Goose Three Kingdoms

Chapter 554: The Confluence of the Hu
In Pingcheng, Liu Bei stood on the city wall wearing armor and looked in the direction Guan Yu pointed.

At the place where the Wuhuan giant-horned stag battle flag was, Tadun was gathering the leaders of the Han and Hu coalition forces outside the city to give a speech.

Guan Yu said: "The Wuhuan came very quickly, and we have divided our forces to surround them. Now we open the city and let them in, so they can avoid harm. But the food in the city is less than ten days. If a large group of people and horses enter, they will not be able to survive for five days. Unless we kill the horses, the morale of the troops will be lost."

The pressure of insufficient food and fodder always existed. Liu Bei said calmly: "The troops also know that Pingcheng has insufficient food reserves. If we let them enter the city, they will hesitate. Tadun Bu's troops are nearby. If we open the city gates, the troops will rush in and disrupt their formation."

He turned to look at Zhao Yun, who was in charge of scouting: "Zilong, where is the Grand Marshal?"

"At Chanhebi, the Grand Marshal's vanguard troops took over the Chanhebi camp yesterday evening. The fodder in the camp is enough for the Grand Marshal's horses for seven days."

Zhao Yun added: "The Grand Marshal's men have fought in succession and captured many horses."

"My lord, with seven days of fodder and the slaughter of the horses accompanying the army, the Grand Marshal can hold out for half a month. Within half a month, Ma Teng will surely be able to come to our aid."

Zhao Yun pointed at Tadun and his men who were discussing in the distance, "The tribes outside the city are already short of food and fodder. According to the news from the Grand Marshal, Kebi Neng has led the Xianbei tribes to flee from Guangning. When the troops from Hebei arrive, the enemy will be even short of food and fodder."

Sun Qian also said: "The land of Dai is barren, and the Xianbei people migrated, driving away all the cattle, sheep and animals, and it was difficult for the enemy to find the herds."

Zhao Yun continued, "Zhang Yan has occupied Dai County. Even if the small Wuhuan tribes south of Dai County have herds of beasts, it will be difficult to drive them to the front line. On the other hand, if the herds of beasts of the Wuhuan tribes in Yanmen, west of Pingcheng, are driven to the front line, they can provide the enemy with five to ten days of expenses. During this period, if the follow-up grain transport team from Hebei arrives, the enemy's food shortage will be solved."

Zhao Yun pointed to the east and said, "If the Wuhuan tribe in Yuyang offers their beasts, they can sustain us for more than five days. It will be difficult for our army to stop them."

Liu Bei estimated in his mind and asked Xu Shu: "What do you think, Advisor?"

"Food and fodder are no longer enough to control the enemy's numbers."

Xu Shu gave his own judgment, and pointed at Tadun with his narrow feather fan in his hand: "My lord has always been kind and benevolent, and he will not do such a thing as asking the tribes to offer their beasts. This battle is a matter of life and death for the Donghu and the two states. We should go all out. If the two sides fight for a long time, our city will be the first to run out of food without help. Please send an envoy to the Grand Marshal to explain the difficulties."

Liu Bei nodded. He had experienced the pain of being out of food once, a pain that was unforgettable, and he didn't want to experience it a second time.

He turned to look at Zhao Yun and said, "Tonight, Zilong will lead the elite cavalry to break through the siege and go to Chanhe Pond to meet the Grand Marshal. The Grand Marshal's food storage is insufficient, and I do not ask him to share food with me. Zilong can cooperate with Yide to defeat the enemy and kill the bandits, plunder food and feed the beasts to solve the shortage in Pingcheng."

"Here!"

Zhao Yun agreed immediately. They were all from the border counties and knew the background of the Han-Hu coalition outside the city very well. It was only a matter of time before they were recruited by Tadun.

It was difficult to rob them before, but after this group of people defected, we had no worries when we took action.

