Three Kingdoms: I will act as a substitute for the Hunjun

Chapter 186: Sit in Fancheng and control the world

Liu Ming was very happy to see the two brothers coming. Historically, Huo Jun followed Liu Bei and made great contributions in the process of entering Sichuan.

He once defended the city with a few hundred men and resisted Liu Zhang's siege of tens of thousands of troops for a year. In the end, he was able to lead his troops to attack and defeat the enemy. He was a rare general.

Of course, at present, they are not well-known, and they cannot be entrusted with important responsibilities or high-level officials immediately after they arrive. This will not convince the public. Let them start with their senior positions first, and then be promoted after they have achieved military merit in the future.

At the same time, all the important memorials in the world were gathered in Fancheng and reported to Liu Ming.

Liu Yu, the shepherd of Youzhou, reported that by adopting a gentle policy, the Wuhuan and Xianbei people were willing to surrender to the imperial court again. Zhang Chun and Zhang Ju who fled outside the Great Wall were beheaded, and the Youzhou rebellion had been completely put down.

Moreover, in accordance with the decree of the imperial court, Liu Yu and Gongsun Zan separated the military and political affairs. Liu Yu, the shepherd of Youzhou, was in charge of government affairs, and Gongsun Zan, the general of Youzhou Zhonglang, was in charge of military affairs. The two did not subordinate each other but cooperated with each other.

Liu Ming is relatively satisfied with this result for the time being. To what extent it can develop in the future and what the pros and cons are, it remains to be observed and revised.

Historically, the two had conflicts due to differences in military matters and political orders. In the end, Gongsun Zan killed Liu Yu in a rage, which was a pity.

Hopefully, under this new policy, this tragedy can be avoided.

"Liu Youzhou is not only good at government affairs, but also insightful in strategy." Huang Wan praised, "After he took charge of Youzhou, he almost completely destroyed the Zhang family's rebels without any large-scale encirclement and suppression. He is indeed extraordinary. able."

Liu Ming also recognized Liu Yu's ability. He even regarded him as a candidate for the Great Situ. However, Yuan Wei was relatively honest at present and could still do some things for the court with his status as a great family. , Liu Ming didn’t touch him.

"The separation of military and political affairs will indeed help weaken the power of the state shepherds." No need for daily garrison.”

Liu Ming nodded and said: "What Wen Ruo said makes sense. There is indeed no need for so many standing armies in peacetime, which is a waste of food and wages. However, I think we can set up rural warriors, militia and the like to work on farming in peacetime and train during leisure time. "Reserve Army."

Youzhou has to face grassland peoples such as Wuhuan and Xianbei. In recent years, with constant natural disasters, these peoples often invade south. Therefore, Youzhou's soldiers and horses can only be strong, not weak. Gongsun Zan, the middle man of Youzhou, is still very important. important.

At that time, a decree was passed to encourage Liu Yu and Gongsun Zan to cooperate sincerely to guard the border and protect the people for the imperial court.

Liu Ming picked up another report, which was a report of victory by Grand Sima Huangfu Song. Under the east-west attack between him and Zhang Liao, Li Jue was defeated and retreated to Hedong to join Dong Zhuo's main force.

Although Li Jue's subordinate Jia Xu was very resourceful, Li Jue's side was far behind in terms of strength, quantity, and quality of generals. In the face of absolute strength, he could only choose to withdraw his troops to protect himself.

"We should order Huangfu Da Sima to take advantage of the situation and march to the east of Hedong. Together with Gai Da Sima in Hanoi, we should attack Dong Zhuo. We must eliminate him on the spot." Xun Yu suggested.

Dong Zhuo is currently the biggest threat near the capital. If he is eliminated, Liu Ming will be free to do many other things.

"Killing Dong Zhuo early will allow Da Sima to lead his troops to quell the rebellion." Liu Ming smiled and said, "Otherwise, if a few cats and dogs cause rebellion, I will personally conquer him."

