Chapter 191 Military training in the river valley, a sword hidden in a smile
Follow the Han River all the way east, then block the water from a tributary of the Han River and turn south, arriving outside Shangyong City in less than a day.
Like Xicheng, Shangyong is located next to the water blockage, and the city is built next to the water.
Due to this feature, Shangyong City is surrounded by water on three sides. The walls that serve as Shangyong City are not earth and rocks, but water rails.
Historically, after Mengda occupied Shangyong, in order to repair Shangyong's city defense, he expanded the water fences on three sides of Shangyong into water fortresses as a way to maintain long-term peace and stability.
Unfortunately, when Fangling City, the gateway to the east of Shangyong City, fell, the so-called water siege defensive measures did not play a big role under Sima Yi's offensive.
When Mi Yang led the army to the outside of the water barrier, he saw Shangyong City surrounded by water barriers. He said to Deng Aiyan on the side:
"Mediocrity cannot serve as a place of governance."
This sentence shows that Mi Yang has the intention to move the seat of Hanxing County to another place.
Historically, Liu Feng and Meng Da placed their main garrison in Shangyong City. The biggest reason was that they only wanted to protect the three eastern counties.
Shangyong is located between Xicheng and Fangling. There are two cities serving as east and west guardrails. The terrain is the most dangerous and it is the most suitable place for their governance.
But Mi Yang's ideas are different from theirs.
Mi Yang wanted to be proactive. Hanxing County was a base for his future Northern Expedition, but it was also a springboard for his future Northern Expedition.
Under this idea, the best way is to move the administrative office to Xicheng or Fangling.
Xicheng is close to Ziwu Valley, and Fangling is close to Nanyang. They are both relatively good directions for advancing troops.
Facing Mi Yang's words, Deng Ai naturally understood Mi Yang's thoughts. He said to Mi Yang: "What the Lord Fu said is true."
"However, we need to wait until the Shen brothers are wiped out before making any plans."
Deng Ai's words made Mi Yang nodded slightly.
Unless the Shen brothers are eliminated, it will always be a hurdle that he cannot get around.
At this time, Mi Yang stood on the building boat and looked not far outside Shangyong City, there was a valley washed out by the blocked water.
He saw that although the valley was surrounded by mountains and forests, the road leading outside was not narrow due to the water blockage, which was conducive to the entry and exit of large armies.
Moreover, its internal space is quite large. Although it is not as large as some large river valleys, it can accommodate more than 10,000 troops.
After Mi Yang saw that place, he pointed to the valley and said to Deng Ai, "Starting from tomorrow, Shi Zai and Bo Qi will train in that valley."
Under Mi Yang's instructions, Deng Ai also looked towards the valley. He was well versed in the art of war and saw the geographical advantages of that valley.
Although the river valley is located in the mountains and forests, it does not have only one passage.
In this river valley, you can prevent interested people from investigating.
And because there is a road leading outside in the river valley, the terrain is wide, which is conducive to the deployment of the army.
In addition, there is not only one external passage, so there is no worry that the enemy can guard the passage in the river valley and trap more than 10,000 troops in the river valley.
Moreover, there are many streams in the river valley with sufficient water resources, making it a good place for garrison training.
There are two things to avoid when a large army enters the valley. The first is insufficient water, and the second is the narrow mouth of the valley, where it is easy for the enemy to be trapped in the valley.
Now that river valley has neither of these drawbacks, it is indeed a good place for military training.
As for why we did not choose to train in Shangyong City, it is because normally the best place to train is in the wild.
The terrain in the wild is complex and is closer to the real situation of the actual battlefield. Training in the wild can help recruits grow quickly.
Historically, during Zhuge Liang's Northern Expedition, there were many newly recruited soldiers in the army.
So he camped outside Yangping Pass in Mianbei, implemented military administration and martial arts, and trained his soldiers in preparation for the Northern Expedition.
After deciding where to train the troops, Mi Yang led a group of cronies and five hundred troops and headed towards Shangyong City.
While Mi Yang was away, Shen Dan, who had temporarily assumed the post of acting prefect, was leading a group of county officials to wait for Mi Yang outside Shangyong City.
After Shen Dan saw Mi Yang appear, he quickly stepped forward to Mi Yang, bowed to him, and handed the prefect's seal ribbon in his hand to Mi Yang.
Mi Yang asked Lu Yi who was standing aside to take over the seal ribbon, and then he, Shen Dan and a group of staff from Shangyong City entered Shangyong City.
The humble look on Shen Dan's face did not seem to be fake. On the one hand, he led Mi Yang towards Shangyong City, and on the other hand, he told Mi Yang about some political events that had happened in Hanxing County recently.
Mi Yang mostly listened to these political affairs as jokes.