Then Liu Bei looked at the Han and Hu leaders gathered in the distance. He looked calm. After a moment, he turned his head and said to Guan Yu: "Yun Chang, perhaps the Grand Marshal is right. To wipe out those people is the way to ensure long-term peace and stability in the border counties. Although it is benevolent to turn the Hu into civilians, it will cause long-term harm."

"Brother, what you said is absolutely right."

Guan Yu also breathed a sigh of relief, as he knew how much suffering Liu Bei had been experiencing during this period.

The attachment of the Youzhou folks is not false, but it comes at a price.

The intention was to slowly make adjustments and improve the overall atmosphere in Youzhou, but the meeting proposed by the Grand Marshal intensified the contradictions that existed during this period of transformation and reform.

Liu Bei was also dragging his feet, waiting to join forces with Guan Yu and Zhao Yun to strengthen the central army, and then go for the meeting after reaching an internal consensus.

Unexpectedly, the Grand Marshal acted so drastically that he actually took the Feihu Trail to the east, which not only triggered the rebellion of the powerful people in Youzhou, but also in Jizhou.

Guan Yu was not sure what to say about Liu Bei's original plan.

But in terms of self-perception and nature, Guan Yu has always disliked these powerful people.

Only by cleaning thoroughly can the livelihood of the people be ensured.

As for Zhang Fei's impatience, Guan Yu still felt that Zhang Fei was not ruthless enough and actually scared Xian Yu Fu away.

If Guan Yu had not been concerned about his reputation and Liu Bei's feelings, he would have taken action long ago.

Zhang Fei felt uncomfortable being caught in the middle of the conflict between Yuan Cong's generals and Youzhou's heroes, let alone Guan Yu and Zhao Yun.

While they were discussing, the camp at Chanhepi was already filled with snoring.

The soldiers and horses were tired from the march, and there was enough fodder and straw stored in the camp. After a simple division of the camp, many officers and soldiers fell asleep in the haystacks without even having time to take off their armor.

As the name suggests, Chanhebi is a relatively large water conservancy project.

For stationing troops here, the water ponds and embankments are excellent fortifications.

The nearby fields are open and flat, with excellent views.

When the armies of both sides engage in a decisive battle, they will both look for an open terrain where their side will not suffer a disadvantage.

The Chanhe Pond was a good place. Liu Bei initially chose to build a camp here as a meeting place, taking into account the risk of unexpected attacks. The terrain is open, and the water pond camp has a little height and visual advantage; meeting the enemy here, he can calmly deploy troops and meet the enemy.

Most importantly, there will be no shortage of water in the camp.

Black Bear led Fa Zheng, Zhang Liao and Zhang Fei to inspect the terrain outside the camp. Every time they walked a certain distance, they would draw rough contour lines on the map based on the undulating terrain.

Just by looking at the contour lines, you can clearly see the undulations of the terrain.

Rivers, roads, and nearby villages where all residents had fled were also marked.

By the time I finished all this, it was almost evening.

As the sky grew dark, the camp was filled with the smell of horse fat. There was a lack of heavy food to suppress the smell, and Black Bear couldn't help vomiting when he entered the camp.

The little appetite they had immediately disappeared, and everyone returned to the spacious barracks made of logs. The shogunate camp had already arranged tables and chairs and began to organize and audit the military achievements during this period.

Yang Xiu came forward, handed over the initial merit verification document, and said to Black Bear: "Your Majesty, the first meritorious service belongs to General Taishi... If the meritorious service is correct, the soldiers of the Iron Cavalry Battalion should be awarded the rank of major at the lowest level and should be appointed as battalion supervisors. More than half of the soldiers in the battalion have made outstanding contributions. If they are promoted to lieutenant colonel without any merit in leading troops, it will be against military law."

This is a pure merit of beheading people. According to the previous regulations, captain is the limit.

A captain can serve as deputy battalion commander, and promotions from second lieutenant onwards should be assessed based on the rate of beheadings and casualties.

So far, all the enemies killed in the battle have been counted as merit on a one-to-one basis, and there is no saying that a few heads of the Qiang people can be converted into one level of Xiongnu.

In this respect, the enemy's gold content is consistent, which reduces the workload of nuclear power.

