The autumn wind is bleak, the temperature is getting lower and lower, and it is getting colder.
Inside the imperial military camp, there was silence.
In Chen Mu's tent, a lamp looks like a bean.
One after another, official documents from the imperial court were sent to his desk for reading.
In addition to government affairs, there are also local affairs that he is more concerned about.
As a prime minister-level figure, he no longer cares about trivial matters.
It is about the direction of the entire country and the overall internal and external structural contradictions.
An incident such as an unjust, false or wrongful conviction in a certain place, or corruption of a high-ranking official, or even an incident that has a great impact.
There are people who should take care of these things, and the function of the system is to restrain most of them.
Unless a low-probability incident reaches the point of alarming the central government, at most it will just be an inspection team or investigation team sent from the central government.
What issue is Chen Mu most concerned about now?
The smooth implementation of the First Five-Year Plan.
Various plans have been outlined in outline, and various implementation departments and regulatory authorities are working intensively on them.
Liu Bei took matters into his own hands and even inspected the design of the Luoyang River section.
This is something that Chen Mu admires very much about Liu Bei. Being an emperor is an easy thing to do because it has too much power.
For example, in some African countries in the 21st century, dictators and tyrants have emerged, not to mention the ancient imperial feudal autocratic system.
China has had a feudal system for more than two thousand years, with more than 400 emperors and only a handful of wise kings.
Most of them are mediocre and foolish kings, who lose themselves in power.
With Liu Bei on guard in Luoyang, Chen Mu felt relieved.
While he was reading the official document, a voice suddenly came from outside the tent. Zhang Long, the captain of the guard, hurried in and said: "Four generals, there is a rebellion in Zishi City. Lu Bu has been captured by the rebels and brought here."
"hehe."
Chen Mu smiled, nodded and said, "It's just what was expected. He is at the end of his rope. Our troops don't want to die, so naturally we can only capture him."
Zhang Long said: "Now that the rebel general Lu Bu has taken him outside our camp, do the four generals want to see him?"
Chen Mu thought for a while and said, "Let their people wait outside. You go and escort Lu Bu over. Check the rope and tie it up a few more layers to make it stronger. Then bring him to me."
"yes."
Zhang Long goes out.
After a while, Commander Chen Mu raised the tent.
In addition to Xu Rong, Zhang Liao, Gao Shun, Qian Zhao and other generals were also awakened to attend the meeting.
The generals, big and small, gathered around to watch. Zhang Long, Zhao Hu, Da, A, two or four people and many personal guards escorted Lu Bu in.
A dozen generals were lined up in two rows on the left and right sides, and at the end of the middle was Chen Mu's desk, facing the entrance of the camp, and Lu Bu was brought closer.
Chen Mu looked over and saw that Lu Bu, whom he had not seen for many years, was now covered with vicissitudes of life, his beard was unkempt, and his face was pale. He seemed to have aged ten years and no longer looked as heroic as before.
"Kneel down!"
Several guards used knives to force Lu Bu to kneel down. Lu Bu's eyes were spitting fire, full of humiliation.
Chen Mu waved his hand: "Forget it, don't insult me lightly."
The corners of Lu Bu's mouth twitched slightly and he said softly: "Thank you very much!"
Chen Mu smiled and said: "Lu Bu, when you escaped from Chang'an, I told you not to make an enemy of me, or I will capture you. Do you know how powerful I am today?"
Lu Bu opened his mouth and wanted to say something, but he had to lower his head under the eaves, so he was dejected and did not have time to speak.
Someone said: "Prime Minister, what this thief is doing is rude. Push him out and kill him."
"oh?"
Chen Mu stroked his chin and beard and said, "Good idea."
Lu Bu's face suddenly became horrified, and he quickly said: "Prime Minister... Prime Minister, no."
"I thought you were mute."
Chen Mu smiled and said: "You are fighting against the imperial court and ignoring the law. How can you not be killed?"
Lu Bu couldn't think of a reason for a moment, so he turned around and looked around to see if there was anyone he knew here to intercede.
