Chapter 10: Attack Guanzhong in the west, conquer Youzhou in the north, and capture Nanyang in the south.
The ministers selected by the cabinet are indeed unique.
Some people are good at water conservancy construction, some people are good at people's livelihood management, and some people are good at tactical planning. There are several talents with intelligence above 90.
Chen Mu observed carefully that currently the only strategic-level talents are Dong Zhao and Mao Jie, while the rest have their own talents and are very good.
After all, these people were all important ministers of the later Wei, Shu, and Wu kingdoms, and they were certainly capable. People like Jia Kui, Chen Deng, Du Ji, and Du Xi were all talented people, and they were more than capable of serving as governors of a place or even as pastors of a state.
Many diplomatic plans were discussed at the meeting, and Chen Mu ordered people to record them. After the meeting, a high-level cabinet meeting will finalize the screening and determine whether the plans are feasible before implementation.
The ministers in the cabinet all had their own opinions on the various princes in the world. Knowing that this was an opportunity to express themselves in front of the emperor, they all spoke enthusiastically and offered their own strategies.
Some of them suggested that after Gongsun Du was destroyed, Xian Yufu could be ordered to attack Gongsun Zan in order to drive away the wolves and devour the tigers, so that the court would not have to waste a single soldier to capture Youzhou.
This proposal made Liu Bei look very unhappy, because he had been on the throne for more than 20 days, and so far, no official document had been sent from Liaoxi.
The distance between western Liaoning and Luoyang is more than 2,000 miles. It is indeed far away, but even if it takes more than 20 days, it should be there long ago.
This means that what Chen Mu said at the beginning has now become reality.
After the meeting, Liu Bei invited cabinet ministers with doctorate degrees and above to enter the back hall to discuss matters again.
And those cabinet ministers dispersed and left. They would not stay in Luoyang for too long. The imperial court would assign them official positions in various places. Some would be assigned to the Sangong and Jiuqing sects, and some would go to local officials.
The cabinet system was essentially a way to select officials, including second-class counselor doctors and third-class admonishment ministers. The imperial court recruited them and allowed them to enter the cabinet to observe politics in a short period of time, which was somewhat similar to the top ranking officials in the later imperial examinations.
It is the same principle that they will be sent to various departments to study.
Those who really hold the real power are the first-class ministers, but the current cabinet system is not perfect. For example, although the first-class ministers control the power of government affairs, their moral character is not high, and the way to rise is to become three ministers.
Jiu Qing, your power will be reduced instead.
Therefore, a perfect cabinet system should add a top-level position on top of the first-class minister of affairs, either held by the three ministers concurrently, or after ascending from the position of the three ministers, this is the highest position, similar to the prime minister system or the group minister system.
In this way, a complete official promotion structure was formed. After being selected from the local low-level officials, they entered the cabinet and became the third-class admonishment minister. After the emperor or the prime minister observed that these low-level officials were talented, they were released.
Local officials serve as county magistrates, county magistrates, and other county-level officials. Those who stand out can then join the cabinet as second-class counselor doctors.
After these second-class counselors and doctors pass the test, they will go to the local areas to serve as governors. The outstanding ones will return to the central government to serve as the first-class records ministers, and then they will be assigned to the local areas as state pastors. Above the state pastors, they will return to the central government to serve as three ministers and nine ministers, and then
Those who are outstanding can become prime minister.
If we follow the analogy of official levels in later generations, low-level officials and third-level admonishment ministers are at the department level. When they serve as county magistrates and county magistrates, they are at the department level.
At the provincial level, if you reach the level of Zhou Mu, you are a senior official. Jiuqing is the same level as Zhou Mu and is also a senior official. If you reach the level of Sangong, you will be a deputy state official. If you reach the prime minister level, you will be a senior official.
In this way, officials were promoted step by step, and all officials had to go through the cabinet and be personally selected by the emperor and prime minister. This greatly increased the imperial power and centralization of power.
But the disadvantages of doing so are also obvious, that is, the power of the prime minister will be very great, and the power of the prime minister and the imperial power will once again form a confrontation. If the prime minister is talented and has good moral character, then there will naturally be no problem. But if the prime minister has bad moral character, there will be no problem.
