Chapter 242 Hanzhong Arrangement
Liu Yan was speechless for a moment.
If this is really in accordance with the rules of Tianshi Dao, those who have committed minor offenses will need to build a road a hundred steps long to eliminate their sins. For serious offenses like treason, I'm afraid they will have to build the road until it is open.
There are three roads from Chang'an to Hanzhong. The shortest one is Luogu Road, which is only more than 400 miles, and the longest ones are Ziwu Valley Road and Xiegu Road, which are about more than 600 miles.
The valley and river channels on these roads are actually relatively easy to travel on, but the difficult ones are those that cross the mountain ridges and the high plank roads.
In the early years, no one had the energy to maintain them, so they were in a state of disrepair. This made it difficult for the Guanzhong direction to enter Hanzhong. But now that the royal army wants to control Hanzhong, they naturally cannot let them remain in this state.
However, using soldiers from Guanzhong or Hanzhong to repair this road was somewhat of a waste for Qiao Yan, who still had to advance eastward to achieve the goal of unifying the Han Dynasty.
What else can we use if we don’t use soldiers?
Use the people.
People who believe in Tianshi Dao.
Compared with the crime of treason that condemned them to death, building roads could even be considered a respect for their beliefs, and it also fell under the category of "prison" punishment in the newly revised criminal law in Guanzhong.
Moreover, if Qiao Yan herself were to say so, a disciple like her could always have enough food to eat compared to ordinary disciples.
Don't be too smart in this calculation.
But there is still a problem.
Liu Yan asked: "If the rice thief Zhang Lu is a traitor to the Han Dynasty, why do they still believe in the Five Pecks of Rice doctrine?"
Qiao Yan smiled and said, "Zhang Lu was not the founder of Tianshi Dao. When studying the classics of the teachings passed down by his ancestors, Zhang Xiu once seized power and tampered with them, which led to misunderstandings. This should be considered a normal thing, right? Now that he has fled to Guanghan, a vassal state, to reflect on himself and to hone his skills in the dangerous land of Yinping Road, his mother will temporarily take over the sect in Hanzhong to restore order. Isn't this just right?"
Some of the teachings currently spread by the Five Pecks of Rice Sect are useful to Qiao Yan, but some of them are useless to her.
Through the change of ownership during its development, the process of extracting the essence and removing the dross was completed.
Although Zhang Lu fled, Qiao Yan had no plans to directly shake his master's position for the time being. However, Madam Lu might become a temporary successor in Hanzhong.
There was no need to directly and thoroughly shake the Hanzhong people's belief in Tianshi Dao, because the situation here was very different from the Yellow Turban Rebellion at that time. If she really did so, after reducing the number of garrisons in Hanzhong, there was no guarantee that there would not be a counterattack, and then she would be taken advantage of by Zhang Lu or Liu Yan.
It’s just right that we still have someone to mediate.
Her calm and far-sighted decision, even though spoken in such a casual tone, sobered Liu Yan up a lot.
He replied: "This method of the Grand Marshal is very good... very good."
She really has a very experienced mind.
Liu Yan complained in his heart, and also felt that it was fortunate that he had no problem with gift-giving, and was not so stubborn as to choose to be an enemy of Qiao Yan after she took Hanzhong.
After finishing this celebration banquet for the hunting party in which she had no sense of participation, Liu Yan returned to Chengdu and immediately prepared the manpower and materials other than the water conservancy talents who had been sent to her, and sent them to Hanzhong as quickly as possible.
He had no time to think about the position of Shu County Magistrate that he had promised Gan Ning. Instead, he asked Gan Ning to be the commander of the escort team to the north to transport the first batch of personnel, food and Shu brocade.
As for Qiao Yan, after sending Liu Yan away, he began to arrange the situation in Hanzhong with his subordinates.
It was impossible for her to stay in Hanzhong for long.
As the political and economic center for a long time to come, Chang'an must develop further as the population is accommodated. It also needs to supervise matters such as Guanzhong farmland settlements, new criminal regulations, and the recruitment of Guanzhong troops.
Hanzhong is the newly conquered territory, and Chang'an actually counts as one of them as well.
She could not allow Liu Yu to have a greater influence than her in the hearts of the people when Liu Yu was the emperor in name only.
Fortunately, it is not a difficult decision to decide who will stay in Hanzhong.
As early as when she asked Xu Shu to go to Wudu County, she had already said that her hope for Xu Shu was to have him assist in the operations in the south.
