My father Liu Xuande

Chapter 535 The Legacy of the Shen Family
During the Battle of Hanzhong, all the generals of the Shu Han state except Wang Ping wanted to hold the city and wait for Fei Yi's main force of Shu Han to come north from Shu to provide reinforcements.

However, only Wang Ping saw the crux of the matter. Once the passage was opened and Cao Cao's army rushed into the Hanzhong Basin, not to mention the huge blow to the people of Hanzhong Basin, from a strategic point of view, Fei Yi's reinforcements would be in a very dangerous situation and could easily be defeated by Cao Cao's army, who would be waiting for them to tire themselves out.

What's even more frightening is that these aren't the only disadvantages.

After Cao Cao's army entered the Hanzhong Basin, there would be a very terrible consequence: Cao Cao's army would be able to use the Xihan River to divert the Jialing River and transport military supplies to Hanzhong.

This will greatly enhance the combat effectiveness and endurance of Cao Cao's army in Hanzhong.

It was precisely because he considered these issues and keenly perceived the advantages of the terrain that Wang Ping made the decisive move, overruling all objections, abandoning the defense of the city and insisting on sending the main force out into the field to defend the mountain terrain.

In the end, Wang Ping successfully blocked Cao Shuang and Cao Wei's more than 100,000 troops in the mountain pass, preventing them from leaving, deploying their forces, or even launching an offensive with superior numbers.

Wang Ping's Shu Han army, despite being outnumbered, managed to withstand Cao Shuang's superior forces in a series of battles, winning repeatedly, demonstrating his ability to train troops effectively.

Wang Ping faced Cao Shuang's main force, which was the most elite, best-equipped, and best-treated central army in Cao Wei's army.

As a result, Cao Shuang ran into trouble with Wang Ping's Ji Han army. By the time Fei Yi arrived, Cao Shuang was almost surrounded from both sides and his entire army was wiped out.

In fact, since the time of Zhuge Liang's training, the individual soldier quality and battle formation capabilities of the Shu Han army have been superior to those of Cao Wei; otherwise, they would not have been able to garrison troops opposite Sima Yi's camp.

Unfortunately, Heaven did not favor the Han Dynasty. If Zhuge Liang had been given another ten years of life, although it would still have been difficult to change the general trend of the world, he could have proven his personal ability with the two provinces of Yong and Liang.

In the Battle of Xingshi, Wang Ping, with only 30,000 troops, successfully defeated Cao Shuang's 100,000 elite soldiers, demonstrating the demeanor of a renowned general.

Wang Ping was known for his honest, steady, and rigid demeanor, but in the Battle of Xingshi, he demonstrated accurate enemy assessment and tactical flexibility. Coupled with his strict military discipline and skill in training troops, he was highly appreciated and favored by Liu Feng. Moreover, Wang Ping's political leanings were pro-Han, and he was utterly loyal.

Unfortunately, Wang Ping was a Ba people, and in his youth he took his mother's surname, so he was not a well-known figure.

Liu Feng asked Xu Chu to search for them as well, but that was just doing his best and leaving the rest to fate; he didn't really have much hope of finding them.

Unexpectedly, Wang Ping, who was then called He Ping, took the initiative to come to Xu Chu's door and begged him to allow him to join the army.

He Ping was naturally unaware of these things. At this time, he was just a fourteen-year-old boy, in the prime of his youth. He had heard about the mighty deeds of the Han army and had personally witnessed that the Han army did not commit any offenses along the way, and even treated the Cong people the same as the Han people. Not only did they not plunder or offend anyone, but they also deliberately avoided farming areas during their march. Their military discipline was so good that it made people doubt their own eyes.

He Ping had admired the Han dynasty system and liked the customs of the Han people since he was a child. After seeing the Han army's invincibility and the surrender of cities in various parts of Shangyong, he called his friends and went down the mountain together, wanting to find Xu Chu to join the army.

Xu Chu looked at He Ping and tentatively asked, "Did you take your mother's surname?"

He Ping was taken aback, but this wasn't exactly a secret; his comrades all knew about it. He just wondered how the general before him had heard about it.

Thinking of this, he suppressed his doubts and nodded immediately, adding an unusual explanation: "My father died early, so my mother took me back to my maternal clan and changed my surname to my maternal uncle's. My father's surname was Wang."

Xu Chu thought to himself that this was a perfect match, and a nasty smile appeared on his fierce face: "In that case, join the team and serve as my personal guard for now."

When He Ping saw that Xu Chu had agreed and even accepted him as a personal guard, he was overjoyed and hurriedly kowtowed to express his gratitude, saying, "We thank the general."

Xu Chu smiled and waved his hand, then stopped talking and rejoined the southward marching army.

He Ping and the others hurriedly followed, and the large group headed south towards Shangyong.

