Three Kingdoms: I help Liu Bei grow thousands of miles

From the moment Xu Huang saw Zhang Fei, he knew that the vanguard Wang Zhong was dead, and the opponent's strength was no less than his own. It seemed that the raid on Chang'an was just empty talk.

Chapter 916 Spring River Plumbing Duck Prophet

"Gongming, what should we do?" Zhu Ling looked sad.

"Zhang Fei is actually in Chang'an. It seems that the news about Bingzhou may not be true..." Xu Huang's head was buzzing, and he didn't know how to respond for a while.

Zhu Ling said to himself: "There are actually problems with the memorials of the governor of Liang. I heard that there were many rumors in Luoyang a while ago..."

"Wenbo (Zhu Ling) don't think about it, His Majesty Liang Governor's handwriting is known, and Chen Lingjun (Chen Qun) and other officials also know it. It is unlikely that the memorial will be tampered with. I just don't know why General Zhang spread the news..." Xu Huang His brows were furrowed.

"Zhang Fei is known as the enemy of ten thousand people, and his martial arts are not inferior to General Guan's. Now the enemy and our forces are evenly matched, so what can we do?" Zhu Ling looked stern.

"Wenbo can be commanded by the rear army. Wait for me to go forward to find out Zhang Fei's reality. If it doesn't work, we will withdraw to Tongguan. Now it can't pose a threat to Chang'an. The most important thing is to bring the soldiers back." Xu Huang said seriously.

Zhu Ling nodded in agreement, "It's appropriate, Gong Ming must remember not to be brave."

"I can save it." Xu Huang was always on the front line, and he knew Zhang Fei's oppressive force very well, so he couldn't afford to provoke him if he tried his best.

Liu Feng restrained Xu Huang during the battle for Nanxiang. He was capable of beheading Wang Zhong but dared not challenge Xu Huang. After joining forces with Zhang Fei, he followed obediently by his side.

The two armies arrived and lined up.

Xu Huang took the lead and shouted with a big axe: "Zhang Fei is a traitor, why did you block my way?"

"Nonsense, this is the territory of the Han Dynasty. My eldest brother is the emperor of the Han Dynasty. I can go wherever I want. How dare you come here?" Zhang Fei was not polite at all.

Xu Huang wondered how much hatred he had with Zhang Fei, why did he seem to hate himself more?He ignored so much, but retorted with a sneer: "Hehe, where is the emperor of the Han Dynasty? Your lord Liu Bei has usurped the throne, and Liu Xie has given the throne to my Emperor Wei. Now there is only Wei and no Han in the world. You black man This guy is the same age as me, and his mottled beard and hair are worse than mine, so you have the nerve to laugh at my old age?"

"Xu Huang, why do you deceive yourself and others? You used to eat Han Lu as a Han official, but you were willing to degenerate and serve your life for the Cao thief. Now you call yourself Wei Chen for granted. Doesn't your conscience hurt? Then Cao Pi usurped Han and called Wei He What's the difference with Yuan Shu? My elder brother was originally a relative of the Han family, and he was enthroned as the king by the imperial edict. This is the orthodox way of the Han family. It is still too late for you to surrender, otherwise I will settle the old score with you." Zhang Fei said The Zhang Ba Snake Spear was lying across his chest, and his ferocious appearance made Wei Bing tremble.

"How can there be such a reason? Lord Shanyang is in Hanoi, how could he pass an edict to Liu Bei? The edict to pass the throne must be a forgery." Xu Huang refuted loudly at first, and then asked Zhang Fei: "Xu and you are a national enmity and have no personal grudges. What kind of old score do you want to settle with this general?"

Zhang Fei's eyes widened, and he shouted sharply: "A few years ago during the battle in Fancheng, you and Cao Ren used tricks to murder my second brother. If my nephew hadn't risen up to save him, I'm afraid you villains would succeed and plot against my second brother." Brother is a personal enmity."

"Ah, this... also counts?" Xu Huangxin said that it was Cao Ren's plan, but he couldn't argue with Zhang Fei at this time.

