In Linxiang at the beginning of the twelfth twelfth lunar month, the weather was cloudy and rainy at times, humid and cold. Even if people were wrapped in woolen coats and fur coats, they could not block the biting cold.
"Ta, ta, ta..."
Two majestic horsemen wearing red turbans and black robes lined up in the alleyway with their banners held high. Behind the two guide horsemen were twenty knights holding halberds. Behind the knights were fifty knights holding spears and halberds.
Infantrymen with knives, swords, and bows and crossbows were placed on both sides, guarding a luxurious chariot with a red carpet cover in the center.
The wheels rumbled as they rolled over the muddy road, leaving two deep tracks.
The carriage made of fine Yuzhang wood kept the winter rain out of the carriage, but the dampness and coldness still invaded the carriage. Liu Jing and Deng Yuan had to resort to the use of a hearth stove to ward off the cold.
The two of them traveled this time because they were approaching the end of the year and wanted to express condolences to the widows and widowers. "Book of Rites" says: "A young person without a father is called an orphan; an old person without a son is called a single; an old person without a wife is called a widower; an old person without a wife is called a widower.
Those who have no husband are called widows." These four are the poorest and most helpless people in the world.
Liu Jing was a public official in his previous life, so he was very familiar with it.
Deng Yuan was kind-hearted in nature and cared about the people. As early as when he was in Ling County, he often followed Liu Jing to express condolences to the poor. In addition, he had been in charge of the Salesian Residence for many years, so there were few hungry children in Changsha, and he had a deep feeling in the hearts of the people of Changsha.
Extremely high status. Liu Jing once joked with Deng Yuan that the people loved her more than himself.
The car finally stopped in front of a simple and low thatched house. The owner of the house was a lonely old man in his sixties who suffered from swollen feet. He originally had two sons, but they died in the battlefield one after another, and his daughter-in-law also remarried.
Lonely and pitiful.
The owner of the house is standing at the door of his house with his hands tied, looking nervous and frightened.
The people in Jingnan only knew about Liu Jing, but not about the emperor.
Liu Jing came to express his condolences in person. If an official had not informed him in advance that he could greet him at the door without restraining his hands, he would have gone out and knelt down to greet him.
As soon as the owner of the house saw Liu Jing and Deng Yuan, he couldn't wait for them to approach, and he couldn't wait to bow down. According to the instructions of the officials, he said: "Young man, I pay my respects to the general, madam..."
Liu Jing immediately stepped forward, helped the owner of the house up, and said: "The old man is old and has a disease in his legs, so there is no need to be polite." Then he held his rough and cracked hand tightly and walked into the house.
Ask about the cold and warmth.
The owner of the house was moved and excited. He didn't say a few words before he burst into tears.
Liu Jing lamented his loneliness and the death of his two sons. He shook hands and talked for a long time before getting up and leaving. Before leaving, Liu Jing presented money, cloth, rice, meat, firewood, etc. to the owner of the house from the worry of hunger and cold.
Next, Liu Jing and Deng Yuan visited five or six houses without stopping until they returned at noon.
After running around for a long time, Liu Jing felt a little tired. When he returned to his official residence, before he had time to drink tea, he received news of the arrival of the Jiangdong envoy.
Liu Jing tapped his fingers on the desk with a playful look on his face, "It's only been a year and a half since I took charge of Jiangdong. Are you already eager to give it a try?"
Sun Quan's purpose is not difficult to guess. History has proven that Sun Quan had great ambitions for Jingzhou. Even without Liu Jing, he would have sent troops to attack Jingzhou soon.
It is in Liu Jing's interest for both parties to form an alliance to jointly deal with Liu Biao. He has no reason not to agree. As for whether it will lead to a wolf entering the house...
In history, Sun Quan led the army to attack Jiangxia many times. Although he achieved great victory every time, it was difficult to completely destroy Huang Zu. It was not until the eve of Red Cliff that Gan Ning came to surrender and leaked all the details about Huang Zu to Sun Quan, and Sun Quan successfully killed him.
Huang Zu, but he couldn't take all of Jiangxia.
