My father Liu Xuande

Chapter 540 Southwest Erosion
Upon meeting, the two men knew why Liu Feng had summoned them.

City building.

Liu Fu was overjoyed, but Sun Quan was somewhat depressed.

Liu Fu was old, already in his forties, and his knowledge, experience, and abilities were at their peak. He had already learned everything he needed to learn, including the knowledge of city building.

Sun Quan, however, is different. He is only over twenty years old. Although he is quite capable, his knowledge is far inferior to Liu Fu's. He has never even touched the subject of city building.

After understanding the specific situation, Liu Feng immediately made a decision.

With Liu Fu as the main leader and Sun Quan as the assistant, they were responsible for the construction of the two cities of Wuchang and Hanyang.

Wuchang City was located on the south bank of the Yangtze River and was built against Snake Hill, while Hanyang City was located on the north bank of the Yangtze River and was built against Lushan Mountain.

Wuchang was a port city, while Hanyang was a fortified mountain city.

Liu Fu was very happy. This was the first time he had been given an important position since he joined Liu Feng's forces. Sun Quan, who was by his side, was somewhat lacking in confidence. Fortunately, Liu Feng had also assigned him a key person in charge. He secretly pondered how to deal with the situation.

Soon, Sun Quan sensed Liu Fu's excitement. In just seven or eight days, Liu Fu produced two drafts and a rough budget, and pulled Sun Quan aside to report to Liu Feng.

Looking at the two cities constructed on the sketch, Hanyang is a mountain city with a stronghold, built entirely on the mountain. It is not large in scale, but it is very easy to defend and difficult to attack, no worse than the previous Xiakou City.

In contrast, Wuchang City is different from its historical counterpart. Although it is based on Snake Mountain, it was not built on Snake Mountain, but on the plain at the foot of the mountain.

The city is divided into two parts: the port and the urban area. The port is built on the banks of the Yangtze River, while the urban area is built on the plain. The terrain of the Yangtze River and Snake Mountain is cleverly used to form a geographical defense. Therefore, although Wuchang is a flat city, it still has considerable defensive capabilities.

Liu Feng was quite satisfied with this, especially after seeing the budget.

Liu Fu did not rush things or aim for large scale. The size of the city he designed met Liu Feng's expectations, and there was also ample room for expansion, which shows that he put a lot of thought into it.

Liu Feng didn't hold back his praises, showering Liu Fu with compliments and entrusting the matter entirely to him. At the same time, he subtly hinted that many supplies would pass through his route westward, urging the other party not to misunderstand.

Soon, news of Liu Feng's plan to build a new city in Wuchang began to spread. Various factions received this information, studied it, and quickly realized Wuchang's importance. Precisely because of this, the construction of the new Wuchang city effectively concealed Liu Feng's true intentions, making the allocation of resources faster and more discreet.

As time went by, just as Sima Yi was setting off to enter Guanzhong via Hongnong, and then pass through Chang'an and take the Baoxie Road to Hanzhong, new developments also occurred in Hebei.

Yuan Shao sent envoys to negotiate peace.

Yuan Shao not only sent his trusted advisor Xin Ping to Xuzhou to try to negotiate peace with Liu Bei and end the war in Qingzhou, but also sent Guo Tu to Luoyang to openly request the court and the emperor to mediate the conflict in Qingzhou.

Yuan Shao's move greatly surprised everyone.

To be honest, the battle in Qingzhou has reached a point where both sides are in a dilemma.

While Yuan Shao certainly didn't want to fight, Liu Bei also wanted to stop.

After the crushing defeat at Lixian, unless Liu Bei significantly increased his bets, there was no possibility of further gains. Even if he could defeat Yuan Tan, Ju Shou's 20,000 troops were already stationed in Linzi, leaving Liu Bei's army with no opportunity to expand their gains. To create an opportunity, however, they needed to reinforce their troops, at least 30,000 to 50,000, to achieve an overwhelming advantage and take Ju Shou's forces into account as well.

This would require Liu Bei to stake most of his resources, which would not only be too risky but also yield insufficient returns.

Reinforcing troops wasn't solely Liu Bei's ability; Yuan Shao could also continue to increase his forces. Hebei alone had 150,000 selected soldiers from Ji Province, not counting the hundreds of thousands of troops from other prefectures and counties, and the nearly 100,000 weak and veteran soldiers who had been laid off.

If we're really comparing who has the last bit of staying power, as long as Liu Feng doesn't leave the fray, Yuan Shao really isn't afraid of Liu Bei.

Yuan Shao's strategy this time was two-pronged, not afraid of Cao Cao interfering, or rather, he actually hoped Cao Cao would intervene. This way, Liu Bei, the honest man, would see Cao Cao's true colors and stop entangled with him.

