In early April of the sixth year of Jian'an, Kuai Liang died of illness.
Liu Biao cried bitterly and said that losing Kuai Liang was like losing his thigh and humerus, which made him extremely sad.
After giving Kuai Liang a grand burial, Jia Xu entered the Hussar General's Mansion in a very low-key manner and became the new General Shi of the Hussar.
At the same time, a shocking news spread throughout Jingzhou.
In the sixth month, Liu Biao worshiped heaven and earth in the eastern suburbs, took the emperor's chariot, and relied on the standards of princes and kings. He prayed to heaven and the ancestors named Liu, and said that he would raise an army to attack Cao Cao.
Then he went to the emperor to declare himself Duke of Chu, mobilized an army of more than 200,000, and stationed troops in the counties of Nanyang, and began to make full preparations to attack Cao Cao.
However, it was said that there were 200,000 troops, but in fact there were only 80,000 or 90,000 troops, because he still had to deploy troops and horses to defend Liu Zhang and Sun Quan.
Now the whole Jingzhou has become turbulent. With the war, many small and medium-sized aristocratic families and powerful people have begun to migrate south to the Jingnan area.
A large amount of grain, grass, baggage, weapons, and vehicles departed from Xiangyang and were transported to Wancheng, Duyang and other front lines. Countless troops and horses were mobilized every day, and dust was flying up and down Jingzhou.
It is late June in Longzhong Township. Shen Chen and Zhuge Liang practice martial arts diligently every day. Now they are getting older, their bodies are getting stronger, and their martial arts and knowledge are improving day by day. In the past, they could not even defeat Gan Ning. Now I can fight for seven or eight rounds before being killed.
Outside Zhuge's manor, the mountains are verdant and lush with vegetation. There is a waterfall on the back hill. There are a lot of pebbles accumulated on the ground near the waterfall. Shen Chen and Zhuge Liang sent people to clear the cobbles into an open space and often practiced martial arts here.
Today, in addition to the two of them, there is also Xu Shu. Xu Shu has extraordinary swordsmanship. Now Gan Ning has been promoted to Zhonglang General by Liu Biao and is leading the troops in Wuyin. He has no choice but to ask Xu Shu for help in training martial arts.
After practicing swordsmanship, archery, boxing and kicking all morning, Huang Yueying took Anu and other slaves to deliver fruit snacks and lunch.
The open space was transformed into a small school ground, with an archery target and a competition ground. A pavilion was built near the waterfall. At the height of summer in June, the sun was scorching. The three of them were sitting on the mats in the pavilion, feeling the waterfall. Comes cool.
"Liu Jingzhou offered sacrifices to heaven and earth a few days ago, calling himself Duke of Chu and preparing to attack the north."
Xu Shu had a courgette, also known as a cucumber, in his mouth. He was lying on the mat without any image. While chewing the cucumber, he said, "What do you think Liu Jingzhou thinks? Why do you dare to attack Cao Cao?"
Zhuge Liang was peeling a sweet apple, also known as a grape. Like a cucumber, it was brought back by Zhang Qian on his mission to the Western Regions. After peeling it, he did not eat it himself, but handed it to Huang Yueying next to him. The couple looked at each other affectionately, mouthing He also said with a smile: "You have to ask Ah Chen about this."
Shen Chen felt numb at that time.
Good guy.
Stuffed with dog food, right?
Feed my mouth, right?
Is this something humans do?
"What does this have to do with me."
Shen Chen shrugged, "Yes, I admit that I resisted Cao Cao in the north and allowed Liu Jingzhou to grow stronger, but I did not instigate him to proclaim himself duke and go north to attack Cao."
Zhuge Liang glanced at him, smiled and said nothing.
Xu Shu finished the cucumber in three bites and swallowed even the bitterest cucumber root. He clapped his hands and said, "Now that Liu Jingzhou has strong soldiers and horses, do you think Cao Cao can resist it?"
"Hard to say."
Shen Chen touched his chin and suddenly discovered a serious problem.
That was because he seemed to have helped Liu Biao too hard.
How strong is Liu Biao now?
Historically, he did not occupy Nanyang. Before pacifying Jingnan, his territory was only Nanjun and Jiangxia.
Jingnan only belonged to him in name, but Zhang Xian's prestige was higher than his.
