Northern Prefecture Rivers and Mountains

Chapter 250 revised

"In the Battle of Guangling, Gao Yazhi was captured, Wen Xiang dared not fight, and Wang Yu retreated to Guangling. The Gao family's two thousand Northern Army soldiers were almost wiped out, and the demon bandits ravaged the entire prefecture... Afterwards, they went north to Yuzhou, and General Liu led two thousand troops to pursue them. They once again captured Sun En and took over tens of thousands of people, forcing the demon bandits to flee south to Wu County."

Meng Ganzhi read aloud the battle report from the south.

Gao Yazhi, Wen Xiang, Wang Yu and others are all incompetent; they only climbed to the top because of their family background and reputation.

Liu Zun said indignantly, "The Northern Army is truly cursed for eight generations by following them."

"Is Gao Yazhi dead or not?" Liu Daogui also admired Sima Yuanxian. Gao Yazhi had suffered consecutive defeats without any punishment. However, this time he was captured by the Celestial Masters Sect. Even if he didn't die, he would be severely injured.

Meng Ganzhi looked at him strangely, "They were released by the demon thief..."

Liu Zun's eyes widened. "What?"

Meng Gan said: "It is said that Sun En admired his courage and pitied him because he was a member of the Celestial Masters sect, so he released him."

The fact that Gao Ya's name contains the character "之" does indeed suggest a connection to the Celestial Masters sect.

Sun En's way of doing things was very different from ordinary people. When he captured Kuaiji, he also released Xie Daoyun.

Gao Yazhi is a mediocre talent, and it doesn't matter to Sun En whether he is killed or not.

Liu Huaizhen said, "Wang Yu suffered a great defeat, and I'm afraid Guangling will fall into Liu Yi's hands in the future."

"It's alright. This man is ambitious but incompetent, and Guangling doesn't belong to him anyway." Although Liu Daogui is not in Guangling, the people he won over back then are still there.

Everyone in the Zheng Lu Army headquarters had received his favors.

Moreover, with Yuan He around, Liu Yi won't be able to succeed so easily.

Liu Daogui is now more interested in the North.

After the disastrous defeat at Canhebei, the situation of the Yan state was similar to that of Murong Chui, with little time left. The millions of people in the Yan state would definitely migrate south, and at that time, the Sishui River, located at the junction of the north and south, would be flooded with a large number of refugees.

Liu Daogui is now eyeing this lucrative opportunity with great anticipation.

Spring is in full bloom, and people on both sides of the Sishui River are already busy preparing for spring plowing.

Although Huaibei has been ravaged by war many times, the canal system left by Deng Ai still exists, and Huan Wen carried out a great deal of repairs when he launched his northern expedition against the Former Yan.

Now, with just a little dredging, the Sishui and Zhushui rivers can flow through the fields.

Following the model of Lu County, Liu Zhong deployed defenses west and north of the Si River using canals, lakes, ponds, and mulberry groves.

After being promoted to General Jianwei, Cao Ji took the initiative to contribute money and grain to build fortified villages.

The civil and military officials under his command were all highly motivated, which made Liu Daogui's job much easier.

While the court did not permit General Jianwei to establish his own government, it did not prevent Liu Daogui from becoming self-reliant.

With military power decentralized in the imperial court, whether or not one establishes their own headquarters is of little significance. The generals of the Northern Army had already been doing so in private for a long time. The only difference was that the officials under their command were not recognized by the imperial court and had no official rank.

But right now, the Sima family is preoccupied with its own problems, the court is half-dead, and nobody cares anymore.

Liu Daogui had long ago appointed his own county magistrate, county commandant, county registrar, and bandit officer, not to mention the military officials, all of whom were personally promoted by Liu Daogui.

And so, the Jianwei General's Mansion was erected in a grand and imposing manner.

Liu Guangzhi was appointed as Sima, Liu Huaizhen as Changshi, Cao Ji as Gongcao Congshi, Wang Yuande as Ziyi Canjun, Mao Dezhu as Zhongbing Canjun, Liu Zun as Junhu Canjun, and Tan Daoji as Xingjun Canjun.

Although the four prefects under his command could not be appointed, the military commanders under his command could. Xu Changming was appointed as the military commander of Rencheng, Gou Zhong as the military commander of Gaoping, and Zhao Yuan as the military commander of Lanling.