"How is it not counted? If you are willing to surrender, let the past be forgotten." Zhang Fei said playfully, smoothing his beard.

When Xu Huang was arguing with Zhang Fei, Zhu Ling was ready to retreat and sent someone to shout the message. Xu Huang did not intend to drag Zhang Fei down after receiving the message.

"Zhang Fei, it's useless to talk too much. I'm going to sell you face today, so I will lead the army back to Tongguan. If you have the courage, come and chase." Withdrew east with great vigilance.

"Uncle, why didn't you chase after him?" Seeing that Zhang Fei was not moving, Liu Feng asked anxiously.

Zhang Fei frowned, "Xu Huang has always been calm when using troops, and he retreated in front of us. If we don't keep it neat, what tricks are waiting for us. I am not what I used to be, how can I be easily fooled?"

"Uh... there's not much cover on the plain, so even if there is an ambush, you can find it?" Liu Feng asked back.

"Hmph, Wang Zhong thinks so too." Zhang Fei glanced back contemptuously, and Liu Feng lowered his head as if swallowing a dead fly.

"General, what should we do?" Wu Er clasped his fists and asked.

Zhang Feixu answered with focus: "Keep a distance and follow slowly. I want to see what tricks Xu Huang is playing."

"only."

Xu Huang's neat and orderly convoy prevented Zhang Fei from chasing him lightly. In fact, Xu Huang was also pretending to be a ghost. The outcome of a battle with the same force was unpredictable, but the plan to raid Chang'an fell through. He felt that there was no need to fight Zhang Fei desperately.

When Wei Jun passed Huayin and began to enter Tongguan, Zhang Fei realized that he had been tricked by Xu Huang.

Furious, Zhang Fei commanded the former army to attack the soldiers behind Xu Huang, trying to seize Tongguan by fishing in troubled waters, but Xu Huang was not an idler after all, and commanded the soldiers to successfully withstand the Han army.

The Han and Wei dynasties had a small-scale fight in Tongguan, and the battle ended at the cost of thousands of casualties each.

Wei Bing retreated into Tongguan and stood firm, and Zhang Fei did not respond to any attempts to fight. Zhang Fei saw that fishing in troubled waters was unsuccessful, so he led his troops back to Huayin to continue to garrison.

When Xu Huang returned to Tongguan, he did not withdraw to Luoyang immediately, but wrote a letter to Cao Xiu to decide the situation on the front line.

A few days later, Cao Xiu submitted the battle report to Wei Emperor Cao Pi. Cao Pi thought that Xu Huang would let him send troops to attack Chang'an, but the real situation turned out to be so cruel.

Cao Pi read the battle report and became angry in court. He dispatched troops and sent generals to waste money and food, but the bamboo basket fetched water in vain. Cao Pi slapped the table and threw the wine glass, but he almost failed to vent his anger. He attributed the failure to Zhang Yun's misinformation and ordered Zhang Yun to go to Luoyang in person. He explained that if he was seriously ill and could not get out of bed, Liang Xi would send a carriage to send him back, and if there was no carriage, he would have to be carried back to Luoyang.

The Wei State could not fight the frontal battlefield, and the repeated mistakes in the intelligence work caused the confidence of Wei State officials and gentry to change quietly. Many people gave birth to Liu Bei. Jia Xu had planned and arranged the escape route in advance before he died, and those who were slightly worse were already secretly preparing.

Originally, Xu Shu just sent people to spread rumors, but now there are people in Wei State who really think about it, and the first group of people who acted first were the gentry whose family members were officials in the court.

The so-called Spring River Plumbing Duck Prophet, the Central Plains gentry are all over the court of Wei State, those officials in non-core positions are thinking of changing for the future of the family, and a political turmoil is secretly brewing.

In mid-April, before Zhang Yun returned to Luoyang, Jiang Ji's urgent report from Huainan arrived first.

