Silver Fox of the Three Kingdoms

Chapter 186 The war in the north gradually started, Cao Cao compromised with the family
A few days later, Shen Chen went north and returned to Huangmen Pavilion.

Huangmenting's soldiers and horses were recruited again, but the number remained at 3000.

The daily training of the soldiers also focuses on physical fitness, martial arts, and bow and arrow. They are an elite special force similar to Wudang Flying Army, nicknamed "Huangmen Soldiers".

Leading the army again is not an easy task. All kinds of food, supplies, weapons, and arrows must be fully prepared.

So during this period of time, Shen Chen had to ask Liu Biao for supplies, and he could only set off when he was fully prepared.

Liu Bei also received an invitation from Liu Biao to attack Liu Zhang.

Originally, he wanted to refuse in the name of the same clan, but Liu Biao gave him the entire north of Nanyang, which can be regarded as a kindness.

Under Xu Shu's persuasion, Liu Bei finally reluctantly agreed.

So he led his troops to the south in a mighty way.

At this time, the situation of the whole world also began to change.

The first is the Yangzhou battlefield. Huang Zu's water battle was fierce, but Sun Quan chose to retreat strategically. Instead of fighting with him in Peng Lize, which has open terrain, he retreated into the lower reaches of the Yangtze River.

At that time, the water surface of the Yangtze River from the Shaxian section to the Chaisang section was extremely wide. The narrowest point was more than one or two kilometers, and the widest point was even four to five kilometers.

What is even more exaggerated is Peng Lize. Poyang Lake has an area of ​​nearly 1 square kilometers under the normal water level of later generations.And Peng Lize had more than [-] square kilometers in the Western Han Dynasty, and seven to eight thousand square kilometers in the Eastern Han Dynasty, twice the size of Poyang Lake.

Therefore, it would be a big loss for the Jiangdong navy to fight against the Jiangxia navy with a large number of people on such a lake like a vast ocean.

Therefore, it is a good choice to retreat into the Anqing and Zongyang areas for strategic defense.

The two sides were at a stalemate, so Huang Zu could only occupy the counties around Peng Lize, such as Xunyang, Chaisang, Liling, Pengze, etc., and look for opportunities to attack again.

But Liu Pan withdrew his troops and retreated to the area of ​​Yu Khan.

He was too brave and fought all the way to Qiantang, but he defended the city to the death, which caused Liu Panjun's supply along the route to be too long.

Although the places they passed along the way were all the territory of the ally Shanyue, so they would not be robbed of the food road, but the food consumption was huge and it was difficult to maintain, so they had to retreat to the vicinity of Nanchang in the end.

This means that Jiangdong has entered a strategy of comprehensively shrinking defenses.

There was no movement on Liu Zhang's side, and Cai Mao could not defend. Although there were several tentative engagements, they almost left after a fight. The two sides had been in a stalemate for nearly a year, and they still couldn't make an inch.

Therefore, the battle situation in the south is temporarily in a see-saw stage. Although Liu Biao is one against two, but his capital is too strong, even if one is against two, he will not fall behind at all.

The reason lies in the population.

Although Sun Quan occupied Yangzhou, the Kuaiji in the south of Yangzhou and the south of Yuzhang have not been able to take it, and the population of Jiujiang and Lujiang has been wiped out by Yuan Shu. Only Wujun and Danyang are in better condition, and they also absorbed Xuzhou because of the massacre. And many people who migrated over.

In this way, the territory Sun Quan occupied was actually only four and a half counties in Yangzhou, and the population under his rule was about three million, but a large part of them were hidden by the aristocratic family and did not pay taxes, so the population he really controlled was only one million.

Liu Zhang is similar, his real territory is only Bajun, Shujun, Guanghan, Qianwei and other places in the north of Yizhou.

Zhuti County, Yuejuan County, Zangke County, Yongchang County, Yizhou County and other places in the south of Yizhou, that is, Guizhou and Yunnan in later generations, were not under his control. It would not be until Zhuge Liang pacified the Southern Man.

