Late Han Zhao Tang

Chapter 312: Using all possible means to appoint talented people

"The boy is so cute!"

Inside the house, Zhang Yu and Cai Yong were visiting Cai Yan's newborn son. Zhang Yu had promised Cai Yong that he would be a member of the Cai family, so he named his son Cai Xi. Although his son was named Cai, Zhang Yu still treated him as his own son.

Seeing Zhang Yu holding his young son lovingly, Cai Yan smiled happily. She was worried that Zhang Yu would be upset if the child did not take his father's surname, but now it seems that she and her father were overthinking.

"My lord, Mr. Guo outside the house said that there is military intelligence reported from Yizhou!" The maid reported through the screen.

"My husband, please put military intelligence first. I will be taken care of by my father and servants!" Cai Yan said with understanding.

"good!"

Zhang Yu handed the child in his arms to Cai Yong, who had been eager to see him for a long time, and said with a smile, "Thank you, father-in-law, for taking care of the boy!"

"Easy to say!"

"Ji'an has something to do, so go take care of it first. I'll take care of Zhaoji and Xi'er!"

Cai Yong hugged his grandson immediately. Looking at the laughing baby, a smile suddenly appeared on his face. The whole house was filled with Cai Yong's laughter.

Seeing that Cai Yong liked children so much, Zhang Yu smiled knowingly. The inheritance of offspring is particularly important to Chinese men, not to mention the literati who regard Confucianism as orthodoxy.

After leaving the house, Zhang Yu saw Guo Tu waiting for him outside.

Zhang Yu walked towards the direction of the meeting hall and asked, "What urgent matter is there in Yizhou?"

"Your Majesty!"

Guo Tu went to meet him, and said respectfully, "According to the report from Yizhou spies, last year, a fire broke out in Mianzhu, burning the carriage built by Liu Yan, which was not in accordance with the rites, and the fire spread to the state capital and the homes of the people. Liu Yan moved the state capital to Chengdu last winter. He died of illness this spring, and the Yizhou subordinates supported his youngest son Liu Zhang to succeed him."

Since the first year of Xingping, Liu Yan's fortunes had been bad. He wanted to join forces with Ma Teng to attack Wudu, but his men were defeated. After the defeat, the thousands of carriages he had built to pretend to be the emperor caught fire. Mianzhu could no longer serve as the provincial capital, so he was forced to move to Chengdu.

Soon after the state capital was moved to Chengdu, Liu Yan was worried about the fire for no reason. In addition, he suffered from a carbuncle on his back and his health deteriorated. This spring, he learned that Yuan Shu sent Sun Jian to attack Yizhou in the west. Liu Yan was exhausted and died suddenly in Chengdu.

Before his death, Liu Yan wanted to appoint his second son Liu Dan, who was of strong character, as the successor to the governorship. However, Sima Zhao Wei and Zhizhong Wang Shang preferred the timid Liu Zhang and tried to persuade Liu Yan to change his will. Seeing that the Yizhou clans could not be trusted, Liu Yan died in anger before he could explain his will.

After Liu Yan's death, Zhao Wei, Wang Shang and other prominent Yizhou clans and scholars simply ignored Liu Dan and forcibly supported the weak Liu Zhang to become governor of the province.

"The Yizhou clan was so arrogant that they helped their youngest son Liu Zhang ascend to the throne."

Zhang Yu shook his head and smiled, saying: "Liu Yan died of illness, and his young son succeeded to the throne. The power is in the hands of the great family. Now Sun Jian is marching west. With his military strategy, it will be easy for him to take Yizhou!"

Historically, Liu Yan and Liu Biao had similar experiences in becoming governors of prefectures and counties, both of whom relied on the support of local powerful families to secure their positions as governors. However, after becoming governors, the two took completely different paths.

In order to resist foreign enemies, Liu Biao chose to join forces with the local gentry in Xiangyang and was deeply influenced by them. When Liu Biao died and the Xiangyang nobles defected to Cao, Liu Cong was unable to stop them.

As Liu Yan had no external enemies, he chose to win over some of the Yizhou nobles and suppress others, so he still had the right to rule. In particular, the Dongzhou people who continued to pour into Bashu gradually became a political force to check and balance the Bashu clans under the support of Liu Yan and Liu Zhang, two generations of father and son.

