Volume 3: The Land of Jingchu Chapter 339: General of the Western Expedition
As the ancient capital, Luoyang was originally different from other prefectures and counties in terms of administrative division. It was the seat of the Sili Xiaowei Department and the Yin of Holland. The Sili Xiaowei Department was commonly known as "Sizhou", but in fact there was no such thing as Sizhou in the imperial court, let alone a Sizhou governor. In the past, it was under the feet of the emperor, and there was no need to arrange a governor.
Further west of Luoyang, to the north is Hedong County, to the south is Hongnong County, and further west are the three auxiliary areas of Jingzhao Yin, Youfufeng and Zuofengyi.
Chang'an, the ancient capital of the Western Han Dynasty, was the center of Jingzhao Yin. It was renamed "Tongguan" a few years ago and was once "Taolinsai", which was the eastern gate of Jingzhao Yin.
The land of Sanfu is also called the land of Sanqin. As the name suggests, it is the place where the Qin State started. During the Xiang Yu period, it was divided among three surrendered generals of the Qin State, hence the name Sanqin.
There are also two terms, Guanxi and Guanzhong. In fact, Guanxi and Guanzhong overlap to a large extent. Guanxi refers to the area west of Hangu Pass, while Guanzhong is the area surrounded by Hangu Pass plus Sanguan, Wuguguan and Xiaoguan.
At this time, Hangu Pass had been abandoned and replaced by Tongguan.
In any case, Guanxi is not the west side of Guanzhong, but Guanzhong plus the Longyou area, and Longyou can be roughly regarded as the eastern part of Liangzhou - not counting the Hexi Corridor and the area to the west adjacent to the Western Regions, this area is adjacent to Guanzhong.
Just talking about Guanzhong, there is the fertile and easy-to-cultivate Guanzhong Plain, which was once the 800-li Qinchuan Plain.
There is not only the Zhengguo Canal built during the Qin Dynasty, but also the Liufu Canal built during the Han Dynasty, the Baiqu Canal to the north of the Zhengguo Canal, and the Longshou Canal, the first underground canal in history...
Twenty years ago, this place was the most developed area in water conservancy and irrigation, along with Xichuan and Nanyang.
But now... after experiencing too much war and harsh treatment, there is no crowing of roosters in Guanzhong for thousands of miles, the land is barren, and the canals are blocked.
…
"My lord, my lord?" Yang Xiu patted Cao Cao curiously.
Dian Wei, who was standing by, wanted to kill this disrespectful guy...
"Hmm... Hmm? Oh, Emperor Dezu... I had nothing to do and was a little distracted. Not long ago, Zhang Yan actually sent an envoy to Xudu, hoping that the court would appoint him as the General of the Western Expedition. It seems that he wants to enter Guanzhong. What do you think?" Cao Cao asked after he reacted.
At the same time, he glared at Yang Xiu back to his seat...
Just now, when Cao Cao was reading the memorial submitted by Zhang Yan and sent from Xudu, he was stunned by the familiar words "General Zheng Xi".
As for what Zhang Yan said, such as controlling Guanxi for the court, Cao Cao did not take it to heart and did not read it out loud.
The only useful information is that Zhang Yan is going to Kansai to develop...
Cao Cao did not comment on this, but most of the military staff led by Guo Jia believed that this should be facilitated.
After all, the influence of the Prime Minister's Office on the west is limited to the area around Holland Yin, and even Hongnong is somewhat distant, and Guanxi... is a place where Dong Zhuo's former subordinates and Xiliang warlords compete for control.
Historically, after Cao Cao was defeated in the Battle of Chibi and was temporarily unable to take over the south, he marched westward and directly killed Ma Teng in Xu Du. He wanted to take advantage of the fact that the princes in Guanzhong were leaderless and wanted to "pass through Guo to attack Guo" under the pretext of attacking Hanzhong. However... the generals in Guanzhong were average in ability, but they were not stupid, and they dared to think. They raised troops and joined forces in Tongguan to fight against Cao.
