Chapter 491: The Han people are self-strengthening
Shu County is the richest county among the counties in Yizhou.
From an economic perspective alone, the prosperity of Shu County is not weaker than that of any large county in the Central Plains.
The Kingdom of Tianfu essentially praises Shu County.
Economic excellence gave Shu County a special status among the Han Dynasty, and the political significance it represented gave Shu County a transcendent status among the counties in Yizhou.
The seat of Shu County is Chengdu, the current capital of the Han Dynasty.
Its superior economic and political status will inevitably make Shu County a place of longing for countless literati and scholars in today's Han Dynasty. This also makes Shu County the cultural center of today's Han Dynasty.
As the three major economic, political and cultural centers of the Han Dynasty, Shu County was undoubtedly the destiny of the Han Dynasty.
Whenever the Han Dynasty encountered dangers that endangered the country, Shu County would often burst out with powerful force to help the Han Dynasty overcome the difficulties at hand.
The current governor of Shu County is Yang Hong.
Yang Hong's courtesy name was Ji Xiu, and he was a native of Wuyang.
Yang Hong is a famous scholar in Yizhou. As early as the Liu Zhang period, because of his fame, Yang Hong served as an official in various counties in Yizhou.
This experience allowed Yang Hong to accumulate rich political experience.
Later, after Liu Bei captured Yizhou, Li Yan, the prefect of Jianwei, appointed Yang Hong as the meritorious officer. However, due to political differences between Li Yan and Yang Hong, Yang Hong voluntarily resigned from the post of meritorious officer and pretended to live in seclusion.
Although Li Yan didn't like Yang Hong's disobedience to his decision, he was worried about Yang Hong's reputation and later recommended Yang Hong to the state capital and let Yang Hong serve under Zhuge Liang.
With only these experiences, Yang Hong could only be regarded as a celebrity in Yizhou with a bad temper at best. But then a major event happened that changed the trajectory of Yang Hong's life.
That year, the Battle of Hanzhong broke out.
When the Battle of Hanzhong was in the middle, Fa Zheng proposed to Liu Bei a strategy of surprise attack on Dingjun Mountain in order to reverse the situation. Liu Bei finally made up his mind to adopt this strategy after discussing with Zhuge Liang in a letter.
But a surprise attack on Dingjun Mountain is easier said than done.
If you want to reach Dingjun Mountain from Jiange, you have to climb more than ten peaks in a row. Those more than ten peaks are all inaccessible places all year round, and there is no established road for the army to walk.
What's more, Fazheng doesn't want a few soldiers to cross mountains, but an army of tens of thousands!
The difficulty involved is more difficult than crossing the ten Ziwu Valleys, and the logistical pressure on Yizhou is simply unimaginable.
Even Zhuge Liang was worried about this incident at the time, so he specifically asked Yang Hong about it.
Yang Hong's answer at that time was: "Hanzhong is the throat of Yizhou. It has a chance of survival. Without Hanzhong, there would be no Shu. This would be a disaster for the family. In today's affairs, men are responsible for fighting and women are responsible for luck. Why send troops?"
This sentence reveals Yang Hong's firm attitude, and he is not a rhetorical party.
In the days that followed, Yang Hong used his reputation in Yizhou and his extraordinary political talents to help Zhuge Liang accomplish a feat that seemed almost impossible in the world.
The four words "man can conquer nature" were vividly reflected in Zhuge Liang and Yang Hong during those early years.
If we want to rank the ministers who made contributions to the Battle of Hanzhong, Yang Hong is definitely among the top five.
Because of this huge contribution, after Liu Bei proclaimed himself emperor, Liu Bei defied all opinions and placed the sensitive Yang Hong in the extremely important position of the prefect of Shu County.
It is precisely because of this huge contribution that Yang Hong was able to stay afloat during last year's stormy purge of ministers from the Yizhou clan.
Afterwards, Liu Bei wrote a special letter to comfort Yang Hong. Among the officials in Yizhou, Yang Hong was probably the only one who received such love and respect from Liu Bei.
But Yang Hong did not rely on favor to become arrogant.
Yang Hong was well aware of the sensitivity of his own identity, so after becoming the governor of Shu County, he continued to maintain a high-profile and low-key style of doing things, and worked conscientiously to develop the economy for the Han Dynasty.
For Yang Hong, this kind of life in which he did not participate in any political struggle and only devoted himself to serving the country made him very happy.
But a document he received from the North recently made Yang Hong feel less happy.
This document was sent directly to Zhuge Liang from his shogunate. The most important thing was the content in the document, which made Yang Hong feel like he had returned to the past.
"At all costs, integrate national power to support Jiange."
