"Clean the battlefield and collect the prisoners!"
Chen Mu quickly issued the order. As far as he could see, corpses were everywhere, blood was flowing everywhere, surrenderers and weapons and armor were everywhere.
Mountains and rivers are broken, and the country is ups and downs. It is necessary to use the power of thunder to plow the courtyard and clear the holes to revive the world.
Casualties are inevitable, whether it is the enemy or us, what Chen Mu can do is to follow his elder brother's wishes, treat the prisoners kindly, and not kill too hard like Cao Cao.
However, the sudden increase of tens of thousands of people just needing to eat has also put a lot of pressure on Luoyang's logistics.
In particular, Liu Yu used the old grains from previous years to relieve drought victims in Yanzhou and Yuzhou last year. Although the new grains could support him, the more captives there were, the more the new grains would make ends meet, making it difficult to continue to maintain the situation.
This year, Luoyang expanded its army again. Liu Yu and the three ministers and nine ministers, not to mention overhauling their palaces like Emperor Xiaokang of the Han Dynasty, even the salaries of the ministers were repeatedly cut and could not be paid.
The Han Emperor Liu Yu, who was regarded as the emperor, had several holes in his dragon robe, and the vain queen refused to make him a new one several times.
The only good news is that officials from all over the world no longer need to pay salaries. Many aristocratic families who have moved to Luoyang and care about the Han Dynasty donated their food to solve the urgent needs of the court, and this year's war was barely finished.
Moreover, Liu Biao and Lu Bu continued to pay tribute and turned over a lot of gold treasures to the court every year. Not to mention Liu Bei's side, relying on the profits of sea salt, they paid hundreds of millions in taxes every year.
Only in this way could the government have money to support it. Not only did they secretly send people to Jingzhou to buy grain and grass, but even Liu Zhangna of Yizhou, who was treasonous and arrogant and claimed to be emperor, also had merchants buy grain from Shu.
However, although the food and grass problem can be solved, Chen Mu also has other considerations.
In the Battle of Guandu, Cao Cao killed 80,000 prisoners. In fact, many people knew that he was not only short of food, but also had difficulty feeding so many prisoners.
More importantly, the 80,000 captives are all Jizhou people. If they are all escorted back, the Jizhou soldiers will be homesick and will inevitably cause trouble in the future. Some people will need to be assigned to look after them. Once trouble occurs, suppressing it will take more energy.
So it's better to kill them all and kill two birds with one stone, once and for all.
This situation is also applicable to Luoyang now. There are already enough prisoners, so many mouths are open for nothing, and there are often troubles that need to be suppressed, which is very annoying.
When Zhao Yun was stationed in Hanoi, many troops from Jizhou surrendered to rebel and cause trouble. Hanoi was very close to Jizhou, and their families, wives, children, relatives and friends were all in Jizhou. The surrender of troops from Jizhou would not be like that of the Black Mountain Army and the Baibo Army.
That way, as long as the land is given, we will farm honestly.
Once an opportunity is found, countless Jizhou soldiers escape in the middle of the night. From last year to this year, nearly a quarter of the captured Jizhou soldiers escaped. After these people return, they will be recruited as new soldiers, and the cycle will continue without end.
The best solution is to eliminate Yuan Shao and make Jizhou under the rule of the Han Dynasty. In this way, these surrendered troops will naturally become the soldiers of the imperial court, and naturally there is no need to worry about becoming a hostile force.
But before Yuan Shao was wiped out, these problems were still very serious.
On the battlefield, the soldiers began to clean up the battlefield skillfully. After Ju Yi ordered the Luoyang army he brought to join them, he rode slowly over, dismounted in front of Guan Yu, knelt down on one knee and said: "I will see the former general, Shaofu.
"
Ju Yi was rebellious and used to speak arrogantly to Yuan Shao. But after being betrayed, he also learned to be superficial. At least until the big revenge was avenged, he would not offend Liu Guan and Zhang Chen too much.
"Get up."
Guan Yu nodded and said: "Captain Tao, you have done the most great service in this battle. I will report your achievements to the court."
"Thank you, General."
Ju Yi stood up with a very calm look in his eyes.
Credit?
He doesn't care about this now.
He only cares about destroying the Yuan family and avenging his wife and children, nothing more.
Chen Mu rode over, came to Guan Yu's side, looked around the battlefield and said, "Second brother, what are you going to do with these prisoners?"
Guan Yu was puzzled and said: "What else can we do? Take him back to Hanoi to farm."
Chen Mu shook his head and said: "Actually, I have always been dissatisfied with the imperial court's decree not to kill prisoners. These prisoners should all be killed."
Guan Yu frowned and said: "Fourth brother, I know that you are violent by nature, but don't forget your elder brother's instructions. Moreover, this is the imperial edict of the emperor. No matter what, you should not be dissatisfied with the emperor's edict."
"I am not violent by nature, nor am I dissatisfied with the emperor's edict. I am actually thinking about the overall situation."
