"The victory of the Northern Expedition came at the right time. If this victory was conveyed to the camp, it would definitely boost the morale of the entire army!"

The moment he finished reading the letter in his hand, Jia Xu smiled and said.

Li Zhi nodded and agreed, "The military advisor's words are very good. Such a great victory should be informed of all the soldiers of the army, so as to ask for merits for General Zhou Yu, and to celebrate with you from afar!"

"Please give merits and celebrate?" Li Li responded in shock and laughed, "There is no need to ask for merits. I am right in front of me, thinking about how to reward Zhou Yu on merits! As for celebration, the strong enemy is approaching, our army has lost one after another, lost city and land. It is indeed a bit out of place to hold a banquet to celebrate the merits at this time. Let's record it for now, and reward them together after the war is over to save trouble. Hahaha!"

Jia Xu nodded happily and exclaimed: "General Zhou Yu is indeed awesome, both wise and brave. Although he is young and has little experience, he has made many outstanding achievements and has great military achievements. In the eyes of Weichen, if General Huan Fei is the number one general of our army, then General Zhou Yu is the most skilled general in our army, and he can be called a commander!"

"Oh? Wenhe doesn't praise people often. I feel a little surprised when he evaluates Zhou Yu so high this time." Li Li looked slightly stunned and smiled knowingly.

After hearing this, Jia Xu solemnly affirmed: "The Lord is so serious. What I said is not to compliment General Gongjin, but to be honest and seek truth from facts. When General Zhou Yu first entered our army, I also suspected his ability to command troops and fight, and even complained that his lord trusted him too much, so that he entrusted important tasks for the first time with his lord to go to war. He actually took charge of the Northern Expedition alone. For this reason, I was very worried and wanted to advise the lord not to encourage growth, which made Zhou Yu bear huge pressure when he first arrived, worried that he could not afford it and implicate the Northern Expedition soldiers.

Facts have proved that the lord's decision was wise, knowing others and placing people based on their merits. It was not an impulse to promote General Zhou Yu in an extraordinary way, but a careful decision after careful consideration.

In the battle of Chiyang City, our Northern Expedition Army won the flag, and stabilized the morale of the army in one battle, making the soldiers firmly believe that our army would definitely defeat the barbarian army completely and win the final victory. Within the following month, Zhou Yu led the army to fight and lost consecutively. However, every defeat was defeated without great losses, and there were few casualties. Although the defeat inevitably affected the morale, it could not shake our army's confidence in winning. Sure enough, in the battle of Qinglang Valley, our army won a great victory. The battle laid the victory of the Northern Expedition. After the war, the soldiers of the entire army truly realized General Zhou Yu's ability to command troops. It was not an exaggeration to call it a god of troops. Therefore, our soldiers recognized General Zhou Yu with conscientious conscience."

After a brief tone, Jia Xu said with deep emotion: "Now General Zhou Yu recovered the lost territory of Hetao and completely destroyed the Southern Xiongnu, which means that the four counties in the northwest of Bingzhou have been included in the bag. namely Shuofang County, Shangjun, Wuyuan Army and Yanmen County. The four counties were originally occupied by barbarians. Shuofang, Shangjun and Wuyuan County were occupied by the Southern Xiongnu, and Yanmen County was attacked by the Xianbei in the west. Most of the cities fell into the hands of the Xianbei people, but the Qinglang Valley battle of the Central and Southern Xiongnu and the Xianbei in the west were completely damaged.

Now that the Xiongnu royal court was captured by our army, the Xiongnu destroyed, the western Xianbei entrenched in Wuyuan and Yanmen County would be frightened and fled in panic. In this way, our army not only recovered the lost territory of Hetao, but then took the opportunity to collect the four northwestern counties of Bingzhou, which was equivalent to capturing most of Bingzhou in one fell swoop. Next, Zhou Yu led the great victory army to take advantage of the situation to attack Taiyuan County, the hinterland of Bingzhou. If the war goes well, it is very likely to capture the entire Bingzhou in one fell swoop. As long as Bingzhou is included in the rule of the Lord, even if the lords and allied troops can capture the Sili counties, it is not scary, because the Sili counties have been exposed under the iron hoof of our army, sooner or later, they will be the fat meat on our mouths. Therefore, I believe that the victory of the Northern Expedition is extremely beneficial to our army's battle in the Central Plains. As long as Bingzhou is in our hands, Sili cannot escape."

