In the second year of Jian'an, the world was still in turmoil.
After Liu Bei was defeated by Lu Bu, he defected to the imperial court and was entrusted with important tasks by Liu Xie.
Cao Cao was afraid that he would have too much contact with Liu Xie, so he asked him to lead Yuzhou Mu, go to Pei State, and stationed in Xiaopei again.
The reason for this has two functions. One is to separate Liu Bei and Liu Xie to prevent Liu Bei from rising in power and being recruited as foreign aid by Liu Xie.
The second is to ask him to spy on Lu Bu. Liu Bei and Lu Bu have a deep hatred, and both sides are in the same situation.
Placing Liu Bei in Xiaopei is equivalent to Liu Biao placing Zhang Xiu in Nanyang. It serves as a peripheral barrier to prevent Lu Bu from directly attacking Yanzhou.
Later, it was proved that Cao Cao's approach was correct. He slowly eliminated the troops of Dong Cheng and others that Liu Xie relied on, and replaced the palace guards of the Xudu Palace with his own people, further controlling the emperor.
In the third year of Jian'an, when Lu Bu betrayed the court again and formed an alliance with Yuan Shu, Liu Bei bore the brunt and was defeated by Lu Bu again.
On the other hand, Cao Cao's power was not affected at all, and he indirectly used Lu Bu to weaken Liu Bei's strength, making Liu Xie's foreign aid less powerful. It could be said to kill two birds with one stone.
Now that Cao Cao has Chen Deng and his son as internal agents in Xuzhou, he can easily control Lu Bu.
After Lu Bu got Cao Cao's letter, although he was angry that he did not get the position of Xuzhou Mu, he still reluctantly accepted it because General Qianzuo could still open a government.
By the end of June, Yuan Shu heard that Lu Bu had regretted the engagement and sent an envoy to Xudu, where Cao Cao beheaded him in public. He was furious and sent generals Zhang Xun, Qiao Rui and others to join forces with Han Xian, Yang Feng and other troops to lead the infantry and cavalry.
Tens of thousands, attack Xuzhou.
At that time, Lu Bu's power was actually very weak. Although he occupied Xuzhou, Xuzhou itself had been slaughtered by Cao Cao, and various forces, large and small, were divided one after another and did not obey his command at all.
Coupled with the many battles with Liu Bei, he had only a few thousand soldiers and 400 horses at that time. The gap in strength between him and Yuan Shu was still very large, so he was very worried.
Chen Gui and his son tried to alienate him again, asking him to recruit Han Xian and Yang Feng to attack Yuan Shu's camp together.
Lu Bu followed his plan and defeated Zhang Xun and Qiao Rui. The tens of thousands of soldiers and horses he brought with him also suffered heavy losses. It was this battle that made Yuan Shu's strength gradually decline.
In fact, Yuan Shu has shown signs of decline since this year. When he became emperor, it was at the beginning of the year, which was his peak.
As a result, as soon as he became emperor, people's hearts were scattered, and Sun Ce immediately severed ties with him, causing him to lose Jiangdong.
If Jiangdong's loss is not nothing, then having an enemy with Lu Bu and losing a large number of troops in this battle is a serious injury and his strength has declined sharply.
On the other hand, Lu Bu also gathered a group of Yuan Shu's troops who surrendered, and his army gradually grew stronger.
But just when Yuan Shu's power was greatly reduced, Sun Ce was making great progress in Jiangdong.
At that time, Cao Cao did not let Lu Bu fight Yuan Shu alone. Instead, in the name of the imperial court, he asked Chen Yu, the prefect of Wu County, and Sun Ce, the general of the Ming and Han Dynasties, to attack Yuan Shu together with Lu Bu.
Sun Ce's territory was in the Danyang area of Kuaiji, while Chen Yu, the prefect of Wu County, occupied Wu County and Guangling.
As a result, when Sun Ce ordered his troops to march north to meet Lu Bu and Chen Yu in the Guangling area, Chen Yu sent troops to prepare for a surprise attack on Sun Ce's home bases of Kuaiji and Danyang.
Upon hearing the news, Sun Ce was furious and immediately led his army to attack Chen Yu, capturing a total of 4,000 of his soldiers, horses, and family members.