As the core of the Sishui River basin, the position of Sima (military commander) in Lu Commandery was concurrently held by Liu Guangzhi.

Although both were military men, they never hesitated in their actions and did not have the various problems of the Jiangzuo officialdom. As long as Liu Daogui issued a military order, the subordinates would act swiftly and decisively.

The four counties under his command, on the contrary, are thriving.

Apart from Liu Zun, who was illiterate, the others, Liu Guangzhi, Liu Huaizhen, Wang Yuande, Mao Dezhu, and Tan Daoji, were all men of both literary and military talent.

Spring plowing had just begun when news came back from the north.

Murong Chui, dragging his sixty-nine-year-old body, personally led 40,000 troops to attack Lukou. Before he even arrived, Ping Gui was terrified and abandoned his followers, fleeing with his wife, children, nephew Ping Xi, and dozens of others.

They gathered followers in Gaotang and occupied the area.

Murong Chui ordered Murong Long to pursue him, and they captured Gaotang and beheaded him in Jibei.

The internal troubles in Yan have temporarily subsided.

Liu Daogui felt that it was more important to recuperate at this time. Although the Battle of Canhebei was a disastrous defeat, the Yan state had not lost its territory and had a large population. After a few years of recuperation, the Wei state would be no match for it.

In the Battle of Canhebei, Tuoba Gui actually had a lot of luck involved.

Although they won, they also aroused the hatred of the Yan army.

Perhaps feeling that his days were numbered, Murong Chui gathered a large army in Zhongshan, preparing to personally lead an expedition against the State of Wei.

Liu Huaizhen sighed, "Murong Chui is gambling with the fate of the nation!"

“He has no choice but to gamble. Murong Bao is weak and cannot control the princes of the royal family. Murong Chui can still gamble on the fate of the country. Once he dies, Yan will not even have the chance to gamble anymore.”

Murong Chui led a life of great power and influence, but his life was filled with toil, and he could not find peace even in his old age.

If one's descendants are also worthless, there is no greater tragedy in life than this.

Liu Zun asked curiously, "Doesn't the Murong family have any capable individuals? Aren't there Murong Nong, Murong De, and Murong Long?"

Liu Huaizhen said, "Murong De is his younger brother, Murong Nong and Murong Long are both born out of wedlock, and Murong Bao is born to the Duan family, whom Murong Chui has always doted on."

During the Former Yan period, Murong Jun was wary of Murong Chui's great achievements, reputation, and abilities. Empress Kezuhun of the Former Yan falsely accused Duan of using witchcraft to curse him. Murong Jun also planned to take this opportunity to get rid of Murong Chui, so he severely tortured Duan.

Murong Chui was heartbroken for his beloved wife and sent someone to persuade Duan to confess her crimes so that the couple could die together. However, Duan remained steadfast and unyielding, preferring to be tortured to death rather than implicate Murong Chui. Murong Chui was also a man of great loyalty and righteousness. During the Battle of Fei River, despite commanding 30,000 elite troops, he escorted Fu Jian back to Luoyang, upholding the duty between ruler and subject.

Duan risked his life to protect him, so he naturally repaid her kindness.

Unfortunately, the eldest son, Murong Ling, was killed by Wang Meng's Golden Knife Scheme, leaving only Murong Bao among Duan's children.

The fact that he was named Bao shows how much Murong Chui doted on him.

However, this is a chaotic world, and an ordinary person like Murong Bao is simply unable to control the situation.

As soon as spring plowing began, even Liu Daogui personally went to the fields, and all the officers and soldiers in the army did the same.

Compared to previous years, there were more oxen and more people. The banks of the Sishui River were packed with people, with soldiers from both the Lianzhuang and Jianwei Zhongbing working in the fields.

Liu Zhong also led people to build dikes in the Xiaqiu area to prevent flooding during the rainy season.

With a larger base, the shortcomings of the eight buildings gradually became apparent, as they were too scattered.

However, once the distribution is decentralized, the difficulty of management increases significantly.

To put it bluntly, this system is only suitable for when you are just starting out. Now that you have a larger territory and more people, it conflicts with the county system, and the advantage of strong mobilization capabilities is no longer so obvious.

The spearmen and the central soldiers are also two separate systems.

Putting two systems together is bound to cause conflict.

