Weird Three Kingdoms

Chapter 3542: Requests and Demands

Youzhou.

Ji County.

Early February.

As the weather gradually became warmer, the spoils of victory from Liaodong arrived one after another, and the barren and pale Youzhou finally breathed a sigh of relief. Or, in other words, it had a little more color and looked a little better.

Especially in Ji County, it has become lively recently.

What is lively here is not the people but the troops that have gathered here.

Once the number of soldiers exceeds a thousand, it is already very large, and now the number of soldiers near Ji County is close to 10,000. This is a great test for the commander of the army. Unlike the huge territory in the northern desert, it is like living in a 100-square-meter earth house with ten people and living in a 100-square-foot mansion with ten people. These are two completely different concepts. The narrow space tests the ability of coordination and overall planning even more. Making full use of all resources and space has become Zhao Yun's most tedious task at the moment.

Moreover, Youzhou was poor and the people were in poverty. Originally, the area around Yuyang Jixian was quite rich, after all, there was salt and iron, but during Cao Chun's administration, most of his energy was focused on military affairs, and not enough attention was paid to people's livelihood and politics. These people's livelihood facilities were either not improved or deteriorated, and now some areas have to be repaired before they can be used.

In addition, there are quite a few Hu people in the Northern Territory Army, both good and bad, so military management needs to be stricter than usual.

These matters were reported to Zhao Yun every day, and from early morning to late evening, there was a constant stream of people working here.

Of course, Zhao Yun didn't need to take care of things like eating and defecating in such detail, as the non-commissioned officers in the military academy could handle them. However, there were some things that required Zhao Yun's approval or assignment.

There were only so many supplies, and the amount to be allocated to each county and battalion had to be carefully considered. What each unit did every day or at each stage, who obeyed whose orders, who to ask for logistics, and where to live had become a constant source of trouble.

Fortunately, the Cavalry had trained the grassroots non-commissioned officers at a very early stage, promoted education in the army, and gradually eliminated illiteracy, otherwise, it would be even more chaotic. However, learning is not as fun as having fun, so even though the Cavalry promoted education and advocated learning, there are still some people who think that eating and drinking is enough, and learning that thing is laborious and not fun at all, so after a few years, they still don't know anything.

This is also a very normal thing, but as the highest commander of Youzhou and even the entire Northern Territory at this moment, Zhao Yun has a very hard time.

And there is also trouble in the Northern Territory...

Zhang He arrived in Ji County, exhausted.

After Zhang He captured Juyong, he used it as a transit station for connecting Changshan, Taihang, and Taiyuan, and coordinated the cooperation of various local troops. When Gan Feng failed to achieve a great victory in Liaodong, he solved the urgent needs of Youzhou during the snow disaster. Although he did not have any outstanding military exploits, he also made a considerable contribution.

Zhang He opened up Juyong Pass, which made it possible to transport grain and grass without going around the Yanshan Mountains. Although the mountain road was rugged and not easy to walk on, there were some mountains blocking the way, so there would be less wind, snow and cold. Otherwise, even if we don't count the detour, the desert under the heavy snow was white without even a coordinate, and forced transportation would probably be impossible.

Now that spring has arrived, Youzhou has gradually regained some color. Although it is still more than half a year before the autumn harvest, at least the fields are beginning to be green. Not only can the war horses nibble on fresh grass, but even ordinary people can pick some ferns and wild vegetables from the water and grassland as food to fill their stomachs. The pressure on food and grass is relatively small.

Zhang He's burden as a transferee was lighter, but he still could not rest because new situations had arisen.

"The Jiankun tribe of the Great Desert is asking for help?" Zhang He was a little surprised.

The distribution of tribes in the desert and their respective spheres of influence are actually very chaotic. Even though the Northern Territory Army has been operating in the desert for many years, it can only plan the settlements and migratory nomadic areas of various tribes within the influence of the Northern Territory Protectorate. In areas farther and further north, it is basically out of reach. In many cases, it is just an approximate range, such as a certain place or a certain direction is probably a certain tribe.

