On December 8, in the west hall of Xiangyang Palace, Liu Bei met with Zhuge Liang and Shen Chen in the side hall.
Now under the three-province system, national government affairs are often resolved at the Shangshutai, Zhongshujian and Menxia Temple. Only when you really can't get an idea do you go to Liu Bei.
Therefore, Liu Bei is still relatively free every day. In addition to looking at the three provinces and the official documents that Zhuge Liang has approved, he often pays attention to their own military situation and is waiting for the Northern Expedition to the Central Plains.
As the days passed, Liu Bei felt that his health was getting worse. No matter whether you were an emperor or a general or a talented man or a beautiful woman, time would always be your only enemy, no matter how magnificent you were.
Liu Bei's greatest wish was to unify the world before his death. Therefore, after pacifying Jiangdong, he became more and more concerned about the Northern Expedition and often talked about it.
It's just that the counselors knew that it was not the time for the Northern Expedition yet, so they kept trying to persuade Liu Bei. This prevented Liu Bei from launching the Northern Expedition immediately.
However, everyone in the government and the public knew what he was thinking. Although everyone was trying to persuade him, they did not dare to give him a date directly, lest he could not do it by then and be blamed by Liu Bei. Therefore, everyone just shied away and waited for the opportunity.
But today Shen Chen gave Liu Bei a specific period.
Three people were sitting in a row in the side hall. Liu Bei was sitting cross-legged on the main seat. Although he was getting older, he was still energetic and healthy. He was not unable to walk because of his old age.
It's just that he feels that as he gets older, his physical strength and martial arts skills are not as good as when he was young, and he can fight in all directions at once, so he feels that his time is not long.
At this moment, when he heard Shen Chen's response to his three-year Northern Expedition, he couldn't help but sigh: "Three years, might it be too long? I am now sixty-two, and in three years, no one knows whether
I'm still alive, but I'm afraid I won't see that day."
"Lord."
Zhuge Liang smiled and said: "My lord has always been in good health. He is ready to mount a horse and fight, so why should he be afraid of these short three years?"
When meeting in private, Liu Bei rarely calls himself "I", and he and Guan and Zhang are considered brothers. With Zhuge Liang, they are not as solemn as in general meetings, and they often let them continue to call themselves "lord" as before, which is much more casual than in formal occasions.
"well."
Liu Bei sighed, then thought for a while and asked, "Does it really take three years?"
Shen Chen replied: "My lord, it is not a good thing to act too hastily. Although Emperor Gaozu destroyed Qin in three years and Chu in five years, it was because of the great chaos in the world and the popular sentiment. Now that the north is becoming more stable and Cao Wei is powerful, we need to slow down and not rush.
Seek success. We should imitate the Qin State and work hard at every step, so that we can conquer the world and unify the world."
"Um."
Liu Bei put his hands on his knees, then looked at the table, pursed his lips and nodded slightly, and then said: "Although the Northern Expedition will take three years, these three years should not be wasted, we should prepare."
"nature."
Shen Chen said: "So I want to be transferred to Hanzhong."
"Going to Hanzhong?"
Liu Bei asked in surprise: "Xiaoqing has been guarding Nanyang for more than ten years, and suddenly wants to go to Yizhou?"
"Yes."
Shen Chen said: "To fight in the north, cavalry must be available. Henan and Hebei are flat, and the cavalry comes and goes like lightning. Cao Pi only has a few thousand people in Huainan, because their cavalry can rush to the rescue quickly. So they have something
, we must also have it, and we must be better than them."
Liu Bei thought for a while and said: "If that's the case, then why not go to Liangzhou?"
Shen Chen smiled bitterly and said, "Isn't Uncle Yide in Liangzhou? He has a fiery temperament and likes to drink and cause trouble. He and I have conflicting tempers. If we try to control him forcefully, there may be conflicts."
"It's easy."
Liu Bei said with a smile: "Yide and I haven't seen each other for several years. He didn't even come when I ascended the throne. It's really time for us to see each other. I want you to be the governor of Yongyiliang and the shepherd of Liangzhou. Jie, supervise Bashu, Guanzhong, Liangzhou's military affairs, and govern Liangzhou's civil affairs, what do you think?"
