Goose Three Kingdoms

Chapter 578 Meeting in the West Hall
In Guanzhong, the temperature dropped sharply.

Ganquanzhongxiang, the west hall where the shogunate held meetings.

Zhang Dingxiang never liked convening meetings with his colleagues, so the West Hall often became a decoration.

But the changes in Jingzhou were too great, and he needed to listen to other people's opinions.

The cold wind was howling outside the hall, and although there was no stove in the hall, it was warm and humid.

All the newly built halls of the shogunate this year adopted the heating layout improved by craftsmen. Simply put, the entire West Hall is like being built on a huge kang.

It was temporarily opened today. There is a six-foot-high fire channel under the ground of the west hall, and the firewood and dried cow and horse dung filled inside have been ignited.

The thick smoke would be discharged through the thick flue through several small halls where the various offices were located. In order to increase the smoke exhaust efficiency, a bathroom would be set up at the end of the flue. The stove in the bathroom was connected to the flue. When the stove was burning, the strong fire would surge up the towering chimney, driving the smoke in the entire flue.

Indirectly, it increases the smoke exhaust and air intake combustion-supporting effects of the giant kang, and the hot air from the flue can also provide limited floor heating to the offices along the way.

This is the first time that the West Hall has been put into use, and a single fuel filling can keep it burning for nearly half a month.

During this period, these small halls can stop spending a lot of charcoal for heating, and only retain a small amount of fuel consumption for boiling water and heating meals.

The weather turned cold for the first time, and the moisture that had accumulated on the ground and walls for several months was heated up and evaporated by the heat, filling the west hall with an earthy smell mixed with lime and incense.

After Zhong Yao, who was listening in, arrived, Zhang Ding, who was sitting alone at the head of the class, raised the stack of documents in front of him and shook them: "I have specially summoned you to discuss matters today because of the changes in Jingzhou. You all know more or less that the rebels have an epidemic and are planning to withdraw."

He handed the document to Sima Zhi who was sitting next to him. Sima Zhi had already read it, so he passed it to others. They all gathered around the round table. The light from the ceiling shone down, making it convenient for them to read.

Zhong Yao, who was invited to attend the meeting, could only stare blankly and sit outside the round table, looking as if he didn't care much.

After the official document was circulated, Fu Gan of the East Cao immediately spoke up: "When did Pei Wenxing take over the post of governor of Jingzhou, when did he have the authority to accept the surrender of the rebels? Was there any instruction from the shogunate?"

Jiang Jiong, the military officer who was recently recruited into the shogunate, is the military officer's adjutant. Since the chief officer is not here, he is exercising his position as a military officer. He also said: "Sun Ben asked for surrender before, and we petitioned the emperor, but have not received any approval so far. Now Xu Kun, Cheng Pu and others have been recruited, with more than 30,000 troops. How can Jingzhou maintain its military expenses? At present, Jingzhou's military expenses are not enough. When Xiangyang is relieved, the military expenses owed by Xiangyang alone will be as much as 80 million. The subsequent replenishment of equipment will cost a lot."

The troops in Jingzhou were not paid, but they were still given rations, uniforms, routine holiday rewards, and pensions.

Even when soldiers retired, according to previous practice, they would be given a sum of money and food to settle down; if they were not given money and food, they would be transferred to the local centurion system for resettlement, and distributed fields, houses, cattle and horses, and the local centurion would also be responsible for finding a wife for them.

Jiang Jiong looked around at his colleagues at the round table. "The military department already has a plan to reduce the number of Nanyang troops and eliminate the old and weak ones. Not to mention the Nanyang troops that have no merit, most of the new and old combat soldiers and auxiliary soldiers from Youzhou that your Majesty has newly recruited will also be transferred to the four counties of Hexi, organized into 100 households, and engaged in farming and animal husbandry to be self-sufficient."

Finally, he looked at Zhang Ding and said, "If you agree to recruit Cheng Pu, Xu Kun and others, please take away all their soldiers and turn them into civilian settlements. After a few years, when their troops are consolidated and their loyalty can be proven, you can recruit their best soldiers and incorporate them into the camp."

Jiang Jiong was against this group of surrendered soldiers eating military rations, and was even more against this group of rebel generals joining the shogunate... But Pei Qian had already started to recruit them to surrender, and the report had been sent in, indicating that progress was almost achieved.

It is not easy to make enemies with Sima Zhi, but he must be opposed and suppressed, otherwise the military achievements in the southern battlefield will fall on this group of surrendered generals who are good at water battles.

Once these surrendered generals recover the southern prefectures and counties, they will not only be able to obtain meritorious titles, but will also be able to acquire huge war spoils in the south. Their old followers will be spread across all counties and prefectures, which will obviously be detrimental to the shogunate center.

This was not just Jiang Jiong's personal opinion; the officials and subordinates from other Caos also looked unhappy.

