Chapter 12 The first section of the first chapter of the Han Dynasty Yuanping (20 AD), September, Chang'an.

Prime Minister's Office. The night was already very deep, and Li Wei was still reading the case papers, without the slightest hint of fatigue. Since he became the prime minister of the Han Dynasty, he has worked hard day and night, his sideburns have been hidden white threads, the wrinkles on his forehead have become more and more, and his former tall body has become thinner and thinner.

Suddenly, the sound of hurried footsteps came from outside the house. Li Wei frowned slightly, put down the bamboo slip in his hand, and looked up in the direction of the door.

Prime Minister Shi Jiakui pushed open the door and approached Li Wei in three or two steps, looking quite nervous.

"My lord, Da Sima, please hurry to the Qilin Hall and say that there is something important to discuss."

"Something happened to the general?" Li Wei changed color in shock.

"It shouldn't be, I guess something happened on the battlefield in Nanyang." Jia Kui whispered,

"I went to Shangshutai yesterday and heard from Lord Wang Ling that after the attack on Wancheng by the Later General Lord Yang was blocked, he immediately went south to attack Xinye, intending to cut off the retreat of the rebels. It is more risky to go south to fight Xinye, and if you are not careful, you may fall into the siege of the rebels, so Da Sima and Lord Taiwei urgently told General Yang not to take risks, but to fight steadily and continue to besiege Wancheng as the best policy. However, General Yang was very conceited, and probably led his army south to attack Xinye at the same time as he sent out the chapter. Li Wei was anxious and nodded noncommittally,

"Prepare the car, fast, fast......" The carriage galloped on the spacious avenue, and the eighteen ti rode left and right to protect it, and rushed towards Weiyang Palace.

Li Wei leaned on the saddle, hiding himself in the dark, his eyes closed, and his mind was full of Yang Feng, all of them were the Nanyang battlefield.

This is a battle that should not be fought, but as the imperial court revised its foreign strategy, the contradictions in the court that had been suppressed finally broke out.

In order to alleviate and divert the increasingly fierce contradictions in the court, the imperial court had to launch this battle of Nanyang, and the initiator was himself.

The joint petition of the generals and the civil and military officials of the border counties to revise their foreign strategy shows that the situation in the border counties and the desert is very dangerous, and if the northwest and northwest regions cannot be stabilized, the imperial court will not be able to go south to quell the rebellion.

In order to ensure the smooth progress of the great cause of Zhongxing, the imperial court was forced to revise its foreign strategy in advance. Li Wei put forward five suggestions for amendments.

The first is to gradually relocate foreigners to live in border counties, guide and help them change from animal husbandry to farming, and provide tax reductions and exemptions for a period of time or in years of famine, and on this basis, slowly implement the policy of 'dispersed tribes', and strive to include all foreigners who have moved into border counties into the Han household registration after a few generations, or even hundreds of years later.

The second is to reuse foreigners, especially the government offices at all levels in border counties, and their subordinates must recruit a part of foreigners to manage foreign affairs, so as to win the trust and loyalty of foreigners, and on this basis, gradually move a group of foreign magnates to live in the capital or other big cities, and include them in the scholarly register and into the Han Dynasty.

Third, it is necessary to rely on a group of foreign generals, and the soldiers of the border counties should also be recruited from foreign tribes as much as possible, so as to reduce the northward migration of the Central Plains people, alleviate the various contradictions caused by the mixed settlement of Han and Hu to the border counties, such as pastures, fields, customs, and so on, so that the mixed parties can gradually establish trust, and on this basis, slowly implement laws such as intermarriage that are conducive to accelerating the pace of integration between various ethnic groups.

The fourth is to set up a school palace in the court and the royal court of various foreign tribes, and place the master, so that the descendants of the princes and magnates of all ethnic groups and the big and small leaders can speak the big Han dialect from an early age, write big Chinese characters, read the big Han books, and grow up to Taixue for further study, and the outstanding ones who have passed the test scripture (examination) can become officials.

The Master who went to the border county to teach was selected from among the students of Taixue, and they were changed every three years, and they were reused after returning to the court.

