If before Ji Ling came, Sun Jian could still resist Yuan Shu's attack with his tenacious fighting ability and Zhao Yun's troops.
Then when Ji Ling arrived, Sun Jianjun would be completely unable to continue fighting.
In the Battle of Kunyang, Liu Xiu was able to defeat Wang Mang's 400,000 men with 3,000 men. In the Battle of Feishui, Liu Laozhi defeated Fu Jian's 800,000 men with 5,000 Beifu troops. There were some specific conditions, and they were fighting against an army of hundreds of thousands.
, when unified command is difficult to achieve.
No matter how incompetent Yuan Shu is, he only has 70,000 men under his command, plus Ji Ling's 20,000, for a total of 90,000. The number of troops is spread out, but it has not yet reached the point of collapse at the first touch and without any organization at all.
In history, Yuan Shu suffered many defeats. He was pinned to the ground by Cao Cao and was defeated by Lu Bu. Except for the period when he attacked Liu Bei and occupied some land in Xuzhou, he almost never had any particularly big victories.
But in the early stage, his strength was still good. Even if he lost the Battle of Kuangting, he didn't reach the end of the road. He turned around and eliminated Chen Wen and occupied Huainan. This shows that he still has some ability.
Ninety thousand troops surrounded Sun Jian, and Sun Jian had no choice but to withdraw his troops together with Zhao Yun.
The only good news is that Yuan Shu was anxious to support Pingyu, and instead of wasting time with Sun Jian, he asked Zhang Xun Ji Ling to lead 40,000 men to guard Sun Jian, while he led 50,000 troops to rescue Pingyu.
The two sides fought an encounter, but the outcome was inconclusive.
But Sun Jian still delayed Yuan Shu for several days, buying time for Chen Wen.
The day before Ji Ling arrived, Chen Wen destroyed Pingyu City, plundered Yuan Shu's baggage, and destroyed his supplies.
The city guard Li Feng and Liang Gang led the remaining soldiers to run out, and met Yuan Shu who came to support him on the way.
When Yuan Shu heard that Pingyu had been defeated, he was furious and sent his troops to attack Chen Wen. After two days of fierce fighting, Chen Wen could not resist and withdrew his troops and ran back to Huaiyang.
In the second half of the year, Yuan Shu, who had no food support in Runan, had no choice but to attack Chen Wen, kill Chen Wen and occupy Huainan. That was what happened next.
At least for now Sun Jian has delayed Yuan Shu. Although he did not defeat Yuan Shu, he severely damaged Yuan Shu and completely destroyed Yuan Shu's ambition to occupy Jingzhou, Yangzhou and Yuzhou and plot the world!
The battlefield in Yuzhou came to an end with Yuan Shu's defeat, but the Yanzhou side was still in turmoil.
After heavy rains in May, there was a severe drought that lasted for two months in June.
The land began to dry up, the rivers began to dry up, and even the drought-tolerant millet seedlings died of drought in large areas because of the lack of water sources. The entire Yanzhou land was completely reduced to a wilderness.
Yanzhou suffered a severe drought, and Qingzhou and Xuzhou were also similar. However, one thing that is better about Qingzhou is that it has been absorbing refugees over the years. Using the money from selling sea salt, the government paid wages to the refugees, allowing them to build a large number of basic water conservancy facilities.
Relief.
Coupled with Ma Jun's keel waterwheel and the large number of reservoirs built earlier, it was still barely able to survive this drought.
In fact, it was mainly due to the small number of people in the Han Dynasty. During the Han Dynasty, the total population of the Han Dynasty was only more than 50 million. However, after these years of changes, wars, natural disasters and plagues at the end of the Han Dynasty, by this time, the country's population may only be more than 3,000.
Ten thousand people, and it is still decreasing sharply. After all, in the early years of the Western Jin Dynasty, there were only more than 20 million.
The current population of Qingzhou is about four million. Due to the small population and the government's active construction of water conservancy facilities, various canals and reservoirs, the impact of this drought on Qingzhou, which has a population of only three to four million, is not great.
Very big.
Although this water conservancy facility is certainly insignificant compared to later generations and is not worth mentioning.
However, we must know that the population of the Shandong Peninsula in later generations was more than 100 million, and the agriculture, water conservancy, and public infrastructure that supported a population of 3 to 4 million naturally could not be compared with the facilities that supported a population of 100 million.
Therefore, as long as Qingzhou has land and enough newly harvested winter wheat in spring, it can still meet the survival needs of the people. Coupled with Qingzhou's existing grain reserves and good water conservancy projects, it is still difficult to survive this short-term drought.
question.
But for Yanzhou, this drought was a fatal blow.
Without new food, it cannot support so many people and soldiers, which means that both combat effectiveness and strength are declining.
