Updated: 2013-10-06

When the Zhao army besieged and killed the rout of the Shu army, Yang Wangqing, who was located in Xicheng County, was also pacifying the people of Xicheng County. The latest free chapters of the book can be found here. I have to say that when the Shu army withdrew, the damage brought to Xicheng County was not light. Because Xicheng County was a place where the Han army and the Shu army fought before, most of the people in the city were recruited by the Han army to defend the city, and there were many casualties. The people in the city have food stored in their homes, and most of them are recruited by the government. Later, when the Han army retreated, it was because in order to prevent the Shu army from getting the grain and grass materials in the city, they completely burned the grain they got from the people.

And because the Zhao army blockaded Chenggu, so that the Shu army in Chenggu could not transport grain and grass materials in time to the Shu army camp, so the Shu army had no choice but to forcibly requisition the food of the people in the surrounding towns and villages outside the city. After the city was broken, the Shu army gained nothing. Just as the Zhao army was 'approaching', the Shu army once again forcibly levied the people in the city, so that the people in the city had no food and were on the verge of life and death.

After Zhao Jun entered the city, these things naturally needed Zhao Jun to take over. If you don't appease the people in the city, Zhao Jun naturally can't control Xicheng County. But fortunately, the Zhao army in Chenggu received the food of the Shu army's 20,000 troops for a month. Now, it is naturally used by the Zhao army on the people of Xicheng County.

Although Zhao Jun paid a lot of food, Zhao Jun also quickly won the hearts of the people here. It can be said that the speed at which the people of Xicheng County recognized Zhao Jun's dominance here was far from being comparable to other places. Whether it is the Han army or the Shu army, they will only forcibly levy grain and all kinds of harsh taxes from the people. Therefore, in the six days when Qin You led the army to pursue the Shu army, Yang Wangqing had solved the people's food problem, that is, the people's survival problem, and more than 20 towns and towns in Xicheng County began to support his Zhao army.

Even, seeing that the Zhao army was insufficient, many young men directly asked to join the army to assist the Zhao army in guarding the place, so as to ensure the rule of the Zhao army here. Because these people were worried that if the Zhao army was defeated by other armies, their survival would be a problem. Whether it was the Han army or the Shu army, in order to forcibly requisition food, they slaughtered many people, especially some soldiers in order to forcibly obtain some money from the people's homes, and they were 'private' and plundered. Later, when the Shu army withdrew, 'rape'/'lewdness'/captivity/plunder, all kinds of evil.

"Speaking of which, we also have to thank the generals of the Han army and the Shu army, if it weren't for them, we would have been able to take over this place so quickly and get the support of the people?" Qin You, who had returned victorious, couldn't help but laugh when he heard Yang Wangqing say this.

"By the way, my lord, this time we have collected seven or eight thousand captives in Chenggu and Xicheng counties, except for half of them who can be used by us, the rest are Yizhou soldiers, what should they do?"

Yang Wangqing thought for a while and said in a deep voice: "Let it go!" ”

"Put? It took them prisoner and let them go like this? Is this ...... Let them go, they will return to the south of Hanzhong, and they will also be regrouped by the Shu army and incorporated into the Shu army again, and they will still be hostile to us. Qin You was stunned for a moment, and said with some puzzlement.

Yang Wangqing said with a smile: "These soldiers have been let go by us, among them, there are family members in the south and Yizhou and other places will naturally go south, and the Shu army in the south will naturally re-recruit them, and they will also be interrogated." You say that they will be rebuked by their own side after so hard to run for their lives, will they accept it in their hearts? ”

"Secondly, when these soldiers go back, they will basically be absorbed by the Southern Shu Army and continue to be incorporated into the army. And the 'engagement' between them and us will naturally be transmitted to the Shu army, and more importantly, they will spread some news to fight with us, and they can survive if they surrender. In addition, when these soldiers 'engaged' with us again, they will also be afraid of this defeat, and they will not dare to fight us to the death, and will even be the first to surrender. ”

"Third, we need these soldiers to spread the news of Feng Yanzhang's suicide in order to serve the king of Shu, Situ Che, to the southern Shu army. Based on my understanding of Situ Che, this time the Han army and the Shu army were defeated, Situ Che will definitely still be responsible for the head of Feng Yanzhang. At that time, the Shu army, which had followed Feng Yanzhang in the Han army for several months, would definitely be dissatisfied with the king of Shu, and the generals and colonels of the southern Shu army would also be dissatisfied with the newly arrived commander of the Shu army. In this way, it is a great advantage for us. ”

Hearing this, Qin You nodded again and again, and said with a smile: "This is very good, then let these soldiers be dismissed." Leaving behind is also a curse for us. ”

Yang Wangqing said to Hu Zhi in the eighth town again: "By the way, this time the civilian official can go south with the army?" ”

Hu Zhi said in a deep voice: "I have already arrived in Chenggu, and if I think about it, it won't be long before I arrive here." ”

Yang Wangqing nodded slightly, and said: "That's good, now the land we occupy, but there is an urgent shortage of civilian officials, and local military management is not a long-term thing." ”

Qin You said in a deep voice: "My lord, everywhere we go, we have to check the local clans and heroes, is this Xicheng County just recovered, to clean up this place, and it is also convenient for the follow-up civil officials to manage the place." Moreover, this is also our responsibility this time. "Qin You knew that King Zhao had given them a secret order, asking them to immediately eliminate the local powerful clans after entering the counties of Hanzhong.

