Chapter 109 Governance to secure the army and the people
With the surrender of prefectures and counties and the dedication of towns and cities, the situation in the states south of Zhenzhou has gradually stabilized. However, more and more refugees have gathered here. Many people have heard about it. Due to the situation here, Zhending was regarded as a place of refuge and survival, and people came there one after another.
Most of these refugees come from the four prefectures of Ding, Mo, Tai, Yi, and Ding in the north. These prefectures and counties have always been at the crossroads between the two countries. They have been invaded by wars all year round, their fields are deserted, and their populations have been lost. There are not many in the first place. However, according to rough statistics, there are more than 60,000 people in Nantou this time, which accounts for almost 30 to 40% of the population of the various states.
Although the population has been continuously losing, the sudden concentration of people rushing south is obviously abnormal, and it doesn't take much thinking to guess that it must be related to the Khitan people.
Based on careful investigation and reports from He Fujin in Yingzhou, as well as what he heard from the refugees, Liu Chengyou discovered that tens of thousands of barbarians raided various states, fell into cities, burned houses, and destroyed farmland. They seemed to have given up on these states and counties and shrank northward. The appearance of power.
What was different from the past was that this time the Khitans did not take the Han people as slaves, nor did they even kill many people. They only stole money and food and drove away the Han people.
There was obviously something fishy in the actions of the Khitans. After intensive discussions and collective efforts, the Khitans came to the conclusion that the Khitans were on defense and preparing for Liu Chengyou's army. Between Youzhou and Zhenzhou, A no-man's land was cleared to prevent them from going north to attack Youzhou.
As the Hu soldiers from various states gradually retreated north, Youzhou slowly gathered a large number of troops. Yelu Ruan also used some methods to soothe the morale of the troops, and their morale recovered. In this case, it should be Liu Chengyou who should be nervous , However, it was obviously not simple for Yelu Ruan to issue this order.
Yelu Ruan is preparing to lead his army north to seize the throne of Liao Kingdom! This is the judgment of Guo Rong, Wei Renpu and others, Liu Chengyou also thinks so, which can also explain his strange behavior of destroying the four states.
Originally, if Yelu Ruan could completely take over the Khitan's army to destroy the Jin, with hundreds of thousands of troops in hand, he would have enough strength to control the situation in Hebei. While maintaining coercion, he could also mobilize troops to return to Beijing and seize the throne.
However, after the battle at Luancheng, the Khitan suffered heavy losses and its military strength was greatly reduced. With the strength that Yelu Ruan had at this time, it was impossible to take care of both sides. If he wanted to go north, soldiers and horses were indispensable, so Youzhou's defense will inevitably be weakened.
Although looking at the world situation, it is unlikely that Liu Jun will go north, he has to guard against it. In the eyes of Yelu Ruan and others, Liu Chengyou dared to attack the Khitan army of more than 100,000 troops with 8,000 soldiers. There is nothing else he dare not do. Liu Chengyou sent He Fu into Yingzhou. Even though he adopted a defensive posture, it still irritated the Khitan people in Youzhou. It was really only more than four hundred miles away from Youzhou.
Of course, in order to concentrate on seizing the throne, Yelu Ruan may choose to abandon Youzhou. However, this is obviously impossible. In recent years, the Liao army has been able to give full play to its cavalry advantages, gallop freely, and plunder wantonly. Youyan has a favorable geographical location, and it is advantageous to attack south from a high position.
Such strategic advantages cannot be seen by the knowledgeable people among the Khitan people. Over the years, the Khitan cavalry basically hit the Jin army by pressing their heads and riding on their faces. How could they easily give up the advantage they had gained?
Or, thinking about his country and the overall situation, in order to maintain the stability of the country, Yelu Ruan can be more selfless and express his surrender to Beijing. But obviously, Yelu Ruan cannot do this, so he can only try to ensure You Yan while fighting for the throne. of safety.