Fifth, the relief system, which is the basis for ensuring stability in the two northwestern regions and the desert. Li Wei's relief system is not a unilateral gratuitous gift, but the imperial court, foreign clans, and the people of the border counties jointly prevent and resist disasters.

The border counties built official warehouses, and part of the grain and millet hoarded by the official warehouses were from all over the country

Some of the wealthy people who "entered Su Baijue" were transported by the imperial court, and some were raised by the local government.

The border counties built horse administrations, and the imperial court invested money, and used the war horses, livestock, pastures, etc. of the foreign tribes in the border counties and the desert to raise horses and livestock together with the foreign tribes to prepare for wars and disasters.

The principle of Li Wei's foreign strategy is:

"Conquest and pacification", but he focused on pacification, and many policies can only see the effect after several generations, or even a hundred years, so this new foreign strategy was quickly approved by the court.

However, what happened next left everyone stunned. In order to implement this new foreign strategy, Li Wei persuaded Her Royal Highness the eldest princess, the great Sima Xu Rong and the imperial lieutenant Zhang Yan to make some personnel adjustments.

Yang Feng was worshiped as a general of the chariot cavalry, removed from the post of Wei Weiqing, and became a general with no real power.

Yan Liang, the general of the left, served as Wei Weiqing, in charge of the Southern Army, and defended the palace. Yang Feng thought that Li Wei intended to drive him out of the court, and was extremely resentful of Li Wei, and Li Wei seemed to be in order to appease Yang Feng's anger, and immediately transferred the left guard general Lü Buzheng back to Beijing, and let the general Zhong Xuan replace Lü Bu to supervise the military affairs of Qingyan and Qingyan.

Then he dismissed Zhao Yun's Guanglu Xunqing and was succeeded by Yuan Yao, the Great Honglu Qing. Yang Feng, Lu Bu, and Zhao Yun have all become generals with no real power, so who will supervise the military affairs in Yuzhou?

The imperial court did not announce it, but announced the new Great Hung Luqing. Liu Ming, the right virtuous king of the Xiongnu and the general of Duliao, served as the Great Hongluqing, the first foreign Jiuqing member in the history of this dynasty.

The Manchu Dynasty was shocked, and the opposition flew towards Jinyang like snowflakes. In the past, when Emperor Xiaowu was in the past, Jin Riyan, the son of King Hugh Tu of the Xiongnu, was one of the four ministers of Tuogu, but he was only a Guanglu great.

Today, Liu Ming, what virtue and how can he be in the position of Jiuqing? Is it just to curry favor with foreigners? The eldest princess was far away in Jinyang, and the ministers did not dare to go out of Beijing without a holy decree, and no one could persuade them in person, so this movement against impeachment was lost in the sea, and there was no news.

Taifu Yang Biao really can't accept it, the restructuring can be, but it can't be changed like this. What is this? Is this also called statecraft?

I think this is a traitorous tactic. He continued to play the eldest princess, but the eldest princess ignored it, and Yang Biao resigned angrily.

He quit. This time, the eldest princess immediately replied to the book, comforted her with kind words, and then agreed. Liu He of the clan took the position of Taifu.

Guanglu Xunqing Yuan Yao also did not do it. When Yuan Shu was a captain in Changshui in the Northern Army, Liu Ming was the military Sima of the Changshui Battalion and a subordinate of Yuan Shu.

Yuan Shu was almost killed by the general in Xindu City, and the reason was because of Liu Ming's betrayal. He was very ashamed to be a vabbitarian with a perfidious man, and he was also a Hun.

He resigned and wanted to take up a post in the state and county, and took the initiative to ask for release, and the capital could not stay any longer. The imperial court gave Yuan Yao a surprise, worshipping Yuan Yao as the general of Pingnan and supervising the military affairs of Yuzhou.

There is a lot of speculation in Chang'an as to why the imperial court made such an appointment, but one thing is certain, that is, it is better for Yuan Yao to go to Yuzhou now, and Zhong Yao is a little unable to stay.

