Weird Three Kingdoms

Chapter 3644: The Blade Rusts, the King's Power Dims, and the Blood Makes the Grass Green
The cornerstone of human civilization is to recognize that every individual has inalienable dignity. Any behavior that instrumentalizes humans is contrary to the basic laws of human civilization.

But obviously, this is like a utopia and is difficult to achieve in most of the human society.

Or just acknowledge it verbally and superficially.

In feudal dynasties, those in power always require obedience from those below them.

Cao Hong requires cooperation and obedience.

At least at this stage, he hopes to get more cooperation from the soldiers.

Cao Hong and the soldiers of Qingzhou and Yuzhou were not related, but this was a hunting instinct, a gene fragment left over from the evolution of Homo sapiens over Neanderthals. It was this group collaboration ability that transcended blood relations that was the root of the human race's choice of the Homo sapiens branch.

Therefore, no matter how much Cao Hong hated the old soldier, he withheld the name on the list, and he did not show any disgust when facing the escaped recruit.

temporary.

"May I have your name?"

Cao Hong asked.

"Wang...Wang Er."

Said the young soldier Wang Er.

Cao Hong nodded, "Wang Er, you like a girl in the village, and now the Cavalry Army is here, saying they will replace her with another one... okay? Or your mother at home, the Cavalry Army said they will replace her with another one, anyway, they are all mothers, okay?"

"This! This won't do!" Wang Er said immediately.

Maybe if you change a girl, some people will be happy, saying that it's the same after the lights are blown out, but if you change a woman, few people will be happy. Even if they are physically or resource-disadvantaged, their personal integrity still constitutes the bottom line of social existence.

Cao Hong was obviously trying to replace the concepts, but Wang Er, who had little knowledge, obviously did not notice anything wrong with it.

The Great Han Dynasty, Shandong, may seem to be "weak" on the surface, but in fact, in many places, it is still "strong". The reversal of strength and weakness due to military force cannot maintain the normal state, and the awakening that remains in people's minds is the progress of civilization.

Today's "strong" people are often the rebels among yesterday's "weak" people.

What’s interesting is that when the feudal dynasty evolves to a certain stage, new Prometheus will always be born under the iron hoof of the rulers’ oppression.

The height of a civilization is reflected precisely in how it treats its most vulnerable members.

In this regard, the Hussars are precisely the rebels among the "weak ones", and they want to break and break through the "logic of the strong" that has existed in the Han Dynasty for three or four hundred years.

"Okay, Wang Er." Cao Hong stood up, walked forward and cut the ropes that bound Wang Er, then threw the sword in front of Wang Er, "Now you have two choices. One is to be a deserter, and I will have someone chop off your head and send it back to your home; the other is to be a warrior and use this sword to protect your village, your mother, and the mothers of more people from being replaced by the cavalry army at will!"

Wang Er raised his head and looked at Cao Hong, "But my mother..."

Cao Hong didn't look at Wang Er, and ordered directly, "Let the military clerks register... report anyone who has difficulties at home..."

The young soldier lowered his head and grasped the hilt of the knife with trembling hands. The rough hemp rope was randomly wrapped around the hilt, causing pain in his palm. "General! I... I am willing to continue fighting!"

"Okay. Get lost!" Cao Hong watched Wang Er tumble and crawl backwards, and suddenly remembered that in Qingzhou, he also held a sword in his hand and followed Cao Cao to fight his way out of the encirclement.

But now?
Although I still have the sword, which direction should I go to kill?

It's another early morning.

Cao Hong met Li Zhao, the chief clerk, in the camp outside the city.

This skinny scholar who always liked to read "Spring and Autumn Annals" was climbing up the sentry tower of the front-line military camp, with the hem of his Confucian robe tucked into his belt, revealing his thin legs like bamboo poles.

Some time ago, a stray arrow shot off Li Zhao's bun, causing some of his hair to be unable to be tied up and hang down randomly on his face.

"I am doing a good hobby..."

When Cao Hong passed by the watchtower, he casually greeted him.

Li Zhao turned around, as if he wanted to say hello to Cao Hong as well, but he stepped on empty air and fell off the wooden ladder of the watchtower with a scream.

Cao Hong reached out and grabbed Li Zhao's belt, then swung it aside, "Are you...looking at the stars or the campfire of the Hussars?"

