Regardless of the process, Chen Chong nominally succeeded in recruiting and surrendering the Bai Bo Army.
The surrender of the Baibo Army caused the household registration in Xihe to reach the highest level in the past twenty years. Originally, the household registration of Xihe County was only 28,000, but now it has expanded to more than 100,000 overnight, making it the largest county in Bingzhou after Taiyuan Shangdang. From this perspective, Chen Chong can be said to have achieved outstanding political achievements.
According to the previous agreement with Guo Da, Chen Chong set up Quyu County (today's Quyu) not far from the other side of Baibo Valley, and prepared to co-manage it with Baibo Army. Later, Sanchuan County (today's Suide) and Baibo County (today's Jiaxian) were divided into the lands occupied by the Baibo Army. In addition to the two counties of Yuanyang and Yuanyin originally occupied by the Baibo Army, it is expected that the official positions of five counties can be divided Handed over to Baibo Army for distribution.
In addition, the people who had come to surrender were moved to the south of Lin County by Chen Chong and established Yonghe County (today's Wubao).
What comes next is the most important thing. Six new counties were established in Xihe. The prefect did not have this authority. Chen Chong had to report to the court. He considered the profits and losses carefully and deleted and revised the official document for three days and nights before finally submitting it to Yang Hui.
In the book, Chen Chong credits Wang Yi, the governor of Hedong, and Zhang Yi, the governor of Bingzhou. It was emphasized that Baibo's surrender was due to fear of the elite soldiers from Hedong. In addition, Zhang Yi's several previous advances had led to the rebels being impoverished for a long time. After speaking, Chen Chong also talked about the fact that the rebels were now on the verge of desperation, and hoped to be able to reduce taxes for two years. Otherwise, the rebels originally "had a king's heart and admired the saints", but because of the imperial court's "forced poverty and death", "Chen She's plan" "Reappear" and "Kill endlessly".
When the letter reached Luoyang, it caused an uproar.
The successful petition was brought to the Chang Dynasty for discussion with the officials as usual. Ma Rixi, the captain of the Shesheng School, said to the emperor: "Nowadays, the world is in chaos and thieves are in chaos. This is because morals have been abandoned and the principles are often broken. The emperor's majestic appearance is not a crown or nine-piece garment, but a clear distinction between rewards and punishments. Promote loyalty and filial piety. Although Chen Chong eliminated the problem of thieves, the whole world heard about it, and all the thieves in the Eight Wastelands thought that the imperial court was weak and could be bullied into sincerity, which was not a long-term solution. I thought that I should order the leaders Guo Da and Yang Feng to appease the thieves. It is okay to establish counties to bring peace to the people, but it is not allowed to bring troubles to officials. If this is the case, even if the imperial court gains six towns, it will lose the hope of a clean stream in the world."
Shesheng Xiaowei Ma Rixi was the grandson of the great Confucian Ma Rong. He was famous for his talent and learning. He ranked behind Cai Yong and Yang Biao in the literary world. It was said that the emperor appreciated him and would soon be promoted to Taiwei, so there were many people who agreed with him. But the center of all officials is like a bright mirror: Ma Rixi once lectured at Taixue, and he had many conflicts with Chen Chong. Rumors spread widely. Although this statement is upright and awe-inspiring, it is still biased.
So Taichang Liu Yanjin said: "In extraordinary times, when extraordinary people do extraordinary things, they can achieve extraordinary achievements. Just as Ma Xiaowei said, now the world is in chaos, and travelers die in the cold. The man was lying in the thatched cottage, with corpses all over the field and grass and trees clogging the fields. It can be said that the Han Dynasty was in a state of decline. The chaos could not be quelled suddenly, and the system could not be restored suddenly. For example, if you are the prime minister of a county or a country, they are as effective as a dragon's head, which can bring peace and prosperity to the world. , isn’t it true that there are more advantages than disadvantages?”
Liu Yan was not close to Chen Chong, but he had always been peddling the theory of "Mu Bo" in the capital: he believed that nowadays "the governor and the governor are bribed to serve as officials, and the people are cut off, leading to rebellion. You can choose the famous minister to be the Mu Bo" , Zhenan Fangxia". The governor and the governor were merely trying to keep each other in check, but the post of Zhou Mu was a veritable prince. All the officials knew that Liu Yan was just building momentum for his theory of "Uncle Mu".
