Chapter 842 Zhou Cang

Liaodong in spring is not very beautiful.

Because the trees on the road have been cut down long ago, and it is bare. A dividing line can be clearly seen on the hills in the distance. The bottom is empty, and the top is full of green shadows and peach blossoms, all consumed for winter heating.

But Liaodong in spring is also beautiful. Because the spring breeze blows, bringing the fragrance of the earth and plants, children run wildly and play, and the fields are full of people working. People work, and the joy of autumn is planted in spring, which is also beautiful.

On the widened and reinforced straight road, a burst of dense footsteps came from afar, and the dust was blown high by the wind. Then, dozens of soldiers were seen, wearing light armor and carrying weapons. Some of them carried large pots for cooking, and some carried large packages, which were obviously bags of food. They were soaked, sweating, and panting, but their speed did not decrease. They moved their legs mechanically and ran forward desperately.

Not long after they passed, hundreds of people came running over. No one spoke, as they were all exhausted.

Zhen Sheng rode on a horse and slowly moved forward with the general. Looking at the sparse team that stretched for at least three miles, he really didn't know what to say for a while.

Until the brigade passed and the smoke and dust dissipated, only a few, dozens, or even a single soldier ran forward. He cupped his hands and said, "General, I'm afraid it's hard to have combat effectiveness if we march like this."

"Meng Guang is wrong. I dispatched troops to Suizhong, not to attack, but to defend, so that the people of the Yellow Turbans would not be deceived by mediocre people and give up their lives. Marching like this is actually training. Sun Tzu said, "It's fast like the wind, it's slow like the forest, it's plundering like fire, it's still like a mountain, it's hard to know like the shadow, and it's moving like thunder. I deeply agree with this. The way of war is to observe, to be clear, and to move.

Go to attack them, our army is fast, and the enemy can't observe, then we The army will win. If we cannot win, our army can retreat quickly, preserve our strength, and look for another opportunity. We may not win today, but we may not win tomorrow. With a large army in hand, we can conquer the whole world. "

"This is the way to plan for the country."

Wang Yan smiled, turned his head and looked at the last two soldiers of Zhenwuwei who finally ran ahead of him, snapped the whip in his hand, and shouted: "Zhang Xi, Liu Da, you two are lagging behind again. If you can't catch up with the brothers in front, you two will starve today, why don't you run fast?"

Hearing the words of the general, the two looked bitter, and didn't say anything. They ran forward desperately with a look of death, and they couldn't starve.

The quality of the current army is actually not high. The most capable and averagely high-quality soldiers under his command are Weiwuwei and Xiaoqiying. The former has fought the most and trained the most fiercely, and the latter has been struggling outside for a whole winter, so it's impossible not to be strong.

The Zhenwu Guard was newly organized into a military formation. Although they had received militia training before, they were much worse than the requirements for the real militia training, so this sparse situation occurred. Moreover, the majority of them were Wuhuan people. Their organizational discipline was much worse overall. Zhang Xi and Liu Da were Wuhuan people, and Wang Yan gave them the name.

Of course, the main reason was that the current Zhenwu Guard had too short a training period and was busy farming. Military law, military regulations, and military discipline were not in place. When the spring plowing was over, they would deeply feel what an army was, and they were forced into a shape.

There was no talk along the way. The Zhenwu Guard marched 250 miles in two days, which was really running to death. Wang Yan rode a horse and it took four days to get there. It was mainly to inspect the farming and living conditions of the people along the way.

During this process, the Yellow Turbans also arrived five miles south of Suizhong, waiting for Wang Yan's arrival.

On the fifth day, General Wang sent his men to report to the other side. He wore a dark blue coat, an eight-sided Han sword tied around his waist, black cloth boots on his feet, rode a red-maned horse, and rode forward with his personal guards and Zhen Sheng and others.

The scene at this time was still quite spectacular. The people in front were all soldiers, wearing coarse linen clothes, and their weapons were thrown aside. They sat there with pale faces and thin bodies, chatting in groups of three or five. After all, they came here to seek refuge. Besides, they couldn't even eat enough, and they waited for a few days. How could they have the strength to fight again?

Behind the soldiers were the family members, all women and children, and their conditions were even worse. Wang Yan looked far away and didn't see an old man.

This was normal. After all, after the Yellow Turbans were defeated last winter, they became bandits. The first to come must have been the Yellow Turbans in the You and Ji areas. Youzhou was looted by Wang Yan all the way, and all the houses were empty. Jizhou was a mess. The farmers were either involved in the Yellow Turban team or hid to save their lives. The food was gone long ago.

