Ji Han Liu Zhang

Chapter 214

In the second year of Xingping, mid-June.

This year, the situation in the world was extremely chaotic, and civil wars continued all over the world.

Liu Xie, the emperor of Guanzhong, sent envoys more than ten times to ask Li Que to return to Luoyang, on the grounds that he missed Luoyang, the old capital, and was sentimental about his parents' tombs, and finally got Li Que's consent. Now Liu Xie is busy studying He was preparing to return east, hoping to take advantage of this opportunity to escape from Li Que's control.

Gongsun Zan of Youzhou attacked and killed the popular clan member Liu Yu, which aroused the hatred of Liu Yu's old subordinates Yuyang Xianyufu, Qi Zhou, Qidu Wei Xianyuyin and others. Xianyufu contacted Yuan Shao of Jizhou. He also won over the troops of Wuhuan and Xianbei, and the coalition forces defeated Gongsun Zan in Baoqiu. After this battle, Gongsun Zan flourished but declined, and his power plummeted.

Gongsun Zan, who suffered such a defeat, lost his ambitions and only wanted to keep his one-third of an acre of land. According to a popular nursery rhyme: "Yan is hanging down in the south, Zhao is in the north. The central gap is as big as steel, and only here can you escape from the world." . ’ He found a place called Yixian in the south of Yan and the north of Zhao, and moved his base camp to Yixian. At this time, Gongsun Zan was building fortifications in Yixian in full swing, intending to observe the situation in the world from Yixian.

Gongsun Zan has lost his ambitions, but Yuan Shao in Jizhou is in full swing. Anyone with a discerning eye can see that the offensive and defensive momentum between the two heroes Yuan Shao and Gongsun Zan has been reversed. In the past, Gongsun Zan led the army to attack Yuan Shao, but now Yuan Shao sends troops. If you want to attack Gongsun Zan, sooner or later, Gongsun Zan who is sitting in the isolated city will be destroyed by Yuan Shao.

Going south, Cao Cao of Yanzhou finally defeated Lu Bu, pacified Yanzhou, and preserved his foundation after hard battles and with the help of Yuan Shao.

Lu Bu, who had retreated from Yanzhou, fled to Xuzhou. He relied on the fact that he was from Bingzhou and Liu Bei was from Youzhou. They were both from the outside. He played the emotional card and was taken in by Liu Bei, who took in the capricious Lu Bu. It also laid the foundation for Liu Bei's future loss of Xuzhou.

Further south, Sun Ce, who conquered Jiangdong, relied on his father's name, his good image, and strict military discipline to win the enthusiastic support of Jiangdong's elders. At this time, Sun Ce continued to attack cities and villages in Jiangdong and assigned generals. Garrisoned, the huge Jiangdong was about to fall into Sun Ce's bag.

The heroes in Yunei were making a fuss, with big fish eating small fish and small fish eating shrimps in a chaotic mess. Liu Zhang from Yizhou would not be idle either. After the folk summer harvest, this year's tax money and grain were put into the treasury, and grain and grass were collected. With sufficient strength, he points his sword at Hanzhong, preparing to deal with Zhang Lu in Hanzhong this year, so that there will be only one sun in the sky of Yizhou, and that is him, the Yizhou Shepherd, and there will be no other independent forces.

The three armies have not moved, and the food and grass will go first.

There are many things to be discussed when a large army is going on a expedition. Money, food, weapons, supplies, etc. all need to be prepared before the army sets off, otherwise it will be like defeating the Song Dynasty. When Duanping entered Luo, it looked like flowers and a great situation, but due to lack of preparation , there were only a few hundred miles between the front army and the rear, which forced the front army to lack food, resulting in a major defeat.

"How many troops does Duke Ming intend to use?" Wang Shang, the chief official, asked the most critical question, which is the number of troops to be mobilized for this Hanzhong battle. The more troops mobilized, the more troops will be used, and the more things need to be dealt with at the same time. It was very unfriendly to him, the official who stayed behind, and with less troops mobilized, less food, grass and baggage were consumed, and he had fewer affairs to take care of.

Of course, Wang Shang did not intend to attack Hanzhong with as few troops as possible. Hanzhong was a key area, especially for Shu. Without Hanzhong, there would be no Shu. As a Shu native, he knew the importance of Hanzhong. But that's it.

Therefore, Liu Zhang's intention to send troops to capture Hanzhong was a great good thing for Wang Shang. With Hanzhong, the situation in Shu would be complete and there would be no gaps, and the people of Shu would be able to survive in troubled times. In the middle, you can live in a pure land, without the disturbance of war, and live a peaceful and down-to-earth life.

Considering the importance of taking Hanzhong, Wang Shang, who has the heart to benefit the country and the people, will not pity the situation that may consume a lot of people's energy due to the dispatch of the army at this critical moment, nor will he feel comfortable for his own family. , to suppress the troops Liu Zhang expected.

Regarding the number of troops needed to conquer Hanzhong, Liu Zhang had already thought about it many times in his mind. At this time, he responded: "Forty thousand people are needed."

