On the first day of April, just as Xuchang County entered the busy spring plowing again, Zhao Yu and his group of people went to the farmland outside the city to inspect the progress of spring plowing.

What is slightly different from last year is that the fields that were cultivated this year have been divided into two parts: "official fields" and "minister fields". The latter is led by the civil sect group organized by the county magistrate's office, while the former is led by the Xuchang Liken Army under the jurisdiction of the Duwei Office.

Compared with the noisy and lively people's entrepreneurship group, the prisoners of the reclamation army almost didn't say a word from beginning to end, turning over soil and sowing efficiency was comparable to that of old farmers.

Judging from the skillful movements of these people, who would have thought that these people were all old soldiers who had set foot on the battlefield?

"Do you really want these people to work as prisoners for five years?"

Looking at the soldiers of the Liqun Army who were sowing soil in the farmland in the distance, Zhang Ji casually asked Zhao Yu who was standing beside him.

“Hmm?”

Zhao Yu glanced at Zhang Ji.

Seeing this, Zhang Ji said with some regret: "I mean, these are old soldiers who have been on the battlefield. If they have been farmers for five years and then absorb them as soldiers, they may have to spend some more effort to train..."

"That may not be."

Zhao Yu shook his head.

In his opinion, if an old soldier who has truly been on the battlefield and killed people, even if he has been a farmer for five years, those who dare to go to the battlefield and kill the enemy will still dare to go to the battlefield and kill the enemy. The only difference is whether they are willing.

After all, the soldiers do not require them to have any martial arts. It is enough to have strength and courage. Doing farm work is also a way to train their physical strength.

Of course, the most important thing is that the prisoners do not need to pay military pay, rewards, pensions, etc., just manage food. Considering that thousands of registered soldiers often save a considerable amount of expenses.

The only ones that made Zhao Yu hesitate were Zhou Gong, Xu Qian, Han Gu, Gao Ning and other former generals of the righteous army. However, weighing the pros and cons, Zhao Yu felt that it would be better to let these people stay in the Liqun Army. To a certain extent, Zhou Gong and others would restrain these Liqun soldiers for him.

"When it comes to Zhou Gong, he joined 'Xuchangtang'..."

On the other side of Zhao Yu, Chen Zu, who accompanied Zhao Yu, suddenly chuckled and said, "Xuchang Hall" he said, referring to the Black Tiger Association at the entrance of Xuchang.

Unlike Changshe, Yingyin, Yingyang and other counties, Ma Hong, Zhang Feng, Ma Gai and others who served as the county's commander, worked part-time as the hall owner of the Heihu Association branch. Xuchang, as the county's county, was the base camp of Yingchuan County, and would handle much more affairs than other county towns in the future. Therefore, Zhao Yu appointed Chen Zu as the hall owner of Xuchang.

In Xuchang, Chen Zu was an merchant on the surface, and had just formed a cooperation with the Wei Freemasons in Ruyang to create a chamber of commerce called "Xuchang Xingsheng Festival", referred to as "Xuxing Chamber of Commerce". However, in private, he was the head of Xuchang of the Black Tiger Society, responsible for developing disciples, inquiring about various information, and winning over various matters such as aristocratic families and merchants in Xuchang.

To be fair, the officials of the Chief Commander Office and the County Magistrate's Office were not ignorant of this, but unfortunately, most of the officials and soldiers were bribed by the Black Tiger Society, and the rest were not dared to speak out at all.

Even the upright Xun Yi remained silent on this matter.

[Receive red envelopes after reading books] Follow the public account [Book Friends Base Camp], and you can get a maximum of 888 cash red envelopes after reading books!

Because Zhao Yu told him with practical actions that Yingchuan, which he was completely controlled, was more peaceful than any county.

This is not a boast. The thieves in Snail Mountain in Runan County have not been wiped out yet. The same is true for the Yique bandits in the western part of Henan County. A few days ago, a rebellion broke out by rebels broke out in Nanyang County. Only Yingchuan County, the wife was placid and Zhao Yu's "official field support army" order made Yingchuan counties have a considerable county army one after another, ranging from one to two thousand people, and at least two to three thousand people. Even if there is another invasion of the Changsha rebels, the battle situation of each county will definitely be much better than in the previous two years. It is impossible to lose several counties in just a few days. At least you can hold on until Zhao Yu leads the county army to reinforce.

The combination of this county army and county army is exactly the greatest confidence of Yingchuan County now and the basis for the current stability of Yingchuan County.

"Zhou Gong joined Xuchangtang? When will it happen?"

Zhao Yu asked Chen Zu in surprise.

"It was probably the time when the leader went to Kunyang a while ago." Chen Zu said dismissively: "I don't think it's important, so I didn't report it specifically."

"Um."

Zhao Yu nodded slightly.

It is indeed not important for Zhou Gong to join his Black Tiger Society. After all, as long as Zhou Gong and others want to survive by using the skin of the Yingchuan County Army, they have to hold on to the Black Tiger Society firmly. Without Yingchuan County, there is no more soil for them to secretly spread the faith of the righteous master.

