Chapter 748 Another prince dies!
Cao Cao brazenly attacked Zhao, and war broke out again in the Central Plains.
Jiangdong would naturally not give up this godsend opportunity and began to organize an attack on Shu.
If we are talking purely about strategic value, Shu is not top-notch for the Wu State, at least it is far inferior to Nanyang and Huaisi.
But Shu is of vital importance to Guanzhong. It is not only a large granary, but also the first stop for attacking the lower reaches of the Yangtze River.
It doesn’t matter whether Wu has Shu or not, but it is important that Guanzhong doesn’t have Shu, and it is important that the northern powers don’t have Shu.
But attacking Shu is not easy.
It is a natural separatist area, located in the upper reaches of the Yangtze River and surrounded by mountains. There are many dangerous passes that are impossible to pass even with one man guarding the pass.
Wu had Yiling in its hands and Shu could not attack it, but the upper reaches of Yiling were even more rugged and difficult to travel, so Wu could not enter either.
The easiest way is to attack Shu from Hanzhong.
Zhang Lu had been attacking Shu for many years without any success, and Liu Yan was still relatively capable. Now that the powerful Wu State had agreed to attack Shu, it was naturally what he wanted.
As for what he was thinking, just think about it and you will know that there is only one Shu land, and it is impossible to divide it between the two families.
In the past, Qin and Chu divided Shu. After days of war, Qin completely occupied Shu, and Chu's national power began to decline from then on.
The Wu State and the Han State used each other as they both wanted to occupy Shu alone.
But when Zhang Lu led the Hanzhong army to attack Shu, the Wu army, which had previously agreed to attack together, remained in place and did not cooperate with the actions of the Hanzhong Kingdom at all.
Zhang Lu, who was originally weaker than Shu, was severely beaten back to Hanzhong. He was so angry that he directly criticized Luo Chu for being untrustworthy.
As for why the State of Wu did not send troops, the reasons were quite complicated and were related to the situation within Shu.
…
Chengdu, the capital of Shu Kingdom.
Except for the Chengdu Plain, most of the land of Shu Kingdom is in the mountains, where many barbarians live, as well as many Han people who were forced to migrate to the mountains due to heavy taxes.
These barbarians were called Southwestern Yi in the Han Dynasty. They once had quite glorious military records. During the pre-Han period, the Han army suffered a crushing defeat here and was completely wiped out, which indirectly contributed to the rise of Emperor Li and thus triggered the Jingnan Campaign.
During the reign of Emperor Li, the Han Dynasty was militarily powerful and he conquered all the surrounding barbarians, naturally including the Southwestern Yi. He even established his rule for a short period of time, but these were actually never brought under the rule of the central government.
The reason is very simple. Traveling over mountains for more than ten hours just to collect taxes and recruit soldiers in a village with only a dozen households would only drag down the empire's finances. It was necessary to control the local officials. It was not that the ancient people were stupid and did not understand the benefits of the policy of changing the local officials to officials, or that the loyalty of the local officials could not be guaranteed.
Since Liu Yan entered Yizhou, the Southwestern Yi have always been one of his biggest concerns, constantly challenging the imperial court's rule over the southwest.
After the collapse of the imperial court's authority, Yizhou had to safely deal with these Southwestern Yi issues on its own.
Liu Yan was quite capable. During the years when he guarded Yizhou, the Southwestern Yi people in Yizhou were suppressed.
But now he was losing control.
Because everything in this world rises and falls like the tides.
Ji Zhao is unfair.
But the real heaven is fair to all things. It imparts outstanding people to every race fairly, and allows every race to shine on the world stage fairly.
It is not only the Han people who can produce talented people. In the eyes of the Han people, these people are barbarians, but in the eyes of heaven, they are all their own people.
A very outstanding figure emerged among the Southwestern Yi people. He was able to gather many Yi tribes in the southwest to jointly invade Yizhou.
This put Liu Yan in a difficult position.
In the palace of the King of Shu, Liu Yan paced back and forth, and said with some worry: "What should we do? The barbarians are invading, and our army will naturally resist them. But the Wu Kingdom and Zhang Lu are also going to invade Yizhou. How can we win if we fight on three fronts?"
Zhang Song, the former deputy governor of Yizhou and now the prime minister of Shu, stepped out and said, "I think your worries are unnecessary. How can Zhang Lu be compared with you?
The State of Wu has even less to worry about. The one who controls the State of Wu is Prince Chu. He is from the Luo family and has a bottom line that he will never break, and that is he will never join the barbarians in attacking the same clans as the Xia people.
As long as you lead the army to attack the Yi people and then send someone to inform Prince Chu, Prince Chu will definitely not follow Zhang Lu to attack our Shu Kingdom.
If Prince Chu dares to violate this iron rule, Zhaocheng will not forgive him. "
Zhang Song's expression was very serious.
Liu Yan was somewhat skeptical. To him, this was a matter of great importance to the country and he was unwilling to take even the slightest risk.
