Weird Three Kingdoms

Chapter 3615: Black Stone Blood Rain Weeps, Common People’s Souls Are Chilled
There are undulating mountains on both sides of Heishi Pass.

There is a narrow path among the mountains, winding down like overlapping intestines, passing through the peaks and forming a cliff confrontation with a pass in the middle, and the terrain is dangerous.

This pass is flanked by Mangling Mountain and faces each other like a gate, with the Luo River flowing through it, controlling the road between Gong and Luo.

If the Cavalry Army did not take this route, it would have to take a detour through Henei County.

Cao Zhang didn't know which route the Cavalry Army would choose. He just knew that he could only stay here until new orders were issued.

At the foot of the Black Stone Pass, the rain washed away all the blood left by the battle, leaving only the corpses that had been soaked and turned bleached lying in the rocks and mud.

There were dead bodies not only on both sides of the pass, but also on the mountain roads and in the Luo River.

The head, limbs, and flowing internal organs were scattered here and there, just like pieces of meat on a butcher's chopping board in the market.

The Grim Reaper stood behind the chopping board and asked with a smile, "Which piece would you like, sir?"

On Cao's side, most of the soldiers killed in the battle were from Qingzhou.

These remnants of the Yellow Turbans who came from Qingzhou, if they had fought for Zhang Tianshi's ideals in the past, now they are fighting purely for money and property.

Cao Cao was worried that these Qingzhou soldiers would fall into the hands of others, so he used money and land to recruit these Qingzhou soldiers, and these Qingzhou soldiers also repaid Cao Cao with their lives. Under the attack of the cavalry, nearly 200 Qingzhou soldiers died in the battle, which was undoubtedly a high death rate for the Black Stone Pass with only more than 2,000 garrison troops.

Moreover, most of them died in battle, and there were not many injured.

Inside the pass, most of the Qingzhou soldiers near the gate had indifferent expressions on their faces. Even when they saw the corpses of their own people right next to them, they acted as if they had seen clods of earth and stones.

Some auxiliary soldiers and civilian laborers carried the corpses on and inside the pass and threw them onto wooden carts as if they were carrying cargo, just like they were carrying bricks and stones. The limbs were tilted everywhere like branches, and even dragged a path of flesh and blood on the ground, but not many people paid any attention.

Cao Zhang ordered the bodies to be taken to the mass grave outside the Great Wall and buried. This was not a waste of time, but summer was approaching.

Once the rain comes, if these corpses are not dealt with, they will soon become the source of the plague.

There were basically not many civilians left in the pass, and most of the remaining civilians were old, weak, sick, or those who were left behind by Cao's army and could not go far. For these remaining civilians in Guanzhong, they were even more numb than the Qingzhou soldiers, and death was even a relief.

The Han Dynasty went from swallowing its anger in the beginning to working together to deal with the Huns. After it issued the order to punish anyone who offended the mighty Han no matter how far away they were, only a hundred years passed and there was no improvement.

Even when Liu Xiu revived the country, it did not actually improve the morale of the Han people.

Especially in the prefectures and counties in the Central Plains area of ​​Shandong.

The land bound the peasants tightly, and the strict system of keeping the people ignorant made the biggest goal of everyone in Shandong Central Plains not what the Han people were like or what the Hu people were like, but to have a stable meal to eat.

Therefore, whether it is the Qingzhou soldiers, the Yellow Turban bandits, or the remaining people now, they are all the products of having no faith and empty souls. They have no lofty goals, nor do they understand what lofty goals are. They can't even tell the difference between the good and the bad of specific things. Even when their own kind are bullied and killed, they just watch coldly and are numb.

What the Guanzhong Cavalry Army was like, what the people in the north were like, all seemed very far away from them. Even to the Qingzhou soldiers and Shandong laborers, Fei Qian and Cao Cao were the same in their eyes, both were warlords, both were fighting for power and profit, and both were very far away from them.

Unless they can truly feel the changes in the things that are right in front of them and in their hands, including but not limited to the basic necessities such as food, clothing, housing and transportation, otherwise for them, these years are nothing but one war after another, survive or die.

……

……

On the other side of the battlefield, Fei Qian and Pang Tong were discussing things beyond this battlefield.

