Three Kingdoms

Hedong.

Pingyang government office lobby.

In the lobby, almost everyone from Pingyang and Hedong counties was filled with young men and women from various gentry families.

Liu Fu could not help but feel a little emotional as he sat among these gentry disciples.

At first, he thought that there were not many nobles coming to Pingyang, but he was wrong...

Unexpectedly, there were so many other noble clansmen coming!

The Pei family, the Wang family, and other noble families who had cooperated with Fei Qian early and had children in Chang'an or holding certain positions in the Husband's government office almost all sent their children to express their cooperative attitude. And as required, most, or at least half, of the private soldiers were handed over.

On the contrary, families like the Liu family, who sat in Jie County and watched the sky, did not have many people come.

What exactly is this for?

Liu Fu was very confused, but soon his attention was attracted by Sima Yi.

Sima Yi sat in the chief position under Xun Chen and talked eloquently.

"In the past, there was a talk about Shandong's ten victories, but now Yi's situation is not the same, and he also briefly talks about the victory or defeat in Guanzhong." 』

Sima Yi wore a Gebu robe. Apart from the crown, the only decoration on his body was a simple horned dragon jade hanging on his belt, which made him look simple and capable.

Some people rely on external objects to set off their appearance, while some people don’t need external objects as a decoration at all.

Sima Yi was full of energy, like a sharp long sword, but when it was faintly unsheathed, it emitted a bit of cold light.

"The victory in Guanzhong should be divided into five characters: village, people, horses, weapons, and training!" 』

"Everyone knows that food and grass are the most important thing in war, but they don't know that in Guanzhong, Hezhuang has defeated Santun. This is the victory of Zhuang!" 』

"The power of one person is small, but the power of many is great." Although Shandong has learned from the Lord's farming, its shape has not captured its soul. It is scattered and inconsistent, repetitive and redundant. Although there are many people in Shandong and the number of households is more than that in Guanzhong, it is like a mule and donkey driving, with different lengths. If the strength is uneven, the movement will be different, and the movement will be without strategy, which will only increase consumption and cannot be used. 』

Naturally, wars are fought for money and food.

A country without reserves would not even dare to go to war.

Liu Fu naturally understood these principles, but he did not expect that what Sima Yi said at the beginning was very "straightforward", even a little...

how to say?

Perhaps many times before, starting from the Spring and Autumn Period, it was customary to express how just, how benevolent, and forced to fight during battles. But now Sima Yi has not said a word that these are Gao Da. The words above, but the first one describes the primary condition for combat, "money and food".

This made Liu Fu feel a little surprised, but he also felt a vigorous and fresh vitality. Because Liu Fu knew that in this world, whoever is right, who is righteous, and who is moral will definitely win... When the King of Zhou conquers Zhou, the winner will be a prince, and the loser will be a bandit. Whoever wins will be the King of Zhou, and whoever loses will be the King of Zhou. It is King Zhou.

In the past, the big man was secretive, but everyone knew it. Now Sima Yi did not talk about moral words, but started talking about practical matters. This surprised Liu Fu, but when he thought about it carefully, he seemed to think that he should have done it in the first place. So true.

Moreover, the word "zhuang" mentioned by Sima Yi also gave Liu Fu a lot of insights.

Everyone has a manor, regardless of whether it is in Shandong, Shanxi, or outside Guanzhong. The gentry system is probably established in their own manor. However, manors vary in size and system. Feiqian's current economic model is more like a cooperative large manor system, with specialized workshops and full-time workers. Each labor force engaged in it is relatively more in line with the needs of social division of labor.

The Liu family also had a manor, but Liu Fu knew that the items produced in the Liu family's manor were not comparable to the items produced by the Hussars. Many times people in Jie County have no choice, or they choose Liu's products because the ones produced in Liu's manor are cheaper.

No matter what item it is, it has a cost. Most of Huiqi's products, especially agricultural supplies, are of high quality and low price. However, if Liu wants to make the same quality as Huaqi, the cost will be higher than that of Huaqi. The cost of riding is high, even if the price is the same as the items produced by Hussar, you will still lose one piece if you sell one, so over the years, most of the items and tools in Liu's Manor have finally become the unified standard of Hussar...

"Hezhuang is better than Santun..." Liu Fu nodded and repeated in a low voice.

In the lobby, Sima Yi's words continued...

"Second. People win. 』

Sima Yi raised his hands slightly, "It's more important to be able to work together than to have many people." The combination was won by the Yanhuang and defeated by the Manyou. Everyone has his or her own duties, and if everyone does his or her best, he will naturally succeed in his role. In the land of Shandong, people's hearts are divided and each has its own ambitions. It is difficult to control them. If they are divided into groups, now they can win with a combined attack..."

