At the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty

It's not that the rivers south of the Huai River don't freeze, but the frequency is rare. Obviously, they didn't hit that time.

"Even so, no one can stop our army from crossing the river!"

Xia Houyuan said to Guo Peng: "According to the general's order, my subordinates have already arranged for my subordinates to cut trees and build boats, explore the waterways, and soon build a pontoon bridge to help the army cross the river! At that time, the general will only need an order, and the army can cross the river immediately!"

Guo Peng nodded, held Xia Houyuan's hand, and said with a smile, "Miao Cai, thank you for your hard work."

"Working for the general is not a pain."

Xia Houyuan looked at death with a full face.

"Hahaha."

Guo Peng smiled and said: "We are a family, so we don't talk about each other. Arlene is very obedient, I like it very much, and the child she gave birth to is also very cute. Everything Xiahou has done for me is no better than Cao's." Little, although you have been guarding the rear for me, but your contribution is equally great."

"Thank you General!"

A smile appeared on Xia Houyuan's face.

"I will take you as the vanguard in this battle across the river and open up the road from Huaihe to Shouchun for me. Do you have confidence?"

Guo Peng pointed in the direction of Shouchun City.

"If the general has an order, even if the subordinates don't want this life, they must do it for the general!"

Xia Houyuan was very excited when he heard Guo Peng said that he would be the pioneer.

"Who told you to go all out? For generals, don't talk about life and death at every turn. You are an officer, and your safety is as important as victory or defeat. Don't charge yourself unless you have to. Don't take risks lightly until the critical moment." ,Understand?"

"Yes!"

Xia Houyuan immediately agreed.

"How about this, I will transfer a team of 50 tiger guards to be your personal soldiers to protect your safety. The tiger guards are all warriors who are one in a hundred. On the battlefield, one is equal to ten, so I can rest assured."

Guo Peng held Xia Houyuan's hand tightly, and Xia Houyuan felt a warm current flow through his heart, expressing his gratitude with an excited marching salute.

When Pioneer’s plan to cross the river was confirmed, Guo Peng took people on a tour along the north bank of the Huaihe River to observe the ecology and hydrology of the Huaihe River area which was very different from that of the Central Plains.

"People say that Huainan is vast and sparsely populated. There is a lot of land but few people. The population of the great Han people is mostly in the Central Plains and Guanzhong, but not in Huainan. But if such fertile soil is not developed by people, wouldn't it be a waste of money?"

Guo Peng said slowly to Guo Jia and Xi Zhong who were following him.

"What the general said is of course reasonable."

Xi Zhong said, "However, Huainan has not been a place with a large population since ancient times, and the water network is densely covered and the transportation is inconvenient. The control of the south by the Han is far less important than the control of the Central Plains and Guanzhong, and the further south, the smaller the population. , there are more and more southern barbarians, it is said to be developed, but in fact it still needs to be fought."

Guo Jia also agrees with this view.

"That's right, the further south you go, the fewer Han people there are, and the more barbarians. The south of the great river is mostly barbarian settlements. The south of Jingzhou, Yizhou, and Yangzhou are all barbarians. The mountains are densely covered with dense forests, and there is little arable land. The transportation is inconvenient, not to mention the big Han officials. Even the local tyrants are not allowed to go deep into the army, and the barbarians are fierce and powerful, and it is enough to be a vassal."

Guo Peng does not object to their views, because it is very realistic.

In order to develop, transportation and population must be settled. Except for the area along the Yangtze River, there are a lot of foreigners in the south of the Yangtze River these days, and development is not worth the candle.

That is to say, Qin Shihuang Xiong roughly set up a million-population immigration plan, and used 50 Qin troops to develop the south, and it took a lot of blood to put these lands under the jurisdiction of the Central Plains in a symbolic sense.

However, there are still only a few Han people living in those places, and they are basically near the county seat. If you go out of the county seat, it is not the territory of the Han. The counties and counties in the south of Yangzhou and the south of Jingzhou are particularly large, and the administrative division of a Kuaiji County is equivalent to one in the Kanto and Hebei. State, one can imagine how sparsely populated it is.

Development is more expensive than war, so the emperors of all dynasties naturally did not want to develop it.

Not everyone can and is willing to mobilize the power of the whole country to develop wild lands like Qin Shihuang. The benefits of the large-scale immigration strategy of mobilizing national power are often not seen in ten or twenty years.

Nevertheless, the development of Jiangnan is still a plan of Guo Peng, a future plan.

Chapter 418 410 Seven We all have to be responsible for our own choices

After this battle, Guo Peng plans to train troops on the south bank of the Huaihe River with Shouchun as the center, train an army that is familiar with the warm and humid climate of Huainan and the water quality, and prepare for the future across the Yangtze River to fight in the south of the Yangtze River.

For now, Guo Peng does not plan to cross the river to fight.

It is true that there is no such preparation and no such plan. He has more important things to do, but preparation is still necessary.

