Goose Three Kingdoms

Chapter 568 Subsequent Impact
Xishan Road, at the floating bridge.

Ju Hu was traveling by car and could see the horse bone towers standing on both sides of the road from afar through the car window.

This was what the Guanzhong soldiers did in their spare time during the war.

Various horse bones were stacked and interlocked with each other in a tight structure, standing so steadily on the side of the road that even if you reached out your hand to pull out a single bone.

These are not two horse bone towers, but clearly two bone nails, which will nail the heroes of You and Ji states here for generations.

Ju Hu was in a depressed mood, as he always felt that although these arranged and stacked bones were horse bones, they were actually no different from human bones.

The essence of horse bones and human bones are the accumulated accumulation of the big families and powerful people in You and Ji states.

So many horses were eaten, and many people died at the same time.

If there is a next time, based on Ju Hu's understanding of black bears, he will definitely build two larger bone towers.

The vehicle slowly passed the floating bridge. Ju Hu heard intermittent crying outside the car, so he lifted the curtain and saw the migrating families of criminal officials and rebels on both sides of the road.

Soon he discovered something was wrong. They were all women, which was fundamentally different from the migrating groups he met in other places.

The carriage continued to move forward for more than a hundred steps when Ju Hu heard the noise of an argument.

Zhang Fei led a dozen knights to block the road and confront the knights from Guanzhong and Youzhou who were responsible for escorting the transportation.

Zhang Fei held his spear horizontally, and continued to warn the commander of the 100 blue flag soldiers in charge: "I will see the Grand Marshal, and then you can decide whether to stay or go!"

The commander of the hundred men on the other side sneered, "General Zhang, don't you know why the rebels in Zhuo County are different from those in other counties? Isn't it because Lord Xuande repeatedly wrote letters to plead for mercy that this is the cause of the trouble? Taiyuan is a fertile land. The Grand Marshal originally wanted to move the rebels in Zhuo County to Taiyuan, which is much better than Zhuo County. The able-bodied men will be enlisted in the Death Squad, and the rest will be slaves, so they can redeem themselves by making meritorious deeds."

The commander of the hundred held the reins in his left hand and placed his right hand on his thigh, patiently persuading him: "We fought side by side with the general, and we have a friendship after all, so I am patiently persuading you. If the general refuses to listen, he will kill us or harass and offend the Grand Marshal... From what I have seen, these women will probably marry the Taiyuan daredevil soldiers immediately after they move to Taiyuan."

This is not a threat. This is how the Supervisor of Hundreds perceives it.

The death-defying soldiers from Taiyuan and Hedong counties arrived in Dai under the command of Wei Yue three days later than Zhang Yan.

The suicide squads of the two counties are now very enthusiastic about making meritorious deeds and killing the enemy.

Especially after defeating the two states of You and Ji and the coalition forces of the Hu people, the death-defying soldiers of the two counties, who already had extremely high comprehensive qualities, were very eager to make meritorious deeds and escape from military service, and then seek their future.

Especially after the heroes of Youzhou suffered misfortune together, the mentality of the suicide soldiers of the two counties was much more balanced, and it can be said that there has been a drastic reversal.

Zhang Fei looked at the commander of the hundred men in front of him angrily, holding his lance tightly in his hand. Unable to control his inner anger, he thrust his lance into the ground and asked, "Are we going to separate husband and wife, mother and son?"

The supervisor of the hundred men opposite asked solemnly, "The heroes of Zhuo County are the fellow villagers of Lord Xuande and the general. Lord Xuande has repeatedly pleaded for mercy, and his goal is to strengthen his power. Now that all the men have gone to Lord Xuande, what else is there to be dissatisfied with?"

Zhang Fei saw his expression and knew that he was just being polite, so he scolded him, "All the women and relatives are in Taiyuan, how can they feel at ease?"

The commander of the hundred men spread his hands and said, "General, your words really puzzle me. They followed Lord Xuande to conquer Liaodong and Dongyi, killed bandits and made meritorious deeds. They will eventually be able to redeem themselves and their families in the future. Why does General Zhang's words mean that he is worried that the Grand Marshal will threaten them with his wife and daughter?"

"Hey~!"

Zhang Fei gritted his teeth in anger, unable to find a point of argument.

To be fair, Taiyuan is really a good place.

But when it comes to conquering Liaodong and Dongyi, they really lack reliable backbones.

As it is now, the more the folks from Zhuo County are valued, the more likely the future Shogunate group will be inclined towards Guanzhong because of the female hostages.

It’s not that we have any rebellious intentions, but this situation is very unpleasant.

Especially since men and women were relocated separately, how could the folks in Zhuo County be grateful to Liu Bei for his help and rescue?

The feeling of having saved half of the situation but having one foot stuck deep in the swamp made Zhang Fei so angry that he couldn't express it in words.

