Three Kingdoms: I am not Liu Bian

Chapter 278 Crossing Lu in October!

One sentence from above, and those below are running themselves ragged.

The decision to send troops was not difficult to make, but deciding who would be the general, where the troops would come from, and how to deploy them were all troublesome matters.

First, there's the matter of choosing the commander-in-chief. Liu Bian would never send Huangfu Song to conquer the Zangke, Yuexi, Yongchang, and Yizhou commanderies in southern Yizhou, which are known as the four commanderies in the south.

Huangfu Song is fifty-four years old this year. Sending him to the four southern prefectures to quell the rebellion would be tantamount to sending him to his death.

Yizhou was originally a land of plenty, with prosperous people and a wealthy country. According to the Han army's traditional supply practices, the local prefectures and counties would open their granaries to provide logistical supplies for the army, while the grain requisitioned by the imperial court from various places would be transported into the local prefectures and counties' granaries to improve supply efficiency and reduce losses during the journey.

The imperial court transported the grain very quickly this time. With the joint decree signed by the Ministry of Agriculture and the Ministry of Personnel, the grain was immediately transported from the four prefectures of Yuzhou, Yanzhou, Yangzhou and Xuzhou to Luoyang.

The Ministry of Agriculture and the Secretariat strictly ordered that transportation must be expedited and no delays should be made under any pretext.

Local officials believed that the emperor was furious and wanted to send troops immediately. Some even submitted memorials advising the emperor to wait until the spring when the flowers bloomed the following year before sending troops.

Little did they know that Liu Bian believed that if they wanted to conquer southern Yizhou, they had to take advantage of winter to advance!

The military campaign launched by that prime minister, who had always been averse to taking risks, to cross the Lu River in May was simply too reckless.

It could even be said that the battle was a fight to the death; the slightest mistake could have resulted in the prime minister and his army being buried in the miasma of the south.

What exactly is miasma?
In the eyes of this era, miasma was a mist-like gas that permeated the mountains and forests, and it was believed to be a highly toxic gas.

Ma Yuan, who was in charge of the conquest of Jiaozhi, described the miasma in Jiaozhou as follows: "When I was in Langbo and Xili, before the enemy was destroyed, the lower reaches were covered with fog, and the poisonous gas was rising heavily. Looking up, I saw kites falling into the water." He described the miasma as a poisonous fog that would cause birds to fall into the water if they touched it.

In reality, it was just that the high humidity in the dense forests of the south, combined with the surface water and low-altitude moisture, produced the so-called "miasma." Diseases such as malaria and dysentery were prevalent in this hot and humid environment, which turned the so-called miasma into a disaster bestowed by the plague god, making people turn pale at the mention of it.

In reality, only the toxic gases produced by decaying plants and animals in swamps are truly poisonous fog. Other so-called miasma poses no real danger. What truly causes illness are the mosquitoes, rodents, and ants in the humid and hot dense forests, as well as polluted water sources.

There's only one way to solve these two problems—spend money!
The first issue is the water source.

When the Former Han Dynasty pacified the Nanyue Kingdom, it first learned about "boiling water to treat sores". During the Northern and Southern Dynasties, it was mistakenly believed that tea water used to brew fried tea after boiling had the effect of curing diseases, but they did not know that it was because of drinking boiled water. During the Tang Dynasty, the "Tang Army Defense Documents" were officially issued, and the border troops were supplied with two liters of tea per day to prevent epidemics in the army.

The Song Dynasty made further progress in understanding boiling water based on the Han Dynasty's knowledge. The "Wujing Zongyao" (Complete Essentials of Military Classics) explicitly stated that "in all camps, wells should be dug two zhang deep, and the water must be boiled before use." However, in reality, it would take one jin of firewood to boil one jin of hot water. This supply system was only applicable to rear camps, and it was still difficult to implement in field battles and front-line fortresses.

It wasn't until the mid-to-late Ming Dynasty that Qi Jiguang officially promulgated and enforced the law in the army: "After setting up camp, the water-fetching soldiers shall be ordered to fetch water from upstream, boil it, and distribute it to each unit. Anyone who dares to drink raw water shall be whipped twenty times."

Liu Bian was prepared to spend 2 billion to 4 billion coins from the imperial treasury as military funds for this campaign against the four southern prefectures.

As for the problem of snakes, insects, rats, and ants, the imperial court has ordered the mobilization of a large number of doctors from Sichuan, Jingzhou, and Jiaozhou who are familiar with southern epidemics. Merchants from various places are instructed to cooperate in purchasing large quantities of mugwort and realgar to repel insects and snakes, artemisia annua to fight malaria, and ginger to dispel dampness.

The reason why the Prime Minister's crossing of the Lu River in May was considered crazy was precisely because May in the lunar calendar is the peak of summer miasma, and even with the Yi troops as the vanguard, the main force of the Shu army still suffered many deaths from disease.

Now, as we approach the Beginning of Winter, which is the time of year when miasma is at its weakest, the climate is not only dry, but the activity of snakes, insects, and rodents is also at its lowest.

Even so, Liu Bian would never allow Huangfu Song to lead the troops. If he were not careful, the Han Dynasty would lose its most outstanding commander. The four commanderies in Nanzhong were not worth Huangfu Song risking his life for.