"Third, the horse wins." 』

"Fourth..."

…

…

Chang'an.

Huqifu Yamen.

"She County surrendered. 』

Pang Tong said to Fei Zhen calmly.

Pang Tong calmly took down the three-color flag from Shexian County on the sand table, and then replaced it with a Cao family's flag.

"ah? 』

Feizhen's eyes widened.

"No, this..." Fei Zhen looked at the small three-color flag that was thrown aside, "Uncle Shi Yuan, why..."

Pang Tong smiled slightly and said, "What do you think I should do?" 』

Feizhen pointed at Shexian County, "This... this is land lost!" Uncle Shi Yuan, how come you are so... seemingly unconcerned? 』

"Why should you care?" Pang Tong glanced at Fei Zhen and pointed at the sand table, "As a general, you should not have "women's kindness"...Does the prince know what "women's kindness" is? 』

Feizhen nodded and said, "This is what the Marquis of Huaiyin said. He said that when King Xiang saw people, he was respectful and kind, but his words were disgusting." When a person is sick, he or she will share food and drink with tears and tears. When the person has meritorious service and is entitled to a title, he will not be able to bear it. This is what is called the benevolence of a woman. It mostly expresses a kind heart, which means being indecisive in dealing with things, giving small favors without understanding the general meaning. 』

"Then what is the difference between a woman's benevolence and a man's benevolence?" Pang Tongyi asked while looking at the sand table, "The prince will go to Tongguan in a few days. What will he do then, but he must think carefully about it." 』

"A woman is so benevolent that she doesn't dare to kill?" Fei Zhen asked, "If you hesitate and miss a good opportunity, it will be like not killing Emperor Gaozu of the Han Dynasty at the Hongmen Banquet..."

Pang Tong smiled and said, "It is benevolent not to kill. Haha, this is what the Confucian said... Young Master, may I ask if there are women who kill people?" 』

Feizhen frowned and said, "Women also kill people. Why does Uncle Shi Yuan ask like this?" 』

"In this case, why is it said that women do not kill people?" Pang Tong asked, "What's more, during the Hongmen Banquet, Xiang Yu acted like a man. If Fan Zeng's words were followed, disaster would be imminent." 』

"ah? ” Feizhen rolled her eyes a few times and couldn’t figure it out, so she simply raised her hands and said, “Please ask Uncle Shi Yuan for advice. 』

"The benevolence of a woman is that she does not know the importance of things and is stingy with rewards. It has nothing to do with whether she dares to kill someone or not." Pang Tong said slowly, "Some time ago, someone asked the prince, what would the prince do if Cao Mengde was captured?" If the prince is unwilling to surrender, he will push him and kill him. This statement is absurd. For example, in Xiang Yu's Hongmen, whether to kill or not to kill was not decided by Xiang Yu, but by Gao Zu and current events. 』

"If Gaozu's people are against him and his soldiers are scattered, there is no harm in killing him..." Pang Tong said with a smile, "However, at the time of Hongmen, Gaozu had a hundred thousand people under him, and the coalition of princes was only three or four times that of Gaozu. How could Xiang Yu dare to kill him?" Gaozu? 』

It is a common sense in political struggles that military leaders cannot be killed casually, especially if the army is large and loyal, even if they can be defeated, don't even think about it. Why? There are many warlords in troubled times. If you kill any leader, his brothers will come to settle accounts with you. War is inevitable. If you fight one of them and both sides suffer, fishermen will come out immediately and harvest the remaining blood of both.

During the Hongmen Banquet, the number of Liu Bang's troops was 100,000, and the 100,000 were basically pure troops following Liu Bang, while the coalition forces of the princes only had about 400,000, nominally following Xiang Yu's deployment to destroy Qin, so other coalition forces would follow, but when fighting Liu Bang, the princes only I don't care about you, I even hope that you two will fight. Anyway, the Qin Dynasty has fallen, and now it is time to divide the cake.

In history, Lu Bu was the only prince whom Cao Cao actually defeated and killed directly. Because Lu Bu didn't have many soldiers and horses at that time, and even his generals were disheartened. Killing him would only have benefits but no risks, so Lu Bu was dead.

Even in later generations, Bald Qiang often held Hongmen banquets and killed celebrities with great smoothness, but when he met a teacher, he got stuck. Is this the "benevolence of a woman" among Bald Qiang? No, Xiang Yu was decisive in killing Han Wangcheng and Emperor Yi, but he didn't dare to kill Liu Bang when he encountered an army. Those who will be killed either don’t have a gun or can’t hold the gun firmly...

