In the late twelfth lunar month of winter, the Yellow River is in the dry season.
However, as the mother river, the Yellow River almost never stopped flowing in ancient times. Even in the dry season, the water flow was very large, and merchant ships operated without any disturbance.
This is because in ancient times there were no hydropower stations to intercept water, no urban water extraction, and no water storage and dam construction.
Therefore, in ancient times when water resources were abundant, it was impossible to let the Yellow River dry up.
Unless the river freezes.
But friends who are familiar with geography know that the Yellow River freezes mainly in the upper reaches, and Luoyang belongs to the middle reaches. In addition, the special geographical environment surrounded by mountains blocks the cold air, so this section will not freeze.
In particular, this section of Xiaopingjin Ferry is the warmest place. Countless migratory birds spend the winter here every year. The later Mengjin Migratory Bird Wetland Reserve is the best proof.
Flocks of migratory birds fly up and down on the river, sometimes skimming over the water and making waves, and sometimes falling into the reeds on the river bank to inhabit and breed.
Many people in Ping County lurk in the vast reeds along the river bank, digging out bird eggs, catching migratory birds, and grabbing the gifts of nature.
This will not affect the ecological environment, because every year millions of migratory birds fly from the far north through the Yellow River Wetland and the Funiu Mountains to the south. Sometimes it is used as a transit station, sometimes as a
The habitat is close to Ping County, which has a mere population of tens of thousands, and it is impossible to catch all these migratory birds despite exhausting efforts.
The building boat floated down the river. After leaving Sili, it entered the boundary between Yanzhou and Jizhou. The Yellow River is the junction of the two states. There are countless cities and villages on both sides of the middle and lower reaches. Counties, townships, and villages along the way. After Wang Jing controlled the Yellow River,
, dense fertile fields, thousands of miles of fertile fields, raising countless children.
Two days later, the river flowed eastward and the ship entered Pingyuan County. The current Prime Minister of Pingyuan State is Jushou. When they heard that Liu Bei, Guan Yu, Zhang Fei and Chen Mu had returned, they passed Gaotang County and disembarked in Pingyuan County. They immediately led their troops to greet them.
, waiting outside Pingyuan County.
"Your Majesty!"
Jushu and officials from Pingyuan Kingdom came to greet him.
Liu Bei led his horse off the boat and said with a serious face: "Let's go back to Qi."
"What happened?"
Jushou was shocked.
Isn't Liu Bei going back to Luoyang to serve as the ninth minister during this trip?
Why did it suddenly come back?
Chen Mu said with a stern expression: "Dong Zhuo was so insane that he murdered the emperor, deposed the emperor twice, and massacred court officials. He was outraged by heaven and earth, and was a hundred times more hateful than Liang Ji. Now that my eldest brother is back in Qingzhou, he wants to raise righteous soldiers and revitalize the army.
Chasing the Dong thief."
"I see."
Jushou was also a smart man. He had long heard that Dong Zhuo was not doing anything in Luoyang. The news that he had stolen the late emperor's mausoleum last month spread throughout the world. When he heard that Liu Bei was coming back this time to raise an army to attack, he quickly said: "I'll go there right away."
Prepare."
At that moment, a large group of people rushed back to Linzi, the capital of Qingzhou.
The reason why I returned to Qi State is because Qi State is located in the central area of Qingzhou, so it is very convenient to dispatch troops and horses.
Nowadays, Qingzhou has been governed successively by Chen Mu, Ju Shou and Liu Bei, and it has long since got rid of its original state of being full of waste and waiting for development.
A large number of millets and wheat are planted in the plains of western Shandong and northern Shandong. Hundreds of thousands of acres of land near Judian Lake are planted with rice. The rice is used to brew wine and sell it all over the world. The money earned is then hired to build water conservancy projects so that people can be planted. More rice.
With such a virtuous cycle, not only do the people live a prosperous life and live and work in peace and contentment, but even many officials are willing to do practical things.
Because since the death of Emperor Xiaokang of the Han Dynasty in the first half of this year, the central government has been in chaos, Da Sinong has stopped paying salaries to officials, resulting in many officials not receiving salaries. It was Liu Bei who paid them.
Moreover, the responsibilities of the state pastor are much higher than the power of the governor. The entire Qingzhou officials and state pastors can be appointed and dismissed without the consent of the court.
So Qingzhou became a country, Liu Bei became the monarch, and the officials' loyal subjects also became Liu Bei.
