Really, these days, there is a gap between aristocratic families and aristocratic families.
Some families with a long-term vision, such as the Langya Wang family and the Qinghe Cui family, no matter whether the decisions they make are beneficial to the court, at least they are definitely beneficial to their own families.
But the decisions of some aristocratic families can really shoot themselves in the foot.
For example, these Qinzhou aristocratic families in the North, they really miscalculated this time.
Although they were not instigated by the Qiang rebellion this time, they sat idly by and caused the fall of the three counties of Qinzhou, causing them to have to retreat to Tianshui County. There was definitely no profit, and it was a good result that they did not lose too much. .
After Zhang Xi listened to Jiang Xu's story and understood the causes and consequences of this Qiang rebellion, he felt really happy and resentful about what happened to these aristocratic families.
Joy is pure schadenfreude!
Zhang Xi originally looked down upon most of the aristocratic families of this era, but now that he saw them bringing themselves into trouble, he naturally had to take pleasure in their misfortune.
Hatred is an expression of resentment towards these aristocratic families who only care about their own interests.
This group of aristocratic families, just for a little money and food, could put the lives of the people in the three counties at risk and plunge them into a war. If only they had helped earlier, the people in the three counties would not have been robbed by the Qiang people and put into a life-or-death situation.
Therefore, when Zhuge Liang led the main army and also entered Ji County, the first thing Zhang Xi did was to persuade Zhuge Liang to take this opportunity to deal with these Qinzhou aristocratic families.
In order for the Northern Expedition to go smoothly, the strategy of appeasing the local families was adopted, but now it seems that it is inappropriate.
These aristocratic families are just a bunch of white-eyed wolves. If we don't take the opportunity to get rid of a group of them, this kind of thing may happen again in the future.
It's true that Zhang Xi doesn't allow aristocratic families to exist, but these aristocratic families have to have a bottom line.
You can fight within yourself no matter what, but be cautious when facing foreign invasions and never kill as many as you want.
You can play whatever you want within yourself, but you can't involve the people of a state. If the people can't survive, then there is no need for these aristocratic families to exist.
This is Zhang Xi's attitude towards the aristocratic family.
If I have to give an example, Zhang Xi, who was both an outstanding descendant of the Langya Wang family during the Eastern Jin Dynasty, may have admired Director Wang more and disliked Wang Dun.
Although Director Wang has a lot of selfish motives, he at least knows the inside and outside and has some bottom lines. He would rather travel south in disguise than join in with the foreigners.
But Wang Dun was different. Although he also helped the country, in his struggle for power, he could easily launch internal rebellions and involve the people in the war.
In fact, strictly speaking, these two are not good things, but in this era, it is difficult for the aristocratic family to eliminate their influence in the short term. Zhang Xi can only settle for the second best, hoping to have more Director Wang. , less Wang Dun.
Zhang Xi's love and hate were so simple and direct, so when Zhuge Liang entered Jixian County, Zhang Xi directly complained to Zhuge Liang, allowing Zhuge Liang to take the opportunity to deal with these so-called "rich families".
But Zhuge Liang can't think too simplistically like Zhang Xi.
Politics is the art of compromise. Although Zhuge Liang does not know this sentence, it does not mean that Zhuge Liang does not understand the truth behind it.
Strictly speaking, what the Qinzhou Aristocratic Family did this time did indeed cause serious consequences, but their way of doing things still had a certain bottom line.
They did not personally incite the Qiang people to rebel, which was considered a sign of integrity.
Zhuge Liang is very clear about the virtues of aristocratic families these days, but the problem is that these days aristocratic families still effectively control the power of public opinion and knowledge interpretation.
Before these two rights are completely divested, it is simply impossible to completely solve the family's problems.
Zhuge Liang could only comfort Zhang Xi privately and tell Zhang Xi the difficulties involved. If you want to set an example and punish him, that's no problem. This time the Qiang people caused so much trouble, Zhuge Liang had to find a chicken and kill it. Otherwise, it would not be enough to deter these aristocratic families.
But you have to kill them all. This is too difficult and does not do any good for local stability.
After Zhuge Liang's repeated persuasion, Zhang Xi was at his wits end. He understood what Zhuge Liang said, but he just felt aggrieved.
But what can be done? The people who are more aggrieved than Zhang Xi are the people of this era. But if Zhang Xi really makes things big and eradicates all these aristocratic families, believe it or not, the first person to scold Zhang Xi will still be These people.
The limitations of the times are here, and Zhang Xi has no way to change them.
In this case, let's discuss which chicken to catch and slaughter it! ! !
This was so true that Zhuge Liang was speechless. He quickly sent Zhang Xi away and told him not to get involved in this matter.
There is also something important about which chicken to catch. You, Zhang Yuanchang, can't just kill whoever you don't like. It's better for Zhuge Liang to do this himself and let Zhang Xi get involved, then it's really easy to do bad things.
Another thing is that Zhuge Liang is not going to let these aristocratic families go so easily. He will not take action so easily until the remaining value of the chicken is squeezed out.
Therefore, the next day, there were well-informed and personnel rumors in Ji County. After the Qiang rebellion was suppressed, Prime Minister Zhuge intended to pursue officials at all levels in Qinzhou for their negligence.
This is not a surprising thing. Now that the Qiang rebellion is so big, someone should take the blame. But who this person is is hard to say.
No one wants this kind of blame to fall on their own family, but the four major families also know that this matter will most likely fall on their own children in the end.
In the Qinzhou area, the four major families are the most powerful, and their children hold the most state and county official positions.
