Late Han Zhao Tang

"yawn!"

Zhang Yu, far away in Chang'an, suddenly felt a chill and couldn't help but sneeze.

"Would Your Majesty like more charcoal?" Zhang Hang asked.

"No need!"

Zhang Yu waved his hand and said, "The expedition of a million soldiers and civilians to the south has consumed a huge amount of food and supplies, leaving the national treasury depleted. We should be more frugal. If I use an extra bushel of charcoal now, the princes and concubines will use one less bushel. I will later send someone to inquire in the inner palace whether there is a need for charcoal, asking the young princes and pregnant concubines."

"promise!"

This year, in preparation for the southern campaign against Cao Cao, Zhang Yu ordered that officials with a salary of 1,000 shi or above receive half of their monthly salary, while the monthly salaries of officials with a salary of 2,000 shi or above, as well as concubines, were suspended. Half of the salary would be paid retroactively after this year's autumn harvest, and the remaining arrears would be paid together with next year's salary.

If Zhang Yu, as the ruler of the world, does not express his opinion, wouldn't some narrow-minded officials secretly complain?
Therefore, Zhang Yu reduced his own expenses and strictly controlled the daily expenditures of the palace. For example, the consumption of charcoal in winter, which was usually high, was cut in half this year.

"Your Majesty is benevolent!" Xun You praised.

Zhang Yu laughed and said, "I am ashamed to accept the reputation of being benevolent for the expenses incurred in military affairs."

As he spoke, Zhang Yu rose from the couch, walked briskly to the map, and asked, "Any new military intelligence?"

"Have!"

Xun You, who was accompanying Zhang Yu, pointed to the map and said, "Jia Xu submitted a memorial, saying that a few days ago, the bandit general Cao Xiu came to feign surrender. Fortunately, Your Majesty was wise and farsighted and ordered the surrendered people to abandon their boats and go ashore beforehand. When Cao Xiu saw that the plan had succeeded, he dared not come to surrender again."

“Recently, Cao Cao has been sending men to challenge him every day, but Zhang Liao has been guarding his naval camp and has not come out. He wants to wait for Generals Guo and Gao to break through Yidao and for the naval forces of Yi and Jing provinces to join forces before he can fight Cao Cao again.”

Zhang Yu smiled and said, "Cao Cao is eager to defeat us, so he used the feigned surrender tactic. Now that the plan has failed, our army has closed its camp and is not coming out. Cao Cao has been challenging us to battle for days, and I'm afraid he has run out of ideas. I'll write back to Jia Xu and Zhang Liao and tell them to patiently confront Cao Cao and wear him down for a hundred days. We'll wait for the movements of the other armies before discussing how to defeat him."

"promise!"

The "turtle strategy" may seem timid, but it allows one to establish an invincible position from the start. Zhuge Liang stationed his troops at Wuzhang Plain, eager to conquer Guanzhong, but when he encountered Sima Yi's "turtle strategy," all his schemes failed, and he ultimately died of illness in regret.

The Tang army currently possesses a significant advantage in both troop strength and overall situation, making it ideally suited for a "turtle strategy"—slowly chipping away at the enemy's health until a qualitative change occurs.

Zhang Yu was 100% certain that if Fu Jian and Cao Cao had been more composed and used their military tactics more cautiously in the southern campaign, abandoning the tactical delusion of quickly conquering the southeast, they would have been able to conquer the southeast within a year.

For example, when Fu Jian launched his southern campaign, his vanguard had already captured Shouchun, but the rest of his troops were still en route. In the two prefectures of Ba and Shu, the troops from Shu were campaigning against Ba, and their ships had not yet joined up with the Jingzhou navy. In the Jingzhou region, Fu Jian already possessed Xiangyang, but had not yet captured Jiangling.

In terms of the overall war situation, the Former Qin held the advantage, while the Eastern Jin was eager to win. Therefore, Fu Jian was not in a hurry to win, and he himself did not leave his army to go to Shouchun. Instead, he stayed in the rear to command his troops, which completely changed the course of the war.

If the troops sent to conquer Huainan were to advance to the Huai River basin, they could draw the main force of the Eastern Jin army. Once the troops from Shu had captured the cities of Bazhong, the troops from Jing and Yi could then converge on the Yangtze River and sweep through the counties of Jingchu.

The Eastern Jin regime would likely be shaken by the loss of Jingzhou, and even if Jingzhou could not be taken quickly, Fu Jian could order his generals to attack Huainan. Even if the Huainan army was defeated, the impact of the defeat would not be far-reaching, and it might not even destroy the Former Qin.

