Three Kingdoms: Ancestors of the Han Dynasty

Chapter 107 The Reign of Nanzhong
"Bring Meng Huo and his henchmen inside!" shouted the guards outside the tent.

Meng Huo and others were forced into the tent by the Han soldiers, and saw Zhuge Liang sitting upright on the tent, the Han generals standing majestically on both sides of the stage, more than a dozen tigers and halberds, holding spears and halberds, shining like frost and snow; The tiger is holding the bow and arrow, the ax and the axe, so majestic!

"What should we do today?" Zhuge Liang asked with a faint smile.

Meng Huo was full of dissatisfaction, and sneered, "It's just a fluke that you lost today."

"Oh! A fluke? Are you unwilling to accept today's defeat?" Zhuge Liang was not annoyed, but asked instead.

"Of course, my brother Meng Yan is not here today, otherwise I will win today's battle." Meng Huo raised his head and said proudly.

After a pause, Meng Huo continued: "My brother Meng Yan is brave and good at fighting, and he knows military strategy, so he will surely win."

"Haha! I will let you go back today and let you fight with the whole army again." Zhuge Liang said boldly.

Meng Huo looked happy and said, "Your Majesty's statement is true!"

After hesitating for a long while, he continued, "Can you give me a glimpse of the reality of the camp?"

"Yes, Shi Zai led him to inspect our army." Zhuge Liang said to Deng Ai one after another.

Meng Huo was secretly happy, if the right army hadn't been defeated in today's battle, An Neng would have been like this.Observe the reality of the Han army and study the military formation.After that, I will be able to win.

After Meng Huo was released from the account, Wu Ban came out to show his doubts, and asked, "why did the prime minister release Meng Huo and fight again with the whole army. Why didn't he just execute him if he didn't surrender?"

Zhuge Liang looked at the puzzled people in the tent, explained the pros and cons, and said slowly: "First, Meng Huo has always been convinced by the Han and barbarians. If he can be subdued, it will be beneficial to the pacification of Nanzhong."

"Secondly, the remaining rebels, large and small, are now scattered in Yizhou County. I don't know where they are. After the army leaves, they will inevitably rebel again. Repeatedly, it is not conducive to the rule of Nanzhong. Put Meng Huo back and let him go. Wouldn't it be nice to call together the disobedient barbarians and we'll settle it together!"

……

When Zhuge Liang was handling military affairs, Deng Ai led Meng Huo into the account.

Zhuge Liang put down the official document in his hand, looked at Meng Huo under the stage, and said with a smile: "How is this army doing, can you feel it?"

Meng Huo bowed his hands and saluted, and replied confidently: "I didn't know the truth before, so I lost today. Today, Meng Gong ordered me to watch the battle, and I can see the truth. If this is the case, the next battle will be won."

Zhuge Liang was amused by Meng Huo, and said: "Yes, the general will go back to reorganize the army, and we will fight again in the future."

Zhuge Liang gave wine and food, gave pommel horses, and took a few cronies out of the camp.

Afterwards, Zhuge Liang headed all the way to Dianchi Lake, governing the government and calming the people along the way, asking about the situation of Nanzhong in detail, and inspecting the customs of Nanzhong.

Along the way, Meng Huo raised his troops and invited him to fight six times, just like the Spring and Autumn Wars. He often gave Zhuge Liang a letter of battle first, and then chose the battle position, and the army fought against each other.The result often ended in Meng Huo's failure.

After the seventh defeat, Meng Huo was ashamed. He already knew that he did not have any military talent, and even after losing seven times in a row, no other tribe was willing to fight with him.

Zhuge Liang also felt that Meng Huo was interesting, so he continued to tease Meng Huo and asked him to go back to prepare for the war.Naturally, Meng Huo was unwilling, and he himself saw through the military level of the Southerners that they had no strength to compete with the Central Plains Dynasty.

Meng Huo said convincingly: "Grandfather, Tianwei is also, so the southerners will not turn back!"
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In August, when Zhuge Liang's army marched to Dianchi Lake, Li Hui, Lu Kai, and Wang Kang were already waiting in Dianchi County.

Zhuge Liang began to manage politics in Nanzhong, and received Nanzhong officials and scholars.