Because this is the jurisdiction of the king of Hanzhong, there are many powerful families in Hanzhong. The Han army was able to fight against the Shu army for so long, in addition to the support of the Zhao army's armor and equipment, it was also related to the powerful clan in the Han Dynasty. And these are exactly what Zhao Guo cannot accept. In Chenggu, Qin You let the surrendered Shu soldiers carry out a major purge of the big clans in the city on the night of the city breaking. Of course, all the charges and responsibilities have been thrown on the Shu army.

Yang Wangqing said with a smile: "There are no more powerful clans here, and the powerful clans here have all been cleaned up by the Shu army for us." Speaking of which, we really have to thank Feng Yanzhang for it. ”

"Oh? What's going on? Qin You asked in amazement. Because he had just returned, he didn't know much about the situation in Xicheng County, but when he was close to the towns and villages in Xicheng County, he was welcomed by the local people, so that they understood that this Xicheng County had been supported by the people under Yang Wangqing's tidying. It is also because of this that Qin You wanted to clean up these big clans that needed to be cleaned up as soon as possible, so as not to delay for a long time and be difficult to start.

Yang Wangqing said with a smile: "Because we cut off the grain and grass materials of the Shu army in the city, the Shu army forcibly requisitioned the rations in the hands of the people around Xicheng County. And when the Han army evacuated, it also burned the grain and grass materials in the city, which you all know. But the food of the ordinary people in the city has already been forcibly requisitioned by the Han army and burned by the Han army, so in order to survive, the Shu army can only extend its black hand to the powerful clan in the city. As a result, needless to say, the powerful clans in the city have been all cleaned up by the Shu army, and the cleaning up is even worse by the ordinary people, who let them have so much food and money? ”

Qin You suddenly said: "No wonder when I was chasing the Shu army, I saw a lot of money left by the Shu army along the way, I see." ”

Yang Wangqing said with a smile: "Originally, the Shu army would have won over these powerful clans when they took here, but at that time, the Shu army was about to give up here, so these powerful clans were naturally not valued by them. Coupled with the fact that their survival has become a problem, these powerful clans have naturally become their targets. ”

"That's fine, so that we don't have to do it, this is the easternmost part of the land we occupy in Hanzhong, opposite the Han army. Here, there must be no surprises. Internally stable, we only need to guard against external enemies. However, thinking about the current situation of the Han army, there is no way to help us. My lord, it seems that when the local civil officials arrive, we will need to go to Hanzhong City. ”

Yang Wangqing shook his head and said, "It's not so easy to solve here. The interior is stable, and the king of Hanzhong, who is in the east, will not willingly give up this place to us. If we go to war directly, the king of Hanzhong may not be, but we still have this trade with the Han army, at least, so far, we have not been directly hostile to the Han army. Therefore, I am afraid that the king of Hanzhong wants to ask for this place by other means. Don't forget, it was the Han army that switched on and off, so we could go south. At that time, the king of Hanzhong agreed to let us go south, but asked us to release the Han army in the northern part of Hanzhong, and in addition, he also recognized that we occupied the central and western regions of Hanzhong, but we could not cross the territory occupied by the Han army at that time. And this Xicheng County was in the hands of the Han army at that time. ”

Qin You said in a deep voice: "This Xicheng County was taken by us from the Shu army, does he still want the king of Hanzhong to ask for it back from us?" In this way, it is better to 'engage' head-on. As for the switch? He didn't let us in, and he was afraid that he would become a loner. Mo said that the current three eastern counties are the land of Jingzhou, but I am afraid that he is not qualified to share it with the king of Luoyang. ”

Yang Wangqing said in a deep voice: "Having said that, we are now 'fighting' with the Shu army, and we are afraid that this king of Hanzhong will make small moves behind our backs." You must know that it is not easy for us to 'draw' troops from the north and transport grain and grass materials. "The Zhao army is now fighting against the Shu army, and the east is also facing off against the Qi army, if it is against the Han army again, the pressure that the Zhao army needs to bear will be too heavy. Therefore, Yang Wangqing knows very well that this is not the time to turn his face with the Han army. In addition, Yang Wangqing knew very well that the king also hoped that the king of Hanzhong would be preserved and share Jingzhou equally with the king of Luoyang, rather than letting the Luo army monopolize Jingzhou.

