Chapter 1044: Countermeasures

Chapter 1044: Countermeasures

Chapter 1044: Countermeasures (Part )

"The furnishings in Mr. Yan's house are indeed rather crude." Sima Fei was somewhat surprised in the dim candlelight.

"Extravagance is disloyalty, frugality is solidity." Yan Han said with a serious face: "When the prince ascends the throne in the future, frugality should be the key. I have never heard of a situation where the superiors are frugal but the subordinates are not well-off, or where the desires are few but the subordinates are not provided. Although Jiangzuo claims to be revived, there are powerful eunuchs at home and traitors abroad. The elders of Luoyang are eagerly waiting, and the Chinese and barbarians in the north are eagerly waiting. Your Highness should be cautious and warn them."

Sima Fei was stunned.

No wonder the officials of the Eastern Palace don't like Yan Han very much. He is the crown prince, and he just came to say a few words with good intentions, but he ended up being scolded like this. If you don't know, you would think you are the crown prince's tutor.

However, after the "Resurgence of Jiangzuo", Sima Shi did become more accustomed to "scolding me to my face". When Yan Han said this, he could only accept it.

"Mr. Yan is right." Sima Fei said with a smile, "From now on, we will rely on Mr. Yan for state affairs."

Yan Han's expression did not change much, and he turned to the main business: "The matter of entering Shu should have been done long ago. Shao wants to go south to Jiangdong, but the three routes of Jingxiang, Hefei and Guangling are difficult. He may go south from Sanguan, enter Hanzhong, and attack Bashu. After taking all the Shu land, he will unite with the troops of Nanyang and Xinye to attack Xiangyang, Jiangxia and Jiangling. Once Jingzhou is gone, Xiangzhou will not be able to defend itself. In this way, Jiangdong will be in danger."

Sima Fei was a little nervous when he heard this, and asked hurriedly: "Can the fake Cheng-Cheng State resist Shao's troops? Besides, the thief Li is also hateful. He seized our Weixing County, causing it to fall into the hands of the thief Shao."

Except for the counties captured by Di Cheng, all other counties in Liangzhou were loyal to Sima. However, after years of strife between Jingbei and Liangdong, some counties could no longer hold out.

For example, Weixing County was wooed by Cheng State and surrendered. One year later, the people of the county were dissatisfied and there was internal turmoil. They killed the governor and returned to Jin. One year later, there was another turmoil, the governor was expelled and the county returned to Liang.

Xincheng County was firmly controlled by Tao Kan, but the situation in Shangyong County further west was a bit tricky.

They were originally quite loyal, but they just couldn't see any hope. Although they lived in the mountains, which were easy to defend and difficult to attack, and generally no one cared about them, over time, they inevitably sent a lot of money and goods and men to Xiangyang, which led to a lot of complaints.

After Weixing County surrendered to Liang, many elders in the county had other ideas and also wanted to surrender.

There was a rumor in the local area that an envoy from Liang Zhenxi General Jin Zheng came south from Weixing and instigated them to kill the county officials and surrender.

If things continue like this, there won’t be many counties left in Liangzhou of the Jin Dynasty.

Many people in Jianye hated Di Cheng, who instigated rebellion in the three counties east of Liang, and Sima Fei was no exception.

However, Yan Han had a different opinion. He said, "Your Highness, this is a different time. If we make friends with Li Cheng, we don't need to station heavy troops in Liang and Yi. The two can work together. The royal army will resist the Shao bandits in northern Jing, while Li Cheng can concentrate on defending Hanzhong. In this way, the three kingdoms will be established. It will take time for the court to rule the country, inspect households, and train troops. Now we can avoid war if we can. Five years later, the situation may change drastically."

The Great Jin Dynasty now has Yizhou, with its capital in Badong County.

This county originally belonged to Liangzhou. During the second year of Tai'an and the first year of Yongxing during the reign of Emperor Hui of Jin, due to the chaos in Shu and transportation cut off, the governor of Liangzhou was unable to manage the southern counties, so he transferred the three counties of Ba, Badong and Fuling to Yizhou in order to better integrate the remaining resources in Shu and fight against the Li family.

However, Ba, Fuling, Jiangyang and other counties were lost one after another, and finally only Badong was left.

