Silver Fox of the Three Kingdoms

Chapter 400 Three Years Northern Expedition
In August of the 26th year of Jian'an, Liu Bei ascended the throne as emperor and announced it to the world, causing violent turmoil in the north and south.

The first is the war of public opinion.

In terms of jurisprudence, Cao Wei declared that Cao Pi's throne came from Liu Xie's abdication, and he legally inherited the Han Dynasty. Liu Bei was an act of usurpation, and he was a traitor.

But Liu Bei claimed that Cao Pi's usurpation of Han can be called the contemporary Wang Mang, and everyone in the world should discuss it together.He followed the example of Emperor Guangwu and inherited the great rule in the south. He was to be ordered by the heavens, and he would not tolerate any doubts.

The two sides issued edicts to each other and spread public opinion, causing all kinds of news from the government and the opposition to fly all over the sky, rumors and rumors, accusing each other of being a fake dynasty.

From the perspective of later generations, Cao Wei was undoubtedly orthodox during the Three Kingdoms period in history.

The main reason is that Cao Wei was usurped by the Western Jin Dynasty, and the Western Jin Dynasty eventually ruled the whole country. If the Sima family wants to legalize the throne, they must legalize the process of Cao Wei's usurping the Han, so as to whiten the process of the Sima family's usurping Wei .

Therefore, Chen Shou, the author of "Three Kingdoms", can only regard Wei State as the orthodox, including the official official history of later generations, and there is no record of the Three Kingdoms period.

The order of the orthodox dynasties in the Central Plains has always been divided into Xia, Shang, Zhou, Qin and Han, Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties, Sui, Tang, Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms, Song, Yuan, Ming and Qing Dynasties. Ji Han and Dong Wu are not in the orthodox dynasty order.

But now is different.

Because it has not yet reached the Western Jin Dynasty, who knows who will be the winner in the Han, Wei, Southern and Northern Dynasties?

What's more, the Han Dynasty has gone through two dynasties so far, and the influence of the 400 years of the Western Han and Eastern Han Dynasties is by no means dissipated by Cao Cao's control of the northern region for more than 20 years.

In addition, the plot of Cao Pi's usurping the Han and Liu Bei's succession in the south made many people look familiar, and people couldn't help but think of Wang Mang's usurping the Han and Emperor Guangwu's succession in Hebei, and then he rode the dust and opened the road to the revival of the Han Dynasty .

Comparing the two, some people will naturally think that I have seen this scene, so they will instinctively connect Cao Pi with Wang Mang, and Liu Xiu with Liu Bei, thus deepening their empathy for the Southern Han Dynasty.

The result was a war of public opinion between the two sides, and Cao Wei was very uncomfortable.

Many people in the north who were oppressed and rebelled by families, dignitaries, and the imperial court launched rebellions under the banner of responding to the Han Dynasty in the south, which caused rebellions in the north.

If Cao Pi hadn't completely controlled the imperial court, and used the Nine Rank Zhongzheng System to greatly ease the conflicts between the Cao Wei Group and the small and medium-sized families and the poor landlord class, and the northern families were all Wei ministers, I am afraid that the entire north would be in turmoil now.

After the war of public opinion comes the military.

Both sides are stationed at the border. Except for Guanzhong and Huainan, which are vast and sparsely populated, and Cao Wei only sent a small number of people, Nanyang, Henan and other places are heavily guarded on both sides.

History has proved that it is very difficult for the South to succeed in the Northern Expedition. Except for Zhu Yuanzhang, no one can succeed.

But that was after the Sui and Tang Dynasties.

During the Southern and Northern Dynasties, Zu Ti’s Northern Expedition, Huanwen’s Northern Expedition, and Liu Yu’s Northern Expedition all achieved great results, especially Liu Yu’s recovery of Chang’an and Luoyang.

Therefore, although only Zhu Yuanzhang succeeded in the Northern Expedition in the later dynasties, it does not mean that it cannot be done now.

At this moment, Liu Bei controls the entire south, and with Xiliang in his hands, his strength is not insignificant. He is much stronger than Liu Yu in history, and he may become the first successful Northern Expedition.

Therefore, after Liu Bei proclaimed himself emperor, he set his capital in Xiangyang, and he personally sat on the front line. The army Chen Bing was on the border of Nanyang, facing tens of thousands of Wei troops.

At present, Nanyang, Henan Province is the place where war is most likely to occur. There are more than [-] Chen soldiers in the Han and Wei dynasties.

The two sides fought a war of words for several months, and added soldiers and horses on the border. The atmosphere was full, but there was no fight.