"General, please forgive me for making a fool of myself..." Li Zhao adjusted his crown that had a hole in it, and then hurriedly took back the bamboo slips that had fallen halfway from his arms. "I observed the sky at night and saw that the Purple Palace was dark and the star of generals was falling to the west. The Hussar Army is..."

"That's enough!" Cao Hong frowned and waved his hand, "These things... are boring..."

If the prophecy was really that powerful, Shandong would not have been beaten into such a state by the Hussars. At first, I listened to it reluctantly as a joke, but after listening to it too much, I couldn't help but feel bored.

"Then let me tell you something interesting..." Li Zhao said in a low voice, "General, do you know that three more people escaped last night... 30% of the arrows in the camp have been used up... Five trenches outside the camp were destroyed by the Hussars..."

Cao Hong turned around, grabbed Li Zhao by the collar, and almost lifted him up, "So? So you also want to say that I surrender?"

"General, you misunderstood." Li Zhao did not panic, but smiled, revealing his teeth stained black by ink. "What I meant was that since we have lost both the time and the place, we might as well work on the harmony of people."

Cao Hong rolled his eyes twice, loosened his hands, and straightened Li Zhao's collar. "Tell me what you want to say."

"When Chen Sheng and Wu Guang rose up in rebellion, they had only a few hundred soldiers."

Cao Hong looked at this scholar who seemed to always be hunched over, straightened his back, and looked towards the direction of the cavalry army in the distance, "Are kings, princes, generals, and ministers of different species? This is not for the nobles, general. Yesterday, the general gave the soldiers extra meals, did you see the light in their eyes...?"

"What do you mean?" Cao Hong stared at Li Zhao, with a fierce look in his eyes.

"General, you only gave us one cart of food yesterday... But what if you can give more?" Li Zhao didn't notice Cao Hong's change, but said to himself, "If the cavalry can give, why can't we? These soldiers don't ask for much, General, as long as we give them more and better soldiers..."

"boom--"

Suddenly, a cannon shot sounded, as if tearing something apart, interrupting Li Zhao's words.

Li Zhao was also attracted by the sound of artillery and turned to look.

Cao Hong picked up a half-broken arrow from the ground and stabbed it into Li Zhao's temple with a "puff".

Cao Hong could give those old soldiers a cart of rotten and moldy wheat, or pardon the crime of desertion of the young soldier in Yuzhou, but now...

Li Zhao tilted his head, looked at Cao Hong with squinted eyes, and then fell down, seemingly confused and puzzled.

Cao Hong really can’t give it to me!

It’s not that he doesn’t have it, but that he can’t give it!
"Kings, princes, generals and ministers" are definitely not meant for the nobles to hear!
So the nobles are naturally most afraid of hearing this!
Cao Hong allowed these cattle, horses, pigs and dogs to eat a few more bites to show his kindness and greatness. But one day, these cattle, horses, pigs and dogs said that they wanted to be equal to Cao Hong...

If the means of production and living materials were given to these cattle and horses, how could they be exploited and how could these pigs and dogs be allowed to consume continuously?
Just take a bite, yes.

Come on!

Teach someone to fish?

Collect taxes!
Li Zhao thought that the magnanimity and kindness shown by Cao Hong in the past two days meant that Cao Hong had changed his mind. But in fact, it was not because Cao Hong really wanted to give 800, but because Cao Hong was afraid of losing 30 million!

Now Li Zhao wanted Cao Hong to divide the 30 million, and Cao Hong gave Li Zhao an answer: Go to hell!
Blood flowed out.

Cao Hong stepped on Li Zhao's flowing blood.

Cao Hong saw the artillery positions on the other side of the river, with flames and smoke rising into the sky, and artillery shells flying across the river and towards the camp.

The sound of metal clashing mixed with the howling of the dying drifted in the wind, and the air was suddenly filled with the stench of burnt gunpowder.

……

……

Fei Qian stood on the bank of the Yiluo River, looking at Gong County in the distance.

Gongxian, a huge county town, now looks like a wooden box because of the distance. It seems that you can flatten it or crush it with a hammer.

Because of the different angles, what you see will inevitably be different.

So what was the angle from which Cao Cao could see?