At that time, the population of Nanjun was 740,000, and that of Jiangxia was 260,000. The total population controlled by Liu Biao was just over one million, and his troops were only 30,000 to 40,000.
So when Zhang Xiu arrived in Nanyang, Liu Biao needed Zhang Xiu to help him use Nanyang as a buffer zone from the north to the south to resist Cao Cao's attack.
Because Cao Cao was much stronger than him at the time, he did not station troops in Nanyang. However, he was attacked one after another by Cao Cao, Cao Hong and others, causing heavy losses. Therefore, he had no choice but to give up Nanyang, a large land with a population of one million.
.
After Zhang Xiu surrendered to Cao Cao, Liu Biao almost had no choice but to give up Nanyang. In fact, he was unable to compete with Cao Cao in Nanyang. He was defeated in many attacks and suffered heavy losses in troops and horses.
It was not until later that he pacified Zhang Xian and completely controlled the four counties in Jingnan that his strength grew, but by then the timing was already bad.
At that time, the population of Changsha County in Jingnan was 1.05 million, Lingling was 1 million, Guiyang County was 500,000, Wuling County was 250,000, plus Nan County and Jiangxia, Liu Biao finally had a population of
Three million seven hundred thousand.
Even more than that.
Because of the war in the north at that time, a large number of people migrated to Jingzhou. There were countless famous scholars, great Confucian families, and big families who took refuge in the south of Jingzhou. A single great Confucian, Yingrong, brought thousands of disciples, including their family members, and the number of people who migrated was in the thousands.
Public.
Historical records show that from the Zhongping period to the Jian'an period, the population of Jingzhou increased from 3.7 million to 6.2 million. If you include the population concealed by aristocratic families, this number may exceed 7 to 8 million.
Therefore, five years after Jian'an, that is, after Zhang Xian's rebellion was put down in 200 AD, Liu Biao's strength increased dramatically. History books say that his number of armored men reached more than 100,000.
Unfortunately, after the end of Guandu, Cao Cao became famous all over the world, and Sun Quan pacified Jiangdong, so he began to attack Liu Biao many times to avenge his father.
This made him dare not take any action even if he had strong troops and horses, and could only secretly proclaim himself emperor.
And now?
Now Shen Chen helped him defend Nanyang tenaciously, forcing Zhang Xiu not to surrender to Cao Cao, and Nanyang's population of more than one million was preserved.
In addition, Shen Chen gathered a large number of refugees from Guanzhong and Henan, and captured hundreds of thousands of Yellow Turban remnants, which greatly enriched the population of Nanyang, bringing the population of Nanyang close to the two million mark.
Under the farming system, Liu Biao had abundant food and grass, and the people under his rule had more than four to five million in advance. Therefore, in the second year of Jian'an, around 197 AD, Liu Biao already had a super strength of one hundred thousand armored men.
Immediately afterwards, Zhang Xian's rebellion was put down and the entire Jingnan was captured.
Historically, Liu Biao only had six counties in Jingzhou, with a population of 6.2 million. Now adding Nanyang, which historically belonged to Cao Cao, the paper population directly exceeded 8 million. If you include the hidden population of the aristocratic family, even
Probably around 10 million.
And what about Cao Cao and Yuan Shao?
Currently, the only one who can barely compete with him is Yuan Shao.
According to historical records, the population of the four states of Yuan and Shao was around eight to nine million.
After Wang Fen's rule, the population of Jizhou alone recovered to more than 5 million, while Qingzhou had more than 1 million. Adding in Youzhou and Bingzhou, the population reached nearly 10 million.
Cao Cao is not strong.
His territory was actually larger than Yuan Shao's. Before Guandu started fighting, Xuzhou, Yanzhou, Yuzhou, Sili, and even Guanzhong all surrendered to him, with a paper population of more than 10 million.
But the land in Henan was too damaged. Unlike the north where only Yuan Shao and Gongsun Zan were fighting for supremacy, the damage to the people was not particularly great.
In addition, the plague was prevalent and wars continued. A large number of people in Henan migrated to Yangzhou and Jingzhou, and many territories were obtained because he obtained Liu Xie. On the surface, he surrendered, but no matter how large the territory was, it had no practical significance.