"Everything in the future will be correct if we deduce the causes..." Pang Tong said with a smile, "Just like someone said at the moment that he knew that Shexian County would be defeated. There are one, two, three and four principles. Is it also very effective?" Xiang Yu's desire can only be solved by killing Gaozu. So the prince's wish can be achieved by killing Cao Mengde alone? 』

"This..." Feizhen frowned. He seemed to understand, but he didn't seem to fully understand.

What happened before the Hongmen Banquet?

Xiang Yu defeated the Qin army in the Battle of Julu, and directly surpassed King Huai of Chu, surrendered Zhang Han and made him king. This made other warlords see the benefits of following Xiang Yu, so they gathered under Xiang Yu in an attempt to gain more There are many benefits, so the "Emerging Generals Group" headed by Xiang Yu, aiming to replace the old kings of the Seven Kingdoms, was formally established.

Liu Bang captured Guanzhong and had the intention of dominating Guanzhong, so it immediately aroused the dissatisfaction of all the "emerging generals groups". Xiang Yu also found an excuse to eliminate Liu Bang, but before preparing for a sneak attack, Xiang Bo leaked the secret...

After Liu Bang knew Xiang Yu's plan, how could he make a sneak attack? Although the coalition forces were large in number, they were relatively loose, and Liu Bang was the prince with the largest number of soldiers. Even if Xiang Yu can eliminate Liu Bang, the loss will definitely be huge. If Xiang Yu loses too much, it will definitely not be conducive to Xiang Yu's future usurpation, and it will not be able to deter other princes, so the military struggle can only be transformed into a political struggle.

So when Liu Bang expressed his intention to follow Xiang Yu as the boss, he was already out of danger.

The Hongmen Banquet is just about Xiang Yu beating Liu Bang, but not actually taking action, and it is impossible to do it. Because what does Xiang Yu want? The purpose is to usurp the throne of King Huai of Chu, become the boss himself, and then enfeoff the princes, dividing the princes from seven into more, so as to make the princes weaker, so that he can eliminate the princes step by step in the future, and finally unify the world. .

What are the prerequisites for achieving the above goals? First of all, this emerging group of generals must support Xiang Yu's usurpation and enfeoffment.

So how to get the emerging generals group to agree and support them? Give corresponding benefits to the princes.

Conferring Zhang Han as king would allow the rising generals group to see benefits, but what about killing Liu Bang?

Everyone also knows that Liu Bang is not guilty, and at the Hongmen Banquet Liu Bang wanted to join the new generals group, and took the land in Guanzhong as a pledge. Killing a hero without guilt will definitely put everyone in danger. If so, the alliance collapses, the enfeoffment fails, and Xiang Yu is certain to lose.

And judging from the Hongmen Banquet, Xiang Yu did the right thing.

The emerging military general group was stabilized, Xiang Yu successfully entrusted the eighteen princes, and became the overlord of Western Chu. The fat meat Liu Bang had eaten was knocked out, re-divided, and exiled to Bashu. The army was reduced from one hundred thousand to thirty thousand. The old system of the Seven Kingdoms completely collapsed and entered the era of division among princes. The world form of "all princes are weak and Western Chu is strong" created by Xiang Yu has taken shape, laying the foundation for unification. This result shows that it is correct not to kill Liu Bang. As for Xiang Yu's subsequent failure, it is another issue, and has nothing to do with the choice of killing or not killing Liu Bang at the Hongmen Banquet...

Pang Tong told Fei Zhen about Xiang Yu's incident as an example, and then asked: "Young Master, how serious is the loss in She County?" What is the core between east and west? What is the fight over now? Is it land, counties, population, or something else? Gaozu's sacrifice to Guanzhong, was it a loss or a gain? Xiang Yu won Guanzhong, why was he defeated again? What is this Guanzhong of the past like today? If the young master can understand this point clearly, he will be able to defeat countless beetles in the world, and he will be the best in controlling them..."

…

…

Taihang Xingnankou.

More than ten miles away from the Xingshan Road in Taihang, surrounded by mountains and rivers, Cao Jun's camps stood up in a row.

Fences and walls made of wood and mud and stone were erected high, and the trenches outside the camp were also widened and deepened. Inside and outside the camp, civilians were busy working, and some soldiers and craftsmen were also participating in the work. From time to time, the military academy would yell something loudly, which was nothing more than asking these laboring soldiers to speed up.

In the distance, a convoy of carriages, horses and baggage was slowly walking along the river.

By the river, the packhorses and packmules that had arrived at the camp were being walked by the soldiers to collect sweat and wash away the mud and dust on their bodies. In the area upstream of these mules and horses, there were also many water-collecting soldiers staggering away with buckets.

In the camp, smoke was already rising.

The army in front of them is the Hanoi Army led by Xiahou Yuan, Zhao Yan and others.

Starting from Hanoi, we headed all the way to Taihang Mountain.