There will be things like evading imperial power and the emergence of Huo Guang, Wang Mang, Liang Ji, and Cao Cao.
So again, there is no perfect system, only a system that adapts to the times.
Liu Bei called everyone into the palace and sat down. There were no outsiders here, so there was no need to talk about me. He looked around and said softly to Chen Mu: "Fourth brother, Bo Gui's matter..."
Chen Mu smiled bitterly and said, "I told my elder brother before."
Liu Bei clenched his fists, then loosened them after a moment, and sighed: "I didn't expect that even Bo Gui would... I am a member of the clan, and I recognize Emperor Huan as my father. I have adopted Emperor Zhang after him, and the former emperor passed me the throne. I
His position is in line with the legal system, how could he..."
"Brother Bogui, maybe he feels embarrassed. My eldest brother also knows that he is a man with a good face. It is normal to feel uncomfortable when he sees his eldest brother becoming emperor. It is not necessarily because of ambition."
Chen Mu helped Liu Bei give him some psychological comfort.
He knew that if he didn't provide this kind of psychological comfort, this matter would become an obstacle that he couldn't overcome.
Because Liu Bei was a man who valued affection and righteousness, his relationship with Gongsun Zan was not much worse than that of the three brothers. They had developed a love for each other since they were young. Now that Gongsun Zan did not recognize him as the emperor, it was inevitable that he felt disappointed and angry.
The reason for disappointment was that he did not expect Gongsun Zan to be like this, and the reason for anger was that he unconsciously thought that Gongsun Zan, like those princes, also ignored him because he harbored treason.
In fact, Liu Bei was right. Gongsun Zan did have the ambition to dominate. After all, in the world now, the authority of the imperial court has plummeted, and all fools know that it is the end of the dynasty.
Tian Yu had followed Liu Bei when he was a child, and was recruited into the Military Intelligence Department by Chen Mu. He had long known what Gongsun Zan was thinking. As his strength grew, his ambitions naturally expanded step by step. He had previously wanted to carve up Jizhou with Liu Bei, but Chen Mu had
Mu just used a trick to force him out.
So if Liu Bei knew the situation, he would definitely feel very sad based on his feelings for Gongsun Zan for many years. Therefore, Chen Mu naturally wanted to help cover it up and prevent Liu Bei from knowing the truth. It was considered a white lie.
This chapter is not over yet, please click on the next page to continue reading! After hearing this, Liu Bei felt better. He pondered for a long time, looked at Xun Yu and Xun You, and asked tentatively: "Wen Ruo, Gongda, I want to conquer Youzhou personally.
, what do you think?"
Conquer Youzhou personally?
Xun Yu hesitated for a moment and looked at Chen Mu unconsciously.
This matter is not impossible. Liu Bei himself is an emperor, and he has always been good at fighting. He personally leads his troops to fight not just once or twice, but it is not a big deal for him to go to war with his chariot.
The key is, why did Guanzhong and Youzhou only send Guan Yu, Zhang Fei, Zhang Liao and Gaoshun in Chen Mu's plan?
This is because the real enemy of the imperial court is not in the north or Guanzhong.
Wuhuan and Xianbei in the north are a piece of scattered sand, and their combat effectiveness cannot be compared with the Central Plains army. The same is true in Guanzhong, a group of ragtag people, and there is no big obstacle.
Their real enemies are in places such as Henan and Jingzhou. Although Cao Cao is limited by geographical location and does not develop well, his military capabilities are still very strong. Sun Jian is also a fierce general, and his generals are good at fighting and have their own unique abilities.
The 50,000 to 60,000 elite men cannot be underestimated.
Liu Biao in Jingzhou has been stable for many years. Since Dong Zhuo's rebellion, Jingzhou has not fought a war, and its population, economy and agriculture have been enriched. According to the records of "Three Kingdoms·Liu Biao Biography" and "Book of the Later Han Dynasty", "Thousands of people in the local area
There are more than 100,000 soldiers with armor." It can be seen that Liu Biao's total military strength is no less than 100,000.
