Chapter 168 Army Expansion Plan
Forget about other things, at least the military force in these three places must be guaranteed by Xuzhou.
Liu Bei thought about it and decided that in the three regions of Lu, Rencheng and the six northern counties of Pei, at least one army, or 4,000 people, must be placed in each region. Only in this way can local stability be ensured.
If encountering a large-scale attack, such as Cao Cao in Yanzhou, Liu Bei must maintain a legion of more than 35,000 people in Tancheng, which can take waterways at any time to quickly support the front line.
In this way, coupled with Langya's Chen Deng, the entire northern Xuzhou alone needs at least 52,000 troops.
Among them, there are 50,000 people in the army and 1 to 2,000 people in the navy.
At the same time, Xiapi State also needs four thousand to six thousand people to defend the right fan area of Pei State and the defense tasks in the direction of Jiujiang East City.
Finally, Guangling must deploy at least 10,000 legions, including 8,000 to 10,000 land troops and 2,000 navy troops.
In this way, Xuzhou needs an army of at least 66,000 people. If it wants to be more generous, then 70,000 to 80,000 people will be enough.
After listening to Liu Bei's words, Liu Feng couldn't help but smile bitterly.
When he came back this time, he hoped that Liu Bei could increase his troops in Guangling.
Judging from the current situation in Yangzhou, Guangling needs at least 20,000 additional troops, of which it is best to have 2,000 to 4,000 naval troops.
Otherwise, even if you join forces with Liu Yao, it may not be enough to intervene in Jiangdong quickly and effectively.
If Jiangdong is beaten to a pulp, it will only become a burden to Xuzhou, not a backup base.
"Father, our current total military strength in Xuzhou is 47,000. Among them, my father's personal guards, second uncle, third uncle, uncle Zilong, uncle Guorang, Grand Administrator Chen, and Prime Minister Zang are all 4,000. There are 28,000 troops here. In addition, there are 2,000 people from Xu Sheng's department, 1,000 people from Master Taishi, 1,000 people from Uncle Zijing, and 1,000 people from Zhou Tai and Jiang Qin. There are 5,000 county soldiers, 6,000 soldiers from Xiapi County, and 3,000 soldiers from the three counties of Langya, a total of 47,000 people."
"Not only can the main force in the field not be reduced, but it also needs to continue to expand."
Liu Feng counted on his fingers: "My father plans to let his uncle Guorang lead his troops to the State of Lu and serve as the captain of the State of Lu. In this way, Lu will All the soldiers from the country and counties can be dismissed, and those who have a livelihood can go home individually, while those who have no livelihood can be sent to Xuzhou, and they can be uniformly arranged to farm. In this way, the output of the state of Lu will be enough to support the army of Uncle Guorang. "< br>
"Although Rencheng State suffered a military disaster and suffered considerable losses, its vitality is still there. Zang Guoxiang's troops can also eat locally, and Lu and Pei can make up for the shortcomings. At the same time, It is also necessary to store enough food in Rencheng and Kangfu to prevent the enemy from sieging the city. At the same time, it can also be used as a stronghold for our Xuzhou army to rely on when it goes out."
"Similarly, if my father sends another one. If the army is stationed in the northern part of Pei State, the local county troops can still be abolished and replaced by our Xuzhou army. In this way, at least the rations can be saved. "
Liu Feng's calculations were very shrewd, and he raised troops in troubled times. The biggest expense is actually food.
The soldiers of the Eastern Han Dynasty have long been used to it if you don't pay the army. As long as you allow them to rob and massacre the city after the war. But if you cannot supply food, then these soldiers will rebel against you no matter how long they endure.
Although Liu Bei is very charming, he was secretly attacked by Lu Bu, attacked by Yuan Shu, and when he fled to Haixi, he would rather eat his soldiers than eat the people, or rebel against Liu Bei, but Liu Feng is absolutely Don't want to get to that point.
In this way, the food for 12,000 people will be transferred out, and Xuzhou will have a food gap, and it can immediately expand its army by at least 12,000 people.
"But father, I don't suggest that you let your second uncle go to Peiguo to serve as a captain for Chen Gong."
When the topic came up, Liu Feng began to persuade him: "Second uncle With a strong personality and a strong support for those below, Chen Gong is our important support in Xuzhou, and Chen Taishou is my father's confidant. If the second uncle and Chen Gong are unhappy, my father will be in a dilemma. "
Hearing this, Liu Bei's pupils shrank slightly, apparently he listened.
After a while, Liu Bei asked: "In your opinion, who would be better to send?"
