At the end of the Han Dynasty: a stingy husband from his hometown

Chapter 206: Divide and rule, factions emerge
But he said that Sun Ce was holding Sun Jian's body, his eyes were bloodshot, and he vowed to take revenge.

Previously, Sun Jian had fled in a hurry and only brought more than a thousand people with him. He was ambushed by Ji Ling's troops and suffered heavy casualties.

In addition, last night was a night battle and many soldiers got lost along the way. Now there are only a hundred people left under Sun Ce's command.

Huang Gai said: "Previously, Cao Cao deliberately talked with Wucheng Hou in front of the battle line and then sent an obliterated letter. This must be a plan to alienate him."

"If this were not the case, Yuan Shu would not have asked Marquis Wucheng for a letter, let alone launch a surprise attack at night."

When Sun Ce heard this, he gritted his steel teeth and said, "I will definitely avenge this!"

Cheng Pu said: "We are still in Yanzhou. If we don't leave as soon as possible, it will be too late to regret when Cao Cao leads his troops to pursue us."

Sun Ce showed grief and anger on his face and asked, "Yuan Shu and Cao Cao are both enemies, so where should they go?"

After a brief silence, some people thought that they should go south to join the cavalry general Zhou Qi.

After all, Zhou Qi had an old relationship with Sun Jian, and Sun Jian's hometown was also in Yangzhou.

Now that Zhou Qi has annexed Jingzhou, his strength has greatly increased, and sooner or later he will inevitably make an expedition to the north. At that time, it is not impossible to take revenge with the help of the cavalry generals.

Sun Ce was very moved after hearing this.

But when he remembered that almost all of his family died in Shouchun that day, he suddenly felt the biting cold and hesitated.

Seeing Sun Ce's hesitation, someone else suggested that he should go and seek refuge with Tao Qian.

Tao Qian is a surname from Danyang County, which is adjacent to Wu County. They both belong to Yangzhou, and Sun Ce and Tao Qian are also half of the same town.

The most important thing is that Tao Qian is now on the same level as Cao Cao, and his men are extremely lacking in talents. If Sun Ce leads his troops to surrender to Xuzhou, Tao Qian will definitely be put in his position.

When Sun Ce heard this, he frowned and said, "That being said, there is an agreement between Tao Qian and Yuan Shu. If we escape to Xuzhou and Yuan Shu asks Tao Qian for help, will he be forced to hand us over to us?" Yuan Shu?"

Huang Gai shook his head and said: "The two have already had bad blood before. After I heard that Liu Bei, the prime minister of Pei State, led troops to help Xuzhou, Tao Qian appointed Liu Bei as the governor of Yuzhou."

"Now that Yuan Shu has taken charge of Yuzhou as a pastor, he knows that Tao Qian has appointed Liu Bei as the governor of Yuzhou, and he hates him very much."

"If it weren't for the foreign enemy Cao Cao, I'm afraid the two would have attacked each other long ago. I don't expect Tao Qian to hand us over to Yuan Shu."

When Sun Ce heard this, he felt a little relieved and said: "In that case, then go and seek refuge in Xuzhou."

But he said that after Zhou Qi captured Jingzhou, there were still many things to deal with, so he temporarily led his troops to stay in Hanshou and did not return to Shouchun immediately.

On this day, a scout suddenly came to report that Cao Cao was using a alienation strategy. Yuan Shu attacked Sun Jian's camp at night, and Sun Jian was ambushed and died.

Cao Cao took advantage of the civil strife in Yuan's army and personally led his army to launch a surprise attack, defeating Yuan Shu. He not only completely recovered the city that was taken away by Sun Jian in this battle, but also led his troops to attack Chenliu.

Cao's army was as strong as a broken bamboo.

Yuan Shu lost people's support after he killed Sun Jian in a surprise attack. In addition, he had no soldiers who were good at fighting, so he retreated steadily in Chenliu and lost half of Chenliu.

