The battle to conquer the east led by Geng Yan was fought very quickly. In just a few months, Zhang Bu's seemingly powerful force collapsed.
Looking at the entire battle situation, under the command of Geng Yan, although the Han army did not have as many troops as Zhang Bu's army, it formed a crushing force on Zhang Bu's forces. The army's march eastward really seemed to be overwhelming. The battle must be won, and the attack must be victorious.
Bike.
From beginning to end, Zhang Bu failed to find a chance to turn defeat into victory.
The edict issued by Liu Xiu became the straw that broke the camel's back, causing Zhang Bu and Su Mao to fight. In the end, Zhang Bu killed Su Mao and surrendered to Liu Xiu with Su Mao's head.
The destruction of Zhang Bu's power left no separatist warlords east of Luoyang, and the entire Guandong region, including Qingzhou, Yanzhou, Yuzhou, and Xuzhou, was under the control of the Luoyang court.
At this point, Liu Xiu has completed the unification of the ten states. For Liu Xiu, there are only three main enemies left. One is Lu Fang of Bingzhou, one is Kaixiao of Liangzhou, and the other is Gongsun Shu of Yizhou.
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Among them, Gongsun Shu was the strongest and had the most troops, followed by Wei Xiao, and Lu Fang was the weakest. However, Lu Fang had the support of the Huns, which made the Luoyang court dare not use troops against Lu Fang easily.
No one knows how far the Huns have supported Lu Fang, and they rashly used troops against Lu Fang. If the Huns only reinforced Lu Fang with 10,000 or 20,000 troops, it would be okay to say that if the Huns were to come out in full force, the Han army would be defeated.
Must be defeated.
Therefore, before the Han army goes to Lu Fang, it must be prepared to fight a national war with the Huns. It needs to mobilize the strength of the whole country to fight this battle. Obviously, this is not realistic for the current Luoyang court.
After Zhang Bu was pacified, whether the Luoyang court should continue to conduct foreign campaigns and against whom, these matters needed to be discussed by Liu Xiu and the ministers in the court.
In the morning of that day, Liu Xiu mentioned this matter.
The ministers were whispering and whispering to each other. Deng Yu stepped out of the queue, bowed his hands to Liu Xiu and said: "Your Majesty, I think that because of the continuous use of troops, the national treasury has been depleted and money and food have been severely consumed. Now, it is time to rest and recuperate, and it is not appropriate to go on foreign expeditions."
Deng Yu's words immediately resonated with many civil officials.
The Great Situ Fuzhan stepped out of the queue, raised his hands and said: "Your Majesty, the right general's words are right. After years of fighting, the people are in dire straits, all industries are ruined, and the counties are deserted. I hope your Majesty can consider the people's sentiments and suspend the war for the time being."
Song Hong came out of the queue, raised his hands and said: "I second the proposal."
Immediately afterwards, several more ministers came out and said in unison: "I second the proposal."
In his heart, Liu Xiu is not willing to fight, and he himself is not a warlike person. But among the ten states currently accused by Luoyang, except for Jiaozhou, which surrendered voluntarily, the other nine states were all conquered by force.
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There was no way. In order to complete the great cause of unification and revive the foundation of the Han Dynasty, the envoys' words could no longer solve the problem. They could only resort to force and the fists of the generals to complete the unification and achieve political goals.
Liu Xiu looked at Deng Yu and others, lost in thought, and did not answer immediately. At this time, a man came out of the queue of generals on the other side, the Grand Sima Wu Han. After Wu Han came out of the queue, he raised his hands and said: "Your Majesty, I think this...
Our army has defeated Zhang Bu, and its morale is at its peak. We should strike while the iron is hot, first capture Weixiao in Liangzhou, then capture Gongsun Shu in Yizhou, and finally send our troops north to defeat Lu Fang in one fell swoop, unify the world, and recreate the heyday of the Han Dynasty!"
Wu Han was an unswerving militant in the Luoyang court. As long as problems could be solved by force, he did not want to rely on the words of messengers to negotiate.
The main war faction like Wu Han was not a minority in the Luoyang court. The founding heroes who followed Liu Xiu to conquer the world basically belonged to this faction.
As soon as Wu Han finished speaking, Gai Yan came out, raised his hands and said: "Your Majesty, I second my opinion!"
Geng Yan also stepped out of the queue, raised his hands and said: "Wei minister seconded the proposal!"