Zhang Song saw this and immediately took drastic measures, saying, "Your Majesty, there is no need to hesitate. Even if Prince Chu really dares to come, it is impossible to break through Yizhou's defenses in a short time. You have plenty of time to arrange the next steps.
If he really doesn't come, wouldn't that be a big profit?
If you don't make a decision when you should, you will suffer the consequences! "
Liu Yan gritted his teeth and said, "Okay, Ziqiao, I will do as you say and go to Nanjun to tell Prince Chu that I, Yizhou, want to fight a decisive battle with the Southwestern Yi.
If Wu dares to come, even if we have to fight on two fronts, Shu will not be afraid.
I will personally lead the army to conquer the Southwestern Yi and bring peace to the southern border."
Liu Yan led the Shu army out of Chengdu and sent another envoy to Jiangling along the Yangtze River.
The moment I received the message from Liu Yan.
Luo Chu's eyes burst into a bright light. Almost in an instant, he knew that there was a master in Shu. He smiled softly and asked the messenger, "Who asked the messenger to come and tell me this?"
The envoy was naturally one of the nobles in Shu. Upon hearing this, he puffed out his chest and said proudly, "Replying to Lord Wu, the one who proposed this is the crown of the nobles in Yizhou, Zhang Song, Zhang Ziqiao, the Prime Minister of Shu."
Zhang Song.
Luo Chu suddenly realized that he had heard of this man's name. After all, the Zhang family was a big family in Shu. Zhang Song's brother was the Beijia of Yizhou. Later, Zhang Song became the Beijia of Yizhou too. The Zhang family had a very high status in Yizhou.
Moreover, Zhang Song was a very famous person, and now it seemed that his reputation was well-deserved. This one trick alone could be said to have hit Luo Chu's weak spot.
The moral bottom line of the Luo family is very flexible, but this just means that there is an insurmountable bottom line for the Luo family.
If this bottom line falls into the hands of a talented person, like Zhang Song now, he will be able to use many strategies.
But Luo Chu was not unhappy.
He just smiled and said, "Please tell the King of Shu and Prime Minister Zhang that the kingly way cannot be partial to one side, and the Xia and the Yi cannot coexist. I hope the King of Shu can win the fight against the Yi people. If you do something that makes your relatives sad and your enemies happy by fighting against the Yi people, don't blame me for being rude."
He just smiled slightly, but there was a chill in his expression.
The envoy was horrified and left in a hurry. After listening to the conversation, the officials of Wu State looked at each other. They actually did not agree to give up the attack on Yizhou.
What conflict is there between you, Liu Yan, fighting the barbarians and us fighting you?
This is called taking advantage of your illness to kill you.
When it comes to war, what's the point of talking about morality?
Once we get rid of you, Liu Yan, how can the Southwestern Yi, a mere tribe, still be a match for my Wu Kingdom?
Luo Chu looked up at everyone, and then slowly said: "A gentleman should do what he should do and not do what he should not do. If Liu Yan really goes to conquer the Southwestern Yi, our army will stay put and wait until the war in Shu is over before attacking.
I have made up my mind, so you don't need to persuade me any further."
Luo Chu's voice was full of unquestionableness, an attitude he rarely showed.
In the eyes of Wu's subjects, Luo Chu was a man who was good at accepting advice, but now he is like cold steel.
Faced with Luo Chu in this state, everyone naturally accepted his orders. After all, Luo Chu is the leader of the Wu Kingdom today.
Seeing everyone leaving the palace, Luo Chu frowned slightly, and then sighed.
In the current Wu State, he is considered a conservative, but as the Wu State becomes stronger, there are more and more radicals.
Among the six surnames of Wujun who once supported him, some second-generation people were radicals. For example, Lu Xun of the Lu family once made a bold statement that he wanted to meet the heroes of the world.
Now that his prestige is high, he can still suppress it for a short period of time. If the entire Wu State is filled with radicals in the future, even Luo Chu will not be able to change the strategic direction of the Wu State.
…
After the Shu envoy brought back Luo Chu's words, Liu Yan learned that Luo Chu really stopped attacking Shu as Zhang Song had expected. He was overjoyed and laughed loudly, saying, "Zi Qiao is indeed capable. If Wu does not take action, Shu will be safe this time.
These barbarians did not live in the mountains, but actually dared to gather together and enter our Shu Kingdom. They are really bold. It is time to let them feel the power of the former Central Plains Heavenly Soldiers again. "
Zhang Song was a man of extraordinary ideas. He was not only good at governing, but also good at strategy. He said, "Your Majesty, there are many miasma and poisonous substances in the mountains in the southwest. If we fight in those mountains, our army is likely to fall into an ambush or get plague.
Moreover, those barbarians spend all day hunting in the mountains. They are best at mountain warfare and are extremely flexible. I am afraid that our army is no match for them.
I believe that if we can lure the enemy deep into our territory and make them enter the plains, then our army will surely be able to defeat them easily."
Liu Yan pondered for a moment and felt that what Zhang Song said made some sense.
But he thought for a while and said, "Zi Qiao, if we allow the barbarians to enter the plain, it will definitely cause damage to the land of our Shu Kingdom. I have heard that injuring people in the enemy country is the best way in war. Now our army has taken the initiative to allow the barbarians to enter. Is it inappropriate?"
