Although Nanzhong is part of Yizhou, for various complicated reasons, although the Han Dynasty has four counties in Nanzhong.
But the people who were actually in charge of the military and political affairs of the four counties were not the officials sent by the imperial court, but the powerful local foreign tycoons.
Of course, with the current national strength of the Han Dynasty, the power of a single foreign tycoon is not terrible.
But if the local forces in the entire four counties of Nanzhong unite to rebel together, tens of thousands of soldiers can be mobilized.
This number of soldiers is very threatening to the hinterland of Yizhou, which is empty of troops.
This is why Liu Bei wanted to strike first.
But after Zhuge Liang listened to Liu Bei's words, he thought for a while and then advised Liu Bei: "I don't think now is the time to launch a large-scale southern expedition."
Liu Bei was a little surprised when he heard Zhuge Liang's words to dissuade him from his intention to conquer the south.
He didn't think that Zhuge Liang, who had always been good at strategy, would not be able to see the problems he could see.
So Liu Bei asked Zhuge Liang: "What do you think?"
Zhuge Liang bowed to Liu Bei and then said: "Your Majesty, why do you think the Nanzhong barbarians want to rebel but dare not? Even when the foreign enemies have already linked them."
The reason why rebellions often occur in Nanzhong is not only because of the complicated internal causes in the area, but also because the enemies of the Han Dynasty often send people to hook up with ambitious people in Nanzhong.
Of course Liu Bei knew this situation.
He even knew that the foreign enemies mentioned by Zhuge Liang also included Sun Quan from Jiangdong.
After listening to Zhuge Liang's rhetorical question, Liu Bei replied without thinking: "Of course it is because our army has become so powerful in recent years that the rebellious people in South China dare not act rashly."
Zhuge Liang nodded slightly after Liu Bei finished answering.
Then he said to Liu Bei: "Because our army has won successive battles, the Southern Barbarians have become more and more peaceful.
Of course, the Southern Barbarians have been disobedient for a long time. As Your Majesty said, they will rebel sooner or later. "
“But given the current situation, the Nanman will not make any rash moves in the short term, and they will still obey His Majesty on the surface.
Every warrior must be famous when he comes out as a teacher. The barbarians in the south have not yet made clear signs of resistance. It is not consistent with this point if Your Majesty suddenly launches a large army to attack them.
The Han Dynasty is the orthodoxy in the world, but now that the world is divided into three points and the situation is chaotic, this point should be paid more attention to. "
Seeing that Zhuge Liang prevented him from attacking Nanzhong on the grounds that he had no name, Liu Bei refused to comment.
Zhuge Liang is right. If the teacher comes out of nowhere, if nothing else, it will have an impact on his own morale.
It's just that Liu Bei knew that Zhuge Liang was a great talent who could deal with the world and he would not refute him solely on this point.
Not to Liu Bei's surprise, Zhuge Liang continued to advise Liu Bei:
“Although Kuang Nanzhong is known as a gathering place for foreign ethnic groups, there are still many wealthy Yizhou families entrenched in the territory.
Many Yizhou wealthy families have taken root in the area for hundreds of years, and they have extraordinary influence in both Nanzhong and Shu County.
If His Majesty suddenly raises a large number of troops without any reason, Yizhou, which was finally stable, will be in turmoil again. "
Seeing Zhuge Liang mention this, Liu Bei's face began to become solemn.
Liu Bei knew what Zhuge Liang was reminding him.
Why has the turmoil in Nanzhong continued for hundreds of years and never stopped?
This was true even when the Eastern Han Dynasty was prosperous.
That was because of the turmoil in Nanzhong, and his semi-independence was tacitly approved by all the gentry in Yizhou.
Nanzhong's special geographical advantages made it a retreat for the Yizhou gentry.
Once the Yizhou nobles committed crimes in the center of Yizhou, they could use their local influence to flee from Shu County and take refuge in Nanzhong.
Although this would take a serious blow to their family prestige, it would at least ensure the family's survival.
And the Han Dynasty has always had the tradition of making meritorious deeds and intermittent life and death.
As long as they can guarantee the lives of their clansmen, and if some of their clansmen can later make great contributions, or become celebrities in Yizhou through raising hopes, then their family will have a chance to make a comeback.
Perhaps before entering Yizhou, Liu Bei didn't know about this kind of saucy manipulation by the Yizhou nobles, but when he entered Yizhou, he saw this kind of manipulation with his own eyes.
For example, when he first took over Yizhou, Yizhou was "surprised three times a day".
During that time, he strengthened his rule and killed many people in order to enforce strict laws and regulations.
But more people fled to Nanzhong.
The existence of Nanzhong was also a very important reason why he was able to stabilize Yizhou as quickly as possible through tough measures.
As long as there is a way out, the nobles will not easily fight together.