Cao Pi is bluffing, so why isn't Liu Bei taking the time to recuperate?
The two sides are now relying on the Nanyang Basin and the Henan Plain to provide food and grass nearby.The main force of Liu Bei's army was stationed in Yecheng, Ji County, Luyang, Duyang, Juancheng, Wuyin and Biyang.

The Cao Wei army was stationed in Kunyang, Wuyang, Xiping, Dingling, Wufang, Langling, Yang'an and other places, and the front lines were only more than 30 kilometers apart.

In addition, Liu Beijun also controlled Wuguan, posing a threat to Chang'an from both sides.

This is the current military situation where the two sides are confronting each other.

To sum up, the chatter has never stopped.However, due to the unstable internal situation of Cao Wei, Liu Bei has just settled in the south, the territory is too large to manage, and it needs to recuperate, so the two sides have no idea of ​​war now, and they are temporarily entering a truce.

During this period, after Liu Bei ascended the throne, he immediately launched a series of internal security measures, such as announcing the start of the first imperial examination system next year, and rewarding a large number of scattered and honored officials.

At the same time, many sons and daughters of noble families were recruited to become officials, and officials from Yangzhou were sent to Shu, so that officials from Shu were in Jingzhou, and Jingzhou officials went to Jiangdong.

And Liangzhou.

The current situation in Liangzhou is actually not as good as expected.

Because Liu Bei also only got a few counties in Longyou, the population of Beidi County and Anding County was relocated by Cao Cao, and became sparsely populated.

Therefore, Liu Bei's actual control area is part of Jincheng County, Longxi County, Hanyang County, Wudu County, and Wuwei County. The approximate range is from Xining City in Qinghai in the west to Baiyin City in Gansu in the north, Tianshui City in Gansu in the east, and Longnan in Gansu in the south. city.

Including Jincheng County in the Han Dynasty, Lanzhou City in later generations was also under his control. The traditional Longyou area was basically acquired by Liu Bei, and now only Wuwei County in the north has not been taken by him.

Although Ma Chao is there, there are hundreds of Qiang tribes in Liangzhou. Some people regard Ma Chao as a god, and some people don't like Ma Chao, so they didn't get it so quickly.

But the news of Zhang Fei's victory spread frequently, and he defeated a large number of rebellious Qiang people. He stepped on Guanlong and shocked Liangzhou. Gradually, officials from the south were able to enter Xiliang to control the counties and counties. They began to march to Wuwei County in the north and recovered a lot The trend of the whole Xiliang.

At the end of the first year of Zhangwu, there was a light snowfall in Xiangyang, and the rustling snowflakes dyed the streets and lanes white, but soon melted into wet water in the bustling shopping mall.

Xiangyang people are accustomed to humidity, so they have a great demand for charcoal fire in winter.

The government repeatedly ordered that when burning charcoal, windows must be opened for ventilation. This year, many people will die of charcoal poisoning.

Shen Chen's carriage entered the prime minister's mansion at three o'clock in the morning, and today he was dressed in casual clothes. After getting out of the carriage, he entered the backyard led by the servants.

The servants in Zhuge Liang's mansion are all hired, and there are no servants.

But even though many people around Shen Chen set an example by hiring servants instead of enslaving them, it was still impossible for the southern family to do so.

The Song Dynasty was able to do so because its commodity economy was extremely developed, and urban commerce and trade were active, so that many people did not go to farm, but chose to work in the city, which is somewhat similar to the situation after the reform and opening up in later generations.

It is difficult for landlords to retain population through the slave system. Slavery itself was illegal in the Song Dynasty. People were forced to become slaves. People could run away or sue the officials. There may be cases where officials protect landlords, but it is difficult to do so. This is the case across the country.

Therefore, the landlord class in the Song Dynasty could only complete land cultivation through employment, which was the emergence of farm laborers.

However, at this time, the Jihan created by Liu Bei had just stabilized, and business had just recovered. Although the monetary policy had been issued, there were too many remote mountainous areas, and the situation of bartering still existed.

Even if a large amount of cultivated land is uncultivated, for the low-level people, if they hang out with aristocratic families, they will still have something to eat even in a disaster year. In addition, they don't have to serve corvee and pay taxes, which makes their survival a little more stable.

Therefore, in order to survive, there are still many people who voluntarily become hidden households under the protection of the aristocratic landlord class. Even if the government distributes land to them, it may not be able to attract these people.

However, Shen Chen knew that this situation would gradually dissipate with the improvement of productivity, the stability of prices and economic prosperity.

After all, no one is born wanting to be someone else's slave.

As long as the Liu Bei Group is stabilized, the corvee is lightened, taxes are reduced, and the land is distributed, there will still be a large number of heads of Guizhou who are willing to come out of hidden households and become naturalized citizens.

