A thousand-year-old family that began with the Battle of Makino

Chapter 368: Protecting the environment and the people

September
Huangfu Song and the new Julu Governor Guo Dian gathered tens of thousands of Han troops to attack Xiaquyang with all their strength. Since Xiaquyang was the last stronghold of the Yellow Turban Army in Hebei, there were more than 300,000 Yellow Turbans in the city.

Xiaquyang is backed by Changshan County. There are many mountainous areas in Changshan County, unlike Julu Plain which occupies the main terrain. If the Yellow Turban Army escapes into Changshan County, it will be difficult to destroy them.

Changshan County has always been the time when Han bandits were most in trouble, especially around Heishan, which was a mountain forest often occupied by mountain bandits. During troubled times, the Heishan army would rise here, so Huangfu Song could never let Zhang Bao in.

Therefore, in response to Xia Quyang's strategy, Huangfu Song adopted the method of digging trenches and building camp walls to tightly suppress the Yellow Turban Army in the city.

Then, taking advantage of the elite characteristics of the Han army, he continuously sent fierce generals to lead elite squads to break through the Yellow Turban Army's city defenses. This was exactly the same decision made by Lu Zhi in Guangzong.

雒阳
Liu Hong finally went to court. After Zhang Jiao's defeat, Liu Hong believed that the world was settled, so he resumed his previous luxurious life.

He held a court meeting today because he wanted to see where Huangfu Song had progressed.

"Where did General Zuo Zhonglang drive to now?"

Facing Liu Hong's inquiry, General He Jinqing replied: "Your Majesty, General Zuo Zhonglang is currently fighting Zhang Bao, the leader of the Yellow Turban Thieves, in Xia Quyang."

Liu Hong nodded and asked again: "Do you have the latest military report? Bring it to me."

Zhang Rang on the side immediately found the battle report that just came today from a pile of memorials: "Your Majesty!"

Liu Hong took the battle report, read it, put it aside, and then said: "General Zuo Zhonglang asked me how to decide on the tens of thousands of prisoners of the Yellow Turban Bandits? Please discuss it with your ministers."

"Your Majesty, King Bai has written a letter regarding the prisoners of war in Hebei." Honglu Qing Wang Yun came out to hand Bai Wangke's letter.

"Oh? This is really strange. King Bai has never cared about the affairs of the Central Plains. Why did he suddenly submit a letter today? It seems that this matter in Hebei is not as simple as it seems. Submit it!"

Zhang Rang hurriedly came to Wang Yun, took the memorial from King Bai, then quickly walked up the stairs and handed the memorial to Liu Hong. Open the memorial:

"I, Bai Ke, respectfully pay homage to Your Majesty. As the king of the Bai Kingdom, I should only control the affairs of the Bai Kingdom, and should not express any opinions on foreign affairs such as Hebei.

However, thinking about how my ancestors and Emperor Guangwu rose up in Hebei, and how much help they received from the people of Hebei, I really could not shirk the request from the people of Hebei, so I went against the rules of etiquette and wrote to His Majesty about the affairs in Hebei. .

It is common sense for the imperial court to quell the chaos caused by the Yellow Turbans. However, all this was caused by Zhang Jiao's three brothers deceiving the people. Do the people really want to rebel? I don’t think so.

When the Han Dynasty was first established, Henan was in decline, and Hebei accounted for most of the country's taxes. When Chimei was annihilated, Longxi was pacified, Shu was suppressed, and Jiangdong was tamed, the people of Hebei gave their full support.

Later, the expedition to the Xiongnu and the development of Liaodong were also greatly assisted by the people of Hebei. Now, just because he was bewitched by the evil way, he was executed at will and cut off. Wouldn't it be too harsh?

Jizhou is a land in the Central Plains. Its people are rich and prosperous, supporting the wealth of the entire three states in Hebei. Bingzhou and Youzhou are border states with few people but many soldiers. If Jizhou has ten houses and nine empty houses, the taxes of the two Youzhous will probably fall entirely on the imperial court. Wouldn't it be heavy?

