Ji Han Liu Zhang

Changan.

"When the cunning rabbit dies, the running dog is cooked; when the birds are all gone, the good bow is hidden." Liu Zhang was moved, and an incident in Hebei now reminded him of this sentence.

However, the saying "when the birds are gone, the bow is hidden; when the rabbits are dead, the dogs are cooked" is not true. After all, there are many cunning rabbits and flying birds in the world, and Yuan Shao did something like hiding the bow and cooking the dogs, which made Liu Zhang confused.

At that time, news came from Hebei that Tian Feng was not respectful and humble enough when advising Yuan Shao, and when talking to outsiders, Tian Feng often expressed indignation about the current situation. As a result, Yuan Shao, who was furious when hearing this, detained Tian Feng as he did in history.

If Yuan Shao had taken such an action when Gongsun Zan was still alive and the Black Mountain bandits were making trouble, Liu Zhang would have concluded that Yuan Shao would not have imprisoned Tian Feng, the leader of Jizhou, and would not have done such an unwise thing.

But after Gongsun Zan left, the Black Mountain bandits weakened. Now it seemed that Yuan Shao thought he was invincible, and his nature of being lenient on the outside but jealous on the inside was exposed. He even eliminated the meritorious officials, which made Liu Zhang despise Yuan Shao: "These people are scoundrels. They have not yet accomplished their achievements, but they are so arrogant and domineering. They are just making people laugh."

"Wenhe, what do you think about this matter?" Liu Zhang handed the document containing the situation in Hebei to Jia Xu.

Previously, Gan Ning and Zhang Ren were fighting against the Qiang and Di tribes, while Fa Zheng was in Hedong and Xun You was in Chang'an, so Liu Zhang sent Jia Xu to assist in military affairs and to make plans for Gan Ning and Zhang Ren. Now that Gan Ning and Zhang Ren have returned with their victory, Jia Xu, as a civil official, has returned to Chang'an after dealing with the aftermath of the war.

Jia Xu took the document and scanned it carefully. After a while, he put it down and said with a faint smile: "People say that Tian Feng is stubborn and offends his superiors. He is too straightforward and doesn't know how to yield or make tactful suggestions. I learned about this today and it is indeed true."

"But this also shows that Yuan Shao is not a wise leader." Jia Xu sneered and said, "Tian Feng, since Yuan Shao took control of Jizhou, he has followed Yuan Shao around, made suggestions, worked day and night, conquered Gongsun, and expelled Heishan. Tian Feng's contributions are great."

"But Yuan Shao threw Tian Feng into prison because of his disrespectful words. Firstly, he didn't care about Tian Feng's past merits. Secondly, it shows that he is narrow-minded and not a wise leader."

Jia Xu looked down on Yuan Shao very much. Even if Yuan Shao was dissatisfied with Tian Feng, who was a popular and meritorious follower, the best he could do was to dismiss Tian Feng from his post and let him return home. How could he put Tian Feng in prison?

And what will outsiders think of Yuan Shao after Tian Feng is imprisoned? People outside will probably think that Yuan Shao is ungrateful, mean to others, and disregards the dignity of an old minister. Not to mention outsiders, even Yuan Shao's subordinates will probably feel worried. After all, if someone like Tian Feng is easily imprisoned, what about them?

"Yes, Yuan Shao was not careful on this trip and made some mistakes." Liu Zhang nodded. A monarch can be angry, but he cannot do things that will hurt his relatives and please his enemies because of anger. Instead, he should proceed from the actual situation and weigh the pros and cons of doing or not doing something.

Just like Liu Bang, the first emperor of the Han Dynasty, he was being oppressed by Xiang Yu, and Han Xin, who was there to pacify Qi, not only did not come to rescue him, but also sent people to ask for the fake King of Qi. Naturally, Liu Bang was angry and furious.

But after Zhang Liang's suggestion, Liu Bang suppressed his anger, considered the overall situation, and simply made Han Xin the real King of Qi. This is what a true politician should have.

Yuan Shao is far inferior to Liu Bang!

After talking about the affairs of Hebei for a while, Liu Zhang praised Jia Xu and said: "Wenhe has assisted Xingba this time and righteously conquered the Qiang and Di tribes. His contribution is not small. I intend to promote you to the rank of General Ming Han and Marquis of Guannei as a reward."

Liu Zhang was generous with official positions and power for his capable and talented subordinates. He rewarded Jia Xu for participating in the expedition against the Qiang and Di tribes.

"Thank you, my lord." Jia Xu responded respectfully, and at the same time he said modestly: "During this expedition against the Qiang and Di tribes, I was just staying in the tent, preparing military supplies and making some plans... In this campaign, when the two armies were fighting, it was Generals Gan and Zhang who made the greatest contributions. "

"Xingba and Gongyi will also be rewarded. Wenhe does not need to take credit for them." Liu Zhang smiled slightly and responded to Jia Xu's humble behavior.

Jia Xu responded with a compliment: "Mingsong, those who have made contributions must be rewarded, and rewards and punishments are clear."