Now that Hanzhong has been captured, he no longer needs to serve as a military advisor to assist Zhao Yun in guarding the several passes from Hanzhong to Chang'an. Instead, he can directly become Qiao Yan's supervisor in Hanzhong, allowing Zhao Yun to shift more from garrisoning to training troops in preparation for any unexpected needs later.
"I intend to ask the emperor to appoint you as the prefect of Hanzhong." Qiao Yan said to Xu Shu.
The governor in his twenties is indeed a little young, but there is no need to worry about it so much at a time like this.
Because of what Qiao Yan had mentioned to him earlier about his confidants, Xu Shu was also very clear that there was absolutely no need for him to say that he was too young to handle such an important task.
All he needs to do is to implement all the matters that Qiao Yan needs him to do here.
I also heard Qiao Yan joking that Cheng Yu, the master, was responsible for Guanzhong, and Xu Shu, the apprentice, was responsible for Hanzhong, so this could be considered as taking care of both sides.
Xu Shu then asked, "Who do you plan to leave here to guard?"
Zhao Yun and Qiao Yan must be taken back with them. Chu Yan and Yao Chang can both stay here.
The purpose of the Qiang commander Yao Chang's existence is to connect with the surrounding southern barbarian tribes.
As for Chu Yan, his purpose was to establish relations between Hanzhong and its neighboring areas.
also……
"I plan to transfer Mengqi here as well."
To use Ma Chao only as Lu Bu's messenger is an absolute waste of his talent. At most, it is just a move to temper his character.
Although Hanzhong and Bashu to the south are mostly mountainous, they do need a cavalry general here.
Since Zhao Yun is already in Guanzhong, Lu Bu, Zhang Yang and others are already in Bingzhou, and Zhang Liao is in charge of Youzhou, Hanzhong is obviously more suitable for Ma Chao.
As for Liang Province...it would be better to temporarily separate Ma Chao and his son from this place.
Qiao Yan was also thinking that perhaps he could take advantage of this opportunity to appoint his generals to stay in Hanzhong and ask the court to confer an official position on them.
And if they could obtain the official positions in Hanzhong, those who had greater military merits than them would naturally not be left behind.
In addition, there is another purpose for placing Ma Chao and Chu Yan here.
Although she has no chance to participate in naval battles and no possibility of building a shipping route at the moment, she still has to pay attention to Gan Ning, who can serve as the commander of the navy, since he has appeared in front of her.
Given Gan Ning's temper, it would be inappropriate to directly recruit him when he has no use for his talents for the time being. If Liu Yan were to include Gan Ning as a condition for rewarding the troops, he would probably offend him to death.
It would be better to let Ma Chao and Chu Yan make friends with Gan Ning and build a connection subtly.
This is the garrison arrangement, and the other matters in Hanzhong are also related.
There is no need to say much about farming. Xu Shu has followed Qiao Yan for quite some time. He has a mother who is in charge of farming under Qiao Yan. He was also once in charge of a small-scale military farming in Wudu County. Now that he has moved to Hanzhong, it should not be difficult for him to adapt.
The only thing that needs to be paid attention to is that the climatic conditions in Hanzhong are milder than those in Guanzhong, not to mention compared with places like Liangzhou and Bingzhou, so some adjustments have to be made in the time and techniques of farming.
Xu Shu should be aware of this point.
"There are three other important things you need to do."
When Qiao Yan said this, his expression suddenly became serious.
"The first is what I said to Liu Yan at the celebration banquet. We need to use the followers of Tianshi Dao to improve the people's livelihood in Hanzhong. You need to carefully balance whether their faith is more important or their trust in you, the future governor of Hanzhong, is deeper. If you are unsure, please write to Guanzhong and ask me immediately."
Religion is still in its infancy today. Not to mention Xu Shu, even Cheng Yu and others have no experience in dealing with this.
Now Qiao Yan has proposed an implementation policy to him, but no one can predict the difficulties that will be faced in the specific operation.
Qiao Yan added: "Although I want them to participate in the road construction to atone for their sins, they are not simple prisoners, and we must not increase their burden just to quickly complete the connection between Luogu Road and other places and Guanzhong."
Fortunately, Xu Shu himself came from a humble background, and his empathy for the common people was much higher than that of the children of the gentry. This gave Qiao Yan more confidence in the effect that could be achieved by appointing him here.
"The second is the bamboo and wood resources I asked Liu Yan for."
