Chapter 221: The Prison of Fame
Ten days passed quickly, and Black Bear returned to Guanzhong before Gan Ning.

The snowfall in Weinan is not as heavy as in Taiyuan, but it also covers the fields with a pure white color.

Lishan Beiying, in the hot spring pool.

Black Bear only came here to see the hot springs, and felt that it was still not as good as the Kikusui Hot Springs, both in temperature and flow rate, which were much worse.

During this period, the North Camp of Mount Li was strengthened again. Three thousand Qingzhou soldiers were relocated to the grassroots level, leaving only three hundred backbone members in the camp.

Relying on three hundred backbone members, Guo Tai selected two thousand men from the rescued teenagers and sent them to the camp for training.

They were only conducting drill training and studying various scriptures of the Taiping Dao; the training tasks were not heavy, and these young men needed to be nurtured for a period of time.

Guo Tai led the black bear to inspect the new soldiers and said, "The treasury in Guanzhong is not full. If there is no rice and millet from Jingzhou before the summer harvest next year, there may be famine. Most of the new soldiers recruited so far are poorly fed."

Black Bear nodded and said, "I know your concerns."

After the ten generals of Guanzhong were incorporated, they had no shortage of gold, silver and bronze, but they lacked food.

Recruiting new soldiers in winter is just giving them a bite to eat to keep them alive. There is no need to feed them fully before training.

Otherwise, after training, you will definitely have a big appetite.

Under the premise of food shortage, we have to use many small tricks.

With the Qingzhou military camp handled in this way, the 42,000 households that had been mobilized to resist the various Hu people in the north were now gradually withdrawing from the front line.

The fields and roads in Taiyuan and Hedong are covered with ice and snow. Currently, various manpower and craftsmen are mobilized to make sleds to transport money, grain and fodder to Longmenjin and Pubanjin.

After Shang Yao took office in Hedong, he set an example by moving the families of more than 2,000 households of his own troops to Guanzhong. Then he brought his armed troops and the reorganized troops of the big families in Hedong to start ransacking houses.

The manpower must be transported to the designated position before next year's spring plowing.

After inspecting the North Camp, Black Bear followed the road westward to check on the immigrants who had been resettled along the way.

The abandoned villages and communities near the Chidao Road have now been gradually restored. Although it is winter, the immigrants who have moved into the villages are working hard to build their homes under the guidance of the Qingzhou soldiers.

Their current homes are only convenient for wintering. After the ice and snow melt and the spring plowing begins, they will be organized to build various square earthen forts or round forts.

In terms of structural stability and layout, cylindrical earthen forts are better.

Winter migration is difficult, but it also has its advantages: there are fewer strange diseases.

By ensuring food and heating for the migrants at night, the vast majority of them can adapt to the migration.

After inspecting all the way, they arrived at the Lantian camp.

He came so quickly, and he stopped along the way to investigate and ask about the immigrants, so Zhen Mi only knew about it two hours in advance.

When the black bear came back, he had already killed a young bull.

Contrary to Zhen Mi and Ma Yun's expectations, the returning black bear was not very happy.

In the warm pavilion, Ma Yun was roasting meat slices while Zhen Mi was boiling beef tripe.

The black bear ate woodenly with a heavy heart, although he knew very well that even if he went hungry, he could not improve the difficult lives of the new immigrants.

Food is in short supply. Although there is some stock, it must be used sparingly for the war.

Therefore, a food rationing system was implemented for the new and old immigrants who moved in and were resettled.

If we take the rations of soldiers as the standard, the average ration of immigrants is only one-quarter now.

The children among the immigrants could only eat until they were 70% full, and the adults could not eat enough, so there was no question of any labor efficiency.

They don't need to do anything in winter, just collect fuel and don't freeze to death.

The Qingzhou soldiers assigned to the grassroots level could only pretend to be ignorant and would kill a sick and weak cattle or horse every two or three days.

If you don't get enough food in winter, you will freeze to death.

Black Bear had no appetite and was a little irritable, so he carried Zhen Mi on his back and walked towards the dormitory.

Leaving behind a girl at a loss, she hesitated for a while and followed in with a plate of barbecue.

After feeling relaxed again, Black Bear lay lazily, not wanting to move: "After the spring, we will move to Ganquan Mountain. From now on, we will stay there in summer and autumn, and move south in winter and spring, changing places twice a year."

Zhen Mi combed Ma Yun's hair without looking back: "My dear, are you going to conquer the barbarians nearby?"

"Yes, Guanzhong lacks everything, but as long as we have enough slaves, we will have everything."

Black Bear's mood became unhappy again. The more battles he won, the poorer he felt.

