Ji Han Da Sima

Chapter 546 Unprecedented since ancient times
In the fourth year of Zhang Wu's reign, in the seventh month of autumn.

At the court meeting, Cao Pi wore a royal robe, sat on the couch, and asked everyone: "My lords, what can be done about the locust plague in Jizhou?"

During the Little Ice Age, things were not going well for China. Fortunately, when the Han Dynasty was founded in Wu and Chu, the only disasters it worried about were floods and sea intrusion, as well as locust plagues. Wei is located in the north. It is not only harmed by the Yellow River, but also suffers from drought. Snow disasters and locust plagues also occur from time to time.

Nowadays, the Han Dynasty is in a period of vigorous development with light corvee and low taxation. The important area of ​​Hebei in the Northern Wei Dynasty was actually besieged by a locust plague, which was now serious enough to require Cao Pi to intervene in politics.

"Your Majesty, Jizhou is the cornerstone of our country. Today there is a huge locust attack in Jizhou and the people are suffering from severe hunger. We must save them. Please send your envoys to the north to open warehouses to provide relief to the people!"

Xinpi came out with a wat board and replied: "Your Majesty's plan to move the scholars from Hebei to the south is impossible because the people have no food, so it should be stopped."

Most of the household registrations under Cao Wei's name are concentrated in Jizhou, Yanzhou, Yuzhou, and Sili areas. Among them, the Jizhou area, under Cao Cao's management for more than ten years, migrated people from all over, and the household registration reached more than 400,000 households.

Because of the presence of Runan and Yingchuan, Yuzhou has more than 100,000 registered households; although Yanzhou is located in the area of ​​the Four Wars in the Central Plains, it is the place where Cao Cao made his fortune, and has more than 100,000 registered households; Sili's Hedong, Needless to say, Hanoi is second only to Jizhou in terms of the number of household registrations in other counties.

As the Northern Expedition of the Han Dynasty continued to achieve results, the Northern Wei Dynasty suffered defeats all year round, and many areas in Henan suffered blows. Therefore, in order to strengthen Henan's military strength and prepare for the future southern expedition, Cao Pi wanted to move 100,000 scholar families to Jizhou to consolidate Yan, Si, Qing and other Henan states.

"The locust disaster in Jizhou has what connection does it have with the migration of scholars and people to the south?"

Xin Pi was not afraid, and held up his hands and said: "Although the water thieves continued their northern expedition, they captured Xiangfan and expanded to Xuhuai, but they gained too much wasteland and lost their people. Huo Jun wanted to consolidate the rivers and Huaihe, and ordered the Huai people to return home. One is declining, the other is increasing. This is It consumes the national power of thieves.”

Hearing this, Cao Pi frowned and said in a deep voice: "Now we should not only provide relief to the victims, but also move the scholar households southward to consolidate Henan."

If we don't march south now, but just defend, we are afraid that Huo Jun will attack his hometown Qiaojun. Is there any reason for a country in heaven to only receive beatings but not to fight?

Under Xin Pi's righteous words, even though Cao Pi was angry, it was hard to get angry. Immediately, he angrily threw up his sleeves and left the court.

When Cao Pi saw the objections of the ministers, his face darkened and he said: "Henan is empty now and there are not many troops. It may be difficult to resist the water thieves. If we don't move now, then when will we wait? Is it possible that I am doing something wrong now?"

Cao Pi was very angry that his subordinates could not understand his painstaking efforts. He calls the Central Plains Kingdom every day and despises the people in the south as water thieves. But the reality is that the Central Plains is in decline, and the population of the present state is not as high as the households in the former county, so it allows itself to close the country for self-cultivation and prevents itself from conquering the south.

Cao Pi was ashamed and annoyed when he saw Xin Pi tugging on his sleeve and not letting him go. Then he pulled his sleeve back hard and walked straight into the harem.

