Second-hand time travel: Liu Bei, the big-eared bandit

Chapter 396 Han Chen
When Liu Bei received the message brought back by Sun Qian from Ji Province, it was already mid-March.

At this time, the settlement and land reclamation affairs in Xuzhou had just been arranged. In order to coordinate the migration of hundreds of thousands of people, most of the troops were still in Xuzhou, and only Zhao Yun and Tian Yu were in Qi County.

It was at this time that Zhang Yao's coffin was transported to Linzi by sea.

The coffin was delivered by a merchant from Haiyang in western Liaoning named Ruan Jin.

After seeing Zhang Yao's body, Liu Bei questioned Ruan Jin and learned that Liaoxi had been occupied by Gongsun Du and the Wuhuan people.

In fact, Ruan Jin did not know whether the Han general was Gongsun Du or not; he only knew that the banner he was flying was that of the governor of Liaodong.

The Wuhuan people originally intended to plunder the people, but the Han troops, who were under the banner of the Liaodong governor, protected the counties in western Liaoning and had Ruan Jin deliver Zhang Yao's coffin to Liu Bei.

However, Ruan Jin was unaware of the Wuhuan people's movements. He had only taken on the task of collecting remains and transporting corpses to save his family's lives, and was therefore unaware of their specific plans.

Zhang Yao's coffin was wrapped in thick straw inside and out, and the straw was stuffed with ice. When it was delivered to Linzi, it was still frozen, and Zhang Yao remained intact.

The shattered armor and numerous wounds clearly showed that he had fought to the death.

Upon learning of Zhang Yao's death in battle, Zhao Yun rushed to the scene, deeply saddened.

From a bandit who plundered a region, to a meritorious official who pacified Qing and Xu, to a governor of a prefecture, and finally to a man who died defending the borders of the Han Dynasty.

Zhao Yun witnessed Zhang Yao's transformation from a rebel to a general of the Han Dynasty.

"Zilong, strike the flag bell and beat the drum to gather the troops."

Liu Bei rewarded Ruan Jin handsomely, and then immediately summoned his troops to the military academy.

The military academy has been expanding during this period.

On Jishan Mountain, right behind the high platform where the largest 'Han' flag is located, a peculiar large building has been constructed from the mountaintop to the mountainside.

In the center of the building is a stele-shaped tower, which is larger than the merit stele at the foot of the mountain. The tower is surrounded by a semi-circle of halls in the shape of corridors.

This is the highest point of Jishan Mountain.

The fact that it was built so high, even above the Han flag, suggests that it was a place for sacrificial rites.

This is the Martyrs' Shrine.

That hall with its corridors is called the Hall of Eternal Life.

The Han Dynasty built many shrines and temples for its outstanding meritorious officials and generals, but this was the first time that a shrine had been built for martyrs.

Moreover, it was built so high—the monument commemorating the achievements was in the square at the foot of the mountain, the altar with the Han flag hanging on the mountainside was on the mountainside, and the shrine of heroes was at the highest point.

Zhang Yao had not achieved any particularly outstanding feats of capturing enemy generals or seizing enemy flags, so he was neither a famous general nor a famous minister, and he also came from a humble background.

Of course, he also had quite a few military achievements.

He made military achievements in pacifying Qingxu and suppressing Que Xuan and Chang Xi, and in addition to the war in Youzhou, he led his troops to kill thousands of enemies.

But Zhang Yao's greatest contribution was protecting the territory and ensuring the safety of the people.

Resettling hundreds of thousands of starving people, building the Pengcheng water conservancy project, taming the Yellow River, organizing the people to pacify Jizhou, etc., are all great achievements that benefit the country and the people.

However, Zhang Yao was not the one in charge of these matters.

In fact, these achievements are even greater than capturing generals and flags, but people often only pay attention to the person who gives the orders and rarely notice the specific executors like Zhang Yao.

We shouldn't always judge heroes by their success or failure...

The faith of the Han people should not be limited to worshipping their ancestors, but should also be about inheriting the spirit of their ancestors who were not afraid of life and death, fought against heaven and earth, and sought happiness for all people.

The pursuit of military science in the Han Dynasty should not be limited to fame and fortune.

Let the heroes who served the country be honored by the nation, let those who worked for the people leave behind a legacy of spirit, and let military academies take the heroic souls of their predecessors as their idols and take pride in their bravery and righteousness. This is the faith that the great Han dynasty should have.

This is a value that China has always had, but it needs a clearer carrier and form so that people can clearly realize what honor is.

As the flag-capturing bell rang beneath the monument commemorating the achievements, all the troops from the surrounding areas of Linzi gathered in the square.

"To defend against the enemy and fight to the death without retreating is to be a hero, regardless of victory or defeat, it is a great achievement."

