Chapter 193: Aftermath in Qu County
Even with such a great contribution and the request for reinforcements caught Cao Cao's attention, it would still be several years before Chen Jiao became the county magistrate.
Now Liu Feng actually directly recommended him as the magistrate of Qu County. You can imagine how much distance has been missed.
When Xu Xuan on the side heard these words, his eyes immediately widened.
He couldn't believe that Chen Jiao, a man of the same race, could be so recommended by the prince.
Xu Xuan felt a little jealous, but he didn't hold a grudge.
Xu Xuan's character is like this. He will say something if he doesn't like it, but not to the person.
The reason why he has always been targeting Chen Jiao is that Chen Jiao is married to the same race and refuses to reconcile with his wife. This can be regarded as a different kind of wrongdoing.
"Mr. Baojian."
When Xu Xuan was thinking about how to reveal Chen Jiao's true identity to Liu Feng, he suddenly heard Liu Feng calling him.
"Young Master, my subordinates are here."
Liu Fenghexi said: "Mr. Baojian is upright and upright, hates evil as much as hatred, and is the right person for the county. Feng wants to recommend Mr. Baojian to his father to work for Donghai. "I wonder what you think, sir?"
Although the county officials are only six hundred stone officials in the state government, in terms of real power, they are in charge of the county magistrate, which is one of the important means for the state government to evaluate the local government.
What’s even more coincidental is that Qu County is affiliated with Donghai, and isn’t Donghai’s job an important position in assessing the county magistrates and county governments in Donghai?
In this way, although Xu Xuan was inferior to Chen Jiao in terms of rank, he happened to surpass him in terms of actual power, which made Xu Xuan very happy.
Moreover, after serving as a county official, Xu Xuan could also be moved to the county magistrate or even the county magistrate.
If Chen Jiao had not made any big achievements during his tenure in Qu County, the career paths of the two parties would not have been much different.
Although Chen Jiao's expression was calm, his eyes showed unconcealable depression, but Xu Xuan's face was filled with gratitude.
Liu Feng was also funny in his heart. He also knew that Xu Xuan was not an official fan, but he was at odds with Chen Jiao.
In the original time and space, these two people had been at odds with each other for a whole life, and Chen Jiao obviously had a higher official position and title, but he still couldn't do anything against the other.
By the time of Cao Pi's dynasty, Xu Xuan could no longer keep up with Chen Jiao, but he fell into Cao Pi's eye during the southern campaign against the King of Wei and Wu, and the two sides were neck and neck again.
When he arrived at Cao Rui, Chen Jiao only dared to boycott Sima Yi and was not the one who trusted him, while Xu Xuan was regarded by Emperor Ming as someone who could shoulder the burden of being a lonely man.
That is to say, Xu Xuan died early, otherwise he could at least be on the same level as Jiang Ji and Chen Qun.
Seeing Xu Xuan frowning coldly at Chen Jiao, and the latter looking at his nose and heart with nothing but nothing in mind, Liu Feng shook his head and laughed.
It seems that in this time and space, Xu Xuan and Chen Jiao will continue to fight.
Soon, Tai Shici and others gathered their troops and horses, and after arranging the surrendered family soldiers, they all came to Mi Mansion to resume their lives.
Liu Feng naturally summoned them immediately.
"Greetings to the young master!"
Taishici and others were wearing iron armor, but they still knelt down on one knee to pay military salute.
"Teacher, please get up, and all the generals are also getting up."
Liu Feng was very polite, and the word "general" also made Dong Xi and Jiang Qin feel happy.
Gan Ning and Pan Zhang were beaming with joy, and there was no hint of guilt at all.
In terms of military rank, both of them are just Sima from other departments.
But he was born with a proud character, but he accepted all Liu Feng's complimentary photos.
Not to mention, Pan Zhang and Gan Ning got along well with each other, but the closest person to Gan Ning turned out to be Tai Shi Ci.
I don't know whether it was because both of them were very good at shooting, but Gan Ning was very impressed with Tai Shi Ci and got along well with him.
The generals reported one by one the results of their missions, the placement of prisoners, and the distribution of rewards.
Not to mention anything else, the treatment of the Xuzhou Army under Liu Feng is definitely the best among the Han Dynasties at this time. Of course, this is talking about the regular troops.
As for the core units that are the favorites of various warlords, such as Gongsun Zan’s White Horse Yi Cong, Yuan Shao’s Euphorbia Knights, Cao Cao’s Tiger and Leopard Cavalry, the core elites of the Qingzhou Army, etc., the treatment is still not as good as .
But from another perspective, Liu Feng can be regarded as raising all his troops as core elites.
"Teacher."
Liu Feng called to Tai Shici: "You can choose any two hundred people from the Guangling Army as cavalry reserves. All the horses captured this time will also be allocated to you. Within the year, I will I will allocate another hundred war horses to you."
