Chapter 581 The Beginning of the Eastern March

Chapter 581 The Beginning of the Eastern March

In the next half year, the Han and Wei families stopped fighting.

Ma Su led the Han army to garrison in Gaodu, using Hanoi as his loyalty to prepare for the southward march to Luoyang. Under Sima Yi's strategy of "defending in the west and advancing in the east", Cao Wei actively organized defenses in the west, and he personally led 20,000 Wei troops to conquer Liaodong.

It is worth mentioning that the 20,000 Wei troops commanded by Sima Yi were trained by him in Bohai County. Some of the key officers were recruited scholars from Jizhou and Qingzhou.

Among them, there was a young man named Yang who followed Sima Yi on his expedition to Liaodong.

Since then, except for the direction of Nanyang, where Guo Huai was still leading troops to stalemate with the Han army in Wancheng, the two sides basically stopped fighting. But even so, everyone knows that this is just the silence before the storm.

As long as Ji Han's food and fodder are in place, one hundred thousand Han troops may come out of the Yaohan Ancient Road at any time. By then, the war will truly reach Kanto.

At that time, it will be more than just a river bridge battle.

However, when the time came in June, Ma Di received a letter from Qin Mi in the rear. In the letter, Qin Mi reported to Ma Su that his work on the required unified annotation of Confucian classics was basically completed.

Among them, Hongnong's Yang family made a huge contribution. With a letter from Yang Zhun, they forcefully brought several great Confucians from Guandong to Qin Mi. With the cooperation of a group of great scholars, Qin Mi's annotation on the classics, which he originally planned to take three years to complete, was completed in more than half a year.

Of course, please note that this is cooperation rather than cooperation. Among them, Qin Mi also made a lot of concessions, and many of the annotations were completely based on the Yang family's family learning.

This is why the Yang family is willing to provide full support, even if they are warned by Ma Di. After all, not everyone is as unyielding as Ma Su. It is better to blend in and talk to Qin Mi than to talk to Ma Su.

Ma Su didn't say anything about this, and finally acquiesced. At least the thing is done, and with the endorsement of Hongnong Yang, the popularization of annotations will be much easier.

However, Ma Su did not intend to let the Yang family sit back and enjoy the benefits so comfortably. After pondering for a while, he wrote a letter to Jiang Wan, asking him to reward the Yang family for their efforts in supporting the annotation unification work.

It is best if the reward is as generous as possible, and the award ceremony must be done so that everyone knows it. All scholars in the Han Dynasty must know that the Yang family has made great efforts in this regard.

If you want to be grateful in the future, you should all go to the front of the Yang family.

Of course, no matter how the history books evaluate him in the future, he must specifically instruct the historian not to bury Qin Mi's contribution.

Apart from this, there have not been many changes in Chang'an.

This year, the weather in Guanzhong was smooth, and with the concerted efforts of everyone in the court, the bandits in Guanzhong were completely eliminated. So far, there has been a great harvest in Guanzhong, and the harvests in the three places of Guanzhong, Jingzhou and Yizhou have far exceeded previous years.

It can be regarded as God's blessing. Since the inventory was taken up and down on the chancellery, the treasury has been the most abundant since the founding of the country. During the entire 16th year of Jianxing, the government was harmonious and everything was restored. It was the year with the fewest internal problems in the court.

The treasury was full and the people's lives were getting better. The Jihan court finally felt relieved. For this reason, Jiang Wan even came to Gaodu to report the good news to Ma Di.

"Youchang, you have been waiting for the Eastern Expedition for three years, and now it has finally come to fruition." Jiang Wan came to Gaodu by carriage in person and reported the good news to Ma Su with a smile.

"The Han Dynasty's treasury is full this year, enough to support your campaign in Guandong."

"How full is it? How many people can it support at most?" Ma Su was very interested in Jiang Wan's words and immediately asked.

Jiang Wan smiled and said nothing, but raised three fingers to signal Ma Su.

"Only 30,000? That's not enough. It seems like Gong Yan should encourage him more..."

"It's 130,000!" Jiang Wan's smile froze and he couldn't help but said angrily.

"If I can support 30,000 people out of Guanzhong after serving as minister for three years, then I might as well hide my face and hang myself outside Chang'an City as soon as possible!"

"An army of 130,000! It can sustain your expedition for half a year. If the war situation is unfavorable, it can be sustained for three more months with the provision of grain from Yizhou!"

"That's all, just tell me if you want it or not!"

"Yes! How could you not want to!" Ma Su replied confidently. Since the army can be dispatched, only a fool would refuse.

But joking aside, Ma Su was still surprised by Jiang Wan's answer. You must know that four years ago, Ji Han's Northern Expedition with all his country's strength could only barely support an army of 100,000 for half a year.

But now, just guaranteeing the bottom line can sustain the 130,000-strong army for the Eastern Expedition. I even have to ask you if it’s enough when you’re done, and if it’s not enough, you can keep it for a few more days.

Obviously, Ji Han's national power has grown a lot in four years. And the situation Ji Han faced was no longer the desperate start of the past.

This is great and means everything is moving in a good direction. Ma Su was very satisfied with this, at least it allowed him to commit suicide with more peace of mind.

"Okay, all the grain and troops will be gathered in Hongnong County in October. Then you and everyone in the Hussar General's Mansion will be ready to go into battle." Jiang Wan snorted lightly, waved his hand and said to Ma Su.

"I'm going back to Chang'an too, and there are still a lot of things to deal with at the Chancellor's desk."

"I don't know when we will have the opportunity to have a drink and talk again..."

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In October of the 16th year of Jianxing, after four years, Ji Han's army finally sent troops to Handao again. A hundred thousand troops set out from Hongnong County and marched out of Baierqin Pass in a mighty manner.

Ma Su led 20,000 people from Bingzhou southward to join the main force of the Han army in Hangu. The two sides joined forces, a total of 120,000 Han troops, and they were huge.

It is worth mentioning that General Wei Yan did not go out with the army this time, but was responsible for staying in Chang'an. Basically all the generals who participated in the Eastern Expedition were members of the Hussars General's Mansion.

In other words, the imperial court basically gave all the military power to Ma Su without any reservation, and did not even send a person to control it. Even the civilian officials who must exist in the army dragged Li Mu back from Yizhou and pushed him to the front line.

Everyone in Chang'an has made their attitude clear, Ma Su, you have to fight hard and don't worry about the rest. As long as Kanto is successfully recovered, no matter what happens, you will be covered.

At this point, Ji Han's first eastern expedition officially began.

When it comes to the Han army's march eastward, who is the most nervous? It is naturally Cao Wei's Sizhou captain and the current Sima Jiang Ji. When he heard that the main force of the Han army was marching out of Yaohan Road, and the team was vast and endless, he couldn't help but sigh.

"What is supposed to come has come..."

Ever since Cao Rui moved the capital to Yecheng and appointed him as the captain of Sizhou, he has been preparing for this day. Unexpectedly, less than four years later, the Shu Han Dynasty had already made all preparations, and the army left the pass.