Weird Three Kingdoms

Chapter 3616: The Empty Boat Covers the Sun, and the New Fire Spreads

Jiangling Sichuan Water Fort.

Yu Jin's naval ships were like cavalry on the water, rolling up waves, rushing forward, and then jumping left and right on the red line.

Occasionally, arrows, crossbow bolts, or crossbow and stone bullets were shot from the water fort. If they hit the ships, they would fly away in disappointment. If they missed and fell into the water, Yu Jin's navy would burst into laughter.

The circling and coming naval squadrons were just a prelude.

Yu Jin might not have reached the level of loyalty and filial piety that Confucian scholars wanted, but he was not bad in terms of combat and military affairs. He looked at the water fort of the Sichuan Navy and felt a little emotional.

Who could have imagined that a navy would emerge in the mountainous region of Sichuan?
Although Yu Jin knew that most of these navy troops were recruited from the pirates in Sichuan and Shu, who usually acted as ferrymen and would ask if they wanted to eat flat noodles or pig intestine noodles when they saw a fat sheep, they have now been gathered together to form a force that can compete with Jiangdong. It has to be said that they are really powerful.

This cavalry troop...

Yu Jin sent naval fleets to harass the Sichuan Water Stronghold in turns, in fact, to cover up the shortage of his own troops. Because the Sichuan Navy came suddenly, Yu Jin had no way to send out all the troops without missing a single one as soon as the order was issued, so they came in batches. At the same time, Yu Jin also had to compete with Xu Huang for the territory in Yunmengze, so the troops that could be deployed to attack the Sichuan Water Stronghold were not abundant.

In the past few days, the number of Yu Jin's navy troops coming from Xincheng has gradually increased, and Yu Jin began to think about how to attack Xu Huang's water fort.

After all, it was Cao Zhen's duty to garrison the county city of Jiangling. No matter how much Yu Jin helped, it was all Cao Zhen's achievement. On the contrary, Yu Jin was very envious of Xu Huang's water fort.

Not only the ships in the water fort, but also the several cannons in the water fort made Yu Jin astonished. He immediately thought that if his navy could use them, wouldn’t it be like a tiger with wings?

Even if we can't get the artillery, we have to destroy it.

This is the basic quality of a general, and it is normal to be happy when seeing new weapons.

Yu Jin hid in the battleship and carefully inspected Xu Huang's water fort. He did not fly his own flag and pretended to be an ordinary military school in order to avoid attracting the attention of the water fort.

In the water fort, the commander didn't seem to be Xu Huang...

"Who is Zhuge?" Yu Jin muttered.

Of course, he didn't know that "Zhuge" was also a cover created by Xu Huang, and it was actually Gan Ning who was in command in the water fort.

Gan Ning also did not raise his own banner, and what he was thinking about happened to be the same as Yu Jin's.

Perhaps others would be distracted by Yu Jin's successive attacks, but Gan Ning would not. He calculated the attack batches and the number of soldiers of Yu Jin's navy, and then deduced the overall strength of the navy mobilized by Yu Jin.

The water fort was stable, and Xu Huang on the shore had a stable rear. As long as Yu Jin was repelled or defeated, Xu Huang could naturally devote all his energy to the attack on Jiangling.

Therefore, Gan Ning was really looking forward to Yu Jin's attack, fearing that a big move would scare Yu Jin away. But he was also worried that if he pretended to be too weak, it would arouse the opponent's suspicion. Therefore, he was very uncomfortable with the anxiety.

Seeing the Cao army's navy on the river quietly increasing, but still not reaching the number Gan Ning expected...

The reason is also very simple.

Although Yu Jin had been training in Xincheng, he was not treated like a frontline Cao Army field group. Moreover, it was troublesome to transport supplies from the shore to the cabin when the navy was dispatched. Moreover, the Cao Army did not pay attention to the use of tools and equipment like the Cavalry Army, and often relied on manpower for transportation. After all, manpower was cheap, low maintenance cost, easy to use and obedient, but when speed was urgently needed, it was not as efficient as cranes and pull rods.

How can this speed be fast?

……

……

Regardless of the fact that both sides on the Jiangling River were waiting anxiously, looking back at the Black Stone Pass, after the rain stopped and the sky cleared, there was another scene of blood and fire.

