Chang'an City was once the center of the Han Empire, with a population of more than one million at its peak, and it can be said to be the most majestic city in the world at that time, but with Wang Mang's usurpation of the Han Dynasty, he carried out reforms, and wanted to reproduce the ideal country according to the sage's scriptures, causing chaos in the world, Chang'an became a ruin. Guangwu Emperor Liu Xiu Zhongxing, Chang'an City was still in the hands of the Red Mei Army at that time, and it was already dilapidated, he had to move to Luoyang, and Chang'an became the old capital. Today, Jing Zhaoyin, Zuo Fengyi, and Right Fufeng add up to only 100,000 households, more than 500,000 people, which is not enough to reach a Hedong County. The most miserable is the right Fufeng, because of the continuous in-depth attack of the Qiang people, the population of the right Fufeng is said to be small, and the result of last year's calculation was less than 20,000 households, 100,000 people.

The Great Qin Empire was born, and Guanzhong, which was once known as the fertile field, now only has a glorious memory left.

Liu Xiu has been to Chang'an once, but this time he revisited the old place, and he felt more emotional. Especially after listening to Zhang Jiao's words, he had doubts about his thinking, and now looking at the decadent Chang'an City, thinking of the fearless idealist Comrade Wang Mang, he seemed to hear Wang Mang's helpless sigh.

Jing Zhao Yin Liu Tao and the right general Huang Fu Song rushed outside the city to greet them.

Liu Tao is a native of Yingyin, Yingchuan, and Xun Yu is a fellow villager, he is informal, and dares to speak out. He not only has the courage, but also has the means, when he was in Shunyang for a long time, he recruited the light chivalrous teenagers in the county to handle the case, and in a short period of time, he rectified a group of heroes, which can be described as a remarkable political achievement. Later, he was dismissed due to illness, and the people of Shunyang missed him, and they also made up a song to sing: "Yi Ran is not happy, think of me Liu Jun." When will he come back, he will be in peace with the people. It can be seen that his official reputation is good.

Liu Tao was very disgusted with Zhang Jiao, when Yang Ci was Situ, Liu Tao used to be Situ Peng, so he and Yang Ci plotted to arrest Zhang Jiao, but unfortunately the Son of Heaven took a fancy to Zhang Jiao, Yang Ci was later dismissed, and their plan was aborted. Zhang Jiao entered the court as an official, and while he rose step by step, Liu Tao was demoted to Chang'an and idle.

Liu Tao's first sentence when he saw Liu Xiu was: I knew this was the case, why bother in the first place. It means that Zhang Jiao was introduced to the court by you, and you look at what it has become now, and you almost made a big mistake.

Liu Xiu smiled and didn't say anything, although Liu Tao's official is not as big as him, but his qualifications are older than him, and his identity is more noble than him, he is the queen of Jibei Liu Bo, the clan of the Eight Classics, and he is a famous man for a long time, and it is not logical to teach him two sentences. If he turns his face with Liu Tao because of this, his reputation will be ruined, so it is better to laugh it off, but he can get the impression of having a belly.

Seeing that the scene was a little embarrassing, Xun Yu stepped forward to greet Liu Tao. Seeing that the township party entered Xun Yu, Liu Tao's face softened a lot, and even his attitude towards Liu Xiu changed, probably because he felt that since Xun Yu could enter Liu Xiu's shogunate, at least it showed that this person was not incorrigible.

When Xun Yu and Liu Tao were talking, Liu Xiu and Huangfu Song exchanged views. The Son of Heaven sent Liu Xiu to Chang'an, and the Huya Battalion in Chang'an and the Fufeng Battalion in Yongxian County were to be included in his jurisdiction, and Huangfu Song himself was to rush to Luoyang to take over Liu Xiu's defense in Luoyang.

"Brother Huangfu, this is going to Luoyang, there is nothing else to tell you, just the guards of the eight passes, you have to be more careful, especially the revolving door and the two passes of the water, this is the east gate of Luoyang, and there is no room for loss."

Huangfu Song was obviously a little surprised, and didn't seem to understand what Liu Xiu was talking about. "General Wei, Shandong...... Something? ”

"I'm worried about something." Liu Xiu couldn't say it too clearly, but just reminded him: "This time there was an accident in Runan, who knew that there would be no accident elsewhere next time?" It's better to be careful. ”

Huangfu Song was very puzzled, but when he saw that Liu Xiu was halfway there, he didn't want to ask again. He turned around and called out to two people, "Let me introduce you to your lordship." This is Xu Rong and Xu Zilie, the captain of Fufeng, and this is Hua Xiong, Hua Ziwei, the captain of Huya. ”

Xu Rong is about forty years old, of medium height, very stocky, with a round face, looking kind and ordinary, the only thing that stands out is a pair of hands, which are big and thick. Hua Xiong is very majestic, about nine feet tall, with thick eyebrows and big eyes, a high nose and a wide mouth, a short beard, clear eyes, and a tiger when he walks, and he is a fierce general at a glance.

