Chapter 245: War of Conquest
When she, the Grand Marshal, led her troops away, she looked so glorious in the eyes of the people of Chang'an. When she returned, this glory was even greater.
The emperor personally welcomed her triumphant generals outside the city of Chang'an, and this honor would surely be recorded in the history books. Moreover, she had made meritorious contributions worthy of this imperial favor.
Holding the staff of imperial decree bestowed by the emperor, she perfectly fulfilled her duty of inspecting the south and pacifying Hanzhong, bringing back an additional grain-producing area for the court in Chang'an and also intimidating some of the not-so-peaceful princes.
Now this authority to hold the seal has not been taken back yet.
Because in response to Qiao Yan's words "respectfully serve in Chang'an", Liu Yu said "The rebellion has not been quelled, and I and the Grand Marshal must still work hard."
In other words, the next time Qiao Yan goes to war, she will still bring such a scepter and exercise the emperor's power to fight.
If the position of Grand Marshal represents the highest peak in official position, then the trust from Liu Yu is the highest point in treatment.
Although some people would inevitably say that people standing in such a position would fall if they are not careful, and they need to tread on thin ice every step to prevent falling to pieces one day, but when there was no such legend as the new number one scholar who "sees all the flowers in Chang'an in one day", the 19-year-old Sima like Qiao Yan directly laid the foundation for people today's imagination of the youthful vigor and vitality.
Afterwards, the granary in Chang'an took over this huge amount of grain that was stored.
As early as when Qiao Yan went on the expedition to Hanzhong, Cheng Yu had recommended Qin Yu as the chief of the capital under the Grand Minister of Agriculture at her instruction, so the person responsible for registering this amount of grain into the warehouse should be considered Qiao Yan's own man.
However, this time was a little special. When the grain carts carrying the one million shi of military grain entered the warehouse in Guo District of Chang'an, the ministers who accompanied Liu Yu to welcome Qiao Yan were all there.
Most of the rice in Yizhou is rice, with some millet mixed in, which is obviously different in type from the grain produced in other regions.
It is precisely because of this difference that this astonishing amount of grain looks more like a tribute, which makes people more confident in the Chang'an court.
Lu Zhi looked at the scene in front of him and asked Qiao Yan, "Does Yizhou really have such an amazing rice production?"
As Qiao Yan followed him toward the palace, he replied, "This is the benefit of building water conservancy projects. Yizhou's Dujiangyan has benefited future generations, forming a network of waterways in the land of abundance. The southern climate also helps. Bingzhou has done its best to improve fertilizers, farming tools, farming methods, and selection of good varieties, and was able to barely reach the level of Yizhou after a few years."
"Even so, we still need to be on guard against special situations such as droughts. However, Yizhou has not suffered such disasters for many years. No wonder Dong Fu said in his divination that Yizhou has the aura of an emperor."
Seeing Lu Zhi's nervous expression, Qiao Yan smiled again, "Mr. Lu, don't worry so much. High yield per mu is one thing, high total output is another. Whether it can be used to develop a team that can conquer the world is even more different."
"Yizhou's mountainous shelter is a protection, but also a restriction. The result of outsiders finding it difficult to enter Shu is that Yizhou's population is far less than that of Sili. Without a sufficient population, there is naturally not enough arable land."
"Besides, during my trip to Yizhou, I met with Liu Junlang and got a clear idea of what kind of person he is."
"This man was able to seize the opportunity to rise to the top and mediate between the scholars of Yizhou and Dongzhou. He is still a talent, but his plan is only within a small area. He can live in peace in a corner, but he can't follow the example of Emperor Taizu Gao and march north to Guanzhong."
When Qiao Yan said this, Lu Zhi's mood had inexplicably calmed down.
Then she continued, "If you pursue a small family strategy, you will get into trouble sooner or later. Liu Junlang has gained more and more benefits from suppressing the scholars of Yizhou and promoting the scholars of Dongzhou, but it is inevitable that he will cause dissatisfaction among the scholars of Yizhou. The southern barbarians in Yizhou are as difficult to control as the Qiang people. Even if they don't get out of control in his hands, they will cause problems for his successors."
She said jokingly, "But these have little to do with us. Anyway, with Hanzhong in hand, he can't stir up any trouble. As for the fertile land of Yizhou, one day it will be taken over by the court."
Lu Zhi replied: "Now that you've mentioned this, I want to ask, how was it possible to defeat the enemy in the Battle of Hanzhong within six days?"
Qiao Yan pointed backwards.
