Chapter 419: Land Survey

Ji County, the city was closed due to heavy snow.

It was already late at night when the snow and wind stopped. Liu Bei organized the army and civilians to clear the snow from the streets and rescue the victims whose houses had collapsed.

Not only Ji County, but also the surrounding towns and villages were within Liu Bei's rescue range.

After a busy day, many military tents were set up on the open space in front of the provincial government, and the disaster-stricken people were temporarily accommodated here.

Liu Bei dragged his tired body to inspect the porridge shed, and the person in charge of distributing porridge was Mi Fang.

Mi Fang led Liu Bei to personally inspect every pot of porridge. The cattle, horses and sheep that froze to death in the snow were also chopped up, and a layer of oil floated in every pot.

But these animals were frozen to death, and the blood in their frozen meat is difficult to remove.

So in addition to the oil, there was also brown blood foam floating in the pot.

Liu Bei scooped up a small amount with a wooden spoon, blew on it and tasted it, and told Mi Fang: "Add more salt, we don't lack salt."

"Yes."

Mi Fang responded loudly. He had no interest in things like withholding supplies and salt.

At present, we have cut off the communication channels between Hebei and the Wuhuan and Xianbei people in the three counties, and naturally monopolized the trade between the two sides.

At this moment, Hebei was full of interest in armed cavalry, and the price of horses in Hebei rose rapidly.

Just trafficking dozens of horses can bring in hundreds or even thousands of gold in profit.

Mi Fang really didn't care about the supplies in the porridge shed.

Liu Bei left the porridge shed and said to Chen Dao who was with him, "The heavy snow has blocked the roads between the city and the countryside. I'm sure Yuyang, Shanggu, and Daijun are also suffering from heavy snow. I wonder when the Wuhuan knights will be able to return to the camp."

Chen Dao said, "If the Wuhuan tribes are hit by disasters, they will probably move inland and seek protection and help from you, my lord."

Does the Youzhou treasury have extra resources to provide relief to the disaster-stricken Wuhuan people?

It was quite difficult. Before, Youzhou was divided into three parts, and they checked and balanced each other. In addition, Yuan Xi was also a gentle person, so they always maintained relative harmony.

Under this harmonious state, both sides accelerated their internal integration, resulting in a rapid decrease in the number of self-cultivating farmers in Youzhou.

With fewer registered households in each county, taxes were also lower, so naturally there was no savings in the government treasury.

The supplies now in the Jixian treasury were also gathered together by the Youzhou tyrants to give face to the Grand Marshal and Liu Bei. They are only enough for Liu Bei to maintain his troops until the beginning of spring.

If you want food and supplies, you can only borrow them from the strongholds and manors of the powerful.

Using the current funds to help disaster victims would mean that military rations would not last until mid-February.

The only way is to sell your horses and use a large sum of money to buy food; or be more polite and give horses to some powerful people in Youzhou, and they will give you food to relieve your difficulties.

In short, if the Wuhuan people in the western counties were hit by disaster and moved inland to request relief, this would seriously exceed Liu Bei's ability.

We can only hope that the heavy snow is limited to the area near Ji County and does not spread to the western counties, let alone fall in the three counties of western Liaoning.

Otherwise, under the snow disaster, the Wuhuan in the three counties would have inevitably joined forces to invade in order to obtain food.

Liu Bei and Chen Dao were walking towards the prefecture one after the other when they saw Tian Yu walking quickly towards them, handing over an official document with three chicken feathers stuck in it. The document had been opened, with a silk book folded on top: "Lord Xuande, good news from Guanzhong!"

"Good news?"

Liu Bei was puzzled. The news that 200,000 Qiang men, women and children had been forced to surrender in Yuzhong had greatly shocked the whole of Youzhou.

How come there is another good news?

Seeing Tian Yu's strange expression, he immediately picked up the silk book, opened his hands and was about to read it.

Suddenly, his hands trembled inexplicably: "This... How is it possible!"

Tian Yu stood by, his face calm, "I think it should be true. The Grand Marshal has obtained nearly five million men and women from Yizhou and Hanzhong."

Five million men and women, draining Jizhou and Youzhou, and including Zhang Yan's entire Black Mountain Army, can probably make up five million people. This is equivalent to integrating Yuan Shang, Zhang Yan, Ji Fang, Tadun, and Gongsun Du, five forces to make up the five million scale.

At present, the four states of Yan, Yu, Qing and Xu, plus Yangzhou, may not have five million people.

The two states of Guanlong, including the various counties of Shuofang as well as the Xiongnu and Xianbei, may not have a population of five million.

Considering the terrain, resources and the current division of Jingzhou in Yizhou, with a little effort, we can take over Jingzhou.

