Ji Han Da Sima

Chapter 605: The Sword and the Shoes Are Not Trending
AD 225, the first year of Jianxing, March.

The war between Han and Wei involved Jianghan and Huaisi and dozens of counties, and finally ended with Cao Pi withdrawing his troops. The content of the second half will be dominated by the Southern Han Dynasty, entering the Battle of Shouchun where the Han Dynasty attacked the Wei defender.

The results of the Zhongli Battle came from Huaisi and were sent to the capital Wuhan under the communication of the scouts.

In the palace in Wuhan, Liu Chan and Guan Xing were playing Go, and several attendants gathered around them to watch the game.

"Your Majesty, this is the moment~"

Zhuge Ke, who had just returned from Danyang, saw Liu Chan playing the wrong chess piece, pointed at the chessboard and corrected him.

Liu Chan glanced at Zhuge Ke, chose to listen to Zhuge Ke's words, and placed the white piece on the chessboard.

Guan Xing saw that Zhuge Ke had seen through his intentions and complained: "Watching the chess without saying a word, Yuan Xun should be regarded as a gentleman!"

Zhuge Ke said with a flattering smile: "You are on the couch, how dare you call yourself king!"

As soon as he said this, Guan Xing curled his lips with a slightly disgusted expression, but due to Zhuge Ke's status, he couldn't say much.

Liu Chan pointed at Zhuge Ke and said: "You have great talent. I will leave the chessboard to you. I must kill Guan Jun on my behalf and leave no trace behind."

"promise!"

Liu Chan knocked on the chessboard to remind Guan Xing to play chess.

Seeing that Liu Chan had made up his mind, Zhuge Ke did not delay, so he played against Guan Xing on Liu Chan's behalf. Liu Chan chatted with everyone in the hall, telling jokes among young people.

Liu Chan glanced sideways at Zhuge Ke and said with a smile: "It seems that Yuan Xun's chess skills are worse than mine, why not let Yuan Xun hold the piece for me in this game!"

Guan Xing held the black piece and dropped it, and then asked Liu Chan to drop the piece.

"hehe!"

The attendant handed over the letter and said: "Your Majesty, Governor Pang led his boats out of the water and attacked the Shaoyangzhou Floating Bridge with chariots and boats. At that time, the land, chariots and cavalry raised their troops to counterattack, and the Shaoyangzhou Floating Bridge was destroyed. The Wei army was divided into three groups."

"No need!"

Zhuge Ke knew he was being rude, so he smiled and said: "Your Majesty is the king, and Ke is his subject. Your Majesty holds the chess piece, and I share your worries with you. How dare you hold the piece for your Majesty and play chess with Mr. Guan now!"

Hearing this, Liu Chan couldn't help but look overjoyed and asked, "But Father Zhong led his troops to defeat Cao Pi?"

At the same time, the attendants walked into the hall and said: "Your Majesty, a great victory over Jianghuai!"

Although Guan Xing never practiced martial arts with Guan Yu, his personality was somewhat like that of Guan Yu. Although he has great wisdom, he has an upright temperament. With little experience in world affairs, he is easily encouraged by others and looks down on flattery. Zhuge Ke may be joking now, but Guan Xing is confused.

"I have other things to do. Who is willing to play chess with Guan Qing on my behalf?"

Liu Chan was just raising his chess pieces to think, but he saw Zhuge Ke pointing down at the chessboard and saying, "Your Majesty, this move will choke the black dragon!"

"It's time to get to Guan Qing!"

"Exactly!"

With that said, Liu Chan gave up his seat and handed Bai Zi into Zhuge Ke's hands.

"Your Majesty, it would be better to settle today's game with a draw!" Guan Xing said.

"Great victory!"

Liu Chan laughed a few times. Although he recognized Zhuge Ke's words, he lost the fun of playing chess.

"Then Governor Pang stayed at Zhongli and surrendered 10,000 Wei troops to Zhouzhu. Lu Cheqi led his troops to the west to seize dangerous strategic points such as Xiashi and Jitou. Grand Sima defeated Cao Xiu in the Luojian River and used water to replace the troops, cutting off the route for the defeated soldiers to survive. , Xia Houru, Zang Ba, Yan Lu and other generals surrendered."