After arriving in Qi State, Liu Bei immediately held a general meeting.
In the Linzi Prefecture Mufu, Liu Bei sat high in the hall. This meeting was a high-level internal meeting, and not all officials from various places were summoned.
Attending the meeting were Zheng Xuan, Guan Ning, Bing Yuan, Wang Lie and other Qingzhou celebrities, who were also academic representatives of Taishan College, and then representatives of local Qingzhou officials such as Hua Xin, Shiyi, Sun Shao, Sun Qian, etc., and the Sun family of Linzi , housekeeper, Wang family and other powerful representatives of Qingzhou, and finally a group of old people such as Guan Yu, Zhang Fei, Chen Mu and Jushou.
Among them, Taishi Ci, who previously served as the director of the Luoyang Military Intelligence Department, is now secretly transporting Liu Xie with Hou Xu and is not here. Dianwei was earlier appointed as the Donglai Dian Agricultural School Lieutenant and managed the farming affairs on the Donglai Peninsula and did not rush there. Later, Jian Yongze was appointed as the Prime Minister of Jinan, and he is still on his way here.
Therefore, the only people here now are those who happened to be in Linzi, including Hua Xin's Yi, Sun Shao Sunqian, and others. Hua Xin is the prime minister of Beihai, Shiyi is the prefect of Donglai, and Sun Shao and Sunqian are county magistrates in various places. , I just returned to Linzi to report on my work at the end of the year, and then I appeared here.
But even if it was just a high-level internal meeting, the hall was crowded with stars and talents. Dozens of people came, and the hall could no longer even sit down.
These are only the people in Linzi City. If all the officials and generals serving Liu Bei in Qingzhou were summoned, there would probably be hundreds of people.
This is the strength that a man who owns a big state can possess. If Yuan Shao captures Jizhou in the future, the talents under his command will probably be similar to what they are now.
Everyone was a high-quality intellectual. After sitting down, they quietly waited for Liu Bei to speak.
"Everyone, this is the emperor's edict!"
Liu Bei looked down at the crowd, took out the edict and said loudly: "I was summoned by the court this time to return to Luoyang to serve as the great minister. Unexpectedly, after arriving in Luoyang, I found that Luoyang had been controlled by Dong Zhuo. Dong Zhuo murdered the emperor and robbed the tombs of the late emperor and his ministers. The unprovoked killing of courtiers has outraged both humans and gods."
"Later, I lurked in Luoyang, secretly contacted the loyal people, and Wang Jun, the constant servant, and prepared to wait for an opportunity to rescue the emperor. But the traitor Dong was so hateful that he not only deposed the emperor again, but also sent people to poison the emperor, and falsely claimed that his majesty died suddenly. .”
This chapter is not finished yet, please click on the next page to continue reading the exciting content! "What Dong Thief did was extremely cruel. Fortunately, the emperor had long been aware of Dong Thief's ambition, and asked Wang Jun to write an edict and send it out of the palace to fight with I, I am returning to Qingzhou this time to raise up righteous soldiers, to fight against thieves according to the imperial edict, to help the Han Dynasty, and to live up to the kindness of the late emperor. What do you think?"
The edict was sent down to Zheng Xuan and others for inspection in turn.
The edict reads: "I have heard that in the relationship between human relations, father and son come first; in the distinction between superiority and inferiority, the king and his ministers are the most important. Those who are close to me are distinguished ministers and thieves. They come from the pavilion and talk about the rank of assistants. They are really guilty of bullying and neglecting power."
It is not my intention to unite the party, corrupt the government, and issue rewards and punishments. I worry about it all day and night, fearing that the world will be in danger. You are the elder of the country and my closest relative. I remember the difficulties of the Emperor Gao in starting a business, and unite the martyrs who have both loyalty and righteousness.
, wipe out the treacherous party, restore peace to the country, eradicate violence in the early days, our ancestors are very lucky! I wrote in panic, and wrote an edict to Qing, be careful again and again, don't let anyone suffer any consequences! In November of the winter of the sixth year of Zhongping, the edict was issued."
There is a large seal on it, which is square and square, and the content is "Ordered by heaven, you will live long and prosperous".
After confirming that this was the true edict, everyone read it and exchanged tears with each other. They felt sad for Liu Xie, who had only been emperor for a few months and didn't even have his own posthumous title.
