Ji Han Liu Zhang

Nanzheng.

Huang Quan, the prefect of Hanzhong, carefully reported to Liu Zhang the recent situation in Hanzhong: "Since Zhang Lu fled eastward to Shangyong, many people in Hanzhong who devoutly believe in Tianshi Taoism have traveled over the mountains and ridges with their young and old, heading towards Shangyong. defected to Zhang Lu... The checkpoint set up by our army on the eastern border has now blocked hundreds of households. As for the people who fled into the mountains and forests, avoiding the roads and heading to Shangyong, it is difficult to count. But there should be a lot of people.”

'Bringing people across the river? Liu Zhang couldn't help but frowned when he heard Huang Quan's advice. He thought of Liu Bei. Historically, Emperor Liu's uncle was very popular among the people of Jingzhou. After Cao Cao pacified the north, he went south to Jingzhou. Many people in Jingzhou were afraid of Cao's army slaughtering the city. Feeling the benevolence of Uncle Liu Huang, he gave up his family business and took the old and the young to follow Uncle Liu, so there was a beautiful story of leading the people across the river.

But now, Zhang Lu has fled to Shangyong, and many people in Hanzhong are going to Zhang Lu's place with their old and young children. This is somewhat similar to the people in Jingzhou following Liu Bei. They are both benevolent and kind to the people, and they have gained the people's support. support.

Liu Zhang thought for a while and then gave a solution: "Gong Heng, go find some highly respected elders in Hanzhong and ask them to dissuade you. Remember to persuade him nicely. If there are die-hard Tianshi believers, they would rather die than If you stay in Hanzhong, let him go."

"Ming Gong, this is a bit inappropriate. If you allow this generation of people to go freely, wouldn't it strengthen Zhang Lu's strength and weaken our strength." Huang Quan had a look of surprise on his face. Liu Zhang's actions were really serious. It's too generous, or Liu Zhang's mentality is really a bit relaxed.

Liu Zhang stroked the slightly cold jade Ruyi in his hand and gave an explanation: "There are not many people in Hanzhong who believe in the Taoism of the Heavenly Master and are willing to leave their family fortunes to follow Zhang Lu. There are not many, no more than a thousand at most. Hanzhong has tens of thousands of registered residents, and missing a thousand families is nothing. Moreover, this generation abandoned their family and followed Zhang Lu wholeheartedly. Even if we block them on the road, they will definitely think of walking back through the mountain trails after being blocked. Going to Shangyong, there is no way to block it... In addition, it is not a good thing that there are less of these people in Hanzhong. Without these devout believers in Tianshi Dao, the governance of the place will be smoother and there will be less resistance."

Huang Quan nodded, seeming to agree with Liu Zhang's idea, but he was a little unwilling to hide it in his eyebrows: "It's just to let this person go to Shangyong like this. As the prefect of Hanzhong, Quan can't keep the people under his rule. It's really a bit uncomfortable." happy."

Liu Zhang saw that Huang Quan had entered the status of the governor of Hanzhong and felt unwilling and unhappy that he had gone to other places for the people under his rule. Liu Zhang comforted him: "Why is Gongheng like this? With your talents, Hanzhong will be restored sooner or later." , the people everywhere are virtuous... As the saying goes, people's hearts are like water, and people's movements are like smoke. When the time comes, the people of Hanzhong who went to Shangyong to follow Zhang Lu today out of gratitude to Zhang Lu may bring the old and the young back to Hanzhong, thinking Experience the governance of your Majesty Huang."

"I'm afraid that Zhang Lu won't be as magnanimous as Ming Gong and let those people come back from Shangyong." Huang Quan was not modest, but teased.

Liu Zhang sneered and affirmed Huang Quan's words: "This is natural. Our Master Zhang set fire to the treasury in Nanzheng when he left. He did not want to leave us a grain of rice or a piece of cloth. This batch of Hanzhong When the people come to him, he will never let them back no matter what."