Liu Biao fell for Zhong Xuan's counter-plot and killed Yuan Xi, and later understood, and scolded Zhong Xuan in Xiangyang, which was well known to everyone in Jingxiang and Jianghuai.

Yuan Valve's power spread throughout Jing and Henan, and the protégés scolded Liu Biao and Zhong Xuan on the other. Yuan Shao is dead, why can't he let his two sons go?

Even if you want to kill, you have to kill with dignity, why use such despicable means? Many of Yuan Valve's protégés and disciples in Yuzhou were angry, rolled up and left, and did not mix with Zhong Xuan.

Yuan Yao was originally a talented man with both civil and military skills, and he was also the head of the Yuan Valve family officially recognized by the imperial court, and now he is in Yuzhou, of course, he will soon be able to gather people's hearts and go all out to deal with Liu Biao in Jingzhou.

As for why Zhong Xuan was asked to lead the military affairs of Qingyan and Yanzhou, it is estimated that the 70,000 troops of General Dangkou Lei Chong were taken into account.

Compared with Lu Bu, Zhong Miao commanded Lei Chong, and his father-in-law commanded his son-in-law, of course, he was more handy.

Liu Ming arrived at the imperial court, who did General Duliao? Who commands the Liao Iron Cavalry? Henan Yin Xu Huang served as the general of Duliao.

Yuan Yao is gone, who is the new Guangluxun? Zhang He, the general of the town protection, the history of Qingzhou thorn Zhang He. Who is the history of Qingzhou Thorn?

Shaofu Secretary Xu Jing. Xu Jing was released. Who is Shao Fuqing? Former Jingzhao Yin Yupeng, Li Wei's classmate.

Who is Kyung Zhao Yin? The former Dasi Nong Cheng Zhu Mu, Li Wei's brother-in-law. Who is the new Henan Yin? The original Shangshu left servant shot Sima Lang.

Who is the new Shangshu Zuo Servant? Ding Li, Li Wei's classmate. General Zhijinwu Yushi has been leading the troops to fight abroad, and the post of Zhijinwu used to be led by Yan Liang, but now it is led by Chen Hao.

Zhu Mu's younger brother Zhu Wei served as the imperial historian. The people of Chang'an suddenly realized that Prime Minister Li Wei took this opportunity to bring his classmates Liu Ming, Yu Peng, Chen Hao, Ding Li, and his close relatives Zhu Mu and Zhu Wei to the throne, and his power was even greater.

Of course, the eldest princess also gained something, and the minister of the clan, Liu He, finally came back, and the secretary of the clan participated in the decision-making.

Great Sima Xu Rong and Taiwei Zhang Yan can also accept it, after all, Yang Feng has become a general of the chariot cavalry, Yan Liang and Zhang He have also taken the position, and Lu Bu and Zhao Yun are both meritorious generals, and no one can regret their status.

Li Wei blatantly cronyized under the banner of implementing the new system, and the eldest princess and the eldest Sima turned a deaf ear, which immediately stung the ministers of the court, so there was a wave of resignation in the court.

Unexpectedly, Prime Minister Li Wei didn't care about it and approved it all. As long as you're willing to go, just say hello.

In April, the imperial court issued an edict to the world that, according to the new system, talents will be selected by trial and evaluation once every three years. However, during the period of the rise of the Han Dynasty, there was an urgent need for capable people, so the first selection directly recruited the world's notice of Yijing, ancient records, astronomy, calendars, Zhonglu, primary schools, "History", "Materia Medica" and "Five Classics", "Filial Piety", "Erya" and other talents gathered in Beijing to try the scriptures (examinations) to enter the office.

For a time, the government and the opposition were shaken, and Confucian scholars and virtuous people from all over the country flocked to it, and Chang'an Taixue was overcrowded.

In this dynasty, the selection of the examination has always been an auxiliary selection system, mainly to test the Confucian scriptures, and the examination methods have two types: shooting strategies and countermeasures.

The content focuses on the interpretation of the scriptures, mainly used in the internal examinations of Taixue, and the purpose is to urge all students to read the scriptures carefully and understand the meaning of the scriptures.

