Rakhan

Song Jian, the king of the Han Dynasty in Heshouping, was scolding for no other reason, half a year ago he was extorted by Li Dao and others to take away half of the treasury, this time the Han army came again, and he planned to end the pot.

Li Wei didn't have any good intentions when he left Song Jian, but he felt that keeping Song Jian to help him loot the people's wealth was far less labor-saving than doing it himself. So half a year ago, following Jia Xu's suggestion, Li Dao took Zhang Ji and Fan Chou to make trouble for Song Jian, and after Song Jian offered half of the treasury, Li Dao withdrew from the army.

But this time it's different, it's not Li Dao but Liu Xie, Liu Xie is the son of the Han Dynasty, and Song Jian dares to call King Pinghan, this is looking for bad luck. Moreover, this time the battle between the imperial court and the Xiliang army, the capture after the war was not enough to be used for reward. Li Dao Guo Yan raised an army to make a rebellion, although it was blocked in Tianshui County, but with the military disaster, Tianshui and Nan'an did not have to count on this year's autumn harvest, and in addition to Tianshui and Nan'an counties, Guangwei and Anding, which had not appointed county guards to govern the place before, also needed to send people to govern at this time.

If you don't know that firewood and rice are expensive, and the balance of the money bag is not much, you can only find a way to make up for it. Liu Xie was unwilling to search for those bitter people, so he hit Song Jian's idea. Since this Song Jian dared to call King Pinghan, he was looking for death. At the beginning, the court didn't have the energy to take care of him, so he was free for a few years, but now he happens to have soldiers and food in his hands, who will you clean up if you don't clean up?

After Lintao and Huang Zhong converged, Liu Xie led the army to Caohan with a murderous spirit. Song Jian was enjoying the service of a beautiful woman in his palace, and when he heard the news of the Han army's killing, he was almost frightened. Although Song Jian still claims to have 100,000 soldiers, in fact, there are not even 10,000 horses now, and many of these 10,000 people are horse thieves who Song Jian has just bought. Knowing that the imperial army had arrived, those horse thieves abandoned Song Jian without saying a word, and they didn't even care about the city gate, so they fled.

By the time Song Jian reacted and was about to give the order to defend the city, Zhao Yun and Pang De, who were the vanguards, had already rushed into Caohan with cavalry. The Han army was not the Xiliang army, and it did not kill the people in the city, but only drove all the idle people home, and they were not allowed to go to the streets at will. The inhabitants of the city hid in their homes and peeked through the crack in the door to see the Han army entering the city, waiting in fear for the fateful moment to come.

Liu Xie entered the city under the protection of Wang Yue and Hu Che'er, and came to the outside of Song Jian's palace, where he saw Song Jian, the king of Pinghan, kneeling on the ground. It's just that Liu Xie didn't intend to spare Song Jian because of Song Jian's surrender at this time.

The merit is higher than the rescue, and the crime is nothing more than seeking a dynasty. And this Song Jian is not just planning to rebel, but has been king for nearly ten years. If you don't die, you won't die! Liu Xie did have the power to pardon Song Jian's capital crimes, but the question was what Song Jian deserved Liu Xie's pardon for him.

asked Song Jian and his civil and military officials to be dragged to the entrance of the vegetable market to behead, and Liu Xie led the generals into the palace of King Pinghan. Because Zhao Yun and Pang De acted quickly, after entering the city, except for some people who were left to maintain law and order in the city, everyone else rushed to the palace, so that not a single person in the palace ran away.

"I didn't expect Song Jian, the grass-headed genius, to be quite like that. He didn't pull down any of the civil and military officials, the three palaces and the six courts. Liu Xie said to the people beside him with a smile while looking through the account books found from the palace.

"Lord, how is the seizure?" Zhao Yun walked over and asked at this time.

"It's not bad, it temporarily relieves the pressure on the imperial court."

"What is the lord going to do with the people here?"

When Liu Xie heard this, he glanced at Zhao Yun, shook his head and said, "Zilong, I'm not a person who loves to kill. Now that the first evil has been removed, these accomplices ...... All the men were enslaved and farmed on the spot, and the women were ...... After a while, I ordered someone to ask, and the family members were let go to reunite with the family, and the homeless were temporarily taken in to reward those brave soldiers who fought bravely. ”

"The lord plans to garrison troops in Caohan?" Zhao Yun asked with some surprise.

"Well, although Li Dao Guo Yan has been removed, Han Sui Ma Teng of Liangzhou is still there, and in order to set up a buffer zone, the imperial court temporarily gave up the governance of Guangwei and Anding, but now it must be taken back. And Longxi and Nan'an also can't give up. Oh, you don't expect to stay, you have to go back to Beijing with me. ”

“…… Who does the lord intend to leave behind to guard Caohan? ”

"What do you think of Bodao?"

