Chapter 122 Yuan Shu was defeated, Jianghuai welcomed the royal army!
Taishi Ci and other generals commanded the imperial navy fleet to hunt down the Jiangdong navy led by Zhou Yu, Sun Ce and other generals.

All the way from Hengsha on the outer sea of ​​the Yangtze River, into the Yangtze River estuary, and deep into the Yangtze River basin.

During this period, the two fleets engaged in many battles, all of which ended with the Jiangdong Navy's defeat.

The cannon is so terrifyingly powerful that it is simply a crushing situation!
The Jiangdong navy was defeated and fled, going deep into the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River from its mouth, and the imperial navy fleet pursued them closely.

After the battle broke out in the Pengze area, the Jiangdong navy fled south along the Poyang Lake.

But this time, the imperial navy fleet did not continue to chase!
Because Taishi Ci and other generals have received military intelligence reports from Xuzhou, Your Majesty has decided to launch a general attack on Huainan!
The reason why Taishi Ci and other generals divided the navy fleet and marched south was entirely because of the strategy formulated by Liu Bian.

We went deeper along the Huai River and headed south around the Yangtze River.

The main purpose was to encircle Yuan Shu's sphere of influence in Huainan - Xuzhou Guangling County, Yangzhou Jiujiang County, and Yangzhou Lujiang County!

Now, the fleet that has penetrated deep into Huainan has broken through the natural barrier of the Huai River.

Generals such as Taishi Ci and Zhang Fei who went south via the Yangtze River have now almost opened up the Yangtze River basin.

So, Liu Bian decided to launch a general attack on Huainan!

This also made Taishi Ci and other generals give up their relentless pursuit of the Jiangdong navy and return to the area around the mouth of the Yangtze River.

This is exactly the front and back of Yuan Shu in Huainan!
There are two waterways connecting the Huaihe River and the Yangtze River - the "Zhongdu Waterway" in Guangling County of Xuzhou, and the "Hefei Waterway" from Shouchun to Hefei and then to Ruxukou.

This is also the reason why Yuan Shu wanted to control these two places.

Because it controls the connecting channel between the Huaihe River and the Yangtze River, it is not only capable of traversing trade and collecting taxes, but is also of great help in military transportation and other aspects!
But now, the imperial court's "Great Han Navy" fleet is encircling from the Huaihe River and the Yangtze River. These two interconnected waterways are Yuan Shu's fatal weakness!
There must be checkpoints set up by Yuan Shu on these two waterways. It would be very difficult to break through them normally.

In addition, Yuan Shu of Huainan owned the "Huainan Navy", the first naval fleet of the Han Dynasty, which had almost no rivals.

This also made Yuan Shu's position in Huainan as stable as a rock!

but!

The imperial court's "Han Navy" possesses cannons, which makes no sense at all. Anyone who stands in their way will be killed, even if it's a Buddha!
The checkpoint defenses set up by Yuan Shu on the "Zhongdu Waterway" and "Hefei Waterway" were useless!
The imperial navy fleet advanced straight ahead, unstoppable!
In just a few days, Yuan Shu's sphere of influence in Huainan shrank rapidly. The soldiers under his command either surrendered, surrendered, died in battle, or fled. It was nothing but bad news!
at last!

A month later, the imperial army arrived at the city of Shouchun!

Yuan Shu was already in a state of imprisonment, and many of his civil and military officials were actually looking for other ways out.

Many people secretly sent letters to the imperial court, submitted to the imperial court, and requested the opportunity to make amends for their crimes.

Now the monkeys scatter when the tree falls!

However, at this time, Yuan Shu actually did something. When the imperial army was at the gates of the city and the people of Shouchun were in panic and looking for a way out, he actually usurped the throne and proclaimed himself emperor!
In November 191 AD, Yuan Shu proclaimed himself emperor in Shouchun!
Yuan Shu established the Zhong clan, appointed officials, built shrines in the southern and northern suburbs, appointed the governor of Jiujiang as the prefect of Huainan, appointed many officials and court officials, and built altars in the south and north of the city for the emperor to worship the Emperor of Heaven.

This shocked Jiang Huai!

Originally, the imperial army planned to surround but not attack, hoping to defeat the Huainan defenders without fighting.

But Yuan Shu was a traitor and proclaimed himself emperor, so the imperial army had no choice but to attack by force!

This is asking for death!
In just two days, Shouchun City, which was said to be difficult to break through even with a million troops, was razed to the ground by the imperial army!
Well, strictly speaking, it was directly destroyed by a cannon!
The reason why it took two days was because of the time it took to transport the cannons. The actual time to break through Shouchun City was less than a quarter of an hour!

The imperial army marched straight in and captured Shouchun City!

At the moment when cannons brought down the walls of Shouchun, Yuan Shu hanged himself in his palace, gathering all his life's treasures, silks, and delicious foods!
Compared to the original history, where Yuan Shu wished to drink a bowl of honey water before his death but was denied it, this life can be considered a glorious death!
But what's the point?!
Could these gold, silver and treasures be taken into the coffin? !
After hearing the news, Liu Bian ordered Yuan Shu to be buried in a normal manner. China values ​​the dead, and Liu Bian had no intention of whipping the corpse.

In fact, this is also a way to win people's hearts and show Liu Bian's benevolence!
Although Yuan Shu of Huainan is dead, the civil and military officials under his command, the Huainan navy under his command, these huge forces will all be taken over by the court!

Liu Bian's ability to win over the hearts of the people can stabilize the restless emotions of these military forces!