From then on, Wu County was also occupied by Sun Ce, and the entire Jiangdong was owned by him.
By September, Cao Cao attacked Chen and Liang and completely drove Yuan Shu's forces out of Yuzhou.
However, Yuzhou was already very dilapidated at that time. Even if Liu Bei had the official post of Yuzhou Shepherd and could legitimately unite the forces of Yuzhou, he could not strengthen himself.
In addition, Xun You, the governor of Runan, and Li Tong, the captain of Yang'an, suppressed him, which prevented his strength from recovering.
But after Yang Feng and others defeated Yuan Shu, they continued to plunder between Xuzhou and Yangzhou. Lu Bu sent Yang Feng and Han Xian to plunder Liu Bei's military supplies, but Liu Bei lured him to death and annexed Yang Feng's army.
It adds a little strength.
In the same year, Li Jue and Guo Si in Guanzhong also had a winner. After Guo Si was killed by his own generals, Li Jue temporarily occupied Guanzhong.
But his family was not the only one in Guanzhong. At that time, Liang Xing, Zhang Heng and other small princes in Guanzhong had more than ten groups. Each of them had thousands of troops, while Li Jue had tens of thousands of soldiers.
Cao Cao knew that these people were afraid of being annexed by Li Jue, so in the winter of October of the second year of Jian'an, he sent Pei Mao, the emissary servant, to Guanzhong to unite these small forces. Duan Xuan, the leader, led the generals in Guanxi to attack Li Jue.
The history of the second year of Jian'an generally did not change much from the original. After all, Shen Chen was now a man of few words, and he could not be that butterfly that could stir up a tornado.
But he still changed a lot.
For example, in history, Cao Cao would personally conquer Nanyang again at the end of this year, in November of winter. However, this time in the early morning, he could only form a good relationship with Liu Biao and did not dare to go south again.
Also, when he originally sent Cao Hong to station in Ye County, he would attack Zhang Xiu from time to time, but this time he could only let Cao Hong defend Ye County.
Therefore, what Shen Chen changed was actually Nanyang's current situation.
Killing Cao Ren and Le Jin was like cutting off one of Cao Cao's claws reaching out to Nanyang. Before he licked his wounds, he would no longer covet Nanyang.
And amid all the hustle and bustle in the world, the second year of Jian'an finally came to an end.
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In Jingzhou, the New Year was approaching. Liu Biao was in a very good mood these days and generously rewarded his subordinates, especially Deng Hong, with various valuable items and property worth millions of dollars.
In addition to being happy about receiving a reward from the imperial court, what's more important is that his strength is about to grow again.
Last year, due to the Nanyang Rebellion, his farmers were unable to cultivate the land and had no harvest.
But at the end of the year, the wheat has been planted and can be harvested in May of next year.
According to the estimates reported to him by Wang Yi, the prefect of Nanyang, if nothing unexpected happens, the harvest this year will reach nearly 10 million stones of grain and grass.
This is a very scary number, enough to feed an army of 100,000 for a year and a half.
Later, Deng Ai was stationed in Huainan and used 50,000 soldiers to farm. The annual harvest could reach 5 million shi. In six years, he accumulated 30 million shi of grain, enough to feed 100,000 people for five years.
But his method of farming was quite extreme. At that time, the Wei Kingdom was already in the middle and late stages, and Cao Wei was about to fall in twenty years, so the ratio of farming reached 82% or even 91%, and the exploitation was very serious.
Liu Biao's farming population numbered more than 200,000, which was four times that of Deng Ai. But his ratio was lower, 37 or 46. If the people rented official cattle, the maximum would be only 55, so the annual harvest
It's only twice that of Deng Ai.
After having the farm, it was of great help to Liu Biao.
At that time, the most developed places in Jingzhou were Nanyang and Nanjun. Later, the Jianghan Plain in Hubei and the Dongting Lake Plain in Hunan are still soaked in Yunmeng Lake, including later counties and cities such as Shashi City, Jianli County, Hanyang District, etc., which are still in Yunmeng Lake. Blowing bubbles at the bottom of Mengze Lake.