The question now is how to show that he is on the side of the court in this rebellion and help the court end the rebellion as soon as possible. Then after the war, Zhuge Liang will not have enough excuses and reasons to pursue him.
Yes, the aristocratic families are not stupid either. They all know that this unfortunate rumor was spread by Zhuge Liang himself, but if you really treat him as a rumor, then you are really asking for trouble.
If the Qiang people rebel, you may only lose your property, money and food, but if you don't take Zhuge Liang seriously, your whole family may be lost directly, and no one will sympathize with you!
The Shu family had already learned about Zhuge Liang's methods in this regard, and rumors had long spread to the northwest. The North family was unwilling to use their family's future to verify the truth of this rumor.
Therefore, when Zhuge Liang entered Jixian County, the aristocratic families in Tianshui County also began their own "self-rescue" actions.
The aristocratic families in Ji County took the initiative to find Zhuge Liang and were willing to provide some money, food, and even information about the Qiang people. The aristocratic families in various counties also approached the chief officials of each county and were willing to contribute money and efforts to help defend the city. Some even In counties where the Qiang siege was weak, aristocratic families sent their clan members to venture out of the city and go to Hebei County to pass on information and ask for help.
In just a few days, Zhuge Liang gained a lot of information about the Qiang people. From the distribution of Qiang soldiers to the conflicts among the Qiang people, Zhuge Liang had everything in his hands.
Really, at this moment, Zhuge Liang had the same thoughts as Zhang Xi.
Forget about money and food, these aristocratic families have plenty and don't care about that.
But with so much, such detailed, and accurate information, I wouldn’t believe it if you said that there is no connection between your family and the Qiang people outside the city.
It's really better to listen to Zhang Xi's advice and just make excuses to kill him. That's what Zhuge Liang thought about. In fact, he still can't do this.
Holding back his anger and temper, he summoned Zhang Xi, Pang Tong, Pang De, and Ma Dai to discuss the next battle plan.
Zhang Xi, Pang Tong, and Pang De were understandable, but the last person to participate in the meeting, Zhuge Liang, chose Ma Dai instead of Jiang Xu.
There is a reason for this.
On the one hand, as the governor of Qinzhou, Jiang Xu's most important thing at this time is to appease the people, come forward to deal with the "shows of goodwill" of the Qinzhou family, and stabilize the order in Ji County.
On the other hand, Jiang Xu was guilty of losing the state and county. Before the rebellion was completely put down, Jiang Xu was still guilty and had to be punished accordingly.
As a military general, Ma Dai followed his brother Ma Chao in the northwest for a long time. When it came to fighting, Ma Dai was more suitable than Jiang Xu.
It's already late November, and it's December in a blink of an eye. It has snowed twice in Qinzhou, but each time it stopped within half a day. Zhuge Liang's idea is, can we take advantage of this winter? When there is little chance of snow, he takes the initiative to defeat these rebellious Qiang people head-on and regain the prefectures and counties.
Regarding this matter, in fact, none of you here are very accurate.
In recent years, the climate in the northwest has been very strange.
Sometimes, it starts snowing in late October, and it can be intermittently snowy for the next month. By December, it becomes sunny every day, and there may even be signs of early spring.
But if you really believe in this weather and go out to sow crops, then the temperature suddenly drops and everything you plant will freeze to death.
Sometimes, it won't snow even in December, but it may also fall overnight for more than ten days, until it snows so hard that even the door is blocked.
Therefore, no one can guarantee that if it does not snow much at this time, it will not snow during the subsequent battles.
If it snows again not long after sending out troops to attack the enemy, and the army spreads out, and if it cannot be taken back for a while, then it will not only be the Qiang people who will be unlucky, but our own people will also be unbearable.
Therefore, the best way to be safe during the period is to temporarily station troops in Ji County, or just disperse the Qiang troops in Tianshui County, guard the border of Tianshui County, and wait until spring before making plans.
But in this case, there is also a problem - what if these Qiang people took advantage of the snowfall in winter to rob and hide on the grassland until spring? !
The plundering Qiang people did not carry any marks on their bodies. After these people retreated to the grassland, no one could find them.
After the beginning of spring, the main force of the Han army regained the lost territory and marched to the grassland. Not to mention how difficult it was to find these Qiang tribes to fight on the grassland. Even if they were found, the Han army could not be like the Qiang people and kill everyone on sight. ? !
Zhuge Liang is not so hard-hearted yet, not to mention that Zhuge Liang plans to take advantage of the situation to win over the Qiang people's hearts, let alone kill innocent people indiscriminately.
Sending troops now to defeat the Qiang soldiers not only shows their power, but also prepares them for "subduing them with virtue" in the future.
However, the most purpose of sending troops after the beginning of spring is to regain lost territory and stabilize the hearts of the Han people. To the Qiang people, they may not even be able to show them power, let alone "submit them with virtue".
After much thought, Zhuge Liang decided to adopt Pang Tong's suggestion and venture out of the city to search for the enemy, find the main force of the Qiang soldiers, and decide the outcome in a battle.
Although it is a bit risky, the rewards after success are also the greatest.
Just when Zhuge Liang was about to issue a military order for the entire army to leave the city, Jiang Xu suddenly came to report.
The Qiang people from various counties in Longxi have assembled in Nan'an County, numbering about 150,000 to 60,000, and the entire army is approaching the west county of Tianshui County.
Zhuge Liang and Pang Tong were dumbfounded that such a good thing could happen, and they were sent to seek death by themselves? !
(End of chapter)
