I, Liu Bian, Sanxing Han Dynasty

Chapter 603 Qiangzhong and Nanzhong

Zuo Pushe Jia Wenhe had a gentle appearance and always smiled when talking to people. However, since he was in an important position and was involved in matters of rewards and punishments, people at that time suspected that there was a knife behind his smile.

Liu Bian listened to the opinions about Jia Xu that were spreading in the Shangshu Tai, and then looked at Jia Xu's innocent face, Liu Bian couldn't help but want to laugh.

Aren't you, Jia Wenhe, always good at disguising yourself? Why is this happening to you?
Liu Bian didn't want to endure it, and Jia Xu could naturally see it.

So he acted even more aggrieved.

After all, he was an important official around him, so Liu Bian did not laugh out loud.

He also comforted her: "Wenhe, don't worry. With time, some misunderstandings will be resolved on their own."

Jia Xu saw that the emperor was still laughing and never stopped.

He didn't feel comforted at all.

But his mood has become lighter.

At this time, Jia Xu explained his purpose - "Your Majesty, Shu County Governor Shen Pei and Jincheng Governor Lu Jun both wrote to the emperor about the situation in Qiangzhong, saying that the Qiang people in Qiangzhong have the intention to surrender. I think we can follow the advice of Shu County Governor Shen Pei and set up a vassal state commander in Qiangzhong to control the Qiang people in Qiangzhong, so as to prevent them from frequently invading the border."

Liu Bian had always been aware of these things. Shen Pei, who was in Shu County, had been trying to contact and recruit more Qiang people living in Qiangzhong. This year, after Lu Jun and his men replaced Ma Teng and took control of Jincheng County, they also joined forces with Longyou to take the initiative to attack Qiangzhong.

The current situation in Qiangzhong was achieved only after the joint efforts of Yizhou and Liangzhou.

Jia Xu suggested: "I think that given the current situation, we can try to set up a vassal state commander in Qiang. We only need to use a small number of troops to suppress them, which can save the cost of garrisoning many surrounding counties."

This is an easy calculation to make. If you don't want to be on guard against thieves every night, then just send troops directly to the thieves' den.

The manpower and money spent on this mission were by no means higher than the manpower and money spent by the various counties in their defense against the Qiang.

Liu Bian thought that the troops of the general and the general of cavalry were temporarily assigned to the Xiyuan Army, but it was not appropriate for them to go to the vassal state commandery established in Qiangzhong. It would be better to select soldiers from nearby Liangzhou and Yizhou to garrison there.

After a little thought, Liu Bian made a decision based on Jia Xu's suggestion and Shen Pei's previous proposal for a vassal state in Qiangzhong: "Establish a vassal state of Qinghai in Qiangzhong, divided into two parts. One part starts from Jincheng as the western commandery of the vassal state of Qinghai, and the other part starts from Shujun as the eastern commandery...First, each county will be used to slowly develop it, and then the neighboring counties will be assisted."

Liu Bian still remembered Lu Kang's advice to him not to do anything big but to take things step by step.

Jia Xu said again: "I heard that the barbarians in the four counties of the south have learned the farming methods for several years, but there are still large troops stationed there to prevent unexpected events... I think we should withdraw the troops first."

Liu Bei is still the General Anxi, and still leads his troops to pacify the people in Nanzhong.

Liu Bian asked, "Is there anything important in the recent memorials from the South?"

Jia Xu replied, "From what I have seen, all of them show the progress of educating the barbarians in the south. Yizhou has invested a lot in the south. However, from what I have seen in the documents, some barbarians are still accustomed to eating in the mountains and forests. They either sow the rice seeds distributed by the court in the fields without taking care of them, or eat the seeds privately, and the officials cannot stop them."

"Therefore, I think we should withdraw our troops first and not provide rice seeds, etc. for the time being, to see the results of the past few years."

Liu Bian understood what Jia Xu was thinking. He sent Liu Bei and others to teach the barbarians in the south how to farm. Of course, he hoped that these barbarians could live a better life and better integrate into the big family of the Han Dynasty.

But if some people who just sit back and enjoy the fruits of their labor take their efforts for granted...

Although Liu Bian could not say "disaster relief is a socialist thing", he was unwilling to be a scapegoat.

After thinking about it, Liu Bian decided to give the decision-making power of this matter to Liu Bei first, and let Jia Xu directly draft an edict.

The Han Dynasty's edicts were relatively less institutionalized, especially those that conveyed orders, which did not even require the addition of set phrases.

Liu Bian had the special bamboo slips for writing imperial edicts. Soon, Jia Xu took the brush and wrote it. After leaving his name on the main writer, he also reserved a space at the back.

