Chapter 338 Death of Cao Mengde.

In the third year of Wude,

It has been nearly three years since the new emperor of the Han Dynasty ascended the throne.

These three years can be said to be an unprecedented period of stability in the past hundred years.

The external wars have hardly stopped, and are becoming increasingly intense.

Gan Ning, the Han Dynasty's general who was in charge of the southern expedition, led a group of Jiangdong generals who were experienced in dealing with the Shanyue people, went deep into the southwestern mountains and forests, and kept advancing to the south. He established new strongholds almost every month, and then steadily advanced further south based on the new strongholds.

It can be said that all the Jiangdong generals who participated in it made a fortune, because they could capture thousands of slaves every month...

To lure them with benefits,

Whether it was the soldiers or the generals, they all gathered their strength.

In the Han Dynasty, this project has even become a hot topic, and everyone wants to get involved...

Liu Wu, on the other hand, chose to strictly control the scale of this project. After all, everything was in ruins, and restoring production and increasing the population were the top priorities.

Moreover, the looting movement in the South is essentially a risky undertaking, and it is not advisable to invest too much in order to avoid damaging the national strength.

It is actually most appropriate to give Gan Ning and other generals privileges, let them take the risk themselves, and the captured people belong to them and the captured land belongs to the court...

The main direction of the new court's foreign wars was in the Western Regions. The court allocated a large amount of wealth and horses to Ma Chao. After operating in Liang Province for a year, Ma Chao led 30,000 elite cavalrymen he had trained, known as the Western Expedition Army, and marched westward.

Face the Kushan Empire!

Recently, the Kushan Empire has been plagued by war.

Ma Chao first used the Kushan King to extort a huge amount of wealth from the Kushan Empire, and then used this huge amount of wealth to bribe Zhou Gongjin, the Protector General of the Western Regions, and the King of Wusun.

Then he took out Liu Wu's imperial edict and asked Zhou Yu and Wusun to send troops to help him attack the Kushan Empire.

Now, Duke Zhou and the King of Wusun had to contribute their merits no matter what for the sake of the emperor's face.

For the sake of money, I have to contribute...

As a result, Ma Chao, who had only 30,000 soldiers and horses, received two powerful reinforcements.

First, the Wusun cavalry,
Second, the Western Regions Protectorate Army,

A total of more than 100,000 elite troops took advantage of the fact that the Kushan Empire was defeated by Liu Wu last time and the 200,000 elite troops had not yet recovered, and overturned the huge Kushan Empire.

Finally, the North.
After the Wei King Cao Cao had completely devoured the Southern Xiongnu, he began to conquer the Xianbei tribes in the north...

But since these wars were all outside the Han territory, and even the troops sent out to fight were vassal kings and border generals, the Han Dynasty was not disturbed by the external wars. On the contrary, the gains from the external wars continued to flow into China, thus speeding up China's recovery.

When Emperor Wude first ascended the throne, he issued an edict to reduce agricultural taxes for five years and exempt population taxes for ten years. Although it is only the third year now and the signs are just beginning, both production and population are booming on the land of China at an unprecedented speed...

If there was anything bad happening in the Chinese territory, it was the enfeoffment order that Liu Wu implemented in imitation of Emperor Wu of Han, Liu Che.

The word "enfeoffment" was clearly stated, and the noble families were required to migrate to the border areas.

This incident caused a stir throughout the country, and even the imperial court was in an uproar.

It is called enfeoffment.

Just like the feudal system of Zhou Gongdan in the past...

It is really like when Duke Zhou divided the world...

But the place where they are divided is outside the territory, what will they face?
Think of your ancestors, who braved the frost and dew and cut through the thorns to gain a piece of land! This is no joke...

The so-called enfeoffment was actually just a nicer way of saying exile to a remote place, and the whole clan was exiled...

The Han Dynasty also refuted the rumor.

Chen Ming's benefits,

Those who were exiled were criminals, and those who were enfeoffed were meritorious officials who enjoyed honors.

Exiles are slaves, while feudal lords own slaves, land, and even cities, and can form clan armies...

