The news of the annihilation of Tian Feng and Chun Yuqiong's army reached Puyang, Xin Bi and Yan Liang were shocked, more shocked than the fiasco by the Jishui side, after all, it was a natural disaster, which can be attributed to bad luck, but this was a real fiasco, nearly 10,000 troops, all the troops were wiped out in one day, except for a few scouts who fled back, even a person with a bit of identity did not get out, Tian Feng and Wen Chou were captured, and Chun Yuqiong died in battle, which can be described as a complete defeat, a clean defeat. Pen, fun, pavilion www. biquge。 info

Judge, Tian Feng is the most outstanding two of the Jizhou people, outstanding, prestigious, Wen Chou is also one of the best generals under Yuan Shao's account, although Chun Yuqiong is not obvious, but he followed Yuan Shao very early, is Yuan Shao's trusted general, the three of them were defeated at the same time, and they were defeated by Liu Xiu's hand of a disgraced general.

Xin Bi and Yan Liang knew Xia Yu and Tian Yan, but they didn't know Lu Yi, Xia Tian and the two had been at war with them for many years, but Lu Yi was just a Xiliang man who was an official lieutenant. For Tian Feng, what they want to understand is that generals like Xu Rong and Zhu Jun under Liu Xiu can lead an army alone, and people like Lu Yi who follow Xia Yu are not within the scope of their attention at all.

Who is Tian Feng? Who is Wen Chou? How could they have fallen at the hands of such a person?

Yan Liang was a little frustrated, and he didn't say anything for a long time. Xin Bi pondered for a moment: "Zishan, since they have been wiped out, there is no point in us staying in Puyang any longer, we should immediately withdraw from Puyang and go back to Hebei." ”

"Back to Hebei, don't you want Puyang?" Yan Liang's thick eyebrows raised. He asked in surprise: "This time it was easy to take Puyang and gain a foothold in Henan, which can be said to be the only harvest for the 80,000 army to cross the river." Hold Puyang. There is always a little face for the lord, and there is a basis for counterattacking in the future, so I gave up. How do we get to the main bus? ”

Xin Bi smiled bitterly and shook his head: "Zishan, what else is the lord going to fight against Liu Xiu?" The population of Jizhou is quite a lot, and the lord also follows the example of Yizhou and the state to implement the new policy, but no matter how strong Jizhou is, can it be stronger than Jingzhou and Yuzhou? Jizhou people like Tian Feng, Juan Pei, and Wen Chou were all arrested, do Jizhou people still support the lord? Whether or not Jizhou can be held depends on the means of the lord, and the matter of counterattack is simply impossible at least in the short term. There is a sea in the east of Jizhou. There is Taihang in the west, there is a big river in the south, and the only way to retreat is in Saibei, according to my estimate, the lord will next shift his center of gravity to Youzhou to avoid the danger of being surrounded on three sides. ”

"Do you mean that the lord will no longer seek the world?"

"Do you think it's still possible?" Simbi asked rhetorically.

Yan Liang pondered for a long time. Didn't speak again. His heart was heavy. He is not from Jizhou, and he is attached to Yuan Shao because he thinks that the Yuan family, who is the fourth and third dukes, can change the dynasty, and he has the opportunity to become the founder of the country. If Yuan Shao wants to retreat to Youzhou and divide one side from now on, is it necessary for him to follow Yuan Shao to wander? He looked at Simbi. Xin Bi is a native of Yingchuan, is he also doing the same thing?

Yan Liang didn't know how to speak, these Ru Ying people were different, he couldn't believe them, let alone offend them. He hesitated for a long time, but swallowed his question back.

