Chapter 1163 Ending

Chapter 1163 Ending

Chapter 1163 Ending
When Duan Liang's troops entered Chengdu one after another, the main force of Shao Shen's troops was still in Jiangyang (now Luzhou area).

On the second day of March, he sent a vanguard of more than 10,000 people, mainly from the Heiliang Right Camp, westward along the Shu River, straight to Baidao County, Jianwei County (near today's Yibin).

This county is located at a strategic location.

The Mahu River (Jinsha River) flows from the southeast, and the Wen River (Min River) flows from the north of the city. The two rivers meet in the east of the city, sandwiching the city in the middle. Therefore, it has been a scenic spot since ancient times.

The Wuchi Road opened by the Qin Dynasty and the Baimen Road opened by the Han Dynasty both passed through here and connected to Ning and Guang, making it an important hub in the southwest.

After the army arrived here, they had to change to a small boat and go north along the Wenjiang River directly to the vicinity of Chengdu.

The entire route is accessible by water and the terrain is flat, which shows how easy it is to attack Shu from the south and east, and how convenient it is to transport materials.

Shao Shen waited in Jiangyang County for a few days, appeased the local officials, and sent a group of auxiliary soldiers to garrison. During this period, he also received envoys from Zhuti and Zangke counties.

Seeing that the situation was hopeless, the two counties all surrendered, except Yuexi County in the west, which refused to surrender. It seemed that a large army had returned from Ningzhou and occupied the county.

The number of this army did not exceed 20,000, half of them were young men from the six counties and half were barbarian soldiers. They were previously led by Li Long, a member of the royal family.

Upon hearing the great changes in Shu and the crushing defeat of Dacheng's army, Li Long was so angry that he died. Before his death, he handed over his troops to his Sima, a member of the royal family, and Duke Wuling Li Zai.

It is likely that Yi Zai was unwilling to surrender.

As for Ningzhou, Shao Shen also asked the Shu people for information. After Zhuge Hui became the governor of Jingzhou, he contacted the local tribal chieftains who originally submitted to Jin and later surrendered to Cheng, and won over some of them to defect.

In addition, some local officials were originally officials of the Jin Dynasty, but were later forced to surrender. They were then won over by Zhuge Hui and joined the Jin Dynasty again.

So Li Cheng sent Li Long to lead an army to fight, but the process was interrupted by the attack of the Liang army.

Hearing that the Jin army had been gaining momentum in Ningzhou recently and that countless people had defected to Jin, Li Zai's troops might not be able to stay there any longer, so he led the tribes willing to submit to Li Cheng and headed north, first to Yuexi County, and then advanced towards Hanjia, Jianwei, and Zhuti counties.

Most of the tribes heading north were Liao people, who had the same origin as the Liao people in Shu today.

This great migration movement that began in the Han Dynasty has not stopped until now. They have migrated from Ningzhou, either actively or passively, in batches, just like the Hu people from the north and the west who swarmed into the Central Plains.

Today, the Liao people have spread to the Hanzhong area, and hundreds of thousands of them have migrated over the past one or two hundred years - perhaps even more.

They first lived in the mountains, and then slowly moved down the mountains to grab land. After Li Cheng's amnesty, more and more people moved down the mountains to live, and they have become a major ethnic group that cannot be ignored in Shu - the Han, Qiang, Qiang, and Liao ethnic groups.

Li Zai led tens of thousands of Liao people northward, which was a proactive immigration.

Population is a resource and any ruler attaches great importance to it. Since Ningzhou cannot be preserved, it is normal to take away those who are willing to follow them.

We still need to send a detachment to attack Yuexi County.

On the sixth day of March, after the army arrived at Baidao, he immediately transferred the Black Sword Army to the west to attack Yueshi Lizai. The main force continued to move north, completely focused, after all, at this point, there was no army in Shu that could threaten him.

On the seventh day, a part of the young men were left to guard Zhenjiang Pavilion and the county town, while the main force began to cross the river. Zhenjiang Pavilion was located in the west of the city, and there was an iron chain on the nearby Mahu River, which crossed the river to cut off the entry and exit of the barbarians. After all, the Mahu River originated from Nanzhong.

On March 12, the army arrived at Qianwei and camped at Dalu Mountain south of the city. They marched 50 li a day, which was an extremely fast speed.

Halfway through the journey, Shao Shen received news that the Hanzhong army was unwilling to surrender after hearing that Chengdu had been captured.

