We were able to invite the great scholar Zheng Xuan to give lectures because Zheng Xuan was originally dedicated to academics.
During the Wei and Jin Dynasties, Zheng Xuan's Zheng Xue was extremely popular. Even Shu and Wu were deeply affected.
If there can be a better teaching environment, more students can be taught, and more people can accept his academic work, Zheng Xuan has no reason to refuse.
In late March, Shiyi went to Guangrao to take up his post.
At the same time, Zheng Xuan also began to write letters and use his personal connections to invite other celebrities in Qingzhou to come to Qi to give lectures.
For example, Guan Ning from Beihai, Bingyuan from Beihai, and Wang Lie from Pingyuan were all famous people at that time.
Historically, after the death of Emperor Ling of the Han Dynasty, these people had a premonition of chaos in the world, so they fled Liaodong and went to Gongsun Du to continue their education career.
But now that Qingzhou is gradually recovering, and Beihai and Donglai are about to be restored, they naturally did not leave. Now Zheng Xuan invited them to come to Qi State, and because of Zheng Xuan's reputation at that time, they all happily went to the appointment.
The newly built Taishan Academy is located deep in the apricot forest to the east of Taishan Academy. If Taishan Academy is just a kindergarten, then Taishan Academy is a university town.
This is a palace complex that Chen Mu spent a lot of money to build. It covers an area of about 0.1 square kilometers, or 100,000 square meters. It is only one-seventh of the Forbidden City and one-seventieth of the Luoyang Imperial Palace. It is no different from the modern
Even college towns can’t compare.
However, the environment is elegant and the scenery is unique. After entering from the academy, there is the front garden, with flowers blooming, pavilions and terraces, and dense trees. Walking along the cloister arches, you will reach the various halls in the atrium.
The hall is majestic and tall, with brackets and cornices. Floor heating is laid under each hall to make it easier for students to stay warm in winter and cool in summer, giving them a very comfortable environment to study.
The backyard is an artificial lake, and there are also large buildings, which are dormitories for teachers and students. They are all free to stay.
From the time Chen Mu came to Qi State in late November, it had been less than five months.
It is certainly impossible to build such a huge school palace in such a short period of time, so in fact it used to be a large manor of a powerful man. After Chen Mu's renovation, it became what it is now, which can accommodate thousands of divisions at the same time.
Students, the conditions are very good.
The main reason is that scholars in the Han Dynasty were relatively wealthy. After all, in an era when books were not widely available, if ordinary people could read, they could easily find a job to make a living and work as an official in the government.
For example, although Zheng Xuan is a descendant of Zheng Guo, one of the seventy-two sages of Confucius, his family was poor in his early years, so he could only study by relying on some books handed down from his ancestors.
Later, because he was literate, he became a rural miser, a rural assistant, and other country officials to make a living. It was not until Du Mi was promoted that he entered the Imperial College to study.
And in fact, if the characters of the Eastern Han Dynasty were written in regular script, it would not be difficult for modern people to read them, because they are traditional Chinese characters. However, if there is no study of classical Chinese, these traditional Chinese characters will become classical Chinese, which modern people will not be able to understand.
Modern people should have a deep understanding of the obscurity and difficulty of classical Chinese. A paragraph may have different meanings due to different interpretations of each word. This is why the Analects alone, with a total of only more than 10,000 words, can
There are countless great scholars who have explained the reasons for it.
From this point of view, the importance of vernacular writing is self-evident.
But of course it is impossible for Chen Mu to promote vernacular Chinese now. The first thing he has to solve now is how to get more readers to read and more people who know Chinese. Instead of promoting vernacular Chinese, if he takes too big a step, he will easily lose his eggs and not have enough to eat.
, don’t think about other messy things.
By the beginning of April, Guan Ning, Bing Yuan, and Wang Lie had arrived in Qi State. They were now celebrities, not Confucian scholars, but they had a high level of knowledge and respected Zheng Xuan very much. They were delighted to receive the invitation.
I would like to come to Taishan Academy to give lectures.
After they arrived, Chen Mu immediately invited students from all over the world to Taishan Academy. With the name of the great scholar Zheng Xuan, plus many celebrities, I believe that within this year, Taishan Academy is likely to reshape the former Jixia Academy.