Let them attack the forts. The further south they go, the larger the family is, and the higher the combat effectiveness of the forts is. They are so numerous that they can indeed destroy several families, but so many people died, which is not commensurate with the food they robbed. Although no one cares about human lives, the more people die, the more they will remember and affect their fighting enthusiasm.

Moreover, robbing a caravan may work once or twice, but it will be difficult over time. First, people can bypass it, and if they can't bypass it, they can just not come. Second, if they rob a big family, local officials will come to suppress it.

So they had a miserable winter in the past, and many people died. In such a situation, the old man must have no way to survive.

Wang Yan got off the horse and sat on the stool brought by the personal guards, with his arms around his shoulders. What stood out was that he was cool and casual. He definitely didn't care about "etiquette" and did whatever was comfortable.

Some etiquette is useful, and some is useless. Many etiquettes are clan rules, not civilized and polite etiquette.

After a while, two burly men came to Wang Yan and bowed: "Pei Yuanshao and Zhou Cang greet you, Lord. We have come all the way north, and it has been very difficult. Please take us in, Lord. From now on, we will serve you wholeheartedly."

Zhou Cang is no stranger. He was the one who resisted Guan Yu's sword in the Romance of the Three Kingdoms. Although there is not much description of his combat power, Zhao Yun killed Pei Yuanshao in seconds. Zhou Cang was able to fight with Zhao Yun for a while, and he was able to escape. His level is still good.

As for Pei Yuanshao, he is just a background board. He stole Zhao Yun's horse and was stabbed to death.

There are only a few famous people in the Yellow Turban Army, Zhou Cang, Liao Hua, Guan Hai, and Zhang Kai.

Guan Hai led tens of thousands of Yellow Turban Army to besiege Kong Rong to borrow food. He fought with Guan Yu for dozens of rounds and was chopped off his horse by Guan Yu's sword. As a member of the top military team in the Three Kingdoms, it is rare to be able to fight Guan Yu for dozens of rounds.

As for Zhang Kai, it was simple. He killed Cao Cao's father and robbed Cao Cao's family of a lot of wealth. He caused the battle of Xuzhou, which made Tao Qian ask for help and also made Liu Bei take control of Xuzhou, which indirectly made Liu Bei's early career peak.

General Wang waved his hand: "No need to be polite, tell me about your situation."

Zhou Cang spoke first: "My Lord, after we were defeated with Zhang Bao, we gathered the remaining soldiers, hid in the mountains, and made a living by looting. However, there were too many family members in our comrades-in-arms to sustain. We barely survived the winter, and then we heard that the general had accomplished great things in Liaodong. We all came from the Yellow Turbans, and we also heard that the general treated the soldiers and civilians under his rule well, so we went north to surrender. We gathered refugees and a small number of remaining soldiers along the way, and finally arrived here.

There are a total of 23,523 of us, 7,000 soldiers, and the rest are women and children, with less than 500 elderly and weak. We still have 2,000 stones of grain and grass, more than 200 horses, 1,000 bows, 20,000 arrows, and countless weapons. We sincerely surrender, and I hope the Lord will take us in."

The two people's status can be seen from this opening. It's normal to think that Zhou Cang is more powerful and looks decent. He can speak clearly and explain things clearly. He can tell you everything about his family background and flatter you. No wonder Guan Yu is willing to let him resist the sword.

"If you want to surrender to my rule, your army must be dispersed. It's the time of spring plowing and there is no war. There shouldn't be too many soldiers. And your soldiers are pale and hungry. They must be well-trained to have fighting power. So it's hard for you two to get a high position, but you have to be at ease. If you want a high position, you must make military achievements. What do you think?"

Wang Yan has a good attitude and speaks with a smile. But in fact, Zhou Cang and others have no choice.

They went through a lot and walked thousands of miles before they reached Liaodong. If Liaodong was not harvested, they would have to die. They couldn't go back because there was no food. Now it was the time of spring plowing, and they would just die.

Of course, it was impossible to let go of the human resources they had. Although Wang Yan's people also rely on imported grain and overall dispatch to barely survive, now there are books, not only can they harvest the books of the wealthy families, but they can also harvest more grain than glass. In two months, Pingguo Salt Field will have output, which can not only produce large-grain salt to supply the people under his rule, but also produce fine salt, and then harvest the leeks of the noble families.

