The World of Yellow Sky

The soldiers under Bian Xi's command are basically the elite of the Yizhou Army, and many of them are even veterans from the old Taiping Road, with rich experience in mountain warfare.

At the same time, the Ming army also had the help of the Eagle Wolf Guards, and they obtained important information early on. Many of the powerful families who served as internal agents were taken down by the Eagle Wolf Guards within a short period of time.

The battle in southern Xinjiang lasted for two months, and finally ended with the victory of the Ming army.

Among the rebellious tribes, only one tribe who was unwilling to surrender was wiped out, and the rest of the surrendered tribes were treated leniently to show their benevolence.

In the Battle of Southern Xinjiang, the mighty combat power of the Ming army caught the hearts of everyone. After this battle, no one dared to resist the Ming army.

What's more, after the arrival of the Ming army, they obtained silk that was extremely comfortable to wear and exquisite porcelain that was as white as jade. Their lives were better than when they met the powerful and powerful families in Yizhou.

The unimpeded trade routes allowed them to exchange gold and silver lacquer and wood for silk and porcelain, as well as various special products from the Central Plains, and even acquired important technologies such as farming.

Part of those rebel tribes opposed the relocation, and part of them chose to rebel because of their close relationship with those powerful families. Most of the tribes in southern Xinjiang actually supported Ming Ting, otherwise the rebellion would not have subsided so quickly.

After the opening of the southern trade route, all the barbarian leaders were named chieftains, and they were divided into corresponding levels according to the size of the tribe. In fact, the southern border is somewhat similar to the western region.

The barbarians in southern Xinjiang recognized Ming Ting's dominant position, bowed their heads and proclaimed themselves ministers, and paid tribute to southern specialties and some money every year according to the size of the tribe, and accepted Ming Ting's conscripts to fight.

Afterwards, Zhang Yan personally went south to Yongchang County, and in the south of Yunnan, the county seat of Yongchang County, made an alliance with various tribes in southern Xinjiang. They took the oath of Cangshui and blood as an alliance. Only with the approval of the Ming court can he officially succeed to the throne, and the Ming court will issue printed documents to show orthodoxy, otherwise it will be an improper succession, and all the ministries of the alliance need to jointly crusade.

This pledge was carried out without encountering any resistance.

The strength of the Ming army is obvious, and this oath is actually beneficial to them. After all, as long as it is legitimate from father to son, legal inheritance will be recognized, and if someone with ulterior motives usurps the power and seizes the throne, it is naturally illegal and will not get the seal and ribbon. This oath guaranteed their chieftain status.

In May of the second year of the Ming Dynasty (195), it was the time when the Great War broke out in the Central Plains.

All the barbarians surrendered, and the business route was normal, which also brought a news.

That is, there are two countries in the south and west of Yongchang County. The country in the west is called Panyue, and the country in the south is called Shan.

Just after the road was cleared, the envoys of the Shan Kingdom soon arrived in the south of Yunnan, the county seat of Yongchang County.

Not long after the meeting ended, Zhang Yan had not yet returned to Chengdu, and the Shan country's envoy happened to meet Zhang Yan.

The envoys from the Shan Kingdom came here to ask for attachment. They heard that the originally powerful Han Empire in the north had been replaced by a new country.

Its national strength is even stronger than the once powerful Han Empire. After all, the establishment of the Ming Dynasty was precisely because it defeated the Han Empire, so it replaced it.

The reason why the Shan State came to envoy is because there is another country in the south named Pyu State. There are constant conflicts between the two countries.

This time the Shan State came to the country, not only brought a lot of treasures, but also brought an extremely large acrobatic troupe, and contributed the Shan State's elephants to the Han Empire.

The dispute between Pyu and Shan can even be traced back to the time of Emperor Guangwu. The reason why Shan has been able to exist is because Shan has always relied on the protection of the Han Empire, so it has not been annexed.

When the Ming army attacked Yizhou, Yizhou fell into chaos and the traffic was cut off. Shan State also lost its connection with Yizhou in the north.

So after the trade route was opened up, the lord of the Shan Kingdom immediately sent envoys to meet him.

The current situation in Shan State is extremely dangerous. It is impossible for the soldiers in the country to resist the powerful Pyu State, and the land is constantly falling.

