However, don't ask the court for any more food. Hedong is also a large county with rich agriculture. You have two more iron mountains in your hands. Is that enough for you to guard Hedong here? You can do with the captives! Feed them if you can, kill them if you can't!
Liu Zhuang was stunned after receiving the letter. He did not expect that the emperor would reply to him in this way. After delegating military power on a large scale, His Majesty once again delegated financial power to various places.
I now hold both military and financial power and have become the de facto warlord of Hedong. If Your Majesty delegates the power of personnel appointment and dismissal, I will directly become the king of Hedong.
Judging from the extent of the collapse of the Han Dynasty, it was only a matter of time before political power was decentralized.
Liu Zhuang then opened the second letter, which was a list of rewards.
Liu Zhuang was promoted to General of the Central Army of Hedong, and the five camps of Baima, Zhangshui, Julu, Anyi and Laishui were all changed from non-official to official. The Simas of the separate departments who had previously been paid a salary of 1,000 dan were all changed to colonels with a salary of 2,000 dan.
Lu Bu was promoted to the rank of White Horse Colonel.
Lu Ze was promoted to the rank of Zhangshui Cavalry Captain.
Zhang He was promoted to the rank of Commandant of Julu.
Guo Huai was promoted to the rank of Anyi Colonel.
Zhang Liao was promoted to the rank of Laishui Cavalry Captain.
Jiexiu and Zishi, two pass guards belonging to Taiyuan County, were incompetent. One was defeated and captured, and the other abandoned his post and fled. They were both dismissed from their posts. Zhang He, who had made great contributions in defending Yubi, was appointed as the pass commander of Jiexiu. At the same time, he was granted the title of Sima of Wei Biebu by Wei Ji, the head of the Wei family, and the title of pass commander of Zishi, to assist Liu Zhuang in guarding the northwest gate of Sili. The two counties were separated from the jurisdiction of the Taiyuan prefect and were under the management of Liu Zhuang to guard the border.
As soon as this imperial edict was issued, the whole Hedong was in an uproar. The military-farming system of Liuzhuang ushered in an unprecedented boom. A large number of farmers who were displaced by the invasion of troops from the south, a large number of serfs who originally depended on aristocratic families but were disrupted by the invasion of troops, and a large number of farmers who had been on the sidelines, all joined the military-farming system.
They didn't join before because they thought Liu Zhuang was a frivolous official. No one knew how many years he could stay in office. The tax rate of the military-field system was low, but once you left, this policy would definitely be scrapped. Who knows whether the next prefect will be an honest official or a corrupt official? We might even be retaliated against by the aristocratic families.
But now, the Han Emperor has directly handed over the military and financial power to the Lord of the Palace. The Lord of the Palace has in fact become the great warlord of Hedong! A local emperor! So what are you worried about? Hurry up and join!
Chapter 143: Ice Age
After receiving the imperial edict, Liu Zhuang immediately began to confer official titles and make promises. The emperor only appointed five colonels under the command of the General of the Central Army of Hedong, and did not appoint anyone else, leaving all the power to Liu Zhuang.
According to the old rules, everyone was promoted. Qu Junhou, who had made the greatest contribution, became the military commander of a battalion, the second in command. Then the tun chief was promoted to military commander, the team leader to tun chief, and so on. In addition, several children of noble families who had made the greatest contributions in this battle were promoted to serve as civil servants in their own army. Some of them who were as good at fighting as Confucius even became tun chiefs and Qu Junhou by virtue of their military exploits.
At the same time, the patriarchs of the Hedong Jia and Pei families were also promoted by Liu Zhuang to be Sima of separate departments, giving their existing private soldiers a legitimate status. At the same time, relying on his status as a prefect, he recommended young talents in their families, allowing these young people to actually recognize him as the second lord, thereby achieving the effect of dividing and disintegrating these families.
At the same time, the entire Fenhe Basin, as well as Jiexiu and Zishi counties, also began to resume farming. Yuwen Xianbei delayed the spring plowing in these places for more than ten days, which was a bit troublesome, but fortunately it was not fatal, and it was still time to make up for it now.
After some calculations, out of a population of one million in Hedong County, 400,000 people had already joined his military-farming system. The disturbance by Yuwen Xianbei had dispersed many of the slaves of the aristocratic families in the Fenhe Basin and left a lot of land barren, allowing him to snatch a lot of people from the aristocratic families with the help of the military-farming system.
I promised last year that I would exempt Hedong from taxes for two years this year. By next year, I would be able to obtain a large amount of food and expand my army again.
