Chapter 30 The Great Trend

As Cao Yudong fled to Jizhou, only Xin Bi himself was left in Bingzhou.

Wei Yan and Zhang Fei met successfully outside Jinyang City. The two have not seen each other for nearly two years. When they met, they were very happy. They joked with each other in kind, and joined hands to join hands to join in the tent. Wei Yan is now a general of Liao, and naturally he can't match Zhang Fei's rank, so he has to obey Zhang Fei's dispatch. Although Zhang Fei is old, he is not foolish and does not regard Wei Yan as his subordinate. He laughed: "Let's discuss it."

In fact, there is nothing to discuss about the attack on Jinyang City. It does not work for Xin Pi, and the only way to say it is to attack the city. Zhang Fei sneered: "There are few people in Jinyang, and our army has many soldiers. He attacks from all sides. He is just an iron walnut. I don't believe it can't be smashed." Wei Yan slapped: "That's it!"

Jinyang is not an iron walnut. Without Cao Yu and Cao Zhao's central army, the military strength in Jinyang City was seriously insufficient. In fact, Liang Xi was in Japan, and Bingzhou was not weak, and his strength was not weak. After Lord Xinpi eliminated the alien races in Bingzhou's army, his strength dropped by more than half. In addition, a few days ago, when Xinpi, a wise man, boldly blocked Zhang Fei, was attacked by Zhang Fei, who was unreasonable, rules and rules, and did not follow the routine of weapons. He wanted to swallow the bones and scum. In addition to Zhang Fei, a giant, he was repeatedly rebelled and attacked by the Huns to cover Cao Yu and others to leave, and the casualties were very heavy. At present, there were only less than 10,000 people left in the entire Jinyang City. Among these 10,000 people, who were truly dedicated to the country, and like Xinpi, they wanted to die with the city, but they were afraid that even a thousand people would not be able to reach.

Zhang Fei stood majestic on the high platform outside the city. With a wave of his hand, the Han army shouted in unison, and the tide rushed to the four gates of Jinyang. The arrows that thrust over the sky and flew up the city wall to suppress the defense of the Wei army. The dense rain of arrows made the Wei army unable to raise their heads. Although the Han army brought not many weapons to siege the city, they were successful because of their strong morale and strong military strength. In every position, five or six Han army attacked one Wei army. Within a day, they almost broke through the city gate and entered the city several times. Xinpi personally waved his sword and stood at the top of the city, shouting loudly to boost morale. Guan Feng didn't like it, and suddenly slapped the horse out. Her horse was fast and the arrow was accurate, and she shot away with an arrow, hitting the head of the governor's shoulder. Liang Shi blocked it, otherwise the governor would be stabbed.

A day passed. The Han army continued to attack the city without rest. The people in the city were trapped and horses were exhausted and could not open their eyes. The news of Xinpi's injury spread and it was said that Xinpi was dead and the morale of the army was in chaos for a while.

In the middle of the night, the troops in Xicheng defrauded the camp. Liang Shi personally brought his troops to suppress the enemy. Before he could pacify the troops in Beicheng were in chaos again. Liang Shi was exhausted all night. At dawn, he was about to rest for a while. Suddenly, the East Gate was in chaos. He hurriedly brought people to the whole street. The rebels were like ants, densely packed. There were even forces hidden in Ji Han. While clamoring, they took the opportunity to rush out and shouted wildly: "The heavens are rising. Those who surrender Han will not die!" While opening the East City with the rebels, they cut off the pass and locked the Han army, and let the Han army enter the city. Liang Shi fought hard to kill, but how could the Han army enter the city like a tide. One was lost, his horse's legs were cut off and he fell off the horse. Seven or eight Han soldiers rushed forward. He pressed him to the ground and tied up.

Xinpi knew that the situation was going to go, so he left the governor's mansion and headed straight for the granary. He ordered the fire to light it, but he threw it into the fire and burned himself to death. The Han army then arrived, and the entire army vigorously put the fire in rescue, but hundreds of thousands of stones of grain turned into ashes. Zhang Fei was so angry that he screamed and cursed. No matter what, Ji Han still picked the fruit of Bingzhou into his hands.

The news flew to Luoyang (there are pigeons, of course they flew), and Kong Ming and I were overjoyed. Although we knew that we would win this battle, it was beyond my expectations to win so quickly. It took only one month to occupy the entire Bingzhou, which was a huge speed.

I immediately issued an order to grant Wei Yan the title of the governor of Bingzhou, so that he could stabilize the place and resume production. The Li brothers quickly quelled the riots everywhere, compiled the meritorious Xiongnu people and others into the Northern Army, and transferred them to Luoyang. Similarly, the outstanding talents in the Xianbei army also had to find a way to get the Northern Army. This would have three benefits. First, the Northern Army was the strongest unit of Ji Han, and the soldiers were proud of entering the Northern Army. In this way, it would be a win over these two tribes, which seemed to be a priority for Ji Han. Second, if these two tribes lost their powerful generals, they would have more control. Third, if they joined the Northern Army, Ji Han's strength could also be enhanced. Kong Ming listened to my deployment, and just waved a feather fan and smiled. Although he didn't say anything, he could see from his eyes that his meaning was: Your Majesty's words were deeply loved by me.