At this time, Yuan Shu led his troops to camp in Yongqiu, relying on the river in the north to barely resist Cao Cao.

But it was said that Zhou Qi had captured Jingzhou. When the newly surrendered Zhang Zhao heard the news, he couldn't help but be overjoyed and traveled to Hanshou all night long.

Zhou Qi was surprised to see Zhang Zhao and asked, "Why did you go all the way to get here, sir?"

Zhang Zhao did not answer, but asked: "Does the lord plan to move the chariot and cavalry general's palace to Jingzhou?"

Zhou Qi asked in astonishment: "Why did you say this, sir?"

Zhang Zhao smiled and said, "Master, why do you ask even though you already know?"

When Zhou Qi heard this, he did not hide it and said: "I do have this idea, but I haven't determined where to move the Cavalry General's Mansion yet."

Zhang Zhao said sternly: "It is natural for my lord to move to the Chariot and Cavalry General's Palace, but before that, the hidden dangers in Yangzhou must be solved."

"Hazardous?"

Zhou Qi frowned slightly, with a look of confusion on his face.

Zhang Zhao took out a map from his arms. Zhou Qi looked up and found that the various counties and counties in Yangzhou were marked in detail on the map.

Zhou Qi asked: "What do you mean, sir?"

Zhang Zhao pointed to the locations of Yuzhang County and Kuaiji County one after another, and said with a solemn expression: "Have you seen anything, my lord?"

Zhou Qi looked at the map carefully, and after a long time he suddenly woke up and said: "There are six counties in Yangzhou. These two counties occupy nearly two-thirds of the entire territory of Yangzhou."

Zhang Zhao nodded heavily and said: "Although these two counties are vast and sparsely populated, they are very large. In the past few years, my lord has recruited refugees on a large scale, and many refugees have been sent to Yuzhang County and Kuaiji County."

"After several years of siege on Shanyue, many people from Shanyue came down to register their household registration, which resulted in a huge increase in household registration and population in the two counties."

"If my lord still places the chariot and cavalry general's palace in Shouchun, there is no need to worry about the two counties being too strong."

"Once we plan to move the Chariot and Cavalry General's Mansion to Jingzhou, over time, there is no guarantee that the two counties will not grow bigger and separate themselves from each other, which will become a future trouble."

Zhou Qi couldn't help but break into a cold sweat when he heard this, and asked hurriedly: "Sir, do you have any good advice for me?"

Zhang Zhao said with a smile: "This is easy. My lord can divide Yuzhang and Kuaiji counties into six counties, and turn the six counties of Yangzhou into ten counties in Yangzhou."

"In this way, not only can we provide more county guards to the major families, but we don't have to worry about a certain county having too large an area and too many people, which may cause future troubles."

Hearing this, Zhou Qi bowed deeply to Zhang Zhao and asked, "Since Sir proposed the method of divide and conquer, he must have already thought of a division plan. Can you tell me about it?"

Zhang Zhao did not sell out, and said directly: "In ancient times, counties and counties were mostly bounded by mountains and rivers. Although this is conducive to local governance and can effectively avoid territorial disputes among counties, it has a very big drawback, which is that it is easy to cause Local forces are divided.”

"Once someone rebels, they can rely on the mountains, rivers and geographical advantages to occupy a county or even a county. It is not easy to conquer."

"Since my lord wants to eliminate hidden dangers, there is no need to divide the new county according to the ancient geography of mountains and rivers. It only needs to be divided equally according to the area."

Having said this, Zhang Zhao drew two straight lines horizontally on the two counties of Yuzhang and Kuaiji respectively, and marked the new county names respectively.

They are: Yuzhang County, Poyang County, Luling County; Linhai County, Jian'an County, Dongyang County.

After writing the new county names, Zhang Zhao looked up at Zhou Qi and said, "This is just a suggestion from me. I'll leave it up to the lord to decide how to divide the new counties and what their names should be."