Therefore, places like Jiangxia County, Guiyang County, Wuling County and other places are underdeveloped in terms of population and economy. According to the census during the Emperor He period, the combined population of these three counties was less than half of Nanyang County.
In the Jingnan region, only Changsha County and Lingling County are relatively good, but these places are too far from Xiangyang. Changsha Prefect Zhang Xian and others are in a semi-separated state, and Liu Biao's power has not touched these places yet.
Therefore, if Nanyang is eliminated, Liu Biao's real territory will only be Nanjun and Jiangxiajun.
The combined population of these two places is only one million, and the tax revenue provided to him each year is not much, which can only enable him to support Zhang Yun, Wenpin, Huang Zu and other 50,000 to 60,000 soldiers and horses.
But after Shen Chen came to Jingzhou, he proposed farming, so in 195 AD, Liu Biao started farming in Nanyang.
Except for the two visits by Zhang Xiu and Cao Cao, there were great harvests at other times. In the past two years, plus the taxes from Nanjun and Jiangxia, Liu Biao's treasury has accumulated more than 20 million stones of grain and grass. He has truly achieved The treasury is full.
After another harvest next year, his grain reserves will increase sharply again, and he can consider expanding his troops. Maybe he does not have to wait until the fifth year of Jian'an to defeat Zhang Xian, the Changsha governor who resisted him, and annex the four counties of Jingnan, so that he can support the people in advance. One hundred thousand troops.
Liu Biao was overjoyed for this reason, and the Jingzhou Prefectural Mufu Mansion was decorated with lanterns and colorful decorations to prepare for a joyful New Year.
At the end of the year, Kuai Liang came to the governor's house to ask for an audience.
Liu Biao summoned him in the mansion. When Kuai Liang entered the hall, he happily asked: "Zirou, what's the matter?"
Kuai Liang knew that he was very happy recently, so he smiled and said: "Ming Gong, the harvest in Nanyang's fields is about to happen, and the treasury is full, so I would like to ask Ming Gong if he wants to renovate the military?"
Liu Biao nodded and said: "I have this intention. When the wheat harvest in Nanyang is completed next year and the warehouses are abundant, I will prepare to expand the army by another 50,000."
Kuai Liang said: "Now that Jiangdong is in chaos and Duke Ming's strength has greatly increased, why not take the opportunity to seize Jiangdong?"
"Capture Jiangdong?"
Liu Biao stroked his beard and thought.
Kuai Liang said: "It is true that Ming Gong has a deep hatred for the Sun family. Now that he has taken Jiangdong, he will come to attack him one day. We should take advantage of his unstable foothold to eliminate Sun Ce and plot to seize the south."
"Well"
Liu Biao pondered.
This matter can be regarded as an old matter brought up again.
When Liu Biao came to Jingzhou not long ago, he only had Nanjun at his disposal.
Yuan Shu occupied Nanyang and ordered Sun Jian to attack him, but he sent Huang Zu to shoot him to death with random arrows.
At that time, Kuai Liang suggested that he take the opportunity to seize Jiangdong.
But at that time, Liu Biao believed that his strength was too weak and it was impossible to annex Yangzhou, so he rejected Kuai Liang's proposal.
Later, when his strength grew, Kuai Liang once again proposed to let him seize Jiangdong.
However, Sun Ce had already crossed the river and occupied Danyang, Kuaiji and other places. Only Wu County and Yuzhang County had not yet been captured. Liu Biao still did not dare to let Huang Zu march into Yuzhang.
As a result, two years later, in 199 AD, Sun Ce stabilized the situation in Jiangdong and began to attack him.
Although he was repulsed by Huang Zu, the hatred between the Sun family and Liu Biao had already been forged because of Sun Jian's death in Xiangyang. After that, Sun Ce died in an assassination. Sun Quan took the will of his father and brother and repeatedly attacked Huang Zu.
So to a certain extent, Liu Biao missed good opportunities several times. He failed to follow Kuai Liang's advice and strangled the Sun family in the cradle, causing the Sun family to grow.
Unlike Kuai Yue who cared more about family interests, Kuai Liang was Liu Biao's mastermind and hoped to promote Liu Biao's hegemony.