After a sigh of praise, Jia Xu asked, "I heard that you intend to send troops to Taiyuan County. I wonder if it is true?"

"That's true." Liu Zhang nodded. "Rather than waiting for Yuan Shao to attack, it's better to send troops first. It's better to attack than to defend. As for whether Taiyuan County can be captured or not, it's not important."

Jia Xu nodded: "What you said makes sense, it is better to attack than to defend. When defending, you have to take all aspects into consideration, but when attacking, you can focus on one place... Now it is better to conquer Taiyuan than to defend Hedong."

"I just don't know who you plan to send to Taiyuan?" Jia Xu guessed that the attack on Taiyuan County would not be a large-scale attack by a large number of troops, but only a small force. And the small force would naturally not be sent by Liu Zhang himself, but most likely a good general selected from Liu Zhang's subordinates.

In fact, Jia Xu was quite impressed by Liu Zhang's decision to let his officers take control of the military power and take charge of the affairs on their own. After all, in today's chaotic world, there were countless cases of rebellion by officers and their cronies. If a monarch had some military strategies, he would not let outsiders take charge of the military operations.

"I intend to send Gan Ning as the leader, Zhang Ren as the deputy, and Wen He and you as the chief counselors to go to Taiyuan." Liu Zhang gave his selected candidates.

Liu Zhang then added: "Gan Ning and Zhang Ren's troops have been hard at work fighting the Qiang and Di tribes, so we have decided to send out the troops in August so that the soldiers can rest and recuperate for a month, so that Gan Ning and Zhang Ren's troops will not have to fight repeatedly and their morale will be low."

"Your Excellency is kind and benevolent." Jia Xu said respectfully.

"To be honest, we need to prepare food, supplies, weapons and armor, which will take some time." Liu Zhang chuckled and brought up the real reason for sending troops a month later.

Then Liu Zhang said solemnly: "In addition, I intend to recruit 3,000 Hu cavalry from the Qiang and Di tribes in Longyou to accompany us in the expedition to Taiyuan County."

"The Qiang and Di tribes have always been rebellious and hate the government's garrison and military operations. If we deploy the Qiang and Di tribes to attack Taiyuan, I'm afraid disaster will arise." Jia Xu said worriedly.

As a native of Liangzhou, Jia Xu knew the temperament of the Qiang and Di people very well. If he offered a large sum of money to lure them, most of them would be greedy for gold, silver, and cloth and join the army to fight. However, if the government conscripted them, the Qiang and Di tribes would probably be in turmoil, and there would be a big disturbance.

"That's what I meant." Liu Zhang smiled and said something off topic: "I have ordered General Ma Chao, the Fu Bo General, and General Zhang Xiu, the Bandits Suppressing General, to lead their troops to Longyou." "So that's how it is." Jia Xu also smiled. He understood Liu Zhang's plan. The wise man in the lead was planning to eliminate another wave of Qiang and Di tribes, killing them until they were frightened and only obeyed the government in the name of the government.

Liu Zhang never had the intention to assimilate the Qiang and Di tribes that were scattered all over Longyou. After all, he didn't have the time or energy to do so. He only planned to rely on his elite soldiers and generals to kill all the powerful and rebellious people among the Qiang and Di tribes in Longyou, until none of them would dare to raise their weapons.

How did the Qing Dynasty, facing the repeated surrenders and rebellions of the Dzungars, solve the problem once and for all and make sure that the Dzungars would never cause any more trouble? It all started with the Qing Dynasty changing the name of a tribe into a place name, under the pretext of not trusting the wisdom of future generations.

Therefore, Liu Zhang tightened the rope around the necks of the Qiang and Di tribes step by step. He first instigated a wave of Qiang and Di rebellions, killed them off, and then tightened the rope a little more and killed another wave. Once they were all killed, Longyou would be peaceful and he would not have to worry about instability in the rear.

While killing the Qiang and Di people, Liu Zhang would not let go of those docile Qiang and Di tribes. He had the same idea as the Northern Wei leader Tuoba Tao when he attacked Xuyi. Those who attacked Xuyi City were foreigners such as Dingling, Qiang, Di, and Hu. He would not feel sad if they all died.

"In essence, the dead Qiang Hu are the good Qiang Hu."

……

Yecheng.

After imprisoning Tian Feng, Yuan Shao relieved his anger a little. At the same time, he became wary of the Hebei scholars under his command. After all, as an outsider entering Jizhou, he must gain the support of the Hebei scholars. In the early days, he put on an attitude of respecting the wise and recruited many Hebei scholars, all of whom held high positions.

Now it seems that the scholars in Hebei were indeed a little too flamboyant. For example, Ju Su, although he did not overly participate in the issue of the succession, he just felt that it was inappropriate for Yuan Shu to divide his sons and unify their states. However, his words and deeds seemed to favor his eldest son Yuan Tan, and he was suspected of interfering with the succession.

As for Tian Feng who is now in prison, needless to say, Yuan Shao became furious when he thought of Tian Feng's attitude. As a minister, Tian Feng showed no courtesy when giving advice. It seemed that he did not take the monarch seriously at all. His words of advice sounded like he was ordering him to act.