When Taishi Ci heard this, he was immediately surprised and stood up to express his thanks.
Liu Feng waved his hand. The reason why he had this confidence was simply that hundreds of war horses from Governor Zang Ba Zang were coming back soon. Since these war horses were frosted sugar and snow salt produced by Liu Feng, That should naturally belong to him, Liu Feng.
This should be a very reasonable thing, right?
"Wen Gui, the same goes for your army. You can select brave warriors from the Guangling army. The armored army will be expanded to 2,000 men. I will give you another 200 sets of armor within the year."
Liu Feng His words made Pan Zhang jump up with excitement. With an establishment of 2,000 people, Pan Zhang's military rank must have moved up, and his minimum guarantee was that of a school lieutenant.
"Zhang thanks you young master for your kindness!"
Liu Feng waved his hand and asked Pan Zhang to get up.
Then he looked at Dong Xi, Gan Ning and Jiang Qin: "Yuan Dynasty, Xingba, Gongyi, each of your troops can be expanded to a thousand men, and all the ships captured this time will be allocated to you. But I I’ve said it before, although you have formed an independent army, you must cooperate more. The navy is different from the army. If you don’t practice more frequently and cooperate temporarily, your combat power will not increase but will decrease. You must not be careless. ”
"Yes! I obey the order of the young master!"
Dong Xi, Gan Ning, and Jiang Qin also stood up and knelt down to Liu Feng to thank him.
Especially Dong Xi and Gan Ning, both of whom were newly attached, but Liu Feng treated them as confidants, expanded the army, and rewarded them for their hard work, treating them all equally.
This allowed Dong Xi and Gan Ning to integrate into the Xuzhou army without feeling unfamiliar.
“One more thing, the navy must not only get used to rivers, but also to the ocean.”
The ocean voyage Liu Feng mentioned here is not the ocean voyage of later generations, but actually the offshore voyage.
Navigation technology during the Eastern Han Dynasty was actually quite advanced. During Sun Quan's time, he traveled as far as Liaodong in the north, as far as Japan and Taiwan in the east, and as far as the Indochina Peninsula in the south.
This is also Liu Feng's confidence in making this request.
“As for the deployment of ships, you can discuss it yourself and then report it to the state government for approval.”
Ships in rivers and ships in the ocean are two types of ships, apart from anything else. One is fresh water and the other is salt water. This difference alone is quite big, not to mention that the wind and waves on the sea are several times or even ten times that of the river.
Dong Xi and others all agreed. Even Gan Ning was as docile as a cat. After all, he had just received a big fruit, and it was too late to be happy, and his hair would explode.
Liu Feng was also extremely satisfied. He knew that these salt tycoons were very fat, but he really didn't expect that these salt tycoons could be so fat.
Historically, the Mi family was able to provide a dowry of 100 million yuan, plus two to three thousand strong boy servants to invest in Liu Bei, who was in trouble.
Although these salt tycoons individually cannot compare to the Mi family, together they are as large as several Mi families.
No wonder it is said that in the Taiping Era, most of Xuzhou’s wealth was in the East China Sea, and most of the East China Sea’s wealth was in Qu County.
When discussing with Mi Zhu to restore Pengcheng State, Liu Feng even hinted that the other party could first use the dowry to support Pengcheng State's finances.
Mi Zhu was surprised and agreed, but Liu Feng was still quite embarrassed.
If I had known that I could make such a big fortune, I would not have mentioned it at that time.
With such a huge fortune, Liu Feng did not want to expand his army wantonly. What he wanted most was to rely on this money and food to control the counties of Pengcheng Kingdom, Xiapi, and Donghai that were ravaged by Cao Cao. Get back up.
Now that this money is invested, it can take as little as one or two years and as many as three or four years. Xuzhou's income can increase by at least 50%. If you are more optimistic, it can even double.
At the same time, the output of ordnance supplies will also be greatly increased. The output of armor can be increased to 300 sets within one year, to 450 sets within two years, and to 600 sets within three years.
After pacifying Qu County, Liu Feng left Chen Jiao to act as the magistrate of Qu County, Xu Xuan assisted, Zhou Tai, Jiang Qin, Gan Ning, Dong Xi and others temporarily stationed outside Qu County, taking Taishi with him Ci's cavalry and Pan Zhang's 500 armored soldiers escorted more than 4,000 surrendered rebels, as well as a large amount of relatively high value goods such as gold, silver, jewelry, and plain silk towards Tancheng. Other five-baht coins, grain and other heavy items will be slowly transported by water to Tancheng, Pengcheng and Guangling by Zhou Tai, Jiang Qin, Gan Ning and Dong Xi.
There is no way, who made the food too heavy, only by taking the waterway can the consumption be minimized.
On the way, I met my second uncle, who was leading two thousand people to Tancheng.
