Wei Ni

"Is Chen Qing's advice to me to recruit talents out of public motives? Or is it because of selfish motives?"

Perhaps because he was in a good mood, Emperor Cao Rui made such a joke after hearing Chen Jiao's suggestion.

"Return to your majesty, both public and private."

Chen Jiao did not plead guilty in the usual panic manner, but replied with a smile, "I have private intentions, but I have a public heart, but I want to benefit the country. This is not an evil act committed by a loyal minister!"

"Hahaha~"

In response, Cao Rui laughed heartily, raised his palms and praised, "Chen Qing lives up to his sincerity."

After laughing for a while, he stood up and walked slowly with a wine cup. After thinking for a moment, he called to the attendants outside the tent, "Come here! Quickly summon General Zhengdong and the Governor of Yangzhou to discuss matters. Well, General Zhengdong is here. Come with Shi Yi."

"only."

The attendant outside the tent left in response.

But Chen Jiao ignored these. He picked up "Jihe Lun" and read it carefully. From time to time, he stroked his hands and chuckled, with a kind of joy and relief that "a new village has a bright future".

He was pleased that his journey with the expedition was worthwhile.

When he came to Huainan with the emperor, he learned that the thief Wu Zhuran was attacking Xuzhou, and he knew that his hope of advising the emperor to resume Chen Deng's old plan was gone.

no way.

The capital of Jiangdong began to deploy its troops, and once again set its sights on Xuzhou, a second-line battlefield that had been dormant for more than thirty years. The Wei State's eastern front, which had long been vulnerable to attack and defense, could invest manpower and material resources to operate in Guangling County?

Isn't that to support the enemy and bring military exploits to Jiangdong?

But after arriving in Shouchun, Huainan, and learning that Xiahou Hui had returned to Huaiyin and followed the emperor into the habitat of the new Shijia army, he knew that Cao Rui was interested in running Xuzhou.

After all, although Guangling County cannot operate, Xuzhou will definitely increase its troops to guard against Wu thieves in the future.

And where can the Eastern Front now dispatch troops to increase Xuzhou?
In addition to the new Shijia army under the supervision of Xia Houhui, which other troops and horses in Huainan can move?

The most important thing is that Gao Qian, the general who guarded Xuzhou, died in the battle; and Huan Fan, the Dongzhonglang general who supervised the military affairs of Qing and Xu, will inevitably be transferred after this battle.

In this way, after Xia Houhui became the founder of Qiao Pei, no one is more suitable than him to guard Xuzhou, right?
With the achievements of the new army of the Shi family and the praise of Manchu for their good fighting skills, the emperor asked Xiahou Hui, who was in charge of the reform of the Shi family, to supervise the battle in Xuzhou. Doesn't that mean that Cao Rui will spare no effort to encourage and support Xiahou Hui to expand his army~
Of course, even if Xia Houhui went to Xuzhou, he would have to fortify the city and defend key points in Xiapi County and Donghai County on the north bank of the Huai River at the beginning. He may not be able to reach Guangling County within three to five years.

But what about seven or eight years later?

As time went by, the number of soldiers increased and the martial arts became increasingly unfit for battle. He wanted to advance towards the south bank of the Huai River and enter Guangling County to resume Chen Deng's old plan.

In this way, Chen Jiao's wish to see his hometown of Sangzi come to life again can be regarded as fulfilled.

Therefore, the "very sweet" maltose that Cao Rui shared that day was actually a reassurance for him.

It's just a pity.

Just now, when Cao Rui asked about Xiahou Hui's battle, he also learned about the resentment and hatred of the thief Wu Sunquan towards Xiahou Hui, who vowed to kill him.

In addition, Xia Houhui once again stepped forward to fight in person, Chen Jiao knew that Emperor Cao Rui would never let Xia Houhui go to Xuzhou again, or even leave him in Huainan.

The reason was that he didn't want Xia Houhui to be buried here.

Although the thief Wu may not be able to kill Xiahou Hui during the war, they can send assassins!
The land of Wuyue and Jingchu has always been famous for its swordsmen since ancient times.

Death warriors and assassins are really not hard to find.

Not to mention the assassination of the king's officials, Sun Ce would also lose his life in the assassination.

With Cao Rui's special attitude towards Xia Houhui, he would definitely not let him stay in Huainan or Xuzhou and wait for Sun Quan's revenge. Moreover, Xiahou Hui's responsibilities on Wei's eastern front were not so important that they were indispensable.

Now, after he finished reading "Jihe Lun", he suddenly felt that there was a bright future in the dark.

Because Wei will eventually annex Wu!

Since there is a good man in the Shijia's new army who can plan the Huainan farmland and prepare for the future attack on Wu, then sending him to Xuzhou will of course also make "Chen Deng's old plan" suitable for the Huaisi land based on Chen Deng's old plan. Here comes the strategy of "Huai Si Lun"!

Moreover, the emperor originally intended to run Guangling~
As for the person who wrote "Jihe Lun" being transferred to Xuzhou, it is related to how to implement the farming in Huainan.
Don’t they all have specific strategies that can be implemented?

Talents who formulate strategies are hard to find, but people who can follow the script are everywhere.

Emperor Cao Rui had just sent people to summon Man Chong, Wang Ling and Li Changshi to discuss the matter. Wasn't this because he planned to ask them about the status of the various departments in Huainan and to identify candidates who could be sent to Xuzhou and take charge of the farming in Huainan.

At this time, Xia Houhui was still in the Zhengdong General's Office.

It wasn't what Man Chong and Li Changshi wanted to say to him, but it was about how to deal with the more than a thousand Jiangdong prisoners. The three of them had different opinions.