"At this time, Governor Pang is occupying Rukou, and land, chariots and cavalry are guarding Yingkou. Da Sima led his troops to surround Shouchun. Cao Pi left Man Chong and Cao Hong outside and led the remaining troops back to the capital."

"In this battle, our army beheaded 5,221 people and surrendered 53,536 enemy soldiers. We captured 8,467 armors and 13,500 bows and crossbows. More than 580,000 pieces of grain and 7,322 oxen and carriages were obtained, as well as countless baggage. The result was not inferior to that of the Battle of Chrysostom!"

In the Battle of Jinkou eighteen years ago and the Battle of Zhongli today, Huo Jun made full use of the river, using the river water to cut the Wei army, and then annihilated and swallowed them one by one. Therefore, its victory is more about capturing the enemy than causing damage to the enemy.

Of course, there is another point. Compared with Huo Jun of eighteen years ago, Huo Jun's military skills have improved a lot, and he can allocate military power more rationally. But what remains unchanged is the rapidity with which the general offensive was launched.

"color!"

When he heard about the great victory, Liu Chan was so happy that he almost jumped up from the couch and laughed and said: "In the past, the late emperor won the battle of Chrysostom and finally had the southern land. Now I have the victory of Zhongli, but I don't know if I can return to the old capital." !”

"Why not!"

Zhuge Qiao was overjoyed and said: "Now Da Sima has led a heavy army to besiege Shouchun. If Shouchun is defeated, Henan will be under our attack. If we can defeat the Wei army again, why worry about not being able to recover the Yan and Yu states?"

"Yes!"

Liu Chan paced around, sighing with emotion, and said: "Now we are just short of regaining Shouchun!"

While speaking, Liu Chan seemed to have remembered something and asked, "Did my father-in-law ever know about this great victory?"

"know!"

The attendant said: "When I entered the palace, the prime minister and the ministers were celebrating the great victory."

"Let the prime minister come to the palace!" Liu Chan ordered.

"promise!"

After the attendants left, Liu Chan looked at Huo Yi and said with a smile, "Now that Father Zhong has made great achievements, I don't know what unfinished business he has left?"

Huo Yi thought carefully about his words and said: "In this battle of Zhongli, there are many outstanding meritorious deeds. Dudu Pang has the merit of breaking the bridge, the land chariot and cavalry have the merit of defending the enemy, and General Xu has the merit of defending the city. My father is sitting in the center, and he has won Your Majesty's kindness. In view of Yi's opinion, it is appropriate to re-conquer him as a general."

"Mr. Bo, we have separated!"

Liu Chan was a little dissatisfied and said: "You and I have known each other since childhood, so why bother with polite words. Not only the commander-in-chief needs to be rewarded now, but the rest of the generals are also rewarded!" "Just tell the truth!"

Huo Yi smiled bitterly and said: "Your Majesty, my father has become a great minister. If I am too honored now, I may lose my courtesy. If I do not reward him, I am afraid that there will be speculation and gossip in the court and the public. Therefore, Your Majesty should use the scale. Discuss with Ge Xiang."

Huo Yi and Liu Chan have been playing together since childhood, and there are almost no secrets between them. Liu Chan understood Huo Yi's personality, and Huo Yi understood Liu Chan's character.

Liu Chan thought for a while and said, "Bo Xian's words are deeply appreciated by me. Now I will wait for the prime minister to enter the palace."

"promise!"

After Huo Jun left Wuhan, about ten days later, Zhuge Liang, who had defeated the Western Territory, returned to the capital with his troops.

This time when he entered Shu, Zhuge Liang conquered and appeased the people, promoted many talented people, and changed many bad policies in Bashu.

For example, when Zhuge Liang arrived in Chengdu, he saw that the flow path of Dujiangyan was reduced and there was a lack of professional maintenance teams. Zhuge Liang sent people to dredge Dujiangyan, and then sent soldiers to maintain Dujiangyan.

While in Chengdu, Zhuge Liang made innovative adjustments to the government-run Shu brocade and optimized the production efficiency of Shu brocade.

