Liu Yu followed the voice and saw that the speaker was Hua Xiu.
"Does Shi Zhongyan think that Yan and Yu's affairs are no longer feasible?"
"Your Majesty, it's not something you can't do, but I think that the emperor and Han Dynasty have just returned, and their killing methods have already made Xiaoxiao timid. Now the powerful people in Yanzhou and Yuzhou who don't listen to orders are actually not out of gratitude for the Jin Dynasty, but mostly because they want to kill themselves. It’s just a guarantee, if we continue to push them too far with the current method, not only will we not be able to use them for our own purposes, but it will be counterproductive.”
Hearing what Shi Zhonghuaxiu said, Liu Yu thought a little more.
The generals who conquered the powerful in Yanzhou and Yuzhou were Li Feng and Ran Long, as well as Bo Sheng, Chen Wu, Tian Tian and other begging troops, led by Li Feng.
The troops under the command of these few people amounted to 70,000 to 80,000. Normally, the local powerful people should have surrendered. However, since the initial rebellion organized by some officials loyal to the Jin Dynasty either failed or fled, the rebellions in these two places have But it didn't decrease much. According to the reports from Li Feng and others, it felt like a war was going on all over the place.
"Is there some truth that I don't know hidden in the reports of Li Feng and others?"
Liu Yu couldn't help but have some doubts. This was not because he doubted Li Feng's loyalty, but because Li Feng was not very familiar with other affairs except his loyalty and was extremely easy to be misled by others.
"Sikong, do you have any opinions on the matters in Yanzhou and Yuzhou?"
When he thought of this, Liu Yu asked the great Han Sikong Xunfan very politely.
Since Xun Fan was very cooperative in urging him to enter, he immediately changed from Sikong of the Jin Dynasty to Sikong of the Han Dynasty.
Liu Yu's Han court at this time basically followed the official system of the Wei and Jin Dynasties, with the eight official positions of Taizai, Taibao, Taifu, Situ, Sikong, Taiwei, Grand Sima and Grand General as the "Eight Dukes", which were the most respected. Official position.
Because the Dazai, Taifu, and Taibao are the "three superiors", they will not be granted it easily.
And because Liu Yu once served as a general, this position is also vacant. The only four remaining "Situ, Sikong, Taiwei, and Da Sima" are the most honored among the officials.
Among them, Xun Fan, an old minister of the Jin Dynasty, was appointed as Sikong, Fu Zhi was appointed as Situ, Wang Jun from Youzhou was appointed as Taiwei, and Liu Yu's brother Liu Yi was appointed as Grand Sima in his clan status.
However, Situ Fu Zhi is now seriously ill and unconscious, and Xun Fan is now the head of the officials in the court.
Although Xun Fan, the leader of hundreds of officials, had no real power, he was still very powerful.
"Your Majesty, I am too old to be involved in political affairs, but I still know a little bit about the affairs of Yanzhou and Yuzhou." With the strength of the army and horses, many powerful families often use the excuse of establishing households and surveying land to push the powerful, which makes many powerful families unbearable."
"Unbearable?"
When Liu Yu heard this word, he frowned.
He glanced at Xun Fan and saw only Sikong Xun Fan's calm appearance, and not much else.
Xun Zu, Xun Song and others of the Xun clan occupied Yingchuan and continued to worship the Jin Dynasty. This was also approved by Liu Yu, so the communication between Xun Fan and them was not too hindered.
What Xun Fan said may also be quite well founded.
When he thought of this, Liu Yu looked at Shi Zhonghuaxiu again and asked.
"Servant, is this what happened in Yanzhou and Yuzhou already?"
In Xunfan's words, Li Feng, Bo Sheng and others' quelling the rebellion in Yanzhou and Yuzhou had been completely wanton and expanded, so much so that they used the excuse of "organizing households and surveying land" to create trouble.
Although "household compilation and land surveying" can indeed greatly increase the wealth brought by the hidden land of shadow households, it is not very applicable to the generation of Yanzhou and Yuzhou for the time being.
"Your Majesty, these situations do exist." Hua Xiu had to answer when Liu Yu asked him.
"Li Feng and others have a strong military force. Every time they attack a powerful family, the food and land are used for public use, and the goods and silk are divided among the soldiers. The rewards are often generous, so..."
Hua Xiu said this, but refused to continue talking.
"So after quelling the rebellion, you continue to attack and plunder those powerful people?"
Liu Yu was slightly angry at this time.
The pattern of the troubled times of the two Jin Dynasties, whether it was the Xiongnu Han State, Cheng Han State, or later Zhao, Yan, and Qin, were actually all military regimes established with tribal armies as the main body.
