Strange Tales from the Northern Qi Dynasty

Chapter 474: Famous Scholars in Shu

"The thieves have come from afar, the key is food and fodder."

"The enemy is running low on food and fodder, so we have to attack quickly and get supplies along the way!"

"The roads to Shu are difficult to travel, but the garrisons are easy to defend but difficult to attack. The soldiers in the city are excellent. As long as we can stop the enemy's fierce attack here, the enemy will be short of food and grass. If there is insufficient food and grass, the morale will be completely lost. At that time, it will be a good opportunity for us to counterattack the Han thieves and regain the lost land!"

Gao Ying told everyone about the latest plan.

The Zhou people's strategy has been revised three times.

The Zhou people's first strategy was to establish a foothold in Bashu and appease the people's hearts. The focus was on quickly pacifying the rear, gaining a foothold, and developing themselves.

However, this strategy was forced to stagnate because of Liu Taozi's hasty attack strategy. The Zhou people made adjustments and decided to use Hanzhong and Wudu to resist the enemy's attack. The court moved back and summoned the strength of Bashu. After the two cities on the front line resisted for a long enough time and the enemy's morale was low, they would send troops to rescue and repel the enemy.

But this strategy also ended because of Liu Taozi's fierce offensive, which could not be stopped.

At this point, Gao Jiong had no choice but to change his strategy again. He concentrated his forces, abandoned some areas, and blocked the enemy's offensive in Jiange, consuming food and grass with the enemy.

The grain depots in Bashu were still relatively sufficient and could withstand their attacks.

From the strategic adjustments, it can be seen that the situation of the Zhou State was becoming increasingly dangerous.

Yuwen Xian also did not see much confidence on the faces of his generals.

Yuwen Xian issued military orders to everyone, asking them to strengthen the city defenses, store food and fodder, and dig ditches. In short, they had to think of every way to stop Liu Taozi and prevent him from moving forward.

The generals left.

Yuwen Xian slowly lowered his head, and even he was no longer so confident.

Gao Jiong came up at this moment and said hurriedly: "Your Majesty, His Majesty,

"enough."

Yuwen Xian interrupted Gao Jiong. He raised his head, his face full of vicissitudes, "Don't worry about these things anymore. The country is going to perish, and the enemy army is invading. Do we still have to continue doing these useless things?!"

"Your Majesty, this is not a useless thing. If the emperor changes, the country will change. Even if we can stop Liu Taozi here, if something happens in the rear, how can we survive?"

"Besides, morale is the most important thing when fighting against foreign enemies. If something happens to the emperor, our army will completely mutiny and we will never be able to control it again."

Yuwen Xian clenched his fists and his expression became increasingly ugly.

He was really fed up with this shit, he almost gritted his teeth.

Gao Jiong was not afraid. He continued, "Besides, Your Majesty should not have killed the famous scholar in Shu before."

"Celebrity?!"

Yuwen Xian completely exploded.

"After the imperial court pacified Bashu, I treated these people with courtesy, promoted their family members, and granted them many favors. The imperial court has shown such great favor, but they don't want to repay it, and they even want me to surrender!!"

"If we keep this villain alive, he will definitely shake the morale of our army. How can we appease the anger if we don't kill him?!"

Gao Jiong shook his head. "We are leading the defeated army into Bashu. There are many powerful families in Bashu. These people are very influential in the local area. Even if the king does not listen to them, he should appease them and promise them benefits. With the king's prestige, they are still willing to follow. But now the king has killed these people. Bashu is in danger. However, there is still a solution."

"We can think of ways to appease them again. We can't kill all of these people, and we will need their support in the future. If we push them to Liu Taozi's side, Your Majesty can think about Hanzhong. There may be someone who will open the door to Jiange for Liu Taozi in the future!"

Yuwen Xian was furious. "They talk about destiny everywhere and shake the morale of the army. And I still have to appease and reward them?? How can this be justified?"

"Your Majesty, everything has its pros and cons. When the pros and cons are added together, we should compare them and choose the better one. It is true that they have shaken the morale of the army, but it is also true that we need their support. In contrast, their support is more important. Your Majesty now has the court, and you can completely recruit the local clans with the order of the court, promise them official positions and titles, and grant them land. Once there is benefit, they are still willing to support."

"I would rather die in the Sword Pavilion!!"