"Although I have established the teachings of the Five Gods, I cannot be a king, I can only assist them. The Heavenly Emperor can calm people's hearts, but cannot stop wars. It takes three days for fast riders to reach Luoyang from Chang'an, but if we reach remote areas, we will be helpless. China is vast, and there are more than just the two capitals. In the past, the Qin people used the laws of Guanzhong to rule the Central Plains, but they were eventually defeated. This is a lesson for us."

Fei Qian said to Pang Tong.

The evolution of the system of upper-level rule is not linear, but a leap-forward development.

From Yanhuang to Xia, Shang and Zhou, and from Spring and Autumn to Qin and Han, all of them were innovative and extremely complex institutional evolutions.

After the Han Dynasty, the "super-stable structure" of political rule that was formed is essentially a more general solution to the equation of China under the parameters of complex geography, technology, productivity, and the level of development of people's intelligence.

The reason why the political governance model established in the Han Dynasty continued in subsequent feudal dynasties was mainly because it failed to achieve breakthroughs in three aspects.

First, there has been no breakthrough in matching the speed of information transmission with the size of the territory.

Although humans can outrun most animals over long distances, they are still limited by the speed of horses and cattle in terms of information transmission and the range of mobilization of soldiers. The 800-li express is already an order to run people and horses to death, and in the event of a sudden civil strife or foreign invasion, the 800-li express speed is still not fast enough to quickly transmit information to the center of the empire.

"So, to settle the Central Plains, we must restore the Qin Chi Road." Pang Tong said, "However, building the Chi Road will be very laborious for the people..."

Fei Qian smiled and said, "Just build one horizontal and one vertical route first. The rest of the routes can be built in ten or twenty years."

Horizontal means from Longyou to Guanzhong, then through Guanzhong to Luoyang, and then to Xu County.

Vertically, it is basically all in the Central Plains, from Youzhou to Jizhou, then to Yuzhou, Jingzhou, and directly to the Yangtze River.

"If Jingzhou wins, we can move the Sichuan-Shu navy to Jiangling and clamp down on Jiangdong." Fei Qian drew on the map and said, "After Jiangdong is conquered, it can also be used as a trade route to connect the north and the south."

At that time, the area south of Yangzhou was not yet highly developed, so Jingzhou as the core of the river was definitely more suitable than those cities in the lower reaches of the Yangtze River.

……

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The battle situation in the Jiangling area of ​​Jingzhou that Fei Qian and Pang Tong talked about was not very ideal.

To the north of the Yangtze River, in Jiangling County, Cao Zhen retreated to advance and established a line of defense on land.

Most of the warships in Jingzhou were transferred to Jingbei by Cao Ren, so Cao Zhen did not have many warships at hand and was unable to compete with the Sichuan navy on the river.

Therefore, Cao Zhen could only fight a tug-of-war in the Jiangling area.

But it does work wonders.

Cao Zhen continuously dispatched Cao's army teams to shuttle through the Yunmengze using warships and battleships, and when the opportunity arose they would launch a surprise attack on the Sichuan and Shu armies.

This kind of uninterrupted, discontinuous, and irregular sneak attack, even if no flaws were found in the Sichuan-Shu army, would slow down the Sichuan-Shu side's pace as much as possible and firmly defend the bridgehead of Jiangling. Cao Zhen's guerrilla delaying tactics, which took advantage of the Cao army's familiarity with the terrain, did achieve certain results.

At the beginning, Xu Huang suffered some losses.

After all, this kind of sparrow tactic cannot be completely defended against by just making a scarecrow.

Xu Huang had to ensure the safety of the attack camp under Jiangling City, the water fort on the bank of the river, and the grain routes and transportation routes in the two parts and other areas at the same time, so he had to allocate troops, defend strictly, advance steadily and step by step.

Of course, Xu Huang knew that blindly defending was not a solution, so he tried to form some mobile fleets of hundreds of small boats. Under the stealthy leadership of the guide Cai, they also invaded the Yunmeng Lake, forming a criss-cross pattern with Cao Zhen's fleet, chasing and attacking each other.

After fighting with the Jiangdong Army, the morale and skills of the Sichuan Navy were tempered, and they were able to suppress Cao Zhen's fleet for a time. But the good times did not last long. After Yu Jin's navy from Xincheng joined the battle in Yunmengze, Xu Huang gradually became passive.