Then one day, General Ren Tiao was assassinated and the army fell into chaos. Yang Nandi tried to seize the military power but failed, so he fled to the southwest. His troops were scattered along the way and he no longer had the might of the past.

General Jin Zheng, the Zhenxi General, had already led his troops to defeat Cheng's army at Feixianling and was heading towards Mianyang County. Upon hearing the news, he quickened his march and incorporated various units of Cheng's army on the spot.

At present, he is in Hanzhong to eliminate the remaining enemies who are unwilling to surrender and stabilize the local order. It is not known when he will go south.

On March 17, a vanguard of nearly 20,000 people consisting of the Silver Spear Camp and the Left Jinwu Guard arrived at "Shaocheng" outside Chengdu.

******
"Meet the General of the Western Expedition."

"Meet the Grand Commander."

"Meet the Prince of Julu."

Outside Zao Bridge in the south of the city, Fan Ben, Duan Liang and Huan Wen all saluted.

Zao Bridge is located in the south of Shaocheng. It is the main road out of the south of the city. It is said to have been built by Li Bing and has been repaired throughout the dynasties.

As for Shaocheng, it is a small city located west of Chengdu, similar to a small citadel or military fortress that protects a big city.

When Li Xiong attacked Chengdu in the past, he first went to Shaocheng and stationed troops there, while Luo Shang retreated to Chengdu (also known as "Taicheng") to defend it.

When Shao Shen saw the crowd, he did not dismount first, but looked at the three people carefully, especially Huan Wen.

"Yuanzi." After a moment, Shao Shen dismounted and said, "You have made a lot of contributions this time, which is extremely rare at your age. The emperor doesn't know how to reward you."

Isn't it true? Huan Wen was only 21 years old, but he was already the commander of the Xiangyang Duzhi Army. With his meritorious service this time, his official position will definitely be promoted, and he might even be granted a title.

Even if he was the son-in-law of the royal family, he had to consider at this time, according to his momentum, if he made more contributions, would he be able to become a governor before the age of 30? It might not be impossible.

The emperor is forty-five years old. If he dies, what should the new emperor do when faced with a governor who is less than thirty years old and has command of a large army?
This growth trajectory is exactly the same as that of the emperor in his early years, but the emperor was living in a chaotic era at that time, so it was understandable that he was promoted quickly. However, Huan Wen's time was not a completely chaotic era.

Faced with this situation, even putting Huan Wen on the back burner was not a good idea for the new monarch. After all, a minister in his thirties was more intimidating and could more easily unite people and build up prestige and relationships.

As for continuing to use him, it is even more difficult.

It looks like he has no choice but to be killed... So, from the perspective of protecting Huan Wen, he cannot be allowed to continue making meritorious contributions. It would be better for everyone if he were to calm down.

Huan Wen's face changed slightly when he heard Shao Shen's words, and he immediately said, "I have made some contributions by chance, and I am sorry to make the commander-in-chief laugh. Fighting is not my job, so I will transport the wealth back to Xiangyang."

Shao Shen hummed, then looked at Fan Ben and said, "Lord Fan has many people asking for favors. There are people everywhere trying to test and intercede for him along the way."

Fan Ben did not expect Shao Shen to speak so bluntly, so he could only say: "I am also thinking about the stability of Shuzhong."

"Have you raised all the money?" Shao Shen asked.

Fan Ben sighed and said, "We have obtained hundreds of thousands of horses."

"All of this was raised in Chengdu, right?" Shao Shen asked. "Go to the surrounding counties and raise the money as soon as possible. My men are not just taking the money and not doing anything. When the White Horse Hu plundered Wenshan (now Aba area), I sent troops to fight them."

Fan Ben was helpless.

Wenshan is in chaos, so what can we do about it?

During the Taishi period of the Jin Dynasty, the White Horse Hu were plundering everywhere. Huangfu Yan, then governor of Yizhou, wanted to send troops to fight them, but He Lu, a member of the Imperial Academy, dissuaded him, saying that Wenshan was full of Hu people and they were killing each other, so why bother with them! If we send troops in summer, there will be many diseases and epidemics, so it is not worth it.

To this day, Wenshan is mostly inhabited by Qiang people, with a few Di people, and almost no Han people. They are happy to kill each other, so let them kill each other. Now Wenshan doesn't even have a governor. Wouldn't it be better to wait until they have killed enough and then send someone to take over?
However, after Shao Shen said this, Fan Ben could only follow his words and said, "With the Daliang Heavenly Soldiers here, Shu will be at peace."

