The painting style of the Meixian family really didn't become so strange just casually.
From the Yellow Turban Rebellion at the end of the Han Dynasty to the present, the world has been in chaos for almost forty years. Guanzhong is not a paradise. First, Dong Zhuo rebelled, and then the mountain people rebelled. It was not easy to drive these things away. Liangzhou The group is at it again.
After Cao Cao led his troops into Guanzhong and expelled Ma Chao, and Han Sui waited for the Liangzhou Army, Guanzhong was barely settled, but it did not last for a few years. Liu Bei began the Northern Expedition again, and his troops came to Guanzhong.
If you look at it based on this principle, the Guanzhong aristocratic families should be more inclined to Cao Wei. After all, it was Cao Cao who brought peace and stability to Guanzhong for a period of time. The Guanzhong aristocratic families will naturally have a certain fondness for Cao Wei.
In fact, most of the Guanzhong aristocratic families do support the Cao Wei regime. Now Cao Zhen can only leave 5,000 people in Chang'an and lead the army alone. Without the support of the Guanzhong aristocratic family, it is simply impossible.
But these aristocratic families in Mei County are a kind of alternative.
This has to start with Liu Ba doing official smuggling through Baoxie Road and dumping a large amount of Shuzhong's "specialties" into Guanzhong.
Mei County is not far from Baoxie Road. This place is almost an important transit point for Liu Ba's official smuggling.
As for Cao Wei, it's not that he didn't know this, but because of the importance of Mei County's geographical location, it was also an important logistics base for the Wei army's front line. Cao Zhen in Chang'an didn't know for a while whether he should strictly investigate and prohibit these things.
In addition, Shu brocade, paper, and five baht coins from Shu were all hard currencies in the Wei Dynasty. Even Cao Pi sometimes needed to obtain Shu brocade through these channels, and Wei also needed to use five baht coins from Shu. There are some matters involved in trading horses with Gongsun of Liaodong and grain with Jiangdong, so naturally I can only turn a blind eye.
There are really not many people these days who can realize the importance of economic warfare. From top to bottom in Cao Wei, except for a few people who think something is wrong, not even Cao Pi feels that these "specialties" from Shu have flowed into the Wei Dynasty. Within the territory, there is no substantial harm to the Wei Dynasty.
Therefore, in fact, most of the aristocratic families in Mei County already have the comprador and white-glove appearance of future generations.
For these people, it doesn't matter whether the Wei or the Han rule them. In other words, if the Han can give them enough benefits and let them control the circulation and issuance channels of large quantities of Shu brocade, paper, and Shu-made five-baht coins. , then they would not feel any burden at all when doing things like "eating a pot of milk to welcome Master Wang".
If the aristocratic families in Mei County can master these rights, think about it, how big is Guanzhong and how many aristocratic families there are. Which of these aristocratic families does not like these things? !
This is not only an opportunity for his family to develop and grow, it may even be an opportunity to soar into the sky and become a wealthy family in Guanzhong.
In addition, the next door to Guanzhong is Hedong, and there are more aristocratic families in Hedong than in Guanzhong.
After passing Wuguan, you will reach the Central Plains. Do you know how many scholars there are in the entire Central Plains? !
Not to mention that Xiaoguan is Liangzhou, and beyond Liangzhou is the Western Regions with a lot of stupid people and money. The Silk Road, this is simply a cornucopia.
With so many benefits right in front of them, can these Mei County aristocratic families let them go? !
Of course, these Mei County aristocratic families are not fools, and they know that they will definitely not be able to monopolize these benefits. However, the aristocratic families in Mei County definitely have greater advantages than the aristocratic families in other places. They are the first people to have direct or indirect contact with the Han Dynasty. There are more or less channels here. Although they may not necessarily become a big family through this, just exchanging the resources on hand with some big families in Guanzhong is enough for them to complete the jump in family size.
However, there must be a prerequisite for this, that is, the big man can directly occupy Guanzhong. Obviously, the Mei County aristocratic families really want to see this scene happen.
This is the real reason why this group of Meixian aristocratic families have such unique painting styles that they actually took the initiative to help Wei Yan defend the city.
Of course, this is also related to the current situation.
The world has been in chaos for forty years, and the aristocratic families that cannot clearly see the situation have basically disappeared. No matter how small the aristocratic family is, in the eyes, they are much stronger than ordinary poor families.
During Liu Bei's last Northern Expedition, Cao Pi personally sat in Chang'an and commanded an army of 150,000 to stop him. Liu Bei still allowed Liu Bei to complete the Duanlong, capture most of Yongzhou and the entire Liangzhou, and also occupy Baoxie Road.
Now that the Han army has entered Guanzhong, Cao Zhen's troops in Chang'an are stretched thin, with a total of less than 100,000 men, and their grain and grass storage areas have been breached. No matter how you think about it, you can't see the possibility of the Wei Dynasty turning defeat into victory.
In this case, it is easy to understand how the aristocratic families in Mei County should choose.
The importance of Mei County to the Han army is self-evident, and the Mei County guard does not seem to be a very shrewd person. The Meixian family jumped out to express support at this moment, just to bully Wei Yan for not understanding what was going on. , I just want to get some promises and benefits from Wei Yan.
And Wei Yan really didn't understand economic matters. He was somewhat uncomfortable with the sudden and strange style of painting of these Meixian aristocratic families. But after figuring out what these Meixian aristocratic families wanted, Wei Yan didn't care at all.
He waved his hand directly and said that as long as you help me guard Mei County, I will agree to whatever you say.
