At the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty

But now that there is a lot of waste waiting to be done, and even the paper can't be produced, it's a bit pretentious to think about these things.

As long as qualified five baht coins can be minted, and the right to mint coins is returned to the central government and not released to other places, Guo Peng will be able to control the whole country from Yecheng.

For the moment, because the five baht coins cast by Guo Peng are of good quality, full amount, no shortage of weight, beautiful appearance, and many users, Liangzhou, Liaodong, Jingyiyang and the farther Jiaozhou They all use the standard five baht coins of the Guo Wei regime to do business with the Central Plains.

As a result, the circulation of privately minted coins within them has also been reduced. Although it will not be completely cut off, it is still much less.

Having said that, Guo Peng never thought of playing currency wars to attack these local forces. The reason is also very simple, because currency is not indispensable in this era. Barter.

Silk cloth, grain and ironware can all be used as "currency".

After the establishment of the Three Kingdoms, the three regimes faced their own economic difficulties, and they all used means of issuing excessive currency, such as the "Daquan" series that Sun Shiwan worked on later, and the "Zhibaiqian" that Liu Bei used.

These emergency measures have all played a certain role, but at the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty, when the authority of the central government declined and the local power was strong, the "people" represented by the gentry and the powerful were the masters of the world, not the central government.

Those in power want to cut leeks by over-issuing currency. Once the trust of the people is lost and the credibility of the central government goes bankrupt, the "people" who have a lot of land and property dare to use barter and private coins to fight against the central government. Let the central government can't eat and walk around.

On this point, Sun Shiwan, who created the Daquan Dangqian series, can personally act as a witness and provide physical evidence.

These days economic wars need to be waged with real objects, not currency. Guo Peng uses five baht coins just to establish a stable economic order and slowly restore the wounds of the war.

However, because of the lack of copper, Guo Peng is even more eager for Jiangdong and Yizhou. These two places produce a lot of copper. With these two lands, he can get a lot of copper and alleviate his current copper shortage problem.

So right now, Cao Ren's task is still very important. He is responsible for a part of the copper needed by the Guo Wei regime to mint coins, and the pressure is huge.

Cheng Gongying came to Chang'an at this time, begging to see Cao Ren.

At this time, in April of the first year of Jian'an, when Cao Ren was very happy that his subordinates had unearthed hundreds of millions of Dong Zhuo's small coins in the former site of Meiwu, Cheng Gongying came.

Cao Ren was entrusted by Guo Peng to be in charge of Guanzhong's military and political power.

But he became more and more cautious, and he did not act arrogantly, but kept a low profile, for fear that he would be punished by Guo Peng if he did something wrong.

He is in awe of Guo Peng from the bottom of his heart, and at the same time, he also knows how conspicuous his position as the second person in the Wei army below Guo Peng is. In this position, he cannot make the slightest mistake. He would rather not do many things. Make no mistake.

But there is one thing, Guo Peng clearly told him to do it when it is time to do it, and don't miss the opportunity.

That's the thing about Liangzhou.

After Guo Peng canonized Ma Teng as the governor of Liangzhou at the beginning of January in the first year of Jian'an, he sent a spy to bring him a letter, telling him that his actions would inevitably lead to civil strife in Liangzhou, and it was very likely that Han Sui would be forced to ask him for help. When the time comes, Cao Ren cannot move.

We must seize the opportunity and let Han Sui cooperate with him to take down Longdi, break the barrier of Liangzhou, and then annex Liangzhou, eliminate the warlords of Liangzhou, completely occupy Liangzhou, and remove the biggest threat in the north.

Then, you can head south with all your might.

So when Cao Ren knew that Cheng Gongying, Han Sui's confidant, was coming to visit him, his heart beat faster. He realized that the opportunity might have come.

Guo Peng deliberately transferred [-] troops to repair Tongguan. The purpose was very simple, to let the Liangzhou warlords with simple minds and well-developed limbs relax their vigilance, and let these military leaders who did not read much suffer a lot from being dumb.

