Chapter 334: East-West Dispute
In Guanzhong, signs of autumn harvest are already evident as July approaches.

The shogunate's chief secretary Cui Zhouping inspected the Qinzhi Road, where a series of camp sites were built in the spring.

These camps were located every twenty to thirty miles, and each camp contained a thousand people.

Now, in order to move the massive amount of captured spoils from Hexi, hay fields are being built near these camps.

When Cui Zhouping visited Yan'an, he found that it was difficult to transport fodder from Guanzhong to the north after it reached the vicinity of Yan'an.

Further north, costs suddenly become very high.

If a large amount of fodder is stored near Yan'an, the herds migrating into the Great Wall can eat their fill around Yulin and carry some fodder to sustain them until they reach Yan'an.

After arriving in Yan'an, Cui Zhouping visited the Meritorious Stone Tower nearby.

He didn't dare to enter the stone tower, so he just stood by the tower and looked down at the mountains in the distance and nearby. He vaguely felt that the stone tower seemed to have the function of reminding people of the mountains and rivers.

Before this, the landscape around Yan'an was not spectacular, and there was nothing surprising compared to the surrounding counties and towns.

But after this stone tower was built, whether you look at it from the surroundings or from here.

It was as if a crane appeared among the flock of chickens.

After standing there for a long time, Cui Zhouping said with emotion: "The Grand Marshal is a scholar of nature and building this tower is like mediating the yin and yang of nature."

Among the shogunate officials accompanying him, Zhuge Jin stood out in the crowd.

Pan Jun, who was familiar with Cui Zhouping, stepped forward and bowed: "What the Chief Secretary said is very true. Zhu Jianping of Pei State came here for divination and said that this is the pillar that reaches the sky."

Cui Zhouping smiled when he heard this. He had also heard of Zhu Jianping's deeds.

After this famous fortune teller entered Guanzhong, he would tell almost anyone with a little fame that he met had the potential to become an official.

For more than two months, Zhu Jianping was very popular.

Wherever this man went, local officials and people vied to offer him worship, all they wanted was for Zhu Jianping to look at his face.

After laughing, Cui Zhouping said, "Since the Xianbei King Helian invaded the Northern Lands and was shot dead by the Northern Lands' officials and civilians, the Xianbei have been temporarily ruled by Helian's nephew Kuitou. A few years ago, Helian's heir Qianman came of age and fought with Kuitou for the throne."

When they heard him talking about the Xianbei, the people around him listened quietly. This time, their Grand Marshal just wanted to borrow a passage from Shuofang to Hexi.

As a result, Tan Shihuai's grandson, the previous Xianbei king He Lian's son Qianman and his people were in the Shuofang area.

Due to the struggle for throne between Qianman and Kuitou, the Xianbei was divided into three parts. Qianman was located in the western Shuofang area, and Kuitou's power was in Wuyuan, Yunzhong, Daijun, Yuyang, and the northern part of Taiyuan.

Kuitou's forces had suffered losses before, so when Black Bear arrived near Wuyuan, Kuitou gathered his men and let him go without making any contact.

Seeing Kuitou so weak, the young and energetic Qianman gathered his troops to intercept and kill him, but was eventually killed by the black bear.

After this war, the leader of the Wuyuan area saw the situation and thought it was profitable, so he led his men to chase and crush the enemy.

The result was that Kuitou also died, and the Xianbei people west of Wuyuan were severely damaged.

The Xianbei in Yunzhong and Daijun east of Wuyuan could only support Kuitou's younger brother Budugen, and now Budugen submitted a letter of surrender.

Before officially declaring war on the Xianbei, he killed the acting Xianbei king and the successor of the previous king.

The victory was so great that Budugen sent an envoy to surrender before the Guanzhong Grand Marshal's Office was ready.

In fact, Budugen is also very panicked now. Originally, all the Xianbei tribes were watching the fight between Qianman and Kuitou. If a hero could be decided, everyone would bow down to him.

However, the two cousins ​​who were evenly matched in the fight were killed one after the other by a passing black bear.

