Chapter 834: Old Friend

If Hangu Pass still works, then the geographical advantage of Hongnong County will be very obvious.

However, whether it was Hangu Pass in Qin Dynasty or Hangu Pass in Han Dynasty, they had lost the geographical advantage of natural danger.

Even if troops are stationed at Hangu Pass, the Kwantung Army can easily bypass them.

The establishment of Hongnong County was largely due to the loss of use of Hangu Pass.

However, compared with cities and passes, the strategic value of the two is completely different.

The previous Hangu Pass could cut off the roads between the Guandong and Guanzhong, stop the millions of troops in the Kanto, and let them look at the pass and sigh.

But Hongnong County can't do it, as long as they surround the city, the Kwantung army can still continue to advance westward.

Therefore, Liu Zhang's future territorial boundaries will definitely stop at Tongguan.

In this way, only a small number of garrisons are needed to perfectly guarantee the security of Guanzhong.

In a certain sense, it can speed up the recovery in Guanzhong.

Compared with Liu Zhang's tasteless taste for Hongnong County's food, Xun You showed that he regarded it as a treasure.

"Didn't the lord always have a headache that there is no population in the pass?"

"Cao Cao sent Hongnong County to the lord, so the population will come?"

Liu Zhang nodded with some understanding. It turned out that this was what Xun You was referring to.

"Gongda, Hongnong County itself doesn't have many people, right?"

Liu Zhang remembered very clearly that at the peak of Hongnong County, the population did not exceed 200,000.

Even if some of the population flowed into Hongnong County before, there might not be much left.

After all, Luo Yang of Henan Yin is the destination of these people who fled to Hongnong County.

Xun You was not shaken by Liu Zhang's doubts, he was still in a state of surprise.

"Master, although Hongnong County is small, it is still a piece of meat!"

"And don't forget, my lord, there is even a large piece of fat in the north of Hongnong County!"

correct! Why didn't I think of it!

Liu Zhang exclaimed, and suddenly realized.

And finally understood why Xun You was so surprised.

Hongnong County is adjacent to Hedong County, and there is only a Yellow River between them.

The northern and eastern parts of Hadong County are surrounded by mountains, and the roads are almost cut off.

Therefore, although it is connected to Bingzhou, the road is not smooth.

The origin of the name Hedong County also comes from the east of the Yellow River.

The entire Hedong County is adjacent to Hongnong County in the south and Zuo Fengyi in the east, but both are divided by the Yellow River.

It is also because of the Yellow River that the Hedong County has become an independent plain.

Although the northeast of Hedong County is blocked by mountains, there is only the Yellow River in the southwest. After crossing the Yellow River, there is an endless plain!

At present, Liu Zhang does not lack territory, and the Guanzhong Plain is countless times larger than Hedong.

However, Guanzhong lacks population, and Hedong County can just make up for it!

There are 20 counties in Hedong County, with a population of nearly 600,000!

Liu Zhang was pleasantly surprised, but also a little worried.

"At the beginning, the Baibo Army claimed to have a hundred thousand people, and I don't know what's going on in Hedong now..."

Hedong County was once affected by the Yellow Turban Rebellion, and the Baibo Army formed by the remnants of the Yellow Turban was active in Hedong.

Although the Baibo army has been destroyed now, it took eight years for them to form and die.

A bandit organization that existed for eight years must have caused a lot of disaster.

If Hedong County is also depopulated like Guanzhong, it will be meaningless.

Xun You was in good spirits and was not worried about what Liu Zhang said.

"Don't worry, my lord. After Baibo was destroyed, Cao Cao deliberately released Qing Zhuang back to his hometown in order to rely on Hedong to contain Bingzhou."

"Today's Hedong County is definitely not as good as before, but with the exiled people in Guanzhong, there should be hundreds of thousands of people!"

Liu Zhang nodded, he naturally hoped so.

The larger the population of Hedong County, the more conducive to the development of Guanzhong.

"I didn't expect Cao Cao to be so generous. He directly gave us two counties!"

Xun You didn't take it seriously, and didn't mean to thank Cao Cao.

"My lord, Cao Cao took advantage of exchanging two counties for three states!"

"Especially in Hedong County, Cao Cao gave it to us, which is equivalent to allowing us to contain Yuan Jun in Bingzhou from the flank."

How can there be such a good thing as a pie in the sky in this world?

All gifts have a very obvious purpose.

Liu Zhang is like this, Cao Cao will certainly be like this.

"Hmph, Thief Cao has a good idea!"

Liu Zhang snorted coldly, how could he let Cao Cao do what he wanted.

"We moved all the people from Hedong County and Hongnong County to Guanzhong!"

"This will not only reassure Yuan Shao to fight Cao Cao, but also reassure Cao Cao that we will not take advantage of the opportunity to attack."

In the struggle between the Central Plains and Hebei, Liu Zhang is destined to be powerless.

Rather than being used by others, it is better to use all conditions to let Cao Cao and Yuan Shao feel at ease and work hard.

Liu Zhang didn't believe it anymore. Yuan Shao relied on Bingzhou, Youzhou, and half of Jizhou. Without any worries, he still couldn't cause some troubles for Cao Cao.

It would be the best result for Liu Zhang if both sides were hurt in the fight.

"My lord's trick!"

Deng Zhi was pleasantly surprised, and praised Liu Zhang's strategy.

Occupying Hedong County and Hongnong County not only has to lengthen one's own defense line, but also be feared by Cao Cao and Yuan Shao.

Now that he has decided to give up these two counties, the initiative has been taken back to his own hands.

As soon as the words fell, Deng Zhi seemed to think of something, and the smile on his face gradually turned into sadness.

"My lord, it may not be easy to move the population of Hedong County..."

Although the people in Hedong County live on the plains, they are quite different from other counties.

Here is the Yellow River and high mountains, and the traffic is not very convenient.

If the population is relocated forcibly, the public will complain and cause innocent casualties.

"Hahaha…!"

Unexpectedly, after Deng Zhi expressed his worries, Liu Zhang actually laughed.

"My lord, this...?"

Deng Zhi rubbed his ears in embarrassment, the burst of laughter confused him.

"Hehe, Bo Miao doesn't know something! It might be difficult for other counties, but Hedong County...hehehe!"

Liu Zhang looked confident, as if this matter was easy for him.

Deng Zhi didn't understand why, so she turned to look at Xun You.

He wanted to see what Xun You thought of Liu Zhang's self-confidence.

The result made Deng Zhi even more astonished!

I saw Xun You nodding repeatedly to Liu Zhang, with the corners of his mouth raised in uncontrollable joy.

"My lord's words are very true!"

"It seems that we need our old friend to appear again!"

"Old friend?"

Deng Zhi muttered to herself, and suddenly understood.

It seems that all Liu Zhang's confidence in Hedong County comes from the "old friend" in Xun You's mouth!

(end of this chapter)