Chapter 888 Lao Cao Is Dissatisfied

After thinking about it, Wang Yan smiled and added tea to Jia Xu who was sitting opposite him: "Wen He, what do you think I should do?"

Jia Xu nodded, pretending to be polite, twirling the teacup, feeling the heat on his fingertips. He said: "Now that Yuan Shao has been defeated and Cao Cao has taken control of Henan, he is afraid of our great power and will abandon Henan and go to Jiangnan. The three families of Liu Bei, Liu Biao and Yuan Shu in the south of the Yangtze River will definitely unite to fight against Cao Cao. When Cao Cao goes to Jiangnan, he will drive away the people of Henan.

The general has long said that people and land are the foundation of prosperity and strength. Cao Cao cannot be allowed to drive the people of Henan southward and leave the land of Henan empty. This is not what I want. Therefore, while Cao Cao was reorganizing Henan, he sent troops to force him to go south to fight as soon as possible, without involving the people of Henan. "

The war between Cao Cao and Yuan Shao was for Henan's resources, and it was necessary for them to decide the outcome.

If Yuan Shao wanted to run away and take a detour south, Cao Cao would not let him go. There are indeed other ways, such as crossing the river from Jingzhou, but those who can cross are only Yuan Shao and his subordinates, with at most 30,000 to 20,000 soldiers and horses.

If Cao Cao wants to run away, Yuan Shao will attack crazily, and Yuan Shu and Liu Biao will also resist crazily. Even if he successfully crosses the river, his strength will be greatly reduced, and he may not even be able to defeat Liu Bei.

Of course, it's still the same sentence. If there is no winner this year, they both have to find a way to cross the river. Because Wang Yan has been farming for several years, the situation in Liangzhou, grassland, and Bingzhou is stable, and production and construction are in order. It has expanded, passed the most difficult stage a few years ago, and has accumulated a large amount of food and other materials. It is really unreasonable not to fight.

What Jia Xu said was very true. Lao Cao wanted to sweep away the people of Henan and all kinds of resources south. They couldn't agree. It was as simple as that.

Wang Yan nodded and ordered: "Send a letter to Lu Bu, Zhang Liao, and Zhao Yun, and order the three generals to lead their troops to Chang'an and march to Hangu Pass. Order Huang Zhong, Zhou Cang, Taishi Ci, Zhang He, and Gao Lan to lead their troops across the river and take Qingqing. , Xu, and Yanzhou. Officials must be prepared to stabilize local people and organize production and construction. The army must be adequately supplied, and Wenhe must do a good job of coordination. "

"Yes, General."

In response, Jia Xu drank all the tea in the cup in one gulp, turned around and left to do things.

Wang Yan was drinking tea and reading a book by himself, occasionally glancing out the window at the beautiful snow scene in the middle of winter. The snow in Zhending is not as thick as that in Liaodong, and it is not as flying as goose feathers, but there is no Taihang Mountain covered with white gauze in Liaodong, so there are always two feelings.

In the past few years, Northeast China, Youzhou, Jizhou and the eastern part of the grassland have developed steadily and upward. Various indicators have continued to grow, and people's lives have become richer and more prosperous. This stems from the scientific ideas passed down by General Wang, policy encouragement, continuous infrastructure construction, improving logistics turnover, and accelerating business communication, all of which complement each other.

In the past time, in addition to the largest Zhen family, there were many members of the rich generation who ruled. They seized the opportunity, became more adventurous, and had the courage to face risks. Therefore, a group of businessmen have emerged, engaged in processing various products or distributing goods, and some of them are even big businessmen. These are characters who know the rules.

However, their obsession with land cannot be changed, and they are always trying to get more land.

They dare not steal other people's land, because those people have armor and weapons at home, and there are often three or four men in the family. Coupled with years of militia training, their family can form a small battle formation.

What's more, almost every household has soldiers or retired people. Those who are on active duty may be officers, and those who have retired and returned to their hometown are also police lieutenants. Furthermore, although people in a village have many grievances, they are all united and cannot be offended at all. rise.

Furthermore, the land belongs to the general, and private buying and selling is not allowed. The supervision of the land is extremely strict. Once discovered, it will be a life-threatening labor force, and even if you die, you will have to lose your skin. Coupled with the fact that the common people are tough, if there is any chaos, they will definitely go straight to the general's desk, and they have no courage to offend General Wang.

