At the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty

Page 529

When Zhao Yan accompanied Cao Ren on a tour of Jiuquan to appreciate the scenery in the northwest, he made such a point of view to Cao Ren.

Chapter 940 .950 The pacification of the four Hexi counties

Population migration is a must.

Guo Peng had already decided to do this when he marched into Kansai to capture the land of Sansuke.

Looking at the desolation and dilapidation of Luoyang and Chang'an at that time, Cao Ren still remembered how emotional Guo Peng was, saying how prosperous and densely populated Guanzhong was at the beginning, but unexpectedly turned into a ghost town by the scuffle.

But now it seems that the situation in the four counties of Hexi is not much better than that of the ravaged Guanzhong.

There were already few people, but after the chaos, there were even fewer people.

Looking at this desolate scene, Cao Ren couldn't help but sigh.

"Before the capture of Liangzhou, His Majesty mobilized millions of immigrants from the Central Plains to enter Kansai to reclaim wasteland to fill the population. It is said that there will be another million-level immigration plan to fill the lack of population in Kansai."

Speaking of this, Cao Ren couldn't help sighing: "If it weren't for the rebellion of Dong Zhuo, Li Jue, and Guo Si, the population of Kansai was completely lost, and the imperial court would not have to worry about immigration every year. The population loss of Kansai was really heavy. Marching all the way with His Majesty, all the way you see is a deserted land."

"Yes, Kansai, which was so prosperous back then, has come to the point where immigrants from the Central Plains are needed. Fortunately, the households in the Central Plains and Hebei are relatively well preserved, so that they will not be damaged in large numbers, otherwise the consequences will be disastrous."

Zhao Yan sighed again and again.

"However, under the current situation, where should the population be transferred to the four counties in Hexi? The Central Plains has a large population, but the Central Plains also has a lot of land, which needs to be cultivated to produce food. It is already very difficult to fill Kansai, and it is not enough to fill Bingzhou and Youzhou in Hebei. It's not easy, let alone Jiangnan."

"Yeah, I never thought that the tens of millions of people in Wei Wei would actually have insufficient population. I read that Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty established the four counties of Hexi, and a total of 28 immigrants immigrated. Now the population of the four counties of Hexi is increasing. Together, they are less than 20, which is not as good as a county in the Central Plains, and cannot support the needs of the army entering the Western Regions."

Cao Ren wondered: "It is estimated that after this battle, His Majesty will need to ask your Majesty to relocate more people to Liangzhou, especially the four counties in Hexi. In any case, there must be at least 30 people, otherwise the food will need to be transported from Yongzhou, and the journey is far away. , the cost is huge, it is really uneconomical.”

Zhao Yan nodded in understanding.

"General Cao is right. If you want to control the Western Regions, you must control the four counties in Hexi. If you want to control the four counties in Hexi, you must have enough people to settle down. Back to the Western Regions."

"Speaking of which, we haven't learned about the land of the Western Regions for decades, right?"

Cao Ren asked Zhao Yan.

"Well, starting from Emperor Xiaohuan of the former Han Dynasty, the communication between China and the Western Regions was affected by the Qiang Rebellion and became more and more difficult. isolated."

Zhao Yan did the math: "If you want to count intermittently, it will be more than 30 years, and if you are completely isolated, it will be 20 years."

"Twenty years... is a long time."

Cao Ren turned his attention to the west: "I, the emperor of Wei, is powerful in literature and military affairs. Now that the great cause has been accomplished, how can there be no kingdoms coming to court? Only the coming of kingdoms is worthy of my status as Emperor Wei."

Before the four counties of Hexi were all pacified, Cao Ren had already started planning to set up a kingdom for Guo Peng to make him happy.

So Cao Ren is still very caring.

The goal of launching the war this time is to take Yumen Pass and Yang Pass, and bring the entire Hexi Corridor back to the central government as an arm of the central government.

In this way, the power of the central government can directly contact the countries of the Western Regions and convey to them the news of the Central Empire's return to the four Hexi counties.