Therefore, the actual population under Cao Cao's rule at that time was only Yuzhou, Yanzhou and Xuzhou. Xuzhou was half-killed by him, and its total population was only three to four million.
Historically, he defeated Yuan Shao in Guandu, and moved all the people in the Nanyang Basin to Henan. He seized the time to recuperate, quickly controlled Sili, Xuzhou and other places, and implemented the farming system everywhere, and his population and strength grew rapidly.
After Yuan Shao died of illness, he immediately recovered Hebei and gained most of the world. The total population reached 15 million.
Calculated in this way, on the eve of Red Cliff in history, Cao Cao had a population of 15 million, Jingzhou Liu Biao 6.2 million, Yangzhou 4.3 million, plus the populations of Yizhou, Guanzhong, and Xiliang, the total population of the country
It's almost over 30 million.
This is also in line with people's speculation that during the Three Kingdoms period, aristocratic families concealed a large number of people.
After all, according to the records of "Three Kingdoms", the combined number of Wei, Shu and Wu in the late Three Kingdoms was only 8 million. However, when the Jin Dynasty unified the world, after the population census was conducted again, the official population of the Western Jin Dynasty became 16 million.
Then in the first year of Yongkang, which was 300 AD, the Western Jin Dynasty was unified in 280 AD. By 300 AD, in just 20 years, the country's population had increased to 35 million.
Pigs are not so fertile.
Therefore, due to the great changes in history, the current population of Yuan Shao in the north is eight to nine million, Cao Cao's population in Henan is three to four million, and Liu Biao's population in Jingzhou is tens of millions.
Liu Biao suddenly became the leader of the princes in the world, and his total military strength reached 200,000.
Although Cao Cao had more than 100,000 troops before and after Guandu, they were attacked by Shen Chen in the rear and were half disabled. Currently, the main elite force has not been lost, and there are still 30,000 to 40,000 Guandu elite troops, as well as 20,000 to 30,000 second-line troops.
The population comparison between the two sides was 10 million against 3 to 4 million, and the comparison in military strength was 200,000 against 78,000. Liu Biao had the advantage, and it was no wonder that he was so ambitious.
So from this point of view, Shen Chen cut Cao too hard and supported Liu Biao too strongly. It's really hard to say who will lose and who will win.
After all, to a certain extent, this is another battle of Guandu.
In the last battle of Guandu, Cao Cao basically relied on luck. If he does it again now, he may not have as good luck as last time.
"If Liu Jingzhou arrives in person and sends good generals to fight against Cao Cao for a long time, exhausting his military morale and cutting off his food and grass, it may be possible."
Zhuge Liang suddenly said: "However, Liu Jingzhou will not come personally, nor will he choose a long-term confrontation. Instead, he will be eager for success. If I were Cao Cao, I would take advantage of his impatience to lure the enemy deep, and I will surely defeat him."
"Right."
Shen Chen sighed: "Liu Jingzhou's biggest problem is that he is too old. As he gets older, he cannot run around and be as energetic as he was when he was young."
Historically, Liu Biao died in the 13th year of Jian'an, which means he still had about seven years left.
But Liu Biao didn't know when he would die.
Maybe it will be soon, maybe it will be more than ten years in the future, so he will be more anxious than young people to calm the world as soon as possible instead of choosing to fight a war of attrition with Cao Cao.
What's more important is that although he has many soldiers and horses, they are not as elite as Yuan Shao. The strength of the Jingzhou Army is at best a second- and third-line force in the entire Han Dynasty.
Even Sun Quan of Jiangdong could beat the Jiangxia navy, the strongest among the Jingzhou army, from time to time, let alone the army under Liu Biao.
Therefore, Zhuge Liang guessed Liu Biao's psychology, and his own soldiers were not elite enough, so he thought that he would be eager for success, which would probably lead to a big defeat.
"If this is true, once Liu Jingzhou is defeated."
Xu Shu suddenly got up from the table, looked at them with wide eyes and said, "Isn't there going to be civil strife in Jingzhou?"
"Yes, there may indeed be civil strife in Jingzhou."
Zhuge Liang pondered.
"Should we run to Jingnan?"
Xu Shu suggested: "Many people are running to Jingnan recently."