"Who is the ruler of Hebei? It's me, Yuan Shao." Yuan Shao heaved a sigh of relief. He forgot about Tian Feng who was imprisoned and began to look forward to the current situation in the world. He summoned a group of civil and military officials to discuss the affairs of the four directions.

Ju Su, the military inspector who was invited to sit at the table, looked at the empty seat of the deputy driver and sighed in his heart. He knew that Tian Feng was imprisoned, but he knew that Yuan Shao was angry at the time and it was inconvenient for him to advise him.

"Let's wait for some time." Ju Su thought. He planned to wait for some time until Yuan Shao's anger had subsided a little, and then he would find an opportunity to advise Yuan Shao to release Tian Feng, a native of Tongzhou, from prison.

On this side, Ju Su was thinking about how to rescue Tian Feng. On the other side, Feng Ji, who was afraid of Tian Feng's uprightness and had slandered Tian Feng to Yuan Shao, causing Tian Feng to be imprisoned, was looking at the vacant position of Jizhou Beijia and was not very happy.

After all the civil and military officials from Hebei took their seats, Yuan Shao spoke and gave the theme of this meeting: "Today's discussion is about what should we do now?" To put it clearly, Yuan Shao wanted to determine the next course of action based on the analysis of his advisers.

Today, Yuan Shao has already occupied the four states of Hebei. His apparent strength makes him the most powerful prince in the world. Now he is looking around to see where he wants to attack.

Ju Su attended and said, "My lord, Liu Zhang of Guanzhong has taken over all the land of the former Qin. Many people think he has the intention of being disloyal. We should first conquer Guanzhong."

Ju Su's words, the so-called rebellious intention is just an excuse, his real intention is that he is not very confident about Liu Zhang in Guanzhong, after all, Liu Zhang occupies Qin territory, has a good reputation as a royal family, and people from all over the world are eager to see him. Such a person is the biggest obstacle for his wise master Yuan Shao to seek the cause of hegemony.

Therefore, Ju Su advised Yuan Shao to conquer Guanzhong.

"What Ju Jun said is not true." Someone stood up to oppose Ju Su's remarks. Guo Tu said, "Liu Zhang occupies Qin territory, which is extremely difficult to capture. It is better to go south to Yanyu... Although Sikong Cao Cao claims to be welcoming the emperor, he is actually holding the emperor hostage. Such traitors should be killed first."

Although all the civil and military officials in Hebei wanted to assist Yuan Shao in achieving his goal of becoming emperor, they were still ministers of the Han Dynasty, so some things could not be said too obviously. They could not openly say that they would deal with Liu Zhang and Cao Cao, and then support Yuan Shao in becoming emperor.

Therefore, the words of Ju Shou and Tian Feng were still meant to be for the good of the Han Dynasty. They used the banner of the Han Dynasty to contribute to Yuan Shao's hegemony.

Shen Pei from Hebei stood up and said: "Cao Cao is holding the emperor hostage. If our army goes south to attack Cao Cao, it will be seen as a precautionary measure. If the emperor is injured, even if we have made contributions to the royal family, it will not be enough to atone for our sins."

Shen Pei objected, and expressed the same idea as Ju Shou: "If we allow Liu Zhang to rest and recuperate in Guanzhong, it will be even more difficult to capture him in the future. It is better to lead a large army to attack him now while he has only been in Guanzhong for a short time."

Xun Chen stood up and said, "What you said certainly makes sense, but in the past, millions of princes had to stop at Hangu Pass and could not enter Qin. Today, I heard that Liu Zhang built a city at Taolin Pass, called Tongguan, which is no different from Hangu Pass. Both are guarded by one man and ten thousand men cannot open it. Guanzhong is really difficult to capture."

"It's better to march south." Xun Chen said loudly, "Cao Cao has held the emperor hostage. Many nobles in Xudu and noble families in Runan are loyal and righteous. They don't want the emperor to be bullied by Cao Cao. They have privately submitted many letters of loyalty, saying that if your army marches south, they will raise troops in Ruying to respond."

"From Yecheng to Xudu, the terrain is accessible, without dangerous passes like Tongguan and Hanguguan, so it can be said that the journey is smooth."

Xun Chen's voice became louder: "Our army is marching south to respond to the people's wishes. Besides, Cao Cao is weak and is no match for you. Going south is safe, but going west may lead to obstacles."

There were many different opinions. Most of the civil and military officials from Hebei wanted to go west, while those who followed Yuan Shao from Henan were clamoring to go south. The two factions argued endlessly, making it difficult for Yuan Shao, who was in charge, to make a decision.

At this time, a junior officer came to report, temporarily stopping the debate between the civil and military officials: "My Lord, Governor Gao sent a message saying that the Shu army sent scouts to Taiyuan County, and it seems that they are planning to take control of Taiyuan County."

"Huh?" Yuan Shao laughed in anger: "Liu Jiyu is really arrogant." (End of this chapter)