Cao Cao's army and Lu Bu's army were at a stalemate for two months. By July, Cao Cao did not have much food in stock, so he had to find a way to borrow some from Liu Bei to barely support himself.
Of course Chen Mu knew that the food and grass he gave Cao Cao was nothing more than meat buns and dog-fighting, and there was no way he could return them.
But I can’t help but borrow it.
If Cao Cao is eliminated, Qingzhou and Luoyang will be separated and fight on their own. This is not good news for Qingzhou.
Due to the developed shipping in Qingzhou, trade and communication with Gongsun Zan's Youzhou have always been maintained through shipping, so the connection between Qingzhou and Youzhou is still very close.
However, part of the Yellow River flows through Jizhou. If the land route is cut off, river transportation will be impossible. By then, Luoyang will become an isolated city, and it will be difficult to circulate goods and commerce.
For example, sea salt from Qingzhou cannot be transported to all parts of the country through Luoyang, the center of the world as a commodity distribution center.
There were three main salt-producing areas in the Han Dynasty. One was the well salt in Han'an County and Jiangyang County, which was later known as Zigong, Sichuan. The second was Chiyan in Hedong County, located in the east of Yishi County, which was later known as Yuncheng, Shanxi.
The last one is Haiyan in Yandu County, Guangling State, Xuzhou, which is later known as Yancheng, Jiangsu Province.
From a geographical point of view, in the later Three Kingdoms of Wei, Shu and Wu, Wei occupied two and Shu occupied one. Wu established a salt captain in Lou County, which was later Changshu, Jiangsu, and opened a new salt farm to cook sea salt.
During the Three Kingdoms period, all three countries were not short of salt.
But now Sichuan and Shu are in the hands of Liu Yan, and Sichuan's well salt is also in his hands. As an important strategic material, Liu Yan naturally cannot export it in large quantities. It is more than enough for the millions of people under his rule. If he exports it, the quantity will not be enough.
It will be too big.
This chapter is not finished yet, please click on the next page to continue reading the exciting content! After all, the output and scale of well salt are still much worse than sea salt.
And Yuncheng now belongs to the Guanzhong area, not far from Guan Yu's hometown of Jie County. Now various Xiliang warlords have occupied Guanzhong. After Liu Bei withdrew his troops and there were no external enemies, Li Jue, Guo Si and others were fighting among themselves, and their brains were exhausted.
Come on, the output of Yuncheng Salt Pond is naturally not high.
As for Yandu County, it produces the same sea salt as Qingzhou.
However, due to the low sun-salting technology, the salt boiling method used during the Warring States Period is still used. Compared with Qingzhou, which uses the sun-salting method, the output is lower than that of Qingzhou.
Therefore, in fact, through years of hard work, Qingzhou Sea Salt has already occupied the current salt market and has become a brand trusted by consumers all over the world due to its advantages such as large quantity and low price.
At the same time, sea salt has become Qingzhou's main source of income. If there is no trade channel, it will have a huge impact on Qingzhou's economy.
Therefore, protecting Cao Cao now is not only to protect the troop transportation channel from Qingzhou to Luoyang, but also to ensure Qingzhou's commercial channel.
Although a single economic industry pillar will create a middle-income trap, the prerequisite is that you can first use existing industries to develop your own economy.
Without even development, how can we talk about the middle-income trap?
Therefore, in the end, we have to go back to the original stage, that is, in order to protect the Qingzhou Group's own interests, we must keep Cao Cao's basic position in Yanzhou. Even if Cao Cao cannot keep it, we must at least keep Dongjun in Qingzhou's hands.
In order to achieve this goal, in July of the first year of Xingwu, Chen Mu began to encourage Liu Bei to have a decisive battle with Jizhou. Although it was not a decisive battle, they had to take the initiative to start this war.
Many times, war is not the final resort, nor is it the only solution, but it is the most effective, simplest and crudest means.
Wang Fen extended his claw to Yanzhou. If he doesn't cut off the claw, Qingzhou will never have peace.
Linzi, Qingzhou, Prefectural Mufu.
Liu Bei was fishing in the backyard. The lotus flowers were in full bloom in summer. Under the scorching sun, he was wearing a bamboo hat, his shadow was extremely long, and he was looking at the fish in the pond with bright eyes.
Chen Mu came to him quietly and sat down. The sunlight shone on his fair and soft face, and it seemed to reflect some edges and corners.
"Brother."
"Um."
"We are going to send troops."
"knew."
"Don't ask?"
"What's there to ask?"
Liu Bei smiled calmly: "Since Wang Fen has taken action, we must follow up. I still understand this."
Chen Mu nodded: "Well, we can't let him get any further."
"I'm afraid that Xuzhou will be unstable in this battle."
