Chapter 10 Winning the Central Plains Section 2 The eldest princess urgently summoned Prime Minister Cai Yong, Taiwei Xu Rong and other important ministers of the court and Zhang Yan, Lu Bu, and Yan Rou to Fenghuangtai for discussion.

The ministers unanimously agreed that Han Sui's purpose in attacking Guanzhong at this time was very clear, that is, to take advantage of the defeat of Luoyang and Hebei in the Central Plains, occupy Guanzhong, and then form a three-legged situation with Luoyang and Hebei to dominate Xiliang.

This situation is very conducive to the stability and development of Western Xinjiang, and Han Sui has fought bloody battles and exhausted himself for more than ten years, and what he is looking forward to is this day.

Now it is impossible to expect him to give up his hands in Guanzhong. The next attack strategy of the imperial court was to recover Luoyang and take all the Central Plains.

With Yanzhou already occupied, the targets of the army in the near future were Guanzhong, Hanoi, and Yingchuan, Yuzhou, so as to realize the idea of encircling Luoyang from the east, west, south, and north directions.

In other words, to recover Luoyang, Guanzhong must be taken, and to fight Guanzhong, Hebei's opponent is not only Han Sui, but also Yuan Shao.

When the Northern Xinjiang army entered Guanzhong, Yuan Shao and Han Sui must have joined forces, there is no doubt about this.

"Is it possible for us to attack Guanzhong now?" The eldest princess's gaze slowly swept over Xu Rong and Zhang Yan's faces,

"Han Sui is fighting with Yuan Shao, if the army enters the pass immediately, the timing should be more appropriate, Han Sui and Yuan Shao may not have time to join forces." Xu Rong shook his head,

"If we attack immediately, we can only use more than 40,000 troops in Hedong, which is seriously insufficient to take Guanzhong."

"According to Lord Yang Feng's report, Han Sui and Ma Chao joined forces with the Qiang people to attack Guanzhong with more than 70,000 people, while Yuan Tan and Duan Xuan have more than 30,000 people who stick to the Xinfeng line, and there are 100,000 horses on the entire Guanzhong battlefield." Xu Rong glanced at the eldest princess and the ministers with a solemn expression,

"If we want to attack Guanzhong, we need at least twice as many troops, that is, 200,000 troops, but we will not be able to gather so many troops in the near future. Not next year. The attack on Guanzhong became extremely difficult with the sudden advance of the Xiliang army. ”

"At present, the large army on the battlefield in the Central Plains needs time to rest and replenish, and this year and next year they will attack Hanoi and Yingchuan, hold on to Yan and Thanh Prefectures, and guard against the counterattack of the rebels, so they cannot be mobilized. The Iron Rider who returned to the side plug also needed time to rest and replenish. In addition, winter is coming soon, and even if it is to be recruited, it will have to wait until next spring. Whether or not the desert Hu cavalry will be recruited will not be determined until next year. Because I think that the annual recruitment of Hu cavalry will make the Hu people feel that the Han force is declining, and it is very likely to prompt some Hu tribes to take the opportunity to rebel, which is very detrimental to the great cause of Zhongxing. ”

"The lack of troops is only one of the difficulties, and the most difficult thing in attacking the pass is the lack of financial endowments of the imperial court. Since the Great War in the Central Plains, the imperial court's wealth has been exhausted. With the exception of the Hanoi battlefield, all the battlefields have been suspended, and the imperial court is also anxiously waiting for the tax to be deposited after the autumn harvest in October. Looking back now, if Hebei had not implemented the Xintian system and the new tax system in the past few years, and increased tax revenue, we would not have been able to attack the Central Plains at all. However, as soon as the Central Plains War was fought and the Hebei treasury was empty, we wanted to gather 200,000 troops to attack Guanzhong, and the imperial court could not afford it. The eldest princess frowned and looked worried.

Cai Yong and the ministers were also frowning and at a loss.