"Lack of progress, more than enough."

"Okay, then Bodao. Now the main energy of the imperial court still needs to be focused on restoring people's livelihood, and it is still necessary to focus on defense externally. Bo Dao is good at defense, and keeping him in Caohan is the best use of people. By the way, don't tell anyone just yet, I still need to think about it. ”

"Don't worry, the lord is not a person who likes to rap."

There are a lot of seizures of Caohan, and with the capture of Caohan, it can be regarded as a solution to Liu Xie's urgent need, at least the rewards for the soldiers have been settled, plus the seizures obtained from the Xiliang Army, the days are fine, and the imperial court can still support it.

After resting for a few days in Caohan, Liu Xie returned to Chang'an with his army. It is said that it is a large army, but in fact, there are not many people and horses with it, there are only 30,000 horses in total, but there are many places where troops need to be left and garrisoned. Longxi, Nan'an, Guangwei, and Anding all need to send troops. Liu Xie is configured according to 5,000 infantry and 1,000 cavalry, if he guards the four counties, he can follow Liu Xie back to Chang'an with 5,000 infantry and 1,000 cavalry.

Liu Xie took Longxi, Nan'an, and Guangwei, and sent Hao Zhao, Pang De, and Xu Huang to lead troops to garrison, as for stability, Liu Xie planned to borrow Zhang Liao from Lü Bu to garrison, and as for Lü Bu's Bingzhou army, Liu Xie needed them to temporarily stay in Fengyi County to guard against the Huns.

In this way, the men and horses who could return to Beijing with Liu Xie became 10,000 foot soldiers and 2,000 cavalry. Huang Zhong is still stationed in Hanzhong, and after escorting Liu Xie back to Chang'an, he will lead his troops back to Hanzhong, so Chang'an's men and horses are still 5,000 foot soldiers and 1,000 cavalry, which will not make Lu Bu feel uneasy.

But not long after Liu Xie set off to return to Chang'an, Liu Xie received a report from Jia Xu on the way. Although Liu Xie didn't look down on Dong Cheng, he didn't deliberately target him. It's a pity that this person doesn't know what to do, but he wants to be smart, and he doesn't know that he is being used as a gun. Although Jia Xu's letter had not yet found out who Dong Cheng's accomplice was, Liu Xie identified Cao Cao almost immediately. There's no reason, it's just intuition.

Yuan Shao of Hebei was busy killing Gongsun Zhan, and he didn't want to invite Liu Xie, the son of heaven, back to be the "emperor". And Nanyang Yuan Shu is thinking about being the master of the house, and it is impossible to "invite" Liu Xie back to block himself. Jingzhou Liu Biao made a shrinking turtle when he was begging Dong, how could he have the courage to do this at this time. As for the other princes, they are either too busy to take care of themselves, or they are beyond the reach of the whip, and it is not very likely.

Only Cao Cao of Yanzhou has strategic vision, and he also has the courage, and his current situation is not very good, sandwiched between the two major forces of the Yuan family. Now Hebei Yuan Shao has no time to find trouble with Cao Cao, but once he completely settles Gongsun Zhan, he will definitely attack Cao Cao mercilessly. Or he will treat Cao Cao as his pawn against Yuan Shu, but no matter what the result is, it is not something Cao Cao is willing to accept.

If Yanzhou wants to get out of the predicament, the only way is to coerce the Son of Heaven to order the princes, at least with the Son of Heaven in hand, the other princes will not dare to deal with Cao Cao easily, but Cao Cao can use the name of the Son of Heaven to attack from afar and expand his power.

If there is no evidence, there is no way to tell the world, but Liu Xie does not plan to trouble Cao Cao at this time. In the land of the four wars in Yanzhou, the imperial court was unable to advance eastward at this time, leaving Cao Cao as a-stirring stick, and it would take longer for the Central Plains to settle down. Moreover, Dong Cheng's move also gave Liu Xie the opportunity to rectify the court.

Liu Xie has always wanted to clean up the hundreds of officials in the court, and implement the principle of those who are capable and those who are mediocre who are down. It's just that in order to stabilize the situation, Liu Xie couldn't make people panic. And now, it is just taking advantage of Dong Cheng's matter to get rid of some people who have mediocre abilities but occupy high positions in the DPRK and China.

Cleaning up is not the same as killing, and Liu Xie doesn't want to give people the impression of unloading the mill and killing the donkey. Don't you want power? Then I will give you the right to a county, but if you want to stay in Guanzhong, it will be impossible. Liu Xie still needs to think about this matter carefully, and he will not press the table for the time being.