Mingxiu plank road crosses Chencang secretly.

Have you heard of these military leaders who don't know a lot of big characters and don't know if they have a single word when their shoulder poles are upside down?

understand?

Reading is really important.

Cao Ren did not meet Cheng Gongying immediately, but let Cheng Gongying hang out for five days, and only when Cheng Gongying was anxious and about to get angry, he met Cheng Gongying impatiently.

Then Cheng Gongying anxiously handed Han Sui's letter to Cao Ren, explaining his intention.

Cao Ren took it over and read it, and was immediately furious.

"Ma Shoucheng actually said such a thing? Did such a thing?!"

Cao Ren looked very annoyed: "I'll send someone to question him right away, you go back and tell Han not to worry."

Cheng Gongying was shocked.

"No, General! If this is the case, wouldn't it be a shock? Ma Teng will definitely attack Han Biejia immediately, Han Biejia is in danger! Please also send troops to rescue the general!"

"send troops?"

Cao Ren's face froze, and he seemed very hesitant: "Such a big event like sending troops can't be hastily acted without Wei Gong's order. Wei Gong doesn't plan to rush to fight now. Wei Gong wants to rest with the people, recuperate, and send troops to fight. , not right, not right."

"But once Ma Teng kills Han Biejia and makes Liangzhou a mess, Wei Gong will not be able to do it even if he wants to rest his troops to support the people! Now it is all up to Han Biejia to support him. Once Han Biejia can't support it, Liangzhou Chaos is inevitable, is this what Duke Wei wants to see?"

Cheng Gongying immediately asked questions.

Cao Ren looked thoughtful.

"What you said is also reasonable, but Ma Shoucheng is the governor of Liangzhou appointed by Duke Wei himself. How could he do such a thing?"

Cao Ren looked suspiciously at Cheng Gongying.

Cheng Gongying immediately said what he had thought up.

"In the early years, Ma Shoucheng and Han Biejia had a friendship, but the friendship was not deep, and there were many conflicts, so Ma Shoucheng has always hated Han Biejia. , Ma Shoucheng became a villain, and immediately began to take revenge on Han Biejia.

He wants to annex Han Biejia's army and make himself bigger. Many people around Han Biejia have betrayed Han Biejia and joined Ma Shoucheng. Ma Shoucheng will not.

Ma Shoucheng will definitely send troops to harass him. At that time, Duke Wei will have to send out a large army to pacify Liangzhou, and it will take a lot of money to do so. Is this what the general and Duke Wei expect? "

Cao Ren seemed shaken by Cheng Gongying's words, thought deeply, and expressed that Cheng Gongying's words made sense.

"What you said is not unreasonable, but this is a big matter. After all, Ma Shoucheng is the governor of Liangzhou appointed by the imperial court..."

"If the general is willing to send troops to help, Han Biejia is willing to dedicate gold and horses to the general as a reward for the general. If the matter is successful and the traitor Ma Teng is killed, then Han Biejia is willing to dedicate the two counties of Wudu County and Beidi County to the general. Duke Wei, thank Duke Wei for his kindness in rebuilding!"

Cao Ren immediately stared.

"Is this true?"

"Really! I will swear!"

"in this way……"

After Cao Ren thought about it carefully, he said, "I'll send someone back with you immediately to discuss the matter of cooperation. I'll wait for the news here. Once the news arrives, we'll make an appointment and we'll send troops together. Kill the traitors!"

Cheng Gongying was overjoyed, and immediately thanked Cao Ren, and then returned to Liangzhou to look for Han Sui with Cao Ren's emissary Zhang Ji.

Chapter 666 Five Wei Xiao case

Cheng Gongying felt that Han Sui and Yan Xing were right.

Cao Ren is very trusted by Guo Peng, and he has a lot of authority. If there are really benefits and military merits, he may be hooked and come to help them.