Shao Shen finally looked at Duan Liang and asked, "Is everything done?"

"It's settled." Duan Liang clasped his fists.

"It's March now. We will dismiss some of the soldiers tomorrow. We still have to harvest wheat in May." Shao Shen said, "Those who leave first should take their wealth with them. It's ridiculous to leave thousands of miles without even receiving money. Today we will issue rewards and take the criminal Li Cheng with us and let us leave Hanzhong."

"Yes, sir." Duan Liang responded and immediately started to get things done.

******
March 18th.

The main hall of Taichu Temple, the sleeping hall, the east and west wings, and the attached courtyards and pavilions are already full of people.

It was already breakfast time, but no one came to deliver food today. Instead, a large number of soldiers rushed in like wolves and tigers.

"Come down! Come down!" An officer held the hilt of his knife and shouted downstairs.

Suddenly, there were cries of crying coming from upstairs and downstairs.

Most of them were Li Cheng's concubines, royal family members, and women of noble families. They were temporarily placed here. When they heard the shouts of the Liang soldiers, they were terrified.

A woman hung a white silk on the beam with trembling hands, but she stood there for a long time and still did not have the courage to hang herself. Finally, she could only sit on the ground, covering her face and crying.

Some people had a blank expression on their faces, but brought their favorite beautiful clothes, rouge, incense, etc., which they could use when they were dressing up.

Some people even wanted to commit suicide by jumping into a well, but when they saw their young children, they could only hug them and cry.

The sergeants were already impatient and, led by the officers, went upstairs to urge them.

One after another, the beautiful and graceful women with sad expressions came out in a line, just as the saying goes, "The concubines, maids, princes and grandchildren left the palace and came to Qin (Liang) in a sedan chair, singing and playing the strings day and night, becoming the palace ladies of Qin..."

It's hard to generalize about their outcomes.

Some of them would be awarded by Shao Xun to meritorious soldiers. It was difficult to be the first wife, unless you were lucky, like Liu Cong's little Liu Guiren, who was made the first wife by Hou Feihu and gave birth to several children for him. Now she has a respected status.

Some of them would be taken into Shao Xun's harem for his enjoyment. But this was only in theory, and Shao Xun would probably get tired of them after playing with them once or twice and never visit them again.

The worst thing is that Shao Ze simply forgot about this person...

Are you really as lucky as Han Wendi's mother, Bo Ji? Do you have the help of Madam Guan and Zhao Zier?
The Xiongnu Queen Jin Yuehua was once very favored, but later Shao Zei got tired of her. However, her younger sister Jin Yuehui was very favored and mentioned her sister from time to time, so the two sisters often served Shao Xun together. This is the benefit of having a small group to help each other.

Of course, these people are not the worst.

The worst off were those who were sent to work in the Ye Ting, and were directly reduced to palace maids. This was also a common practice in all dynasties, that is, the wives and daughters of the defeated, enemies, and criminals were directly sent to the palace to work as palace maids. They did physical work and had no way to take revenge - of course, almost no one took revenge.

There were a bunch of criminal relatives in Shao's palace doing laundry, feeding horses, and mending clothes.

Only in very rare cases would he be in high spirits and go to the Ye Ting to see the wives and daughters of the criminals he had captured, take off their clothes, play with them and enjoy them, and then leave. He would not come back for several months or half a year - so far no woman has been successful in this way, and Shao Ze didn't know the reason, and he was too lazy to care.

However, at the beginning of the year, under the persuasion of Shao's mother Liu, Shao Xun released a group of wives and daughters of criminals from the palace and allowed them to choose their own husbands.

In short, Ye Ting is not a good place to go, but these people have no choice.

In this world, women are also objects that can be objectified and measured by their value.

Anyway, the soldiers who were supervising them going downstairs were happy to not even ask for any reward, and some even paid for it themselves to buy one to take home.

It's a pity that this is not about money, you need to do meritorious service to get the reward. The soldiers will be motivated to fight bravely for such a small matter.

As the sun rose higher, these women, along with a group of children, boarded hundreds of horse-drawn carriages and ox-drawn carts and followed the first group of withdrawing troops, heading north to Hanzhong.

At the same time, the victory report was also sent to Luoyang.

(End of this chapter)