At the beginning of Zhang Wu's fifth year, Duan Xuan successfully conquered Linqiang and captured Han Sui and his counselor Cheng Gongying alive.
Han Sui surrendered and Liangzhou was conquered.
Liu Bei sent Wei Duan, his servant, as an envoy. He appointed Ma Teng as the captain of Fengche again, gave him a distinguished officer, and appointed him as deputy envoy to Xiliang to appease the Qiang people in Liangzhou and stabilize the chaos in the northwest.
The Qiang Rebellion had lasted more than a hundred years in the Eastern Han Dynasty. The emperors of the Han Dynasty had spent tens of billions of money on this matter, which greatly consumed the imperial treasury.
If this century-old chaos could be quelled, it would be a great thing for the Han Dynasty who had just recovered from the war.
That's why Chen Mu adopted a policy of appeasing Han Sui and Ma Teng instead of killing them directly.
Because these two men had high prestige among the Qiang people, for example, in history, after Han Sui was defeated by Cao Cao, he quickly gathered more than 100,000 Qiang people to protect him and continue to fight against Cao Cao.
Later, Ma Teng was killed, and Ma Chao joined forces with Han Sui to fight against Cao Cao. He also summoned a large number of Qiang people, Di people and other ethnic minorities to participate in the war. He even mobilized the Lei Ding Seven Tribes to help Liu Bei win the Battle of Hanzhong.
Although the Qiang people that Han Sui and Ma Teng were able to appease were only the Qiang people in later generations of Ningxia and Gansu, the Qinghai side does not belong to the Han Dynasty now.
But the two of them have enough prestige. The ethnic minorities in Liangshan, Gansu, Qinghai, Ningxia and other places in Xichuan basically support them. Even the Huns praise Ma Chao very much, which shows their appeal in the border areas.
Therefore, recruiting the two of them now can be regarded as a solution to an urgent need for the big man who has just recovered a large amount of lost territory and is eager for stability and development without turmoil.
Not much else to say, at least it can quickly stabilize the unrest on the border, and the central government no longer needs to spend a lot of manpower and material resources to pacify the border.
Now Chen Mu is focused on the top priority of digging the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal.
If necessary, he had even considered abandoning Xiliang, south of Yangzhou, Jiaozhou, and south of Yizhou, and giving priority to the development along the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal.
For border areas, seek stability first and then develop.
This is also something that can't be helped.
This is what our country did in later generations. There were few people and few resources in the border mountains. Even with the technology of later generations, it would take a lot of manpower and material resources to open mountains and build roads, let alone ancient times.
So we can only do it step by step, not overnight.
And after Han Sui was eliminated, the benefits were obvious.
By April, the imperial court had just pacified Jingzhou, and both Han Sui and Ma Teng in Xiliang were given new posts by the imperial court.
Han Sui served as the pacification envoy to Xiliang, the court council official, the captain of Yulin, the young commander, and the earl.
Ma Teng was the peace envoy of Xiliang, the official of the Qing Dynasty, the captain of the chariot, the young commander, and the earl.
The first officer is their official position, the second officer is casual officer, the third officer is honorary officer, the fourth officer is military meritorious officer, and the fifth officer is knighthood.
This is the current official ranking situation after the imperial court carried out the official system reform, and this is not all. The official rankings have been almost established in the Tang, Song, Ming and Qing dynasties, and are generally divided into grades, ranks, honors, and titles.
In addition to these four, the Han Dynasty also added military ranks and military merits. Therefore, the official system of the imperial court today is complex and complicated, and simple and simple. Because except for the official positions and rank officials, the rest are of an honorary nature, and only the salary is
Take without real power.
Therefore, Han Sui and Ma Teng's official powers were very small. Their only power was to mediate the conflicts between the Qiang people in Xiliang. They did not even have the power to govern the local area, and they did not have military ranks.
After half a year of governance, and with the cooperation of Han Sui and Ma Teng, many Qiang kings, Di kings and even the Huns in Xiliang swore alliances with the court.
