Chapter 237 The land is lost and the people are lost, and both the people and the land are lost.
It can only be said that the Gaoche tribe that originally besieged Gaoping City was also a mob. The one thousand cavalrymen brought by Murong Shaozong only charged twice, and they were frightened and scattered, leaving many livestock behind and escaping in vain.
Yu Jin is as his name suggests, he is very cautious when fighting.
Although he had known Murong Shaozong for a long time, Yu Jin still meticulously checked Murong Shaozong's talisman before finally opening the Gaoping city gate.
Gaoping City cheered as reinforcements finally arrived, but Yu Jin was still worried behind his smile.
Yu Jin held a banquet in the city to entertain Murong Shaozong who led the troops to rescue. After the banquet, Yu Jin asked Murong Shaozong in the secret room of the county governor's mansion:
"Shao Zong, what did the general say?"
Murong Shaozong said, "General, tell Governor Yu to release Hu Chen."
Yu Jin did not show any surprise, which made Murong Shaozong admire him very much.
Each of the generals under Su Ze has his own characteristics in leading troops.
Murong Shaozong was good at defense, good at using force to overwhelm the enemy, and defeating the enemy through numerical advantage.
Hou Jing was good at surprise attacks. His talent was that he could identify the weak links in the enemy's formation and was good at using unexpected forces to seize opportunities on the battlefield.
Hou Jing's subordinates were a group of arrogant and brave generals, and they were often able to defeat the larger force with a smaller one.
However, Su Ze also commented on the two of them, saying that Murong Shaozong was too conventional in fighting and needed better logistics and preparation to win.
Hou Jing believed too much in attack and surprise attack, and once he encountered setbacks, he would suffer a devastating defeat from which he could never recover.
Only Yu Jin can be said to be good at both offense and defense, and is a master of military strategy second only to Su Ze.
Murong Shaozong also admired Yu Jin.
When it is appropriate to defend, Yu Jin is always cautious, but once he is in a disadvantageous position, Yu Jin will take the initiative to create opportunities.
Yu Jin in history was such a strategist.
In the historical timeline before Su Ze traveled through time, during the first Six Garrisons Rebellion, Yu Jin served under Guangyang King Yuan Shen. He used his talent for speaking the Hu language to persuade the newly emerging Tiele tribe on the grassland and defeated the Six Garrisons Army of Po Liu Han Baling.
Murong Shaozong didn't understand Su Ze's plan and why he wanted to release Hu Chen.
However, Yu Jin, whose strategic level was similar to Su Ze's, immediately saw through Su Ze's intention.
Murong Shaozong looked at Yu Jin, wanting to hear his explanation.
"In war, it's not the case that the more territory you occupy, the better."
"General Su once said when he was conducting military operations, 'If you keep the territory but lose the men, you will lose both the men and the territory.' This is a very true saying!"
"The people of Gaoping County are not in the court. Detaining Hu Chen will only make the conflict more intense. Sooner or later, someone will stand up again."
"It's better to release Hu Chen. Anyway, the area of Hu Chen's tribe is not under my control. Let him make trouble."
Murong Shaozong asked in confusion: "If that's the case, and if Hu Chen can be released, why did the general let Yu Junshou control Hu Chen as soon as he arrived in Gaoping?"
Yu Jin said:
"This is a different time. I have just arrived in Gaoping. If I don't control Hu Chen immediately, I am afraid I won't be able to control Gaoping City. Imprisoning Hu Chen for half a year has bought me some time."
"Now that Gaoping City has surrendered, as long as Hu Chen is not a fool, he will not attack Gaoping City. As long as the connection between Gaoping County and Hezhou is maintained, Hu Chen will not be able to completely control Gaoping County."
"We don't have enough troops, so we can only defend Gaoping City and wait for the situation to change."
Yu Jin sighed and said:
"If I had 5,000 more soldiers, I would be confident that I could wipe out Gaoping County, but now I have too few soldiers."
Murong Shaozong also sighed.
It was after receiving Su Ze's order that he handed over the defense task of Xincheng to his deputy Wang Hui, and led a thousand cavalrymen to attack Gaoping City to rescue Yu Jin.
There is no way. The territory has expanded so much that Su Ze does not have many elite soldiers available.
Yu Jin added:
"Hu Chen is just an average guy, not a big deal. But his subordinates Wanqi Chounu and Su Qinmingda are indeed talented. We can release Hu Chen, but we can't release these two."
Yu Jin added: "But if Hu Chen still has any brains, he will definitely not attack Gaoping City. I estimate that he will most likely attack Jingzhou."
Murong Shaozong asked in confusion: "Jingzhou?"
Jingzhou is located south of Gaoping and east of Qinzhou, and is named after the Jing River which flows through the state.
Jingzhou is connected to Qinzhou and Yongzhou in the south, Huazhou in the east, and is located in the Jingshui River basin. It is much richer than Gaoping County, a poor county that was once a military town.
On that day, to the surprise of Hu Chen's tribe, the government army won the battle under Gaoping City and released Hu Chen, the Gaoche commander who had been imprisoned for half a year.