In the current world, Liu Yan has passed away, and Liu Zhang is unlikely to hold on to his position as governor. Bashu will most likely be taken over by Sun Jian. If Yizhou is taken by Sun Jian, and Liu Yao of Yangzhou is replaced by Yuan Shu, then the only vassal of the Liu family left in the world is Liu He of Youzhou.

"Sun Jian is from another state and was born into a military family. I'm afraid the big families in Yizhou won't tolerate him!" Guo Tu said.

Zhang Yu shook his head and smiled, saying: "There are many depressed and frustrated people in Yizhou. Now that Sun Jian is marching west to Yizhou, how can we not go and join him?"

People often regard the gentry as a political force, but the problem is that the gentry themselves are difficult to unite. In a county, they can still intermarry and form a terrifying network of relationships, but if we look at it from the perspective of a state, if they are not top-level gentry and have not experienced hundreds of years of operation, they simply cannot do this.

Therefore, in many cases, the lower class gentry would take shortcuts to replace the upper class gentry in order to advance. If Sun Jian could open up the situation in his western expedition to Shu, there would be no shortage of civil and military officials from Yizhou who would join him.

Taking Zhang Yu's entry into Bingzhou as an example, in addition to the support of the Wang family, Zhang Yu also relied on a group of trusted civil and military assistants brought from the Central Plains and the border areas. Thanks to the influx of outsiders and Zhang Yu's emphasis on local clans, a political group with Zhang Yu as the core gradually formed.

Guo Tu nodded, thinking, and asked: "Yizhou is a land of abundance, where Qin was able to achieve hegemony, and it is located on the Yangtze River, overlooking Jing and Yang. Now that Liu Yan has passed away, Sun Jian is on an expedition to the west, and Bashu is about to be in turmoil, do you want to intervene?"

Zhang Yu pondered for a moment and said, "The immediate concern is in Longyou, and the distant threat is in Hebei. Unless God gives us a good opportunity, it is not appropriate to intervene in the situation in Bashu. Bashu is surrounded by mountains on all sides, and Hanzhong is its gateway. Now you can choose an envoy to pay a visit to Zhang Lu and try to make friends with him. Tell him that I have recommended him as the governor of Hanzhong and the general of the Central Army to ensure the safety of the people."

"Zhang Lu, the governor of Hanzhong?" Guo Tu frowned and said, "Zhang Lu governs the county with his ghost teachings, and his mother was once favored by Liu Yan. Your Excellency is on good terms with Zhang Lu, so maybe you want to recruit Zhang Lu as an aid, following the example of Zhang Yan."

Zhang Yu walked into the meeting hall. Hearing that Guo Tu had guessed his plan, he couldn't help but laugh a few times and said, "You know my intention. Zhang Lu has lived in Bashu for generations. He has been practicing Taoism and teaching for a long time and has good relations with the Baman. If we establish a friendly relationship with him, if Sun Jian conquers Yizhou, Zhang Lu will have to rely on me to protect his territory."

"Your Excellency has foresight, which is beyond my reach!" Guo Tu flattered.

Zhang Yu smiled but said nothing. Although the general situation in the world is different from that in history, it does not mean that the temperament of the princes will change. As one of the few princes who combined politics and religion in the late Han Dynasty, Zhang Lu had great ambitions and even wanted to become king.

If Sun Jian succeeds in conquering Bashu, Zhang Lu will most likely rely on Zhang Yu in Guanzhong to protect him if he wants to ensure the safety of Hanzhong. After all, Zhang Yu's strategic focus is on the Central Plains. In order to gain control of Bashu, he would not mind becoming Zhang Lu's external aid to ensure that Yizhou remains divided.

Thinking of the upcoming Western Expedition, Zhang Yu asked with concern, "Are there any recent developments in Longyou?"

"According to spies, Han Sui may have noticed that our army was planning a westward expedition, so he wrote to Ma Teng and Song Jian to form an alliance," Guo Tu said.

The spies lurking in Yizhou and Longyou basically appeared as merchants, selling salt, horses and other items, and cooperating with local gentry in order to take root in the local area.

Zhang Yu raised his eyebrows slightly and said, "If the generals in Longshan unite to resist me, it will save me the time of conquering them one by one!"

