Chapter 293: Provoking the enemy...
But although Chen Gong said that this was a matter of life and death, some people may not think it was that important.
When he lobbied various families as the Beijia of Yanzhou, the responses he received were almost the same.
A shortage of rain in March was common in the past few years, and it would not necessarily develop into a drought, let alone a locust plague of which there was no sign at this time.
The court in Chang'an took a serious stance in response to this. Was it really preparing for such a disaster, or was it trying to create psychological pressure on them through public opinion?
Chen Gong resisted the urge to curse and asked coldly, "What if it's really like this?"
The other party replied nonchalantly: "Let's not talk about the border of Yanzhou. The Yellow River runs through Dongjun where Cao Yanzhou is located. The Jishui River, Pushui River, Sishui River and Daye Lake are all stable water sources in this area. It's just a matter of a few days less rain. Why scare your own people first?"
"Besides, Cao Mengde's position as governor of Yanzhou was granted by the Yecheng court. Even if we want to be loyal now, we should be loyal to the emperor of Yecheng. It doesn't make sense for you to take our collection of rare books to exchange for grain just because Guanzhong has more grain reserves."
"Or, do you, Chen Gongtai, have any masterpieces that need to be printed in Chang'an so that you can become famous throughout the world?"
This is simply ridiculous!
Chen Gong asked in return: "In just ten years, have you forgotten the drought at the end of the Guanghe period and how much the water area of Ōno-Zhu was reduced?"
Although it is only mid-March now, an old farmer who is truly proficient in farming would not judge this year's disaster based solely on the amount of rainfall. The performance of various natural creatures before the disaster was also abnormal. If Chen Gong had not visited various villages, he would not have come to such a conclusion!
But what do these people think of him?
If there is a real drought, the rivers and swamps they talk about are not their life-saving straw at all, and these water sources are definitely not enough for their crops to grow normally in the fields.
They just can't bear to lose face and give before they can gain!
Chen Gong looked coldly at the other party's unmoved expression, knowing full well that even if he brought the situation of previous years in front of them for comparison, it might not have any persuasive effect on them.
He immediately turned away, leaving behind only the words "I can't bear to discuss this with you".
"Tsk... Not worthy of being a partner? I think Chen Gongtai has been working with Cao Mengde for so long that he doesn't even know his own name, or where he comes from." The scion of Shouzhang Wang's family, who was being persuaded by Chen Gong, sneered as he looked at the other party's disappearing back.
Among the people in Yanzhou who welcomed Cao Cao to serve as the governor of Yanzhou, some were convinced by his achievements as the prefect of Dongjun and felt that he was indeed suitable for the position of governor of Yanzhou, while others just went with the flow and accepted the suggestions of everyone.
Maybe he was secretly hoping that something unexpected would happen to Cao Cao sooner rather than later.
The Shouzhang Wang family is one of them.
This family produced a famous figure in the late Eastern Han Dynasty, named Wang Fen.
In the seventh year of Guanghe, due to the Yellow Turban Rebellion, the Party Ban was lifted, and Wang Fen was among those imprisoned.
After Huangfu Song stepped down from the position of Jizhou Mu, he even served as Jizhou Governor for a time.
But in the fourth year of Zhongping, that is, at the beginning of the year when Qiao Yan took the position of Governor of Bingzhou, Chen Yi, the son of the former Grand Marshal Chen Fan, and Xiang Kai, a sorcerer from Qingzhou, visited Wang Fen. During the banquet, Xiang Kai claimed that the celestial phenomena would be unfavorable to the eunuchs and that the Yellow Gate Attendants would be exterminated. So they all felt that the time had come, and they conspired to depose Emperor Ling of Han and replace him with Marquis of Hefei.
Because of Cao Cao's performance after the Yellow Turban Rebellion, and the fact that he had resigned from his post in anger and stayed at home at that time, which was very much to Wang Fen's liking, Wang Fen also invited Cao Cao.