Liu Xiu has no impression of Xu Rong, but he is very curious about Huaxiong, this is a stepping stone for Guan Erye to become famous. Warm wine and slash Huaxiong, even those who have not seen the Romance of the Three Kingdoms will have heard of this name.

It turns out that this guy is so powerful, can he defeat so many famous Kanto generals in front of the Tiger Prison Pass.

At the same time that Liu Xiu was looking at Hua Xiong, Hua Xiong was also looking at him, his eyes were rolling straight up, as if he was looking to see if Liu Xiu was fake. Guan Yu, who was standing behind Liu Xiu, was unhappy, snorted, raised his hand to stroke his beard, narrowed his phoenix eyes, and glared at Hua Xiong. Although Hua Xiong didn't look at Guan Yu, he sensed Guan Yu's hostility, and looked up at this man who was about as tall as himself, and his interest suddenly increased. "Fufeng Huaxiong has seen General Wei, and he has heard for a long time that General Wei fell into the original battle, and he has a sword in his hand, and the king of Xianbei is admirable. When I saw it today, General Wei was really a hero. ”

Liu Xiu laughed, waved his hand and said: "Captain Hua said that he laughed, it was the credit of the generals to kill Tanshi Huai, I just picked up a bargain." If you really want to talk about it, General Huangfu is the real hero, if it wasn't for him repelling the Xianbei people, I can't say if I can come back alive in the end, where is there today. ”

Huangfu Song hurriedly humbly: "If it weren't for General Wei attracting Tanshi Huai, it would be difficult for us to safely deliver the grain and grass to General Zhengbei." In this war, General Wei's first merit is well deserved. ”

Yuan Shu, who came with Liu Xiu, couldn't help it, and came up to talk to Huangfu Song, first praising Liu Xiu, and then praising Huang Fusong, of course, the purpose of praising Huang Fusong was nothing more than to show that he Yuan Highway also had a share.

Speaking of war, these warriors became more interested one by one, and soon became familiar with them, Liu Tao saw it, and could only pout his lips to express his disdain.

Guan Yu was very depressed, he did not hesitate to fight with He Miao, and hurried to support Liu Xiu with the heavy armor, but when he didn't expect to rush there, Liu Xiu had already killed Tanshi Huai, and he was seriously injured. He stomped his feet and sighed at that time, regretting that he was one step late, otherwise, where Liu Xiu was needed, a hundred heavy armor soldiers would be enough to chop Tanshi Huai into meat sauce.

This incident is his biggest regret, and now when he hears Liu Xiu and them talking about this battle again, he is even more aggrieved in his heart, standing there without saying a word, obviously very lonely. The heavy armor soldier is the most elite foot soldier under Liu Xiu, and since his debut, he has been invincible, but he missed this most important battle, which made Xu Yu and Zhang Fei and others out of the limelight, and he could only sigh that God would make people.

Hua Xiong noticed Guan Yu's unsociability, he walked over and arched his hand: "Hua Xiong dares to ask the lord's name." ”

"A certain is the heavy armor under General Wei, and Guan Yu Guan Yunchang in Hedong." Guan Yu stroked his beard and stood proudly.

"Heavy armor?" Hua Xiong's eyes lit up, and he praised repeatedly: "It turned out to be Lord Guan, I have been looking up for a long time." I have long heard General Huangfu say that the heavy armor soldiers are good at fighting and invincible, and the Guan Governor has the courage of ten thousand people. Luo said that the original battle of killing Tanshi Huai, Guan Du must have also participated, right? ”

Guan Yu sighed: "Don't hide it from the captain, Guan was fighting with General Huangfu at that time and was unable to attend the meeting. If Guan is here, what is the reason for the sandalwood locust. ”

As soon as he said this, he was as steady as Xu Yu was a little unhappy, what are these words, are we all waste, only you Guan Yu can fight? Zhang Fei has always respected Guan Yu very much, but he couldn't listen to it at this time, especially when he saw Xu Yu's face sank, he coughed and gestured to Guan Yu with his eyes. Guan Yu reacted at this time, yes, when I say this, isn't it even belittled by adults? A little embarrassed for a while.

