Chapter 242 The General's Ambition
It was three full days before the black bear returned to Chiyang.

He spent four days personally arranging the resettlement of the hundred households in various counties in the Youfu area.

This is only a preliminary resettlement, based on farmland cultivation and military garrison.

After the spring plowing is over, various hundred-household offices specializing in mining, smelting, and manufacturing will be set up according to the mineral and forest resources of each county, including the mining, planting and improvement of forest resources, as well as the establishment of breeding pastures in various valleys.

They would all enclose land and resettle people in the form of 100-household or 1,000-household units.

The army was split up and deployed at various nodes, and there were sick and weak cattle and horses to be slaughtered every day.

Even if they are not well fed, the current number of cattle and horses is enough to ensure that the army can last until the grass and trees sprout and wild vegetables can be picked.

When he returned to Chiyang, he took a routine bath.

He had no appetite and returned to the quiet room to deal with official documents.

Various official documents were conveying one message: the captured cattle and horses were continuing to be lost.

Some of them were just routine reports of the number of slaughters and the death data of the migrant population, while some official documents proposed calling on the wealthy people in Guanzhong to donate grain and the government to grant cattle and horses.

There were many such suggestions, but Black Bear did not deal with any of them.

He would rather eat more cattle and horses than give in.

Even if it has to be replaced in the end, we have to hold on for a while longer to allow the soldiers in Guanzhong to gain some experience.

Seeing that most of the official documents were of similar content, Black Bear quickly read through them and processed them.

I couldn't help but sigh, food security is so important.

Too many forces have perished abnormally, either because their leaders made fatal mistakes or because of food problems.

If there is enough food now, when organizing the hundred-household offices, the mines, forestry farms and ranches can be completed at the same time.

Only when the food supply is stable can we talk about stable production.

It is better to suspend the external plundering wars and quickly restore grain production in Guanzhong until the reserves are sufficient.

When he walked out of the quiet room, he saw the screen, took out his goose feather pen and wrote the word "米" on the screen.

Coming out of the administrative hall, he asked the officer on duty, "Where is Zhang Ding?"

"Report to the commander, Commander Zhang should stay overnight in Linjin and arrive in Chiyang tomorrow."

The officer took out a stack of business cards and handed them over, "General Qu, these are visiting cards from Cui Jun of Anping, Cui Zhouping of Langya, Zhuge Liang of Nanjun, and Ma Liang of Nanjun."

Black Bear played with it and was surprised: "Just these people?"

"There are others, most of whom are unknown."

The military officer raised his hand and pointed to the small house next door. "The visiting cards and business cards have been collected. I see that the commander is tired..."

Just as he was about to explain, he saw the black bear staring at him. His legs went weak and he knelt on the ground, kowtowed and said, "General, Cui Zhouping is a famous person, so I dared to pass on his business card!"

"Go make a copy of the business card and give it to me later."

"Yes, I accept your order."

The officer kowtowed again, and Black Bear instructed another officer on duty: "Prepare dinner and invite Cui Zhouping and the other two to the feast."

"Here!"

The military officer bowed with his hands clasped and looked stern, then took a few steps back, turned around, and walked away quickly.

Black Bear turned into the side hall for receiving guests. As he entered, four personal soldiers on duty in the corridor came in, moved the spare candlesticks into the side hall, and lit them one by one.

This candlestick imitates the story of the ten suns resting on the Fusang tree. It is made in the shape of a bronze sacred tree and has ten pedestals on it, which can be used to light candles or place oil lamps.

Black Bear is very poor and can't afford so many candles.

Therefore, the lightweight sheep oil lamps used produce less smoke than cow oil or horse oil lamps.

A total of six candlesticks were lit, which not only provided sufficient brightness, but also made the reception hall quickly warm up.

Just as Black Bear was thinking about the various hidden dangers that Zhuge Liang might bring, the military officer led Cui Zhouping and the other two along the corridor. They all changed into wooden clogs in the outer courtyard, and the clogs made crisp sounds as they stepped on the suspended wooden floor in the corridor.

Except for the guards on duty, everyone else walking around wore wooden clogs.

The crisp sound of footsteps made Black Bear give up thinking. He raised his hand to grab the wooden spoon and stir the tea boiling in front of him.

There was no black bear coming out to greet him, and Cui Zhouping looked as usual.

He took off his clogs and entered the side hall, then followed the military officer around the screen and saw Black Bear sitting at the head of the inner hall. Cui Zhouping bowed and said, "I pay my respects to the General Zhenbei."

"Please get up quickly."

Black Bear raised his hand to signal, and the military officer who was leading the way beside Cui Zhouping quickly helped Cui Zhouping, who was trying to bow, to stand steadily. Then Black Bear said, "My title of Zhenbei General was only given to me privately by Wang Yi, so it cannot be taken seriously. Lord Cui, please take the seat."