Liu Feng chuckled and avoided answering: "The child naturally thinks so. His father's suggestion was correct, but the second uncle was really not suitable, so he checked and filled in the gaps for his father. "
Liu Bei glared at Liu Feng angrily and said disdainfully. : "We haven't seen each other for only two months, and you've already learned how to hide your shame in front of your father? As a father, I still want to listen to your advice, why don't you tell me?"
Liu Feng had no choice but to think about it.
After thinking for a while, he said: "Uncle Zijing has already made a lot of contributions. He went to Kaiyang to persuade Zang to surrender, and then forced him to surrender to Ju County. In the past two months, he has done a lot of work. Assisted Hai'er to capture Guangling and repelled Yuan Shu's counterattack. He promoted Uncle Zijing to the rank of captain of Pei State, expanded his headquarters to four thousand men, and stationed himself in Pei State to assist Duke Chen."
"Zijing. "
Liu Bei thought that in the past six months, he had indeed given Qianzhao many opportunities to gain military exploits in order to promote his opponent.
Now it seems that it is indeed feasible.
After all, the Captain is far less conspicuous than Zang Ba's Prime Minister.
So Liu Bei immediately decided: "Okay, let Zijing go."
Three vassal commanderies saved 12,000 people, plus the six thousand commanderies of Guangling There is no space for soldiers, so Xuzhou already has rations that can be expanded by 20,000 people.
Guangling’s six thousand county soldiers are definitely undervalued.
Guangling has not experienced war so far. When Zuo Rong went south, although he killed Zhao Yu and looted the area, he did not commit massacre. Cao Cao conquered Xuzhou twice and slaughtered Pengcheng into a wasteland. He burned, killed and plundered more than 20 counties. Only Guangling survived.
Guangling County originally had 11 counties and was the largest county in Xuzhou. However, its population was at the bottom of Xuzhou, with only 410,000 people.
But it is different now. The entire population of Xuzhou has dropped to 16.7 million, while Guangling County still has a population of nearly 400,000, which has greatly shortened the distance with other counties.
With the foundation of Guangling County, it is enough to support an army of 20,000 people.
Hearing Liu Feng's words, Liu Bei's eyes widened immediately, obviously shocked by the good news.
He couldn't help but ask: "How can Guangling County raise so many soldiers?"
Liu Feng immediately calculated an account for Liu Bei: "Before, Guangling and Langya were not in my father's hands. My father only relied on the dilapidated Donghai and Xiapi to support more than 40,000 soldiers and horses. The current population of Donghai and Xiapi is The total number is only eight to nine hundred thousand. There are 400,000 people in Guangling County, and they have never suffered from war. How can they not support 20,000 horses?"
"Not to mention that more than two months ago, although we sent troops south? , but it did not affect the summer harvest and autumn sowing in Guangling. There are hundreds of thousands of dans of grain in the treasury, enough to support 20,000 troops. "
Liu Bei was immediately overjoyed. In this way, Xuzhou can expand its strength by at least 30,000 taels. Thousands of people can already meet the minimum standard.
Liu Feng was a little hesitant. He had different ideas from Liu Bei. He actually wanted to save some resources and continue to expand the scale of his farming.
This year's summer harvest has ended, and the autumn harvest will begin soon. I believe that at least six to seven hundred thousand stones can be harvested.
If you can expand the scale of farming, your future profits will be higher. The earlier you expand, the higher the cost-effectiveness.
This cannot be seen yet, because the troubled times have just begun, and there are still a lot of people in various places.
Five years later, after the Battle of Guandu, there were vast tracts of wasteland in the Central Plains. Cao Cao had empty land but no one was cultivating it. Only then did he realize the preciousness of population.
If Xuzhou can take advantage of the current war in the Central Plains to receive more victims, restore the population of Xuzhou, and even immigrate to Jiangdong and develop Yangzhou.
This is a move that can really lay the foundation for future kingship.
Seeing the hesitation on Liu Feng's face, Liu Bei's heart skipped a beat. Is there any other difficulty that Feng'er didn't mention?
"Feng'er, if you have any difficulties, please tell me everything."
Liu Feng poured out what was on his mind.
Except when Liu Bei just heard that Liu Feng wanted to gather the refugees and provide them with farmland, Liu Bei raised his eyebrows slightly, and then remained silent.
It was not until Liu Feng finished speaking that Liu Bei said with relief, admiration and pride: "Feng'er, you can care about the people. I am very happy as a father."
"The sage said, he who wins the hearts of the people will win the world."
"He who wins the hearts of the emperor will win the princes." "He who wins the hearts of the princes will win the great officials."
"Watch the great officers. Those who are determined can only win scholars."