Just imagine, Yuan supported Dong Zhuo in the beginning and made him depose and enthrone the emperor, then he openly opposed the court and finally he usurped the throne and proclaimed himself emperor.

Despite such a heinous crime, Liu Bian was still able to bury Yuan Shu. How magnanimous and benevolent he was!

Even Yuan Shu was given a grand funeral. If they surrender, they will definitely have a chance to redeem themselves for their crimes!
This battle allowed Liu Bian to recruit hundreds of civil and military officials, tens of thousands of soldiers and horses, and a fleet of more than 500 Huainan navy ships, which almost wiped out Yuan Shu's wealth!
Of course, for a king who now owns the world and is rich, Liu Bian no longer has much emotional fluctuations about this!
He stood beside the Huai River, feeling a little emotional:

"When Yuan Kui acted recklessly to dethrone and enthrone, I was able to detect the slightest clues and suppressed him forcefully, killing all his family members. Later, the brothers Yuan Shao and Yuan Shu openly rebelled against the court in their local areas.

"Now, Yuan Shao of Jizhou is dead, and Yuan Shu of Huainan has been executed. I can't help but sigh with emotion! I want to ask, who in this world can stop my army?!"

Behind Liu Bian stood the civil and military officials who accompanied him, as well as the military and political officials of Xuzhou, Yuzhou, and Huainan. Among them were Liu Bei, the governor of Xuzhou, Cao Cao, the governor of Yuzhou, and others.

After hearing this, they felt a kind of majestic power and domineering arrogance that looked down on the world from the simple words!
This is the arrogance of the leader of the Han Dynasty!

Liu Bian took over Yuan Shu's power in Huainan, and at the same time ordered people to measure the land, distribute the tax according to the acreage, and reform the tax system.

Moreover, Liu Bian wanted to open up the waterway from the Yellow River to the Huai River, and from the Huai River to the Yangtze River, in preparation for attacking Jiangdong next year.

It is now the end of November and the weather has turned cold, which is not a good time to lead the troops.

The Huaihe River and the Yangtze River are located in the south. Although they do not freeze in winter like the Yellow River, the winter in the south is like magic damage that penetrates deep into the bone marrow and is not suitable for marching and fighting.

After a series of major battles, it is time for the soldiers to rest and recuperate for some time.

Therefore, the Jianghuai region gradually entered a state of recuperation from the devastation of war.

Liu Bian understood the people's sentiments, provided relief to common people and soldiers, and made the people in the Jianghuai region sing praises of him!

When people praised Liu Bian, they would always say "May Buddha bless you". Buddhism was very popular in the Jianghuai region.

Liu Bian would not interfere too much with religion, and religion was also a force that could be used for balance.

But the problem is that Liu Bian remembered very clearly that Buddhism and Yuan Shu were in cahoots with each other and were in cahoots with each other.

Even after Yuan Shu's death, there were Buddhist temples and Buddhists crying out for justice for him, thinking that Liu Bian's killings were too cruel!
This was like putting pressure on Liu Bian all the time, as if he was afraid that he would forget about this matter!

Liu Bian did not take any action for the time being because the New Year had arrived.

The year 191 passed and it was the first day of the first lunar month in the year 192.

New Year, new atmosphere. Jianghuai gradually became lively because of Liu Bian's policy of recuperation and rest.

Moreover, with the land measured and the tax distributed according to the acreage, the people had hope.

The people who had left because of the war gradually returned, and even people from other mountainous areas moved to Huainan.

However, after the first month of the year, Liu Bian directly issued an edict to collect "religious tax".

In the past, monks did not have to pay taxes, their land was exempt from tax, there was no head tax, and they did not even have to perform labor or military service.

These monks do not engage in production, but can make a fortune every day by means of misleading the people.

Since Liu Bian decided to measure the land and distribute the tax according to the acreage, he naturally had to include religion and would not allow any resistance.

But unexpectedly, these religions were furious!

The reason why Buddhism was able to be promoted in Jianghuai was that Tao Qian of Xuzhou initially wanted to stabilize the people's hearts.

But later on, they gradually became connected with aristocratic families, such as Zuo Rong, the prime minister of Xia Pi State, who was cruel by nature but a devout Buddhist.

Zuo Rong enriched himself and accepted bribes.

He supervised the grain transport in the three counties of Xia Pi, Pengcheng and Guangling, and appropriated a large amount of the supplies for himself to accumulate financial resources.

In the Xuzhou area, Buddhism was worshipped on a large scale. Luxurious Buddhist temples were built, huge golden and bronze Buddhas were cast, clothed in brocade, and a Buddha Bathing Festival was held, attracting more than ten thousand believers.

It is said that Zuo Rong was a devout Buddhist, but he was a cruel person. Did he look like a devout Buddhist?
This is not logical!

There must be a demon in the abnormal situation!
After investigation by the Embroidered Uniform Guard, it was found that the aristocratic families such as Zuo Rong were indeed deeply connected with Buddhism, and they were in cahoots with each other.

The landlords’ money will be returned in full, and the people’s money will be divided into 30% and 70%!
The Xuzhou aristocratic families were already dissatisfied with Liu Bian's tax reform, but they did not dare to resist.

Because they can also make money through religion!

Now that they are targeting religion and collecting "religious taxes", it is equivalent to cutting off all their escape routes!
Not only the religions are jumping up and down, but the aristocratic families behind them are also secretly fanning the flames and making trouble, trying to launch a public opinion offensive through Buddhists!
turn out!
Liu Bian directly suppressed it with force and thunder!
Heads rolled down and blood flowed like a river!
Then, all the dissenting voices fell silent!

……

(End of this chapter)