One side is the Confucian scholar, the other side is the clan, both sides are evenly matched, and there is a stalemate for a while. Finally, Zongzheng and Liu Yu stepped forward to speak: "There is ongoing chaos on the border. In the west, there is a rebellion in the Kingdom of Han Sui. In the north, there is Zhang Chun and Zhang Juzhen. As the governor of Xihe, Chen Chong is responsible for contacting the Xiongnu with Zhang Yi. The imperial court has recruited the Xiongnu army. , there is no time to delay. The chaos in the two states will start in Bingzhou. Now Chen Chong's recruitment of Bai Bo is against the law, but he cannot be harshly criticized. Only when Bingzhou is stable can the border chaos be eliminated. Chen Chong please allow it, but the court can denounce it later, and it will not be an example next time. , now we can have both.”
Liu Yu is a direct descendant of Guangwu and the successor of Liu Jiang, Prince Gong of the East China Sea. Xian Ming was the first in the clan at that time. He was not only respected by all the officials, but also trusted by the emperor. There was no one who criticized him as a gentleman, and he could be said to be the only one. Liu Yu's words were the final word, General He Jin expressed his support for this proposal, and the emperor had no choice but to give the order.
By the time the edict was issued to Xihe, it was already the first month of the fifth year of Zhongping.
In two months, Chen Chong felt that the days were flying by, the time was like water, and there were too many things to be busy with. The so-called establishment of a county has to wait for the court's reply, but in this deep winter, the matter of resettling the victims and captives is urgent.
The winter wind is like a knife scraping bones, but after a snowfall, Xihe County has been dry for two consecutive months without any rain or snow. While Chen Chong organized people to cut ice and cook it, he distributed the cattle and sheep purchased from the Huns. One family sacrificed two sheep and two lambs. He also recruited the village chiefs and ordered three families to share one cattle to prepare for the next year's reclamation. .
Regarding the 5,000 captives obtained from the Battle of Hequ, Chen Chong announced the policy as promised, allowing them to first work with the victims to reclaim wasteland and build cities. After two weeks, they could return to Baibo's army, or they could stay on cultivated land designated by the government for cultivation. After half a day passed, there were more than a thousand people left, so Chen Chong moved these more than a thousand people to Quyu County. Quyu is located between Baibo Valley and Lin County. It is the Yellow River ferry second only to Hequ. Chen Chong The purpose of disposing the county here is to hope that Quyu can replace Hequ, avoid the Xiongnu, and connect the east and west of Xihe County.
In addition to this matter, Chen Chong also took the time to go to Anyi, thank Wang Yi for visiting him, and advised Wang Yi to continue preparing the army, and wait until the Xiongnu army left the Bingzhou before dispersing. Before leaving, he also borrowed 100,000 buckets of corn from Hedong County, which Xu Ci jokingly called "a dragon lives in the abyss, but no fish or shrimp can grow." Chen Chong just laughed it off.
Chen Chong also visited Zhang Yi's residence several times to thank him for helping send troops to escort the prisoners. But every time it was fruitless. According to Qin Yilu, the chief bookkeeper, Governor Zhang now traveled back and forth to Meiji many times, urgently urging the Xiongnu to send troops to Youzhou. It was quite unsatisfactory before, but after Chen Chong appeased Bai Bo, Shan Yu finally Let go. Now the Chanyu of Qiangqu has mobilized the Tiefu tribe, and even sent troops to slaughter various tribes. The tribes slaughtered are members of the Shanyu's relatives. Regardless of whether they are soldiers, armor, cavalry or archers, they are all leaders of all tribes. It can be seen that he has no intention of repenting.
After saying that, Qin Yilu was quite relieved. Chen Chong's recruitment of Bai Bo was not considered a real recruitment, and convincing Guo Da alone did not mean that Bai Bo's five commanders would be surrendered. But after all, the Xiongnu was frightened by this incident. Even though Zhang Yi knew the truth, it was inconvenient to expose it, so he had no choice but to let Chen Chong write his name on it and get a piece of the pie for free.