This time, the lord of the Shan Kingdom directly chose to attach himself instead of seeking protection, because the feeling of being caught in the middle is really bad. Although he is the lord of a country, his life cannot be guaranteed.

After weighing the pros and cons, Zhang Yan agreed to the request of the Shan State Lord to include it.

The normal practice is that if a country wants to include it, it must submit a letter to the central government, and it can only be accepted after obtaining permission.

But Zhang Yan thought of what Xu An had said, so he changed his mind and agreed to Shan Guofu's request on the spot.

At the beginning, Xu An pointed to the world map and told him that if he had the opportunity in the future, he would definitely organize a fleet to sail south to the Western Ocean, looking all the way westward along the South China Sea (Indian Ocean).

If there is an outlet in the South China Sea and a port of its own, it can be easily replenished and a lot of business profits can be reaped.

Although Shan Country does not have an outlet to the sea, it is not far from the South China Sea. It only needs to go west about two hundred miles to see the sea.

According to the envoy of the Shan State, there is no country on that section of the road, because it is a mountainous area, so only a few tribes exist.

Panyue and Piao didn't occupy this place, firstly because it was of little significance to occupy it, and secondly because it was left as a buffer zone between the two countries.

Panyue seems to have enemies in the west and north, so it has never attacked Shan and does not want to go to war with Pyu.

Soldiers from the old Yellow Turban Army are rarely used to fighting in the jungle. Unacclimatized and uncomfortable environment is nothing but a normal thing.

But the Wudang Flying Army is not the case. Zhang Yan's plan is very simple. With the chieftain soldiers of Yongchang County as the main force, the Wudang Flying Army will be dispatched as the main force to establish hegemony in the southwest, and then slowly consider opening the way to the sea.

Xu An gave Zhang Yan more authority, giving him a certain amount of military power and free judgment, and even handed over the power to start the war to Zhang Yan.

The reason why Zhang Yan acted in this way was not only because of the power that Xu An gave him, but also because of a matter that had always affected the Yellow Turban Army.

As a heavy-ranked general in the Taiping Road, it seems that the position of the heavy-ranked general does not seem to be comfortable unless several tribes are wiped out and several countries are wiped out.

Seeing Guo Tai expanding the territory in the Western Regions, Lu Bu admiring the situation in the northern Xinjiang, and Lu Sheng making waves in the East, Zhang Yan felt that he could not just continue farming and pioneering in Yizhou.

Chapter 819 The head is like a chicken, and it sings again

In the seventh year of Chuping (196), March [-]st.

It is actually not correct to say that, a month ago was indeed the seventh year of Chuping.

But right now it should be the first year of Zhang Wu.

Because Chuping's year name had been abolished a month ago.

The new year name is designated as "Zhang Wu"!

Over the past month, earth-shaking changes have taken place within the Han Empire, and there have been endless debates and discussions in the court.

The entire Chendu is now in an extremely dull state, everyone's faces are covered with clouds, and there is no smile.

The changes that have taken place in Chendu in the past month are even more dramatic than the changes when the news of the Northern Expedition's failure came.

As long as you are a little more careful, you will find that there are obviously more guards in the Chendu Palace than before, and all the guards in the four cities have been replaced by guards from the imperial army. More and more soldiers are patrolling the streets and alleys, and the interval between their patrols is increasing. getting shorter and shorter.

The people in the streets, squares and cities did not dare to gather together again, and even refused to talk about it as much as possible. As soon as they saw the soldiers approaching, the ordinary people immediately stopped talking and stopped, waiting until the patrolling soldiers came. Dare to act after the pawns have passed.

Three or more people are regarded as a gathering, and they may be interrogated by soldiers. If there is something wrong, they may be taken into the government office for detailed investigation.

In the past month, a large number of messengers on fast horses have been entering and leaving Chendu, and many gorgeously decorated carriages have rushed to Chendu from other places.

Everyone smelled something abnormal, and heavy clouds were lingering over Chen Du.

The child's hour has passed, the crows are silent and the magpie is still, and there is no sound.

As the capital of the Han Empire today, Chendu still implements a strict curfew system.

Outside Ting Wei's mansion, the lights were dim, and there were only two soldiers in Zhajia guarding the door with waist knives.