When they arrived at Shangyong City, even Zu Lang of the third force had arrived, which shows how eager Liu Feng's army was to fight.

Faced with the question of what to do with the more than 10,000 Shen soldiers captured and the 3,000 Han Ran's retainers, Xu Chu, Pang Tong, and the others were relatively insignificant, as the Kuai and Deng families of Fangling together numbered only about 600.

"Han Ran cannot be moved."

Pang Tong made a decision immediately: "Although Shangyong has been captured, Hanzhong is an even tougher nut to crack."

Although Shangyong is dangerous, it is not as good as Hanzhong.

Although Liu Feng's capture of Shangyong may seem simple, he actually overlooked the appeal of the Han Dynasty's four hundred years of history and Liu Biao's seven or eight years of cultivation.

Liu Feng took all the credit.

Putting aside everything else, the fact that the Kuai family was in Fangling alone provided Liu Fengjun with a huge advantage in launching a surprise attack on Shangyong.

Fangling is a strategic pass; there's no way to get around it.

Even if a thousand or two defenders couldn't stop Liu Feng's ferocious army, they could hold out in the fortified city for a few days, giving Shangyong more time to gather information and mobilize troops.

As a result, because of the Kuai family, and the Deng family, which was influenced by the Kuai family, the Pang family, and other Jingzhou gentry, they rebelled and opened the city gates to let them in. Not to mention a few days, they couldn't even hold the city for a few hours. Instead, the city became the forward base for Liu Feng's army to attack Shangyong, where they gained a large amount of supplies for no reason.

The same applies to Han Ran in Xicheng. To put it bluntly, a real battle broke out in Shangyong City, but after being ambushed and having the city gates opened, the outcome was already predetermined.

Without the appeal of the Han Dynasty's four hundred years of history and Liu Biao's efforts, the battle for Fangling alone would have taken at least ten days to half a month. Even if Liu Feng's army launched a fierce attack at all costs and disregarded human lives, it would most likely have taken two or three days.

These two or three days should be enough time for the troops from Zhuxi, Xicheng, and Xicheng to return to Shangyong to provide reinforcements.

At that time, facing the heavily fortified city of Shangyong with over 10,000 troops and strict defenses, even if Xu Chu spared no expense and wiped out all 2,000 of his personal guards, he might not be able to hold the walls of Shangyong.

If Shangyong is like this, then Hanzhong, which is ten times larger, is even more so.

Moreover, Hanzhong is geographically vast and densely populated with cities, so even if a surprise attack succeeds, it is unlikely to be as swift and decisive as the attack on Shangyong County.

Shangyong had only a little over 10,000 troops, while Zhang Lu in Hanzhong had 70,000 to 80,000, half of whom were elite troops capable of field battles. Their actual combat strength was at least five times that of Shangyong.

Moreover, the powerful clans and gentry in Hanzhong were severely suppressed by Zhang Lu, and almost all the common people joined the Five Pecks of Rice sect.

You can doubt the fighting strength of the Hanzhong army, but you absolutely cannot doubt Zhang Lu's control over Hanzhong.

Taking Hanzhong will inevitably be a fierce battle.

As a bridgehead and future forward base, Xicheng's importance is self-evident. Han Ran, the local strongman of Xicheng, is also one of Xicheng's valuable assets, so it's unwise to touch him at this time. Xu Chu nodded. Having followed Liu Feng for a long time, he understood what Pang Tong hadn't said aloud, and then asked, "What about the prisoners from the Shen family?"

Pang Tong was also somewhat worried. Shangyong County was not large, and its population was not many, only about 120,000 to 130,000.

Another reason the Shen brothers dispersed their troops to various places was that these troops were all engaged in farming.

When they go out, they are soldiers; when they return, they are farmers. This is the normal state of these detachments.

Even the four thousand elite soldiers from Shangyong still had to work in the fields during the busy farming season.

The only soldiers who could truly be fully off-duty were probably the lower-ranking officers of Shen's army, as well as the middle-ranking officers and the personal guards of the Shen brothers.

Sending all these people away would inevitably affect agriculture in Shangyong County, which is no small matter.

Although Shangyong is small, it can pay taxes of 500,000 to 600,000 shi of grain every year, and the most crucial reason for this is its nearly 20,000 peasant soldiers.

They were called retainers, but in reality they were armed tenant farmers. The grain they grew had to be handed over to the state, and their food rations were entirely provided by the Shen family.

Otherwise, given the size of Shangyong, it would be quite good if it could deliver 100,000 shi of grain annually.

If all these peasant soldiers were relocated, a shortage of at least 400,000 shi of grain would instantly appear. If this grain were entirely transported from other places, the shortage would likely double after accounting for losses during transportation and storage.

However, if they didn't move these people and only relocated the Shen family, Xu Chu and Pang Tong were worried that they would cause trouble. This numbered over 10,000, accounting for one-third of the total number of able-bodied men in Shangyong.