"On the one hand, it is indeed for the construction of water conservancy. I want you to recruit people in Hanzhong to make some of the bamboo sent by Liu Yan into bamboo strips, and then send them to Chang'an. On the other hand..."
"You should remember that when we were making paper mulberry bark paper in Leping, we actually tested other plants as well. The effect of bamboo is not worse than that of paper mulberry bark, and it is even better. However, the growth speed of bamboo in the north is far slower than that in the south, and the types are also somewhat different."
"So I will transfer some people from Leping to assist you. You can use the other half of the bamboo to make paper here and send the finished paper to Guanzhong. But Liu Yan must not know about this."
Otherwise, wouldn't Liu Yan, who owns the largest source of materials, have become rich?
Qiao Yan doesn't like doing such a losing thing.
Xu Shu agreed, and then listened to her talk about the third thing, "Now the Hanzhong Plain has fallen into our hands. When the emperor's edict reaches Hanzhong, you will control the counties east of Hanzhong. And to the east of Hanzhong is Xiangyang in Jingzhou. Nanzheng where we are now can even connect with Xiangyang through the Han River. Be sure to pay attention to this place. I will allocate some of the people from the Jiangdong trade to you, and I want you to set up a dock here in case of emergency."
Seeing Xu Shu's expression suddenly change upon hearing this, Qiao Yan smiled and said, "Don't be nervous. Liu Biao, a relative of the Han Dynasty, is still very sensible. He sent his eldest son to Chang'an. At least in the short term, he will not fall out with us. We are just being prepared. We have to give these people a place to maintain their touch."
Some of these skilled shipbuilders were placed by Qiao Yan in the Yellow River Basin, and some in the Han River Basin. To be honest, it was a bit of a waste of talent. However, since there are no coastal ports at the moment, they can only settle for the second best option. It is better than leaving them completely idle.
After Xu Shu finished explaining everything, Qiao Yan went to talk to Madam Lu again.
She was able to cooperate with Zhang Lu in the early stages and had a good relationship with Liu Yan, so she does have some brains.
This kind of thinking can at least allow her to recognize her position in the current situation.
When Qiao Yan held the righteous cause of the emperor and had driven Zhang Lu away, it was not the case that Qiao Yan necessarily required the Tianshi Dao to support her rule over Hanzhong. On the contrary, it was the Tianshi Dao that needed the help of Qiao Yan to gain a space for survival.
But when Mrs. Lu heard that Qiao Yan asked her to step forward to spread the revised doctrine, she was still a little dumbfounded.
Qiao Yan didn't care about her confusion at all, and said calmly: "After your husband died, Tianshi Dao became a cover for Zhang Xiu, the ghost leader, to respond to Zhang Jiao's Yellow Turban Rebellion. In order to protect your children, you allowed him to tamper with the doctrine. Today, you must speak out to prevent Tianshi Dao from being lost. Isn't it reasonable?"
Mrs. Lu: “…”
It is reasonable indeed, but how did Qiao Yan manage to speak of it so calmly and skillfully?
She asked: "What if the Lord wants to make some changes to the doctrine?"
Qiao Yan replied confidently: "It's very simple. Just say that after thirteen years, some of your memories have become blurred. Anyway, as long as it is in line with the measures taken by the Hanzhong governor to lead the people to prosperity, it is okay to make appropriate adjustments."
It's all explainable.
Mrs. Lu has realized that in this way, Tianshi Dao will inevitably become a tool in Qiao Yan's hands.
But the situation is stronger than the person. Compared with Zhang Lu who has fled to the vassal state of Guanghan, Qiao Yan is probably more reliable.
Once she figured this out, she had nothing to say about Qiao Yan's behavior.
What's more, compared with the Tianshi Dao, Liu Yan's losses were even greater, and Mrs. Lu immediately felt balanced.
The military rations that Gan Ning sent to Hanzhong as rewards for the troops amounted to as much as 800,000 dan.
With the addition of silk fabrics and weaving workers, they formed a team that stretched for several miles.
"Don't show off your wealth..." Xun You heard Qiao Yan mutter, "We know he has food, but the way he gives it away makes people want to rob him even more."
Unfortunately, even though he thought so, Qiao Yan was very clear that he couldn't kill all the fish.
Allowing Liu Yan to continue staying in the south would also help further weaken the power of the local gentry in Yizhou.
Since Liu Yan has already suffered heavy losses this time, there is no need to add more pressure on him.
