Xiaoqi

But these difficulties must be overcome little by little, and should not be flinched, and then completely forgotten.As long as I don't give up lightly, persist in exploring, and make steady progress, one day I will be able to overcome difficulties and enter these unknown territories.As long as you are willing to work hard, there are always more ways than difficulties, and no difficulty can stump the great Han nation that has produced many heroes.I have no doubts about it! "These words are Li Li's heartfelt words, and they are also made with feelings.

Facing the heroic Zhou Yu, Fazheng and Zhuge Liang, and being in the territory of Yizhou, the reborn Li Li couldn't help but think of many things related to them.

Historically, Zhou Yu tried every possible means to seek Jingzhou, repeatedly defeated and fought, and sacrificed his life for it. He died young at the age of 36; and the immortal Wuhou Zhuge Liang spent his whole life planning the Northern Expedition to the Central Plains.Time and time again, he went to thousands of miles to attack Xiliang, but ended in failure, leaving behind the eternal story of dedicating himself to death.Fazheng is no exception.All the thoughts are spent on rejuvenating the Han Dynasty and assisting Liu Bei, who is also immortal.die young.

For Li Li, the dusty history made him feel a lot.I have many thoughts.Now when talking about the Nanban issue, Li Li had an extremely bold idea.If Zhou Yu in history assisted Sun Quan in separatist Jiangdong, he could shift his target from Jingzhou to the so-called barbarian lands in the south and west of Jiangdong, and then devote his whole life to leading the Soochow navy to advance southwest, what would be the result? ?

In contrast, Zhuge Liang devoted all his life to the Northern Expedition, and for this reason he did not hesitate to go thousands of miles away several times to work on expeditions.If he shifted his strategic goal to the vast area in the southwest or west of Yizhou, with Zhuge Liang's ingenuity and the money and food supply in the rear of Yizhou, he might not be able to build another powerful empire in the southwest.You must know that there are extremely vast lands outside of Yizhou, such as the territories of Vietnam, Laos, Burma, Tibet, and India in later generations. Their territories are as large as those of the Han Dynasty, or even surpassed.

There is a saying: It is difficult to travel a thousand miles to the blue sky.However, the Shu Han army spent decades on this Shu Road, tossing and tossing more than a dozen times. Why couldn't they pass through the Nanman territory and expand their territory to the southwest and west?Zhuge Liang in history has already pacified the Nanman and conquered the poisonous miasma, so why can't he go further?The ancient Indian civilization can be compared with the Chinese civilization. With Zhuge Wuhou's ability to penetrate the sky and the earth, he has devoted his whole life. Even if he can't occupy the entire territory, it is no problem to conquer half of the country. In this way, another Chinese civilization can be created, and another one can be built. Eastern Empire.

If Zhuge Liang really did this, then he would have extended the strategic depth of the Shu Han by thousands of miles, or even thousands of miles.So, what is Cao Wei afraid of?They can become friendly neighbors to each other. After all, they are all descendants of the same race and the same race. One is in the east and the other occupies the west. They are separated by tens of thousands of miles. Write the brilliant Chinese civilization.

However, due to the limitations of cognition, these amazing talents have devoted their entire lives to internal strife and fighting, and their eyes have always been fixed on the thirteen states of the Han Dynasty. The descendants of Yan and Huang expanded their territory.

It was precisely because they didn't know that there was an adjacent territory besides the Han Dynasty, so they had no intention of expanding the territory, but Li Li couldn't think about it, and even kept this matter in his heart all the time, never forgetting it for a moment.As he himself said, no matter whether he can realize such a grand wish or not in his lifetime, he has to work hard for it, advance step by step, take as much as he can, set an example for future generations, and let them know that the big man does not exist in isolation , there is even more vast land besides the big Han.

However, the current situation is that the arrow has to be launched in Xuanshang, and the pacification of the world is the general trend.After all, the powers of Cao Cao in Jizhou and Liu Biao in Jingzhou are in the heart, and they cannot just sit idly by and must be cleared. Otherwise, even if Li Li has great ambitions, it will be in vain, his foundation is unstable, and he will not be able to accomplish anything.

Chapter 175

The next day, Zhou Yu led the reorganized [-] Yizhou Army back to Berkshire, where they settled in Jiangzhou.

Three generals Lu Meng, Deng Xian, Wu Lan and Yan Yan accompanied him to Berkshire this time.After the discussion last night, Li Li formally sent the three of them to Zhou Yu's tent for employment. Among them, Lu Meng and Deng Xian were named generals and marquises.In addition to the two of them, Wu Lan was promoted to Zhonglang General and was subordinate to Zhou Yu's subordinate general.

But Yan Yan was quite outstanding, and was appreciated by Li Li. Not only was he promoted to general, but he also served as the prefect of Bajun and served as Zhou Yu's deputy general.