Among them, Hanzhong County was simply divided by Zhang Lu, and there were also countless Bashu families, which made Liu Zhang have a nominal population of 500 million. The actual population was removed from Hanzhong and southern Yizhou, and then removed from the family to control the population. , The real population he owns is almost one million people.

On the other hand, Liu Biao, he pacified Jingnan, sent his cronies as the prefects of Jingnan counties, and essentially controlled the Jingnan area.There is also the Nanyang Basin. Even if the north of the Nanyang Basin is given to Liu Bei, there is still a large area of ​​arable land and a sufficient population.

Especially those more than 30 farmers and millions of acres of farmers.

To a certain extent, these village residents are equivalent to Liu Biao's own private property, which is of the same nature as the hidden population of the aristocratic family.

With these supports, even if the population of the aristocratic family is excluded, at least 600 million people belong to him under Liu Biao's rule.

So on the surface, Yizhou plus Yangzhou has a total population of more than 800 million and a total population of almost 1000 million, but the real situation is that Liu Zhang and Sun Quan have a combined population of less than 300 million, and Liu Biao, who has a population of 600 million. knock.

The huge gap in strength made it impossible for the two to break through Jingzhou. Even under Liu Biao's strategy of defending from the west and attacking from the east, Sun Quan retreated steadily and even lost half of Yuzhang County, which can be described as a heavy loss.

The situation in the south is roughly the same, while the situation in the north has begun to become turbulent.

Cao Cao moved his capital to Chenliu, far away from Nanyang. Except for Liu Bei who occasionally went north a few times and returned without success each time, Henan and other places fell into a state of recuperation.

Since the retreat from the Cangting Battle, Hebei is also recuperating. Yuan Shao's health is not very good. He has been dead for two years at this point in history, but now he died of illness because his spirit was not broken.

It's just that at this age, even Cao Cao is fifty, let alone him.

Coupled with the extreme climate of the Little Ice Age, the winter in the north was extremely cold. The older you are, the lower your immunity. A slight wind and cold can easily kill you.

So every winter Yuan Shao's health deteriorated, and he was in his fifties, like someone in his 50s or 70s.

This day was the end of May in the ninth year of Jian'an, during the summer of the three volts, Yuan Shao was sitting in the backyard of the mansion of the Great General in Yecheng admiring the flowers.

After resting his body for a period of time in the early spring, his mental head has also improved a lot.

Although his hair is grizzled to the naked eye, he moves his muscles and bones every day, and plays swords in the yard. He vaguely still has the demeanor of daring to draw his sword and confront Dong Zhuo when he was young.

The yard was full of precious flowers and plants, and golden carps were swimming in the pond next to it. Yuan Shao sat cross-legged, feeling the warm sunshine in the afternoon.

Today is a nice day.

It is usually extremely hot in summer, and you will be sweating profusely after standing there for a while.

But at this moment, I just feel warm and comfortable all over my body.

"Father."

A middle-aged man in his thirties walked into the courtyard, came to Yuan Shao's side, cupped his hands and said to him: "Gao Gan is coming soon."

"Where are you?"

Yuan Shao asked.

The man was Yuan Shao's third son, Yuan Shang, and he replied, "He's in Zhao."

"Where is Huchuquan?"

"He and Guo Yuan will attack Hedong."

"Ah."

Yuan Shao nodded slightly: "How about Han Suimateng?"

"Already contacted."

Yuan Shang replied.

Yuan Shao said, "How about letting them send troops next month?"

"Boy, send someone to do it."

Yuan Shang said.

"Go."

Yuan Shao waved his hand.

"only."

Yuan Shang cupped his hands and turned to leave.

Not long after, another 37-year-old middle-aged man walked into the hospital.

He bowed his hands to Yuan Shao and said, "Father, the soldiers, horses, food and grass are all ready, and they can go south from Qingzhou at any time."

"Well."

Yuan Shao nodded and said, "You will go to Qingzhou in the next few days and make preparations."