There has been progress in both the north and south directions in recent days.

In the direction of Hanoi, there were Jiang Jiong and Zhu Ling, while in the area of ​​Runan and Nanyang, there was Sima Yi. They all broke through the front interception line of Cao's army and entered the second phase of the operation.

"boom! 』

The artillery roared again.

The grayish-white smoke mixed with the yellow dust and gradually diluted and drifted in the wind.

The shell crossed the Yiluo River, passed through the front trench, and landed on the ground not far from the moat in Gong County. Then it bounced up and seemed to hit the city wall, raising a lot of smoke and dust.

This is a test of the maximum range of the artillery.

Of course, it was also putting pressure on Cao's army.

For the military, staying in one place for a long time doing nothing will inevitably lead to a decline in morale and a reduction in skills.

Therefore, Fei Qian not only built a shooting base for artillery testing on the front line, but also built a place for soldiers to compete on the open space on the west side of Heishi Pass, giving these soldiers a channel to vent their energy.

There are not many prizes, but there are basically some every day, and Fei Qian has also specially set up some events for team competitions.

It's really because his personal abilities are not outstanding, and his team has nothing to show for it. The storytellers who came to Tongguan before have become the "hot cakes" outside Heishi Pass.

As long as the soldiers and officers who had been on duty for five days in Black Stone Pass or anywhere else without any problems could take turns to have half a day to engage in some recreational activities. Therefore, every day after the roll call, the queues of soldiers who had obtained approval in the camp and were queuing up to go to the west side of Black Stone Pass for leisure would undoubtedly attract the envious eyes of all the soldiers.

All these things were deliberately demonstrated by Fei Qian, and to a certain extent were also ways to relieve tension, eliminate battlefield stress syndrome, and deal with differences and conflicts between the Qiang and Han people.

From now on, Fei Qian will not be able to continue expanding with the army, and he must hand over the military power completely to a certain general or a certain staff group. However, Fei Qian hopes that some of the new models he has established and created in managing these armies can be continued.

"My lord!" Pang Tong came over.

Fei Qian nodded, "Are you all ready?"

Pang Tong cupped his hands and said, "I'm ready."

Fei Qian pointed to Gong County on the other side of the Yiluo River and said, "It is obvious that Cao Zilian will not cross the Yiluo River at all. He just wants to use these fortifications to consume his energy..."

In the past few days, no matter whether Fei Qian deployed a single formation or rolled out artillery, Cao Hong just stayed in Gong County without moving. He did not send soldiers to launch a surprise attack on the hussar formation on the riverside, nor did he make any move to covet those artillery.

"A few days ago, the northern line was breached, and Cao's army retreated to Wen County..." Fei Qian looked into the distance, "Then Sima Zhongda broke through the Taigu Road and headed for Nanyang... Most of this news has probably reached Cao Mengde..."

"According to reports, Cao's army has drawn soldiers from Yanzhou and Yuzhou and is stepping up training in Suanzao." Pang Tong said, "According to the current situation, Cao Mengde is obviously planning to abandon Jizhou and concentrate his forces to control the Sishui area to hinder our advance. At present, Cao's army should have less than 15,000 soldiers, and the rest of the miscellaneous soldiers may be twice as many. Most of these soldiers are from Qingzhou and Yuzhou, and the rest are garrison soldiers who have been supplemented and trained in the past two years. Their combat effectiveness is far behind that of the old Qingzhou soldiers in Cao's army."

Fei Qian nodded.

"Jizhou is in trouble because of Zhao Zilong and Wei Wenchang's invasion. Even if there is still strength left, there is no time to look south." Pang Tong continued, "And according to reports, many nobles in Jizhou have sent envoys to Youzhou, all saying that they want to surrender to the lord..."

Fei Qian smiled and said, "Is it the same as when you surrendered to Cao Mengde?"

Pang Tong shook his head and sighed, "The general trend of the world is like the water of a great river, which is endless. If we want to cross the river today, we must use the methods of the past. This is truly lamentable."

Fei Qian thought about the late Ming Dynasty in history. What was the reason that caused the aristocratic gentry in the late Ming Dynasty, especially the local forces in Hebei and Zhili areas, to be so accustomed to kneeling at the feet of their new masters?
One very simple and direct reason is that by kneeling down, these local gentry gained "benefits".