In reality, the Former Qin group, when formulating its strategy, was already implementing a plan of not personally leading troops into battle and not rushing into action. This involved "drawing troops from the east of the pass, advancing south to the Huai and Si rivers, subduing the troops from Liang and Yi provinces, and then moving east to Ba and the gorges, emulating the examples of Emperor Guangwu of Han's execution of Gongsun Shu and Emperor Wu of Jin's capture of Sun Hao."

However, in the actual implementation, Fu Jian made a military risk by naively believing the Jin general Hu Bin's feigned weakness. He abandoned his main army at Xiangcheng and led 8,000 light cavalry deep into Shouchun, where he was eventually defeated at Feishui.

Therefore, taking Fu Jian's southern expedition as an example, the first lesson Zhang Yu learned was patience; the more critical the moment, the less he should rush. Not only did he not rush, but he also had to suppress the eagerness of his generals to fight and seize opportunities to take advantage of the southeastern enemy's tendency to win quickly.

Moreover, compared to the complex mountainous terrain of Sichuan and Chongqing, the supply of food and provisions in the water towns of Jiangnan is not difficult, which provides a foundation for waging a protracted war in the early stages.

"The military situation in Xiakou should not be rushed, but the situation in Yidao cannot be delayed!"

Zhang Yu stared at Yidao City on the map and said, "Yidao blocks our land and water routes for our troops to go east. As long as the city is not breached, the troops of Yizhou cannot enter Jingchu. If Yidao is breached, the Han and Man troops will sweep through southern Jingchu, and Cao Ren will be unable to stop them."

Although Zhang Yu emphasized patience and not rushing into a decisive battle, specific battle plans needed to be discussed on a case-by-case basis. For example, he hoped to capture the outer defensive cities such as Yidao, Shouchun, and Huaiyin as soon as possible in order to influence the overall war situation.

Xun You pondered for a moment and said, "The garrison at Yidao number about 10,000, and the current besieging force numbers between 80 and 90,000. The Five Streams Barbarian King Shamoke is leading over 20,000 old and weak men to assist in the battle, and the Yizhou army numbers nearly 60,000. Gao Shun, knowing of Le Jin's reputation for bravery, ordered his troops to build mountains and attack the city in order to break through Yidao."

"According to the military situation, after more than forty days of construction, the earthen rampart is gradually taking shape. Once the rampart is complete, the city walls will fall in an instant."

"good!"

Zhang Yu nodded in satisfaction and said, "I have discussed with the ministers of the Northern Court and it is appropriate to appoint Sha Moke as the Prefect of Wuxi Commandery, to govern the barbarians of Wuling Commandery, and to allow his son to succeed him." "A hereditary prefect?"

Xun You hesitated for a moment, then said with doubt, "Your Majesty, Shamoke is just a Liao man, how can he inherit the title of prefect of two thousand shi?"

"Although he has made meritorious contributions in raising an army, the hereditary prefecture is comparable to a fiefdom, and Your Majesty should be cautious in bestowing rewards upon him."

"Ha ha!"

Zhang Yu smiled and said, "Gongda only knows that Shamoke is a Liao person, but he does not know the vastness of the Five Streams. The barbarians of Chu and Ba are of the same origin. From Ba County in the west to Wuling in the east, there are more than a thousand miles of mountains, rivers and ravines in between, all of which are inhabited by barbarians. Now, the appointment of Shamoke as the governor is intended to use Shamoke to pacify the barbarians of the Five Streams."

"If the Five Streams Barbarians are at peace, then the counties of Jingchu will naturally be at peace, and the route from Jingchu to the southern regions can be opened. With the Han and barbarian tribes in the south at peace, the people will be content and happy. Why then should we need to constantly invade the southwest like the Later Han Dynasty?"

"As for Shamoke's hereditary official position, he should abandon any thoughts of rebellion and instead curry favor with China in order to permanently enjoy the hereditary prefecture position."

The Wuxi Man were not a single ethnic group, but rather a collective term for the Chu Man people living in the five streams of Xiong, Man, Chen, You, and Wu. The Wuxi Man were roughly located in what is now western Hunan, extending from the Yangtze River in the north to the southern part of central Hunan, a region spanning thousands of miles, making it difficult to describe the entire population in detail.

As the Han Empire continued to expand in the south, the Wuxi barbarians frequently rebelled, and Ma Yuan died of illness on his way to conquer them in the south.

Historically, during the Southern Dynasties period, the Wuxi barbarians became a major threat to the Southern Dynasties. For example, during the Liu Song Dynasty, the barbarians from Wuling to Yiling acted as bandits, plundering various counties, causing the people to be scattered and almost all of them to survive. Even though generals were repeatedly sent to suppress them, they were ultimately unable to stop them, and Jingzhou was left devastated.