It is hard to say whether the other Xianbei leaders were panicked or not, but Budugen was very panicked. As Kuitou's younger brother, he was very worried that he would be liquidated.

Budugen was just as panicked as Liu Bao was at the time. He was afraid that his followers would retaliate, so he tied him up and handed him over to the Han army.

There are also the Eastern Xianbei. These Xianbei tribes have various stances. They fight against the Wuhuan, Xianyu Fu and Gongsun Du, and even fight among themselves.

The Eastern Xianbei were too fragmented, and the reputations of these tribal leaders were not as great as those of Qianman, Kuitou, Budugen and other grandsons of the great Xianbei leader Tan Shihuai.

Now the three Xianbei tribes have been divided into the new East and West. The leader of the Western Xianbei is Budugen; there are many tribal leaders in the East, but lack a recognized leader who can command the support of the people.

In this state, the Xianbei's external deterrent power was greatly reduced.

In short, the Xianbei, who were regarded by many as a strong future rival, declined. It does not matter how the Xianbei fell into misfortune; what is important is the change in the shogunate’s military focus.

If the Xianbei are resilient, we should pursue them and not give them a chance to catch their breath.

This means that the plan to use troops against the Xianbei this winter remains unchanged, and perhaps we can penetrate and defeat the Xianbei in one go and advance our troops to the border of Youzhou.

By that time, the army will be like a sickle, moving towards the south. Who in Hebei can resist?
Naturally, by attacking and incorporating the Xianbei, with a little effort and cooperation both inside and outside, Hebei could be overwhelmed.

But now that the Xianbei are no longer powerful, will the shogunate change the direction of its military operations and attack the Qiang people in Hehuang and the Hu people in Liangzhou?
The fact that Liangzhou has a very small registered population does not mean that it is an uninhabited area.

The mountains and plains left behind by the Han border people would naturally be occupied by the Hu people, who would enjoy these production resources.

Therefore, it is still profitable for the shogunate to use military force against Liangzhou.

The people of Liangzhou have already half joined the shogunate. If the war on the western front is started first, a large number of people from Liangzhou will not only gain military merit and economic benefits, but also fill the vacant positions in the shogunate!
If this happened, Cui Zhouping would be very uncomfortable.

At this moment, he was describing the changes and internal situation in the Xianbei country. A dozen or so officials around him were listening. Nearly half of them, such as Zhuge Jin and Pan Jun, lacked intuitive feelings.

One of them was from Xuzhou and the other from Jingnan, and they lacked sensitivity to the changes brought about by the shogunate's future strategies on the western and eastern fronts.

But Cui Zhouping and the surrounding Yanzhao scholars from Hebei are different. What they are pursuing is to push the eastern line and swallow Hebei in one bite.

Listening to Cui Zhouping's story, the people of Hebei were all nervous.

If the war on the eastern front expands, they can all play a role. In addition to being guides, they can also persuade their fellow villagers to rebel and assist the shogunate in stabilizing Hebei.

As a large number of Hebei scholars poured into the shogunate, they were also able to gain merit and occupy high positions.

But now the Xianbei people are so weak?

An official from Hebei said, "Lord Changshi, when I was in Yuyang, I had heard of Budugen's reputation for being treacherous and cruel. I'm afraid that his surrender today is a trick. Is he trying to do the same as Gou Jian?"

Cui Zhouping glanced at the official and said, "I will report this matter to the Lord."

After a short pause, Cui Zhouping hinted: "The Xiongnu and the Xianbei are enemies for generations, so we might as well consult the Xiongnu on this matter. If the Xiongnu also think that Budugen's request for surrender is genuine, then he is naturally sincere."

"Yes, I understand."

Someone immediately understood that this was to seek help from the Huns. Perhaps the Huns were also willing to contribute, but they needed proper guidance.

Just as they were preparing to go down the mountain, a group of cavalry approached.

The leading knight jumped off his horse and handed over a waterproof painted wooden barrel: "Chief, the king has an urgent message."