Seeing that Liu Feng was safe and sound, although Mr. Guan's expression did not change, Liu Feng could clearly feel his relief and joy.
After caring about Liu Feng, the second master wanted to continue to Qu County.
Liu Feng naturally didn't want his second uncle to run away in vain again, so he asked Guan Yu to escort him back to Tancheng first on the pretext that there were many prisoners and not enough manpower.
Guan Yu thought about it for a while. Although he was determined to carry out Liu Bei's order, he was really worried about Liu Feng, so he turned back at Liu Feng's request.
At the same time, Guan Yu and Liu Feng flew to Tancheng to ask Liu Bei for instructions.
Although there are only so many steps in total, whether or not you ask for instructions is a very critical difference.
There is a high probability that Liu Bei will not care, but he is always afraid of the unexpected.
When Liu Feng and Guan Yu returned to Tancheng, they were surprised to find that Liu Bei went out of the city to greet them in person.
"Feng'er, you did a very good job this time."
Liu Bei often praised Liu Feng, but this time he was particularly serious about it.
The reason is also very simple. My dear brother gave me too much.
The money cleared out alone is worth more than 600 million, of which gold and silver are worth 200 million. There is also the more than 600,000 grains. Thinking about the beginning of this year, the Mi family and the Chen family tried their best to help, and they only collected 100,000 grains. This amount is six times more.
And according to the interrogation of the prisoners, these people also hoarded a lot of food in the docks in Qushan and other mountains, a conservative estimate of more than 100,000 dan. Just look at these people's soldiers and salt collectors to feed thousands of people. There are also tenants and salt workers who farm the land and cook salt for them. Naturally, they need a lot of food.
Now that Liu Feng has returned safely and the rebellion in Qu County has been quelled, Guan Yu naturally does not need to go to Qu County anymore and stays directly in Tancheng.
At the same time, Liu Bei also agreed to Liu Feng's request and announced that Chen Jiao was the magistrate of Qu County and Xu Xuan was working for Donghai. They were temporarily stationed in Qu County to preside over the aftermath of the Yanhao rebellion in Qu County.
Xu Xuan is an upright man, hates evil as much as he hates evil, and is extremely honest. Liu Feng is very relieved to use him to end the affair.
"Feng'er, what do you think about this money and food?"
Liu Bei had a smile on his face. In less than a year, he seemed to be dreaming.
What a dream this is?
At the beginning of last year, while I was still living in Qingzhou, holding the official position of Prime Minister of Pingyuan, I had already asked Yuan Tan to cross the Yellow River and live in Qi State.
At that time, I had only a few hundred dan of money and food, and less than a thousand soldiers. How could I have imagined that I would be as prosperous as I am today.
With his current strength, not to mention Yuan Tan, even if Yuan Shao goes south in person, Liu Bei is confident that he can compete with him.
"Father, I still think it is most cost-effective to use it for farming."
Liu Feng urged Liu Bei to continue farming. At present, Xuzhou needs people, land, and food. Funds are needed, and Pengcheng also has iron ore and coal mines, and it is also a water and land transportation hub. It is really a God-given treasure.
It used to be that Xuzhou was easy to attack and difficult to defend, but now the two mountain valleys to the north and Rencheng Tianxian, Lu, and Pei to the west are in Xuzhou's hands. The entire hinterland of Xuzhou has been covered and has become a large rear.
Coupled with the rare stability of the situation, if Xuzhou can take the opportunity to cultivate the land for two or three years, he can even go north to Hebei and take the initiative to find trouble with Yuan Benchu.
Liu Bei looked a little hesitant. It was not that he was unwilling to farm. This was a good thing to gather the refugees and save the common people.
It’s just that Liu Bei hesitated whether to invest such huge resources in farming.
Liu Feng continued his efforts: "Father, do you still remember what the child said last time? Now that Xuzhou is surrounded by war, it is a rare and best time to absorb the population. After waiting for this period of time, Cao Cao After defeating Lu Bu, Yuan Shao defeated Gongsun, Yuan Tan annexed Kong Rong, and Sun Ce swept across Jiangdong, all warlords would realize the emptiness of their own population. It would be difficult for Xuzhou to recruit more people. "
"Take Yanzhou as an example. Before the Yellow Turban Rebellion, Yanzhou had a total household registration of 800,000 and a population of more than 4 million. But now, after the Yellow Turban Rebellion, Yanzhou is experiencing internal strife, and there are probably even millions of people in Yanzhou. It may not be possible. ”
The battle between Cao and Lu in Yanzhou was so fierce, and it was also mixed with various natural disasters. At that time, the price of food in Yanzhou even reached a sky-high price of 150,000 yuan per stone.
Of course, this price is priceless and there is no market. If any of the surrounding grain merchants dares to sell grain to Yanzhou at this time, they will be robbed of fat pigs.
