Chapter 1528 Covenant
Chuanzhong.
In the city of Chengdu.
Liu Bei frowned, looked at the large and small areas circled on the map, and fell silent.
War is not a play, nor is it that a man draws his sword in anger. In all aspects involved, if there is a problem in any link, this war may not be fought, or it may be delayed.
On the big map, the terrain around Chengdu is marked with a radius of 500 miles. The large or small circles on it are schematic diagrams of the surrounding fields of big households and surnames.
Near Chengdu, the autumn harvest is generally over long ago, but the autumn Fu has not been settled for a long time.
Although it is said that the climate of the Little Ice River has caused the north to become colder and colder, the climate in Sichuan and Sichuan, which is blocked and protected by the hills, does not seem to have changed much, so the overall harvest is actually similar to last year. However, in terms of reports from various places, either Being eaten by insects or birds, it seems that disasters have been encountered everywhere.
Liu Bei also knew in his heart that it was actually not a pest or bird disaster, but a human disaster.
Without food and grass, it is difficult to support the battle situation. Therefore, this year''s autumn Fu is the most important foundation for Liu Bei and Zhengxi to fight. However, there are many vacancies in this foundation now.
The big households who have lived in Chengdu for a long time, their homes range from a hundred acres to thousands of acres. The rents collected by these big households range from a hundred shi to as many as a thousand shi a year. It is inexhaustible, so normally speaking, the warehouses of many big families are full of food. If you take out a few hundred or a thousand shi of grain and pay the autumn tax first, and then disperse the tenants to collect the rent slowly, there is actually not much pressure.
However, at the moment, these large households can''t get any food from their own homes, so they can only collect it one by one, and then aggregate it, which makes Liu Bei burnt out.
What about the surplus food and grass of these big households?
are all shipped to Langzhong...
General Zhengxi gave a high price, super high price, regardless of the new grain and the old grain, which made these big households in central Sichuan feel that the money was coming quickly, and they tried their best to transport the grain and grass to Langzhong. After all, it takes a lot of money to buy goods and weapons in Langzhong, and General Zhengxi said that he can exchange them with grain and grass, and he can get a greater discount on the original basis by exchanging grain and grass!
So, the big family in Sichuan and Shu secretly took out basically all the old food in the house and transported it to Langzhong in exchange for soldiers and weapons...
Food and grass in troubled times are more precious, and all fools know this, but can it be done with only food and grass without force? Wouldn''t it be like a child carrying a wall and walking in a busy city? What''s wrong with exchanging the extra old food at home for weapons to protect the family and arm yourself so that you will no longer be mermaid?
Then Liu Bei was very embarrassed.
Arrests?
Kill a wave?
Ransack the family and exterminate the clan?
Stop joking, kill another wave, maybe you don’t need to attack the west, Chengdu is in chaos first...
Before the Zhang Song family was wiped out, the big families near Chengdu already complained a lot. These big families with big surnames in Sichuan and Shu have been married to each other for more than a hundred years. Which family doesn''t have Zhang''s crooked relatives? Although it is said that a group of local people like Fei Shi and Li Hui have been recruited, the problem is that Fei Shi and Li Hui do not have much real estate, and cannot provide Liu Bei with much extra food and grass in this regard.
Copying the Zhang family has already made the big family members around Sichuan and Shu die, and the foxes are sad. Now buying weapons and blades is precisely because of Zhang''s reason. If Liu Bei continues to kill chickens and eggs, maybe the big family members in Sichuan and Shu will take risks regardless. …
After all, if food and grass can be transported out, soldiers can also come in!
If that step is really reached, will Liu Bei be able to defend Chengdu under the combination of inside and outside?
But in the same way, if no measures are taken and it is allowed to develop, Liu Bei will also find it difficult to stick to it.
Li Hui came from the outside in a hurry. After seeing Liu Bei, he was about to salute, but was supported by Liu Bei.
"De Ang, have you ever found out?" Liu Bei asked eagerly.
Li Hui nodded, walked a few steps to the map, drew a route, and said in a deep voice, "I have already found out... Please look, my lord, these grain transporters passed Mianzhu and walked to Jiange, and then went down to Langshui. , go down the river until Langzhong..."
"Mianzhu...Jiange..." Liu Bei pondered for a moment, "Arrogant as Zhang?"