After analyzing the current situation in detail, Jia Xu finally expressed his original intention: "So, the Northern Expedition is crucial to our army. General Zhou Yu has made great contributions, and the lord should be rewarded with great rewards. The subsequent Bingzhou war is completely different from the previous battles against the barbarian army. After all, Bingzhou is the territory of our Han Dynasty, and the enemies that General Zhou Yu faced were all Han officials who were granted by the emperor.

As the saying goes: If the name is not correct, the words will not be satisfactory. General Zhou Yu is still the Left General and the chief general of the Northern Expedition Army. His official rank is not enough, and the words he says are naturally insufficient, so it is difficult to surrender the county magistrates and governors of Bingzhou. Therefore, the lord can record the military achievements of the Northern Expedition General at the moment and reward them all after the war. Only General Zhou Yu is exceptional. He must be given certain authority and official positions and the right to act cheaply. This will ensure that our army collects the entire territory of Bingzhou in the shortest time. The minister dares to advise, please think twice."

In Jia Xu's detailed explanation, he always regarded himself as a humble minister, and regarded Li Li as a king. In fact, it was not only Jia Xu, but Li Xuan, Li Ru, Guo Jia and others also regarded themselves as ministers, using this to express their feelings to Li Li.

Since Li Li was promoted to General of the Cavalry, he has been above the Three Dukes. He then received an edict to ride the imperial carriage, hold the sword of the emperor, and punish the emperor on behalf of the heavens. His status and power are no less than that of the emperor, but he lacks a crown. Therefore, the trusted strategists around Li Li changed their words silently and often regarded themselves as humble ministers, but Li Li never seemed to have paid attention to these inconspicuous details and did not argue about this. However, the generals under Li Li did not change their words and still regarded themselves as last generals. It is obviously a habit, far less than the civil officials and counselors who are meticulous and pay attention to details.

Jia Xu's words reminded Li Li that Zhou Yu should indeed be given the official position and authority, otherwise it would be unfavorable to the war.

After a little thought, Li Li nodded slightly and smiled and said, "Wenhe is right. Zhou Yu led his troops outside. He was facing barbarian troops before, and the size of his official position was irrelevant. Now he is moving to Bingzhou, he does need enough authority. Otherwise, the prefects of the counties in Bingzhou may not believe the promises he made. Time is too late, and he must make a decision as soon as possible to avoid delaying the war in Bingzhou."

After a brief pause, Li Li ordered Li Zhi: "I ordered Li Xuan to entrust Zhou Yu as General of Anbei and Marquis of Wuxiang, who is fully responsible for the war in Bingzhou. The soldiers of the three counties, including Beidi County, Anding County and Hanyang County, all followed Zhou Yu's orders. Lu Su was entrustated to the governor of Bingzhou and Duting Hou, who presided over Hetao and Bingzhou government affairs, reorganized the county government soldiers, and implemented the same political and legal orders as Liangzhou, and restored people's livelihood as soon as possible.

In addition, Zhou Yu ordered Zhang Liao to lead five thousand Jin Qiwei from Bingzhou Shangdang to the camp of Anyi to recruit Xu Chu, Chen Da, He Man and other generals to come to Anyi with the army. Orders to go to Bei to select 20,000 string-controlling men from the Xiongnu prisoners of war and form the Shufeng war cavalry. Return to Anyi with Zhang Liao and listen to it in front of the army!"

"Okay, I will obey the order!" Li Zhi bowed and immediately turned around and left.

Watching Li Zhi leave, Jia Xu's expression changed slightly and said in surprise: "Lord, it seems inappropriate to grant General Zhou Yu the title of official title this time! These are all Major General Li Xian's official titles. Isn't this time giving Zhou Yu the right to dismiss the Major General's military position for no reason?"

"Hahaha!" Li Li laughed and said in a silence after hearing this: "My younger brother is busy with a wedding and has no time to care about military and political affairs. Besides, he is the prefect of Beidi, but he is just the name of General Anbei. This time Beidi County was invaded by the barbarian army. He bears certain responsibilities and has not punished him before. Now it is time to settle the accounts in the autumn and punish them together."

Speaking of this, Li Li smiled happily: "He has achieved good political achievements in the past two years, but there are still unsatisfactory aspects. After this battle, he was transferred from Beidi County. Have a good rest and give him three months to get married. He has been following me in the battles and almost never stopped to rest and suffered from the hardships. Now that he has finally started a family and started a career, how can I, as my elder brother, drive my younger brother to serve the battlefield endlessly?"

