Han Dang is stronger

Chapter 509
In order not to let the upright and honest Zhou Zeng be too targeted by his colleagues, and to warn the many founding heroes who had begun to show signs of corruption, Xiang Kang finally accepted the kindness of Zhou Zeng, the No. 1 civil servant of the Han court, and returned to Xianyang the next day In the morning, on the pretext of punishing Zhou Zeng for usurping the people's land, he issued his first heavy fine after assuming the throne. He also ordered Zhou Zeng to personally apologize to the victimized Xianyang people and double compensate the people for their losses.

Of course, this action had a certain effect. Seeing that Zhou Zeng, the head of all officials and uncle Xiang Kangya, was severely punished for infringing on the people, the important officials of the Han court really restrained their eating habits, and restrained their children, nephews, relatives, and relatives. At least on the bright side, they dare not take unscrupulous plunder and oppress the people. Among them, Zheng Bu voluntarily returned some of the fields he occupied in Fenshui, and Long Qie also made a promise under Xiang Kang's personal persuasion, promising not to kill indiscriminately. Slaves and servants, the atmosphere in the officialdom has improved significantly.

At the same time, after discussing with Zhou Zeng, Li Shiqi, and Zhou Shu's civil and military officials, Xiang Kang also made a formal decision to build a new capital, choosing the Xingle Palace left by the former Qin Dynasty as the core, and building it on the south bank of the Weishui River. A large-scale new capital city, in order to strengthen the capital's defensive power and effective management, and to eliminate the psychological resistance of the people outside the pass to Xianyang. As for the name of the new capital city, of course Xiang Kang personally named it—Chang'an !
In addition, Xiang Kang arranged for a special person to preside over the palace of King Zhao, which Qin Shihuang imitated in Beiban, Xianyang. , Also let Zhao Xie move the capital to Handan after the reconstruction of King Zhao's Palace.

There are many reasons why Xiang Kang attaches so much importance to the issue of King Zhao's Palace. The first is of course to fulfill the promise he made to Zhao Xie, so as to temporarily stabilize Zhao Xie and other princes and kings with different surnames, and buy time for himself to gradually eradicate the princes and kings The second is that if Zhao Xie continues to set his capital in Julu, he will continue to maintain direct contact with Zang Tu, King of Yan. Only when Zhao Xie moves his capital to Handan can Xiang Kang find an excuse to station in Han in Julu County and Hengshan County. The army directly under the court cut off the army contact of Zhao Xie and Zang Tu just in case.

The third reason is equally important. Xiang Kang arranged for the rebuilding of King Zhao’s palace to be none other than Shaoping, the ex-Qin Dongling Hou who Zhou once excavated for Xiang Kang. This will not only allow Shaoping to stay in Handan for a long time. , it can also make Shaoping qualified and have the opportunity to meet with Zhao Xie from time to time, so that Xiang Kang can implement the next plan...

As long as there is money and food, it is easy to build a new capital and rebuild Zhao's palace. With the great progress in production technology brought about by new farm tools, the internal affairs are also quite smooth, but the equally important military aspect makes Xiang Kang Frowning, Zhao Tuo in Lingnan took advantage of the opportunity of the melee at the end of Qin Dynasty, seized Guilin County and Xiang County, and proclaimed himself the King of Wu in South Vietnam. It was already showing signs that his tail would not go away. Although Xiang Kang adopted Zhang Liang's suggestion, he sent Chen Hui to carry the seal Fu Jie went to appease Zhao Tuo to surrender, but no one is sure whether it will succeed. ——And even if the appeasement is successful, the Han court will have to use force in the future to annex South Vietnam and complete the real unification.

Zhao Tuo, who only wants to be the emperor in the south of the Lingnan, is still the best to deal with. The most troublesome thing for Xiang Kang is still the issue of the Huns in the north. Taking advantage of the opportunity of the Chu-Han War to turn the world upside down, the Huns, whose national power is on the rise, have not only taken The devil's claws re-extended into the extremely important Hetao area, and basically snatched away the grassland land that Meng Kuo had worked so hard to win during the Qin Dynasty. , successively invaded Shanggu, Yuyang and other places of the Yan State many times, causing huge losses to the northern border of the Han Empire, and further weakened the already weak control of the Han court over the Yan State, allowing Xiang Kang to deal with the princes and kings. Numerous hidden dangers have been buried.