But if he draws his sword to cut off the retreat of the Yizhou nobles while his master is unknown, Yizhou is likely to fall into turmoil again.
And that kind of turmoil may not be calmed down as easily as it was back then.
Yizhou is currently Liu Bei's base area, and no emperor would not be worried about the instability of the base area.
Zhuge Liang saw that Liu Bei was deep in thought because of his words, so he continued:
"Jingzhou has been in the flames of war for more than ten years. The prosperous country it once was has long disappeared. Now most of the national strength of our Han Dynasty is only supported by Yizhou.
In recent years, Yizhou has also frequently depleted its national power to support wars.
The barbarians in the south are scattered all over the place. If we want to completely bring peace, our army should have tens of thousands of troops.
However, due to the dangerous terrain and poor transportation in Nanzhong, the Southern Expedition will not be short-lived.
With Yizhou's current national strength, it is really unable to support His Majesty's long-term southern expedition.
Even if we don't take into account the fact that our troops are out of nowhere, based on the national strength of our Han Dynasty, it is not a good idea to send a large number of troops to the south at this time. "
After Zhuge Liang said this, he looked at Liu Bei, hoping that he would seriously consider his opinion.
After Liu Bei was reminded by Zhuge Liang, he was already shaken by what he had just thought.
Zhuge Liang is right.
If the Han Dynasty now had the national strength to support a large-scale expedition, his first thought would definitely be the Northern Expedition, not the Southern Expedition.
However, although what Zhuge Liang said was very reasonable, the reason why Liu Bei wanted to conquer the south was not to completely bring the four southern counties into his rule.
What he was worried about was that when he launched his Northern Expedition in the future, Nanzhong would take the opportunity to sneak into the hinterland of Yizhou.
If this hidden danger is not eliminated, Liu Bei will always feel uneasy.
Zhuge Liang saw that Liu Bei was still hesitating, so he stepped forward and asked Liu Bei: "In the past, whenever His Majesty went out on an expedition, he would leave his ministers to guard Chengdu."
"And I assure your Majesty that as long as I am in Chengdu, the turmoil in Nanzhong will not affect your Majesty's Northern Expedition."
Zhuge Liang's words were full of strong confidence.
Zhuge Liang's confidence affected Liu Bei.
He looked at the confidant in front of him, who had never said anything false in front of him for more than ten years, with a smile in the corners of his eyes.
"Once Nanzhong is in turmoil, it will be useless to try to appease and show favor.
Military chaos can only be suppressed by military struggle.
And when all the good generals of the Han Dynasty will join me in the battle, is Kong Ming confident that he can quell the war on his own? "
Liu Bei had this question because although Zhuge Liang had led troops in the past, he rarely led troops independently.
Facing Liu Bei's question, Zhuge Liang immediately answered: "Your Majesty, please rest assured."
"As long as Nanzhong is at peace, if the ugly people in Nanzhong dare to rebel against our emperor, those who jump from the beam will be killed no matter how strong they are!"
When he heard Zhuge Liang's words, "Anyone who jumps from the beam will be killed no matter how strong he is," Liu Bei burst into laughter instantly.
"good."
The word "room for laughter" shows Liu Bei's immense trust in Zhuge Liang.
Words without actual achievements may be pale to others, but Liu Bei is willing to believe in his Wolong without any reason.
Just because Zhuge Liang has never let him down for more than ten years.
After finding a solution to the big problem in his heart, Liu Bei was now in an excellent mood.
He took Zhuge Liang's hand and stood on the high steps together.
At this time, Liu Chan was already in the vast open space in front of Liu Bei and Zhuge Liang, driving his horse and continuing to shoot the target with his bow.
Liu Bei looked at Liu Chan's increasingly proficient riding and shooting movements, with undisguised love in his eyes.
"I once heard Mr. She say: You praised the prince in front of many ministers: he is wise and has greatly improved his cultivation, exceeding expectations."
Liu Bei suddenly said this, and Zhuge Liang was a little surprised, but it was indeed what he had said before, so he replied to Liu Bei:
"It's true."
"If the prince is really as good as you said, then what do I have to worry about?"
Liu Bei is good at understanding people, so why doesn't he know his son well?
In Liu Bei's view, although Liu Chan has strengths, he is definitely not as good as Zhuge Liang said.
The reason why Zhuge Liang praised Liu Chan so much in front of his ministers was just to use his personal prestige to increase Liu Chan's reputation.
Zhuge Liang heard the melancholy in Liu Bei's words.
He wanted to say something to dispel Liu Bei's melancholy.
But before he spoke, Liu Bei said to himself:
“The prince doesn’t like martial arts, I know that.
I also know that the reason why he would take the initiative to practice shooting in front of me every time I was in the palace was to make me happy, and he did not want to live up to my expectations. "
"This is the prince's strength. He is benevolent and filial to his relatives.
