AD 314, early summer.
Unlike the droughts of previous years, this year's rains have been exceptionally abundant.
Yanzhou, where Liu Yu is located, has been experiencing continuous rain since March, and almost all rivers and lakes have reached their highest water levels in many years.
After entering early summer, people's original joy at the abundant rain has begun to turn into trouble.
Liu Yu's current capital, Luzi, is located on the other side of Jishui and the ancient Yellow River. Because the terrain of the Yellow River in the north is higher than that of Jishui, when there is continuous heavy rain, the accumulated water pours southward to the capital Luzi area.
"Your Majesty, all the camps of the armies inside and outside Luzi have been flooded, and they have just moved to the high ground in the Dongshan area for temporary shelter."
"Seven out of ten residential buildings in the Nantang area were flooded, and nearly half of each family's savings were lost in the floods."
"The Lu Zinan City Gate was flooded and collapsed, and craftsmen need to be dispatched to repair it."
"..."
It was still raining outside, and Liu Yu's mood in the hall was equally gloomy.
Almost all of these incidents were caused by the heavy rain.
Although the location of Luzicheng is flat and close to the river, when there is heavy rain, the rainwater from the southeast must pass through Luzicheng before it can enter Jishui and flow eastward into the sea.
As a result, Luzicheng in the middle will definitely be flooded first.
"Well, it seems that since ancient times Jinan and Jibei could not be used as the capital. Of course there are reasons."
Liu Yu couldn't help but sigh in his heart.
Frequent droughts and disasters occurred in the late Western Jin Dynasty, which gave Luzi a natural advantage for cities close to rivers.
However, during the rainy season, without good drainage facilities, a large number of people gather here, and they are bound to suffer greater losses.
"In this case, then immediately order Yousi to go to the disaster relief areas first. Many of their food, clothing, and property have been lost. Without relief, I'm afraid they won't be able to survive."
Liu Xian ordered to provide relief to the victims in advance, because although the people of Han Dynasty did not have the pain of war and war for the time being, the various taxes in Han Dynasty were actually not low. After adding many expenditures, these ordinary people did not have much at all. Save money to cope with this famine.
"Your Majesty, are the repairs to the southern city wall coming at the same time, just so that the victims can use work as relief?" the minister asked.
After Liu Huan thought about it for a while, he shook his head and rejected this method.
"The rain hasn't stopped yet. I'm afraid it's too late to repair the south city wall. If we use work-for-relief, I'm afraid it will be delayed for a while. It's better to send more people to guard the gap in the south city wall first, and we can repair it later."
In fact, in Liu Yu's mind, he no longer planned to repair the gap in the city wall, because he already had plans to move the capital.
After the capital was moved, the small Luzicheng no longer needed too much city defense.
Just at this time, Hua Xiu, who was in charge of the Shangshu Desk, also spoke on this matter.
"Your Majesty, the officials I sent to Yecheng have sent back the terrain map. Please read it."
With that said, Hua Xiu presented a large map to Liu Yu.
After opening the map, Liu Yu could clearly see the city defense, terrain, rivers, and mountains inside and outside Yecheng.
As early as last year, Liu Yu had discussed with everyone and planned to move the capital to Yecheng.
Yecheng at this time was built and rebuilt during the late Han Dynasty by Cao Cao. Although it had been plundered and destroyed by Youzhou Xianbei soldiers a few years ago, most of the buildings were still intact.
Coupled with the surrounding terrain, it is definitely a capital city that is several times better than Luzi City.
At least when the rain is too heavy, the Zhangshui outside Yecheng will hardly flood the city.
"Well, yes, Yecheng is indeed a place of beauty."
Liu Yu looked at the map and couldn't help but admire it.
In fact, he not only valued the hydrology and topography of Yecheng, but more importantly, Yecheng was located in the essence of the southern Jizhou Plain, with hundreds of miles of surrounding cultivated land.
The number of fertile fields outside Yecheng is almost ten times that of Luzi.
With so much land, if Yecheng is established as the capital, the supplies for hundreds of officials and clan troops will no longer depend on external supplies. Just Yecheng's own output will be enough.
Anyway, the current population of the Central Plains has dropped sharply. Even in Dingdu, it is only an increase of about 200,000 people.
Compared to the millions of acres of land outside Yecheng, there is no pressure at all.
"Yecheng is the most fertile land in the world. If you only look at the output of fertile land, there is no need to worry about Guanzhong and Yiluo. In fact, if you count the number of fertile fields, it is even more than Guanzhong and Luoyang."
Hua Xiu said to Liu Yu very seriously.