Often, people with ulterior motives attributed the kneeling to the political corruption and bureaucratic incompetence of the late Ming dynasty, saying that the country was on the verge of bankruptcy. The late Ming court's control over the local areas was greatly weakened, especially in the north, where frequent levies of "three taxes" led to public resentment, which caused the gentry in the northern regions to lose confidence in the Ming dynasty and bow down to the pigtails.

But in fact, this statement conceals some facts, or in other words, reverses some logical relationships.

The core pursuit of these aristocratic gentry was to maintain their own and their family's interests and to keep or acquire more land assets. So when the Ming Dynasty was unable to protect the local areas, they immediately abandoned the late Ming Dynasty and sought cooperation with a stronger new regime, while at the same time undermining the late Ming Dynasty to show their loyalty to the new regime.

Just like what the aristocratic gentry in Jizhou are doing now.

Fei Qian could understand these people's rational choices in weighing survival, interests and cultural identity in troubled times, but he did not agree with their behavior, nor did he think it was a "tradition" of some kind.

China has a bad habit of going too far for some "ism" or strategy. Just like when treating prisoners, or in order to disintegrate the enemy, they will deliberately give prisoners extra treatment, and then comrades who fought together will be excluded because they do not support this faction's opinion.

"Send a message to Zilong." Fei Qian said slowly, "Before sending troops, those who abandon darkness and join the light are called "wise" and can wait for their superiors. Those who surrender because of disadvantageous battles and are captured are called "wise" and will wait for their surrender. Those who surrender after the troops arrive at the city and present the book of surrender are called "communicative" and will not enjoy preferential treatment and will not be exempted from military service. Those who fight to the death and maintain the reputation of loyalty and filial piety can be spared from their families because of their loyalty and bravery, but their clans will not be spared. Those who surrender later cannot be better than those who surrender first. If they have meritorious service, they should be counted separately and cannot be listed together with the name of surrender. In addition, those who count the pennies of the county residents who surrender will not be accepted! "

"As you command." Pang Tong glanced at Fei Qian, but still bowed and said, "My lord, you are right. I will do so."

Unity should be "internal unity" rather than "external unity".

Just imagine, if someone like Zhang He, a soldier who surrendered before the Battle of Youzhou, turned around and saw that he had fought hard and was not as good as someone who surrendered later, how could he balance his mentality?

In order to lure them into surrender at a critical point, they offered a bunch of "generous" conditions, only to find out later that this led to internal conflicts and fighting...

Instead of doing this, it would be better to determine these surrender matters at the beginning.

Because Fei Qian now has firearms and gunpowder.

Historically, in order to capture an enemy country or an important pass, it is often necessary to lure the enemy into surrendering with huge benefits because some areas are too dangerous or difficult to conquer quickly. Then, after the surrender, the enemy would either go back on their word, or surrender in secret, or use other political means to balance internal conflicts. However, this is obviously an act of closing the fold after the horse has bolted. It is too late to talk about justice after the damage has been done.

Gunpowder and firearms would, within a considerable period of time, destroy the entire feudal dynasty's city defense system and rebuild a new offensive and defensive warfare model.

Therefore, if Fei Qian continued to use the old model to deal with these local gentry, it would obviously not be appropriate.

The current actions of the Jizhou gentry, as well as the corresponding strategies Fei Qian asked Zhao Yun to make, can be seen as a preliminary experiment in the Jizhou area. There may be supplements and corrections due to certain problems in the future, but the overall direction is certain. The treatment of uniting the enemy cannot be higher than that of uniting one's own people!

If this kind of thinking pattern cannot be corrected, in the future generations, it is possible that the idea of ​​"being friendly to foreign countries" will still exist!

However, even with firearms and gunpowder, Fei Qian still did not think that the current cavalry army could be comparable to some modern armies in later generations. After all, the combat effectiveness of an army cannot be achieved by relying on a drill manual or a small number of advanced weapons, but requires a complete civil, commercial, and military system to support it.

Therefore, Fei Qian cannot follow the path drawn by Cao Cao now, but must let Cao Cao follow the rhythm of the Cavalry Army!
The two north and south routes are the beginning of the variation, and the real music is played at this moment!