At the end of the Han Dynasty: a stingy husband from his hometown

Chapter 410: The World Returns to Chu (New Book "Liu Chan's Life Simulator")
Ziwu Valley is one of the 72 valleys in Qinling Mountains. The valley is 660 li long. The northern entrance is called Zi, 100 li south of Xi'an Prefecture; the southern entrance is called Wu, 160 li east of Yangxian County, Hanzhong Prefecture. Since Wang Mang first opened the Ziwu Road, this rugged and difficult path has become the favorite route for merchants between Chang'an and Hanzhong.

Qin and Chu were initially hostile to each other and each sent troops to block the entrance to the valley. However, since the Chu prince Zhou Ji married Xiahou Yuan's niece, the relationship between the two sides became eased, commercial exchanges became more frequent, and each side transferred the troops stationed at both ends of the Ziwu Valley and only sent a small number of officials to collect taxes at the checkpoint.

At the northern pass of Ziwu Valley, an old soldier with a broken arm who had made meritorious service on the battlefield looked at the merchants who had just been let in. He couldn't help but frowned slightly, feeling a little uneasy.

The official in charge of guarding the pass usually respected the old soldier very much. Seeing his appearance, he asked, "Nowadays, Chang'an and Hanzhong have close business ties, and the commercial taxes collected are increasing. You and I are living better and better."

"Why are you not happy, but look sad?"

After hearing this, the old soldier hesitated for a moment before saying, "There seem to be too many Shu merchants coming from Ziwu Valley in the past month or so. I always feel like something is not right."

The official smiled and said, "Your Majesty is now devoting all the strength of Guanzhong to conquer the Yuan family. You are in urgent need of money and grain. These Shu merchants are wealthy. The money and grain and commercial taxes they bring will greatly alleviate the emptiness of the national treasury. The more Shu merchants come, the better."

"If you're worried, just be more careful when checking the merchants passing by."

The old soldier nodded when he heard this, and didn't say much, but his eyes became sharper and he began to check the passing merchants more carefully.

But no matter how he checked, he couldn't find any flaws.

Just at this time, another group of merchants came driving slow horses and donkeys, and the backs of the animals were fully loaded with goods.

The old soldier's eyes were as sharp as torches as he scanned the merchants.

"what?"

Suddenly, a man of eight feet in height, with a face as red as a date, lips as red as painted red, phoenix eyes, and drooping eyebrows, came into view. Although this man was wearing merchant clothes, it was still difficult for Yan Shi to tell that he was extraordinary.

"Qiang!"

He drew his sword without hesitation, stepped forward and shouted, "Routine inspection, caravan stop!"

Wei Yan, who was among the crowd, couldn't help but frown when he saw this.

"You, what's your name, and where's your pass?"

The old soldier walked up to Wei Yan with a knife in hand and a wary look on his face, and shouted at him sternly.

Wei Yan smiled and said, "My name is Wei Wen, and I am from Xinzheng, Hanzhong. This is my pass. Please verify it!"

The old soldier took the pass and examined it carefully but could not find any flaws. However, he still felt something was wrong. He winked at the official and said in a deep voice, "There is something wrong with this pass. Please follow me first."

When Wei Yan heard this, a fierce look flashed in his eyes.

This pass was carefully made by the government, there was absolutely no way it could have any problem. Even so, the other party still wanted to keep me, which meant that the other party might have become suspicious.

Wei Yan glanced calmly at the other dozen or so Guanzhong soldiers who were not wearing armor, and he already had the killing intent in his heart.

If all these people were wearing armor, even though Wei Yan was proud of his bravery, and there were dozens of Shu soldiers in the caravan, he would not dare to act rashly without his bare hands.

However, these Guanzhong soldiers are not wearing armor, so their combat effectiveness will be greatly reduced. If we can seize their weapons by surprise, it is not impossible to capture all of them.

Although he had a plan in mind, Wei Yan still showed a humble expression on the surface. He took out some silver from his pocket and walked forward with a smile on his face, pretending to be filial. When he got close to the old soldier, he suddenly jumped up, snatched his sword, and then beheaded him with one stroke.

Not to mention that the opponent was just an old soldier with a broken arm. Even if he was a young and strong elite soldier in the army, he would not be able to escape death under Wei Yan's deliberate plan.

"Follow me to kill the enemies, seize the checkpoints, and make achievements today!"

After Wei Yan finished shouting, he led the troops to charge towards the soldiers guarding the pass.

At the same time, Ma Chao and Jia Xu also disguised themselves and secretly entered Liangzhou from Wudu County. Ma Chao visited many Qiang leaders, and Jia Xu visited many prominent families in Liangzhou.

The two were born in Liangzhou. Ma Chao was the son of a general and was called the Divine and Mighty General by the Qiang people.

