After Zhang Xi led his army into the city, he occupied the original residence of the Meng family as his temporary residence and the core of the entire southern expedition.
After catching Meng Huo, Zhang Xi did not behead Meng Huo immediately.
Theoretically speaking, after the rebellions of Gaoding, Meng Huo, and Zhu Bao were put down one after another, and Yong Kai was killed due to internal strife, the rebellion in Nanzhong should be considered put down.
But this is only the first step of Zhang Xi's southern expedition, not the end.
In this Nanzhong rebellion, except for Gao Ding, who was considered a serious Yiren, the other three were not considered serious Yiren.
Yong Kai and Zhu Bao are both pure Han people. Yong Kai's ancestor was Yong Chi, Marquis of Shifang, a veteran Han Dynasty noble.
Although Meng Huo is of Yi descent, it can be seen from the Meng family's mansion that the architectural style is purely Han, and the utensils, calligraphy and paintings at home are all Han style, and the Chinese culture has been very deep.
So in the final analysis, the rebellion in Nanzhong was still an internal struggle for power among the Han people. Even if the Han rebellion in Nanzhong was put down, the problem of the barbarians was still unresolved.
Therefore, Zhang Xi planned to let Meng Huo go.
However, before letting Meng Huo go, Zhang Xi gathered Meng Huo, Meng Yan, Li Hui, Ma Su, and himself for a secret discussion.
Secret discussions on how to completely stabilize Nanzhong.
In fact, it is very simple. It is to forgive Meng Huo for the crime of rebellion, but the condition is that Meng Huo should be the leader and lead the Yi kings from all the caves in Nanzhong one by one, and then defeat them one by one, completely destroying the rule of the Yi kings in Nanzhong. Liberate those barbarians who were bound to their own interests by the barbarian king.
To be honest, Meng Huo didn't want to be the leader.
After all, once he fails, his reputation will be completely ruined. The Meng family in Nanzhong will have no place among the Han people or the Yi people.
But Zhang Xi gave too much.
Zhang Xi promised Meng Huo not only to forgive Meng's crime of rebellion, but also to allow Meng to rejoin the distribution of copper mines in Jianning County, and to ensure that Meng's income distribution would not be greater than this time. There are too few Lis who have made great contributions to Nanzhong.
This was simply beyond the expectations of Meng Huo and Meng Yan. Regardless of life or death, compared with the interests of the copper mine, those cave owners, the Yi kings, and so on, are they considered rubbish? !
Although Li Hui was a little dissatisfied with Meng's rejoining the cake-making ranks, he was now standing on the Liu Bei Group's side, and Zhang Xi's status and decision-making were not something he could shake.
What's more, Zhang Xi has also made it clear that the Jianning Li family can occupy the largest proportion in the distribution of Jianning copper mines except Liu Bei.
Zhang Xi didn't even mention the Jiao family and the Cuan family.
No need to think about it? !
Under such circumstances, Li Hui quickly adjusted his thoughts and immediately exchanged a tacit look of understanding with Meng Huo, and the two instantly reached an agreement. These two families would go as far away as they could.
Then, Zhang Xi and Ma Di, the two withered goods, began to ask Meng Huo and Li Hui in a guided manner - if Jianning County develops copper mines on a large scale, will the two companies have enough manpower to start mining quickly? Work.
If their mining speed is too slow, and other families in Nanzhong are connected with the King of Hanzhong through certain channels, then even if Zhang Xi wants to take care of the Meng family and the Li family, he probably won't be able to stop them by that time.
Before Meng Huo could react, Meng Yan already understood.
Even Li Hui was thinking, should he simply "reverse"? !
Obviously, in line with Zhang Xi's previous behavior of letting Meng Huo lead the way, Zhang Xi intends to lure out all the barbarians in Nanzhong. By that time, won't there be enough manpower to participate in the mining? ? !
Whoever leads the way will benefit most from this demographic dividend. Li Hui was even a little excited.
But after all, Li Hui is a Han Chinese and knows where his core interests lie.
Of course he wanted the copper mine, which was the basis of the family's centuries-old heritage, but Li Hui also knew that the Li family was Han and could not bear the reputation of being "rebellious". This would not be of any benefit to Li Hui's future development in the Liu Bei Group.
After all, if Li Hui reaches a high position in the Liu Bei Group, the benefit subsidies he will receive cannot be compensated by a few copper mines.
Furthermore, with the reputation and status of the Li family in the hearts of the Yi people, they really couldn't be the party to lead the way. They could only take advantage of the Meng family.
The three-party conspiracy has been decided. Meng Huo will lead the way, while Li Hui and Zhang Xi will lead the army to follow Meng Huo. After Meng Huo draws out all the barbarians in the south, he will deal with the barbarian kings one by one and recruit the barbarian tribes. .
However, Zhang Xi did not forget to emphasize to Meng Huo and Li Hui that this time our goal is population, and we are only targeting the cave owners. The barbarians under their command must be treated well, and there must be no large killings.
Otherwise, people will not listen to you obediently in the future.
Regarding this point, in fact, neither Meng Huo nor Li Hui needed Zhang Xi to give orders.
The Yi people don't know how to farm. In the eyes of the former Nanzhong wealthy people, these people probably can only blame their youth and make them into a tribe. They won't feel sorry for them no matter how many people die.
But now, as for mining, as long as you have the strength, you are a strong worker.
The more Yi people survive, the greater their demographic dividend will be. Without those cave owners, these Yi people would have to rely on them to survive.
The two of them cared more about the lives of these barbarians than Zhang Xi.
After the secret discussion, in order to facilitate Meng Huo to serve as the leader, Zhang Xi had to cooperate with Meng Huo in a play.