'forty thousand. ’ When Wang Shang listened to this number, which was neither high nor low in his thinking, he couldn’t help but feel a little relaxed.

Liu Zhang stretched out his hand and rubbed his chin, thought for a moment, and added: "If we add the six thousand troops commanded by Wu Yi from Brazil County, that would be [-] people... Hanzhong's household registration number, Zhou Mu There are old records in the government, and it is estimated to be around [-] households. Considering that during this period of time, the number of people in Guanzhong and Liangzhou who fled to Shu in order to escape the war, it is only [-] households."

Liu Zhang slowly expressed his thoughts and explained the reason why he only needed [-] soldiers: "As the defensive side, Hanzhong has the convenience of fighting locally, and does not have to worry about the cost of transporting food and grass over long distances. In addition, Zhang The Lu thief attaches great importance to Hanzhong, so the troops that Hanzhong can mobilize should be more than the troops that can be mobilized for long-distance expeditions. It may be possible to draw one from five or one from four... But even so, Hanzhong's military strength It is expected that at the highest level, it will not exceed [-] people. We have mobilized [-] people, twice as many as Hanzhong. We have an advantage in terms of military strength. It can be said that the advantage lies with me."

Wang Shang intervened and expressed his worries: "Ming Gong, although they have the superior force, the rice thieves will definitely not send troops to fight our army. They will definitely defend Yangping Pass, use the fortress to fight our army, and attack the city. To fight, we should encircle it ten times, attack it five times, and fight it if doubled... Our army's strength is only twice that of Hanzhong. It seems that we need to lure the soldiers of Hanzhong out of the pass to fight in order to capture Yangping Pass. Otherwise, we may just hope. Sighing at the top of Yangping Pass."

"Concerning the situation where the rice thieves defended Yangping Pass and did not invite a fight with our army, they occupied a strong city and I attacked the city. They fell into Zhang Lu's trap, which made Zhang Lu very proud. The Art of War said, "Injure people without causing harm." As for people, I still understand this... Wang Qing can rest assured, I have already made plans in my heart, and I will not let Zhang Lu be proud." Liu Zhang's vow and confidence on his face comforted Wang Shang.

Sun Tzu said: "Anyone who is in the battlefield first and waits for the enemy is lost, and whoever is in the battlefield behind and rushes to fight is tired." Therefore, those who are good at fighting will harm others without harming them. If you can make the enemy come, it will benefit him; if you can prevent the enemy from coming, it will harm him. Therefore, the enemy can work hard if he is empty, he can be hungry if he is full, and he can move if he is safe. ’

Regarding Sun Tzu's broad talk on the art of war, Liu Zhang believed that the most important sentence is to cause others without harming others. In plain English, those who are good at commanding troops in combat must be good at mobilizing the enemy and seizing the initiative on the battlefield without being mobilized by the enemy. Sun Tzu The thirteen chapters of The Art of War all serve this sentence. Therefore, Liu Zhang would naturally not fall into Zhang Lu's trap and go to Yangping Pass, which is dangerous in nature, and also attack the Xin Yangping Pass Walled City on a mountain. That is what only a fool would do.

As for how to circumvent Yangping Pass without having to go to Yangping Pass, although Liu Zhang currently does not have high-ranking advisers, such as Jia Xu, Xun You, Fazheng, Xu Shu, Pang Tong, Chen Gong and other figures to advise him, But with the essence of China's five thousand years of history in his mind, as he said to Wang Shang, he had already made a calculation and made a decision.

Considering Liu Zhang's words and Liu Zhang's achievements in pacifying Bajun and Nanzhong in October last year, Wang Shang believed that he was not familiar enough with the specific military affairs to make any suggestions for Liu Zhang, so he just handed over and said: "Even if Ming Gong has already made plans, it must be successful immediately. Here I should first congratulate Ming Gong."

Then a strange thing happened to Wang Shangdao: "Liu Jingzhou sent letters one after another, saying that he wanted to assist Duke Ming in capturing Hanzhong, and that he had ordered generals Cai Mao and Zhang Yun to reorganize their troops, and that he would wait until Duke Ming's troops sent Hanzhong. , they went up the Han River from Fangling, threatening Zhang Lu's east side and tying up Zhang Lu's troops and energy."

"Wang Qing, what do you think about this matter?" Liu Zhang asked back, wanting to know Wang Shang's opinion.

Wang Shang thought for a moment and then responded: "I'm afraid Liu Jingzhou's action is not that simple. He not only wants to lend a helping hand to Ming Gong, but also has other plans... Xicheng, Shangyong, and Fangling counties are originally Hanzhong Under the rule of the county, although the rice thief Zhang Lu was wreaking havoc in Hanzhong, he failed to capture the three counties of Xicheng, Shangyong, and Fangling. Liu Jingzhou first took advantage of the fact that Fangling had no owner, captured Fangling, and placed it with Kuai Qi As the county magistrate, there was another rumor that he wanted to change Fangling County to Fangling County and place it under the rule of Jingzhou. According to Liu Jingzhou's treatment of Fangling, I wanted Liu Jingzhou to say that he was extending a helping hand to Duke Ming. , but looking at the root cause, [-]% of them are attracted by Xicheng and Shangyong counties. Xicheng and Shangyong are now controlled by the local powerful Shen family. There are no officials sent by the court, and they are apparently uncontrolled places... I think Liu Jingzhou deliberately took advantage of Duke Ming's attack on Hanzhong and had no time to take care of Shangyong, so he swallowed Xicheng and Shangyong into his belly. Later, when he relied on Duke Ming to attack Hanzhong, he helped Duke Ming's favor and made Duke Ming embarrassed to send people. Go claim the West City and the land of Shangyong.”

