Chapter 107 Zhang Chun Rebellion
Two years have passed by in a blink of an eye.
The situation in the country was in chaos, and war was raging everywhere. The war in Xiliang became more and more intense, Jingzhou and Yizhou also started rebellions, and the Xianbei once again brazenly invaded Youzhou and Bingzhou.
There were constant disputes in the court, and the struggle between eunuchs and the gentry had entered a white-hot stage and was extremely fierce. Many officials were maliciously attacked by eunuchs and thrown into prison, and the court was in turmoil.
The Ten Eunuchs were granted the title of marquis for their contribution in the expedition against Zhang Jue, and Zhao Zhong was even promoted to the rank of General of Chariots and Cavalry. Such absurd things are really ridiculous when you think about them carefully.
Two years later, the court is still arguing over the merits of the campaign against the Yellow Turbans, and the atmosphere is chaotic.
However, no matter how the political situation in the world changed, Liaodong seemed to stay out of it, developing steadily behind closed doors.
During these two years, Liaodong easily took over the Korean Peninsula and wiped out the Japanese Islands in one fell swoop.
Hundreds of thousands of foreign tribes surrendered, and with the support of a large amount of copper coins, the infrastructure work in Liaodong was carried out in full swing. Wide and flat straight roads were built between various places, crisscrossing each other, and canals and water networks were spread all over the place.
Today, Tian Ze is no longer troubled by the shortage of copper coins, and Liaodong has regained its ability to be self-sufficient, with sufficient financial resources to attract refugees and purchase food.
In order to prevent Liaodong from being exposed too much to the world, Tian Ze took the opportunity of the Xianbei's invasion of Youzhou to make a prompt decision and directly cut off the trade between Liaodong and the Central Plains, and vigorously strengthened the setting of checkpoints and inspections on the southwestern border.
He just continued to gather refugees and food from all over the world through the channels of the Mi family, and at the same time increased the scale of trade with the Xianbei, purchasing a large number of captives and war horses, cattle and sheep.
The Wuzhong Tian family also completed their migration, firmly established roots in Jiangdong, and successfully established close ties with the Wujun Lu family.
The second "Five-Year Plan" that Tian Ze had planned was successfully completed ahead of schedule in just three years.
The greatest contributors among them were the emperor and Mi Fang.
If it weren't for the emperor's willful behavior, the situation in the world would not have deteriorated to such a terrible extent, and there would not have been so many rebellions and a large number of refugees in various places.
As for Mi Fang, after Tian Ze married Mi Zhen, especially after Mi Zhen gave birth to a son the following year, he was like a chicken with its blood pumped up, and tried his best to recruit refugees regardless of cost.
In just two years, they actually recruited more than million refugees. The number was so huge that even Tian Ze was shocked.
Such a large-scale action almost attracted the attention of the court, but fortunately Tian Ze made arrangements everywhere and spent a lot of money to suppress the matter.
It was precisely because of the sufficient population that Tianze was able to successfully occupy the Korean Peninsula and Wa Island.
The combat effectiveness of the armies in these two places was extremely weak and completely vulnerable. They were even worse than Goguryeo, and there was no pressure at all to attack them.
On the contrary, although Wa Island is just a small place compared with the Han Dynasty, it seems to be slightly larger than Liaodong, resulting in the number of refugees needed being somewhat beyond Tian Ze's initial imagination.
Fortunately, it was surrounded by the sea on all sides and there was no need to worry about foreign invasion. Tianze temporarily resettled 400,000 refugees and was able to barely occupy the place, which was considered a gamble of the family's last assets.
Although Chen Gong and others didn't understand why Tian Ze was so obsessed with such an island, they didn't ask too many questions.
It is nothing more than an extra island. Although it is of little use for the time being, it will have great potential if it can be well developed in the future.
After the second "Five-Year Plan" was completed ahead of schedule, Tian Ze had to convene a meeting again to discuss the matter and added two new targets, Buyeo and Sushen.
This is basically the northernmost region where Han people can live normally.
After occupying these two places and accumulating a certain number of refugees, the next step would be to directly attack the Xianbei and thus completely take over the Northeast Plain.
However, just when Tian Ze Gang had properly resolved the resettlement issue of the Han people on the Wa Island and was making intensive preparations to attack Buyeo and Sushen, Zhang Chun and Zhang Ju, together with the Wuhuan Qiuliju and other tribes, launched a rebellion in Youzhou.
Tian Ze did not expect that even if he sent Gongsun Zan to Xiliang, Zhang Chun and Zhang Ju would still rebel.
But after careful investigation, he realized the reason. In the final analysis, it was the court's fault.
The imperial court recruited elite Wuhuan troops to help quell the war in Xiliang, but not only did they default on food and wages, they also arbitrarily withheld military rations.