During this period, the frontier defense troops of the Han army led by Li Zuoche were also defeated in succession. The enemy immediately retreated to the neighboring cities and camps to protect themselves. The Xiongnu lacked the weapons and technology to attack fortifications, so they had no way to take advantage of the strong fortifications of the Han army. The loss of the army is still considerable. In addition, in order to allow Li Zuoche to station troops in the frontier for a long time and train troops to expand the army, the Han court also paid a huge material price of money, mountains and seas.

Under such circumstances, the voices of dissatisfaction with Li Zuoche from all the officials of the Han court naturally filled the court, and many people wrote letters to persuade Xiang Kang to dismiss Li Zuoche, who had been ineffective for a long time, and choose another capable minister to guard the frontier. In Xiang Kang, he was also a firm-willed person. He resolutely refused to listen to these remonstrances, which were actually out of loyalty and good intentions. He gritted his teeth and supported Li Zuoche, allowing Li Zuoche to lose consecutive battles in northern Xinjiang, calm down and did not take any action against the Huns For big moves, patience is just resting with the people and accumulating national power.

Fortunately, Xiang Kang did not suffer in vain. The scorching summer had just passed and the autumn wind was blowing. He returned to Xianyang, and not only brought Xiang Kang the good news that the Yuezhi Kingdom was willing to form an alliance with the Han court against the Xiongnu, but also brought the good news of the Yuezhi Kingdom and the Han court. Xiang Kang was overjoyed when he heard the news. After waiting for people to entertain the envoys of the Yuezhi Kingdom, they sent someone to inform Li Zuoche of the news as soon as possible, so that Li Zuoche could have a deep understanding.

Not to mention, after handing over the document to inform the messenger, Xiang Kang personally ordered the messenger who was about to contact Li Zuoche: "By the way, take a message to Mr. Guangwu for me, just say this He can play by ear, and if he thinks it is necessary, he can take the initiative to leak the news that we have formed an alliance with the Yuezhi Kingdom to the Xiongnu barbarians."

The envoy of the Han court agreed to go northward along Chidao light car on the same day, and arrived at Mayi where Li Zuoche was stationed after more than ten days, and then immediately met with Li Zuoche to present the document and convey Xiang Kang's message After hearing this, Li Zuoche nodded with a smile, and said to the envoy sent by Xiang Kang: "Thanks for your hard work, your majesty understands what your majesty means, please go to the post house to have a rest and eat, and wait for me to write the letter to your majesty." , and then ask pedestrians to take it back and present it to His Majesty."

The envoy of the Han Dynasty agreed and left immediately, but as soon as he left, Xiang Kang personally arranged for Li Zuoche's military deputy, Xiang Zhuang, and immediately asked, "Mr. Guangwu, what do you mean by your majesty's words? Why did you tell us Can you take the initiative to leak the news of the Yuezhi Kingdom to the barbarians of the Huns?"

"Your Majesty has good intentions and wants to share some of the pressure on our side." Li Zuoche replied: "The Yuezhi Kingdom is the old enemy of the Xiongnu, and has a deep hatred with the current Xiongnu Shanyu Maodun. Once the Xiongnu knows that Yueshi If China and we form an alliance to deal with them, they will definitely send troops to retaliate immediately, and the Xiongnu will march westward in a large scale, so the pressure on our side will certainly be much less."

"It turned out to be like this." Xiang Zhuang woke up and said hurriedly: "Mr. Guangwu, then let's not waste time. Since it is already autumn, spread the news quickly and let the Huns know. When the river freezes in winter, we will use our troops extensively. After receiving this news, we will definitely send troops to the west to find the Yuezhi Kingdom to settle accounts, and our northern border will be able to take the opportunity to relax for a while."

"No, we can't do this." Li Zuoche shook his head resolutely, and said, "Not only did we fail to do this, but we had to block the news. The sooner the Huns know that we have formed an alliance with the Yuezhi Kingdom, the better."

"Why?" Xiang Zhuang was completely confused, and Xiang Guan on the other side asked directly in surprise: "Mr. Guangwu, are you joking? My brother..., oh no, His Majesty has good intentions and wants to use Yuezhi The country will temporarily share the pressure for us, how come you don't appreciate it even though you know it?"

"Because the Yuezhi Kingdom is too weak, we can't buy much time for us." Li Zuoche said in a deep voice, "Forget the information we collected carefully? The number of string-controlling soldiers of the Huns has reached 30, which is more than that of the Yuezhi Kingdom." The total population of the country is still large. If the Xiongnu attack the Yuezhi Kingdom on a large scale, it will take less than three months to destroy the Yuezhi Kingdom! At that time, the Huns will have no worries and will attack our country again Beijiang, our troubles will only increase, and the pressure will only increase!"