The appearance has become a hundred schools of thought contending, turning Qingzhou into a cultural holy place like Yingchuan.
At this time, the officials sold by Emperor Ling of the Han Dynasty also arrived in Qi one after another, and each county had chief officials, and order was slowly restored.
While Chen Mu sent people to secretly observe the behavior of these officials, he wrote several letters and sent them out respectively, one to Lu Kang, the governor of Le'an County, one to Chen Ji, the Prime Minister of Pingyuan, and the last one to Chen Ji, the governor of Le'an County.
Zhuge Gui, the Prime Minister of Taishan County.
The content of the letter is also very simple.
In addition to inviting Lu Kang to send his descendants to Qi, Lu Kang also asked about the dispatch of troops from Le'an. Guan Yu used them to suppress and pacify Beihai. Seeing that Beihai and Donglai would soon return to the imperial court.
However, only the two counties at the foot of Mount Tai are the biggest obstacles.
Since we plan to conquer Qingzhou before the end of this year, we must make preparations early. We may not necessarily send troops now, but we must be prepared for the encirclement. While Chen Mu is stabilizing Qingzhou, we cannot allow the Taishan Yellow Turbans to come out and cause damage.
In mid-April, Chen Mu set off for Jinan together with Zhang Feidianwei, the governor.
Nowadays, the relatively stable spring plowing in the four places of Le'an and Qi in the Jinan Plain is in full swing. Although Beihai and Donglai are still a little chaotic, it will be settled sooner or later. Therefore, there are no big things during this period, except for the enrollment of two schools in Qi.
.
Taishan Academy wants to recruit primary school students under the age of 12, and Taishan Academy wants to recruit junior high school students over 12 years old. With Zheng Xuan's reputation, it is easy for the Academy to recruit students. On the other hand, it is not easy for the Academy.
During the Han Dynasty, children were half of the labor force, and poor families would not let their family have less labor force to go to school.
For example, when Zheng Xuan studied in his early years, he relied on his parents and brothers to farm and some bamboo slips handed down from his ancestors, so he could read for a period of time in his childhood.
But it was not enough for him to just eat and not work. When he was more than 10 years old, his parents did not allow him to study due to livelihood constraints, and he had to work. This shows how difficult it is to study.
Some people may say, you provide free board and lodging, are there still people who are unwilling to send their children to study?
This is a bit like "why not eat minced meat".
The children of the poor are head of the family early. Except for the period of time when the children are born, when they are five, six or seven years old, they have to help the adults with work.
I can't do any heavy physical work, usually things like herding cattle, sheep, chickens, cutting pigs, grass, and growing vegetables.
When you are eleven or twelve years old, you have to follow the adults to plow the fields.
In an era when there was a serious shortage of cattle for farming, people were just cattle, animals working in the fields.
In ancient times, the output of one acre of land was limited. Under normal circumstances, one acre of land in the Han Dynasty had 3 kilograms of millet, and a family of five had to eat at least 30 kilograms of food every day, which is equivalent to about 6.6 kilograms today. One kilogram is 120 kilograms, and four
An acre of land can be eaten in one day to produce grain in half a year.
In addition to digging wild vegetables, growing vegetables by oneself, hunting and catching fish and shrimps and other food sources, if a family of five wanted to have enough to eat, they would have to cultivate at least 20 acres of land, so it is conceivable that the people's demand for labor was huge.
Let’s not talk about ancient times, but just talk about modern society in remote rural areas. There are many people who let their children only complete nine years of compulsory education, and then go home to work in the fields, get married and have children.
Therefore, it is very difficult to recruit children to study. We can only recruit children from wealthy families, such as powerful and official families.
Chen Mu also has arrangements for this matter. Before productivity increases, all grand ideas are just empty talk. The most important thing now is to pacify the entire Qingzhou as soon as possible, restore order to Qingzhou, increase productivity, and develop as soon as possible.
After arriving in Jinan, Chen Mu and Liu Bei met in Yulingcheng.
Today, the spring breeze is blowing. Liu Bei is standing under the pavilion outside the city, looking at them with a smile.
"Brother."
"Yidezi returns to the Duke."
Liu Bei came up and gave Zhang Fei and Chen Mu a big hug. He looked at Chen Mu with a smile and said, "Fourth brother seems to have grown taller."
"Yeah?"