Shen Chen waved his hands and said: "No, it's not possible. I'm still there. If Liu Jingzhou doesn't recruit me to fight, you all know what he's thinking. It's just because he's afraid that if I break Xu Capital and really welcome the emperor back to Jingzhou, then he But the trouble is big, so now that I have all my troops, even if there is civil strife, what kind of trouble will it cause?"
"Do you have enough people?"
Xu Shu said suspiciously: "Last year, your attack on Yingchuan seemed to have achieved great results. In fact, it was because Cao Cao's elite troops were not present and you made a sneak attack from behind. If we really fight, your thousands of people may not be able to do anything big."
Shen Chen smiled and said: "Brother Yuan Zhi, don't you know that the troops are not numerous but fine? If they are just a mob, even a million soldiers and horses will not be afraid. Back then, the ancestor of Guangwu, didn't he only have a few thousand men to defeat Wang Mang's hundreds of thousands?"
"You burned Xu Du and shocked the world. Whatever you say makes sense."
Xu Shu shrugged: "But if this is a big defeat, Liu Jingzhou's health is not good to begin with. If he accidentally falls ill, who will be in charge of Jingzhou?"
"Master Liu Qi is a kind and reasonable man, but Liu Jingzhou loves his second son more than his eldest son."
Zhuge Liang pondered: "This is not a good thing."
Shen Chen suddenly became energetic and said to them: "Brothers, are you planning to become officials?"
Going into official service?
Xu Shu raised his head and looked at the sky.
He is older than Zhuge Liang and Shen Chen.
He is already thirty this year, and has been trapped in Jingzhou for many years. He just realized that although Liu Biao had great ambitions, his military ability and age were shortcomings, so he was unwilling to become an official.
Looking at the world now, Liu Biao seems to have strong troops and horses, but he is eager for success, and his troops and horses are just a mob, and his future is worrying.
So if you look around, it seems that only Jiangdong and Yizhou can serve as officials.
But it's really too far away.
Thinking of this, Xu Shu shook his head and said: "At least under Liu Jingzhou, I don't want to serve as an official. Let's wait and see the situation after this year's war. If the young master Liu Qi inherits the position, I can try to assist him."
"The eldest son is really good."
Shen Chen nodded. He had also dealt with Liu Qi. He was a generous, humble and polite man. His relationship with Liu Bei was worthy of being so good in history. The two of them could be considered like-minded companions.
However, Liu Qi is not the young man that many people think of. In fact, he is almost forty years old, and his father Liu Biao is already sixty. Liu Qi and Liu Bei are about the same age, and they will die of illness in a few years. Not Mingzhu.
Zhuge Liang looked at Shen Chen and asked: "Could it be that you want to assist the eldest son, Chen? How will your grandfather deal with it?"
"There's just nothing I can do about it."
Shen Chen smiled bitterly and scratched his head: "The sixth grandmother also supports the second young master. Now the eldest young master is in a very difficult situation."
His sixth grandmother was indeed virtuous, but the problem was that virtuous people must be virtuous, and the clan still had to take care of them.
Liu Cong married Cai Yan's daughter, who is cousin to his sixth maternal grandmother. Liu Cong is his cousin-in-law. How could his family not support it?
"Well, it seems that the second young master will inherit the throne in the future."
Xu Shu frowned.
This second young master has a weak character and no courage to be a master. I am afraid that even if he becomes the lord of Jingzhou, he will be controlled by powerful ministers like Liu Xie, and the consequences will be disastrous.
Shen Chen shook his head and said: "Second Young Master is really hard to explain. If he takes charge, Jingzhou will probably fall into civil strife. Sun Quan will not let go of this opportunity, and neither will Liu Zhang."
"Are we really going to avoid Jingnan?"
Xu Shu murmured to himself.
Shen Chen smiled slightly, looked at the two of them, and said softly: "I have a candidate. If he is here, he will be able to take charge of Jingzhou and stabilize everything."
"who?"
Xu Shu asked quickly.
Shen Chen lowered his voice, like a pyramid scheme, and the devil murmured: "Have you heard of Uncle Liu Huang?"
I originally planned to update 20,000 today, but I can't bear the energy and my hands are so sore now, so I only updated 14,000. I still have 6,000 left and I will try my best to get it out tomorrow!
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