Liu Bei recounted his own experience: "When I started my career, I had no more than a hundred soldiers and only two generals. However, wherever I went, I always gave my best. Try your best and think about what you can do for the people.”
"My father's only thought at that time was to pity the suffering of the people, but he never thought about the people's hearts."
"It wasn't until Kong Wenju praised his father that his behavior was secretly in line with the saint's teachings, and the father suddenly felt like a saint. What's the truth?"
"Now, my son has just passed the age of adulthood, and his behavior is already consistent with the way of a saint. It's too late to be happy for his father, so how can I blame you?"
Liu Bei happily stroked Liu Feng's forehead and sighed: "You have such ambitions. As a father, I should help you do good deeds." It is enough to reorganize and dismantle all of them, leaving only two thousand elite soldiers. We can also disband half of the troops in Xiapi County and retain three thousand people. In this way, we can save five thousand people. Moreover, Zizhong mentioned to me a few days ago that because of the Due to the war, the harvest is not good. The harvest this summer and autumn will be at least 10% or 20% more than last year.”
Liu Bei counted on his fingers and said: "In this way, we can squeeze out enough rations for at least 20,000 people. If women, the elderly, and children eat less, we can arrange another six to seven thousand households."
At this age, a normal man needs two stones of food a month. Female elderly people need less, but they still need one and a half stones, and children need one stone.
However, this number is for rations during busy farming periods. When farming is slack, the rations can be greatly reduced. Only half or even one-third of the rations are needed to survive.
At this time, there are tens of thousands of refugees left outside Tancheng. In this way, they can almost be wiped out.
This is also an excellent political achievement for Liu Bei's reputation in power.
However, as a result, Liu Bei will be very cautious in his military operations next year.
Excluding Guangling, even if the Xuzhou Army in the north relies on waterways for supplies, Tancheng's food is only enough to carry out one or two defensive operations.
It is true that the food in Guangling cannot be moved. This is a necessary material to intervene in Jiangdong. If it is used, unless Liu Yao can provide food supplies for the Xuzhou army, Liu Feng can only watch the changes in Yangzhou. and was unable to intervene.
"Then let's tentatively decide on 7,000 households."
After thinking carefully, Liu Bei made a decision: "Bite your teeth and survive this year, next year there will be more than 10,000 households. In Mintun, life will be much easier.”
Liu Feng did the math and found that adding another seven thousand households to the number of villages was indeed within his capabilities.
So Liu Feng also agreed.
Then, he thought of something: "Father, it is best to arrange the farming households in the three counties of Xiangben to enrich the population here. It is also close to Tancheng, so you can check at any time."
Liu Bei readily agreed. The total number of households in the three counties is now only 5,000, which is really too few.
During the time of Emperor Ling, there were a total of thirteen counties and cities in Donghai Kingdom, with 148,784 households.
On average, there are more than 10,000 households in a county.
Although some counties have a large population and some have a small population, no matter how small the population is, there are always thousands of households. Xiangben, Lanling, and Chengxian are all located in plains, close to lakes and rivers, and the land is fertile. Even if they are placed in 30,000 to 40,000 households, they can still absorb it, and they can also cover the west of Tancheng. Naturally, there is no need to find additional local residents. Tun.
"Father, I have brought back two talented people this time. One is named Bu Zhao Bu Zi Shan and the other is Wei Jing Wei Zi Qi. Both of them have the ability to manage politics and can be tried out."
Liu Feng recommended: "Especially Bu Zha Bu Zi Shan. This person has a generous and profound character. He can bend his ambitions, humiliate himself, but stick to the bottom line. He understands the overall situation, knows how to advance and retreat, and is both civil and military. , he can take on important tasks in the future.”
Afterwards, Liu Feng revealed the matter of Bu Zhi and Wei Jing’s visit to Jiao Jiao.
After Liu Bei heard this, he nodded in agreement and said: "Looking at it from this point of view, this Buzishan is indeed extraordinary. He can bend his body and keep his duty, but does not belittle himself. He is a man. It's just that Wei Jing's character is really not good. Visiting Jiao Jiao is a great man. In order to protect himself, why can’t he bear the slightest humiliation if he visits for this purpose? Wouldn’t it be contrary to him if he turned against her face to face?”
“Besides, what Bu Zhi did was right, but how could he be angry with his best friend? Ye."
Liu Bei made a decision: "Wei Jing has a bad mind and a frivolous personality. He wants others but is proud of himself. Feng'er must be careful not to reuse him in the future."
Liu Feng had planned this, so he naturally agreed immediately.