Han Zhendong General Gan Ning's troops came out of Ruxu, attacked and captured Xiang'an and Linhu counties in half a month, threatening Shu County, the seat of Lujiang.

The Huainan Wei army's understanding of Ruxu's generals was still in the era of Sun Quan's disastrous defeat in Xiaoyaojin. They believed that the soldiers from Ruxuwu were only good at water warfare, and they were vulnerable to ashore combat. Jiang Ji sent Zhonglang General Chang Diao to rescue Lin Lake, was beheaded by Gan Ning during the battle.

Huainan, which had been peaceful for a year, was just broken by Gan Ning.

Chapter 917 Sima Spicy Hand Shakes Luoyang

On the Huainan battlefield, there was Jiang Ji's Hefei garrison, to the northwest there was Man Chong, the prefect of Runan, to the north, to Qiao County, the garrison of Jia Kui, the governor of Yuzhou, and to the northeast, the Taishan soldiers of Xiahouru, the governor of Xuzhou. Although there are many troops, they are not led by a capable general like Cao Ren.

Jiang Ji now does not want soldiers, horses, money and food, but a commander-in-chief.

Cao Pi has been very irritable recently. The strategy of raiding Chang'an has failed, and rumors are rife inside and outside Luoyang.

During the inspection period, Zhu Shuo's people intercepted many collaborating letters, but because most of them did not leave their names, they had to be handed over to Sima Zhi for handling, and secretly reported to Cao Pi.

Sima Zhi's ability to solve cases is extremely strong. Based on the few clues provided by Zhu Shuo, he traced the clues and found a large amount of criminal evidence. Within three days, he dug up dozens of officials involved in the incident, but all of these people had the backing of the big gentry.

Although Sima Zhi was stern and selfless, he could only report to the emperor when he encountered such a difficult matter, just like Cao Hong's situation.

In the case of Cao Hong defrauding the emperor, Empress Dowager Bian finally came forward to intercede. Cao Hong was dismissed from office and demoted to a commoner, and all the wealth accumulated for decades was confiscated.

Cao Pi has seen the list of collaborators, and he knows that there are big trees behind these people. In order not to shake the foundation of the country, he showed the patience of the emperor, and finally chose to deal with it coldly.

Cao Pi was able to sit on the throne of the emperor without the support of the Henan gentry. At this time, there were many crises in Wei's country. Even if these people should be killed, they couldn't do it by themselves. At this moment, he thought of the Sima family.

Assassination is a poor method. When Cao Pi was still hesitating whether to let Zhu Shuo take action, the bad news of Huainan was delivered to him.

The Huainan military information sent by Jiang Ji has a greater impact than the failure of the raid on Chang'an. If it is used by someone with a heart to instigate, more and more people will shake their heads and treason.

On the way to Pinghong Palace to discuss military plans, Cao Pi saw Sima Zhao beside Gao Mou, and suddenly had an idea. During the hundreds of years of the Han Dynasty, many emperors used eunuchs to restrain courtiers. There are ready-made candidates, why not make good use of them?

Cao Xiu, Chen Qun and others were already waiting in the Pinghong Hall. After Cao Pi entered the hall, he waved his hand away and changed his decadent style in the past. The armies in Yangzhou and Yuzhou must defend Huainan for the Great Wei."

"Uh... the last general?" Xia Houshang pointed at himself suspiciously.

Cao Pi nodded, "Don't doubt your ability. You are the one who was praised by the late emperor. Now there are [-] to [-] troops around Huainan, but there is no one capable of commanding. Wen Lie has no way to deal with Guan Yu." Withdrawing, I can only rely on you, you won't let me and the first emperor down, right?"

"If Huainan is lost at the end of the day, I will never return to see Your Majesty alive." Xia Houshang also issued a military order.