As for my father and son who valued Wei Yan, although he had never believed in Wei Yan, he would not pursue it at this time.

There was a small episode on the front line, that was, Zhang Bao asked Cao Zhao to duel, which was unfortunately not realized. Ten days later, Zhang Bao waited for a whole day, but did not wait for Cao Zhao. He was so angry that he screamed, saying that Cao Zhao should not be let go. Such a traitor can be killed and not kept. But in fact, he blamed Cao Zhao wrongly, not because Cao Zhao didn't want to come, but because he couldn't come. At this time, he was his "childish-children" good friend, Cao Rui, the Emperor Ming of Wei, issued an urgent edict to transfer back to Yecheng.

Yecheng was already in chaos. Ji Han has seized Huguan, which is only more than 300 miles away from Yecheng, the capital of Cao Wei. There is almost no danger to defend along the way. It is ten times more nervous than when Guan Yu attacked Xiangyang and Cao Cao wanted to move the capital. Cao Wei is now arguing, whether to move the capital again or shrink the front line.

In fact, before the Battle of Weinan and Luoyang, Cao Wei was definitely the most powerful country among the Three Kingdoms, but in history and in this era, he did not have an overwhelming advantage over Ji Han and Dongwu during this period. Even Kong Ming made several northern expeditions, chasing Cao Wei with the strongest cavalry landlords in the world, which made Sima Yi play the trick of sending letters thousands of miles and Xinpi holding the imperial edicts. Although Kong Ming was so brilliant, there was another reason, that is, Cao Wei's strength was not as strong as people imagined. His overall strength was strong, but he established everywhere and his troops were dispersed.

The strength of a country does not entirely depend on the size of the territory it occupies. Indeed, Cao Cao fought in all his life, using his peerless posture. With his incomparable hegemony, he proved that he was the number one person in the world. At the time of the strongest, ten of the fourteen states in the world were his. However, in terms of strength, in addition to territory, it is more about the number of people.

In history, in the sixth year of Jingyao (263), there were 280,000 households and 940,000 households in Shu Han. In the same year, Cao Wei had 660,000 households and 440,000 households. In terms of households, the number of households in Cao Wei was only 2.3 times the number of households in Shu Han. Because Shu Han had gone downhill since the time of Kongming, while Cao Wei was the opposite, the proportion before was only lower than this. In other words, Cao Wei's households were only a little more than twice the number of households in Shu Han, not to mention that the people of Shu Han were originally richer than the Central Plains, and Yizhou was the country of Tianfu, and the wars that were experienced were far lighter than the north. During the reign of Liu Zhang, Yizhou was richer and more luxurious at the time.

The rich family came to the marquis to serve jade food. Liu Bei took Shu. He could also get folk gold, silver and wealth to reward meritorious officials, which shows his wealth. Zhuge Liang took Shu brocade into the state's operation, which greatly increased the government's fiscal revenue. Cao Wei, with more than twice the national strength of Shu Han, had to guard the border line several times the Shu Han area. He had to confront Wuyang and Hefei, and also defend the Wuhuan, Xianbei, Xiongnu and other ethnic minorities and the Gongsun family in Liaodong. This all required a large number of troops. The national military strength of Cao Wei was greatly increased compared with the Cao Cao period, and it was no less than 600,000 at its peak (Sima Zhao wrote: "

Now all the troops can be 500,000, and they can use the masses to attack the few, which will be despised. ", and the internal and external residences are not less than 600,000). In order to ensure national defense, this powerful army must be maintained. However, the national strength is not enough. The national labor force is too small, only twice the number of Shu Han (the army is nearly four times) military expenditure becomes a problem. How to solve it? One solution is to open source and Daxing the military station, so that this army can solve some of the food problems themselves, but the subsequent problem is that the burden of military households is increasing, and the economic status is increasingly lower than that of county households, and the combat effectiveness has declined accordingly, which also led to the Cao

The gradual collapse of the military system of the Wei to the Eastern Jin Dynasty. Another way is to reduce expenditure and reduce fiscal expenditures from all aspects. In addition to strongly admonishing the emperor to prevent extravagance and waste, the ministers of Cao Wei repeatedly emphasized cautious use of troops in foreign policy. Almost every time Cao Wei took the initiative, many people opposed it. This scene was beyond the reach of Shu Han and Wu. They demanded the detention of military force and the reduction of the number of troops, and advocated that distant people would not accept it, and then cultivate cultural virtues. This statement seems ridiculous, but is actually in line with Cao Wei's dilemma in national strength.

At present, Ji Han's national strength is far stronger than Cao Wei. He took Hanzhong peacefully, avoiding the gains and losses of people in history. He defeated Chang'an in one fell swoop, took all the land of Yongliang into his hands, and conquered the ethnic minorities as they had been used, recruiting the southern barbarians, Western Qiang, Xiongnu, and Xianbei for war, with a much stronger number than in history. The border troubles were also much smaller. At this time, Cao Wei also divided the troops into several parts, and had to station troops along the Yangtze River, and the land of the neighbouring should be kept in the west. Ji Han had to guard against the west, and Gongsun in the north should also be careful. It can be considered an enemy of the world, which is actually a death row.

