Liu Xuande would never be a succubus of the Eastern Han Dynasty!

"..."

Master Lu touched his nose and said in a deep voice, "There are five hundred people, but they are on their way and it will take half a month for them to arrive."

There were originally a hundred or so advance troops, but unexpectedly they were all killed along the way...

"That's going to be difficult."

The county magistrate's expression was not very good either. "With the famine ahead, the temporary force we recruited is only about two or three hundred men."

Jiujiang County: Chapter 16: Unable to save you, wait for death, Jia Xu prays for you

Inland counties generally do not have standing officers and soldiers, let alone war horses, armor, etc.

If some bad guys incite the people to rebel, the local government will either temporarily recruit people on the spot or wait for Luoyang officials and soldiers to come and quell the rebellion.

But in addition to this, there is actually a third way.

That is to ask for support from the local powerful families. They not only have a large labor force at their disposal, but also a considerable number of "private soldiers" in the name of "guards".

But these are equivalent to the capital of the aristocratic families, and they will not hand them over unless it is a critical moment, not to mention helping the government to quell the rebellion. Can doing this bring them a penny of profit?

What? You can accumulate reputation? This is ridiculous. Most people are farming or guarding the house in my Yangzhou family. Why would I need reputation...

The government generally would not do this, because such behavior would undoubtedly enhance the influence of local powerful families, and in time, the entire state might be named after the same family.

Although things are almost done now, the aristocratic families will still give face to the government in name and have not reached the point of breaking off relations.

Therefore, the situation that Master Lu had to face was actually quite difficult.

It takes time to recruit soldiers for a county, not to mention that it takes time for soldiers from other counties to arrive. Even if all the soldiers are gathered by chance, it will be difficult to move.

The barbarians can naturally rob a wave and then run into the mountains. If you follow them, you will suffer, and you may also be harassed by the barbarians...

"Two or three hundred people... well, let me go and think for a while."

Master Lu's expression did not change at all. He just deliberately winked at Liu Bei, and then they stood up and bowed together.

"Okay, my Lord Governor, the place for you to live is now available."

The county magistrate was no fool, having been in the officialdom for so long. He saw that Master Lu already had an idea in his mind, but he just didn't trust them, so he wanted to discuss it privately.

He squinted his eyes at the backs of Liu Bei and the others, turned his head slightly and whispered to the servants: "Send a few people over to keep an eye on them..."

"Okay, Your Excellency the County Magistrate, I just have a question."

"Hmm? Your voice..."

As soon as the county magistrate looked up, he saw Liu Bei's smiling face and was stunned.

"Who are you going to send some men to watch?"

The smile on Liu Bei's face remained unchanged, but one hand was pressed on the hilt of the sword, and a hint of murderous intent appeared in his peach blossom eyes.

"..."

Oops, I got fooled. That look was intentional...

The county magistrate realized he had been tricked and quickly laughed, saying, "Since the governor is new here, we need to send more people to protect him."

"is it?"

"Of course."

Just as the smile on his face showed a little, he saw a flash of cold light, and then the sky and the earth went dark, and he could even see his own body...

he died?

Just kill him like that?

What the county magistrate showed before his death was not panic, but disbelief.

How could someone not follow the rules of the game, not agree with each other, and start a fight right in the county magistrate's office...

Liu Bei quickly put away his sword and, amidst the astonished gazes of his followers, he bowed to Master Lu and said:

"I, the disciple, could not bear to see my teacher humiliated, so I killed someone in anger. This is my fault, and I am willing to be punished."

How unbearable it is to see your respected teacher being humiliated.

In the Han Dynasty, filial piety was regarded as the most important thing. If you really want to be filial to your parents, and spend some money, you can easily avoid disasters.

But killing the county magistrate in public... that's a bit too much.

Master Lu waved his hand and said, "Xuan De has a hot temper, but it's true that the county magistrate intended to do something bad to us. However, impulsiveness must be punished. Considering this is your first offense and there are reasons for it, come to me tonight and receive twenty canes."

"Disciple, obey."

Liu Bei bowed with a smile on his face.

The county magistrate and the county lieutenant who witnessed all this were stunned and said: "Oh no... They are not here to deal with the rebellion, they are clearly coming for us..."

In a county, under normal circumstances, the chief officer was someone sent by the court on a regular basis, while the deputy officers and others were children of powerful and aristocratic families. They fought openly and secretly with each other, making it impossible for the county to be integrated into one.

The county magistrate and his men had previously thought that Governor Lu had come with an imperial edict to quell the rebellion, and that after taking office, she would definitely have to actively win over these children of aristocratic families so that there would be enough troops to support the suppression of the rebellion.

As a result, he came up and chopped the county magistrate to pieces in public.

This is no longer a game of chess, this is completely turning over the table and exposing a knife, it is lawless.

The aristocratic families will allow you to compete with them for power and profit because it is in line with the rules of the game, but they will never allow you to take advantage of them.

Even if Prefect Lu could use his power to handle the matter rashly, the noble families behind the scenes would certainly write a letter of impeachment, and the Governor of Yangzhou would certainly take action to punish him.

The governor himself has the power of supervision and can easily dismiss a county governor.

No matter what the outcome of this matter is, her official hat will definitely be taken off.

She actually gave up her position as a county governor. She could have solved the barbarian rebellion by simply winning over the powerful people...but she used the most radical means. Why?

They couldn't figure out why.

"Tsk tsk..."

Liu Bei and Master Lu walked towards the guest room and said with a smile: "Master, have you seen their gloomy faces? Hahaha, they don't know that what Master values is never a county or an official..."

Master Lu got his official position because he had to suppress a rebellion, not because he needed to suppress a rebellion because of his official position.

This context is very important.

