The arrival of the new year has added some hope to the lives of the people of Youyan, who have been under the cloud of war for a long time. Although the Han and Liao sides are still fighting fiercely, at least the harsh winter has passed. And, as the south A large amount of supplies were sent to the north to help the people of Youyan, who suffered severe trauma due to the fighting last autumn, received good assistance.
In fact, the Han court needed to support not only the Northern Expedition army, but also the people of various states. In the past few months since Liu Chengyou came to the north, in addition to supervising the military, almost all his thoughts and energy were devoted to appeasing Yan. The local military and civilians, including the people of Xinfuzhou County, most of these people have been under the rule of the Liao Kingdom for twenty years. It is impossible to win their hearts without a lot of effort. .
The most important method was to invite them with benefits and buy them with benefits. Liu Chengyou showed preferential treatment to these newly attached people, such as dividing the land, exempting them from taxes, and abolishing the Liao government. In Gaofang, Song Qi, Song Xiong With the coordinated efforts of the former Youzhou officials, the Youyan states have successfully connected to the Han Dynasty's ruling system.
After a period of contact and inspection of these old officials of Youyan, Liu Chengyou discovered that there were indeed many talents under King Zhao Kuangzan of Yan. Among them, the one whom Liu Chengyou admired the most was the former Chief of the Palace of Yan Wang, Shi Songqi. This person directly He was designated as the Quanzhi Youzhou Prefecture and was responsible for the civil affairs of the entire Youyan area.
From King Yan's confidant to the emperor's lucky minister, Song Qi's career seemed to be getting smoother and smoother. Song Qi also showed great enthusiasm for the emperor's importance, and her ideological identity changed quickly. According to the emperor's political strategy of taking over Youzhou , actively cooperate.
Except for Song Qi and other officials of the King of Yan, Liu Chengyou basically chose to retain the officials from other states, including the Han officials appointed by the Liao State. However, these people had a "mark" on them and would be treated specially in future assessments.
However, like Wang Lin, a local tycoon who had rebelled against the enemy in Shicheng County before, he was directly accepted because of his strong vote. Later, after Zunhua was recaptured by Ma Quanyi, Liu Chengyou personally appointed Wang Lin as the magistrate of Jizhou, and Letting him be stationed in Zunhua City is also a special treatment.
Wang Lin was both satisfied and grateful that the Emperor of the Han treated such a small person like him so well, and his loyalty skyrocketed. In fact, Wang Lin happened to be in the right situation. By chance, the opportunity came, and he seized power and status. , wealth is coming one after another, and nothing can stop it.
There are those who are retained, and of course there are those who are liquidated. One thing is that in the past twenty years of Khitan rule, many loyal Han officials have been cultivated, and naturally they will not show mercy to these people, and they will be investigated and prosecuted. There is no need to worry about finding fault in pushing forward the sentence.
Liu Chengyou would never be tolerant blindly, but his style was to use both strength and softness, kindness and power. By the spring of the twelfth year of Qianyou's reign, the people's hearts and minds in various states were restored, although it was far from being dependent. After all, they recognized the rule of the Han Dynasty.
Compared with the energy and thought invested in civil affairs, the Yan army, which was originally the most feared by Liu Chengyou, was surprisingly successfully solved. During the winter truce and reorganization, the tens of thousands of Yan troops who were originally subordinate to the King of Yan, After they were completely digested and their elites were incorporated into the Forbidden Army, the remaining old and weak were temporarily assigned as auxiliary soldiers and continued to serve in the Han-Liao war.
This was a very direct incorporation and digestion. The original Yan army system was cut into pieces and then completely swallowed up by the imperial court. There was no turmoil before and after.
The reason why Yan Jun's problem was successfully solved was due to many factors.
First, as the leader of the original Yan Army, the King of Yan Zhao Kuangzan was very cooperative. During the recruitment process, he even took the initiative to do work to help appease the soldiers' morale and dispel their grievances. Zhao Kuangzan's actions fully demonstrated his political vision and determination. Since After choosing to submit to the imperial court, he did not make any more reservations. Trying to continue to control the army was such a taboo thing, and it was not something he could do.
And because Zhao Kuangzan was so well-behaved and sensible, Liu Chengyou's wariness towards him dropped to an all-time low, and he even felt guilty. He said to Zhao Kuangzan again, "You will live up to me, and I will live up to you. This time, it was true to the heart. No." With a little hypocrisy.