However, many generals around him looked at him with indifferent expressions.
No one spoke for him.
Xu Rong did not appear here because he knew Lu Bu, while Qianzhao had no contact with Lu Bu at all.
As for Zhang Liao and Gao Shun.
Historically, they were Lu Bu's generals, but the situation at that time was that Ding Yuan recruited the two of them, and then He Jin was killed, and Lu Bu killed Ding Yuan. As a result, the two had nowhere to go, and were forced to stay in the Bingzhou Army that Lu Bu had robbed.
.
But now the two of them have nothing to do with Lu Bu. Before He Jin was killed, he sent Zhang Liao and Gao Shun to help Liu Bei repel the powerful coalition forces of the major families who rebelled in Jizhou.
As a result, He Jin and Ding Yuan were killed before the two of them could return home. They still had nowhere to go, and in the end they could only stay under Liu Bei's command.
So when they met Lu Bu, neither of them had any other feelings. They were not even from the same hometown.
To put it simply, they were not familiar with Lu Bu. At most, they had met each other but had no deep friendship with him.
Therefore, after seeing no familiar faces, Lu Bu was sweating like raindrops. He held back a lame excuse for a long time and said: "The world is not yet settled. I am willing to surrender to the imperial court, perform meritorious service for the crime, and fight for the imperial court in all directions."
"Ha ha ha ha."
Chen Mu laughed and said: "You guy just won't shed tears until he sees the coffin. When I asked you to surrender, you didn't surrender. Now you know you are afraid. Now, except for Jingzhou, Yizhou and Liangzhou, everyone has returned to the Han Dynasty. I
What else do you need?"
Lu Bu saw that he seemed determined to kill him, so he hurriedly said: "There are also Xianbei people. Those Xianbei people often go south to invade the army. They are foreign invaders. I am willing to be the prime minister's vanguard and fight to the death against Rong Di!"
"Well..."
Chen Mu touched his chin and pretended to think about it. He looked around and asked Zhang Liao, "What do Wen Yuan think?"
Zhang Liao looked down on Lu Bu very much and snorted coldly: "I am from Mayi, Yanmen. I am not worthy of mentioning Xianbei. What can I do to him? If there is a backlash in the future, like Ding Yuan and Dong Zhuo, wouldn't it be like inviting a wolf into the house?"
"Zhang Liao, you!"
Lu Bu's eyes widened and he was extremely angry.
Although he did not have a close relationship with Zhang Liao, they had met each other in Ding Yuan's army back then. How could he be so careless about his old relationship?
Chen Mu thought for a while and said with a smile: "Forget it, I am a kind-hearted person. If the crime is not extremely evil, I will not kill him if I can. I heard that Lu Bu is known as a flying general among the Xianbei people, so I will give away all his family members."
Go to Luoyang to take custody and let him be the vanguard to attack Yunzhong. If he dares to rebel again, he will be the head of the whole family."
Kinder?
The corners of the mouths of many generals around him twitched slightly.
Are there many people who have died at the hands of Chen Zigui, the Prime Minister of the Han Dynasty?
However, since the Prime Minister gave the order, they naturally had no choice but to obey it, and they all raised their hands and said, "Obey the order!"
Lü Bu was overjoyed and took the initiative to kneel down and kowtow: "Thank you so much, Prime Minister. Thank you so much, Prime Minister. Lü Bu will definitely wrap the corpse of the great Han in horse leather!"
The people around him looked at him with contempt.
When he was young, Lu Bu might still be commendable for his bravery, but now that he is old and has lost all his strength, he is naturally looked down upon by them.
Only Chen Mu smiled and said nothing.
Lu Bu is just an ordinary man in bravery. His second and third brothers are no worse than him. If you want to kill him, you can kill him at will.
It's just that Lu Bu has a very high prestige in northern Saibei and is known as a flying general.
If he were sent to go north to the grassland to regain Yunzhong Jiuyuan and other counties, it should be much easier given his prestige among the Xianbei people.
Just like Han Sui and Ma Teng had prestige among the Qiang people in Xiliang, it would be easier to regain Liangzhou from them.