As for Zhang Yu, the Wuxi barbarians might be able to be conquered or even subdued, but that did not mean the Tang Empire had the ability to send officials to govern them.

Considering the wide distribution of the southern barbarians, in order to better govern them and to maintain stability, Zhang Yu decided to learn from the Tusi system of the Song Dynasty in the southwest, using local officials to govern the local people, and making Shamoke the Tang Dynasty's agent among the Wuxi barbarians.

According to the discussion between Zhang Yu and Yan Rou of the Northern Court, a prefecture will be established above the barbarian tribes in the southwestern streams and caves, and two systems will be set up below it: Dao (county) and Dong (township). The chiefs of Dao and Dong will all elect the most powerful elders as their leaders. Now that the barbarian tribes of the five streams have come to help, they can be enfeoffed according to the tribes that have come to help.

Having received official titles and ranks from the Central Plains, one must accept the jurisdiction of the Central Plains dynasty. Although no taxes are levied, military service is required when necessary to quell rebellions in the south, and tributes must be paid in lieu of taxes.

After hundreds of years of Sinicization, the various ethnic groups in the southwestern valleys and caves will eventually be Sinicized. While it cannot be said that they will all adopt Han customs, it can be guaranteed that the people will all change to Han surnames.

Guo Tu added, “The mountain barbarians are difficult to subdue. Rather than causing them trouble year after year, it would be better to recruit them and employ them. Since there is no good salt in the mountains, we can sell salt and use it as tax revenue. Moreover, with local officials in charge, household registers and maps can be drawn up and sent to the court. If the mountain barbarians rebel, we can use the maps to attack them. Wouldn't that be more convenient?”

Xun You nodded and said, “The mountain barbarians are different from the northern barbarians. The northern barbarians live by following the water and grass, while the mountain barbarians live in caves. The mountain barbarians have a place to live, and if they can be restrained by officials, it will benefit the country. Your Majesty’s thinking is far-sighted, which I cannot match!”

After examining the map for a while, Zhang Yu casually asked, "Now that you've seen the military situation in Jingzhou, do you have any other insights, Gongda?"

Xun You pondered for a moment and said, "Your Majesty, if we build a mountain to besiege Yidao, we can break through the city walls within three months. Yidao is in grave danger, and Cao Cao has failed to defeat Zhang Liao. I fear that Cao Ren will take advantage of the situation to launch an attack on Wen Ping's forces. If we can defeat Wen Ping, the siege of Yidao may be lifted."

"Cao Ren?"

Zhang Yu seemed to be deep in thought, and said, "Not counting Guo Huai's navy upstream, Cao Ren has 30,000 troops, while Wen Ping has more than 20,000 men..."

"Ok?"

"Does Gongda have a strategy to deal with this?" Zhang Yu asked.

Xun You said, "Cao Ren is shrewd but brave. Your Majesty can order Wen Ping to resist him, or perhaps Wen Ping can take advantage of the situation to defeat him!"

Zhang Yu paced back and forth, pondering, and said, "Cao Cao's appointment of Cao Ren as a general was a grave mistake in personnel management!"

"Wen Ping is both brave and resourceful; what is there that he cannot do to defeat Cao Ren?"

As he spoke, Zhang Yu instructed, "Send a message to Wen Ping, saying that if Cao Ren decides to send troops, he can decide for himself whether to do so."

Historically, when Wen Ping was stationed in Jiangxia Commandery, from a military-geographical perspective, Jiangxia Commandery, which he defended, could be considered the southernmost point of Cao Wei in Jingzhou. Because it was separated from Nanyang by the Sui-Zao Corridor and from Runan to the north by the Dabie Mountains, it was often difficult to resupply food and supplies.

In such difficult circumstances, Wen Ping was able to hold out for over twenty years, which is enough to make him a man of both wisdom and courage. Now, under Zhang Yu's trust, Wen Ping is stationed in Jiangling, holding off Liu Bei and Cao Cao's siege of Jiangling for several months, which makes Zhang Yu increasingly confident in Wen Ping.

Of course, this is related to their opponent, Cao Ren.

Cao Ren's appointment as a general in an outer region served almost no purpose other than reassuring Cao Cao.
Historically, Cao Ren was driven from Jiangling to Fancheng. If it weren't for the continuous stream of troops from Cao Wei and the betrayal from Eastern Wu, he might have lost Xiangfan.

In the subsequent southern campaign against Huainan, Cao Ren again acted blindly, overconfident in his superior numbers, and ignored Jiang Ji's advice. Ultimately, he was decisively defeated by Zhu Huan, suffering over 10,000 casualties, forcing the southern campaign to be prematurely halted. (End of Chapter)