"Thank you, lord."
Shen Chen happily raised his hands and saluted.
This means that the military power of the entire Sichuan, Gansu, and Hanzhong areas, as well as the civil administration power of Gansu, will be handed over to him.
Liu Bei is like this. As long as you have his 100% trust, it is really easy to get an official position from him.
For example, when Zhuge Liang was just starting out, he was appointed as the fourth person in the group.
But this is also the result of his knowing people and making good use of them.
Historically, Liu Bei knew that Ma Su could not be reused, so he told Zhuge Liang not to reuse him.
As a result, after his death, Zhuge Liang still forgot Liu Bei's instructions and reused Ma Di.
Sure enough, Ma Di was defeated by Zhang He in the battle at Jieting.
Now Zhang Fei is going to Xiliang because Liu Bei knows that Zhang Fei is a cavalryman himself. He gallops in Xiliang like a fish entering the sea and a bird flying into the sky.
But his trip to Xiliang can only be temporary.
Zhang Fei has a rough and heroic temperament, which has both advantages and disadvantages.
On weekdays Liu Bei and Guan Yu can discipline him.
But once left alone, this personality becomes moody, arrogant, and prone to trouble.
Although the news of victory in Xiliang came frequently, Zhang Fei tiger marched through Guanlong and defeated the rebellious Qiang people.
But it is also said that this was because Zhang Fei was too harsh, which led to repeated rebellions by the Qiang people.
So we simply took this opportunity to transfer Zhang Fei back from Xiliang and let Shen Chen replace him.
Shen Chen was not only good at fighting, but also had a relatively moderate character. He could march with his horse and bring peace to the people with his horse, so he could treat the Xiliang Qiang people with both kindness and power, with both strength and softness.
By successfully subduing the Qiang people and managing the Yongliang land, they can form a pincer attack on Guanzhong and pave the way for the recovery of the old capital.
This is Liu Bei's ability to recognize people.
After agreeing to Shen Chen's request to go to the northwest, Liu Bei asked: "Kong Ming, Xiaoqing, what do you think about the Northern Expedition?"
Zhuge Liang replied: "Xiaoqing and I both believe that Guanzhong should be taken first to regain the lost territory, and then Henan and Hebei."
"Why Guanzhong?"
Liu Bei asked.
Zhuge Liang took out the map from his arms, stepped forward and spread it on Liu Bei's desk and said: "My lord, please see, Guanzhong and Guandong are separated by the Qinling Mountains and the Wuxing Mountains. Once a war breaks out, it will be difficult for Cao Wei to rush to rescue immediately. Therefore, compared with Henan and Huainan , Guanzhong is easier to obtain.”
"Um."
Liu Bei nodded in agreement: "Yes, in fact, I also asked the Taiwei about this, and he also said to take Guanzhong first and then attack Henan."
Shen Chen said: "Cao Pi and the others couldn't have imagined that we would attack Chang'an first, so he deployed tens of thousands of troops in Chang'an, thinking that everything was foolproof, but he didn't know that after we rested for three years, the army would surround Chang'an, and they would definitely make them Lost the land of Sanfu."
Zhuge Liang also smiled and said: "At that time, my lord can lead the main army north to Yecheng to confront the main force of Cao Wei and contain its troops. The general will attack Huainan from the northeast of the Yangtze River and attack Hefei. In this way, we will advance in three ways and feign attacks in two places. In fact, we will The last step is to go north from Wuguan, join forces with Yongliang soldiers and horses, and break through Chang'an!"
"Wonderful, wonderful."
Liu Bei said with satisfaction: "Xiaoqing often said that to build a country, you must have a strategy. Today's strategy is to get to Guanzhong first."
"Exactly."
Shen Chen responded: "However, there are thousands of miles of desolate land in Guanzhong, and the transportation of grain and grass is not smooth, so we need to work step by step and plan slowly. After I go to Yongliang, I will reserve grain and grass in Chencang, form a large cavalry, and attack Chang'an for thousands of miles, catching Cao's army off guard." !”
Liu Bei said excitedly: "Okay, if there is anything else Xiaoqing needs, just tell me and I will give my full support."
"There's nothing else. I just want three people from the master."
Shen Chen smiled.
"who?"