It seems that Cao Wei understood this now. They gave up Jingzhou, but moved the people of Jingzhou, leaving the Eastern Wu empty. They did not fight with Ji Han in Bingzhou, and retreated the troops back to Jizhou. They also vigorously joined forces with Dongwu, trying to reduce their troops in the south and take back more than 200,000 troops laid along the Yangtze River. However, he knew the land too late. Ji Han developed the economy in recent years, and had done his job well in all corners and concentrated all his strength to deal with him. In terms of strategy, he was already at a disadvantage. Although his strength was still strong, his decline had already emerged.

However, Cao Wei's contraction was when Ji Han attacked with all his strength, and opportunities were not always available. Li Mao, Guan Fengyu, Zhuo, did not stop in Bingzhou, immediately sent troops eastward and rushed to Youzhou on the northern route. The third uncle asked Zhang Bao and Guan Xing to attack Jizhou from the middle route and the southern route respectively. The Wei army was shocked and gathered their troops and horses to fight to the death. However, Zhang Bao and Guan Xing were just luring the enemy, but their real killer was on the northern route. With the help of Xianbei and Gongsun Gongzhi, Youzhou had no such general. Only one governor who was fighting for merit and profit was not the opponent of Li Mao and the other three. In just over a month, Dai County, Shanggu and Guangyang counties all entered the hands of Ji Han, and the Han army was approaching my hometown - Zhuo County.

Since I was born, I have never been to Zhuo County, but I have been used to hearing the legends about Zhuo County, especially the lush and lush mulberry tree in my house, which is like a car hood. Although I have never seen it myself, I always heard it in my dreams. In my father's later years, I saw the homesickness in his eyes when he looked at the north. Sometimes, such a person who is so proud of the world, is like an ordinary person, missing everything in his hometown.

I think Uncle San may be the same.

It's almost time to call back to my hometown.

Kong Ming was not as blindly optimistic as me. He shook his head: "Jizhou is the real base camp of Cao Wei. Its combat strength and combat potential are far from what other states can compare to. A few years ago, Cao Pi wanted to move the 100,000 family of soldiers (military households) to Henan at one time, but was persuaded by Xinpi. The 100,000 family of soldiers, that is, the potential 100,000 soldiers. At present, the central army in Jizhou is no less than 150,000. If Jizhou is attacked, there will be no shortage of king-supporting troops in various places.

Within ten to twenty-hundred and twenty-hundred thousand, Cao Wei's total force in Jizhou would reach a terrible 350,000 to four hundred and fifty thousand. This number is something that Ji Han is unable to bear at the moment. Therefore, Your Majesty, we are not yet able to swallow Jizhou in one bite. Zhuo County is located on the plain, with a fertile land and beautiful water. Although it is located in Youzhou, it is no different from Jizhou. It is difficult for our army to capture it. Finally, it is captured. With the strength of Li Mao and Guan Feng and others, it cannot be defended."

I sighed with some disappointment, and used a pen to draw a fork on Zhuo County, canceling the plan to mobilize troops to Zhuo County. Originally, I had the intention to ask my third uncle to return home in glory. After listening to the analysis of the teacher, I realized that I was as frivolous as Xiang Yu. I calmed down: "Then, although Cao Wei lost Bingzhou now, Jizhou's strength is stronger. In other words, they may fight back at any time."

"Yes, it doesn't matter how much territory you occupy. If you can occupy land, you can lose it. Talent is the most important thing. I, Ji Han, have developed too fast in recent years, and the defense line has been stretched too long. Although there are many soldiers, it is not conducive to concentrating troops on attack or defense from Youzhou to Bingzhou to Sizhou to Jingzhou to Yizhou. Moreover, the people's hearts in our newly occupied Sizhou and Bingzhou are unstable, and we need to settle down to continue the attack."

"Did you turn from offense to defense so quickly?" I said a little disappointed, and then shook my head: "The army is in full swing now. Cao Wei does not know the true strength of our army. We are already scared by us. We are all fighting. If we stop, once they recover, it will be even more difficult to attack."

"Your Majesty is inappropriate. With your Majesty's talent, you naturally know that if we are not prepared and only place our hope of victory on the mistakes of our opponents, it is irresponsible to the lives of our soldiers. What's more, some things may not necessarily be obtained on the battlefield."

"How do you say this?"

"Does Your Majesty want to learn the Mianchi meeting between King Qin and King Zhao back then?"

I couldn't help but imagine how Cao Rui played the piano for me, and how he cleverly made him feel Ji Han's pressure and internal instability at the meeting. But he finally shook his head and smiled: "I don't care about meeting him. Unfortunately, from a legal perspective, I am the lord of Han and he is a thief. Unless he surrenders, there is no time to meet."
Chapter completed!