At the same time, Guan Yu and Jushu, who were responsible for concluding the alliance, also made a promise that if the imperial court recruits Qiang and Di people to fight abroad in the future, they will definitely pay corresponding rewards. Moreover, the Qiang and Di people are both men of the Han Dynasty and enjoy all the benefits of the men of the Han Dynasty.
rights and obligations due to the people.
As for how to rectify the complicated situation in Xiliang after pacifying Xiliang, Jushou selected local prestigious and talented officials, and sent people to inspect the topography, landforms, and climate of Liangzhou, promote suitable cash crops, and carry out reasonable and effective measures.
Order planning is another matter.
In terms of national strategic significance, after Xiliang was captured, the one who was really shocked was Zhang Lu of Hanzhong.
Because Guan Yu only sent Duan Yan to recover Xiliang, while he himself was stationed in Chencang, arranging troops and horses, repairing fortresses every day, and advancing step by step towards Hanzhong. After Xiliang was recovered, the threat to Hanzhong further intensified.
Originally, the only way to attack Hanzhong from Guanzhong was through Chencang Road, Baoxie Road, Tangluo Road, and Ziwu Road. Of these four roads, only Chencang Road was relatively safe, and the other three roads were very dangerous.
But now that Longyou has fallen, the imperial army can still attack Hanzhong from Qishan Road southward from Tianshui, and there will be more places to defend.
Therefore, Hanzhong was already in danger at this time, and there was a risk of being captured at any time.
In May, Zhang Lu’s residence in Hanzhong.
Back hall.
At this moment, Zhang Lu, his younger brother Zhang Wei, Zhang Gui and the county meritorious Cao Yan Pu were sitting opposite each other.
Zhang Lu was not wearing a Taoist robe. The concept of a Taoist robe did not exist at that time. He was wearing a plain silk cicada robe and wooden clogs. This was the standard home uniform for nobles in the Wei and Jin Dynasties and was very similar to the style of a Taoist robe.
Incense is burned indoors, and there are no immortal sculptures, not even calligraphy and painting. After all, paper has just become popular, and calligraphy and painting skills will not gradually develop until the Wei and Jin Dynasties.
The only thing in the room that can prove Zhang Lu's identity as a descendant of the Taoist Celestial Master is the densely packed bamboo slips placed on the bookshelf in the right hall, all of which are Taoist classics.
There are "Laozi's Five Thousand Words", "Taipingdongji Jing" and "Nanhua Sutra", as well as his grandfather Zhang Daoling's "Laozi Xiang'er Commentary", as well as some Taoist scriptures compiled by himself, and even Zhang Jiao's "Taiping Yaoshu"
, are all contained in Yu Ji's "Taiping Jing".
In essence, Zhang Lu is still a warlord rather than a Taoist priest. At least for now, preaching is just a means for him to control the people of Hanzhong, and it does not mean that he is a kind person.
Zhang Lu closed his eyes and rested his mind, and the place was silent.
After being silent for a long time, his younger brother Zhang Wei said: "Brother, now that the imperial court has pacified Xiliang, news came yesterday that Liu Biao of Jingzhou surrendered. The army sent by Liu Zhang to rescue Liu Biao suffered heavy losses. Guan Yu is reinforcing his troops in Chencang. What should we do?
manage?"
"Brother, there is another bad news."
Zhang Xu said: "After Xiliang was pacified, Duan You and Dou Mao had concluded an alliance. Dou Mao gave up the Longyou Road. Now Duan You's army has arrived in Wudu. The Longyou Road is easier to travel than the Chencang Road. If the imperial court really
If we want to attack Hanzhong, it will be difficult for us to defend ourselves from a flanking attack."
"Then according to your opinion, is this surrender?"
Zhang Lu asked.
"Forehead."
The two looked at each other, because they didn't know what Zhang Lu was thinking, so they didn't dare to lie.