When Lu Zhi looked back, he found Huangfu Song also coming over.
But to be precise, it was not just Lu Zhi and Huangfu Song who were curious about this matter.
Only Huangfu Song appeared quietly in the back, wanting to eavesdrop on the answer. It was simply because Qiao Yan's official position was too high that others did not dare to come over and ask questions like this.
She said, "Let's wait until the official meeting to explain it to you all."
Perhaps because Liu Yu himself was intrigued by the messenger's half-understood words, or perhaps in order to show his importance to Qiao Yan, the original rule of holding a ceremony every five days was temporarily adjusted to be held again after two days.
It was also at this court meeting that these curious ministers got the answers they wanted to know.
It was not too surprising that Qiao Yan abandoned the Xiegu Road and Ziwu Valley and took the Luogu Road, avoiding the first barrier of Zhang Lu’s garrison.
After all, Chang'an knew the approximate location where she entered the Qinling Mountains.
Even if the operation in Luogu Road was too smooth, it could be explained by the experience she had accumulated from fighting in Liangzhou and Bingzhou over the years.
For example, when she attacked the Xianbei in the north in her early years, she crossed over the Baidaokou in the Yinshan Mountains, which was also not an easy mountain road to walk on.
But when they heard the series of traps that followed, their expressions became more and more exciting.
The action, which the messenger simply summarized as the division of troops, was by no means as trivial as he made it sound.
According to Qiao Yan, she had people intercept the message from Hanzhong to Yizhou, captured Longting at lightning speed, and then sent a deceptive signal to Zhang Lu at Longting.
If they were in Zhang Lu's position, they would be hard to guarantee that they would not be deceived by this operation.
Afterwards, she launched three ambushes and defeated Zhang Lu's troops without causing any damage to her own side. She also conveyed the news that the Grand Marshal and the General would hunt in Hanzhong to Zhang Lu in a misleading way, so that after he received the news that Wudu County and Ba County were advancing at the same time, he directly chose to abandon the city and flee.
Of course, even if he didn't run away, he probably wouldn't have escaped from Qiao Yan's hands. At most, he would have just prolonged the siege of Nanzheng. But if he successfully took the bait, Qiao Yan's capture of Hanzhong could be considered "bloodless", and the deterrence it caused to Liu Yan was bound to be even stronger.
Qiao Yan’s subsequent handling of Hanzhong is still shocking.
The members of the Tianshi Dao who were originally under the disposal of Zhang Xiu and Zhang Lu, except for those who were taken to the vassal state of Guanghan by Zhang Lu in his final escape, the rest were controlled by her through Madam Lu, the widow of the second-generation Tianshi Dao master, and she used religious teachings to achieve the goal of repairing the plank road into Hanzhong.
Anyone who heard it would feel that her ability in making the best use of things could be considered to have reached the pinnacle.
What Liu Yan offered as a reward for the army was actually a token of surrender, and it became more complete with her new conditions.
This is a piece of fat meat bitten off from Yizhou alive, and the person who was bitten should be grateful for her mercy.
Before making this statement, the officials in the Chang'an court were thinking, how did she do it?
After this statement, these people still seem to be thinking, how did she do it?
Or, how did she come up with this idea?
Although Qiao Yan said in his eloquent statement that the idea of seizing Longting first and sending people to advance towards Nanzheng from the south were both suggestions from Xun You, the same plan would not have the same execution effect in the hands of different people.
During the period of Li Jue's chaotic rule, Huang Wan and Wang Yun had brief experience in leading troops, but they could guarantee with confidence that if they were asked to carry out this plan, they would probably fail directly in the attack on Longting County.
However, Qiao Yan, who had performed every step at a textbook level, had a frighteningly calm expression on his face when he analyzed the Battle of Hanzhong in front of them.
She knew clearly that the existence of Zhang Lu was not enough to be regarded as a great enemy by her. At most, because of his religious background, he became a cover for her to ease the relationship with the people of Hanzhong, or even a tool for her to build the vassal state of Guanghan in advance and establish connections with Wudu County.
Her real opponent was the Yecheng court in the east.
So now is definitely not the time to be complacent.
In the eyes of these court ministers, only such a calm and steady pillar of support could take on the position of Grand Marshal of the court.
Such a Grand Marshal would not only bring confidence to the Chang'an court, but would also inevitably become a nightmare for the opponents.
The news that Qiao Yan had captured Hanzhong from Guanzhong and brought back a million dan of stored grain spread within two days due to the large scale of the emperor's personal reception and the large number of onlookers in Chang'an.
