao sent Cao Hong to fight with them, and the combined forces of Zhang and Liu beat Cao Hong back steadily.

So in the second year of Jian'an, in November 197 A.D., after the great success of Yuan Shu's eastward expedition in September, Cao Cao went south again to conquer Zhangxiu twice, breaking through Wuyin and Huyang counties, and capturing Huyang guard Deng Ji alive.

Then in the third year of Jian'an, in March 198 AD, Cao Cao conquered Nanyang for the third time and surrounded Rangcheng where Zhang Xiu was located. Liu Biao also sent troops to Anzhong to cut off Cao Cao's retreat.

Many people know that this battle is a famous scene of Jia Xu.

Cao Cao defeated Zhang and Liu Lianjun with a surprise attack, and then retreated after a complete victory because of rumors that Yuan Shao planned to attack Xudu. Jia Xu tricked Zhang Xiu into breaking Cao Cao's rear army.

Therefore, judging from various indications, Liu Biao did not completely want to give up Nanyang.It was only later that Zhang Xiu surrendered to the Cao army, and there was no barrier on the periphery, so he could only recruit Liu Bei to station in Xinye, and gave up most of the Nanyang territory to Cao Cao.

And now Shen Chen's scheme against Liu Biao was to give him a reason to put all his efforts into defending Nanyang.

Because in Liu Biao's view, Nanyang can defend, but he can't beat Cao Cao, and in the end he can only give up Nanyang and shrink the defense line.

But Nanyang was of great strategic significance in Shen Chen's eyes. Its existence could continue to threaten Cao Cao's rear, so Shen Chen had to do everything possible to force Liu Biao to defend Nanyang.

In this case, when Liu Biao himself was unwilling to give up Nanyang, if Shen Chen gave him another reason not to give up, Liu Biao had to invest more in Nanyang.

So what is Shen Chen's proposal?

One is to replace those officials in Nanyang with capable officials, such as Huo Du Huo Jun, Li Yan, Yi Ji, Han Ran and other capable officials. Go to food and grass property, and at the same time expand the army.

The second is to move the line of defense forward. The farthest line of defense before was to Xinye, and almost all the north of Wancheng was handed over to Zhang Xiu.Zhang Xiu couldn't beat Cao Cao again, so when Cao Cao attacked Zhang Xiu for the second time, even Wancheng was taken by him.

So as long as the defense line can be moved forward, Liu Biao's main force around Xiangfan will push forward. When Cao Jun comes, Liu Biao's main force will have to choose to fight Cao Cao to the death.

But it's a pity that Liu Biao is not a fool. Although he didn't realize the overall situation of Shen Chenbu, he also understood that Shen Chen wanted to drag him into the quagmire.

So not fooled.

While beating Shen Chen, the other side also sent Gan Ning's line of defense forward.

It can be regarded as a stick and then give a jujube to eat.

Liu Biao also knew the relationship between Gan Ning and Deng Hong, so it was equivalent to sending Gan Ning's troops to Shen Chen.

Obviously, Liu Biao's idea is - it is impossible to send all my main force to the front line, but I will give you 5000 troops, and you can make troubles on your own, as long as my interests can be guaranteed, and other things don't involve me.

In addition, Liu Biao will also remove and replace some officials in large numbers, so as to protect his interests and at the same time let these officials assist Shen Chen in the deployment of the front line.

Because he referred Deng Mao and Wang Yi, who had a good relationship with the Deng family, to Nanyang's first and second leaders, then the officials he sent would have to listen to Wang Yi and Deng Mao's instructions, and naturally they would act according to Shen Chen's requirements in the future.

So to put it simply, Shen Chen wanted to tie Liu Biao to the chariot.

But Liu Biao didn't want to get in the car, but he was reluctant to part with his interests in Nanyang. At the same time, he hated those officials in Nanyang who waited for the wind to surrender and acted according to the wind.

Therefore, except for sending the main force to move forward, Shen Chen agreed to other conditions.

More importantly, he gave Huang Menting great autonomy, certain military power and even official control.

This is undoubtedly telling Shen Chen, give you a little support, and the rest will develop on your own, and how far you can develop depends on your ability.

So although he was not completely tied to the chariot, Shen Chen was not completely without gains.

But it was far from what he expected.

"Liu Biao is not stupid."

Shen Chen sighed.

Deng Hong on the side said, "Ah Chen, do we really want to continue fighting Cao Cao?"

"Uncle, the enmity between clan and relatives is irreconcilable."

Shen Chen said in a deep voice: "23 grandparents, uncles and brothers who are related to me were buried in Zangyangju, and there should be quite a few relatives of my uncles."

"34 people."

After Deng Hong finished speaking, he fell silent.

He is the patriarch of the Zengyang Ju Deng clan, so all the Zengyang Ju Deng clan are his relatives.

Among the hundreds of people who died, most of them were either surnamed Shen or Deng, and they were all uncles and brothers within the fifth service.

If you count the foreign surnames you married, such as the seventh uncle Shen Min's wife, the seventh aunt, there will be more such relatives.

So in fact, most of the people who died in Zenyang that day were close relatives of Shen Chen and Deng Hong, and there were only a few family members like Deng Mao and Shen Zhong in other villages.

How can such hatred be eliminated just because the enemy is strong?

It's just that after all, it's not easy to shake the tree.

Deng Hong sighed.

Shen Chen opened the curtain and said softly: "Besides, we have already made a death feud with Cao Cao. Even if we hid in Nanyang, wouldn't Cao Ren catch up? Uncle, give up those unrealistic ideas, the only choice is to be with Cao Cao." Only when Cao Cao fights to the end can we survive."

"I see."

Deng Hong nodded slightly.

The carriage drove slowly down the street.

There are people coming and going on the street, and at the door of the restaurant in the distance, someone is telling stories vividly.

"Cao Cao's tens of thousands of troops came south to attack our Xiangyang, and Zhang Xiu surrendered immediately. Cao Ren, do you know? Cao Cao's younger brother, General Cao Jun, led the army to Huangmenting, Xinye, but Huangmenting was a young man. Hero"

Shen Chen couldn't hear the words behind.

Whether it is ancient or modern, word of mouth will never become outdated.

It's just that from the ancient city gate posting, storytelling in taverns, and word of mouth to modern times, it has evolved into a group of old men and women at the entrance of the village gossip when they are bored and basking in the sun.

It has been nearly half a month since Cao Cao retreated, and the news that should be passed on has already reached Xiangyang.

And the story of the young hero, calling on the elders in his hometown to resist Cao Jun, and finally wiped out the invading enemy, beheading Cao Ren, the general of Cao Jun, has naturally spread in the city.

Just like Cheng Yu led the elders in his hometown to resist the Yellow Turbans in his early years.

The difference is that in the end Cheng Yu turned his hometown elders into meat jerky and dedicated it to Cao Cao, while Shen Chen became the hero of Huangmenting, which was widely spread in the surrounding counties and counties, and finally became famous in Jingchu.

But this didn't make Shen Chen feel very happy.

The wood is more beautiful than the forest.

(End of this chapter)