Your Majesty is the lord of the Han Dynasty and the father of all the people in the world. The common people are the foundation of the Han Dynasty and are your Majesty's children. In ordinary people, if their children make mistakes, the father will kill them at every turn.

I know that General Zuo Zhonglang is from Liangzhou. He has been guarding the border all year round. He has seen many plunders of the Han Dynasty by foreign tribes, so he is very murderous. When he was quelling the chaos in Henan, he had almost no prisoners.

The land of Henan is too far away from me, and I have no social favors with you. However, Hebei is different. My ancestors have been walking in Hebei for generations. It has been thousands of years since I came here, and I have already integrated with Hebei. Therefore, I have to Write a letter to plead for mercy.

No matter what, the people of Hebei are Han people. As the emperor of the Han Dynasty, there is no reason for Your Majesty to massacre his own people.

Nowadays, the world is in turmoil. It is a time when people's minds are changing. It is too unwise to think about benefiting the people instead of giving benefits to the people. I am acting for your majesty's plan. I really shouldn't let General Zuo Zhonglang go. Artesian flow also.

I know that there are rebels everywhere in the world today, the national treasury is tight, and there will be tens of thousands or even hundreds of thousands of refugee captives in the future, which will use up the financial resources of the great Han Dynasty.

Therefore, in order to allow Your Majesty to protect both fame and wealth, and to reflect the comradeship between the Han and White Kingdoms, I am willing to offer Your Majesty five hundred million yuan in money and one million stones in food and supplies to help His Majesty determine the rebellion in the world.

As for the food supplies and arrangements for the refugees and prisoners of war in Hebei in the future, I will discuss with the major tribes in Hebei and strive to allow these people to return to farming and contribute to the prosperity of the Han Dynasty. "

Looking at Bai Guo's letter, Liu Hong's eyes became brighter and brighter, and he stared at Wang Yun and said, "Is there anything else that comes with King Bai?"

Wang Yun replied respectfully: "Your Majesty, along with the memorial came a carriage that stretched for two or three miles. As for what was loaded in it, the envoy from the Bai Kingdom did not tell the ministers."

"Haha, good, very good. King Bai is worthy of being the humerus and the pillar of the Han Dynasty. If every prince and king were like King Bai and shared my worries, how would there be any yellow scarf bandits ravaging the prefectures and counties? Pass on the order, I It was decided to set up the post of Zhenfu Xiaowei in Hebei, and the Bai Kingdom would send people to take charge of the prisoners of war in Hebei. As long as they were surrendered Yellow Turban thieves, they must not hurt anyone, and all of them would be handed over to the Zhenfu Xiaowei.

In addition, in order to commend King Bai for his contribution to the Han Dynasty, it was decided to reward King Bai with 100 sets of books from the Yuefu Collection and a set of forbidden musical instruments.

I hope that other princes and kings will actively learn from King Bai. They should not just think about the one-third of an acre of land in front of their own door. They should take a longer-term view and share the burden for the big man. Fortunately, they are still my same clan, so in the end we will have to pay for it. Not as good as someone with a foreign surname. "

Faced with Bai Guo's sugar-coated bullets, Liu Hong accepted them all as usual. The long-term Yellow Turban Rebellion had already left the national treasury extremely empty. Even his Xiyuan was empty at this time.

Not only cannot taxes be raised, but huge military expenditures must be maintained. If it delays for another year, he will go bankrupt and will have to use some special means to make money.

Liu Hong is very clear about the dangers involved, but now that Bai Guo has given such a blood transfusion, he immediately feels confident again. He is no longer afraid of any turmoil. When next year's taxes come up, the big man can return to the Yellow Turbans. The state before the chaos.

No wonder the past emperors all called the Bai Kingdom the closest ally of the Han Dynasty. In addition to the friendship of fighting together, it also played the role of protecting the Han Dynasty. It can be said that the Han Dynasty protected the Bai Kingdom, and the Bai Kingdom also protected the Han Dynasty.

The Bai Kingdom is like a defensive mechanism for the Han Dynasty. As long as specific conditions are triggered, it can automatically become the sharpest spear, the strongest shield, and the deepest health pack in the Han's hand.