Liu Bei pondered and was shocked again: "Impossible, the Grand Marshal has lofty ambitions and wants to correct Guangwu's bad policies. How can he quickly conquer the world? Guo Rang... send envoys to inform the counties. I want to see the reactions of various places."

Tian Yu extended his arms to invite Liu Bei, and Liu Bei followed Tian Yu to the house. After entering the house, Tian Yu said, "Lord Xuande, if you inform the counties, I am afraid that the heroes of this state will go to Guanzhong to seek official positions."

"It does not matter."

Liu Bei lifted his legs and sat on the edge of the kang. After taking off his short boots, he knelt on the kang and sat in the main seat. He said to Tian Yu who followed him on the kang: "The matter of selecting filial and honest officials in the first month of next year is mine. When the heroes of this state hear about the affairs of Yizhou, they will certainly make friends with me and curry favor with me. With the help of selecting filial and honest officials, we can raise a lot of food and fodder. In this way, even if the Wuhuan come to surrender due to disaster, I can properly settle them. With this help, I will not be afraid of the Wuhuan in the three counties."

Tian Yu rubbed his calf and thought with a frown: "Won't the matter of recommending filial and honest officials make me enemies with Yuan Xi?"

In order to avoid large-scale wars in Youzhou in recent years, the six and a half counties under Xianyu Fu recognized Yuan Xi as the governor of Youzhou. Specifically, this was reflected in the decision-making power of each county in selecting filial and honest officials.

For ordinary people, the filial sons selected from among them are nominated by the county, screened by the county, and finally decided by the state.

In the eyes of ordinary people, even if there is a disagreement between the state and the county, they are still appointed by senior officials sent by the imperial court.

When states and counties fight, as long as the battle is not fought at the doorsteps of the people, the fight is meaningless to the people.

Anyway, no matter who they are, the people have to pay taxes.

Sometimes, even when the county came to our county to recruit soldiers, the state would also send people to recruit soldiers at the same time.

Tian Yu has been avoiding the civil war in Youzhou, and Liu Bei is unwilling to see the war take place within Youzhou.

Given the geographical location of Zhuo County, as long as a war breaks out with Yuan Xi, the war will definitely revolve around Zhuo County and Zhuo County.

No matter who wins or loses, Liu Bei's hometown will be destroyed.

Tian Yu observed Liu Bei, who hesitated for a moment: "I will discuss this matter with Yuan Xi. If possible, I am willing to give in. With the power of the Grand Marshal now, Yuan Xi will also have to think about a way out. His brother can lead Jiaozhou, so why can't he?"

Liu Bei looked at Tian Yu and said, "This is also the reason why Yuan Xi did not stop me when I led my army through Zhuo County."

During the Battle of Guandu, he stayed in Yecheng for a period of time and had a friendship with Yuan Xi, but it was just an ordinary friendship, barely enough to be considered an acquaintance.

The real reason why Yuan Xi softened his attitude was the way out. With Yuan Tan as an example, it was difficult for Yuan Xi to make up his mind to live and die with Yuan Shang.

Yuan Shang was not confident of winning this battle, so he let Yuan Xi go, allowing Youzhou to maintain peace.

Tian Yu frowned and asked, "Lord Xuande, the Grand Marshal wants to correct Guangwu's bad policies. Does that mean he wants to inspect the land, like reporting to the imperial court?"

Liu Bei said nothing, and at this time the servants brought the food.

After the servants left, Chen Dao noticed Liu Bei's gaze and retreated outside the door to stand guard.

Inside the house, Liu Bei used chopsticks to stir the soaked Osmanthus fragrans, which was fluffy and looked like a coiled black caterpillar.

He took some and put it in his mouth to chew, then said, "Isn't this right?"

Tian Yu raised his eyes to the roof beams and said, "If this is the case, Hebei will be difficult to pacify. For example, a big family like Shen Pei has 10,000 soldiers, tens of thousands of servants, and their property is spread across the counties, with their land holdings extending across the counties."

Liu Bei swallowed the osmanthus and looked at Tian Yu: "What does Guo Rang want to say?"

"I think that the great families in Yizhou have been peaceful for a long time and do not know the cruelty of troubled times. I am afraid that Yizhou will be difficult to pacify and it will take the Grand Marshal a lot of time. After Yizhou is pacified, his inspection of the land will be known to the world..."

Tian Yu stared into Liu Bei's eyes and said, "The people of Hebei know that they are no match for the Grand Marshal, and they may abandon the Yuan family and welcome Lord Xuande. How will Lord Xuande deal with it then?"

They were all childhood friends, and Liu Bei remained silent for a long time.

Liu Bei picked up his chopsticks and started eating until his stomach started to growl. "Guorang, you worry too much. Besides, the chaos in the world is because the rich and powerful are taking too much and leaving the common people with no place to stand. Although I don't have the ambition to rule the country, I have this intention."

(End of this chapter)