No matter how loyal Shen Dan is to Liu Bei, or how reverent he is to himself, his position will not change.
Xicheng is Shen Yi’s headquarters, and Shangyong is Shen Dan’s headquarters.
For Shen Dan, how could he inform Mi Yang of the true situation in his base camp?
As for Shen Dan, he also presented a household registration and land register. Mi Yang could only take a look at this water-filled register.
After Shen Dan led Mi Yang to the prefect's mansion in Shangyong City, Shen Dan immediately led a group of staff from the prefect's mansion to formally pay homage to Mi Yang in the hall.
After leading many of his subordinates to pay homage to Mi Yang, Shen Dan respectfully presented a list of all the officials in the current prefecture. Mi Yang became slightly interested in this list.
Unfolding the bamboo slips in her hand, Mi Yang focused all her eyes on the list.
Under Mi Yang's gaze, the atmosphere in the entire hall fell into silence.
The officials in the hall looked at the courtiers on duty behind Mi Yang. Among those courtiers, they saw Meng Da, who had previously been in Shangyong City and was only below Liu Feng.
When they saw that Meng Da, who had previously held a high position of power, was still standing behind Zhang Yi and others, they couldn't help but become very curious about Deng Ai, Zhang Yi and others behind Mi Yang.
Although people like Deng Ai, Zhang Yi, Ding Feng, and Ding Feng were not from very good backgrounds, their appearance was quite in line with the aesthetic standards of the world.
As for Lu Yi, who had received a good education since childhood, he was dressed in loose clothes and sleeves, and looked like a celebrity.
Without understanding the people behind Mi Yang, all the officials in the hall could only judge people by their appearance for the time being.
After judging people by their appearance, they discovered that the figures behind Mi Yang were all extraordinary.
Also, if Mi Yang is famous, why would he appoint some mediocre people as his subordinates?
It can be said that most of the staff in the hall are Shen Dan's confidants.
But at the same time, they have been in officialdom for many years and have unusual talents in observing people's opinions and making decisions based on the situation.
Because of their respect for Mi Yang, they did not easily despise Mi Yang and those behind him.
The staff turned their eyes to Mi Yang's personal guards who surrounded the hall. Seeing their heavy-backed postures, they felt uneasy in their hearts.
Historically, when a new ruler takes office, if he wants to ensure that the government is governed by himself, the first thing he does is usually recruit his confidants.
Use your own confidants to replace all the officials who were in important positions in the county government, so that you can initially achieve the purpose of controlling the county government.
Under this concept, the staff in the hall looked at Mi Yang staring at the list in deep thought, and they all started to murmur in their hearts.
Mr. Fu, who are you planning to depose?
Under such uneasy thoughts, all the county officials in the hall looked at Shen Dan intentionally or unintentionally.
They hoped that Shen Dan would be able to put in a few good words for them when Mi Yang was making large-scale personnel appointments and dismissals.
But at this time, Shen Dan acted like an old god and didn't care about anything, which made them feel unsure.
While the staff in the hall were in a state of confusion, Mi Yang finally spoke after reading the list.
Mi Yang rolled up the bamboo slip and put it aside. Then he looked at Shen Dan and said, "All official positions are very appropriate."
As soon as Mi Yang said this, not only were the officials in the hall looked surprised, but Shen Dan, who was trying his best to keep a calm expression, also had a trace of confusion on his face.
Mi Yang's words revealed that he did not intend to make large-scale personnel adjustments.
Seeing the changing expressions of Shen Dan and the county officials in the hall, Mi Yang knew exactly what they were worried about.
Compared with the full household registration register, the list of county officials submitted by Shen Dan is full of useful information.
After all, this matter cannot be hidden at all.
Mi Yang has a habit of collecting information, which is to capture key information first. In the county government in charge of the government of a county, there are three most important positions.
One is the captain, who is in charge of the soldiers of a county. The other is the meritorious officer, who is in charge of the promotion of personnel in a county. The other is the chief clerk, who is in charge of all clerical transactions in the county.
And these three positions are currently all held by members of the Shen clan.
After seeing this, Mi Yang knew what the situation was like in Hanxing County today.
It can be said that the political decision-making power of the whole county is not in the hands of him, the nominal prefect of Hanxing County, but in the hands of Shen Dan, the "Shangyong County Magistrate".
This is also the norm in today's places.
For example, as circulated in the previous proverb, Zongzi, the prefect of Runan, and Cheng Jin, the prefect of Nanyang.
Since the two of them can hold the post of prefect, they must also be famous people of the time, with many disciples and former officials.
But in the end, they ended up with one leading Hua Nuo and the other sitting idle. It was not that the two of them did not want to take charge, it was just that the key positions in the county government were controlled by local wealthy families.