In this way, Cao Ren's own prestige will also be established.

Cao Ren admired such talented people with great wisdom as Ban Chao and Ban Yong. He galloped across the Western Regions almost like a white wolf with empty gloves. Played to the extreme, that is how brave and intelligent.

How wonderful it would be if I could achieve such a career!

Cao Ren was looking forward to it.

In such anticipation, at the beginning of June in the third year of Yande, the Wei army completely pacified Jiuquan County and began to march towards Dunhuang County.

At the same time, Cao Ren ordered Zhang Fei to lead [-] troops to attack Zhangye's vassal state, calm down the foreign forces in Zhangye's vassal state, and eliminate future troubles.

Later, Mao Jie, governor of Liangzhou, received Guo Peng's order.

Guo Peng ordered Mao Jie to move the state government from Hanyang County to Guzang County in Wuwei County. From then on, Guzang County was used as the state government of Liangzhou, and he began to prepare for the plan to rectify the four counties in Hexi.

Then he will simultaneously start the immigration plan for the four counties of Hexi.

Mao Jie was surprised, and immediately asked about this on the table, thinking that the four counties in Hexi had not yet been pacified, and there were no acres of land, so it was a little too anxious to discuss such matters at this time.

Guo Peng replied to Mao Jie that military and state affairs should not wait until they need to be anxious. It is a good behavior to plan ahead. Taking one step and seeing two steps is the foundation of being a politician.

Mao Jie should let go of his pace and stride forward. In a dilapidated place like Liangzhou, it is not appropriate to follow the rules. Chaos needs great order.

Rectify Liangzhou as soon as possible, welcome immigrants, build Liangzhou into a logistics base for advancing the Western Regions, and lay the foundation for re-opening the Silk Road.

Mr. Guo can't wait to sell the products of the Wei Empire in the Western Regions and even those countries further west of the Western Regions.

Countries with a certain size and purchasing power are his goals. For example, the Guishuang Empire is a good trading partner.

Further to the west, there is the Parthian Empire, which are big and powerful countries in Central Asia.

Back then, the Guishuang Empire tried to get involved in the Western Regions in the name of seeking the daughter of Emperor Han, but was flatly rejected by Ban Chao. Guishuang sent [-] troops to attack the Western Regions, and Ban Chao mobilized troops from all countries in the Western Regions to fight against the Guishuang Empire, and finally defeated them.

When Guo Peng learned about these past events, he became very interested in those Central Asian countries and wanted to have some normal contacts with them.

This requires the cooperation of the Western Regions very much.

Cao Ren's attack this time was ostensibly for the purpose of advancing into the Western Regions, but the ultimate goal was to open up the Silk Road and expand the influence of the Wei Empire to Central Asia. This was Guo Peng's final plan.

Therefore, Guo Peng had such a request for Mao Jie, and soon arranged a plan to relocate 15 to [-] residents to settle in the four counties of Hexi. people.

Recruit first, and then use administrative orders to relocate some local tyrants and criminal families that he has long disliked to enter the four counties of Hexi.

So Cao Ren in the front is mobilizing troops to storm the counties of Dunhuang, and Mao Jie in the rear has started land surveying and population statistics for the four counties in Hexi.

At the end of June in the third year of Yande, Cao Ren wiped out the resistance forces of Dunhuang natives in Dapo, Dunhuang County, beheaded local powerful figures, and seized the population.

At the same time, they violently destroyed all local buildings and military installations in Dunhuang that did not comply with regulations, destroyed manors on a large scale, and forcibly relocated residents to designated places of residence.

Xia Houyuan and Yan Liang led a cavalry to arrive at Yangguan and Yumenguan, which had been lost for more than [-] years, and planted the flag of the Wei Empire on the pass, officially announcing that the Wei Empire had returned to this land.

In June of the third year of Yande, Yangguan and Yumenguan once again became the western gates of the Central Empire.

So far, the four Hexi counties have completely returned to the control of the Central Empire.

