He originally intended to surrender to Wei, so why did he end up restoring Han?

Hellish jokes are fine to tell occasionally, but serious business still needs to be done.

On the very day he received the blueprints for the curved plow, Chen Deng wrote to his father, Chen Gui, urging him to send some craftsmen from home. Chen Deng was absolutely not comfortable letting any random craftsmen handle such an important task.

Seeing that the number of refugees in Xuyi County was increasing, Chen Deng sent a fleet of ships to transport the refugees to the area surrounded by the lower reaches of the Huai River, namely Huaiyin, Haixi, Yandu, and Sheyang (not the present-day Sheyang, which was still in the sea during the Eastern Han Dynasty).

This area has become a no-man's land due to the aforementioned raids by Zuo Rong, and now it is the best place to settle these refugees.

Chen Deng had all the food and timber needed to resettle the refugees and build houses. But Chen Deng's administrative skills were by no means low. As soon as the fleet set sail, he wrote a report to Liu Bei, which was a proposal to resettle the refugees in the lower reaches of the Huai River and an application for supplies.

Being able to do things is one kind of ability; being able to let your boss know that you are doing things is another kind of ability.

Liu Bei also attached great importance to this news. The success or failure of this land reclamation project would affect a series of subsequent strategies, so Liu Bei hurriedly pulled Lu Wan out of the pile of official documents.

After working for a while, Lu Wan felt like she wasn't even her own soul anymore. When she saw that Lao Liu needed to talk to her, she was naturally happy to clear her head.

Inside Liu Bei's residence, Liu Bei spoke first, saying, "Wen Yuan, I plan to directly distribute the local land to the people. These people are suffering too much, and they have little to no possessions. If we don't help them, they will hardly survive. We can take 30% of the grain produced. What do you think?"

Upon hearing this idea, Lu Wan's expression turned horrified, and she immediately said, "I didn't expect you, my lord, to consider such radical methods."

Clearly, Liu Bei hadn't figured out who his core supporters were. He was being so kind to a group of refugees; whether they were grateful or not was unknown, but the original inhabitants of Xuzhou were certainly unhappy. They paid taxes for Liu Bei, served as his soldiers, and received less in rewards than some refugees who had appeared out of nowhere.

Moreover, after paying such a high price, these refugees might be grateful to you, Liu Bei, but what about the refugees who come after? Will everyone be given land? Do you, Liu Bei, have that much land? If you don't get land, won't the later generations be dissatisfied? Won't the locals clash with the refugees over welfare issues?

Lu Wan could foresee that once Liu Bei issued this decree, the people of Xuzhou's opinion of him would plummet. It was quite possible that Xuzhou would be the next place to erupt into civil war.

"It is good that our lord treats the people well, but if we follow your plan, Xuzhou will be in chaos within three months." Lu Wan tried to explain this to Liu Bei in the simplest possible way.

Liu Bei was startled by such a serious assessment and asked, "Where did this chaos begin? Isn't this good enough for the displaced people?"

Lu Wan shook her head: "No, it's precisely because our lord has been too kind to these refugees that this has led to chaos."

Why is that?

"My lord has traveled all over the country and must have seen how local officials provided relief to the people during the Yellow Turban Rebellion. Some officials were honest and gave the people thick porridge that was so thick that chopsticks could not be stuck in it and it would not fall over. Other officials gave people porridge that was so clear that it could be used to dress up."

As a result of the turmoil, the county that had initially distributed thin porridge actually lasted longer, and fewer of its people defected to the rebels. Meanwhile, the officials who had distributed thick porridge were nowhere to be found; even their bodies were missing. Surely my lord knows what happened?

Liu Bei's face gradually turned pale. He knew what was going on: the officials who distributed porridge had initially settled many refugees, but soon a large number of people who originally had families also joined the refugee group to freeload.

For ordinary people, thick porridge is a good source of energy; the more meals they get here, the less food they consume at home. But for officials, this is a bit hard to accept, and some who don't understand the situation strictly forbid local people from joining the migrant groups to scavenge for food.

The local people were naturally dissatisfied, and many simply sold off their already meager possessions to join the ranks of refugees. This resulted in an ever-growing number of refugees needing porridge, eventually depleting the county's strategic grain reserves. Consequently, when the Yellow Turban rebels attacked the city, the officials couldn't even hold their ground and had to flee in haste.

Some fools, seeing that things were about to break down, stopped distributing porridge, offending most of the previously honest refugees. Before the Yellow Turban rebels even attacked the city, these people spontaneously revoked the officials' biosphere certification.

