Chapter 470 The power of connecting counties across states
Yuan Tan knew that the most important thing for him now was to obtain Liu Bei's support so that he could stabilize the situation in Yuzhou.
So he said to Zhang Fei: "Although the Daqian army stopped at the border of Yan and Xu, our army lost hundreds of thousands of soldiers in this Central Plains war. The pressure is too great and we need the support of the general. Otherwise, Yuzhou will be annexed by Daqian." !And if Yuzhou is captured by the Daqian Army, then both Luoyang City and Jingzhou will be under attack by the Northern Xinjiang Army!"
Zhang Fei obviously knew this, and he said seriously: "Don't worry, after I return to Xiangyang, I will definitely report the situation here to the general, and let the general fully support Yuzhou!"
Only then did Yuan Tan feel relieved. There was nothing he could do about it. The mess Yuan Shao left for him was really too big. Although Yuan Tan still seemed to occupy a vast territory, everyone was in a dangerous situation. His strength is so strong that without Liu Bei's support, I'm afraid he will be wiped out by the army within three or two years!
After the war ended, Zhang Fei returned to Jingzhou with thousands of remnants of the Jingzhou Army. This made Liu Bei burst into tears. He thought that Guan Yu and Zhang Fei died in Yanzhou, but he did not expect that Zhang Fei escaped.
Under September, Beihai County, Qingzhou!
Half of Xuzhou was easily captured by them. Duan Yun who attacked Xuzhou was also repelled by him. Gao Rou and his army were also sent out by Cao Cao. It can be said that Cao Cao had heard bad news for three months in a row. During this period, Cao Cao I finally heard some good news. Qingzhou finally had a breakthrough from the encirclement of the Daqian Army, and the Qingzhou Army finally had a place to breathe!
At this moment, the guards came to report that Cao Chun was back!
Cao Cao was so excited that he asked the guards to take Cao Chun into the hall. When he saw that it was Cao Chun, Cao Cao was even more excited and hugged Cao Chun and said: "Zihe, it's great that you didn't die in battle!"
Cao Chun said: "Brother Yuan Rang and I were captured by Wang Yong in Yanzhou, but Da Ganjun did not abuse us. We have been detained in Dong'a City!"
Cao Cao was surprised and said: "Yuan Rang is still alive!"
Cao Cao thought that Xiahou Dun had died in the battle, but he didn't expect that he was still alive!
Cao Chundao: "Brother Yuan Rang was also caught by Da Qian's army. The artillery of Da Qian's army was too powerful. Brother Yuan Rang was stunned, and then he was caught by Da Qian's army!"
After Cao Cao calmed down a little, he asked, "Did you escape from Yanzhou?"
Cao Chun said awkwardly: "It was Lei Gong who let me come to Qingzhou. He wanted to make a deal with his brother. He wanted to use eldest brother Yuan Rang, General Yu Jin, Cai Yang, Li Tong and other 17 captains, and more than a hundred military commanders and above. officers in exchange for the families of Qingzhou soldiers captured by the Daqian Army!"
Cao Cao was surprised and said: "Lei Gong is willing to release Yuan and let them come back?"
This was a real surprise to Cao Cao. The experienced commanders in this era were all fighting on the battlefield. Their tuition was a human life. This price was extremely expensive. That's why there were thousands of armies in this era. It is said that a general is easy to come by but hard to find. If Da Qian really releases Cao Cao's captured officers, then for Cao Cao, he can rely on these experienced officers to quickly form a large army, and the combat effectiveness will not be reduced much!
Only Guo Jia was suspicious and asked: "How many soldiers did Lei Gong say he would replace?"
Cao Chun said awkwardly: "Daqian's army captured 20,000 of our soldiers. They hope that Brother Mengde can hand over all the families of these 20,000 soldiers to Daqian!"
Xun You was surprised and said: "Lei Gong wants to use these hundreds of generals to exchange for 60-70,000 of us. Lei Gong's tone is too loud!"
Xia Houyuan heard this and said angrily: "My eldest brother and these hundreds of officers are not worth these 60,000 to 70,000 old, weak, women and children!"
The other generals also looked at Xun Or seriously. Now that Da Qian's army is so powerful, any of them may be captured by Da Qian's army. If they can be exchanged, it will also be a guarantee for their lives. Now Xun Or is obviously I want to cut off their way of life!
Xun You also knew that what he said was a bit too much, so he immediately made up for it: "Maybe it's not that it's not worth it, but that we can't let Lei Gong raise the price arbitrarily. Our Qingzhou and Xuzhou only have a population of more than two million, and we have lost 4 this time." Wan Jingrui, if we hand over these 60,000 to 70,000 family members to Dagan, Qingzhou will lose nearly 100,000 people at once. This will seriously affect our recruitment and taxation in Qingzhou. It can be said that handing over these 6- 70,000 family members is equivalent to another defeat in Qingzhou!"