Jia Xu also came from a prominent family, and with his current status and position, he was warmly received by many aristocratic families in Liangzhou.

When Ma Chao recruited a Qiang cavalry of more than 3,000 people in the name of the King of Chu, Jia Xu also used his eloquence to persuade many aristocratic families in Liang Province to rebel against Qin and join Chu.

All of a sudden, several counties in Liangzhou responded, and Ma Chao's troops quickly expanded from more than 3,000 to more than 50,000. He first killed the governor of Liangzhou, and then led his troops from Guangwei County to Fufeng County and attacked Chencang directly.

There were only 2,000 defenders in Chencang, and they had originally planned to rely on the ruggedness of the city to resist the troops from Liang Province. Given the distance from Chang'an to Chencang, they only needed to hold out for three to five days before reinforcements would arrive.

However, the following news shocked the Chencang defenders.

However, after Wei Yan captured the northern checkpoint of Ziwu Valley, he strictly blocked the news and quickly summoned more than 300 people who had been secretly sent to Chang'an through Ziwu Valley.

These people's weapons and armor were mixed in batches at the bottom of the food.

Since Cao Cao was buying up grain and fodder on a large scale, the inspection of grain and fodder was also very lax, which allowed Wei Yan to deliver 300 sets of weapons and armor in more than a month.

Wei Yan led 300 soldiers to raid the Qin Palace and captured Cao Ang and all of Cao Cao's family members.

By the time Xun Yu learned the news, Cao Ang and others had already been captured. Even though he dispatched troops to surround Wei Yan and others, he was powerless to save the situation.

If that were the case, Wei Yan would not be able to change the situation even if he held hostages without any backup.

However, Ma Chao and Jia Xu led a large army to besiege Chencang. When the commander of Chencang learned of the incident in Chang'an and realized that the situation in Guanzhong was hopeless, he actually opened the city and surrendered.

Without the obstruction of Chencang, and with Cao Cao transferring all his troops to the front line, the Western Liang army surrendered without a fight wherever they passed, and they arrived at the city of Chang'an in just three days.

Chang'an now had less than 3,000 soldiers and horses. In addition, the crown prince and Cao Cao's family were captured, and Wei Yan led 500 people in the city as internal support, causing the people in the city to panic.

When Ma Chao's army was approaching the city, Jia Xu personally persuaded them to surrender. Many people in Chang'an remembered the rebellion of Li Jue and Guo Si in the past and dared not to be enemies with the Western Liang army anymore. They actually took the initiative to open the city gates. Chang'an was thus broken and Xun Yu and others were taken prisoner.

After Chang'an was captured, all parts of Guanzhong were conquered by proclamations, and troops from Yizhou entered Guanzhong. Zhou Ji, Zhou Yu and Jia Xu personally took charge of Jian'an, while Ma Chao led 5,000 troops to take Sishui Pass to cut off Cao Cao's retreat route. Wei Yan led 3,000 cavalrymen and military officers to welcome the army from Jingzhou into Guanzhong.

When the news reached Cao Cao at the front line, Guanzhong had already fallen into Zhou Qi's hands.

Cao Cao was so angry that he vomited blood and fainted.

After he woke up, he held Cheng Yu's hand and sighed, "If we had listened to Zhongde's advice earlier and left enough troops in Guanzhong, why would it have come to this?"

Hearing this, Cheng Yu also smiled bitterly and said, "Who would have thought that Zhou Qi would pretend to be seriously ill in order to reassure you to withdraw troops to attack Jizhou? I'm afraid that even Zhou Ji's visit to Zhou Qi in Xiangyang was just for show."

This is true.

If Cao Cao had not known that Zhou Qi was seriously ill, Zhou Ji and others had gone to Xiangyang, and there was no one in Yizhou to take charge of the situation, he would not have been caught off guard and gone mad to withdraw all the troops from Guanzhong to fight a decisive battle with Yuan Shang.

It can only be said that Jia Xu's plan was too insidious. At the same time that Cao Cao and Liu Bei were attacking the Yuan brothers, he had already planned to launch a surprise attack on Guanzhong.

However, after Zhou Ji occupied Guanzhong, he sent troops to take over various cities, posted notices to reassure the people, and treated the families of the Guanzhong soldiers who followed Cao Cao to the expedition with kindness.

When the news reached Cao's army, their morale was shaken, and because their food supply was cut off, eight out of ten soldiers fled.

Yuan Shang took the opportunity to send troops to attack Cao Cao and defeated him.

He was just about to lead his defeated troops to Bingzhou, but he didn't expect that Xiahou Yuan had just gained Bingzhou and the people had not yet supported him. In addition, he had lost his fighting spirit after a long siege on Yuan Xi.