Chen Mu suddenly turned his head, smiled and said to Ju Yi: "Colonel Tao, do you also think these prisoners should not be killed?"
A hint of murderous intent flashed between Ju Yi's eyebrows, and he said coldly: "It should be killed!"
"presumptuous."
Guan Yu glanced at him and scolded: "How can a small captain like you be involved in this important national matter?"
A lieutenant is a mid- to high-level military officer. If we refer to military ranks in later generations, he should be regarded as a major general and a very important figure.
But that refers to the heavy-ranked captain. Ju Yi is a miscellaneous-ranked captain, whose status is lower than official positions such as partial generals. Guan Yu is a former general. Among the heavy-ranked generals, he is second only to the general, the hussar general and the guard general.
existence, scolding Ju Yi is normal.
In this case, Ju Yi should first ask Guan Yu's opinion and ask whether he is qualified to answer, and only accept the order after getting Guan Yu's approval. Answering directly now does not take Guan Yu into consideration.
Hearing Guan Yu's scolding, Ju Yi was stunned at first, and then his eyes revealed a more ferocious look. After a moment, he quickly lowered his head and said solemnly: "Wei, the general taught you a lesson."
"Second brother, you can't blame Colonel Tao. I asked him to say it."
Chen Mu gave Ju Yi a step down with a smile, and then changed the topic: "Can Colonel Tao explain clearly the reason why these prisoners were killed?"
Ju Yi glanced at Chen Mu out of the corner of his eye, and suddenly some enlightenment came to his mind. He couldn't help but feel a chill running down his spine. He quickly said to Guan Yu: "The general is just a superficial opinion. How dare you speak to the general and the young master?"
Are you talking nonsense in front of me?"
"It's okay, Colonel Tao, just feel free to speak your mind."
Chen Mu waved his hand and asked him to continue.
Guan Yu also stared at him, narrowed his eyes and said slowly: "Just tell me."
Ju Yi's face changed slightly, he felt his scalp was numb and a cool chill rose on the soles of his feet.
Damn it!
Another test!
This extremely abominable Chen Zigui!
Ju Yi gritted his teeth in his heart and his eyes kept flickering.
He remembered how Chen Mu had pointed out why he was feared by Yuan Shao on the ship.
High achievement is secondary.
Taking credit and being arrogant and unruly are the reasons why he deserves to die.
After that time, Ju Yi has restrained himself a lot.
Anyone who has experienced life and death will remember that lesson firmly.
But facing Guan Yu, how could a man who believed that he had defeated Gongsun Zan's tens of thousands of troops be humble?
Looking at it today, it was obvious that Chen Mu was taking advantage of Guan Yu's arrogance to test whether he had changed his character.
This shocked Ju Yi, who felt that he had disguised himself a lot.
Facing the two people's questions, I didn't know how to answer for a while.
Chen Mu still maintained a smile and looked at him calmly, but his eyes were as cold as frost.
Ju Yi historically stabbed Han Fu in the back, and later tried to stab Yuan Shao in the back, but Yuan Shao noticed it and immediately sent people to kill him.
It is said that Lu Bu was a slave of the third family, and Wei Yan had a traitorous bone in the back of his head.
But in fact, Ju Yi is the real rebel. As long as this person holds real power, he is likely to stab his master in the back.
Therefore, even though he knew that he had a deep hatred for Yuan Shao, Chen Mu never dared to let him take real power and ordered him to train his troops honestly in the rear.
Moreover, even during military training, Han Hao, Li Lan and others served as deputies, actually monitoring him and not giving him a chance to rebel.
However, in today's battle, there were not enough troops to attack from both front and rear, so Ju Yi, who was in reserve, could only be transferred over.
As a result, after the first battle, Ju Yi's surprise attack on Yan Liang had made great achievements. If he was not given military power, those in the court who did not know the truth might think it was unfair and issue an edict to inquire.
If he is allowed to climb into the court at that time, it will not be good for him to be appreciated and respected by the princes of the court, so this is the temptation.
After this test, it turned out that this person's obedience was just a disguise. From his unhesitating answer, it can be seen that Guan Yu was not in his eyes at all, and he did not regard them as superiors at all.
Guan Yu was very proud.
But he will not be arrogant in front of Liu Bei and the emperor's court.
Ju Yi, on the other hand, is arrogant and arrogant.
Once such a person comes to power, it will be very dangerous. When Yuan Shao is wiped out in the future, he may become a disaster.
"Does Captain Tao think that we two are dull and unable to understand what Captain Tao means, so he doesn't want to share it with us?"
Chen Mu said something casually like a joke, but the three people present knew clearly that such words were not nonsense and were completely slander.
Ju Yi had no choice but to bite the bullet and said: "I have been training troops in the rear for a long time, and I am well aware of the military dangers in Jizhou. When these people come here as prisoners, they don't even want to farm properly. They just want to escape every day. It's hard to kill them. If they are released, they will run away again."
General Zhao will have a headache if he returns to Jizhou and opposes us."
"Well......"