Deng Yu, Fu Zhan, and Song Hong all advocated recuperating and not fighting again, while Wu Han, Gai Yan, and Geng Yan all advocated striking while the iron is hot and unifying the world in one go.
Song Hong glanced at the generals and said seriously: "The general of Xiliang has been loyal to your majesty for a long time, and the generals keep saying that they want to attack Liangzhou. What is the purpose of this?"
When Wu Han heard this, he immediately frowned and said in a deep voice: "Song Sikong stayed in Luoyang for too long, and he became stupid?"
As soon as he said these words, all the ministers present changed their expressions. Song Hong's white face almost turned into black. Liu Xiu also frowned and looked at Wu Han displeased.
He continued: "Kui Xiao is surrendering to Your Majesty on the surface, but in fact he is recruiting troops and horses, hoarding food and supplies in the dark. He is turning a deaf ear to His Majesty's edicts. His disobedience is obvious. How dare you, Song Sikong, say that he is surrendering to your Majesty."
Your Majesty, wouldn’t this be ridiculous?”
Song Hong looked ugly and said seriously: "As long as Wei Xiao has not openly rebelled against the imperial court or openly betrayed His Majesty, he will be my Han Dynasty's minister!"
Wu Han said angrily: "Song Sikong read too much and has become pedantic, right?!"
Song Hong was furious and was about to speak when Liu Xiu waved his hands to the two of them. He turned to look at Wu Han, frowned and said, "Zi Yan, be careful what you say! Mr. Song is a great Sikong, so you must not be rude."
You are both one of the three gentlemen, so if you have anything to say, you can talk it over, but why does it turn into a personal attack? Wu Han is not afraid of the sky or the earth, he is only afraid of Liu Xiu. After hearing Liu Xiu's reprimand, he bowed and expressed that he was at fault.
He said seriously: "Your Majesty, Wei Xiao's small goal is to become the king and hegemon in Liangzhou. Wei Xiao's big goal is to be the emperor and to compete with your Majesty! Such sycophants and traitors must not be allowed to stay.
I am willing to lead my troops to Liangzhou to conquer Weixiao!"
Geng Yan and Gai Yan said almost at the same time: "Wei Chen is willing to lead troops to conquer Wei Xiao!"
"Your Majesty, you must not do it!" Fu Zhan cupped his hands and said urgently: "Your Majesty, even though Wei Xiao has a disobedient heart, he has not betrayed Your Majesty yet. Your Majesty hastily sent troops to Liangzhou and sent troops out of Wuming. This is unjust.
The army will be opposed by the people of the world, and the scholar-bureaucrats everywhere will criticize it with their words and writings!"
"Pedantry!" Wu Han said angrily: "When Weixiao is ready to raise an army to rebel, and then sends out troops to conquer, I don't know how many more lives of soldiers will be sacrificed. Your Majesty is the emperor, and if the emperor says he is guilty, he is guilty.
Who in the world dares to disobey?"
Fu Zhan held his forehead, Wu Han was a warrior, and it was okay to let him lead the troops in battle. However, between the imperial court and Wei Xiao, it was not only a matter of war between the two armies, but also a political game. They blindly wanted to resort to
How can it be possible with force?
He ignored Wu Han, but said meaningfully to Liu Xiu: "Your Majesty, it has not yet been determined whether Wei Xiao really has a disobedient heart. Even if he does have a disobedient heart, Wei Chen thinks,
With your majesty’s broad mind and compassion for nature and humanity, you can also influence Wei Xiao and make him return to the right path.”
Hearing this, Wu Han sneered, and the corner of his mouth almost reached the bottom of his ears. Fu Zhan still ignored Wu Han and said meaningfully: "The people of the world have suffered from wars, as long as things have not reached the worst point.
, Your Majesty should not use troops lightly, I hope your Majesty will learn from it!" As he spoke, Fu Zhan knelt down and kowtowed forward.
Song Hong and other civil servants also bowed their hands to Liu Xiu and said, "Your Majesty, please give me a clear warning!"
Liu Xiu really wanted to use troops against Kai Xiao, but Fu Zhan's words were not unreasonable.
First, Wei Xiao has indeed not made a clear statement that he will betray the Han Dynasty and establish himself as king. The current use of troops against him is indeed out of nowhere.