Only Yan Pu saw Zhang Lu's intention and said: "Ming Gong, now that the imperial court has reached a state of affairs, surrender is inevitable. But how to surrender and whether you can perform meritorious service and keep wealth after surrender are the top priorities."
Zhang Lu said: "What do you think?"
Yan Pu said: "If we surrender directly, the credit will be small; it is better to hold on first and let the court see our strength. When we can no longer hold on, we can go to Bazhong to attach to Du Yi, Pu Hu and others, and then encourage them two
If you surrender and prepare for the imperial court to regain Yizhou, you will certainly have a lot of merit."
"Um."
Zhang Lu thought for a moment, nodded and said, "That's it."
Although he also knew that the imperial court had captured most of the world, and only Yizhou was left unimpeded, it would be impossible for him to withstand the imperial attack by occupying Hanzhong. However, surrender also requires methods.
If you surrender directly, it will be too easy for the enemy to win, and you will most likely not be taken seriously, and thus you will not be able to gain much merit after surrendering.
Only by holding on for a period of time to make the enemy feel the difficulty and then surrendering at this time can it be possible to gain the attention of the court.
Historically, this is what Zhang Lu did. Because Cao Cao attacked Hanzhong, Zhang Lu was afraid and wanted to surrender.
Yan Pu advised him to resist first, and then go to Bazhong to join Du Yi and Pu Hu after failure, and encourage them to join Cao Cao. Zhang Lu readily agreed, and after the fall of Yangping Pass, he went to Bazhong to unite with Du Yi and Pu Hu.
Surrender together.
The result of this was that Cao Cao accepted them quickly and gave high-ranking officials generous salaries.
Therefore, considering his own interests, it is one thing for Zhang Lu to surrender, but the surrender must also reflect his own value, just as Liu Biao betrayed Liu Zhang.
In addition to Zhang Lu, Liu Zhang was also threatened by the imperial court.
Almost all the soldiers who went out to fight in Sichuan were wiped out, Yizhou was shaken, and the imperial army gathered troops to threaten Bajun, which later became Chongqing City. Liu Zhang was panicked.
Under the persuasion of many ministers, Liu Zhang quickly told Liu Bei that he wanted to undermine the Han emperor and was willing to reunite with Liu Bei.
Liu Bei quickly replied.
He said that if Liu Zhang is willing to come to Luoyang and surrender, he can be crowned king. After all, they are all members of the Liu clan, and it does not violate the White Horse Alliance.
If you continue to resist stubbornly, the power of God will come and your death will come.
Liu Zhang just didn't want to fight Liu Bei, but he didn't want to go to Luoyang to plead guilty. So when faced with Liu Bei's letter of persuasion, he chose a delaying tactic and did not reply immediately.
After waiting for more than three months, in August of the fifth year of Zhangwu's reign, Liu Bei became impatient, so he expressed his hope that he could be given some time to think about it.
Of course Liu Bei knew that he was stalling for time, but Chen Mu advised him not to rush and take Hanzhong. It was Liu Zhang who was anxious, not the court.
So Liu Bei simply ignored Liu Zhang and ordered Guan Yu to prepare to attack Hanzhong.
So in August of the fifth year of Zhangwu, Guan Yu, who had been preparing for two years, officially launched the Battle of Hanzhong.
In early September, the army passed Sanguan and headed south along the Chencang Road on both sides of the Jialin River. Without stopping along the way, it headed straight for Yangping Pass.
Yangping Pass is the gateway to Hanzhong, located in the northwest of Mian County in later generations. The entire Chencang Road has fewer steep places and is actually relatively easy to walk. Historically, Cao Cao took Hanzhong directly from Wudu and Chencang.
Zhang Lu had no way to defend along the way because Qishan Road, Chencang Road and Baoxie Road were connected together.
Qishan Road and Chencang Road were connected by roads between Huixian County and Fengxian County in later generations, while Chencang Road and Baoxie Road were also located southeast of Fengxian County in later generations, and you can reach Wuguanyi Town on Baoxie Road.