Therefore, several of his suggestions were actually paving the way for Liu Biao's dream of domination.
It is a pity that he died of illness relatively early, within two years. Otherwise, perhaps with the help of Kuai Liang, Liu Biao might have been able to proclaim himself emperor when he captured Jingnan.
Now Liu Biao's strength has greatly increased. He annexed the Runan Yellow Turbans and Nanyang Yellow Turbans that Cao Cao originally obtained in history. He obtained more than 200,000 Yellow Turban bandits and settled in Nanyang. His power has grown, and Kuai Liang once again suggested that he annex Jiangdong.
Originally, the reason why he did not dare to send troops to Jiangdong was because his strength was not very strong, but now even if he does not get the four counties of Jingnan, when the harvest comes next year, his strength will reach a higher level.
So when Kuai Liang once again proposed sending troops to Jiangdong, Liu Biao began to seriously consider it.
I have to say that now is indeed a God-given opportunity.
Jingzhou has grown stronger due to farming, but Jiangdong is now in chaos. Sun Ce has just defeated Chen Yu, and the internal forces are unstable. There are county commanders everywhere. If you take this opportunity to seize Yuzhang County first.
Thinking of this, Liu Biao nodded slowly and said: "Zi Rou's words have won my heart. Next year I will ask Huang Zu to send troops to Jiangdong to occupy Yuzhang first."
Kuai Liang cupped his hands and said, "Ming Gong is wise."
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At the end of the second year of Jian'an, Liu Biao discussed with the mastermind Kuai Liang and decided to seize Yuzhang.
And Cao Cao is also discussing what he is going to do next year.
Since Xun You and Cheng Yu were out of town, he summoned Xun Yu and Guo Jia at his Sikong residence.
"Brother Huainan has been defeated for me this year. I heard that it has not rained in Huainan for a long time in the past two months. All the wheat is dry and dry due to lack of water. There is a great famine in Shouchun."
Cao Cao looked around at Xun Yu and Guo Jia and said, "I think Yuan Shu has nothing to fear. Next year I plan to conquer Lu Bu. What do you think?"
Xun Yu smiled bitterly and said: "Sikong, let's put this matter aside for the time being. Our treasury is not full now. We have been fighting for years and the people are suffering. If we continue to fight, I am afraid that the people will not be able to survive."
Cao Cao frowned and said, "How much food and grass are there in the military arsenal now?"
"Less than 400,000 dendrobium."
Xun Yu was in charge of rear government affairs, and he was also in charge of grain and grass issues. He knew very well how much grain was currently in the treasury.
Nowadays, a large number of aristocratic families have migrated to Xudu, and these people have to eat, so the imperial court separates the national treasury and the military treasury. The national treasury can barely support the expenses of the Xudu court, while the military treasury is used for fighting wars.
At present, the army's food inventory is less than 400,000 hu of dendrobium. According to the food consumption of soldiers recorded in "Juyan Han Slips" and "Three Kingdoms: Biography of Deng Ai", each person consumes about three shi of food per month, and 10,000 people consume an average of nearly 30,000 shi per month.
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In other words, if Cao Cao's current 40,000 soldiers and horses go to war again, they will have to eat 120,000 shi of food a month. Even if he saves money, he will be in the embarrassing situation of having no food and grass for up to four or five months.
This actually has a lot to do with Shen Chen.
Historically, Cao Cao did not capture more than 200,000 Nanyang Yellow Turbans, but he captured about 100,000 Yingchuan and Runan Yellow Turbans.
Under the advice of Han Hao, Zaozhi and others, he started farming in Yingchuan and harvested millions of dan of grain that year.
However, this time most of the Runan Yellow Turbans were deceived by Shen Chen and went to Nanyang. Cao Cao only got tens of thousands of Yingchuan Yellow Turbans. After that, he still added the Qingzhou Yellow Turbans family members who had been captured earlier in the settlement, and he could barely make ends meet.
In addition, serving the emperor and the ministers of the Manchu Dynasty cost money everywhere, causing Cao Cao to become increasingly poor. The food in the treasury was beginning to be difficult to support him in fighting wars everywhere.