With Liu Xiu's habit of using troops, he will not stop there, and the army will soon be under Puyang City. With the current situation of the lord, he can't take a step to rescue Puyang. The art of war is cloudy, and there is no help. Puyang has become an isolated city, and it is useless to defend it. At present, the most important thing is to reserve a little vitality for the lord, rather than spending it on Puyang, which will definitely not be able to hold it. The lord sent Chun Yuqiong and Wen Chou to pick up Tian Feng, just to save those people. Tian Feng: They have already failed, and we can no longer sacrifice these thousands of people in the city in vain. Zishan, while Liu Xiu hasn't arrived yet, let's leave as soon as possible. Otherwise, when Liu Xiu's army arrives and surrounds Puyang City, we won't be able to leave if we want to. ”

Yan Liang nodded in agreement, and then arranged for the evacuation of personnel. They had just prepared, someone came to report that Xia Yu and Cao Ren had rushed outside the city, they did not attack the city, but they firmly controlled the road to the pontoon bridge.

Xin Bi and Yan Liang looked at each other, there were more than 10,000 cavalry watching from the side, they didn't dare to go out of the city at all, otherwise the road leading to the pontoon bridge would be the Ghost Gate, and it would be impossible for them to rush out alive.

"What should I do?" Yan Liang asked Xin Bi.

Xin Bi twisted his beard and muttered for a long time: "Defend the city first, to see how it changes." ”

Yan Liang's eyes rolled and he didn't say anything more.

Xia Yu rushed to Puyang City first, and it didn't take long for Cao Ren to arrive. Knowing that Xia Yu and the others had completely annihilated Tian Feng and Chun Yuqiong's men and horses, and had also captured Tian Feng and Wen Chou, Cao Ren was so jealous that his eyes were almost green. He was ambushed by Tian Feng and lost thousands of war horses, but he was cheap but let Xia Yu pick them all up. He suffered a dumb loss, and the boss in his heart was unwilling, and he wanted to take Puyang and make another contribution to Cao Cāo. Therefore, while advising Xia Yu not to rush to attack the city, so as not to suffer too many casualties, he urgently reported to Cao Cāo, asking him to rush to Puyang before Liu Xiu in any case, and if possible, it was best to capture Puyang City before Liu Xiu arrived, and grab all the credit in his hands.

After receiving the report, Cao Cāo did not dare to stay longer, and immediately rushed to the outside of Puyang City with a large army. However, he did not rush to attack the city, Puyang, as a strategic place that he had controlled for many years, he knew very well how difficult this city was to attack and how much it would cost to attack.

Cao Cāo did not dare to act lightly, he sent a plea for help to the Son of Heaven, asking the Son of Heaven to arrange reinforcements to recover Puyang.

……

"It's better to plan than to change." Liu Xiu slapped the urgent report in his hand on the case and shook his head helplessly. He originally hoped to wait for Gan Ning to cut off the pontoon bridge before besieging Puyang, but before the order could be issued, the news that Xia Yu and them were besieging Puyang City had already arrived. Liu Xiu can't help it, he can order Xia Yu, but he can't order Cao Cāo, since the city is already besieged, then surround it. Although there was an accident, if he could not let the Yuan army in Puyang City escape, his goal would be basically achieved.

"The generals have a very heavy desire to fight for merit." Yu Fu reminded: "The general encourages martial arts, and the drawbacks have already appeared. ”

Liu Xiu smiled: "What's wrong with the soldiers fighting for merit, it's better than retreating one by one." If a scholar does not have a little outward mind. I only saw the world in front of me, what was the future. ”

"But don't forget, general, that conquest costs money. And it costs a lot of money, and although the so-called country is big, it will die if it is warlike. No matter how effective the General's New Deal may be. One or two big battles are enough to spend all your savings. Emperor Xiaowu relied on seventy years of accumulation, and only a few years did he fight with the Huns? Duan Gong's expedition to Dongqiang cost more than 4 billion yuan in less than three years, and the world wasted it. General, you won't be unclear about this, will you? ”