"So we must not take the initiative to prompt the Xiongnu to march into Qilian Mountains and destroy the Yuezhi Kingdom prematurely." Li Zuoche continued to explain: "Only by temporarily stabilizing the Huns and letting them not rush to send troops to destroy the Yuezhi Kingdom, the Yuezhi Kingdom will be able to survive." Ability to continue to threaten the Western Front of the Huns and barbarians, and share more pressure for us. When we have accumulated enough strength to launch a full-scale counterattack against the Huns, the Yuezhi Kingdom will have the opportunity to help us on the Western Front. .”

It was only after hearing this explanation that Xiang Zhuang and Xiang Guan understood Li Zuoche's true intentions, but after nodding, Xiang Zhuang asked worriedly: "Mr. Guangwu, for the sake of long-term consideration, we can try to block the This news, but what if the barbarians of the Yuezhi Kingdom don’t appreciate it? If they pretend to agree to form an alliance, but actually sit on the sidelines and watch the tiger fight, deliberately let us and the Xiongnu lose both sides and stay still, then we are not at a big loss? "

"General Xiang, have you seen that hungry wolves on the grassland don't eat meat?" Li Zuoche asked back with a smile, and then said: "We are kind enough not to prompt the Huns to attack the Yuezhi, the barbarians of the Yuezhi country may choose Sitting on the mountain and watching the tigers fight, but as long as the opportunity arises, the gang of wolves of the Yuezhi Kingdom will definitely not show mercy to the barbarians of the Xiongnu, and they will stab the Xiongnu in the back without us forcing them!"

"The land of the Xiongnu is too vast, and there are too many tribes on the grassland." Li Zuoche continued: "We big men can defeat the Huns, but it is difficult to completely occupy the entire grassland and annex all the land of the Huns. Jackals, our best solution is to let them dog-eat-dog fight every day, and they will never be able to form a whole to fight against us, so we must try our best to split the grassland barbarians into divisions and keep their tribes fighting endlessly. Take advantage of the immediate losses and give the Yuezhi barbarians some small bargains, and those grassland tribes who are forced to submit to the Xiongnu barbarians will follow suit, and our affairs on the grassland will be much easier in the future."

Seeing that Li Zuoche had already made up his mind, and was told by Xiang Kang to obey Li Zuoche's decision, Xiang Zhuang and Xiang Guan, the two strong generals of the Xiang family, didn't say anything, but nodded together in agreement, and Li Zuoche said yes. While ordering to block the news of Hanting's alliance with the Yuezhi Kingdom, he personally wrote a letter to Xiang Kang, explaining his thoughts and plans to Xiang Kang, and asked Xiang Kang to support his decision-making.

The matter is not over yet, after Li Zuoche personally went out of the city to send off the envoy sent by Xiang Kang, Li Zuoche had just returned to his prefect mansion in Mayi City, when his full-time intelligence officials greeted him and reported to Li Zuoche Report: "Reporting to Junzun, the secret agent we sent to the grassland to find out the news sent an urgent report, saying that King Zuo Xian of the Huns is gathering troops in the Yundu Mountain area, and it seems that there is a big move."

"Yundu Mountain? Why is it there?" Li Zuoche immediately remembered that Yundu Mountain is not very far from Guyan Mountain where Maodun Shanyu Wang Ting is located, and hurriedly asked: "Is the news reliable? Have we found out from our secret work?" What will the Xiongnu do next?"

"Reporting to Junzun, no." The officer in charge of intelligence shook his head and said, "But the news is absolutely reliable, and it was brought back by our caravan."

"The Yuezhi Kingdom is going to be in trouble." Li Zuoche muttered, and after a little calculation, Li Zuoche immediately ordered: "Quickly, go and invite the two generals Xiang Zhuang and Xiang Guan, and tell me I have important matters to discuss with them."

According to Li Zuoche's instructions, not long after, Xiang Zhuang and Xiang Guan came to Li Zuoche in a hurry. Li Zuoche was not polite. The news was told to them, but Xiang Zhuang and Xiang Guan immediately misunderstood and said, "The Xiongnu and barbarians have gathered an army. Could it be that they want to send the main force to the south this winter?"