"Among the soldiers around Huainan, Junlin (Xiahouru)'s Mount Tai soldiers are the strongest. You brothers must cooperate well. Lantian Xinde Yangzhou has not gained a firm foothold, but it seems that he is also eager for quick success and quick profit by launching an attack on Huainan so soon. I don’t know how capable the army is in combat, but that Gan Ning is a ruthless character, so he should rely on Hefei to defend, I don’t believe that Sun Quan’s defeat in Hefei, Lantian can change the result.” Cao Pi said with a strong heart.

Seeing this, Cao Xiu reminded: "Your Majesty, don't underestimate Lan Tian. Although this man has no martial arts skills, he can destroy Wu in three months, which shows that his threat may not be lower than Guan Yu. It is the same reason that Liu Bei can let this man alone. Sun Quan probably It is defeat by underestimating the enemy, we must take it as a warning.”

"Wen Lie's words are reasonable, but Guan Yu is now directly threatening Wan and Luo, and Liu Bei is gradually gaining a foothold in Guanzhong. It is impossible for me to divert military resources to Huainan." Cao Pi's expression was heavy.

"Your Majesty also said that Lantian is now sitting behind Jianye, using Gan Ning as his pawn to harass the Lujiang River. He probably wants to test the strength of our army. Boren must be stable in Huainan." Cao Xiu kindly reminded Xia Houshang.

"I can save it." Xia Houshang nodded in agreement.

"Okay, let's discuss it again, I have to go back to the palace first." After finishing speaking, Cao Pi got up and left, making everyone suspicious.

Cao Pi moved quickly, followed by Gao Miao and Sima Zhao, and suddenly Cao Pi stopped and asked: "Marquis Wu, you have been in Jianye for two years, are Jiangdong people so weak? Anyone who comes here can be restrained ?”

Sima Zhao was startled, and quickly answered, "Where did your Majesty hear the rumors? Jiangdong's internal conflicts are very serious, and even Sun Quan can't check and balance well. Have you forgotten the incident with Han Zong? , the servant thinks that Lantian can't hold back."

"Marquis Wu is very insightful." Cao Pi nodded, then turned around and told Gao Miao: "Xiao Gao, you go to Xie Shaofu (Xie Huan), Sima's grade will be raised to Zhonghuangmen."

"Only..." Gao Miao bowed and left, thinking that the relatives were really different, and it took him three years to get into Zhonghuangmen.

Sima Zhao followed Cao Pi to the study alone. Cao Pi first took out Sima Yi and praised him for a while, and then gradually brought Sima Zhao into the topic, that is, using Sima Zhao's relationship with Chen Qun and Sima Zhi to re-investigate the Luoyang rumors last time. By killing chickens to scare monkeys, to deter those who are vacillating.

"The slave is only 13 years old, how can such a big matter be handled well?" Sima Zhao pretended to be harmless to humans and animals, but in fact Cao Pi's approach was in his favor. To quickly gain power, he needed countless opportunities to accumulate and punish sinners who collaborated with the enemy and treasoned the country. , is undoubtedly a good opportunity.

Sima Zhao became so good at pretending, which is also related to his experience in Jiangdong, because he had too much contact with Hu Ke, and he learned what it means to have a thousand faces, showing weakness everywhere is strong, but Cao Pi didn't understand his thoughts .

"Don't worry, Marquis Wu, I will trust you, just like Zhong Da (Sima Yi), just do things boldly, and General Zhu (Zhu Shuo) will help you secretly." Cao Pi said seriously.

"Wei." Sima Zhao bowed and saluted. He smiled when he bowed his head. If he could get involved with the Imperial Army, it would be of great benefit to the investigation of the Sima Miemen case.

After Sima Zhao became Zhonghuangmen, he wooed the eunuchs headed by Gao Miao internally, and used his close relationship with Chen Qun externally to help Cao Pi open the case of collaborating with the enemy and treason, and then set off a political catastrophe in Luoyang, involving six to seventy officials people.

All the collaborators Sima Zhi had detected before were secretly arrested and executed by Zhu Shuo in the name of Sima Zhao in this turmoil. The people in the capital were panicked for a while, and the young Sima Zhao shocked Luoyang with his hot hands.