Even if you kill Ma Teng for this.

With Wei Jun's prestige, as long as he entered Longyou, many people would tremble, and Ma Teng, Ma Chao and his son would immediately be in trouble.

As for postwar...

To be honest, Beidi County and Wudu County have been infiltrated to varying degrees because they are close to Guo Peng's territory. Ma Teng is indifferent to this, let alone helpless, so Han Sui simply dedicates these two counties to Guo Peng , as long as the main roads and Longdi are guarded, it is enough.

These two counties are enough to lure Cao Ren to send troops.

Now Cao Ren was really convinced, and now Han Sui was safe!

Cheng Gongying rushed back to Liangzhou with Zhang Ji full of joy, ready to discuss the specific matters of sending troops.

But whether it is him, Han Sui, Yan Xing, or even the big and small warlords in Liangzhou, no one is clear about the internal power operation of the Guo Wei regime.

They don't know that the Guo Wei regime is already a fairly mature political group.

This regime has already ruled nearly two-thirds of the land of China, and has managed these two-thirds of the land of China quite well. It is a very successful regime.

Since this regime can establish such an excellent rule and make it stable, it has a fairly strong force and a relatively strict and standardized political system.

The Chinese have never lost to others in designing political systems.

The Chinese-style super-large-scale centralization system is the largest in the history of the world, both in terms of scale and sophistication.

Guo Peng is an out-and-out military and political strongman, with both military and political skills, without any slack.

In the military, a strict system of professional soldiers and a rotating garrison system were established. In politics, extensive villages were established to control the population at the grassroots level. They also used military authority to increase their own power. Strike and weaken.

Because the strength of local forces constitutes a serious threat to the central government, Guo Peng, who is well versed in this, fears and attaches great importance to this.

His goal is to go back to the Western Han Dynasty first, and then jump to the Tang and Song Dynasties, spanning the 400 years of division and darkness that were wasted due to the lack of mature papermaking and printing techniques.

Therefore, as long as people in Liangzhou can have a little understanding of Guo Peng's thinking, or simply observe and observe more, they will also find that without Guo Peng's order and permission, Cao Ren would not dare to mobilize without the courage of 88 people. One soldier and one soldier.

Not to mention mobilizing troops and horses for military operations without notifying Guo Peng.

Because all of this was expected by Guo Peng, he allowed Cao Ren to do this, instructed Cao Ren to do this, so Cao Ren dared to do this.

Ma Teng and Han Sui's gang still had the same old thinking and old ways, thinking that after Guo Peng left, the land of Guanzhong would be Cao Ren's world, and that Cao Ren could really be the master, so they regarded Cao Ren as Guo Peng's agent and talked with him. Discuss this matter in exchange for his sending troops.

They believed that Cao Ren was powerful.

Cao Ren did have power, and it was still very powerful. He himself had the positions of former general of Wei State, Jing Zhaoyin, and governor of Chang'an Daying. Guo Peng also gave him the position of governor of Guanzhong for his convenience.

The governor of Guanzhong, as the name suggests, is the governor of all things in Guanzhong. Cao Ren has the power to control and make decisions on the soldiers and horses in Guanzhong, as well as government affairs.

However, if Cao Ren wanted to exercise the power stipulated by the position of governor of Guanzhong, there was a prerequisite, that is "wartime".

During the war, Cao Ren had all the powers of the governor of Guanzhong, and could mobilize all soldiers and people, mobilize officials, and carry out wars.

During the war, he had the highest power in Guanzhong, and Xia Houyuan and Guan Yu also obeyed his orders.

As for how to verify the definition of "wartime", Guo Peng also has clear regulations.

Or, if foreign enemies take the initiative to attack the Guanzhong land, then the Guanzhong land will of course enter the "wartime".

Either Guo Peng decided to launch a war and ordered Guanzhong to enter wartime.

In these two cases, Cao Ren activated the power of the governor of Guanzhong, served as the commander-in-chief, and directed the war.

