Chang'an, conquer Xifu.
During the time when Cao Shuang was arranging Ma Mao's assassination plan in Luoyang, Xia Houxuan had been busy continuing to gather military morale and control military power. Qian Jia and Qian Hong performed both kindness and power in the two counties of Fufeng on the left and Fengyi on the right, and gained the love of many generals of the Yongliang Army. In addition, Xia Houxuan always made clear rewards and punishments in Chang'an, and he promoted a group of new people. Of the 40,000 Yongliang troops stationed in Sanfu, nearly 20,000 of them have turned to Xia Houxuan and are willing to listen to Xia Houxuan's orders anytime and anywhere. Although more than half of the remaining sergeants no longer dislike Xia Houxuan, they are obviously He is more inclined to Guo Huai, who has controlled Yongzhou for many years, is also clear about rewards and punishments, and is good at running the army.
Xia Houxuan had already guessed this result. Since ancient times, the morale of the military and the people has been rare. Therefore, Xia Houxuan was very surprised by the fact that half of the troops had surrendered.
Calculating carefully, Longxi County has 20,000 Yongliang troops directly commanded by Xiahou Ba for many years. There are 20,000 more Chang'an Third Assistants who directly take orders from Qianjia and Qianhong, and Xiahou Xuan's Yongliang troops, plus 20,000 troops directly commanded by Zhengxi Prefecture. The Chinese army is elite, and now Xia Houxuan's power in Chang'an can be said to be on par with Guo Huai, the former general and Yongzhou governor who also has false power.
Xia Houxuan, who had just finished re-adjusting the defenses of Longxi, Nan'an and Tianshui counties at the official office of Zhengxi Prefecture, thought of his situation in Yongliang, feeling both relieved and sad. With a complicated mood, he leaned on the seat and took a long look. After taking a breath, even Xia Houxuan himself didn't know whether he was sighing or relieved.
He was pleased that he had finally established a firm foothold in Yongliang, a place he was unfamiliar with, and had a force powerful enough to control half of the northwest. What worries him is that as a famous general of the generation and an old Sima general, Guo Huai is so powerful that even he, the governor of Yongliang, cannot command the remaining tens of thousands of Yongliang troops.
Just when Xia Houxuan was in a complicated mood and full of thoughts, a soldier came to the big tent:
"Grand Governor, this is a handwritten letter from Zhuge Shijun, the governor of Yangzhou. I would like to ask the Grand Governor to read it."
"It's a letter about a sabbatical, please submit it quickly!"
Xia Houxuan took the handwritten letter from Zhuge Dan from his own soldiers, looked at it, and saw in his heart:
"In the early days of Taichu, my brother Ruwu said: Brother Yu heard in Yangzhou that there were envoys from Gaogouli appearing in Jianye of the Eastern Wu Dynasty. He guessed that the King of Dongchuan of Gaogouli had a different intention. Brother Yu's subordinates once roamed in Liaodong and knew that Gaogouli and the northwest people The Qiang and Di have always had exchanges with each other. If changes occur in the northeast, the northwest may also be inevitable. Now Jiang Wei and Wang Ping are stationed in Hanzhong, and the Qiang and Di are scattered in the prefectures and counties. I hope Taichu will be careful to check it out, and Yuxiong Dan will write it himself."
Xia Houxuan was shocked after reading the letter.
The news of the investigation by the school affairs office was originally top secret. If Cao Shuang did not report it, Zhuge Dan and Xia Houxuan would naturally not know about it. However, Zhuge Dan recruited many capable people, strangers, and knight-errants from Xu and Yangzhou under his command. Therefore, each party Fang's information is sometimes better informed than the school affairs office.
Xia Houxuan was frightened and immediately calmed down. During this period, he had been focusing on Jiang Wei, who was stationed in Hanzhong and eyeing Yongzhou. As for the Qiang and Di, he didn't think too much about it.
This is not because Xiahou Xuan is careless, but because all the tribes in the northwest have always surrendered to the powerful northwest iron cavalry of the former Han Dynasty and the current Wei Dynasty. Instead of being enemies of Yongzhou counties, they have always been very conscious. Under the aegis of the imperial court, not only would they pay taxes on time, but they would also provide soldiers and supplies during the country's wars - for example, in the Luo Valley War, the Qiang and Di tribes provided a lot of food, grass, mules and horses for the army.