"Zhao Yun, Pang De, Yu Jin."
"The ban?"
Liu Bei was confused: "Lingming is a native of Liangzhou and is good at cavalry. Zilong is also a brave cavalry general. I can understand why they want him. Yu Ban may not be willing to sacrifice his life for a surrendered general. What do you want him to do?"
After the Battle of Jingzhou, there were more than 200,000 captured soldiers in Cao Wei and Jiangdong alone.
Now that the captured soldiers in Jiangdong have been destroyed by the Sun family, Jiangdong has returned to Liu Bei. Therefore, the soldiers in Jiangdong must either be sent back to their hometowns to cultivate the land, or those who are willing to stay and continue to serve in the army will select the best and train them into an army.
Only the surrendered soldiers of Cao Wei are still staying in the Nanyang Basin, becoming soldiers in the fields, marrying wives and having children, but staying in the south to thrive.
Since the end of the Han Dynasty, the population has declined significantly due to natural disasters, plagues, wars, famine and other conditions.
Young men are often drafted into men, making it common for there to be more boys and girls. Some are like Europe during World War II. Although the male-to-female ratio is not as exaggerated as in Europe, it is still seriously unbalanced.
Therefore, the surrendered soldiers of Cao Wei can still be resettled.
Only the surrendering generals of Cao Wei were a more troublesome matter.
Their attitude is not bad. After all, if they have a bad attitude, they can just kill them without any trouble.
But he was respectful and willing to submit, but Liu Bei didn't dare to use him seriously.
It would be better if I were younger.
Like Wang Ping in history, he was originally from Badi. Because Cao Cao moved the Brazilian population to Luoyang, he joined the army in Luoyang and then returned to Badi to fight. After being captured, he returned to his hometown. At a young age, he married a wife and had children on the spot. No need to worry about loyalty.
But Yu Jin's group of people are all old men in their fifties and sixties, and their families are all in the north. Not only do they have relatives to care about, it is difficult for them to get married and have children, and start a new family in the south.
Therefore, it is not easy to place these surrendered generals from Cao and Wei.
If we reuse them, we are afraid that they will defect or cause trouble at a critical moment. If we don't reuse them, these are elite northern generals with rich experience. It is a pity that they can't be used even though they have surrendered.
Therefore, Liu Bei had to give them some idle official positions to help Cao Pi support them.
It is also worth mentioning that Sun Quan is now the Anlehou of the Han Dynasty. He currently lives in the Anlehou Mansion in Xiangyang, and is often invited by Liu Bei to watch singing and dancing.
During the Wei and Jin Dynasties of the Three Kingdoms at the end of the Han Dynasty, they were relatively lenient to the surrendered monarchs and would give certain preferential treatment. It was not until Liu Yu made the evil move to kill the monarch who had subjugated the country. We are still in the civilized period, so Liu Bei would naturally not be able to do such a thing.
When Liu Bei asked why he wanted to use Yu Jin, Shen Chen smiled and said: "Although Yu Jin is a surrendered general, he is familiar with Cao's army's combat system and can train soldiers. Since he has surrendered, it would be a pity if he doesn't use it, let alone me. There is no need for him to lead troops, as long as he follows me to Xiliang."
"I'm just afraid that he will take the opportunity to escape."
Liu Bei worriedly said: "If you ask me to help train our soldiers, once he escapes, won't he leak the military plan?"
Shen Chen thought for a moment and said, "That's okay. At worst, I'll just move his family to the south."
"oh?"
Liu Bei was surprised and said: "Xiaoqing has a way?"
Shen Chen smiled and said: "To be honest, my lord, I still have some connections with Cao Wei."
The connections he was talking about naturally did not refer to any disciples or old officials there, but the spy network that had been established since the early years of Jian'an.
In an era of underdeveloped information, it is very difficult to establish an underground organization.
Even if there are spies, they are often not organizations but individuals like Sun Shangxiang.
But its difficulty actually lies not in communication, but in the degree of organization.
For example, in the Spring and Autumn Period, the Mohists already had such a tight-knit organization. With an order, Mohist disciples from all over the country would immediately gather. Even when faced with a life-or-death decision, they would die generously. It could be said that they were walking in the darkness and serving the light.