Zheng Xuande, who was highly respected and sat in the first place under Liu Bei, said sadly: "As for Dong Zhuo's behavior, even when I was studying in the palace, I could hear the students talking about it. It can be seen that this man is cruel and is really a public enemy of the world. Today
Only after seeing this edict did I know the tragic experience of the emperor. Although I am old and unbearable, since Xuande wants to raise righteous soldiers to eliminate harm for the world, he cannot just sit back and watch. If he wants me to do something, Xuande can speak up."
Hearing Zheng Xuan's words, Liu Bei said happily: "Although Mr. Zheng is devoted to studying, he still cares about the world. He is truly a role model for our generation. This time I returned to Qingzhou to do two things. One is to criticize Dong's speech and call on the world.
The princes are jointly attacking Dong Zhuo. The second is to recruit troops and recruit talents. If Zheng Jun comes forward and writes a petition against Dong Zhuo and a recruitment order, great things will definitely be accomplished."
"good."
Zheng Xuan nodded: "Then let me write the proclamation and recruitment order."
Chen Mu suddenly said: "Mr. Zheng, I heard that Chen Liu and Cai Yong are currently in Taishan Academy?"
"good."
Zheng Xuan said: "Cai Yong is also a famous Confucian in the world. I knew that he was in Taishan County and was under the protection of Taiyang clan, so I wrote a letter and invited him to come to the academy to give lectures."
Historically, Cai Yong was already in Luoyang at this time. He was framed by the eunuch Cheng Huang and Cao Jie and stayed in Wu. It was not until the sixth year of Zhongping that Dong Zhuo took power and command, and was called into Luoyang to serve as a minister, Zuo Zhonglang, etc.
official.
Before that, he had been staying in Taishan County, Yanzhou, under the protection of the Taiyang family, that is, the Yangku family. He did not appear on the stage of history until Dong Zhuo summoned him.
He became famous in later generations mainly because he had a daughter, Cai Yan, one of the many wives who has been the protagonist in later Three Kingdoms novels.
But in the real late Han Dynasty, Cai Yong was very famous and could be said to be a famous Confucian in the country.
Taishan County is separated from Qi State by Mount Tai, so the two places are not far away. Now that the Yellow Turbans in Taishan have been wiped out and the public security is good, Zheng Xuan invited Cai Yong to give lectures at Taishan Academy, so Cai Yong is now in Qi State.
Chen Mu then said to Liu Bei: "Brother, Duke Bojie is famous all over the world. If this appeal and recruitment order are signed by both Zheng Gong and Duke Bojie, then the heroes will definitely respond, and talented people from all over the world will definitely compete for the job. Why not
When you enter the academy, will you ask Duke Bojie to come out?"
"Mr. Zheng, look?"
Liu Bei looked at Zheng Xuan.
Literary men are arrogant and signed with themselves. Although this is taking advantage of their world-famous appeal, Zheng Xuan may not be happy.
However, Liu Bei underestimated Zheng Xuan. The old man, who was already over sixty years old, was very generous and said with a smile: "Cai Yong's literary talent is much better than me. Let him write it, and I will just sign my name. It doesn't matter.
At ease; leisurely."
"good."
Liu Bei was overjoyed and said, "Then I'll leave this matter to Duke Zheng."
Zheng Xuan took the order.
Liu Bei then looked at the Sun family steward Wang Jia and other heroes and said: "At this time of national crisis, you must not be stingy."
Sun Zhao said helplessly: "Since Mr. Xuande said it, I should contact the powerful people from all over Qingzhou, move the food, grass and baggage, and donate the swords, armors and weapons at home to serve the public."
It is December in the middle of winter. Although it is the planting period of winter wheat, there is no harvest. Although the people are rich and have a surplus of food at home, they cannot take advantage of them.
Who is hoarding the most food?
Not all places are powerful.
The current life of Qingzhou's powerful people cannot be said to be particularly bad. At least Qingzhou's business and agriculture are developing well. Riding on Liu Bei's coattails, the rich will only become richer.
At least the Sun family, the housekeeper, the Wang family, and other powerful people who were the first to attach themselves to Chen Mu, each of their families' wealth at least doubled.
The question is, whose grain is hoarded to be sold, and is handed over to the state on its own initiative, hoping that the powerful will have this consciousness?
Don't even think about it.
But Sun Zhao and the others were all afraid of being killed by Chen Mu. Were there not many powerful people in Qingzhou who were slaughtered?
Are you trying not to hand over food at this time?
To be labeled as someone who had an affair with Dong Zhuo would immediately lead to death.