Liu Chengyou had no control over Yelv Ruan's thoughts, but he was a little happy to have guessed the general direction of his actions. Although he was an enemy, Liu Chengyou supported Yelu Ruan very much and went north to seize the throne. He had even been thinking about it.
But what has to be said is that the sabotage actions of the Khitans in the four states of Yi, Ding, Mo, and Tai have indeed added great trouble to Liu Chengyou. A large number of refugees came to seek refuge, which brought great pressure to Zhending. Especially the food pressure, there are tens of thousands more mouths, and it is not that easy to satisfy them.
Before welcoming Liu Chengxun, Liu Chengyou devoted most of his energy to managing the army, the people, and the government.
It was not that no one suggested that Liu Chengyou disperse the people who had defected and leave them to fend for themselves. Such things were not uncommon in these troubled times, but Liu Chengyou still chose to accommodate them despite the pressure.
Although the process will be difficult, once you get through it, the rewards will be huge. Not to mention fame and the like, just because of the kindness of the "living person", after this incident, Liu Chengyou will be able to add tens of thousands of fans and influence There will be hundreds of thousands of people. At any time, never underestimate such a seemingly elusive thing as the people's hearts.
Of course, if Liu Chengyou had not seized a large amount of supplies before, which gave Liu Chengyou some confidence, he would not dare to do this. After all, it is difficult for a clever woman to make a meal without rice.
Even so, Zhending's food consumption has also accelerated, and even ordinary people have always been in tight supply. For this reason, Liu Chengyou was also worried. While reducing expenditure, Liu Chengyou racked his brains to collect food.
In addition to organizing refugees to go to the mountains and rivers to find food, they also coordinate with the governors of other states and the generals to transport food for support. Although life is also difficult in various places, they can always provide some support to Zhending. Most of the newly attached state generals He wisely gave Liu Chengyou some face and gave him some support. At the same time, he borrowed money and food from wealthy families in private Wubao and manor houses.
Even after being exploited and plundered by the Hu people, the landlord's family would always have a surplus of grain. Anyone who did not have three or five secret money and grain storage warehouses was not a qualified landlord. Compared with the barbarians' rough robbery, killing people and stealing goods, Liu Chengyou's methods were naturally very gentle. , very reasonable, and only need food.
If it is said to be a borrowing, it is a borrowing. Several "food envoys" were sent out with IOUs stamped with Liu Chengyou's seal to find large households to borrow. Because the IOU was blank, when borrowing, fill in the amount, and people would shout The "white strip".
However, Yelv Deguang's previous policy of "borrowing people's wealth" caused people in various states to suffer deeply. Liu Chengyou did it again. Although it was borrowing, it was still not happy. Therefore, there were many "anti-borrowing" policies. "Case.
During this process, it was natural for some soldiers to rob and oppress them. Liu Chengyou seemed to have been prepared for this, and decisively arrested and beheaded all the soldiers who violated military discipline. Afterwards, he publicized it vigorously. After this incident spread, the officials and the people praised it, and the issue of food distribution became much easier.
Liu Chengyou did a very good job in this matter. It can be said that he succeeded in borrowing food, settling the people, and establishing prestige. At the same time, he once again corrected military discipline and frightened the three armies. Although the previous expansion of the army was improved, the Longqi Army's The overall quality has definitely dropped.
Although those Jin soldiers were originally Shi Jin's forbidden troops, their military discipline was far from good. Although it had improved in the short period of time after being annexed, it was far from strict. In order to stabilize the morale of the army, Liu Chengyou used appeasement to wait for the situation. Stability, through strict order in the matter of food supply, the three armies are in awe.
The family had plenty of food and did not panic. With the help of civil and military officials, Zhending always maintained a stable situation. In the process, Liu Chengyou's political ability was greatly improved.
Although he was very tired, Liu Chengyou enjoyed the feeling of coordinating hundreds of thousands of soldiers and civilians.
If you can't govern the state, how can you govern the world? This is Liu Chengyou's firm idea before. In Zhending, he has gained enough experience.