My father Liu Xuande

Chapter 560 Multiple Developments
Wei Yan's greed for merit and his risky actions inadvertently became a trap, successfully luring the Yong brothers out of Dianchi City and leading to a great battle at the foot of Yuyuan City. It was precisely because of this crushing defeat that the Yong brothers lost their confidence in defending Dianchi. After being frightened by Sun Ce, they fled, abandoning the intact and well-stocked Dianchi City.

If Yong Kai and his men hold the city, not only will the conflict drag on, but the fortified city will also inflict considerable casualties on Liu Feng's army. Most importantly, if Yong Kai is driven to desperation, he may resort to extreme measures. At that point, aside from the devastation and heavy casualties among the civilian population, even the city's food, weapons, cloth, and other valuables will be lost.

The loss of precious resources, people, and cities, along with the enormous casualties, will inevitably bring a bad reputation to Liu Feng's army. These are losses that cannot be made up for in a short period of time.

Now that Yong Kai has fled, all these terrible and serious consequences have vanished without a trace, and the only price for all of this is that Wei Yan violated military regulations and verbally promised to distribute some land. It can only be said that it was a coincidence and a twist of fate.

After reading the entire report, Lu Xun also showed a helpless smile, already planning to say a few words in the report to exonerate Wei Yan.

The decision on Wei Yan's fate naturally rests with Liu Feng, but as the commander-in-chief, Liu Feng can also include his own opinions in the report. As for the specific circumstances, Lu Xun will report truthfully without deliberately smearing or exaggerating Wei Yan's achievements; the final punishment will still be left to Liu Feng's discretion.

At this moment, Lu Xun remembered something else: the land that Wei Yan had promised to give away still needed to be distributed as soon as possible.

As the saying goes, faith is the foundation of everything. It is believed that not only the surrendered soldiers were waiting to see, but also the people of Dianchi Lake and the surrounding counties, as well as the Baiyue tribes, were waiting to see what would happen.

Under such circumstances, the distribution of land should not only not be delayed, but should be carried out as soon as possible in order to gain the trust of the people.

The entire land distribution process must not only be fair, open, and just, with rewards and punishments strictly in accordance with Wei Yan's promises, but the results of the land distribution must also be made public and the news spread so that everyone knows about the land distribution, thus demonstrating the Han army's image of keeping its word.

Only in this way can the benefits be maximized, and at the same time, it will help Liu Fengjun gain a foothold in Yizhou County as soon as possible and win the support of the people.

The powerful and influential families in the south are beyond their reach, and figures like Yong Kai and the powerful families who support the Yong family will inevitably be Liu Fengjun's main rivals.

However, in the southern region, in Yizhou County, besides Yong Kai and his group occupying the main position, there are also many small and large powerful families and minor chieftains.

Individually, these people are naturally very weak, but when they combine, they become a force to be reckoned with.

Moreover, there must be significant conflicts between them and Yong Kai. Given Yong Kai's personality, ecological position, and conflicting interests, it is impossible for him not to oppress and exploit these minor clans and leaders.

Lu Xun's goal was to use the land redistribution issue to gain fame and trust among these minor magnates and tribal leaders, so that he could mobilize their forces when needed in the next phase.

After all, only when there is a minimum level of mutual trust can the two parties have a basis for conducting transactions.

After considering for a moment, Lu Xun decided to simply entrust the matter of dividing the land to Wei Yan and told him his thoughts and instructions.

Wei Yan frowned, somewhat hesitant. It wasn't that he wanted to back out, but rather that he was worried about other things.

Lu Xun noticed Wei Yan's hesitation. After a moment's thought, he guessed why Wei Yan was so indecisive. He immediately laughed and said, "Wen Chang, you have made great contributions as the vanguard. It is time to give way to the more capable and give Bo Fu and Han Sheng some opportunities."

Wei Yan's hesitation, just as Lu Xun had guessed, stemmed from his fear that he would be bogged down in trivial matters of land distribution, thus missing the opportunity to attack Wei County and seize the entire Yizhou Commandery.

At this moment, Lu Xun exposed his little scheme, and Sun Ce and Huang Zhong immediately looked over with unfriendly eyes. Even with Wei Yan's strong and proud nature, he couldn't help but feel a little guilty.

"The general will not dare."

Wei Yan blushed slightly and bowed to Lu Xun, replying, "I will obey your orders, General, and will certainly handle the land distribution properly."

"good."

Lu Xun smiled with satisfaction and turned to Sun Ce and Huang Zhong, saying, "In that case, let Wen Chang guard Dianchi Lake, while Bo Fu, Han Sheng, and I will take Wei County together."

Sun Ce and Huang Zhong were overjoyed. Wei Yan's willingness to yield and Lu Xun's impartiality made their resentment towards Wei Yan vanish instantly.

The two men immediately straightened up in their seats and bowed respectfully to Lu Xun: "Your subordinates will obey your orders, General!"