"Wang Qing's words are very close to my heart... This kind of courtesy for nothing is either a traitor or a thief. Although our Liu Jingzhou is known as one of the eight heroes and has the style of a gentleman, his behavior is not very inconsistent. A gentleman's morality." Liu Zhang laughed contemptuously.

Liu Biao's plan was too simple, and Liu Zhang saw through it at a glance. Although Jingzhou and Yizhou had formed an alliance, Liu Biao said for no reason that he would help him capture Jingzhou, and he would not believe it [-]% of the time. Although Liu Biao was a self-defeating thief most of the time in history, he never stopped thinking about stealing chickens. He also had some tyrannical methods. First, he recruited Zhang Xiu to be a human shield. Zhang Xiu defected to Cao Cao and ran away, and then recruited Liu Bei. To be a human shield, one uses Liu Bei and the other is suspicious of Liu Bei. This is all based on facts.

"Does Mr. Yi Minggong mean to continue to reject Liu Jingzhou as before?" Wang Shang asked.

However, Liu Zhang shook his head and rejected Liu Biao's good intentions. He said, "Let's agree."

"Agree?" Wang Shang was a little confused. If he agreed to Liu Biao's request, then the three counties of Xicheng, Shangyong, and Fangling under Hanzhong County would most likely be taken away by Liu Biao, and there was a possibility that they would be returned to Yizhou. Very small.

"Yes, agree." Liu Zhang affirmed, and then gave the reason: "Whether we agree or not, Liu Jingzhou must be sending troops to Xicheng and Shangyong. He has already prepared his troops, and even the commander-in-chief has After the selection is made, even if I refuse, Liu Jingzhou will still send troops... Instead of repeatedly refusing, it is better to agree with Liu Jingzhou and see what tricks Liu Jingzhou can come up with."

Hearing this, Wang Shang sighed, frowned and said: "What Duke Ming said is that Liu Jingzhou covets Xicheng and Shangyong. Even if we refuse, I'm afraid Liu Jingzhou will do his own thing... But if this is the case, Xicheng and Shangmei Yong and Fangling are very likely to fall into the hands of Jingzhou and be separated from Yizhou... However, compared with Hanzhong, Xicheng, Shangyong and Fangling counties are insignificant, and the terrain of the three counties is located in Hanzhong. Downstream, if you want to go up the Han River and attack Hanzhong, it is impossible, but it is not harmful."

Wang Shang was a little regretful at first. According to his idea, as long as he took Hanzhong, went down the Han River, and commanded the people from a high position, he could easily take Xicheng and Shangyong counties. As for Fangling, it had already been destroyed. Liu Biao took it into his pocket, and it might be difficult to get it back.

Now, Liu Biao had the idea of ​​​​reaching out to Xicheng and Shangyong. Wang Shang made some calculations. Although Xicheng and Shangyong are located in dangerous places with difficult roads, and the Shen family, as a landlord, has the advantage of fighting in the local area, Thinking about it, it is still difficult to stop Jingzhou's army.

Wang Shang was frowning, but Liu Zhang was smiling and contented. The game of chess in the world cannot be achieved overnight, nor can the gains and losses of several cities, such as Xicheng, Shangyong, and Fangling, be determined. When there was no good way to stop Liu Biao from reaching out, he simply let Liu Biao eat these scraps. Sooner or later, he would have Liu Biao vomit out every last bit and capture Jingzhou together.

But that was all a matter of the future. At the moment, Liu Zhang still felt a little unhappy. He thought for a while and asked Wang Shang: "Wang Qing had many correspondence exchanges with famous scholars in Jingzhou, but did he ever have any contact with Zhang Xian, the governor of Changsha?" connection?"

‘Zhang Xian. ’

After hearing this, Wang Shang searched in his mind, and after a moment he responded: "Zhang Changsha did send a letter to greet Shang, but it was just an ordinary greeting, and the friendship was not very deep."

Liu Zhang squinted his eyes and showed a meaningful smile: "I heard that Zhang Xian is very popular in Jiang and Hunan, but he is a bit stubborn and does not please Liu Jingzhou very much. Therefore, Liu Jingzhou appointed Zhang Xian because of his reputation. As the governor of Changsha, Xian was not very polite to Zhang Xian, so Zhang Xian was a little dissatisfied with Liu Jingzhou... Well, Wang Qing exchanged many letters with Zhang Xian..."

Liu Zhang didn't finish what he said, but Wang Shang already understood Liu Zhang's intentions. His eyes lit up, and he cupped his hands and said, "No."

(End of this chapter)