Zhang Song felt like cursing after hearing this. How could actively setting up a pocket formation to let the opponent in and having to let the opponent in be the same?
If you don’t understand, don’t talk too much.
Although he had so many dissatisfied thoughts in his heart, Zhang Song's slightly sloppy face did not show it. Instead, he showed an expression that everything was under control and comforted him: "Your Majesty.
What you said makes sense, but I think that as long as we can wipe out a large number of the barbarians, the slight losses are worth it.
You can’t catch a wolf without sacrificing your child.
How can the fish take the bait if you don’t put out the bait?
Your Majesty is a wise ruler, so he must understand this principle."
Liu Yan was still a little hesitant, so Zhang Song directly gave a harsh tip and said in a deep voice: "Your Majesty, if the army enters the mountains and suffers losses with the barbarians, then not only Wu, but even Zhang Lu in Hanzhong may not be able to stop it.
You should think twice."
As soon as these words were spoken, Liu Yan immediately agreed to Zhang Song's method. For the Kingdom of Shu, he still knew what was more important.
Zhang Song followed the order and walked out of the tent. He smelled the smell of horse manure coming from nowhere, as well as the smell of poorly cooked rice. He felt very complicated and thought to himself, "Liu Yan is really not a wise ruler, and his son Liu Zhang is even less capable. I'm afraid he can't even defend Chengdu. Am I going to waste my whole life's skills in Shu?"
Thinking of this, Zhang Song felt a little resentful. He had great ambitions and wanted to achieve something great, but he ended up wasting his time here. It was really a pity.
Zhang Song walked and thought, "I'm afraid the Liu family won't be able to keep Yizhou for long. Who should we look for as the future ruler?
Wu State?
Prince Chu was indeed a good lord, but his son was not the heir to the Kingdom of Wu. This was a big problem. Would the gentry in Shu be able to obtain a high enough status in the Kingdom of Wu?
If I enter Wu State, can I become one of the decision-makers? "
Zhang Song thought about it for a long time, not knowing who to choose. There were only so many people in the world who were worth serving, and it was really hard to find one.
Liu Yan didn't know that because of his slightly poor performance, the top civil official under his command was actually going to abandon him and join someone else.
…
This war between Shu and the Southwestern Yi did not attract much attention. Even in the eyes of the princes in the Central Plains, it was just a minor skirmish.
But for the Kingdom of Shu, this is of vital importance.
Especially for Liu Yan, this even concerns his future historical evaluation.
He was promoted step by step throughout his life, had no faults and no major achievements. He would be recorded in history books as an ordinary official, and might not even be included in history books. He would only be recorded in a sentence or mentioned in other people's biographies.
So when he had the opportunity to become king, he did so without hesitation. A person who becomes king will definitely be recorded in history books.
But as for the evaluation in history books, you need to fight for it yourself.
Luo's historical records attach great importance to achievements, which can be divided into internal and external achievements. Fighting the barbarians is a typical external achievement, and basically all of them are highlighted in capital letters.
Now that he has this opportunity, Liu Yan will certainly not miss it.
Then he fell ill.
A sudden epidemic swept through the armies of both sides. Liu Yan wanted to return to Chengdu, but after feeling his physical condition, he realized it was too late. He could only let Zhang Song preside over the next battle in a half-asleep state.
He received treatment from doctors in the army, but he was old and eventually succumbed to the disease. Before he died, he decided to leave some words to be recorded in history books in the future.
So he gathered everyone together and spoke out in front of everyone what he had been thinking about for a long time.
Looking at the different expressions of his ministers, Liu Yan felt somewhat happy, and even the pain in his body was alleviated a little. These people's reactions proved that what he said was really good.
After discussing the succession issue of the Kingdom of Shu, Liu Yan died suddenly one night.
————
Liu Yan was a relative of the royal family and had been famous since he was young. He stood out among the Liu family. During the reign of Emperor Ling, he heard that Yizhou had the aura of an emperor, so he used cunning words to exile Yizhou. Since he moved to Yizhou, the subjects have been harmonious, Shu has become rich and prosperous, and there is a sign of prosperity. Yan was always happy about it.
The princes were all kings, and Yan was one of them. Others were suspicious, and Yan said, "In the White Horse Alliance, if someone other than Liu became king, the whole world would attack him. I am a relative of the emperor, and it is appropriate for me to be king. How can I be like a rebel and have evil intentions?"
So he took Shu as his name and established a system with few roads.
In the middle of Jian'an, he fought against the barbarians who were infected with an epidemic, but he still refused to retreat. He said to the officials of Yizhou: "The King said: 'The kingly way cannot be partial, and the Xia and the barbarians cannot coexist.' My life is as light as a feather, and the Xia are more important than Mount Tai."
When he died, everyone in Shu wore white mourning clothes and held a funeral. - "Book of the Later Han: Biographies of Liu Yan, Liu Biao, Liu Yu, Yuan Shu, and Gongsun Zan"
(End of this chapter)
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