At present, the county "literally belongs to Yizhou", but is actually under the jurisdiction of Jingzhou. This is because it "is located in the upper reaches of Jingchu and is the throat of Bashu". It controls the danger of the Three Gorges and is the gateway to the east of Shu. It is considered to be the key to the confrontation between Wu and Shu after the Battle of Yiling. Therefore, Tao Kan recommended Guanqiu Ao as the governor of Yizhou, supervisor of the military affairs of Badong, and garrison this place.

If Cheng and Jin cannot make peace, they will have to fight in Badong sooner or later. After all, after the Battle of Yiling, Shu still had Badong, which could cover the door. Now that it is no longer in its hands, it is really uneasy.

Sima Pei agreed with Yan Han's words, so he asked, "Do you think this can be accomplished?"

"Everything depends on human effort. We can't just do nothing." Yan Han sighed and said, "Besides, Shao Liang is very anxious to attack Yang Nandi and is about to attack Hanzhong. Isn't Li Ning anxious? There may be a chance here."

Sima Fei breathed a sigh of relief and said, "That's right. If the Shao thief cannot conquer Hefei and Xiangyang, he will definitely plan for Hanzhong and Shu, and then go downstream, emulating the Jin Dynasty's destruction of - uh, the ancients. If the Li family knows the opportunity, they should send more troops to Hanzhong and repair the city defenses to prevent the Shao thief from taking advantage of them."

"If everyone in the world is so wise, it will reduce a lot of disputes." Yan Han said with an ambiguous tone: "I will set off before the New Year. Your Highness should stay close to the wise and stay away from the villains in the capital, be filial to your parents, and be friendly to your brothers. In this way, the country will be safe and prosperous."

Sima Fei thought for a long time.

He is not stupid, he just habitually listens to other people's opinions. He can still distinguish between good and bad.

Yan Han’s opinion was similar to Wang Dao’s, although the two of them did not get along very well.

The Northern Expedition is just talk; what we should really do is defend.

The longer you guard, the more stable it will be.

"Thank you for your advice." Sima Fei stood up and bowed.

After receiving this gift, Yan Han finally showed a little relief on his face.

Although there are many things about the prince that make him dissatisfied and even angry, he is not a foolish person. Today, he is the best candidate. There is no other way, so let's endure for the sake of the country.

******
Yan Han left very soon and did not spend the New Year with her family.

On New Year's Day this year, Jianye was also quite deserted.

On New Year's Day, Emperor Sima Rui drank with his ministers in a warm atmosphere, which helped to rally the people and boost their morale.

But after a few days, he returned to the palace to rest. He could only be seen when important officials such as Wang Dao, Liu Wei, Diao Xie, Bian Xu, and Sima Ying came to the palace to make reports. The outer court handled general affairs. Anyway, it seemed that it didn't matter whether he was in the world or not.

In the second year of Taixing (329), it was the beginning of spring.

On a whim, Wang Dao and his son Wang Yue each wrote a bunch of "Yichun" posts, and then posted them everywhere for comparison.

After appreciating it for a long time, Wang Dao walked around the courtyard with his hands behind his back, saying, "I left home this morning, so I guess the news has spread?"

"It's not enough." Wang Yue said, "Now there are only more than ten scholars who have moved south. On the fifteenth day of the first lunar month, I will invite the big families in Wu to have a banquet, and we will talk about things in the north during the banquet." Just as Shao Xun has eyes and ears in Jianye, he also has news channels in the north.

The Guangcheng Conference openly encouraged the northern gentry to move south and build estates in order to rally the hearts of the people in the north, reduce conflicts over land allocation, integrate their strength, and reduce opposition to the southern expedition. This kind of thing must certainly be used well.

Starting from the first month of the lunar year, this matter should be widely spread in various gatherings and conversations to make as many people as possible aware of it.

The thief Shao wants to rally the people's hearts, and Jiangdong can also use this opportunity to rally the people's hearts.

Wang Dao wants to see, now that the northerners are all about to share your territory, is there anyone who still wants to surrender without a fight?

"In this way, the resistance to local rule, household registration, and military training will not be so great." Wang Dao said, "The country will be more stable."

"Actually, there is still a hidden worry." Wang Yue said softly.

Wang Dao knew what he meant and said, "Da Lang is too worried."

"Prince Langya..." Wang Yue said.