Along with the news of official appointments in Chang'an City, it fell into the hands of people who should know about this matter.
Without a doubt, the person who reacted most strongly to this was Yuan Shao.
He himself knew very well that he should not allow his emotions to change suddenly because of the news from Chang'an, and he should not be led by the nose by that party.
The emotions of comparison and resentment aroused by this will inevitably lead to his impulsive decision-making.
It would be better to stabilize first, quickly mobilize one's own internal advantages, and form a suitable development rhythm as soon as possible.
But when Yuan Shao received this news, his face still darkened.
The rumors spread by Yuan Shu due to Yuan Ji's death had already put him in a state of panic.
Indeed, if the Yuan family members were asked to choose a more capable person between him and Yuan Shu, Yuan Shu would definitely not get more support.
But the problem they faced at this time was not whether to choose Yuan Shu or Yuan Shao, but whether to choose Liu Yu or Liu Bian.
This is something more essential.
Yuan Shu's tantrum and unreasonable rumor-mongering actually gave some people an excuse to take advantage of the situation.
This made Yuan Shao realize more clearly than ever that the conflict between him and Yuan Shu had actually reached a point where it needed to be resolved urgently, and there was no need to delegate the matter to others.
So after consulting with his advisers, he issued an order in the name of Liu Bian in early March, ordering General Liu Bei to meet up with Wen Chou who was sending troops from Yecheng, and join forces to attack Yuan Shu.
According to Yuan Shao's idea, this was also the most appropriate time for him to take action against Yuan Shu.
According to his expectation, the expedition of his biggest enemy to Hanzhong would be delayed for at least several months.
During this period, the court in Chang'an had no time to advance eastward, let alone form an alliance with Yuan Shu.
Although Cao Cao had a good relationship with Qiao Yan, there was no possibility that he would change his position in a short period of time.
If he could quickly defeat Yuan Shu, Yuan Shao thought, he could then take over Yuzhou and move into Luoyang, pushing the confrontation line forward.
The best outcome would be to take advantage of the situation to invade Hedong County to prevent the enemy from coming from the Hedong-Henei line and directly taking Yecheng.
But what Yuan Shao had never expected was that it would take him several days to make the arrangements for the troops to be dispatched. Shortly after the Jizhou troops passed through Yanzhou and entered Yuzhou to set up camp, he received news that Qiao Yan had returned.
It is still unknown whether Wen Chou and Yuan Shu launched the first battle, but Qiao Yan has already returned from Hanzhong!
This is too fast!
It would have been fine if she had returned from a failed "hunting expedition", but she not only captured Hanzhong, but also sent back a million shi of grain, which was obvious to all.
The officials in Chang'an had Qiao Yan to answer questions in the court, but Yuan Shao did not.
At this moment, he did not want to express any emotion such as "how did she do that?" or "on what basis did she do that?" as he did when he heard that she took over the position of Grand Marshal.
This inappropriate behavior did not do any good other than making him look more of a failure.
In the face of internal and external troubles, Yuan Shao calmed his temper and expression and asked the people below: "What do you think of this news?"
As soon as Yuan Shao finished speaking, he heard Guo Tu say, "Hanzhong is too far away from us, and there is also the Qinling Mountains blocking us. It is hard to guarantee that Qiao Yan and Liu Yan have reached some kind of deal to make us lose our composure in the face of this unexpected news."
Ju Shou glanced at Guo Tu and seemed to be about to say something, but in the end he didn't.
Regardless of whether Guo Tu said this to curry favor with Yuan Shao, it is not so important at this time.
The atmosphere in Yecheng cannot remain in a sluggish state all the time, and we cannot be at a disadvantage to Qiao Yan before even meeting her.
Therefore, there is a certain necessity for Guo Tu to blur the opponent's horrific record.
However, this kind of words are only said to lighten the atmosphere. We cannot really believe this. We must always remain vigilant and pay attention to Qiao Yan.
Even though she only traveled to Hanzhong once a month, no one could deny that this trip alone had greatly improved her strength.
This strength is by no means limited to the one million shi of new grain.
Xu You and Ju Shou had the same idea about this.
He continued what Guo Tu said, "Rather than being concerned about the inside story of the Battle of Hanzhong, I think you should pay more attention to the official positions that Qiao Yan's subordinates have successively obtained in this news."
"First of all, there are two people whose positions are very special," Xu You gestured for the letter to be returned to his hand. After scanning it and confirming that he was not mistaken, he said, "Yao Chang and Bi Lan."