Zang Ba mocked: "Then what you mean is that we don't save Yuan Rang and let them. Chang Shi, do you know what it means that a thousand armies are easy to get but a general is hard to find? Soldiers can be recruited at will, but experienced generals like General Yuan Rang are hard to find." It is very difficult for military generals to appear! And the families of these captured soldiers are basically old, weak, sick and disabled. Leaving Qingzhou has reduced our burden. How could it be a defeat? Can Xun Changshi still be here 6-7 Recruit ten thousand soldiers out of ten thousand!"
At this time, Guo Jia came to the rescue and said: "Negotiations naturally involve bargaining. It is impossible to just say it and we agree. This is too passive! Moreover, Lei Gong wants the families of these captured soldiers, and the captured soldiers will definitely return to Lei Gong. , this is equivalent to Lei Gong having 20,000 more soldiers, which is also a threat to us! If we welcome Yuan Rang back, it will be at the cost of Qingzhou’s defeat. I think no one wants to see this!"
After Guo Jia said this, generals like Xia Houyuan calmed down!
However, Cao Cao frowned and said: "Lei Gong wants the families of these soldiers, obviously because he wants the captured soldiers to return home. If we don't hand over all these families to Lei Gong, I'm afraid Lei Gong will not be able to let Yuan let them come back!"
Guo Jia said: "Daqian just asked Yuan to bring them back, but he asked us to have 60,000 to 70,000 people. This deal is too uneconomical for us! We should also let Lei Gong exchange some people back, so that we don't You will suffer a loss!"
Cao Cao said helplessly: "But we haven't captured the soldiers of the Daqian Army. How can we exchange with them?"
Guo Jia smiled and said: "Now Yanzhou belongs to Lei Gong, but there are many people here that Lei Gong doesn't want. If we ask Lei Gong to hand over these people to us, Lei Gong will definitely be willing!"
Xun You's eyes lit up and he said: "The families in Yanzhou are powerful!"
Guo Jia smiled and said: "Yes, it is the powerful families in Yanzhou. Lei Gong is vigorously cleaning up the powerful gentry in Hebei. Coming to Yanzhou is no exception. Yi Jia predicts that the entire Yanzhou will be exiled by Lei Gong for more than ten years. Only by going to the deserts and islands with tens of thousands of people can we completely wipe out all the rich and powerful gentry in Yanzhou!"
Cao Cao was envious when he heard that he also wanted to do such a thing, and even did it, but he was the one who was kicked out by the powerful man. From that time on, Cao Cao knew the strength of the powerful man, and even the son of the Three Lords like him
There is nothing we can do about them! Only a rebellious person like Lei Gong can clean up the powerful gentry in a state without any scruples!
But Cheng Yu hesitated and said: "These people come to our Qingzhou, I'm afraid they won't do anything to us, right? We don't have enough land in Qingzhou ourselves, if we bring a group of ancestors over, I'm afraid Qingzhou will be messed up by these people
!”
At this time Kong Rong said: "If they go to Xuzhou, we have no objection!"
Xun You could only smile bitterly when he saw Kong Rong, who was eight feet tall and muscular. He threw these people to Xuzhou, probably because he wanted to use them as cannon fodder to defend Qingzhou!
Guo Jia shook his head and said: "Our Qingzhou can't accommodate these people who live on dry food. What I'm talking about is that we and other members of the family should take them out of Yanzhou now! Like Mancheng, your Li family should not dare to stay here anymore.
It’s in Yanzhou, right?”
Li Dian could only smile bitterly and said: "The elders of the family are reluctant to part with their ancestral business. My subordinates have told them many times to come to Qingzhou, but they just don't want to come! This time I'm afraid they have to come even if they don't want to!"
The Li family used to be a powerful force in Yanzhou. There were so many people in the clan, so many people. In history, there is one sentence to describe such a powerful force, connecting counties across states. One family can bring out tens of thousands of people! It has its own fort, manor and shop.
, it can be said that the Li family is a self-sufficient small world. Such a powerful and powerful person can also protect one party in troubled times. Let’s talk about how powerful the Li family is!
In history, Lu Bu and Cao Cao fought for Yanzhou. Lu Bu once defeated Cao Cao and only had three cities left. But when Lu Bu was at his strongest, he sent troops to collect grain from the Li family, but was defeated by Li Dian's father and his tribe.
And to escape, that is to say, the strength of the Li family is comparable to that of a small prince.
Naturally, such powerful people were the key target of Daqian. Li Dian knew that if the Li family did not leave Yanzhou this time, they would be forcibly exiled to the desert to herd sheep by Daqian!
Then Guo Jia looked at Xu Chu and said, "Zhongkang, your family is coming to Qingzhou too!"
Xu Zhu could only smile bitterly and said: "The clan elders are already discussing fleeing, but they want to go to Jingzhou more! Qingzhou is too close to Lei Gong!"