For example, since last year, Liu Bei has sent envoys to communicate with the Shanyue people, appease the Shanyue people, and invite them to join Ji Han's camp.

At the same time, reward the leaders of Shanyue, give them official positions, reduce their taxes and corvee, help them increase productivity, and so on.

Government exists to maintain order and stability.

The Yue people also lived a precarious life.

It is not easy to ask for a bite to eat in the hills and mountains of the southeast.

Sometimes Shanyue and Shanyue will also attack each other. In order to fight for a water source and a piece of land that can be cultivated, they fight each other to the death.

Moreover, the internal strife is relatively serious, and the upper-level Shanyue leader can easily decide the life and death of the bottom.

Therefore, the desire for order, peace, and stability has become the wish of the people at the bottom of Shanyue.

Liu Bei was able to bring them these things, which naturally made them willing to join.

When Shen Chen entered the study room in the back hall of the Prime Minister's Mansion, the first thing he saw was not Zhuge Liang who was reading official documents at the table, but the sword hanging on the wall behind him.

The sword is three feet and six inches, of simple and simple style, the color of the scabbard is white, and tassels are hung on the hilt, fluttering gently in the breeze.

"Your Majesty is biased, brother, this sword looks better than mine."

Shen Chen came in and said.

Zhuge Liang put down the official document in his hand, raised his head with a smile and said, "If Xiaoqing likes it, you can take it yourself and exchange it with yours."

"That's not possible."

Shen Chen dragged a bearded stool, and sat down on the edge of his desk: "My sword is black. When killing people, it will be stained with blood, and it is easy to wash. Your scabbard is wrapped in Shu brocade and white satin. It’s not easy to wash after killing.”

This sword was bestowed by Liu Bei at the end of last year. Jinniushan iron was mined and smelted into steel by pouring steel. The famous craftsman Pu Yuan forged nine magical weapons.

Liu Bei of the Nine Soldiers brought one for himself, Liu Chan gave one, and the rest Shen Chen, Zhuge Liang, Guan Yu, Zhang Fei, Huang Zhong, Ma Chao, and Zhao Yun each had one, named Zhang Wu Nine Swords.

In addition to the Nine Swords, Liu Bei also gave some other things to senior staff and advisers such as Pang Tong, Fazheng, Jia Xu, Xu Shu, etc., in order to achieve fairness and justice.

In terms of emotional intelligence, Liu Bei is still able to handle it, at least because of the Nine Swords problem, the people around him are not dissatisfied with the unfair rewards.

Zhuge Liang waited for him to sit down and reached for the brush. Originally, he wanted to give instructions on the official document, but suddenly he realized that he was so engrossed in reading the official document that the nib of the pen was frozen, so he washed the brush again, then turned to ask Shen Chen, "Today is the day?" What's the matter here?"

"Your Majesty summoned me yesterday."

Shen Chen said.

Zhuge Liang froze while washing his pen, then sighed: "Your Majesty is too impatient."

"Don't be impatient, His Majesty is already 62 years old."

Shen Chen shook his head.

Liu Bei is indeed very old. He remembers that he should have died of illness the following year in history, but he doesn't know if he can live longer without Guan Yu's surprise attack and the fiasco of the Yiling battle.

"Xiaoqing thinks, where should we start the Northern Expedition?"

Zhuge Liang asked.

Shen Chen smiled and said, "Why don't you guess?"

"it is good."

Zhuge nodded brightly.

This is a small game between him and Shen Chen.

The two of them wrote on the paper with a brush, and then spread it out at the same time.

The same place name was written on it - Chang'an!
The two looked at each other and smiled, but soon Zhuge Liang's face darkened again, and he shook his head with a wry smile: "Even Chang'an is not easy to attack."

"Yes."

Shen Chen said: "Henan is heavily guarded by the Cao Wei army. It is like a copper wall and an iron wall. It is difficult to attack by force. Both Huainan and Chang'an have a situation that is thousands of miles away, and it is difficult to transport food. Huainan is better. It takes water, and Chang'an has to go by land. , but compared to Huainan, we can only attack Chang'an first."

"Ah."

Zhuge nodded brightly.

Chang'an is indeed difficult to fight, the biggest problem is the transportation of food.

At the beginning, Liu Bei fought the Battle of Guanzhong, which lasted only two or three months, and almost emptied Yizhou.

Later generations may not imagine how difficult it is to transport grain from Bashu to the outside of Chang'an.

And even if you attack from both sides of Wuguan, it will consume a lot of food.

So even Chang'an is not easy to fight.

However, compared to Henan and Huainan, among the three options of Normal, Difficult and Hell, Chang'an can be played.

Because of the problem of grain transportation in Huainan, Hefei will stop it.