"There's no need to talk about this anymore!"

"I will never bow down to a villain!!"

Yuwen Xian said angrily: "Mr. Gao doesn't understand, but I know what kind of people they are. This group of people have always been profit-seeking and don't know how to repay. Even if I give them official positions today, they will still surrender when Liu Taozi comes to kill them tomorrow. Why should we appease this group of shameless dogs? Appeasement is useless! You showed kindness at that time, but they just thought you were a coward and easy to bully!!"

"If I kill a few of them, they will calm down. Now that I have a large army under my control, even if they want to harm me, they have to consider whether they can withstand my revenge!"

"But."

Gao Jiong wanted to say something but stopped.

In fact, what Yuwen Xian said is not without reason. We cannot just win people over, we should also kill people. However, we cannot just win people over, nor can we just kill people.

These two things have to be done together to be effective.

Previously, four famous scholars from Shu came to persuade Yuwen Xian. In Gao Jiong's opinion, those people might not really want to surrender. They just wanted to seek some benefits for the people of Bashu who contributed to the war and wanted to win over some people.

However, they didn't find the right time.

Many defeats, internal and external troubles, made the calm and peaceful Yuwen Xian become manic. Just when Yuwen Xian was most sad and angry, these people came to persuade him to surrender.
It would be strange if he didn't die.

Gao Ying didn't feel sorry for them at all, he was just worried about what would happen next.

The deaths of those famous scholars had an even worse impact than Liu Taozi's capture of Hanzhong.

At least that was the case for the people of Bashu. After that, these people basically stopped expressing their surrender, but they also almost stopped coming to the court. Officials sent to various places by Gao Jiong and others all wrote to the emperor to express that the local clans did not cooperate with their missions, making it difficult for them to govern.
If this situation is not appeased in time, something terrible might happen in the future.

Gao Jiong was much calmer than Yuwen Xian. He waited for Yuwen Xian's anger to gradually dissipate. When Yuwen Xian was calm again, he spoke: "Your Majesty, you have too many things to take care of right now. Why don't you let me handle the rear affairs? I won't let these big families disturb the morale of the army. I will also properly handle the situation with His Majesty. You can just focus on fighting the enemy."

Yuwen Xian looked at Gao Jiong, and his attitude was no longer so stiff.

"Mr. Gao, I lost my composure a little just now. Please don't blame me."

"How dare you."

"My king, given the steepness of Jiange, as long as we can pacify the rear, Liu Taozi will have difficulty passing even if he has a million troops. You just need to fight the enemy, and I will never let them cause any chaos in other matters!!"

The two of them briefly divided the work, and Gao Ying then said goodbye and left.

At this time, Liu Taozi's army had already arrived outside Jiange.

The two sides have not yet engaged in battle. The terrain here is indeed not favorable for cavalry. Liu Taozi's strongest field combat ability cannot be of much use here. Moreover, the checkpoints and garrisons here are really extremely steep. There is a gap between the two mountains, and this gap is particularly tall, much taller than ordinary city walls.

The situation is somewhat similar to that of Jiang Wei fighting against Zhong Hui's army.

However, having had the experience of having their home robbed once, this "Deng Ai incident" would definitely not happen again.

Yuwen Xian himself was a good fighter, and with the lessons learned from previous experiences, it was impossible for him not to be on guard.

The two countries confronted each other in Jiange, and a war was about to break out.

On a towering mountain, Zu Ting stood on a high slope, gazing at the majestic pass in the distance, with seven or eight fully armed warriors around him.

“Good mountains, precious land.”

Zu Ting sighed, looked around, and said with a smile: "This is a truly dangerous place, with towering mountains and steep cliffs. In the future, if we want to govern Shu, we must mobilize the whole country to repair the road."

When Zu Ting returned to the camp, it was quite busy. Soldiers were preparing for the siege, and officers were coming in and out. When they saw Zu Ting, they all bowed to him.

Zu Ting walked very quickly. When he entered the big tent where Liu Taozi was, Wei Xiaokuan was accompanying Liu Taozi.

As a surrendered general, it was unlikely for Wei Xiaokuan to lead the troops alone, but it was enough for him to stay by Liu Taozi's side and give advice.

In front of the two men was a very detailed road map.