The Hundred-Man Supervisor in front of him had already given him a lot of face and had no intention of exacerbating the conflict.

If you really try to argue, you will get yourself into trouble and you won't be able to kill the other person with one spear.

Controlling his emotions, Zhang Fei drew his spear and pointed it at the other party: "Take good care of them, and do not humiliate women and children. I will go and ask the Grand Marshal for help!" The Hundred Man Commander just smiled, raised his hand to take off his helmet and headscarf, revealing his sweat-soaked hair: "I don't like women when I am in the army, so don't worry, General."

Seeing the crew cut, Zhang Fei forced an ugly smile, held his spear in a salute, pulled the reins and led his cavalry northward.

After watching Zhang Fei go away, the commander of the hundred soldiers instructed his men: "The whole team will set off and stay overnight in Xuanyuan City."

Ju Hu stopped the car on the roadside and ate a small melon, then continued his journey north.

Inside the car, he took out Yuan Shang's handwritten letter and read it again. It was a letter asking for advice on how to deal with the prisoners.

From Yuan Shang onwards, everyone tried to prevent the captured heroes and nobles from being forced to mine.

Even if they are incorporated into the suicide squad, it is acceptable.

This time it seemed that Cao Cao accepted the mediation of the southeastern court and formed an alliance, but the bigger factor was that the main force in Guanzhong was at his side, and Cao Cao did not dare to go all out to start a war; another reason was that the reserves in Qingzhou were relatively thin, so he demanded the plain and then withdrew his troops.

With Pingyuan County on the north bank of the Yellow River in hand, the next time Cao Cao picks a fight and attacks Hebei, it will be a national war.

By then, they will most likely have to ask for help from Guanzhong. If they can dispatch death-defying soldiers composed of the powerful and well-dressed sons of Jizhou to join the battle, it will definitely intimidate Cao's army.

The establishment of Jizhou's suicide squad directly affected Jizhou's internal cohesion.

Ju Hu had great confidence in this. The source of the suicide soldiers was originally the representatives of the people's opinion in Jizhou. The organization of the suicide soldiers meant that the hearts of the people of Jizhou were in the hands of Guanzhong.

The suicide soldiers are also the key bridge for integration into Guanzhong.

As long as you make meritorious contributions and avoid punishment, you will have a promising future.

Compared with Yizhou, which surrendered first, the people of Jizhou could only integrate into the new dynasty by serving as suicide soldiers.

This is just the current situation. In a few years, when the next generation grows up, the captured and reorganized Jizhou Death Squadron will become outdated and their influence on Jizhou will diminish.

In short, the suicide soldiers are bridges. They are very valuable when there is a need to cross a river.

Once you cross the river, it's actually the same thing.

If the father and brothers don’t go, how can the children inherit the family business?

Even Ju Hu himself avoided the disastrous defeat at Chanhebi and instead became an elder within the clan, with his influence on the villagers increasing dramatically.

Only by coaxing Guanzhong first and organizing the captured well-dressed men into death-defying soldiers can we protect them and stabilize the various families in Jizhou; with them present, Cao's army will not dare to launch a large-scale attack on Jizhou in the near future, and when they arrive, the people of Jizhou will be able to quickly surrender to Guanzhong.

But after getting through the period of weakness, the captured gentlemen would surely not agree to have their ancestral properties confiscated by Guanzhong.

Ju Hu picked up Jiang Ji's handwritten letter again. Inside the envelope was a piece of white silk with dried peach leaves sandwiched between it, and no other words on it.

Ju Hu gently picked up the thin stem of the peach leaf and could only conclude that this was a token that only the Grand Marshal himself could understand.

Not finding any new clues, he carefully wrapped the peach leaves and put them in an envelope.

After walking another ten miles, we rested at a temporary pavilion on the side of the road.

This was a rebuilt abandoned military camp. Shi Miao, who was on a diplomatic mission with Ju Hu, got off the car and negotiated with the chief official of the post station. He produced a document from the shogunate and only then did he receive food, fodder and fuel.

The group lit a fire and cooked rice porridge. Shi Miao saw young men and women outside the pavilion gathering to cut grass, while young people and the elderly who were able to work helped to spread the grass out to dry.

After Shi Miao went out to ask the head official of the post station, he came back and said to Ju Hu: "There are many people dressed in Guangyang County here, and most of them are the families of the soldiers."

Shi Miao sat down and continued, "There are many soldiers and horses gathered in Dai County, so we arranged for them to cut grass here, dry it and carry it on their backs, so that they can keep warm when they stay overnight."

Ju Hu nodded slightly. Among the captives, well-dressed people were a minority. Among the relocated people, members of well-dressed families were also a minority. The majority were always the families of fellow villagers, retainers, and servants.

The cultural heritage of Youzhou was basically drained, but fortunately Jizhou was not affected.

But if this is the case, can we really avoid the future?
(End of this chapter)