Jia Xu whispered thoughtfully: "What the lord says is right. The major general followed the lord to fight on the battlefield at the age of fifteen. He has never made any mistakes, worked diligently, and never complained. Now that the wedding is about to come, the major general really needs to rest for a while. After the wedding, the lord has his own arrangements. I wonder if what the empress said is correct?"

Li Li nodded slightly, then looked at Jia Xu and smiled, without giving a positive answer.

"Just just now, the lord ordered the Huns to surrender to the generals to go to Bei to form the Shufeng Camp. I wonder what the purpose is?" Jia Xu asked with a laugh.

Li Li looked at Jia Xu with a smile and said, "Wenhe doesn't seem to trust the Huns' war cavalry very much. Are you worried that they may not really surrender to me?"

"Lord, I'm sure I'm a little worried that these Huns' surrendered soldiers may not be really used by me. It's true that if I'm not my race, their hearts will be different, and I have to be careful!" Jia Xu said frankly without any hesitation.

Li Li was slightly stunned when he heard the sound. After thinking for a moment, he pondered: "It's not unreasonable for Wenhe to have such concerns. However, the Southern Huns were not a beast. They were not considered aliens in detail, but had close contact with us Han people. Since the Northern Huns fled far away from the Western Regions, the Southern Huns have depended on our Han people. More than half of their tribes have the blood of our Han people, and some of them were Han people themselves. Because of this, I did not completely exterminate them, and intentionally merge them into our Han people. Long before the Northern Expedition, I instructed Zhou Yu and Lu Su to disperse all their tribes after the Huns were destroyed and went to the three states under my rule to relocate them. From then on, there will be no more Huns in the territory of our Han, only Han people.

Therefore, when it comes to the surrendered troops of the Huns, we cannot avoid it and abandon it. On the contrary, we must combine them into an army for our own use, so that we can integrate them into the Han people as soon as possible. If we still regard them as barbarian enemies and be wary of them everywhere, it is better to kill them directly, and this will be eliminated and future troubles will be eliminated. It is important to know that killing cannot solve all problems. If our Han people want to prosper and never stand up, it is not possible to kill alone. We must also have a broad and tolerant heart. For those nations that are compatible with our Han people, we do not need to be tolerant, but to conquer them, annex them, and then include them in our tribe."

With a brief tone, Li Li said with deep emotion: "Only in this way, our Han people can go through thousands of years and never fade, shine with the sun and the moon, coexist with the heaven and earth, and stand forever above the eastern Chinese state!"

Li Li's words were indeed inspired. It was reasonable for Jia Xu to reject the barbarians around the Han Dynasty. However, Li Li, a later generation, did not have such a strong sense of rejection, because the Five Barbarians invaded China and the North and South in the late Eastern Jin Dynasty, this chaotic period that lasted for more than two hundred years was actually a process of great ethnic integration. Whether it was the Southern Xiongnu, Xianbei and Wuhuan, or the Wuling Man and Yizhou Southern Barbarians, they would eventually integrate into the Han people. However, this process was very long, not a matter of overnight success. During this period, it would have to go through countless battles and conquests, which lasted for thousands of years.

Li Li never thought of integrating all the barbarians into the Han people, but instead selectively conquering and surrendering them, which is not the case for some barbarians entrenched overseas; for example, Fu Luohan, Goryeo and the Japanese barbarians, he advocated that if they could be destroyed, if they could be killed, if they could be killed, and if they could be eliminated, they would be eliminated.

Just as Li Li was thinking, Jia Xu nodded and said, "Since the lord has made a decision, I should follow it. However, I still suggest that the lord should not use the barbarian surrendered generals to serve as the head of the Shuofeng camp. Now our army is full of war generals, and many generals are competent for the position of command. Please think twice."

"Well, what Wenhe said is exactly what I want." Li Li nodded happily and said with a smile: "At the beginning of the establishment of the Shuofeng Camp, based on the principle of fulfilling its talents, Goubei was temporarily the chief general. Because he was more familiar with the situation of the Xiongnu prisoners of war than us, he asked him to choose surrendered soldiers as the right candidate. This time, they were dispatched to join the war to test their loyalty and combat power. After the war was over, they would be reorganized and the generals would be adjusted accordingly."

"So that's it, wise, lord!" Jia Xu responded happily, looked at Li Li, and smiled knowingly, and was completely relieved.

——————————— (To be continued)
Chapter completed!