Zhang Song is the capital of Shu, and there is another Zhang in Sichuan and Shu, Qianwei Zhang, and if it has a long history, Qianwei Zhang is even more famous. Because Qianwei Zhang claims to be the successor of Liu Bang''s counselor Zhang Liang, even Zhang, the capital of Shu, is the surname split from Qianwei Zhang.
Qian was Zhangzhong, he was a Sikong, and he was also a prefect. Now Zhang Xu, the head of the family, used to be the Langzhong and Taichang of the Emperor Ling of the Han Dynasty. Later, because of Dong Zhuo''s rebellion, he resigned to avoid disaster and returned to Sichuan and Sichuan. He is the guard of Jiange.
Due to well-known reasons, Mianzhu is now basically under no jurisdiction, so these big surnames in Sichuan and Sichuan secretly took the Mianzhu route, and they were not found for a while, but if they want to pass Jiange, they must pass Jiange Pass, so Zhang Yi must Inseparable from this matter.
"Jian Wei Zhang..." Liu Bei pondered for a long time, and said, "If we can''t block the outflow of food and grass, we will have no soldiers to fight! The Jiange...will be handed over to De''ang..." Zhang Yi couldn''t kill, but he couldn''t stay in the Jiange, so he It can only be replaced by Li Hui. After all, Qian Wei Zhang is different from Shu Du Zhang, and there are too many entanglements.
"Don''t worry, I won''t let every grain and grain go out!" Li Hui also knew the urgency of the matter, so he had no excuses and accepted the order generously. This matter is of great importance to Liu Bei, and it is also true to Li Hui. If Liu Bei''s status cannot be guaranteed, Li Hui''s interests will also not be stable.
As for Zhang Yi, who became Zhang, and the relevant personnel involved in this matter, Liu Bei also recorded it in the small notebook in his heart, but now is not the time to do it. When the right time comes, he will definitely take out the small notebook. Get it back one by one...
The news from the front line is not optimistic. Zhang Fei and Yan Yan have their own victories and defeats. Zitong, Fu County, has encountered soldiers who conquered the west. Guan Yu, because of Wu Yi''s relationship, couldn''t believe that there were only a few soldiers in Guanghan. There are not many grains and grasslands, so after seeing that they can''t lure out Guanghan troops to conquer the west, they can only temporarily retreat to Qi County, and wait for the autumn harvest to be ready before choosing to attack or defend.
After Liu Bei sent Li Hui away, he returned to the hall and stared at the map closely. Liu Bei was also in a dilemma as to what the battle would be like next, but one thing is for sure, General Zhengxi didn''t have many troops. , this is the breakthrough of the next stage...
However, all of this must first solve the current food and grass problem.
By the way, there seems to be some room for manipulation in the matter of food and grass. Liu Bei was almost lying on the map, his eyes flickering, and he didn''t know what he was planning...
………………
Those who were also troubled by grain and grass were not only Liu Bei, but also Liu Qi, but this problem was quickly resolved, and it was Liu Bei who was trapped in grain and grass that solved this problem.
In An Han City, the banquet is in full swing.
Three thousand Sichuan and Shu soldiers, originally belonging to the Dongzhou series, were incorporated into Anhan City, and Liu Qimengda shared half of them. Everyone was happy. At the same time, with these soldiers came a large number of laborers. Immediately let An Han plump up.
"Mr. Liu!" Meng Da laughed, and raised his wine bar to invite Liu Qi, "Someone said before that Xuande took Chengdu because of the situation, not because of disrespect to Mr. Liu! Now what do you think? The autumn harvest in Chengdu is not over yet, and your son''s food and grass have arrived, so it can be seen that Xuande is still a nostalgic person, so you can rest assured..."
Meng Daxin got a lot of profit, and naturally the scene became big. Although there were some slightly dilapidated county magistrates'' offices, although it was too late to be completely repaired, brocade barriers were hung up at the damaged places to cover them for the time being. Although the weather has not yet reached the level of severe cold, the temperature is still not high in the morning and evening in autumn. In order to avoid suffocation and cold when drinking, the four doors and windows of the banquet flower hall are opened, and the ground dragon is connected under the floor. One brazier after another was set up outside the window, and the bamboo charcoal sent from Sichuan was not hesitant to burn one pot after another, just so that these nobles can still wear thin clothes and look suave when the doors and windows are all open. color.
