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

This includes various natural resources such as iron ore, copper ore, hemp, and coal.

Langya County's natural resources mainly consist of sea salt, iron ore, and timber. Previously, sea salt was a major source of income for the county. However, the market was completely overtaken by Lu Wan's high-quality sea salt, leaving the wealthy salt merchants in Langya to lament: "Alas, Lu Wan. Alas, the market."

Now that Liu Bei controls these areas, a larger proportion of the salt flowing into the market will be his. People in other regions who want to buy salt, even if they don't want to give Liu Bei money, can no longer buy the inferior salt they used to have; they can only buy salt produced by Liu Bei. They could refuse to eat Liu Bei's salt, but the only salt that can compete with Liu Bei's sea salt on the market is well salt from Yizhou, and that's quite expensive.

Besides, the iron ore was also of great significance to Liu Bei. It goes without saying how important iron tools and weapons are. Although the iron ore here has a high sulfur content, it would be a waste to use it for steelmaking, but it is still fine for general weapons, armor and tools.

There are many other resources, which will not be listed here.

On the other hand, in addition to abundant resources, this county also has a sufficient labor force, which can be used to fill various projects.

A very strange phenomenon has emerged in Xuzhou: some people are unemployed, while others have jobs but no one to do them. The reason for this is that some core workshops cannot hire migrants of unknown origin and can only hire native Xuzhou residents with registered residence and families. However, some jobs are too strenuous, even the migrants find them undesirable, such as the various road repair teams.

Road construction has always been a dangerous job. Even in the 21st century, workers often die while building roads. Only those with the strongest will or those who are desperate would consider doing it.

Returning to the main point, Langya Commandery is now considered one of the safest commanderies in the entire Guandong region, and the identity and place of origin information here is well preserved. Therefore, recruiting workers from Langya has become a good option.

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Within Qiucheng, inside the county government building

Liu Bei and the others sat upright, waiting for the arrival of the newcomers.

Zang Ba and his men took off their shirts, carried brambles on their backs, and walked towards the county government. Along the way, Liu Bei's soldiers were lined up in a solemn array, their spears and halberds like a forest, gleaming coldly in the sunlight. Yet, not a single person whispered to each other; they all stared straight ahead, completely oblivious to what they were passing by.

The group went inside and knelt down before Liu Bei.

"Your humble servant Zang Ba pays his respects to my lord."

"Your humble servant Sun Guan pays his respects to Your Majesty."

"This sinful subject..."

"Please rise, everyone."

Liu Bei stepped forward and personally helped the men up. Although these were defeated generals, it was better to resolve conflicts than to perpetuate them; there was no need to humiliate them further at this time.

"My lord, I was blinded by greed and lacked discernment. Now I only beg you, my lord, to spare my brothers for the sake of our past struggle against Cao Cao," Zang Ba said with shame.

It turns out that the two had met before, when they were both serving under Tao Qian, but at that time they were merely guest generals and not part of Tao Qian's inner circle. Now, one is the governor of Xu Province, while the other is a prisoner.

Liu Bei also spoke frankly: "Xuan Gao, why have you gone to such lengths? You and I are both Han officials, and we should not be fighting each other. However, Xuan Gao, you occupy Kaiyang and form a pincer movement with your brothers, making me feel like I'm sitting on pins and needles in Xiapi. How can I allow someone to sleep soundly next to my bed? Therefore, I have no choice but to confront Xuan Gao with weapons."

Liu Bei turned and poured two cups of wine, handing one to Zang Ba. Raising the cup to him, he said, "From this day forward, let us not dwell on the past. May we, ruler and subject, work together to support the Han Dynasty. I wonder if Xuan Gao is willing?"

Zang Ba, unafraid of Liu Bei's plot to harm him, took the wine cup and drank it down in one gulp: "I would rather die than not do it!"

The others were overjoyed. If their leader hadn't been dealt with, there was no way they, the small fry, would be. They all joined Zang Ba in swearing allegiance to Liu Bei.

After a brief conversation, Liu Bei finally began to announce his plans for dealing with the individuals.

Zang Ba's Taishan Army would definitely have to be split up and sent to various places. Zang Ba went to Xiapi to serve as the chancellor of Xiapi, his son Zang Ai went to work in Liu Bei's staff, Sun Guan went south to join Guan Yu's army to assist Guan Yu in defending against Liu Xun and Sun Ce; the others also had their own arrangements.

The surrender ceremony was a great success. Liu Bei and Zang Ba reconciled, Liu Bei gained the Taishan Army as a vital force, and Zang Ba and others successfully integrated themselves into Liu Bei's talent pool. Everyone got what they wanted. Furthermore, Xiao Jian, who controlled Ju County, also sent a letter expressing his willingness to submit after hearing the news of Liu Bei's great victory.

Xiao Jian was then serving as the Chancellor of Langya, and his relationship with Zang Ba was very poor. In the past, his living space had been constantly squeezed by Zang Ba, and now he could only eke out a living in Ju County. Upon hearing that Zang Ba had suffered a defeat, he immediately submitted a memorial to Liu Bei to congratulate him, and expressed that he had actually wanted to join Liu Bei for a long time, but Zang Ba had blocked his way.

Now, the wise and mighty Prefect Liu has finally returned to his loyal Langya, and Xiao Jian, this "loyal and solitary" man, can finally return to the embrace of the Xuzhou family.

As for Chang Xi, both sides cleverly avoided the topic.

Chang Xi is quite pitiful. Before the war, he was the most supportive of surrendering to Liu Bei, but now he is the only one who has been imprisoned by Liu Bei.

It wasn't that Liu Bei was petty; it was just that Lu Wan felt that such a large-scale northward march required establishing an enemy to deal with, otherwise it would dampen the soldiers' morale. After all, we were fighting tooth and nail, and then this enemy turned around and surrendered, becoming our superior—who could stand that?

Changxi waited and waited in the prison, but no one came to bail him out. Now Changxi really felt that something was wrong. What was going on with Zang Ba? He should have signed an agreement with Liu Bei by now, so why was Changxi still locked up?

The jailer brought over the food. Surprisingly, although Zang Ba was just a defeated general, his current diet was not much different from when he was free and at ease in Langya. This also proved that Liu Bei had really become rich.

Seeing Chang Xi's bewildered expression, the jailer kindly advised, "Are you still waiting for your brothers? I've already told you not to think about it. They've already pledged allegiance to the lord and are now high-ranking officials. Don't even think about them coming to rescue you. Just stay here and wait a few years. The lord will release you when he's in a good mood."

"You're talking nonsense! They're my brothers! They'll definitely come to save me!"

"Alright, alright, I was just talking nonsense. You can wait for them. Here, remember to eat your food today. If they come to rescue you and you're too thin from hunger, they might come and punish me." The jailer then placed the food in front of Chang Xi, closed the gate, and left.

Chang Xi kept shouting, "Don't run away! Come back! Tell me what official positions they appointed! Come back!"

But the jailer had already left and ignored Changxi's shouts.