"Zhang Yao fought for the Han Dynasty and killed the Hu people. He should be enshrined in the Temple of Heroes and Martyrs, so that his heroic name may live on forever and be worshipped by future generations."

The soldiers carried Zhang Yao's coffin into the Martyrs' Shrine, and his memorial plaque was hung below the academy's commemorative monument.

Liu Bei personally wrote "Marquis of Haiyang Zhang Yao" into the ancestral hall's register of names.

Zhang Yao was not a scholar and had no courtesy name, but Liu Bei petitioned for a posthumous title for him, granting him the title of Marquis of Haiyang.

Haiyang is where Zhang Yao died in battle.

The emperor also came. Although the emperor being surrounded was Zhuge Liang, Liu Xie was also watching from among the crowd of students.

Liu Xie didn't look at Zhuge Liang; he only looked at the towering shrine to the martyrs.

Although it is newly established, it is an official ancestral hall of the Han Dynasty. The genealogy itself is a historical record, and every page will be remembered for generations.

To receive the incense offerings of the Han Dynasty at the Martyrs' Shrine is to achieve immortality.

All of Zhang Yao's comrades who went into battle with him were recorded in name and merit, but no bodies have been found so far, and they have not yet been included in the list of those who died in battle.

"Those who led the barbarians into the country are treacherous and immoral villains who betray their ancestors and forget their lineage; they can be called traitors to the Han!"

After leading his soldiers in paying their respects and offering sacrifices, Liu Bei turned and asked, "What should be done with such traitors?!"

"kill!!"

The entire audience moved in unison, with no discordant noise.

"Gentlemen, follow me to kill the barbarians and eliminate the traitors!"

……

Marquis Zhang Yao of Haiyang was a native of Lingshou, Changshan.

At the end of the Zhongping era, he settled 300,000 people in Pengcheng, quelled bandit gangs, and was appointed as a separate commander.

In the second year of the Chuping era, he quelled the rebellions of Que Xuan and Chang Xi, pacified Pengcheng and Taishan, and was promoted to Commandant of Pengcheng.

In the fourth year of the Chuping era, he followed the army to pacify Jizhou, brought peace to the people, controlled floods, and reclaimed wasteland. All his actions benefited the people, and he was transferred to be the governor of Hejian.

In the fifth year of the Chuping era, the Donghu invaded the border. Yao led his army to defend against the enemy. He fought the Donghu at the Ru River, fought to the death and did not retreat. He died in Haiyang and was posthumously honored as the Marquis of Haiyang.

The enemy chieftain, moved by Yao's bravery and fierceness, could not bear to mutilate his body and respectfully sent his coffin back.

At that time, a shrine to martyrs was built, and Zhang Yao was honored to be enshrined as a martyr for his righteous act of guarding the border and killing the Hu.

—From "The Biography of Righteous Ministers: Zhang Yao", by Chen Feng.

……

The fall of Liaoxi to the enemy means that the entire Youzhou war zone is in danger, and the various forces in Youzhou are likely to be attacked from both sides.

Moreover, Jizhou might also fall.

Liu Bei planned to personally lead the army on a northern expedition.

The enemy returned Zhang Yao's remains, and this courtesy must be returned—after eliminating the enemy, Liu Bei could also send his body back.

However, Liu Bei could not tolerate the idea of ​​inviting foreign tribes to wreak havoc on the Han Dynasty.

Xun You reminded Liu Bei: "General, Gongsun Du and the Wuhuan have invaded Liaoxi together. They may be trying to lure us away from our territory. We should be wary of Gongsun Du crossing the sea to invade Qingzhou."

“I know, but I must conquer the Wuhuan no matter what. The White Wave bandits and the Xiongnu have already invaded Henan, and Guan Yu has gone to Bingzhou…”

Liu Bei nodded and said, "Hebei is vulnerable, and the Wuhuan will surely wreak havoc on Ji Province... Qing Province has Guan Hai's navy stationed there, and Yi De will soon return to reinforce it. Gongsun Du will not be able to enter Qing Province so easily."

"This is a battle for the lives of both Han and Hu people, not just the responsibility of the general and his army."

Xun You suggested, "Dong Zhongying's subordinate Niu Fu lost Bingzhou and should be eager to retake the Three Rivers region. We could also have Cao Mengde lead troops to attack the Xiongnu. If Cao Mengde marches north, all the other forces will be free to launch a northern expedition..."

If Cao Cao were to join the campaign against the Hu people, Liu Bei could mobilize the forces of Zhang Liao, Zang Ba, Sun Guan, and others for a full-scale attack. "Gongda," Liu Bei said, "go with the imperial edict to see Cao Mengde and ask him... if he still harbors the ambition to conquer the west for the Han Dynasty?"

Liu Bei knew that Cao Cao was determined to deal with the Hu people, but he also knew that Cao Cao would face many restrictions.