This sentence is the last sentence written by Zhuge Liang in the document.
When he saw this sentence, Yang Hong realized Zhuge Liang's intention.
This is what Zhuge Liang did during the Battle of Hanzhong.
After realizing this, Yang Hong inevitably felt heavy in his heart.
When he was able to accomplish that feat, it was Zhuge Liang who was overseeing the overall situation, while he was responsible for the specific execution.
Now that Zhuge Liang is going to Jiange, many things will have to be done by him alone.
But no matter how heavy his heart was, Yang Hong had no intention of retreating.
No matter how difficult the road ahead is, it is nothing more than walking it over again.
Yang Hong summoned all the county officials as quickly as possible.
When Yang Hong, in his capacity as the ruler of the government, stated the theme of the parliament, the officials who came to attend the meeting soon began to become agitated.
The Battle of Liangzhou took place last year. After a year of development, Yizhou's national strength has been restored.
But no matter how it recovers, Yizhou's national power cannot return to its peak within a year.
Apart from anything else, it will soon be a new round of sowing season. If a large number of manpower in Shu County is transferred to Jiange according to Yang Hong's order, what will happen to Yizhou's development in the next year?
The two choices between development and war have always been the most contradictory.
For these subordinates, who are mostly civil servants, they undoubtedly prefer to prioritize development.
Soon, some close staff members expressed their opinions to Yang Hong tactfully.
After one staff member spoke, other staff members also expressed their views one after another.
Although many people have expressed their opinions one after another, their opinions all have one thing in common: that is, there is no need to use nearly all the national power of Shu County to support the front line in the Battle of Liangzhou.
The Shu County officials are not stupid either. They certainly know why Yang Hong wants to use all the Shu County's national power now.
But the current situation has changed differently than before.
In the past, the Han Dynasty was attacked from both sides. Not only Liangzhou was in danger, but even the North Gate Jiange of Yizhou was in danger.
But in recent times, first Liu Feng defeated the Wei army, and then Prime Minister Zhuge Liang successfully quelled the rebellion in Nanzhong and led his army back in time.
At this time, Jiange already had Zhuge Liang leading the army, and it can be said that the safety of Yizhou has been guaranteed to a certain extent.
So at this time, do we still need to devote all our efforts to support Liangzhou?
Or to put it more realistically, once Shu County does this, the national strength that Shu County has finally recovered will be severely damaged again.
Correspondingly, will Mi Yang definitely win this battle in Liangzhou?
No one can make a conclusion on this answer, but everyone knows how to weigh the pros and cons. One is 100%, and the other is little hope of success. Any normal person knows how to choose.
Some people even have more sinister thoughts in their hearts.
No matter which side wins the Battle of Liangzhou, as long as the national power of Shu County is slowly recovering, does it matter who the master of Yizhou is in the future?
Most of the officials present were from Yizhou scholars, and last year's purge only wiped out the upper-class families in Yizhou.
However, due to geographical factors, most of the middle and lower-level officials in Shu County, and even in Yizhou as a whole, were local scholars from Yizhou.
If we really follow Yang Hong's orders and mobilize a large amount of manpower and material resources, then there is no doubt that the family interests behind these scholars will be seriously infringed.
Not long after Yang Hong issued the order, hesitation and uneasiness similar to that of the Battle of Hanzhong once again lingered in the minds of all the officials.
Listening to the discussions among the staff, Yang Hong's face became increasingly ugly.
But he was not in a hurry to get angry.
We cannot expect everyone to have a sufficient perspective on the overall situation. Many people will only make decisions consistent with their identities based on their corresponding positions.
But at this time, the role of taking the lead becomes more important.
Yang Hong coughed heavily first. Under Yang Hong's cough, the scene instantly became quiet.
Yang Hongneng was appointed as the prefect of Shu County by Liu Bei, not only because of his previous great achievements, but also because of his huge reputation among Yizhou scholars.
Otherwise, why would Zhuge Liang specifically ask Yang Hong?
After the scene calmed down, Yang Hong spoke in a recalling tone:
"In the siege of Jinyang, the cauldron was hung to cook; in the battle of Changping, there was a flow of blood.
Is it possible for our army to do so now?"
"This is what the Prime Minister asked me back then. I will borrow this sentence today to ask everyone present."
After hearing what Yang Hong said, all the staff present had unnatural looks on their faces.
The Siege of Jinyang and the Battle of Changping are two of the most thrilling battles during the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period.
Everyone present knew the winners of those two battles.
And those present knew better that the reason why the winners of those two battles ultimately belonged to Zhao Wuxie and King Qin Zhaoxiang was not just Zhang Meng's talk about Bai Qi's credit.