Then, the edict entered the next step of review more quickly. The Shangshu in charge of this matter today was Yang Biao, who quickly passed the review. Then a clerk from the Shangshu Tai copied the contents of the edict onto another bamboo slip. At this time, the two edicts were sent back to the Yuntai Hall.

Among them, the one that only contained the content of the edict consisted of two bamboo slips. After Liu Bian's confirmation, eunuchs quickly came to face the two bamboo slips with the words on them, tied them up with ropes, and finally covered the ropes with a special sealing mud box. Finally, Guo Zhi, who was responsible for keeping the six seals of the emperor for Liu Bian, took out the corresponding seals, left marks on the seal mud, and completed the sealing of the edict.

In this way, an edict with legal effect was completed. Next, it only needed to be handed over to the Three Dukes' Office for implementation.

Of course, under the current system, the three officials can work together to prevent the implementation of the edict.

After the imperial edict was taken away by the selected angels, all the relevant documents including the original imperial edict would be archived, including the small notes that Liu Bian often used to pass on orders to the Shangshutai, or when the people who drafted the imperial edict and those who reviewed the imperial edict had different opinions...

After traveling through many post stations, the angel finally arrived in Nanzhong. He opened the imperial edict in front of Liu Bei and read it out.

After a moment's thought, Liu Bei invited the angel to rest, and then sent someone to invite Zhuge Xuan.

The rest lasted for four days, and Zhuge Xuan finally received news and returned.

"To withdraw?" Zhuge Xuan hesitated.

Liu Bei explained: "The South is now peaceful and pacified, not only because we taught them how to farm, but also because we have a large army stationed there. It is still unknown whether the barbarians in the South will be convinced."

Zhuge Xuan said anxiously: "But now the barbarians in the south are not all willing. If the army withdraws, I am afraid that there will be chaos among the different tribes."

Having said that, Zhuge Xuan suddenly understood something.

"General, your intention is to act according to the imperial edict and give them the opportunity to cause chaos, so as to make it easier to distinguish between the enemy and us..." At this point, Zhuge Xuan frowned, "In this way, those tribes that first approached us will easily become the target of public criticism, such as the Zhu tribe. They are currently the best among all the tribes in terms of farming, and they are also the first tribe to learn. What if..."

Liu Bei confirmed: "Then let them not defend themselves, and leave them some defensive weapons. If we don't find out the hidden dangers and waste our troops here, it won't last long."

Finally, they responded to the angel and asked to withdraw their troops.

Among the troops staying in Nanzhong, except for a small number of officers and soldiers from the Xiyuan Army, the rest were soldiers from the prefectures and counties of Yizhou. They were extremely excited when they heard the news of the withdrawal.

Even though the food they had while stationed in Nanzhong was not bad under Liu Bei's arrangement, Nanzhong was not their home after all.

Zhuge Xuan, who was reluctant to withdraw his troops, was speechless after seeing this scene. The soldiers had spent several years here, and it was time for some results. On the way out of Nanzhong, Zhuge Xuan had not yet reached a conclusion on the outcome of Nanzhong, so he asked Liu Bei, "General, in your opinion, will Nanzhong be in chaos?"

"I don't know." Liu Bei said.

He really didn't know, because human hearts are the most unpredictable.

"In the four counties of Nanzhong, those who can mobilize the people of various tribes are, first, the chiefs and leaders, and second, the big families in the county. In the past, when the big families broke the law, the officials did not dare to punish them, and the chiefs and leaders were mostly warlike..."

Until now, looking at those soldiers who were so happy about returning home, Zhuge Xuan couldn't say that Liu Bei was wrong to choose to withdraw from Nanzhong after the imperial edict arrived.

Liu Bei finally said: "However, I believe that our efforts over the past few years will not be in vain!"

Liu Bei was looking forward to a satisfactory result.

With the withdrawal of the Han army and the officials who taught the tribes how to farm, although the officials promised to return after the spring, undercurrents inevitably began to surge in the four counties of Nanzhong.

Meng Huo, who came from the Meng tribe, was like other promising talents from various tribes. He was originally taught by Jian Yong and followed Liu Bei to learn from him. At this time, he was released back to his tribe by Liu Bei.

Meng Huo had not returned to the tribe for some time after following Liu Bei and Jian Yong. As the son of the chief and the undisputed heir of the tribe, when Meng Huo returned this time, he felt that the tribesmen who came to greet him were not as enthusiastic.

He keenly sensed something unusual in the atmosphere and immediately went to find his father.

"Father, are you going to mobilize the army?" he asked straight to the point.

"Keep your voice down!"