Liu Bei understood why Lu Wan had said that to him. Right now, Liu Bei was like those officials who distributed porridge, treating the refugees too kindly. As a result, the landless or land-poor farmers in Xuzhou might sell their property and come here to try their luck.

The amount of land is inherently limited; once it's distributed, it's gone. Those displaced people who truly need support won't be so easily satisfied. Liu Bei could already foresee the bleak future of Xuzhou.

"What should we do then, Wen Yuan?" Liu Bei's superior wisdom told him that he should now rely on the superior wisdom of others.

"This matter is simple," Lu Wan glanced at Liu Bei, "it's just that our lord might not agree."

Lu Wan raised her hand, indicating that Liu Bei did not need to answer first: "I will compile a document later and write down my thoughts on it. There is a lot of content, so you can take your time to read it later, my lord."

"The most urgent task now is to discover talent. Without people to get things done, even the best policies are like rootless duckweed."

Liu Bei nodded. After experiencing the benefits of having excellent advisors as his backers, Liu Bei was no longer inclined to use his brain.

As someone with future vision, Lu Wan skipped the screening process and went straight to the point: "There are two great talents in Xuzhou right now. If we can get their help, then we won't have to worry about the land reclamation project anymore. I'm willing to recommend two people: Chen Jiao from Guangling and Guo Yuan from Le'an."

In his early years, Chen Jiao lived in Jiangdong to avoid Zuo Rong. Both Yuan Shu and Sun Ce wanted to recruit him, but he refused. Not long ago, he even moved back to his hometown of Guangling from Jiangdong. However, he was unlucky and returned just as his lord was at war with Yuan Shu. He is currently living in Tan County.

This man is resolute and loyal, decisive in character, knowledgeable in criminal law, and especially skilled at quelling chaos. When refugees first arrive in Xuzhou, they are either panicked or reckless, and only a courageous person can subdue them.

Moreover, as Chen Jiao is a member of the Chen clan of Guangling, employing him, my lord, can further strengthen cooperation with the powerful families of Xuzhou, making them lower their guard. There's no need to worry that Chen Jiao will actually align himself with the powerful families; in that case, weakening them, he will most likely side with us.

Lu Wan took a sip of water to moisten her throat and continued, "Guoyuan is a highly accomplished disciple of Zheng Xuan and Zheng Kangcheng, great Confucian scholars of Beihai. He is extremely knowledgeable and especially skilled in agriculture and administration."

He wasn't some bookish pedant who'd gone mad from studying. He applied his knowledge to practical use and was well-versed in methods of land management, irrigation, grain distribution, and tax collection. When it came to land reclamation, tasks requiring calculations, such as planning the fields and selecting superior varieties, could all be entrusted to him.

Furthermore, given his keen understanding of the people's plight, his impartiality, and his status as a disciple of a great Confucian scholar, he is the perfect candidate to pacify and educate the displaced people. He previously fled to Liaodong with Guan Ning and Bing Yuan, and now it seems he has taken refuge in Yuzhou. My lord, you'd better set off quickly, lest Cao Cao get there first.

In fact, Lu Wan had one more crucial reason she hadn't mentioned: both of these men would side with Liu Bei. Chen Jiao was an old friend of Chen Deng, and Guo Yuan was a fellow student of Sun Qian; both were upright gentlemen. If Liu Bei were to recruit them, then he could truly entrust matters to them with peace of mind.

From the current perspective, Liu Bei's original followers are really few in number, and Lu Wan's heart is not made of iron. Liu Bei has been so good to Lu Wan, and Lu Wan also wants to repay him. Therefore, in order to make Liu Bei last longer, she also hopes that more talented people will follow Liu Bei.

Furthermore, if he recommended many talented people to Liu Bei, he would inevitably gain the reputation of having a keen eye for talent, and with this prestigious title, Cao Cao would not dare to do anything to him.

Lu Wan most welcomes this kind of win-win outcome.

With two more civil officials added to the list, Lu Wan began preparing to have Liu Bei recruit some military generals. There were quite a few capable people in Qing and Xu provinces now, such as Taishi Ci and Xu Sheng in Qing province to the north, and Zhou Tai and Jiang Qin in Xu province to the south. They were all waiting to be discovered.

There were also Liu Bei's fellow northerners, Qian Zhao and Tian Yu. Lu Wan didn't understand why Liu Bei didn't help his old brothers now that he had made his fortune. He couldn't just forget about them after two years.

At this moment, Liu Bei also took Lu Wan's words to heart and began to think about how to invite the two of them.

Liu Bei intended to personally recruit Chen Jiao, but he refused even offers of service from people like Yuan Shu and Sun Ce. The only way to win him over was to be sincere.