And Guo, who controlled the four counties in Hexi, has successfully held the key to return to the Western Regions.

The initiative, he got it.

Chapter 941 .950 One Cao Xiu Bing Enters Liuzhong City

As Cao Ren expected, in Dunhuang County, he met many business travelers from various countries in the Western Regions.

According to preliminary statistics, there are business travelers from Shanshan Kingdom, business travelers from Cheshi Kingdom, business travelers from Kucha Kingdom, business travelers from Jingjue Kingdom, and so on.

There were a lot of people, about a thousand people before and after.

When the Wei army's thunder hit Dunhuang County, they were still quite frightened, worried that they would be killed in the chaos and their property would be taken away, and they even planned to exchange money for their lives.

The rebellious army is just asking for money. If they honestly hand over their property, they may survive.

These merchants from the Western Regions thought about the problem in this way.

Later, seeing that Wei Jun's military discipline was good, and he didn't look like he was murdering and stealing goods, he felt strange and frightened at first, and then he heard Wei Jun's notice to calm the people, so he was relieved.

Then a group of people recommended some Chinese-speaking people to communicate with Wei Jun, saying that they were from the countries of the Western Regions, not locals, and asked for some help.

The officers of the Wei army saw that their appearance was different from that of the Han people in the Central Plains, so they knew that they were not locals. After many inquiries, they learned that they were from a certain country in the Western Regions, and they reported to Cao Ren.

When Cao Ren learned of this, he personally came to the place where the Western Region merchants were being guarded, and talked with those who could speak Chinese among them, and they understood each other's meaning.

This group of people said that they were just business travelers who came to do business, did not commit crimes, and were not important figures. They hoped that Cao Ren would not kill them, but let them live and return to their hometown.

Of course Cao Ren would not kill them, Cao Ren needed them to go back and tell the king of their country—the Central Empire was back.

Let them tell their own king that the ruler of the Central Empire is here, and you think about what you should do.

"Go back, go back safely, and then tell your king that His Majesty Wei Tianzi's army has taken control of the four Hexi counties. Now, this is the land of Wei, and it will be ruled by the state of Wei."

Cao Ren held the hand of the business travel representative who could speak Chinese, and walked with him.

The representative was apprehensive.

"Then... will His Majesty Emperor Wei allow us to do business?"

"Of course it's allowed, as long as you pay business taxes according to the laws of Wei. China is the suzerain of the Western Regions and will not embarrass you. Of course, it would be even better if your king took the initiative to send people to worship the emperor. I understand this general. the meaning of?"

"understand……"

The representative of the business traveler nodded cautiously.

Afterwards, Cao Ren let them go, and a group of people soon left Dunhuang County from Yumen Pass and Yang Pass respectively, and entered the Western Regions.

Yumenguan mainly leads to the countries in the north of the mountain, that is, some countries north of the Tianshan Mountains. These countries are relatively large countries in the Western Regions, and their strength is relatively strong.

Yangguan mainly leads to the countries south of the mountain, that is, the countries south of the Tianshan Mountains. Most of the countries south of the Tianshan Mountains are small countries, and their strength is not as good as that of the countries north of the mountains.

When the Eastern Han Dynasty and the Northern Xiongnu were fighting for the domination of the Western Regions, the Shanbei countries often became the focus of competition between the two sides.

With his fearless courage and flexible diplomatic means, Ban Chao successfully integrated the power of the countries in the Western Regions, continued to use the barbarians to control the barbarians, and finally drove out the Northern Huns.

Now, the Northern Huns have already moved westward to a more distant place that Guo did not know, and the power of the Wei Empire is about to enter a Western Region that is not shrouded by the Huns.

Xianbei, who could have taken over the power of the Huns, suffered heavy losses under Guo Peng's several vigorous attacks and years of continuous small-scale attacks, and fled to Mobei, which could not affect the Western Regions.

So for the countries in the Western Regions, the period when Guo had no time to look around might really be their golden age of freedom.

But now, someone Guo is coming back.