Now the world is relatively stable, and the grain output is still guaranteed. He can completely deal with it. When the world is in chaos, he should be self-sufficient. After all, guarding the huge Northeast Plain, it is a joke if you can't grow food to feed yourself.

In fact, looking at the pattern of the Three Kingdoms, it is not difficult to find that the basis of their establishment is to occupy the land. Although all the finances collapsed, the population was sharply reduced due to a series of wars, but the land is there.

Cao Wei occupied North China and the Guanzhong Plain, Sun Wu occupied the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River Plain, and Shu Han occupied the Chengdu Plain, the land of abundance. Zhuge Liang said in Longzhong that Yizhou is a land of abundance with thousands of miles of fertile land. Emperor Gaozu used it to build his empire, which shows how important Sichuan and Chongqing are.

This is why General Wang is obsessed with his hometown. Otherwise, at that time last year, there was no other way to go except hiding in the mountains and being a bandit. It is impossible to be a filial and honest official. If you want to secede and attack from all sides, if you want to gain a foothold, it will consume too much time and energy, which is not cost-effective...

So what does he mean by what he said to Zhou Cang and Pei Yuanshao now? It is just to see if they are ambitious people. If they are, then kill them to scare the monkeys. If not, everyone will be happy.

So don't look at the general's smile. No matter what these two people say, the more than 20,000 people behind them will definitely not be able to leave. If they say something wrong, they will die.

Fortunately, they didn't waste words and knelt down directly: "Lord, we are at your service!"

"You should call me general." Wang Yan corrected with a relieved smile. He didn't like the title of lord very much. It was not as powerful as the title of general. It reminded him all the time that he was a big warlord.

"Yes, general!"

"Okay, okay." The general said three times, and arranged: "From now on, the people have nothing to do with you two. I will make arrangements. You two don't have to worry. The rules under my rule are different from those of the Han Dynasty. The army behind me is a newly trained militia. You two will be soldiers first, familiar with my rules and laws. After the autumn harvest, there will be arrangements. Are you willing?"

"At your service."

It was not easy to come here, and Wang Yan said it clearly. They also recognized the lord and knelt down. They must do what the general said.

"Stand up, don't be so polite in the future. Kneeling is not a custom in my rule. Remember, people should stand tall and upright."

"Yes, General, stand tall and upright!" The two shouted in unison, very vigorously.

Both of them are leaders, with more than 20,000 people, so they must be able to eat enough. A capable person, whether good or bad, can always eat enough, this is the law of survival. Otherwise, they would not be so strong and muscular.

The same situation as the Song and Ming dynasties, the generals at this time were all tall and strong, such as Liu, Guan, Zhang, and Gongsun Zan who had fought before, none of them were less than 1.8 meters tall, and they were quite majestic when they put on armor. The same is true for Zhou Cang now. Pei Yuanshao is a little shorter, but he is also about 178 meters, and it is like playing to deal with small soldiers.

"Come here, collect the weapons, food, supplies, and horses. The military commander will arrange for the toilets, and the cooks will cook porridge and fish soup in a big pot. When it is cool in the afternoon, move north to Tai'an. Dispatch civilian officials to follow, divide the land and houses, build a brick kiln, and transport beams. Before the houses are built, divide the army tents with them to protect them from wind and rain. Reclaim the land quickly and don't miss the season."

Waving his hand, the two men withdrew. The general issued a series of orders, and the personal guards took the orders and returned to the rear army to pass on the orders. Soon, the soldiers who collected their weapons came forward and organized the affairs of the Yellow Turban refugees in a mighty manner. Others returned to Suizhong to dispatch supplies and food.

Wang Yan's instructions included major directions, important minor matters, and many things that had not been arranged. These were all matters for civilian officials and the military commander. The current civilian officials were all officials who survived, and those who performed well later and were promoted by the general. The same was true for the military commander. The first thing they had to do was to learn to read and write. After all the initial mistakes, they were now able to work and were conscientious.

He did not tell them to do this, such as picking out the craftsmen and finding a place to produce according to the collective plan. Finding those who can read and let them take on some basic tasks and assist in management. Finding wives for men and men for women, and so on, are small things, but also big things. These things can be done well by civil officials and military officers. They have previous experience. When there is no war, these are their main jobs.

"There are many capable people under the general's command." Seeing that various resettlement activities were carried out in an orderly manner, Zhen Sheng naturally supported them.

"Meng Guang has a heavy responsibility." Wang Yan shook his head and smiled, patting Zhen Sheng's shoulder, "You said that there are 100,000 refugees going north, and the money in my treasury is definitely not enough. We must hurry up to sell books, but if there is food, just transport it, and I will trade it at a high price."