Not only that, but Yan Yan was also the first "surrendered general" entrusted with important tasks among Yizhou generals. Many generals were amazed and secretly sighed, "Yan Yan has finally found the master!"

What is little known is that Yan Yan was able to stand out this time thanks to Zhang Fei.To be precise, it was Zhang Fei who fought him for more than 20 rounds at the beginning, and helped him invisibly, making him come into Li Li's sight.

Therefore, Yan Yan can have today's status, thanks to Zhang Fei's success.If Zhang Fei hadn't been merciful and didn't kill him after defeating him, I'm afraid he would have been dead for a long time by now.

But who knew that Yan Yan didn't appreciate this, instead he was aggrieved and depressed for half a month, feeling ashamed and indignant.If Liu Zhang hadn't come forward to persuade him in time, he would have committed suicide in the mansion ten days ago.

Speaking of the Battle of Jiangzhou, Yan Yan was indeed very innocent and very sad.

When Liu Zhang decided to form the Dongzhou Army, Huang Quan had recommended Yan Yan as the general of the Dongzhou Army.He went to recruit new troops.Unexpectedly, Zhang Song's proposal to form a new army had ulterior motives, so he definitely would not sit back and watch the job of recruiting a new army fall to Yan Yan.So he took the initiative to invite Ying, and Wu Yi went to recruit recruits to form Dongzhou soldiers.the move.At that time, Liu Zhang and Yizhou bureaucrats were not alerted, so Liu Zhang readily agreed and granted Zhang Song's request, and then sent Yan Yan to Bajun in an attempt to disrupt Zhao Wei's foundation in Jiangzhou and give him a fatal blow. hit.

However, Berkshire was the rear area of ​​Zhao Wei's rebel army. Yan Yan wanted to sneak into Berkshire and take over Berkshire soldiers and horses.However, with Liu Zhang's order, even Yan Yan knew that the task was arduous.But he didn't dare to disobey his orders, so he could only bite the bullet and lead the more than a thousand parts of his department to Dongchuan.

along the way.Yan Yan hides and hides with more than a thousand pieces, trying to avoid the eyeliner of the rebels, not confronting them head-on, and often travels day and night, moving forward in a detour.Since then, the marching speed has been extremely slow, at most [-] to [-] miles a day, and they have not even made an inch of progress for many days in a row.Can't hide.Therefore, a lot of time was delayed, so that when Yan Yan rushed to the city of Jiangzhou in Berjun County with more than a thousand people, Zhou Yu's army had already surrounded Jiangzhou city with water.And discovered the "reinforcement army" led by him for the first time.

The most ignorant thing is that Yan Yan didn't know that the Xiliang army was already under the city of Jiangzhou, so he bumped into the arms of the Xiliang army in a daze.Immediately surrounded by Xiliang army.The sudden encounter lasted for less than a quarter of an hour, and all of Yan Yan's more than a thousand pieces were killed.He was the only one left.Just when Yan Yan was preparing to fight to the end and be loyal to Liu Zhang.But he encounters the formidable opponent "Zhang Butcher" (Zhang Fei) that he has never seen in his life.After only 26 rounds, he was defeated. Zhang Fei's Zhangba Snake Spear lifted his sword and knocked him off his horse.

At that moment, Yan Yan was badly injured, unarmed, surrounded by Xiliang army, and there was no hope of escape, so his heart was ashamed, and he was determined to die.Unexpectedly, Zhang Fei did not kill him, but captured him alive, and then brought him to Li Xian, and interceded for him, so he saved his life.

This encounter was regarded by Yan Yan as a great shame and humiliation. He would rather die in battle than be defeated and captured, and become a prisoner of his rank.Therefore, not only did he not appreciate Zhang Fei at that time, but he hated him deeply; for this reason, he insulted Zhang Fei and Li Xian in public, trying to provoke them, and then had a good time so as not to be humiliated.

But he didn't know that as early as when Li Xian led his army into Berkshire, Zhou Yu had confessed that Li Li had mentioned a person who was loyal and brave, and could be of great use, and this person was Yan Yan.Because of this, Yan Yan was able to save his life, so much so that he deliberately angered Li Xian and Zhang Fei, but it was still useless.

After that, the situation changed suddenly, Liu Zhang surrendered without a fight, and handed over Yizhou to Li Li, so that all civil and military personnel in Yizhou became surrendered generals and ministers in an instant, and Yan Yan was no exception.

However, Li Li's way of dealing with Yizhou's surrendered generals and civil servants is quite special. He did not persuade Yizhou's civil and military personnel to surrender to him one by one, but directly put them aside, and remained indifferent for more than half a month.After the situation in Yizhou stabilized, all civil servants who could be favored by him would be directly appointed to official positions without persuasion, and the rest would be automatically dismissed from all positions.This is the way of Yizhou civil servants, simple and rude, but effective and extremely efficient.

