sweeping the world

Chapter 477

A country's strength, weakness, and decline will all go through a process, which can often be reflected in the social structure, including the people's living conditions and quality, and other things.

The Li family became Han because the ruler's various brain twitches accelerated the country's weakness. If there is an external force to invade, there will be no more than three waves of resistance and it will disintegrate from within.The process of disintegration can be learned from the previous history. It is nothing more than a group of treacherous ministers stirring up trouble, killing some real cadres for the country, and causing many smart people to look for a way out. The chain effect is of course to make the country go to extinction. .

No one has ever said the phrase "you can know the rise and fall by looking at history", but the general sentence probably exists.But so what if you know it, just like many people clearly know that doing something is wrong, the problem is still doing the wrong thing.

Gong Zhuang found his friend as he wished. His friend's name was Zhang Liang, who had the same surname as Liu Hou and was one of the prominent families in Lingling.

If the Zhang family in Lingling belonged to a third-rate family according to the division of the small courts of the Eastern Jin Dynasty, and in remote places like Lingling, the families that exist are basically not that strong. Generally, it is the family that can gain a foothold in the imperial capital. will appear powerful.

"The people in charge of the imperial court are now the abbot and Governor Xie." Zhang Liang has never compared himself with Liu Hou. Having this name should be something that the family elders are looking forward to.He is a mediocre-looking man, but as the head of a family, he has a good temperament. He said with a smile: "If what Ziwei said is true, Liang will naturally introduce him."

The real fact is that Zhang Liang can’t actually go to Chu Po or Xie Shi in person, because there is a gap between his identity and family background, he can only find some families with higher quality and better strength, and ventilate them layer by layer. Whether Pou and Xie Shi wanted to see Gong Zhuang was another matter.

Gong Zhuang didn't say that he would hand over Li's Chenghan like a piece of fat directly to the small court of the Eastern Jin Dynasty. According to the agreement with Chang Zhu and others, he first mentioned that Li's Chenghan would be a vassal state of the small court of the Eastern Jin Dynasty to test manner.

The small imperial court of the Eastern Jin Dynasty does not have any vassal states at all, and the country is facing a strong challenge. It may be over if it fails to pass this test. How can the Li family become a vassal as a vassal? The feeling of “I’m still strong”.

With Zhang Liang's presence, Gong Zhuang met many patriarchs in Changsha who also led the family's private soldiers.Each of these patriarchs has a large or small official position. The reason is that the small imperial court of the Eastern Jin Dynasty has recently carried out the "official post broadcasting" activity, but all the families that have contributed have been granted official titles and made wishes.

For unknown reasons, Gong Zhuang was surprised to learn that as long as the head of the family is an official, he only thought it was the welfare of the family under the small imperial court of the Eastern Jin Dynasty. 】

Later, Zhang Liang personally took Gong Zhuang to Jiankang. They set off from Changsha, intending to take the Jiangzhou route into Yangzhou, and finally arrived in Jiankang.

The group of people was not in a hurry, and even Zhang Liang had time to take Gong Zhuang to Dongting Lake for a visit. The scenery was naturally good, but what he heard and saw along the way made Gong Zhuang more aware of the preparations made by the small imperial court of the Eastern Jin Dynasty. .

Zhang Liang needed to ventilate to Jiankang first, so that the little imperial court would be mentally prepared. The reason why he would take Gong Zhuang on his way slowly was naturally to wait for the powerful people from Jiankang to respond.

"Presumably Ziwei has an impression of the strength of the puppet Han army?" Zhang Liang felt that he had to say something, and stood at the bow of the boat and turned to look at Gong Zhuang. The background was a sea of ​​reeds in Dongting Lake.He said: "The puppet Han has more than [-] soldiers, and the court can't help but ignore it."

Gong Zhuang nodded, now he felt that the fact that he had found the Han was the reason why he sent [-] troops to invade Li's Chenghan. It turned out that the army was Chen Bing on the border of the small imperial court of the Eastern Jin Dynasty.

However, in fact, there were not as many as 40 Han troops under Chen Bing at the border of the small imperial court of the Eastern Jin Dynasty, and less than 30 troops including auxiliary personnel and necessary militiamen, and 20 troops participating in the invasion.

"The puppet Han did not rise for a long time, but its military strength is extremely strong. In the past four years, the huge state of Zhao was beaten back step by step, and only Bingzhou and Shuozhou remained..." Zhang Liang explained this because the small court of the Eastern Jin Dynasty The mobilization is too strong, and it seems that they have done everything in mobilization.He said with a smile: "A country as powerful as Zhao is unable to resist, and the court has to be cautious, so that it will attract the Yue and the barbarians."