But that's exactly what I'm worried about. "
"I am his respected relative, and the queen is also his respected relative. If the prince obeys me, he will naturally obey the queen in the future.
But I don’t believe in the queen, or I don’t believe in the Wu family behind the queen.
Back then, Wu Yi was Liu Zhang's in-law, but he was able to turn against me and surrender to me. Who knows that Wu Yi will not be like this in the future?
After all, he was too close to the Yizhou gentry. "
Zhuge Liang listened silently to Liu Bei's talk about his inner worries.
As an emperor, Liu Bei had many hidden worries.
Although Liu Bei was a benevolent and righteous king, benevolence and righteousness did not mean that he did not have his own sense of right and wrong.
Liu Bei will not lack doubts about some ministers who have a dark history and are not firm in their stance.
With the departure of many old friends, there are fewer and fewer people who can listen to Liu Bei's hidden worries.
In Liu Bei's words, he also revealed a little regret.
At that time, he married the Wu family in order to stabilize the Yizhou nobles who were attracted to Liu Zhang.
At that time, he only wanted to help the Han Dynasty, and did not expect that he would ascend to the throne in his lifetime.
Therefore, in his opinion at that time, marrying Wu Yi's sister, who had many interests involved with the Yizhou gentry, was what he should do as a lord.
However, as his status continued to improve, and after finally ascending to the throne, Liu Bei regretted his actions back then.
The head wife of a prince and the queen of an emperor are two different concepts.
Especially after the queen was promoted to the queen mother, the political significance she represented was even greater.
In the Han Dynasty, apart from the emperors who could call themselves me, the queen mother could also call herself me.
This shows the political status of the Queen Mother in the Han Dynasty.
Although not all queen mothers have the right to rule in court.
But when it became a political tradition for the Queen Mother to have the title of emperor, its impact on politics was far-reaching.
The Queen Mother and the Emperor are both the kings of the subjects of the world.
And when this powerful political significance may fall on the family of relatives with evil intentions, Liu Bei's worries inevitably arise.
Seventy is rare in ancient times. He is already over sixty this year. How many years can he live?
Especially after Guan Yu left, Liu Bei, who was hit hard, became increasingly unsure of this point.
Your body knows it.
If he leaves this world in the future, with Liu Chan's character and talent, he will obviously not be able to become the leader of the great cause of reviving the Han Dynasty in this dangerous and troubled world.
And beside him, there was no completely trustworthy clan member from his own clan.
Therefore, he must arrange for an assistant minister, and he already has a candidate for the assistant minister in mind.
But politics is about name first.
If the Queen Mother, who is on the throne, intends to compete with the auxiliary ministers arranged by her for power, then what situation will the Han Dynasty end up in in the future?
Whenever he dreams back at midnight, Liu Bei always has this worry in his mind.
There are some things you should take precautions for.
Liu Bei took a deep breath and then said to Zhuge Liang: "I have had the identities of many of the loyal ministers who were released from the north be verified."
"I will have someone put the list into your hands in a moment. You must arrange for those people to serve in the counties and counties of Yizhou as soon as possible."
Zhuge Liang knew why Liu Bei did this, so he immediately responded to Liu Bei: "Wei."
After arranging this matter, Liu Bei looked at Zhuge Liang beside him. He followed Zhuge Liang and said: "After a while, I will give you the power to open a government and manage affairs."
When Zhuge Liang heard that he was being offered this power, which represented the supreme honor of a minister, he subconsciously wanted to refuse.
For hundreds of years, only the Sangong and the General had the authority to run the government.
It's just that the opening of Sangong's mansion has long been a fictitious one, and only the opening of the general's mansion is real.
The reason why the general could often become the actual person in charge of the Eastern Han Dynasty's government was not only because he controlled the military power of the world, but also because he had the power to establish government and manage affairs.
Zhuge Liang did not expect Liu Bei to give him such crucial power so quickly.
But in the face of Zhuge Liang's refusal, Liu Bei's attitude was very firm.
"Sooner or later you will open a mansion."
If you don't open a government, how will you fight against those people who are entangled in the local area in the future?
If I don’t open my government, who will protect my country in the future?
At this time, Liu Bei felt a little tired, so he walked towards the dormitory accompanied by his attendants.
Before Liu Bei walked away, he left one last message to Zhuge Liang: "Order someone to tell Zi Sheng so that you can do it!"
When these words reached Zhuge Liang's ears, he found that Liu Bei had already walked away.
Zhuge Liang looked at Liu Bei's leaving figure. For the first time today, he felt that the stalwart figure in the past began to look older.
Time flies by like a fleeting moment, and no matter how great a hero is, he will eventually grow old one day.
It is Liu Bei today, and it will be him in the future.
When Liu Bei gets old, he can be arranged to protect the country of Han Dynasty.
What about when he gets old in the future?
Could it be the man mentioned in His Majesty's last words?
(End of chapter)
