Ji Han Liu Zhang

Chapter 496: The Mighty General

Changan.

After years of fighting, Liu Zhang, who suddenly had some free time, felt a little overwhelmed. His body was not able to adapt to the current time. It was like a man who grew up in the bitter cold of the north and suddenly came to the south of the Yangtze River with its distinct four seasons.

However, his leisure was relative to the years of war in the past few years. As a monarch, he controlled Guanzhong, Longyou, and Bashu, and he had countless affairs to deal with every day. He only had some free time occasionally.

Jia Xu walked into the house calmly and delivered a message to Liu Zhang: "My lord, General Gan submitted a report saying that the Black Wolf Qiang in Liangzhou rebelled, destroyed counties and killed people."

"Let Xingba settle the matter. Didn't I give him the power to do as he pleases?" Liu Zhang replied lazily.

Jia Xu smiled faintly upon hearing this, and he cupped his hands and said, "General Gan stated in his memorial that he has already mobilized his troops, and I think there will be victory reports in the near future."

"Yeah." Liu Zhang replied indifferently. As for the Qiang people's rebellion in Longyou that was settled last year, he had received too many similar news in recent days and had become somewhat immune to it.

Last year when his army was there, the Qiang people were very obedient. But now that his army has left, leaving only Peng Ying, Duan Wei and others behind, the Qiang people are becoming more and more restless again.

The Qiang people are rebellious and have no desire to obey. This is not only the nature of the Qiang people, but also the objective fact that the production of the Qiang tribe is not enough to support themselves and they can only go out to plunder.

As for the rebellion of the Qiang tribe, Liu Zhang had only one word to say, which was to behead the Qiang leader and leave the old, weak and sick to be exploited. This was both to redeem the mistakes made by the Qiang people and to squeeze the last drop of blood from the Qiang tribe so that the Qiang tribe could make the best use of its resources.

After Jia Xu finished his report, he sat down casually and chatted with Liu Zhang: "General Gan has slaughtered many Qiang and Hu tribes recently, and in every battle, General Gan is the first to charge into the battle line, and he never turns back, and he is always victorious... Many Qiang and Hu tribes are afraid of General Gan's bravery and gave him a majestic nickname."

At this point, Jia Xu made a riddle, waiting for Liu Zhang to ask, and Liu Zhang also followed Jia Xu's idea and asked: "What is the nickname?"

"Mighty General!" Jia Xu said bluntly without teasing Liu Zhang's curiosity too much.

"The mighty general." Liu Zhang laughed when he heard that. He asked, "Why did you get such a nickname?"

Jia Xu explained: "General Gan's troops are mostly infantrymen. Their defensive formations are as solid as Mount Tai, and their marching charges are as swift as forest fire. That's why the Qiang and Hu people regard General Gan as a general with divine power."

"Yes." Liu Zhang nodded. It seemed that the nicknames given by the Qiang and Hu people were based on certain rules. "I remember that among the Qiang and Hu people, Ma Mengqi was called the Divine Mighty General of Heaven, and now Xingba is called the Divine Mighty General of Earth. They make a good pair."

"It's a perfect match. With two generals with divine power, the day when the Qiang and Hu people in Longyou will submit to you will not be far away." Jia Xu said a pleasing remark.

"All the barbarians are submissive, and both the inside and the outside are at peace... If the world can be like this, I will be satisfied." Liu Zhang replied, expressing his hope, which was also his goal.

Jia Xu bowed in admiration and said, "Your Excellency has lofty ambitions and great plans. I am impressed."

The daytime is always short, and as night falls, in the ancient times when there was no electricity, the city of Chang'an was shrouded in darkness. Only a few houses were brightly lit, including the official residences in Chang'an.

In the official residence, Liu Zhang had not fallen asleep. He was quietly looking at a few pages of slightly yellowed thin paper on the desk, his eyes fixed on them, with a thoughtful look on his face.

"My dear, what is this?" Huang Wan, Liu Zhang's wife, saw that Liu Zhang had not gotten into bed for a long time, so she came over to check on him. When she saw that Liu Zhang was looking at a few pieces of silk-like objects on the table, which were thinner than silk, she naturally asked.

"Cai Hou Paper." Liu Zhang took a piece of yellowed thin paper and handed it to Huang Wan.

'Cai Hou paper?' Huang Wan took the thin paper Liu Zhang handed over and rubbed it gently, feeling the texture of the Cai Hou paper her husband had mentioned. After a moment, she shook her head and said angrily, "Husband, don't lie to me. Cai Hou paper can't be this thin, nor can it be this white."

Liu Zhang chuckled and explained, "It is Caihou paper. It is Caihou paper that has been improved by Pu Yuan and other masters. That's why it is so thin. But it's not white enough."

