[Three Kingdoms] Xinghan

When he was still more than ten miles away from Yuzhang County, Ling Han met the messenger sent by Zu Lang.

It is said to be a messenger, but it is actually a confidant.

After quietly listening to the other party's intentions, Ling Han raised his eyebrows and said: "As long as this king continues to let him lead Yuzhang, will he submit to this king?"

The other party quickly bowed with a smile: "Exactly."

Holding the reins, Ling Han stood proudly: "Go back and tell Zu Lang that I can agree to his request. However, I will definitely send the army into Yuzhang City today."

The messenger's expression changed upon hearing this.

What Zu Lang meant was that he hoped that the King of Changsha could lead his troops back.

From now on, Yuzhang County will honor Changsha King and pay taxes on time.

As for the military and political power, it can remain independent.

But if the army is allowed to enter the city, his side will completely become meat on the chopping board.

What kind of result will be, it all depends on Changsha King's thought.

Seeing the other party's hesitation, Ling Han said coldly: "Go back and tell Zu Lang. If he is unwilling to open the city and surrender, then let's fight!"

He originally wanted to use Yan Baihu and Zu Lang to stand up against Shanyue, and the best way was undoubtedly to defeat them quickly.

Even if you follow the rules to attack the city, you have [-]% certainty.

What's more, blasting technology can also be used.

If Zu Lang is willing to open the city and surrender, it can also serve as a good example for the Shanyue forces.

But if it was only a nominal surrender, and he led the army back, it would completely violate the original intention of this battle.

The messenger hurried back to Yuzhang City and reported the matter to Zu Lang.

When Zu Lang heard this, he couldn't help but frown: "I heard that the King of Changsha didn't do this either in Kuaiji and Wujun. Aren't Shengguan and Wang Lang still the leaders of a county? The King of Changsha never even went there. Although a governor of Yangzhou is appointed to take care of them, he usually does not interfere in the specific affairs of the county. Why do you have to enter the city with a large army when you come to me?"

There are more than [-] people under his command, sticking to the city, no matter who comes to attack the city, he will have the power to fight.

But once the city was opened, Zu Lang himself didn't have much confidence in the fighting power of the Shanyue people under his command.

The solid city wall is the only place where Zu Lang feels at ease.

Although he knew it well, the city wall might not be of much use in front of King Changsha.

As the leader of a mountain group, he is used to hiding in the mountains and forests, so he really doesn't want to hand over his future and destiny to others.

But if you don't follow Changsha King's words, Changsha King will attack the city...

The confidant stepped forward and said: "My lord, in two more hours, the king of Changsha will approach the city with troops."

"Whether it's defending the city, abandoning the city, or opening the city, you have to make a decision quickly."

Zu Lang shook his head: "It is absolutely impossible to defend the city. The King of Changsha broke through Jiujiang in one day. What should I use to defend the city?"

If you really don't want to surrender, you should abandon the city immediately and take your brothers back to the mountains.

But the problem is, Yan Baihu hid in the mountains, and the entire army was wiped out in just one day, and he didn't even last for half a day.

His own strength is almost the same as that of Yan Baihu.

Zu Lang thought about it but couldn't figure out how the King of Changsha did it.

If it were me, even if I was very familiar with the mountains and forests, I would not be able to completely defeat another Shanyue force in just one day.

From this point of view, it seems that there is only one way left for Kaesong to surrender.

"Wait a minute." Zu Lang doubted, "Why does the King of Changsha insist on leading an army into the city?"

With a flash of inspiration, he suddenly understood: "The king of Changsha wants to use me to gain power!"

"That's right! He killed Yan Baihu one day, and defeated me another day. In this way, the Shanyue forces in Yangzhou will definitely be terrified."

Zu Lang clapped his hands and said: "In this case, if I am willing to surrender, the King of Changsha will not be able to harm me in order to subdue other Shanyue leaders. He will definitely keep his promise and let me continue to rule Yuzhang!"

"Come on, bring the rope!"

When Ling Han arrived, he saw the gate of Yuzhang city was wide open, Zu Lang bound himself and stood outside the city.

Ling Han dismounted and untied the rope for him.

Yuzhang County was so easily pacified.

Under Ling Han's instruction, all counties in Yangzhou conveyed the news of Yan Baihu's defeat and Zu Lang's surrender to the outside world.

The effect is very obvious.

In the following month, Shanyue forces from various places in Yangzhou came to surrender one after another.

The Shanyue issue was completely resolved.

Therefore, the population of Yangzhou has increased by 10,000+.

The next time is to integrate forces, accumulate food and grass, and wait for the opportunity to move.

Ling Han began to thoroughly promote the military rank system in the army, just taking advantage of this opportunity to reward meritorious service.

Previously, the military rank system was only implemented in Xuzhou.

Moreover, although the soldiers accepted this system, they actually did not take it seriously.

Because before and after the award, the various benefits have not changed.

The military ranks of "Second Lieutenant" and "Major" look more like a verbal compliment.

This is also something Ling Han can't help.

At that time, there were only four generals under his command. Obviously, the number of soldiers each of them led on a daily basis could not be determined according to their rank, but should be determined according to their actual needs.

As for the hundreds of soldiers who got the rank of "Second Lieutenant" because of their participation in group activities, it was even more impossible for Ling Han to give them actual authority.

It is different now.

In theory, Sun Ce and the generals under Sun Ce, and the generals in Yangzhou's counties, all need to be selected and rewarded by Ling Han.

However, this would be too much work.