It sounds like the situation is looking good, but Chen Chongzheng bumps into Zhang Yi's car on the way home. Zhang Yi looked in a hurry in the carriage, and did not greet Chen Chong, but hurried back home.
Two days later, Chen Chong went to Quyu and invited Shi Sang and other Jie people to come to Quyu to catch market animals. Shi Sang came here with his cattle and sheep. Because of Chen Chong, his tribe's life was much better these days, but there was no joy on his face. Chen Chong asked him why, and he said: "Now that the various tribes have heard that they are going to Youzhou instead of Liangzhou, they are all talking about it. They feel that the imperial court's recruitment will end at some time, and they are unwilling to join the army. However, the Shanyu forces them to do so. He opposed the additional levy and was whipped so hard that the common people did not deserve it. My lord, now all the tribes are in panic and fear, and they don’t know where to go!"
Chen Chong could only persuade him, saying that the imperial court would definitely not stop recruiting troops. After accompanying him in Quyu for two days, Shi Sang left. Chen Chong also lamented in his heart, knowing that a disaster was just around the corner, so he mobilized all the county soldiers. , in order to quickly build Quyu Valley. By the time the edict was issued, Quyu had temporarily built a small city with rammed earth that was more than one foot tall.
Chen Chong was overjoyed when he received the edict. He quickly sent the seal and ribbon to Guo Da, and then set up defenses in Quyu and waited. Among Chen Chong's various arrangements for Bai Bo, Quyu was the top priority. If Han Siam could come and take office, it would be obvious that Bai Bo was willing to submit. If Han Siam did not come and take office, then the recruitment would have its own merits, and both sides would have their own plans. Just let it be.
February is the time when the spring breeze blows. On the dry loess plateau, you can smell a hint of moisture in the wind. The bamboo forest in Xihe has withered over the years, but on the high slopes of Huangnan, you can still see pale apricot flowers covering the branches. Along with the roaring floods of the Yellow River, Chen Chong feels a special feeling.
By mid-February, the cold flood season is coming to an end. The waves in Quyu finally calmed down, and a cavalry force of two thousand people appeared on the other side, surrounded by Han Xian. He crossed the river, wearing a tiger skin round hat, a wolf hair white coat, deerskin boots, and a waistband. Hanging on the seal ribbon sent by Chen Chong, he looked at Chen Chong with round tiger eyes and said with a smile: "Unexpectedly, Chen Chong is so young. Old Yang has always been at odds with me. Unexpectedly, Chen Chong said this on my behalf."
The two looked at each other and laughed, and Chen Chong asked about Bai Bojun's current situation. Han Xian directly told the truth that the imperial appointment had caused huge waves in the rebel army. After Yang Feng woke up, he was ashamed and refused to surrender at the meeting. He asked for orders to take advantage of the frozen river to send out all his troops to besiege Lishi. However, the two commanders, Hu Le and Li Cai, had been in war for a long time and had seen many corpses scattered across the fields and thousands of miles of bare ground. They were tired of fighting and they all agreed with Guo Da's plan to appease them. Han Xian was indispensable. Seeing that Guo Dayi's faction had many people, he agreed to do it anyway. It's just that the heavy rain these days has made it difficult to cross the river, so I just took office today.
After the guests had a great time, Chen Chong led Han Siam around Quyu City and called the county citizens who were prisoners to meet Han Siam and greet him. Han Siam was very happy. Chen Chong then selected the spot where the apricot blossoms were most abundant on the hillside north of Quyu City and hosted a banquet for Han Siam.
The food is the first basket of fresh fish caught by fishermen after the river thaws. However, Chen Chong did not care about elegance. He grilled it until crispy, sprinkled it with dogwood and minced garlic to enhance the flavor, and handed it to Han Siam, saying: "When Chen Chong came to Xihe last year, it was the Double Ninth Festival. He climbed up and looked far away. He was alone. Today I am with you. If Han Jun can plant dogwood here, it will feel like he is back at home in Yingchuan."
While talking and laughing, wisps of spring rain floated between the apricot blossoms, staining the loess, and disappeared in a flash, as if they had never come, but the spring rain did come after all.