In the first few days, the cavalry army was like a tide. Under the command of Zhu Ling and Jiang Jiong, they organized offensives again and again, hitting the already weakened defense line of Cao Zhang's Heishi Pass defenders. Cao Zhang almost felt that he might be submerged by the waves in the next moment.

The continuous attacks destroyed a lot of the earthen walls and trap trenches on the west side of Black Stone Pass. Normally, after the attackers retreated, the defenders would repair these fortifications, but unfortunately, the morale of both Cao's soldiers and the remaining civilians in Black Stone Pass was low. It was already very difficult for them to persist in the battle, let alone go out of the pass to repair the fortifications under the arrows and crossbows.

As a result, a heavy rain interrupted the attack of the Cavalry Army and gave Cao's army some breathing space.

When the rain stopped the second time and the Hussars came back again, the form of their attack had changed a little.

Several military academies of the Hussar Corps took turns to fight, and the attack was still fierce, but they did not just act brute force.

Military academies would also compete with each other to see who could lead better, not only to control the rhythm, but also to clear obstacles such as horse walls and deer traps, and fill in the trenches. At the same time, after retreating, they even compared with each other to see who had the least casualties, showing great patience and not desperately piling up more troops in order to quickly break through.

On this day, from dawn to noon, the Cavalry Corps was clearing away various obstacles in their way bit by bit.

It even gave the defenders of Black Stone Pass a false impression that after the fierce offensive of the previous two days, the Hussars were already exhausted and their fighting spirit had been worn out...

But Cao Zhang felt that the crisis was not over. He even felt that the rope around his neck was being tightened little by little.

The speed was not fast, but the cleaning and demolition work of these cavalry soldiers never stopped.

After a day of reorganization, most of the defensive fortifications on the west side of Heishi Pass were cleared, and several passages were filled in the trenches. Then the style of the Cavalry Army changed again!
The heavily armored formation rolled forward and arrived at the Black Stone Pass early the next morning!

The archers followed behind these heavily armored soldiers and advanced forward together, pressing down on the Black Stone Pass. They used dense rain of arrows to suppress the Cao army defenders on the Black Stone Pass and support these heavily armored soldiers who were breaking through the formation!
After several days of fierce fighting, Jiang Jiong and Zhu Ling also cooperated well with each other. They did not blindly send a certain military school to fight until they were exhausted and retreated. Instead, they started to rotate when they saw that their strength was almost exhausted. Although some time would be lost in the process of rotation, some results would be lost, but this wave of offensives like a tide left the Cao army guards at Black Stone Pass no time to rest and breathe!
The Cao army's defense system at Black Stone Pass was under great pressure in such a resolute and efficient offensive, and began to fall apart. If Cao Zhang had not brought his elite guards to run around the Black Stone Pass, putting out fires everywhere, the cavalry army might have directly captured the pass wall!

Even so, the Cao army soldiers at Black Stone Pass were forced to stuff a large amount of blood and flesh into the war millstone...

During the remaining half of the day, the casualties of Cao's defenders increased sharply!
When night finally fell and the battlefield, which had been filled with fighting all day, gradually became quiet, Cao Zhang slowly let out a sigh of relief and suddenly felt that this extremely long day was finally over!
Inside Black Stone Pass, the smell of blood was so thick that even the mountain breeze could not blow it away.

The corpses were piled up in all directions, and everyone was sitting there exhausted, not caring even though there was blood and broken limbs all around them.

There were repeated battles and fights at the pass. Even the defenders were at a clear disadvantage in front of the cavalry, with the support of firearms and sophisticated equipment.

Cao Zhang's face was extremely heavy.

Now many of the casualties among Cao’s defenders are directly under Cao’s command.

As they retreated all the way from Tongguan, Cao Zhang didn't care much about the deaths, injuries, surrenders or escapes of ordinary Cao's soldiers and miscellaneous soldiers from counties and prefectures. After all, those ordinary soldiers recruited from counties and prefectures did not originally obey Cao Cao's orders completely and they also had a good relationship with local nobles and gentry, so it didn't matter if they all died.