Then he looked at Zhuge Liang, who bowed smoothly, holding a narrow feather fan in his hand: "Langya Zhuge Kongming, I greet the general."

"I haven't seen you for a few months, and I didn't expect you to be more handsome than ever."

Black Bear bowed his hands reluctantly in return, extended his arm to indicate Zhuge Liang to sit below Cui Zhouping, and then looked at Ma Liang who was about to bow and introduce himself: "Of the five Ma family members, White Eyebrow is the best. You should be Ma Jichang."

Ma Liang was shocked. It was the first time he heard such a statement.

Unable to conceal his joy, he bowed deeply and said, "General, thank you for your praise."

At present, Ma Liang has not yet experienced the seclusion in Huya Mountain, and his reputation as the best among the White Eyebrows has not yet appeared.

At this time, Cui Zhouping and Zhuge Liang looked at each other and both breathed a sigh of relief.

At least Black Bear seems to be an easy person to talk to.

Black Bear stretched out his arms again and gestured for Ma Liang to sit in the first position on his right.

The three of them sat down, and the soldiers who had been waiting for a long time brought four plates of food. The food was not rich, but it was balanced.

As this group of soldiers left, another group of sergeants came forward to prepare hot tea, wine bottles, wine bowls, etc. for them. As the leading military officer closed the door when he left, the reception hall quickly became warm and pleasant.

Black Bear poured himself a glass of wine, raised his hands and looked at Cui Zhouping: "Mr. Cui has come thousands of miles to see me, he must have something to teach me. I have a bad temper, let's eat first, and then we can discuss it in detail after dinner."

"As you wish, General."

Cui Zhouping also raised his wine bowl; Zhuge Liang and Ma Liang raised their wine bowls, and they all took a few sips to moisten their throats.

They started eating right away. The food on the four people's plates was exactly the same: a ball of compacted multi-grain rice, a bowl of steaming mushroom and beef bone soup, a small dish of bacon sauce, half a dish of vinegar-fried bean sprouts, and half a dish of cold-mixed antler vegetables.

When Zhuge Liang saw that Black Bear looked normal while eating, he knew that this was Black Bear's regular meal.

This is most likely the food standard of the Black Bear Guards. I can't help but feel emotional. This is somewhat unexpected.

He subconsciously compared the black bear with Huo Qubing. In addition to being brave in battle and having a brilliant record, Huo Qubing also had another characteristic, which was that he was clear about rewards and punishments. He would rather let the food he could not eat go bad and throw it away than give it to those who had not made any contribution.

Besides, with Black Bear’s current prestige, there would be no problem even if he ate beef tenderloin every day.

The simple lifestyle is still maintained now, which makes Zhuge Liang feel respectable but also terrifying.

The four people had great appetites. They put down their chopsticks one after another, finished the food on their plates, and even drank up the bone soup before it got cold.

Black Bear clapped his hands, and the guard waiting outside the door came in, took away the plate, and closed the door again.

Stroking his belly, Black Bear looked at Cui Zhouping and said, "Please teach me, sir."

Cui Zhouping coughed twice and asked, "General, do you want to rule Guanzhong with the kingly way or the hegemonic way?"

"Use whichever is more useful. If it can make the country rich and the people strong, why bother with the technique?"

Black Bear smiled and said, "In this world of great strife, we should act in a hegemonic way. Internal thieves are more hateful than external thieves. To resist external thieves, we must first stabilize the internal situation."

This answer was not surprising. Cui Zhouping asked again: "I heard Liu Fubo say that you are a descendant of the royal family. May I ask, do you have the ambition to support the country and revive the Han Dynasty?"

Zhuge Liang and Ma Liang also observed the black bear, waiting for the black bear to answer this most crucial question.

Black Bear raised his right hand and rubbed his cheek, his eyes fell on Zhuge Liang's face: "Mr. Kong Ming, if the Han Dynasty can be revived for the third time, the fourth time, and the fifth time in the future, how painful it will be for the common people!"

As he spoke, his eyes fell on Cui Zhouping's face: "Since the Later Han Dynasty, the powerful have grown stronger, the people are in dire straits, and the country is in danger. The root cause is that Guangwu relied on the powerful in Hebei to get things done. He couldn't even inspect the land and implement taxes, so how could he govern the country?"

"People die when they grow old, and the court should be like this too. If Wang Mang had not committed such atrocities, how could the people of the world have re-established the Liu family?"

Black Bear sighed and said, "Outside the wilderness, wolves prey on sheep. If wolves become rampant, the sheep will inevitably be eaten up, and the sheep can only recover after the wolves starve to death. During the reign of Emperor Guangwu, less than half of the wolves were killed. That's why the people of the Later Han Dynasty have been suffering since the founding of the country. In my opinion, there is no other good solution except to establish a new dynasty!"

The three of them were silent, and immediately felt that the death of Wang Yun and his three clans was well deserved.

