Volume 4 is in the ascendant Chapter 520: Changes in Bohai
April of the fifth year of the Chu calendar was a month of bloodshed in Yecheng.
The northern noble families, led by the Chen family, poached several core shipbuilders from the craftsmen camp. After the matter was exposed, conflicts broke out between the noble families and the Wei court over the division of interests...
The aristocratic families, who have already tasted the sweetness, are eager to gain more autonomy, and the two sides are on the verge of a war in the court.
There were even rumors that the King of Wei had not been in charge of government for several days, and that he had a headache that had flared up. This made the aristocratic families even more rampant, and at one point the main generals of the Cao and Xiahou families were unable to leave Yecheng.
However, at the end of April, Yang Xiu received a secret order from Cao Cao to call up the imperial guards, led Xiahou Dun, Xiahou Yuan, and Cao Ren out of the city to reorganize the troops, and killed or captured the generals of the aristocratic factions before entering Yecheng...
It is said that within three days, hundreds of thousands of corpses floated in the lower reaches of the Zhang River, and the scarlet color lasted for half a month.
On the first day of May, at the grand court meeting of the Wei State, Sikong Chen Qun, who represented the aristocratic families in the court, retired. A large number of Wei officials either retired to enjoy retirement or were exterminated - there was no middle ground.
The Cao and Xiahou nobles, as well as the new aristocracy represented by Yang Xiu, have greatly expanded their power...
However, at the same time, the State of Wei also made certain compromises with the gentry. For example... many new warships began to be traded to the private fleets of the aristocratic families!
These were just the scenes that "outsiders" saw and heard. On the sixth day of May, Bai Tu received more accurate information from the Fengbuwei lurking in Yecheng when he was in Jinling.
Indeed, at the end of April, the situation in Wei State was in great turmoil, and it ended with Cao Cao secretly ordering Yang Xiu to reunite the generals of the Cao and Xiahou families and forcefully suppress the old aristocracy.
But the claims of hundreds of thousands of deaths and the red water of Zhang River are obviously just exaggerations...
In Yecheng, the center of the storm, thousands of people died, most of them were servants from the most violent families and those who died when their homes were ransacked. Hundreds of real members of the gentry died.
In addition, due to the suppression actions in various parts of Wei State, several thousand nobles died, and if the servants and craftsmen who were implicated were included, the number of those who were killed or reduced to slavery reached tens of thousands .
No one knew whether Cao Cao’s previous headache was a real one or he deliberately provoked it, but it was a ruthless one anyway!
After Chen Qun and others retired, from the family's perspective, they actually had a safe transition. For example, some members of the Chen family were also employed.
Even those who were exterminated with three clans were just being too aggressive and were used as sacrifices by Cao Cao. In fact, the so-called extermination of three clans could only exterminate a few households, not the entire clan - after all, in the "big families", many of them were even out of five generations, and three clans could not wipe out the entire "family" at all.
The real big change in the Wei State was that the Cao and Xiahou families began to have more control over military power. At the same time... they also made concessions to the gentry, standardized the division of maritime profits, and began to sell new warships to the aristocratic families!
Therefore, in July and August, the slave-hunting in Wei State became even more rampant.
…
The reform of prefectures and counties and the military system in the Chu State are proceeding step by step. However, from the King of Chu to the six ministries and one court, they have long noticed the turbulent waves outside the mainland!
After the Yecheng Incident, Bohai experienced a brief period of calm, but now it is noisy again...
The battle situation even became more stalemate because the "enemy" warships were upgraded - of course, the Chu Navy still had the "software" advantage, and its strategies and tactics were more mature.
However, the sailors of these private fleets were often fearless and brave, and their fleets were relatively small and scattered, so they would flee if they couldn't win, which brought some pressure to Ling Tong.
Especially after discovering that the Chu State's "disappeared" navy had not reappeared until now, the northern nobles became more and more convinced that the navy had really sailed far away...
The absence of the navy with the most elite personnel and the most sophisticated ships also gave them greater confidence.
There have been various reactions to this both in the court and in the palace. This time, as the news of a silver transport fleet in Danzhou being attacked came back, the palace also made up its mind to formulate a strategy against Wei!
"The Wei Kingdom is full of beasts with wolfish hearts and beastly behavior. We should be able to march straight in from the port of Jizhou and attack Yecheng!"
"The people of Liaodong and Yidi have suffered from the Wei pirates for a long time. Our Great Chu, with the light of righteousness and the support of the people, will sweep across the Three Hans and liberate Goguryeo. Starting from the north, we will sweep away the inhumanity!"
"Your Majesty, I request that you dispatch the new warships of Yizhou to boost the navy and chase whales with the enemy at sea..."
At the palace meeting, Lu Su, Huang Chengyan, and Yu Fan each expressed their suggestions.
This also represents three of the four mainstream views in the Chu State at that time.