After the news of the loss of Guanzhong and Cao Cao's defeat reached Bingzhou, those who were loyal to the Yuan family rose up in rebellion, and Bingzhou returned to Yuan Shang.

Xiahou Yuan also lost his food and grass due to the loss of Bingzhou, and his army was demoralized, and was defeated by Yuan Xi. When Cao Cao heard the news, he immediately drew his sword and put it across his neck, saying sadly: "Zhou Qi, you are a traitor and a son! I am defeated and homeless now, and I would rather die than surrender to Chu!"

Seeing this, everyone around him rushed to try to stop it.

Just when Cao Cao was completely desperate and didn't know what to do, the envoy sent by Zhou Qi arrived at the army and brought a letter.

But on the envelope it was written: From Brother Meng De.

Cao Cao originally thought that this letter was sent by Zhou Qi to humiliate him, and was about to tear it into pieces. However, after hesitating for a while, he finally opened it.

"Brother, I am trying to take Guanzhong by trickery, which is not what a gentleman should do."

"But I have something to say, brother, please listen to it."

"Since the Yellow Turban Rebellion, the country has been in turmoil for a long time, causing the people to be displaced and unable to make a living. In Guanzhong, Runan, Qing, Yan, and Yu, bones were exposed in the wild, and no roosters crowed for thousands of miles."

"Brother, your ability is ten times better than mine. If our two armies were to fight, even if we both died of old age on our beds, the world would still be in turmoil."

"Brother has always had the heart to support the country, and so do I. The only heroes in the world are you and Qi. Now I have been lucky enough to gain the Guanzhong area through conspiracy and trickery, and the rest of the princes are nothing to be afraid of. Although the means are not honorable, they are also for the sake of pacifying the chaotic world as soon as possible and saving the people from suffering."

"Looking back to the past, you and I met when we were young. We both had the same youthful ambitions and wanted to support the Han Dynasty. We drank and sang, and we were very happy. Although we had different surnames at that time, we were actually brothers."

"With your talent, if you are willing to condescend to come to Jingzhou, I am willing to entrust all state affairs to you. Wouldn't it be wonderful for you and me to work together to build a good country and give titles to our wives and children? Even if you don't want to come, I will treat your family with courtesy. Whether you leave or stay, I will never stop you."

"I hope you can lend a helping hand to Qi for the sake of the people and the country."

"Your brother Zhou Qi pays respects to me!"

After Cao Cao finished reading the contents of the letter, he remained silent for a long time.

The letter did not contain the sarcasm and ridicule that Cao Cao had imagined. Instead, Zhou Qi, the victor, was very humble. Cao Cao could also feel from the letter that the other party was sincerely inviting him to serve as an official in Jingzhou, not just for the sake of people's hearts.

"Hey!"

Cao Cao put the letter away with a complicated expression, and sighed: "In terms of breadth of mind and courage, I am ultimately inferior to Zhou Ziyi!"

If the situation were reversed and Cao Cao became the winner, he would definitely not be so humble. Instead, he might be complacent, showing off his achievements to Zhou Qi, and even not tolerate Zhou Qi, his former vassal.

After a long silence, Cao Cao sighed deeply again and finally turned his gaze to the south.

The reason why he was so eager to capture Jizhou was to be able to compete with Zhou Qi. In the final analysis, he still felt a great sense of crisis.

In fact, after Yuan Shao's defeat, Cao Cao had already vaguely felt that the world would most likely be taken over by Zhou Qi in the end.

Now, Guanzhong has been taken into Zhou Qi's possession. Although Liu Bei, Yuan Shang, Yuan Tan, and Yuan Xi each occupy a place, Cao Cao is also very clear that it is only a matter of time before Zhou Qi takes care of them.

He didn't want to meet Zhou Qi as a loser, and even less wanted to serve under him.

However, Cao Cao thought of his clan and descendants, and finally decided to compromise.

He believed that as long as he surrendered and helped Zhou Qi stabilize the situation in Guanzhong as soon as possible, given Zhou Qi's character and the relationship between Zhou Ji and the Xiahou family, both the Cao family and the Xiahou family might be treated favorably in the future.

He has worked hard for most of his life, so naturally he would not abandon the future of the entire family for a momentary anger.

It turned out to be just as Cao Cao expected.

He went south to seek refuge with Zhou Qi, where he was received with great ceremony and appointed Prime Minister of Chu. All of Cao's old ministers were rewarded.

Fortunately, Cao Cao also knew his limits and understood that no matter how magnanimous Zhou Qi was, he would not allow Cao and his subordinates to continue to hold huge military power. So the year after he helped Zhou Qi completely stabilize Guanzhong, he resigned from his post on the grounds of poor health and lived in seclusion in Xiangyang City.