But they did not dare to do this or that, but they dared to collude with local officials to illegally cultivate the large area of ​​land that General Wang had reserved for future population distribution. It is these businessmen who plant the crops first and then distribute them later.

Of course this kind of thing cannot be tolerated. It doesn't mean that they planted vacant land, did not bully other people, and finally harvested a lot of food. That means they have meritorious service, and they can be indulged.

Because the current manpower is not sufficient, the land distributed by Wang Yan to the people is also quite saturated, not to mention various public construction and factory production, which really involves men, women, old and young. Under such circumstances, this group of businessmen have already made a lot of money and have actually become masters. How dare they snatch manpower and focus on just a few acres of land?

It would be fine if the manpower is extremely abundant. If appropriate, it can be slowed down. When there is a shortage of money, a group of people can be killed to replenish the finances. But now, it must not be ignored. What's more, it involves collusion between government and businessmen. The good times have only been a few years, and they are not even called good times now. They are beginning to rush to fix things and get tired of life. This must be satisfied.

Wang Yan himself talks about his beliefs and ideals, and he will try his best to persuade others, but he will not forcefully make demands, because he has always known that demands are useless. There have always been many people who shout loud slogans, but when it comes to There are also many people who do the same thing. Any corrupt official from the past two thousand years will have a sufficient theoretical foundation, and he will always talk in one way, but it will not hinder others' enjoyment.

The only thing that can restrain them and remind them of their mission is fear.

So they are not living very well now...

Liangzhou and the western part of the grassland have completed preliminary transformation. Liangzhou is poor in land, and after allocating some land suitable for planting and the land of the Hexi Corridor, they carried out a large-scale migration of the excess barbarians. Some were sent to the grassland, and some were sent to the northeast. Both places are large, far from saturated, and lack people. At the same time, Han people had to be migrated from other places for integration.

As for the inability to survive, they can always adapt. Barbarians who can't farm will always farm, and Han people who can't graze will always learn to graze.

Other public constructions have also been invested in succession, and cotton in the Hexi Corridor has begun to be produced and supplied on a large scale. At the same time, Han Sui in the Western Regions also planted cotton in Gumo and transported it to Liangzhou to trade some necessary materials. At the same time, he was smart and took advantage of General Wang's inability to reach him to start integrating the power of the Western Regions. At the same time, he had also begun to explore the Kushan Empire to the west. Overall, the situation in the northwest is very good.

The time of occupying Bingzhou is longer than that of Liangzhou and the western grasslands, and the overall construction and development are naturally better. However, there is the Baibo Army in Bingzhou. Like the Black Mountain Army, they are entrenched in the mountains. Previously, the power had not expanded to that place, and the Baibo Army was very sensible and did not dare to harass the north. They had been making trouble with the warlords in Guanzhong, so they didn't pay much attention to it.

After taking Liangzhou and the western grasslands and completely stabilizing the north, the existence of the Baibo Army became very annoying. It is impossible to allow such a military force to operate under their rule, and their lives are not good. They just robbed the people of Guanzhong to save their lives.

So Wang Yan sent Zhao Yun, Zhang He, Gao Lan and other generals to Liangzhou before, and dealt with the Baibo Army by the way. The army searched the mountains, preached the policy, and fought one or two battles to show its strength, and basically solved it.

The resistance was never the minions below, but the senior personnel above, because they were really dead. If Wang Yan did not have such a policy, he would not kill them, and he would not even need to raise troops to attack them, and they would surrender on their own.

The same is true for most other princes. If Wang Yan did not kill them, many people would not resist, but would directly turn to Wang Yan's side, and even take the initiative to welcome the army, provide food and grass for the army, and send family members to serve Wang Yan. They would be extremely enthusiastic. They would betray those who are now supported by them without any mercy.

It is because today, General Wang's ability to govern the world has been deeply rooted in the hearts of the people. In fact, even if Wang Yan did not unify the country, in terms of internal conditions, it is already a prosperous age that has never been seen in the past. The social environment is relaxed, material conditions are constantly improving, culture and spirit are constantly improving, and there are even entertainment lives for the people. The army is invincible. If this is not considered a prosperous age, then what is the rule of Wen and Jing that was praised in the past?

It's a pity that General Wang is determined to kill them, and there is no easing at all...

In summary, the overall situation under Wang Yan's rule is very healthy. In fact, since he had established a firm foothold in Liaodong, the situation under his rule had always been very healthy. That was also the only chance for the Han Dynasty to defeat him.