Black Bear said, "If the Han Dynasty can be revived for the third time, the remains of the wolf pack will also grow and give rise to a group of wolf cubs. Then the fourth and fifth revival will happen, and the world will be in the name of the Liu family. From the beginning to the end, it will be a world of tigers and wolves. How innocent are the people of the world? But they will be eaten by wolves for generations to come?"

Ma Liang's face turned pale slightly. He felt that the black bear was hinting at Fufeng Ma.

Zhuge Liang had no expression on his face, so Cui Zhouping asked, "General, do you admire King Chen? If you act like this, aren't you afraid that the bandits will use King Chen's words to incite the people to revolt?"

"No, Mr. Cui misunderstood me."

The black bear said immediately, "I am annoyed that there are too many wolves in the world. What I want is to castrate the wolves. After all, sheep eat grass, and they will eventually die of old age. Wolves can just eat the dead sheep. Let the sheep eat grass and give birth to lambs happily and carefreely while they are alive, and feed the wolves after they die. This is just an improvement on the cycle of nature."

He looked at Zhuge Liang expressionlessly, "Wolves eat sheep, and sheep eat grass. With Mr. Kong Ming's wisdom, he should also understand that there are only a limited number of sheep that can be supported in this world. Once a natural disaster strikes, the sheep will starve to death and will turn into wolves."

Zhuge Liang did not refute, and Black Bear continued, "Wolves will eventually starve to death if they eat grass, so they must eat sheep. If the wolf pack is starving to death, weak from hunger, or resentful because of hunger, they will seduce other wolf packs. If the world can raise 80 million sheep, we can raise 50 million and then determine the number of wolves."

At this time, the black bear looked at the silent Ma Liang, and then looked at Cui Zhouping who was hesitant to speak: "Use wolves to control sheep, protect grass and drive away other wolves; use grass to feed sheep, and use sheep to feed wolves."

"The general doesn't want to raise a wolf, he wants a dog."

Cui Zhouping was not surprised. The black bear was just describing the production relations in a figurative way. No matter how it was described, the production and predatory relations objectively existed there and were recognized by the world.

The longer the family heritage and the higher the cultural quality, the more they can understand this.

It's just that everyone still cares about dress and etiquette, but for the black bears, it has become a fight between wild beasts.

The black bear remained silent. Zhuge Liang then asked, "I understand your intentions, but why can't we control the wolves as you said?"

“I think the world should be a fairer place.”

The black bear thought without hesitation: "Except for a small number of wolves, most of the wolves' descendants should become sheep. We should select the best sheep and let them become brave new wolves."

Cui Zhouping thought to himself, as expected, what wolves and sheep, in the final analysis it is still the same saying, are kings, princes, generals, and ministers of different species?

Black Bear looked at Zhuge Liang in deep thought and said, "It is precisely because of the hereditary nobility and the taboo of the respected that Cao Cao remained calm when killing people everywhere, the Yuan family usurped the Han Dynasty and murdered General He Jin, and Wang Yun treated the safety of the world as a child's play. The emperors of the Later Han Dynasty died in their prime one after another, and the heroes from all sides could still talk about the supremacy of the Han Dynasty. It is really too absurd and ridiculous."

Looking at Zhuge Liang, Black Bear continued, "Wolves are sheep, and sheep are wolves. The distinction should not be so clear. The emperor will die if he drinks poisoned wine or eats poisoned cakes, and slaves will die too. We are all human beings, and in a few decades we will be nothing but a handful of dirt. I hope Mr. Kong Ming can consider more people."

Ma Liang lowered his head, wishing he could put his fingers into his ears.

His heart beat faster, and he felt that the black bear was planning to kill all the famous people in the world.

How can we make excellent sheep become new wolves without getting rid of so many famous people?

Zhuge Liang slowly closed his eyes and asked, "Liu Fubo once accidentally revealed that the general was from a royal family. Is this true or false?"

"this?"

Black Bear recalled an interesting unofficial historical legend and couldn't help but chuckle. He then raised his right hand and clenched his fist: "I can swear that, taking Lord Xuande as an example, my blood relationship with Emperor Gaozu is closer than that of Lord Xuande."

If that unofficial history is true, there is a chance that the ancestors of this body of mine could marry the daughter of the Liu family.

However, it was impossible for Liu Bei's ancestors to marry a woman with the same surname.

Seeing the absurdity in Black Bear's smile, Zhuge Liang could not help but sigh, and stood up from his seat, kneeling and bowing: "In order to achieve the general's ambition, Liang is willing to serve as a dog and horse."

Ma Liang also stood up and knelt behind Zhuge Liang.

Cui Zhouping also stood up and knelt beside Zhuge Liang when he saw this: "General, since you have the ambition to reform the world, if you will not regard me as humble, I am willing to contribute my humble efforts."

(End of this chapter)