Xu Chu's family was also a powerful force. In history, they gathered thousands of strong men and clansmen to jointly build defense facilities to resist the invasion of thieves. At that time, more than 10,000 thieves in Gebei, Runan, attacked the Xu family but failed to conquer it. It can be seen that Xu Chu's family
Although it is not as powerful as the Li family, it is not much different!
At this time, Cao Cao also suddenly realized: "Cao also needs to inform the clan elders and let them escape from Qiao County!"
Cao Cao's own family is also in Qiao County. Although his father and relatives have been taken to Qingzhou, for a family like Cao Cao that has only been passed down for hundreds of years, there are tens of thousands of Guang clan members. It is impossible for them all to come to Qingzhou.
, Guo Jiaxun's family is in Yingchuan, and Yu Jin's family is in Juping County, Taishan County. It can be said that a small number of the families of the generals around Cao Cao are now within the scope of Daqian's influence, or within the attack range of Daqian's army.
Originally, when they were fighting for hegemony, their family would not be harmed like this. Just like in history, Cao Cao did not touch the Yuan family in Runan even if he wanted to fight Yuan Shao. But who let them face a thunderous man who does not talk about martial arts now? As long as he is a member of the family All powerful people are within the scope of his attack, and now they have to find a way to let their families escape from their hometown.
It would be a good idea to ask Daqian for these people. After all, their clan members may only number tens of thousands in total. In this way, the transactions between the two parties will be equal!
Guo Jia volunteered to participate in the negotiations with Da Gan's army. Cao Cao did not want his confidants to go to Da Gan's territory, but Guo Jia said: "Lei Gong's reputation is very good, he will not use such means to kill people." of!"
Then Guo Jia mocked: "Thunder Lord treats people like us. He likes to defeat us head-on, and then ridicules us with the common people, making us infamy for thousands of years! We will never be able to stand up. If he kills me now, what face will Daqian have to say about himself?" It’s justice for heaven!”
Cao Cao thought about it! It seemed like this was the case, so he agreed with Guo Jia to go to Yanzhou for negotiations!
After Guo Jia arrived, Xu Wei had no idea of meeting this historical celebrity. Instead, he handed him over to Jia Xu and asked him to negotiate with Guo Jia!
Although the negotiations between the two parties were fierce, each actually got what they needed. Naturally, it was impossible for Cao Cao's subordinate families to let them all leave Yanzhou. After all, hundreds of thousands of people would leave Yanzhou in this way, but relatives like Cao Cao's fifth service But he can be taken away by Cao Cao.
The remaining people are said to be members of the same clan, but their status is not much higher than that of serfs. They just join the group to keep warm. It does not mean that if your surname is Cao, you will not be oppressed by the Cao family. These people do not want to leave their hometown, so The only ones who were really kicked out by Da Gan and the others were the powerful and powerful members with thousands of core members!
So the negotiations were completed in less than three days. The two sides agreed that Daqian would not hinder Cao Cao’s family members in Yanzhou from leaving Yanzhou, and at the same time allow Xiahou Dun and other Qingzhou Army officers to leave Yanzhou safely, while Cao Cao would follow the list provided by Xu Wei. The families of the captured soldiers were handed over to the Daqian Army, and the place of transaction between the two parties was Lu County in Jibei Kingdom!
After the negotiations on Cao Cao's side were completed, Xu Weiwei was very happy and decided to continue his efforts and sent someone to inform Liu Bei about the exchange of prisoners of war!
So ten days later!
Sun Ce returned to Jingzhou, went to the General's Mansion, found Liu Bei, and told him about the general's plan to trade prisoners of war!
Liu Bei couldn't believe it when he heard the news: "Lei Gong is willing to let the second brother and the others go?"
Sun Ce said: "Lei Gong wants the general to let the families of the captured Jingzhou Army and Yangzhou Army go to Yanzhou!"
Yuan Ji was surprised and said: "This is a population of hundreds of thousands. Lei Gong's appetite is too big. He actually wants to trade thousands of generals for hundreds of thousands of us people!"
Liu Bei also frowned when he heard this opinion! The battle for hegemony is population. Their population in Jiangnan is not as large as that of Dagan. Now if Lei Gong gets these hundreds of thousands of people, the captured soldiers will definitely defect to Dagan. This is equivalent to Yu Lei Gong has more than 100,000 troops. This exchange will definitely greatly increase Daqian's military strength! I'm afraid even the ministers in the DPRK are not willing to see such a result!
Zhang Fei, on the other hand, said anxiously: "My second brother is a powerful general who can be defeated by thousands of people. It is worth it for him to replace tens of thousands of ordinary people! There are other generals. They have experienced hundreds of battles and have followed my elder brother for several years."
It’s time. As the saying goes, a thousand armies are easy to get but a general is hard to find. These generals alone are worth exchanging hundreds of thousands of civilians!”