That's why he was given a way to live.
Anyway, in order to check and balance Lu Bu, he took several measures.
One is to deliberately create a rift between the military generals and him, thereby suppressing his spirit and forcing him not to dare to rebel.
The second is to send people to continue to lurk around him to prevent him from having different intentions.
Third, he brought a letter.
It's a letter from Taichang Shi Sun Rui. Shi Sun Rui and Lu Bu have a close relationship. With his persuasion and guarantee, I believe Lu Bu can be more at ease.
The main reason is that the grassland is part of the Chen Mu Grand Canal plan and is the upstream production area of the wool textile industry.
Only by destroying the grassland as soon as possible can the First Five-Year Plan be implemented smoothly, so this is a last resort.
If he hadn't coveted the sheep of Inner Mongolia and Outer Mongolia, Lu Bu would have died long ago.
After winning Bingzhou, Chen Mu planned to go back.
He established the Northern Military Region in Bingzhou, and ordered Zhang Liao and Gao Shun to go north to Kou Lue, Yunzhong Jiuyuan and other counties. Tian Feng took charge of Bingzhou as herdsman and carried out unified planning. He would wait for the new Bingzhou shepherd from the imperial court to come down before making a decision.
All the planning that needed to be done was done, and Lu Yi was told to go to Pingcheng to complete the repair work. The rest was just waiting for Zhang Liao and Gao Shun to respond with good news.
In September of the fourth year of Zhang Wu, Chen Mu and Zhang Fei led most of the troops originally stationed in Hedong and set off back to Luoyang.
Also accompanying him were Huchuquan, the Xiongnu Chanyu, and Liu Bao, the Xian King of Zuo.
Chen Mu conscripted them back to Luoyang as officials. In fact, they were half hostages. Tian Feng would resettle their Xiongnu tribe and raise a large number of sheep and develop animal husbandry according to Chen Mu's plan.
In November of the same year, there was also progress in Xiliang.
In August last year, Ma Chao was defeated and captured, and Han Sui fled to the Xiliang Qiang tribe and was protected by the Qiang people.
However, this year was not easy for Han Sui.
At the beginning of this year, Jushu sent people to lure Yan Xing to surrender, and the two turned against each other. Guan Yu immediately sent Duan Xuan to formally attack Xiliang and seize Hanyang Anding and other counties.
Duan Xuan was a native of Wuwei, Xiliang. He was familiar with the terrain of Liangzhou and was quite capable. Guan Yu gave him 30,000 elite men and marched straight in. Although the Qiang King of Xianqin County called for 100,000 Qiang people to come to protect him, he was no match for him.
.
The equipment gap between the two sides is too big. Duan You's 30,000 elite men and cavalry all have armor, stirrups and horseshoes. The infantry has complete armor, extremely sharp steel knives, and has an advantage in equipment.
The Qiang people basically have no armor, stirrups and horseshoes, and their weapons are very backward, with cast iron or even bronze weapons. They are like chopping melons and vegetables against the soldiers and horses in the upper section.
Seeing that the enemy was strong and the Qiang king who protected him was defeated, Han Sui ran to Jincheng County, which is in the Xining area of Qinghai, very close to Qinghai Lake.
Jushu believed that he should take advantage of the victory to pursue and not give Han Sui a chance to regroup his forces. So in the second half of the year, he requested a large amount of grain and grass support from Liu Bei to go deep into Xiliang and completely eradicate Han Sui's forces.
Liu Bei readily agreed to send part of the grain stored in Luoyang to Chang'an, and then sent people to Qingzhou to deliver a message, asking them to transport this year's autumn harvest to Luoyang as soon as possible.
Because Luoyang is located in the center of the Han Dynasty and has a superior geographical location, connecting the north and the south, it serves as a transfer station for the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal.
Chen Mu planned to use it not only as the capital, but also as a grain storage base.
Once a disaster or food shortage occurs somewhere, you can quickly reach various places through the Grand Canal.
Therefore, new grain from Qingzhou and Jizhou is often transported to Luoyang for storage.