Wei Yan never considered how to cash in afterward. This was a question that Zhuge Liang, Zhang Xi, Liu Ba and others had to think about. As a military general, Wei Yan's way of thinking was very simple, as long as he defended Meixian County.
Besides, from Wei Yan's perspective as a general, as long as he holds Meixian and captures Guanzhong, His Majesty has the final say over the entire Guanzhong. If you take advantage of the situation now, aren't you afraid that His Majesty will settle the score with you in the future? !
Our emperor of the Han Dynasty is different from that little Cao Pi. If you dare to stab you, there will naturally be people who can deal with you.
For example, that Fa Xiaozhi
Therefore, Wei Yan didn't care what he promised at all. The most important thing now was to defend Mei County, so Wei Yan recruited the thousand private soldiers of the Mei County family without hesitation.
After dealing with the affairs of the Meixian family, Wei Yan took the opportunity to deal with Wang Shuang's affairs.
As a prisoner, Wei Yan left the task of persuading Wang Shuang to surrender to Zhuge Qian.
After several previous battles, Wei Yan probably understood some of Zhuge Qian's abilities, and also gained initial trust in Zhuge Qian, although Wei Yan still didn't like Zhuge Qian.
But asking Zhuge Qian to persuade Wang Shuang, who was also a Wei general, to surrender, Wei Yan felt that it might have some effect.
As for Wang Shuang, actually Wang Shuang didn’t want to die either.
The reason why Wang Shuang joined the army was to prosper his family. He was not a very moral person, so Wang Shuang actually did not resist surrender.
But there are a few small problems.
First, Zhuge Qian went to persuade Wang Shuang to surrender, which made Wang Shuang feel that he had not received enough attention. If he agreed to surrender immediately, he would also appear to have no integrity.
Second, Wang Shuang is not yet sure whether Mei County will be recaptured by the Wei Dynasty. If he chooses to surrender now and the Wei Dynasty recaptures Mei County and defeats the Shu army's Northern Expedition, then he will be unjust if he surrenders. ? !
Third, and most importantly, the Shu army did not say what kind of official position or treatment they would give themselves after they surrendered? !
If he was still just a small captain, wouldn't he have surrendered in vain? !
Therefore, Wang Shuang has been gritting his teeth until now. He has not said that he is willing to surrender, but he has not said that he will be loyal to Wei.
Zhuge Qian really didn't know much about Wang Shuang. After all, the two people had never met. Zhuge Qian had heard rumors about some personality information, and Zhuge Qian didn't know whether the rumors were reliable or not.
In addition, Wei Yan has led his troops out of the city to meet Wu Ban in the past few days, and Zhuge Qian still has to take the remaining 1,000 men to garrison in Mei County, for fear that the aristocratic families in the city will move. Anyway, Wang Shuang's work of persuading surrender has not made any progress so far.
When Wei Yan remembered this, he asked Zhuge Qian about it. Zhuge Qian also felt embarrassed.
But Zhuge Qian is a "smart" person. The biggest characteristic of "smart" people is that they find reasons for themselves.
"Wang Shuang, who was greatly favored by Cao Zhen, was forced to join the army, and he was unwilling to surrender!" Zhuge Qian thought for a moment and reported to Wei Yan, "My subordinates have met with this man three times, and he has always been the same. He didn't say a word, but he had a strong desire to die. The general would rather kill him than kill him in order to save his name."
Zhuge Qian didn't lie. He met Wang Shuang three times and persuaded Wang Shuang to surrender three times, but Wang Shuang remained silent. If you have to understand it from this perspective, it's human nature.
Anyway, it wasn't Zhuge Qian who died, and General Wei didn't think much of Wang Shuang, so why bother pursuing these details? !
But when Zhuge Qian said this, Wei Yan was a little touched.
In fact, Wei Yan doesn't think highly of Wang Shuang. After all, judging from his fighting style, he is the kind of person who is brave and foolhardy. This kind of person can only be a fierce general who charges into battle, and he is not even qualified to be a vanguard. nothing.
But when Zhuge Qian said this, Wei Yan combined his own practical thoughts. Wei Yan suddenly wanted to meet Wang Shuang.
After all, there are really not many people in this era who can do such a thing as preferring death to surrender.
That Yu Jin was greatly favored by Cao Wei. As one of the five good generals, he surrendered to Guan Junhou after the defeat of Fancheng. He is now serving as a sinecure in Chengdu and is living well.
People like Yu Jin would rather die than surrender, but this Wang Shuang could actually do it. Wei Yan felt that such a person was worthy of respect.
Yes, Wei Yan respects these people with integrity because Wei Yan feels that he is such a person.
In real history, Wei Yan was not a good person. When Chen Shou wrote "The Chronicles of the Three Kingdoms", although Wei Yan, Yang Yi and others were listed together in one biography, which was somewhat ironic, and he also believed that Wei Yan was not a good person, but even Chen Shou, I don't think Wei Yan wanted to rebel after Zhuge Liang's death. He just wanted to fight for power with Yang Yi.
And Wei Yan in this time and space is even more so.
Wei Yan really felt that he could go through life and death for his lord, the current Emperor of the Han Dynasty.
Therefore, upon hearing Zhuge Qian's words, Wei Yan also maintained a respectful heart and personally sent someone to invite Wang Shuang. He planned to ask Wang Shuang one last question, go through the motions, and then kill Wang Shuang to fulfill his reputation.
"General, are you willing to surrender?!"
"Since you've been captured, why don't you surrender?!"
"."
Wei Yan thinks that the people in Mei County, from aristocratic families to generals, are all abnormal!
(End of chapter)