Now that the Grand Marshal is suppressing the intensity of the war in the south, they also want to suppress it. Their next promotion and demotion will definitely be to a local position, where they will have the opportunity to reap the benefits of the war.

If we allow Jingzhou to recruit surrenders and rebels, how can they serve us when the crucial battle to pacify the south and unify the world breaks out?

At this time, even Xu Gan, a typical person who didn't understand military affairs and had resigned from Cao, spoke up: "Everyone, I think we can no longer allow Pei Wenxing to surrender and accept traitors. This trend must not be allowed to continue. Otherwise, if we wake up one day and find that Pei Wenxing has surrendered the pseudo-emperor of the southeast, what should we do?"

As he spoke, he spread out his hands and gestured, looking helpless.

"In my opinion, Pei Wenxing has such courage, so we must be on guard against him."

Someone immediately started to joke and mock, "Your Majesty wants a peaceful and peaceful world. I think I should report this to Your Majesty and ask Your Majesty to severely reprimand Pei Wenxing. Otherwise, if he surrenders today and rebels tomorrow, Pei Wenxing might be coerced into becoming the prime minister and general of the pseudo-dynasty the next day."

Zhang Ding coughed twice and said, "I understand how you feel. I am not happy about this either. But we also have to consider the difficulties in Jingzhou. The rebels number no less than 200,000, and there is an epidemic among the army. If you attack our defenses with all your strength, even if you win, the epidemic will spread and kill many of our soldiers and civilians. If we persuade them to surrender now, it will break the rebels' offensive."

Looking around at the others who had quieted down, Zhang Ding continued, "But it is not easy for Your Majesty to start a business, and not everyone can follow the shogunate to support the court. Therefore, as the military officer just said, you can reward the general generously, but not grant him any power, and take away all his people, turning them into civilian settlements for three years. After the term is up, if you can see his loyalty, you can send an envoy to collect his best troops, reorganize them into an army, and make them a navy, so that they can be used to fight against the bandits in the south of the Yangtze River in the future."

Kong Rong, who was sitting on the other side of Zhang Ding, saw that no one refuted or responded, so he said: "Generals Cheng Pu and others betrayed Sun Quan first, and now they are betraying the pseudo dynasty. I don't know whether it is Sun Quan and the pseudo dynasty who have no virtue, or General Cheng Pu and others who have bad character."

After a pause, Kong Rong continued, "They followed Sun Bofu to start a business in Jiangdong, so they must be loyal and brave. But they betrayed Sun Quan and the pseudo-dynasty one after another, which shows that their virtues are in the north, so we should not reject them forcefully. Otherwise, if we destroy Pei Wenxing's reputation today, when you take office in the future, it may be difficult to convince people when you do something that is convenient for you."

Hearing this, everyone relaxed a little. Sima Zhi thanked Kong Rong and smiled. Kong Rong just laughed and said, "This year, the harvest in Guanlong is good, and the treasury is full. A few hundred more people will not affect the overall situation. You don't have to argue about this. The most important thing now is to warn Pei Wenxing. Otherwise, the consequences will not just be his."

Seeing that Kong Rong raised the issue of surrendering Cheng Pu and others to the high level of the pseudo-dynasty's lack of morality, no one dared to object.

In fact, what Kong Rong said was very reasonable. If they were to dismantle Pei Qian's plan now and make Pei Qian fail in his attempt to surrender by breaking his promise, when they go to work in the local area in the future and need to surrender temporarily, I'm afraid no one would believe what they say.

It doesn’t matter whether the arrow shot at Pei Qian can kill Pei Qian or not. It would be terrible if I get hit by the arrow in the end.

Zhong Yao, who was watching from the side, was quite speechless. These people in their thirties at the core of the shogunate had become so arrogant.

But it is also understood that what took decades of national strength to accomplish during the reign of Emperor Wu was accomplished at lightning speed by the shogunate.

Given the mobilization capabilities, material resources and human resources of the other parties, they really no longer pose any strategic threat.

Even the war in Jingzhou could withstand a disastrous defeat.

The Wugu Pass and Danshui water transport were destined to facilitate Guanzhong's conquest of the southern Chu area...For some members of the shogunate's core, it might be a good thing to use the hands of the pseudo-dynasty rebels to wipe out the Jingzhou faction and the Jianghuai faction in one fell swoop.

Only Sima Zhi and Pei Qian had a strong friendship and were still holding on, and Kong Rong also stood up and spoke a fair word.

Otherwise, he felt that even if Pei Qian didn't die today, his reputation would be ruined.

Seeing that no one stood up to continue to refute, Zhang Ding said to Zhuge Jin who stayed at the secretariat and Xu Gan who resigned from Cao: "Draft a record of our meeting. After we sign our names together, we will send it quickly. Please make your decision."

"Yes."

(End of this chapter)