Wang Yan looked to the south, and the world was in his hands...

With the order of General Wang, the army began to mobilize. Lu Bu, Zhang Liao and Zhao Yun, who had crossed the Yellow River, joined forces to clear the area near Chang'an and took Chang'an.

At this time, Chang'an was actually empty. Previously, the Guandong warlords defected to Yuan Shao, and later fought with Cao Cao. Ma Teng, who was stationed in Mei County, was also transferred there. At that time, Wang Yan had already taken Liangzhou, and Ma Teng was also afraid of Wang Yan, so he took advantage of the situation and rolled some people to Luoyang. Other nobles and wealthy families left early, either running to Luoyang to surrender to Yuan Shao or running to Hanzhong to Zhang Lu.

In fact, the people were the same. They had been running away one after another over the years. It was really that the Guanzhong area, where the Han Dynasty had the most power in the past, had almost become a den of ghosts on earth, and Chang'an had long been abandoned.

Therefore, the actions of Lu Bu and others went smoothly without any resistance. They killed a bunch of lawless elements to stabilize the order in Guanzhong, leaving Zhang Liao to carry out the initial land distribution work, waiting for the subsequent suppression army and civilian officials to arrive. Lu Bu and Zhao Yun directly led the troops and horses to Hangu Pass.

This is the only way to Luoyang, and there is no way to bypass it. Previously, Liao Hua and Zhao Yun bypassed Taihang Mountain in Hebei, and now they are going to attack Henan. The riverside areas in Luoyang and other places are the focus of Cao Cao's defense, and the cost of crossing the river is too high.

And the strong attack on the pass will cause huge casualties, almost filling it with human lives, which is not in line with the spirit of General Wang's use of troops. Therefore, the real intention of Lu Bu and others to come to Hangu is to intimidate Cao Cao, drive Lao Cao to cross the river and get out, and give up Henan as soon as possible.

On the other side, Huang Zhong, Zhou Cang, Taishi Ci, Zhang He, and Gao Lan, the five generals, crossed the river in Qingzhou, and quickly went south to block various places. The purpose is also to force Lao Cao and not give Lao Cao the opportunity to relocate the people.

Cao's current situation is definitely better than when he was fighting Yuan Shao, but not much better.

Luoyang, Prime Minister's Mansion, this is the mansion that Cao's family originally had here. Cao dealt with Liu Xie and a group of court officials, and named himself Prime Minister, so this place is naturally the Prime Minister's Mansion.

After learning that Wang Yan had sent troops across the river to attack, Lao Cao summoned civil and military forces to study how to respond.

"The king now plans to raise troops to cross the river. It is the middle of winter. How should I respond? You must have good plans and speak freely."

Lao Cao, wearing a crown and a crane cloak, sat high on his head, held a wine bottle, and asked the wise men.

Xun Yu was mature and cautious, and began to analyze first: "Wang Yan has always had a strategy, and its momentum is huge. The reason for raising troops to cross the river today must be to drive us down to the south of the Yangtze River, so as not to allow us to regain our strength and accumulate food. The most important thing is people's livelihood, let alone Let us drive the people of Henan south, and they will come to visit Henan.

Wang Yan said that the soldiers and horses were strong, and the purpose of slowing down the world was just to regain the new land and restore the vitality of the people. Therefore, we will eventually go south, and we should go early. If not, I am afraid that Wang Yan will really fight with me, which will be very detrimental to me. "

"Being timid before fighting is a sign of inaction."

Because of Wang Yan's intrusion, Lu Bu surrendered early, and there was no battle in Xuzhou. Therefore, Xiahou Dun was not hit in the eye by Cao Xing's arrow because of his pursuit of Gao Shun. He then very fiercely pulled out the arrow with his eyeballs and ate it directly on the grounds that "the blood of father and mother cannot be discarded". Eyeballs dropped. Now his eyes are normal and he is not wearing an eyepatch.

He said: "Lord, no matter what, we must send troops to stop the enemy's rampage. If we don't fight, if we win, why go to Jiangnan? If we don't win, it's not too late to go to Jiangnan."

Xun You raised his hands and said: "Yuan Rang's words are polite, we will send troops to stop him. However, if I can't defeat Wang Yan's army, he did not intend to drive us south at that time, but if he wants to destroy me, what should I do if I am in Henan? Yuan Shao's old story is Learning from the past, Yuan Shao fled southward in a panic when the army was ahead. Yuan Shao's army of 400,000 people collapsed. Only 100,000 people crossed the river with him. Most of them were wealthy families and ordinary people. The army was completely wiped out.