Cao Cao may still have ideals, but Liu Bei knew very well that the few who invested in Cao Cao were only looking at their own interests, and Cao Cao could not do whatever he wanted.

Would launching a northern expedition against the Southern Xiongnu be beneficial to the Yingchuan Group?

Liu Bei was originally most adept at resolving problems through mutual benefit, but now, he truly has no way to offer Cao Cao any benefits.

Moreover, Liu Bei knew what the Yingchuan gentry group wanted; Cao Song had already demonstrated it and even lost his life in the process.

Zhang Liao was stationed in Dongjun, and Zang Ba was stationed in Xiaopei, just to keep an eye on things...

As for Dong Zhuo... Dong Zhuo has the threat of the Futu Kingdom in Longyou. Before this threat is eliminated, it is hard to say whether he will launch a northern expedition against the Xiongnu.

Furthermore, if Dong Zhuo and Cao Cao crossed the Yellow River and marched north, wouldn't Liu Biao and Yuan Shu take the opportunity to cause trouble behind their backs?
Liu Biao would definitely want Nanyang, and Yuan Shu would definitely want his hometown of Yuzhou. The world is inherently interconnected, and now it involves most of the world.

But we have to give it a try, no matter what.

Liu Bei led his army to Hebei first, with Guo Jia serving as his military advisor.

Sun Qian went to discuss the matter with Dong Zhuo, while Xun You went to find Cao Cao.

Xu Shu and Zhang Fei were still in Xuzhou, and the troops who had been relocated to Xuzhou had not yet been recalled. Liu Bei only took Zhao Yun and Tian Yu with him on the expedition, with a force of just over 5,000 men, but they were all elites among elites.

At the same time as he set out to attack, Liu Bei ordered Guan Hai to depart from the Penglai Islands and cross the sea to directly attack Liaodong.

Guan Hai attacked Liaodong in order to guard against Gongsun Du's invasion of Qingzhou across the sea.

The navy was also small, with about four thousand people, because there were only a few dozen ocean-going vessels, while the coastal sampans could not cross the sea.

The pirates under Guan Hai's command were not good at defense to begin with, so it would be better to use pirate tactics to force them into the enemy's territory and use offense as a form of defense. Even if they couldn't break through, at least they could clearly know what was happening in Liaodong.

……

Cao Cao is currently in Xuchang, Yingchuan.

In fact, Cao Cao received the news from the north earlier than Liu Bei.

Moreover, the Xiongnu have already entered the Henan region.

The one who crossed the Yellow River and entered Henan was Huchuquan, the younger brother of Yufuluo, the Chanyu of the Southern Xiongnu.

Meanwhile, Zhang Yang, who had been relatively quiet, defected to Cao Cao.

Zhang Yang is nominally Dong Zhuo's subordinate. Dong Zhuo originally appointed Zhang Yang as the governor of Hanoi, but this appointment was illegal and was mainly to drive Zhu Jun away.

Xia Mou died of illness last winter, and Zhang Yang annexed Xia Mou's troops, but neglected the defense of Hanoi in order to incorporate his army.

After Ufulo invaded Hanoi, Zhang Yang, seeing the situation was not good, immediately fled Hanoi and led his army to Henan.

This is understandable, as Hufred does indeed have a large and powerful force, and avoiding direct confrontation is a normal course of action.

After Niu Fu lost Bingzhou, his subordinates, in an attempt to shirk responsibility, claimed that Zhang Yang had colluded with Yufuluo and deliberately withdrew from the pass, leading to repeated defeats for the Bingzhou army.

This wasn't entirely a lie; at least it was true that Zhang Yang withdrew from the pass.

But Zhang Yang really didn't collude with Yufuluo at that time... he didn't even have time to collude.

Niu Fu planned to kill Zhang Yang, so Zhang Yang naturally had to find another powerful patron nearby and went to Cao Cao.

Cao Cao was certainly willing to accept more troops, but after accepting Zhang Yang, Niu Fu's people said that Cao Cao had also colluded with the Southern Xiongnu.

Moreover, at this time, Huchuquan led his army south from Hanoi and entered the Yuanwu area of ​​Henan. This was a location in eastern Henan near Chenliu. Although it belonged to the Henan Yin, it was under Cao Cao's control.

Both Mengjin Ferry and Dongjun Yanjin were well defended, and neither the White Wave Army nor the Xiongnu were able to cross the river at the normal ferry crossings.

However, due to the extremely cold weather this year, the upstream thawing was very slow and the Yellow River had a low water volume, so people in the Yuanwu area could actually cross the river in sampans.

Yuanwu was Cao Cao's territory, which really makes it seem like Cao Cao let the Xiongnu people over.

