Volume 2 Clouds Chapter 10 Conquering Han Lingkun
At first, Luo Youdu was also dumbfounded by Zhao Jizha's shocking actions.
Later, after careful consideration, I noticed some clues.
The historical evaluation of Meng Chang is the same as that of Emperor Xuanzong of Tang Dynasty, who was wise at first but became foolish later.
When he succeeded to the throne, the situation was even worse than that of Guo Rong. The arrogant and powerful generals left by his father almost ignored the young emperor Meng Chang.
Meng Chang played the pig and ate the tiger. In just a few months, he killed the generals Li Renhan and Zhang Ye, forced Li Zhao to retire, and demoted him to a distant place. Then he understood the people's sentiments, enlightened politics, and even imitated the Tang Dynasty by setting up a suggestion box in the court to collect people's opinions.
At that time, the Central Plains was in chaos, while Shu was relatively peaceful, and countless talented people and refugees poured into Shu. Meng Chang seized this opportunity to encourage farmers to pay tribute to the criminals, promote culture and education, strive for governance, and rest with the people, making Shu one of the two paradises in the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms and the Southern Tang Dynasty.
But as the saying goes, the wiser the early stage, the more absurd the middle and late stages will be.
Perhaps because the country was peaceful and the people were content, Meng Chang's ambitions were gradually worn away, leading to extravagance and indulgence between the monarch and his ministers.
In order to consolidate his power, he expelled all the capable old officials of the previous dynasty and replaced them with a group of incompetent people. He then indulged himself in extravagance and luxury, with sandalwood buildings, coral windows, jasper doors, and walls covered with colored glaze. There were also shark silk curtains, jade pillows, ice mats and silk quilts, which sounded very luxurious.
All the expenses of his concubines were paid from the national treasury, which was completely emptied out.
Because this Western Expedition was not large in scale, Luo Youdu could not remember the details, but he only remembered that the Shu Kingdom's economy . They could not even produce copper coins, so they began to confiscate the ironware in the hands of the people and cast coins with iron, making the people in the country return to the pre-Qin era without iron, and they suffered terribly.
The battle was not large in scale and did not take long, but it caused economic collapse.
What does this mean?
This shows that the economy of Shu was already in tatters, and Guo Rong's westward expedition became the last straw that broke the camel's back.
With this history in mind, let’s think back.
Now we know why Zhao Jizha wanted to cultivate land and grow crops in front of the army.
It's not that he wanted to, nor that he was stupid, but the rear area simply couldn't provide enough military rations and military pay to sustain the battle, so they could only rely on themselves to find a solution.
Luo Youdu said: "So I think Zhao Jizha had to store food before the battle. Of course..." He said here, suddenly smiled: "Don't ask me to explain why he brought beautiful prostitutes with him. I really can't find a reason to excuse him."
Han Lingkun couldn't help but laugh out loud: "This explains everything. Thank you, Supervisor Luo, for clearing up my confusion."
Luo Youdu was about to speak when a few drops of rain fell on his face. He looked up at the sky and suddenly realized, "No wonder it's so hot and humid. There are so many mosquitoes in the big tent. It turns out it's going to rain."
Han Lingkun felt a little regretful and said, "Then I'll take my leave first. Dujian and Guohua should also go back. This spring rain is most likely to make people sick."
He turned and left, walked forward a hundred steps, and suddenly thought of whether the food and fodder in the military camp were well protected from rain, especially the corn warehouses near the river. Not only did they have to be protected from rain they also had to prevent the water level from rising.
God knows how heavy the rain will be and how long it will last once it starts.
He was a steady man, and thinking of this, he turned around again.
Luo Youdu secretly felt regretful. He had wanted to chat more with Han Lingkun and get closer to them, but God was so blind that it started raining at this time.
However, this little bit of spring rain mixed with the breeze did bring a bit of coolness to this sultry night.
The heavy rain had not yet arrived, and Luo Youdu let the drizzle brush his face, giving him a bit of a hometown feeling.
There is no snow in his hometown all year round, but once the rainy season comes, it is inevitable to get wet in the rain.
Because the sun may be shining brightly five minutes ago, but it may rain heavily five minutes later. After another five minutes, the sun comes out again and the rain stops, and this can repeat several times.
Commonly known as sun peeing.
Suddenly, he saw a figure from the corner of his eye. Luo Youdu said to Cao Bin solemnly, "If my speculation is correct, from Zhao Jizha's perspective, isn't it right for him to cultivate the land and grow crops in front of the battlefield?"
Cao Bin didn't know why, so he answered honestly, "Yes!"
Luo Youdu continued, "Is Han Jixun wrong? His decision was not wrong. Weiwu City was short of food and grass, so he built a camp on Chencang Road to prevent us from cutting off their food supply. Weiwu City is easy to defend but difficult to attack, so he was unwilling to defend the eight camps and wanted to return to Weiwu City, which was also correct! The two of them may not be considered outstanding people, but there were no mistakes in their decision-making! However, in our eyes, they are full of flaws. Why is that?"
Cao Bin asked tentatively, "Disharmony between civil and military officials?"
Luo Youdu nodded and said, "That's right. Zhao Jizha looked down on Han Jixun as a reckless man and didn't bother to make friends with him, let alone say that the economy in the rear collapsed and he was arrogant. Han Jixun was also unwilling to give in. He probably thought that Zhao Jizha was only good at talking about military affairs on paper, and scolded him for not understanding military affairs and giving random commands. The prejudices and contradictions accumulated more and more, which also gave us a huge opportunity. If Zhao Jizha had stated the reason at the beginning, or if Han Jixun had stepped back, the situation would have been very different. Remember one thing, when doing things, you must be broad-minded, be open-minded, and be tolerant of others."
He hit Cao Bin on the chest and said, "Don't let personal conflicts ruin state affairs... Go to bed early!"
Luo Youdu waved his hand and walked towards his tent.
It doesn’t matter whether you can do it or not, you will still say it.
Cao Bin bowed and said, "Bin is grateful for your teaching!"
In the darkness, Han Lingkun sighed with guilt: "Supervisor Luo is so magnanimous and generous, which is impressive."
From then on, Han Lingkun became closer to Luo Youdu out of admiration.
As time entered the rainy season, drizzle continued.
Zhao Jizha and Han Jixun finally faced the most intense conflict.
Han Jixun, who was used to enjoying life, could not stand the harsh environment brought by rainy days. Thinking of Zhao Jizha enjoying himself with his beautiful wife and concubines in Weiwu City while he had to suffer on the front line, his suppressed anger reached its peak and he personally ran to Weiwu City to demand the withdrawal of troops back to the city.
As Luo Youdu expected, Zhao Jizha looked down on Han Jixun and was unwilling to tell him about Shu's economic situation. He was worried that Han Jixun would be careless and let the Zhou army find out, and he was also worried that Han Jixun would rebel after knowing the situation and would not let him know.
The two were on the verge of a fight, and Zhao Jizha relied on the 1,000 guards given to him by Meng Chang to force Han Jixun to return to the camp.
The army was in panic.
The Zhou army, which had been holding back, took advantage of this opportunity to launch a real attack.
Zhang Jianxiong, a fierce general of the Zhou army, led the charge and broke through the four large camps of the Shu army in one breath.
The combat effectiveness of the soldiers on both sides was not at the same level, and their morale was even more so. The Shu army could not resist at all .
Han Jixun could only lead his defeated soldiers in a retreat while fighting, and sent people to Weiwu City to ask for help.
What Han Jixun could not have imagined was that the boastful Zhao Jizha ran away...leaving behind the mighty city and his beautiful wife and concubines and heading straight for Chengdu.
