The beginning of the Three Kingdoms Cheng Yuanzhi

Chapter 241 Liu Bei doubts life

Since Jia Xu surrendered, Cheng Yuanzhi trusted him very much. In the past ten years, he basically asked about everything.

However, Jia Xu did not get overwhelmed by the appreciation and boasted. He is very cautious in dealing with people and things, and he would never say a word if he could not express his opinion.

But today, it is impossible not to say it.

"With the brilliance of the prime minister and the majesty of the ten prefectures in the Central Plains of Hebei, it is only a matter of day and night to rule the world. It is really inconvenient to show shame in the hall with such a clumsy plan."

Jia Xu clasped his hands and said: "Xu is not a former minister of the Prime Minister, and because of his past mistakes, Chang'an was in chaos.

Cheng Yuanzhi knew about this.

Every time Jia Xu attended a meeting, she would go home immediately and close the door, never interacting with others in private.Except for the salary and rewards that are due to him, he will not take any other personal wealth.

In addition, no matter what he does, he is cautious. Even his own children, Jia Xu is not allowed to marry the powerful.

Even, I often say to my family: "It's not mine, even if I don't take a single cent."

From this point of view, Jia Xu can be said to be indifferent to fame and fortune, and has nothing to do with the world. It is really difficult to equate with the name of "poisoner".

This made Cheng Yuanzhi very puzzled.

In the original time and space, Jia Xu was also so cautious.But that was because Cao Cao was too jealous and wanted to kill his men at every turn, so Jia Xu had to protect himself wisely.

But in this time and space, Cheng Yuanzhi is not as suspicious as Cao Cao. In the past 20 years, he has only killed one Xu You.

Jia Xu actually didn't need to be so careful.

However, looking at Jia Xu's life, he has always been modest and tactful as a person and an official. The words he used, whether admonishing or offering advice, are not harsh, and people don't find it harsh, and what he says hits the point.

This is also the reason why he can become an important counselor.

Thinking of this, Cheng Yuanzhi suddenly thought of a person who was in sharp contrast to Jia Xu's style of doing things-Yang Xiu.

Yang Xiu is a sharp-edged person who relies on his intelligence, relies on Ao Wu for success, and shows off everywhere.

These two people, one is extremely reserved and the other is extremely flamboyant, representing two extremes.

After asking the reason, Cheng Yuanzhi felt relieved, and said instead, "What do Wenhe think about the Southern Expedition?"

Jia Xu, 60 years old this year, secretly breathed a sigh of relief, bowed his hands to his superior, and said concisely: "Reward the soldiers, appease the people, and wait for the opportunity."

"Waiting for the opportunity..." Cheng Yuanzhi murmured, and praised: "It's a good time to wait for the opportunity, that's a great word.

What Jia Xu meant was that Cheng Yuanzhi's area had a large population and an army of millions, so there was no need to worry.As long as it continues to develop steadily, the gap with other princes will become wider and wider. Even if it cannot win without a fight, it will wait for a good opportunity to appear.

Cheng Yuanzhi has the most say in the relationship between population and national power.

Jia Xu actually only knows one thing, but not the other.

In later generations, the correlation between population structure and national strength is defined not by its population quantity, but by its population quality: indicators such as people’s health, education level, and labor productivity.

If not, countries with over [-] million people like India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Indonesia and Nigeria would be among the most powerful countries in the world.

But the reality is that they are not present in the world's powerful countries.

All the top powers in the world must be leading countries in all aspects of economy, military, education, and people's quality.

Going back to the era of the end of Han Dynasty, the same principle applies.

It is not that there are many people who are powerful.

In the original time and space, the reason why the Shu Han failed in the Northern Expedition was that the small population was only a secondary reason, and the most important thing was the withering of talents. "There are no generals in Shu, and Liao Hua is a pioneer" is the direct cause of the Shu Han's first demise.

The strength of the Wei State does not lie in its large population, but in the endless emergence of talents without gaps.

At the same time, the abundance of talents under his command is also the biggest secret of Cao Cao's ability to defeat the strong with the weak and level the Central Plains. Talent is always the most powerful confidence.

There are not many soldiers, but the most expensive.

Assuming that Zhuge Liang has the military ability of Han Xin, the immortal soldier, or the ability to command troops like Bai Qi, the god of war, even if the Shu Han only has 10 troops, it will be enough to shake the world.

This shows the importance of talent.

Therefore, before Cheng Yuanzhi took control of Hebei, he spent a lot of energy in establishing Shangdang Academy, and later opened an academy in each state to train talents for the world.

Although no results have been achieved so far, Cheng Yuanzhi is confident.

