Ji Han Da Sima

Chapter 535: Laying a solid foundation
The crisis faced by Shang Yu was not only felt by Huo Jun and Jiang Jin, but also by Zhuge Liang, who lived in Wuhan.

After sorting out the detailed information on Shangluo County, Zhuge Liang discussed with his officials the geographical structure of Shangyu. Zhuge Liang, who felt bad, immediately went to the palace to see Liu Bei.

At that moment, Liu Bei heard Zhuge Liang's request for an audience. As he was about to leave the palace, he met Empress Mi who was looking for him.

Liu Bei stopped and asked, "What's important, madam?"

Empress Mi showed a sad look and said: "Your Majesty, I have been away from home for twenty years since I married your Majesty. Now I heard that Qu County has been taken over by my big man. I wonder if your Majesty can allow me to bring my family back home to worship my ancestors. To relieve my concubine’s long-term homesickness.”

Liu Bei hesitated for a while and said: "The East China Sea has been conquered for the first time, and my wife has returned to her hometown to worship her ancestors. I'm afraid there will be disturbances by bandits."

Empress Mi held Liu Bei's hand and begged: "Huo Du is so famous that he sent troops to escort him. Why should we fear a mere riot?"

When Liu Bei saw Empress Mi's pitiful expression, his heart suddenly softened and he said, "It is absolutely necessary for Madam to lead her people back home to worship their ancestors. Please allow me to inform Zhongmiao via letter. She will make all arrangements before she can return home." Worship the ancestors.”

Empress Mi immediately laughed and saluted and said, "Thank you, Your Majesty. Zifang has served in Nanzhong for many years. He is getting older this year and his legs and feet are becoming more and more inconvenient. Can he be recruited back to the capital for his retirement?"

"Zifang?"

Liu Bei invited Zhuge Liang to sit down and asked, "Kong Ming, what's the urgent matter?"

Freezing river water is no joke. Not all rivers are ice-free like the Yangtze River. In fact, when the Huaihe and Huanghe rivers flow through certain sections, the rivers will freeze due to cold weather, making it difficult to navigate.

Liu Bei opened the memorial and said: "I have left arrangements. If the bandits attack, I will order Feng'er to guard Shangluo and occupy Wuguan. Generals Lu Meng and Liao Hua will go up Danshui and rush to the aid of Shangluo County. Shang Yu Dizhai There are many mountains and it is not suitable for a large army to fight. The bandits will not be able to hold on for a long time, so they have to withdraw and return home. "

Zhuge Liang motioned Liu Bei to look outside the palace and said: "Your Majesty, the leader of our army can only rely on the river water. In the depth of winter, the water is shallow, dry and frozen, and ships cannot move. If I want to save Shangluo, I can only save the river. When the water moves, the thieves attack with cavalry and cut off our food routes, and the reinforcements will be defeated."

Liu Bei hesitated a little and said: "Since Zifang became the governor, he has been able to harmonize with the barbarians. He is light on wealth and loves justice, which has won the hearts of the natives. If he is recruited back to the capital now, it may harm the national affairs."

Of course, more importantly, is it necessary for Shang Yuzhi to let Nan Han pour so much effort into him?

"Thank you, Your Majesty!"

Without a comprehensive grasp of the Nanyang Basin, Shangluo and Jianghan are only connected through Danshui. Once the elixir water is not enough to support the boat, Shangluo will be trapped in an environment of being outnumbered and outnumbered, unless the Southern Han Dynasty abandons water transportation and goes directly to the rescue on foot.

If they advance on foot, Cao Wei will use the cavalry he is good at to ambush the Han army on the way in, and implement the strategy of encircling the point for reinforcements, easily defeating the Han army.

After walking a hundred steps, Liu Bei turned into the main hall and saw Zhuge Liang waiting.

Of course, if they don't want to lose Shangluo County, the Southern Han Dynasty will have to recruit a large army again to compete with Cao Wei for Shangluo County. Facing the Southern Han army, Cao Wei could withdraw his troops and not confront Liu Bei. After Liu Bei led his army back to Wuhan, he sent troops to fight for the land of Shangyu. After going back and forth, the Southern Han army must be exhausted.

"If Your Majesty sends out heavy troops to fight with them, the thieves will scatter and retreat. If Your Majesty leaves Shangluo, the thieves will come back. If the water is shallow, they will advance, but if there is plenty of water, they will retreat. The heavy troops will be in vain, and our army will be exhausted!" "

Afraid of keeping Zhuge Liang waiting, Liu Bei walked forward and said, "Let me think about it for a few days and I will tell you to my wife."

Answer: No need!

"Your Majesty, Liang and other ministers have studied the geography of Shangluo in depth, and they believe that your Majesty should command Xishe to suppress the land where merchants are located, and move the people in the county to Hannan and Xiangyang counties to avoid being defeated by thieves and losing their land and people." General Zhuge Liang The memorial was presented and said.

Therefore, Zhuge Liang and Huo Jun had the same idea. It was better to abandon Shangluo County and move the people from the place where merchants were trading to the Han River.

If Shang Yu had a military fortress like Xiangfan, the Southern Han Dynasty would fight for it with all its strength. But it is a pity that Shang Yu is just a leftover from the Nanyang Basin. If Wancheng can be captured, Shang Yu's close relationship with the Nanyang Basin can be easily captured.

Liu Bei hesitated and said, "It would be a pity to leave the city and move the people south before the Wei people come to attack!"

"otherwise!"