No matter how public opinion was spreading or how the scholars were in an uproar, Liu Wu was not moved at all and was determined to implement the policy to the end!

He used thunderous means on the one hand to strictly enforce the laws, and gentle means on the other hand to give various honors and face to the feudal clans... no, it was to give various honors and face to the feudal clans.

For example, the four major families of Jingzhou, Cai, Kuai, Huang and Pang, which have successfully established their own fiefdoms, have the most stable control over Jingzhou. Many people in Jingzhou hold high positions in the court, and their work is relatively easy.

More than two-thirds of the population of each family was included in the migration range. When the four families migrated, there were as many as five to six thousand people...

Liu Wu personally saw him off with the emperor's guard of honor and issued an imperial edict to praise him.

Not only that, he also spread out a map, handed over the imperial pen, and allowed the four families to choose their territories. In the end, each family chose a city and a large area of ​​territory, which was equivalent to each family being allocated a county. After this incident, Liu Wu immediately mobilized the propaganda machine...

By the way, the place they were going to was in the old country of Dayuan, which belonged to the Western Regions. If we were to talk about the most fierce resistance at this time, it would be the Jiangdong family...

Just as the partition order was in full swing,

The flames of war on the northern grasslands are finally about to be extinguished...

The sky is blue and the fields are vast,
The wind blows the grass low and you can see the cattle and sheep...

The biting cold wind howled across the prairie, boundless and without any obstruction...

This is Mobei.

North of the desert.

North Sea……

The place where Su Wu once grazed sheep...

The two tribes came together and set up tents on the shore of the North Sea.

Murong Xianbei, Tuoba Xianbei.

Originally, in their respective tribes, they could easily recruit tens of thousands of men who were good at riding horses and shooting arrows.

But now, the total number of the Murong and Tuoba tribes, including men, women, old and young, is less than 10,000...

"There's no place to run..."

"If we run further north, our horses will freeze to death, and our cattle and sheep will have no grass to eat. We Xianbei people cannot survive in the far north..."

"Why not go west like the Xiongnu and Dayuezhi?"

"But the Western Regions Protectorate is now in its heyday, and we don't have many people left. If we go there, we will only capture Zhou Gongjin and make him a slave to fight on the battlefield of the Kushan Empire..."

"Why not go back to Xianbei Mountain..."

"Back then, our ancestors were defeated by the Xiongnu. One group fled to Wuhuan Mountain, and the other group fled to Xianbei Mountain..."

"The environment there is equally bad, but we have no other choice..."

"Yes, we couldn't go back to Xianbei Mountain before because we were too many people and Xianbei Mountain was not big enough to accommodate our tribe. We also had a place with abundant grass and water. But now it's different. The Han army is plundering the grassland day and night. Our women, children, horses, cattle and sheep..."

"Return to Xianbei Mountain. It once sheltered our ancestors, and it can shelter us now as well!"

In the tent,
Several leaders of the two major tribes finally reached a conclusion after discussing it.

however,
"My lords, something bad has happened!"

"Cao's soldiers are coming to kill us!!"

boom! ~
Instantly, the faces of more than ten Xianbei nobles in the tent all turned pale...

……

The black mass of cavalry rose and fell on the grassland like waves of wheat.

Tiger and Leopard Cavalry...

A royal flag flutters in the north wind...

Under the king's flag,

It was a carriage wrapped in thick felt...

"My lord, we've surrounded them." Cao Ren rode his horse forward.

There was no response from the carriage for a long time...

At this time, Cao Mengde was lying in the carriage, in the arms of a maid, wrapped in thick sheepskin...

He is terribly old.
With his lips trembling, he raised his hand with difficulty and slowly opened the heavy curtain...

call! ~
The wind blew in...

Cao Cao couldn't stop trembling, and heard him say:
"Kill him, kill him for his merit in this battle..."

"Exterminate, exterminate the Xianbei race... This is why I personally led the expedition!"

　By the way, this book will be finished in the next few days. Thank you for your continued support, and try to give each important character an ending.
　　
　
(End of this chapter)