Black Bear took the certificate and glanced at it, then said, "The soldiers of the Iron Cavalry Battalion are only good at charging into battle, not commanding troops, so we will only increase their salary and rank, and their military rank will only be major. When their rank and salary are equal to that of colonel, they will be granted a 2,000-acre estate. If they make further meritorious service in the future, their estate will be increased to 10,000 acres."

The income from this part of the manor and land, including the salaries and military pay of the soldiers and the share of the spoils after the war, after the final expenses were distributed, still went into Black Bear's personal expenditure quota.

This money and grain was not wasted. After it was actually spent, he was allowed to use it as temporary rewards.

Up to now, he has not made any personal expenditures from the public treasury in Guanzhong. All expenditures are for public use and the accounts are clear.

Many officials were able to control their hands. In addition to strict laws and new policies, another important reason was that Black Bear did not embezzle personal funds.

In addition to the public treasury, there are some units similar to the Shaofu, such as the coinage of the Sijin Duwei. This money is not managed by the various departments of the shogunate. What they can manage are regular income such as land tax, land rent, and commercial tax.

Even the revenue from Kurokima's personal farm was only collected as a commercial tax by the shogunate, and the operating income was also Kurokima's personal expenditure.

In addition, Hei Xiong, Dongxiang, and Xixiang only routinely distributed food rations and cloth according to the population. Other income such as currency, Shu brocade, and luxury goods could only come from the operating income of farms, mines, workshops, and shops.

As for the spoils of war... in addition to internal reward expenses, large herds of animals, slaves, and animal skins will also be transferred to the public treasury, but the public treasury will also increase the expenses for the titles and salaries of meritorious officials.

In general, public treasury revenue and expenditure cover a wide range of areas, but it cannot control personal business income.

Salt, iron, grain, and wine are monopolies, but the profits from tea, coins, Shu brocade, and caravans are very considerable.

As the Taoist soldiers gain more and more merit, Black Bear will send people to manage the farms they legally acquire in the future, which can be regarded as additional income.

Zhang Liao and Zhang Fei didn't think there was anything strange about these words.

After following Liu Bei for so long, financial expenditures have basically always revolved around the development of the military, and no one has much private property.

Zhang Liao did not find it strange. There was no abundant money and grain during Lu Bu's time, and the money and grain were used for military construction. Even though Zhang Liao was very independent, the taxes and rents he received were used to support the army, and his personal wealth was not much.

As for Cao Cao's government, which was supported by the Han Dynasty court, Cao Cao could allocate financial resources, but he could not withdraw funds from the national treasury for personal use; he also used his personal wealth to handle personal affairs.

It was under this kind of clear distinction between public and private finances that Cao Cao had famous tycoons such as Cao Hong, Liu Xun, and Lou Gui.

The reason Cao Hong was criticized and ridiculed was that his means of acquiring personal wealth were not very good.

Yang Xiu quickly took out another form for Black Bear to look at. This was the data on how the Iron Cavalry soldiers would be promoted in rank by beheading others in the future.

If a major battalion commander wants to be promoted to the next level, he needs to have 700 men under his command, a 30% profit and no losses, and he needs to capture and kill 210 people to be promoted to lieutenant colonel.

When he led the troops, he led more than 700 people to behead and capture prisoners, while the soldiers of the Iron Cavalry Battalion rode alone to kill.

Tactical merits, as well as merits such as beheading generals, breaking through enemy lines, and being the first to reach the enemy's territory, must also be added to offset the number of heads. So in the table, a major cavalryman who has obtained various buffs needs to chop off fifty heads to be promoted to lieutenant colonel; to go one level higher, he needs to chop off three times the number of heads.

The number of heads that these tactical merits were used to offset was drawn up by Yang Xiu himself. It was not exaggerated, but it was also extremely difficult for ordinary people.

But Black Bear thought it was reasonable and approved of the table Yang Xiu had drawn up, saying, "Okay, in the future, warriors in the army who don't want to lead troops can refer to this table."

(End of this chapter)