However, Cao Cao wouldn't be that foolish, and Liu Bei wouldn't be that honest.

Therefore, not only did the imperial court issue an edict to mediate, but Liu Bei also treated Yuan Shao's special envoy Xin Ping with courtesy and agreed to the request for peace between the two sides.

Subsequently, the front lines began to disengage, with both sides withdrawing their troops, using the Jumei River as the boundary.

In this campaign, Liu Bei managed to reclaim Ju County, the capital of Beihai Kingdom, along with more than a dozen surrounding counties. Although most of these counties belonged to Beihai Kingdom, they had previously been effectively controlled by powerful clans under Yuan Tan.

The reconciliation between Yuan Shao and Liu Bei was so successful that Cao Cao sent an envoy to express his gratitude. It was precisely because the Liu family sent troops to Qingzhou that Yuan Shao's actions in Hanoi were effectively delayed, preventing him from making a move until now. Unless Cao Cao was a fool, he would have had to send someone to thank them for this gesture.

After the troops on both sides of the Jumei River withdrew, the entire Central Plains became completely peaceful, and there was no more large-scale warfare.

From high-ranking officials and nobles to ordinary people, everyone was enjoying this rare peace.

However, almost everyone knows that this is merely a lull between major wars, a period of preparation for the next war.

The precious peace we enjoy now is merely a prelude to a larger-scale war in the future.

**
Time flies. After spring planting comes summer harvest, then summer sowing, followed by autumn harvest.

The best season of the year not only signifies a bountiful harvest, but also means that a year's hard work has finally given way to rest.

In the thirteen provinces of the Han Dynasty, except for Jiaozhou, winter was a good time to rest in most other areas. Moreover, due to the high cost of warm clothing, most families simply chose to hibernate. Even during hibernation, there was still the risk of the entire family freezing to death due to a lack of fuel.

Overall, however, people are still looking forward to the autumn harvest.

Compared to the north, the people of Jiaozhou had a much better winter. Although it was still chilly, at least they weren't at risk of freezing to death. Moreover, compared to the scorching heat and insect infestations of summer, winter was much cleaner. Therefore, the plan that Kuai Yue sent to Liu Feng was to launch a military campaign after the autumn harvest.

Although the military operation was supposed to begin after the autumn harvest, the covert infiltration had already been underway for some time.

Kuai Yue, with Lü Dai, Lu Xun, Lü Meng, Liao Hua, and Wen Ping as his core generals, each led 2,000 elite troops, supplemented by 4,000 able-bodied laborers, and provided with a large amount of various supplies, and launched an invasion along five lines.

The first route started from Jiaozhi, with Liao Hua as the main general, and headed north along the Red River. They bribed the local chieftains, tribal chiefs, and powerful families along the way with money and valuables, and promised them benefits in the salt, iron, and tea trade. The only condition was that these people help the Han army stabilize its logistics line and not obstruct the shipping.

The second route started from Yulin County, went through Wenshui to Zangke County in Yizhou, and then split into two groups at Zhenfeng County in later generations. One group, led by Lu Xun, continued through Wenshui and circled around to Yizhou County, where they bribed the local chieftains and powerful families along the way.

The other route, led by Lü Dai, turned north into the Zangke River, heading straight into the Jianwei Commandery, serving as a vanguard for the main army.

The fourth route starts from Wuling County in Jingzhou, and goes west along the Yanjiang River. When it reaches Zangke County, it splits into two routes. One route continues west along the Yanjiang River and enters the northern part of the Jianwei Commandery, while the other route turns into the Han River (later known as the Sancha River) and goes directly to Hanyang County (later known as Liupanshui) of the Jianwei Commandery.

These two routes were respectively led by Lü Meng and Wen Ping.

As for Sun Ce, Huang Zhong, and Wei Yan, each led two thousand elite troops as reserves. If any advance was blocked and could not be resolved by conventional means, and it was necessary to engage in battle to eliminate the enemy, then these three troops would be dispatched to reinforce them. It was hoped that with the excellent combat power of these three fierce generals, the problems could be resolved as soon as possible.

Since the Jiaozhou plan was finalized last year, Kuai Yue has already begun the gradual encroachment plan and is laying the groundwork for the next stage of the plan.

After more than a year of gradual encroachment, erosion, and appeasement, progress has been very smooth.

This was not solely due to the efforts of frontline generals like Kuai Yue; Liu Feng, working in the rear, was actually the one who deserved the greatest credit.

The reason is simple: snow salt, frosting sugar, sesame oil, tea, and iron utensils were so sought after that they were in short supply. Almost every chieftain, powerful figure, and tribal chief along the way was won over by these items.