Zhou Qi put his hands on his hands and laughed, saying: "Sir, you are indeed a capable minister in governing the world, which is exactly what I want."

"I think sir, both the geographical division and the new name are very good. There is no need to change it."

Zhou Qi also thought to himself at this time: "It seems that the division of Soochow into Yuzhang and Kuaiji counties in history was most likely done by Zhang Zhao, but it was not so straightforward."

Zhou Qi has long considered redrawing administrative areas, but it has never been put on the agenda.

After capturing Jingzhou this time, before moving to the Chariot and Cavalry General's Mansion, Zhou Qi had already planned to divide the two counties and rule them, but he didn't expect Zhang Zhao to speak out in advance.

In this way, it actually saved Zhou Qi a lot of worry.

Zhang Zhao heard this and said: "Before, the two counties were vast and sparsely populated, so there were not many counties within the territory. Now that the two counties are divided into six counties, we should build new counties and enrich each county."

Zhou Qi pondered for a moment and said: "This matter will be led by your husband. Let the officials from the Chariot and Cavalry General's Mansion and the Yangzhou Prefectural Mufu Mansion participate in it. After discussing it, you can report it to me, okay?"

Zhang Zhao nodded, and then said: "In this case, four new county guards will be added. Please, my lord, look for candidates as soon as possible."

When Zhou Qi heard this, he smiled slightly and said, "I can think about this for myself."

After deciding on the separation of Yuzhang and Kuaiji, Zhou Qi immediately walked to the Jingzhou map, pointed to the location of Wuling County and said: "There are also similar problems between Wuling County and Yuzhang and Kuaiji counties, and I want to solve them together. .”

"In addition, Changsha County is adjacent to the five counties of Jingzhou. If chaos breaks out in Changsha in the future, it will directly threaten the safety of the entire Jingzhou. I also hope to divide it and rule it to weaken the geographical advantage of Changsha County."

"Since sir is good at this matter, you can help me solve it."

Zhang Zhao stared at the map for a long time, and then said: "Let me go back and investigate first, and then I will reply to my lord."

Zhou Qi naturally agreed after hearing this.

When Zhou Qi asked before, Zhang Zhao was able to give the answer directly. It was obvious that he had been planning this matter for a long time and already had the answer in his heart.

However, Zhang Zhao had not thought of splitting Wuling County and Changsha County in Jingzhou before, and he had to first understand the specific humanities and geography of the two counties. He could not just re-divide the two counties casually, and then he had to go back and consider it carefully.Not long after, Zhang Zhao gave Zhou Qi a first draft, which was to divide Wuling County into Shouyang County and Wucheng County, divide Changsha County into Yiyang County and Nanyou County, and re-establish the county seat.

As for how to establish the county seat and where to establish it, it can only be finalized after careful discussion with Jingzhou officials.

After such a division, Wuling County can be made smaller and the strategic position of Changsha County can be weakened. It can be said to be the best of both worlds.

Zhou Qi naturally agreed to Zhang Zhao's words, and immediately appointed Zhang Zhao as the head of Jingzhou Prefectural Mufu, and asked him to preside over the re-division of the four counties of Yuzhang, Kuaiji, Wuling and Changsha.

The re-division of the four counties caused huge waves in Jing and Yang prefectures.

However, except for those who serve as county governors in these counties, the vast majority of people have a supportive attitude.

First of all, dividing and governing the four counties is indeed beneficial to the stability of the political power.

Secondly, with such a division, there will be six more counties in Jing and Yang states, which will also create six more county guards. The chances of major families having two thousand stone county guards will also increase a lot.

The only disadvantage may be that more officials are needed, and the salary Zhou Qi has to pay will also increase a lot.

But compared with the benefits of divide and conquer, this disadvantage is nothing.