The father and son then decided to let Wei Jing go to Chengxian County to be the chief clerk, and let Bu Zhi work as Lu Su's deputy. At the same time, he would write a letter to Lu Su, so that he could give Bu Zhi more opportunities to train his opponent. .
Later, Liu Bei and Liu Feng got back to business and decided on quotas for army expansion.
Chen Deng, Tian Yu, Zang Ba, and Qianzhao each have a full complement of four thousand men and are stationed in important places, needless to say.
The central army in Tancheng includes Liu Bei's personal guards, the two armies of Guan Yu and Zhang Fei, two to three thousand men in the hands of Xu Dan and Zhang Jie, and finally the five thousand soldiers of Donghai County.
The troops of Donghai County have been reduced to 2,000. The two to three thousand Danyang soldiers in the hands of Xu Dan and Zhang Lie can be digested by this military expansion. If Zhang Lie is willing, he can continue to lead the troops. Xu Dan was transferred to the state capital for resettlement.
At this time, Liu Bei had enough confidence to move Xu Dan, and Xu Dan did not dare to resist at all.
But in this way, Liu Bei's personal guards, Guan Yu and Zhang Fei's three armies, only have 12,000 people. If the army is expanded, Xiahou Bo can command an army alone, and there are no other suitable candidates.
Liu Bei instead asked Liu Feng if he had any suitable candidates to recommend.
Objectively speaking, Liu Feng has a lot of candidates here. Taishi Ci, Xu Sheng, Dong Xi, Gan Ning, Zhou Tai, Jiang Qin, and Pan Zhang are all tiger generals.
It’s just that these people are new to Xuzhou and have no meritorious achievements.
Only Taishi Ci, Xu Sheng, and Pan Zhang can be promoted to become the leader of an army. In fact, Pan Zhang still has less qualifications and merit. It is already a great favor for others to be able to lead a force of a thousand people.
Moreover, Liu Feng also has his own little thoughts. If he is recommended to Liu Bei now, he will probably become Liu Bei's general. These people were recruited by him with all his efforts, and Liu Bei also arranged them for him by default. If he was recommended at this time, he would definitely have to return them to Liu Bei.
Fortunately, Liu Feng quickly thought of a way.
"Father, in this case, why not increase the strength of the army."
Liu Feng considered: "In fact, from his son's point of view, the Lu State and Ren State where Grand Administrator Zang and Uncle Guorang are located are The city is geographically deep into the hinterland of Yanzhou. Although it is connected by waterways, the distance is not close. "
"Take the Rencheng Kingdom of Zang Governor as an example. There are two important places, Rencheng County and Kangfu County. , one is indispensable. Four thousand soldiers and horses are really insufficient. In this case, it is better to expand the number of troops from two schools to six thousand."
"In this way, the three kingdoms of Lu, Pei, and Rencheng have 18,000 people, and Tancheng's troops are easily mobilized to support them. Once the decisive battle occurs, my father will lead more than 20,000 Chinese troops from Tancheng to rush to the aid of the three kingdoms. It can be said that he is waiting for work. "
At this time, Liu Bei suddenly asked: "More than 20,000 Chinese troops?"
Liu Feng nodded: "Father's Chinese army, plus his second uncle, third uncle, and General Xiahou, Tancheng can expand the number of 24,000 elite troops from the 12th School of the Fourth Army."
"In this way, plus the 4,000 troops of Governor Chen of Langya, 3,000 soldiers of Langya County, and 2 soldiers of Donghai County. Thousands of troops, Xiapi County's troops were 3,000, Xuzhou's total military strength in the north was 54,000, excluding the 12,000 troops borne by the new county, Xuzhou's total troops not only did not increase, but also increased from 47,000. The number of people dropped to 42,000, a reduction of 5,000."
Liu Bei thought about it carefully, and it was indeed the case, and it was exactly in line with his request, which was a reduction of two. The number of soldiers from Qianxia Pi County and 3,000 soldiers from Donghai County.
"Okay, this is how the military affairs of the northern counties have been decided."
Liu Bei was very satisfied and immediately made a decision: "I will discuss this plan with your second uncle and third uncle. As long as they have no objections , Just do it like this."
At this point, Liu Bei thought of Guangling's situation and asked, "How do you plan to expand Guangling?"
Liu Feng already had a plan in mind. He came up with his own idea: "Uncle Zilong will not move for the time being and still maintain the size of an army. Teacher Taishi and Wen Xiang can both expand into an army, Pan Zhang can expand into a school, and Guangling's powerful Li Zhang can also unite an army. , Zhou Tai, Jiang Qin, Dong Xi, and Gan Ning each expanded their troops to 1,000 men, so there were exactly 20,000 people.”
(End of this chapter)