Guan Yu's frown deepened. He also knew about this. From last year to this year, the border guards at the border between Hanoi and Wei County captured countless Jizhou prisoner deserters. If they were caught, they would usually be sent back. After being sent back, they would continue to look for opportunities to escape.
, after running away, he became a soldier and fought with them again, which was very annoying.
Chen Mu also said: "The whole family of the Heishan Army and the Baibo Army surrendered to the imperial court, so they were given fields and allowed to farm. Even if it was a little harder, each of them was very willing. At least they had hope for life. The Jizhou soldiers' families were small.
But they are all in Jizhou."
Guan Yu thought for a while and said: "That's the truth. It's just that the imperial court and my eldest brother probably won't let us kill the prisoners. And the killing of the prisoners is unknown. The incident between Bai Qi and Xiang Yu is still fresh in my mind, and the outcome of the two of them is not very good.
good."
"Unknown killings and prisoners..."
Even if Chen Mu is a modern person, he can't help but be a little shaken.
Bai Qi killed 400,000 Zhao soldiers in a trap, and eventually committed suicide. Xiang Yu killed 200,000 Qin soldiers in a trap, and eventually committed suicide. Therefore, people at that time said that the prisoners killed were unknown and they would be punished by God.
Chen Mu didn't really believe in the so-called divine punishment, but he suddenly remembered that these were tens of thousands of living lives after all.
Seeing that Yuan Shao is about to be defeated, these will be their subjects in the future. If they are all killed, Jizhou will also lose a lot of young people. The most important thing is that Liu Bei has a high popularity in Jizhou. Once he kills the prisoners, the people will be defeated in an instant.
There is no hope, which means that the gain outweighs the loss.
Thinking of this, Chen Mu nodded and said: "I thought of the problem too simply. Killing prisoners has many advantages, but the disadvantages are also greater. Not talking about the imperial court and eldest brother, just talking about the popularity in Jizhou, I'm afraid
It will also drop to freezing point.”
Guan Yu sighed and said, "Yes, my eldest brother is famous all over the world for his benevolence and righteousness. We can't lose it all in one day."
Chen Mu massaged his temples and said bitterly: "I'll think about it again..."
He cannot imitate Cao Cao. Cao Cao massacred Xuzhou and his reputation was extremely bad. But later he used the emperor to control the princes and used the endorsement of the Han Dynasty to rule Xuzhou, so there was no large-scale resistance.
Moreover, he slaughtered several counties in Xuzhou, killing more than 200,000 people. It could be said that he had wiped out the roots, and no one wanted to seek revenge from him. Naturally, it didn't matter.
But Jizhou soldiers all have families. The total number of Jizhou soldiers captured now is probably thirty to forty thousand, and their families number no less than one hundred thousand.
If all these people hate Liu Bei, they may cause great trouble for Liu Bei's ruling foundation after he seizes Jizhou in the future.
So you have to be careful.
But these Jizhou soldiers are also troublesome. They have so many mouths and are not honest. How to deal with them?
"Now let's think about what we should do next."
Guan Yu said: "Go north to Yecheng?"
"What to do next?"
An idea suddenly came to Chen Mu's mind, and he immediately laughed: "I know what to do."
Their original plan was to take Neihuang and Fanyang, then immediately detour behind Anyang and raid Jiuhou City and Wucheng area.
Because Yuan Tan is stationed nearby, first defeat Yuan Tan, and then force Zhang He to make a decision, whether to continue to defend the city or withdraw troops to return for reinforcements, whether it is to encircle the point for reinforcements or to make an emergency landing, Zhang He can choose.
But no one expected that Yecheng would send Yan Liang and Wenchou south to stop them, and they would be defeated. Now that Yecheng has few soldiers, it stands to reason that they can march north to the city and attack Yecheng.
But Chen Mu knew that Ye City was not that easy to break. Cao Cao flooded Ye City for half a year before breaking through the city. Even if they fought outside the city, they would at most force Yuan Shao back and not pose a threat.
So there is actually a better way.
Guan Yu asked curiously: "What other ideas did the fourth brother have in mind?"
Chen Mu looked to the west and said calmly: "This is a plan to kill two birds with one stone. I will send these Jizhou troops back."
"Let them go back?"
Guan Yu was confused and said: "We finally defeated them and let them go back like this? Isn't this letting the tiger go back to the mountain?"
Chen Mu laughed and said: "Second brother immediately counted his luggage, abandoned Neihuang and Fanyang, escorted the prisoners west to Anyang, and joined the Taiwei. At the same time, the north and south surrounded Anyang, and all 20,000 prisoners were driven to Anyang.
, then, do you think the door will open or not?"
Guan Yu thought carefully, his eyes flashing: "If it is opened, our people will be mixed in and can seize the door. If it is not opened, we will watch the captives outside the city without saving them. Can we also use the prisoners to cover up the attack?"
"
"Exactly."
Chen Mu nodded: "If he doesn't open the door, then we will continue to drive the prisoners north. If Anyang doesn't open the door, there will always be a gate in Wucheng or Jiuhou City that will be opened for them!"