According to Man Chong, if the prisoners are not killed, then they can be used as coolies in the army.

Do some work such as repairing fortifications, cleaning ditches, and garrisoning fields for the army, and then let them be easily restrained and managed by being hungry and well-fed on weekdays. In this way, after a few years, the unruly spirit of the immortals will be tempered, and then they can become scholars. Or just register household residents or something like that.

Li Changshi felt that since there were few people in Huainan, the prisoners could be used directly for farming and treated as soldiers. However, before that, he could try to select some people who were willing to fight for the Wei State and enlist them into the army, so as to establish a political system. Setting an example can disintegrate the fighting spirit of Wu soldiers to some extent when facing the thief Wu in the future.

Originally, Xia Houhui had no say in this kind of matter.

But when Man Chong had a disagreement with Li Changshi, for some reason, he suddenly asked him if he had any suggestions.

Of course Xia Houhui didn't. He hadn't thought about it at all.

But when asked about it, he thought that the implementation of "Jihe Lun" he submitted to the emperor would require a lot of labor, so he suggested that Man Chong break up all these prisoners into the army and transfer them to Lujiang County where the freshmen from Jiangdong were invading. Anfeng County is garrisoned, and some county soldiers come to Shouchun to assist in the defense - even if the county soldiers are not needed to assist in the defense, it would be good to let them rotate farming for the soldiers during the busy farming period.

In this regard, Man Chong really had some thoughts.

Seeing that Li Changshi did not refute, he asked Wang Ling, the governor of Yangzhou, to come over and discuss the matter.

However, before Wang Ling arrived, the emperor's personal attendant came over first.

When the emperor called, everyone did not dare to neglect and immediately set off to rush. Xia Houhui also returned to Shijiabiwu.

The Shijia Piwu was quite empty.

Except for the Gouquan tribe who stayed to guard the prisoners, the other soldiers who had returned from the war were allowed to go to the north bank of the Huai River to reunite with their families.

It is inevitable that some people will be happy and some will be sad.

This also made Xia Houhui give up the idea of ​​going to the North Bank for a walk.

He hadn't had time to ask Li Changshi when the pensions for the families of those who died in the war would be paid out, so he didn't want to get into that scene of joys and sorrows.

The three thousand-man governors are all in the dock, and they have also compiled a list of those who died in the war and the military exploits that can be distributed to the dead.

But Wu Gang was not there.

He consciously acted as Xia Houhui's staff and went to the homes of the war dead to comfort the orphans and widows.

Xia Houhui was very pleased to work so diligently.

Well, he still doesn't know that Wu Gang was encouraged by the emperor Cao Rui with the words "a good scholar should not be a commoner", which was when Wu Gang was full of motivation.

"General Manchu has already sent people to take over the prisoners."

Xia Houhui told the three thousand supervisors, "You should go back and have a rest. We will discuss other matters the next day. By the way, the three of you will take turns guarding the pontoon bridge. Don't let soldiers or prisoners come to the south bank before sunset the next day. So as not to disturb the Emperor’s command.”

"only."

The three of them left in response.

Deng Ai, who deliberately walked at the end, bowed to Xia Houhui very solemnly after the other two walked out, and thanked him again, "Ai will never forget the kindness of the general."

He knew why Xia Houhui made a special trip back to Shijiabiwu when he went to meet the king.

That’s why I’m extremely grateful.

Xia Houhui waved his hand, "You deserve it. Just be happy and do your job. Just go back."

What does "I deserve this" mean?
Deng Ai walked out of the department room full of confusion and couldn't understand this answer.

The sun sets over the western mountains and the sky becomes dark.

Xia Houhui cleaned himself up and changed into a military uniform, then rode his horse slowly towards Shoushan.

As soon as we reached the foot of the mountain, we met Man Chong and others who had come down together.

According to his official position, Xia Houhui quickly dismounted his horse and avoided the road to stand on the side to salute. He felt a little strange in his heart: since the emperor claimed to have hosted a banquet, why didn't he allow them to join in the fun?

"Ah."

Man Chong, who was riding in the same car with Li Changshi, nodded at him and snorted lightly as he passed by, without stopping.

Wang Ling, who often wanted to show that he was younger and more energetic than Man Chong, rode his horse. He also pulled up the horse's reins and paused in front of him, praising him affectionately, "Zhiquan is young and promising. He will be the mainstay of the country one day."

What is the situation?

Looking at Wang Ling's retreating back, Monk Xia Houhui was confused.

There is a lesson from heaven and earth. Over the years since he came to Huainan, he has had little contact with Wang Ling, and the number of times they have met can be counted on one hand. Why is he suddenly so close to her today?

Even if the emperor plans to put "Jihe Lun" into practice, the strategy is not from my hands. Why do you praise me?

Could it be that the emperor wanted you to be in charge?
Puzzled, Xia Houhui came to the emperor's banquet.

It was said to be a celebration banquet, but in fact it was just a meal with the emperor, accompanied by the attendant Chen Jiao.

After they had had a full meal and many words of praise, and after Chen Jiao had left the table due to old age and lack of energy, Xia Houhui knew why the emperor Cao Rui did not keep Man Chong and others to the banquet.

Because he also asked the three thousand-man governors under Xia Houhui's command very carefully, such as their background, character, talents and shortcomings, etc., and during the process, he would also mention Wu Gang, his staff, from time to time.

In this way, how could Xia Houhui not understand the emperor's intentions?
This clearly means to separate the people under his command and assign individual responsibilities.

So I will be transferred out of Huainan soon.

But, do you want to change anything? (End of chapter)