Fortunately, Zu Ting had snatched these things from Chang'an before. Without these maps, Liu Taozi would not have been able to achieve the current speed of advancement.

"His Majesty."

"Grandpa is back."

"How is it, have you found any flaws?"

"It's a masterpiece of nature, extremely steep and dangerous, and there's no flaw to be found."

Zu Ting said with a smile, but there was no worry on his face. Wei Xiaokuan was not as optimistic as him. Wei Xiaokuan reminded him: "Grandpa, the situation is completely different if Yuwen Xian is in the city or not. The reason why we were able to capture Hanzhong quickly was because Yuwen Xian left. The local soldiers thought they were abandoned and had no intention of fighting. That's why we broke through. But now Yuwen Xian is obviously unwilling to retreat."

"It's not that he's unwilling to retreat, it's that he can't retreat any further."

"If he takes another step back, Bashu will surrender. How can he defend the gate?"

Wei Xiaokuan was interrupted by Zu Ting, and reluctantly continued his words, "Yuwen Xian is stationed in the garrison, it is not easy to break through, and the pass is steep, Zugong has also seen it."

Liu Taozi looked at Zu Ting, "Lord Wei's intention is to have Gao Changgong speed up and attack the rear of the bandits from Yong'an, capture their leader first, and force Yuwen Xian to return to support them."

"impossible."

Zu Ting said very straightforwardly.

Zu Ting said with a smile: "Your Majesty, you have also seen the map. The road here is difficult to travel. How about the road that Gao Changgong wants to take? Isn't it more dangerous? Even if Gao Changgong's army moves faster, they will break through the pass and attack the city all the way to the hinterland. The enemy can continue to retreat, and Gao Changgong will have to continue chasing. It will take half a year for Gao Changgong to catch up with the enemy, right? Do we have to wait for half a year for our army of nearly 100,000 here in Jiange?"

Liu Taozi looked at him and asked, "Could it be that Grandpa has some way to break through the dangerous pass?"

"A thousand-foot-high embankment can be destroyed by a hole made by an ant, and a hundred-foot-high room can be burned down by a spark of fire from a crack!"

"Now that Zhou has lost his moral integrity, even if the pass is dangerous, what can it do?"

"Before, Bashu belonged to Liang, but then there was civil unrest in Liang, Xiao Ji established himself in Bashu, and Yuchi Jiong went to quell the turmoil."

"He led only 15,000 soldiers. After the army set out, officials from all over the country surrendered without hesitation. Except for the royal family of Liang, there was very little resistance. Yuchi Jiong took over Bashu without any effort."

"In order to appease these people, the Zhou Kingdom reinstated them and even did not punish the officials of the royal family who surrendered."

"These people have been in Bashu for a long time and have deep roots. When the Liang people came, they surrendered to Liang. When Xiao Ji established himself, they surrendered to Xiao. When the Zhou people sent troops, they surrendered to Zhou. Now, the Han Dynasty is attacking with unprecedented force. Do these people still dare to resist?"

"Three days ago, someone brought news that Yuwen Xian had killed several celebrities who tried to persuade them to surrender, which shocked Bashu."

"I think the key to conquering Bashu lies not in Yuwen Xian, but in these Shu people."

Zu Ting looked at Liu Taozi and bowed, "Your Majesty, please issue an imperial decree to invite the famous people in Hanzhong and other places along the way to come to the tent. I will welcome them and discuss important matters with them."

Wei Xiaokuan looked at Liu Taozi at this moment, "Your Majesty, I will go first."

"Mr. Wei, you don't have to leave!"

"This matter also requires your help."

Zu Ting said, and then looked at Liu Taozi, "Your Majesty, whether it is Guanzhong or Bashu, we must govern in the future. Many parasites in these big families must be eliminated. However, the most important thing at the moment is to complete the great unification. With your majesty's power and the strength of our army, when the world is unified, it will be easy to get rid of these traitors! I am willing to do it for you!"

"But now, please allow me to contact them, defeat Yuwen Xian first, and then talk about governance."

When Liu Taozi was rising to power, he was firmly opposed to being in cahoots with the famous scholars. At that time, Zu Ting had persuaded him to replace Qi and inherit Qi, but he rejected them one by one. Later, when he was conquering Hebei and Henan, he also followed through with his advice.