Zhuge Liang stroked his feather fan gently and said in a deep voice: "The sage said that a gentleman should not stand under a dangerous wall. Living in a dangerous place will be dangerous, and living in a safe place will be safe. Soldiers have to observe the mountains and rivers topography, which is related to success or failure." Shi said again "The one with more temples will win, the one with fewer temples will be defeated." "Shang is located in a land of 600 miles. The people are few and the soldiers are not enough. We set up a bandit to attack Shang with 10,000 people, and 30,000 people arrived." In Xiangyang, 20,000 people are lying in ambush in Danshui. I would like to ask, how can we save them?"

Liu Bei's brows gradually relaxed, and he had to say that Zhuge Liang was very correct.

“Tasteless~”

Liu Bei sighed leisurely and said: "Kong Ming is not only good at government, but also knows military affairs. Business is like chicken ribs. It is tasteless and it is a pity to lose it."

As soon as he finished speaking, the attendant quickly walked into the hall and said: "Your Majesty, Guangling is eight hundred miles away and urgent!"

Liu Bei opened the wooden box and saw that the letter contained Huo Jun's suggestion to give up Shang Yu. He couldn't help but hand it to Kong Ming and exclaimed: "Kong Ming and Zhong Miao saw the same thing!"

"It is rare in the world for Governor Huo to worry about state affairs even though he is more than a thousand miles away!" Zhuge Liang praised.

Seeing that the two civil and military officials under his command suggested that he abandon Shangluo, Liu Bei did not hesitate and ordered: "Come here, write to General Zhenxi, saying that people and land should be preserved first and then the land. Now the merchants are in Guxuan Hanbei, Let the people of Shang Dynasty move to Hanshui and Kewan City quickly, and Shang Yu will be easy again!"

"promise!"

The attendant was ordered to go down and write a letter for Liu Bei.

"correct!"

Liu Bei remembered something and asked: "Zhongmiao wanted to make the old people of the Jianghuai River return to the Jianghuai River. The princes thought that the Jianghuai River was close to border affairs and was often subject to military chaos. It would be difficult to return to the land and there was a risk of losing the people and the land. I don't know what Kong Ming thought. how?"

Zhuge Liang frowned and thought, and said: "There are pros and cons to moving or not to move. Those who don't move want to make the people happy and provide food and taxes to help His Majesty's Northern Expedition; those who move, in addition to the Huai people's homesickness, also I have the desire to enter China.”

"Since the emergence of the Huaihe River, due to wars and massacres in the Si and Yi rivers, not even one out of ten people has survived. Your Majesty wants to order Huo Du to seize the entire land. Since there are not many people in the Jianghuai River, there will not be enough people to serve as corvees; if there are not enough corvees, there will be no food and grass." There is a risk of scarcity. For China’s long-term plan, it is time for the people in Jianghuai to return home and lay a solid foundation.”

The reason why Huo Jun proposed to revive Jianghuai on a large scale was that he actually saw the shortcomings of the Qingxu Northern Expedition. The situation at the end of the Han Dynasty was different from that of the Eastern Jin Dynasty and the end of the Yuan Dynasty.

The reason why Liu Yu was able to go to Qingzhou, apart from the broken north, was actually related to the Eastern Jin Dynasty's long-term business strategy in Jianghuai. The Eastern Jin Dynasty defeated Fu Jian in Feishui, but the foundation of the Jianghuai River remained. At that time, Liu Yu set out from Xiapi and relied on the stable Jianghuai River, so he could go straight to Qingzhou.

In the late Yuan Dynasty, although the Yellow River occupied the Huaihe River, the land in the Jianghuai River became saline and alkaline, resulting in the weakening of the Yangtze River and Huaihe River. But don’t forget that because the Yellow River captured the Huaihe River, the Yuan Dynasty built the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal.

Xu Daneng swept across the north and wiped out the Yuan Dynasty. In addition to Xu Da's bravery and good fighting skills, there is also the reason for the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal. Food and grass from the south of the Yangtze River can be continuously transported to the frontline army through the Grand Canal, thus ensuring that the Northern Expedition army will not be short of food.

Today Huo Jun once again calls for the large-scale development of Jianghuai, because the current Jianghuai can no longer limit itself to self-protection, but must look forward to Qingzhou. Under such circumstances, Huo Jun must consider his own logistics.

When the time comes that he retreats due to lack of food, he will be considered defeated even if he does not fail. People in this world only look at the results of battles and will not pity you for your failure.

Liu Bei pondered for a while and said: "I want to give Zhong Miao a memorial, but I don't know what Kong Ming's opinion is?"

"Your Majesty, I think it's feasible!"

Zhuge Liang cupped his hands and said: "Many people in the world have no foresight and retreat when they are afraid of difficulties. In order to restore the Central Plains, Huo Du started from the east of the lower reaches of the Yangtze River and recruited tens of thousands of elite soldiers from a thousand men. He spent more than ten years in desolate Anhui City and fought hard, and expanded to six counties. , Even if Wu Qi comes back to the world, Gai will not be able to do it. Now he is ordered to go through the Yangtze and Huaihe Rivers, and your majesty should trust him. "

Zhuge Liang is really not exaggerating Huo Jun's achievements. Since Liu Bei went to Jiangdong, he has hardly given Huo Jun any special help. Only when the war was urgent, troops and horses were sent to support, but the military power was subsequently withdrawn.

In the early days, the soldiers under Huo Jun's tent were mainly members of the Huo and Gao clans. Later, they recruited miners and then water thieves to build the army, and gradually developed to the current 30,000 elite soldiers.

As for the territory, Huo Jun started with an abandoned Anhui city. After dozens of large and small battles, he conquered the west and the north, helping the Southern Han Dynasty conquer half of the country. He also had to unite the Central Plains, manage the Yangtze and Huaihe Rivers, and expand the territory of six counties.

"good!"

(End of this chapter)