The number of people in Yanzhou who were robbed, killed, and starved to death far exceeded the sum of the previous Yellow Turban Rebellion, the feudal princes' rebellion against Dong, and the Yanzhou Civil War combined.
After this battle, Yanzhou, which was originally extremely powerful and had 18 princes monopolizing four roads, collapsed and never regained its original glory.
Cao Cao later relied mainly on the four kingdoms of Liang, Pei, Chen, and Lu in Yuzhou, as well as the Yingchuan County garrisons, which consumed most of Cao Cao's efforts and resources, to compete with Yuan Shao.
The relationship between Yanzhou and Cao Cao at that time was only a little better than the relationship between Xuzhou and Cao Cao.
So after the Battle of Guandu, Cao Cao couldn't win Hebei at all. On the contrary, after his disastrous defeat in Chibi, he almost suffered a big loss.
After Cao Cao became a prince, he would rather deeply offend the nobles in Henan than build the feudal state in Hebei. Checking and balancing the scholars in Henan was the main reason. At the same time, Cao Cao's relationship with the people in Henan was extremely bad, which was also an important factor. .
"Father, the population decline in Yanzhou is not all due to death."
Liu Feng continued: "At least two to three hundred thousand of them were displaced and became refugees in surrounding states. .”
Having said this, Liu Feng showed a somewhat sinister smile: "If we announce to farm in Pengcheng at this time, how many people in Yanzhou will flock to you?" ”
“In fact, the same is true for governing a country. It is far better to kill ten enemies than to kill ten enemies.”
Liu Feng’s reasoning was easy to understand, and Liu Bei heard it. Just understand.
But he still hesitated a little: "Is this... not too cruel? Cao Mengde is a very vengeful person, and he is very petty."
But Liu Feng was nonchalant: "Father, only if Yanzhou is weak can Cao Mengde be sober. If Yanzhou has strong soldiers and horses, Xun Wenruo, Cheng Zhongde, Xi Zhicai, and Xia Houyuanrang will all be in vain. Cao Mengde will definitely come to see him. Xuzhou is in trouble and the army is invading the country. "
"My son's policy is precisely for the harmony between Yan and Xu."
Liu Bei blinked, your father and I are Cao Cao's friends. Why do you seem to understand Cao Mengde's temperament better than your father and I?
Liu Bei thought about it carefully. Judging from Cao Cao's personality, Liu Feng was really very accurate.
"Okay, if that's the case, then the burden that Zizhong will have to add is not a small one."
Liu Bei gently stroked his beard with his hand and frowned: "You have to send him some manpower, otherwise he will definitely not be able to handle it alone."
Liu Feng nodded in agreement: "Father, son Jing has been running the farming in the three counties of Tanxi for a long time without any mistakes. At least Pengcheng can be appointed as the general person in charge. In addition, brothers Zhuge of Langya, Chen Wan and Chen Ying of Xiapi are also available. In my opinion, Zang Ai, the son of Zang Xuangao, Sun Yu, the son of Sun Guan, and Chang Rong, the son of Chang Xi, all have talents in the county and can be put on trial. "
Zang Ba has two sons and a daughter, together with his wives and concubines. They stayed in Tancheng together.
Although Liu Bei did not request it, his Taishan Party members followed suit and kept their families in Tancheng as hostages when they went out to lead troops.
But these people have nothing to do in Tancheng, especially Zang Ai, Sun Yu, Chang Rong and others who are all very capable.
In this case, why not take advantage of it? Zang Ba and the others must be very happy and relieved to receive their heirs integrated into the Xuzhou official group, right?
“Oh?”
Liu Bei also remembered these people after being reminded by Liu Feng.
Although Zang Ba and the others are known as Taishan thieves, all six of their brothers are literate and have read books.
Especially Zang Ba, whose father was a big official in the county and was raised as a nobleman since he was a child. It’s just that Zang Ba himself prefers the powerful route. In the end, thanks to his powerful character, he saved his father’s life. .
"Okay, let them go and attack Zizhong."
Liu Bei nodded, and even drew inferences: "Mr. Chen will be arriving soon, and I can just ask him about famous people in Yuzhou, but I have some recommendations. , Be prepared for everything.”
The Chen Gong in Liu Bei’s mouth is naturally Chen Qun’s father and Chen Deng’s idol Chen Ji.
Yuzhou is really not at peace, especially Yingchuan County, which relies on Sili. This year, Zhang Ji led the Xiliang Army to raid it again, and the situation is very tragic.
A large number of Yuzhou scholars fled again. It turned out that they fled to Jingzhou in time and space.
There should be something different in this time and space. Xuzhou should also be a good choice, but I don’t know how many people will flee to Xuzhou.
Not to mention other things, most of the talents such as Du Xi, Du Ji, Zhao Yan and Fan Qin came from Yuzhou.
(End of this chapter)