In the desert, the Xianbei have been defeated, the Wuhuan have disappeared, and the Dingling have been defeated by Gan Feng in Liaodong. The only remaining ones are the Jiankun and Rouran, which can be considered the majority, but their strength is still not comparable to that of the Hu people when they were at their peak.

This time Jiankun ran into trouble.

The invasion of the Semites.

At the beginning, Jiankun Rouran boasted that they could resist the attack of the Semites, but they soon felt the strain and had to ask Zhao Yun for help.

After receiving the news, Zhao Yun somewhat despised the fighting effectiveness of the Jiankun Rouran, but there was no other way. He had to send people to the desert for support, otherwise the rear line might be unstable, so he found Zhang He.

Moreover, some of the Hu cavalry who came with Zhao Yun, some of whom are more difficult to communicate with and manage, can also take this opportunity to be transferred back to the Northern Desert. Otherwise, it would be fine if they stayed in Youzhou. After all, Youzhou is already quite dilapidated. These Hu people are somewhat clear-headed in the face of harsh military laws and scarce property. However, once they enter the Jizhou area, they will be dispersed to various counties. It is hard to say whether they can still control themselves.

Of course, these things are not suitable for publicizing on a large scale. It is enough for a few important generals to know about them.

Zhao Yun is now the supreme commander of the Northern Territory. Although his next target is right in front of him, he cannot pick corn and lose watermelon. He still needs to maintain the safety of the Northern Territory and the stability of the rear.

It was precisely because of this that when Zhang He, after a short rest, led his army of more than 300 people to the vicinity of Ji County to gather soldiers to return to the desert, he was faced with such a somewhat chaotic situation.

Some Hu people were willing to go back, but there were also others who were unwilling to leave.

Logically speaking, of course, it is necessary to identify which people are more suitable to go back and which can stay, but in the military camp in Ji County, the noisy voices between the tribes, the occasional frictions, the daily quarrels over military supplies and fodder, plus the various small battle reports and intelligence gathered, it is simply too much.

It's not that Zhao Yun and Zhang He didn't want to do it more carefully and perfectly, but there were only the two of them in the whole scene, or if they added a few more people, they would not be able to sort out the ideas quickly. In the end, they could only make a rough division and kept the Hu people who had surrendered to the Han army earlier, while the later Hu tribal soldiers were led by Zhang He to return to the desert and meet up with Jiankun Rouran.

Youzhou itself did not have much supplies, and they had to prepare for the lean season after farming this year, so Zhang He could not take much supplies and food with him. Fortunately, Zhang He himself did not care about these material possessions, and did not care much about how much he could take. He just estimated the approximate consumption and was able to support himself, so he led his men and horses and headed north along the Gubeikou Mountain Road.

After Zhang He led some of the Hu cavalry back to the desert, the number of soldiers in Ji County decreased, but at the same time, there were relatively fewer things to do. Before Zhao Yun could catch his breath, the message sent by Wei Yan arrived...

"A battle in northern Hebei?"

Zhao Yun frowned and muttered to himself.

Unlike in history, Zhao Yun and Wei Yan did not have much friendship.

Well, maybe even in history, there wasn’t much of a relationship between them.

If Jiankun Rouran had not said that there was a crisis in the desert, Zhao Yun might have agreed, or given more consideration to Wei Yan's battle plan, but now...

Zhao Yun is not a risk-taker. All his actions and the risks he faces must be within the range that he can bear.

Although Jizhou and Youzhou are both states, their land areas are very different.

In Youzhou, as long as Zhao Yun guarded Juyong, Yuyang, and Jixian, he could hold Youzhou firmly in place, and no one could stir up trouble. But what if the troops were dispersed to Jizhou, which is larger and has more cities?

Then it is inevitable that we will be unable to do so.

Zhao Yun was thinking, and suddenly thought of someone...

"Come here!" Zhao Yun ordered, "A few days ago, a man from the Cui family came here... Where is he?"

Zhao Yun then thought of Cui Lin, who had been in a very miserable situation recently. He did not have Liu Ye's status, nor Liu Ye's intelligence, and the key point was that Cui Lin could not be like Liu Ye, who would just walk away when he saw something was wrong.