Hua Xiong saw that their faces were strange and a little confused, but he could see that Guan Yu's words just now seemed to be a bit exaggerated, and he couldn't help but feel a little unhappy in his heart, and his interest in Guan Yu also faded a little, and he no longer had the enthusiasm just now.

Guan Yu saw it in his eyes, and his heart was even more unhappy.

Huangfu Song smiled and said to Liu Xiu: "Xu Duwei is also from Youzhou, he has been helping the wind for many years, and he knows more about the affairs of the Qiang people. If you want to calm the chaos, you have to rely on him more. ”

Although Liu Xiu was not familiar with Xu Rong, he could get praise from Huangfu Song, which showed that this person still had the ability, so he hurriedly stepped forward to talk. "Zilie, please don't hesitate to advise."

Xu Rong hurriedly returned the salute, saying that he didn't dare, and recommended Huaxiong to Liu Xiu, saying that he was from Jincheng, Liangzhou, and was more familiar with the situation of the Qiang people, so adults should ask him for more advice.

Liu Xiu glanced at Huang Fu Song, and Huang Fu Song smiled meaningfully. Liu Xiu understood, Xu Rong has the ability, but he is a foreigner, and his foundation is relatively shallow, and Hua Xiong's ability may be slightly worse, but he is a local and has a deep foundation.

"Both of them are talented." Liu Xiu laughed, very satisfied with Huangfu Song's reminder.

After the cold noise, they entered Jingzhaoyin's mansion together, Liu Tao was very simple, he didn't prepare for the wind banquet, he only planned to arrange for them to have a light meal. Liu Xiu felt that this was a little shabby, but fortunately, the eldest princess came with her, brought a lot of good wine and food, and took it out and borrowed Liu Tao's territory to entertain everyone.

Liu Tao is really a celebrity, the host did not do it authentically, but asked Liu Xiu to invite him to drink, but he didn't feel that there was anything wrong at all, he ate very happily, drank very refreshingly, and talked and laughed with Xun Yu and Xun You, and feasted happily.

Liu Xiu didn't mind these etiquettes, and talked and laughed with Huangfu Song, so he naturally mentioned the defense issue of Guanzhong. Huangfu Song put down the wine glass and sighed: "It's also a shame to say, people say that Liangzhou is a famous general, but the famous generals can't keep their hometown, these decades Qiang chaos is not stopped, Liangzhou is broken, and now there is no more than one out of ten, causing the Qiang horse's hooves to go deep into the Guanzhong, disturbing the emperors' tombs, it is really ashamed." ”

Liu Xiu knew some about the situation in Liangzhou, but after all, he was not as familiar as these people who had been in Guanzhong, so he listened to them quietly. Xu Rong and Hua Xiong expressed their opinions one after another, summing up that the imperial court was not rich enough, the eunuchs were in power, and many officials ignored the life and death of the people of Liangzhou, expropriated and extorted violently, knocking on the bones and sucking the marrow, not only forcing the Qiang people to live, but even the Han people had no way to live, so they could only take risks. In fact, to put it in detail, the Qiang people were the first to be attached, many of them were able to identify with the Han Dynasty, and they also hoped to live in peace and stability, not forced to do that, who would want to rise up and rebel? Liangzhou is barren, the Qiang people are even poorer, many of them don't even have weapons, they can only hold wooden sticks as weapons and use pot lids as shields, this is not a rebellion, this is a PUBG.

Liu Xiu's mood was heavy. Of course, he knew that the common people would not rise up to rebel if they were not forced to that desperate road, but now that time was pressing, he might not be able to spare his hands to solve the problem in Liangzhou. There are less than 500,000 people in the three counties of Fufeng, Feng Yi and Jingzhao, but Liangzhou is even more miserable, and now it is basically out of the control of the imperial court, even if you want to copy the method of annexing the state, it will not work.

If we want to stabilize the situation in Guanzhong as soon as possible, we can only kill those who rebel and temporarily eliminate the crisis in Guanzhong. But with the few men and horses in his hands, even if he wants to kill, he can't do it.

Whether it's Guanzhong or Liangzhou, it's a mess, a mess that's even worse than Bingzhou. There may not be a strong enemy like Xianbei here, but they go their own way, no one cares about anyone, kill one and the other, far from Xianbei, as long as they kill Tanshi Huai and support one and Lian to power, they can let them do their own thing, and they can't take out their hands to bring disaster to the Han realm.

Liu Xiu had a faint headache again.

After the banquet, Huangfu Song took his leave and went to Luoyang to take office. Liu Xiu called Xun Yu and Xun You to the room, boiled tea, and tasted it slowly. "Wen Ruo, Gongda, what do you think should be done here?"