Seeing that Cao Pi was angry, no one dared to say more. Only Xinpi argued with reason and said: "Your Majesty does not think that the minister is incompetent, so he puts him in a high position and appoints him as an official who is close to the ministers. When there are state affairs, how can you not discuss it with me?" talk over?"

Liu Ye asked helplessly: "How to deal with the locust plague in Jizhou?"

"What I said to Your Majesty is not His Majesty's private matter, but is actually the concern of the country. An Neng can vent his anger on me!"

"You~"

Seeing that Cao Pi was still preparing to forcibly move the people south, Sun Quan couldn't help but persuade him: "Your Majesty, there is a severe famine in Jizhou today and the people have nothing to eat. If you move south to Henan, you will lose the support of the people. A hundred thousand households will not have less than 400,000 or 500,000 people." Everyone, if you move to your hometown, half of the people will be killed for the sake of national affairs. I think your majesty cannot do this."

"I sincerely thought there was a mistake!"

As Sima Yi said, Cao Pi, who had been sulky for a long time, returned to the palace.

Xin Pi strode forward, grabbed Cao Pi's sleeve, and said loudly: "The major events are undecided today. How can your Majesty leave the court alone?"

"How dare Xinzuo Public Security do this?"

Cao Pi got up and got angry and said, "You don't need to say anything about the move of the scholar family to the south. I am not discussing it with you!"

"Wait a moment, Your Majesty has not asked the ministers to retreat, so you may not be able to return to the court at any time." Sima Yi said.

Seeing Cao Pi returning to the palace angrily, all the ministers looked at each other.

Sima Yi spoke earnestly and said: "Your Majesty, there are many military affairs in Henan, and it is not wise to put the people in danger. It is better to relieve Jizhou first, then see how the military situation is, and then discuss the matter of relocating the people."

"Now the thieves can't go north to Pi, not because they are unable to go north, but because they are really afraid of the strong city of Shouchun. Your Majesty sent good generals to guard it, which is enough to curb the thieves' northern expedition. Why do you need to move the people south to Henan?"

Cao Pi, whose anger had subsided a little, refused to give up and asked Xin Pi face to face: "Why did Saoji push me so hard?"

Xinpi held the wat board and bowed his waist, and said sincerely: "It is not that I am pressing your majesty to be anxious, but that your majesty is pressing the people to be anxious. After the battle of Hanzhong, the late emperor felt deeply that the world was in decline and it was difficult to get rid of water thieves, so he issued an edict to rest and recuperate. If you do light corvee and don’t pay enough, the world will be happy for a while.”

"Today, at the end of the war, there is a huge locust attack in Jizhou and the people are hungry. Your Majesty moved one hundred thousand soldiers southward and left the people without food. This is an act that is harmful to the people. I am afraid that your Majesty will lose the support of the people for this reason."

"Your Majesty, please be careful!" Sun Quan, Sima Yi, Liu Ye and others said in unison.

Under the unanimous opposition of all the ministers, Cao Pi no longer insisted on his own opinion, and softened his tone, saying: "I and the ministers each took a step back, and the number of households to be moved was halved. We moved 50,000 households to Henan, and chose a place with luxuriant paddy fields. . As for the locust plague in Jizhou, I sent a special servant to shoot Du Jijie to open the warehouse to ward it off. "

"promise!"

Seeing that Cao Pi had given in, the ministers were reluctant to say anything.

The atmosphere relaxed a lot, and Cao Pi asked, "Do you have anything important to report?"

"Your Majesty, Qingzhou is often harassed by water thieves, and the people are plundered by thieves. The governor Cheng Xi couldn't stop it, and his report was suspected of soldiers sent by Huo Jun to attack the border. The Jianghuai River under Huo Jun's rule is connected to the sea in the east and Shouchun in the west. It was not Cao Zhengzheng in the east. If one person can control it, Your Majesty should choose a general to guard Qingxu," Sun Zi said. Since Huo Jun formulated the policy of harassing Qingzhou at the beginning of the year and asked Guan Chengzhong to return to his old business, the Qingzhou seaside, which had been peaceful for many years, has once again fallen into turmoil. Qingzhou soldiers and horses are mostly helpless against the water thieves who occupy the island. The people along the coast were either dispersed and moved inland due to military turmoil; or they were persuaded by others to go south to the Jianghuai River.