This also determined that she would use the most radical and swift means to end the barbarian rebellion as quickly as possible before winter.

As for the expressions of the aristocratic families?

Master Lu never considered other people's opinions when doing things, but only acted according to the "benevolence" in his heart.

She didn't learn the scriptures to talk with the noble families, otherwise why would she learn archery and swordsmanship?

Isn't it to force the other party to listen to the truth calmly?

"Don't get carried away."

Master Lu subconsciously wanted to tap him on the forehead, but found that the distance was not enough, so he immediately snorted: "Hurry up and lower yourself, let me hit you."

"Ah, no, only a fool would let you hit him."

"Fool, hurry up--"

"I reject."

"How dare you, a daring lunatic, disrespect the dignity of your master!"

"Master...you little thing, you don't think you still have any dignity, do you?"

"!"

Master Lu raised his brows, pulled out a ruler from his waist, and showed an explosive attitude of "If this family can't survive, then we can't live together anymore."

"Wenhe, save me!"

Jia Xu watched this scene silently, his mouth slightly raised: "I can't save you, wait for death, I will pray for you."

Liu Bei dodged the Master's ruler attack and came up to Jia Xu, winking at him expertly: "Wenhe, you will definitely help me, right?"

"..."

Jia Xu looked at the pair of demonic peach blossom eyes and said in a moment of ecstasy: "Mr. Lu Zigan, please stop. I have something to say."

"Why," Master Lu snorted, "you're going to gang up on me, right?"

"Of course not."

Jia Xu shook his head and said seriously, "I have some immature ideas on how to deal with the aristocratic families and the barbarians."

Jiujiang County: Chapter 17: Diverting the Trouble Eastward

The guest rooms arranged by the county magistrate were relatively new, with the living room and bedroom fully furnished. More importantly, because Liu Bei had taken the lead in establishing his authority, no one from the surrounding area had come to disturb him until now.

Normally, when a governor takes office, the local noble families and other colleagues would send people to congratulate him, then invite him to various banquets and take the opportunity to find out what kind of personality this new governor has...

Unexpectedly, the new prefect and his entourage had only been here for less than half an incense stick of time when they beheaded the county magistrate on the spot.

As a result, many noble families stopped their congratulations and adopted a wait-and-see attitude.

But this also means that the position of "prefect" is likely to be sidelined by the joint efforts and become an empty shell.

Master Lu and others understood this, but no one took it to heart.

If the Master really wanted to be an official in the court, she could have relied on her connections and reputation to become one of the Three Dukes and Nine Ministers. Why would she come here to be a bullied prefect?

It was because Liu Bei had received the teacher's secret approval that he was able to kill him directly.

Jia Xu was standing in the center of the hall at this time, and based on the intelligence he had just received, he analyzed:

"Actually, the key isn't the number of troops, nor is it necessary to forcefully defeat the rebels... Aside from the barbarians, many of them are refugees fleeing because they can't pay taxes."

"Although such a team may seem powerful, it is completely incomparable to the properly recruited troops. Therefore, defeating them is actually a very simple matter."

Master Lu also agreed with this view: "I am in harmony with literature."

Jia Xu smiled slightly: "But it's difficult to achieve a complete victory."

"What does it mean to be completely victorious?"

Here it comes, the timeless classic scene is coming.

Liu Bei sat cross-legged, his peach blossom eyes revealing just the right amount of doubt.

In fact, he was laughing in his heart.

Jia Xu's talent lies not in military force or governance, but in his excellent overall view and clear thinking and ingenious strategies. With these two skills, coupled with his stable character, he must be a man who can plan everything out.

Generally, warriors show off by being decisive in killing, scholars show off by being well-mannered and graceful in conversation, and counselors show off by...keeping people in a suspenseful mood.

They will deliberately say something that you have already agreed with, and then based on this, they will come up with a more clever method to scare you.

They can also observe your attitude afterwards. If you show a micro-expression of jealousy towards their intelligence, they can directly say that it is because you have a different perspective on things. The master's decision is the key...

In short, they will say a lot of smug words to flatter you and satisfy your vanity, and then you will naturally accept their strategies more.

Therefore, people who can become strategists may not be good at planning, but they are definitely smart people.

Jia Xu is the most cunning of the cunning... well, a pink vixen.

Seeing that Master Lu was attracted by her words, Jia Xu continued:

"Victory is only temporary. After Mr. Lu Zigan leaves, the barbarians might continue their rebellion. Complete victory, however, is the way to end it once and for all."

Master Lu frowned slightly upon hearing this. "Are they going to bury them all alive? That's absolutely not possible. If the other tribes saw their surrendered tribes being treated so cruelly, they would surely choose death over submission, and the loss to future generations would be even greater!"

The most difficult thing to deal with with this group of barbarians is not their fighting capacity, but the fact that they cannot be killed, so they can only be appeased.

"No and no."

Jia Xu shook his head and said, "The reason refugees are refugees is because they are hungry and taxed. If we solve these two problems, they will naturally settle down and live in peace and contentment, and will not be so crazy as to join any rebellion."

"By then, these barbarians without support will naturally be powerless, and the well-fed common people will spontaneously protect this achievement, right?"

"You have a point, but," Master Lu had naturally considered this, "these two problems are difficult to resolve. Even if I opened up the government treasury, the food in it would be a drop in the bucket for the refugees."

How many refugees had been brought about by the drought? Not to mention that most of the grain accumulated by the government over the years had either gone to the capital or ended up in the stomachs of officials and their families, with only a small portion remaining in existence.

And most importantly, Jiujiang County has not yet paid its taxes this year.

Jia Xu suddenly smiled without saying anything, acting like a master, as if leaving her words halfway through would make her feel very happy.