Chapter 510: The Change of the Bohai Sea (Big Chapter)
In April of the fifth year of the Chu calendar, it was the bloody month of Yecheng.
The northern aristocratic family headed by the Chen family poached several core boatmen from the Craftsman Camp. After the incident was exposed, conflicts broke out between the aristocratic family and the Wei imperial court over the demarcation of interests...
Having already tasted the sweetness, the noble family members longed for more autonomy, and the two sides were at war with each other in the court.
Even because the King of Wei had not been in charge of the affairs for several days, there were rumors that he suffered from a serious headache, which made the powerful rightists of the family even more aggressive. For a time, the main generals of the Cao family and the Xiahou family were unable to leave Yecheng.
However, at the end of April, Yang Xiu received Cao Cao's secret order, mobilized the imperial army, led Xiahou Dun, Xiahou Yuan, and Cao Ren out of the city to purge their troops, and killed or captured the generals of the gentry factions into Yecheng...
It is said that within three days, hundreds of thousands of corpses were floating in the lower reaches of the Zhang River, and the scarlet color lasted for half a month.
On the first day of May, at the great court meeting of the Wei State, Sikong Chenqun, who was the representative of the noble clan in the court, became an official. A large number of Wei ministers either became official officials for retirement, or were members of the Yi tribe - there was no middle ground.
The Cao family, the Xiahou family, and the new gentry represented by Yang Xiu have greatly expanded their power...
But at the same time, Wei also made certain compromises with the nobles, such as...many new warships began to be traded to the private fleets of powerful families!
These are just scenes seen and heard by "outsiders". Bai Tu was in Jinling, and on the sixth day of May, he got more accurate news from the Fengchao Guard lurking in Yecheng.
Indeed, at the end of April, the current situation in the Wei state was in great turmoil, and it ended with Cao Cao secretly ordering Yang Xiu to reconnect the generals of the Cao family and the Xiahou family to suppress the old gentry forcefully.
However, the claims about hundreds of thousands of dead people and the water stained red are obviously just exaggerations...
In Yecheng, the center of the storm, thousands of people died, mostly from the families that were most affected. Hundreds of servants who died when their homes were ransacked, real members of the gentry, died.
In addition, coupled with the repressive actions in various parts of the Wei State, a few thousand nobles died. Counting the servants and craftsmen who were implicated, the number of people who were killed and demoted as slaves was in the tens of thousands.
Cao Cao had a headache before. I don’t know whether it was a real headache or a deliberate temptation. In short, it was a cruel attack!
After Chen Qun and others took office, from the perspective of the family, it was actually a safe start. For example, members of the Chen family were also appointed later.
Even those of the three Yi tribes were just too aggressive and were dragged to sacrifice flags by Cao Cao. In fact, the so-called Yi tribes could only wipe out a few households, but not the whole clan - after all, in the "big family"
, many even the fifth server has been released, and the three clans cannot destroy the entire "family".
The real big change in the Wei State was that the Cao and Xiahou families began to have more control over military power. At the same time... they also made concessions to the noble families, more standardized the division of maritime profits, and began to sell new warships to aristocratic families!
Therefore, in July and August, Wei's slave hunting became even more rampant.
…
The Chu State's local state and county reforms, as well as the military system reform, are all proceeding step by step. However, from the King of Chu to the Six Ministries and One Academy, they have long been aware of the turbulent waves outside the mainland!
After the Yecheng Incident, the Bohai Sea experienced a brief period of calm, and now it is noisy again...
Even because the "enemy's" warships have been upgraded, the battle situation has become more stalemate - of course, the Chu Navy still has "software" advantages, and its strategies and tactics are more mature.
It's just that the sailors in these private fleets are often not afraid of death, and relatively speaking, the fleet is small and scattered, and they will flee if they can't be beaten, so they put some pressure on Ling Tong.
Especially after discovering that Chu's "disappeared" navy has not reappeared until now, the northern nobles became more and more convinced that those navy had really sailed away...
The absence of the navy, which had the most elite personnel and the most sophisticated ships, also gave them greater confidence.
Both in the court and inside the palace, there have been various reactions to this. This time, news came back that a group of silver transport fleets in Danzhou were attacked, and the palace also made up its mind to settle a case.
Strategy against Wei!
"The Wei State is full of wolves and beasts with wolf hearts. We can march straight in from the port of Jizhou and crush the city of Ye!"
"In the land of Liaodong, the people of Yidi have been suffering from the sea invaders of the Wei Kingdom for a long time. We, the great Chu, carry the light of the righteous path and are expected to return. We will sweep through the three Koreas, liberate Goguryeo, and sweep away the unkindness from the north!"
"Your Majesty, please dispatch Yizhou's new warships to boost the navy and chase the enemy on the sea..."
At the palace meeting, Lu Su, Huang Chengyan, and Yu Fan each expressed their suggestions.