But Cao Cao decisively rejected him in the letter, saying that deposing and enthroning emperors was a very ominous thing. Throughout history, only Yi Yin and Huo Guang had practiced this. Both of them held power and faced considerable difficulties in the process of implementation.
If you rashly implement such a plan now, what is the difference between this and the Rebellion of the Seven Kings? 1
In fact, Cao Cao was not the only one who rejected Wang Fen's action. The famous scholar Hua Xin also commented on this, saying that Wang Fen was careless and not good at commanding troops. Now he was sending out invitations everywhere. Who knows if he would fail and then implicate his wife and children.
These people's refusal did not discourage Wang Fen from taking action. Instead, it made him feel that the hope of the world hung on him. He decided to do it alone regardless of the consequences. He took action while Liu Hong was on his northern tour to Hejian County!
Who knew that the Grand Historian observed the stars and said it was not suitable to travel, so Emperor Ling of Han gave up the plan.
Also, because he happened to issue an imperial decree to allow Wang Fen to come to the capital at this time, Wang Fen thought that the matter was exposed, so he committed suicide.
Since this matter was not considered a failure, even Xu You, who participated in the conspiracy, hid for a while and then returned to General He Jin's mansion to take up his post. Perhaps even Emperor Ling of Han himself did not take this matter to heart, and Shou Zhang Wang was not held accountable either.
But this did not affect their resentment towards Cao Cao.
In their opinion, if Cao Cao, Tao Qiuhong, Hua Xin and others had not successively expressed their rejection to Wang Fen, and if Emperor Ling of Han had not refused the trip to Hejian State, perhaps Wang Fen's plan to depose and enthrone the emperor would have succeeded. How could he have ended up committing suicide out of fear?
The other two were not in Yanzhou, and Tao Qiuhong had even died of illness, so the only target of his anger was of course Cao Cao.
It was good enough that they did not explicitly oppose Cao Cao, let alone cooperate with the move of exchanging books for food.
"As the descendant of a eunuch and the son of a military commander who bought an official position, he is indeed so scared at the slightest sign of trouble." The man was still not satisfied after provoking Chen Gong to leave, and he spat inwardly after closing the door. "I think it would be better to let Zhang Mengzhuo be the governor of Yanzhou."
Zhang Mengzhuo, also known as Zhang Miao, was also the prefect of Chenliu County. He was also from Shouzhang and had some friendship with the Wang family of Shouzhang. Unfortunately, the other party also had a friendship with Cao Cao, and he quickly sided with the other party when Cao Cao launched the war to occupy Yanzhou. At most, he had some ideological issues with Cao Cao in the past two years. If you want him to oppose Cao Cao, it is probably impossible for him to do it.
From this perspective, it seems that the Qiao family from Yanzhou can only have some common ground with them.
I don't know if it's possible to join forces with them and other noble families who don't like Cao Cao being the governor of Yanzhou, and go to Yecheng to file a complaint against him!
"I think they just ate too much!" When Chen Gong reported the results of the trip to Cao Cao, Cao Hong happened to be nearby and immediately slammed the table.
Seeing Cao Cao looking at him and signaling him to pay attention to his image, Cao Hong muttered, "What I said is true. In the past few years, under the farming arrangement of Lieutenant Zao, and with the farming methods passed down from Bingzhou, the lives of these Yanzhou families have been very good. I see that their forts and warehouses are well stocked. Even if there is a natural disaster or man-made disaster, they will have enough food for three to two years after the fort is closed. Why would they worry about a real drought? How much pressure will it bring to Yanzhou?"
Chen Gong couldn't help but show a bit of sadness on his face.
Cao Hong was a straightforward person, but he had a very clear view of things. This might really be the reason why Chen Gong had been rejected many times in the past few days.
But even so, they couldn't just brazenly attack the strongholds of these uncooperative aristocratic families.
By then, the effect of killing the chicken to scare the monkeys will not be achieved, but internal chaos will occur before the drought comes.
