Chapter 272 No Hurry, No Stop

The next afternoon, Zhang Liao and Guan Yu arrived in Yan'an with more than ten riders.

They walked along the Qin Straight Road, and when they turned off the road and walked on the hillside, they saw Black Bear driving twelve horses to cultivate the fields in the distance.

Guan Yu reined in his horse, looked from a distance, and vaguely recognized the divine horse in the lead.

Zhang Liao was also speechless. In Yanmen, horses were relatively cheap, and many powerful and wealthy families would also use horses to cultivate the fields.

Horses are better than cows, but they cannot tolerate rough breeding.

For a family with fifty acres of land, raising cattle is enough to cope with spring plowing and daily chores. The cow's rumination can efficiently absorb the nutrients in the grass, and as long as there is a bite to eat, they can survive.

Unlike horses, they have to eat all day and at night.

You also need to supplement salt, and when eating fine feed, it is best to steam it.

Considering the maintenance costs, cows are more practical for small families.

What made Zhang Liao speechless was that the twelve horses used by Black Bear were all wearing full body vests and face masks, and there was a single-horn spike made of leather sewn on their foreheads.

Does wearing horse armor help a horse to walk more steadily when pulling a plow?
The two of them looked at each other for a moment, speechless.

He drove his horse downhill and stayed at a pavilion in the suburbs outside the city. After registering his information, Guan Yu sent someone to deliver a visiting card.

After nightfall, Black Bear returned to the camp and saw the visiting cards from Guan Yu and Zhang Liao.

Zhang Liao also held a noble title, Guannei Hou; his military rank was the same as Guan Yu's, both were Lieutenant General.

It was not surprising that Zhang Liao came to surrender; what was surprising was that Zhang Liao actually brought the emperor's handwritten edict.

It is not known how the news reached Zhang Liao, but he sent Wei Yue to Hebei with the intention of inciting Zhang Liao to rebel.

However, Cao Cao acted quickly and evacuated Zhang Liao, Xu Huang, Liu Xun and others from the north bank before the battle.

Only when the war is about to begin and the armies are engaging in a clash, the authority of generals like Zhang Liao will be high, and they will have the power to make decisions on the battlefield and can execute anyone who disobeys military orders.

So Zhang Liao had responded to Wei Yue before, saying that the timing did not allow it; but before the opportunity came, he received Cao Cao's transfer order and then the emperor's edict.

Black Bear put down the emperor's handwritten edict that was sent along with the visiting card and business card, and squinted his eyes in thought.

It seemed that he really regarded the Emperor of Han as a dead man.

He is still alive and well, and still controls the imperial guards. In recent years, whenever Cao Cao entered the palace to meet the emperor, he would always bring armor and soldiers with him.

Bringing armored soldiers to meet the emperor was a very serious matter, so Cao Cao would not enter the palace to meet the emperor unless it was necessary.

It was only when he was dealing with the Imperial Edict and Concubine Dong that Cao Cao's military forces were involved in the palace.

Now the heroes from all sides are still there, and there are many old ministers of the Han Dynasty in Xudu. These people have both influence and military power.

It's just that the military forces they can mobilize are too fragmented to be integrated into a force.

If they are given a window of opportunity, these people will definitely be able to mobilize, organize and train the manpower in the controlled areas into an army.

Cao Cao had been keeping an eye on them, and these people never had a chance; but they occupied important official positions after all, and even if they did not have an army, they expanded the size of their servants by doing business.

Don’t the Emperor of Han and these old ministers have any ideas at this moment?
For example, overthrowing Cao Cao's tyranny and establishing a real court.

In fact, Cao Cao's existence now seriously hinders the authority of the Han emperor.

If there was no Cao Cao, the imperial court could have direct dialogues and negotiations with various states and counties, and some second-rate, amateur warlords would have collapsed immediately.

Whether in Hebei or Jingzhou, there are a large number of opposition and court factions within the region, and the area under his rule is no exception.

Therefore, it is better for the emperor to stay in the palace.

If Liu Bei wanted to rescue the emperor, he had to fight for his life and did not want to cause trouble.

After all, they have feelings for each other, and not holding Liu Bei back is already a sign of great moral accomplishment.

Thinking about it, Black Bear picked up a pen and wrote the time on the visiting card, then put it on the wooden tray: "I will meet them tomorrow morning. How many people know about the emperor's handwritten edict?"

Yang Fu on the side replied: "Only Huang Ge knows."

The visiting cards were sent directly to Huangge. The counties in Guanzhong were closed and the officials were all working in the fields. The movement of people between counties was also prohibited, so those who could come here to deliver visiting cards were all important events.

"Restrict Huang Ge well. This matter must not be spread out within three months."

Black Bear turned his head and looked at Yang Fu: "The longer we keep it secret, the better it will be for the emperor. But when Liu Xuande leads his army to attack the Central Plains, there will be no need to hide it."

"only."

Yang Fu bowed solemnly. Black Bear glanced at the accumulated documents and said, "There is nothing else to do. Arrange for the Huangge to be on duty. I will finish processing these documents before dawn tomorrow."

The official documents filled three plates, forming three small pyramids.

Although it looks like a lot, there are actually only about a hundred or so, each with thirty to forty, or a hundred words. There are very few documents with more than two hundred words.

Now the county governors and centurions are all in the fields, and the official documents sent in are all about spring ploughing.

Most of them reported insufficient farming tools and losses of cattle and horses; a small number involved land conflicts between the various teams of the hundred-household units and the indigenous residents.