One is as Lu Su said, some of them are surprise attacks, they forcibly landed at Tuyin Port under the jurisdiction of Chu State, and went straight to Huanglong!
The good thing is that now is the time when the people of Wei are uneasy, and the Chu army only wants to force Wei to admit defeat. There is no need to "digest" it step by step as usual. As long as the Chu army appears outside Yecheng and leaves room for negotiation, the Wei state, with its divided people, will inevitably accept negotiations instead of uniting to fight to the death.
And there is a secondary reason, that is, after the Wei court had warned the gentry, it made concessions on the division of interests. Now, there are a lot of "noises" within the Wei state regarding the ownership of Tuyin Port - many people have begun to think about taking back Tuyin Port!
Starting from Tuyin Port at this time can also effectively deter the State of Wei...
However, needless to say, this strategy was risky. Lu Su saw through "observing the geography" that the people of Wei would scatter. Otherwise, if the people of Wei were united, "marching straight in" would become "advancing alone deep into the enemy's territory."
Not to mention that they would have to pass through important towns like Nanpi. Just the defense of Yecheng alone would not be easy to capture if they really wanted to defend it.
As long as it is delayed a little, and troops from all over the country are mobilized, will the Chu army, which is alone and deep in the territory, still have a chance to survive?
Lu Su did not want to engage in a head-on confrontation, but instead suggested using a small group of elite troops to fight their way to Yecheng, forcing the already unstable Wei State to further split and force it to meet the demands of the Chu State.
In comparison, Huang Chengyan's opinion did make sense, but to a certain extent, it still coordinated the interests of the Jingzhou gentry - this was also one of Huang Chengyan's responsibilities.
Many of the workshops in Jingzhou are still run by the Jiangdong nobles. Since they cannot compete with them, they naturally want to open up new labor markets. Therefore, Yu Fan is inclined to expand the borders...
And it can't be an overseas territory. After all, in places like Yizhou and Danzhou, the local indigenous people don't even have mature writing. It's okay to use it as a dumping market, but to open a workshop... it's a bit difficult.
What's more, these overseas territories were all controlled by the State of Chu itself, and it was at the stage of striving for assimilation and no losses were allowed.
In comparison, the people of Samhan, Buyeo, Goguryeo and the like, although also considered "barbarians" in their eyes, were barbarians with whom they could more or less communicate!
If you can communicate, you can use...
If we expand our territory directly to the north, the princes of the Han Dynasty will still be difficult to deal with, and these ethnic minorities in the north... ahem, they are the future people of Chu, and they are all potential labor force!
Of course, from the perspective of the Chu State, Huang Chengyan’s strategy was not unreliable.
Taking advantage of the affairs of the State of Wei, he would first unify the Chaohai Peninsula and the northern part of Youzhou, and then lead the people of the north to fight the State of Wei in the north.
It’s not that this strategy is unworkable, but it does have its weaknesses.
For example, if the control over the north was insufficient and the Chu school of thought failed to truly inspire the Wuhuan and Xianbei, it might backfire. After some success, they would unite and kick Chu out - after all, Chu's homeland was in the south, and the landing on the Chaohaixian Peninsula was an enclave.
It is simply because the Chu nobles have now tasted the sweetness of the workshop model, so as long as the establishment of workshops in the north is allowed, there will be a strong "civilian foundation" in the regulated enclaves.
In contrast, Yu Fan’s opinion is to “treat the symptoms rather than the root cause” - since the navy is feeling overwhelmed, the warships that remain after Gan Ning’s departure and those newly built in the past year should be officially put into service!
You have to know that those new ships are not only made of iron and wood, but are also equipped with large-caliber mortars.
Compared with the previous "temporary substitutes", it is completely the gap between the big guys and the newbies.
As for Wei’s improvements, there was no revolutionary technology, especially... they inexplicably took the route of cars and ships?
Do you have a Qi machine?
We should let those guys in Wei feel once again what the generation gap is...
In addition, indirectly speaking, many of the raw materials and primary processed products of the shipyard in Yizhou are produced by the workshops in Jiangdong, and increasing orders for warships means an increase in demand.
Moreover, in comparison, Jiangdong has industrial and technological advantages in shipbuilding, and others cannot snatch it away even if they want to, so...
Yu Fan had also begun to adapt to his identity as the spokesperson for the Jiangdong gentry.
"Foster father, from a military strategy perspective, which one do you think is more feasible?" Bai Tu asked Lu Bu.
"All is possible!" Lu Bu said with a desire to fight.
As if to say: I'm going to beat ten!
Bai Qing and Lu Yan are already four years old. Lu Bu has been enjoying playing with his grandchildren and cultivating his self-cultivation in the past few years, and he is already eager to move forward.
White picture: ...
Well, it’s unnecessary to ask a question with a white map, just ask and you will be beaten.