Cao Hong also knew this truth, so after Chen Gong said he would go down first and think of a way to leave, he said to Cao Cao: "If you ask me, what Qiao Yeshu did in Liangzhou was really great. The four families of Hanyang did not listen to her arrangements and made things difficult for her. Then the guilty ones should be convicted and the innocent ones released. After such a purge, those who should be obedient will be obedient."
"It has been almost three years since they were purged. I have only heard of talented people from the four Hanyang families serving as the right-hand men of the Liangzhou Beijia, but I have never heard of them starting a rebellion in Liangzhou again."
Cao Cao glanced at him again.
Cao Hong, who was both a younger brother and a subordinate, shrugged his shoulders quickly. "I know this is nonsense. Liangzhou has been refusing to obey Chang'an's control for a long time. Those who deserve to be killed should still be killed. You also told me that the situation there is different from that of Yanzhou. I just can't stand what these Yanzhou scholars have done, and I want to vent my anger for my elder brother, right?"
Cao Cao laughed and scolded, "If you really want to vent your anger, you should lead the soldiers under your command first. I heard a few days ago that you and Zixiao had a horse race and agreed to fight. How can you organize the military like this?"
Cao Hong was not convinced. "How can it be blamed on me and Zixiao for not doing the right thing? It's obvious that there are no external enemies to fight. Brother, you can tell me, in the early years, we still had the battle to defeat Dong Zhuo and kill the enemy. After coming to Yanzhou, even if we wanted to seize Jiyin and Dongping, you said that we should restrain our fighting to prevent inconvenience in subsequent governance. We can understand this."
"But what about now? Now it's even more uncomfortable. If we say that the elite soldiers in my Yanzhou territory have no problem conquering Yuzhou, right? But first, Yuan Shao appointed Liu Bei as the general who slays bandits to conquer Yuan Shu, and even then he was able to kill Wen Chou. But Liu Bei turned around and became the governor of Xuzhou. What kind of thing is this?"
"If you say that Big Brother didn't send troops to Hedong or advance to Luoyang because of his friendship with Qiao Yeshu and his low opinion of Yuan Shao, I can understand that. But it's really frustrating that he has to endure the bullying of these Yanzhou families here!"
Cao Hong paid attention to Cao Cao's expression when he said this. Seeing that Cao Cao was not dissatisfied with the private complaints of a family member, he whispered: "Brother, you said in your early years that you wanted to be a general of the Western Expedition, but now you look like a general of the Western Expedition."
Cao Cao knew very well that Cao Hong was not expressing his dissatisfaction with him by suddenly saying these things to him at this time, but was saying that as the governor of Yanzhou, he was still subject to various constraints. These constraints did not even decrease as he spent more time in Yanzhou and gained more connections here, which was really unpleasant.
A complex look flashed across his eyes, and he waved his hand at Cao Hong, "Go down first, let me think for a while."
The non-cooperation of the Yanzhou gentry was the resistance he faced before the natural disaster, but this might also be the driving force that pushed him to make a change.
To be honest, between the court in Chang'an and the court in Yecheng, if it were not for his background as the governor of Yanzhou and the position of the Yanzhou family, he would be more inclined to Chang'an.
Thinking about the time when I drank and talked with Qiao Yan, it seemed as if it happened just yesterday.
If it weren't for this idea, he would not have sent his second son Cao Pi to study at Leping Academy, nor would he have reached a deal with Qiao Yan to exchange grain for cotton.
But if he were asked to lead his clan to Sili without any scruples, he couldn't do it.
I don’t know if it’s because Qiao Yan is becoming more and more powerful and is in charge of everything in Chang’an, or if everything she has done recently shows signs of taking away the dominance of the Han court, so that when Cao Cao looks at the newspapers with the same handwriting, he often wonders: If she can really defeat Yuan Shao and unify the Han Dynasty, then will the world really still belong to the Han Dynasty?
Is the Han Dynasty really the most suitable world?
It is said that the person who knows you best is your opponent. Although he and Qiao Yan cannot be strictly considered opponents, he has also glimpsed something unusual from these details.
This hesitation made Cao Cao hesitate.