After Yang Fu left, Black Bear finished annotating the documents before the sun completely set.

The Great Memory Restoration Technique still lacks deterrence, especially during the spring ploughing season. The borders of the 100-household units and the various teams had already been staked out, and the situation was barely suppressed at the time; now land conflicts have arisen again, and the indigenous residents have come to the 100-household unit to cause trouble.

Sitting in the position of Grand Marshal, Black Bear more or less disagrees with the statement that the land has been passed down from generation to generation...

Besides, at this critical time of spring ploughing, there are wastelands everywhere. Instead of reclaiming and cultivating new land, they are obsessed with the old land. Such stubborn people will become a hidden danger no matter how you look at it.

If we want the system of hundred households to take root quickly, we cannot tolerate such minor conflicts and try to strike a balance.

No matter how bad the environment was, could it be worse than during the period of Li Jue and Guo Si?

Now is the time to establish the credibility of law enforcement. There is really no room for retreat. Whoever dares to come up will be crushed!

Regarding the current land disputes, Black Bear’s instructions are always four words: not giving up an inch of land.

After dealing with these documents, Zhang Liao's good mood when he came to surrender was ruined.

Standing in his current position, many decisions he made were actually always tormenting the little conscience he had left; as time went by, that little bit of conscience became hardened.

I can't sleep for the time being. There are still many soldiers and civilians outside the city, so it's not convenient to go out and scare people.

Black Bear could only open the small wooden box he carried with him and continue to sort out various government affairs.

The system of conferring titles for military merit needs to be suppressed. The longer it is suppressed, the more time it will take to reduce the amount of merit in the assessment of the expedition against the Huns or the Battle of Guanzhong.

When military achievements are first made, they seem a bit "big", and the cost of paying for them is high.

To put it bluntly, one attitude exists when hiring people and another when not hiring them.

There is also the issue of the mentality of the people who have made meritorious service. When they have just made meritorious service, they will inevitably feel that they are very important and indispensable, and they will feel that they have made great contributions. If they are evaluated at this time, even if it is an objective evaluation, it will be difficult to satisfy the other party.

If the evaluation of meritorious service causes resentment and dissatisfaction among the people who have made contributions, this will cause problems; but if we simply accommodate them, this will increase the administrative burden in the future.

Out of a simple conscience, the assessment of disabled meritorious personnel can be expedited, but as for other meritorious deeds, they should be delayed and suppressed.

Another thing is that the system of conferring titles based on military merit was equivalent to starting from scratch. When Cao Cao reformed the system of conferring titles based on military merit, he did so in the name of the imperial court.

There is neither the Han emperor nor the Shangshu Xingtai here, and establishing a new system of military merit and titles is tantamount to actual rebellion.

The military merit system will inevitably impact the existing system of recommendation and scholar families, causing huge conflicts of interest and forcing many people to rebel.

When the new military merit system is implemented, the titles and salaries will be distributed according to the predetermined titles. Now the savings in Guanzhong are insufficient, so the earliest that the titles and salaries can be distributed will be in autumn next year.

Only with sufficient food reserves can we calmly deal with sieges from all sides.

When the new system of military merit and titles is implemented, all parties will inevitably unite to fight against it; at that time, the internal opposition will also cause chaos.

It’s not that these people are determined to cause chaos, but if they don’t resist, their rent-seeking ecological niche will inevitably be squeezed out.

For parasites, losing their comfortable life is worse than dying in pain.

The military merit system cannot be rushed, but the assessment of military merit cannot be stopped either.

Holding the pen, Black Bear wrote some more of his views on the military merit and title system, and he had to complete the previous military merit assessment before sending troops this year.

Before next winter, most officials and soldiers will be included in the military merit and title system.

Before the winter of the following year, the three years' accumulated titles and salaries must be distributed.

Therefore, the cattle and horses seized this winter can no longer be easily circulated among the people.

Strengthening the foundation of the people is one thing, but rewards and punishments must also be clear.

During the expedition against the Huns, the large-scale rewards and distribution of cattle and horses were intended to win over the hearts of the people and the military, to stabilize the rear, and to make better use of resources.

Only by distributing and rewarding cattle and horses can we avoid the widespread spread of red eye disease among soldiers and civilians who did not participate in the war.

At that time, the men and women who moved to Guanzhong generally lacked a sense of security and could not withstand stimulation.

Distributing cattle and horses became a means of compromise.

Now that the system of military merit and nobility has been established, captured cattle and horses can be distributed as rewards, and war dividends can be distributed to supporters of the war.

With the access to cattle and horses as well as a stable income of titles and salaries, these people can give birth to more children and possess more wealth...they are their own soldiers.

After packing up the small wooden box, Black Bear felt much calmer.

Compared with the public opinion storm caused by the military merit and title system, the current minor conflicts over land in Guanzhong are really nothing.

Feeling that it was getting late, Black Bear led Lu Bu and other puppet Taoist soldiers and drove the chariot out of the camp.

When he went to the quarry to move the stones that had accumulated during the day, he had already estimated the current load of his carriage, which was probably close to five tons.

This is the limit of the carriage, but not the limit of the twelve dried horses.

This time we can go back and research the steering axle and upgrade the carriage to four wheels in the front and eighty-two wheels in the rear. It will be more comfortable when driving and will have stronger carrying capacity.

The mature horse-drawn carriage transportation system means that elite infantry can roam the grasslands!

As for the vast Kanto Plain, Black Bear is really not interested in it for the time being.

(End of this chapter)