"If I remember correctly, the former Protector of the Qiang and the latter Water Envoy were both directly appointed by her when Dong Zhuo held Lord Dong hostage in Chang'an."
This is not a normal method of canonization.
It was the same situation as when she had previously submitted a memorial to the central government, requesting that Sun Ce be appointed governor of Kuaiji.
This way of presenting memorials can be interpreted as the powerful officials at the central level blocking the emperor's way of speaking and resorting to this method when they were forced to do so, but it can also be interpreted as a usurpatory imperial decree.
But now, with Sun Ce being appointed as the governor of Yangzhou and the general of the expedition to the east when the Chang'an court was established, and with Yao Chang's captain of the Protector of the Qiang and Bi Lan's envoy of the Du Shui having a clear path forward, it means that Liu Yu has used his reputation to smooth out the consequences of some of Qiao Yan's previous actions.
Xu You commented: "Either Qiao Bingzhou's power was too high, forcing Liu Bo'an to do this under her coercion, or they can really be called a harmonious relationship between the monarch and his subjects. My lord, regardless of the war situation in Hanzhong, this is a very terrible thing."
He flipped through the letter and said, "In addition, there are many women among these officials. The Liangzhou Beijia, the Du Nei Ling under the Grand Minister of Agriculture, and the Lingtai Cheng who is the reserve for the Grand Historian are all women. Qiao Bingzhou took the lead in this matter because of his high position, and Liu Bo'an actually agreed to it. This also shows the cooperation between the two of them."
In front of Qiao Yan's battle record, Yuan Shao swallowed back the word "ridiculous" that he was about to say, and only said: "Go on."
"Then there are three governors with real power, Zhang Liao, the governor of Shanggu County, Zhao Yun, the prefect of Jingzhao, and Xu Shu, the governor of Hanzhong." Xu You twisted his beard, revealing a bit of emotion in his expression, "These three are about the same age, around 25 years old. Some of them value literature while others value martial arts. Some station troops in the capital while others guard against the enemy outside. But they all convey the same message -"
"Qiao Bingzhou not only has the generosity to accept young and talented people under his command, but also has the ability to promote them to high positions. This is also not good news for you, my Lord."
"I..." Yuan Shao was about to say that if he wanted to appoint people regardless of age, he could do it.
But he suddenly thought that even if he could trust and employ him, he would never be able to be like Qiao Yan and have the ability to get him directly to the position of prefect.
He even put his efforts to secure the position of general on hold because of Yuan Shu's jokes, let alone planning for the positions of the prefects.
Xu You was right, the impact of these three prefectural positions was quite terrible.
It is not known whether Liu Yu himself was aware of this fact, but this was bound to lead to the diversion of talents in the Hongwenguan.
And those military generals who were originally more inclined to receive appointments from Qiao Yan now have no need to hesitate.
"Then there is Qiao Bingzhou's attitude towards the various parties." Xu You continued, "Lü Bu, the General of the North, Chu Yan, the General of the South, Fu Gan, the General of the North, and Qu Yi, the General of the East. What do you think of these four positions?"
In today's military system, because the title of general is not often used, the rank of Lieutenant General is often the highest position to which most military officers can be promoted. To achieve a breakthrough from a colonel to Lieutenant General is no less than a class leap, not to mention a title with such titles as Four Expeditions and Four Peaces.
Even if Xu You hadn't mentioned it, Yuan Shao could see that this was almost the core member of the four-way expedition.
The word before that direction is indeed a reflection of Qiao Yan's attitude towards various places.
Pingbei and Pingliang - the ones to be pacified were the Xianbei in the north and the Qiang people and powerful people in Liangzhou.
As she still maintains military deterrence and cooperation, this "peace" seems to mean to bring stability.
Annan - Annan refers to Liu Yan of Yizhou in the south, Liu Biao of Jingzhou, or even the Nanman and Shanyue further south, or Sun Ce of Yangzhou.
These people are the ones she currently needs to both warn and win over, which is directly reflected in Chu Yan's official position.
The expedition to the east was to conquer those people in the east who were against her and the Chang'an court.
Youzhou, where Gongsun Zan was, was this east for her.
Jizhou where Yuan Shao was located was of course also the East for her!
Yuan Shao slammed the table and stood up, "Zhengdong... what a great Zhengdong!"
Not to mention whether appointing Qu Yi as the General of the Eastern Expedition also represented her taking the opportunity to win over the Qu family of Xiping again.
The title of General of the Eastern Expedition was clearly a declaration of war against Yuan Shao!
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