The Han defeated the Huns, and someone from Guo defeated the Xianbei people, which made the countries in the Western Regions indirectly gain freedom and peace. Shouldn't they express their gratitude to the Central Empire represented by someone from Guo?

Guo certainly thinks so.

I just don't know if this group of people thinks so.

But no matter what, Guo must start to act.

Taking back the ruling power of the four counties in Hexi is the first step, sorting out and welcoming the immigrants is the second step, and mobilizing the Cao's and Mi's caravans to enter the Western Regions is the third step.

Now that the first step has been completed, the second step has to start.

In June of the third year of Yande, after Cao Ren occupied Dunhuang County, he dispatched his generals to scatter and wipe out the surrounding miscellaneous barbarians, and sent a list to Guo Peng, asking Guo Peng what they would do next. plan.

At the end of June, Guo Peng received Cao Ren's fast horse report. After thinking for a while, he ordered Yongzhou to increase the supply of food to the four counties in Hexi, especially Dunhuang. county roads.

Then an order was sent to Cao Ren to send his capable generals to lead a small number of troops to Liuzhong City, the former residence of the Chief History of the Western Regions.

Although Han has lost Liuzhong City for many years, Cao Ren heard that there are still many Han people in Liuzhong City.

It is said that when the Dunhuang prefect was still there, the place that was once under the administration of the long history of the Western Regions was supervised by the Dunhuang prefect, and troops were often sent to inspect it. After the death of the Dunhuang prefect, there were no inspections, but there were still Han people living there.

No matter what, Guo has already regarded Liuzhong City as his own, and Wei Jun inspected and occupied his own city, is it wrong?

At this time, some officials in the DPRK and China advised Guo Peng not to start operating the Western Regions so soon.

They believe that there are wars in the south and northeast of the Wei Empire at the moment, and if there is another dispute in the northwest, it is feared that the national power will be lost too much, which will not be conducive to the development of the country.

Wang Can, Minister of Finance, Xin Pi, Minister of Foreign Affairs, and Dong Zhao, Minister of War, all held such objections.

Guo Peng issued an edict to Shangshutai to express his attitude.

"Liuzhong City was guarded by the former Han Wuji Colonel. It was Han soil. The Wei Dynasty Han was orthodox. The Han soil was the Wei soil. Liu Zhongcheng was the Wei soil. I sent troops to occupy it. Why did it go wrong? Why are the countries in the Western Regions good at Raise swords to fight against the king's division?"

Since the emperor's will could not be shaken, they had no choice but to show the treasury data to the emperor, and the emperor said that he would send some money from the treasury to the frontline soldiers for military use.

Well, you have money, we have nothing to do with you.

Having soldiers and money means that the army is not under the control of the court at all, and only listens to the emperor's orders. The emperor can completely bypass the court and order the army to move, and there is no need to issue orders through the staff desk.

This item is only done by the emperor himself to establish the system. What the emperor obeys is what he is willing to obey. In fact, everyone should understand that this is a matter of the emperor's unanimous decision, right?

Therefore, the actions of the army no longer require officials to make any opinions.

It's just that in terms of procedure, everyone still has to put forward some opinions, so as to show that the emperor "accepts advice with an open mind" instead of being arbitrary and dismissing the opinions of the officials.

In mid-July, Guo Peng's order was sent to Dunhuang County, and Cao Ren, General of the Western Expedition, received the order.

After Cao Ren received the order, he immediately ordered Xiao General Cao Xiu to lead a thousand cavalry, with guides, two horses, enough fresh water and dried meat, to go out of Yumen Pass, inspect Liuzhong City, reoccupy it, and report the latest situation.

According to needs, Cao Ren will establish a stable route from Yumenguan to Liuzhong City, so that Liuzhong City will become the tentacles of the Wei Empire to re-enter the Western Regions.

Immediately after Cao Xiu took the order, he reorganized a thousand elite cavalry, led the army to leave Yumen Pass, and followed the guide to advance in the direction of Liuzhong City.