From this point of view, it also proves the saying, "Everything is a double-edged sword." There are advantages and disadvantages to worshiping the emperor.
The advantage is that you gain political fame and righteousness.
The disadvantage is that it is very difficult for a warlord like Cao Cao to support the capital of an empire. The civil and military officials of the entire dynasty have to pay salaries, and the emperor also has to ensure his expenses. For Cao Cao, he is really too poor.
When he heard the bad news reported by Xun Yu, Cao Cao looked very unhappy and asked: "Lü Bu is a capricious person. If we don't conquer him, we may be in trouble in the future. Isn't there any other way?"
Xun Yu said: "Yuzhou is now in ruins, and Yanzhou is not in a good condition. There are bandits everywhere. If we can conquer some of the remaining Yellow Turbans and camp in Yuzhou, and let the soldiers cultivate the fields and rest for a year or two, maybe the situation will be improved." "
What he meant was that Cao Cao should not let Cao Cao fight another large-scale war. He should either clean up the remaining bandits and Yellow Turbans around Yingchuan, such as Funiu Mountain, Runan and other places, and capture the population for farming, or let the soldiers directly Cultivate the soil, cultivate for a year or two, and regain your strength.
But this obviously went against Cao Cao's strategic intention. He planned to conquer Lu Bu eastward and control the entire Henan area in his own hands. If Lu Bu was allowed to be a nail embedded in his side and Yuan Shao in the north grew stronger, how would he be able to fight with him in the future? Yuan Shao fights?
So Cao Cao shook his head and said: "No, Lu Bu must be eliminated, otherwise the harm will be endless."
Guo Jia thought for a moment and suddenly said: "Ming Gong, I heard that Liu Biao gathered a large number of fleeing Guanzhong people and Nanyang Runan Yellow Turbans in Nanyang, and settled the fields on the spot, and the harvest was quite fruitful?"
Cao Cao nodded and said, "Yes, when I conquered Nanyang, I actually wanted to bring Nanyang into the fold. In this way, if the people of Nanyang could be moved to Runan or Yingchuan and other places to establish fields, the problem of lack of food and grass might be solved. .”
Historically, he conquered Nanyang three times and finally succeeded in getting Zhang Xiu to surrender. After that, he moved a large number of Nanyang's population to Yingchuan to fill the farming population in Henan and other places. Among them was Deng Ai, who was born this year.
Now Shen Chen has defeated Cao Cao, which has triggered a chain reaction. Cao Cao lacks farmers and the food he gets is greatly reduced. Even if Deng Ai did not go to Yingchuan, if the food problem is not solved, next year's historical process of the Eastern Expedition to Lu Bu will probably happen. Postponed.
And this delay does not know how many unpredictable historical changes it will cause in the future.
But Cao Cao is now very eager to get rid of Lu Bu.
Because he could see that Gongsun Zan could not hold on for long. Once he was eliminated, Yuan Shao would definitely turn his attention to the south. By then, with Yuan Shao in the north, Lu Bu in the east, and Liu Biao in the south, his situation would be very bad.
So even though he was short of food, Cao Cao was still considering whether to bite the bullet and continue to attack Lu Bu as planned next year.
Guo Jia said with a smile: "I heard that Shen Chen was preaching against Ming Gong everywhere in Jingzhou, and Liu Biao not only acquiesced, but also supported him behind the scenes. I think he has evil intentions. But if he wants to dominate, he must Jiangdong, otherwise if you go north to Henan, the Sun family has a blood feud with him and will attack Jiangxia secretly."
"you mean?"
Cao Cao stroked his long beard on his chin and narrowed his eyes slightly.
Guo Jia said: "In the name of the emperor, Liu Biao should be ordered to offer millions of dendrobium grains and grass for the imperial court. What the emperor gave him was to be worshiped as a hussar general, to maintain integrity and supervise the benefits, Jiao, Jing, and Yang.
At that time, Liu Zhang, Sun Ce and others will turn against him and weaken Liu Biao's strength."
"oh?"
Cao Cao thought: "What if Liu Biao disobeys?"
Guo Jia said: "It doesn't matter whether he obeys or not. If he doesn't obey, and the emperor begs for food from him, he will have to sacrifice hundreds of thousands of stones of food and grass. If he obeys, it will be better, and we can also get food and grass.