Moreover, there is a pontoon bridge on the river, which can allow people and horses to cross quickly. However, the only way to cross the river is by boat, which takes a lot of time. Wang Yan must have taken advantage of it. The soldiers and civilians going south may not be stronger than Yuan Shao going to Henan. In the south of the Yangtze River, Liu Bei, Liu Biao, and Yuan Shu are allied with each other to attack our ferry, and they have not stopped yet. Without enough troops, we will perish.

King Kuang said that he had an army of hundreds of thousands, but the number of troops crossing the river today was only 70,000. Not to mention that the enemy's combat power and armament were much better than mine. Even if we could defeat the enemy who crossed the river, how could we attack Hebei? Wang Yan has a strategy, and he is a fierce general who is more brave than Lu Bu. What if he comes to the battle in person?

Therefore, you also believe that it is inevitable to go to the south of the Yangtze River. My lord, please do not be confused by Luoyang, and you should go quickly. "

The statement of the two uncles and nephews was widely recognized. Although the generals still couldn't help shouting, some of Yuan Shao's old troops showed up and said, "In the past, Yan Liang, Chun Yuqiong, etc. were all the same as you." Wen Chou, who surrendered, hid in the corner. Look at the eyes, look at the nose, look at the heart...

The effect must be there, after all, they fought against Yuan Shao for three years. But excluding the time during the winter when Yuan Shao's army retreated into the city, it only took Wang Yan three months to defeat Yuan Shao.

They had just defeated Yuan Shao's pride and complacency, which was somewhat unworthy of mention.

Not surprisingly, after a heated debate, we finally came to a consensus and ran away.

Lao Cao didn't say anything. Of course he was a little complacent, but Wang Yan was too terrifying. The words of his subordinates all dispelled the idea of ​​​​hanging himself in front of the Lord of Hell.

After taking over Yuan Shao's old troops, Lao Cao naturally knew a lot of things that he didn't know before. For example, Wang Yan's original intention was to send troops to force Yuan Shao to go south because he saw that Yuan Shao had captured Yanzhou again, so he didn't want to fight a big war. It was because Yuan Shao was relatively arrogant at that time, and the main war faction at that time was clamoring fiercely, that finally allowed Yuan Shao to use all his elites and really fight Wang Yan. In the end, he ran to Henan in embarrassment and was defeated by his old Cao. hands.

Successful people are naturally good at learning and making progress, so Lao Cao also learned from Yuan Shao's experience and lessons. Now that his strength has really grown, and he defeated Yuan Shao, his former big brother, sometimes it is inevitable that he will consciously ignore other things and be overconfident, which is also human nature.

But what makes Lao Cao extraordinary is that he can control and suppress his eagerness to test his strength. Wang Yan is really too strong. If he really goes out and fights like Yuan Shao, if he loses, as Xun You said, he will definitely not be able to take away many people. Even if he reaches Jiangnan, he will not be able to defeat Liu Bei, Liu Biao, and Yuan Shu. , sooner or later he will die.

The same goes for taking refuge. Anyway, he wouldn't be at ease if it were him. The necessity of Yuan Shao's suicide was also the necessity of his Lao Cao.

"All the princes want to go south. This is the safest strategy. The king said that the momentum is great and cannot be resisted without gathering the power of Jiangnan, so he acts like this. Le Jin, Yu Jin, Xu Huang, Xiahou Dun, Xiahou Yuan, Cao Ren, Cao Chun..."

Lao Cao began to arrange his troops and arrange their retreat.

In fact, their actions have always been in progress, but the speed is relatively slow, because in their hearts they still want to plant the land for another year, get more food, and cultivate themselves to restore their combat strength.

The main reason is that they thought that Wang Yan would slowly pass through Qingzhou, and they would also have time to make arrangements slowly. But he never thought that this time Wang Yan would directly ask for Henan.

However, although he had made the decision to quickly go to the south of the Yangtze River, Lao Cao was a little dissatisfied. After much thought, he still felt that he wanted to test the combat effectiveness of Wang Yan's army. After all, you haven’t had a fight before. If you don’t have a fight, you won’t be able to sleep well.

It is indeed a loss of one's own momentum. You must compete when it's time to compete...

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