In reality, neither Cao Cao nor Zhang Liao, who was stationed in Dongjun, expected that the Xiongnu would be able to cross the river from there.

Upon learning that Huchuquan had crossed the river, Cao Cao originally intended to have Zhang Yang send Huchuquan back—since Zhang Yang had come to join him, Cao Cao naturally wanted him to put in some effort and show his worth.

But if Zhang Yang had been willing to fight the Xiongnu to the death, he wouldn't have fled Hanoi in the first place.

Moreover, Zhang Yang felt that Niu Fu was dishonest, insisting on framing someone by saying that he was colluding with the Xiongnu...

As a result, Zhang Yang actually went and colluded with the Southern Xiongnu, reaching an agreement with Huchuquan to rob the Governor of Henan together.

Moreover, he turned to Cao Cao and said that he had driven Huchuquan out of Yuanwu County, but Huchuquan did not retreat back to Hanoi, but instead "retreated to Chenggao"...

Cao Cao was certainly somewhat dissatisfied with Zhang Yang—such a crude trick couldn't fool Cao Cao, but considering that he himself suffered no loss, Cao Cao didn't bother with it.

As a result, Niu Fu believed that Cao Cao had instructed Zhang Yang to collude with the Xiongnu to invade Dong Zhuo's territory, and directly declared war on Cao Cao.

This declaration of war was, of course, just verbal. Niu Fu only sent troops to garrison Hulao Pass, but the Xiongnu were blocking their way, so they couldn't get out.

As a result, Juan County outside Hulao Pass, and even large counties such as Zhongmu, were plundered.

This was the situation when Xun You arrived before Cao Cao.

In fact, Xun You and Cao Cao communicated very smoothly.

"General Wei would like to ask General Cao, do you still harbor the ambition of being the General Who Conquers the West of the Great Han?"

Upon hearing Xun You's words, Cao Cao immediately agreed: "I will definitely send troops to attack the Xiongnu!"

Xun You didn't have to say much.

But just as Liu Bei had expected, Cao Cao immediately became conflicted after agreeing.

Cao Cao is currently busy with land reclamation. He was already short of food, and he has been recruiting and incorporating troops, so he has been living a very frugal life.

Cao Cao's military-agricultural settlement model differed from Liu Bei's official-agricultural settlement model. He did not rely on soldiers to manage the land, but rather on soldiers to cultivate it directly. Essentially, he treated the soldiers as serfs of his various generals, which is why Cao Cao's military strength appeared to be very large.

This is actually the traditional system of wealthy manor houses, except that the peasants and serfs were all soldiers, while Cao Cao 'transformed' all his retainers into powerful clans.

The powerful clans originally used serfs to farm, clansmen as generals, and retainers and servants as the basic management. The able-bodied serfs were their private soldiers, so it was all the same.

The suggestion that Cao Cao should learn from Liu Bei and establish military settlements was made by Han Hao and Shi Huan, both of whom were Cao Cao's personal guards and retainers.

Cao Cao was actually facing a power struggle between the "family retainers" and the "investors," and he needed to break free from the investors' control over resources to avoid being coerced.

However, Liu Bei ensured that all his subordinates shared in the collective profits, thus eliminating the system of powerful clans and manors under his rule.

Cao Cao, on the other hand, transformed his retainers into powerful clans, using their influence to suppress investors—a traditional aristocratic model of the Han Dynasty.

In fact, all the forces that Liu Bei encountered faced the same problems, including Dong Zhuo's side. Moreover, the situation was even more serious in Futu Kingdom in Longxi Fuhan than in Xiapi, where they had closed their doors and proclaimed themselves "King of Pinghan".

Since Cao Cao used soldiers to cultivate land, if he went to war, his military farms would be abandoned.

This year's weather is already causing reduced yields, and if a large-scale military campaign is launched, Cao Cao might face food shortages again...

Moreover, Cao Cao was well aware that both the Yingchuan gentry group and the Yanzhou gentry group had other ideas.

However, Cao Cao was Cao Cao after all...

After Xun You left, Cao Cao summoned Xun Yu: "Wenruo, I am going north to drive out the Hu."

Xun Yu looked at Cao Cao and sighed, "Right now, everyone is discussing whether to take advantage of General Wei's departure from Linzi to send troops to welcome the Emperor..."

“I know… but Liu Bei is defending the Han Dynasty from foreign enemies. If I were to go and fawn upon the Emperor when the Han Dynasty is in danger, what would the Emperor regard me for?”

Cao Cao stood up, took the sword from the table, and drew it three inches from the ground.

After glancing at the character "德" (virtue) on the hilt of his sword, Cao Cao took the sword and hung it at his waist: "I am a Han subject, Wenruo, and so are you."

Xun Yu bowed to Cao Cao, who was half a head shorter than him, and said, "Yes."

(End of this chapter)