Compared with civil servants, Li Li was very cautious in appointing generals.About [-]% of the generals in Yizhou were incorporated into the soldiers of Yizhou County under Li Xian's account, and all were demoted to use; about [-]% of the generals were dismissed from their posts and demoted to ordinary people; It is also an available general who can enter Li Lifa's eye.

Regarding these generals who were still useful, Li Li himself did not come forward at all, but let Liu Zhang come forward to persuade them to surrender; typical representatives were Zhang Ren, Yan Yan, Lei Tong and Deng Xian.At this point, many people suddenly realized that Li Li had kept Liu Zhang in Yizhou, and this was his intention.

After being reused again, Yan Yan's feelings for Zhang Fei were quite complicated.Although on the surface he still hated Zhang Fei as always and didn't appreciate it, but in his heart he was full of gratitude to Zhang Fei, but because of his face, he didn't dare to face it openly, and he didn't want to admit it in public.

After talking about Yan Yan, I have to mention the reason why Zhou Yu was ordered to guard Jiangzhou this time.

More than 20 days ago, after the fall of Jiangzhou, in order to conquer Chengdu as soon as possible, Zhou Yu transferred all the troops under his tent to Chengdu.As a result, the newly captured Berkshire was empty of troops, and the border passes and crenels along the river were neglected, so that the news of Yizhou's fall was leaked, and then spread to Jingzhou, which was only separated by a river.So half a month after Li Li occupied the entire territory of Yizhou, on the night of the secret meeting with Zhou Yu, Zhuge Liang and others, Li Li received a secret report that the Jingzhou navy was mobilized frequently, and tens of thousands of troops were in full swing towards the direction of Berkshire. Assembling, it seems that there is a tendency to move westward.

After hearing the news, Li Li made a decisive decision and appointed Zhou Yu to continue as the governor of Hanzhong to control the soldiers and horses of the three counties of Hanzhong, Guanghan, and Bajun.

At the same time, in the face of the Jingzhou Army's eagerness to move westward, Li Li behaved extremely calmly. He categorically rejected the request of his generals to start a war with the Jingzhou Army, and urged Zhou Yu to restrain his emotions as much as possible, and make a smooth transition. Talk about it in a while.If it is necessary to fight, Zhou Yu will be fully responsible for the battle in Berkshire, and he will decide on the battle and the big plan without asking for instructions.

For this reason, Li Li told Zhou Yu in private that the 10,000+ army that went to Yizhou this time was already all the troops that the Xiliang Army could mobilize at the moment, and Yizhou had just been recovered, so a smooth transition was the top priority, and a certain number of troops must be stationed in each county. The army remains stable.Therefore, the more than [-] troops stationed in Yizhou cannot be mobilized at will, and cannot support the Berkshire war. The reorganized Yizhou army also has other uses, and cannot be used to resist the westward advance of the Jingzhou army.The implication is that Zhou Yu only has [-] soldiers in his hands, and there is no other reinforcements available. Therefore, whether he can resist the westward attack of the Jingzhou Army depends entirely on how he uses his troops.

It can be seen from this that Li Li does not want to start a full-scale war with Liu Biao in Jingzhou at present, so Zhou Yu's real intention of sitting in Jiangzhou is to prevent the Jingzhou army from advancing westward, rather than actively attacking.This is an expedient measure and a relatively conservative defense strategy.

Relatively speaking, as far as the current situation is concerned, the time for Xiliang Army and Jingzhou Army to go to war is not yet ripe, and there are many unpredictable and unstable factors; once the two armies go to war, Cao Cao in Jizhou is bound to reap the benefits of the fisherman.This point was not only clear to Li Li, but also Liu Biao in Jingzhou.

Therefore, the Jingzhou army's frequent mobilization of troops and horses this time is most likely a feint, a bluff, trying to deter the Xiliang army, not really intending to start a war with the Xiliang army.After all, Yizhou and Jingzhou are the only remaining two direct line forces of the Han Dynasty. Although they have always been at odds with each other, they are vassal forces that rely on each other and coexist adjacent to each other.Now Liu Zhang in Yizhou surrendered without a fight, and Li Li occupied Yizhou. This shocked Liu Biao in Jingzhou, and he couldn't sleep or eat.

As the saying goes, the lips are dead and the teeth are cold.After the fall of Yizhou, Li Li's power grew further, and he virtually attacked Jingzhou from east, west, and north.Faced with such a severe situation, how could Liu Biao remain indifferent, and how could he still sit in Jingzhou?

It is no exaggeration to say that after Li Li occupied Yizhou, Liu Biao of Jingzhou was already cornered.No matter whether he intends to fight for hegemony or not, whether he really just wants to sit in Jingzhou to spend his later years in peace, or whether he is just pretending, he has been pushed to the edge of the cliff and has no way out.Now there are only two choices left for him. One is to follow Liu Zhang and surrender without a fight;

Otherwise, there is no choice.

