Among the princes is the big fish eating the small fish, and the small fish eating the shrimp. After years of battle, now there are not many princes who can still be the masters, and there are only a handful of princes that can be used by Liu Xin to show the "muscle", Liu Xin now has two choices, one is to continue to go south from the three counties in the south of the Yangtze River to annex the entire Jiaozhou, and the other is to go northward to eat Liu You
Compared with the three counties in the south of the Yangtze River, the seven counties of Jiaozhou are more sparsely populated, with a total population of no more than one million. There are several counties with a population of less than 100,000. Therefore, in history, they have not been affected by the princes. Pay attention to it, and it has not become the center of the world's hegemony,
Liu You is the Yangzhou herd in name, but he only controls the two counties of Jiujiang and Danyang. With the help of powerful enemies, his life is quite difficult. Even under such circumstances, Liu Yao has not given up to dominate Yangzhou. At the end of last year, he even sent a few envoys to Xiangyang to ask Liu Xin for three counties in the south of the Yangtze River. Of course, it was not unconditional for Liu Yao to ask for the three counties in the south of the Yangtze River. He took the initiative to propose the whole Yangzhou will follow Liu Xin’s orders from now on,
Of course, Liu Xin couldn’t accept Liu Yu’s request. Moreover, Liu Xin also saw Liu Yu’s wishful thinking. Liu Yu is now waiting for a strong enemy. Others will not say anything about it. Yuan Shu alone will sooner or later have a relationship with him. If there is a big battle, if he takes refuge in Liu Xin nominally, Yuan Shu will have to weigh and weigh him again. In other words, Liu Yao's request for the three Jiangnan counties is false, and he wants to have a relationship with Liu Xin and draw Liu. It’s true that Xin’s banner is full of tiger skins.
Of course Liu Xin would not be fooled by him. Even if Liu Xin could not see through, so many resourceful men under him would promptly remind him, so Liu Xin did not hesitate to expel the envoy sent by Liu Yao from Xiangyang. In this way, Guo Jia, Cheng Yu and others also suggested that Liu Xin should first use soldiers against Liu Yao, put on a posture that will sweep the world, put pressure on Cao Cao and Yuan Shao, and force them to move.
Liu Xin naturally adopted their suggestions. However, Liu Xin had his own plan. He wanted to use both Liu Yao and Jiaozhou at the same time. This was Liu Xin's decision after carefully studying the map of the Han Dynasty. Because Liu Xin discovered that Jiaozhou on this map of the Great Han Dynasty includes the later Guangdong, Guangxi, Hainan, and a large area of northern and central Vietnam, and Liu Xin fancyed this land that later belonged to northern and central Vietnam, only Controlling this area, the entire Beibu Gulf will become the inner sea of the Han. For Liu Xin from later generations with a strong sense of ocean, it is even more tempting to win Jiaozhou than to win Liu Yao.
Regardless of whether it is to use troops against Liu Yao or Jiaozhou, the three counties of Jiangnan will be at the forefront. Therefore, Liu Xin's trip to the three counties of Jiangnan this time is not just to explore the mountains and rivers, nor is it just to appreciate the people’s sentiments, but to I took command of these two important battles there,
The first stop of Liu Xin’s party to the three counties in the south of the Yangtze River is Jiangxia. Jiangxia City is the gateway to the east of Jingzhou. Since Liu Xin took back the control of Jiangxia from Huang Zu, he has been working hard, and the place has developed second only to Xiangyang. The third largest city of Jingzhou in Hewancheng, the military camps around the city are stationed with the regular army of the Dahan. However, the garrison of the Dahan is frequently rotated. Now the garrison of the Jiangxia is the 20,000 infantry of the Fourth Army. Led by the partial general Thunder Copper,
Lei Tong did not appear in the team welcoming Liu Xin. Liu Xin had already begun to implement separation of military and political affairs. Without his order, the generals in the major army regiments would not dare to leave their posts without permission. The one who came to meet Liu Xin was Jiangxia Prefect Han. Song, Jiang Xia Duwei Wang Wei, and Shui Military Academy Wei Su Fei,
Nowadays the prefect is no longer in charge, but government affairs are equally important, especially for front-line cities like Jiangxia, which need more stability. Therefore, after Liu Xin returned to Xiangyang from Guanzhong, he transferred Han Song to Jiangxia.
The local army has been completely reorganized. The county has a captain, and the county has a county lieutenant. The ranks are half lower than the prefects and county magistrates, but they are under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of War. They are not under mutual control with the prefects and county magistrates. There are also many and small numbers of people. In important towns like Jiangxia, there will naturally be more establishments, reaching 3,000 people.
After this reorganization, not only the equipment of the local army has been upgraded, but also the mental outlook and training level have also been renewed. Because many of the middle and lower-level officers of these local army are from regular army corps, Jiang Xia Duwei Wang Wei was transferred from the Second Army. After coming, the strength of the local army increased, and the regular army was liberated.
Jiangxia was originally the base camp of the Jingzhou navy. However, the current Jingzhou navy has been renamed the Dahan navy, and the main bases of the navy have been moved to Changsha and Wu County. Changsha has Yunmeng Daze, and Wu County has Taihu Lake. Also, it’s closer to the sea. Liu Xin felt that only these places can train real navy forces. Therefore, under normal circumstances, Jiangxia’s water village is basically empty. There are only dozens of sergeants and three guards. Su Fei appeared here because he was ordered to bring a few big boats to take Liu Xin and the others across the river.