What Liu Bei finds troublesome is Guo Yuan in Yu Province. If Liu Bei wants to recruit him, he can only do so secretly. If he goes there in a big way, Cao Cao will easily find out. When Cao Cao sees that Liu Bei is treating him with such courtesy, he can't be bad. He can just detain him there, and Liu Bei can only watch helplessly.

Seeing Liu Bei's conflicted expression, Lu Wan also felt that this matter was difficult to handle, so she suggested that Sun Qian should hide his identity and infiltrate the group to slowly find out the exact location of Guo Yuan. After all, they were fellow disciples, and their relationship was definitely stronger than that of strangers.

"Hey, can't Xianhe go? He's pretty good at socializing." Liu Bei suddenly thought of his good friend Jian Yong. This guy was always out drinking with people all day long, and Liu Bei had been annoyed with him for a long time. Why should he be able to have fun while I have to work overtime? I have to find something for you to do.

"No, Mr. Jian has been traveling around as the lord's envoy. He will probably be recognized before he even enters the city."

Jian Yong currently serves as Liu Bei's chief diplomat, assisting Liu Bei in numerous diplomatic occasions. He is essentially Liu Bei's embodiment, representing Liu Bei's attitude. Entrusting someone with such high visibility to carry out infiltration is no less difficult than entrusting Lü Bu with strategic planning.

Lu Wan thought for a moment, and realized that there was indeed something more important for Jian Yong to do.

The papermaking project is now showing some progress. Although the workshop is not yet built, Lu Wan has already conducted small-scale trials. Although papermaking according to the mature production process will take a long time, Xuzhou obviously cannot wait that long.

"It's time for Mr. Jian to set off for Qingzhou. He can bring a few samples for Yuan Tan to see."

--------

A few days later, Lu Wan's draft of "Memorial on the Urgent Matters of Reclamation in Anhuai" was placed on Liu Bei's desk.

Even though Liu Bei was used to seeing the lowest levels of humanity, he couldn't help but sigh when he saw this document. If Lu Wan had helped Emperor Ling make money back then, the intensity of the Yellow Turban Rebellion would probably have been twice as strong.

In summary, the central idea of ​​Lu Wan's memorial is that Liu Bei's kindness can never be repaid.

The specific measures are as follows:

A special office for military agricultural settlements was established, which was directly responsible to Liu Bei and did not accept leadership from other departments.

The standard unit was set up with fifty households forming a village and five villages forming a camp. Each village had a village chief, and each camp had a camp commander and a military commissioner. The camp commander and village chief were responsible for management and material allocation and were selected from among the refugees. The military commissioner was responsible for supervision and handling disputes and was selected from Liu Bei's army.

Among them, the treatment of the garrison commander, battalion commander, and military commander increases in that order, and they can receive higher rations and extra allowances.

Migrants who settle in the settlement are not allowed to leave their place of residence unless necessary. If they need to leave, they must specify their destination and have at least three guarantors. The settlement head submits the application, and the military officer is responsible for its review.

Simple camps were set up on higher ground around the settlements, and sentry posts were set up on major transportation routes. These were guarded by peasant soldiers led by the camp commander to prevent bandit attacks and to prevent the settlements from fleeing.

Regarding housing, Liu Bei will only provide the most basic houses, and they will not be provided for free. Every household that moves in will have a housing loan with interest.

Regarding food rations, the system of rationing according to work was adhered to. For the elderly who were unable to work and children under the age of twelve, only the basic food rations for survival were provided. For women and minors with some labor capacity, they were first given training to do some basic or technical work, and their food rations were slightly better. Adult men were the best labor force and the main force in farming. Those who did not want to farm could work in mines, so their food rations were the best.

Competitions were held between each battalion to measure land reclamation speed, grain yield, and handicraft production. The winning groups received salt and cloth as rewards.

Those among the refugees with special skills, such as blacksmiths and carpenters, can have their food rations appropriately increased, and they only need to be responsible for specific tasks.

The first year's grain rations were provided by Liu Bei in the form of a loan. After the grain harvest, rent was paid according to a ratio of 60% public and 40% private. If the garrison households completed their grain production tasks and performed well over the past three years, the Garrison Commander's Office would compile a list and submit it to Liu Bei. After Liu Bei's personal review and approval, they could be converted into normal citizens, and the land they were allocated could be redeemed and registered as their private land.

Although it all seems like loans, making life difficult for the displaced people, repaying these debts is actually quite simple. They can gradually pay them off by paying grain rations, serving in the army during wartime, and working a few days each month in local handicraft workshops.

After all, Liu Bei had already suffered a huge loss by taking in refugees, and Lu Wan believed that the refugees would not want to make things difficult for their adoptive parents, so Lu Wan tried every means to exploit them.