When Zhuge Liang was conquering the five counties in Nanzhong, he had plenty of time. After killing Gaoding, he sent Wang Ping to specifically attack Yuexun County. Then he attacked Yizhou County, and with the cooperation of Li Yan, Yong Kai was eliminated and Meng Huo was surrendered. As for Zoke County, the prefect Ma Zhong led his troops to conquer and kill Zhu Bao's rebels.

After initially pacifying Nanzhong, Zhuge Liang had in-depth exchanges with Meng Huo, Li Hui and others about Nanzhong. Zhuge Liang gave up Li Yan's suggestion of sending troops to guard Nanzhong for a long time, and instead decided to station Nanzhong without leaving any troops.

During his stay in Dianchi Lake, Zhuge Liang divided the five counties of Nanzhong into seven counties according to what Huo Jun discussed with him, changed Yizhou County to Jianning County, and separated Xingchang County from the three counties of Yongchang, Yuexun and Zangke. The two counties of Gu and Yunnan, totaling seven counties, were designated as Ningzhou.

During this period, it happened that Sun Shao, the minister of minister, suddenly died of a serious illness. Zhuge Liang promoted Li Yan to serve as minister of minister. Li Hui was appointed governor of Ningzhou and general of Fuyi, with the same power as Lu Dai.

The governor of Ningzhou was from Nanzhong, and the prefects, chief administrators, and officials of the seven counties under his rule were all Western native scholars. Although the division of cakes in Nanzhong was a remote and wild place, it greatly satisfied the political needs of the Western Tushi people.

After appointing hundreds of officials of all sizes in Nanzhong one by one, Zhuge Liang, with the help of Meng Huo, summoned the barbarian leaders from Ningzhou in Dianchi Lake, made an oath on stone, assigned official positions, and agreed on each other's functions.

Zhuge Liang promised the barbarians that he would teach them advanced Han technologies such as textiles, farming, and breeding, but they must promise to submit to the Han and turn in a small amount of items to the government every year as proof of allegiance.

After convening the barbarian conference, Zhuge Liang, with the help of Li Hui, then summoned the powerful Han people in Nanzhong. Zhuge Liang used the relationship between Han and barbarians to persuade the Han people to spend money to hire evil barbarians as his troops, and then said that he would allocate official positions in the army based on the number of troops they hired.

In addition, in order to ensure the surrender of the powerful Han people, Zhuge Liang will maintain Mi Fang's old business policy. The governors of each county will come forward to organize caravans to go to Chengdu, Wuhan, Jiangling and other cities.

The powerful Han people were overjoyed and swore allegiance to Zhuge Liang to the Han Dynasty and would pay taxes on time. Then they spent huge sums of money to hire bad guys from the mountains and rivers to serve as his tribe.

After Zhuge Liang's manipulation, Jiao, Yong, Lou, Cuan, Meng, Liang, Mao, Li and other powerful Han people, large and small, hired nearly ten thousand barbarians to serve as his tribe.

According to the number of evil barbarians hired by the powerful Han people, Zhuge Liang established five captains with five sons. They were the four brave tribesmen with the surnames Mao, Cuan, Meng and Li.

For example, Li Hui used money and food to hire more than 300 strong men who hated the barbarians as his troops. However, since Li Hui became the governor of Ningzhou, in order to avoid the three mutual laws, Li Hui moved his family to Wuhan.

According to Zhuge Liang's regulations, during the war, two of the five captains, or four thousand people, were required to go to Wuhan for military service every year. In times of peace, one of the five ministries, that is, two thousand people came to Beijing to serve in the army. When the remaining troops are in the prefectures and counties, they must obey the orders of the Ningzhou governor.

The seven counties of Ningzhou were protected by the force of five captains. After Zhuge Liang gave Li Hui instructions on the key points of governing the state, he led the western troops back to Shu. Traveling with Zhuge Liang were thousands of Qingqiang and Abominable tribesmen in the south.

On the way, Zhuge Liang was worried about the political affairs in Wuhan, so he left Zhang Yi to take care of thousands of Qingqiang and barbarians on the way, and he took a big ship to return to Beijing early.