In essence, none of these countries has truly realized the construction of a unified dynasty. This so-called unified dynasty is not the completion of territorial unification, but the realization of county governance.
In these countries with military regimes, the military occupies key central and local areas and controls a certain number of households, while many local powers are actually in the hands of many powerful people.
These so-called countries will often be destroyed due to civil strife or failure in foreign wars, because they have not integrated the power of many powerful people.
Only when the Tuoba tribe moved south as the "overlords of the grasslands" did they use their super-strong military to force the local area to be supervised and protected by powerful clan leaders, transforming it into a Sanlao county and township structure, which was considered to have completed the initial integration of forces.
From then on, no matter whether it was civil strife or defeat in foreign wars, the Northern Wei Dynasty was no longer the predecessors who destroyed the country at every turn.
"If you are not a rebellious and rebellious person, as long as you pay taxes and pay taxes as usual, how can the power of supervision and protection of the sect leader of Yanzhou and Yuzhou be taken away so lightly?"
Liu Yu said very dissatisfied.
In fact, how could he not know the benefits of annexing these powerful forces? However, with only 100,000 soldiers in hand, it would be absolutely difficult to annex the powerful Wubao in Yanzhou, Yuzhou, and Xuzhou.
Because there are hundreds of large and small forts in the Liang Kingdom of Yuzhou alone. It can be said that as long as there are people living together, it is a fort.
"Your Majesty, this move by Li Feng and others has been quite effective. Now the sergeants who are stationed in Yanzhou and Yuzhou have sufficient military rations. It is conceivable how much those powerful people have hidden themselves. Killing them will bring great prestige. There’s nothing wrong with that.”
Gongsun Sheng on the side stood up for Li Feng and others.
After hearing what Gongsun Sheng said, Hua Xiu, Xun Fan and others immediately fell silent.
When Liu Yu saw this situation, he was not only slightly moved in his heart.
Nowadays, although Hua Xiu, Xun Fan and other scholars occupy most of the official positions in the court, the generals headed by Qingzhou Military Headquarters such as Dong Ping, Li Feng, Gongsun Sheng and others have more say.
Not only because they have more trust from Liu Yu, but also because in today's troubled times, everyone knows that swords and guns are more effective than words and seals.
"The rebellions in Yanzhou and Yuzhou have mostly been put down. I had no intention of reorganizing households and surveying land there. I immediately ordered Li Feng and others that as long as they were not the rebels who supported the Jin before, they should not easily invade and conquer the powerful."
Liu Yu said this, thought for a moment, and looked at his regular Sanqi attendant Fu Chang.
"For this matter, Fu Sanqi will go in person on my behalf!"
Yanzhou and Yuzhou are a big quagmire. If we want to truly realize household rule, it will be impossible to achieve it without continuous improvement for three to five years.
Otherwise, the powerful people in this area would not be capable. In the original history, Yu Zuti and Shi Le would rebel every day.
"I accept your order!" Fu Chang quickly kowtowed, but the pride of being taken seriously on his face could not be concealed no matter what.
Brothers Fu Chang were at the vanguard in persuading Liu Yu to proclaim himself emperor, so they naturally received special rewards from Liu Yu.
In addition, Liu Yu recently accepted Fu Chang's daughter as his wife, adding another layer of relationship with a foreign relative, and she was suddenly promoted to the important position of Sanqi's regular attendant.
An hour later.
After the meeting, Liu Yu sat alone in the slightly small lobby, but fell into deep thought.
Because Liu Yu felt that he had fallen into a situation where he had no way to advance or retreat.
Now among the three states under his control, only Qingzhou is fully managed and can exert seven or eight points of its strength. The remaining Yanzhou and Xuzhou will take a year and a half just to recover.
The area controlled by Liu Yu basically had no dangerous points to defend, and was surrounded by potential enemies, so that Liu Yu didn't know where to go to break the situation.
"Going south from Xuzhou to Jiangdong? This is not a good strategy. Jiangnan at this time is far worse than the land of plenty in later generations. Not to mention the food output, even the population is probably difficult to compare with Qingzhou, a remote state."
Liu Yu first rejected this strategy.
"Otherwise, increase the number of troops and continue to attack the Yanzhou and Yuzhou areas?"
This method seems to be very attractive, because these two states are full of powerful thorns and forts. However, as long as these obstacles are overcome and self-sufficiency in food, grass and baggage is achieved, we can go south or north, and replicate Cao Cao's Route to success.
However, the current situation seems to be more complicated than that of Cao Cao's time. Especially after going deep into Yuzhou, he will have to face the harassment of Hu Han bandits such as Wang Mi and Zhao Gu, and face the Jin army in Huainan, as well as being dragged out for a long time. The Heji defense line also needs more military power.