When they set off, they were very impressive, but as they approached the Taihang Mountains, they slowed down. The scouts sent out continuously, but the speed of travel slowed down again and again, and even stopped at the mountain pass. The whole army set up camp and built the camp, as if they were building a permanent military stronghold here in Taihangxing.

Of course, everyone in Cao's army knew that this war was launched to deal with Fei Qian, but since they started to take action, they had to attack the Shangdang quickly with great force and speed, and then solve the problem with lightning speed. How can we delay here?

It's hard to beat the Huguan, so just surround it and see how long the Huguan can last!

On the way, you can also go around its rear and attack Taiyuan or Hedong, completely disrupting Fei Qian's rear. Let's see how Fei Qian faces such a mess in the end!

Now that we are camping at Taihangxing, wouldn't we be handing over the initiative? If Fei Qian got the news and sent troops out to intercept, wouldn't all the previous efforts be wasted?

In fact, it is very simple. Although a single military branch has its own goals, it still has to serve the overall strategy...

In the Chinese army tent in the camp, all the generals and generals had basically arrived, but the main seat was empty, and Xia Houyuan was nowhere to be seen. The atmosphere in the Chinese military tent, which was not too big, was somewhat depressing. Everyone was chatting in low voices, and the topic was all about the next evolution of the situation and the next specific move.

Zhao Yan sat on one side and said nothing. Even if others asked him, he just smiled and said that everything was decided by Xia Houyuan. Others could not ask anything, so they stopped communicating with Zhao Yan. Instead, make your own guesses.

They say everything, but no one is sure. What is the purpose of Xia Houyuan stationed here?

When the voices of discussion gradually became unsuppressible, I heard soldiers outside the Chinese army's tent shouting, "General Zhenxi is here!" 』

All the generals and generals who were sitting on their horses stood up hurriedly, and suddenly the soldiers and armors in the tent clashed with each other, making a clanging sound.

Xia Houyuan strode forward, went straight to the top, turned around and sat down, then waved his hand, "No courtesy, sit down!" 』

Everyone sat down and looked at Xia Houyuan eagerly.

Xia Houyuan did not speak immediately, but glanced back and forth. After a while, he smiled and said loudly: "The Prime Minister has taken Luoyang!" 』

"oh oh! The Prime Minister is mighty! 』

"This is great!" 』

"So worry-free! 』

"..."

For a moment, it was like a thousand waves, and everyone was delighted.

Hanoi and Sili face each other across the bank. From Taihangxing to the south, crossing the river is directly towards Hulao Pass. When Dong Zhuo occupied Luoyang, he cleverly used the Jindu River to manipulate Wang Kuang, the prefect of Hanoi, into his hands.

Xia Houyuan sent Zhao Yanming forward, on the one hand to attract the attention of Luoyang and other parties, and on the other hand to protect Cao Cao's flanks. After all, Xia Houyuan didn't have many cavalry, and they had to be placed in the most important positions. They couldn't easily jump into the enemy formation and be pinned by small soldiers or something.

Now that Luoyang was conquered, it was equivalent to opening the way to Chang'an.

That's right, it's just a passage, not a portal.

The gateway is Hangu Pass and Tongguan Pass.

Although the victory over Luoyang is indeed exciting news, after the excitement, it is not actually such a big victory. Because Yang is really too weak. There are many reasons why Yang is weak, but no matter which one, he cannot be pitied or exempted from damage.

Between countries, weakness is the biggest sin.

When everyone had finished talking, Xia Houyuan nodded, and then said in a deep voice, "Now that the emperor has issued an edict, Fei has ulterior motives and intends to divide the Han Dynasty. People and gods are angry with each other, and the whole world is condemning it!" If you want to end the world's strife, you must fight in Chang'an! If you want to take Chang'an, you should go to the east of the river! If you want to get east of Hedong, you must take Shangdang! Now the Prime Minister is taking the lead to capture Luoyang. Naturally, we should capture Shangdang and decisively defeat Hedong! A good man should have a big heart and an awe-inspiring spirit, and he should naturally fight for the country, the world, and the people! 』

Those present at the military academy have been somewhat depressed since they were suppressed by Fei Qian. Now that they are so aroused by Xia Houyuan, plus most of them are related to the Cao family and the Xiahou family, they are in a hurry. They all stood up, either raising their arms and shouting, or beating their chests to fight, with great momentum.

Xia Houyuan smiled, obviously satisfied with the exciting performance of his men. After everyone cheered for a while, he said in a deep voice: "Everyone, listen to the order!" 』

All the military academies stood in silence.

"Today we will take stock of the equipment and tomorrow we will march to Taihang!" Take Gaoping and conquer Hu Pass! Share the emperor's worries and accomplish great things! 』