Zhuge Liang returned to the capital and was warmly welcomed by Liu Chan. Due to his military exploits, Zhuge Liang was moved from Wuxiang Marquis to Wuyang County Marquis.

After a long time, Zhuge Liang was led to the palace by his attendants.

When he saw Zhuge Liang, Liu Chan went down to greet him personally and treated Zhuge Liang as a son and nephew.

Zhuge Liang reluctantly accepted the offer, and was invited to the banquet by Liu Chan, who asked, "Your Majesty has ordered Liang to enter the palace. Do you have any important matters?"

Liu Chan sat on the couch and said truthfully: "It is very gratifying and congratulatory for the great Sima to defeat Cao Pi now. However, the great Sima has made great achievements and will be in Shouchun soon. Taking into account the two contributions, I don't know how to reward him!"

After traveling to Nanzhong, Zhuge Liang's skin became a little darker. He shook his feather fan and said: "Your Majesty, when Yun Changgong passed away from illness, Your Majesty posthumously named him the Duke of Hanshou County. Now that Sima has defeated the Wei Dynasty, he can start from the county. Hou Qianzhi became the county official."

"The county prince can be granted a real title, and the chief minister can send his retainers to govern it. Except for not being able to manage the army, he will collect the taxes himself. And because of the nobility of the county, the chief minister is allowed to set up an ancestral temple to worship the ancestors of the Huo family. "

After the Eastern Han Dynasty inherited the Qin and Han Dynasties, during the Western Han Dynasty, in addition to the Guannei Marquis, the three Marquises of Ting, Township and County could actually send retainers to govern. With the proliferation of noble titles, especially in the troubled times of the late Han Dynasty, most of them were fictitious titles.

In the title reform of the Southern Han Dynasty, the actual county princes had become virtual princes during the Liu Bei period, and the governors had to be appointed by the court. The county dukedom that Zhuge Liang refers to today is no different from the founding county princes in the Han Dynasty, except that they have the added right to establish ancestral temples.

"County Lord?"

Liu Chan looked thoughtful and said: "The late Emperor said to Chan before he died, Great Sima loves names, so he can be given the name of Great Sima, but not the weapon. This is the title of the County Duke today!"

"Of course!"

Zhuge Liang pondered for a while and said: "It can be like the story of Xiao and Deng, who gave the great commander a horse, swords and shoes to go to the palace, and he entered the court without hesitation!"

Going to the palace with swords and shoes can be regarded as a package for powerful ministers, but it is not a package for powerful ministers.

Because Xiao He was the first in merit, he was awarded by Liu Bang to carry swords and shoes to the palace, and he entered the court without hesitation; then Deng Yu was given such an honor by Liu Xiu, just like the story of Xiao He; during the Three Kingdoms period, Cao Zhen moved to the rank of Grand Sima after Cao Rui succeeded to the throne, and was given additional gifts. Swordsmen and shoes go to the palace, and they don't tend to enter the court.

In terms of merit, Huo Jun was already the first among the civil and military officials in the Southern Han Dynasty. According to the stories of Xiao and Deng, Liu Chan gave Huo Jun swords and shoes to go to the palace, and he did not follow suit when he entered the court. This is a normal operation.

With this set of rules, Huo Jun seems to have a high reputation, but he doesn't have many rights. This is how it is done to give names but not implements.

"good!"

Liu Chan nodded slightly and said, "Thank you so much for your advice!"

"Don't dare!"

Zhuge Liang gently shook his feather fan and said with a smile: "Your Majesty, the Shouchun war is not over yet. At present, I am afraid that the generals will slack off, so it is not appropriate to reward them with official titles. First, I will send people to the Jianghuai River to work the troops, and let out some rumors to encourage the generals. Then Shouchun recovered, Your Majesty will inquire about the merits of the generals, and then promote and reward them one by one!"

"Ok!"

Liu Chan grabbed the hair under his chin and said with a smile: "My father-in-law is in charge of political affairs, and my father-in-law is in charge of the military and state affairs. I have nothing to worry about!"

(End of this chapter)