Therefore, war must be fought against the northern Hu tribes, and at least 200,000 cattle and horses must be captured.

Two hundred thousand cattle and horses could be eaten immediately, which would also ease the current tense food pressure.

I’m afraid that if we rescue more people, the situation will become even more urgent.

The main reason was that too much food was burned. The grain reserves of the three royal courts were actually enough for the men and women rescued from the Xiongnu, but three quarters of them were burned.

The population that needed to be relocated in Hedong and Taiyuan were mostly powerful and wealthy. The food obtained after the house searches was enough for these people to eat, as well as for the population left behind in the two counties.

The huge food gap comes from the three royal courts, and there is nothing that can be done about it.

Only by burning the grain can we force the Xiongnu, Wuhuan and Heishan armies to take the initiative in a decisive battle.

Under the pressure of food, the black bear had no intention of speaking and conversations gradually died down in the dormitory.

Seeing Zhen Mi and Ma Yun talking in low voices, Black Bear stood up and walked to the table.

He took out an abacus, stroked it with his left hand, and then took out the population and registration data currently under his control, as well as the grain inventory data.

He immediately started fiddling with the abacus to personally check the calculation results.

The data has been verified repeatedly. There are only three ways to increase food reserves. You can go to war and plunder cattle, horses and sheep from the northern Hu people, and you can also seize food. The northern Hu people also engage in half-farming and half-pastoral activities.

The second is the grain from Jingzhou. If we want to transport it in large quantities, it will take at least until the end of March next year.

The third is to start with the small powerful people in Guanzhong and completely smooth out Guanzhong, just like combing your hair with a comb, leaving no dandruff at all.

If the small tyrants in Guanzhong are also destroyed, the mentality of the people in Liangzhou will probably explode. This may not be a bad thing. Indistinctly, several cognitive obstacles in Black Bear's mind were penetrated and cleared.

It is useless to curry favor with the scholars of Liangzhou. As long as you show your strength, the scholars of Liangzhou will adjust their position and attitude.

Just let them see your own military power, don't be driven by them cheaply.

If the Hu tribes invade Liangzhou, I must be a bad guy and not be led by the people of Liangzhou.

Thinking about it, Black Bear summoned a goose feather pen and wrote the two words "fasting" on a piece of yellowed bamboo paper.

Ordinary people these days only eat two meals a day, but officials, soldiers and powerful people are not restricted to just two meals a day.

Anyway, it doesn’t matter if I don’t eat for a few days. After the spring plowing is done, I might as well ask Zhong Yao to fast and diet together and call on officials to save food together.

It comes once between March and April, and once between the end of September and the beginning of October.

Emptying the stomach and going hungry is beneficial to longevity, and Zhong Yao should be grateful to himself.

After calming down, he threw the paper into the box.

His mood also relaxed. He returned to the couch and closed his eyes. The familiar smell made him feel extremely peaceful and he fell asleep immediately.

The sky gradually brightened, and when he woke up, he heard footsteps walking back and forth.

When he opened his eyes, he saw Zhen Mi showing him new clothes. Black Bear simply washed and put on the new clothes. Then he heard Zhen Mi say, "My dear, the imperial envoy is still in Tongguan. Zhong Yuanchang came in the middle of the night and is waiting for you."

Meanwhile, the little attendant Ma Yun found Zhong Yao's visiting card and handed it to him: "My dear husband, you come and go in a hurry, and he is afraid that he will not be able to catch up."

"Well, I'll go meet him."

Black Bear said this as he walked towards the wall, took out a sheepskin cloak and put it on, then walked down the stairs barefoot on the wooden planks.

There were several pairs of loose furry leather shoes placed in the corridor outside the first floor. I put on a pair and walked along the corridor to the outer hall.

Zhong Yao was seen wearing an orange-red cashmere shawl and a sheepskin coat underneath the fluffy shawl. He was sitting in front of a brazier, brewing a small pot of tea and eating a portable breakfast.

Zhong Yao noticed Black Bear coming in and was about to stand up, but Black Bear waved his hand to signal him to stop and sat down opposite Zhong Yao.

The lunch that Zhong Yao brought was very rich. The texture of the air-dried beef slices was obviously the most tender tenderloin slices.

There was still half a box of leftover pastry. Looking at the black pottery pot for boiling tea and the half piece of brown sugar that had not been added, Black Bear could not help but raise an eyebrow: "Lord Yuan Chang's food is much richer than mine. Pastry from Tianshui, sugar from Nanhai, the only thing missing is the pine nuts from Youzhou. With the pine nuts from Youzhou, they must be paired with the two Wu girls and Yue girls."

Then look at Zhong Yao's plain yellow cashmere shawl. Compared with it, the shiny bear fur and sable fur seemed vulgar.