Wang Dao did not answer, but only looked at the bamboo and trees in the courtyard. After a long while, he asked, "It has been a year since the Prince of Langya got married. Does he have any children?"

"One concubine and four wives, none of them have any children." Wang Yue said.

"How can you be a king without an heir?" Wang Dao shook his head.

It's not surprising that there are no children after one year of marriage. It's also understandable that none of the four wives are pregnant. After all, it's only been a year. But at this juncture, it's suspicious. Who dares to bet?

On the other hand, Crown Prince Sima Fei had a daughter born to his wife and a son born to his concubine. Although he also had difficulty in having children, he still had an heir in the end.

Comparing the two, no matter how powerful the King of Langya is, the fact that he has no offspring is enough to make him stand aside.

Zhuge Daoming was probably caught off guard in this matter, and even Director Wang felt a little sympathetic towards him.

However, after speaking about Langya King Sima Chong, Wang Dao looked at his son again and sighed.

Wang Yue's face was gloomy.

He is the eldest son and has been married for many years, but he also has no children.

For some reason, many children of wealthy and powerful families have difficulty in having children, so they often have to adopt others.

He no longer took the medicine. But after he stopped, his health deteriorated. He would have a headache and fever if he caught a cold, and would be bedridden. He might not be able to leave a descendant for the Wang family, and in the future he could only adopt a descendant from his younger brother to serve as an heir.

Seeing Dalang's expression, Wang Dao stopped talking and asked, "What do you think about the affairs of Huainan and Lujiang?"

Wang Yue calmed down and said, "Shan Yanlin has been managing Wuhu Lake, opening up the wasteland, and cultivating good farmland. It has taken a lot of effort and energy. I am afraid they are unable to go north. Even if they do, it is only a small fleet, and it is unlikely to be able to drive away the Hu cavalry."

"Local judges and inspectors are the right things to do. Shan Yanlin is actually right." Wang Dao said, "Shao the thief must have seen this, so he sent the Hu cavalry south to harass and disturb the people. If Shan Yanlin loses his patience and uses the money and food for resettlement of refugees for military struggle and marches north in large numbers, he will fall into Shao the thief's evil plan."

"Western Prefecture still has soldiers who can fight." Wang Yue said, "They use the 7,000 surrendered people from Zu Yue as the backbone, and recruit thousands of strong refugees and natives. After farming, they will train many times. After crossing the river to the north, they may gain something with the help of the navy."

"Shan Yanlin is not a reckless person." Wang Dao said, "He may go north, but he is mainly to appease the people. He may not be willing to attack the Xianbei Hu cavalry with short and long attacks. It's good to be like this. First, stabilize the situation, settle the people, and train the troops. Without soldiers and food, how can we hold out for long?"

Wang Yue understood.

Wuhu is now considered Shanxia’s “old nest”.

He had been to that place once. It was a vast area, but uninhabited.

The forests and lakes in the area are connected one after another, seemingly endless. It has been developed since the Spring and Autumn Period, but there have been few achievements so far and the population is very small.

There was a reason why the imperial court established Qiao State in Wuhu County. It was just a place that no one wanted.

A few years ago, Shan Xia wrote a letter requesting the establishment of Shouchun County in Huainan Prefecture in Wuhu to accommodate the people of Huainan who had relocated last year, and the court agreed.

It was at this time that Wuhu ushered in a huge opportunity.

More than 10,000 households poured in and were divided into more than 20 townships, each of which reclaimed wasteland. They relied entirely on Xuancheng, Danyang and other counties for support, which was truly a difficult situation.

It will take at least until next autumn harvest before Wuhu can barely be self-sufficient.

As for providing supplies for the war, we will have to wait.

"Let's finish this New Year first." Director Wang patted his son's thin shoulder and said softly, "Go and accompany your mother."

After Wang Yue left, Director Wang continued to think in the courtyard.

After a long time, he decided to take advantage of the free time during the New Year holidays to write more letters and send them to the major families in Jiangdong, explaining to them in detail the pros and cons of Shao's southward advance and strengthening their determination to resist.

The thief Shao has never taken you seriously, and now he wants to share your property, land, and people in order to appease his followers. You should think carefully about what to do next - this is the focus of this year's propaganda.

(End of this chapter)