Liu Yu confidently thought about it. Even if he took control of Yanzhou and Yuzhou and ate these two big pieces of fat, he seemed to have to face more dangers and the situation he lived in became more dangerous.
"This leaves only one final route."
Liu expected.
"That is to march west from Qingzhou, cross the river and march towards Jizhou."
"As long as Jizhou is captured, we will not only have ten counties, but also millions of people, and we can easily defend the Xingkou Pass in Taihang."
"Controlling Jizhou can turn Yanzhou into a safe area. Once the threat from Hebei is gone, we can completely think of ways to digest Yanzhou."
The more Liu Yu thought about it, the more he felt that if the route to Jizhou was successful, he would get the most benefits.
However, what Jizhou is doing now is even more troublesome.
Because unlike Yanzhou and Yuzhou where there are "shallow waters and many turtles", Jizhou is a battleground for several large armies.
"Shi Le of Hu Han has completely occupied the Xiang State area, which can be regarded as half of Ji Province."
"Liu Kun, who had the support of Tuoba Xianbei, sent troops to occupy the Jingxing area, which is considered a tough nut to crack."
"There is also my father-in-law Wang Jun. Not only did he not accept his reward, he was also angry and wanted to "use Hu to suppress the Han". He was also a powerful enemy."
"The powerful people in the eastern area of Jizhou and the officials of the Jin Dynasty all submitted to Zu Ti before. Now that Zu Ti is forced to step down, they are also a group of unstable forces."
Although it seemed much more difficult, the more Liu Yu thought about it, the more he felt that this was the best route.
With the territory Liu Yu currently controls, he must break out of the situation and develop outward.
Otherwise, with Qingzhou as the basic base, if you want to develop farming, you will simply sit back and wait for death. What's more, Liu Yu believes that when the strength of the surrounding Hu Han and Jin Dynasties stabilizes, they will not give him a chance to develop farming.
At this time, Liu Yu needed to find someone to discuss with him to draw up a clearer route.
Hua Xiu and Gongsun Sheng gave Liu Yu the impression that they handled affairs in an orderly manner, but they always lacked a sense of overall planning.
At this time, Liu Yu suddenly thought of a person. Although he did not say a word during today's discussion, Liu Yu noticed many unusual things from his face at that time.
"Come here!" Liu Huahuan immediately called out the door.
Soon, two palace servants came in to take orders.
"Go quickly and invite Xi Jian to come."
Today Xi Jian serves as secretary-supervisor in the Han Dynasty.
This position can be regarded as a close minister of the emperor, but it is limited to its responsibilities, and its administrative power is not as good as that of Shangshu, Zhongshu and Menxia Santai Province.
Xi Jian was also a person without factional support, so his secretary-supervisor did not seem to have much say.
However, Liu Yu had already recognized Xi Jian's ability.
When Xi Jian arrived, Liu Yu immediately told him his three ideas and asked him to help him find the most feasible one.
Xi Jian thought for a moment and said immediately.
"Your Majesty, which of these do you think is the easiest?"
Seeing that Xi Jian didn't answer, he asked.
Liu Yu also responded deliberately.
"I think it's through Yuzhou and Yanzhou."
Xi Jian shook his head and said.
"No, Yanzhou and Yuzhou have the most fertile land and Dingkou in the world, but it is a muddy land. Your Majesty sent Fu Sanqi today to stop Li Feng and others from attacking powerful people. It is a good strategy."
"Otherwise, we will only be exhausted in the future. Even if we take the whole area of Zhongzhou, we will only get a piece of land for four battles. Whether we can hold it or not is still unclear."
"Then according to Mr. Xi, where should we take it?" Liu Yu asked.
Xi Jian smiled and said.
“Of course it’s Jizhou!”
"Jizhou has vast fields, fertile waters such as Qinghe River, Zhangshui River, and Daze River. It also has a population twice that of Qingzhou, and there are also horse gardens in Zhaojun, Changshan. These are all assets for great things."
"As long as we have Jizhou, we can go south to Sili and westward to merge with the state. These are all convenient ways to defeat Hu. It is in line with His Majesty's order to "conquer Hu and restore the Han". Under such a banner of righteousness, whoever is brave in Zhongzhou will vote against the wind. Wouldn't it be far better to leave the barbarians of Hebei alone and camp the scholars of Zhongzhou?"
"Back then, Wei Wu supported Yanyu Zhongzhou and fought hard for twenty years but could only get a little north. However, Guangwu had Hebei and conquered the world in just a few years."
"Now if your majesty can take Hebei, you can restore Guangwu's career."