The countermeasure is to write articles based on the major national affairs, theories and other issues raised by the emperor or scholars, mainly for scholars recommended by the imperial court, and after the emperor and scholars pass the examination, they can be conferred officials.

According to the new selection system, there are three types of examinations, namely the practice strategy, the trial scripture and the legal theory. These three examination methods are divided into three subjects according to the degree of difficulty.

There is a prescribed number of officers in each section. The initial shooting test of this dynasty was divided into two subjects, A and B, according to the degree of difficulty.

During Wang Mang's time, the two subjects were changed to three, and the number of officials in each section was increased. This kind of examination was tried once a year before Wang Mang usurped the country, and after Emperor Guangwu was reinstated, two subjects A and B were restored, and they were tried every two years.

However, with the expansion of the scale of Taixue and the increase in the number of Confucian students, the examination system began to change, and gradually became a mere formality, mainly based on the examination and recommendation of scholars.

In May, the examination begins. Prime Minister Li Wei and other ministers, Xu Shao, Wang Jian, Yang Biao and other Confucian celebrities gathered in Taixue to discuss the scholars.

In mid-May, the first exam selection ends. Because the number of virtuous people far exceeded the prescribed number of officials, the court hurriedly played the eldest princess and asked for an increase in the number of places.

The eldest princess replied, there is no limit to the number of people, how many are taken, and one should not be missed. The imperial court took 547 virtuous people, and all of them were awarded officials.

The talent crisis in the imperial court was immediately greatly improved. When all the corporal heard the news, they were all overjoyed and prepared for a larger trial in three years.

Li Wei's trial selection system was successful, and he recruited a large number of outstanding talents of various types and urgently needed talents for the imperial court, but at the same time, he was also hated by the gate lord family.

Now they understand why the eldest princess, the eldest princess, and the eldest princess are all supporting Li Wei behind their backs, because Li Wei has already convinced them that he promised that the examination can recruit a group of extremely outstanding talents for the imperial court, and he did it, giving the gate valve families a heavy blow, and also laying a solid foundation for the Han in crisis to go to Zhongxing.

The family of the gate lords and the civil and military ministers who had been excluded from the court came together, and they were about to join forces to fight Li Wei, when the Nanyang War broke out.

This war came so timely that Li Wei raised his arms and cheered at the Prime Minister's Mansion. Last year, Chang'an's court was in crisis, and this year's crisis in Chang'an's court was even more imminent, and Chang'an's Han Emperor Son of Heaven expeditioned outside the Saiwai, Chang'an's eldest princess Her Royal Highness avoided Jinyang, Chang'an court's Optimus Prime Stone general Li Hong was in the northwest of Xinjiang to fight to the death, Chang'an court is like a tree that is about to overturn, and like a leaf of duckweed in the stormy waves, although it is still struggling to support in the wind and rain, but at this time as long as there is a little external force, it will fall, it will be swallowed by the wind and waves.

The people of Xiangyang couldn't help it, the indecisive and hesitant Liu Biao couldn't help it, Cao Cao, who was struggling on the line of life and death, Sun Quan and Zhou Yu, who were scheming and intent to take advantage of the fisherman, couldn't help it, and Liu Bei, who always wanted to enter Chang'an, couldn't help it, and the envoy's fast boats flew back and forth on the Yangtze River, and impassioned faces went in and out of Xiangyang City, attacking, Northern Expedition, and unifying Sheji...... Excited shouts resounded through Jianghuai, Jingxiang and Bashu, and all forces were fighting hard, and the torrent of the Northern Expedition was unstoppable.

In May, Liu Biao of Xiangyang sent troops, and Cai Mao, Kuai Liang, Wen Ping, Xu Shu, Ma Liang and other Jingzhou generals led 60,000 troops to Luyang and Yingchuan.

In early May, Liu Pan and Liu Bei of Yizhou sent troops, and the two met at Yangping Pass, gathered an army of 50,000 and launched an attack on Longnan.

In early May, Sun Quan and Zhou Yu personally led the Jiangdong army to the north, and Cao Cao joined forces in Shouchun, Jiujiang County, and the three gathered 80,000 troops and went north along the vortex mouth (the place where the vortex water enters Huai, in the northeast direction of Huaiyuan, Anhui) and killed Yuzhou.