Fortunately, this year is supposed to be a cold winter, but it will only last until early March at most.

The campaign against the four southern commanderies is like a turn-based game. From now on, there are only five and a half months to launch the attack. Once that time is up, the army can no longer risk advancing and must stop and hold their ground, leaving it to the rebels who have lived in the four southern commanderies for years to take their turn. Due to the urgency of the situation, Liu Bian does not have time to mobilize troops from other places to gradually adapt to the climate and water of Shu. The only source of soldiers is to recruit from good families in Yizhou.

To be honest, if there hadn't been so little time, Liu Bian would have really looked down on these Yizhou soldiers.

This is not a regional prejudice. The iron-blooded Sichuan Army of later generations did indeed shed its reputation as a "weak force" when the country was in peril. However, throughout almost the entire feudal era, the Yizhou Army was synonymous with a "weak force." Even when they encountered a commander who was rare in a thousand years, they were ultimately not of great use.

It is precisely because of the unique geographical advantages of Sichuan and Chongqing that even when war broke out in the world, whether it was the Spring and Autumn Period, the Warring States Period, the end of the Qin Dynasty, or the end of the Former Han Dynasty, the land of Sichuan and Chongqing still enjoyed a peaceful and beautiful pastoral life, as if it were isolated from the world, and was a veritable paradise.

Excessive comfort, affluent family backgrounds, and a lack of opportunities for war made the soldiers of Yizhou unwilling to fight on the battlefield, and even cowardly. This is why the prime minister wanted to govern Bashu with harsh laws and severe punishments.

There is simply no time for that right now. However, although the main force of the army consists of the sons of the good families of Yizhou, the court is prepared to rely on the strength of the various barbarian tribes in central and northern Yizhou.

The former governor of Ba Commandery, Zhao Wen, had a harmonious relationship with the Banshun barbarians. Unfortunately, Zhao Wen was transferred and fell ill in recent years. The governor of Ba Commandery who succeeded Zhao Wen levied heavy taxes on the Banshun barbarians, which led to a breakdown in relations between the court and the Banshun barbarians once again, resulting in several rebellions.

The Banshan barbarians were the Ba people.

The Cong people, also known as the people of the ancient Ba Kingdom, were originally called "Sheba people." They lived by fishing and hunting. Due to the harsh natural environment and difficult material conditions, the Sheba people developed a brave and fierce folk style.

At the end of the Shang Dynasty, due to King Zhou's repeated campaigns against the Sheba people, many of them joined King Wu's army to fight against King Zhou.

Because the Sheba people often served as the vanguard and were brave in battle, King Wu of Zhou enfeoffed the Sheba people as the "Ba Zi State," which became known as the Ba State. Later, it was destroyed by Qin and the people were called the Cong people.

King Zhaoxiang of Qin maintained a harmonious relationship with the Ba people, restoring the seven surnames of their leaders: Luo, Pu, Du, E, Du, Xi, and Gong. They agreed that as long as Qin existed, the Ba people would not pay taxes.

Later, Emperor Gaozu enfeoffed the people of Shu and recruited the Ba people to pacify the Three Qin regions. Upon seeing the "Ba-Yu Dance," he was delighted and exclaimed, "This is the song of King Wu's conquest of Zhou." He even introduced the Ba-Yu Dance into the palace. The Ba people were subservient to the Han Dynasty for generations until the end of the Xin Dynasty when the world was in chaos. Even Emperor Guangwu could not conquer the hearts of the Ba people like Emperor Gaozu had. They would sometimes submit and sometimes rebel, causing headaches for the governors of Ba Commandery throughout the ages.

Because the Cong people always carried wooden shields when they were armed, the imperial court called them "Ban Dun Man" (板楯蛮).

Zhao Wen recovered from his illness in April of this year. At the age of 49, Zhao Wen was reinstated and appointed as a consultant, awaiting a vacancy before being formally appointed. This provided an opportunity for Zhao Wen to help mediate the relationship between the court and the Ba people.

However, the commander of the army would not be Zhao Wen. Zhao Wen was not good at military affairs, and his friendly relations with the Cong people were based on temporary preferential policies. Therefore, Liu Bian planned to transfer Zhu Jun from his post as governor of Liangzhou to serve as general of Annan, as the commander of the army that would lead the army south to conquer the four counties of Nanzhong.

Zhu Jun was far inferior to Lu Zhi, Huangfu Song, and Dong Zhuo.

However, Zhu Jun had one strength: he was good at fighting in harsh environments.

Whether in Liangzhou in the northwest or Jiaozhou in the south, Zhu Jun had experience serving as the governor of a prefecture and leading troops into battle.

The miasma in southern Yizhou was less severe than that in Jiaozhou, so Zhu Jun must have had some understanding of miasma and methods to deal with it, and his body may have had a stronger resistance to it.

Of course, to put it another way, if Zhu Jun had unfortunately died from malaria... Liu Bian wouldn't have felt so heartbroken or regretful.

(2594 words)
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P.S.: Oops, I thought I posted it, but when I checked the subscription page after midnight, I realized this chapter hadn't been posted at all...

(End of this chapter)