The terrain in the north is only the Yellow River, which is barely considered a natural danger, and there will be no obstacles after that.

In addition to the war in the cold weapon era, military advantages are mainly reflected in the number of troops and the quality of the army. The ancient north was the population and economic center, so it was possible to quickly assemble and arm a large-scale army.

For example, when the Sui Dynasty launched the unification war, it was able to dispatch the five-way army, with a strength of about 50, which made Nan Chen very defenseless and could only accept the fate of extinction.

At the same time, due to the rich pastures in the north, large-scale cavalry regiments can be formed.

After the introduction of stirrups, horseshoes, and Takahashi saddles, the combat effectiveness of cavalry rose sharply, and the appearance of heavy cavalry began to crush infantry.For example, the war between the Southern Song Dynasty and Jin and Mongolia is a typical example.

Even though none of these things have come out now, the mobility possessed by the cavalry is still beyond the reach of the southern army.

Therefore, Cao Pi can only deploy a small number of troops in Guanzhong and Huainan without fear.

Because once the war starts.

There are no people in Guanzhong and Huainan for thousands of miles. Liu Beijun could not replenish food on the spot, so he had to travel long distances to transport supplies.

The Cao troops in Hefei and Chang'an only need to hold on for a period of time before they can be quickly rescued by cavalry.

However, compared with Huainan, Cao Jun in Chang'an City had to hold on for a longer time.

After all, there are only two roads from Guandong to Guanzhong, one is to take the Qinling line of Hangu Pass in Luoyang, and the other is to take the line of Shanxi Taihang Baxing into Hedong County.

There are a lot of mountains on both roads, and the speed of the cavalry to help is not so fast, which gave the Liu Bei Group time to conquer Chang'an.

It's a pity that Cao Pi obviously knew this too.

Therefore, Cao Pi's arrangement for the defensive center of gravity in three directions is very simple, and Huainan has the least number of people, only 7000.There are more in Chang'an, [-].There are [-] to [-] people in Henan.

In this way, the [-] Cao troops in Chang'an City only need to hold on for about a month, and Cao Pi's reinforcements in Luoyang can quickly rush to help and repel Liu Bei's army.

So that's the situation.

The three attack directions are not easy to attack, but Shen Chen and Zhuge Liang set their targets on Chang'an.

Zhuge Liang pondered and said: "The problem in Chang'an is the transportation of grain. I talked with Yuan Zhi about this matter. He told me that he had been building roads when he was in Hanzhong. The daily delivery speed is also good.”

"Your Majesty is still in a hurry for the Northern Expedition, so we still have to persuade you on this matter."

Shen Chen said: "But Guanzhong must be taken back, the Han Dynasty must be revived, and the old capital must be restored. Chang'an City must be captured. Brother, what do you think?"

"Well, it's natural."

Zhuge Liang agreed.

Shen Chen continued: "Transporting grain is indeed a problem, but you have to take it slow. Not only do you need to build roads, but you also need to build granaries. Just like ants moving house, they keep transporting grain and grass to Hanzhong, and then transport grain and grass to Chencang from Hanzhong. Step by step, That's the best policy."

Zhuge Liang said with a smile: "Xiaoqing is the same as I think. I have written to Duke Han Sheng to ask him to expand the Chencang road and at the same time build granaries along the road and store grain in Chencang city."

"Chencang Road is the best road to take in the four roads of Hanzhong. Although it is a bit farther, it is more spacious and stable. After hoarding food and grass, you can officially send troops."

Shen Chen said.

Zhuge Liang looked at him and said, "Cao Wei has a lot of cavalry. According to Xiaoqing, they are fast-moving. How should we deal with it?"

"That's why I came to see my brother."

Shen Chen sighed and said: "I plan to go to Hanzhong next year and start formally forming a large-scale cavalry. Stirrups, horseshoes, and high bridge saddles are widely used in the cavalry. It must not take a year or two to form a well-trained cavalry, so it takes Elder brother and I will go to meet His Majesty together, persuade His Majesty to be patient, and at the same time officially start preparations for the Northern Expedition."

"How long do you plan to make the Northern Expedition?"

Zhuge Liang asked.

"Three years."

"Three years?"

"good."

Shen Chen nodded, looked to the north with deep eyes, and said, "Three years of rest and recuperation, with Cochin Champa rice and fertilization techniques, great water conservancy, reclaiming wasteland, and absorbing more ethnic minority populations in the southern mountainous areas, it should be able to quickly enrich the southern heritage. Let the people be rich and the country rich, and the soldiers strong and horses strong. By then, the cavalry will have been formed, and the Northern Expedition will be officially launched."

(End of this chapter)