Liu Zhang, who had lived in the industrial age, was indeed not very satisfied with the yellowed thin paper in front of him. After all, he had seen the white paper produced by industry, which was pure white and extremely smooth, far from the yellowed thin paper in front of him.

"It's not white enough." Huang Wan tilted her head, looking thoughtful. After a moment, she smiled and said, "Husband, compared with the previous Cai Hou paper, the current Cai Hou paper is much whiter." Huang Wan said these words of comfort and defended the yellowed thin paper in front of her.

"That's right." Liu Zhang nodded. The yellowed thin paper in front of him was indeed a lot better than the previous Cai Hou paper. This was why he asked Pu Yuan and other master craftsmen to improve the papermaking skills of Cai Hou paper. The early Cai Hou paper was really difficult to use for writing, which was not conducive to the dissemination of knowledge.

Liu Zhang thought for a moment, and when he came to his senses, he saw Huang Wan still accompanying him. He subconsciously asked, "Madam, why haven't you gone to sleep yet?"

Huang Wan blushed, revealing the shyness of a young girl, and said, "Even if my husband doesn't want to sleep, I should accompany him. This way I will not lose my virtue as a wife."

"Oh, so that's how it is." Liu Zhang curved his brows and smiled mischievously, staring straight at Huang Wan. As he looked at her, Huang Wan's face became more and more embarrassed and her body became uneasy.

After a while, Liu Zhang stood up, took Huang Wan's hand, and the two walked into the bedroom one after the other. With a moan, the crescent moon in the sky was covered by dark clouds, as if the girl was shyly covering her face.

Day two.

Liu Zhang continued to look at the yellowed thin paper in front of him, thinking about his grand plan. At present, bamboo slips, as a carrier of knowledge, were too inefficient in spreading knowledge. If he wanted to accomplish great things, he had to use paper.

Of course, in addition to paper, printing technology is also needed, especially movable type printing, which can effectively reduce the cost of printing books, expand the scope of knowledge dissemination, allow more people to have books to read, and increase the number of sensible people.

"Let's make do with it for now." Liu Zhang picked up the thin paper in front of him, intending to reduce the cost of paper as much as possible, make a batch of cheap paper, put it on the market, and slowly promote the use of paper. At the same time, he would use official power in the shogunate to promote the use of paper until the bamboo slips were finally banned.

"Mingsir, an urgent letter from Hedong." Xun You stepped into the house and handed a letter to Liu Zhang. Liu Zhang put down the paper in his hand, took the silk letter from Xun You, spread his hands and read it. As he read the words on the silk book, his eyebrows frowned and his expression became unfriendly.

"Gao Gan is the newly appointed governor of Hedong after all. How could he do such a thing to harm the people of Hedong?" Putting down the silk book in his hand, Liu Zhang said angrily at first, and then Liu Zhang handed the silk book to Xun You and asked Xun You to read the contents.

Xun You read ten lines at a glance and soon finished reading the contents of the silk book. His face turned unhappy.

However, the silk book said that Gao Gan was blocked by Donghuan and failed to capture Donghuan after many days of attack. So Gao Gan divided his troops to collect taxes from the counties in Hedong, on the one hand to collect military supplies and on the other hand to weaken the strength of Wang Yi's side. Among them, the Xiongnu Qubei team that was lured to help Gao Gan often committed atrocities against the people. For a time, the counties in Hedong suffered from the harm of the Xiongnu.

Liu Zhang was very unhappy and even angry about the fact that high-ranking officials allowed the Huns to massacre the people of Hedong. After all, as high-ranking officials of the Han people, it was not an exaggeration to call them traitors for allowing the Huns to massacre the Han people in Hedong.

But Liu Zhang also knew that there was no so-called nationalism in the world today. At most, there was a defense between the Han and the barbarians, and the defense between the Han and the barbarians was not that strict. Most of the time, for the sake of interests, the Han and the barbarians could mix together, just like now, Gao Gan invited the Xiongnu to help him in order to capture Hedong.

"What Gao Gan wants is Hedong, but the people of Hedong are definitely not what Gao Gan wants." Xun You sighed, he guessed Gao Gan's thoughts.

"When doing great things, people are the foundation." Liu Zhang shook his head and said with deep emotion, "Even if Gao Gan gets Hedong, he can't get the people of Hedong. He is just one person. What good will the post of governor of Hedong do to him?"

"What you said is right, my lord. Gao Gan's behavior was indeed absurd and against the principles of heaven and human nature. It is not what a good man should do. As the saying goes, retribution will come true, and that person will definitely not have a good ending." Xun You echoed and at the same time predicted Gao Gan's future with foresight.