"General, don't worry, within two months, the caravans will gather here."

"Go."

Wang Yan nodded with a smile, waved his hand, and Zhen Sheng went to do his work...

The arrival of Zhou Cang and others seemed to turn on the switch. As Zhen Sheng said, in the next two months, there were 130,000 defeated soldiers and refugees from the Yellow Turbans who came to Liaodong. These people were arranged in the Liaozhong area, and the Liaodong Plain has begun to take shape.

The people under the rule of General Wang officially exceeded 500,000, reaching more than 510,000.

It's just that because they traveled far and came late, they missed the spring plowing after settling down. But it doesn't matter. Except for the children who can't walk well, there is no idle person. There is too much work to do.

If you can't grow food, then you can reclaim the land and grow rapeseed. After harvesting in two months, you can replenish precious oil. You can also plant rice seedlings. In August, you can plant a crop of winter wheat and grind flour. Although it cannot achieve the freedom of wheat in Liaodong, it will definitely benefit the people and let them eat a few bites of fine grains.

This is the work of farming, and there is also the work of building houses, and there is also the work of digging coal and cutting trees to store winter fuel. There is no end to it.

Taking advantage of this population surge, Wang Yan also began to carry out large-scale layoffs in the army, eliminating people over 32 years old in the army. As usual, he followed the old routine and set up a department called "Police Lieutenant", which is the police. This is the retirement resettlement of veterans, and the police system was established.

The police under his command certainly cannot have as much power as the county lieutenant, but they are responsible for handling small disputes, arresting thieves, and maintaining local public security. The judicial system cannot be established so quickly, and there must be enough talents.

However, there are no conflicts among the people under his rule now, because the overall allocation of materials, without opening the market, everyone's food and clothing are all similar. Only when everyone starts to be self-reliant, then there will be more conflicts.

So the current police lieutenants have nothing to do, just assist the civilian officials, clean up the lazy and do not work, collect various data, and coordinate various matters. Another important task is to have children.

This is certainly not taught by Wang Yan, but they think that now that life is good, they should have more children to make life better. Anyway, whether you are poor or rich, you have to have more children, especially more males, because males represent labor and family force. This is a very simple idea, and of course it is what Wang Yan is happy to see.

However, in terms of favoring boys over girls, he shouted the slogan of "Women can be half the sky" across the ages. In fact, women have always been able to do this. Except for the rich and powerful, the daughters of the common people are all working, and the work is not easy. We must fully stimulate the subjective initiative of women and liberate more productivity as soon as possible.

Of course, women cannot be soldiers, as that would be sending warmth to the enemy, and it is even more impossible for them to be high-ranking officials. However, we must start from small things and slowly improve the status of women, such as female civil officials, female teachers, female doctors, and so on. There are always talented women who constantly break the upper limit of women, and this process should be left to nature.

During this process, Wang Yan also screened the cotton seeds early, and Yu Pingguo found a piece of land to plant first. This is the guarantee of life in Liaodong, cotton clothes, cotton pants, cotton shoes, and cotton quilts, and there will be no worries in the future. More and more people can work in winter. However, there is too little cotton now, and the army must be guaranteed first. Whether it is fighting or production, the army is the main force, and then it can benefit the people.

The Yellow Turbans who came to the north to surrender are still coming, but there is no such large team as before, all in small groups.

The problem of grain and grass has also been solved. Zhen Sheng is reliable and has people selling everywhere. He takes orders, and the wealthy families transport a large amount of grain to the north, just relying on papermaking and printing. At this time, this is a dimensionality reduction to cut leeks.

Therefore, Wang Yan harvested tens of thousands of bamboo slips in the first batch. At the same time, Zhen Sheng bribed the Ten Eunuchs and sold the books of the Secretary General, and thousands of bamboo slips were also transported to Liaodong.

Wang Yan found a large piece of land outside Tuhe City and personally designed a big library, which has already started construction. However, the construction speed was quite slow. After all, many people under his rule had not been settled yet. How could he build a large-scale project and occupy human resources? He just got dozens of people and built it bit by bit.

In the midst of the hustle and bustle, time came to August, the harvest season.

Cai Yong, who the general had waited for half a year, finally arrived...

Daily thanks to the good brothers who voted for the monthly ticket for support,

Thanks to the brothers who voted for the recommendation for support,

Thanks to the big brothers who read the book silently for support.