Gong Zhuang still nodded. He came from the southwest and was deeply impressed by the large number of Zhuyue and Zhuman wandering around the small imperial court of the Eastern Jin Dynasty.

"If you can use Zhuyue and Zhuman, some things are not easy to restrain." Zhang Liang said that Yue people and barbarians were raging among the people, and he didn't take it seriously when he said it. Instead, he said proudly: " When Zhuyue and Zhuman go to the north, the court will arm them."

Zhang Liang wanted to show off the national power of the small imperial court of the Eastern Jin Dynasty, so that Gong Zhuang believed that it was the right thing for the Li family to join the Han Dynasty.

Gong Zhuang thought about what happened during the Yongjia Rebellion, but he never thought about the people who were sacrificed.

As for the aristocratic family, in their eyes, only the existence of the same status can be regarded as human beings, and the common people can only be tools in their eyes.Therefore, the people are considered lucky if they are not watched by the family. Once the people enter the family's sight, nothing good will happen. They will either be used or sacrificed.

There are so many mosquitoes in Dongting Lake in summer that it is unimaginable that the boat has to be blocked by gauze. It floats on the lake, bursts of vocal music are ringing, and a female concubine dances gracefully to the sound of music.

Huafang is a huge ship, with at least one thousand materials in units of material, which is 320 tons according to the modern tonnage.It is divided into five floors, two inside the cabin and three above the water level.The two floors below, the lowest level of the bilge, are the accumulation of some supplies as ballast to keep the ship balanced, and the second level is the sailor's quarters.The first floor above is the rest floor for attendants, female concubines, kitchen and other rooms, the second floor is the rest room and entertainment place for the nobles, and the third floor is semi-outdoor.

According to the division of two-story boats, the painting boat is actually just a two-story boat. Gong Zhuang can look out through the gauze curtain. Of course, the number of boats is the largest, and there are also many small boats. Being able to see one, I couldn't help but think that the small imperial court of the Eastern Jin Dynasty had a good shipbuilding ability.

In fact, the small imperial court of the Eastern Jin Dynasty’s shipbuilding ability is really quite good. There are at least hundreds of ships that can be called ships every year. There are too many water systems in the south of the Yangtze River. People who travel by boat are far more than those who travel by land need more.This is because there are too many mountains and mountainous areas by land, not to mention that you often need to climb mountains. Most of the mountainous areas are deserted and uninhabited, which is not considered safe. On the contrary, the waterways with more people are safer.

The small court of the Eastern Jin Dynasty can now see a clear polarization. The farther south and southwest the area is, the more suffering the people are due to the ravages of the Yue and the barbarians. However, the aristocratic families who control most of the resources still eat what they should. Drink as you please, and even be accompanied by romance, singing and dancing.

Zhang Liang and Gong Zhuang were entertained by a well-known local family, and the painting boat belonged to the Luo family, and it was specially used to take guests around Dongting Lake.The vocal team and female concubine are also domesticated. These people usually don't do much work, just practice music and dance, which is the so-called non-production.In terms of today's production level, it is difficult for an ordinary family to raise a person who is not engaged in production. Even family members with powerful landlords should go to work in the fields to support a vocal team of nearly 20 people and a female vocal team of nearly 30 people. Ji's team is not affordable by ordinary families, so it can be seen that the financial resources of the Luo family are extraordinary.

"Not much, really not much, just donating one hundred thousand shi of rice to the imperial court." Luo Yuan looked very rich, not only because he was too fat, but the silk clothes on his body were very normal, and the beautiful jade as accessories was indispensable. , agate, emerald and gold and silver.When he said the one hundred thousand shi of rice was very casual, as if it was ten catties, that casualness was definitely not a pretense, and he added easily: "If the imperial court needs it, it will be bought later."

One hundred thousand shi of food can provide [-] troops for at least a year, and it can be done for two years if you save some food.The Luo family alone provided [-] shi of food for free, and the rest of the family will certainly provide some, so it can be seen that the troops of the small imperial court of the Eastern Jin Dynasty should not have to worry about it?

Gong Zhuang didn't pay much attention to Luo Yuan just now, and after a daze, even if he was a literati, he had to look up to Luo Yuan.

"The Luo family is a big family in Jingzhou, with tens of thousands of hectares of land under its name alone, and a fleet of ships traveling between Zhanghai (South China Sea) and Linyi and Funan." Zhang Liang lowered his voice and continued: "Linyi and Funan are rich in production. food."

What Gong Zhuang wanted to know was: "How many sergeants did Luo have?"