After thinking it over for a while, Liu Zhang said, "I think that after the summer harvest, no matter how the war in Hedong goes, we must use up all the grain in Guanzhong and send troops to Hedong. Even if we cannot kill Gao Gan or destroy the Xiongnu, we must bring peace to Hedong."

"Your Excellency is benevolent and virtuous." Xun You sighed and paid tribute to Liu Zhang.

Hedong.

Jia Kui, the magistrate of Jiangyi County, was filled with anger when he saw the Huns galloping back and forth on their imperial horses outside the city. This was because the Huns' horses were carrying weeping women and blood-stained property, which showed that the Huns had massacred some village.

As the magistrate of Jiangyi County, Jia Kui had the responsibility to defend the territory. However, he only had the county soldiers and the young and strong men in the county who were recruited for him to defend the city. These people were good at defending the city, but they were not allowed to go out to fight the enemy.

So Jia Kui had no choice but to bang on the battlements, feeling unhappy.

The Huns did not stay here for too long. They knew that although Jiangyi was small, it was not something that their group of inferior soldiers could take. So after showing off their might for a while, the Huns led their cavalry away.

Seeing the Huns being led away, Jia Kui, who was on the city wall of Jiangyi, did not feel relieved but sighed. He felt very unhappy as the magistrate of Jiangyi County as he could not defeat the bandits and protect the people.

"Come here, prepare the pen and ink, I want to write a calligraphy for Lord Wang." Jia Kui called out. He planned to ask Wang Yi for reinforcements to defeat the Huns and protect the country and the people.

The attendant quickly brought the pen and ink, and Jia Kui spread out a piece of silk cloth and began to write without any markings. After a short while, a letter asking for help was completed. He called a trusted person and asked him to take the letter to Anyi.

After sending the envoy away, Jia Kui stayed on the top of the city wall and continued to perform his duties, defending Jiangyi and ensuring the safety of the people in the county. Occasionally, he looked to the west, hoping to see the arrival of reinforcements.

The Xiongnu troops led by them arrived outside Donghuan City in no time, relying on their horsepower. They first rushed back to their base camp, which was the Xiongnu camp next to Yuan's main camp, unloaded women and precious belongings, and then took some looted food and silk and handed them over to Yuan's army.

As a help brought by Yuan's army, Gao Gan promised to collect taxes from the Huns for military use, and at the same time required the Huns to pay part of the collected taxes to supplement the food and supplies needed by Yuan's army.

However, the Huns were good at looting but not very good at collecting taxes. So, the Huns went out in batches, and under the orders to collect taxes, they started looting.

Gao Gan, the newly appointed governor of Hedong, turned a blind eye to the Xiongnu's behavior. In his eyes, the Xiongnu should be given some benefits for coming to help. At the same time, the Xiongnu's looting efficiency was very high, which was very good for replenishing military supplies and could eat the enemy's food more efficiently.

Guo Yuan, the commander of Hedong who came with Gao Gan, was not happy with the Xiongnu's behavior. He said to Gao Gan, "Sir, the Xiongnu have been ordered by you to confiscate food and grass from the counties of Hedong. However, wherever they pass, they are like locusts. Men are killed and women are humiliated. If this continues, I am afraid that all the people in Hedong will be wiped out."

Gao Gan heard this and said carelessly, "I already know about this matter. I have already issued a strict order to Qu Bei to restrain his men and not to do anything wrong or unjust."

"My Lord." Guo Yuan said earnestly, "Although my Lord has warned me, I have not disciplined my men. On the contrary, because my Lord's words were not solemn enough, my men and I have become even more unscrupulous."

"Oh." Gao Gan hesitated. He thought Qubei would obey his orders, but after listening to Guo Yuan's words, it seemed that Qubei did not do as he asked.

"If you don't believe it, you can go to the Xiongnu camp and take a look. The tents are filled with women and valuables," said Guo Yuan.

Hearing this, Gao Gan looked worried. After thinking for a while, he brought his personal guards to the gate of the Huns' camp without informing anyone.

When the Right Wise King of the Southern Xiongnu, Qu Bei, heard the news, he hurried to the entrance of the camp to welcome Gao Gan. He noticed that Gao Gan had an unfriendly look on his face, so he quickly put on a smile and saluted Gao Gan, in the hope that he would not hit a smiling person.

Gao Gan, however, simply ignored the humiliation and led his personal guards to search the Huns' tents. Just as Guo Yuan said, there were many women in the tents, and there were also a lot of gold, jade and other valuables.

"Qubei, I told you last time to control your troops. How could you do such things as robbing women and looting their property?" Gao Gan reprimanded Qubei.

Gao Gan regarded Qubei as nothing more than a dog or horse. Although he needed to be raised, he also had to be obedient. Otherwise, there was really no need to raise a dog or horse that did as it pleased.

(End of this chapter)