Liu Bei's face was a little solemn, but the foundation of Xuzhou had not been lost. He originally sent Cai Yang to lead five thousand people to attack, but they only reached Zhengrong Valley and were stopped by Langxie Prime Minister Xiao Jian in Ju County, unable to enter again.
The geographical location of Ju County is too dangerous. There are mountains on the left and right, but there is a valley in the middle, called Zhengrong Valley. Ju County lies across it and is difficult to cross.
Tao Qian has already become enemies with Qingzhou. If they send troops from Langxie Kingdom to sneak attack Qingzhou's back while they are fighting Wang Fen, it will be a big headache for Qingzhou.
The clinker Chen Mu smiled slightly and said: "Brother, don't worry. After Tao Gongzu failed to attack Yanzhou, he no longer has the courage to take action. What's more, Xuzhou itself has some internal problems now, so don't worry, brother."
"Then when should we attack?"
Liu Bei asked.
Chen Mu said: "We should first send someone to contact Gongsun Bogui, and we will attack Jizhou together next month."
"good!"
Liu Bei felt the fishing rod beat a little, and with a slight pull, a carp was hooked up. It swung its sparkling tail in the sun, and it turned out to be a gold-tailed carp.
In August, convoys carrying grain drove from Linzi to the front line of Pingyuan. So far, Qingzhou has only built two cement roads in total, but they are important transportation roads. One is from Jiao Lai Plain to Linzi.
, the other one is from Linzi to Pingyuan Country.
The three armies have not moved, and the food and grass go first.
No matter what time it is, food is the biggest foundation in war. Eating food as a soldier is an eternal principle in troubled times. As long as you have food and grass in your hand, you can recruit more soldiers.
And just when Qingzhou began to prepare for war and stockpile food, Jizhou was in a strange atmosphere at this time.
Wang Fen fell ill.
He is already very old. He fell seriously ill last year and has never recovered.
At the Taiwei's residence in Jizhou, Wang Fen's chief minister Xin Ping had just come out of the kitchen and had a face-to-face meeting with the doctor who often prepared Wang Fen's medicine.
When they arrived at the front door, they saw Situ Chen Yi, Sikong Xunhe, and other ministers entering the mansion.
Among them were Guo Tu, Shen Pei, Geng Wu, Min Chun, Li Li and Liu Hui.
Xun Chen, the chief secretary of Taiwei's Mansion, was also among them. He and Xin Ping nodded without leaving any trace, and Xin Ping walked in, along with many other ministers.
This time Wang Fen was not in the main hall outside, but in his bedroom.
After everyone entered, they saw him lying on the hospital bed, surrounded by servants serving soup and medicine, but his face was pale and breathless, and even the soup and medicine were difficult to swallow.
In fact, in the past few days, as Wang Fen's body has become older and older, everyone can feel that he may have reached his destiny.
After all, an old man in his seventies was considered to have lived a long life in the Han Dynasty, and it was normal for him to die at the end of his life.
It's just that as the founder of Jizhou today, he has been in charge of Jizhou for nearly ten years since the first year of Zhongping, and his personal prestige has reached its peak. If something unexpected happens to Wang Fen at this time, it will definitely not be good news for Jizhou.
Now that everyone came to the Taiwei Mansion, Wang Fen not only summoned them to prepare for his funeral arrangements, but also wanted to ask if there was anyone who could inherit his legacy.
A group of people came to Wang Fen's room one after another. Xun He and Chen Yi came to visit the bedside, and saw Wang Fen reluctantly fighting off the servants and said to them: "Gongshu, Ziliang, you are here."
This chapter is not over yet, please click on the next page to continue reading! "Zugong Wen, how is your condition? Is it better?"
Chen Yi came over and asked with concern.
"Oh, I'm already old."
Unexpectedly, Wang Fen didn't answer. She just saw the white hair on Chen Yi and Xun He's heads and suddenly sighed: "It's time for us people to decay into the coffin. The future will be the world of young people."
The two looked at each other in silence. Wang Fen was over seventy years old, and Xun He and Chen Yi were already in their sixties. The calamity of party imprisonment that their fathers experienced thirty or forty years ago seemed like just yesterday.
Xun He muttered: "Mr. Wen Zu, you called us here today. What do you want to arrange?"
Wang Fen coughed a few times and said with a sad smile: "I know that the end is approaching, and it's time to entrust Jizhou to you. I came here today to make arrangements for the funeral."
"Mr. Wen Zugong..."
Many ministers in the future were all sad, but isn't life like this?
Birth, old age, illness and death are normal.
Even the talented Qin Shihuang, in the end, would have to die if he didn't?
They should have seen through long ago that there is no such thing as immortality in this world.
"OK OK."
When Wang Fen saw their looks, he smiled and said: "I am very open-minded. I just miss Jizhou and the Emperor. Otherwise, I would have wanted to return to my hometown to spend my old age in peace. I invite you here today just to ask you a question."