However, she had originally considered using Hanzhong as a grain storage transit station. Now that she saw there were such a large number of grains, she thought it would be better to take some with her. At least this way, the team coming to the court would look much better.
800,000 dan of grain is the annual harvest of about three to four thousand households in Yizhou. For Liu Yan, it is not a big number that will cause him a great loss. But when this batch of grain passed through Guanzhong, it became a bargaining chip to stabilize the people's hearts for the imperial court which had just changed the era name to Jian'an.
take away!
By the way, they would take away a portion from the treasuries of various counties in Hanzhong to make up the total amount after deducting the consumption on the way.
And since we have decided to send the food back in this way, the Luogu Road we took here is no longer suitable, and it is better to take the Xiegu Road.
It just so happens that they are now in Nanzheng, so they can just head north.
This road leads into Guanzhong and arrives near Meiwu, which is the Wuzhangyuan that Qiao Yan saw from afar when he attacked Meiwu.
After receiving the order from Qiao Yan, Zhao Yun immediately began to mobilize personnel.
The loss of manpower during the march into Hanzhong was not great, but a record needs to be made of how many people were left here and how many returned with them.
Zhao Yun has always left Qiao Yan with the impression of being reliable, and this is no exception.
Not only did they have to guard against a riot by the Tianshidao believers in Hanzhong, they also had to prevent the soldiers newly recruited from Chang'an from developing any emotions because they were forced to stay in Hanzhong when they had not yet formed a sense of belonging.
At this point, the benefits of Zhao Yun's frequent visits to his soldiers were reflected.
The process of assigning personnel was completely completed within just two days, including the assignment of personnel to various counties in the Hanzhong Plain. Once the team led by Ma Chao arrived in Hanzhong, the final vacancies would be filled.
In the end, the four thousand people who followed Qiao Yan back to Chang'an entered Jigu with more than one million shi of grain and returned to Chang'an.
Xun You looked at the people behind them who were watching them leave. Seeing Yao Chang at the front, he said to Qiao Yan, "In the past, your Excellency used the Xianbei, Southern Xiongnu, and Qiang people to check and balance each other and used them as a force. Now it seems that you are going to use the same trick again and use the Qiang people to fight against the Southern Barbarians."
Qiao Yan replied, "If I remember correctly, some of the so-called southern barbarians in the southwest should be called Qiang people. The Canlang Qiang and Baima Qiang of Liangzhou are both distributed in Yizhou, but there are also Qingyi Qiang and other Diqiang tribes closer to the south. There are still some who can be called Qiang to rule the Qiang."
As for the Miao and Yao peoples who are not considered Qiang people among the Wuxi barbarians, they are still far away from Hanzhong.
Don't be in a hurry for now.
Let's wait until we have calmed down from the impact of her rapid capture of Hanzhong.
This shocking change affected far more than just the four counties in the Hanzhong Plain.
Even though the appointment decree to Chang'an would not be issued until Qiao Yan returned, places to the east of the Hanzhong Plain, such as Xicheng and Shangyong, had already received the news. They could also see the attitude of the governor of Yizhou from Liu Yan's act of sending gifts to apologize.
Even those who live in the mountains cannot be completely isolated from this news.
Liu Xie walked to Zhuxi early in the morning, picked up half a basket of firewood along the stream, then took a machete and chopped a few spring bamboo shoots he saw along the way, spread them on the bamboo basket, and then walked towards home.
No, he shouldn’t be called Liu Xie now.
Ever since he pretended to have lost his memory and was adopted by the couple who rescued him, he changed his name to Wang An and even learned how to chop wood and pick bamboo shoots, which he would never have been able to learn in his earlier years.
When he returned home, he saw his mother drying the herbs she had picked from the mountains, and the aroma of porridge and rice wafted through the house.
But he looked around and didn't see his father, so he asked.
His mother replied: "Hanzhong has changed its owner. Your father is afraid that there will be a war, so he went to find out the situation first."
Upon hearing the words "Hanzhong changes its owner", Liu Xie was suddenly startled, and the machete in his hand fell directly to the ground because he subconsciously let go.
"Look at you, kid. Why are you so nervous?" The woman smiled at him gently. "The Marquis of Leping who just took over Hanzhong is not a fierce person. Your father just went to see if there is any recruitment."
"Since he's going to the market today, he must be buying some food. Can I put an egg in your porridge?"
Liu Xie was stunned for a long time before he replied, "Okay."
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