My younger brother Lü Fengxian

Chapter 276 Army Expansion
Spring, the fourth year of Guanghe period in the Eastern Han Dynasty.

Pingcheng, which was devastated by the Xianbei invasion half a year ago, has become a world of difference after the new county government's unremitting governance over the past half year.

Not only did the faces of the people, who were originally hungry and cold and thin, regain their rosy complexion, but even the population increased far more than before.

During the peaceful times of the past, Pingcheng's population was only about a thousand households at its peak.

Even if you pick any place in Pingcheng, you will find that the number of people farming in the fields far exceeds one thousand households.

County Magistrate Chen Gong remembered Lu Yi's instructions before he left the pass, and relying on the food Lu Yi obtained from Zhen's family, he gathered a large number of refugees who came to surrender from all over.

However, within a few months, they had already gathered a number of 20,000.

However, these 20,000 people do not exist in any official documents.

He is a transparent person that belongs completely to Lu Yi.

Before Chen Gong accepted them, he had already agreed with them that since they wanted to eat Lu Yi's food, they would be Lu Yi's people from now on.

These refugees were starving people on the verge of death. As long as they had a bite to eat, they would not hesitate to sell themselves into slavery, let alone rebelling against Lu Yi.

People can’t even afford to eat and are about to starve to death. How can they care about being obedient citizens of the Han Dynasty?
If Lu Yi hadn't specifically instructed to limit the number to 20,000, I'm afraid the number would have doubled.

After all, in addition to the 20,000 refugees who were officially gathered, there were still tens of thousands of hungry people lingering outside Pingcheng every day who were unwilling to leave because they arrived late.

Chen Gong did not dare to take them in because of Lu Yi's order, but he also could not bear to let them starve to death. He only gave them a small bowl of thin porridge at noon every day to keep them alive.

But even so, these people are still unwilling to leave.

In Pingcheng, at least there was a bowl of porridge to fill their stomachs. But after leaving Pingcheng, even the tree bark and mice were eaten by the hungry people.

If they don't want to eat humans or be eaten by others, they have no choice but to stay here.

The stay of more than 10,000 hungry people put Chen Gong under tremendous pressure and he was always worried about it.

He couldn't bear to drive her away, but he also had no way to take her in, and he felt very distressed.

Fortunately, with the return of Lu Yi's army, Chen Gong's worries immediately disappeared.

Lu Yi gained a lot from this trip to the grassland.

In addition to leaving five or six thousand Hun captives to the Qin and Han commander who used the alias Zazade, he also left a lot of cattle, sheep and horses to Zazade.

He brought back the remaining nearly 100,000 cattle, sheep and nearly 5,000 horses to Pingcheng.

The sheep can be used as food for the villagers, and the sheepskin can be used to make clothes to keep warm.

As for herds of cattle with smaller numbers, except for some oxen that can be used for farming, the rest can also be slaughtered for meat.

In addition to beef, cowhide, beef tendons and beef bones are all very important strategic materials.

Cow horns and tendons can be used to make bows and crossbows, and cowhide can be used to make leather armor.

Not to mention the other 5,000 war horses.

Whether Lu Yi uses it to expand the cavalry unit or trades it with the Zhen family for food, it is a more important strategic resource.

Therefore, these livestock are full of treasures, and they provide great support and confidence for Lu Yi to vigorously develop Yanmen County.

However, after being plundered by Lu Yi, the Huns will have a much harder time this year.

Now it is spring and summer, the grass is growing and the birds are singing. The Huns who rely on grazing for a living can still make ends meet for the time being.

It is foreseeable that when autumn turns to winter this year and the grasslands are covered with snow and ice, the Huns will inevitably face even more unbearable survival pressure.

Under the pressure of survival, both Jiang Qu's tribe and Zuo Xian Wang's tribe will surely engage in more intense fighting to compete for sufficient supplies for the winter.

The population of the Huns will also decline further.

However, this is exactly what Lu Yi wanted.

In today's era, technology cannot support the uncontrolled reproduction of human beings, especially in the current Little Ice Age.

Not only was the grassland unable to support the growing Hu population, even the Central Plains could no longer support the Han people, whose numbers were reaching their peak.

War and conflict are one of the few ways today that can support continued human reproduction, a way to quickly reduce population.

The defeated side will naturally suffer a decline in population, with not only the people becoming prisoners but also the supplies becoming spoils of war.

But the winning party can rely on victory and plunder to get through this difficult period and survive.

This explains why wars were so frequent at the end of the Han Dynasty.

Hu people against Hu people, Han people against Han people, Hu people against Han people.