"As early as after the start of the Central Plains War, the imperial court had already estimated that Han Sui might have to fight Guanzhong, and today's situation is also expected by us. It's just that because the seven-month Central Plains War exhausted Hebei's financial endowment, we could only watch Han Sui enter the Guanzhong and were powerless to stop it. Xu Rong continued,

But if Guanzhong is delayed, Han Sui will inevitably take advantage of the inability of Hebei and Luoyang to use troops against Guanzhong and quickly gain a foothold in Guanzhong. Once he gained a firm foothold in Guanzhong, it would be even more difficult for Guanzhong to fight. ”

"I also discussed it with Feiyan (Zhang Yan), Fengxian (Lu Bu), and Ziyu (Yan Rou) just now, and I think the best time to attack Guanzhong should be June next year. By June of next year, the imperial court will have two seasons of grain in storage, and the cattle and sheep in the desert will also begin to grow fat after the pastures return to green in early summer and May, so that the grain and grass of the army can ensure that we can fight for at least four months. In addition, in June next year, the two prefectures of Qingdao and Yanzhou can also pay a small amount of taxes to the imperial court, and the grain and grass of the various armies in the Central Plains can also be replenished nearby. In this way, they can launch an attack on Luoyang, effectively contain Yuan Shao's forces, and cooperate with us to attack Guanzhong. ”

"Next June?" The eldest princess looked at Prime Minister Cai Yong and Monk Ling Li Wei, and asked very worriedly,

"By June next year, can the imperial court ensure that the army will attack Guanzhong?" Cai Yong sighed,

"If God forbid, there will be no disasters in various places until June next year, and the imperial court should be able to launch an attack on Guanzhong, but ......" The eldest princess and Xu Rong and the others became nervous at the same time.

"The maximum number of troops attacking Guanzhong is 100,000." Li Wei continued Cai Yong's words and said,

"The wealth of the imperial court can't support the 200,000 army to fight anyway." Li Wei looked at Xu Rong, Zhang Yan, Lu Bu and Yan Rou, and said solemnly,

"Four generals, 100,000 troops, can't they defeat Han Sui and Yuan Shao?" The four of them looked at each other and nodded.

Xu Rong waved his hand vigorously,

"Okay, 100,000 is 100,000, I will personally go to Guanzhong to command the army." After deciding on the attack strategy for the Battle of Guanzhong, everyone immediately discussed various countermeasures before launching an attack.

Because the best time to attack is next June or later, Xun You, the superintendent of the Central Committee, suggested that before that, Hebei should pretend that its wealth is in crisis and take the initiative to negotiate peace with the rebels from all walks of life, so as to get a longer recovery time.

"Han Sui needs time to take all the passes, and he has to fight with Yuan Shao for a while, of course he wants us to have a good talk with him."

"After Yuan Shao's Great War in the Central Plains, he suffered a large loss of strength, while Cao Cao and Liu Bei were basically defeated. In the next two to three years, the rebels will no longer be able to form an alliance again and launch a massive counteroffensive. Although Yuan Shao and Liu Biao are very wealthy in their respective states and counties, and their territory has been very stable in recent years, and their financial endowments are relatively sufficient, they are not strong enough and can only protect themselves. In this case, we take the initiative and negotiate peace, which is exactly what they want, and we may be able to get unexpected benefits from the peace. Xun You's suggestion was unanimously agreed by everyone.

Taking advantage of the opportunity of peace negotiations, Hebei can quickly recover its strength, and it can also win over and split the rebels from all walks of life, which is very conducive to pacifying the great war in the world in the later period.

The eldest princess immediately issued an order and ordered the princess Xu Rong to make a little preparation, and immediately went south to Hedong to persuade Han Sui.

He ordered the general Li Hong to send people to persuade Cao Cao, Liu Bei, Sun Ce, Zhou Yu, Liu Biao and others. If these people are willing to negotiate peace, they can put back some of the rebel generals captured in the Central Plains War, such as Cao Ren, Sun Fu, Lu Su and others, to show their sincerity.

If they are willing to submit to the imperial court, they can be regarded as heroes of the Han Dynasty. The eldest princess also ordered Yan Rou, the general of Zhenbei, to go north to Yunzhong immediately, while appeasing and deterring the tribes of the Biansaihu tribe, and on the other hand, training the iron cavalry, preparing to lead the army into Guanzhong to fight next spring.

The matter of Guanzhong was discussed, and Prime Minister Cai Yong, Shangshu Ling Li Wei and Zhongshu Supervisor Xun You jointly played again. The imperial court in order to promote and implement

"Counting and dictating the field",

Xintian systems such as "soil breaking" have repeatedly purchased and borrowed the land of the wealthy men of Sanzhou in Hebei Province at low prices. According to the original agreement, once the imperial court recovered the prefectures and counties north of the Yellow River, it would sell and repay a part of the land at a low price to these wealthy lords.

After the victory in the Central Plains, these gate lords couldn't wait to ask the imperial court to fulfill their original promises.