This turmoil finally spread to high-level officials. Taiwei Zhong Yao was reported for complaining about the Wei satire case, so he took the initiative to resign under Chen Qun's suggestion. In order to prove his innocence, Du Ji hanged himself with a white silk at Shangshutai in order to prove his innocence.

When the political situation in Luoyang was turbulent, Lantian was not as difficult as Sima Zhao guessed. He simply "shelved disputes and cooperated with the gentry". On the surface, Jiangdong was controlled by the local gentry.

Lantian had no time to play balance with the Huaisi faction and Jiangdong faction. After moving the Huaisi faction officials out of Jianye in batches, he reached a tacit agreement with the Jiangdong gentry, that is, the three counties of Danyang, Wujun, and Kuaiji refer to the old system and decentralize politically. Let the local gentry be the masters, but in the military, money and food must be paid.

Chapter 918 Lan Yuan's Special Gift

From September last year to March next year, Lantian spent half a year adjusting the layout, and finally stabilized Yangzhou after the drastic changes.

Except for Sun Shao, who was seriously ill and elderly, the Huaisi scholars were divided into three, and almost all "leaved". Some people went to serve in Yuzhang County, while most people headed by Zhang Zhao stayed in Jiaozhou.

During the Jiangdong Mission’s visit to Jiaozhou, they were shocked by the prosperity and openness of Guangzhou City. The comfortable life, bustling markets, dazzling array of goods, and smiling people fully demonstrated the charm of this city.

Many people wanted to stay, including some Jiangdong gentry, such as Wu Fan, who was good at magic and astronomy, and couldn't move his legs after reading the books in Guangzhou Academy.

It took only a few years for Guangzhou to build a city, and it was built on barren land. On the contrary, Wudu Jianye was expanded based on Moling.

Guangzhou City came from behind and proved Lantian's ability with facts, which shows that Soochow's failure is almost inevitable.

During the mission's visit to Guangzhou, Jiang Wan, according to Lan Tian's suggestion, gave three resettlement plans to those who were willing to stay.

For those who have not been rewarded for their official careers, Jiaozhi, Hepu, Jiuzhen, Nichinan and other new counties and counties still have a large number of vacancies for real power positions, which can be provided for them to flex their muscles;

Elderly people who are tired of official career, go to the prefectural and county-level yamen to serve as vacant staff members, and the salary will be paid according to the original Soochow;

Those who are disheartened in their official careers will retire in big cities such as Guangzhou and Guangxin, and will be paid 1.5 times the original salary of Soochow.

Jiaozhou's resettlement plan is comprehensive, taking care of people with various needs, and the high treatment shocked the Jiangdong mission. They did not expect that the wild Jiaozhou had become so prosperous.

The gentry in this era only know how to infiltrate, fighting for the existing interests and ruining their families, but Lantian, who has a higher vision, is different. He deeply understands that wealth is made, rather than fighting for three melons and two dates. If there is no flow, it is better to make the cake of profit infinitely bigger, and what is in the pot will naturally be in the bowl.

Zhang Zhao was later designated as a prefecture by Jiang Wan. As for the "victors" Jiangdong gentry, they are now more powerful than they were during Sun Quan's time.

In the newly established Liucao Yamen in Yangzhou, the principals are all from the local clans, namely, Gu Yong, the chief of Li Cao, Xie Fei, the chief of household Cao, Zhang Wen, the chief of Li Cao, Lu Xun, the chief of Bing Cao, Zhu Huan, the chief of Criminal Cao, and Kong, the chief of Gong Cao. Zhu.

Gu, Lu, Zhu, and Zhang Zhanqi, the four major surnames in Wu County, and the four major surnames in Kuaiji also occupied the two seats of Kong and Xie. If Yu Fan did not surrender in advance, at this time, with his reputation, he could also occupy a seat.

Lantian's "generosity" made the Jiangdong gentry reciprocate, and the vacancies of the Huaisi faction and the Sun clan, including many assistant official positions in the Liucao Yamen, let Lantian transfer civilian talents from Jiaozhou to fill them. The euphemistically called Jiaozhou officials are more familiar New yamen.