If these young and middle-aged men are to be relocated, their families will inevitably have to leave as well. In this case, at least 50,000 to 60,000 people will have to be relocated, and the Shangyong area will be emptied out.

The weakening of local forces will not only provoke a backlash from barbarian forces, but will also directly increase logistical pressure. For every shi (a unit of dry measure) of grain produced in Shangyong, logistical supplies can be saved by one and a half or even two shi of grain, and labor conscription can be reduced.

Moreover, these fifty to sixty thousand people are likely to suffer many losses on their migration route. The Shen family has only themselves to blame, but most of these people are innocent.

Xu Chu, Pang Tong, and others were all caught in a dilemma. They discussed it for several days but could not come up with a good solution.

Left with no other choice, the two had to jointly report the situation.

Pang Tong temporarily remained in charge of military affairs in Shangyong, awaiting the arrival of Prefect and Commandant of Shangyong, Du Xi, to take over. Xu Chu, on the other hand, prepared to lead his personal guards back to Xiangyang first.

Xu Chu and Pang Tong's report was quickly delivered to Liu Feng. After reading the report, Liu Feng did not immediately express his opinion, but instead asked Lu Ji, Chen Tai, Zhong Yu, Gu Shao, Zhang Wen, Xu Shu and others to give their opinions.

Xu Shu was someone Liu Feng had been searching for, but he hadn't found him until this year when, by chance, he discovered that this guy had already infiltrated his own official system under a false name.

The reason he was discovered was that the local county magistrate appreciated his talent and recommended him to higher authorities, which led to Liu Feng's discovery of him. He was then transferred to Liu Feng's side to serve as a clerk and attendant.

The report was short, but it described the situation very clearly, and everyone understood it at a glance.

It looks simple, but answering it is difficult, and answering it well is even more difficult.

Lu Ji and the others looked at each other, but all hesitated.

Xu Shu suddenly stood up, bowed to Liu Feng, and said generously, "My lord, I have a plan to solve this problem, but it is not a sound strategy and may affect your reputation."

"What insightful opinion does Yuanzhi have?"

Upon hearing this, Liu Feng showed no displeasure. Instead, he nodded encouragingly at the speaker, saying, "Go ahead and speak."

With Liu Feng's approval, Xu Shu's courage grew, and he said, "My lord, the problem that the officials in Shangyong are worried about is that ten thousand people are dependent on the Shen family. If we can break this chain, the predicament will be broken without us having to fight it."

"good."

Liu Feng nodded politely and continued, "Then how should we sever this connection?"

"field!"

Xu Shu uttered two words decisively, and then explained in detail: "Only land can both appease the hearts of the young and strong, and sever ties with the Shen family."

"As long as the lord gives the order to distribute the land in Shangyong County that was confiscated from the Shen family to the Shen family's retainers, the Shen family's retainers will feel at ease once they receive the land. But since they are receiving the land from their former master, the bond of gratitude will naturally be severed."

As Xu Shu spoke, he cautiously observed Liu Feng's expression. Although Liu Feng's encouragement had greatly emboldened him, he was still quite uneasy as he spoke.

This is because his plan was simply too "vicious".

To the powerful clans and gentry of the Eastern Han Dynasty, Xu Shu's plan was utterly outrageous.

The confiscated Shen family land was obviously to be taken into the public treasury. After it was taken into the public treasury, there were three ways to deal with it. One was to take it back to the state and make it a real public land. This kind of land was divided by the state and distributed to the surrounding self-cultivating farmers who were willing to cultivate it.

The advantage is that it can generate some tax revenue in normal times and maintain the land. In case of emergencies, the public land can be pooled together and rented to disaster victims to help them through the famine.

The second type is to simply abandon the land, or use it as a garden, forest, or river, with a similar purpose to the first type.

In the early Eastern Han Dynasty, the state possessed a vast amount of public land, amounting to no less than 20 million mu, which served as an excellent buffer. However, during the reign of Empress Dowager Deng, a series of catastrophic natural disasters nearly depleted these public lands.

The most difficult problem is that public land is easy to lease but difficult to reclaim. Once it is leased out, especially to disaster victims, it is extremely difficult to take it back. This is due to factors such as the disaster victims and the influence of powerful clans.

The third method was to sell to the common people in exchange for wealth, which was undoubtedly the most preferred method by the powerful clans.

For the powerful clans, the public land system inherited from the Western Han Dynasty but severely weakened was already the lower limit of what they could accept. Naturally, they would support the third option the most.

As mentioned before, the most important aspect of powerful clans is their independent operation, resembling complete small countries that are self-sufficient in both economy and military.

The most crucial point is to use the people of powerful clans to support their armies, and to use their armies to control their people. This is the most basic step. If you can't do this, no matter how rich or famous you are, you can't be considered a powerful clan.

(End of this chapter)