By November, grain had been transported to Guanzhong, and new grain and grass had been obtained, and the logistics supplies could keep up. Although Xiliang was heavily snowed and it was not suitable to march, we relied on the advantage of cotton clothes to push forward with difficulty.
At this time, Duan Xuan's army was stationed in Jincheng County, Liangzhou, which later became Lanzhou City, and in Jincheng and Zhiyang and Yunjie counties in the north, waiting for the arrival of subsequent supplies.
Han Sui was a little further away, located in the Anyi and Linqiang areas. His general location was from Xining City to Haidong City in Qinghai Province in later generations.
Xiliang is hilly and has a unique Danxia landform.
Although soil erosion was not particularly serious in the Han Dynasty, close to the Longyou area, the Qilian Mountains were luxuriant with water and grass, and the hills were covered with green grass. It was located in Wuwei County, Liangzhou. In later generations, there were hundreds of miles of Xiutu Ze in the Tengger Desert, which was used by the Qiang people.
Place of residence.
However, due to the special mountainous and plateau landforms, there are very few livable places in Xiliang, and the main gathering areas of the Qiang and Han people are limited to a few plains and both sides of the river.
Therefore, the cities in Jincheng County are basically maintained along the Huangshui River.
In Jincheng County, Duan Xuan, the Zhenxi general who ranks among the twenty generals, is at his residence in the city at this time.
There were several people beside him. In addition to the generals and generals in the army, there were also Yang Fu, the chief official of Anding, and local powerful leaders Jiang Xu, Liang Kuan, Zhao Qu, Yin Feng, Zhao Ang, etc.
These people are local snakes. For example, Jiang Xu is from the Jiang clan in Tianshui. The surname Jiang is not only a common surname in Tianshui, but also in the entire Xiliang.
Yang Fu was related to Jiang Xu. He came to pacify Xiliang on the order of the imperial court, so he sent someone to contact Jiang Xu and asked Jiang Xu to contact other Xiliang clans and recruit soldiers from the clan to help.
With their help, and Yan Xing, who was stationed in Lingju County at this time and had turned against Han Sui, Duan Xuan believed that it was a certainty to send troops out of Xiliang this time.
"The imperial court's new batch of grain, grass, and cotton-padded clothes have arrived in Yuzhong and will be sent to Jincheng soon. Jing Zhaoyin said that he hopes we can finish it early next year."
Duan Xuan was sitting at a large table with a map of Jincheng County on it, surrounded by soldiers.
Yang Fu stroked his beard and said: "This year's heavy snow has blocked the road, so it is really not appropriate to continue marching."
Duan Yan looked at the whistling snowflakes falling outside, and couldn't help but instinctively wrapped himself in thick cotton clothes, sighing: "It's a pity, the court supplies have arrived, but the weather is too cold. I thought it would be broken by the end of this year."
Han Sui, recapture Xiliang."
Jiang Xu thought for a while and said hesitantly: "General, it's not that we can't attack."
"oh?"
Duan Xuan said in surprise: "It's snowing heavily this year, how can we do it?"
Jiang Xu said: "It is naturally not possible to travel along the Huangshui River, but I know that there is Luodu Valley in the northwest of Poqiang County. It was here that the general who captured the Qiang people was killed. There is a path in this valley that is hundreds of miles long and can go straight to Anyi.
.In such heavy snow weather, they must not have expected that we would suddenly appear behind them."
"Only Baili?"
Duan Xuan pondered for a moment, looked at the map and said, "Where is Luodu Valley?"
Jiang Xu pointed to a certain place on the map and said, "We will meet here."
Duan Yan looked and saw that the place was indeed not far from Anyi County where Han Sui was located, so he said: "In that case, let's send a small group of troops and continue to march forward, pretending to move forward with difficulty, and ask for permission first.
Let’s talk about Po Qiang, Hao Qian and other places.”
"only!"
The officers and soldiers listened to the order and acted immediately according to the order.
These places were located in the middle area between the imperial army and Han Sui, and no one occupied them at this time.