Lu Xun served as the head of the army and commanded the soldiers and horses in Jiangdong in the past. The gentry still provided money and food to support them. They naively thought that the private soldiers originally raised by the big clan were now only renamed and put under the control of "one of their own" Lu Xun. The military system, but only Lu Xun knows the real situation, the Jiangdong private military system no longer exists.

With the guarantee of money and food, the front line of Ruxu started to move in the spring. Gan Ning was appointed by Lantian as the prefect of Lujiang. County actions.

During Gan Ning's raid on Linhu, Lanyuan, who went to visit his relatives in Guangzhou, returned to Jianye and brought to Lantian the local products prepared by Lu Lingqi, as well as a special gift he brought.

Gan Ning was stationed at Ruxuwu in Jiangbei, Lu Xun hadn't fully communicated with Lan Tian, ​​Hu Ke still kept aloof, Song Chen was sent to 'assist' in the Yangzhou newspaper, Lan Tian was alone in Jianye, and rarely opened to others Heart, usually either staring at the sand table in a daze in the room, or digging the soil in the small yard to prepare for planting.

When he learned that Lan Yuan was about to return, Lan Tian felt like an empty-nest old man, and walked to the gate of the courtyard to glance at it from time to time, before preparing meals for his son in an apron.

Hearing the horses neighing outside the courtyard, Lan Tian instinctively went to the steps outside the house, then Lan Yuan entered the door to salute, and Gao Ling brought his entourage into the courtyard to salute.

"Why did you bring so many things back?" Lan Tian was full of curiosity.

"Mother has prepared some, Uncle Gao has prepared some, Governor Jiang has prepared some, and the child has prepared some..." Lan Yuan smiled like a flower.

Lan Tian frowned and asked: "It's fine for them to prepare, Boyang, what are you doing?"

"Your Majesty, you will like Boyang's gift." Gao Ling suddenly came over and interjected. He saw Lan Tian's recent anticipation, and said in his heart that General Lan was usually so strict, but he did not expect to have such a warm side. .

"Oh?" Lan Tian looked suspicious.

"Father, let's go to the backyard to talk." After saying that, Lan Yuan led Lan Yuan to the backyard. Seeing that Lan Tian had finished digging the soil and piled up manure, he smiled and said, "I know you can't be idle, look at this place." What is it?"

While Lan Yuan was talking, Gao Ling carried a boxy wooden box, which was covered with a cloth so that he couldn't see clearly.

"Your Majesty, this is Bo Yang's gift, please take a look at it yourself." Gao Ling smiled and approached with the wooden box in his hands.

"You two children, you are so mysterious..." Lan Tian smiled and lifted the black cloth. Below is a cluster of seedlings a few inches high. From the roots, branches and leaves, it can be seen that the seedlings are Champa rice, but the seedlings are smaller than Lan Yuan from Linyi. The ones brought back look greener and stronger.

Lan Tian hurriedly asked Lan Yuan, "Champa rice breeding has been completed?"

Lan Yuan nodded, "It took Zhuya Agricultural College a year to select the best seeds for an acre from the [-]-acre experimental field. Governor Jiang plans to try planting in Cangwu this year. My son knows that my father will use Luling to leverage Jiangdong. , I asked for half of the seeds and gave them to Tan Taishou, and I brought you back some seedlings when the divisions were transplanted, you said that this kind of grain does not choose the land, right?"

"It is reasonable to say so." Lan Tian stroked his beard affirmatively, and then said to Gao Ling: "Yuanfeng, put down the seedlings and wash your hands, I have someone prepare wine and vegetables, let's clean up Boyang."

"You father and son haven't seen each other for a long time. There must be a lot to talk about. Boyang will go on a tour of the army later, and it won't be too late for my nephew to welcome him at that time." Gao Ling clasped his fists and responded with a smile. The same old-fashioned, but slightly more lively personality.