In 23 AD (the fourth year of emperor Di), the Green Forest Army supported Liu Xuan, a descendant of Liu Xuan of the Lingling Clan, as the first emperor and invaded Chang'an, and Wang Mang's regime was defeated. However, the world did not settle down because of this, but on the contrary, it led to the rise of the masses and the four sides to chase deer, among which there were clan chambers, there were Hao Jie, there were displaced people, there were warlords, there were regular, there were miscellaneous cards, there were divided parties, and there were also plunderers everywhere, anyway, I don't know how many people were holding their heads to seize the world, but there were actually three who were really qualified to compete with Liu Xuan, in fact, there were only three: one was Liu Xiu, the son of the clan who broke away from the beginning and occupied Hebei, the second was Liu Yong, the eastern overlord of Liang, who was divided into Liang land, and the other was the Chimei Army, which was on a par with the green forest. After Liu Xuan destroyed Wang Mang and moved the capital to Luoyang, Fan Chong, the leader of the Chimei Army, and more than a dozen other people came to Luoyang to accept the title of the first imperial court. But I didn't expect that Liu Xuan would ignore them after they deceived them, although he had sealed Hou, he didn't have a specific fief at all, it was just a blank check, Fan Chong and others wanted to meet with Gengshi to complain, but they were put under house arrest, and they couldn't even touch the edge of the palace. Fan Chong, and the others could not bear it, so they managed to escape back to the Chimei army in Shandong Province, and from then on they fought against Geng.
Liu Xiu's credit for Hebei, and the resurgence of wildfires in Chimei, which was obviously the two major problems of the new regime. However, Liu Xuan was busy moving the capital to Chang'an to enjoy wealth and self-consolidation, and did not pay enough attention to this; the generals of the Green Forest also quickly corrupted in the flower and flower world of the imperial capital, and did not want to forge ahead; as a result, Liu Xiu sat calmly and large, and Chimei went south to Yingchuan to plunder, winning consecutive battles and winning consecutive battles, unstoppable; but Yingchuan was too small to grab, and it did not take long to become increasingly broken, the robbery was untouchable, the Chimei army was hungry and miserable, the soldiers missed their hometown in Shandong, but they cried day and night, full of sorrow, crying that was a miserable, tears like rain, wiping with their hands, Even the eyebrows that were hard to dye red cried, and one by one they became "red-fronted troops", scaring individuals to death.
Fan Chong and other leaders saw that this would not work, so they discussed again, it is not impossible to return to the east, but it is really no future to go back like this, it is not easy for the brothers to make up so many people, anyway, idle is idle, it is better to turn to the west, go to the rich Guanzhong to take a stroll, maybe you can also lay down the flower world of Chang'an, a good wind and flow, in short, the cheap can not all let the green forest take advantage.
Liu Xuan still had a set of power techniques, but he was really an idiot in military terms. After the defeat of Wang Mang, there was great chaos in the Kwantung Region; Luoyang was located in the Central Plains, where it exerted great efforts to govern and had control over the situation under the heavens. At the beginning of the founding of the Western Han Dynasty, the capital luoyang was also fixed first; the capital was moved to Chang'an after the world was settled; during the Three Kingdoms period, the world was not peaceful, and Cao Wei always placed the capital in Xuchang and Luoyang in the Central Plains. Liu Xuan has no strategic vision; second, he has no sense of crisis, and his demise can be known.
As a result, in the winter of the second year of the first year, hundreds of thousands of Chimei soldiers were divided into two routes, one led by Fan Chong himself, from Wuguan to the north; the other led by Xu Xuan, from Luhun Pass (southeast of present-day Yiyang, Henan) to the west; the two roads marched in tandem, and the troops marched straight to Chang'an. The first emperor Liu Xuan was shocked and quickly sent Wang Kuang, Cheng Dan, and others to garrison Hedong and Hongnong Counties to base themselves on them, and a major war broke out.
However, under such circumstances, Liu Xuan still did not bring back the 300,000 troops stationed in Luoyang, but let the Grand Sima Zhu Kun and Li Yi, the King of Wuyin, lead their troops to keep a close eye on Liu Xiu here, lest he take advantage of the fire and loot, or swallow him up when he had the opportunity. Therefore, in the face of this new situation, Liu Xiu quickly made a judgment that Liu Xuan was by no means an opponent of Chimei, that there was a major chaos in Guanzhong, that it was necessary to take precautions, send people in advance to seize the opportunity to clean up the mess, and then resolutely set up a three-way strategic deployment, which is, to put it simply: consolidate Hanoi, watch the provocations, enter the two capitals, sweep away the Hebei displaced people's army in one fell swoop, and take advantage of the gap to break through the Green Forest Chimei Army.
On the first road, Liu Xiu personally led the main force of the Han army and went north into the changshan state, completely eliminating the Hebei displaced people here to consolidate the rear.