Each leader of a town governs a region, managing the army on horseback and governing the people off horseback. Over time, with the growth of the population, it is easy for a rift to form between them and Liu Daogui.

The original eight buildings were a temporary solution, suitable for a short period of time. They may still be operational now, but they would require more investment in management and trial and error.

The prefecture-county system is a stable system that has been continued since the Qin Dynasty. The superiority or inferiority of this system is obvious.

If this crude and simple system were usable, the many talented and wise people throughout Chinese history would surely have carried it forward and made it great.

During the Yellow Turban Rebellion, Zhang Jiao established thirty-six districts, each with a chieftain, which was not much different from the eight-camp system.

These days, stability trumps everything.

A small boat is easy to turn around, and it can still be corrected now. But in a few years, it will form a mountain stronghold, and Liu Daogui won't be able to change it even if he wants to.

After discussing with everyone, it was decided to exempt the eight banners, and the banner soldiers would be incorporated into the Jianwei Central Army. The people under its jurisdiction would be divided into three levels: military households, civilian households, and slave households, and all of them would be required to farm.

Military households pay the lowest taxes and are given priority in conscription. In the event of a major war, they are required to provide their own food, supplies, and weapons and go on the expedition.

Military training takes place every October and November.

The common people were governed by the respective counties and only needed to pay taxes on time. They could also join the army, but they were not required to undergo two months of military training each year.

As for slave households, it's even simpler. They are indispensable in everything from farming to fighting, and they pay the heaviest taxes. However, after eight years, they are converted into civilian households, and those who have made contributions are directly promoted to military households.

Households can be converted to military or civilian households on a voluntary basis.

The slaves were organized into twenty-seven military camps and three pastoral camps, responsible for the land reclamation in the four prefectures of Lanling, Lu, Gaoping, and Rencheng, as well as the pastures of Niqiu Mountain.

The Jianwei Military Command was divided into cavalry, infantry, and navy.

Mao Dezhu was the cavalry commander, Liu Guangzhi was the infantry commander, Liu Zhong was the naval commander, and Meng Ganzhi had a scout battalion.

The governor-general only had the authority to command during wartime; he had no authority to mobilize troops during peacetime.

As before, a squad supervisor was appointed at the squad level to be in charge of military discipline and the soldiers' morale. He would not interfere with the officers' training and command, but he could report directly to Liu Daogui.

In this way, Liu Daogui used the system to guarantee his absolute command over the army.

These days, military power is paramount.

After the Sima family moved south, they remained in a state of semi-death because they lacked military power, which caused them to miss several opportunities to launch a northern expedition.

Of course, every problem has its complexities. The Sima family's retreat to the south of the Yangtze River was due to several reasons, including issues with military power, the illegitimacy of their rule, and their incompetence.

In any case, Liu Daogui felt that if they were to launch a northern expedition in the future, they would have to ensure the unity of military power within the organization.

The decision to exempt eight buildings inevitably encountered some resistance.

The main reason is the long-standing prejudice against military households.

Military households in the Wei and Jin dynasties were even worse off than slaves.

Many villagers were used to farming according to the flags, and now that it has been changed back, they are not used to it.

However, after the military officer explained, they gradually understood that their interests had not been weakened, but rather strengthened to a certain extent, so no one objected.

The vast majority of households chose to become military households, making the military households of Jianwei Military Prefecture worlds apart from those of the imperial court.

Not only were fields distributed, but there was also a monthly allowance, and in the event of a major war, there were opportunities to kill enemies and achieve merit.

Liu Daogui also intended to create a respectable military meritocracy, leaving them a path to advancement.

The system ensures a martial spirit under its rule and elevates the status of soldiers.

Throughout history, military force has represented everything. During the Zhou, Qin, and Han dynasties, the territories were expanded and foreign tribes were swept away. Liu Daogui believes that the most fundamental reason for this was the emphasis on martial prowess.

Emperor Gaozu of Han sacrificed a white horse to swear an oath: no one but Liu could be called a king, and no one could be enfeoffed as a marquis without merit.

This directly laid the foundation for the powerful Han Dynasty.

However, during the Jin Dynasty, the Sima family compromised with the aristocratic clans in order to seize power, and the price was the decline of China and the wanton slaughter by the nomadic peoples...

(End of this chapter)