"It's my incompetence that has caused trouble to Your Majesty." Grand Sima Cheng Huang Wan hurriedly made a look of sincerity and fear.

In fact, Huang Wan's ability is also good, but if he is asked to lead troops and horses to fight Yuan Shu and Sun Jian, Liu Ming is still a little worried.

The main reason is that the enemy is too strong. If it cannot be eliminated as soon as possible, it will become too big as time goes by and the nights will be long and the dreams will be many. When other onlookers from the prefectures and counties join in, the entire Han Dynasty will be completely destroyed.

Liu Ming immediately issued an order to let Huangfu Song lead the army to attack Hedong while taking advantage of the victory. Zhang Liao, Guan Yu and other troops were also temporarily under his control.

Chief Xing Gaixun also reported that they had won several battles and had driven Dong Zhuo out of Hanoi and returned to Hedong.

The main reason is that the generals of the Cao family are so awesome. In terms of high-end generals, Gai Xun has far surpassed Dong Zhuo.

Hua Xiong, the first general in Kansai, relied on his own bravery to advance rashly. As a result, he was ambushed by Xiahou Dun and Xia Houyuan. He was seriously injured and almost lost his life.

Dong Zhuo saw that the progress was not going well and that Li Jue's side was losing battles again. Li Ru and others also advised him to temporarily gather his troops, so Dong Zhuo retreated to Hedong.

"It's time to beat the drowned dog." Liu Ming immediately issued an order asking Gai Xun and Huangfu Song to jointly destroy Dong Zhuo as soon as possible to ensure that Hedong can start spring plowing on time and not miss the farming season.

Otherwise, if we miss the spring plowing, we will have a year of famine, and maybe there will be another hungry people like the Baibo Army.

Grand Sikong Zhu Jun also posted a list, talking about the latest situation of the Black Mountain Bandits and the White Wave Bandits.

Due to a winter of fighting, the Black Mountain bandits suffered heavy losses. In addition, they had reconciled with the Baibo bandits, and nearly 10,000 mouths were added out of thin air. They were already facing a food shortage, and even the seeds left for spring plowing were eaten up.

Therefore, Zhang Yan, the leader of the Black Mountain Bandits, requested to return to the imperial court, and Guo Tai, the leader of the Baibo Bandits, was also willing to accept the recruitment. The conditions they asked for at first were very high, but Zhu Jun ignored them. After a while, their conditions were reduced to just food. That’s it.

It seems that he is hungry and anxious.

"What do you think?" Liu Ming asked.

"Now that the world is in chaos, one place can be peaceful, and one can be peaceful for a while." Xun Yu said, "I think we should allow these two groups of thieves to join us. This can also set an example for other people in the world who are causing trouble."

"That's right." Huang Wan agreed, "A very important reason why Liu Youzhou was able to quickly put down Zhang Chun and Zhang Ju's rebellion was that he constantly encouraged and accepted the surrender of the rebels and quickly disintegrated the enemy. In fact, many thieves were desperate. Peasants, who would be willing to rebel if they were given a way to survive?”

When Huang Wan was quelling the rebellion in Yuzhou, he also used soft and hard tactics, suppressing and coaxing others to successfully quell the rebellion, so he had a deep understanding of this aspect.

Xun Yu pondered for a moment and said: "The Black Mountain bandits are capricious. They rebelled and surrendered, surrendered and rebelled again. Now that they have no way out, they want to surrender again. I thought that I could agree to their surrender, but I must not agree easily. I will make them pay for their repeated surrender." Pay the price for rebellion so that you won’t dare to rebel easily next time.”

