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

Chapter 84 Baby Boomers and Strict Control

"I just heard something really amazing—"

As Liu Bei continued his introduction, Mi Zhu's expression gradually changed from a smile to a wry smile, and then to a tense expression as if he had swallowed a fly.

With the unfriendly knowledge that had crept into his mind, Mi Zhu quietly returned to his seat and did not touch the delicacies on the table.

He watched his younger brother sitting in the back row, eating and drinking without a care in the world, and suddenly he had an idea.

Gradually, everyone at the banquet stopped eating and just kept drinking.

The banquet ended with all the wine gone, but hardly any food was touched.

The servants, stuffing the leftover food into their mouths, cleaned up the dishes. One servant muttered under his breath, "These important people are so wasteful. They haven't touched any of this delicious food. Look at this fish slice."

After saying that, he picked up a piece with his index finger and thumb, put it in his mouth, chewed it, and loudly praised, "Mmm! Xuan!"

Everyone around him stared wide-eyed, speechless. He found their astonished expressions somewhat amusing: "What are you looking at? This sashimi is really delicious. Besides, how could the lord blame me for eating a little leftovers? He'll even praise me for not wasting food."

"Didn't you hear what Mi Biejia's brother said?"

"Isn't it inappropriate for someone in our line of work to eavesdrop on conversations? What did he say?"

"It's in these fish fillets—"

And just like that, the young servant's good mood was completely ruined. The dangers of parasites also spread by word of mouth, prompting the people of Xuzhou to choose safer foods and cooking methods, at least they wouldn't eat raw fish without thinking.

The following day, Lu Wan approached Liu Bei again, wanting to discuss their next strategy.

Liu Bei clearly hadn't expected his Xiao He to be so proactive, starting work again without even taking a break after just finishing a battle: "Wen Yuan, you've been traveling for far enough, you should rest for a while first, don't overwork yourself."

"There's hardly any time left to rest, my lord. Although the situation in Xuzhou is stable and improving, it's still far behind Hebei. If we don't hurry, and Yuan Shao marches south and defeats Cao Cao, then no one will be able to stop him."

Lu Wan then relayed the arguments she had discussed with the three men to Liu Bei, and at the same time had her attendant bring over the production data of Xuzhou during this period.

Lu Wan stated her viewpoint directly and bluntly: "The most important thing for Xuzhou right now is not to cultivate good relations with anyone, but to build a strong army. On the basis of ensuring the safety of Xuzhou, we should vigorously develop industry and commerce. At the same time, we should also provide a certain degree of support to the farmers."

This development trajectory is also quite suitable for the current environment. If the safety of the base cannot be guaranteed, no matter how well it is built, it is just a delivery service for others.

Looking at Lu Wan's grand plan, Liu Bei couldn't help but click his tongue in amazement: "Tsk tsk tsk, an army of more than 100,000 people—that's no small feat."

Since Xuzhou started developing handicraft workshops and commerce, its trade revenue has grown significantly. To be honest, Liu Bei was starting to look down on the meager income from farming. However, grain was still the most important commodity, so he gritted his teeth and continued to vigorously develop agriculture.

Now, expanding the army requires at least 100,000 troops. This not only requires a lot of effort in terms of finance and food, but also attention to a very crucial point: labor force.

The enlistment of these 80,000 new soldiers is equivalent to Xuzhou losing 80,000 farmers and gaining 80,000 more mouths to feed. With this addition and subtraction, Xuzhou will face a very large food shortage.

At the same time, Xuzhou would lose 80,000 young and able-bodied men. If they were to lose their composure and suffer a major defeat, the entire city of Xuzhou would be in mourning.

Considering that achieving the target all at once was unrealistic, Lu Wan came up with a compromise: "Don't worry, my lord, our army doesn't necessarily have to reach this number all at once. We can recruit soldiers in stages, for example, 30,000 in the first year, 30,000 in the second year, and so on. Taking it slowly will also delay these problems from arising."

In this way, except for the weak soldiers recruited in the last year, the other newly recruited troops should not have major problems in terms of combat effectiveness.

"I have some new ideas about the current development of industry and commerce, but we may need some manpower to assist us. Please ask Lord Mi to come and discuss it with us."

While waiting for Mi Zhu to arrive, Lu Guan continued to discuss future plans with Liu Bei.

Lu Wan was most concerned about the food issue. After all, people will definitely rebel if they don't have food, no matter who they are: "How much grain is left in Xuzhou now? Can it last until this autumn harvest?"

"Fortunately, we should be able to hold out until then. Xuzhou is stable now, isn't it? People are starting to get married and have children as they used to, which shows that we're doing quite well. The people feel that life can finally return to normal."

At this point, even Liu Bei, a man who rarely showed his emotions, smiled, clearly feeling very proud of his work.

Liu Bei certainly had the right to be proud. In times of war, people's lives were filled with hardship and displacement. They couldn't even survive on their own, so who would be willing to start a family and have children?

Thanks to the efforts of Liu Bei and others, the security situation in Xuzhou is much better than during Tao Qian's time. Although it's not quite at the level of leaving doors unlocked at night and not picking up lost items on the road, and although there are still serious security incidents of robbing grain and money, at least people won't be beheaded for no reason and have their heads used to build pyramids for others to see.

Of course, the various workshops that Lu Wan approved for construction also played a significant role in this regard, as these workshops essentially created a number of jobs.

Not only are the benefits good, but there is also a security team composed of workshop employees, making it impossible for unauthorized personnel to enter, thus creating a safe environment for the employees.

With such favorable conditions, the people will naturally be motivated to create a better life.

Lu Su was also pleased to hear this news. Although the baby boom would put more than a decade of material pressure on Xuzhou in the short term, once this group of people grew up, they would be Liu Bei's most steadfast supporters.

Therefore, for Liu Bei's army, this was a sweet trouble, but it also strengthened Lu Wan's plan for the future.

"Strict control?" Liu Bei had never heard of this term before and found it rather strange.

Lu Wan knew the power of this word: "Yes, I think that in the coming period, until Yuan Shao's army marches south, Xuzhou must take the most severe measures to maintain order, and all lawbreakers must be eliminated."