It takes a hundred years to cultivate people, how can talents be effective so quickly.

People will come later, but they will never be late!
At the same time, we should pay attention to people's livelihood and strive to ensure that people have food and clothing.

Only in this way can the competitiveness of the Central Plains be far ahead of other places and remain invincible.

As for this knowledge, no one in this era is aware of it.Even Zhuge Liang could only resort to militarism from the existing conditions, so that in Longzhong (207), what he called "Yizhou, the Land of Abundance" became "Yizhou" during the Northern Expedition (227). Fatigue".

In just 20 years, Yizhou has changed from a wealthy land of abundance to a state of exhaustion.

The same is true in terms of talents. Zhuge Liang can only pick and choose from the existing talents to replace him. This is the case for Jiang Wan and Fei Yi.

As long as the economy can be enriched and talents can be enriched, who dares to say that Shu Han, who owns a continent, cannot defeat the strong with the weak?
Cheng Yuanzhi stopped his thoughts and asked, "What do Wenhe think of the remaining Xianbei?"

Jia Xu thought for a while and said: "Let's level it out, harvest it and transform it, get rid of its ethnicity, and eliminate its customs. After a hundred years, there will be no such family in the world."


"Wenhe has such insight?"

The strategy of national assimilation, which needs to last for a hundred years to be effective, is not something that can be seen through when you are old. This is an advanced strategy that people in later generations can realize. That's it.

Only those barbarians on the border who often grow stronger by annexing foreign races may know a little bit.

Unexpectedly, Jia Xu also knew.

Cheng Yuanzhi was very surprised.

"This is based on speculation about Prime Minister Xu's extermination of Sihu." Jia Xu explained:

"Now that 12 years have passed, the Hu people of the Southern Xiongnu, Wuhuan, and Eastern Qiang tribes who were relocated to the Central Plains are slightly different from the Han people except for their rough appearance. Other aspects are the same as the Han people. They speak Chinese. , wearing Han clothes, practicing Han rituals, no barbarian attitude."

"At first, the prime minister just divided the millions of barbarians into thousands, scattered them and integrated them into the tens of millions of people in the Central Plains. Therefore, Xu was inspired."

"Wenhe has this insight, I am very relieved!"

Cheng Yuanzhi looked at Jia Xu, and said earnestly, "Feng Xiao's health is not good, you need to make more suggestions for the country in the future."


At the end, he added: "If so, I will not treat you badly."

Jia Xu hurriedly cupped his hands and said, "Yes, Prime Minister, Jia Xu took note."


Jingzhou, Xinye County.

Several months passed, and the northern army that Zhuge Liang expected did not appear, which made Liu Bei feel a little strange. The scouts sent out did not find any trouble in Yecheng.


Now there are only four of the fourteen states left in the world. Only the four states of Jing, Yi, Jiao, and Liang have not been peaceful. Jiaozhou and Liangzhou are remote, sparsely populated, and their strategic value is too low.

Yizhou is located in the southwest, separated from the Central Plains by Hanzhong, so it is difficult to attack in a hurry.

The ancients once said: "Shu will be in chaos before the world is in chaos. It is difficult for the world to level the rivers." This sentence is used to describe the fact that Sichuan and Shu are extremely difficult to pacify because of the constant chaos in the terrain.

After thinking about it, Liu Bei also felt that Jingzhou would be the next target of the Northern Army.

Among other things, once the Northern Army breaks through Xinye, they can directly approach the city of Xiangyang and threaten the six counties in Jingnan.

But why did he suddenly stop attacking?


Liu Bei was puzzled by this question. How could there be any reason to attack once only tentatively and never come again?
Could it be that Cheng Yuanzhi had no intention of unifying the world?
This is impossible.

If the Northern Army had come earlier, he could have used an excuse to run to the south of the Yangtze River earlier. This was the next strategy Zhuge Liang had planned for him.

But if the Northern Army does not come, Liu Bei has the responsibility to defend Xinye, so he cannot leave rashly.

Everything always needs an excuse.

But after the last day of Jian'an 12 years, Liu Bei's doubts were still there.Whether it was Fancheng across the river in the west or the ancient city in the northeast, there was no movement.


It wasn't until the 13th year of entering Jian'an, when he learned that Cheng Yuanzhi held a large banquet in Yecheng to celebrate the birth of his beloved son, that Liu Bei suddenly realized that it seemed that the Northern Army should not come so soon.


But when will Liu Biao die?


Liu Bei looked at the Jingxiang map with a wry smile, feeling helpless. After a while, he murmured to himself: "Is it true that the destiny is not with me, Liu Bei?"

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(End of this chapter)