Chen Mu made some gestures and found that he had indeed grown a little taller.
He was born in 167, and was 17 years old during the Yellow Turban Rebellion two years ago. He was about 1.7 meters tall.
However, boys don’t finalize their shape until they are 22 years old. Now that they are 19 years old, they have indeed grown a little taller. They should be about 1.74 meters tall. By the time they are 22 years old, they should be 1.78 meters tall.
"Zigui is indeed much taller. When we were in Jize two years ago, it was on my chest, and now it's under my chin."
Jushou laughed and joked.
Chen Mu rolled his eyes. The people of the Han Dynasty were obviously not as well-nourished as modern people, but they were very tall due to genetic mutations.
Forget about the tall men like Guan Yu and Zhang Fei who were 1.92 meters tall, Zhuge Liang was also eight feet tall, about 1.84 meters tall. Jushu was seven feet eight inches tall, also 1.8 meters tall. On the contrary, he, a modern man, was taller than them.
Half a head shorter.
"By the way, brother, what's going on with Sima Ju?"
The reason why Chen Mu came here now is not only because Taishan Academy and Taishan Academy are not on the right track yet, but he still has free time. The most important thing is to plan to take military action against Sima Ju in Gaoyuan.
Sima Ju's position was very awkward. He was surrounded by Jinan, Le'an and Qi Kingdom, and unlike Xu He, who had Mount Tai to rely on, the situation was very unfavorable for him.
For Chen Mu, Sima Ju was also a thorn in his belly. If he didn't remove it, he would not be able to deal with Xu He.
So taking advantage of the spring plowing time, he planned to gather the strength of the three counties to get rid of Sima Ju first.
"No movement."
While Liu Bei was calling them into the city, he said: "All the people in Gaoyuan have been relocated. Sima Ju only has 40,000 people. He lives on the mountain every day. Food and grass are a big problem. Now he can only farm land to survive."
"Um."
Chen Mu said: "Xu He has occupied two counties. Almost all of the more than 200,000 people in these two counties are Yellow Turbans. Therefore, Xu He has food and soldiers, so he is the most difficult to deal with. Sima Ju is surrounded by three places, so we must eliminate him."
Opportunity."
Jushou asked: "Can we persuade him to surrender? If he can be subdued and avoid fighting, that would be the best situation."
Liu Bei shook his head: "I have written several letters to persuade you to surrender, but they have all fallen into disgrace."
Zhang Fei was annoyed: "This guy seems to be toasting instead of having to drink fine wine. Why don't we order all our troops to kill him and I'll chop off his head."
"Third brother, don't worry. Since I'm here, there must be a fight."
Chen Mu smiled.
The group entered the city and sat down at the county magistrate's mansion.
Liu Bei sat high on the throne, Chen Mu, Zhang Fei and Jushou sat on his left hand side, and Dian Wei and the magistrate Yuling sat on his right hand side.
Taishi Ci Jianyong did not come. The two of them were stationed at Liangzou to guard against Sima Ju in Gaoyuan.
Yuling is very close to Banyang, Changguo, where Xu He is located, so Liu Bei stationed troops here to prevent Xu He.
After everyone sat down, Liu Bei looked at Chen Mu and said, "Fourth brother, now is the time for spring plowing, and labor is needed everywhere. It may not be a good time to send troops to fight at this time."
Chen Mu smiled and replied: "It's the best time."
Liu Bei wondered: "Why?"
Chen Mu looked at Jushou and said, "What do you think, Gongyu?"
Jushou touched his chin: "If you do this, it will hurt Tianhe and be too despicable."
"If I'm not despicable, I can't put an end to the chaos as soon as possible."
Chen Mu smiled.
The two were playing riddles, and everyone was confused.
Zhang Fei shouted anxiously: "Fourth brother, Gong, what are you two talking about? Can't you explain it more clearly?"
Jushu then explained: "The geography of Gaoyuan occupied by Sima Ju is very poor. It is surrounded by three places. He cannot go out to plunder. He can only grow grain on the spot, but the fields are outside the city. We sent troops to attack.
Don't attack the city, just destroy its rice fields. In a few months, all the troops will be without food, and the army will inevitably collapse."
"So sinister..."