"According to the price set by the famous family, the price is three thousand." Zhang Liang's family paid one thousand, not including weapons and armor.He said: "This is a national battle..."

How many troops should be sent by what kind of family is a strong request from the head of the country, Chu Po, and the final decision is made by the empress dowager Chu Suanzi.It is really forced to do this. There is no shortage of families in the south of the Yangtze River who will try their best to resist the invasion of the Han Dynasty, but there is no shortage of families who will seek refuge when the Han army kills them. There are more families at both ends of the snake and mouse.

The war has not yet started. As long as there are capable and well-connected families, one of them will have branches to go to the Han Dynasty. The Chu family and the Sima royal family are really frightened. Whether the aristocratic family is willing or not, they have to follow the routine of dispatching troops or supplies according to the fixed product. Otherwise, many aristocratic families have a way out, and the new relatives of the Chu family have no way out, or the Sima royal family has no way out.

The land of Shu is too closed. After Gong Zhuang left the land of Shu, he basically spent his time on the road. He didn’t have time to truly understand the current situation of the small imperial court of the Eastern Jin Dynasty. Said: "Why do you worry about being united? Unlike Shu, the Han army invaded for less than three months, not to mention the soldiers who defected before the battle, and the high-ranking officials and generals have many thieves, and the war corruption is beyond control."

"..." If Zhang Liang hadn't seen Gong Zhuang's serious face, he would definitely have thought that Gong Zhuang was mocking him.Like many people, his family also had a branch going to Han. Of course, the reality cannot be told to Gong Zhuang. He wanted to cover up his embarrassment and say something else. He suddenly came back to his senses and asked, "The war is so corrupted that it can't be controlled?"

Gong Zhuang also slipped his mouth because of a momentary feeling, so he quickly changed the subject.

Zhang Liang was paying attention, he felt that it was necessary to find out what the current situation of Li's Chenghan was.

The small imperial court of the Eastern Jin Dynasty planned to invade the Chenghan of the Li family two years earlier. It was not forced by the Han Dynasty, nor was Huan Wen alone in the lead. It was because there was such a force that really wanted to destroy the Chenghan of the Li family.The situation faced by the following countries changed again and again, and they only thought about being able to block the Han Kingdom to the north of the Yangtze River, so how could they have any spare power to attack Li's Chenghan.

After more than a month, Gong Zhuang finally arrived in Jiankang. He was entertained a lot on the way here, and he fully realized that the aristocratic families in the small imperial court of the Eastern Jin Dynasty are better at playing than the aristocratic families in Shu, and the quality of life is also exhausted. Possibly luxurious.

Of course, Gong Zhuang, who entered Jiankang, didn't see enough important people immediately, and he didn't even hear the news from Sichuan for three months.

It was Xie Shi who returned to Jiankang just at the right time, and he came to the palace in person to find Chu Suanzi to urge reinforcements.

"There are hundreds of thousands of Han troops in front of Shouchun alone, and they are already sharpening their knives!" Xie Shi must have been under too much psychological pressure and busy enough, and looked very thin. He glanced at Chu Ling beside him , turned his gaze to Chu Suanzi behind the gauze tent, and said, "The Huai River is also full of Han navy sailors!"

Chu Po was full of sadness. The Shouchun front that Xie Shi was in charge of hadn’t started fighting for the time being. Some time ago, the Han army occupied Badong in a desperate manner. The line from the north of Jingzhou to Nanjun was also full of wars, and even the sea in the east of Yangzhou began to appear Han troops. fleet.

Chu Suanzi said in a soft voice: "The troops in the south are constantly gathering, and reinforcements will soon enter Shouchun."

Xie Shi urged him again and again, and even talked about some requirements for ordnance. For example, the Jin army's big killer weapon, the Eight Horse Crossbow, requires as many as possible.

"There are other things." Chu Po heard that Xie Shi wanted reinforcements, ordnance, and rations, and his head got a little big. He changed the subject and said, "The aristocratic family in the Shu region has named Gong Zhuang as a representative. He is now in Jiankang. Knowing that calling the vassal a vassal is false means that the aristocratic families in the Shu region want to return to the imperial court in an all-round way."

"A few years ago...even a year earlier is a good thing." Xie Shi frowned and said: "Now the court is facing an unprecedented war, how can we have the time to pay attention to it?"

A light cough came from the other side of the gauze tent. Chu Suanzi was holding a piece of information that someone had just sent in her hand. When she read it, she was stunned, not quite clear what Xie Shi and Chu Po were talking about just now. , lost his voice and said: "Li Shi, please surrender, Huan Wen has destroyed Cheng Guo!"

(End of this chapter)