But in troubled times, people's lives are like grass, and people's hearts depend on a mouthful of food to prevent them from changing. If they are all about to starve to death, why do they care about Han and Wei, what are they afraid of, what kind of kings are they?
In this Battle of Luogu, the army marched back and forth for more than two months. Not only did it consume a lot of food and grass provided by various states and counties and the Qiang Di people, but during the withdrawal, in order to successfully break through, Fei Yi had to make a breakthrough at Shenling, Yaling and Fenshuiling. The ambush set up in the dangerous place of the ridge also discarded a lot of the remaining supplies of the army, which caused great losses to Guanzhong.
Although there are still surplus grains in Yongliang prefectures and counties, this year is another drought year, and the harvest will not be very good. Xia Houxuan even heard that many people who have no food at home have sold their food in order to exchange for the rations for their families to spend the winter this year. He lost his land and became a tenant in the powerful forts in various places.
The private soldiers in Wubao were attached to powerful landlords and were basically slaves of the landlords. They did not need to pay taxes and were classified as "black households" hidden by powerful landlords. As a result, it is unknown how much tax money will be lost in the national treasury this year.
The people of Yongzhou, who were directly under the shadow of the imperial court, even sold their property in exchange for food. The Qiang and Di ethnic groups, who were already nomadic and lost a large number of donkeys and mules, were naturally even more miserable. They had no food to eat, and the livestock used for breeding died again. It is equivalent to cutting off their hope of survival in the coming year.
Without food, they will naturally take risks!
Thinking of this, Xia Houxuan suddenly became worried. The situation in the northwest was like a sharp sword hanging above his head, which could fall and be chopped off at any time. If he didn't find a way in time, I'm afraid unimaginable catastrophe would happen in Yongliang. trouble.
Considering this, Xia Houxuan immediately called Li Sheng and Xia Houfeng.
When Li Sheng and Xia Houfeng heard that Xia Houxuan wanted to transfer Jingzhao, Fufeng, Fengyi, Tianshui, Longxi, Nan'an, Guangwei, Anding, Xinping, Beidi, Jincheng, Xiping, Wuwei, Zhangye, Xihai, Jiuquan, Dunhuang, etc. When the wealthy families from Yongliang and Liangzhou gathered together to hold a banquet, the two of them were completely stunned.
Seeing that the two of them were confused, Xia Houxuan originally wanted to explain his idea of raising food to alleviate the conflict between Qiang and Di, but then he thought about it. If his plan was not secret and the wealthy people heard about it in advance, I am afraid that no one would come to join him. Of course, he couldn't raise any money for the banquet.
After Xia Houfeng observed the map of the 17 counties in Yongliang Prefecture, he felt that allowing all the wealthy families in the 17 counties to gather together would delay the time too much, so he suggested:
"Brother, in my opinion, it is better to hold the banquet in three places. My brother is Dong, and invites the wealthy families from the six counties of Sanfu, Beidi, Xinping, and Anding to host a banquet in Chang'an; in addition, select two people who are good at organizing banquets. The capable officials who can discuss matters will entertain the wealthy families of Xizhou and Liangzhou respectively in Tianshui and Wuwei. This way, the wealthy families in each county can be spared the pain of travel and a lot of time. I wonder what my brother wants?"
Xia Houxuan listened to Xia Houfeng's suggestion and greatly appreciated Xia Houfeng. After thinking for a while, he nodded and said:
"What Brother Feng said makes sense. I think Brother Xian will organize the Xizhou banquet. As for Liangzhou, why don't I just send a letter to Governor Wang directly and ask him to organize it? What do you think?"
Both Li Sheng and Xia Houfeng felt that there was nothing wrong with this arrangement, so Xia Houxuan immediately summoned Xia Houxian. After some instructions, Xia Houxian felt confident and immediately took the order to make arrangements.