At the end of the street, several lanterns were floating in mid-air, and they were slowly drifting towards this side. The two soldiers guarding outside Tingwei's Mansion didn't pay much attention to them. They knew that they were patrolling soldiers in Chendu City. City soldiers, during this period of time, Chen Du is really not peaceful.

"Ta Tata..."

The sound of footsteps came from far to near, and a group of fully armed Han soldiers with feathers in their helmets walked slowly past Tingwei Mansion.

The leader of the Han Army Captain glanced at the Tingwei Mansion next to him. At this time, there were several pavilions in the Tingwei Mansion that were still lit, and those pavilions attracted his attention.

But soon the commander of the Han army looked away again, he only needed to ensure the safety of this area, and it was not unusual for the lights to be on in Ting Wei's mansion.

The north wind is swift. Although it is already March, the weather shows no signs of warming up. The north wind blowing is even colder than usual.

Li Cheng stood in front of the window, through the gap of the window, silently watching the group of patrolling soldiers walking slowly on the road.

The changes that took place in Chen Du put him under tremendous pressure.

As Tingwei Youping, he was in charge of the Imperial Prison. In the past month, the number of people in the Imperial Prison was not just a little bit.

Due to the recent changes in the capital, the number of soldiers patrolling the city has doubled, and there is an undercurrent in Chendu.

Several intelligence offices of Yingwei in Chendu were investigated and dealt with, and the blaze and the shrill whistle lingered over Chendu City.

The stern whistle was a warning from him, telling the intelligence office that it was destroyed, and warning those who hadn't been discovered to lurk well.

During this period of time, Li Cheng didn't know whether he would still be on his bed when he opened his eyes after sleeping.

Maybe one day, after his contact person is caught, those embroidered clothes envoys will rush into Tingwei's mansion to arrest him, and put him in the dark prison.

Every time Li Cheng heard that shrill whistle, it was difficult for Li Cheng to keep calm.

But he had to keep calm, and if he was spotted, it would be the same to wait for his end.

The identity of Tingwei Youping can't protect him, and Wang Yun won't protect him either.

After staying in Chen Du for so many years and having been immersed in the imperial court for a long time, Li Cheng knew very well that he was just a pawn in Wang Yun's eyes, who could be kicked away when he was useful and useless.

The footsteps gradually faded away, and Li Cheng waited until the team of patrolling soldiers completely disappeared at the end of the road and the light completely disappeared in front of his eyes, then he looked away.

Turning around and walking back to the table, after a moment of silence, Li Cheng took out a piece of clean silk from his sleeve, put it on the table, and then slowly began to grind ink.

As the candle was flickering, Li Cheng picked up the brush and dipped some ink in it, looked up at the latch of the door, and dropped the brush.

"In the third year of the Ming calendar, on the first day of March..."

With one stroke, Li Cheng slowly wrote everything he knew on the silk.

So much happened this month.

First, the Son of Heaven issued an edict to build military academies in various places, requiring middle and lower-level military officers above the rank of the team and below the commander of the army to go to the military academies in turn to participate in training.

After that, craftsmen were widely recruited, many people were forced to go to the workshop to help, and the imperial army was expanded again.

This first edict also opened the prelude to the vigorous reform.

Second, further deregulation of the prefecture's power, of course, only in some prefectures and counties. Yanzhou, Qingzhou, and Jingzhou's prefecture's power was strengthened, while Jiaozhou, Xuzhou, Yuzhou, and Yangzhou remained unchanged, and the power still belonged to the central government.

The prefectures of Yanzhou, Qingzhou, and Jingzhou were allowed to open the government, and had the right to conscript, command, and send troops.

Except for a small part of money and food taxes in the state that needs to be handed over, the rest is allowed to be withheld. It has the power to regulate the money, food and grass of the counties and counties to which it belongs, and it is given the power to appoint and dismiss the county chiefs in the state.

At the beginning, Liu Yan used the prestige of assassinating the governor, who could not be banned, and used someone who was not his, so that he rebelled. After he wrote a letter to change the position of Mu Bo, the authority of the state herdsmen in various places has been greatly strengthened.