But he also realized from the words of Chen Gong and Cao Hong that no matter how hesitant he was, he had to make some transformative moves so that no matter what changes occurred in the situation, he would still have room for maneuver.
In particular, in the face of this natural disaster, try your best to preserve the power within the territory under your jurisdiction.
Fortunately, the news he received today was not all bad.
Earlier, Chen Gong recommended Man Chong and Man Boning of Shanyang to him. Cao Cao attached great importance to this and did not intend to just send them a letter of invitation to come to the provincial capital. He directly sent Cao Chun on the trip.
Cao Chun was very young, only four years older than Qiao Yan, but before the Dong Zhuo Rebellion, he had already served as a Huangmen Lang in Luoyang and followed Cao Cao to recruit soldiers for battle. Cao Cao valued this cousin very much because of his noble character, strict discipline, and the ability to treat others with respect.
Asking Cao Chun to invite Man Chong was considered an extremely humble attitude.
Man Chong did not disappoint Cao Cao's expectations. After a brief conversation with Cao Chun, he immediately set off from Shanyang to Dongjun, and had a lively conversation with Cao Cao during his first meeting.
What surprised Cao Cao particularly was that when Chen Gong recommended Man Chong, he only said that the other party enforced the law strictly and was suitable for establishing new rules in Yanzhou at this time to respond to changes in the weather. However, judging by Cao Cao's experience, Man Chong also had a good vision in military affairs.
This is a typical talent who is good at both military and political affairs!
While Cao Cao was delighted to have gained a capable general, he also became more determined in a decision he had made in his heart.
So five or six days later, Yuan Shao, who was in Yecheng, received two pieces of news at the same time.
One was that several clan forces in Yanzhou reported to him secretly that Cao Cao intended to surrender to the court in Chang'an, and hoped that they would take out the rare books in their hands to show goodwill to the court in Chang'an, and asked Yuan Qingzhou to be careful.
Another memorial came from Cao Cao, who wrote in it that because the situation in Yanzhou had become increasingly stable in the past two years, it would be better to expand outward in order to demonstrate the power of our court.
He wanted to ask Yuan Shao to ask the emperor for permission. If the situation was appropriate, he would allow him to send troops to Yuzhou, destroy Yuan Shu, and bring the area under the control of the imperial court in Yecheng.
In return for his military efforts, he hoped that the emperor would issue an order that those clans in Yanzhou who took the lead in donating military rations would be granted titles by the court.
"What does Ziyuan think of Cao Mengde's move?"
Although it involved Cao Cao and was also related to Yuzhou where Ju Shou once sent troops, Yuan Shao subconsciously found Xu You first and raised this question.
Xu You saw that the signatures of the previous letter included Wang Shi of Shouzhang and Qiao Shi of Liangguo, and he immediately understood, "Mingsong, isn't this just the old grudges of all parties gathered together?"
Wang was dissatisfied with Cao Cao, and Qiao was dissatisfied with Qiao Yan. Coincidentally, these two were old friends. In addition, Cao Cao was planning to mobilize troops and intended to collect military rations, which inevitably caused internal conflicts.
This time the quarrel was a little more serious and it was directly turned into a complaint sent to Yuan Shao.
But who doesn’t have a few old friends?
In the current situation where Qiao Yan was clearly in an advantageous position, Cao Cao at most maintained his deal with the other party and did not make any moves to brazenly attack Yecheng, which was considered a very normal behavior.
If we question Cao Cao at this time because of the accusation of such a villain, we may really force him to the opposite side.
On the contrary, Cao Cao's application to send troops was particularly interesting to Xu You.
He analyzed: "If this year is really as Qiao Bingzhou said, drought and locust disasters are inevitable. Compared with Jizhou, Qingzhou and Yanzhou, Yuzhou is actually the most likely to get out of control."
Think about it, what level of "talent" is Yuan Shu, who serves as the governor of Yuzhou!
Even if Yuan Shu had people like Yuan Huan and Yan Xiang by his side to assist him, it could not change the fact that he not only made a mess of his family affairs, but also was not very attentive to the governance of Yuzhou.