"What you two beloved ministers are saying makes sense. The Han Dynasty will not stop any surrendered people." Liu Ming said helplessly, "But now, the national treasury is empty, whether it is Luoyang in Kyoto or various states and counties, tens of thousands of people are all at once. To accept the bandits, just to house them will require a huge amount of money and food, and if they are well fed and clothed, who can guarantee that they will not continue to rebel?" Everyone has basically unanimous opinions on accepting the surrender of the two groups of thieves. , it must be accepted, but how to accept it is a question that needs to be seriously considered.

The main reason is that the court has no money!
After some discussion, he finally came up with a relatively compromise plan. Liu Ming gave an order to Zhu Jun that he could accept the surrender of the Black Mountain bandits and the Baibo bandits, but there must be conditions and he would not accept them unprincipled.

First, they must come out of the mountains and forests and live on the plains. The existing camps in the mountains will be taken over by the government troops and burned after inspection. In other words, their old people must be completely wiped out and there will be no way out.

Second, young adults must be incorporated into the official army and be uniformly trained and managed by the government. The Black Mountain Army and the White Wave Army will no longer exist as military units.

Third, the rest of the people are self-reliant. If you want to farm, the government can rent it to you. Anyway, there is plenty of wasteland now. If you want to do crafts, the government will also support it. However, these are not free gifts. After the autumn harvest, the borrowed money and grain must be repaid twice as much, and land rent taxes or commercial taxes must be paid according to the new policy.

If you don't have food to eat now, the government can lend it to you, but you will have to pay it back when you have income in the future. It is definitely not using the money of the court and law-abiding people to support gangsters like you in vain.

If you agree to these conditions, then go down the mountain and surrender. If you don't agree, then you will fend for yourself in the Black Mountain, but in this case you will probably starve to death.

Grand Situ Cheng Yuan Wei sent someone to deliver the design drawings of Minghan Terrace, and also said that the address of Kyoto Hospital has been selected and is currently being planned. Considering the financial problem, some buildings in the original Xiyuan will be mainly renovated in the early stage for daily use of the hospital. , and then proceed to the construction of larger-scale projects after the staff scale exceeds the existing capacity.

In fact, Liu Ming had no requirements for how gorgeous and high-end the Minghan Tower should be. He just wanted to build a large high platform where the original Jiade Hall was and suppress it there so that what happened between Han Emperor Liu Hong and the Jiade Hall would dissipate.

So I took a general look and agreed.

Liu Dai, the herdsman of Yanzhou, sent a letter asking for help. The rebel Bao Xin united with Zangba and other Taishan bandits. Their strength increased greatly and they advanced step by step. They had captured Taishan County, Jibei County and Lu County. Yanzhou was in danger and asked the court to send troops to support quickly.

After reading all the good news, finally came the bad news.

Liu Ming handed the letter to Huang Wan and Xun Yu for reading. He felt a little embarrassed. The Han Dynasty was leaking information everywhere. The soldiers and horses he led when the emperor came out to suppress the rebellion were so shabby. How could he send more soldiers and horses to support Yanzhou? ?
You can't just ignore the chaos in Jingzhou and Yangzhou and go back to conquer Yanzhou yourself.

If the Heishan and Baibo thieves successfully surrendered, Zhu Jun could be deployed to suppress the rebellion. However, it is still unknown whether these two groups of thieves can agree to the conditions they proposed. Zhu Jun cannot leave at the critical moment.

Huangfu Song and Gai Xun could not leave. Removing either of them would leave a gap for Dong Zhuo to escape. Therefore, he could not be beaten to death with a stick this time, and there would be endless troubles.

"The matter is urgent. Make a decision early." Huang Wan said.

"Since the war in Youzhou has subsided, it is better to mobilize Gongsun Zan and lead his troops to pacify Yanzhou." Xun Yu suggested, "The Youzhou frontier army has been fighting for a long time and has good combat power. It should not be difficult to quell Bao Xin's rebellion."

"Gongsun Zan's power should indeed be used." Liu Ming nodded, "But if you want to quench your thirst with water far away, Liu Dai must first be able to hold on."