"Your servant Lu Kai and Wang's wife pay homage to the prime minister!" Lu Kai and Wang's wife paid homage.

"You two are free! It's not easy to stick to the isolated city, and you two have made great contributions!" Zhuge Liang asked kindly with a slight arc of his mouth when he saw the two coming.

Lu Kai, styled Ji Ping, was born in Yongchang Buwei, and his ancestors were descendants of Qin Lu Buwei.When Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty developed the frontier, he moved some of the descendants of the Lu family who had already moved to Xishu to Yongchang again, and set up Buwei County to show the evil of their ancestors.By the time of the Three Kingdoms, the members of the Lu family had already been the surname of Yongchang.

Although Wang Fu is the county magistrate, Lu Kai is the county official.But in fact, thanks to Lu Kai's efforts to turn the tide in this Nanzhong rebellion, he elected Wang and his wife as the prefect, and mobilized all the forces of the Lu family to stick to Yongchang County.

"I'm just doing my best to defend the land of the Han people. The prime minister wants to help the Han people. Although Kai is a remote and humble official in Nanzhong, he also knows the word loyalty." Lu Kai said excitedly, his face flushed.

"The two of you have maintained your loyalty for several years and preserved the territory of the Great Han Dynasty. You must report to the court and live up to your loyalty." Zhuge Liang raised his eyebrows and said with emotion.

Thinking about the governance of Nanzhong again, his expression stretched, and he asked slowly: "Nanzhong is initially established, and the two of you live in Nanzhong. I wonder what you two have to say about the governance of Nanzhong?"

Lu Kailue pondered, and said in a loud voice: "Prime Minister, Nanzhong is a big land, with only four counties. But Nanzhong is full of tribes, and the roads are difficult to walk, so it is difficult to govern. For example, it takes nearly two weeks for me to go back and forth from Yongchang County to the westernmost county government. A month’s journey away. When many incidents happened, the counties and counties were out of reach. By the time they heard about it, the matter was over. In my superficial opinion, we can set up more counties and counties.”

Zhuge Liang nodded slightly, agreeing to Lu Kai's words.Nanzhong occupies nearly half of Yizhou, and there are only four counties, which is indeed not enough.

After pondering for a while, Wang Fu said, "Prime Minister, it is my opinion. The newly established counties should annex more or less other counties."

"Why?" Hearing this, Zhuge Liang frowned slightly and asked.

Mrs. Wang frowned slightly, and said slowly: "Some of the counties' tyrants are too famous, and they have intermarried with the barbarians in the counties for generations, which is very inconvenient for management. If they can be divided into other counties, it will be very convenient for the local government to rule."

Zhuge Liang still just nodded without saying a word, but he admired these two people very much in his heart, and he had something to say.

Zhuge Liang looked as usual, and asked lightly: "Based on the two opinions, where can new counties be established in Yongchang County?"

Lu Kai cupped his hands and replied, "You can set up a new county in the west of Yongchang County, and the county government here is beyond the reach."

Wang Gong added: "Among the four counties in Nanzhong, Yongchang County is the largest, and most of the counties are located in the north, and the least in the south. From my husband's point of view, the prime minister can set up Yongshou, Nanfu, and Yongxiang counties in the southeast of Yongchang."

"Huh? The three counties of Yongshou, Nanfu, and Yongxiang were not established in the Later Han (Eastern Han)?" Zhuge Liang asked with a look of surprise.

Lu Kai smiled bitterly and said: "Three counties were set up in the later Han Dynasty, but they were nothing more than official documents. There were many rebellions in Nanzhong, and it was difficult to take care of them. The later establishment was just to deal with the imperial court. Now the time has come, and three counties can be set up to govern the southeast of Yongchang land (Note ①)."

"The two of you can report the relevant affairs of Yongchang County to me. I'm thinking about it."

The conversation changed, and he asked again: "How do the barbarian tribes govern this place?"
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①: The jurisdiction of the newly established three counties is mainly the Lincang area of ​​Yunnan, Xishuangbanna Prefecture, Pu'er City, and Kokang of Myanmar. The jurisdiction area is quite vast.It is the first time that this area has been formally incorporated into the territory of the motherland.This is one of the contributions of Zhuge Liang, Lu Kai and others to the expansion of the motherland.

(End of this chapter)