Victory! The great trouble of the imperial court has been eliminated, and the people of Guanzhong, who were originally worried about their lives, can be regarded as relieved, and their recognition of Liu Xie, the son of heaven, has also followed to a new stage. As soon as the people's hearts stabilized, the people's livelihood in various places will be steadily restored, and Liu Xie couldn't help but be happy when he saw the people living and working in peace and contentment along the way.

The stability of the people means that they will receive a steady stream of soldiers, money and food, and if you want to complete the hegemony of dominating the world, these two things are absolutely indispensable.

……

Back in Chang'an, Liu Xie was warmly welcomed, and after feasting the ministers and rewarding the three armies, Liu Xie left Cai Yong. Cai Yong originally thought that Liu Xie was going to tell him how to deal with Dong Cheng's matter, but he didn't want Liu Xie to say nothing, but took out the list of personnel he had conceived on the way back to Chang'an.

Longxi County guards Guan Ning, Guangwei County guards Zhong Xuan, Anding County guards Xun You, these three counties are all places where county guards need to be set up, Cai Yong has no objection, but it is a little difficult to transfer Xun Yu and Fa Yan into the court as officials. Xun Yu is famous, but after all, he has just been an official, and he is Situ when he enters the court, is there some pulling seedlings to help him? Although Fa Yan is talented, he has a loss in virtue, and if he is appointed as the imperial historian, I am afraid that the court will be criticized.

"Holy Lord, is it a bit hasty to transfer Xun Yu into the court? Although Xun Yu is talented, he lacks qualifications, and he has risen to a high position when he first comes, is it a little inappropriate? As for Fa Yan, although he is talented, he has lost virtue in the past......" Cai Yong whispered against Liu Xiedao. It's just that Liu Xie had expected that Cai Yong would not readily agree, and without waiting for Cai Yong to finish speaking, he waved his hand and interrupted: "If Wen is talented, he can be called Xiao He in the world, and the court should employ people who are capable and mediocre, how can they determine official positions based on qualifications." Mr. Cai, in my opinion, those who are wrapped in corpses are more hateful than those who seek to usurp the throne. This matter is not decided to be discussed again, Xun Yu must enter Beijing, and he must be Situ. ”

“…… What about Fayan? "Cai Yong is not Wang Yun, if Liu Xie dares to speak to Wang Yun like this, the stubborn old man dares to blow his beard and stare at Liu Xie and slap the table. But Liu Xie has a life-saving grace for Cai Yong, and Cai Yong's temperament is also a little soft, seeing Liu Xie's insistence, he didn't say anything about Xun Yu anymore, and asked about Fa Yan instead.

"Fa Yan...... Swapped with Guan Ning, and he was appointed as the county guard of Longxi. Liu Xie thought about it and said to Cai Yong.

"What about Hanzhong?"

"Yan Pu will take over."

“…… So what does the Holy Lord plan to do with Dong Cheng? ”

Hearing Cai Yong's inquiry, Liu Xie was stunned, looked at Cai Yong and asked, "What does Mr. Cai think I should do with this person?" ”

"This ...... Dong Cheng is a relative after all, although he has evil intentions, he did not cause a catastrophe after all, and he is also the nephew of the Empress Dowager Dong...... I also ask the Holy One to make his own decision. ”

“…… Mr. Cai is really kind. Seeing this, Liu Xie smiled and pondered for a moment before saying to Cai Yong: "Mr. Cai, in fact, I have also thought about how to deal with Dong Cheng on the way back to Chang'an. According to the Han law, Dong Cheng will definitely die. But as you said, he is my grandmother's nephew, and for my grandmother's sake, I want to spare his life, but I don't want to see him again. ”

"Holy means ......"

"Let's get out. Didn't he want to monopolize power in the DPRK and China? It is impossible to give him the power of the DPRK, but it is still possible to give him the power to guard a county. However, after being released, whether he is dead or alive depends on his own creation. Trouble Mr. Cai to work hard and choose a few places for him and his friends, I don't want to mention this matter again. ”

"The old minister understands."

There are many purposes for killing, and Liu Xie does not need to kill people to establish his authority at this time, and he has no bitter hatred with Dong Cheng. Although killing Dong Cheng will not have any impact on Liu Xie's reputation, Liu Xie does not want to see blood at this festive time. Dong Cheng was lucky and caught up with the good time.