However, if Liu Biao wanted to confront Li Li head-on with Jingzhou alone, it would be tantamount to hitting a stone with an egg and bringing about his own destruction.Apparently, Liu Biao had realized this a long time ago, so he wanted to take advantage of Li Li's just occupation of Yizhou, and the army feigned a move, creating a momentum to move westward, exerting pressure on Li Li and deterring him.And behind the deterrence, Liu Biao must have other plans, but what is his intention is still unknown, and everything is quietly brewing.

It can be foreseen that there is a weird and strange fog covering the north and south of the country at present. The moment the fog is cleared, the existing world pattern will definitely be changed again.

Chapter 176 Flowers and Branches, Emperor Domineering

On the same day that Zhou Yu led his army to leave Chengdu, Li Lili hosted a banquet in the inner hall of the state mansion for Liu Zhang, the former Yizhou shepherd.

Accompanied by Zhang Song, Zhao Wei, Wu Yi, Zhang Su, Zhang Ren and other civil and military personnel from Yizhou.

This was Liu Zhang's farewell banquet before leaving Yizhou, and Yizhou Wenwu who was present would also leave Yizhou with him to take up a new post in Chang'an.

It goes without saying that Li Li's handling of Yizhou's civil and military affairs is no different from that of other prefectures and counties recovered before, and he still adopts the appointment method of being transferred from his original place of origin to work in a different place.

Relying on the transfer of the original officials, they were asked to leave their homeland and go to other places thousands of miles away to re-employ their posts.In this way, the inherent interest groups and the gentry class can be broken, the local forces can be disintegrated, and a new order can be re-established, thereby strengthening the control over Yizhou and consolidating its dominance.

There is nothing new or extraordinary about this method of working in different places, but it is very practical.

It has been used in all dynasties, even after thousands of years.

But the current official system of the big Han is not like this.Most of the officials are native-born locals, and they will stay away from their hometowns only after they are transferred to the county or directly transferred to the state capital.But no matter how they are transferred, as long as they have not entered the court as an official, most of them will be transferred within the prefecture, and will not leave their homeland and serve in other places.

This point is particularly prominent in civilian officials, but not in military commanders.Generals from officials to lieutenants and above have a large range of transfers, and most of them will be dispatched wherever they are needed; and this is only when the world is relatively peaceful and the society as a whole is stable.In the event of war or troubled times, generals must stay with the army at all times.It is rare to have time to go home throughout the year, and even many middle and low-level generals never go back after leaving home.After all, fighting is about killing people.The middle and low-level generals are the backbone of the charge and the main target of the enemy's shooting or sneak attack.The death rate was high.

Perhaps, this is the main reason why people in the world are willing to study literature rather than join the army, and it is also the direct reason why it is easier for generals to obtain titles than civil servants, which is equivalent to an incentive policy. (This was the case in the dynasties before the Tang Dynasty. As long as military commanders can be promoted to generals, they can often obtain the corresponding titles, while most civil servants cannot obtain titles throughout their lives. Since the Song Dynasty, this system has undergone fundamental subversion. The phenomenon of emphasizing literature over military affairs quickly became apparent. It prompted the vast majority of people to abandon martial arts and follow literature, and it became more and more fierce. Therefore, the combat effectiveness of the army in the middle and late Song Dynasty was the weakest, and thus the Yuan Dynasty appeared. Let me mention again, Liang Hongyu and the female generals of the Yang family took command. It is a special product of that era. Although it is a good talk, in a sense, it is not a shame. The high-ranking generals and commanders are all scholars and scholars who have no power to restrain chickens, so women Leading the battle on the battlefield. Charged into the battle. This is an extremely distorted social phenomenon, and it is not an exaggeration to regard it as a shame.)

Closer to home.After the banquet, everyone entered the main hall.

This is the critical moment that really determines their fate, because they have been unemployed until this time.The original official positions were automatically invalidated with Yizhou's change of ownership, so they are all white now, no different from ordinary people.

Be patient for a moment.Finally, when Li Li walked into the main hall with a tiger's pace, he slowly sat down on the high-ranking seat.

"The minister waits to meet the lord (the general)!"

Li Li appeared and took his seat.Headed by Zhao Wei, Zhang Ren, Wu Yi, and Zhang Song, more than a dozen Yizhou civil and military personnel bowed down and bowed down, while Liu Zhang, who stood at the front, bowed down to salute.Still honoring the official taboo of Li Li, he did not bow down.This is the reservedness of the nobles of the royal family, just like the meat of a cooked duck is rotten and the mouth is not rotten, still clinging to the last pitiful dignity of being a member of the Han family.