In this way, the total military strength of the various princes in the entire southern region reached more than 200,000. And this only counts Liu Biao, Sun Jian, and Cao Cao. Yangzhou has not been included. If Yangzhou is annexed by any of Sun Jian, Cao Cao, and Liu Biao, the army can be expanded by tens of thousands.
Enrich the overall strength of the various princes in the south.
So now the focus of the imperial court seems to be on Guanzhong and Youzhou, but in fact Guanzhong and Youzhou are just plagued by scabies, and the really powerful characters are all in the south. Once Sun, Cao, and Liu are united, for Liu Bei,
It's a huge trouble.
Therefore, Liu Bei and Chen Mu had to stay in Luoyang. First, they stationed most of their troops in Yingchuan, Henan, Weijun, Jinan, Donghai and other counties to monitor the various princes in Henan and facilitate the central government to issue orders.
Secondly, Luoyang is close to Henan. If there is any trouble among the princes such as Cao Cao, Sun Jian and others in Henan, they all know that once they form an alliance, they can destroy or deal with it at any time.
In other words, the reason why they stayed in Luoyang was because they had to make decisions at the central level so that they could respond to situations that might arise at any time.
Now if Liu Bei goes to Youzhou to fight in person, who will make the decision in case of an emergency?
Henan is very close to Luoyang, but more than a thousand miles away from Youzhou.
This delay is a national event.
Xun Yu hesitated for a moment and said, "Youzhou is just a minor problem and is not worthy of Your Majesty's visit."
"But what if Gongsun Zan conflicts with us?"
Liu Bei said: "Gongsun Bogui is good at fighting, but it would not be a good thing if he becomes our enemy. If I go there in person, I can defeat him even if I cannot persuade him."
"But......"
Xun Yu said helplessly: "But now the focus of the imperial court is on Guanzhong and the defense of the southern princes. The people's livelihood in Jizhou has not yet been restored, and the army's reorganization has not yet been completed. If there is any slight movement among the southern princes, how can your majesty be able to do that if he is far away in Youzhou?"
Do you care about Luoyang?"
Liu Bei turned to look at Chen Mu and said, "Fourth brother, I want to entrust you with important affairs of the imperial court. What do you think?"
Chen Mu's face became even more bitter.
Just kidding, I vetoed the Prime Minister's proposal. With the rank of one of the nine ministers, the Shaofu, how could he be in charge of the major affairs of the government?
Without Liu Bei as the emperor to suppress him, he would not be able to give orders to Sangong alone.
Fortunately, he had successfully restructured the system before, and transferred all the responsibilities of the three public affairs to people's livelihood, construction, education and legal system, and did not involve the military and finance.
So if it really goes ahead, it’s not impossible.
It's like Cao Cao always handed over the rear to Xun Yu who served as Shangshu Ling every time he fought.
The Shangshu Ling is just a thousand-stone official, but the three princes and nine ministers of the imperial court cannot get involved because their powers have been cut off.
The same is true now. After the reorganization of the imperial court, the powers of the three ministers and nine ministers have nothing to do with government affairs. The power of government affairs has been shrunk into the cabinet. Once Liu Bei left, the cabinet covered the sky with one hand. All government orders were issued from Chen Mu, which was no different from the powers of the Chancellor.
Thinking of this, Chen Mu calmed down and said: "I know that my brother will feel uncomfortable if he doesn't go, so I support him to go. However, I also told him in advance that my next step is to attack Wancheng."
"Attack Wancheng?"
Liu Bei asked in surprise: "What are you doing attacking Wancheng?"
Chen Mu smiled and said: "Nanyang is an important channel connecting Jingzhou to Henan. After the eldest brother, second brother and third brother left, Luoyang was empty. Once Liu Biao, Cao Cao and Sun Jian formed an alliance, Liu Biao could attack Yingchuan from Nanyang, and then attack Yingchuan from Yique Pass.
Guangcheng Pass, Dagong Pass, Shenyuan Pass and other places are attacking Luoyang, threatening our rear. Therefore, whether it is to cut off the tripartite alliance or to prevent the rear from being attacked, Nanyang must be captured."