Ever since Liu Yu planned to move the capital to Yecheng, Hua Xiu was the most active person.
Because Yecheng is close to Huaxiu Township, if the place where clans gather becomes an important place in the capital in the future, then the Hua family will be even more prosperous in his hands.
Even in the Wei and Jin Dynasties, the concept of 'capital advantage' has long been deeply rooted in people's hearts.
"And now that many Jizhou military soldiers have settled around Yecheng, the important task of guarding the capital in the future will be less troublesome." Hua Xiu added.
Yecheng was originally the headquarters of Sima Ying, the king of Chengdu in Jin Dynasty. During the Eight Kings Rebellion, two soldiers from Youzhou entered Yecheng and plundered almost everything inside and outside Yecheng. In addition, when Jiehu's power increased greatly, so did Yecheng. Activities around Yecheng have resulted in almost no man's land around Yecheng.
When Liu Yu settled the Fu soldiers in Jizhou, he also took back all the land outside Yecheng and redistributed it to the Fu soldiers.
Therefore, most of the land outside Yecheng is now the land of the military soldiers, not the land of the original aristocratic families.
It was for this reason that Liu Yu chose Yecheng instead of Xindu, which had a more intact population.
"The land in Yecheng is in the hands of the army soldiers, which means it is in my hands. It will be much more convenient to redeploy it." Liu Yu also said with satisfaction.
For the military soldiers, the requisition and redeployment of positions are military orders, and there is no reason not to obey them, which saves the effort of arguing with the wealthy families.
"It's just that the area around Yecheng does not have the advantage of having strong mountains and rivers, but it is not as good as Guanzhong and Luoyang in this regard."
At this time, the Zhongshu Supervisor Xunzu next to him said.
Today's Xun group is the leader of the Xun clan in Yingchuan in the Han Dynasty in Qingzhou, and can also be said to be the leader of the scholars in Sizhou and Yuzhou.
Although Xun Zu did not object to Liu Yu's plan to move the capital to Yecheng, he actually did not agree with it.
In Xun Zu's opinion, the best result is to continue to use Lu Zicheng as the capital for the time being, and then use Luoyang as the capital after Luoyang is restored in the future.
If this is the case, Jizhou and other scholar groups will not have the advantage of being the first to arrive.
After all, the scholars at this time were more or less tied to their villages and clans. If the scholars in Hebei rose up, the people in Yingchuan would fall behind.
Liu Yu also recognized the problems raised by Xun Zu in his heart.
Guanzhong Chang'an is known as the stronghold of mountains and rivers. It not only has rivers, but also has pass defenses.
Although the Luoyang Plain is the narrowest, it also has the advantage of mountain and river passes.
On the contrary, the natural barriers such as Taihang, Zhangshui, and rivers in Yecheng are too far away, and the loopholes that need to be defended are quite large.
Hua Xiu was already prepared for Xun Zu's words and said nothing out of the ordinary.
"Your Majesty, since ancient times, the country, the country, and the country have always relied on virtue rather than danger!"
"As long as your Majesty cultivates benevolence on the inside and maintains dignity on the outside, you don't have to live in the four fortresses, and you can still sit back and relax."
After hearing what Hua Xiu said, Liu Yu also expressed his agreement.
"That's right! Virtue is not dangerous."
"I think there is still a lot of vacant land outside Yecheng. I will allocate some Qingzhou Army soldiers to fill it."
Liu Yu thought to himself, "morality is not dangerous", although it sounds reasonable, but you still need to have strength to feel at ease.
If there are hundreds of thousands of military soldiers guarding the capital outside, let alone Yecheng, even if the capital is placed in Yingchuan, the site of the Fourth War, they can still sit back and relax.
Nowadays, there are less than 10,000 military soldiers outside Yecheng, which is really too few.
As the most laid-back group of people, Qingzhou Junfu soldiers naturally need to do more activities. In addition, most of them have old roots since Liu Yu started his career. They can be said to be the most loyal, so let's go to Beijing together.
However, when it came to "cultivating benevolence internally and regulating dignity externally", Liu Yu remembered something else.
He turned to Zhongshu Supervisor Xunzu and asked.
"How many days has it been since Duan Bu came?"
Seeing this, Xun Zu quickly replied.
"Your Majesty, Duan Mofei and Duan Pizhen have been here for three days."
"How are they doing? Is there anything unusual?" Liu Yu asked again.
Last month, the 30,000 Han troops led by Wu Xin and Ran Liang advanced almost all the way into western Liaoning.