Secondly, when Kaixiao defected to Liu Xiu, Liu Xiu had just occupied Luoyang and was still very weak. In a sense, Kaixiao also played a positive role in the establishment and consolidation of the Luoyang court and was meritorious.
At the Luoyang court.
Thirdly, and most importantly, too many wars were fought and too many people died in the wars. The people of the world had had enough of wars, and even Liu Xiu himself had had enough of wars.
After thinking about it, he turned his eyes to Deng Yu and asked, "Zhonghua, what do you mean?"
Deng Yu took a deep breath, cupped his hands and said, "Your Majesty, I believe that if we can rest and recuperate now, it will be good for all the people in the world."
Liu Xiu nodded. Liu Xiu still attached great importance to Deng Yu's opinions. He pondered for a while and said: "The matter of using troops in Liangzhou will be postponed... for further discussion."
"Your Majesty!" Wu Han and other generals raised their hands and looked at Liu Xiu eagerly.
Liu Xiu waved his hands to them and said with a smile: "Although we have no intention of using troops against Liangzhou for the time being, you must not relax in the training of our officers and soldiers to prepare for emergencies."
"I understand."
"Okay, if you have nothing to say, please dismiss the court!"
After the dynasty dispersed, Liu Xiu left first, and then the ministers filed out of the hall.
Outside, Wu Han, Geng Yan, and Gai Yan caught up with Deng Yu. Wu Han was the first to express his dissatisfaction and said, "Zhonghua, those civil servants are pedantic. Why do you, like them, oppose the use of troops to Liangzhou?"
Deng Yu looked at Wu Han, then at Gai Yan and Geng Yan, and asked: "Ju Qing, have you ever calculated how many soldiers were killed or injured during the Eastern Expedition?"
"Uh..." Gai Yan was speechless.
Deng Yu turned to look at Geng Yan and asked: "Bo Zhao, tell me, how many soldiers were killed or injured during your Eastern Expedition?"
"This..." Geng Yan was also speechless for a moment.
Deng Yu said faintly: "For several years of the Eastern Expedition, countless soldiers were killed or injured; for several years of the Southern Expedition, there were countless casualties; for several years of the Western Expedition, there were still countless casualties. We can no longer fight. We should
Recuperating and recuperating, but resorting to military warfare is a sign of national destruction!"
Gai Yan and Geng Yan looked at each other, both bowed their heads and said nothing.
Wu Han shook his head and said: "Zhonghua is pedantic! We are sending troops now, not for war, but for peace. If we don't pacify Wei Xiao, Gongsun Shu, Lu Fang and others, the world will not be peaceful for a day, so we are sending troops now."
Once and for all, if we use troops in the future, the enemy will be stronger and more people will die. Your kindness now will only cause greater carnage in the future." After saying this, Wu Han took another deep look at Deng Yu.
He shook his head and walked away.
Geng Yan said meaningfully: "The ministers in the DPRK always look down on us generals, thinking that all we think about is fighting and we don't know how to care about the people of the world. But how many dead people have they seen? What do we do in a day?
They have seen more dead people than they have ever seen in their entire lives!”
Human beings are not grass and trees, how can we be ruthless? Seeing the corpses scattered all over the mountains and plains after the war, whether they are the enemy or our own soldiers, who can remain indifferent, who can't scratch and rub their intestines?
No one is born with a love for killing. If there is such a madman, he cannot become an excellent general. For the sake of long-term peace, temporary killing is inevitable.
After listening to what Wu Han and Geng Yan said, Deng Yu also fell into deep thought for a long time.
In fact, many things are not divided into simple right and wrong.
Like now, whether the Luoyang court should use troops against Wei Xiao, the opinions of Deng Yu, Fu Zhan, and Song Hong are reasonable, and the opinions of Wu Han, Geng Yan, and Gai Yan cannot be said to be wrong.
With both sides having their own reasons, Liu Xiu made a choice and finally chose not to use troops against Wei Xiao.
Just like Fu Zhan said, as long as there is room for maneuver in things, as long as there is a glimmer of hope that can solve the problem without using force, our own side should try our best to fight for it.
Liu Xiu would think that it was not that Liu Xiu was weak, but that he had fought too many wars. Since Liu Xiu arrived in Hebei, there has been no year, month or even day without fighting.
They have been fighting, fighting, and going on for several years. No matter who it is, they would not be able to stand it.