Three years passed, for Chang'an, in a snap of a finger, nothing was done, and time was gone, but for the southern states and counties, it was a long three years, and they did their best in these three years, trying to recover their vitality, expand their armaments, and always watch out for the northern Xinjiang army roaring down.

Their efforts paid off, they finally found an opportunity, and they launched a counteroffensive against a formidable enemy.

However, as Li Wei said at the military meeting of the Qilin Palace, since the death of Yuan Shao, there is no male lord in the world, Liu Biao, Cao Cao, Liu Bei, Sun Quan, and Zhou Yu are not prestigious, and no one can control the princes from all walks of life, and it is only a matter of time before they are defeated.

In mid-May, the Dangkou general Lei regrouped his 70,000-strong army and marched south, defeating Sun Quan and Zhou Yu's Jiangdong army in a battle at Mengxiang (now Mengcheng), beheading 8,000 people.

Sun Quan and Zhou Yu hurriedly retreated across the Huai River, not daring to move forward half a step. Zhong Xuan, the general of Zhengnan, commanded the three-way army of Gao Shun, Zang Ba, and Wei Xu to defend the border of Xu Yan, and Cao Cao did not dare to cross the Lei Chi by half a step.

In mid-May, Zhao Yun, the general of the Right Guard, Chen Hao, the general of Wuwei, and Yu Xuan, the general of the Zhongli Army, led the four battalions of the Northern Army to Longnan, met Huaxiong, Sima Yi, and Wei Yan, and gathered 40,000 troops to fight a decisive battle with the rebels outside Hechi City.

Wuwei General Chen Hao and Li Feng Captain Hao Zhao led 3,000 soldiers of the forward battalion to bravely advance and tear apart the middle of the Shu army, beheaded 12 generals, cut down the Shu army, and severely damaged Liu Pan.

Zhao Yun and Sima Yi waved their troops to cover up the killing, and won the battle. Liu Bei led the army to retreat to Xiting and defended it. That night, Liu Pan was seriously injured and died, the army's morale was disheartened, and Liu Bei had no choice but to withdraw the army and return.

Zhang Ren, Zhang Song, Huang Quan, Huang Zhong, Zhuge Liang, Pang Tong and other Bashu and Jingzhou civil and military persuaded Liu Bei to sit in Chengdu and stabilize the morale of the army, so as not to be taken advantage of by the Northern Xinjiang Army and lose the entire Yizhou.

In the second half of May, Liu Bei left Zhang Fei, Zhang Ren, Pang Tong, Liu Yan, Li Xiu and other civil and military officials to guard Hanzhong, and led the army south to Chengdu.

Yuan Yao, the general of Pingnan, led an army of 30,000 troops to defend the line of Guangyang Pass, Luyang and Kunyang. Originally, he expected that after Lei Zhong defeated the Jiangdong army, he would be able to rush back to help, but who knew that the Jiangdong army stayed on the front line of the Huai River, and Cao Cao stationed troops on the border of Xu Yan, and none of them withdrew, dragging the hundreds of thousands of troops of the Northern Xinjiang Army.

Kuai Liang commanded a large army to storm Luyang, and Yuzhou was in an emergency. Yang Feng, the general of the cavalry, led an army of 30,000 out of Wuguan, killed Wancheng in Nanyang, implemented the plan of encircling Wei and saving Zhao, and forced the Jingzhou army to retreat.

The Jingzhou army retreated, but Yang Feng refused to withdraw the army, and went to the imperial court three times and twice, asking to lead the army to attack Wancheng and recover Nanyang.

Yuan Yao, the general of Pingnan, then also played, saying that now the army of Sun Quan and Zhou Yu was dragged on the front line of the Huai River, and they wanted to withdraw but were worried that the Han army would cross the river along the way, so they were in a dilemma.

Jingzhou has lost the support of Jiangdong and is simply unable to resist the attack of our army, so please consider carefully and do not miss this opportunity.