The land of Jingzhou is very important, two princes are equally divided and one prince is monopolized, and the meaning is different. Although the two princes were in Jingzhou and could recruit more troops, they also had a greater burden on the local people. In the same way, they can't make good use of the power of the entire Jingzhou. Especially now that the strength of the King of Luoyang is expanding rapidly, Zhao Xun hopes that the King of Hanzhong can reinvest his 'fine' strength on Jingzhou and the Luo Army, contain the Luo Army, and not let the Luo Army go out of control.

Qin You frowned and said, "Then how do we deal with it?" Want to give them this place? ”

"Let?" Yang Wangqing said coldly, "How is it possible? If we had given this place to the Han army, we would not have sat back and watched the Han army lose this place, wouldn't it be better to directly unite with the Han army to defeat the Shu army? Where will it be like now, to recover this place for the Han army. Besides, we have paid a lot of food here, and we will not give it up easily. If the king of Hanzhong wants to compete with us for this place, then we will first let the king of Hanzhong withdraw from the land of Hanzhong, even if it is the three counties in the east of Hanzhong, he will not have his share. ”

"That's it!" Qin You laughed. As a military general, he naturally didn't want the territory he had taken to give up to the enemy in vain.

At this time, there was a report from the soldiers that an envoy from the Han army had arrived in the east of the city.

"Look, the people of the king of Hanzhong are here!" Yang Wangqing said with a disdainful face.

Qin You said coldly: "This king of Hanzhong has a good nose and is really smart, we expelled the Shu army from Xicheng, it was only five days ago, and it was only yesterday that the Shu army was completely defeated." Especially in the past five days, we have just solved the problem of the survival of the people here, and he clearly wants to take advantage. ”

Yang Wangqing said in a deep voice: "It's okay, this also shows that the king of Hanzhong does not have much hope of taking back Xicheng County." Otherwise, he would have come here as soon as we drove the Shu army out. If the king of Hanzhong had approached with a large army at that time, maybe the problem of Xicheng County would not be easy to solve. One is not good, we have to temporarily retreat from this place, and wait for the army of the Eighth Town to come to help before we can get it back here. Of course, if that were the case, we and the Han army would have become enemies directly. Thinking that the king of Hanzhong was also concerned about this, he did not directly lead the army to 'force' at that time. ”

"Invite the envoy of the Han army here! I'd like to see what this Han army wants to say. Yang Wang ordered in a light voice.

A moment later, a middle-aged man in his mid-forties was invited. This person didn't know what he was thinking, his face was a little dignified, and his eyes were slightly distracted. It wasn't until he saw Yang Wangqing and Qin You that he was reminded by the entourage around him and came to his senses.

"This lord should be Lord Yang Wangqing, the privy envoy of the Zhao State. Unexpectedly, King Zhao would let Lord Yang personally come here to preside over the battle between the Zhao army and the Shu army. After Yang Wangqing asked people to serve tea, the middle-aged man said in a deep voice.

Yang Wangqing laughed lightly: "False praise, Yang was only the privy deputy envoy at the time, a person like me, in the Zhao Kingdom, I don't know what is mortal, I am just an insignificant member of it, it is not worth the noble envoy to say so, I don't know which lord under the command of the king of Hanzhong is the noble envoy?" According to what we have checked, you didn't just enter the territory of Xicheng County today, since the king of Hanzhong sent an envoy to meet us, why did you arrive here today? Because the other party did not respond to Zhao Jun about their exact identities at all, Yang Wangqing did not know the identity of the other party. However, what is certain is that they entered Xicheng County, not today, but a few days ago.

The middle-aged man said lightly: "I don't dare to compare with Lord Yang in the name of the next one, and under the command of my king, I will serve as the marching Sima." ”

"Oh, it turned out to be Lord Sima Tian's 'jade' Tian of the Han army's march!"

"We did arrive in Xicheng County four days ago, and the reason why we didn't come to meet Lord Yang was because we found that Lord Yang was busy rectifying the internal affairs of Xicheng County and pacifying the people. Therefore, in order not to cause trouble to Lord Yang and delay time, he did not come directly. Until today, after learning that your army returned with a great victory and Xicheng County was also a little stable, I came to meet you. ”

Yang Wangqing heard the meaning of what the other party said, it was nothing more than because a few days ago, the Zhao army in Xicheng County had fewer troops, and Xicheng County was also newly occupied by the Zhao army, and it was internally unstable. Therefore, in order to avoid suspicion, the envoy of their Han army did not directly find the 'door'. And now that Qin You has returned with an army of six thousand, and Xicheng County has also settled down, they have appeared here directly.

However, what the other party said also made Yang Wangqing a little suspicious. Since the other party had already entered Xicheng County a few days ago, why did he come to meet him now. Moreover, he also made a look of consideration for Zhao Jun. Yang Wangqing didn't believe that the other party was really thinking about Zhao Jun.