There was a trace of worry between Huang Quan's eyebrows here, and he was a little worried: "If more than a thousand families defect to Zhang Lu, Zhang Lu's strength will definitely increase a lot."

"Just increase it. It's not our turn to worry. The ones who should be worried are Liu Jingzhou who intends to capture Xicheng and Shangyong, and Cai Mao and Zhang Yun who are stationed in Fangling." Liu Zhang said with a smile.

The geographical feature of Shangyong is that it is surrounded by mountains on all sides, and land transportation with the surrounding areas is very difficult. Only within the territory of Shangyong, there is a Han River running through it, and the waterway transportation is very convenient. This makes it easy to attack Shangyong by starting from Hanzhong and following the Han River. Starting from Shangyong, it is difficult to attack Hanzhong against the Han River.

History also has clear evidence. After Mengda of the Shu Han Dynasty rebelled, Shangyong fell into the hands of Cao Wei and probably did not play any role. It can be said accurately that Shangyong did not pose any threat to Hanzhong of Shu Han at all. Only during Cao Zhen's three-pronged expedition against Shu, Sima Yi crossed the Han River from Xiangyang to Shangyong, intending to threaten the east of Hanzhong. But that time it was abandoned halfway due to weather conditions. After that, the Han and Wei Dynasties made no major military moves in the direction of Shangyong.

The terrain of Shangyong is like this. No matter how strong Zhang Lu is, Liu Zhang will have nothing to worry about. It is Liu Biao who should worry about Zhang Lu. It takes a few days to reach Xiangyang by going down the Han River from Shangyong. Xiangyang is currently the prefectural government of Jingzhou.

To be honest, Liu Zhang really wanted Zhang Lu to gain a foothold in Shangyong and give Liu Biao, who lived in Xiangyang, a headache. This was why Liu Zhang did not intend to force the Hanzhong people who had taken refuge with Zhang Lu to stay, but instead allowed these people to go and take refuge there. Zhang Lu, these people are not of much use in Hanzhong, but when these people reach Shangyong and belong to Zhang Lu's tent, they can greatly strengthen Zhang Lu's strength. According to Liu Zhang's expectation, the combat effectiveness of Jing Bing, as well as Cai Hao and Zhang Due to Yun's commanding ability, Jingzhou and Zhang Lu might be in a 50-50 split.

Huang Quan got it right, and he smiled: "What Ming Gong said is that Liu Jingzhou should be worried about. However, Jingzhou has many household registrations and abundant soldiers. Zhang Lu should not be Jingzhou's opponent. If Zhang Lu doesn't follow The enemy occupied Xicheng and Shangyong for Jingzhou, which is not a good thing for us."

"Well, it's just that all the ships in Hanzhong have been taken away by Zhang Lu. We don't have warships at the moment. We can't go down the Han River to Shangyong. It's really inconvenient to go by land... Let's take a look at Zhang Lu and Liu Jingzhou first. At the same time, we will use this time to build some ships. If Zhang Lu is unfavorable later, we will go down the Han River and take the opportunity to capture Xicheng and Shangyong. If Jingzhou is unfavorable, Liu Jingzhou will have the headache." Liu Zhangyi The mentality of not caring about oneself, sitting on a mountain and watching the fight between tigers and tigers. When Zhang Lu fled, he burned down Nanzheng's treasury, which made Liu Zhang have a bad impression of Zhang Lu. Liu Biao took advantage of Liu Zhang's attack on Hanzhong and wanted to secretly capture Xicheng and Shangyong under the control of Hanzhong County, and from Yizhou's body He bit off a piece of meat, so Liu Zhang was not happy with Liu Biao.

And now Liu Biao and Zhang Lu are fighting. No matter which side wins or which side loses, Liu Zhang is happy, especially since he can stay out of the fight and watch the show as a spectator.

