Super Cultivation System of the Three Kingdoms

Chapter 279 Fight to support war
The next day, a large army arrived outside Pingcheng.

"My lord, Pingcheng is ahead. Look, there are a group of soldiers patrolling on the city wall. I think General Guan has already taken the city."

Cui Jun pointed to the city not far ahead and said to Liu He.

"Haha, Brother You sent me a letter saying that after the last battle at Yanmen, the two contenders for the Xianbei leader drew warriors from the tribes that supported them. As a result, the number of Xianbei soldiers and horses left in the cities of our Han Dynasty is 60% to 70% less than before, or even more. With the strength of my second brother and the Purple Gold Dragon Riders, it is no problem for us to capture a mere Pingcheng. Let's go into the city."

After Liu He spoke, the huge army slowly marched towards the city.

The army was so large that the soldiers patrolling on the city wall naturally discovered it long ago and informed Guan Yu.

Guan Yu, Zhang Liao and others filed out of the city gate at this time.

The two sides met outside the city, had a pleasant conversation, and then entered the city together.

"I never thought that in just one day, General Guan not only recovered Pingcheng County, but also managed it so neatly. I didn't know that General Guan had such ability to govern the country, haha."

Cui Jun said with a smile.

Guan Yu was a little embarrassed and said, "Military Advisor, please don't laugh at me. When I took back this city, there were more than 5,000 civilians in the city and more than 6,000 people in the mines outside the city. I didn't know anything about government affairs, so I took out some military rations and porridge, and let the civilians rest for two days. I wanted to wait for my elder brother and the military advisor to come, and then make arrangements."

"Second brother, you did a good job. According to the information about Yanmen County left by Governor Ye, five years ago, there were more than 13,000 people in the county town of Pingcheng, and more than 10,000 people in the villages outside the city. I didn't expect that only half of them are left now. You can imagine how much they have suffered in the past few years. It's time to let the people have a good rest."

Guan Yu was also very pleased to hear Liu He's praise.

Zhang Yong said, "Brother, since we want to let the people recuperate, why not send someone to Yinguan City and ask them to transfer some food and some doctors over."

Liu He didn't answer, so Cheng Liang asked first: "Why do you need to transfer food here? Wouldn't it be more convenient to send these people directly to Yinguan City to settle down?"

Liu He looked at Zhang Yong with a smile, and also wanted to know what Zhang Yong thought.

Zhang Yong looked at Cheng Liang and said, "Pingcheng has been occupied by the Xianbei for several years, and there is a lot of work to be done. Letting the people rest and recuperate does not mean doing nothing, but letting them have a good rest for a while, and then resume their normal work in previous years. We will just provide some help. The spring planting season is coming soon. If they are asked to travel back and forth between Pingcheng and Yinguan City, it will only make them more tired. But if we let them rest all the time and support them, we can still support more than 10,000 people, but what about the other cities that we will recover later? These people are supported by us with money and food, how can we afford to support them?"

Cheng Liang seemed to understand a little, but he continued to ask: "But we can let these people go to Yinguan City, and then let the people in Yinguan City, or the people from other counties, come here to work."

Zhang Yong smiled and said, "Brother San, you finally settled down in a place and built a family business, but the government asked you to move away and settle down in a deserted city with just one word, and gave away your family business to others for nothing. Would you be happy about this? It's good if they come voluntarily, but it's a different matter if the government forces them to come. What's more, most of these people are the original residents of Pingcheng. They are naturally more familiar with the local customs. If someone else came, they might not be able to do better than them."

This time Cheng Liang completely understood and couldn't help but give Zhang Yong a thumbs up.

"Hey, fourth brother is really smart, third brother is convinced!"

Liu He looked at Zhang Yong, his eyes full of relief.

As they were talking, they came to a building that looked a little more presentable in this dilapidated city.

"Brother, this place is the county seat of this city. I cleaned it up yesterday just to welcome you."

"Yun Chang is thoughtful. Let's go in and talk."

The group walked into the county government and came to a hall with incomplete doors and windows. It should be the original meeting hall of the county government.

"Brother, should we send troops to attack Yin tomorrow?" Guan Yu asked.

Zhu Ye also said: "These Xianbei are useless. I don't know where the 70,000 or 80,000 troops came from. I think Liangcheng may not have many defenders. Second brother, take a rest for two days. Tomorrow morning, I will set out with 500 Thunder God Cavalry and will definitely capture Qiangyin County and take back Yanze!"