Now in order to curb Huo Jun's development in the east, it is necessary to open a war zone in Qidi to cooperate with Cao Xiu who is in Shouchun.

Qingxuzhou is a Qi land, which can be said to be equally important as Guanzhong. Anyone who is in charge of the Qingxu Military Region cannot be appointed unless he is a member of the clan. Looking at the current clan, the only person who can be trusted by Cao Pi is Xia Houshang, the general of Zhengnan.

Cao Pi pondered for a while and said: "General Zhengnan has made great achievements in the attack on Luoduo. Now he can be moved to Langya Kaiyang to supervise the military affairs of Qingxu and Xuzhou. Wang Ling, the governor of Yanzhou, and Jia Kui, the governor of Yuzhou, each conduct military affairs and work together to prevent the thieves. "

After a pause, Cao Pi looked at Sima Yi and asked: "If you march to the south, General Dongzhen, there will be no general in charge of Wancheng. I want to entrust you to strengthen the town of Wancheng and manage the military affairs of Jingzhou. Why?"

Sima Yi said in a deep voice: "The country is in trouble today, how dare I not accept the order and join the expedition!"

Thinking that the power of the Southern Han Dynasty had penetrated deep into the Central Plains, Cao Pi looked around at the crowd and asked: "In the past, Huo Jun took advantage of our army's march to the west to defeat our army and captured Pi with a trick. Now in order to regain the old land, I want to send out a large army. How about the Southern Expedition?"

"Your Majesty wants to conquer Xiapi in the south, and I think it's feasible!"

Xin Pi came out again, raised his hands and said: "However, the water thieves are prosperous and the people are safe. Our country has been devastated by the locust plague. Now that your majesty is hastily marching south, it may be difficult to achieve a great victory. Therefore, in my opinion, it is better for your majesty to postpone the use of troops."

Cao Pi looked at Sima Yi and Liu Ye and asked, "Is it okay to attack Xia Pi?"

Liu Ye pondered for a long time and said: "I heard that Huo Jun moved the people of Xiapi to Huainan. It can be seen that the thieves have no intention of defending Xiapi. Now your Majesty wants to send troops to march south. If our army is large, I am afraid that the thieves will abandon Xiapi and avoid fighting in Huainan; if Our army is small, and if the thieves send reinforcements to Sishui to rescue them, they may be unable to defeat them at Pi."

Xia Pi was tortured by Huo Jun, which made Cao Wei sick. As Liu Ye said, if Cao Wei sent hundreds of thousands of troops to besiege Xiapi, Huo Jun would abandon Xiapi and retreat to Huainan. After Cao Wei's troops retreat, Huo Jun may send out troops to recapture it.

In other words, if the Wei army has fewer soldiers, it will not be able to capture the city; if there are more soldiers, the Han army may avoid fighting. Therefore, without dealing with Huo Jun who is entrenched in Huainan, just taking Pi is of little significance.

Cao Pi stroked his beard and said nothing, he had gradually made plans for the southern expedition.

The army could only conquer Xiapi City, so its significance is not high, and it might be captured again. If we can cross the Huaihe River and defeat Zhongli, Huaiyin and other cities, then Xiapi will surrender without a fight, even if we cannot completely occupy Jianghuai. But it is not impossible to suppress the rebels in the cities north of the Yangtze River.

"good!"

Cao Pi ordered: "After ordering Du Ji to pacify Jizhou, he and Shangshu Lang Zhuge Dan built a royal boat together."

"promise!"