However, at that time, he was just starting out and had to establish his own base. Now that Liu Taozi has a strong foundation and has set up his own business, the important thing has become how to quickly achieve unification and end the war.

Liu Taozi was not a pedantic person, and he immediately agreed to Zu Ting's suggestion.

Zu Ting ordered his army to attack Jiange, while he himself gathered many famous people in the occupied area in the rear.

The famous scholars from all over the country, whether from Chen, Bashu, or Hebei, were actually the same. They all hoped to protect themselves and hoped that the war would not spread to them.

At this time, Zu Ting sent people to summon famous people from all over the country. No matter whether they were living in seclusion in the mountains or recuperating at home, they all came at this moment and did not dare to delay.

After all, Liu Taozi and Zu Ting have a bad reputation. In ancient times, people with a bad reputation often could not see celebrities, but now, people with a good reputation cannot see them.

Since the Wei and Jin Dynasties, the moral concepts of scholars have been declining again and again. Things like seclusion and cultivating reputation have been out of fashion for a long time. They say they are seclusion and cultivating reputation, but in fact they are either avoiding disasters or busy making money. The big families who have thrown away their moral baggage start to eat people, and they are even more brutal and unjust.

The number of those who are afraid of death has also doubled. After all, those who are not afraid of death have already died.

A total of more than twenty people came to Zu Ting. No matter whether they were real celebrities or not, they were all well-known people here.

Zu Ting brought Wei Xiaokuan with him to greet them. Zu Ting chose a pavilion which was not far from the battlefield but was safe enough not to be affected.

Before everyone arrived, they naturally hurried to express their admiration to Zu Ting.

They did not come empty-handed, but they were smart and did not bring money directly. Most of them brought some ancient books from their home collections.

When I asked for it, I was not asking for a book, but asking the ancestor to explain it to me and help me solve my confusion. In name, I was seeking to study.

Zu Ting accepted the gifts and then invited them to sit down.

After everyone was seated, Zu Ting slowly said, "Your Majesty, during your visit to Bashu, you know there are many talented people in Bashu, so you asked me to promote them."

He looked at these people with a smile, "Everyone, how did you serve as an official in the Zhou Kingdom in the past?"

These people looked at each other and then answered: "This Zhou State promotes virtuous people."

"Is it for promotion of merit?"

Zu Ting chuckled. The Northern Zhou Dynasty had its own unique system for selecting officials. On the one hand, the Northern Zhou Dynasty claimed to have abandoned the Zhongzheng system and selected officials regardless of family background. But on the other hand, they still sent officials to local areas to identify talents and recommend and promote them. Judging from the lists of officials from Yuwen Tai to Yuwen Yong, the repetition rate of surnames became higher and higher, forming a kind of cycle.

Use the nobles to serve as officials to select officials, the nobles select the nobles, and then the cycle continues.

Many people think that local clans all support the Zhongzheng system. In fact, this is not true. After all, the number of places is limited and different clans are different. This thing is too easy to be monopolized. Once the clans in Guanzhong monopolize the Zhongdaifu in the Ministry of Personnel, people from other places will have no chance of entering the central government.

The imperial examination system was not opposed by the rich families as everyone thought. Paper and printing were not yet widely popularized. How could the rich families be afraid of competing with the poor families in the examination?
Many of the officials who vigorously promoted the imperial examination system in the South were from prominent families. The purpose was to combat monopoly and allow more people to become officials. Of course, these more people were definitely not from humble backgrounds. In the early days, the imperial examinations required someone to guarantee them, and the main goal was to divide the spoils evenly based on one's family background.

Zu Ting cleared his throat and introduced to them the way of selecting officials in his own family.

"Our assessment does not look at background. Anyone who has reached adulthood can participate. The Han Kingdom has taken Guanzhong and Bashu, and will soon take over the entire world. This is a time when we need talents. It would be great if we could take over Bashu sooner so that the talented people there could participate in the imperial examination sooner."

"When the war is over and the world is at peace, we can do anything in peace. It's a pity that Yuwen Xian is a thief. He is extremely vicious and killed the king to establish himself as the emperor. Forget it. Forget it. It's a rare occasion for us to get together today, so I won't mention him!"

Zu Ting waved his hand and continued to invite everyone to drink.

The celebrities looked at each other for a few seconds, as if they were thinking about something.

(End of this chapter)