Yuan Shu is no longer a hindrance, Yuan Shu is already a dead bone waiting to die.

Guo Peng had to start thinking about what would happen after Yuan Shu's death, how to plan every step.

Every step must be taken well, no matter what, if you do not take it well, it is very likely that you will lose everything.

I don't know if the previous planning and layout have started to work, but after years of planning and planning, if Guo Peng doesn't believe it, it won't work at all.

In any case, don't panic at this time, don't be chaotic, but be steady.

Lu Mian's thoughts are the same as Guo Peng's. The more critical the situation is, the less you can panic and chaos, and you must be steady.

For the precarious Chen Empire, Lu Mian, as a general, as Optimus Prime, what he does is even more important.

In order to calm people's hearts, he invited the crown prince Yuan Yao to act as the supervisor of the country, and exercise power on Yuan Shu's behalf when Yuan Shu didn't wake up. With his help, he issued many decrees to stabilize Shouchun City in the chaos.

Then Lu Mian sent troops to the four directions to announce that a small defeat would not shake the foundation of the country, so as to stabilize people's hearts.

Although everyone knew that Yuan Shu had lost all his capital, but on the surface, he still had to hold on. Now that Shouchun was messed up, everyone was going to die.

Especially the officials who accepted the official position of Chen Guo, each of them was equivalent to betraying the Han Empire, and everyone was a walking political stain.

They were greedy for high position and power, and they thought that Yuan Shu's arrogant appearance could really make things happen, but who would have thought that Yuan Shu was actually an embroidered pillow!

The 1 army was defeated simply and simply. They were defeated in the First World War, and less than [-] people fled back one after another. If it weren't for the great general Lu Mian who tried his best to maintain it, it is estimated that Shouchun City would have been in chaos. Already voluntarily died.

Yuan Shu seems to be a parallel importer.

Seeing that Shouchun City could not be kept, and Yuan's empire was about to be destroyed in a flash, everyone had to think about their own lives and future.

As a result, Lu Mian seemed to have seen through the thoughts of some people, and recruited private soldiers from the major families in the city to join the army in advance to "defend the family and the country", leaving them without even a useful manpower.

Facing the powerful Lu Mian, although they hated him in their hearts, they were helpless and very embarrassed.

Lu Mian controlled the army and armed forces. If they wanted to resist, if they were dissatisfied with Lu Mian and expressed their dissatisfaction, they would be directly and thoroughly attacked by Lu Mian, charged with "conspiracy" and imprisoned. I don't know if I can survive the war.

After some suppression, no one dared to oppose Lu Mian's wartime policy, and no one still had a good impression of Lu Mian.

In fact, there are many cronies around Lu Mian who are very worried about the current situation, and they are not optimistic about Lu Mian's choice, thinking that Lu Mian's choice is problematic.

For the precarious Chen Empire, Lu Mian still wants to do such a thing. Isn't this a self-defeating end?

"Mr. Lu, the current situation has reached such a situation. One hundred thousand troops have been wiped out. Guo Zifeng's army is on the verge of the Huaihe River. As long as they cross the river, there will be no danger in the north of Shouchun City. Guo Zifeng's army will drive straight in and there will be no danger. Why don't you think about it for yourself? ?”

Some cronies advised Lu Mian in this way.

Lu Mian shook his head.

"Your Majesty has treated me with such kindness as a mountain. Simply put me in the army. I will never do such a thing that betrays Your Majesty."

"But in the current situation, Duke Lu doesn't think about himself, but also his family. The strength of the two armies is very different. Once Shouchun falls, Guo Zifeng will definitely liquidate us. Hanchen will not let us go. Don't you think about it? ?"

Lu Mian frowned tightly.

"The kindness I have received, my family has also enjoyed it. They also received His Majesty's kindness and died for His Majesty. There is nothing to say."

"Lu Gong! Think twice! The last moment has not yet come. If the whole city surrenders and atones for sins in time anyway, as an example, then you will not lose the courtesy of being a marquis and a general. What doubts do Lu Gong have?"

The confidant still refused to give up and continued to persuade.

"I have made up my mind, so there is no need to persuade you. If you want to leave, you can go on your own. I will not leave Shouchun, and I will guard His Majesty until the last moment."

Lu Mian walked away.

The confidant looked miserable, shook his head again and again, and sighed.

"Why? Why?"

Lu Mian has nothing to do here, but other people's thoughts will not be eliminated.

They also think about a future for themselves.

So a group of court officials gathered together to discuss, and felt that they should ask Shang Shu to order Han Yin to come forward to find Lu Mian. He understood it with reason and emotion. It is his own business to want to die. Don't let Lu Mian drag everyone to die together. .

If the city is eventually breached by Guo Zifeng, Guo Zifeng will definitely launch a political liquidation, or even massacre the city. At that time, everyone will be a walking political stain and will never escape.