Take the Battle of Changping as an example. In order to win this battle, King Qin Zhaoxiang transferred almost all the manpower and material resources that Qin could mobilize to the front line in order to support Bai Qi in winning this decisive battle.
Wasn't it difficult for the Qin State back then?
Didn't King Qin Zhaoxiang ever think about giving up and retreating?
But it was King Qin Zhaoxiang's last persistence that sent 400,000 Zhao troops to death.
Everyone understood the reason why Yang Hong mentioned these two battles - to learn from the past.
When everyone was moved, Yang Hong continued: "You may think that the Battle of Liangzhou is similar to the Battle of Changping. Even if our army fails, we can abandon Liangzhou and defend Yizhou.
But Liangzhou is the throat of Yizhou. If Liangzhou is lost, not to mention how turbulent people's hearts will be at that time, and the throat is controlled by the enemy, will Yizhou still survive?
Gentlemen! Gentlemen!
What the Han Dynasty is facing now is the siege of Jinyang with no way out, and the siege of Jinyang that will destroy the country and the family if we are not careful. Can we still hesitate at this time?
If we don't do everything we can today to help the general win this battle, we will all be ridiculed by future generations as ministers of subjugation for thousands of years in history!
It’s now time to hang the cauldron and cook!”
When Yang Hong said the last sentence, he almost shouted, which is enough to prove his excitement at this time.
And Yang Hong's roar, like morning bells and evening drums, dispelled the hesitation and uneasiness in the hearts of everyone present.
Even if everyone present has different thoughts, as long as the leader has enough persistence, they will have the confidence to fight against this big man who is known for his bloody nature.
As soon as Yang Hong finished speaking, everyone present stood up from their seats almost instantly, and they shouted in unison:
"Everything must be done according to the emperor's decree!"
Seeing that everyone present had the same hatred and hatred, Yang Hong finally showed a smile on his face.
There is certainly no shortage of people with sneaky intentions, but in today's political environment of the Han Dynasty, they are still in the minority.
And as long as the majority of people are willing to work with him, even if there are some people with evil intentions, under the pressure of the general trend, how can they do nothing?
Of course, Yang Hong could use the power of the governor from the beginning to enforce his orders.
But Yang Hong knew this kind of thing. If he could give full play to the initiative of his subordinates, the results would be completely different.
Well, Zhuge Liang used a similar method to completely arouse his initiative.
After seeing that everyone no longer hesitated, specific orders began to be issued from Yang Hong's mouth:
"After each county in Shu County has enough food rations per capita for half a year, the rest of the stored food will be shipped to Chengdu.
All counties who are fifteen years or older are sent to Chengdu to join the army.
Another order was issued that in each county, all persons aged over 15 and under 40, regardless of age, age or gender, would be classified as civil servants!
..."
Orders without any emotion were issued from Yang Hong's mouth, which shocked all the officials present and looked at each other.
This chapter is not over yet, please click on the next page to continue reading! A familiar scene seemed to appear in their eyes in an instant.
Men should fight, women should luck!
Such a big sacrifice, if Mi Yang didn't win this battle, then Yizhou would be ruined!
But to cook without asking about the results?
Thinking of this, everyone's hearts became extremely determined.
I am about to fight to the death, but I hope the general can hold on!
...
In May of the fourth year of Emperor Zhangwu of the Han Dynasty, a scene occurred on the official roads in various places in Shu County that was so touching that it was recorded in the annals of history.
There are endless queues of people heading towards Chengdu.
Among the endless queues, there are people who may be young or old but have firm eyes, and there are small grain trucks of various types that carry a large amount of food.
If an uninformed person saw this scene, their first reaction might be to think that the long queues were fleeing.
But in fact they were going on an expedition.
The direction of their expedition was exactly Liangzhou where hundreds of thousands of enemy troops gathered.
Will they be afraid?
Of course it will.
But there are some things that you wouldn’t do if you weren’t afraid.
And when Shu County took action, due to its special status, it immediately led the surrounding counties to start taking action as well.
From point to point, from near to far, a massive national war is quietly beginning.
Perhaps when this scene is recorded in history books, many future generations will question the authenticity of this incident.
But future generations will not know that if he did not have such a strong mobilization power and strong popular support, how could Liu Bei have accomplished the feat of surprise attack on Dingjun Mountain in the Battle of Hanzhong?
After Cao Cao led the main force of the Wei army into Hanzhong, how did Liu Bei transport a steady stream of grain, grass and troops to the foot of Dingjun Mountain so that he could fight Cao Cao in a confrontation when he was unable to transport grain and grass from Yangping Pass?
If the country is weak, the Han people should strengthen themselves!
If the big man can support Mi Yang, he is already doing his best.