Ask, who can take over as the shepherd of Jizhou in the future?"
He is a Jizhou Mu, not a Taiwei.
In fact, the current actual controller of Jizhou is still Wang Fen, the Taiwei and the Mu of Jizhou. His main source of authority is from the Taiwei, not the Taiwei.
After all, according to the normal division of powers, the state pastor has real power, while the Taiwei has a vague sense of vacancy.
Therefore, the three ministers and nine ministers in Jizhou today can also be said to be decorations.
The one who can really give orders is the State Mu Seal that Wang Fen currently controls.
Everyone looked at each other, and someone said without hesitation: "Sikong can succeed this position. Sikong is the son of Xun Gong, the second among the eight heroes. His fame is all over the world, and he should be welcomed by everyone."
"Young Master Zi Liang can do it too. After the three monarchs, people will follow their wishes."
The nine ministers recommended Xun and Chen Yi one after another.
In fact, Wang Fen called them here with the same intention, and wanted one of them to take over.
But Xun He shook his head and said: "I'll forget it. I'm not young anymore, and my body is not as big as before. What's more, compared with Wen Zugong, how can I take on the great cause of Jizhou with my prestige? I'm still Ziliang."
bring it on."
How did Wang Fen's prestige in Jizhou come from?
He served as the governor of Jizhou from the first year of Zhongping, and managed Jizhou in an orderly manner, with a developed economy, wealthy people, and high prestige among the people, so he was able to secure the position of Jizhou shepherd.
You must know that Yuan Shao's reputation in the late Han Dynasty was quite high, but Yuan Shao had to lie down in Jizhou and did not dare to act rashly. This was because Wang Fen was deeply rooted in Jizhou, unlike Han Fu who later picked peaches and had no roots.
And what about Xunhe?
Far worse than Wang Fen, not to mention that Xun He is not young anymore. He is nearly sixty years old and has no ambition. Naturally, he is not willing to take over the stall in Jizhou, so he recommends that he is a few years younger than him, and he is also the son of Chen Fan, with great reputation.
The taller Chen Yilai.
Unexpectedly, when Chen Yi heard this, he shook his head like a rattle and said: "No, I can't do it. Governing Jizhou is a major national matter. My ability is a hundred times worse than that of Wenzu. How can I take on such a big responsibility?"
Wang Fen frowned: "Are you two refusing? This is not the time to show courtesy. At this time, Jizhou is already in a precarious situation, and we need you to assist the emperor."
Xun He smiled bitterly and said: "If I have this intention, why should I refuse to be polite? It's just that Ziliang and I are far less talented and prestige than Wenzu, so how can we succeed to this position? But Wenzu, don't you have two young masters in your family?
The eldest son has a reputation as a virtuous man, why not succeed Jizhou?"
In the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, the term "gongzi" refers to the sons of princes. In the Han Dynasty, although it was not as strict as in the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, it also referred to the sons of high-ranking officials.
Wang Fen's family was confiscated and exterminated in history, but not at this time, so he still has two sons.
But when he heard Xun He talking about his sons, Wang Fen sighed and said: "One is doing mischief all day long, and the other only knows how to recite scriptures and has no interest in being an official. If not for this, how could I hope to entrust Jizhou to the princes?"
?”
It's not that Wang Fen doesn't want to pass on the family fortune to his son, but that his son, like Tao Qian's son, is not interested in politics and is unwilling to be an official.
To put it simply, they are mediocre and incompetent people.
It was fine when Wang Fen was alive, but once Wang Fen died, if these two sons really succeeded to the throne of Jizhou Mu, I am afraid that Liu Bei, Gongsun Zan and Luoyang could easily kill them in Jizhou and capture them alive.
"This, this, this..."
"Are Gongshu and Ziliang really unwilling to take over?"
"Masters, Jizhou is in danger..."
After hearing Wang Fen's words, everyone looked at each other in shock. Xun and Chen Yi, who could barely serve as Jizhou shepherds now, were unwilling, so the others would have even less prestige.
In this way, after Wang Fen dies, won't there be no one in Jizhou who can take charge of the overall situation?
Jizhou may be in danger.
Just when everyone was worried, Han Fu, who had been silent for a long time, suddenly said: "The fourth and third princes of Yuan Shao have a high prestige, and Yuan Benchu is young, strong, and talented. Perhaps he can take over as the shepherd of Jizhou and assist the emperor in rebuilding."
Big man."
Yuan Shao?
When everyone heard this name, they were a little confused at first.
But after a moment, everyone's eyes lit up.
Yes.
Yuan Shao is also a party member.
As early as the Zhongping period, the relationship between him and party members was extremely close.
When he led the troops into Luoyang, he did so under the instructions of the party members. Now it is time for the party members to repay Yuan Shao!