"Qingzhou and Yanzhou have experienced years of wars and disasters, and the population of the two states has shrunk dramatically. Although Cao Cao and Tian Kai both implemented the policy of tuntian in both places, due to the limited number of populations and the continuous wars, they were forced to levy and extort soldiers in the two states, and repeatedly forced soldiers to recruit soldiers, resulting in the population of the two places not only not increasing, but becoming increasingly scarce, and the life of the people did not get any improvement. Li Weiyu played,

"The current situation in Yanzhou is very suitable for the imperial court to promote the Xintian system, and Qingzhou has basically completed the implementation of the Xintian system with our efforts. In order for the two states to recover in a very short period of time, so that the imperial court can get the taxes of the two states as soon as possible, we need to do two things. The first is to relocate a large number of people, and the second is to let the wealthy people of Hebei quickly get the land they need, and let them invest a lot of money in the land, so that they can obtain considerable food and money in the shortest possible time. ”

"Last year, we relocated more than one million people to Qingzhou, and it is estimated that the population of Qingzhou is now about 2 million, which is still some distance from the 3.6 million population at the peak of Qingzhou. Therefore, the imperial court planned to move another 500,000 people back to Qingzhou after the autumn harvest and autumn planting were over. ”

"Yanzhou's population is now just over a million at its most, while Yanzhou's population was at its peak at more than 4 million. Therefore, the imperial court planned to relocate two million people from Bingzhou, Youzhou and Jizhou. ”

"Yan and Qingdao were both large tax states in the past, if there is enough population, a large amount of money and materials invested by the wealthy men and businessmen of the three states of Hebei, and the new land system and the new tax system of the imperial court as a guarantee, these two states are expected to return to the past tax level within two or three years."

"After the population crisis in the three prefectures of Hebei, especially the population expansion in Jizhou, is completely resolved, the people will have more land, and the people will pay more taxes. As a result, the life of the people was better, and the border fortress was more stable, which was very conducive to the stability of the three prefectures of Hebei and the border counties of northern Xinjiang. ”

"Even though Yanzhou and Qingzhou have relocated a large number of people from Hebei, the population still has not reached the previous number, and most of the gate valve tycoons in the two places have fled and been killed, and there are countless ownerless lands, which is enough for the imperial court to reward meritorious soldiers and fulfill the original promise to the gate lord tycoons in Hebei Sanzhou." Li Wei talked for a long time, and Cai Yong, Liu He, Xun You, and Dasi Nong Zhong Xuan kept explaining the details in detail.

At the beginning, in order to implement the reduction of expenditures, the imperial court deliberately allocated it to local officials and government officials

"Career field" and

"Gongfu Tian". (The income of the public office is used for the official expenses of the government.) The income from the fields was used to pay the salaries of officials at all levels.

At that time, the imperial court was short of money and had no money to buy land, so the eldest princess personally came forward and borrowed credit from the wealthy men in the three states of Hebei.

Later, the imperial court implemented the military household system and needed land, so the imperial court bought a lot of land from these wealthy men at a very low price, which solved the urgent need.

Now that the imperial court has land, of course it has to fulfill its promise. First, it can increase the prestige of the Son of Heaven and the imperial court, second, it can stabilize the people's hearts, third, it can take advantage of the opportunity to sell the land to make a lot of money from it, and solve the money needed by the imperial court to migrate the population, and fourth, these wealthy men and businessmen are very rich, and the restoration of Qingdao and Yanzhou needs money, and the two sides are mutually beneficial, so why not?

"Will this conflict with the imperial court's new field system?" The eldest princess asked worriedly,

"When the wealthy have more land and money, they will try to buy more land, which will have a big impact on the new land system. Do you have controls in place? If not, don't sell a large amount of land for the sake of this small profit, thus laying a huge hidden danger for social turmoil. ”

"Of course the imperial court has a way to control it." Li Wei said very confidently,

"As more and more states and counties promote and implement the new field system, it will become more and more perfect. And if these people want to enjoy a lifetime of glory and wealth, they must not oppose the New Deal, otherwise they will not only be blessed to enjoy wealth, but also lose their heads. The eldest princess saw that the important ministers of the court unanimously agreed with this recital, and immediately issued an edict to implement it.

"How long will it take to move people south?" The eldest princess asked again,

"Will it affect the Battle of Guanzhong?"

"After the autumn harvest and autumn planting are over in October, the southward migration of people can begin. However, this time it involved many states and counties, and the southward migration population reached 2.5 million, so it took about half a year. Cai Yong said,

"The imperial court strives to end this southward move before the spring ploughing in April, and it will not affect the battle of Guanzhong."