"Yes."

This middle-aged man is Yuan Tan. He is now the governor of Qingzhou. This time he returned to Yecheng to supervise the transport of food and supplies back to Qingzhou to prepare for the war.

At this moment Yuan Shao was sitting on the table admiring the flowers and fishes, before he left he couldn't help but said: "Father, I."

"Go."

Yuan Shao waved his hands and said, "You brothers must live in harmony. This year we will attack Cao Cao. This battle is extremely critical. If you can help Weifu eliminate Cao Cao, Weifu will be happy."

"I see."

Yuan Tan left unwillingly.

After watching him leave, Yuan Shao stood up with neither joy nor sadness on his face.

The current situation in Jizhou is actually more complicated than in Jingzhou.

Jingzhou is a local aristocratic family who supports Liu Cong, and Liu Biao also likes Liu Cong more, so Liu Cong was successfully promoted.

However, Yuan Tan did not agree with the Jizhou native faction, and had a good relationship with Xin Ping and Guo Tu of the Yingchuan faction. As a result, Yuan Shao's counselors were very divided in their support for Yuan Tan and Yuan Shang.

In this kind of intricacies, Yuan Shao's wife got involved again.

Although Yuan Shao himself also likes Yuan Shang who looks more like him, Yuan Shao is very clear that now that the enemy is in front of him, it is definitely not the time to rashly establish an heir, otherwise the internal friction between the Yuan Tan faction and the Yuan Shang faction will inevitably be aggravated.

So recently, both Yuan Tan and Yuan Shang were very active, and he turned a blind eye.

However, Yuan Tan has been in Qingzhou for a long time, and Yuan Shang and Gao Gan have a good relationship, so Yuan Shao cleverly hinted to them that whoever can work harder to help him break Cao can become his heir.

In this way, the two of them will naturally be more motivated to do things.

At present, wars are brewing everywhere in Jizhou. After three years of recuperation, the treasury is full, and more than [-] troops have been recruited again. Yuan Shao feels that he can't wait any longer, and must fight Cao Cao to the death.

And just as the north was preparing for the upcoming war, Cao Cao in Henan was also gearing up to actively mobilize the military.

Three years of recuperation is naturally a strong army for the north, and it is not bad for the south.

The main reason lies in the degree of control of the population by both parties.

Although Yuan Shao occupies four prefectures, with a population close to tens of millions, apart from Bingzhou, Jizhou, Qingzhou, and Youzhou all have aristocratic powers and hide a lot of population, so his situation is actually similar to that of Liu Biao.

But Cao Cao is different. Henan has been so dilapidated by the war for many years that even the top family of the Yuan family in Runan has been destroyed, let alone the other great families.

Among them, the Yingchuan family fully supported Cao Cao, and Cao Cao himself even farmed with a population of one million.

At that time, if the people paid taxes normally, it was often one-tenth of the annual harvest.On the other hand, the farming system is extremely exploitative, and more than [-]% of the harvest must be turned over.

The harvest of the people in a year can basically only guarantee to barely fill the stomach of the family, and they have to pray for a year of good weather.

Under this system, Cao Cao's treasury was greatly enriched, but the people would be very poor.

In the middle and late period of Cao Wei in history, it is no wonder that a large number of villagers rebelled.

But at least in the current situation, because of the garrison system, even though Cao Cao's population is far inferior to Yuan Shao, he can still maintain more than [-] troops through such exploitation methods.

Yuan Shao is mobilizing for a decisive battle, and so is Cao Cao.

It's just that the soldiers and horses have not moved, and the food and grass go first.

Both sides are currently actively preparing food and supplies, and are preparing for the decisive battle.

Chenliu County, Yanzhou, Chendu.

The place where Cao Cao raised his troops is now very lively.

The Wei family of Chen Liuwei was a wealthy man in Yanzhou. In his early years, Wei Zi sponsored Cao Cao to fight against Dong, but was ambushed by Xu Rong and died.

