Xuande

Chapter 617 Terrible Union State

It has to be said that the problem of merging states at this moment is already quite serious.

It is not without reason that Dong Zhuo, who has such a strong desire for power, does not want to be the shepherd of Bingzhou, but prefers to be the governor of Xuzhou.

Bingzhou has always been a border area of ​​the Han Empire. It has a vast land and few people. In a word, it is poor.

In the early years of the Eastern Han Dynasty, there was turmoil within the Xiongnu in order to fight for the throne, and it was divided into two parts, the north and the south. Zhonglang will lead his troops to protect his safety.

At the same time, the attached Wuhuan was placed in Youzhou and Bingzhou to protect the Wuhuan school lieutenant, regardless of Youzhou, and the three counties of Yanmen, Taiyuan, and Shuofang in Bingzhou belonged to the activity area of ​​Wuhuan people.

What Liu Xiu hoped was that these nomads could guard the frontiers for the Han Dynasty, thereby reducing the financial burden of the Han Empire. At the beginning, this was indeed effective.

But with the passage of time, and the Eastern Han government's own inappropriate policies, the Southern Huns and Wuhuan became more and more dissatisfied with the frequent recruitment and oppression of the imperial court.

When this dissatisfaction reached a peak, they began to rebel. Together with the Xianbei and Qiang people who had never surrendered outside the country, they made troubles and fought together, constantly eroding the land of Bingzhou.

Since the outbreak of the Han-Qiang War, the Eastern Han government has spent almost all of its money and energy on Liangzhou, and there is not much energy to take care of Youzhou and Bingzhou.

In particular, the northern part of Bingzhou, which was extremely poor, was basically worthless in the eyes of the court, and it was just a money-losing product-the court at that time even wanted to give up the entire Liangzhou, let alone Bingzhou, which already had a large number of barbarian activities.

So when Liu Hong became emperor, the situation in Bingzhou deteriorated further. The five counties of Dingxiang, Yunzhong, Wuyuan, Shuofang, and Shangjun had already escaped the control of the Eastern Han government in essence, and only retained their rule in name.

Before the Hedong crisis, even a part of Xihe County was eroded, and it was no longer the territory of the Han Empire in essence.

So it is said that Bingzhou Governor and Bingzhou Mu can actually control only Taiyuan County, Shangdang County, Xihe County, and part of Yanmen County.

According to the original historical trend, because there were too few parts to control, Bingzhou was once revoked by Cao Cao and merged into Jizhou. Later, Cao Pi restored the Bingzhou system.

But in the restored Bingzhou, the land north of Xingling was basically abandoned.

And in this changed world, Bingzhou's situation didn't get better because of no business.

With the rise of the bandits in Bingzhou led by Zhang Yan and their alliance with the Southern Huns, the anti-imperial forces in Bingzhou became stronger.

After the outbreak of the Hedong crisis, the Han army was unable to defeat the rebel alliance. Don’t even think about Yanmen County. Even the northern part of Taiyuan County was occupied by the Southern Huns. a little more.

In fact, if we really want to fight, Dong Zhuo can at least win all of Taiyuan County and Xihe County. Liu Bei still has the minimum approval of Dong Zhuo's combat effectiveness. It's all defensive and safe.

But you are safe, it doesn’t mean that other people want to be safe, all kinds of barbarians living in Bingzhou are trying their best to further erode Bingzhou’s territory, and Dong Zhuo has nothing to do about it.

So it's no wonder that people don't want to be the Bingzhou shepherd of Lao Shizi.

It's just that things are different now.

With the gradual stabilization of the imperial court and the situation in the world, the system of four auxiliary ministers led by Liu Bei has also gradually stabilized. The first wave of reforms is already underway. In order to gain more meritorious service and establish a stronger prestige, Liu Bei Naturally, he turned his attention to Bingzhou.

Even from a practical point of view, restoring the entire territory of Bingzhou is necessary for the protection of the Sanhe area.

Otherwise, in the current situation, the defense to the north of Luoyang is almost entirely dependent on Hedong County. As long as the enemy penetrates Hedong County, which lacks a defensive fulcrum, they will be able to approach the Yellow River and threaten Luoyang. This is very detrimental to Luoyang's military security. .

To put it bluntly, the Eastern Han Empire during Liu Hong’s period was like the Northern Song Empire that had lost the sixteen prefectures of Yanyun. Liao and Jin in the Song Empire period can be compared together.

Therefore, it is necessary to restore and consolidate the state from any point of view.

Liu Bei proposed this plan. With the large amount of money and goods obtained by the current imperial court's ransacking of the family and the family to save the land, it is natural to launch a complete and thorough war of restoration of the state.

However, this war cannot be launched in one go, but must be carried out step by step.

This time, Liu Bei faced many enemies, including the Bingzhou bandits led by Zhang Yan, the Southern Xiongnu tribe led by Yu Fuluo, the Xianbei tribe in the central part, and a group of Wuhuan people living in Bingzhou.

