Chapter 498 A strong dose of medicine

Jiangdong, Jianye.

Since Liu Fu ascended the throne, he has also pursued a simple style of living. Jianye City was newly built, and there were no old buildings that could be rebuilt.

Therefore, his palace was more like an expanded state. He also had great ambitions. Since moving to Jiangdong, he stayed away from women and focused on politics.

In fact, Liu Fu did not want to start a war with Guanzhong too early.

When the battle report from Jingzhou came, Liu Fu had to summon his ministers to discuss countermeasures.

Prime Minister Zhang Zhao sat at the first seat, and General Wei Lei Xu, General Suppressing Bandits He Qi, Palace Attendant Jiang Gan, and Minister of Rites Gu Yong all attended the meeting.

The military letter from Jingzhou was passed between five people. Liu Fu asked, "Lu Boyan believes that this war will be protracted. He intends to urge the court to train new troops. The new troops will accumulate strength and then march to Jingzhou, which will have a miraculous effect. What do you think?"

Zhang Zhao turned the military book around and felt that Lu Yi, who was not in charge, did not know the value of money and grain, and was even less aware of the difficulties faced by the court.

Liu Fu always had a plan to organize and train a new army and had been pushing forward with it.

The composition of the army under the southeastern court was complex. Excluding Cao Cao, Yanyu Province, and Zang Ba, in the Yangtze River Basin, there were Huainan soldiers from Yuan Shu's old subordinates, Jiangdong soldiers from Sun's old subordinates, the Jiangdong big family troops, and Jingnan County soldiers.

Since the establishment of the Changsha Kingdom, the Changsha Liu family has worked together with the scholars in southern Jing to organize and train a new Changsha army.

Liu Fu also selected young and strong men from Lianghuai and Jiangdong to form a new army, but the size of his new army was only over 10,000, barely enough to guard Jianye.

This kind of new army is definitely not the reinforcement that Lu Yi wants.

Therefore, Lu Yi proposed to conquer the Shanyue with all his strength to train the troops; and to capture the brave Shanyue men as soldiers, emulating Guanzhong and establishing a stable vassal army.

If we follow the plan of the Landing Agreement, we must now enter a full-scale war state and do everything we can to expand and absorb military strength.

Only by transforming into the Warring States period can we stop the troops from Guanzhong and secure Jingzhou.

Only when Jingzhou was stable could the imperial court easily intimidate Zang Ba, strengthen its control over Yanzhou and Yuzhou, and further increase its influence over Cao Cao.

But to become like the Warring States period, one must be closely tied to the big families in Jiangdong, and hereditary nobility and official salaries would be the basic treatment.

Only if they are given enough power can the big families in Jiangdong actively participate in the war.

Unlike Sun Quan, Sun Quan was born with a lack of status and position, and had no room for maneuver when it came to appointing officials and making wishes.

Liu Fu was different. He could confer titles of county marquis and county duke, and implement feudal system and establish states within his territory and even in the two states of Yan and Yu and the two states of Qing and Xu.

Establish a circle of inner vassal states at the county level on the periphery to stimulate their defensive enthusiasm and resistance determination.

Even Cao Cao and Zang Ba could be conferred the title of Duke by Liu Fu.

Liu Fu could do this as long as there was a major move in Guanzhong.

As for the Yuan family of Hebei, a kingship was enough to bribe Yuan Shang.

But this is a road of no return. It is easy to establish feudal vassal states, but it is extremely difficult to reduce their power.

But after taking this poison, it will also force Guanzhong... Don’t the generals and county governors under Guanzhong want to be a county marquis or a county duke?
There was silence in the hall for a moment. Zhang Zhao instinctively opposed the feudal system, which would only weaken the prestige of the court, bring shame to him as the prime minister, and would be laughed at by future generations.

However, in order to implement Lu Yi's plan, it is necessary to promote the establishment of inner vassal states. Only in this way can the frontline soldiers be effectively motivated and the big families in Jiangdong be encouraged to actively donate servants and land in exchange for a fiefdom.

The capital was chosen to be Jianye, so naturally it was not possible to establish fiefdoms within a thousand miles of the royal capital.

Therefore, in conjunction with the military campaign to conquer the Shanyue, this was a huge campaign to expand southwards.

This meant fighting on two fronts, with Lu Yi firmly holding off the Guanzhong troops and the rear getting effective returns. When Liu Fu asked, Zhang Zhao wanted to remain silent, but that was not his character, so he said, "Your Majesty, I think this is a battle for the survival of the country, and we should devote all our national strength. Therefore, we must not be stingy with official titles and fiefs."