Just as Zhou Qi was preparing to drastically reform Jing and Yang states, news of Sun Jian's death and Yuan Shu's defeat in the north also reached Hanshou.

After Zhou Qi's subordinate Wen Wu heard the news, before Xi Zhicai, Tian Feng and others could say anything, he saw Kuai Yue stepping forward with excitement on his face and said: "Yuan Shu attacked Sun Jian and cut off his arm. Now he has been killed again." Being restrained by Cao Cao is the best time for my lord to go north and seize Nanyang County."

After Kuai Yue finished speaking, Xiangyang clans led by Cai Mao and Huang Zu, and Nanyang County clans led by Huang Zhong, Li Yan and Wenpin also stepped forward to ask for battle.

Seeing everyone's attitude, Zhou Qi understood.

Xiangyang guards the throat of Nanyang County and Nanjun. If Nanyang cannot be recovered, Xiangyang will inevitably become the front line in the future and will inevitably be affected by the disaster of war.

Kuai Yue, Cai Mao and other Xiangyang people naturally did not want to see this happen.

The most important point is that Kuai Yue, Cai Mao and others have been secretly planning for a long time to persuade Zhou Qi to move the state government of Jingzhou to Xiangyang. They even hope that Zhou Qi will lead his civil and military forces to settle in Xiangyang.

As such.

Xiangyang's status will inevitably rise, and the local aristocratic families in Xiangyang will naturally develop rapidly.

Let Zhou Qi move the capital to Xiangyang, which is not a whim.

Previously, Zhou Qi only occupied Yangzhou and arranged the administrative center in Shouchun, so naturally he had nothing to say.

but now.

Zhou Qi already controlled the two states, so continuing to place the administrative center in Shouchun would be somewhat disadvantageous for governing Jingzhou.

The importance of Jingzhou is self-evident.

If the administrative center is moved to Xiangyang, Nanyang County must be captured first, otherwise Xiangyang will not have a buffer and security will not be guaranteed.

According to original history, Sun Jian died on Xian Mountain in the east of Xiangyang City.

After that, Liu Biao led his troops northward and captured many cities in the southern part of Nanyang County. Xiangyang was not at the forefront, so it was always ruled by Jingzhou.

In this time and space, since Sun Jian did not die in Xiangyang, Nanyang County was tightly controlled by Yuan Shu. In addition, Zhou Qi captured Jiangxia County, forcing Liu Biao to move the state government to Hanshou.

Kuai Yue and others planned to let Zhou Qi take Nanyang first, and then persuade Zhou Qi to move the administrative center to Xiangyang.

As such.

Zhou Qixi could send troops to seize the kingdom of Bashu and occupy the entire south of the Han Dynasty. At worst, he could divide the river to rule and achieve hegemony.

Besides.

From Nanyang to the north, Guanzhong, the political center of the Han Dynasty, could also be captured.

Even if Guanzhong is not attacked, Yingchuan County, which has outstanding people and is very wealthy, can be captured, and then the entire Yuzhou can be captured to compete with the northern princes.

However, the prerequisite for moving to Xiangyang was to take the lead in capturing Nanyang County.

It is for this reason that the Xiangyang clan headed by Kuai Yue, Cai Mao, and Huang Quan are so eager.

Needless to say, Huang Zhong, Li Yan, Wenpin and other Nanyang clans all hoped that their hometown would be under the control of Zhou Qi instead of being occupied by other princes.

Looking at the eager eyes of everyone, Zhou Qi just thought for a moment and saw through their thoughts.

Zhou Qi turned to look at Xi Zhicai and Tian Feng, and asked, "Do you think you can take this opportunity to attack Nanyang?"

Xi Zhicai frowned slightly, looked at Kuai Yue and other people who wanted to fight, and said nothing.

Tian Feng said bluntly: "If you take Nanyang, you will definitely turn against Yuan Shu. Unless the lord is determined to separate life and death from Yuan Shu, it is not recommended to do so."