Lu Xun nodded, pondered for a moment, and ordered: "The entire army will rest at Dianchi Lake for three days. We will give the army a grand feast the day after tomorrow and then march out the next day."

At this point, Lu Xun stopped again, while Huang Zhong and Sun Ce looked at him with longing expressions.

"Then we will divide our forces into two routes. Han Sheng will head north via Wenshui, while I will lead the central army to follow."

At this point, Lu Xun might say to Sun Ce, "It would be a great help for you, Bo Fu, to travel from Dianchi Lake, through Guchang, along the Five-Foot Road to Wei County."

Upon hearing this, Huang Zhong couldn't help but show a look of surprise and delight, while Sun Ce looked somewhat sullen.

Traveling by land is naturally not as fast as traveling by water. Moreover, after leaving Wudan, the warm water enters a valley basin where the river is gentle and the channel is relatively straight. Not only is it safe and convenient for boats to navigate, but the army can even march on the shore, combining water and land routes.

This speed is much faster than Sun Ce's five-foot path.

However, Sun Ce also understood that he had already received credit for the Dianchi Lake exploits from Wei Yan, while Huang Zhong had not received any credit. Therefore, both morally and logically, Lu Xun had to give Huang Zhong a chance to prove himself.

There are two roads that can be taken from Dianchi Lake to Weixian County.

One route is the Five-Foot Road that Yong Kai took when he fled. It starts from Dianchi Lake, goes north to Guchang, then turns northeast in Guchang. Following the Five-Foot Road, after passing Nanshan Lagu, it turns due east and continues for more than 60 li to reach Weixian.

The Five-Foot Road was a mountain post road built in the southwest region (now the border of Sichuan, Yunnan and Guizhou) during the Qin and Han dynasties. It was named for its width of about five feet (equivalent to 1.15-1.4 meters today) and was a core transportation line connecting the Central Plains with the southwestern frontier.

Its name first appeared in the Records of the Grand Historian: Biographies of the Southwestern Barbarians: "During the Qin Dynasty, Chang'e made a rough breakthrough on the Five-Foot Road, and many of these countries appointed officials there."

—From Records of the Grand Historian, Volume 116: The Five-Foot Road was carved into the cliffs of the Wumeng and Daliang Mountains. It was a vital trade route and military thoroughfare.

The starting point of the Five-Foot Road is the Bo Road in Jianwei County. After passing through several important nodes such as Zhuti (now Zhaotong) and Weixian (now Qujing), it finally reaches Dianchi Lake (now Kunming).

As Lu Xun continues his northward advance, he will inevitably have to traverse the Five-Foot Road, and the starting point of the Five-Foot Road, the Bo Road, is of paramount importance—the most crucial node in the entire plan. Only by capturing this point can he, with the support of waterways, directly reach the walls of Chengdu.

Another route to Wei County is by waterway; taking the Wen River will take you directly to a point five miles east of Wei County town.

The former takes about eight to twelve days, while the latter only takes six to eight days, nearly one-third faster than the former.

"Wenchang, Dianchi Lake is the foundation of our entire army, so I entrust it to you."

Lu Xun earnestly instructed Wei Yan, "You must not be careless."

Now that Dianchi Lake has receded, ships from Jiaozhou can travel unimpeded all the way to Weixian County. They can then stockpile grain, fodder, and military equipment in Weixian County to advance north to Jianwei and attack Bidao.

The various supplies stored in Dianchi Lake are extremely important, as they can greatly alleviate the transportation pressure in the rear.

Lu Xun naturally had to remind Wei Yan.

Wei Yan immediately accepted the order. Lu Xun saw everyone off, then sat back down and began to prepare a report for Kuai Yue and Liu Feng.

Lu Xun advanced with unstoppable momentum, winning battle after battle, capturing important towns along the Wen River and core cities in Yizhou County. Progress on other fronts was also smooth.

Liao Hua has now advanced to the Jishui River, a tributary of the Pu River, and has just captured Shuangbai County in Yizhou Prefecture.

Shuangbai County is isolated in the middle of the southwest of Yizhou Prefecture. There are only more than 3,000 Han people and more than 1,000 ethnic minorities from the southwest. The Han and Yi people live together. Controlling Shuangbai can not only effectively influence the large and small Baiyue tribes within dozens of miles, but also open up a new copper mine.

The earliest copper mines in Shuangbai can be traced back to the ancient Dian Kingdom period. After development during the Han Dynasty, the Shuangbai copper mines from the ancient Dian Kingdom gradually dried up. However, this was only a small part of the copper mines in the Shuangbai area. Later, in Shuangbai, and at the intersection of Shuangbai and Jianling and Qinzang counties, there were the Lufeng tin mine and the Yimen copper mine. Moreover, these ores are large-scale mineral deposits, and also contain rare metals such as gold and silver, making them quite valuable.