"Your Majesty, there is still a way to go down to Pigu and leave the Huai River, raise an army to besiege and defend it. If your Majesty wants to mobilize a large army to conquer Huainan, I cannot agree with you."

Xin Pi objected again and said: "The people of Wu and Chu are in danger and difficult to control. Today's military troubles are unprecedented in China. Now that your Majesty has both the sea and the sea, how can those who are disobedient survive for a long time?"

"In the past, Wei Tuo was proclaimed emperor, and Gongsun Su was given the title. He did not have a long history, and some of his ministers were sometimes executed. What does it mean? It means that disobedient thieves cannot be punished for a long time."

"In the past, the late emperor was almost invincible in the world, and he repeatedly raised powerful troops, but he was approaching the river. Now the six armies are no better than the enemy, and they are going back to the old ways. It may be difficult to win. The soldier said, "Fumiao will calculate and then send out the army, but it is still a matter of time." I'm afraid, how can we conquer Huainan if the temple is not enough?"

"Looking for today's plan based on the opinions of the ministers. The best policy is to follow the emperor's legacy, use Fan Li's method to support the people, and emulate Guan Zhong's good governance, just like the old policy of Zhao Chongguo's farming. After more than ten years, the strong elders are not old, and the children are young. Now that it’s done, if we mobilize all our troops and march to Wu and Chu, we will definitely be able to sweep away the barbarian invaders.”

Seeing that Xin Pi repeatedly ruined his ideas, Cao Pi became increasingly angry. I shout the late emperor's edict every day, I have already slept with his woman, why should I follow the rules now?

Cao Pi asked with a cold face, "If we don't get rid of the thief now, will we keep the thief behind?"

Xin Pi faced Cao Pi's gaze and said calmly: "Why did King Wen of the Zhou Dynasty leave King Wu with Zhou? It was because he knew that although Shang was about to perish, his strength would remain. The current situation is unfavorable, so why not endure it for a while? "

"In the past, Bai Qi conquered all the heroes and fought against Lian Po in Changping. Po was in danger and defended it. If he did not fight with him, Qin would not be able to gain an inch of land. If it were not for Zhao Kuo, Shangdang would belong to Zhao. How could there be a defeat at Changping?"

"Han Xin's troops broke through Hedong and fought with Chen Yu at Linjingxing. Li Zuoche knew the enemy's strength and offered his plan to guard the enemy. Yu refused to listen, so he was defeated by Sang River. If Zuoche's strategy is repeated, can Han Xin'an take Zhao?"

"Huo Jungai had Han Bai's ability and almost swept across the east and west. The late emperor also defeated him. Later, the late emperor knew his ability and stood firm in Shouchun to contain the Yangtze River and Huaihe River. Shouchun city is large, with a capacity of more than 100,000 people. It has the Central Plains at its back and can store grain for more than a year. Although it is not a natural chasm, it is a natural chasm.”

"Huo Jun is not destined to live long, and we should wait for his death. Jianghuai is separated from Wuhan, so there will be frequent riots. China's population is growing, and enemy countries are changing and causing chaos. Why worry about not being able to quell the southern thieves?"

Listening to Xin Pi's long speech, although Cao Pi was angry, he also sighed and said nothing.

After a while, Cao Pi stood up from the couch and said in a deep voice: "I have made my decision, no need to say more. Build boats and boats, strengthen troops and horses, and wait for the southern expedition."

"Hey~"

Seeing that Cao Pi didn't listen to what he said, Xin Bichang exhaled and shook his head at Sun Quan. Sun Quan responded with a wry smile. He didn't know how to evaluate Cao Pi's insistence.

Seeing that Cao Pi was about to leave the palace and withdraw the proposal, the attendant hurriedly said: "Your Majesty, Ma Chao has come forward to ask for peace, and will soon send Jiang Ji to visit the capital."

"Choose a treat for him!"

"promise!"

(End of this chapter)