"Such a huge migration involves all aspects, and someone needs to personally go to Yanzhou to preside over the overall situation." The eldest princess said,

"Originally, the general was the most suitable candidate, but the general was not in good health and needed to use this time to recuperate." She looked at the ministers present and asked with a smile,

"My lords, who is the best person to send?" The ministers were stunned. The focus of this relocation is on land allocation.

And the distribution of land among meritorious soldiers and soldiers is even more related to the success or failure of Zhongxing's great cause, so it is natural that the general should preside over this matter.

Even if the general is not in good health, at least let him be named, and let him personally inquire about the land distribution of meritorious soldiers and soldiers, how can he completely ignore him?

"Your Highness, in addition to the general, the other ministers ...... this matter" Cai Yong looked at the ministers on the left and right, and said with a wry smile,

"It's not appropriate for anyone to go." The smile on the eldest princess's face gradually dissipated, and there was a hint of annoyance in her eyes,

"Are you trying to exhaust the general to death? He died, do you think Dahan will be able to prosper? The ministers were startled, fell to their knees, and did not dare to say a word.

The eldest princess was reluctant to let the general preside over the matter, obviously not because the general was not in good health, but because she wanted the general to gradually stay away from government affairs.

After the victory in the Central Plains, the foundation of Zhongxing's great cause had been laid, and the generals were also prestigious and brilliant, and the threat to the imperial power was increasing.

This time, the eldest princess personally went north to the desert to recruit Hu Qi to go south, and personally rushed to Handan to supervise the battle, and the deep meaning behind it was very complicated.

And the general obviously saw this, so he first openly opposed the restoration of the fifth-class title system, and then under the pretext of fighting Luoyang, he resolutely refused to return to Jinyang to accept the grand celebration gift.

The great victory in the Central Plains is of great significance, the general did not return to the court to report the good news, and Jinyang did not hold a grand celebration gift, which is extremely abnormal.

The sensitive ministers immediately realized that the eldest princess was deliberately impeaching the general's prestige, and the general also intended to keep a low profile to avoid all unnecessary trouble.

Before the Son of Heaven and the imperial court returned to Luoyang, Jinyang seemed to have a storm. The ministers didn't speak, and the eldest princess had no choice but to ask by name.

"Lord Liu, which minister do you think is the most appropriate to go to Yanzhou to preside over this matter?" Imperial Doctor Liu He didn't think about it, and opened his mouth and said: "The minister thinks that Zhao Qi and Zhao are the most suitable. The eldest princess was stunned for a moment, and then understood that Liu He was deliberately prevaricating herself, and she couldn't help but blush with anger, and glared at him fiercely.

"What do you mean? Mr. Zhao is ninety-one years old, are you ...... You can figure it out. Liu He lowered his head and was silent.

"Lord Xun, tell me." Xun You thought for a moment and said respectfully: "This matter is very important, and a respected minister is needed. Elder Zhao Qi is ninety-one years old, so of course he can't go. Boss Cui Lie's illness is getting worse and worse, and now he is confused, and he can't do it. The old man of Ding Gong was tortured by rheumatism and died, and he couldn't do it. Boss Yuan has been lying on the couch for half a year and can't get up, and he can't do it. Master Chen Ji ......" Xun You's face darkened, and he said helplessly,

"He's very sick and will last until this winter at most. Mr. Yang Biao has a leg disease and can't travel far. Master Chun Yujia's eyes are clear. Xu Shao, Guo Yun, Gai Xun and Wang Han are all in poor health and have not been in court for a long time. Zhao Wen, Zhang Xi, and Han Rong have always had opinions on the new policy, and they are not familiar with the generals, so His Royal Highness will not send them if he wants to. Xun You then turned his head to look at Prime Minister Cai Yong, which meant that it seemed that there was no suitable person to find except for the Prime Minister.

"The Prime Minister has a lot of opportunities, and he can't go to Yanzhou alone." The eldest princess looked at Xun You and said,

"Lord Xun has worked hard, you can go to Yanzhou." Xun You was dizzy, looking left and right, there were pairs of sympathetic eyes.

He sighed secretly and bowed down to receive the order,

"Your Highness, my ability alone is limited, and I still need the help of several ministers."

"Which ministers do you want to help?"

"Please Tian Chou, Xie Ming, Tang Fang, and Chen Hao to go to Yanzhou with me." Xun You said the old subordinates of the four generals in one breath.

With these four people going to Yanzhou together, it is convenient for Xun You to do anything, and there will be no conflict with the general.

The ministers in the hall greatly admired Xun You's wit, this benevolent brother really had a way to get such a tricky thing done in a blink of an eye.

The eldest princess smiled slightly and agreed without hesitation. Jump to