"What does Wenhe think?" Bai Tu turned to Jia Xu, who basically never offered any opinions, and asked.
"What the three of you said makes sense... Zi Jing's plan is like an antelope hanging its horns, but it may prompt Wei to further eliminate internal discord. Given the character and methods of the King of Wei, even if our Great Chu can really get compensation, I'm afraid he will deliberately give it up and use us as a 'knife' to cut off the Wei nobles.
Cheng Yan's idea of attacking Wei from north to south is a good one, and it looks grand and magnificent. However, not only is it difficult for Chu to actually control and assimilate it because of the enclave, but also... once the action is taken on the Chaohai Peninsula, I'm afraid Yan will not sit idly by, and it is more likely that before unifying all the barbarians, it will first fall into a dispute with Yan over the northern land;
Zhongxiang's idea of increasing the navy's strength is indeed a mature and prudent one, but now is not the best time... We can first speed up the navy's adaptive training, wait until it is thoroughly integrated with the ironclad ships, and... when the Wei nobles are more confident and even the Wei military can't help but intervene, then we can complete the task in one battle, and then we can see the success."
When Jia Xu first came up, he praised the opinions of the three people, but... afterwards he pointed out the drawbacks of each of them, barely offending anyone.
"Does Wenhe have any good ideas?" Bai Tu asked.
"I don't dare to call it a good plan, but I think all three strategies are feasible. For example, Zhong Xiang's point of view, as I just said, is that as long as we wait for another year or three, the time will be ripe.
In addition, during this period, the new office jointly hosted by the Ministry of Rites and the Privy Council could visit the Chaohai Peninsula more often, or even visit the Xianbei and Wuhuan people.
As for Zi Jing’s words, they can be regarded as the ‘second stage’ at that time, when the real crisis of Wei will lie…” Jia Xu’s explanation was a bit confusing, but everyone present, except Lu Bu, basically understood it.
This is also Jia Xu's style - talk more when praising and analyzing others , and say as little as possible about his own opinions.
But it does hit the point...the key point is the word "late".
"Delay" does not mean "delay", nor does it mean letting the State of Chu wait in vain.
On the one hand, Wei's warships are now going in the wrong direction, and we can wait until Wei invests more capital and then defeat him completely in one go. However, in order to achieve the greatest results during this period, the shipyards in Yizhou must also be busy, and the navy must take turns to train in Yizhou and Danzhou.
On the other hand, the new office jointly established by the Ministry of Rites and the Privy Council was the "Ministry of Enlightenment".
It was a confidential office of the Chu State. It would not be mentioned during normal court meetings. Its main responsibility was to operate outside the Chu State and spread Chu learning outside the Chu State...
Compared with the soft output of ordinary drama teams, the Enlightenment Department is much "harder". It will cultivate progressive people at the mission site and set up branches, always with the ultimate goal of supporting the Chu State to send troops or seize power internally. Naturally, its actions are more dangerous and more covert.
Jia Xu's intention was to use one to three years to corrode the Chaohai Peninsula and the Wuhuan, Xianbei, Goguryeo and other tribes, so as to at least identify and cultivate a group of local progressive Chu scholars in advance.
The despicable behavior of the Wei nobles now is the best opportunity for the Enlightenment Department to develop, and it can also be regarded as paving the way for Cheng Yan's strategy. In this way, when the Chu State sends troops, there will be enough local talents who are loyal to the Chu State, and there will be no need to worry about being used in vain if only troops are sent.
In fact, Lu Su's strategy is not at the best time now.
The people of Wei were not at their most scattered at the moment. After all, there were still foreign tribes in the north that they could plunder, and the profit pool was expanding...
It’s just like the previous reforms in the State of Chu, which repeatedly clashed with vested interest groups, but never created much sparks - the interests were expanding, and everyone could just keep enjoying the benefits.
However, after the Wei navy and pirates were defeated, the expansion of the interests suddenly stopped and even shrank. Moreover, the Wei was directly defeated at the time when it was most confident, and its mentality was unstable!
At that time, it would be much smoother to "attack Huanglong directly".
Moreover, Lu Su's strategy of "attacking Huanglong directly" is more suitable for the army, and now... the Chu State does not have a dedicated sea troop transport ship, so this period of time can also be used to supervise its production.
"Then... during this period, how can we give an explanation to our subjects?" Bai Tu said as he leaned back in his chair and touched the armrest.
Several university scholars looked at each other, and except for Lu Bu, they all mentioned the fourth mainstream view.
"Your Majesty! Pirates are rampant now, and the world is in turmoil. This... must be because the Marquis of Shu is still determined to destroy our Great Chu! We must be careful and guard against it, and fight back when necessary. We must not let the Marquis of Shu succeed in his conspiracy!"
Hearing this, Bai Tu nodded solemnly and said, "Good!"