Cui Zhouping stood still while his subordinates came forward to check the identity of the cavalry and the seal of the lacquer barrel. After confirming that they were correct, they handed it to Cui Zhouping. Cui Zhouping personally broke the seal of the clay and took out the official document. After reading it, Cui Zhouping's face changed drastically. He tried to calm down and hide his loss of composure, and then said, "This is good. It saves us the trouble of transporting fodder."

The others didn't understand what was going on. Zhuge Jin stood aside with a normal expression, but he was secretly calculating something in his heart.

I feel that I should find an opportunity to talk to my brother about Cui Zhouping. Although he can be a famous scholar with a pure mind and few desires, he may not be able to control his greed when he becomes the Chief Secretary.

There are so many people in the shogunate, and the struggle between the Western and Eastern Fronts is no secret.

About four days later, Cui Zhouping's letter appeared in Shangdang and was placed in front of Cui Yan.

Cui Yan just felt a little dizzy. The Grand Marshal's office was paying attention to the route issues on the eastern and western lines, and the people of Hebei were also very concerned.

It wasn't so urgent originally, but it was all because the cousins ​​Kuitou and Qianman were too useless.

I thought that the Xianbei could at least hold out for three to five years, blocking the passage outside the Great Wall, and at the very least, they could tie down the Black Bear's forces.

As a result, the cousins ​​were wiped out after holding out for less than forty-five days.

A total of 80,000 heads were beheaded, which greatly encouraged the various Xiongnu tribes. They began to spontaneously attack and plunder the Wuyuan and Yunzhong Xianbei.

Budugen had few choices: either lead his troops to retreat eastward to compete with the Xianbei in the east for survival resources, or surrender, or be killed.

If Budugen surrendered and was incorporated, then Black Bear would recapture the four counties of Hexi and Shuofang in one battle, and his influence would naturally spread eastward along Dai County and Yuyang, and merge with Xianyu Fu.

Budugen's surrender is not scary, what is scary is that it led to Xianyu Fu and Tian Yu joining Guanzhong.

In this case, the coordination within Hebei becomes less important.

Cui Yan's thoughts had changed before. He neither rejected nor exposed Cui Zhouping's proposal, and allowed Cui Zhouping to connect with the big families in Hebei through Shangdang.

Now Budugen asked for surrender, and news came that Black Bear wanted to expand westward. Cui Yan felt that he was in a difficult situation.

If the news leaked out, Yuan Shang would definitely not show mercy given his cruelty and decisiveness after he succeeded to the throne.

Things like rebellion and treason should have been discussed and launched quickly; if it is delayed like this, especially when news of Black Bear's westward expansion comes, those in Hebei who participated in the conspiracy will be dissatisfied and expose it, and many people will die.

After thinking it over, Cui Yan felt even more embarrassed.

He does not want to give up his reputation, life, wealth and power easily, but if he cannot control the accomplices from Hebei, he will definitely be exposed.

The mental pressure that a person can resist is limited, and Yuan Shang's methods of killing people are even more swift than Yuan Shao's.

If Guanzhong does not see any eastward development, and they worry that the news will leak out and they will be implicated...then driven by their survival instinct, this kind of person is very likely to jump out and expose the truth first.

Cui Yan has already gotten involved, and he has to abandon some things in order to keep more.

After thinking it over, he was not prepared to passively wait for things to happen. Seeing the current situation change, he could only take the initiative to intervene and guide this matter.

We must give hope to the internal conspirators. Only if he joins and brings more people to join, can we stabilize the internal situation and even isolate and sideline Yuan Shang!
Cui Yan was decisive and courageous. He put down Cui Zhouping's letter and said to the chief clerk, "Go and make arrangements. I want to see General Pingnan."

The chief clerk was not surprised and asked, "My lord, is it urgent or not?"

"No rush, but don't delay too long."

Cui Yan appeared calm. He did not trust letters or messengers, and he had to discuss the matter with Zhang Yan face to face.

With the support of Zhang Yan's army, many people in Hebei were able to settle down.

Even if the Black Bear expands westwards, Hebei can still develop steadily internally and will not lose its composure.