First, Meng Huo was kidnapped and brought to the army to show Meng Huo how powerful his army was.
Then he showed off to Meng Huo, "Look at how powerful my army is, will you still rebel in the future?" !
Then, Meng Huo immediately said disdainfully, "The enemy did not know the true and false, so they were defeated. Now I have been given to watch the camp. If this is the only way, it will be easy to win."
Zhang Xi laughed immediately, and then personally untied Meng Huo. After a banquet, he sent Meng Huo and his tribe out of the camp.
"You go and collect your troops. We will fight again one day. I will make sure you are convinced!"
Meng Huo immediately snorted, smiled contemptuously, and left.
Zhang Xi returned to the camp and said to the puzzled soldiers, "This is to capture the heart of Nanzhong."
The steps were set up and the stage was ready. Zhang Xi planned to take Zhuge Liang's place and sing the "Seven Captures and Seven Cops" scene.
Although the drama of "seven captures and seven verticals" seems to be a militancy, Zhang Xi's evil ideas aside, from a practical point of view, it is a more practical approach.
This rebellion in Nanzhong was started by the powerful forces in Nanzhong, and it was actually not difficult to put down the rebellion that was intended to separate one side.
But the unstable foundation of Nanzhong, apart from these powerful people in Nanzhong, the biggest unstable factor lies in the Yi kings of various caves in Nanzhong and the Yi people.
In Nanzhong, there are many more Yi people than Han people, and there have always been a lot of conflicts between Han and Yi people.
After Yong Kai and Meng Huo's rebellions were put down today, of course we can return directly to the army, but the problem is that next time the Nanzhong nobles rebel again, or the Yi king directly rebels, and Chengdu sends troops to attack again, it will be another expedition. At that time , soldiers will also suffer casualties.
It would be better to take advantage of the current situation, which is under one's control, to lure out the barbarians bit by bit and deal with them completely, so that even if there is another rebellion in the future, it will not be as large in scale.
In fact, this is much less labor-intensive than the back-and-forth counterinsurgency, and it can also reduce the casualties of army soldiers.
Meng Huo left and became his guide.
Zhang Xi and Li Hui also organized their troops and horses, joined forces and continued to "pursue" Meng Huo.
As for Ma Zhong, Zhang Xi asked Ma Zhong to return to Zangqi County to govern the place. At the same time, he wrote to Liu Bei, King of Hanzhong in Chengdu, requesting Liu Bei to appoint Ma Zhong as the prefect of Zangqi County.
Zhang Xi is not Zhuge Liang. He is just the governor of the surrender. He is not qualified to directly appoint Ma Zhong as the governor of Zanggan. He must report it.
But Zhang Xi believed that Ma Zhong could manage Zangqi County well. After all, in history, this was the commander-in-chief who truly made both Han and barbarians submit.
After Meng Huo left Wei County, he went all the way south. He first went to the Zhurong tribe and found his wife, who was also the leader of the Zhurong tribe, Mrs. Zhurong.
Mrs. Zhu Rong is not a name, but a title. The leader of each generation of the Zhu Rong tribe is called Mrs. Zhu Rong.
Because the Zhurong tribe is a female-oriented Yi tribe, all tribal leaders are women.
Even the head of a large Nanzhong family like Meng Huo had to go to the Zhurong tribe to get married when he married Mrs. Zhurong. He could not take Mrs. Zhurong home.
The boy born to Mrs. Zhu Rong was naturally named Meng and was brought home by Meng Huo to raise. The girl born to Mrs. Zhu Rong was the heir of the Zhu Rong tribe.
Such a custom does not mean that Mrs. Zhu Rong has no feelings for Meng Huo. On the contrary, the relationship between the two is still good.
Now that her husband was in a desperate situation and came to seek help, Mrs. Zhu Rong naturally accepted Meng Huo sincerely.
And Meng Huo had no intention of hiding it from his wife. After seeing Mrs. Zhu Rong, he immediately pulled Mrs. Zhu Rong into the room, and then told Mrs. Zhu Rong the real situation.
Mrs. Zhu Rong was quite shy at first, wondering why her husband was still so anxious even though he was old. But after hearing Meng Huo's story, her whole expression changed.
Mrs. Zhu Rong is also the head of a clan, and she is not stupid. She knows exactly what Meng Huo said.
Moreover, Meng Huo told him this straight away, obviously not to trick his own tribe. Therefore, Mrs. Zhu Rong's first reaction was - what benefits can our tribe get? !
Meng Huo said, "If I have something to eat, how can I miss out on yours?" !
But Mrs. Zhu Rong said that it doesn’t matter whether my daughter and I have food, but the more than 20,000 people in my tribe must have a job, right? !
If you do this well, the benefits will be huge, but if you mess it up, will our Zhu Rong Department still be able to survive in Nanzhong? !
Without some protection of interests, I can't persuade the clan elders to cooperate with you! !
Now Meng Huo and Mrs. Zhu Rong are no longer considering the problem from the perspective of husband and wife, but are negotiating their respective conditions between the leaders of two powerful clans.
Mrs. Zhu Rong must obtain suitable conditions for her tribe, otherwise she will never agree to help Meng Huo easily.
As for Meng Huo, he didn't want to give up the interests belonging to the Meng family easily. After all, he wouldn't get much.
The two people started to argue as they talked, and as they argued, they started to quarrel.
This made Hua Wan, who finally saw her father once and hurried over to ask for a visit, very worried.
I heard that my father suffered a defeat, and he probably came to ask my mother to send troops. Now that the quarrel is so fierce, could it be that my mother disagrees? !
Isn't this bad?
(End of chapter)