This also represents the third of the four mainstream views in Chu State at this time.
First, as Lu Su said, it was a surprise attack, forcibly landing from Tuyin Port under the jurisdiction of Chu State, and marching all the way to Huanglong!
The good thing is that now is the time when the people of Wei are uneasy, and the Chu army just wants to force Wei to give in. There is no need to "digest" step by step as usual, as long as the Chu army appears outside Yecheng and leaves room for negotiation.
If there is no room for it, then the Wei State, which is divided among people, will definitely accept negotiations and will not unanimously engage in a deadly fight with the outside world.
And there is a secondary reason, that is, after the Wei court beat the gentry, they made concessions in the division of interests. Now within Wei, there is a lot of "noise" about the ownership of Tuyin Port - quite a lot.
People began to think about taking back Tuyin Port!
At this time, starting from Tuyin Port can also effectively deter Wei...
Needless to say, there is no need to say much about the risks. The reason why he chose this strategy is because Lu Su "observed the earth's atmosphere" and saw that the people of the Wei State were dispersed. Otherwise, if the Wei State was united as one, they would "drive straight in"
But it turned into "going deep alone".
Not to mention that we have to pass through an important town like Nanpi during this period. It is just the defense of Yecheng. If we really want to defend it, how can we easily defeat it?
As long as the whole country is mobilized and the soldiers and horses are mobilized, will the Chu army, which is alone and deeply entrenched, still have a way to survive?
Lu Su did not want a head-on confrontation, but instead suggested using a small group of elites to fight all the way to Yecheng, forcing the already unstable Wei State to further divide and have to meet the Chu State's requirements.
In contrast, Huang Chengyan's opinions are indeed reasonable, but to a certain extent, they still coordinate the interests of the Jingzhou gentry - this is also one of Huang Chengyan's responsibilities.
Nowadays, many workshops in Jingzhou are still opened by Jiangdong nobles. They can't compete with each other, so they naturally want to open up a new labor market, so Yu Fan is inclined to open up Xinjiang...
And it can’t be an overseas territory. After all, like Yizhou and Danzhou, the local indigenous people don’t even have mature writing. It can be used as a dumping market, but it is a bit difficult to open a workshop...
What's more, these overseas territories are controlled by Chu State personally. It is the stage of striving for assimilation and there is no room for failure.
In contrast, the Samhan people, Buyeo people, Goguryeo people, etc., although they are also "barbarians" in their eyes, they are more or less barbarians who can communicate with each other!
If you can communicate, you can use...
If we want to directly open the border to the north, it will still be difficult for the Han princes to attack, and these foreign races in the north... ahem, they are the future Chu people, and they are all potential labor force!
Of course, considering the Chu State level, Huang Chengyan's strategy is not unreliable.
Taking advantage of the affairs of the Wei State, we first unified the Seafood Peninsula and the north of Youzhou, and then brought the people of the north with us to decisively defeat the Wei State in the north.
This strategy cannot be said to be unworkable, but it does have its own weaknesses.
For example, if the control of the north is not enough and the Wuhuan and Xianbei countries are not truly inspired by Chu learning, it may be self-defeating. After some success, they will unite and kick Chu out of the game - after all, the Chu country is in the south and is under speculation.
Seafood Peninsula Landing is an enclave.
It's just that the nobles of Chu State have now tasted the benefits of the workshop model, so as long as the establishment of workshops in the north is allowed, there will be a strong "civilian foundation" in the controlled enclave.
In contrast, Yu Fan's opinion is to "treat the head when the head hurts, and the feet when the foot hurts" - since it is the navy that feels the difficulty, then the remaining warships that were built after Gan Ning's departure and the newly built warships in the past year will be used.
, officially started service!
You must know that those new ships are not only iron-clad but also equipped with large-caliber mortars.
Compared with the previous "temporary substitutes", the gap is completely between the big guys and the newbies.
As for Wei's improvements, there are no revolutionary technologies, especially... they inexplicably took the route of cars and ships?
Do you have a Qi machine?
Those guys from Wei State should be allowed to experience again what generation difference is...
In addition, indirectly speaking, many of the raw materials and primary processed products in Yizhou's shipyard are produced by Jiangdong's workshops, and the increase in warship orders means increased demand.
And in comparison, in terms of ship construction, Jiangdong has industrial and technological advantages that no one else can take away, so...
Yu Fan has finally adapted to his role as the spokesperson of the Jiangdong gentry.
"Father, from a military perspective, which one do you think is more feasible?" Bai Tu asked Lu Bu for advice.
"Anything is possible!" Lu Bu said, full of desire to fight.
As if to say: I want to fight ten!
Bai Qing and Lu Yan are already four years old. Lu Bu has been playing with his grandson happily in the past few years, cultivating his moral character, and has become very restful and thoughtful.