Xun Yu smiled: "If you want to settle down, you must first set Liangzhou, Liangzhou is sparsely populated, and Qiang chaos is frequent, but Liangzhou has always been under the rule of the Han Dynasty, why?" It is because the heroes of Liangzhou are still interested in the big man and refuse to humiliate their families. ”

Liu Xiu smiled silently, Xun Yu was always intentionally or unintentionally promoting the role of the family's heroes. But this is indeed reasonable, ordinary people don't care if they are Han people, who gives them a way to live, they will follow whom, now the officials of the court do not let them live, they rebel with the Qiang people, but the family is different, even if they secretly have dealings with these Qiang people, they will not be in the open, after all, their family has a big business, if this reputation spreads, it is not as simple as a life.

"And what do you mean?"

"Send people to Liangzhou to contact those heroes, let them build a fortress for self-protection, and cooperate with the official army to fight, at least they can block the Qiang people in Longxi." Xun Yu continued: "If the Qiang people can't enter the Guanzhong, then the Guanzhong can be stable. There is a large amount of fertile land in Guanzhong, and the conditions in Tuntian are even better than those in Bingzhou, but the difference is only in the population, and what we have to do is to move the displaced people here. ”

"The question now is where the money and food for the migrants will come from, and who will pay for the cost of relocating them."

Liu Xiu understood that Liangzhou and Guanzhong are different ways to deal with it, stabilizing Liangzhou and developing Guanzhong are two-pronged. The same point is to use the local Haoqiang, if you want to use the Haoqiang, of course, you must give benefits, not only can not contain them, but also give them more benefits.

Liu Xiu groaned slightly and nodded in agreement. Although this is a bit almost like drinking to quench his thirst, there is not much time left for him, and he can only take this method, after all, this is the way to stabilize Guanzhong and Liangzhou as quickly as possible.

"Who went to Liangzhou?" Liu Xiu asked, "Is that Huaxiong okay?" ”

"He can't." Xun Yu vetoed without hesitation, "He is a martial artist, although he is from Jincheng, he has no strength in Jincheng, the best way is to let Han Sui go." ”

"Han Sui?" Liu Xiu frowned, Han Sui was a suitable candidate, but now that he was in Bingzhou, he wanted to transfer him out of Bingzhou, first, it was too late, and second, it was not good for Bingzhou. Lu Bu's people can't count on anything other than fighting, and if they want to control Bingzhou, only Zhao Yun's strength is seriously insufficient. "He can't think about others."

Xun Yu was also a little embarrassed, and in a hurry, there was really no one who could eat in Liangzhou.

"If it really doesn't work, I'll go myself." Liu Xiu scratched his head, "Anyway, I am still a disciple of Duan Gong, and Duan Gong is also somewhat prestigious in Liangzhou." ”

Xun Yu smacked his lips and didn't say anything, although he didn't approve of Liu Xiu's idea, but he didn't have a better candidate.

Liu Xiu immediately arranged for someone to invite the Ma family and the Song family. With Yuan Kui's signal, and Yuan Shu himself here, the people of the Ma family did not shirk and agreed to come forward to help Liu Xiu. Of course, the Song family is no exception, the Song family can have today's glory, Liu Xiu's credit cannot be erased, but the Song family is already miserable today, only two brothers came, one is called Song Guo, and the other is called Song Xiao, both of whom are just small officials, and they have no prestige in the local area, and their role is very limited.

Fortunately, although Jingzhao Yin Liu Tao has some celebrity temper, he is really good, especially for the sake of Xun Yu's face as a small township party, he is willing to help Liu Xiu to invite the family under his rule, Zuo Feng Yi Gaixun is also very cooperative, after receiving Liu Xiu's letter, he immediately expressed his support, and he also specially sent someone to discuss with Liu Xiu.

When things were going smoothly in Guanzhong, Liu Xiu found Hua Xiong and revealed what he wanted to invite him to Liangzhou. Hua Xiong heard this, and shook his head again and again, the reason is the same as Xun Yu said, the Hua family is in a small household in Liangzhou, and he himself is just a captain of a thousand stones, and he can't speak at all in front of those heroes.

Liu Xiu was very frustrated, and it seemed that he had to go by himself.

"My lord, I have a candidate." Hua Xiong's eyes were a little evasive, Liu Xiu was stunned for a moment, and then smiled: "Who?" ”

"Hanyang Yan Zhong." Hua Xiong said a little nervously: "The Yan family is one of the four surnames in Hanyang, Yan Jun is resourceful and has a good reputation in Liangzhou, if he is willing to go to Liangzhou on behalf of the general, it will naturally come to fruition." ”

Liu Xiu felt that this name was familiar, and after a while, he suddenly remembered who it was. Jia Xu once told him that the reason why he was promoted to filial piety was because Yan Zhong said a few words in front of the Wuwei Taishou at that time. Hanyang has four surnames, Jiang Yan Ren Zhao, and Yan Zhong is one of the four surnames of the Yan family. "Where is Yan Jun?"