However, Cao Cao secretly attacked Pu Ban and alienated the allied forces in Guanzhong, and defeated Tongguan. Ma Chao retreated to Longyou. However, Longyou was loyal to Cao Cao. After Ma Chao came back, the local defenders turned against him. Ma Chao had no place to stay, so he had to go to Hanzhong to join Zhang Lu.
From this we can see that most of the generals in Longyou or Guanzhong had no ambition, including Ma Teng in Liangzhou!
After Cao Cao completely annexed Hebei and the Central Plains, they would even accept Cao Cao's orders and accept some local officials appointed by the court, making Longyou, where Ma Teng and Han Sui started their careers, become a place full of "Cao faction".
At the same time, the princes of Guanxi were unwilling to lose their status as local tyrants, and would fight back when they discovered that Cao Cao wanted to completely annex Guanzhong.
It’s just… they usually submit to Cao Cao, and their rear is infiltrated like a sieve. If Cao Cao ignores them for one day, they will bully others in Guanzhong for one day… At the last moment, they think of resisting?
That’s a bit too naive!
It was these oddities that prevented Guanzhong from producing any vassal states with a sense of presence in the late Eastern Han Dynasty...
As for the current Prime Minister's Office, it is better for Zhang Yan to go to Guanxi than to stay in Jingzhao. After all, it is closer to Xudu.
At this time, Cao Cao's main enemy was still the Yuan family in the north, and he did not want to create any more trouble.
Xun Yu, who was stationed in Xu Du, even suggested in a message to Cao Cao that he could win over Zhang Yan as a support for the future Western Expedition!
"General of the Western Expedition... Ha, a mere General of the Western Expedition, give it to him... No, send an order back to Xu Du and ask the court to confer him the title of 'Great General of the Western Expedition', let him be powerful in Guanzhong!" Cao Cao said with disdain.
Upon hearing this, Xiahou Yuan and Xiahou Dun, his subordinates, winked at him, but Cao Cao pretended not to see it. However, Xun Yu and others were puzzled as to why Cao Cao was so "disdainful" of Zhang Yan.
But I don’t know…
Cao Cao’s disdain was not towards Zhang Yan, but towards the “General Who Conquers the West”, his former ideals, and also... towards his former self!
The current Cao Cao cannot be satisfied with just being the General who Conquers the West.
"This style... cough cough cough... is not the style of those Yellow Turban bandits." Guo Jia had to take three breaths after saying every two sentences.
"Could it be that Sima Zhongda? Alas, it's hard for Lord Jiang." Liu Ye shook his head with empathy.
"Jian Gong" was Sima Fang's courtesy name. He did report truthfully about the kidnapping of his second son.
Zhang Yan wrote to him when he was young, saying that he wanted to "recruit" his son, which made Sima Fang angry to death...
However, whether Sima Yi really surrenders to Zhang Yan or not, it will not damage Cao Cao's trust in the Sima family.
After all... Sima Yi was not an official, he was just the son of Sima Fang. It was not unreasonable for him to defect to another family. Moreover, Sima Fang was abducted because he was helping Cao Cao to collect land.
Cao Cao nodded upon hearing this and said, "That's right. We will not forget the sacrifices that the Sima family made for the Prime Minister's Office... This time, thanks to the strategy of the Sima governor, the Black Mountain Army's crossing of the border did not cause too much damage to Henei County. After the war here is over, I will personally ask the court for credit for them!"
Now Sima Fang's eldest son was detained in Nanjing, and his second son was kidnapped by Zhang Yan while he was ill. Cao Cao could only appease them...
Everyone knows that at this time the court listens to the Prime Minister's Office, and Cao Cao said that he would ask for merit in person, so the weight of this is obviously different. At least... he can also become a governor, or be granted a title of Marquis with a fief, right?
At this time, Cao Cao was on the front line in Jizhou, approaching Yecheng step by step. In Cao Cao's mind, by the time he "finished" this place, most of the world would have been unified.
He could never have imagined how turbulent the next six months would be, and he had no chance to "personally" ask for credit for others...