Xiahou Xuan saw that everything was ready in Yongzhou, so he spread out his pen and ink and wrote a personal letter that he intended to hand to Wang Hun, the governor of Liangzhou:
"Your Majesty, your Majesty, is like this: Half a year has passed since we parted ways in the autumn. Is your Majesty okay? Today, the Qiang and Di people in Yongliang have no food to eat, and all their mules and horses are dead. The resentment of the barbarian people is likely to boil over day by day. Omen, there is no good strategy in this difficult time. I have been thinking about it for a long time. The only way is to raise food and grass to temporarily relieve the Qiang and Di barbarians from having no food. The barbarians are grateful and there will be no trouble. If we don't make preparations early, I'm afraid that Xizhou will be in danger of getting worse. , I would like you to investigate it in detail, and pray for an early report, written by Xuan himself."
Xia Houxuan sealed the letter with fire lacquer, stamped it with the seal of Zhengxi Mansion, and then sent a fast horse to deliver the letter immediately and at night.
Just after Xia Houxuan was busy collecting food and preparations, there was a knock on the door. Xia Houxuan opened the door to see, and saw that the person who came was none other than military doctor Ju Like.
"Mr. Gouli, I'm here late at night, but what's the important matter?"
Julike smiled, took a bowl of steaming soup from the wooden railing of the corridor, and then said:
"Grand Governor, I am very sorry for disturbing you late at night. I have nothing important to do. I just saw that the Governor was working hard day and night and was worried that the Governor's old injury would not heal, so I specially prepared a good medicine to calm the nerves and replenish the energy."
After hearing Julike's words, Xiahou Xuan smiled warmly, took the medicine bowl with both hands, and then invited Julike into the study.
"Mr. Thank you for taking time out of your busy schedule to prepare medicine for Xuan. Xuan is very grateful."
The two of them entered the study and sat together.
Xia Houxuan picked up the medicine bowl and blew on the hot air. He felt a little hot. However, Julike thought that Xia Houxuan was going to drink the medicine immediately and stood up to stop him. When Xia Houxuan saw this, he was surprised. After putting down the medicine bowl, he Xie asked:
"Why was Mr. Cai so panicked just now?"
Goulike breathed a sigh of relief when he saw Xia Houxuan put down the medicine bowl, and then returned to his seat. He looked uneasy and explained:
"This medicine needs to be kept warm and cool for the best medicinal properties. If it is too hot, the medicinal effects will not be beautiful."
When Xia Houxuan heard this, his doubts dissipated, he nodded, slowly put down the medicine bowl in his hand, held the bowl with his hand, and said while measuring the temperature:
"Sir, in the battle of Luogu, there were countless wounded soldiers. If it hadn't been for the hard work of Mr. and Mr. Li to treat them, I'm afraid none of the more than 3,000 seriously injured soldiers would have survived. Mr. Xuan is kind and righteous, and Xuan is here to use medicine instead. A bowl of wine, sir!"
It was the end of winter, so the medicinal soup soon stopped being hot. Xia Houxuan picked up the medicinal soup with just the right temperature, brought it to his mouth, raised his head and drank it. But at this moment, the excited Julike suddenly rushed forward and knocked over the medicinal soup Xia Houxuan was about to drink with one palm!
After all, Xia Houxuan is a person who does not change his expression when thunder and fire strike a pillar. Although Julike's reaction surprised him, he was not frightened to death. Xiahou Xuan Linglong's thoughts were filled with surprise. After a moment of surprise, he immediately understood:
"Sir, when you deliver the medicine tonight, do you intend to poison me?"
Goulike looked extremely painful at this moment, and beads of sweat rolled down his forehead. After a long while, he explained with shame and struggle:
"The Governor is indeed very smart, and he can guess my thoughts at a glance."
Xiahou Xuan Bingxue was smart, and now he completely understood Goulike's thoughts. He calmly speculated:
"Sir, you are originally from Gaoguli, and you have already learned about the upcoming Eastern Expedition of the Wei Dynasty, right?"
Seeing that Xia Houxuan had guessed his purpose, Goulike calmed down a lot at the moment. He bowed his head to Xia Houxuan and said:
"Master Wang ordered me to assist the governor with all my heart, but I have selfish motives. Instead, I want to murder the governor and cause turmoil in Wei State, so that I have no time to conquer my mother country Gaoguli. I deserve death for my crime. Now I have nothing to say. Please also ask the governor Get frustrated!"