Unless these people fled to the territory of the Yishi of Jiangdong.

Just as the few people were chatting, several county soldiers hurriedly came from afar. The leader came to Zhao Yu, clasped his fists and reported: "The chief lieutenant, the office has just received a letter from Runan County. According to the messenger, it was sent by General Zou Zanzou, the general of the Hu Ben Central Army."

『Zou Zan?』

Zhao Yu was slightly stunned and had a few thoughts in his mind.

He was a little curious about what Zou Zan wrote to him at this time.

Could it be for the thieves in Woniu Mountain? Or do you want to buy grain?

When Zhao Yu thought of the bandits in Woniu Mountain, he couldn't help laughing.

The reason was nothing else. When he went to Luyang County last month, Zou Zan sent a side general to lead 5,000 Grand Tutors to suppress the bandits in Woniu Mountain. As a result, the 5,000 elite troops were wandering hundreds of miles of Woniu Mountain for a month, but they could not find the whereabouts of the bandits. They could only retreat to Xiping County after eating all the food and grass they carried with the army.

Of course, there is nothing to do about this. After all, the area of ​​Woniu Mountain is too large, more than Yingshan. Not to mention the five thousand Taishi Army, even if all the 100,000 Taishi Army under Zou Zan were sent, it would not be possible to find the whereabouts of the bandits in a short time, unless the 100,000 Taishi Army directly under Taishi Chen can be called the most elite army in Jin State.

I have to say that when Zhao Yu first learned that Zou Zan sent people to encircle and suppress the bandits in Woniu Mountain, he was shocked. After all, he still hoped that the bandits would live for the time being.

But after thinking about it carefully, Zhao Yu suddenly felt that even if the bandits were wiped out, it would be fine. At worst, he could send someone to pretend to be Woniu bandits, so that he could control the harm.

Unexpectedly, the bandits were quite conscious. When they saw the elite army coming to encircle them, they immediately fled into the deep mountains.

In this way, let alone Zou Zan, even Zhao Yu, who is familiar with bandits, will not be able to destroy the Woniu Mountain bandits in a short time, unless he sends a large number of troops familiar with forest combat.

"Zhang Ji, I'm back to the lieutenant's office, and I'll leave it to you here."

"yes."

After giving Zhang Ji a piece of advice, Zhao Yu took Chen Zu back to Xuchang.

After entering the city, Chen Zu also said goodbye and left. After all, the leader of the Black Tiger Association Xuchang Hall still has a lot of affairs at hand.

A moment later, Zhao Yu took Niu Heng, He Shun and others back to the lieutenant office, and saw Zou Zan's letter on the desk in his hall.

When I opened it, the content of the letter was beyond Zhao Yu's expectations. The reason for Zou Zan's letter was not for the thieves in Woniu Mountain or for the purpose of borrowing food, but for the purpose of sending it to Zhao Yu, saying that a large group of civilians flocked from Changsha County and Jiangxia County to Runan County. After inquiry, these civilians seemed to be the families of former rebel soldiers captured by Yingchuan County, and asked Zhao Yu whether he was ready to accept it.

Zhao Yu then remembered that in order to win over Ju Sheng, Cao Wu and other surrendered generals, he did send people to Changsha County and Jiangxia County, intending to lure the captive families to join him in Yingchuan. Of course, the purpose was to retain the captured former rebel soldiers. After all, these could be sent directly to the battlefield, and he was reluctant to release them to his hometown after the five-year period expired.

"Another group of people stuttering, this is really..."

Zhao Yu had a headache.

But after weighing the pros and cons, he decided to accept it. After all, in this era, no one is as clear as him about the importance of population. As long as the food in the county can hold on, Zhao Yu welcomes all foreign populations.

After all, there are many people and great power. Whether it is concentrated on reclaiming fields, or mining mines or iron smelting forging soldiers in Yingchuan County, it requires a lot of labor.

Thinking of this, Zhao Yu ordered He Shun: "He Shun, send the county soldiers to call Cao Wu."

"Yes." He Shun left with his fists.

Half an hour later, just as Zhao Yu was dealing with government affairs, Cao Wu hurried to the party room and bowed to him: "Guowei, are you calling me a humble official?"

"Um."

Zhao Yu didn't say nonsense. After he asked Cao Wu to take a few steps, he said, "We just received a message from General Zou from Runan County. We learned that a large number of civilians from Changsha and Jiangxia moved to Runan County..." As he said, he saw Cao Wu's face showing surprise and nodded and said, "Yes, it's what you think. In short, you can lead your army to take it back. In addition, according to General Zou, Jiangxia County is very chaotic at present, and there are guys like Green Forest Thiefs who commit crimes and loot regardless of the enemy. If necessary, I allow you to cross the line to go to Jiangxia County. However, don't attack the city under the banner, so as not to collapse more and more. If you encounter any obstacles during this period, you might as well ask General Zou for help... As for food and grass, go find Han He."