Liu Xiu's eyebrows frowned, he also knew that it cost money to fight. The reason why he has been reluctant to recruit large numbers is because of this problem. Recruit one more strong man. There is one less farmer, and one soldier needs at least seven families to support, and one more soldier is equivalent to the output of ten less households. Add to that the consumption of food on the way, and that's a staggering amount. The phrase "although the country is big, the belligerent will perish" is based on this point, and it is not a manifestation of the cowardice of the scholars, but a sentence of the old man seeking the country. Because there is another sentence after this sentence: "Although the world is safe." Forgetting the war will be dangerous. In other words, the ancients were not ignorant of the importance of force, they knew that a kingdom could not be armed without the necessary armament, even Confucius, who paid attention to benevolent governance, said that the three elements of national stability were "sufficient food, sufficient soldiers, and sufficient faith". In the "Zuo Biography", it is even said that "the major affairs of the country are only the worship and the army", and force and theocracy are the basis of rule, and they can never be underestimated. They simply disapprove of the indiscriminate use of force, which will consume too much wealth and bring the country's economy to the brink of collapse, and the rulers must find a balance between belligerence and forgetfulness.

There are countless examples of this, Qin Shi Huang in the past, Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty in the back, Wang Mang in the late Western Han Dynasty, and Qiang Rebellion in the late Eastern Han Dynasty, all of which were disasters caused by excessive foreign military use. In the last years of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, prices surged, and the number of displaced people who could not afford to pay taxes and were forced to flee reached several million, if it were not for Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty to change his course in time, the crime of the next wheel of Taiwan had been edicted, and the people rested, the Han Dynasty was likely to follow in the footsteps of the Qin Dynasty, and Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty was about to become the second Qin Shi Huang.

Liu Xiu was very clear about this, but he also believed that the soldiers' struggle for merit needed to be controlled, but it was much more practical than the scholars being satisfied with Qing talk.

"This matter is not something that can be explained clearly in one or two sentences." Liu Xiu said very cautiously: "Zhong Xiang, Qin Shi Huang, or Emperor Xiaowu, their final economic unsustainability is not only because of the use of troops - of course, they use troops too quickly, it is indeed a reason that cannot be ignored - the luxury of the royal family is also an important factor." Qin Shi Huang and Emperor Xiaowu spent less money on seeking longevity, but I am afraid that it was not used for soldiers. Duan Gong used 4.4 billion to pacify Dongqiang, but do you know that these 4.4 billion in exchange for more than ten years of peace? Even if it's ten years, the cost of that year is 400 million, and how much does the royal family spend a year? Two billion. ”

Liu Xiu's emotions became a little excited: "Just a few people, one will cost two billion, even if they can save two percent, it is enough to maintain enough border forces." Confucian scholars often focused on the use of soldiers, so why didn't anyone talk about the royal expenses? Even if someone says it, it's just a painless persuasion of two clichés like frugality, what's the use? For the sake of chaos, the imperial court abandoned Liangzhou five times, which one of them saved the royal family's expenses? No matter how heavy it is! ”

Yu looked at Liu Xiu in surprise, looked around, and lowered his voice: "General, do you want to cut the expenses of the royal family?" ”

"I do have this idea, and I always feel that the uncontrolled waste of the royal family is more terrible than the use of foreign troops."

"General, your idea is very new. However, these words cannot be said to others. ”

"Why?"

"Because, the whole world belongs to the Son of Heaven, and only the Son of Heaven has the right to decide whether to cut expenses or not, as a courtier, you can suggest, but you can't decide." Yu leaned over to Liu Xiu's side, and suddenly smiled: "When the Son of Heaven says this, it is Shengming, and when the courtier says this, it is a great rebellion." General, if the name is not right, it will not be good. ”

Liu Xiu raised his eyebrows, and was just about to speak, when Liu He's happy voice came from outside: "Daddy, are you busy?" I am back. ”

Liu Xiu got up, glanced at Yu Fu meaningfully, and laughed loudly: "Girl, Daddy is not busy, come in quickly, let Daddy take a look." ”

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