If it weren't for his connections with fellow villagers and the status of the Yuan family of Runan, Yuan Shu would have been dragged down long ago. He would not have just broken his leg and suffered a minor physical setback like before.
If an external factor is added now, he will inevitably face a situation where he will lose sight of the big picture.
Under this circumstance, it is indeed a good time to seize Yuzhou.
However, Yuan Shao still did not dare to take the neighboring Bingzhou lightly. The battle to cross Yanzhou to reach Yuzhou had been proven negatively by the death of Wen Chou. It seemed that using Cao Cao's military force to achieve the goal was really the most appropriate!
Yuan Shao's eyes flashed with some thought, "You mean to give him the power to send troops?"
Xu You nodded, "Yes, give it to him! You don't have to think that under such circumstances, Cao Cao will be able to control Yanzhou and Yuzhou and become a threat to you."
He raised the first secret report in his hand and said, "Isn't this something used to check and balance him?"
Yuan Shao suddenly realized.
Yes, if Cao Cao had chosen the right time to mobilize his troops this year, he might have been able to use external gains to fill internal gaps, but it would also have triggered conflicts within Yanzhou at a faster rate. It is still unknown whether this is a blessing or a curse.
One thing is certain -
This will definitely be a disaster for Yuan Shu!
Ju Shou and Gao Shun only caused Yuan Shu to suffer such a small loss that day, which did not make Yuan Shao completely relieved. It would be better for him to hand over the power that he should not have in the face of such a change in the situation!
When Yuan Shao in Yecheng made this decision, Qiao Yan also received two letters.
This was certainly not a letter from Yanzhou, but one sent from Yizhou.
Both of them.
One of the letters was from a secret agent she arranged to be beside Liu Xie, who regularly informed the intelligence personnel in Yizhou of Liu Xie's situation, and they in turn passed the information to Qiao Yan. There is no need to elaborate on this.
In the relatively closed and safe situation of Yizhou, the possibility of Liu Huihui encountering any life-threatening danger was quite low.
The other letter came from Jia Xu.
"This old fox said he was going on vacation, but he was still working hard." Qiao Yan couldn't help laughing after reading the beginning.
Jia Xu was annoyed by the questions asked by those smart young people, so he simply taught them through practical experience.
It must be said that Qiao Yan still chose a good path for them.
This trip to Yizhou was just the right time to first check and fill in the gaps in the various garrisons set up by Xu Shu in Hanzhong, and to take some deterrent action against Zhang Lu who was in the vassal state of Guanghan and Liu Yan who was in Shu County, in order to prevent Qiao Yan's internal management over the past few years and not using any military force outside from causing any unnecessary misunderstandings to these two people who were surrounded by mountains.
After completing this inspection, he led a few people down the river to Hailing.
Among the people traveling with them, two were recruited from Liu Yan.
One of them was called Zhang Ren, who was from Shu County, Yizhou, and had just started working as a clerk under Liu Yan.
Zhang Ren was quite courageous and ambitious when he was young. Unfortunately, the governor of Yizhou at that time was Liu Yan, who preferred to employ scholars from Dongzhou, rather than his son who was supported by the scholars from Yizhou.
Therefore, although Zhang Ren was nominally an assistant, his status could not be compared with the assistants under Qiao Yan when he was the governor of Bingzhou.
As Jia Xu and Xu Shu played the good cop and the bad cop respectively in their pressure on Liu Yan, Zhang Ren was even assigned by Liu Yan to be the accompanying bodyguard for Jia Xu and the others. 2
It probably doesn't matter whether Zhang Renle is happy or not. The most important thing at the moment is that Jia Xu has brought another general thug to his "students".
Another person who was taken away from Yizhou was Gan Ning.
But what made Jia Xu feel a little bit funny when he wrote in the letter was that Gan Ning was not persuaded by them to go there, nor did he jump on the pirate ship because of his good relationship with Chu Yan and Ma Chao, but because of the provocation of the girl Lu Lingju.