The other counties did not make any contribution to the pacification of Shanyue this time, they just accepted the surrender of the local Shanyue and resettled them according to Ling Han's order.

In order to make the military rank system cover the entire territory of Yangzhou, Ling Han still gave each county guard a major.

They distributed it to the most proud generals under their own hands, reported it, and rewarded them together.

As for Jiujiang.

Previously, Yang Zhen and Zhao Yun were lieutenant colonels, and the rest were majors.

Zhao Yun shot Yan Yu with an arrow earlier, which paved the way for Tai Shici's successful feint-surrender. Later, he defeated Yan Baihu's camp and captured Yan Yu alive. There is no doubt that he was promoted to colonel.

Although Yang Zhen also led the army to break down a stronghold, this credit is obviously not enough to be promoted from lieutenant colonel to colonel.

Considering that Yang Zhen and Mi Tuo got along well and planned to get married, Ling Han decided to give them a marriage as a reward this time——

In the feudal period, it was very difficult to get a marriage gift from the monarch, and children were doomed to be extremely noble from birth.

As for Tai Shici, Ling Han decided to confer the rank of lieutenant colonel after much deliberation.

Tai Shici's false surrender this time is the key to success or failure.

Not only risked his life, but also received a military stick and recited a bad name.It is not an exaggeration to upgrade two levels at a time.

Perhaps it is worthy of even being promoted to the third level.

However, if he was directly at the same level as Zhao Yun, Ling Han felt that it was inappropriate, so he decided to be a lieutenant colonel.

Zhou Yu and Sun Ce were also promoted to lieutenant colonel at the same time.

As for the other generals, they were all promoted to majors.

Military rank rewards are naturally military officers.

Among them, Zhou Yu has some exceptions.

Although Zhou Yu also led the army to break through a stronghold, he usually took on more civil work.

In the civil service system, Ling Han has nothing to reward for the time being.

There is only one post of governor of Yangzhou, which was given to Zhang Zhao.

Of course, it was just an order to allow Zhang Zhao to temporarily exercise the power of governor, and there was no formal canonization.

The official canonization cannot be obtained until Zhang Zhao has made political achievements.

Ordinary soldiers also receive rewards, but they only receive money and food according to the number of enemies killed.

Those who perform particularly well will be awarded the title exceptionally, and there have been soldiers who have been awarded majors before.

The attacking Yamagoshi this time has mediocre combat power, so there is no such opportunity.

Because some people were not in Jiujiang, Ling Han couldn't confer titles to all the generals who got military ranks this time.

However, he still insisted on personally participating in the process of making military rank medals.

Of course, the most important thing is to implement the corresponding treatment.

Start with two aspects: salary and number of training troops.

When Ling Han announced that the awarding ceremony would be held, and informed the meaning of the military rank in advance.

What everyone cares most about is not what military rank they can get.

"Gongjin."

Sun Ce asked for advice: "You have been very close to Your Highness these days. Do you know why His Highness implements this so-called military rank system?"

Zhou Yu smiled and said, "What's Bofu's opinion?"

Sun Ce rubbed his chin and said, "I suspect that His Highness wants to use this new system in the army to distinguish him from the emperor in Chang'an."

Zhou Yu said: "The emperor was established by Dong Zhuo. As His Highness, there is no need to recognize it. It is indeed a way to distinguish the new system from the old system."

"However," he changed the topic: "Your Highness may not have such a purpose."

"Oh?" Sun Ce asked, "What does Gong Jin say?"

Zhou Yu said, "I don't think His Highness cares about this."

On that day, His Highness verbally conferred Zhang Zhao as the governor of Yangzhou in front of the governors of the three counties.

This is completely inconsistent with Dahan's regulations.

However, although the sheriffs of the three counties were suspicious, no one brought it up.

Afterwards, they all followed orders cautiously.

Obviously, in the eyes of the three county guards, compared to the prince controlled by Dong Zhuo in Chang'an City, His Highness is the legitimate head of the Han Dynasty.

That being the case, even if it does not conform to the regulations, as long as it is not excessive, it is nothing to change the regulations temporarily.

Sun Ce looked at Zhou Yu suspiciously: "Gong Jin?"

How come there is no more text after half of the sentence.

Zhou Yu didn't say this, but said: "His Royal Highness has already implemented the military rank system in the army when he was in Xuzhou, but it was not really implemented due to the limited circumstances at that time."

Sun Ce nodded: "I seem to have heard people say that too."

Zhou Yu said: "Today, the number of people who have been awarded titles is still too small. I'm afraid we will have to wait for a while before we can see the effect on the battlefield."

"That's all."

Sun Ce waved his hand and said, "Speaking of which, I should be ready to return to Changsha after the conferment ends tomorrow."

Zhou Yu nodded: "Although General Cheng Pu is here, it's time to go back after being away for so long."

Sun Ce smiled and said, "Before I leave, I still have something to do."

"marriage!"

Zhou Yu looked at him in surprise.

Sun Ce said, "The governor of Qiao has two daughters, both of whom are famous for their beauty and beauty. I intend to marry his eldest daughter."

After a pause, he suddenly said again: "Gong Jin doesn't have a sweetheart yet, right? Why don't we just marry his youngest daughter? Wouldn't it be a good talk for the two of us to pay homage at the same time?"

Zhou Yu was slightly taken aback.

Is there a sweetheart... A figure suddenly appeared in his mind.

Sun Ce said, "Gongjin?"

"No." Zhou Yu smiled slightly: "I have made an oath that I will not marry if I don't help His Highness recover the rivers and mountains."