After saying this, Zhang Zhao lowered his head in shame.

Liu Fu's eyes fell on Gu Yong's face, and Gu Yong replied: "Your Majesty, in the feudal system, the counties and territories still belong to the court and the country. If the army is defeated, the country will be destroyed, and we will all be the kings and ministers of a fallen country. I can still live in seclusion or serve as an official, but Your Majesty may have no place to stand? By then, the world will be vast, and what benefit will it bring to Your Majesty?"

"Yes, if the Jingzhou army is defeated, everything will be meaningless; but if we follow this strategy, we will be ashamed of our ancestors."

Liu Fu sighed with sorrow and went to see Jiang Gan: "What do you think, Ziyi?"

"Your Majesty, the Crown Prince Yingrui may be able to rectify the internal vassal states in the future and not harm the harmony between the monarch and his subjects."

Jiang Gan bowed slightly and said, "The Grand Marshal of Guanzhong wants to clean up the world. Not to mention us, there are also resentful people around him. If we delay for a while, there will definitely be changes within the organization. At this moment, we must not dampen the morale of the troops on the front line."

It is better to damage the patriarchal system left by our ancestors than to hurt the morale of the troops on the front line.

Once the war begins, we must hold on no matter how difficult it is.

It was just a small fiefdom and the establishment of a country. In Jiang Gan's view, this was just a temporary change of circumstances. He just had to survive first, and there would be plenty of solutions in the future.

Seeing that the three agreed, Liu Fu looked at Lei Xu and He Qi and asked, "What are the chances of success in conquering Shanyue?"

Lei Xu replied calmly: "There are more than 20,000 households of mountain dwellers in Danyang County who have left the mountains and settled down there out of Your Majesty's grace. It is estimated that the number will be no less than 100,000 households. With this, we can get at least 30,000 elite soldiers. Give me half a year and it will be done by the end of the year."

He Qi thought for a moment and said, "If all the counties in Jiangdong go all out to conquer the Yue people, in my opinion, we can expand our territory to the land of Ouyue and gain 500,000 households. But we need to mobilize the people of the counties and prefectures, and we must give generous rewards. For the newly acquired land, it is inevitable to reward meritorious people. For the court, we can gain more than 100,000 volunteer soldiers, and after the success, we can get 50,000 elite soldiers from Shanyue."

He made an estimate based on the information he had: "If Lu Boyan can hold out until midsummer next year, Jiangdong can send more than 100,000 troops to Jingzhou to help."

Excluding the necessary garrison and suppression forces, 70,000 troops could be used to suppress the 50,000 new Shanyue troops, and they would be able to march to the front line in a stable manner.

When they arrived at the front line, half of the Shanyue troops were separated and incorporated into Lu Yi's army.

At that time, the officers and soldiers under Lu Yi had been tempered by war and were able to steadily absorb this group of troops.

The reinforcements sent to Jingzhou were only there to keep the situation under control, not to participate in the decisive battle.

To control the situation, the Shanyue troops were sent to the front line in batches; reinforcements could also be sent forward to join the battle in turns.

Once the entire army has adapted to the Northern Army's combat style and the newly formed Shanyue troops have been almost wiped out, this will be the opportunity for a decisive battle.

"Midsummer next year?"

Liu Fu said in a low voice, frowning: "The man in Guanzhong is the best at charging. His attack is so swift and fierce that we are overwhelmed by the battle reports. This has made it too difficult for Jingzhou to hold out for years."

He Qi looked up at Liu Fu and said, "Your Majesty, I think Lu Boyan dares to use troops because he has the confidence to deal with the northern troops. The battle in Jingzhou must be fought back and forth. Only in this way can the northern troops show signs of fatigue and inspire the loyal and righteous people in Shu."

We cannot just consider Jingzhou and Jiangdong, but must find ways to inspire more allied forces.

Not only in Shuzhong, the longer the delay, the higher the probability of successfully instigating a rebellion and winning over Hebei will be.

Even Cao Cao, if all parties were fighting with Guanzhong, could he stay in Qingzhou obediently?

Seeing that everyone had highly unified opinions, Liu Fu also knew that it was time to distribute the titles that had been accumulated by generations of emperors.

I don’t know whether the northern troops can clean up all the vassal states in the country.

(End of this chapter)