After all, Budugen has surrendered. The next step is for Xianyu Fu to lead the six counties of Youzhou to attach themselves to Guanzhong. With the addition of Zhang Yan's Black Mountain Army, the conditions for taking action alone are already in place.

As long as they work hard to dig out internal clues, Xianyu Fu and Zhang Yan don't even need to send out troops. The indirect oppression alone will force many Yuan loyalists to remain neutral.

After a successful attack, Yuan Shang was placed under house arrest. Except for a few diehard Yuan family members who dared to resist, the people of Hebei naturally changed their color.

Budugen's surrender was half the straw that broke Cui Yan's back; the other half was the war on the western front that Black Bear might have pushed for.

Putting the two things together, Cui Yan had no choice but to sacrifice his own reputation and take the initiative to step forward as a matchmaker.

Otherwise, if the matter is exposed, neither Yuan Shang nor the scholars in Hebei will benefit, and both sides will suffer.

If he took the lead now, perhaps the Hebei issue could be resolved without bloodshed. Even if Yuan Shang died, the Yuan family could still be saved.

As long as he thought more about it, Cui Yan felt that the moral loss caused by doing such things was not so heavy and difficult to recover.

In this way, Cui Yan sent someone to invite Zhang Yan, and at the same time sent someone to deliver the information sent by Cui Zhouping to Yuan Shang in Yecheng.

Hebei experienced spring locusts and autumn locusts this year. Although grain production did not completely disappear, reserves were still insufficient.

The information sent by Cui Yan made Yuan Shang feel relieved. His former ally had suddenly become so unruly that Yuan Shang was really unable to sleep or eat.

Now we are afraid that after Black Bear conquers the tribes in Hexi, he will head eastwards and take the incorporated Xianbei as the vanguard. In this case, Xianyu Fu will not be able to stop him and will naturally join Black Bear's camp.

What do Xianyu Fu’s six counties of Youzhou mean?
This is the border county of Youzhou, this is the skull of Hebei!

There is no strategic location to defend south of the six counties!
Therefore, Yuan Xi was basically pinned down in the Yishui area. Yuan Xi had to maintain oppression in order to divide the six counties equally with Xianyu Fu.

You are in me and I am in you, no one can do anything to you.

If anyone dares to hold back or withdraw during this period, he will inevitably be hit hard by the opponent and suffer backlash.

If outside forces intervene forcefully to help one side, the other side will be shaken off.

Yuan Shang handed the intelligence to the chief clerk, who took it and read it carefully, then said, "It is difficult to find the pattern of the Grand Marshal's use of troops. Now it seems that he wants to manage Hexi and is targeting Hehuang. If he suddenly leads 10,000 cavalry to the east, Youyan will be in chaos."

"Yes, no one can estimate his whereabouts."

Yuan Shang sighed lightly. Who could have imagined the military achievements made by the other side?
He took the surrendered troops he incorporated into his army and took over Guanzhong. He led 3,000 newly recruited knights from Guanzhong to defeat the Huns and beheaded 100,000 of them. His power grew stronger and stronger.

Perhaps only Han Xin in the early Han Dynasty could achieve such a record.

As for sending troops outside the Great Wall, it was obviously intended to attack the various tribes in Hexi, but on the way they destroyed two Xianbei royal courts, which greatly reduced the cohesion and deterrence of the Xianbei.

With his current military prestige, if he could ride out of the border alone and meet the Xianbei people next year, and perhaps raise his arms and shout, the Xianbei people would rush to follow him.

Yuan Shang knew the character of the Xianbei people too well. All the Hu people inside and outside the border... Not to mention the Xiongnu and Xianbei, it is estimated that the Wuhuan people have also begun to consider their future stance.

After thinking for a while, Yuan Shang asked: "Do you have a better idea?"

Li Fu thought for a moment, then stepped forward and whispered, "It may not be a good thing for the Grand Marshal to travel rashly."

Yuan Shang raised his eyebrows and looked at Li Fu: "Don't even think about this kind of thing. After all, I have some friendship with him. Cao Cao is not in a hurry, so why should we be in a hurry?"

"Yes, what you said is very true."

(End of this chapter)