Facing Zhang Yu's bold words, Guo Tu remained calm. In Guo Tu's opinion, Zhang Yu was qualified to say such words based on his past military achievements.

When Guo Tu was ordered to leave, Zhang Yu felt that it was troublesome to take care of the child, so he wanted to go to Boshan Mountain to visit the young men of Zhongtiao Army. But when he was about to leave the house, he met Zhong Yao and Yang Jun who came to look for him.

"Your Majesty!"

"Yuan Chang, Ji Cai, do you have anything important to do?"

Zhang Yu returned to the meeting hall and invited Zhong Yao and Yang Jun to take a seat.

"My lord, General Cheng led his troops into Hongnong, and the prefect Liu Xuan fled to Wancheng. Now the prefect of Hongnong has not been decided. Who would you like to nominate as prefect?" Yang Jun asked.

Since the emperor was welcomed by Yuan Shu, Hongnong and Henan were uncontrolled, and Zhang Yu would not be polite, so he asked Cheng Pu to lead troops into Hongnong. When Liu Xuan, the governor of Hongnong, saw that the emperor was moved and he was unable to stop Cheng Pu, he simply abandoned the county and went south to Wancheng.

Zhang Yu looked thoughtful, tapped the table with his hand, and asked, "Yuan Chang, do you know how many households are registered in Hongnong?"

"My lord, during the reign of Emperor Ling, Hongnong County had about 48,000 households and 200,000 people. After the turmoil of war and considering the terrain of Hongnong, according to Yao's estimate, Hongnong had at least 10,000 households and tens of thousands of people, or even 100,000 people," said Zhong Yao.

Although Hongnong County was under the jurisdiction of Sili, it bordered the Yellow River to the north and Qinling Mountains to the south. There were few plains in the county, making it difficult for a large population to live there. The reason why Hongnong was directly under the jurisdiction of Sili was essentially because of its transportation value, connecting Luoyang and Chang'an.

Although Hongnong has a bad terrain, many people in Hongnong were able to escape to the mountains during the turbulent times because it was close to the mountains, and many people survived. If Hongnong could be brought to peace, the people in the mountains would leave the mountains and return home.

Zhang Yu pondered for a moment and said, "Shanxi has been under rule for a short time, so the governors of the counties should not be changed frequently. Now we can select the governor of Hongnong from among the county magistrates with outstanding achievements."

Hearing this, Yang Jun understood what he meant and recommended talents, saying, "Your Excellency, the county magistrates Shentu Bei, Sima Lang, Sima Zhi, and Wang Ji have all made outstanding achievements in governing the county and are ranked first among all the county magistrates. Your Excellency can promote one of these four."

"Shentu Bei was my subordinate when he was in Shangdang. He first moved people to Bingzhou and then rebuilt Chongquan. He has outstanding achievements and rich qualifications. We can recommend him to be the prefect of Hongnong." Zhang Yu thought about it and named him.

"As ordered!"

In terms of reputation, Shentu Bei is not as good as Wang Ji and Sima Lang, but Shentu Bei has a long history. He has followed Zhang Yu since Shangdang. He acts steadily and properly, rarely makes mistakes, and is very loyal. If Zhang Yu does not promote Shentu Bei, it would hurt his old friend's feelings.

After Zhang Yu arranged for the selection of the governor of Hongnong County, Zhong Yao cupped his hands and said, "My lord, I have already collected 150,000 dan of grain for the army. When the grain and grass from Bingzhou arrive, we can collect another 200,000 dan of grain. My lord, you have enough food for the expedition to Longyou!"

After a pause, Zhong Yao said, "Yuan Shao has sent troops to Yanzhou, occupied Puyang and Baima, and invaded Chenliu and Jiyin. He is temporarily unable to look west. Therefore, you should not delay and send troops in May or June. If you cannot quickly take Longyou, wait until autumn and winter to harvest grain, the army will not lack food and grass, and you can fight until the beginning of next spring."

"Thank you for preparing the military rations!"

Zhang Yu showed a gratified look on his face and said, "It is now early April, so we can have all the troops assembled and attack Long next month."

Zhang Yu had been engaged in military operations almost every year, and the army was seriously short of food. Especially last year, due to the severe drought and locust plague, the state government had used up all the food and grass it had provided to the relief. This year, if the food and grass were not adequately prepared, the army might have to withdraw midway.

(End of this chapter)