As for whether he is worried that the Bai Kingdom will lose the hearts and minds of the people in Hebei? Liu Hong said that these are all trivial matters. Without this matter, would Bai Guo be unpopular among the people in Hebei?
This move not only left the problem of hundreds of thousands of refugees to the White State, but also caused the White State to consume a lot of manpower and material resources and weaken their strength. At the same time, it can protect the richest place in Hebei region to prevent the Han Dynasty's tax revenue from falling significantly.

Secondly, King Bai was right. If Jizhou was really killed by Huangfu Song, it would be equivalent to handing over the entire land of Hebei to the barbarians in the north.

Without the support of Jizhou, You and the two states will fall into a situation of insufficient food and salary, lack of military strength, and without a large strategic depth. I am afraid that the Hu people will be able to reach the banks of the Yellow River overnight, and in two or three days, they will be able to reach Qingxu Horse racing on the plains of the two states will only then put the big man in extreme danger.

Jizhou, Xiaquyang battlefield

Huangfu Song was standing at the rear, watching the battle on the front line. At this time, the Han army had already attacked the city wall and was widening the gap in the city wall.

In order to attack the fortress, Huangfu Song specially transferred Sun Jian, a powerful general under Zhu Jun's command, and several powerful generals he discovered in the army. Under their leadership, the Han army easily attacked the city wall. In a month or two, Quyang can be taken down.

"General Zhonglang, someone from the court is here."

Huangfusong turned his head and saw a eunuch holding an edict in his hand, walking in a square step, swaggering over, followed by Bai Dan who was in Guangzong.

"General Zhonglang, you should understand what Your Majesty means. Bai Guo's contribution to the Han Dynasty has been very great. Even His Majesty praised it. This is the newly appointed Zhenfu Colonel Bai Dan. General Zhonglang, please do your best. .”

Faced with the envoy's warning, Huangfu Song showed great respect. After the envoy turned around, he winked at a close aide on the side.

He didn't want to make the same mistake as Lu Zhi. Although he looked down on eunuchs who wielded power and were corrupt, now was the critical moment to conquer Quyang and acted in a pedantic way. If this person, like Zuo Feng, suddenly behaved badly, then he would I feel like crying but no more tears.

Huangfusong's actions were noticed by Bai Dan, but he did not speak, but kept looking at Huangfusong and smiling.

Huangfusong smiled bitterly and said, "I think Mr. Jiao took it lightly."

Bai Dan shook his head slightly and said: "The general clearly distinguishes the important and the urgent, and does great justice at the expense of small virtues. This is a gentleman. I just hope that the general will not hold small loyalty at the expense of great loyalty."

Huangfusong took a deep look at Bai Dan, and had a deeper understanding of the rumored Bai family. He smiled bitterly and said: "I am just a side general. My martial arts is passed down in my family. I am not as well-read as my husband. I can't tell what he is." Great loyalty, what is small loyalty?

All I know is that I am a layman with low talents. If I can practice a little loyalty, I can heal my life and see my parents in the family. "

Bai Dan couldn't deny it and said: "Otherwise, our ancestors had a book called "Junzi", which said that small loyalty is loyal to people, and great loyalty is loyal to the people. In the early years of the general, although he ordered you to guard the border and pacify the Qiang rebellion, and although there were killings, he was loyal to the great men of Xia. , to protect the people. This is great virtue and great loyalty.

Previously, the general put down the Yellow Turban rebellion in Henan, massacred prisoners of war, and killed the people of Xia and Han. Even if there were various reasons, it was a loss of morality. This was a small act of loyalty.

Now the general is responsible for the imperial court in determining the chaos in Hebei and calming the people in Hebei so that they can live and work in peace and contentment. This is great loyalty. "

Huangfu Song looked at the bloody battlefield in the distance and sighed: "Without Bai's help, I wouldn't be as loyal as I am now.

If you use war to stop chaos and expand your territory, your general will die immediately, and the country will be dead. If you lead the army with kindness, your territory will be lost and your territory will be lost. If the general dies on his couch, it will be a shame to live. "

Bai Dan didn't reply, he just accompanied Huangfu Song and quietly watched the battle on the distant city wall.

(End of this chapter)