On the second road, with the Mengjin general Feng Yi as the commander, he led the armies of Wei County and Hanoi County, and guarded against Zhu Kun and Li Yi's 300,000 Luoyang troops at Mengjin (the yellow river crossing, in the south of Pingyin County, henan county, only thirty miles away from Luoyang, where King Wu of Zhou would ally with the princes of the world, for the north and south of Jin, the soldiers must fight), to guard against Zhu Kun and Li Yi's 300,000 Luoyang army.
On the third road, the former general Deng Yu was the commander-in-chief, selected 20,000 elite soldiers, crossed the Taihang Mountains to the west, and entered the Hedong region (the Yellow River Delta in southwest Jin, with Fenglingdu as the culmination), taking advantage of the fire and looting to spy on Chang'an.
Liu Xiu's strategic deployment was the result of his careful analysis of the general situation in the world at that time. In the year since he arrived in Hebei, the situation south of the Yellow River has undergone such a huge change, becoming more and more complex and more chaotic. However, no matter how chaotic the world is, Liu Xiu's heart cannot be chaotic, and still less can he sabotage the established plan because Zhu Kun and Li Yi are their own brother-killing enemies and lose their rational judgment, because at this time, it is the most test of a leader's overall strategic consciousness of building from a lofty height -- Wang Fuzhi summed up That Liu Xiu won the world in a corner of Hebei, relying on a total of five points: static braking, dominance by morality, force control by conspiracy, urgency with slowness, and leniency over fierceness. Xiaosheng summarized the following four points: the thoroughness of the operation, the calmness of the plan, the steadfastness of the steps, and the grand scale.
However, the most important link of this strategy is not in Hebei, nor in Liangjing, but in Hanoi. The so-called Hanoi, that is, the narrow area between the Taihang Mountains and the Yellow River, because of its surface mountains and rivers, is called Hanoi, which is the key between Shanxi and Henan, Guanzhong and Hebei; and Li Yi and Zhu Kun's 300,000 Luoyang army is separated from Liu Xiu's Hanoi County, which is separated by a Yellow River; in addition, Bao Yong, the general of hezhou stationed by the First Emperor, is only separated from Hanoi by a Taihang Mountain. How can we deal with the more powerful soldiers around them and prevent them from hitting Hebei? The key is to hold Hanoi, if Hanoi is not defended, Then Hebei is in danger! According to the words of Deng Yu, Liu Xiu's chief strategic view, Hanoi belt is solid, the hukou is solid, the north is connected to the party, the south is forced to Luoyang, the economy is rich and there are few military disasters, and there are two natural barriers in the south and the Taihang Mountains in the northeast, so it is not only the rear area of Deng Yu and Feng Yijin, but also the rear area of the Han army to sweep away the displaced people in Hebei, and it is actually a strategic general base and source to support Liu Xiu's long-term operations in unifying the world. According to the words of the late Qing dynasty strategist Zeng Guofan: "The heroes of the ancients will have a foundation." For example, Gaozu's Guanzhong, Guangwu's Hanoi, Wei's Kezhou, and Tang's Jinyang are all based on this first, and then they can fight and retreat and defend. ”
Therefore, if Liu Xiu wants to achieve great things, he must get Hanoi and must also defend Hanoi. Before Hanoi was too defensive of Han Xin, it was worshiped by the First Emperor, when Liu Xiunan came down to fight Hanoi, Han Xin was not ready to surrender, and wanted to resist the city. Liu Xiu was furious when he heard the news and was about to send troops to attack, when an old man appeared and helped Liu Xiu solve this trouble.
This deceased man is Cen Peng. At first, Cen Peng defended Wancheng for Wang Mang and confronted Liu Xiu's eldest brother Liu Xiu, and finally surrendered to Liu Xiu because the city ran out of food. The other generals were to kill Cen Peng, but Liu Ji objected, not only did not kill, but also rewarded his loyalty to the old lord and let him follow him. However, not long after Liu Ji was killed in infighting, Cen Peng was depressed and went north to surrender to Han Xin's tent. When Liu Xiu's army came to kill, Cen Peng was overjoyed and quickly persuaded Han Xin to surrender, but Han Xin did not listen. When the Han army was in full swing and approached the city of Huai County (present-day west of Wushi County, Henan), the capital of Hanoi County, Han Xin suddenly instigated and quickly surrendered to Liu Xiu.
Liu Xiu and Cen Peng's deceased people met, and naturally rejoiced; it was just that Han Xin had stubbornly resisted before, and he really deserved to be killed. Ke Cen Peng said that Han Xinyuan was a great hero and strong man in Nanyang, a fellow countryman, with a very high status and a very big reputation, which could be used. Liu Xiu then released Han Xin and made him Deng Yu's military master. Cen Peng then went north to Qiyuan (陳園, in present-day northern Qi County, Henan), where he said that he had surrendered the garrison's general Lü Zhi. Liu Xiu saw that Cen Peng was indeed a brave and resourceful talent, so he worshipped him as a great general who assassinated and betrayed him, and let him take charge of military law and supervise the camps.