The second reason is due to the situation and power. Since the war began, the Yan army has carried out a large-scale expansion of its troops, with its strength increased to 40,000. However, in the battle with the Liao army, more than half of them suffered casualties. And after that, as the war developed and The deployment of troops caused the Yan army to be divided into several branches and dispersed throughout the army.
The imperial court wanted to annex them, but they had no choice. In addition, in the process of cooperating with the Han army to fight, a certain degree of friendship developed, and surrendering to the imperial court was the general trend.
Thirdly, with the elimination of Zhao Siwan and his party members, the Yan army has been purged a lot, and the remaining generals are basically inclined to submit to the imperial court. At the same time, there are proper arrangements for generals at all levels after they are incorporated into the Forbidden Army. , for the officers and soldiers below, all treatment is the same as that of the Forbidden Army.
Regarding the handling of the Yan Army issue, it was actually still the same, with both kindness and power. After this wave of digestion, Liu Chengyou's heartache was gone.
Youzhou has been officially promoted to Youzhou Prefecture. Since the Liao army retreated to the west last winter and after arranging the military garrison on Shanyou, Liu Chengyou drove back and has been sitting in the city ever since.
With the beginning of spring, the weather has warmed up, the ice and snow have melted, and the Han army, which has rested for a winter, is about to resume its martial arts and launch a new round of offensive against the Liao army. Even after the name is chosen, it is called "Spring Offensive".
However, at this time, the news from Tokyo made him unable to help but feel angry.
"Ignorant, rotten scholar, short-sighted man, how can he know the long-term strategy of the country, and yet he wants to thwart my grand plan!" In front of the generals, Liu Chengyou rarely lost his composure and scolded him.
The reason, of course, was that Fan Zhi and other ministers jointly signed a letter, hoping that he would take care of the country, not miss the farming season, and withdraw his troops as soon as possible. They also said that people in Tokyo were unstable and hoped that he could return to the court and take charge of the government to satisfy the officials and the people.
In fact, even as far away as Youzhou, Liu Chengyou knew the situation in the DPRK very well. As early as last winter, someone had already proposed the withdrawal of troops. There were so many internal and external ministers, and officials at all levels, and they had so many mouths. , some noise is understandable.
Therefore, for those people, if you have thoughts in your heart, you can pretend that they have not heard you. But Fan Zhi is different. He is the Prime Minister of the government, and every move affects the operation of the government and the direction of the people.
During the Northern Expedition of the army, when the strategy reaches a critical moment, no matter what opinions you have, you should all work together to support this matter. What Fan Zhi should do is to appease people's hearts, unify their thinking, and fully support frontline operations.
However, this time, he actually took the lead and united a group of officials to write a letter to Liu Chengyou. In Liu Chengyou's view, this had violated his bottom line.
Liu Chengyou also understood Fan Zhi's character, and he also believed that the man's comments were out of public interest and not for his own selfish reasons. However, he could tolerate Fan Zhi's uprightness and mistakes, but for him, he always made mistakes at critical moments. , the "ignorance of the overall situation and disregard of the overall situation" shown is very annoying.
Therefore, this is the first time in many years that Liu Chengyou has scolded Fan Zhi without any hesitation. As soon as this statement comes out, it is conceivable that it will cause a political turmoil. Generally speaking, as far as the emperor's recent attitude towards Fan Zhi is concerned, It seems that he can no longer keep up with the emperor's footsteps and is no longer suitable to be the prime minister of the Han Dynasty.
"Now that we know that the Northern Expedition has paid such a heavy price, if we don't take this opportunity to restore all the old lands and drive the Liao army to the north of the Great Wall, how much loss will we have to pay if we come back one day? This account is not even considered. Are you clear?" Liu Chengyou was still full of anger and could not calm down.
Seeing that the emperor was so angry, the generals and ministers present did not dare to say anything for a while. They all looked at their noses and their hearts. It was not until Liu Chengyou calmed down that Chai Rong took the initiative to persuade him: "Your Majesty, please calm down! Mr. Fan and others, It is also for the sake of the country that I can honestly say that they are far away in Tokyo and do not know the situation of the battle ahead. It is understandable that Your Majesty has been away from the court for a long time, which has caused them concern. I also ask Your Majesty to calm down your thunderous wrath..."