Liu Ye tried to sway Zhao Yun, but when he found that Zhao Yun had a firm mind and could not be easily bewitched, Liu Ye immediately retracted his probing tentacles, and then pretended to be an honest man, and said goodbye in a proper and formal manner.

Naturally, it would be difficult for Zhao Yun to keep Liu Ye, and there was no reason for him to keep him.

Cui Lin obviously couldn't be as carefree as Liu Ye...

Or smart.

Seeing that the situation was not right, Liu Ye immediately humbled himself, integrated into the officials under Zhao Yun and collected information, while also solving his own food source. Otherwise, under the circumstances in Youzhou at the time, he would not be able to buy anything to eat even if he had money!

Cui Lin failed to do this, so the money he brought with him was soon spent.

It's not that the people selling food are greedy, but food and grass are extremely scarce in Youzhou at the moment. Selling one bite to Cui Lin means they might have one less bite. In this case, if Cui Lin doesn't offer a high enough price, no one will sell food to him.

If Cui Lin could still go collecting firewood with others, perhaps he could have held on for a while longer, but Cui Lin had never held a hoe or a hatchet since he was a child.

So, in the past few days, Cui Lin couldn't walk, had nothing to eat, and couldn't even find a good place to rest. It was really miserable. When Zhao Yun's men found him, the first thing they asked was if he had any food...

Zhao Yun was also helpless and could only ask someone to send some food over.

Cui Lin wolfed down his meal and burped. Suddenly, his brain seemed to short-circuit. He didn't know what to say to Zhao Yun. All the words and ideas he had come up with on the way and in the past few days, he suddenly couldn't remember!

Zhao Yun couldn't help but laugh when he saw this.

Normally Zhao Yun doesn't smile, but at this moment he couldn't help himself...

"Come on! I ask, you tell me..." After a moment, Zhao Yun stopped laughing, stared at Cui Lin and asked, "Qinghe Cui family, what do you want?"

"This..." Cui Lin had never expected Zhao Yun to be so straightforward. All of a sudden, all those great truths seemed to surge into his chest and abdomen, but were suppressed by a stomach full of food. His brain was empty. "This..."

Zhao Yun's eyes gradually became stern, "If you tell me another lie... you should know the consequences!"

Cui Lin immediately began to sweat, with a bitter face, "Son...Son, of course I will tell the truth, tell the truth... Cui family, what Cui family wants now is Qinghe..."

……

……

February of the tenth year of Taixing.

Xu County, which had just resolved a "crisis", had not returned to its former tranquility. It was still in a tense, anxious and noisy atmosphere, unable to extricate itself.

Although the cavalry army did not move at Hangu Pass, in Xu County, rumors were still rampant in the court, and the people were also restless. Of course, this "people" did not cover as many people as in later generations.

There was a heated discussion on how to deal with the General of Cavalry who disobeyed the imperial edict and sent troops to Wuguan without authorization. However, because of Cao Cao's arrival, the discussion came to a halt. Almost everyone was waiting for something, as if they were waiting for this war to pass quickly, or waiting for someone to teach whom a severe lesson, etc.

Cao Cao regained power in the court, and naturally had to take responsibility for the entire situation. Both the emperor and the ministers were somewhat caught off guard by Cao Cao's sudden return, but in the following time, the emperor and the ministers fell silent, and the atmosphere in the entire Xu County was like a compressed spring, which became tighter and tighter, and no one knew when it would rebound or collapse.

In the entire Cao Cao camp, if Cao Cao is the biggest flag, then Xun Yu in the Xu County base camp is the flag bearer who ensures that the flag does not fall. However, under the current situation, Xun Yu is also in a difficult situation.

Although Cao Cao's defeat was predicted during the previous battles, everyone hoped for victory rather than waiting for failure. Moreover, in the later period of the Battle of Hedong, the overall speed of Cao's army's defeat was too fast and things happened too suddenly, which was a bit like "a wall falls and everyone pushes it down, a broken drum is beaten by everyone", which led to a lot of chain reactions, and even a smart and wise man like Xun Yu became a little flustered and exhausted.