Shen Chen took Huangmen Township as his base. At first, he sent villagers north to Xuchang and sneaked into the city to make a living in various ways. He often communicated with Kong Rong and other Han Dynasty veterans to carry out underground activities.
Because of the hatred between the villagers and Cao Cao, they deeply hated Cao Cao for massacre of Xuzhou, and they had personal hatred, so they did things secretly and always did their duty with all their heart.
After that, they often selected people from the bottom who were oppressed by the government, nobles loyal to the Han Dynasty, and the remnants of the Yellow Turbans who were defeated in the war with Cao Cao. They formed a spy organization based on their hatred of Cao Wei and an independent upper-lower contact network.
For example, Wang Xing, the spy leader who was in Chendu at the time, was from Xuzhou. His parents and relatives were all slaughtered by Cao Cao, and he had a deep hatred with Cao Jun.
There is also a three-person team of Xu Yin, Zhou Ai, and Li Mu lurking in Zhu Shuo's mansion in Yecheng. Except for Xu Yin who is from Hejian, Zhou Ai and Li Mu are both from Xuzhou and have a grudge against Cao Wei.
Even Xu Yin had reasons to resist Cao Wei.
After Cao Cao settled in Hebei, he marched south and north and conquered Hebei violently. The people of Hebei harbored the Yuan family and rose up to resist, leading to rebellions. Among them, Su Bo and Tian Yin from Hejian launched a rebellion. It can be seen that the Cao family was not in Hebei. Very popular.
Xu Yin originally came from a small aristocratic family in Hebei. After the Yellow Turban Rebellion, the family was in ruins. His two brothers finally became officials in Yuan Shaona, and they were about to revitalize the family. However, in the battle of Guandu, both brothers died, and the family was defeated again.
And there are too many examples like them.
Shen Chen specially wrote some articles about Cao Wei's brutal rule and a summary of his views on human nature. He urged them to read it often to unify their thoughts and teach them that they were fighting for the people of the country and to overthrow the brutal rule.
These articles were slowly compiled and sorted out, and they became Shen Chen's almost completed book "On Humanity", which still has Confucian benevolence as its core ideologically, but also has a touch of Mohism.
The main reason is that Mohist thought is a bit anti-human, and Confucian benevolence is the three normal views. Even two thousand years later, Confucianism is "fraternity, welfare, fairness, justice, honesty, trustworthiness, reform of the old, reform, civilization, harmony, and rule of law." His thoughts are still the right way.
Just because the ruling class needs to use Confucianism to enslave the people, they take the dross and discard the essence, and distort some of its meanings.
Therefore, it is not a bad thing to follow the path of Confucianism, but you should not become a cynic who distorts its thoughts or a rotten Confucian who clings to dogma. Instead, you should respect the true core of its thoughts and become a great Confucian with a sense of justice in your heart.
Shen Chen removed the dross of Confucianism and took the essence, and integrated some of his own philosophical views, plus Wang Yangming's philosophy of mind and the thoughts of the great teacher of later generations, and mixed it into his own Shen school, which was the founding of a sect. Become a master of a generation.
Under his ideological guidance, the northern espionage organization had been operating for more than ten years without a single rebellion. Cao Wei had no idea that there was a group of people operating in the dark under his nose.
Yu Jin was not from a big family. His old wife had died of illness, and he only had one son, Yu Gui. Cao Wei had no intention of liquidating the families of the surrendered generals, and had not even cared about or considered these issues. Therefore, it would be easy to bring Yu Gui out from the north. .
When Liu Bei heard that Shen Chen had a way to bring Yu Jin's family to the south, he didn't ask what the way was, but said, "Since Xiaoqing already has an idea, let's do what Xiaoqing wants."
"Thank you, lord!"
Shen Chen bowed his hands and took a long breath.
Traveling to Liangzhou is a new beginning, but whether it is hatred for Cao Wei or longing for a new world, it will become the driving force to push him forward.
He hopes to build a relatively fair world and spread his ideas to influence more people to participate.
After that, history will take a truly normal course.
There was no chaos in China, nor was there the cannibalistic darkness of the Northern and Southern Dynasties.
some.
Just a strong man and embarking on the path of new cosmopolitan change!