Meng Huo saw his father carefully close the door, and then said to him, "Many people talk a lot. If some of the people in the tribe knew what was going to happen next, they would definitely not be able to restrain themselves. These fools can't even learn to be patient."

Meng Huo glanced at his father and thought to himself, it's not just his tribesmen who can't learn to be patient.
"Father, are you really going to mobilize the army?" Although Meng Huo asked in a questioning tone, he was already certain of this in his heart.

"Of course! It's winter now. Although the tribe's reserves seem to be sufficient, who would complain about having too little?"

"Father, who are you going to attack? Zhu's tribe?" Meng Huo continued to ask.

"Everyone knows that the tribes have received the most help from the Han people and are the richest. We'll see. If too many people go to attack the Zhu tribe, there may not be enough grain for them to share..."

Seeing that his father didn't even have a complete plan, Meng Huo couldn't stand it anymore as he had gained so much knowledge by following Liu Bei and Jian Yong.

He immediately asked, "Father, do you think General Liu will never come back?"

"Of course... Even if he comes back, it will be at least one or two years later. Otherwise, why would he leave?"

Meng Huo felt that his father's words made some sense, but he still felt something was wrong, so he said, "Before I came back, I heard that General Liu left some defensive weapons for tribes like the Zhu tribe, and helped them build a high fortress. The Zhu tribe may not be as easy to attack as my father thought. Moreover, although there were many battles for grain before the cold winter, now that we have enough grain to eat, why do we still have to fight?"

"Silly boy, the Zhu tribe has obtained so many things from the Han people, and others have been jealous for a long time. If we don't fight, I'm afraid we will be mistaken for the Zhu tribe and attacked!"

Meng Huo looked at his father and could clearly see that his father was also one of those "outsiders".

He advised, "Father, believe me, the Han people are only leaving for a while. Even if they come back in a year or two as you said, by then, won't they know that those tribes have attacked the Zhu tribe? Based on my understanding of General Liu, by then, these tribes will not only not continue to take advantage of the Han people, but it is also possible that General Liu will send people to wipe them out."

Meng Huo spoke more and more fluently: "Father, if you are worried about being regarded as an ally of the Zhu tribe, I will go to those tribes that are willing to remain neutral to form an alliance... It is not a bad idea to even form an alliance with the Zhu tribe in secret. I believe the people of the Zhu tribe are in a panic right now!"

"Also... General Liu has just left with his troops not long ago. How did father know that many tribes wanted to attack the Zhu tribe?" Meng Huo suddenly asked.

"Isn't this obvious? Well... actually, Li Hui of the Li family sent someone to tell me."

Even though Meng Huo was not very smart, he could smell a conspiracy. Looking at his father, who trusted Li Hui very much just because Li Hui was from the famous Li family in Nanzhong, Meng Huo felt that without him, his tribe would sooner or later fall apart!

Before leaving to contact other tribes to form an alliance, Meng Huo said to his father: "Father, would you consider giving up your position as chieftain and letting me have fewer worries as soon as possible?"

Before he was hit by the stick his father picked up, Meng Huo had already run away.

What he didn't know was that after he left, his father was actually thinking about it.

……

On the other hand, the Zhu tribe, which everyone thought would be in a panic, was a completely different scene.

Zhu's troops closed the city wall and did not allow anyone to enter or leave.

Their stores of grain were sufficient to enable them to do so.

Zhu Huo, the chief of the Zhu tribe, was certainly not unaware of the situations that the other tribes might face. On the contrary, he knew that there were too many people in the four counties of Nanzhong who found him an eyesore.

The reason why he was able to remain calm in the face of danger...

Zhu Huo left his home and walked along the road in front of the door. Before long, he heard neat and short shouts. After passing through a bamboo forest, the view in front of him suddenly opened up, and in front of him were the troops who were undergoing training.

He walked quickly forward and bowed to one of them, saying, "Thank you for your hard work these days, Sima Yan."

Yan Liang waved his hand. He was looking forward to the day when the members of Zhu's tribe would become elite troops under his hands.

However, Yan Liang still emphasized: "Chief Zhu must guard the gate carefully, and at the same time be on guard against anyone secretly communicating with outsiders."

Zhu Huo replied: "Don't worry, Sima Yan, I know that the special forces must be used at the critical moment... Now most of the tribesmen know that Sima Yan is training troops, and they just think that I closed the fortress to prevent the news that Sima Yan is here from being leaked. But they don't know that what they really want to hide are the elite troops brought by Sima Yan!"

"Having said that, we still need to be careful. After all, eating and excrement can easily be discovered by others," Yan Liang emphasized.

"Don't worry, Sima Yan!" Zhu Huo responded confidently.

(End of this chapter)