"Um."
Liu Bei spent his life in the army. After thinking about it for a moment, he quickly understood that Nanyang was indeed a strategic location that military strategists have fought for since ancient times, so he said: "How sure is the fourth brother?"
"Eighty percent."
Chen Mu replied confidently.
"That's enough."
Liu Bei immediately said: "The troops and horses in Luoyang are all at the command of my fourth brother. I leave this matter to my fourth brother."
Chen Mu cupped his hands and said, "Don't worry, brother, I will definitely live up to your high expectations."
Everyone discussed some more things and decided like this.
At present, the army is still undergoing reorganization, eliminating the old and weak, leaving the elite. The number of personnel has not been completely fixed. The previous total totaled about 300,000.
After elimination, the number of people will definitely be smaller, and it will take a certain amount of time to replenish the troops and retrain.
Therefore, these things cannot be done in a short time, so Guan Yu and Zhang Fei went to Guanzhong, Liu Bei personally conquered Youzhou, and Chen Mu attacked Wancheng. These are just to determine the direction to take this year, rather than taking immediate action.
By February, after nearly two months of reorganization and training, Guan Yu's original 100,000 Luoyang Army eliminated nearly 30,000 disabled, old and weak soldiers, as well as those who had voluntarily retired and returned to their hometowns to farm.
Seventy thousand elite soldiers were left behind, and after re-training, another ten thousand Sanhe elite soldiers were recruited to supplement the army, making a total of eighty thousand troops.
Guan Yu took 50,000 of his 80,000-horse troops, and Zhang Fei took 30,000. Starting from March, he officially carried out the plan of hiding from the sky and crossing the sea.
Batch after batch of military rations were sent to Guanzhong by soldiers pretending to be auxiliary troops. The first batch included 20,000 people, and Guan Yu personally led the team. The second batch included 30,000 people, followed by generals Guan Hai and Guan Ping. The plan was to
Within two months, the work of settling in Chang'an was completed.
Zhang Fei also began to prepare to enter Hedong from Luoyang. In fact, it is not easy to enter Hedong County from Luoyang. The easier way is to take the Xiaohan Ancient Road, which is to take Hangu Pass, pass Sanmenxia City, Tongguan and Huayin, and enter Guanzhong.
Afterwards, cross the Wei River and enter Hedong County from Zuofengyi.
This road was the road where Liu Bei, Cao Cao, Sun Jian, Gong Sun, Zan and Bao Xin allied their forces into Guanzhong to pursue Dong Zhuo. It was also the road where Qin Shihuang went out to wipe out the six countries, and Cao Cao's westward expedition to Guanzhong. In other words, Guanzhong attacked Guandong, and Guandong attacked Guanzhong.
The only way to go.
Although it is difficult to walk along the way because it needs to pass through the Qinling Mountains, it is a thousand-year-old road after all, and the road is very wide, smooth, and very safe.
But if you take the Weihan Ancient Road, you have to take a long detour.
The nearest roads should be the Zhiguanxing and Yuban ancient roads, one is the first pass of Taihang Baxing, and the other is the ancient salt transportation road from Hedong to Luoyang opened in the early Zhou Dynasty.
These two roads are very close to Hedong, especially Shaanxi County, which is Sanmenxia City. Going north through Zhongtiao Mountain for about a hundred miles can reach Anyi, the seat of Hedong, which is almost equivalent to Pinglu County in Shanxi to Shanxi in later generations.
Xia County is such a distance away.
Zhiguanxing needs to pass through the entire Wangwu Mountain. In terms of distance, the Xiaohan Ancient Road is the farthest, the Yuban Ancient Road is the closest, and Zhiguanxing is in the middle.
However, the distance is close, but the farther the distance, the closer the distance is and the safety is directly proportional to it.
The closer the distance, the more dangerous it is, and the further away, the safer it is.
Because whether it is the Zhiguanxing or Yuban Ancient Road, the roads are much narrower and steeper than the Xiaohan Ancient Road.