Therefore, if you go south along Chencang Road and Baoxie Road, you can take Baocheng, and on Qishan Road, you can take Mian County. In this way, both the west gate and the north gate of Hanzhong are in danger of being attacked.
Zhang Lu's troops were not large to begin with. Facing Guan Yu's mighty 70,000 to 80,000 troops, he had no ability to defend along the way. Therefore, his strategy was to shrink his troops. The main force was to let his younger brother Zhang Wei garrison Yangping Pass, and let Zhang Ren
Stationed in Baocheng.
The road from Guanzhong to Hanzhong is very long, and the logistics pressure is still relatively high. Fortunately, the imperial court is now well-off and is not as short of food as Cao Cao in history. High-yielding crops in Guanzhong have been promoted for two years, and the output is quite abundant.
Although the soldiers in the army are almost tired of eating dried sweet potatoes, corn tortillas, pickles, pickles and the like, it is still better than going to war hungry, and logistics can always be guaranteed.
Yangping Pass was easy to defend but difficult to attack. Guan Yu's main force arrived outside Yangping Pass and sent generals Yang Feng, Hu Cai and others from Chencang Road south to attack Baozhong, advancing in two directions.
And this was only done on the surface. Thousands of people were secretly sent, each carrying a large amount of dry food from Tangluo Road and Ziwu Road, and using wheelbarrows to transport food and grass. They were a surprise force and attacked Hanzhong with great difficulty.
This can be regarded as a manifestation of the strength of the imperial court today.
There are many troops and sufficient logistics.
Another piece of good news is that the Military Intelligence Department in Hanzhong reported in detail that at the end of these two roads, there were very few defenders in Chenggu County and Dingyuan City.
If these two groups of people can overcome the problems on the roads along the way, there is a high probability that they will be able to reach Hanzhong City.
It's just that in history, Cao Cao's ability to conquer Yangping Pass was largely due to luck. Guan Yu was not so lucky and could only bite the bullet and launch a forceful attack. There was no progress for nearly a month.
It was not until the beginning of June that the troops attacking from Tangluo Road and Ziwu Valley successfully arrived in Hanzhong and captured Chenggu County and Dingyuan City.
When he heard that the east gate of Hanzhong had been lost and that the enemy was about to attack outside Nanzheng City, Zhang Lu was so frightened that he fled in panic and fled south to Bazhong, where he joined forces with the local minority leaders Du Yi and Pu Hu.
In fact, both Tangluo Road and Ziwu Valley are difficult to walk. In addition to the steep and narrow roads, the roads are often interrupted due to heavy rain, making it difficult to conduct large-scale military operations.
Wei Yan's Ziwu Valley conspiracy has a low chance of success.
Not to mention the roads along the way, just say that 5,000 people went deep alone, with no reinforcements from outside and no logistics inside. As long as Chang'an City held on for a period of time, his entire army would be annihilated.
Therefore, the Ziwu Valley Strategy is a dangerous strategy for military operations.
With Ji Han's national power at that time, sending another five thousand people to Chang'an City to escape death was obviously a bit extravagant.
But Guan Yu is different.
Today the Han Dynasty is more powerful than Cao Wei in history.
For Ji Han, the Ziwu Valley Adventure was a dangerous move.
For Guan Yu and Ju Shou, it was just an idle move.
It's best if you succeed.
Even if it fails and loses a lot of men and horses, it will not be broken.
To put it simply, Zhuge Liang during the Ji Han period did not have the capital to try. He made a big bet and was doomed if he lost the bet, which resulted in his cautious character throughout his life.
However, Guan Yu and Jushuo have sufficient capital and wealth. If a bet fails once, they can continue to bet, and they will always succeed.
As the partial division successfully entered Hanzhong, Zhang Wei was defeated and fled, and Guan Yu's army entered Nanzheng.
By July, Zhang Lu, Du Yi, Pu Hu and others surrendered to the court.