Liu Xin didn’t like welcoming and sending, so Han Song was not asked to inform the gentry officials in Jiangxia City. Outside the city gate, only Han Song, Wang Wei, and Su Fei each brought a few soldiers to wait there. Liu Xin responded to this. He was very satisfied with the arrangement. He turned around and ordered a few words, and brought Jushui, Xu Chu, and a dozen guards to protect the carriage into the city. The rest of the guards went to camp by the river.
As the gateway to the east of Jingzhou, Jiangxia City is built very sturdy. Similarly, because this is the front line, Jiangxia, which used to be a pivotal place in Jingzhou, is not even more prosperous than Xiangyang. Even a city like Zhangling can no longer compare to it. , Despite this, Lu Qiling still clamored to go to the street to play,
Along the way, Liu Xin always crossed the county without entering. Of course, he didn’t enter Jiangxia City to take a break, but to take this opportunity to learn about Yuan Shu’s recent trends. It’s still early, and he’s not in a hurry. Children must be. I couldn’t sit still, and Diaochan didn’t have much interest in government affairs like Ma Yun and Bian Yu, so Liu Xin waved his hand generously and "released" them all, within the reach of Liu Xin's influence. Within the scope, the law and order in various places are pretty good, and there are a few guards following, so there is no need to worry about any danger.
Diao Chan and the others happily left the post house. Liu Xin and the others sat down. Han Song handed over a few papers, which recorded the living conditions of the people in the Lujiang and Runan areas under Yuan Shu’s jurisdiction. This is Liu Xin. They were specifically asked to collect it. In fact, the information collected by the Phantom Spy is also involved, but Liu Xin wants to verify it through the information provided by Han Song.
Putting down the paperwork in his hand, Liu Xin frowned and said, "Yuan Shu is really expanding his army. What exactly does he want to do? With his financial resources, I am afraid that he can't afford such a huge army."
Han Song said, "Going back to the lord, as far as his subordinates know, the aristocratic families in Lujiang, Runan, and Qiaojun have given Yuan Shu a lot of support."
Liu Xin turned to look at Jushou, only to see Jushou nodded silently, proving that what Han Song said was true.
Han Song was born in poverty. Although he was successful in learning, he did not become an official for a long time. Later, he was discouraged and escaped into the mountains. If Liu Xin hadn't sent people to invite him several times, he is still in the mountains with birds and beasts.
Han Song did not have a good impression of these noble families. He glanced at Liu Xin quietly and saw that Liu Xin had no expression on his face. He hesitated a little and continued: "It is precisely because of the support of these noble families, Yuan Shu Only then was it possible to use military force, but it made the people of these three counties miserable. As the chief of the four states and the regent, how can he ignore it,"
Jushou yelled from the side: "Bold, how can you speak to the lord like this,"
Liu Xin waved her hand and said, "Tecco, as you know, Yuan Shu will not follow Liu's orders. In your opinion, what should Liu do?"
Han Song said, "The lord holds a heavy weapon in his hand. For Yuan Shu, who only cares for his own benefit, he should try his best to eliminate the people who are suffering, regardless of the suffering of the people."
Liu Xin said calmly: "This is what you meant,"
Han Song was taken aback, and said: "If the lord can solve the suffering of the people in the three counties, it is not only the expectation of the subordinates, but also the expectation of the people of Jiangxia."
Over the years, the three counties of Xiangyang, Nanjun, and Nanyang in Jingbei have all developed rapidly, while Jiangxia and Nanxiang counties are relatively lagging behind, and even fail to keep up with the development momentum of the four counties of Jingnan. The main reason is that Yuan Shu has always treated Liu Xin. Stay vigilant, the commercial roads here are not smooth, and commerce is now Liu Xin's two major economic pillars that go hand in hand with agriculture. Therefore, Han Song said that Jiangxia people expect him to defeat Yuan Shu and win Lujiang, Runan, etc. The three counties are not without reason.
Liu Xin laughed and said, "As soon as the war broke out, how many creatures would be charred, and as a last resort, Liu would not arbitrarily use swordsmen and soldiers, and Yuan Gongdao's evil deeds have not been revealed. If Liu has rashly promoted his army and his division is unknown, this matter will be discussed later. , JCDecaux, you should go back to the Yamen to handle official business."
Although Han Song could not understand those rich people, he still respected Liu Xin, because Liu Xin was unassuming and did not have much air. This time Liu Xin came to Jiangxia, not only did not want everyone to welcome them in line, but even declined. Han Song proposed to give them temporary residence and insisted on living in the post house. Now that Liu Xin has already said it, let him go back to deal with official affairs first, no matter how much he still wants to say, he does not want to violate Liu Xin. Meaning, Han Song hurriedly bowed and retired.
Jushou looked at Han Song's back and said with a smile: "If it's true that Han Song said, the lord is now in the eyes of everyone, so I might as well do it to Yuan Shu."
Liu Xin glanced at Jushou in surprise, and said in a thought: "Does Gongyou also think that the time to attack Yuan Shu is now ripe,"
Jushou asked, "The master ordered his subordinates to quickly collect information about the families who funded Yuan Shu, Cao Cao and others. Isn't it a plan?"
Liu Xin laughed loudly and said, "Oh, you guys, I can't hide anything from you, but the time is not yet ripe. What I have to wait for is that Yuan Shu will provoke me first."