At that moment, Liu Ming issued two orders. One was to Gongsun Zan, ordering him to quickly lead Youzhou soldiers and horses into Yanzhou to quell the rebellion.

One is for Liu Dai, asking him to hold on until Gongsun Zan's reinforcements arrive no matter what. Liu Ming pointed out a bright way for him. While recruiting troops and horses, he widely recruited wise men and capable people to participate in countering the rebellion.

There are still many capable people in Yanzhou, so Liu Ming directly pointed out two people for him, asking Liu Daiwen to find Cheng Yu and Wu to find Dian Wei. If restrictions can be relaxed and talented people can be recruited, there should be others willing to participate in quelling the chaos.

Liu Ming sent people to look for Dian Wei when he set out from Luoyang. When he was at the foot of Yao Mountain, the people he sent out responded and did not find Dian Wei, but he brought Gao Shun with him. At that time, Liu Ming asked the official to return to Chenliu and not come back if he could not find Dian Wei.

But there is no news about Dian Wei until now. Logically speaking, with the weather being so cold, even if he went hunting, he would not be able to stay in the mountains without returning home.

If Cheng Yu and Dian Wei help, Liu Dai should have no problem stabilizing the situation and be able to hold on until Gongsun Zan arrives.

Just after handling these matters, news came from Xi Zhicai that a great victory had been achieved in Suixian County. An ambush and a night attack had taken place. Yuan Shu had lost his troops and lost his generals. He brought out 20,000 troops and fled back to Yangzhou in embarrassment with only more than a thousand men. It is expected that there will no longer be the strength to interfere with the war in Jingzhou in the short term.

"This time the cavalry did a wonderful job." Liu Ming laughed and said, "My hard work was not in vain."

"The cavalry has gained such combat power so quickly, all thanks to your majesty's bilateral stirrups, new saddles and horseshoes." Huang Wan praised, "In the future, if our Han knights are fully equipped, we will not be afraid even if we compete with the other tribes on the grassland."

Xi Zhicai led two powerful generals, Lu Bu and Zhang Fei, and 2,300 cavalry. Liu Ming could rest assured of their combat capabilities. Civil servants, military generals and military units are all the best in this era, and there is no reason for failure.

So Liu Ming ordered them to use the mobility advantage of the cavalry to find a section along the Han River where they could cross the river. At the same time, they collected various types of ships to find a way to cross the Han River and harass Xiangyang's rear.

The dry season has not yet passed, and the water level of the river is not high, which is conducive to crossing the river. If the spring floods come in a while, it will be difficult to cross the river.

Moreover, Sun Jian is now focusing on defending the Xiangyang and Fancheng sections. The entire Han River downstream is hundreds of miles away, and it is impossible to defend everything in place.

Moreover, there are large and small ferries on the Han River itself. It is very easy for this cavalry to capture a ferry.

After everyone dispersed, Shi A sent Liu Ming a secret letter from his master Wang Yue.

Wang Yue said in the letter that he had followed the emperor's instructions and found about 200 reliable people. As the first batch of "Ming and Han Imperial Guards", they would be placed in various departments to collect intelligence and go directly to the Ming Dynasty. God listens.

The "Ming and Han Imperial Guards" were formed by Liu Ming based on the model of Jinyiwei spies in later generations, and were left to Wang Yue to take the lead in establishing them.

Liu Ming originally wanted to conduct training for the first batch of personnel. He felt that not conducting centralized training might be insufficient in terms of loyalty and professional ethics. However, with all kinds of chores happening in an endless stream, it was impossible for him to spare time. to do this.

And as an agency engaged in covert operations, it may not be appropriate to bring them together.

Liu Ming took out a pamphlet and handed it to Shi A, saying: "This is the code of imperial guards of the Ming and Han Dynasties that I personally drew up. I sent someone to deliver it to Wang Yue. Every leader of the imperial guards must have a copy."

(End of this chapter)