But Duan Xuan knew very well that there must be scouts left by Han Sui to investigate.
If the army advances with great fanfare, it will make Han Sui suspicious.
So he first sent a small group of troops to explore forward, and then the larger army slowly moved forward.
Spending a few days occupying these places sends a different signal than spending a month occupying them.
The former will make Han Sui feel uneasy.
The latter would make Han Sui think that the imperial court probably wanted to slowly seize these places first, and wait until the next spring before continuing to attack the northwest.
Duan Xuan made tactical arrangements, first encroaching on the central area of Jincheng County, and then investigating the Luodu Valley intelligence.
By December, he had arrived in Poqiang, less than a hundred miles away from Anyi.
After occupying Poqiang County, Duan Xuan indeed stopped taking action. Instead, he sent a large number of scouts to move along both sides of the Huangshui River, pretending to investigate the strength of Han Sui's army.
Although Han Sui learned that the imperial court had marched hundreds of miles and arrived at Poqiang, the distance from Poqiang to Anyi was almost a hundred miles away, and it would probably take two or three days to arrive in the snowy weather.
Moreover, people can come here in two or three days, but the vehicles, food, grass and baggage will fall into the snow accidentally, so it is impossible to do it that fast.
It can be easily deduced from the fact that it took the imperial army a month to occupy Yunwu Poqiang and other places.
Therefore, Han Sui was not afraid. Even if the enemy attacked lightly, he would still be able to deal with it.
Han Sui also placed many sentries on both sides of the Huangshui River.
If the imperial court chose to make a surprise attack, Han Sui would be ready to meet the enemy as soon as possible.
However, he had no idea that after Duan Yan arrived at Poqiang, he had no intention of attacking from the front.
Instead, they chose to take a detour to the inaccessible Luodu Valley, and sent people to survey the terrain and draw maps along the way to see if there was any ambush by Han Sui.
A few days later, the scouts reported that the Luodu Valley trail was unguarded.
After hearing this, Duan Yan was overjoyed and recommended Jiang Xu to Jushou as a lieutenant colonel in the army. He ordered him to be the vanguard, leading 3,000 men to go first, while he led 10,000 troops to follow behind.
Among the official positions held by Ju, there is a temporary position called "supervision of all military affairs in Guanzhong", which has the power to appoint and promote low-level officers.
Although Biao hadn't gone through yet, it was basically impossible for Jushou to refuse, so Jiang Xu successfully accepted the task.
During the period of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, the Han Dynasty abandoned the Xia Xiao calendar and changed it to the lunar calendar. Mid-December of the lunar calendar is already January according to the solar calendar.
But the snow in the northwest shows no sign of melting. It’s just that it hasn’t snowed recently and the weather is still freezing.
The snow on the northwest plateau covers nearly a foot, or about 20 centimeters, and if someone steps on it, it can almost submerge the entire sole of the foot and half of the calf.
The gates of Poqiang City were wide open, and Jiang Xu led three thousand soldiers in thick cotton-padded clothes, walking hard on the snowy ground.
Due to the existence of the twenty-level military merit title system, imperial soldiers were not resistant to fighting, and even eager to do so.
But fighting in this kind of weather is really painful. Fortunately, Chen Mu laid out the layout of the Western Regions and planted cotton imported from India, giving priority to the army, giving the soldiers the confidence to fight in winter.
After coming out of the city, Jiang Xu led the vanguard army northward in a detour toward Luodu Valley. Their task along the way was to clear the snow and clear the way.
The soldiers' weapons were not swords but shovels. They shoveled away as much snow as possible along the way to create a path two people wide.
This work took a full five days.
By late December, Duan Xuan's army suddenly appeared outside Anyi City like divine soldiers descending from the sky.
The defenders were caught off guard, the city was quickly breached, and Anyi declared its fall.
However, Han Sui was not in Anyi, but in Linqiang.
But Anyi fell, and Linqiang behind him could not hold on. A few days later, Duan Xuan arrived outside Linqiang City and trapped Han Sui.
It is only a matter of time before Xiliang is recovered!