On top of the tables, there are many delicacies on display, such as beef and mutton, as well as fish sticks made from river fish, which are fully placed on the plate, and can be added as you eat, and various fruits are also placed on one plate after another. Some of the food and drink on one table were left behind, and new ones would be replaced immediately on the other table.
Man, shouldn’t you just sing and drink, eat meat and drink, and be carefree?
As for the bitter cold on the frontier, the soldiers are starved of food, and the farmers who have lost their plowing fields are half-frozen to death in the ground nests.
Although Liu Qi said he didn''t say anything, his expression was obviously better than before. At least on the bright side, Liu Bei hasn''t let Liu Qi''s face down too much. Of course, it''s impossible to say that he just let it go. It''s just that there is still a General Zhengxi in the north, and he is somewhat afraid. That''s all for General Zhengxi.
Although Kuai Qi on the side said that she also had some opinions in her heart, she couldn''t just take advantage of others and wipe her mouth immediately before the oily spots on her mouth disappeared, right? It still takes some face, so I just glanced at Meng Da and didn''t refute it.
Meng Da laughed, then waved his attendants away, put down the wine baron, and said in a deep voice: "In today''s situation, two harms will be caused by division, and two benefits will be gained by cooperation! He is our great enemy!"
Liu Qi glanced at Meng Da, pondered for a while, rolled his eyelids slightly, and nodded. If it weren''t for this, I would have turned my face a long time ago. What else do you need to say?
Meng Da didn''t care whether Liu Qi''s attitude was good or not, he went straight on and said, "Xuande''s intention is to divide the troops into three groups, one route to Yu County, to contain the enemies of Guanghan, and the other route to Fu County, to attack the enemy. Langzhong, along the way, sent troops from An and Han to attack Nanchong, and the three routes went together, so that the expedition to the west could not be taken into account. Discussing the division of prefectures and counties... I don''t know what you want?"
Liu Qi thought for a while, and was about to say something when Kuai Qi who was next to her suddenly coughed and closed her mouth.
Kuai Qi cupped her hands and said: "Dare to ask Meng Lingjun, but do you mean the Xianyang covenant?" Kuai Qi thought it was not too difficult to attack Nanchong. After all, Liu Bei had already had a successful precedent before. Difference? Therefore, Kuai Qi did not object to the division of troops into three groups, each to pursue its own goals, and did not have any opinion on Nanchong, but felt that before cooperating, some guarantees must be made, although such guarantees may not have much effect.
Meng Da froze for a moment, then frowned.
"It''s not that we don''t believe in Meng Lingjun, it''s...hehe..." Kuai Qi smiled, somewhat mockingly, and said, "If there is no covenant, he is not as good as Liu Yizhou... I wonder if Meng Lingjun thinks so?"
Speaking of which, Liu Zhang''s invitation to Liu Bei to enter Sichuan was also a verbal agreement, and he didn''t set up a serious altar like the Suanzao League, and then held some rituals to advertise the alliance with blood, so in the back Liu Bei turned his face, although it is morally unjustifiable, but strictly speaking, it cannot be said that Liu Bei has broken his promise...
Of course, even if there is a covenant, in the face of huge interests, they will still turn their backs when it is time to turn their backs. However, after forming an alliance and then breaking the covenant, the reputation will plummet. place. So to put it bluntly, the covenant is a dam of credibility, which can be used to intercept a certain amount of benefits, and it will collapse after accumulating to a certain extent, but it will not be irresistible when any big or small benefits come.
Meng Da thought for a moment, then nodded, and said: "I will report this intention to Xuande immediately... When this is going on, we should work together to defend against foreign enemies... The covenant, it should be the same..."
To a certain extent, the interests of Liu Qi and Liu Bei are consistent. At least in dealing with Fei Qian, the general who conquered the west, the two sides do have the possibility of cooperation. During the covenant ceremony, Meng Da also agreed to this point. Of course, both parties also knew that any covenant was prepared for the future, and it was just a matter of time.
After having a unified opinion, the atmosphere between the two sides has become more harmonious, and it seems to have returned to the way it was before Liu Bei annexed Chengdu...
(end of this chapter)