Han Yin had a clear idea of ​​what this group of people were thinking, sighed, and shook his head.

"You don't understand Lu Mian's loyalty to His Majesty. Lu Mian will never surrender, nor will he betray His Majesty. Even if I step forward, it will be the same."

Han Yin continued to review the playlists that were no longer effective, and continued to perform his duties.

"But Han Lingjun, we are all family members. It doesn't matter if one person lives or dies, but it's too difficult to pay for this. I don't regret waiting for one person's life, but once Guo Zifeng's army enters the city, our family members How can you keep it!"

An official knelt on the ground crying with red eyes.

Another official also knelt on the ground and wept.

"Han Lingjun, you also have family members. Would you like to watch your family members be killed by Guo Zifeng together?"

Han Yin continued to shake his head.

"When you accepted the official position of the new dynasty, you should have thought that today will come. Since you want to be an official of the new dynasty, and now you want to get out of your body, how can there be such an easy thing in the world? We all have to do it for ourselves. Choose to be responsible."

Han Yin stood up, helped up two officials who were kneeling and weeping bitterly, and said slowly: "The matter is over, what's the use of crying bitterly? Hasn't Guo Zifeng called yet? The Huaihe defense line is still in operation, as today It's freezing cold, if Guo Zifeng runs out of food and grass and retreats, I don't know, it's too early to give up now."

Such statements did little to comfort the frightened group of officials.

"Han Lingjun, one hundred thousand army! One hundred thousand! In order to make up the one hundred thousand army, the surrounding households were wiped out. Boys aged eleven or twelve and old people in their fifties were all dragged into the battlefield. Shouchun The civilian households in Jiujiang have been completely lost, and as a result, our court has already lost people's hearts, even if Guo Zifeng retreats, can our court still be maintained?"

An official asked Han Yin with red eyes.

Han Yin was taken aback for a moment, leaned less, and lowered his head in pain.

"I understand what you said, I know everything, but, being a minister, cannibalizing people's salaries, and not being able to share the worries of others, it is dereliction of duty, and even betrayal at the end, and there is no integrity, what can we do if we lose these things? Standing between heaven and earth? Don't you understand?"

A group of officials were suddenly speechless.

Then there was another burst of crying.

The atmosphere in Shouchun City is so bad, so miserable, if there is not enough food to cope, the order in the city would have collapsed long ago.

Even so, in order to ensure the distribution of food in the city, Lu Mian also ordered that useless people who could not participate in the war be thrown out of the city.

Chapter 419. 410 It's all lonely fault (repair)

According to Lu Mian's order, the elderly and young children, as well as the frail men and women, all became outcasts.

They were sent out of the city in groups and separated from their families on the grounds of moving out of the city to seek refuge in a safe place.

Life and death are not enough to describe this miserable situation. Some people want to stop it, but they are very powerless. Facing steel knives and crossbows, they are quite powerless.

They have never had the freedom to choose, and the best ending is to become tool people. Whether they are under the leadership of Guo Peng or other warlords, they are the same tool people, without self-awareness, and there is no way to have autonomy. consciousness.

Illiterate, have no future, don't know what the future is, only know how to eat, farm, pay taxes and rebel, these are the toiling masses of this era.

After Lu Mian forcefully cleaned up these people, Shouchun City was turned into a complete war fortress by Lu Mian.

Lu Mian has tried his best to do everything he can, and has carried out his loyalty to Yuan Shu. Although Yuan Shu is still in a coma, what Lu Mian has done is really speechless.

After Yuan Shu came back from the battlefield, he was in a coma for a long time. During this period, he woke up by chance two or three times.

Empress Feng stayed by Yuan Shu's side all the time, while the other nobles hid in the palace and shivered all day long, terrified all day long.

It has only been a few months, not even half a year, to experience the honor of being an emperor. Everything is like a mirror, like a dream. Before reaching its full glory, it is facing extinction. They, the emperor's women, have not had time to enjoy it. , will face death.

No one can stand it.

The only person in the palace who can take charge is the crown prince Yuan Yao.

But Yuan Yao is not a talent, but a soft-headed guy who has no opinion, panics when things happen, and has no idea how to deal with a powerful enemy, so he can only rely on Lu Mian.

Lu Mian took Yuan Yao around, comforting people's hearts as Crown Prince Yuan Yao, giving some comfort to the defenders in the city, and strengthening the city defense more or less.

On the tenth day of December, Yuan Shu finally regained his sobriety.

Under the multiple blows of grief, distress and impatience, Yuan Shu's hair became much whiter during this period of coma. The original black and shiny hair became gray and fell a lot. Yuan Shu suddenly became alopecia. A member of the army.

But he woke up after all, as long as he wakes up, it's a good thing.

For the precarious Chen Empire, as long as the emperor Yuan Shu is still alive, then the symbol of this country will still be there.

Yuan Shu's sobriety brought a glimmer of hope to many people, but it also brought more despair to more people.