Hu Chen, dressed in rags, looked at Gaoping City with hatred and returned to the tribe surrounded by his fellow tribesmen.
Hu Chen hated Yu Jin deeply, so after returning to the tribe, he raised the flag and started a rebellion as expected.
Hu Chen called himself King of Gaoping, gathered the Hu people and generals in Gaoping Town, and announced that he would rise up in response to the call of Qin King Hou Gang and rebel against the court.
But surprisingly, after Hu Chen rebelled, he did not attack Gaoping City, the administrative capital of Gaoping, but led his troops southward, preparing to attack Jingzhou.
Now Murong Shaozong admired Yu Jin even more. As he expected, Hu Chen did attack Jingzhou.
After Hu Chen led the tribe away, Yu Jin carefully sent out troops to control the area in the northern part of Gaoping County, opened up the passage to Hezhou, and connected the territory with Su Ze's territory.
Immediately afterwards, Yu Jin apologized to the court and reported the news of Hu Chen's rebellion.
After a while of busy work, the situation stabilized, and Murong Shaozong asked Yu Jin for advice:
"Grandmaster Yu, why do you expect Hu Chen to attack Jingzhou?"
Yu Jin said:
"There are several reasons. The first is that Hu Chen was imprisoned during his time there. He also knew that Gaoping City would be difficult to attack. He had just started his army and needed achievements and prestige. He would not fight me to the death under Gaoping City."
"Secondly, the people's resentment in Jingzhou is greater than that in Gaoping. However, there are no powerful nobles in Jingzhou who can lead the army to rebel. Hu Chen announced an attack on Jingzhou, and Jingzhou will soon be in chaos."
Murong Shaozong asked in confusion:
"Jingzhou is much richer than Gaoping County, so why is it so alienated from the court?"
Yu Jin sighed:
"It's because of the former Jingzhou governor Xi Kangsheng."
Murong Shaozong had once returned to Luoyang with Su Ze and had heard of Xi Kangsheng. He asked:
"Is it Xi Kangsheng, the current General of the Right Guard? Isn't this old general brave and loyal to the court? Did he do anything when he was the governor of Jingzhou?"
Yu Jin sighed and said:
"General Xi has made contributions to the country, but when he was the governor of Jingzhou, I don't know if it was because he had committed too many murders as a military commander, so he built a large Buddhist temple in Jingzhou."
"Xi Kangsheng was appointed governor of Jingzhou after suppressing the rebellion of the monks in Jingzhou. He killed many of the monks' children. Later, he could not sleep well while serving as governor of Jingzhou. He dreamed that he would fall into the Avici Hell after his death. So he recruited the people of Jingzhou to excavate the North Grotto Temple and the South Grotto Temple."
Yu Jin himself was also a Buddhist, but he was also disgusted by Xi Kangsheng's wasteful and endless mobilization of manpower to excavate cave temples. Among them, the North Cave Temple was the largest, with 300 caves and niches! The number of Buddha statues was even more crazy, reaching more than 2,000!
Although this number is not as large as that of the Dunhuang Grottoes, it should be noted that the Dunhuang Grottoes were excavated as early as the Former Qin Dynasty.
The North Grottoes Temple was started to be excavated during Xi Kangsheng's tenure as governor, and was completed in just five years.
During this period, countless people were conscripted to perform labor, and countless craftsmen died of exhaustion in the grottoes. In order to carve this grotto, the people of Jingzhou were brutally exploited by Xi Kangsheng, and they had to pay both money and labor.
So even after Xi Kangsheng was transferred back to Luoyang, no one dared to serve as the governor of Jingzhou, and the affairs of the state were handled by Jin Wei, the deputy governor of Jingzhou.
It can even be said that it is incredible that Jingzhou has not rebelled yet.
-
Accompanied by his guards, Su Ze was patrolling the countryside of Liangzhou on horseback.
Closely behind him followed Su Bei (Daxia Dragon Bird Guard), and after that came the elite cavalry guards. Su Liang and Yang Kan were also wearing light armor, following Su Ze on horseback.
Behind Su Bei was Lu Xiuning, who was wearing a mask. Lu Xiuning had been becoming more and more confused these days.
None of the things she had imagined happened. Su Ze seemed to be busy with official business and seemed to have forgotten about her.
But it cannot be said that he had completely forgotten. Every time Lu Xiuning turned around or knelt with her back to Su Ze, she could feel Su Ze's burning gaze.
But Su Ze only touched her occasionally. At the beginning, Lu Xiuning would slap Su Ze's hand away, but she gradually got used to it. Sometimes, she even felt a little disappointed when Su Ze was busy and didn't touch her.
Lu Xiuning even began to doubt whether she was too ugly?
There is no way. Lu Xiuning has set her ambition since she was a child that she will not marry anyone other than a hero.
But after meeting so many people, Lu Xiuning had to admit that Su Ze was the person who currently best met her standards of a hero.
He was a good fighter and easily defeated his grandfather and various powerful enemies.