Yu Jin was originally Cao Cao's arrangement targeting Jiangdong. He was originally targeting Ruxukou in Jiangdong, and at the same time also threatening downstream areas such as Chaisang and Wujun. But now the war in Jiangling, Jingzhou is almost at his doorstep, so of course Yu Jin no longer cares about Jiangdong, and joins the fight and defense of Jiangling with his navy ships.

In the current situation, it obviously did not make much sense for Cao's army to continue to guard against the Jiangdong troops, so taking advantage of the second alliance with Jiangdong, Cao Cao ordered Yu Jin to support the battle in Jingzhou.

As for whether this traitor from Jiangdong would do something to stab him in the back again, Cao Cao really couldn't take care of it at this stage.

However, the good news is that the news of the death of Zhou Yu, the soul of the Jiangdong navy, made Yu Jin and others feel relieved. But at the same time, the bad news is that Sun Quan has now broken free from Zhou Yu's tight control. Although he has not taken any action for the time being, he will definitely tear up the alliance again in the near future.

Now, Cao Jun can only take care of the present!
After Yu Jin's navy arrived in Jiangling along the Yangtze River, they tried their best to harass and invade Xu Huang's water stronghold in the river, launching attacks from time to time. However, when the Sichuan-Shu navy was preparing to launch a large-scale counterattack, they immediately turned their ships around and left. It was obvious that they had consulted with Cao Zhen and aimed at consumption and delay.

The Cao army's naval forces under Yu Jin's command are not top-notch in terms of combat effectiveness, but having fought against Jiangdong in the early years, they do have some experience in naval battles, and at least they are not rookies.

As for Xu Huang, he is now in an awkward situation. On the one hand, he has to launch an attack on Jiangling where Cao Zhen is stationed, and on the other hand, he has to defend against the flank attack from Yu Jin's navy in Yunmengze and the Yangtze River. It is indeed a headache for him.

The navy on the river can be roughly regarded as cavalry and earth tanks on the water.

A fleet that has speed, defense, and attack power cannot be dealt with by flesh and blood with swords and guns. Even though the Sichuan navy carries small artillery, the shells are limited and cannot be abused. Therefore, most of the time, they rely on water forts for defense.

At the beginning, Yu Jin's navy kept feinting attacks, intending to consume the arrows, crossbows, catapults and other equipment of Xu Huang's water stronghold. After the Sichuan navy discovered this, they gradually reduced the frequency and number of counterattacks. Sometimes, no matter how Yu Jin's navy shouted on the river, or how they pretended to strike with thunder, they would never fire lightly as long as Yu Jin's navy was not within the range.

Yu Jin's navy rowed their boats, their oars flew, and they kept circling. After a while, they ran out of manpower and retreated. However, in the process, Yu Jin's navy was getting closer and closer to Xu Huang's water stronghold...

Are Xu Huang's men starting to slack off?

Or are you preparing to launch a big move when the forbidden navy gets close?
It is hard to say who is whose prey.

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Fighting is the business of the soldiers and military academies, but choosing the right political line is Fei Qian's unshirkable responsibility.

If you want to get rich, build roads first.

Transportation is the foundation of logistics and the prerequisite for business.

It is impossible to realize the dream of becoming a strong country by relying solely on agricultural taxes.

"Agriculture is the foundation of a country. Counties should check household registration, maintain the number of farmlands, and expand the benefits of commerce. Without agriculture, everything is in vain. For example, in the Western Regions, although there are many markets, the granaries are not full and it is difficult to withstand the wind and frost. The Han Dynasty lasted for 400 years, and countless people were destroyed. However, relying solely on agricultural taxes is not enough to repair the roads and provide for the garrison soldiers. Therefore, agriculture must be the foundation and commerce must be secondary. This cannot be changed."

Pang Tong agreed very much.

Fei Qian dug up some data, saying that if the taxes and rents of the agricultural laborers were maintained at about 15% to 20% of the farming, it would basically be a prosperous era. Farmers have enough spare money, and on the premise of ensuring survival, they will start to consume, which can stimulate the development of handicrafts and commerce. Once farmers fall into a situation where they can only survive for a long time, or even have problems with survival, not only will the commercial handicraft industry shrink, but the population will also begin to decline.