"Coincidentally, Yan Jun is staying at Xiong's house." Hua Xiong smiled, "Would you like to see the general?" ”

"Hehehe......" Liu Xiu also smiled, "As the so-called long drought meets the rain, there is no gift that you don't see." Please Ziwei ......" Liu Xiu thought for a while, and then changed his mind: "No, such a virtuous person, how can he be summoned immediately, I should go and ask for it in person." ”

Huaxiong was overjoyed, "The general's thirst for talent is admirable." ”

Yan Zhong is in his forties, and he looks elegant, but his eyes are sharp, which makes people feel a little oppressive. Liu Xiu came to ask for a meeting in person, and he didn't show any joy, but was a little impatient. After listening to Liu Xiu's intentions, he twisted his beard and frowned: "I heard Wen He mention the general's new policy in Bingzhou, which seems to be slightly different from the general's current plan." ”

Liu Xiu smiled bitterly: "Mr. is really discerning. The situation in Guanzhong and Bingzhou is different, so they have to be treated differently. ”

Yan Zhong waved his hand at Hua Xiong, who understood and found an excuse to retreat. Yan Zhong looked at Liu Xiu: "From Yizhong's point of view, it seems that this is not just a simple matter of the difference between the situation in Guanzhong and Bingzhou. The general was uneasy, what was he worried about? ”

Liu Xiu had a toothache, this Yan Zhong spoke as sharp and ruthless as his eyes, pointing straight to the point, it was really not perfunctory. On the way here, he carefully recalled some of the things Jia Xu had said to him, and knew that the person in front of him was not the kind of person who could be fooled by empty words and clichés, just like Jia Xu, if he looked down on you, he could give you advice, if he looked down on you, you just treated him as a father, and he didn't bother to pay attention to you.

More importantly, this Mr. Yan also has an extremely pessimistic attitude towards the prospects of the Han Dynasty, and he feels that the Han Dynasty has no way to survive at this point, only to break and stand up and change the dynasty. In other words, this guy is a staunch rebel. Such a person is exactly what he wants, but the problem is that he can't say to Yan Zhong, I just want to rebel, you can help me. That's too substandard.

Liu Xiu thought for a moment, and then said carefully: "Sir, you must know what happened in Runan not long ago?" ”

Yan Zhong nodded and looked at Liu Xiu quietly.

"Zhang Jiao is still in prison, and for various reasons, he may not be able to die. In Xiu's humble opinion, he can't be an official, but he is ambitious, and he probably won't be satisfied with being a commoner, so he ......"

"So the general thinks that Zhang Jiao will definitely cause trouble?"

Liu Xiu nodded.

"As far as Zhong knows, Zhang Jiao mostly preaches in the southeast, and there is no shadow of Taiping Dao in Guanzhong, so the general can slowly implement your new policy in Guanzhong, so why rush for a while?"

Liu Xiu secretly complained, did this guy force me to say that?

"Yan Jun doesn't know that although Luoyang has eight passes, after all, it is not as easy to defend and difficult to attack as the four stops in the pass. However, Guanzhong is now scarce, and it has to rely on Kanto to be self-sufficient. The master has a word, enough faith, enough soldiers, and enough food, and all three are indispensable. ”

Yan Zhong smiled: "So, what the general needs is not only Tuntian, but also training?" ”

"Exactly. The Qiang people are everywhere, Liangzhou is desolate, and the Western Regions are almost enclaves, if there is no strong force, how can they recover the rivers and mountains? Since the Kanto incident, how can we protect the border and the people? ”

Yan Zhong nodded and didn't press any further. "The general's good intentions are loyal. Loyal or not, he is willing to be the general's forerunner and contact the heroes of Liangzhou. It's just that Zhong is also a common person now, and I'm afraid that people will not be able to use it much. ”

Liu Xiu hesitated: "The position of Changshi, there is already Yingchuan Xun Wenruo, Sima Zhubing, Mr. thinks about it is disdainful, this Zhonglang is only an official position of six hundred stones, I am afraid that I have wronged Mr." ”

Yan Zhong laughed: "Once you know your life, you will be comforted by your life." How can I, Yan Zhong, care about a few stones of rice? General, I recommended myself to be this Zhonglang, how about it? ”

"I can't ask for it."

(To be continued)