Liu He smiled and said, "Fifth brother, you guessed wrong on this point. Brother You sent me news that there is a large tribe in Xianbei, and its king's tent seems to be located in the Yanze area. According to his description, it should be the Yilan tribe where Prince Yidun, who was just killed by second brother, is from."

Zhu Ye said nonchalantly: "That's not a big deal. Second brother, kill their prince, and I'll kill their king or leader at the same time. Wouldn't that be fun?"

"You think it's simple." Liu He said.

"According to the news from the Flying Eagle Guards, the Yilan tribe has 70,000 to 80,000 people, and nearly 20,000 regular cavalry. Ten thousand of them headed north not long ago. I guess they went to help one of Budugen or Qianman. The remaining ten thousand attacked Luoxian and Zhongling in Dingxiang County a few months ago, looted some supplies and people, and returned to Yanze. Although your Thunder God Cavalry is powerful, it is still extremely dangerous to fight five hundred against ten thousand. Don't be reckless."

Although Zhu Ye is careless, he is not stupid. After listening to Liu He's description, although he was a little unwilling, he also knew that this battle was not so easy to fight. His eyes couldn't help but become a little lonely. He opened his mouth, but finally stopped talking.

Ye Xiang said, "Numbers are not a problem. If we march out with our entire army, we will be able to defeat the enemy, let alone 10,000 or 100,000. However, the consumption of food and grass when the army attacks is much greater than during normal training. We are now on a long-distance raid. Although Yanze is still within the territory of the Han Dynasty, there are vast grasslands to the north. If we alarm the people of other Xianbei tribes, we may have to fight with the Xianbei in Yanze for a long time, which is very disadvantageous to us."

Guan Yu also said: "Yuan Qing has considered it very carefully. When we arrived at Qiangyin County, it was already six or seven hundred miles away from Yinguan City. Although the road was relatively flat, it would take at least ten days for the baggage train to arrive. In addition, the grassland was vast and the distances between cities were far. No one knew from which direction the Xianbei cavalry would attack. If they attacked the food train, it would be a big trouble."

Just when everyone was worrying about the long battle in the future, Cui Jun suddenly spoke.

"My lord, Jun does have an idea."

Liu He hurriedly asked: "What good plan does the military advisor have?"

"It's not a good strategy, but just four words: fight to support the war."

Liu He seemed to see a flash of light before his eyes, and asked hurriedly: "How do you support war by fighting?"

"First, you can follow the instructions of the four generals and bring in some food to feed the people we rescued. You should also bring in farm tools, seeds, oxen, and even a group of people who are good at farming."

"Secondly, the lord has full control over all affairs of the six counties. Of course, those people in the court want to use this to trap the lord, but at the same time, it also gives the lord great convenience. The lord can issue an order that starting from Pingcheng, every Han territory recovered from the Xianbei will be exempted from land tax, land tax, land tax, land tax, and land tax for two years. At the same time, commercial tax can also be reduced to a certain extent."

"After these two things are done, many of the counties under your rule whose population has exceeded the land's carrying capacity will have many people flocking to these newly recovered cities. Many caravans will also bring the materials needed by these cities, driving the revival of various industries. Even the surrounding Jizhou and Youzhou will have refugees, and some people who are not living a happy life will come here. In this way, these cities can naturally recover in the shortest possible time."

Liu He was overjoyed and nodded repeatedly.

"The military advisor's plan is indeed brilliant!"

Cui Jun continued, "With these two points, we can implement the following strategy. The Xianbei people make a living by herding, and their tribes have many livestock such as cattle, sheep, and horses. During the war, we must have captured many of these livestock. The horses can be sent to the army, the cattle can be lent to the people for farming, and the sheep and other livestock will naturally become the food for our army."

"Not only that, as long as the above preferential policies are promulgated, I believe that Anhan Trading Company will be happy to set up branches in new cities. Our army will exchange these livestock and other Xianbei products with those merchants and caravans in the trading company, and it is stated that they will only be exchanged for food and grass. Whether it is cattle, sheep or horses, their value exceeds that of food. A hundred kilograms of sheep can be exchanged for at least three hundred kilograms of food. In this way, it is equivalent to letting those merchants transport food to our mouths for us. At the same time, it can also expand the business of the trading company and attract more caravans to come."

"Great! Military Advisor, you have a really useful brain!" Cheng Liang shouted.

"Haha, I was just inspired by the lord. If the lord hadn't proposed to establish the Anhan Trading Company and achieved such great results, I would never have thought of using this trading company to solve the problem of food and grass. After all, business is a lowly profession. In the past, Jun would never have thought about anything related to it."

Cui Jun said modestly.

(End of this chapter)