At this moment, the rebellion in Northern Xinjiang is undecided, and the strategy of the imperial court is defense, and the great Sima Xu Rong and the Taiwei Zhang Yan resolutely rejected the pleas of Yang Feng and Yuan Yao, but Li Wei said a word at this critical moment,

"The imperial court has enough financial resources to support the Che cavalry general to recover Nanyang." Since the Prime Minister supports the fight, then this battle must be affordable, so Taifu Liu He, the imperial historian Xun You and many ministers of the court and the central government immediately played one after another, asking the army to continue to attack south, but Xu Rong and Zhang Yan's attitude was very resolute, withdrawing, and immediately withdrew to Guanzhong.

The ministers wrote to the eldest princess. In military affairs, the eldest princess did not dare to make decisions casually, and now that the general was not here, of course she had to listen to Xu Rong and Zhang Yan, so the eldest princess planned to order Yang Feng and Yuan Yao to withdraw their troops.

At this time, Shi Jiakui, the head of the Prime Minister's Mansion, rushed to Jinyang Palace day and night and handed over a secret letter from Li Wei to the eldest princess.

Li Wei said in the letter that there are still three years left before His Majesty will rule, and within three years, if the army cannot quell the rebellion in the south, will the general leave the court?

Three years later, the Son of Heaven was only thirteen years old, and according to the custom, His Highness would continue to hold the authority, and the authority would be handed over step by step.

At this time, the world is undecided, does the general dare to leave the Son of Heaven? Even if he is willing to leave, what about the military heart?

Who dares to ensure that the conscription army is not disturbed? Who dares to guarantee that there are no heinous ** people like Dong Zhuo, Li Dao, and Guo Yan in the army?

The financial endowment of the imperial court is indeed very tight, but the prestige of the general in the desert is too great, and since he arrived in the northern frontier, how many battles have he fought so far?

If the situation in northern Xinjiang continues to develop like this, it will not be long before the Xianbei people themselves will solve the problem.

The general accompanied His Majesty to inspect Liaodong, precisely to give the Xianbei people time, so the wealth of the imperial court could fully support the Nanyang War.

If Nanyang is captured this year, the army will definitely be able to cross the Yangtze River next year. The eldest princess was thrilled and ordered to attack Nanyang.

This battle lasted for three months. The Northern Xinjiang Army was unable to conquer Wancheng, and it was unable to recover Nanyang. In the second half of August, the Son of Heaven and the general pacified the northern frontier, the hussar general Xian Yufu died of illness, the general was seriously ill, and the news that the eldest princess insisted on going to Youzhou to visit the general reached the commanders of the armies.

At this time, Zhong Xuan, the general of Zhengnan, received a letter from his nephew Guo Yuan. Guo Yuan is a lieutenant under Yuan Yao's account, and he is now attacking Wancheng in Nanyang.

He talked a little about the situation in Chang'an in his letter, and then asked an inexplicable word,

"Today, the general is critically ill, and the DPRK and China are abusing power to bring disaster to the country, and the society is crumbling, I want to save the Han, but where is the road?" Zhong Xuan's face changed greatly, and he worked hard to write.

Fighting Nanyang requires the cooperation of the entire southern battlefield, and attacking Wancheng all the way alone has very few chances of winning and is extremely wealthy.

At this time, it was a critical moment for the reform of the imperial court, and with the style of the prime minister, he would never agree to the general of the Che cavalry to attack Nanyang.

But this time, the Prime Minister is unusual, and actively supports, there must be a deep meaning in it, you must not listen to gluttonous words, go astray, and harm the nine clans.

After this letter was sent, there was no news from Guo Yuan. Zhong Xuan was anxious, and the book was heavy, paying close attention to Nanyang, and secretly dispatching an army back to Xuchang if necessary, just in case.

Zhong Xuan didn't elaborate on the reason, and Lei Chong didn't even think about it, and urgently transferred 30,000 troops back to Xuchang.

"My lord, we have arrived ......" Jia Kui's voice woke up Li Wei, who was half-asleep and half-awake, he opened his eyes suddenly, looking at the dark night sky outside the car window, with a trace of murderous aura in his eyes.

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