In normal times, Cao Ren is Jing Zhaoyin, the governor of Chang'an Daying. In other words, Cao Ren has no right to start a war, and he has no right to take the initiative to let Guanzhong enter wartime.

In addition to Guo Peng's regulations, Cao Ren is not allowed to launch a war even if there is a fighter opportunity. He must sit back and watch the fighter opportunity lose. sit idly by.

In the same way, anyone under Guo Peng who leads the army in the local area must abide by the same rule.

Either the foreign enemy took the initiative to attack, or Guo Peng authorized it.

This is very clear.

Zhang Fei is such a fierce and fierce man, without Guo Peng's authorization to allow him to attack Xianbei indiscriminately, he can't even mobilize a centurion of cavalry.

He grew up with Guo Peng and was beaten by Guo Peng since he was a child. Cao Ren knows Guo Peng's strong and uncompromising character.

As the second in command of the Wei army, he won the trust of Guo Peng, so he got the position of governor of Guanzhong. However, the higher his status, even the second in command, the more cautious he is. The more you trust him, give him power.

If anyone violates Guo Peng's will, there is only one result, death.

It's not like this never happened.

After the Battle of Hebei ended, Guo Peng appointed a veteran from the Changshui Cavalry in the early years to serve as the garrison of Daijun to lead the troops to guard Daijun to guard against Xianbei attacks.

The Changshui cavalry is Guo Peng's earliest subordinate and the most trusted veteran subordinate.

When Guo Peng served as General Hu Karasuma, some of them gave up their positions in the Changshui Cavalry and followed Guo Peng to Shanggu County. This veteran, Wei Xiao, was one of them.

Even the name Wei Xiao and his nickname were given to him by Guo Peng. He can be regarded as a middle-level officer who was single-handedly promoted by Guo Peng, and he is absolutely trusted.

Represented by him is a large group of mid-level officers who were promoted from veterans of Guo Peng's old army. They are the mainstay of the Wei army.

Wei Xiao has some ability, and was promoted by Guo Peng to serve as the deputy county guard to accumulate experience and try out his ability.

Normally speaking, Wei Xiao was very familiar with the military regulations and various rules set by Guo Peng. As a result, the scouts sent by Wei Xiao at that time detected the news of a Xianbei tribe going south, so he decided to mobilize 1000 Daijun garrison troops to attack.

At that time, some of his subordinates discouraged him.

The subordinates said that the defense cannot take the initiative to attack without Guo Peng's order. This is a military rule, and violation of the military rule will be punished.

Wei Xiao thinks that he is the earliest old tribe of Guo Peng, with a special status, and this tribe is likely to come south to invade. He can also defend the enemy outside the country if he takes the initiative to attack, lest they come and then passively defend.

Then he went out, fought hard and slaughtered that tribe, brought back a batch of spoils, and asked Guo Peng for his merits, but instead of waiting for a reward, he waited for the tiger guards.

The soldiers of the Tiger Guards took Wei Xiao to meet Guo Peng, but Guo Peng didn't see him, and directly sent someone to interrogate Wei Xiao according to military regulations, and concluded that Wei Xiao violated Guo Peng's regulations and should be executed according to the law.

At that time, many people pleaded for Wei Xiao.

He said that he was just taking the initiative to attack, and he didn't want the Xianbei people to fight over and then passively defend, and then defeated the Xianbei people and made meritorious deeds.

Moreover, Wei Xiao followed Guo Peng all the way and made a lot of contributions. If he was killed rashly, it might shake the morale of the army, which is not good for the morale of the army, etc.

Guo Peng was furious, and demoted 23 officers who interceded for Wei Xiao, demoted them all as auxiliary soldiers, and then personally ordered Wei Xiao to be beheaded.

After Wei Xiao's death, Guo Peng sent people to explain the matter to the garrison officers and military camps everywhere, and reiterated the military regulations very severely——