So as long as you are not a fool, you can only grit your teeth and agree.
Liu Bei smiled and said: "If you don't take it for free, just sell it to me at the market price."
Sun Zhao smiled bitterly: "Wei."
It was said that they were sold to Liu Bei at the market price, but Qingzhou has had good weather in recent years and the price of grain has been very low, falling to more than 60 five baht per stone.
You must know that even during the peaceful times of the Han Dynasty, it took about 200 yuan to buy one stone of grain. However, in troubled times like now, in many places, it cost 500 yuan per stone, or even 1,000 yuan per stone. This shows that Qingzhou is rich.
If they ship it to other places and sell it, they will earn at least five times more.
Now it is sold at the market price in Qingzhou. Although it cannot be said that it is a loss of blood, if you want to make money, don't even think about it.
After solving the problem of proclamation and military supplies, Liu Bei said to Hua Xin: "Ziyu, you and other Qingzhou officials should immediately issue conscription orders in all counties and counties. You must be strong and willing to join the army to serve the country. Do you understand?
?”
This chapter is not finished yet, please click on the next page to continue reading the exciting content! Hua Xin was also a famous scholar in Qingzhou before, but unlike Guan Ning and Bingyuan who only wanted to study, Hua Xin was willing to serve as an official, so unlike Zheng Xuan and others
He was an academic representative, but a local official from Qingzhou. After hearing Liu Bei's words, Hua Xin raised his hands and said, "Then please ask the state pastor to order officials from all over the city to post notices at the city gate to recruit troops."
"Um."
Liu Bei nodded: "I will write the recruitment documents immediately, stamp them with the seal of the state herdsman, print and engrave them, and distribute them throughout the state."
Although he came to Beijing to serve as the ninth minister, logically speaking, the official position of Zhou Mu was gone.
But when Liu Bei came to Beijing, he brought with him the seal of the Prefecture Mu, and when the time came, he had to hand it over to the country, and then replace it with the seal of Jiuqing Dahonglu, before the official handover could be considered.
As everyone knows about what happened later, Liu Bei did not report for duty, so he naturally carried the state animal seal with him, and he still had the power of state animal husbandry.
Everything is well arranged.
The work of writing appeals and recruiting talents was done by the academic group headed by Zheng Xuan.
They are famous all over the world and are well-known scholars in the country. They use their influence and appeal to do this job better.
The matter of grain and grass was left to the powerful people from all over Qingzhou to work together.
They have food in their hands, so if you don't look for them, who can you look for?
Finally, there is conscription, which is handled by local officials.
As mentioned before, the conscription system of the Han Dynasty was an employment system.
Although Liu Bei originally had tens of thousands of troops to attack Zhang Chun and Zhang Ju's rebellion, after returning, he immediately disbanded his troops.
Otherwise, just paying the wages and food for these soldiers will not be affordable in the next few years.
So now there are only a few thousand county soldiers in each county in Qingzhou and some of Liu Bei's own personal guards. The total number is only 20 to 30 thousand people. Naturally, it cannot be a big deal, so it will be necessary to recruit troops again.
Some people may say, since you had so many soldiers at the beginning, wouldn't it be better to recruit them again?
Of course not.
Firstly, all these soldiers now have land, and many of them no longer want to risk their lives to fight. Forcibly recruiting them will cause resentment, and it will not be easy to fight with one's life on the battlefield.
Secondly, re-recruiting soldiers will help solve the survival problem of some poor people and allow some young and strong people who have no land to work to have a path to advancement. In this way, in order to obtain fields and rewards, these soldiers must fight hard to boost the morale of the soldiers.
In summary, it is necessary to ensure the combat effectiveness of the troops and not allow soldiers with families, industries, and worries to go to the battlefield.
Anyway, the backbone of the army and the group of experienced veterans are still there. For example, the Youzhou soldiers who first followed Liu Bei are now grassroots officers. Thousands of experienced grassroots officers with the newly recruited soldiers will soon be able to control the army.
Combat effectiveness increases.
This is the same as when Mustache was only allowed to have 100,000 troops, he simply trained 100,000 officers, and then used these 100,000 officers to expand his troops to millions of people overnight.
After several years of governance by Chen Mu and Liu Bei, Qingzhou has long been monolithic. With Liu Bei's order, the state's war machine rumbled, and various places began to carry out the order in an orderly manner.
Although the New Year is approaching, the entire Qingzhou is in a tense atmosphere.