Not only that, except Xiahou Yuan, all the generals of the Cao and Xiahou families resigned from their military posts one after another and only held some honorary positions without real power.

In order to stabilize the regime, Zhou Qi did not try to retain him too much.

As for Liu Bei, after Cao Cao lost Guanzhong, he quickly withdrew his troops and returned to Nanyang.

Without external threats, the brothers Yuan Tan and Yuan Shang, secretly instigated by Zhou Qi, went to war again. After two years of fighting, Yuan Tan was defeated and surrendered to Zhou Qi.

Zhou Qi adopted a woman from the royal family and married her to Yuan Tan. The two became father-in-law and son-in-law. He also named Yuan Xi the King of Yan, and then raised an army to join forces with Liu Bei to attack Yuan Shang.

Liu Bei didn't want to be a thug, but he had no choice but to do as he was told since he was living under someone else's roof and his strength was weak.

With Yuan Tan's secret advice and Zhou Qi's reward, Yuan Xi did not send troops to help Yuan Shang.

Yuan Shang was outnumbered and was defeated in less than a year. He fled to Youzhou and took refuge with Yuan Xi.

Zhou Qi ordered Yuan Xi to tie up Yuan Shang and bring him to Xiangyang for an audience. After being rejected, he sent troops to Youzhou. With the help of Yang Qiu's son and family, the brothers Yuan Xi and Yuan Shang were defeated in just half a year.

At this point, the only princes left in the world were Liu Bei of Nanyang and Gongsun Kang of Liaodong.

Seeing that Zhou Qi was powerful, Gongsun Kang presented a letter of surrender and was appointed as the governor of Liaodong and the lieutenant general to protect the Wuhuan.

Seeing that the situation was hopeless, and with the persuasion of his subordinates such as Chen Qun and Zhuge Jin, Liu Bei also submitted a letter of surrender half a year later.

At this point, the world belonged to Chu.

Half a year later, the world was settled. At the repeated requests of Cao Cao, Liu Bei and his ministers, Zhou Qi ascended the throne as emperor, named the country Chu, and changed the era name to Jianwu.

After Zhou Qi ascended the throne, Cao Cao and Liu Bei were both appointed kings of different surnames, and could inherit the title without change, but they had no real power. The descendants of the Cao and Liu families were also treated with preferential treatment.

As for the Yuan family, their roots were too deep, and even after being severely suppressed by Zhou Qi, they still took into account their old friendship with Yuan Shao. Yuan Tan's line was conferred the title of duke, and the title was hereditary, but they also had no real power.

The rest of the civil and military officials were rewarded according to their merits and received generous rewards.

With the support of two powerful emperors, Zhou Qi and Zhou Ji, the imperial examination system was gradually promoted and improved, breaking the control of the aristocratic families over the channels for upward mobility.

As the younger generation such as Zhuge Liang, Zhou Yu, Lu Xun, and Pang Tong gradually came to power, the national strength of the entire Chu Dynasty gradually reached its peak.

When Zhou Qi was old, he sent a young generation of generals to conquer Goguryeo in the east, the Xianbei in the north, the Western Regions in the west, and the Tang Ming (the area of ​​Laos in later generations) in the south. He also ordered people to erect stone tablets and cast copper pillars on the borders of various places to show ownership.

Zhou Qi also asked historians to record in detail the time when these places were incorporated into the territory of Great Chu, and marked that these places would belong to Great Chu forever and that future generations must not abandon them.

Thanks to Zhou Qi's advance defensive measures, although these places continued to rebel for hundreds or thousands of years, and even broke away from Chinese rule many times, they were eventually recovered.

Da Chu also laid the most solid foundation for China's future vast territory.

This is it—the end of the book!

PS: I'm really sorry that I didn't give you an ending until now, but it's not a bad ending. After Zhou Qi defeated Yuan Shao, coupled with his steady character and the young generation of heroes he cultivated, such as Zhuge Liang, Zhou Yu, Lu Xun, and Pang Tong, there was no reason for him to fail.

Having written so much, there is actually nothing more to write.

As for the new book, it is the period of the Later Han Dynasty that I have always wanted to write about. I want to write about the romance of the Later Han Dynasty during that period. For this reason, I even wrote about the beginnings of Zhuge Liang, Ma Su, Huang Hao, Guan Yu and an unknown passerby, especially the beginning of Zhuge Liang, but I didn't do any time travel. As a result, none of the manuscripts were accepted because the editor was afraid that I couldn't grasp it.

Later I talked with the editor and decided to give Liu Chan a life simulator. As long as it is controlled well, it can not only restore history to a large extent, but also increase interest and make up for regrets. This is how the book "Liu Chan's Life Simulator" came into being. Brothers who are interested can collect it first.

(End of this chapter)