Outside Lingzhi City, the number of Han troops who had surrendered and accepted the rebels had swelled to as many as 50,000. Facing the menacing Han troops, the leader of the Duan tribe, Duan Ji and Lujuan, stopped two attacks, but both were defeated.
Seeing that there was no hope of victory, internal strife broke out among the Duan tribe. Duan Ji and his family members lost control of the tribe and could no longer organize a counterattack, so they had to send people to surrender like Wu Xin.
Duan Ji was injured in the battle and was bedridden, and his family members could not travel long distances. Finally, Wu Xin sent someone to send Duan Mofei and Duan Pixi to the capital to ask for surrender.
Because Wu Xin knew that Liu Yu wanted to subdue Duan Bu to be his eagle dog, he did not escort the two of them as if they were offering prisoners to the palace.
"Your Majesty, these two have been in the post house for three days. They have never left the house. There is nothing abnormal. They even rarely talk to each other. There should be no problem." Xun Zu said.
Liu Yu had heard that Duan Bu was a group of fierce men, so he deliberately left them in the cold for a few days to see if they would sincerely surrender.
If Duan Mo and Duan Pixian showed abnormal behavior or words, Liu Yu would directly order Yuwen Xianbei to go south to attack Duan as a warning.
"Since Duan Mofei and Duan Pizhen are quite respectful, let's arrange a time and give them a banquet first."
Liu Yu now had a better understanding of Duan Bu's strength.
This time Wu Xin was able to easily win with 30,000 men. This was actually because Duan Bu was already panicking inside, not because Duan Bu's troops were vulnerable.
After all, although he was defeated twice, Wu Xin's army did not gain much. This was not only because Duan's cavalry was convenient for escaping, but also because Duan's soldiers and horses had a certain strength and could escape without being defeated. .
At this time, Liu Yu suddenly remembered again.
"By the way, Zhang Tong and Ran Long said that the Baekje Tuwang and other barbarian chiefs from Dongping Prefecture are also coming to pay tribute. I wonder when they will arrive?"
After hearing this, Xun Zu thought for a moment and then said.
"The e-mail message I received this morning said that we have arrived in Beihai County. However, heavy rain has blocked the journey. I'm afraid it will take another two or three days."
Since Liu Yu specially ordered Zhang Tong and Ran Long of Lelang County and Daifang County in Dongping Prefecture, these two men changed their previous policy of mainly recruiting the Yi people in Dongping Prefecture and turned to recruiting and using a small number to attack A policy that robs the majority.
Especially in Ranlong in the north, after the Haoqi and Woju tribes who were taken as minions became loyal followers of the Han army, not only did their strength greatly increase, but their identity recognition also changed. Great changes.
These chiefs Haoyun and Woju, who were originally barbarians, showed even more ruthlessness to their former fellows Haoyun, Fuyu and Woju after becoming loyal followers of the Han army.
After seeing the performance of these "Yi Cong" in Dongping Prefecture with his own eyes, even Ran Long, the governor of Dongping Prefecture, praised them in his memorial to Liu Yu, and even thought that these Haoqi and Woju tribes were "revered kings" A role model for resisting foreigners.
Under the hard work of these "traitors", Ran Long had captured a large number of people, livestock and horses in just a few months, and completely spread the reputation of the Han army.
Among these Yi tribes, the memories that originally existed only several generations ago have returned to reality again. The Han Chinese wearing iron armor and holding steel knives are back.
Unlike the fierce reputation in the north of Dongpingzhou, in the Baekje and Mahan areas in the south, to the Baekje people, the Han army did not show too much ruthlessness.
Because these Baekje people had already experienced the strength of the Han army in several previous battles, they did not dare to express any dissatisfaction no matter how excessive the demands made by Zhang Tong, the governor of Dongping Prefecture.
Especially after the Goguryeo people, who had been supporting each other with the Baekje people, were defeated, the weak Baekje people became even more pitiable.
Since King Biliu of Baekje learned that the Han army had increased its strength by 5,000 men and crossed the sea in a boat to Daifang County, he begged to Zhang Tong, the governor of Dongpingzhou, day and night, wanting to cross the sea to meet the emperor. .
Therefore, after Zhang Tong and Ran Long discussed it, they sent someone to send the captured Dingkou, together with the attached Yi chiefs, King Biliu of Baekje and others to the capital, so that they could come to congratulate the emperor.
After all, one of the most pursued goals of emperors and emperors since ancient times is 'all nations come to congratulate'.
Now that the world is torn apart, all nations have no hope. Even a few Yi people and Baekje people from Dongping Prefecture can give them a point or two.
