Northern Prefecture Rivers and Mountains

Chapter 209 Adaptation

Like Jiankang, everything in Jingkou is done at an incredibly slow pace.

It was a matter that was only separated by a river, but it took more than twenty days to resolve.

However, the matter was eventually resolved. With Liu Laozhi's military order, Huan Hong dared not obstruct it, and the others had nothing to say. Moreover, they were still fighting over the robbery of Yandu and had no intention of interfering in military affairs.

Liu Daogui, having gone this far, went personally to Sheyangpo to select brave and skilled men.

The number of soldiers and able-bodied men, along with refugees who rushed to the scene after hearing the news, totaled nearly six thousand.

Becoming a soldier in the conquest of the enemy would entitle one to ten acres of land, a temptation that was simply irresistible to displaced people and military households.

These days, only those who own land are considered citizens; those who don't are simply "vagrants" or "rogues."

The poor aspire to become gentry, the gentry aspire to become noble families, while military households and refugees aspire to become commoners...

Throughout history, almost everyone has wanted to transcend social classes.

Liu Daogui specifically targets people who look honest and kind, have deep-seated grudges, and are dressed in rags. It's best if they have scars on their bodies and have killed people on their hands. It doesn't matter if they are thin or weak, as long as they are not missing an arm or a leg.

They immediately selected over seven hundred people, who stood together and exuded a murderous aura.

The conquest of the enemy had a quota of 5,400 soldiers, with over 1,300 soldiers in the two divisions. These 700 soldiers were clearly insufficient.

Liu Daogui simply transferred all the men who had participated in the previous raid on Yandu to the central army, and selected some strong men skilled in archery and horsemanship to make up two thousand men before stopping.

It's not that we're unwilling to make more choices, but rather that our funds and supplies have reached their limit.

Three thousand three hundred people means three thousand three hundred mouths to feed, plus their families. Liu Daogui couldn't come up with that much money and food all at once.

It was unrealistic to expect Huan Hong and Liu Laozhi to allocate grain and fodder.

Moreover, they also had to be allocated land and given weapons and equipment...

There are countless trivial matters to deal with.

The area around Guangling was overcrowded, and the land was in the hands of powerful clans and generals of the Northern Army. Liu Daogui could not touch them, so he could only distribute the land to Lu County and Lanling.

After the land was distributed, the next step was to establish organizational structures.

The core of the unit was still the detachments and the Tiger Guards, with each team consisting of fifty men.

Originally there were four departments: front, back, left, and right. They were expanded into schools, each with 800 students.

Zhao Lunzhi, Zhou Zheng, Xu Changming, and Gou Zhong were appointed as the four commanders of the four divisions. Tan Daoji, Meng Ganzhi, Li Damu, and others were promoted to division commanders. Other officers, including troop leaders, officers, and squad leaders, were all appointed from among the troops.

The lowest-ranking fire chiefs and platoon leaders were selected from the veterans of the front and rear units.

As always, everyone was personally interviewed by Liu Daogui before being appointed.

After finishing all this, he copied their names into two official documents, one for Huan Hong and the other for Jingkou.

Anyway, since we have connections in higher places, we're not afraid that Huan Hong won't agree.

It was the dead of winter, and Liu Daogui made no exceptions, ordering his soldiers to train in the wind and snow.

However, these difficulties were nothing to the refugees and military households. These people had great endurance, were not afraid of wind, snow and cold, and were used to hardships and dangers.

As long as they are guaranteed two meals a day, they have no complaints.

Liu Daogui inspected the group and found that most of them knew some archery and swordsmanship and were skilled in combat. The only thing they lacked was formations, flags, drums, and horns.

These things can't be rushed; they can only be mastered gradually through training.

Busy as ever, another year has passed.

Liu Daogui's money and provisions were also poured out like raindrops. Not only were the money and provisions obtained from Yandu completely used up, but grain was also transported twice from Lanling. The soldiers trained in the winter, which was almost like going to war, and the consumption of food and provisions was extremely high.

If Liu Daogui hadn't had some family wealth, he really wouldn't have been able to withstand it.

The training of soldiers in the Han and Wei dynasties was mainly concentrated in the spring and autumn seasons. The autumn training lasted for fifteen days, and the summer training included a five-day training session followed by a five-day rest period.

It was nowhere near the intensity of Liu Daogui's training every two days.

Fortunately, Li Damu provided them with sea fish, which allowed the soldiers to have some oil in their stomachs and thus adjust to the situation.

After two or three months of training, the Central Army of the Conquering Army had begun to take shape, but it lacked a real battle experience, and thus lacked a certain killing intent and fierce spirit.

"I'll leave this place to you. Keep training at this intensity. Don't worry about food; Jingkou will supply some."

At the beginning of the new year, as planned, Liu Daogui prepared to go north to Lu County.

As the saying goes, "A year's plan starts in spring," and with the situation in Jiangzuo becoming increasingly tense, grain prices are rising.

Liu Daogui attached great importance to spring plowing in Lu County and Lanling.

Liu Huaisu was somewhat surprised, "Jingkou is actually willing to supply grain?"

“Our growth will benefit Commander Liu without any harm. Replenishing the troops in the Central Army is an order from the Northern Army, so of course we should also rely on them for supplies.” Liu Daogui was gradually rising in power in Guangling, and Liu Laozhi, unless he was stupid, knew that he should give him strong support.

Liu Laozhi's branch of the family did not have many descendants, with only one son, Liu Jingxuan. Liu Jingxuan was also quite a gentleman and not very interested in women. He had a son who was still a child.

No matter how powerful he is or how high his official rank is, he still needs to employ people.

Just then, Liu Yu and Liu Daogui rose to prominence, and since they were still connected by blood, Liu Laozhi couldn't possibly turn to someone far away.

The rise of a social class is never something that can be accomplished by a single family.

Whether Liu Laozhi likes it or not, Liu Yu and Liu Daogui will become his right-hand men.

Liu Huaisu said, "Alas, if it were a peaceful day, it would be understandable for Governor Liu to be so steady and composed."

Liu Daogui laughed and said, "If it were peaceful times, I'm afraid he wouldn't be able to get the position of Commander-in-Chief of the Northern Army."

Liu Huaisu was taken aback. "That... is true."

"How's it going in Yandu?" Liu Daogui's eyes were red with poverty.

Although money was worthless, salt was still valuable. It could be exchanged for a lot of grain and livestock when sent to the Central Plains or Ye City.

Liu Huaisu said, "Our money and provisions are all invested in the new army. We are already struggling to make ends meet with our monthly allowances, and we have no extra money to invest in Yandu."

Throughout history, anyone who wants to achieve great things can't avoid the issue of "money"...

Yandu is not Langya. It has more than a hundred salt fields, and restoring them would require an astronomical amount of money.

Liu Daogui's business has expanded too much, and he simply can't afford to spend it all at once.

However, while I can't produce it myself, others can...

"Spread the word to those illegal salt dealers that we'll split the profits 50/50 from now on. They'll be in charge of operating and managing the salt fields, while we'll stay behind the scenes and take 50% of the profits each month!"

Liu Daogui had no choice but to settle for second best.

"Wouldn't we be at a huge loss if we did that?" Liu Huaisu was unwilling to accept it.

"It's a real loss if we can't turn it into real money. Rather than letting it rot in our hands, we might as well let it go. Those salt smugglers each have their own followers, and they are quite a force to be reckoned with. If we tie our interests to theirs, we will have the final say in both the legitimate and criminal worlds of Jiangzuo. Even if the court investigates in the future, they won't be able to find us. These salt smugglers will then come out and fight against us. Why not?"

(End of this chapter)