It took many years and several armies were raised, but only a few counties in Jiangxia were captured. On the one hand, it showed that Huang Zu and Liu Biao were not easy to deal with, and on the other hand, it also showed Sun Quan's incompetence.
Of course, there is another crucial reason, that is, every time Sun Quan leads an army on an expedition, there will be a fire in Jiangdong's backyard. Shanyue, heroes, and Yellow Turbans... will immediately launch a rebellion as long as they see an opportunity.
During the Baoding period (AD 266), when Soochow was founded for nearly 40 years, Shanyue was beaten all the way to thirty miles away from the capital. This shows the depth of internal troubles in Jiangdong.
Therefore, Liu Jing had no worries about attracting wolves into his house and being constrained by the rear, Sun Quan would not be able to conquer Jiangxia at all, let alone compete with him for Jingzhou.
To put it bluntly, even if Liu Jing was a variable that allowed Sun Quan to destroy Huang Zu and occupy Jiangxia in advance, he would not be able to compete with Liu Jing for Jingzhou in the short term because of his unstable foundation.
Don't be afraid to say something arrogant, maybe after he defeats Liu Biao and takes over Jingzhou, Sun Quan may not be able to completely integrate the five counties in Jiangdong.
Four days later, Zhuge Liang returned from commanding the army. They had been on an expedition to Wuling since July, which took nearly half a year, but finally returned at the end of the year.
Liu Jing personally went to Beijin to greet him. Looking at Zhuge Liang, who was wearing a plain robe but wearing a scarf, Liu Jing smiled happily. The reason why he did not keep Zhuge Liang by his side but sent him to Wuling was because he had the experience to train him.
considerations.
And Zhuge Liang lived up to Liu Jing's expectations and defeated the Wuxi Barbarians, which was exactly due to his strategy.
In consideration of Liu Biao's Northern Expedition next year, after conquering Wuling, Liu Jing ordered to suspend the encirclement and suppression of Wuxi barbarians and focus on Fu instead.
However, this did not mean a complete cessation of military operations. In September, Zhuge Liang personally led his elite and single-day troops to penetrate deeply into Barren, defeated the remaining Wuxi barbarians, and restored Yiling County. It took only eighty days before he returned in triumph.
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Yiling County was the county seat of Wuling County in the Western Han Dynasty. It was abandoned in the early Eastern Han Dynasty and merged into Chenyang County. In the original history, it was not until the reign of Emperor Gaozong of the Tang Dynasty that a county was established on the original site of Yiling. Zhuge Liang advanced this process by more than 400 years.
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Although Liu Jing did not know the details, in the turbulent era of the Han Dynasty, it was undoubtedly an extraordinary feat to be able to regain the lost territory.
Previously, his clan brother Liu Zong and others privately believed that Liu Jing was too favored to Zhuge Liang and were dissatisfied. However, Liu Jing believed that he was relatively cautious in appointing Zhuge Liang.
Faced with Deng Yu, who was only 22 years old and came to join him with great advice, Emperor Guangwu Liu Xiu immediately promoted him to be the first person under his command. Deng Yu offered advice internally to recruit talents, and externally led troops to fight against thieves. The following year
, that is, at the age of twenty-three, as a general, he supervised the troops entering Guanzhong, just like the great ancestor Han Xin, who took charge of the field.
Looking back in hindsight, Liu Xiu was obviously too hasty at that time. Although Deng Yu was deeply incapable of talent, he was still too young and inexperienced to cope with the complicated situation in Guanzhong, which led to his ultimate failure.
With the lessons learned from Deng Yu, although Liu Jing knew that Zhuge Liang was extremely talented, he did not encourage his efforts like Liu Xiu did.
Zhuge Liang came to surrender last year, and Liu Jing asked him to go south with the army to conquer Zhangjin and accumulate military experience. At the beginning of this year, he established the Anyuan General Mansion, worshiped him as a military advisor, and participated in the political affairs of Jingnan. In July, he sent troops to Wuling, and he served as the governor and took charge of the army for the first time.
Achievements are outstanding.
Zhuge Liang took every step very steadily.
Liu Jing firmly believed that if he continued like this, within a few years, Zhuge Liang would be able to govern civil affairs internally and bring peace to the world externally.