According to ancient records, the narrowest parts of these two roads can barely accommodate two people walking side by side. Walking in the mountains, there are still a lot of cliffs and dangers.
Therefore, how to march has become a top priority.
In the end, under the planning of several senior cabinet officials, Zhang Fei was helped to choose Zhiguanxing, which was a medium distance and medium safe place.
By April, the entire imperial army had basically completed all reorganization.
February was the day when Zhang Yan came down from the mountain, and Xun Yu had already arrived in Jizhou to serve as the shepherd of Jizhou to handle these matters.
Liu Bei also set out for Jizhou in April.
He also has a lot of things to do along the way. After arriving in Jizhou, he has to appease the local people and take care of the mood of the Black Mountain Army. When the time comes, he will also recruit Zhang Yan to accompany him and let his army follow him to join the war.
After careful selection of the imperial soldiers and horses, there were still about 230,000 elite soldiers left, and tens of thousands more new soldiers were recruited, so the total strength was still maintained at about 300,000.
Guan Yu and Zhang Fei took away 80,000 troops. The counties along the way from Guanzhong to Luoyang needed soldiers to guard the passes, so Hongnong divided up nearly 10,000 troops.
Liu Bei took almost 40,000 troops with him. He did not bring that many soldiers and horses because Zhang Yan would bring some people to the battle. Xian Yufu had already followed Liu Yu's edict and made Liu Bei the official minister of the court, and would also bring tens of thousands of people to follow him.
.
As a result, the total strength of Liu Bei's army exceeded one hundred thousand, and they marched all the way north in a mighty manner under the banner of crusade against the rebellious Hu people. He did not need to bring too many troops at all.
However, Qingzhou, the borders of Jizhou, as well as Yingchuan, Henan and other places need to be garrisoned, so the imperial court seems to have about 170,000 troops left. When they are sent to important strategic areas in various places, tens of thousands of people will be stationed here and tens of thousands will be stationed there.
In fact, there isn't much left at all.
Zhong Yao, Tai Shi Ci and Zang Ba brought 50,000 people to Qingzhou. At the same time, they had to garrison Qinghe Kingdom, Pingyuan Kingdom, Jinan Kingdom and other places. There were also 20,000 people from Caiyang and Qin Qi in Xuzhou, and they led 10,000 people to Qingzhou.
In Hanoi, Huang Zhong led 20,000 people to Yecheng.
These people formed the entire Hebei Taishan defense line from Jizhou to Qingzhou to half of Xuzhou, with a total strength of about 100,000.
Then there were less than 70,000 troops left for the Luoyang court and the defenders in the Yingchuan area.
Dianwei has more than 20,000 imperial guards stationed in Luoyang to guard the eight passes of Luoyang. These soldiers and horses cannot be easily moved.
As for Zhao Yun's headquarters, there are only 30,000 troops stationed in the Dingling area of Yingchuan, because there are still some troops scattered in Henan, and there are probably more than 10,000 people in the counties behind Yingchuan.
Therefore, there are actually very few people who can actually let Chen Mu mobilize the army to attack Wancheng. Even if Hongnong and the troops stationed in the county are mobilized, the actual army that can attack Nanyang is only about 20,000.
Because Zhao Yun's troops must stay in Yingchuan to support him, once he attacks Nanyang, Liu Biao, Cao Cao, Sun Jian, Zhong Yao, Tai Shi Ci, Zang Ba, Huang Zhong and Cai Yang must respond immediately.
They could only contain the troops of Sun Jian and Cao Cao, Liu Biao and Zhang Xiu, and had to rely on Chen Mu and Zhao Yun to deal with them. Therefore, they needed at least 50,000 troops to be invincible.
The only good news is that although Chen Mu can mobilize not many soldiers, Zhang Xiu's army is also not large, probably only 20,000.
So as long as Liu Biao, Cao Cao and Sun Jian don't move, then together with Zhao Yun's troops, Zhang Xiu should be able to be defeated!
By May, the imperial troops and horses had already set off to various places in Guanzhong and Youzhou.
Chen Mu, who was in Luoyang, looked at the position marking Nanyang on the map with a deep smile in his eyes.