Cai Yong got Liu Xie's letter, and the stone hanging in his heart fell. Liu Xie is not wrong, Cai Yong is indeed a kind person, and he will be entrusted by others to test Liu Xie and want to save Dong Cheng's life. And Liu Xie didn't say it, anyway, Dong Cheng's life and death are not important to Liu Xie, and he won't see him in the future, so it doesn't matter if he lets him go.

Back at his home, Cai Yong met Dong Cheng's daughter, who had been staying in Cai's mansion and waiting for news. After Dong Cheng was captured, Cai Yong did not embarrass Dong Cheng's family, during this time the Dong Mansion underwent great changes, in addition to the loyal housekeeper, only Dong Cheng's ten-year-old daughter Dong Yun was running around to save her father. It's just that heaven can still live, and Dong Cheng died by himself, especially after Liu Hong drew a clear line with Dong Cheng, Dong Yun's action to save his father became more difficult.

Cai Yong, as the chief of the hundred officials who stayed in Chang'an, was naturally the target of Dong Yun's help. Cai Yong didn't want to meddle in this matter, but after seeing that Dong Yun couldn't kneel down to save his father and became ill, he couldn't help but feel compassion and promised Dong Yun to intercede with the saint for Dong Cheng, but whether the saint would spare Dong Cheng, Cai Yong didn't dare to guarantee.

"Dong Yun thanks Mr. Cai for saving his father." Knowing that his father would not die, Dong Yun immediately knelt on the ground and thanked Cai Yong repeatedly. Seeing this, Cai Yong hurriedly helped Dong Yun up, shook his head and said, "It's not that the old man helps, but the saint has no intention of wanting your father's life." ”

"Anyway, thank you Mr. Cai for your help."

“…… You can recuperate with peace of mind, and I believe that you will be able to reunite father and daughter in a few days. ”

When Dong Yun was carried back to the room to rest by Cai's subordinates, Cai Yan, who had been accompanying Dong Yun before, asked, "Father, you look like ...... Not very happy? ”

“…… It's okay, you're tired too, go down and rest. Cai Yong didn't want his daughter to know too much about the court, so he shook his head and said to Cai Yan.

Cai Yan saw that his father refused to say anything, and he couldn't force him to ask, so he had to remind his father to pay attention to his body, and went back to his room after resting early. However, if you can't ask from your father, it doesn't mean that Cai Yan can't know why her father is depressed. When the sky was bright, Cai Yan ordered someone to take care of Dong Yun, who was recuperating in Cai's mansion, and went directly to the palace.

It is not difficult for Cai Yan to enter the palace. Although she is a woman, because she is the daughter of Cai Yong, Liu Xie gave Cai Yan a task to teach women in the palace to read and learn characters. It's not that Liu Xie seems to have nothing to do with the pain of reading and learning calligraphy, but that Liu Xie intends to train these women to be the gentlemen who take care of the accounts, and they will flood his caravan in the future. The money in the treasury belongs to the state, and Liu Xie can use it if he wants to, but it will definitely provoke the persuasion of the courtiers.

A country cannot be rich without business, and a country without businessmen cannot be rich. But businessmen are profit-seeking, and businessmen dare to do anything for the sake of huge profits. If the country wants to be rich, it cannot do without businessmen, but at the same time, it must guard against businessmen doing things that are detrimental to the interests of the country because of profit-seeking. Blind suppression is not a good strategy, and the solution that Liu Xie came up with is to set up a group of merchants for the court to fight against those unscrupulous businessmen.

Just as the best way to deal with cavalry is to use cavalry, so the best way to deal with merchants is to use merchants.

Cai Yan has the identity of a female professor in the palace, and it is very convenient to enter the palace, and it is not difficult to find Liu Xie. Compared with Cai Yong, Liu Xie prefers Cai Yan. Intellectual beauty, eye-catching. Although Liu Xie is powerless at the moment, it is better to look at a beauty than a dry old man.

After listening to Cai Yan's inquiry, Liu Xie smiled, "It's okay, your father is just a little sentimental." ”

"What do you mean?"

"After seeing my method of dealing with Dong Cheng and others, I felt sad about the death of a rabbit and a fox."

“…… What are you going to do with Dong Cheng? Cai Yan frowned and asked.

"Didn't your dad tell you?" Liu Xie asked with some doubts.

"No, what else would I do with you?" Cai Yan glanced at Liu Xie and said.

"Huh...... Actually, it's nothing, it's just to let them out. ”

"Outside?"

"Well, you can go anywhere except Guanzhong."

"......" Cai Yan thought about it and understood the meaning of release. But there is nothing to say, being able to spare the lives of Dong Cheng and others is already considered Liu Xie's benevolence, not to mention that Dong Cheng and others will be released as officials, this kind of treatment, no one can find fault with Liu Xie.