Liu Zhang had made up his mind, and Huang Quan pondered for a moment, and he gave a suggestion: "Ming Gong, I think we can put some spies among the Hanzhong people who went to seek refuge with Zhang Lu, so that we can have a clearer picture of the situation in Shangyong. Take control, it will be easier to cope with changes in Shangyong later."

Liu Zhang nodded in agreement. War is not a game of cards. If you can peek at other people's cards, of course he will. If you know other people's cards, it will be easier for us to play cards, and victory will be easy. The so-called knowing yourself and the enemy will make you invincible in a hundred battles. What's wrong with playing dirty tricks? Yes, he has no moral baggage at all.

After reporting the news, Huang Quan left and went to work on his duties as the prefect of Hanzhong. As soon as Huang Quan withdrew, Liu Zhang did not have a moment of leisure. Wu Yi, the commander-in-chief, quickly asked to come in.

"Ziyuan, what's the matter?" Liu Zhang smiled and looked at Wu Yi, his uncle-in-law in private. The matter between him and Wu Ran had not yet been revealed to the public.

Wu Yi stepped forward and spoke with a hint of restlessness in his voice: "Ming Gong, although Hanzhong has been captured, Zhang Lu has fled to Shangyong and the culprit has not been eliminated. Yi is very worried about it. I would like to ask for orders to lead troops to Shangyong to attack and kill him." Zhang Lu, at the same time, capture Xicheng and Shangyong for Ming Gong to prevent these two cities from falling into the hands of Jingzhou."

Liu Zhang shook his head: "Ziyuan, you know that most of the ships in Hanzhong were taken away by Zhang Lu. The remaining ships were either scuttled or burned. Without ships, it is inconvenient to go down the Han River." To reach Shangyong, the road is difficult and difficult to travel by land.”

"Ming Gong, I am not afraid of hardships, I just want to fight for Ming Gong." Wu Yi was extremely heroic and showed his loyalty to Liu Zhang.

Liu Zhang seemed to think for a moment, and then he shook his head: "Ziyuan, I know your loyalty, but if you go to Shangyong by land, the road will be difficult to pass, it will be inconvenient to transport food, and there will not be many soldiers who can be brought there. , I’m afraid Shangyong failed to win, but Zhang Lu relied on the large number of people and caused some trouble."

"Ming Gong." Wu Yi's tone was urgent, and he argued: "Zhang Lu was defeated and retreated to Hanzhong. How can he still have fighting spirit? I only need to command the elite of my army and raise the banner to the highest level. Zhang Lu will naturally be defeated without a fight."

The heat was still low, Liu Zhang smiled in his heart but had a worried look on his face. He pretended to think for a while, and then still rejected Wu Yi: "Ziyuan, if you only bring your own troops, the number will be slightly smaller, but it will be a bit uncomfortable. It’s too appropriate, it’s better to be more prudent... When the warships are built later, and they can sail down the Han River, they can capture Zhang Lu with just one go, so there is no need to rush."

"Ming Gong." Wu Yi begged, with a look of urgency on his face, and pointed at his own head: "Yi should issue a military order. If things go wrong, I am willing to accept this head."

When the heat was almost over, Liu Zhang opened the skylight and spoke brightly: "Ziyuan, why do you need to be like this? Safety must come first in everything. Zhang Lu will wait until the warships are built before attacking... If you want to serve on the battlefield, I have made some achievements, I have been thinking about it recently, but I have a place to go."

When Wu Yi listened to the first half of Liu Zhang's words, his eyes dimmed for a moment, but when he heard the second half of Liu Zhang's words, his eyes lit up. He didn't care where he attacked, he only cared about whether he had the chance to make meritorious deeds. , to add to his family's merit book. In this battle of Hanzhong, his gains are almost negligible. He needs the merit too much.

"Ming Gong, please give me your instructions." Wu Yi cupped his hands and asked Liu Zhang where to attack.

Liu Zhang smiled slightly and revealed the answer: "Wudu." (End of this chapter)