But now, the familiar faces of his own soldiers have disappeared and will never be seen again. Especially in today's battle, more than ten of his personal guards were killed, which made Cao Zhang feel sad and indescribable.

Cao Zhang stood there, sword in hand, looking around, then turned his head and said to the guards around him, "Pass the order down, strengthen the guard! Be careful to prevent the thieves from attacking at night!"

The leader of the guard team responded, but did not immediately pass on the order. Instead, he looked around and whispered, "General... the soldiers are tired now... even if we want to defend, it will be difficult..." Cao Zhang nodded, "Tomorrow there will be reinforcements to replace them."

"Really?!" The leader of the escort team was overjoyed, "Then we are not..."

"It's the soldiers who are being replaced, not us." Cao Zhang glanced at the team leader, "We still have to stay here... for at least another month..."

"One month?!" The guard leader was speechless.

If it was a few years ago, it would be possible to guard a pass for half a year, a year, or even several years, let alone a month.

But since when, the time for garrisoning and defending the pass has become shorter and shorter.

A month now feels like a lifetime.

Cao Zhang waved his hand, "Go down and pass the order."

Cao Zhang did not expect to have to use the reserve soldiers so soon, but he also had no choice.

Without replenishing troops and rotating troops, the battle line is about to collapse.

But if we rotate, what should we do next time?
A month...

Cao Zhang couldn't help but sigh.

……

……

Heluo.

Fei Qian sat in the central army tent and asked Pang Tong, "Shi Yuan, if we go to Shandong...will there be a large number of nobles' children clamoring to implement the Zhou system? After all, the Zhou Dynasty had 800 years...and the Han Dynasty only has 400 years..."

Pang Tong was stunned, "Is there such a saying?"

Fei Qian laughed and said, "Not only in Shandong, but also in Qinglong Temple, many people always talk about the Spring and Autumn Annals!"

The Zhou Dynasty did last about 800 years, which is longer than the later unified dynasties such as Han, Tang, and Song. Although the Zhou Dynasty was divided into the Western Zhou and the Eastern Zhou, and the Eastern Zhou was divided into the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, so the actual stable rule may not have lasted that long, the nominal Zhou emperor did exist for a long time.

This may have led to the Confucian scholars in later feudal dynasties to feel that the Zhou Dynasty's system was superior. In addition, in order to emphasize their own political correctness and maintain the Confucianism's honorable status as the "invisible heavenly master" in the court, Confucian scholars from all dynasties tacitly praised Confucius and Zhou rituals, and naturally raised the status of the Zhou Dynasty to an extremely high position.

Confucius himself did advocate Zhou rites and often mentioned Zhou Gong, but it is obvious that Confucius had not found any good way to govern the country at that time, so he could only use Zhou Gong and Zhou rites to save face. From this point of view, Confucius was not even as good as Mozi, Xunzi, Han Fei and others of the same period. At least these other schools were really looking for a new model of governing the country.

Overall, the combination of the Zhou dynasty’s longevity and Confucian classics did lead Confucian scholars to view it as an ideal political model.

The Han Dynasty is now in a period of authority vacuum. The Han Dynasty exists in name only, but has not yet been completely bound by Neo-Confucianism. The imperial examination has not yet formed the standardized eight-legged essay. On the one hand, the gentry misses the old era, and on the other hand, they yearn for a new system.

At the same time, after a long period of war with nomadic peoples such as the Xiongnu, Xianbei, and Wuhuan, many people in the Han Dynasty realized that as an agricultural nation of China, there would always be the problem of foreign invasion. Therefore, governing the country cannot be just about internal suppression, but also needs to consider external defense and even attack.

In fact, in history, during the Cao Wei period, there was indeed an opportunity to take a different path.

The key person is Sima.

Of course it was not Sima Yi, but Sima Lang. At that time, Zhong Yao, Wang Can and others said: "Only saints can bring peace and order to the world." Sima Lang said: "Although Yi Yin and Yan Hui were not saints, if their virtues and words were passed down from generation to generation and deeply rooted in the hearts of the people, they could also bring peace and order to the world."

If it had not been a plague that took Sima Lang's life in history, then under Sima Yi, as one of the few Sima elites with clear minds and political ideologies that broke away from traditional Confucian concepts, they might have been able to break through Dong Zhongshu's framework and blaze a new trail.