After taking control of Shuangbai, Liao Hua actively developed friendships with the surrounding Baiyue ethnic minorities and established good cooperative relations. Then, he continued north along the Jishui River and began to attempt to occupy Qinzang County.

At this time, Liao Hua was unaware that Qinzang County had already been occupied by Sun Ce, and that the four thousand troops led by Liao Hua were about to successfully join forces with Lu Xun's troops on the Dianchi Plain.

On the other hand, in Zhenfeng County in later generations, Lü Dai, who had split up with Lu Xun and moved into the Zangke River area, had already successively captured Tanzhi and Yelang counties.

Although the names of these two counties sound like those of ethnic minorities, especially Yelang, which was a kingdom established by ethnic minorities and barbarians, interestingly, these two counties were actually legitimate Han counties officially established by the Han court.

Zangke Commandery was vast, larger than the entire territory of Xuzhou. It comprised a total of seventeen counties, the same number as Yizhou Commandery at the time, but its area was more than twice that of Yizhou Commandery.

However, the difference between Zangke Commandery and Yizhou Commandery is that, among these seventeen counties, even including Qielan County where the commandery seat was located, only seven were Han counties, while the other ten were all tributary counties, and their actual control was less than one-third of that of Yizhou Commandery.

The Eastern Han court was able to effectively control seven counties in Zangke Commandery: Qielan, Tanzhi, Bixian, Pingyi, Wulian, Yelang, and Tanggao, where the commandery was located. Only in these seven counties were Han officials stationed, Han laws implemented, and taxes paid.

Other counties under the jurisdiction of the central government would decide on the matter depending on the circumstances. Some counties with good relations would send tribute once every three years, which could be local specialties, grains, or minerals.

Those with whom you have a casual relationship will obey orders but not proclamations, and will nominally be willing to submit to the Han dynasty. As for others, don't think too much about it. If you really need someone's help, you'll have to offer real benefits.

The worst relationships were truly on the verge of a complete breakdown. The powerful chieftains in these areas practically ruled their own territories, creating a de facto kingdom. Moreover, they would frequently send troops to attack and plunder Han Chinese merchants and travelers, disrupting their military supplies, which amounted to rebellion.

However, the Han court simply did not have the resources to take care of such remote areas, so even if the barbarians in these regions raised the banner of rebellion, they would pretend not to see it as long as they did not attack cities and plunder counties.

These seven counties share a common characteristic: they are mostly located in the Wujiang-Yuanshui-Beipanjiang River basin, where waterways facilitated the deployment of Han troops, enabling the Han court to maintain its limited influence and prestige in the region. In contrast, the tributary counties were mostly located deep in the Yunnan-Guizhou Plateau. Counties such as Juting and Louwo were entirely situated in the mountains, with no rivers connecting them. The mountain roads were treacherous, barely wide enough for one person to pass, and even ponies and mules could not traverse them.

The counties of Yelang and Tanzhi, which were occupied by Lü Dai, were all under the actual control of the Han court. The counties were inhabited by both Han and Yi peoples, and the population was quite large.

Yelang County has the largest population, numbering as many as eight or nine thousand. Half of them are Han Chinese, while the other half are descendants of the Yelang Kingdom. If the population in the wild is also included, the number of descendants of the Yelang Kingdom may be half or even double that of the Han Chinese.

Because of their numerical advantage, although Yelang County was under the actual control of the Yelang people, the Yelang tribe had a great deal of influence, even more so than the powerful clans of the Central Plains. This was because the Yelang tribe had its own independent tribal armed forces, and all able-bodied men in the tribe could serve as soldiers in times of war.

In order to deter the many tributary counties in Zangke Commandery, the Han army would inevitably need the cooperation and assistance of the Yelang tribe. Therefore, the Han army granted the Yelang remnants a high political status and economic benefits.

Under these circumstances, Lü Dai keenly recognized the value of the Yelang tribe. On the evening of the day after he occupied Yelang, he hosted a banquet and invited the Yelang chieftain, elders, and powerful young figures to the banquet through the Yelang county magistrate.

That evening, Lü Dai used Liu Feng's old tricks: he started with delicious food, then fine wine, followed by gifts of snow salt, frost sugar, and sesame oil, and finally promised huge profits from the trade.

Even though the Yelang tribe was very cautious, they couldn't withstand Lü Dai's three sharp moves and immediately decided to cooperate with Liu Feng's army.

The allegiance of the Yelang remnants directly stabilized Lü Dai's position in the counties of Yelang, and gave him the resources to continue expanding.

Lü Dai's next targets were Tangao County and Qielan Prefecture.

Among them, he appointed Qian Bo as the main general, leading 1,200 elite soldiers, plus 300 Han soldiers from Yelang County, and 500 Yelang tribal soldiers, to attack westward, hoping to capture Tangao County, an important port on the Wen River.

Like Wei County, Tangao County is located on the north bank of the Wen River. The two counties are not only connected by the Wen River, but also by a road from Yelang Road.

(End of this chapter)