The current situation in the entire Shandong Province and the heartland of the Central Plains is really not conducive to making people feel the slightest bit optimistic.

At this time, gathered in the lobby of the Prime Minister's Mansion were several of Cao Cao's core ministers.

"Most people are just watching the fun, but how many people really care about the country?"

Cao Cao sat at the top. Although he had a lot of gray hair on his temples, his back was still straight.

"As a leader of a country, one should be brave enough to take on a duty. How can one look ahead and behind, hesitate and retreat? As the saying goes, one should do one's best and then leave the rest to fate. Moreover, fate is unknown at this moment, and there are many variables in the battle. Even if the cavalry army goes east through Hangu Pass, it will be alone and deep in the enemy's territory! This is really a good opportunity for us!"

That being said, everyone knows the actual situation.

Since the establishment of the Cavalry Army, they have often won victories with fewer troops, and have traveled across the north and south. It is not the first time that they have "advanced alone" once or twice. If they really would fail because of being "alone", Fei Qian would have died countless times and his body would have turned into bones!

Now Fei Qian is still fine, which means that the so-called "lone troop deep into the enemy's territory" alone can't defeat the cavalry army at all!

Cao Cao also knew this, so he looked around and said in a deep voice, "If it were a matter of weapons and armor, the Xin Mang Dynasty would have changed the world!"

These words were so powerful that everyone's expressions straightened!

That really hits the point.

Indeed.

The failure of Wang Mang's Xin Dynasty and Liu Xiu's successful establishment of the Eastern Han Dynasty were certainly the result of the combined effect of multiple factors, but the most important point was that Wang Mang touched upon the fundamental interests of the Shandong Central Plains region, especially Yuzhou and Jizhou, which were dominated by the landlord class!

Guided by Confucian idealism, Wang Mang attempted to restore the "Zhou Li" of the Western Zhou Dynasty and implemented a series of retro reforms, one of which was to take back the land and prohibit its sale, and redistribute it according to the well-field system. This policy not only directly touched the interests of the powerful landlord class, but also violated the interests of ordinary self-cultivating farmers!

Who would like to work hard for decades to finally buy land, only to have it become the property of the state at the end of the day? Then what is the meaning of working hard all your life? Dedication, sacrifice? Loyalty, filial piety, benevolence and righteousness?

Wang Mang obviously failed to reconcile this point, nor did he propose any solutions or measures to resolve land annexation. Instead, this led to opposition to Wang Mang's system from everyone from the landlord class to self-cultivating farmers, causing the Xin Dynasty to lose its foundation.

Because he had lost the support of the people, Wang Mang could not collect taxes. However, suppressing the rebellions in various places required a lot of expenses. Therefore, Wang Mang treated the symptoms without addressing the root cause. He reformed the currency four times in a short period of time and issued devalued currencies such as the Daquan Wu Shi. This further undermined the credibility of the Xin Dynasty, caused price inflation, and caused widespread resentment among the people.

In addition, Wang Mang's lack of "legitimacy" was also an important factor in the later military alienation and corruption. Wang Mang usurped the Han Dynasty through "abdication". Although he used prophecies and Confucian theories to package legitimacy, the Xin Dynasty always faced an inescapable dilemma. That is, Wang Mang violated the key core of Confucian ethics since the Han Dynasty, "loyalty to the emperor". The behavior of usurping the emperor by a minister was morally difficult for scholars to fully accept.

The most important reason for Liu Xiu's success in rebuilding the Eastern Han Dynasty and continuing the political framework of the Western Han Dynasty was that he explicitly opposed Wang Mang's institutional reforms and met the psychological expectations of the bureaucratic group and the powerful.

The past deeds of Wang Mang seem to be somewhat similar to the current situation!

When Cao Cao raised this point, he quickly boosted the confidence of his subordinates.

Wang Mang!

Liu Xiu!

The past is the past, the present is the present!

only……

Is everything really so similar?