After realizing that the person she happened to meet was Gan Ning, whom Qiao Yan asked them to bring along, she immediately started thinking.
According to the information she had inquired after arriving in Yizhou, Gan Ning was particularly fond of pomp and circumstance and had a strong desire to win.
She then agreed with Lu Yi that they would argue over whether the southern navy was stronger or the northern navy was stronger.
As for the arguments from the north, one is that Qiao Yan led his men across the river on sheepskin rafts and deceived Dong Zhuo's eyes and ears, and this northern method of swimming and crossing laid the foundation for the capture; the other is that on the Yellow River waterway between Wuwei County in Liangzhou and Yunzhong County in Bingzhou, the good men in the north who were good at using ferry boats could travel back and forth without fear, which was countless times more impressive than those damn brocade sails.
After "discovering" that Gan Ning happened to overhear her conversation with Lu Yi, she put her hands on her waist and shouted at Gan Ning: "What are you looking at? I'm not wrong. There's no need to say more about your abilities. The Yellow River waterway is now under the supervision of my father Lu Fengxian. If you don't agree, go to Bingzhou and compete with him."
Gan Ning was so angry that he almost laughed.
He had never encountered such provocation since he became famous in Yizhou.
But there were two children in front of him, and he couldn't just hit them.
But if he went directly north to compete with Lu Bu or Qiao Yan... Gan Ning felt that something was wrong.
The saying "a strong dragon cannot defeat a local snake" has been true since ancient times.
He was unfamiliar with Bingzhou and might not be able to bring all of his trusted subordinates with him. If he were to lose miserably, wouldn't that make him even more embarrassed?
Thinking of what Lu Yi had just mentioned, that they were going to Xuzhou to test their academic results in Leping Academy with the goal of competing with the rebels on the other side of the Huai River, he immediately became interested.
Although both of them were crossing a river, Qiao Yan was crossing the Yellow River at that time, and the Dong Zhuo army on the other side of the river was led by a character like Niu Fu. Now, they are crossing the Huai River, and on the other side of the river are troublesome guys like Liu Bei, Chen Deng and Lu Su. In comparison, the latter might be more difficult.
If he could do it, wouldn't it prove that the southerners' naval warfare skills were no less than those of the northerners?
Gan Ning usually believed in taking revenge and doing whatever he wanted. Since he had thought of it, he would of course do it. He immediately asked Liu Yan for an overseas position, saying that he would also follow this group of people to Xuzhou.
Liu Yan... Liu Yan probably could never forget the last time he brought Gan Ning to Hanzhong to meet Qiao Yan. The other party's whistle made his eyes go black. Being able to get this scourge out of Yizhou might be a good thing in some sense.
So when Jia Xu and others were about to set off, Gan Ning was also in the team.
There were two people from Yizhou who were traveling together. One was forced to join the group, and the other volunteered to prove himself. Just from their expressions, they formed a sharp contrast in the team.
But in general, these two people were either kidnapped or deceived, either way it was not a proper way to join. Jia Xu felt unprecedented satisfaction in his heart, so much so that in the letter he sent to Qiao Yan, he expressed his joy beyond words.
Qiao Yan couldn't help but laugh again.
She wrote two letters.
One letter was to Lu Bu, in which he wrote that his daughter was very capable and smarter than him, so he must not slack off in Bingzhou. There might be a chance for him to send troops this year, so he must make sure to make his army strong.
The other letter was to Jia Mu, saying that his old father had regained his confidence and performed particularly well in Yizhou, a transit station. He wanted to show his talents in Hailing, and as his son, he must not fall behind. Now that drought is approaching, the development of water conservancy is of vital importance. If there is anything you cannot decide, just ask Lu Yuan.
Qiao Yan put down his pen and called someone to deliver the two letters.
After doing all this, she ordered again: "Go to Hongwenguan and ask Tian... ask Yuanfeng to come to my place."
Since the two generations are supposed to supervise each other, how can we miss this one!
Come to think of it, it has been nearly two years since Yuan Xi last came to Chang'an...
This child is so unfilial.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