"It is biased to judge a hero only by his merits and demerits... However, if we do not base our judgment on Zhou rituals," Pang Tong frowned and said, "it would be a bit...disrespectful..."

Fei Qian nodded.

What is "ritual"?
It's about rank, it's about class.

Confucius regarded Zhouli as the culmination of Xia and Shang civilizations. He and his Confucian disciples, through the compilation of documents such as Zhouli and Liji, constructed a social order theory with "li" as the core, emphasizing hierarchical harmony and moral education. Confucianism shaped the Xia, Shang and Zhou dynasties into a golden age, and the Zhou Dynasty, with its relatively complete documents, also made the "three generations of sage kings" a specific object to emulate.

Therefore, if Fei Qian wants to abandon the so-called "Zhou Dynasty Supremacy" of Confucian scholars, he must solve the problem of "disrespect".

The Book of Rites integrates the Zhou Dynasty ritual system with Confucian ethics, and proposes political ideals such as "Great Harmony" and "Moderate Prosperity", becoming the core text for Confucian scholars to discuss state governance. This theory has even been continued in subsequent feudal dynasties, becoming the only standard for the interpretation of classics and political practice.

For example, the modern text Confucianism of the Han Dynasty used the Spring and Autumn Annals as the basis for reform, while the ancient text Confucianism relied on the Zhou Li to design the official system. Wang Mang's reforms and reforms all attempted to find legitimacy from the Zhou system, although the actual results often deviated from the ideal.

Fei Qian held up three fingers, "The reason why Confucian scholars admire the Zhou Dynasty is nothing more than using the Zhou system to prove three points, "moral governance, ritual system, and people-centeredness"... However, among these three, only "moral governance" can be regarded as the origin of Confucian scholars, while "ritual system" and "people-centeredness"... During the Spring and Autumn Period, the Hundred Schools of Thought cannot all be regarded as Confucianism..."

Pang Tong's eyes gleamed, "My Lord, do you want to... split it up?"

Fei Qian laughed and said, "This is not Confucianism in the first place, how can it be said to be split? It can only be said to be "returning the property to its original owner!"

During Fei Qian's thinking over the past few days, he discovered that in the Chinese feudal dynasties, the triangular structure was the most stable. After Confucianism became dominant, Buddhism and Taoism could not become its opponents. After all, the imperial power was inherently not allowed to allow theocracy to expand. Therefore, Confucianism often only needed to "keep silent" and wait for Buddhism and Taoism to destroy themselves.

It was also because starting from Dong Zhongshu, Confucianism squeezed out other schools of thought, leading to the formation of an invisible "one-man show" in the Han Dynasty court, which triggered the instinctive worry and counterattack of the imperial power. However, after the Party Ban, the imperial power could only suppress, block and delete, which prevented the imperial power from growing further.

In other words, because of the Party Ban, the political system did not develop but instead regressed.

After all, the Imperial Academy’s evaluation of officials did have certain positive effects in the early days, but like most things in China, when bad apples get mixed in, even a good pot of soup will be ruined.

Fei Qian said in a sonorous voice, "I want to re-establish the "Fa and Mo" to manage the "ritual system" and "people-oriented". What do you think, Shi Yuan?"

"Huang-Lao in the early Han Dynasty?" Pang Tong said almost immediately, but quickly denied it, "No, it's not Huang-Lao."

Fei Qian nodded. This approach was indeed somewhat similar to that of the early Han Dynasty, because in the early Han Dynasty, when Dong Zhongshu had not yet stolen the things of the Legalists and Mohists, there were indeed multiple schools of thought in the court. Of course, the most important difference was that in the early Han Dynasty, the Huang-Lao and Confucian schools fought to the death, and there was no possibility of peaceful coexistence.

"My Lord, the opinions of the three schools are so contradictory..." Pang Tong frowned and said, "If... by then, I'm afraid the court will be arguing all day and no one will be able to focus on anything else."

Fei Qian also agreed with the question raised by Pang Tong. After all, the contentions between the three schools of thought during the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period showed how fierce the disputes were. Just like the centralization of the Legalists and the equality of the Mohists, they were completely opposite in nature.

However, Fei Qian still has some new ideas...