The Wuhuan cavalry would certainly not let this go. During their march, they rebelled and returned home. Later, they were encouraged by Zhang Chun, who was dissatisfied with the imperial court, and decided to start a rebellion.
Tian Ze is no longer surprised by the court's speechless and outrageous actions.
The contradictions between the emperor, eunuchs, and noble families became increasingly acute, and the struggle became extremely fierce, seriously affecting the formulation and implementation of various decisions. It was normal for such a thing to happen. No one knew whether this was a farce directed by the noble families in order to cause trouble for the emperor.
After all, rebellions have occurred one after another in various places in the past two years. The emperor's fierce suppression has made the noble families think about replacing the emperor or even changing the dynasty.
Tian Ze didn't care about all these disturbances and didn't want to pay attention to them.
But Zhang Chun and Zhang Ju were simply ignorant of their own danger. While looting Ji, they killed the commander of the Wuhuan Guard and the governor of Youbeiping, and then headed towards Liaodong.
"My lord, according to the latest intelligence, Zhang Chun and Zhang Ju have completely gained the full support of the Wuhuan in the three counties. They are plundering everywhere. They have more than 100,000 followers under their command, and a large force is stationed in Feiru County in western Liaoning."
"Zhang Ju called himself the Son of Heaven, and Zhang Chun called himself General Mi Tian and King Anding. They even arrogantly asked the Emperor to abdicate and ordered the ministers to welcome him."
Tian Ze heard this and said with interest: "They are really arrogant. It seems that these two guys are a little inflated after easily looting Youzhou."
Jia Xu nodded and said, "Zhang Chun is leading 50,000 infantrymen and 10,000 Wuhuan cavalrymen, heading towards Liaodong."
With a disdainful smile on his lips, Tian Ze said, "Didn't Qiu Liju remind him? He is so stubborn that he dares to attack Liaodong."
Liaoxi County is adjacent to Liaodong. As the leader of the Wuhuan in Liaoxi, Qiuliju has dealt with Tian Ze many times. Only he knows how much he has suffered.
Today, the size of the Wuhuan tribe in western Liaoning has been reduced by nearly half compared to before. This is the result of going against Tian Ze.
In order to avoid provoking Tian Ze, Qiuliju had to move his tribe continuously westward, almost reaching Youbeiping County.
"I'm afraid it's impossible to persuade them. After all, Zhang Chun and Zhang Ju now occupy several counties, and they also have the support of Wuhuan in Shanggu, Youbeiping and Liaoxi." Jia Xu said dimly.
"Then let me persuade you." Tian Ze sneered.
"You think you can rise to the top just because you have won over the Wuhuan and plundered a few counties! If you are not afraid of attracting the attention of the court, I will just take down the whole pot for him."
"My lord, please calm down. Now is not the time for us to reveal our strength." Dong Zhao reminded hurriedly.
"I understand. Now that Zhang Chun has taken the initiative to attack, we have to defeat him but at the same time we cannot show too much military force. What should we do?" Tian Ze asked with a frown.
"My lord, according to the current situation of the four counties of Liaodong, it should be reasonable for us to send tens of thousands of troops. But if we only resist as the governor of Liaodong, I am afraid we can only send 5,000 troops, and at most add 3,000 elite Wuhuan cavalry." Dong Zhao said cautiously.
Tian Ze's status and situation in the court was actually quite embarrassing.
Although he had a background of relatives by marriage and eunuchs, the two biggest forces - the emperor and the aristocratic families - were wary of him.
As the General of the Central Army, he did have certain qualifications to mobilize troops from the other two counties, but doing so would inevitably arouse the fear of the emperor and the aristocratic families.
They will immediately realize that the four counties of Liaodong are now firmly under the control of Tian Ze, and Tian Ze is the local emperor of Liaodong.
"Most of Zhang Chun's men are a group of rabble who have been coerced. We are well aware of the strength of the Wuhuan cavalry. Even if there are only 8,000 elite soldiers, it will not be difficult to defeat them." Xun You analyzed calmly.
"But what should we do after the defeat? If the imperial court knew about it, it would surely order us to continue our march and capture Feiru." Tian Feng raised the key question.
"Then we can only fight a battle in which both sides suffer losses, or win by defending to show our lack of strength." Xun You said.
Tian Ze, Xun You and others are actually a bit troubled by Zhang Chun's attack.
I'm just trying to develop myself here, why are you joining in the fun? Your strength is not worth mentioning at all.
Although they have the ability to easily overturn the opponent, they cannot do so.
The lesson of Dong Zhuo is right before our eyes.
If the imperial court noticed Tian Ze's "unstable factor" and used the method of promoting him in public but demoting him in secret, arranging a nominal position for Tian Ze and transferring him away from Liaodong, Tian Ze would be in trouble.
There are still two years before Emperor Ling's death. We cannot completely turn against the court so early.
(End of this chapter)