Huang Zhong and other people who advocated attacking Nanyang frowned and looked at Tian Feng with slight dissatisfaction.

Huang Zhong said bluntly: "Nanyang is the number one county in the world. Even though it has suffered from wars in recent years, its importance is still self-evident."

"Furthermore, Nanyang belongs to Jingzhou. Yuan Shu occupied Nanyang and refused to return it. Wouldn't it be ridiculous if he missed the best opportunity to regain Nanyang because he was afraid of fighting Yuan Shu?"

Although Tian Feng's talents have been recognized by Zhou Qi's old ministers, they may not be regarded by new recruits such as Huang Zhong.

It was precisely for this reason that Huang Zhong would bluntly refute.

Kuai Yue also said: "If God doesn't take it, you will be blamed for it. Yuan Shu is just a withered bone in the tomb, so why should he care?"

"With my lord's bravery and martial prowess, even if he goes north to wipe out Yuan Shu, it will be no problem. Why is he so afraid of him like a tiger?"

When the Jingxiang scholars saw that Tian Feng did not agree to send troops to Nanyang, they almost all criticized him verbally and writtenly, but Zhou Qi just looked on with cold eyes.

As the territory continues to expand, it is inevitable that various factions will appear among the subordinates.

There is no doubt that although the civil servants and generals, mainly Kuai Yue, Cai Mao, Huang Quan, Huang Zhong, Wenpin, Li Yan, etc., newly joined Zhou Qi, their own strength was not compromised because of their surrender, so they quickly formed A huge Jingzhou faction formed.

Even if they did not deliberately form a party, they were both former ministers of Liu Biao and were from Jingzhou. In order to fight for their own interests, it was easy for them to unite with the party.

In addition to the Jingzhou faction, the Jiangdong gentry headed by the four major Jiangdong families also naturally formed a faction.

As for the Lujiang Zhou family and the Jiangxia Zhou family, most people regard them as Zhou Qi's own clan and are Zhou Qi's staunchest supporters.

In addition, Zhou Cheng, Xiang Hong, Chen Wen, Xu Chu, Xu Ding and his relative Shi Huan, who were either from Pei State or had followed Zhou Qi for a long time, were close and powerful generals. They could also be regarded as a faction.

However, all of these people can hold heavy troops and can only be dispatched by Zhou Qi himself.

As for Dian Wei and Xi Zhicai, they are truly outside the faction. They deliberately keep a distance from almost everyone. They are the people Zhou Qi trusts and is closest to.

In addition, another faction has appeared faintly, that is, the outsiders from the north. They are not integrated into the major factions, and they have gradually begun to join forces to keep warm.

These people were previously Gao Shun and Xu Huang, then Tian Feng and Zhang Liao were added, and now there are Zhang Zhao, Zhang Hong, Lu Su and others.

It can be expected that as more and more people move from the north to the south, this faction, which was originally the most scattered and least valued, will inevitably become stronger and stronger in the future.

The relationship between them and the local scholars in Jingzhou and Yangzhou was destined to be impossible to be harmonious.

Not for anything else, just because Zhou Qi entrusted these people with great importance and regarded them as an effective force to restrain the wealthy local families in Jing and Yang.

Moreover, most of these people who came from the north and were taken under Zhou Qi's command were very talented and worthy of entrusting them with important tasks.

The most important thing is that these people's hometowns are in the north, and they will be Zhou Qi's strongest supporters in the Northern Expedition in the future.

If they want to return to their hometown, they won't be content with being on one side like the local aristocratic families in Jing and Yang.

Instead of stopping the factions deliberately formed by his subordinates, Zhou Qi secretly fueled them.

The harmony among his subordinates is not conducive to Zhou Qi's rule.

Only by fighting with each other and restricting each other can we firmly hold the power in our own hands and avoid the occurrence of a dominant family.

(End of this chapter)