"No, the main force of the Huns will not go south." Li Zuoche shook his head and said, "In the nomadic area divided by the Huns and barbarians, King Zuoxian is in charge of the territory east of Jiuyuan. If the main force of the Huns is going to go south in a large scale, his army should Gathered near the Great Wall to the east of Jiuyuan, waiting for the army directly under the Xiongnu Shanyu and the army of King Youxian to join him, but he turned away and went to Mount Yundu, which was close to the court of the Xiongnu Shanyu, to gather the army. This point is enough to show that the main force of the Huns has no plans to go south this winter."

"Then what are the Xiongnu barbarians planning to do?" Xiang Zhuang just finished asking this question, and immediately came to his senses, and hurriedly said: "Could it be that the Huns plan to go west and destroy the Yuezhi Kingdom?"

"This is the only possibility." Li Zuoche said: "The Xiongnu only have two enemies now, one is us, and the other is the Yue clan. Since King Zuoxian of the Xiongnu is gathering at Yundu Mountain, it doesn't seem like they are planning to go south in a big way. Then they must be planning to make a large-scale invasion of the Yuezhi this winter to completely eradicate their hidden dangers on the Western Front."

"Then what should we do?" Xiang Guan asked worriedly: "It's so far away, let alone sending troops to help the Yueshi, we just want to send a letter to the Yueshi to tell them to prepare in advance, and there is no time and travel. what?"

"The only thing we can do is to use Sun Bin's old method, to encircle Wei and save Zhao." Li Zuoche replied with a wry smile: "Take the initiative to enter the grassland, beat up the tribes left behind by the Xiongnu, and vent the anger of the barbarian Maodun, forcing the main force of the Xiongnu to change their plan and try to force the Huns to change their plans. Do your best to prevent the Xiongnu from annihilating the Yuezhi Kingdom now."

"Take the initiative to enter the grassland?" Xiang Zhuang and Xiang Guan opened their mouths together, and then Xiang Zhuang said in great surprise: "Mr. Guangwu, are you joking? Your strategy is not to imitate your elder father, Mr. Wu An, to deliberately show weakness and mobilize soldiers." Lima wait for the Xiongnu to be negligent before fighting back? Why do you want us to take the initiative to enter the grassland today?"

"Soldiers are unpredictable, and water is unpredictable. My father's strategy can be learned, but you can't copy it mechanically." Li Zuoche sneered and said: "Besides, the Huns are not fools. They suffered a lot from my elder father. How could it be so easy to be fooled for the second time? Preparing to kill the Yuezhi first, completely eliminate the hidden dangers on the western front, and then free up your hands to deal with the Central Plains army with all your strength is a proof that the Huns have learned a lesson."

"Then, are we sure we can succeed in besieging Wei and saving Zhao?" Xiang Zhuang asked again: "What if the Xiongnu don't get fooled and suffer some losses on the southern front and insist on attacking the Yuezhi first?"

"Of course we're not [-]% sure, but we can't just sit and watch the Yueshi be wiped out by the Huns, so we can only try our best. And even if we can't succeed, we can take this opportunity to practice through actual combat Frontier troops, let our frontier troops accumulate some experience in fighting on the grasslands, which will benefit our next step of operations."

Li Zuoche answered calmly, and then asked Xiang Zhuang and Xiang Guan with a smile: "What? General Xiang, don't you always say that as long as I let you enter the grassland, you will keep it so that we will not disappoint the Han court? What? Now that I have decided to enter the grassland, you dare not immediately embrace the order?"

Xiang Zhuang and Xiang Guan glanced at each other quickly, then immediately bowed to Li Zuoche with fists in their hands, and said in unison: "Please tell me how to march, Lord Guangwu, the last general will swear to die, and I will never disappoint Your Majesty and Lord Guangwu to the last general!" expect!"

There are two reasons why Xiang Kang arranged Xiang Zhuang and Xiang Guan, two strong generals of the Xiang family, to the northern frontier to assist Li Zuoche to lead his army against the Huns. There are two reasons. It was Xiang Kang who didn't want the Xiang family brothers to be involved in the deadly matter of cutting off the king with a different surname-the Xiang family brothers fought you to death with the generals of the Han army until Xiang Yu committed suicide. If Xiang Kang dared to use the Xiang family brothers to deal with heroes, It will immediately chill the hearts of all the heroes of the Han army!
But it's okay, Xiang Kang's arrangement is exactly in the appetite of Xiang Zhuang and Xiang Guan, two fierce generals, who are willing to come to the frontier to resist the Huns and win back face for the Xiang family brothers.

　I sincerely hope that all friends are safe and healthy. By the way, I would like to ask for a monthly pass for February.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)