After taking Hanoi, the next question is, who will serve as the new Hanoi Taishou, preside over the government affairs, and cooperate with Feng Yi's army? Han Xin was definitely not ok, and Cen Peng had already arranged his work. In this crucial place, Liu Xiu must send himself a highly trusted person, not only to highly trust his loyalty, but also to highly trust his ability! Who among the generals could help Feng Yi defend Luoyang's 300,000-strong army; at the same time, he could develop the big granary of Hanoi and supply logistics for Liu Xiu's various armies; and at the same time, he could safely defend Hanoi and Liu Xiu's founding foundation in the midst of the enemy on all sides? Who can do such a great task?
This question can only be answered by Deng Yu, Liu Xiu's chief think tank and director of organization. Deng Yu said: "Former Gaozu Ren Xiao he was in Guanzhong, and there was no worry about returning to the west, so he had to concentrate on Shandong and eventually become a great cause." Now Kou Kewen was well armed and had the talent of a shepherd and a royal crowd, but this son could not be safe to defend Hanoi. "Kou Ke, one of the six generals of the Youzhou Raiders, the former Shanggu Commandery Gong Cao, zi yi, only half a year ago with Wu Han Geng Ti from Youzhou to surrender to Liu Xiu, was not outstanding among the six generals, and came to Liu Xiu's army for less than half a year, is a real newcomer, but according to historical records, after only a few conversations, Deng Yu thought that Kou Ke was a wizard, so he often killed cattle to buy wine and asked Kou Ke to come to contact him. There were really not many people who could make Deng Yu, whose eyes were above the top, really not many people, and Kou Ke did it.
As a newcomer to Liu Xiu's army, Liu Xiu was not familiar with him, nor did he have any absolute trust; but Liu Xiu absolutely trusted Deng Yu, and Deng Yu absolutely trusted Kou Ke, so Liu Xiu also decided to trust Kou Ke absolutely; just like Liu Bang trusted Han Xin because he trusted Xiao He.
Therefore, Liu Xiu worshiped Kou Gong as the Taishou of Hanoi, and did great general duties, and before he went north, he instructed him: "When Hanoi is rich, I will rise because of it." In the past, Gao Zu left Xiao He Town Guanzhong, and I now entrusted the duke to Hanoi, insisted on the transfer, gave enough food to the army, led the soldiers and horses, prevented its troops, and did not order the north. ”
If Deng Yu is equivalent to Zhang Liang, Feng Yi and Geng Yi are equivalent to Han Xin, Wu Han is equivalent to Zhou Bo, Cho Chi is equivalent to Fan Duo, and Jia Fu is equivalent to Cao Shen, then he is almost equivalent to Liu Xiu's half Xiao He. After Liu Xiu's army moved north, Kou Ke recruited troops to buy horses, developed production, and sent people to Qiyuan to cut bamboo, rushed to make more than a million arrows, raised another 2,000 horses, and collected 4 million grain to be transported to the battlefields of Hebei and Guanzhong. In order to improve the efficiency of transporting military funds, Kou Ke also made great efforts in the means of transportation, and he adopted the flexible combination of a wagon (unicycle) and a large cart with a lich (a large cart with several horses in parallel), using a small road with a car and a large road with a lily, each showing his miraculous ability, and going back and forth, effectively ensuring the logistical supply of Liu Xiu's several large army expeditions. At the same time, Kou Ke also actively trained troops, so that the armed forces in Hanoi became stronger and stronger, and later he was able to join forces with Feng Yi to defeat the more senior general Zhu Kun, who was delusional to cross the river, and ran to Luoyang City to show off his martial prowess.
After a few months, after Liu Xiu ascended the throne, he wanted to personally lead his troops to attack Luoyang, and Kou Ke also asked to follow, but Liu Xiu disagreed, saying that "Hanoi is not far away." Kou Ke requested several times, very resolutely, but liu xiu more resolutely refused, Kou Ke had to learn Xiao He, sent his nephew and nephew to the front line, and fought with Liu Xiu. Liu Xiu was overjoyed, and indeed Kou Ke, and his consciousness was high, so he worshipped Kou's sons and nephews as partial generals, and his heart was more and more at ease with Kou Ke who was guarding the rear of the town.
After Liu Xiu took the Central Plains the following year, Hanoi was finally not a big rear, so Kou Ke was transferred to Yingchuan Taishou and continued to actively develop agriculture, harvesting 100,000 stones of soybean grain to give to the camps. The Book of the Later Han Dynasty records that Kou Ke spent his life practicing scriptures, cultivating morality, being famous in the imperial court, and deeply respected by the people, although there were high-ranking officials Houlu, they often gave their income to the ranks, and they were generous to relatives and friends and the conscripts, saying: "Because of the master of the shi, he can enjoy it exclusively!" "His elderly demeanor has come to this point. This is obviously a person with the talent of the prime minister, but unfortunately Liu Xiu does not want to rule with merit, so he always only let him be a taishou to run the locality, and the highest ability to do Jinwu is considered to be a condescending talent.
However, Kou Ke's family descendants are still quite contentious, and his military merits have been awarded the title of Marquis Fan 8 people, which can also be regarded as a famous general family.