At this moment, in the suburbs of Chendu, Cao Cao was sweeping Wei Zi's grave again. Apart from Xun You, Guo Jia and others, there was also a young man in his 30s beside him.

"Gong Zhen."

After Cao Cao finished sweeping Wei Zi's tomb, he strolled in the suburbs, surrounded by green mountains and green waters, and there was a large farmland in the distance, where countless farmers were harvesting the wheat that matured in May.

The young man whose name is Gongzhen and whose name is Wei Zhen is the newly-appointed servant of Huangmen, and also the eldest son of Wei Zi. In the early years, Cao Cao passed by Chenliu and lived in Wei's house. Wei Zhen told his father that the person who will calm the world must be This person.

So Wei Shi has always been Cao Cao's staunchest supporter.

Hearing Cao Cao's question, Wei Zhen put his hands in his sleeves, lowered his head, and replied softly, "Sikong, Zhen is here."

"Back then you once told your father that it would be a pity that Gu would be able to pacify the world in the future. Now Gu has let you father and son down. His son Xu Gong died in the battle in Xingyang, and Gu has been unable to wipe out Yuan Shao. The day to pacify the world is so long. "

Cao Cao sighed.

Wei Zhen smiled and said: "Gaozu started his army at the age of 48, and he leveled the world in just seven years. Duke Ming is still in his prime, but his opponent is only Yuan Shao. You only need to destroy Yuan Shao, and the world can be settled. Why not?" For what?"

"Ha ha ha ha."

Cao Cao laughed loudly, looked into the distance and said, "That's right, although Yuan Shao is strong, he was also defeated by the lonely hand several times, so the lonely one is naturally not afraid. It's just that there are many aristocratic families in Yanzhou who are dissatisfied with the lonely one, can Gong Zhen do anything about it?"

This is the sequelae of being too cruel to the Yanzhou family in the early years. Although he suppressed it, there is an undercurrent surging behind it, which may lead to disaster.

The main reason is that Cao Cao has been the most caring for the Yingchuan family in these years. A large number of Yingchuan family children occupy high positions in the court, and most of the counselors under his sect are from the Yingchuan faction. dissatisfied.

Wei Zhen himself is from the Yanzhou family, so how could he not know what Cao Cao meant, so he cupped his hands and said, "Zhen is willing to contact the major families and persuade them to provide food, grass, weapons and armor to serve Sikong."

"Well, please ask Gong Zhen."

Cao Cao nodded slightly. In fact, in the past three years of recuperation, the food, grass and supplies have been relatively sufficient, and there is no need for supplies.

But it's an attitude.

As long as Wei Zhen persuades the Yanzhou family to fully support him and not make small moves behind the scenes, then Cao Cao will also give them some of the benefits of the court.

To some extent, this is a compromise with the Yanzhou family.

Historically he didn't need to compromise.

Because he has the support of the aristocratic family of the Yingchuan faction, the Chenliu aristocratic family naturally does not have to worry about it.

Therefore, in the end of the Cao Wei Dynasty, except for a few gentry families who supported Cao Cao in the early years, such as the Chen Liuwei family and the Rencheng Lu family, it was difficult for the rest of the Yanzhou family to rise to high positions.

Don't even talk about following Cao Cao, the Yanzhou aristocratic family also has such powerful families as Yuxian Gao, Shouzhang Zhang, Junyi Bian, and Puyang Tian who defected to Yuan Shao and Lu Bu and stabbed Cao Cao in the back, almost destroying Cao Cao.

Not so now.

Cao Cao placed his headquarters in Yanzhou, just as he had to take care of the interests of the Yingchuan family in Xudu, so naturally he had to take care of the interests of the Yanzhou family in Chenliu.

In the early years, Cao Cao had a feud with the Yanzhou family. In order to prevent his backyard from burning when he was fighting with Yuan Shao, he had to reconcile with the family.

This, too, is impossible.

Cao Cao looks to the north.

There was a hint of sadness in his eyes.

(End of this chapter)