Liu Bei's eyes widened. He originally wanted to say it was sinister and sinister, but suddenly he remembered that it was his fourth brother who proposed the method, so he could only change his words: "The heroic idea is really..."
"It's great, isn't it?"
Chen Mu took the words and said with a smile: "This is why I have to come here in April. Firstly, I still have time now, and secondly, it is just spring plowing, so I have to hit Sima Ju's seven inches."
Liu Bei worriedly said: "But I only have 8,000 men in my hands. It is said that Prime Minister Lu has only 5,000 men. Even if we include Yide's troops, there are only just over 10,000. We have to guard against Xu He. I'm afraid we won't have enough troops. Once
If we attack Sima Ju, then Xu He will not sit idly by and ignore it."
When Sima Ju occupied Gaoyuan, the local people and powerful people fled due to excessive levies, leaving him with an empty city in the end. Sima Ju's 40,000 men and horses were sitting on nothing, and being surrounded from all sides, he had to find a way to grow food on his own.
Xu He was much gentler than him. He occupied two counties and treated the people well. In this way, more than 100,000 people in the two counties all attached themselves to him and became Yellow Turban thieves.
This is why Xu He was able to support an army of 200,000.
Because Xu He now has the population and land, he can survive for a long time by relying on his previous foundation and plundering money and food from the powerful. In this way, the people in the county can farm and harvest a lot of food every year.
In this way, the relationship between the official army and the Yellow Turban Army was maintained, which was quite a bit like keeping in harmony with the river.
However, Xu He and Sima Ju are mutual allies. If the army attacks Sima Ju, Xu He will definitely not sit idly by and ignore it. When the time comes, he will take advantage of the lack of troops in the three places to make a sneak attack and break into the three places to cause destruction. The losses will not be what they can bear.
It's affordable.
"It doesn't matter, I'm afraid he won't come out."
But Chen Mu laughed: "Second brother, after defeating Zhang Rao, Guan Cheng and others, they gained Li Bo's tens of thousands more troops. Now they have a mighty army of close to 100,000. Now it's very difficult for me to support them, and Beihai
We no longer need that many people on the battlefield, so it’s time to mobilize these troops and horses. Only 30,000 people are needed to defend Xu He."
Although Xu He had more than 200,000 people, that was actually what he claimed to the outside world.
There are indeed 200,000 people in the two counties. However, he counted all the entrances of men, women, old and children. Now is the spring plowing, and Xu He himself also needs to cultivate the land, so the manpower Xu He can send is probably only tens of thousands.
Li Bo led his troops to surrender to Guan Yu. Guan Yu had 80,000 soldiers under his command. Then he gathered the surrendered Yellow Turbans from all directions. Now he has more than 100,000 Qingzhou soldiers under his command.
Cao Cao later obtained one million Qingzhou soldiers, but Guan Yu now took one-tenth of them.
Although they are all a ragtag group of people, they all have little ability but a big appetite. They all need to eat. They consume tens of thousands of stones of food and grass every day. Chen Mu's logistical pressure is quite high.
Therefore, at this time, we should liberate the troops under Guan Yu's command, select the best among them, and keep only 10,000 or 20,000 strong men.
Then select 30,000 less capable troops and station them in Linzi, Xi'an, and Yuling counties with 10,000 troops in each county.
By firmly blocking Xu He's Changguo County at the foot of Mount Tai, these three counties could achieve the strategic intention of preventing Xu He from aiding Sima Ju.
While doing this, less than half of the more than 100,000 troops under Guan Yu's account were digested, and the remaining 70,000 to 80,000 people, as well as the Donglai Yellow Turbans in Beihai that Guan Yu later wiped out, were all given to Chen Mu to farm in Judian Lake.
In this way, firstly, Chen Mu's logistical pressure was relieved, and secondly, part of the troops could be used to keep an eye on Xu He, freeing up the army to deal with Sima Ju.
This is a plan that kills three birds with one stone.
And the timing is just right. When the spring plowing season is slow, it is a good time to take advantage of your illness and kill you.
This is also Chen Mu's careful consideration and comprehensive strategy.
According to his strategic plan, after this battle, at least Sima Ju's nail must be removed.
By that time, there will be no enemies in the abdominal area, and you can concentrate on surrounding Xu He and deal with them slowly.
At least before winter this year, he will have the entire Qingzhou in his pocket.