"Thank you, Captain!"

Cao Wu solemnly held his fists and took the order, his face full of joy.

After he turned around and left, He Shun frowned and said, "Big leader, wasn't Jiangxia County divided and occupied by Zhang Tai, the Green Forest thief, Xiang Hu? These people occupied the city as king and recruited soldiers and horses. They had gathered a lot of thieves, and Cao Wu's less than 5,000 soldiers..."

"Ha." Zhao Yu laughed at it.

It is undeniable that he also knew the changes in Jiangxia County. That is, when Chen Xu chose to follow Zhao Yin to join Jiangdong Yishi, Zhang Tai and Xiang Hu and other green forest thieves fled back. They took the opportunity to occupy the territory of Jiangxia Yishi, and gradually occupied the territory of Jiangxia Yishi, using money and grain to recruit a group of people, forming a situation of separating Jiangxia County.

Of course, the reason why these green forest thieves gradually became popular in Jiangxia County was only because Zou Zan and his 100,000 Grand Tutors were dragged down by the situation of the rise of bandits in Runan County. As long as Runan County stabilized, Zou Zan could recover Jiangxia County at any time.

Although the green forest thieves seem to have grown to thousands or even tens of thousands, Zhao Yu has no doubt that if these people dare to provoke Cao Wu and his second camp of Luben Camp, they will definitely be killed by the latter.

You should know that the soldiers under Cao Wu's command were the first group of old soldiers from the Changsha Yishi. They were not the civilians, farmers, and bandits who were temporarily recruited by Zhang Tai and Xiang Hu and other green forest thieves.

Compared to worrying, Zhao Yu was more curious about why Zhang Tai and Xiang Hu didn't flee south of the river, such as Changsha County.

These guys really think that by gathering a group of mobs, they can control Jiangxia County?

Zhao Yu was really curious about this.

It was not until Zhao Yu received a letter from Cao Wu from Jiangxia County that he realized that Zhang Tai and Xiang Hu did not escape the river because Xiang Xuan had returned to Changsha County, replacing Guan Shuo, who was killed by Xue Ao in Nanyang County, and becoming the new Qushou of Jiangxia Yishi.

Zhao Yu thought that Zhang Tai, Xiang Hu and others might not want to be driven by Xiang Xuan anymore, so they took advantage of the fact that the Jin army had not yet recovered Jiangxia County and wanted to live a dominant position in Jiangxia County.

But it is obvious that these guys will be surrounded and destroyed by the Jin army sooner or later, either by Zou Zan, who was stationed in Runan or by Wang Shangde, who was stationed in Nanjun.

However, Xiang Xuan may still delay the Jin army in Changsha County, or retreat into Guiyang County, or retreat into Yuzhang County, and delay the Jin army through the depth of the territory. After all, Xiang Xuan is still somewhat capable.

Two days later, on the seventh day of the fourth lunar month, Zhao Yu received a letter from Grandmaster Chen. When he asked the messenger, he actually sent it from Handan.

The content of the letter is very simple, which is to hope Yingchuan County will prepare a batch of food and grass for the army of Zou Zan and Wang Su to use it for the Jiangdong Yishi Division. It is hoped that the word in the letter is "hope", but Zhao Yu understood it as "request".

"Teacher Chen finally chose to immediately attack Jiangdong Yishi..."

After reading this letter, Zhao Yu sighed and sighed.

From a personal perspective, he certainly hoped that the battle would be postponed indefinitely. After all, one side was his "Zhao Army" and his brother Zhao Yin, while the other side, whether it was Chen Taishi, Zou Zan, Xue Ao, Wang Su and others, were all good to him.

Including Zhang Jing.

Zhao Yu, the world-famous Chen family, had never been in contact with Han Qing.

Even though his personal emotions are still biased towards his brother Zhao Yin, he does not want both sides to meet on the battlefield, let alone Jiang Dongyi and his brother Zhao Yin, and he may suffer a high probability of losing.

But unfortunately, this is something he can't stop.

He just didn't understand why Grand Master Chen was eager to attack Jiangdong Yishi at this stall. No matter how he thought about it, he would recapture Jiangxia County first?

But even with all kinds of puzzled questions, Zhao Yu had to prepare a batch of food and grass in advance as Mr. Chen told Master Chen.

On the same day, Zhao Yu went to the county magistrate's office and discussed the matter with the county magistrate Chen Lang. Chen Lang was shocked: "The court wants to send troops to suppress Shandong? Do we want our Yingchuan to prepare military rations? This..."

No wonder Chen Lang was shocked. After all, the grain harvested by Yingchuan County last year supported Chen County, Chenliu, Runan County and Nanyang County. Although the imperial court suspended tax collection in the past two years due to the rebels, the problem is that the grain borrowed was already more than the tax grain paid to the court. If he asked Yingchuan County to raise a batch of military rations, what should he do if the dozens of soldiers and civilians in Yingchuan County do?
To be continued...