Bai Tu:……
Well, there's no need to ask Baitu. If you ask, you'll hit me.
"What do you think of Wen He?" Bai Tu turned to Jia Xu, who rarely took the initiative to offer opinions, and asked.
"What the three said are reasonable... Zijing's plan is like an antelope hanging its horns, but it may prompt the Wei State to further eliminate internal discord. With the temperament and methods of the King of Wei, even if my great Chu can really get compensation, I'm afraid it is his intention
Cut it off and use us as a 'knife' to cut through the Wei gentry;
Chengyan wants to go north and attack the Wei State from north to south. The idea is very good and has a magnificent appearance. However, not only because of the enclave, it is difficult for the Chu State to actually control and assimilate, but also... Once the Seafood Peninsula is reached
If you take action, I am afraid that the Yan State will not sit back and ignore it, and it is more likely to fall into the northern dispute with the Yan State before unifying the barbarians;
It is indeed a mature and prudent opinion of Zhong Xiang to increase the strength of the navy, but now is not the best time... You can speed up the adaptability training of the navy first, and wait until it is completely run-in with the iron-clad ships, and... the nobles of Wei are more confident, and even the Wei army
When Fang couldn't help but end up fighting, he could only accomplish his feat in one battle."
When Jia Xu came up, he first blew the opinions of the three of them, but... then he all pointed out the shortcomings, so that no one could be offended.
"Does Wen He have any good ideas?" Bai Tu asked next.
"A good strategy should not be taken seriously. I actually think that the three-step strategy is feasible. For example, Zhong Xiang's point of view has just been said. As long as we wait another year or three years, the time will be completely mature.
In addition, during this period, the new official office jointly hosted by the Ministry of Rites and the Privy Council can go to the seafood peninsula more often, and even visit the Xianbei and Wuhuan people.
As for Zijing's words, it can be used as the 'second stage', when the real crisis of Wei will be..." Jia Xu's explanation was a bit confusing, but everyone present except Lu Bu basically understood it.
.
This is also Jia Xu's style - praise others, speak more when analyzing others, and speak as little as possible about your own opinions.
But it does hit the point... mainly because of the word "chi".
"Delay" does not mean "delay", nor does it mean to make Chu wait in vain.
On the one hand, Wei's warships are now on the wrong track. They can wait until he invests more capital to completely defeat him in one go. However, in order to achieve maximum results during this period, Yizhou's shipyards must also be busy, and the navy must also be busy.
He took turns training in Yizhou and Danzhou.
On the other hand, the new official office jointly established by the Ministry of Rites and the Privy Council is the "Ministry of Enlightenment".
It is a confidential official office belonging to the Chu State and will not be mentioned in normal court meetings. Its main responsibility is to operate outside the Chu State and promote Chu learning outside the Chu State...
Compared with the soft output of ordinary drama teams, the Enlightenment Department is much "harder". It will train progressives and form branches at the mission site, always with the ultimate goal of responding to the Chu State's dispatch of troops or internal seizure of power, and its natural actions are also more
Danger, more hidden.
Jia Xu's intention was to use one to three years to dig out the Chaohai Peninsula and the Wuhuan, Xianbei, Goguryeo and other tribes, so that they could at least be distinguished in advance and cultivate a group of local progressive Chu scholars.
Now the despicable behavior of the Wei gentry is the best opportunity for the Ministry of Enlightenment to develop, and it can also be regarded as paving the way for Chengyan's plan. In this way, when the Chu State sends troops, there will be enough local talents to love the Chu State, and there is no need to just
If we send troops, we will worry about being used in vain.
And Lu Su's strategy is actually not the best time now.
The people of Wei State are not at their worst at the moment. After all, there are foreign races further north that are plundering them, and their interests are expanding...
Just like the previous reforms of the Chu State, they often collided with vested interest groups, but there was no big spark for the same reason - the interests are expanding, and everyone can just sit back and eat.
However, after the defeat of Wei's navy and pirates, the expansion of interests suddenly stopped or even shrank. Moreover, Wei was directly defeated when it was most confident, and its mentality could not be stable!
At that time, "going straight to Huanglong" will be more successful.
Moreover, Lu Su's strategy of "attacking Huanglong" is more suitable for the army, and now... Chu State does not have a dedicated maritime troop transport ship. During this period, it can also be used for production supervision.
"Then...how can we give an explanation to our subjects during this period?" Bai Tu said, leaning on the back of the chair and touching the armrest.
Several academicians looked at each other and, except for Lu Bu, they all mentioned the fourth mainstream view.
"Your Majesty! Now that the pirates are raging and the world is not at peace, this... the Lord of Shu must be determined to destroy our great Chu! We must be careful and guard against it, and fight back when necessary, so that the conspiracy of the Lord of Shu cannot succeed!"
When Bai Tu heard this, he nodded solemnly and said, "Good!"