He was respectful to wise men and readily accepted the suggestions of his subordinates, and his subordinates treated him like a god.
The soldiers supported him, the nobles feared him, and the enemies terrified him.
If this isn't a hero, then what is a hero?
But this is different from the heroic encounter I expected?
Lu Xiuning is always worried about gains and losses, and Su Ze is no longer a novice in love, so he naturally knows clearly about her change of mind.
But Su Ze did not act immediately, also wanting to experience this feeling.
If you are just attracted by Lu Xiuning's beauty, there are many women who are prettier than her.
Isn’t it this feeling of pulling that we enjoy?
However, Su Ze brought everyone out today not to play emotional games with Lu Xiuning, but to inspect the land situation in Liangzhou.
After seeing it in person, I found that the situation in Liangzhou is really bad.
It is now September and the latest autumn harvest has been completed.
However, after the autumn harvest, farm work is still busy.
Some grain needs to be dried and stored over the winter, so baskets are set up in the fields and the grain is spread on them for autumn drying.
In addition to autumn drying, now is also the time when fruit trees are ripe.
Hanzhong is particularly suitable for growing jujube trees. Not only in orchards, but also on roadsides, many jujube trees are planted.
Su Ze and his party were resting on the side of the road. The guards picked some dates from the side of the road, washed them and gave them to Su Ze.
Su Ze handed a few dates to Lu Xiuning. She took off her ghost mask and took a bite. The sweet juice melted away her fatigue from riding. Her high ponytail fluttered. Su Ze knew that this was her reaction when she ate something delicious, so he grabbed a date and started eating.
Lu Xiuning glared at Su Ze. This bastard made her taste the pain again!
Su Ze didn't care. At this time, Yang Kan and Su Liang also came over with dry food. Su Ze didn't care. He just asked his guards to spread a marching blanket on the ground and sat down on the ground.
This sitting posture is indecent. Sitting on a stick is considered as the sitting posture of a vulgar warrior. Su Liang and Yang Kan are both ordinary people, and they both kneel down in a proper manner.
In fact, in this era, there were already stools, and people also had easy-to-carry stools, but Su Ze was used to sitting directly on the ground.
"Whose fields were these just now?"
Yang Kan said:
"It is the farm of the Yang family in Hanzhong."
"The Yang family? But they are the family of Yang Song, Zhang Lu's strategist?"
Yang Kan was a little surprised that Su Ze knew so much about history and didn't look like a crude warrior at all.
Yang Song was once Zhang Lu's counselor. His family had been the most prominent family in Hanzhong since the Han Dynasty.
When Cao Cao was conquering Hanzhong, Yang Song, in order to collect his gold and silver, first murdered Pang De and forced him to surrender to Cao, and then became Cao Cao's accomplice and broke through the city of Nanzheng, whereupon Zhang Lu surrendered to Cao Cao.
However, because Yang Song betrayed his master for fame and fortune, Cao Cao ordered him to be beheaded in public as a warning to all.
Although Yang Song died, his younger brother was commended by Cao Cao. After so many years, the Hanzhong Yang family is still passed down to this day.
This is a problem that has not been solved since the Cao Wei period.
The rulers above have changed countless times, but the powerful families below are still there.
These powerful families may change, some will decline, and some will rise, but the problem of powerful families controlling local areas has not been resolved.
The rulers and the powerful families made peace and offered prices to bribe each other. Liangzhou, a region sandwiched between the Northern Wei and Southern Liang, did not expand because of the wars between the North and the South. Instead, it became stronger by jumping back and forth between the two sides.
The Yang family of Hanzhong is a good example. During the late Han Dynasty and the Three Kingdoms period, they experienced the rule of Zhang Lu, Cao Cao and Liu Bei, but the family's power remained undiminished and has continued to this day to become the foremost family in Liangzhou.
Yang Kan recalled the documents left by his father and introduced them to Su Ze:
"There are two major tyrants in Liangzhou. One is the Han Chinese tyrant of Hanzhong Yang clan, and the other is also surnamed Yang, the Baima Di clan near Wuxing."
Su Ze immediately said:
“But Wu Xingyang, who founded Qiuchi State?”
Yang Kan nodded and said, "Qiuchi State was founded and destroyed several times. The most recent one was 20 years ago when my father conquered it. The ruler of Qiuchi was sent to Luoyang and beheaded. However, the Baima Di still live in the mountains near Wuxing, and are now growing stronger day by day."
Qiuchi State was a small and powerful regime in the Hanzhong area. It was established five times and destroyed five times, and continued to cause trouble until the Sui and Tang dynasties.
When Su Ze attacked Wuxing County before, the Baima Di did not participate in either side, and after the war they sent people to express their submission to Su Ze.
However, the Yang family of Hanzhong was less respectful. When Su Ze visited Fu Shuyan in Nanzheng, the Yang family of Hanzhong did not send anyone to pay them a visit.
The purpose of Su Ze's trip this time, in addition to investigating the farming conditions in Liangzhou, was to take a look at the wealthy families in Liangzhou.
(End of this chapter)