Under such circumstances, no matter how famous Zongzi and Chengjin are, they can only end up being ignored in the end.
Now Mi Yang is facing the same situation as Zong Zi and Cheng Jin.
Of course, it is the power of the prefect to remove county officials, but even if Mi Yang now orders that the three positions of captain, meritorious officer, and chief clerk be replaced by his people, without the assistance of a group of grassroots civil servants, what Mi Yang has replaced
Those who go up will inevitably end up being ignored in the end.
The prefect relies on these three positions to rule the county, and those who hold these three positions rely on a group of civil servants to help them perform their functions.
Most of the civil servants in the county are local people.
For local people, they are basically supporters of local wealthy families.
Local wealthy families intervened and even took power with the help of civil servants who supported them.
Civil servants relied on the influence of wealthy families in the local area to serve in county or county governments.
Moreover, they used the influence of wealthy families in the local area to allow county documents to circulate unimpeded in the local area, achieving a kind of "great governance in the county" that has been glorified in history books.
This is a strong partnership and investment relationship.
Under this relationship, a strange political circle of the Eastern Han Dynasty was formed, which went around and around. If the governor from other places wanted to take charge of the entire county, he would eventually need the assistance of the local wealthy families.
As long as this relationship is not destroyed, it will be useless for Mi Yang to place many people into the county government.
Since it is useless, Mi Yang might as well let it go for the time being.
Otherwise, if people are forcibly inserted, not only will it fail to achieve the purpose of controlling the county government, it may also arouse the wariness of the Shen brothers and trigger a strong backlash from them.
After Shen Dan heard Mi Yang's words, although he was surprised in his heart, he was not without joy.
At this time, he remembered Mi Yang's behavior that Shen Yi told him in the letter, and he began to understand Mi Yang a little more.
However, Shen Dan still bowed to Mi Yang symbolically and asked: "At present, most of the officials in the county were originally appointed by Liu Feng.
The prince of the government had not yet arrived, so in order to stabilize the county government, no changes were made."
"Now that your Majesty has arrived, if you want to make any personnel changes, please let me know and I will do my best to help you."
Meng Da, who was behind Mi Yang, heard Shen Dan say this and called Shen Dan shameless in his heart.
When he and Liu Feng took charge of the county, they wanted to change the personnel.
As a result, as soon as they placed their own people into the county government, chaos broke out in the county government in Shangyong City the next day.
In view of this situation, Liu Feng and he finally had no choice but to give up their plan to rashly install their confidants.
As a result, Shen Dan now has the nerve to say that the current official positions in the county were arranged by Liu Feng, which is really confusing right and wrong.
But seeing Shen Dan present, Meng Da did not rush out to reveal Shen Dan's true face.
But although Meng Da didn't say anything, Mi Yang didn't believe a word Shen Dan said.
Although Shen Dan was respectful on the surface, Mi Yang could sense two meanings from Shen Dan's words.
First: rash changes in personnel will cause instability in county administration.
Second: If you want to change personnel, you need his help.
He is worthy of being the patriarch of the Shen family who almost developed the Shen family into a local prince.
Although Shen Dan is not as poisonous as Shen Yi, who hides in the dark and spits out his words, he is like a fox hiding a knife in his smile.
This kind of old fox is sometimes more difficult to deal with than a poisonous snake like Shen Yi.
No wonder Liu Feng and Meng Da were played to death by these two brothers in history. The combination of poisonous snake and fox should not be underestimated.
Facing Shen Dan's hypocritical suggestion, Mi Yang showed a smile on his face, and he followed the flow and said to Shen Dan:
"Since Mr. Shen said so, I have an idea in mind."
After saying this, Mi Yang called Lu Yi behind him and said to Lu Yi: "From now on, Ji Yang will be the county magistrate of Hanxing County."
Facing Mi Yang's arrangement, Lu Yi immediately bowed to Mi Yang: "Yi accepts the order."
When Mi Yang said this, there was a small commotion in the hall.
Didn’t Mr. Caifu have no intention of mobilizing personnel?
When Shen Dan heard that Mi Yang had the intention to make changes to the personnel in the county, a coldness flashed in his eyes.
But then he heard that Mi Yang had arranged for Lu Yi to serve as the county magistrate, and the fear in his heart gradually disappeared.
After Mi Yang appointed Lu Yi as the magistrate of Hanxing County, he said to Lu Yi on the spot: "From now on, Ji Yang will be responsible for the procurement and mobilization of food and fodder for our army."
After Mi Yang said this, not only did Shen Dan's fear completely disappear, but a smile appeared in his eyes.
Resume normal updates.
The third update begins~
(End of chapter)
This chapter has been completed!