Even the most stubborn and headstrong barbarians, after being assured that they would not violate local customs and property, were willing to guarantee the rear of the Han army.

The prerequisite is that they need to be given a sufficient share of trade with these barbarians. The specific amount of this share naturally needs to be negotiated between the two parties.

However, generally speaking, these chieftains, powerful clans, and tribal leaders, despite their enormous appetites, couldn't offer anything of value. Moreover, the strength of the Han army and its ability to form alliances meant that even if these people wanted to act arrogantly, they had to consider whether they could withstand the Han army.

The equipment of these barbarian tribes and ethnic minorities in the southwest is far inferior to that of the Jingman and Shanyue.

The people in these places are so poor that they often have no clothes to cover their bodies, and their living conditions are much worse than those in the mountains.

Although the Yue people also lived in the mountains, they were surrounded by plains, so once they came down from the mountains, they could come into contact with the Han people. Whether through plunder or trade, they could always obtain some supplies for survival.

But the barbarians here have it much worse. There are mountains everywhere, and even after descending the mountains, all they can see are more mountains in all directions. Moreover, there are very few Han Chinese here, and even if there are, many of them live worse than the barbarians, and some have even become barbaric themselves. They have nothing to trade with the barbarians for, such as cloth or tools.

Therefore, most chieftains, powerful clans, and tribal leaders actually welcomed the arrival of the Han army. After all, they also needed to eat and wear clothes, and they needed to provide their women with beautiful Han clothing and their children with sweet sugar. If they could also purchase a few sharp swords for themselves and the warriors of their tribes, that would be even better.

Occasionally, one or two fools would not even have time to use Sun Ce, Huang Zhong, and Wei Yan before they were besieged and wiped out by the generals on the front lines in conjunction with the surrounding chieftains, powerful clans, and tribal leaders.

The children, land, and livestock were divided equally, while the grain went to the Han army.

As for strongholds, it mainly depends on their location. If they are located along the river and a small or even micro-port can be built nearby, then the Han army will take them and use them as forward bases to stockpile food, weapons and other supplies.

If the land was far from the riverbank, the Han army would simply abandon it and let the surrounding chieftains and powerful families distribute it among themselves, without the Han army interfering.

Relying on its flagship products such as snow salt, frost sugar, sesame oil, and cloth, Kuai Yue's Jiaozhou army advanced with unstoppable momentum, penetrating thousands of kilometers into southern Yizhou within a year, with frequent reports of victories on all fronts.

The Han army's unstoppable advance in southern Yizhou was unknown not only to the court, the emperor, and Cao Cao in Luoyang, but also to Liu Zhang in Chengdu. Even Yong Kai in Yongchang and Gao Ding in Yuexi were unaware of the news. Only Zhu Bao in Zangke heard some rumors, but he was misled by the disguises of Han merchants and did not take it seriously.

Now, Kuai Yue has petitioned Liu Feng to launch an attack because conditions on all fronts are ripe.

The Red River line in Jiaozhi has entered Yizhou County, and the Wenshui line in Yulin has been opened up to Wudan County, leaving only two or three hundred li to Wei County. The other branch lines are also progressing smoothly, successfully covering and shielding the flanks of the main line.

Launching now, with the crisp autumn air, would allow for a swift capture of Yizhou County, which could then serve as a base for advance. The next spring, a final assault on the Chengdu Plain could then commence.

Liu Feng did not reply to Kuai Yue immediately. Instead, he first ordered Kuai Yue to make preparations, and then personally went to Jiangling to inspect the war preparations.

While passing through Xiakou, I also took the opportunity to check on the progress of Wuchang City.

Compared to Wuchang, Hanyang (Lushan) is currently not as important as the former as a military center. Therefore, Liu Fu and Sun Quan have been focusing their efforts on Wuchang, and the progress in Hanyang has been seriously delayed.

However, the construction of Wuchang City proceeded very smoothly, even ahead of schedule, especially the port, which has been completed and is ready for use at any time.

After arriving in Jiangling, Liu Feng was in an even better mood.

Zhuge Liang actively mobilized resources in Jiangling, stockpiling large quantities of grain, weapons, and various supplies. He made particular efforts to manage the grain supply, ensuring it far exceeded the needs of the troops along the Yangtze River.

In short, the Jiaozhou army has run out of food. If they can join forces with the Jingzhou army, the grain reserves in Jiangling alone can supply both armies for more than five months. With this five-month buffer period, Liu Feng can naturally make emergency deployments and requisition grain from Xuzhou, Yuzhou, and Yangzhou to provide relief.

This shows that Zhuge Liang remained the same cautious, astute, and thoughtful person.

"Kongming, in your opinion, is it time to grant Kuai Yidu's request?"

(End of this chapter)