The underlying logic is that existing resources are no longer sufficient to feed the existing population.

Even if Lu Yi came from another world, he could not stop this trend.

However, due to the tragic deaths of large numbers of his own compatriots, by the most tragic time at the end of the Han Dynasty, China, which was originally officially recorded as having a population of more than 50 million, was reduced to only a few million people.

It would be better to let these brutal, cunning and treacherous barbarians take their place.

"Great!"

"With these livestock, the people of Pingcheng will have a way to survive!"

Chen Gong, who led the crowd to welcome Lu Yi, was overjoyed when he saw the huge amount of spoils Lu Yi brought back. His face was full of surprise as if he had found a treasure.

The Pingcheng officials behind him were also equally excited.

With these livestock, Pingcheng can safely spend the spring, summer and autumn.

After the autumn harvest, the newly harvested grain will allow Pingcheng to safely survive this food crisis.

"As long as there are no more Hu invaders this year, then Pingcheng will be safe!"

Chen Gong sighed sincerely.

"Haha, don't worry, Gongtai!"

"Not only this year, but in the future, no Hu people will be able to invade and plunder Bingzhou at will!"

Lu Yi stepped forward and patted Chen Gong on the shoulder, and spoke with great certainty, which made Chen Gong look a little surprised.

After this year, the Xiongnu in the south of the desert will be plunged into years of civil war because of Lu Yi's deliberate instigation. In order to prevent the Xiongnu from ending the civil strife, Lu Yi will have to intervene from time to time to mediate. Therefore, the only future that awaits the Xiongnu is fall.

After the great defeat suffered by the Xianbei in northern Mobei last year, it will take several years for them to recover.

Moreover, the Xianbei rose to power due to the sudden emergence of Tan Shihuai, and fell due to the sudden death of Tan Shihuai.

After Tan Shihuai's death, the division of the Xianbei tribes was inevitable. Budugen, who was proud of his bloodline, and Kebinen, who was proud of his talent and ability, were at odds with each other.

The fight between the two of them was still undecided even after Cao Cao defeated Yuan Shao and unified the entire north. Therefore, there is still a lot of time left for Lu Yi.

As for the Qiang people in the west, their spines had been broken by the late great general Duan Xing. If they want to become powerful again, they will have to wait until the rise of Ma Chao in the future.

Finally, the Wuhuan people in the east are not to be feared.

Because, as far as Lu Yi knew, Gongsun Zan returned to Youzhou to serve as an official according to the original historical trajectory.

He was a man who regarded killing the Wuhuan people as the greatest pleasure in his life. Even if the Han Dynasty did not give him a penny of military pay or rewards, he would fight the Wuhuan people to the death single-handedly.

If Lu Yi met such a madman, he would have a headache, not to mention the Wuhuan people who were beaten by Gongsun Zan and dared not even ride a horse into the Great Wall.

Putting aside the merits and demerits of the civil war among the princes, at least from the standpoint of resisting foreign invasion and promoting the prestige of China, General Gongsun Zan of the White Horse is definitely a Han hero who can be compared with Huo Qubing.

Precisely because he knew the historical context, Lu Yi would leave the most critical early stage of development, bid farewell to his family and subordinates and go on an expedition to the south of the desert.

This is to ensure that the Huns, the only Hu people capable of threatening the Great Wall in the short term, continue to remain peaceful.

Fortunately, the hard work of him and thousands of soldiers was not in vain, nor were the sacrifices of many comrades.

After returning to Pingcheng, Lu Yi immediately gave the soldiers a one-month vacation, allowing them to go home to rest their tired minds and bodies, and at the same time provide some help with the spring plowing at home.

At the same time, he also immediately distributed the rewards he had promised them.

Because Hebei is now in the midst of extremely serious inflation, Lu Yi was considerate enough to exchange the originally promised currency for grain, livestock, cloth, and other materials that can be used as hard currency in today's times.

Although these treasures are valuable, they are nothing compared to the love and loyalty of his soldiers.

In just three years, the entire political landscape of the Han Dynasty will be rewritten.

The political order that was originally monopolized by aristocratic families and powerful clans would be torn open by Zhang Jue, creating an extremely huge hole, forming a brief period of power vacuum.

The soldiers and generals in your hands are the only way to seize status and benefits during this extremely critical period.

Therefore, Lu Yi naturally had to win over his subordinates at all costs, so that they would firmly choose him in the future choices and teams.

Lu Yi's generosity immediately won the love of the generals and soldiers. After receiving the rewards, they all returned home happily.

These soldiers who had just returned from the battlefield in the south of the desert still had a murderous aura on them, and Lu Yi was not worried about their safety on their way home at all.