"Haha, the general is joking."

Zhong Yao smiled. They were just some small objects. He did not think it was strange. He thought it was just Black Bear's joke. He said, "There are many rumors among the officials and people in Guanzhong that the general is a descendant of the Liang royal family. I don't know whether it is true or not."

Seeing that Black Bear was silent, Zhong Yao said straight to the point: "If it is true, this is a blessing for the imperial family. I personally entered Xudu. With the general's merits, I deserve the title of Marquis of Liang. Anyi, Shaoliangcheng, and Liangshan are under the general's rule. Conferring the title of Marquis of Liang can be said to be in line with the will of heaven and the will of the people."

Zhong Yao stared into Black Bear's eyes, and Black Bear just shook his head: "The Han Dynasty is in a state of despair, and it is beyond my power to save it. I do not want to be the Marquis of Liang, the King of Liang, or the Marquis of Wei, the King of Wei."

If you acknowledge your royal family status and gain its benefits, you have to pay a price.

This price is too heavy for the black bear to bear.

Zhong Yao asked again: "Since it is not the palace of Liang State, then it is nonsense to say that you are the descendant of Marquis Lu Wen. I wonder if the general can clearly state the succession? This way, I and the court can also propose a title for the general."

"Mr. Yuan Chang, if you accept someone's name, you will be controlled by them."

Black Bear spread his arms and said, "For example, right now, who dares to accuse me of not obeying the court? The scholars in Chang'an gathered together, and there were all kinds of discussions. Who dares to say that I am wrong?"

He picked up the empty tea bowl in front of him again: "This is a tea vessel. Once clay becomes a vessel, it will be restricted."

Zhong Yao frowned and asked, "General, do you want to avoid being burdened by the famous weapon?"

"That's right. When I first started my business, the famous instruments of the Han Dynasty were of no use to me. Now that I look around and see fear in all directions, why should I entangle myself in famous instruments and be bound by the imperial court for no reason?"

Black Bear smiled and said, "Only those who are not strong enough need famous weapons. Without the imperial seal, they are nothing."

Seeing Zhong Yao's ugly and frightened expression, Black Bear continued, "Lord Yuan Chang is still the Sili Xiaowei of the court. Don't interfere in the rest of the matter."

There are too many restrictions within the Han court.

Jump out of this platform. Even if you are from the Yang family of Hongnong, you are the fourth generation Grand Marshal of the Han Dynasty. What does it have to do with me?
Let's start from the beginning. You are a disciple and former official of the Yang family. That was the system under the rule of the Han Dynasty court, which is not recognized here.

Zhong Yao's emotions were on the verge of losing control. He had never thought that Black Bear would have such an attitude.

Looking at Zhong Yao who was about to speak, Black Bear calmly asked, "If you were in my place, would Lord Yuan Chang be willing to surrender and be caged? In this world, the only thing that can restrain me is this."

Zhong Yao said nothing. Black Bear looked up at the roof. "I came back on a whim this time. I am not afraid of losing Guanzhong. As long as I am alive, I will raise my arms and shout. There are many people willing to start a business with me. As for Guanzhong, who dared to cause trouble while I was away fighting? Wang Yun is a lesson for me."

"The general is worrying too much."

Zhong Yao said in a hoarse voice: "The general has exterminated Wang Yun's entire clan, and all the officials and people in Guanlong are celebrating."

"Are you happy or unhappy?"

Black Bear lowered his head to examine him and questioned him. Zhong Yao restrained his emotions and said, "I am just surprised. I want to know the secret of Cai Bojie's new calligraphy."

Fearing that Black Bear might think too much, Zhong Yao immediately said, "Wang Yun is dead, and I am not on good terms with him, and our two families are not related by marriage."

"I will carve the new calligraphy into a stone tablet and show it to the world when I come back."

Black Bear stood up and said, "Help me to hold back the imperial court and deal with them until I return. In the future, you will have a place in the world."

Seeing that Zhong Yao looked calm and unmoved, Black Bear smiled and said, "Mr. Yuan Chang is over fifty years old, why are you so depressed? In my opinion, Mr. Yuan Chang still has another forty years to live, maybe even a hundred. This is just the beginning, Mr. Yuan Chang should not make mistakes."

Zhong Yao’s eyes rolled. Could he really live for another forty years?
A scholar enters the officialdom in his twenties, and his official career lasts about thirty years.

If I can live for another forty years... doesn't that mean I am still very young?

It can't be said to be the rising sun, but it is at least the sun in the pre-noon or noon time.

If one could really live for more than 40 years, would it be necessary to remain loyal to the court of Xudu?

(End of this chapter)