My younger brother Lü Fengxian

Chapter 213 Post-War Summary Meeting (Part )

"However, after this battle, the armor and weapons are all damaged. Although they can still be used, their protection and lethality will be weakened. Therefore, they need to be forged and repaired by the craftsmen in Luwu. It should be completely repaired in about three days. The rest that cannot be repaired can be replaced with the stock in Luwu."

"A lot of horses died of exhaustion. These 800 men are strong, and the full set of armor and weapons is extremely heavy. According to the rules, the imperial court's armored cavalry should be equipped with at least three horses for each man, two inferior war horses to haul armor and weapons and provide riding for the knights, and finally the strongest war horse is kept idle. When the two armies fight, the knights will ride and charge."

"We only had 800 war horses, and each man could only ride one. As a result, the horses were overloaded and more than a hundred of them died of exhaustion. In addition, with the addition of other war horses that were unable to be used due to sprained ankles or injuries, there were only about 600 war horses left."

"And after half a year of hard work and this all-out charge, the remaining 600 horses have lost a lot of weight. They will need to be carefully cared for and fed for at least ten days before they can recover to their prime."

After Gao Shun finished speaking, Lu Yi nodded, motioning him to return to his seat first, and then turned his gaze to Cheng Lian.

"Cheng Lian, tell me, what is the situation of the two thousand auxiliary soldiers in Luwu City?"

"Yes!" Upon hearing this, Cheng Lian immediately followed Gao Shun's example and stepped out to answer.

"There were originally 2,000 auxiliary soldiers in Luwu City, but over the past six months, they have been through training, defending the city, and fighting outside the city, and many of them have been injured."

"The total number of casualties was about 300, half of whom were killed in action. The rest, except for a few disabled people, were mostly able to return to the team after recovering from their injuries."

"However, because we have Lüwu at our back, and the captain has already issued military orders, no matter when and where, in the face of a possible Xianbei attack, the number of auxiliary soldiers must be maintained at 2,000. If all the strong men die, the old and weak will be sent to replace them. If all the old and weak die, the women will be sent to replace them. After all, after the city is captured, the Xianbei will not care whether the defenders are strong men or old and weak women."

"Therefore, the number of auxiliary soldiers has been maintained at 2,000, or even slightly exceeded. After the wounded soldiers recover and return, there will be 2,120 people."

"Hmm..." Lu Yi nodded when he heard that, and gestured to Cheng Lian to return to his seat.

After understanding the most urgent military situation, Lu Yi looked at the middle-level managers under the two of them. He now wanted to understand the specific agricultural policy situation in Luwu before making unified arrangements.

"Zhao Nong, tell me about the current situation of food and population in Lvwu City."

Lu Yi pointed at someone and asked calmly.

"Yes, Master!"

Upon hearing this, Zhao Nong immediately stepped out in panic.

He was originally just an ordinary farmer in Zhongshan County. Because he could not bear the heavy taxes and levies from the imperial court, he took the initiative to sell himself to the Zhen family in Zhongshan and became a serf of the Zhen family.

Although it was said to be a sale, Zhen actually did not give him a penny. Instead, she took over all the land from his family.

He is still him, and the farmlands are still those farmlands.

However, because he had a powerful backer like Zhen, the clerks in Zhongshan County no longer dared to collect taxes from him.

Since he no longer had to pay heavy taxes to the court and only had to pay a fixed amount of tribute to Zhen, his life was actually better than when he was a free farmer.

Not to mention how comfortable it is, at least I can survive by relying on my own hands.

In this farce.

Zhao Nong did not lose out.

The Zhen family of Zhongshan is not at a disadvantage.

And the court did not suffer any loss.

Because these clerks who exploited the people could not collect taxes from Zhao farmers, they would not return empty-handed. In order to deal with the assignments of their superiors, they directly passed the taxes on to other free farmers. And these clerks would not lose out. If Zhao farmers did not pay tribute, they would naturally follow suit and make up for it from other free people.

The only unlucky ones in this farce were the law-abiding, hardworking and conscientious free farmers.

But such an abnormal relationship cannot be maintained for long.

When they found out that their mother had a high fever and was bedridden, and they could not afford even a penny;

When he found that his wife and children were so thin that they could hardly stand and were about to starve to death, and that there was not even a mouse or tree bark left in his house, let alone food;
When they found that they could only choose the neighbor who was equally poor and weak, they had to hold back their tears and exchange the dying children of both sides, and they could only have a bite of food by cannibalizing their own children;
When he found that even though his life had become so difficult, he still had to deal with the clerks who came to exploit him.

This relationship will inevitably be dissolved, and will lead to a most terrible and retaliatory consequence - rebellion.

The world had suffered from Qin for a long time, but there was no leader, so there was the Daze Township Uprising led by Chen Sheng and Wu Guang.

Now, four hundred years later, the world has suffered from the Han Dynasty for a long time, but there was no one to take the lead, so there was the Yellow Turban Rebellion started by the three brothers Zhang Jiao, Zhang Bao and Zhang Liang in Julu.

The magnitude of the Yellow Turban Rebellion illustrates how miserable the people were.

If Zhao Nong had not joined Luwu, perhaps in three or four years he would have become a member of the Thirty-Six Direction Commanders under General Tiangong.

Wearing yellow scarves and shouting slogans such as "Heaven is dead", they broke into the homes of officials and wealthy people who were full of food, dragged these fat pigs and insects into the streets, and killed them with a single knife.

However, because of the appearance of Lu Yi, Zhao Nong's fate changed drastically.

Not only had he essentially escaped from slavery, he became a free man with only the name of a slave but without any documents to prove his slave status.

And that’s not all.

To set an example.

Although Zhao Nong's ability is average, he is obedient and does his duty.

Lu Yi still promoted him all the way, and now he has become an important manager who temporarily manages the entire Luwu’s farming, population and food reserves.

It can be said that he is being cultivated as a confidant.

After all, in an important position like a confidant, ability is secondary, while loyalty and obedience always come first.

It just so happened that over the past year or so, Zhao Nong had successfully proved his loyalty to Lu Yi, gained Lu Yi's full trust, and was entrusted with important tasks by him.

"At present, Lvwu has a grain reserve of 50,000 shi and a population of 10,500."

Zhao Nong was an honest person by nature, and he seemed very nervous as he was reporting to Lu Yi in front of so many people for the first time.

Not only was his behavior not as natural as Gao Shun and Cheng Lian's, he seemed at a loss and even spoke haltingly.

However, Lu Yi not only did not laugh at or scold him, but instead gave him a smile that implied encouragement and nodded, which slowly eased the awkwardness and tension in his heart.

……

(End of this chapter)