The reform this time also let go of Xiangyong's mouth. When the Yellow Turbans in Sizhou revived, Lu Zhi led the main force of the Jizhou Army to block the westward advance of the Yellow Turban Army in Sizhou, and there were many troops composed of Xiangyong under his command.

This time, the Han court let go of power again.

The aristocratic families in Yanzhou and Qingzhou were allowed to recruit private soldiers to assist the Han army in defense, and even gave them corresponding military ranks according to the number of people. Of course, the military ranks were not the same as those of the regular army, and they had to obey the command of the prefect of the state during wartime.

The third reform, compared with the previous two, can be described as the most moderate one.

In China, the garrison system is implemented, and refugees are widely recruited as garrison people to reclaim unowned and barren land.

The tuntian system almost copied the tuntian system set up by the Ming court. Diannong officials, Diannong Duwei, Diannong Xiaowei, Diannong Zhonglang generals were set up, not attached to counties and counties, and the harvest was shared with the state. In Yanzhou, Qingzhou, and Jingzhou The three-state harvest is directly divided within the state.

Although the system is similar, the land tax collected by the Han court is much higher than that collected by the Ming court.

Those who use official cattle are divided into six officials and four people, and those who use private cattle are divided equally between the government and the people, but the farm tools are provided by the government.

Farmers in the farmland were not allowed to leave the farmland casually, and they were punished as deserters if they left the farmland.

The military garrison is garrisoned by soldiers, with 60 people as a tun.

Although the first two reforms were a bit drastic, they did not encounter much opposition.

Most of the officers who can enter military academies to study in various places are actually the children of powerful families, and only a small number of officers have really risen from the top soldiers all the way through military merit.

From a small soldier to becoming a village chief or a military lord, it is almost as difficult as climbing the sky in the Han army.

Lu Bu was born in a poor family. He has been in the army for more than ten years. He has experienced hundreds of battles and made many achievements in battle. Even if he is just a military lord, no matter how brave the real big-headed soldier is, no matter how outstanding his military exploits are, the head of the village is only his end. .

The second reform is to increase the power of the prefectural pastor. In addition to the strong dissuasion of some veteran officials in the court, there are voices of opposition, which also demand that they be treated equally, and that prefectures such as Xuzhou and Yangzhou can also open government offices.

However, such a request was naturally not allowed. After all, the three prefectures of Qingzhou, Yanzhou, and Jingzhou let go of their power because the existing military strength and situation of these three prefectures alone cannot cope with the current situation.

The court debates were raging, but no one could stop the implementation of the decree.

The reform of the Han court is not over yet, and Li Cheng's political sense is not bad. He has been an official in the Han court for many years, and he knows that these three laws are just a foretaste. stop there.

Everything takes time. The young emperor who lives deep in the palace has a strategy, and there is a capable man standing behind him. The expansion of the Imperial Army's recruitment is inconspicuous in all the edicts.

Some changes are taking place in Yangzhou and Xuzhou, but Li Cheng doesn't know exactly what kind of changes are happening there.

The infiltration of Eagle Wolf Guards only went to Yanzhou, Jingzhou, Qingzhou, and Yuzhou. Yangzhou, Xuzhou, and Jiaozhou were too difficult to get their hands on.

He just heard some rumors, it seems that Yangzhou and Xuzhou are recruiting soldiers, and Yangzhou, Xuzhou, and Jiaozhou have also added governors.

Yuzhou still does not have a state pastor, but it also has a governor.

It is worth mentioning that the governors of these four states are basically older courtiers, and their stand is also very firm, always standing with the emperor.

The Embroidered Clothes Emissary has developed for so long, and the two sides have fought countless times. With the home court advantage, the Eagle Wolf Guard can only hide in obedience and stand still.

Li Cheng finished writing the last paragraph, put the brush aside, looked at the silk script on the table, and slowly stood up.

He will take advantage of tomorrow to hand over this letter to his contact person, and then send it out of Chendu by the Yingwei in Chendu City, and then travel to many places before sending it to the Northland. It will take at least two months to send it to the north.

Even if it can never be delivered, the roads in various places are now in danger, and the embroidered clothes messengers have almost no cover during this time, and those embroidered clothes messengers in embroidered clothes just walked on the streets swaggeringly.

Li Cheng didn't understand the general trend of the world. He only knew that his task was to convey information and obey his superiors.