The total population of the enemy is quite large. According to estimates, it is no less than a million, and its combatable soldiers are no less than [-]. It is very difficult to eliminate them and restore the imperial court's rule over Bingzhou.

And to deal with these enemies, there must always be a sequence. You can't treat them all as enemies and fight together. Then Liu Bei needs to go into battle again and bring all the Luoyang Central Han Army to Bingzhou to fight.

The impact would be too great.

Moreover, in name, the Bingzhou bandits are now ruled by Zhang Yan, the court Zhonglang, and they can be regarded as a part of the court's rule. The Southern Xiongnu Shanyu Yu Fuluo was also canonized by the court, and he also submitted to the court in name.

Therefore, it is inappropriate for the imperial court to rashly send troops to attack them without a proper righteous name.

Even if the emperor sends troops, he still needs a righteous name, doesn't he?
So Liu Bei set a priority.

This crusade must first target Shangjun, Shuofang County, Wuyuan County, Dingxiang County, and Yunzhong County, and clean up the Xianbei and Wuhuan people here.

As for the Southern Xiongnu, who are mainly active in Xihe County and the northern part of Taiyuan County, and the Bingzhou bandit forces active in Yanmen County and parts of Youzhou, they should be dealt with later.

They have the righteousness of the court and declare that as long as they do not rebel, the court cannot attack them, so as not to damage the credibility of the court.

Moreover, they don't necessarily have to be crusaded, and they can also be used in various ways to make them a "booster" for this battle of annexation.

Now that he is enjoying the protection brought by the imperial court's righteous declaration, how can he not contribute to the imperial court?

When the imperial court needs to crusade against thieves, you should naturally do your best. Otherwise, you will be disrespectful, ungrateful, and treacherous.

Then I have a reason to fight you.

Liu Bei's plan is comprehensive.

He wants to mobilize the power of the Southern Huns and Bingzhou bandits, attack the Xianbei forces, and attack the Wuhuan forces at the same time, drive the tigers and devour the wolves, and let them conquer each other, so that the court can reap the benefits of the fisherman in the future.

Of course, these guys are not idiots. Both Zhang Yan and Yu Fuluo are people with brains. They have experienced the struggle of the Hedong crisis, and their level of struggle should not be bad. It is impossible not to see Liu Bei's driving the tiger The strategy of swallowing wolves.

But this is an aboveboard conspiracy for them.

If you obey the order, you must take practical actions, pay casualties and pay the price to respond to the court's call, so that the court will have no possibility of using force against them.

Disobedience to orders can preserve one's own strength, but correspondingly, the imperial court can also use this to think that they are ungrateful, so they have an excuse to launch a crusade, and there will be no worries about starting a war.

Liu Bei's reputation and fighting power, these guys should be clear, whether to obey Liu Bei's order and work for the court, or not to obey Liu Bei's order and fight to the end, they will make their own choices.

And Liu Bei just needs to wait.

After Guan Yu and Qianzhao's army arrived in Luoyang, they rested in Luoyang for half a month. Liu Bei changed them to the latest equipment and gave them food and drink to nourish their spirits for half a month. Lead the way and go north with Man Chong.

After the army went north, it arrived in Taiyuan County on the eighth day of December.

In Taiyuan County, Man Chong and Dong Zhuo made a handover.

Afterwards, Dong Zhuo left Taiyuan County with [-] soldiers directly belonging to him. According to the route planned by the imperial court, he crossed Jizhou, crossed the Yellow River, took part of Yanzhou and Qingzhou, and entered Xuzhou.

Dong Zhuo will launch his own "Luoyang Return Battle" in Xuzhou.

There were about 2 troops left in Bingzhou. Dong Zhuo honestly handed over these troops to Guan Yu and Qianzhao without any small actions.

On the other hand, Man Chong rectified the resources left by Dong Zhuo, cooperated with Guan Yu and Qianzhao, carried out a rectification of the army left by Dong Zhuo, and also dealt with some current affairs of Bingzhou.

Speaking of Bingzhou, in fact, what can be handled by Manchong is Taiyuan County, Shangdang County and Xihe County. Dong Zhuo is quite capable, and he has also taken care of these three counties, generally nothing question.

Mainly, Bingzhou has a large area and few people. These three counties are not densely populated areas. Whether it is agricultural production or commercial trade, they are quite scarce, so Bingzhou's treasury has little money.

After checking the accounts, Man Chong also confirmed that there were no problems with these accounts, that Dong Zhuo was not corrupt, and that his subordinates were a little aggressive, but overall, it did not affect Bingzhou's finances.

If Bingzhou still has "finance".

Bingzhou is really poor, not being greedy for being poor.

So for now, if you want to fight, the military expenditure and resources that the state treasury can provide can only account for [-]%, or even less than [-]%, and the court needs to provide another [-]%.

This data was submitted to Liu Bei by Man Chong in mid-to-late December, allowing Liu Bei to have a basic plan for the upcoming Battle of State Union.

(End of this chapter)