Only a fool would take the initiative to provoke these soldiers who are obviously not easy to deal with.

Lu Yi did not give up on some soldiers who were disabled due to injuries.

Instead, they absorbed them into their own military settlement system.

Although these people are physically disabled, they not only have the courage to fight against powerful enemies, but also have valuable battlefield experience. With their leadership, there will be a steady supply of outstanding reserve troops emerging from Lu Yi's military settlement in the future.

Perhaps among them there will be outstanding talents like Zhang He and Gao Lan.

What's more important is that Lu Yi's loyalty will inevitably earn him their high loyalty.

With these people as the cornerstone of his power, the stability of his power will be greatly enhanced.

Things like Cao Cao losing Yanzhou due to Lu Bu's surprise attack and Liu Bei losing Xuzhou due to Lu Bu's surprise attack were unlikely to happen in Bingzhou, which Lu Yi already regarded as a sure thing.

In this battle, although Lu Yi won many victories, the weapons and equipment of the soldiers were much better than those of the Huns.

However, in the era of cold weapons, even great generals like Sun Wu, Bai Qi, and Wu Qi could not guarantee that their troops would survive without casualties.

Remember that if you injure one thousand enemies, you will injure eight hundred of your own.

Moreover, in this era, direct killing on the battlefield is not the main factor causing casualties.

Post-war trauma complications, climate, plague, water and soil, and even the horrific stress of war are all important factors that cause casualties among soldiers.

In this battle, Lu Yi brought nearly 5,000 soldiers to Mo Nan, but only 90% of them, including the wounded and disabled soldiers, were able to return to their homeland with him.

A 10% casualty rate means hundreds of casualties. Although it may seem like a lot, it was already a complete victory in the era of cold weapons.

However, this did not affect Lu Yi's attention to subsequent compensation matters.

He not only arranged for Lu Bu, Gao Shun and others to personally transport the bodies of the sacrificed soldiers back home to their relatives along with high amounts of pensions.

It also shows great tolerance and care for families that are unable to continue after the death of their breadwinner.

Not only will the elderly parents of the victims be taken to Luwu to settle down and be taken care of by Lu Yi, but even the victims' young children will be arranged by Lu Yi to be cared for and taught by someone to ensure their right to survival and development. In a sense, Lu Yi's teaching of knowledge to them is also a disguised way of breaking down their class barriers.

As long as they can achieve success in their studies in the future, they will be able to enter various systems under Lu Yi because of their status as loyal orphans.

The brothers or grown-up children of the victims will also be given priority to enter the various systems under Lu Yi, and what awaits them is not-too-arduous work, considerable and generous remuneration, and a very promising bright future.

History is a mirror that can help us understand the rise and fall of nations.

Even the "old friends" from the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period knew to buy bones for a huge sum of gold. How could Lu Yi, a person who traveled from the "future", ignore such a way to fully expand his influence?

The tedious but necessary post-war resettlement tasks consumed a lot of Lu Yi's energy and time.

From the return in early February to the end in mid-March.

This is because Lu Yi chose to delegate power to others.

There is no other way. His business is getting bigger and bigger, and his energy cannot be increased out of thin air like in the super martial arts world. He can only choose to delegate power.

If he still did everything himself like he did in Luwu, he would probably be exhausted to death.

After finishing all this and getting rid of the tedious resettlement affairs, Lu Yi finally understood why Zhuge Liang, who was extremely talented and even nearly a demon, died of exhaustion at the age of 54.

However, Lu Yi was so busy that he had no time to rest.

Now he not only has to deal with the problem of refugee military settlements in Pingcheng, but also has to fulfill his duties as acting governor of Yanmen County.

You should know that Pingcheng is just one of the counties in Yanmen County.

Yanmen County included a total of 14 counties, including Yinguan, Mayi, Laixian, Loufan, Guangwu, Yuanping, Lucheng, Wangtao, Fanzhi, Juyang, Gangxian, Wuzhou, Pingcheng, and Qiangyang.

According to official records before the Xianbei invasion, the administrative area included 11 households and more than 70 people.

It would take Lu Yi half a month or a month just to summon the county magistrates and county heads of each county who were nominally his subordinates one by one.

Not to mention the time it would take to win over, suppress, and incubate these people and digest the entire Yanmen County.

However, these problems are just minor problems compared to the next one.

Now that Lu Yi's power has expanded rapidly, the force he has to protect his own power is not enough.

Therefore, the most urgent issue facing Lu Yi is.

He has to start preparing for the next round of military expansion!
……

(End of this chapter)