He will be able to legitimately send troops to Yizhou, Jiaozhou and Yangzhou, and we will not lose no matter what."
Cao Cao frowned and said, "What if Liu Biao defeats Sun Ce and Liu Zhang, wouldn't the entire south be his?"
"Ming Gong, Liu Biao does not practice martial arts. No matter how many soldiers and horses he has, they are just a mob. Liu Zhang has the advantageous location, how can he defeat it? Not to mention Jiangdong, Sun Ce is so brave that he cannot be defeated. How can he be defeated by Liu Biao."
Guo Jia laughed and said: "What's more, even if they are defeated by one person, can't they still unite? Even if they retreat ten thousand steps, they will be defeated. Liu Biao wants to annex Yangzhou and Yizhou, and it will take several years. By then, we will have already
Unify Henan and become more powerful."
"That's true."
Cao Cao was convinced and felt that this idea seemed to be a good one.
I have to say that Guo Jia still has an insight into people's hearts.
He was keenly aware that Liu Biao seemed to have evil intentions and might proclaim himself emperor, so he wanted to induce Liu Biao to confess.
If Liu Biao agreed, it would just allow him to send troops to Yangzhou and Yizhou to weaken his strength.
It doesn't matter if he doesn't agree. Liu Xie asked him, but he should be willing to pay tribute to him and bring some grain and grass.
More importantly, even if he agreed and began to prepare for hegemony in the south, he might not be able to defeat Sun Ce and Liu Zhang.
If he can't defeat them, the best result is to continue as in history, he sacrifices millions of stones, grain and grass, and then stays in Jingzhou, unable to conquer anywhere, and eventually dies of old age.
The worst result was that Liu Biao captured Yangzhou, Yizhou and Jiaozhou, becoming the largest prince in the south.
However, by that time, he would at most be as strong as Yuan Shao now, and Cao Cao's top priority now is to obtain food and grass as soon as possible, unify Henan, and then fight Yuan Shao to the death.
It is estimated that when Cao Cao and Yuan Shao were fighting, Liu Biao was still arguing with Liu Zhang and Sun Ce, so he just used Liu Zhang and Sun Ce to contain Liu Biao so that Cao Cao had no worries.
This is very similar to the later Zhang Xian rebellion.
Due to Zhang Xian's rebellion, Liu Biao had to send troops to Changsha to quell the rebellion, which gave Cao Cao a god-given opportunity to fight in the Battle of Guandu without any worries and finally eliminate Yuan Shao and unify the north.
Cao Cao was lucky at that time. If it hadn't been for this and Sun Ce was killed by an assassin, perhaps his hometown would have been stolen by Liu Biao and Sun Ce.
But now it is not luck, but Guo Jia believes that Liu Biao's great harvest in Nanyang's farming and his sudden increase in strength will inevitably lead to a sudden increase in ambition. By giving him a righteous name and allowing him to conquer Sun Ce and Liu Zhang, he can kill two birds with one stone.
Cao Cao pondered for a moment and felt that Guo Jia's plan would be sound, so he nodded and said, "Okay, let's do it this way."
This is the general trend of the world.
Liu Biao gradually became interested in separatist rule and proclaiming himself emperor because of the sudden increase in his farming power. Guo Jia understood people's hearts and immediately took advantage of this and sent pillows to Liu Biao.
Both sides get what they need, which may have changed a lot of general trends.
The only thing that remains unchanged is the unlucky Liu Bei.
The New Year is approaching, and Liu Bei is living a miserable life in Xiaopei in history.
It's a little better now.
Because Shen Chen gave him a batch of gold and property so that he could have a good year.
Now I am preparing some New Year’s goods in Xiaopei to reunite with my family.
And just when he held a dinner party at the Xiaopei County government office on New Year's Eve, he sent someone to ask Guan Yu, Zhang Fei, Tai Shici and others to come over for dinner.
However, Zhang Fei happily ran to the county government office, opened the door and shouted: "Brother, I have robbed a batch of war horses!"
This batch of war horses was purchased by Lu Bu who sent people to Hanoi.