Under Fei Qian's guidance, handicrafts represented by workshops have begun to use gunpowder and firearms to change the form of war. This means that the intensity of war has increased and its duration has been shortened, both internally and externally. In addition, Fei Qian uses precious metals such as gold, silver and copper to improve the economic system, so the traditional political ruling line will have a chance to break through.

History has proven that the end of the modern feudal dynasty was not only due to bureaucratic corruption and land annexation, but was also accompanied by the development of industry, the expansion of shipping, and the frequent transportation and exchanges, which ultimately led to the old system being unable to keep up with the times. Even if the conservatives were unwilling, they would be forced to carry out reforms.

However, to do these things, it is necessary to improve the Han Dynasty's current political structure system.

The first thing Fei Qian abandoned was the dual structure of theocracy and imperial power, which was the political system that appeared in Western Europe.

There may also be a time when China may step into this river.

During the Northern and Southern Dynasties when Buddhism was prevalent, if an emperor completed the localization of Buddhism and integrated it with the bureaucracy during this period, it would be possible to change the original "Confucian model of loyalty and filial piety of the emperor" into the "Buddhist system of the Wheel-Turning Lord". That is, a triangular integrated structure similar to the "emperor, shogunate, temples and shrines" of the later East Japan might emerge, and then it would be possible to form a Buddhist political system such as the so-called Eastern Secret Realm.

In later generations in Southeast Asia, there were also similar national systems.

Although Buddhism can replace the Confucianism's loyalty to the monarch and ministers to a certain extent, such as the reincarnation theory and the Arhat system, it is actually similar to the suppression of "loyalty and filial piety" and the division of "ranks", but the biggest problem of the dual system of divine power and imperial power is instability. After Qin Shihuang, there was no more ambitious emperor who was willing to have the Buddha, the Emperor of Heaven, or the Heavenly Master standing by his side to give orders.

Secondly, Fei Qian rejected the technocratic republic.

Fei Qian does have this possibility at the moment.

Huang Yueying and Huang Chengyan were basically the strongest supporters of handicrafts in Feiqian's political system. Many of Feiqian's "wonderful ideas" were realized little by little through the great craftsmen in Huang's workshop.

From this perspective, if Fei Qian wanted to go a step further and deeply combine the promotion hierarchy system of great craftsmen with the imperial examination, it is indeed possible to derive a group of technical bureaucrats based on "mechanical technology", "Qi Men Dun Jia", "astronomy and mathematics", etc., to replace the original system of aristocratic families that inherited books such as "Poetry, Books, Rites and Yi".

Even during Zhu Xi's time, it was not impossible to develop the idea of ​​"investigating things and seeking knowledge" into an empirical governance system, or to form a "Chinese Republic" system under the leadership of the "Administrative Yuan", and to produce a model of "school deliberation" similar to that envisioned in Huang Zongxi's "Waiting for the Visit of the Mingyi".

But at the same time, if China adopts a technocratic republican system, it will not go far.

Because China is too big.

The development of each region of China is different, and the resources are also different. If this kind of technocratic republican system is adopted, it will form a very serious gap between industry and agriculture, leading to serious exploitation of agriculture, animal husbandry and other basic industries. At the same time, because the technocratic inheritance system is obviously unable to completely fight against the selfish nature of human beings, the phenomenon of passing on secrets and keeping one hand and leaving another hand will quickly lead to chaos and discontinuity in technological development and loss of inheritance.

As for the republican system, if you look at the cabinet in the late Ming Dynasty, you can roughly understand what effect it has.

If China has ruled the world now, then a republican system or a cabinet-parliament system similar to the Ming Dynasty would be a very good choice. The Ming Dynasty cabinet can be seen as a bureaucrat with the skills of "officials" to a certain extent. This kind of cabinet can operate without the emperor, and even if the emperor is in trouble, it can continue to maintain basic political rule for more than ten years or even decades.

If it weren't for the Little Ice Age and the Qing army's invasion, the Great Meng could still have been maintained for more than ten or twenty years. So it is obvious that the parliamentary republic of technocrats has no problem at home, but it has big problems abroad. In the face of sudden crises and foreign invasions, the compromise and weakness of the petty bourgeoisie is also inevitable.

Then, Fei Qian felt that there might only be one new political system suitable for China at this stage...