After re-establishing farming, Liu Zhuang took out some money and asked the nearby Taiyuan, Shangdang County, and the noble families in Hedong to buy food to make up for the deficit and feed the captives. Afterwards, he began to negotiate with Yuwen Tai. According to the old rules, this man was also tied up and tightly bound in the room. Red ropes were tightly tied into her colorful black hair. When she saw Liu Zhuang coming, she twisted her bound body restlessly, and her red lips stuffed with a red gag whimpered in fear.
"You Xianbei people are living well on the grasslands, why do you want to go south to plunder Han territory? Aren't places like Shuofang, Wuyuan, Yunzhong, and Dingxiang enough for you to live on?"
Liu Zhuang slowly took off Yuwen Tai's gag and asked calmly.
"If we can survive without fighting, who would be willing to do such a life-threatening thing! We Xianbei people are not war maniacs like the green-skinned orcs."
Yuwen Tai regained some composure and spoke to Liu Zhuang in fluent Chinese.
"Lord Liu, you are really capable! I admit that I am not as skilled as you, but now I have been captured by you. It is up to you to decide whether to kill me or chop me up!"
"What do you mean you can't survive?"
Liu Zhuang asked back curiously.
"You are in the warm Central Plains, so you naturally didn't notice that the north wind, carrying snow, has been blowing southward year after year, day after day. The northern desert has become so cold that it is uninhabitable. Thousands of livestock froze to death overnight last winter and turned into ice sculptures. The southern desert is also getting colder.
Now only the grasslands south of Yinshan Mountain can barely maintain the abundance of water and grass, but they are also filled with more and more Hu people coming south. We no longer have enough pastures to graze enough cattle and sheep for everyone to live on.”
Yuwen Tai was quite honest and directly described the situation on the grassland.
"We only have two choices, either go south to rob your food or starve to death. Between letting my people starve to death and letting the Han people starve to death, I chose the latter."
Liu Zhuang nodded. As a time traveler, he naturally knew the fundamental reason why the Hu people kept looting southwards - the nomadic lifestyle was too fragile compared to farming. It was normal that there was not enough food and supplies. If they didn't want to die, they had to move south.
"In fact, you have a third choice - join the Han Empire, just like the Southern Xiongnu. You see, they live in the rich grass and water area of the Hetao area, and rarely encounter the problems you encounter. Even if there is an occasional disaster, the food from other parts of the empire will support the Southern Xiongnu. If they lack any supplies, they can also buy them in the market of the Han Empire. The price they need to pay is to help the Han Dynasty conquer all directions.
We can both benefit from cooperation, why do we have to fight each other and shed blood like this? "
Liu Zhuang put forward a proposal.
"I took a look and found that there are a total of 6,000 captives. I can open up a pasture for you in the vast forests and land from Zishi to Jiexiu. You can also live in the warm and rich inland area like the Southern Xiongnu. I can give you a Han green card, just like Tuoba Yun."
Hearing Liu Zhuang's promise, Yuwen Tai's expression became strange. She thought she was dead, but she didn't expect that Liu Zhuang actually wanted to surrender to her at this moment.
If you think about it carefully, living in the warm and prosperous Han area is indeed much better than living at the foot of the Yinshan Mountains, watching the cold wind approaching day by day. After many horsemen and horse tribes migrated south to the foot of the Yinshan Mountains, they fought with other tribes for pastures. Last year alone, three major wars and seven minor wars broke out, and countless people died.
After finally killing each other to the point where the land could no longer support its population, another wave of Xianbei troops arrived from the south of the desert, forcing them to unite everyone and invade the south to grab food.
"Master, your proposal is very good, but we cannot accept it."
This was the first time that Yuwen Tai used an honorific title.
"The people I brought with me are all tribal warriors. Their cattle, sheep, tents, wives and children are all on the grassland. It is impossible for them to abandon everything and join you."
"unless……"
Yuwen Tai gave a wicked smile and put forward a condition that he thought Liu Zhuang would absolutely not be able to accept.
"Unless you believe me and are willing to let us return to the grassland, as long as you let us go, I, Yuwen Tai, swear to heaven that I will bring all my tribes, cattle and sheep back to Hedong and submit to you."
Liu Zhuang was silent for a moment. If they failed, there would be 6,000 troops there! Letting them go would be like letting a tiger go back to the mountains. Who knows how much damage and loss these people will cause next time they rob?
However, the benefits of doing so are equally huge. On the grassland, generally one person out of five people will fight. Once successful, at least 30,000 troops and the corresponding cattle and sheep will become your population and private property, and you will own a large number of horses, which will greatly enhance your career.
"Okay! I am willing to let all of you go back, and bring your wives, children, cattle and sheep back to Han."
After thinking it over again and again, Liu Zhuang finally made up his mind to take a gamble.
"I, Liu Zhuang, also swear to heaven that as long as you are willing to come back, the wilderness between Jie Xiu and Zi Shi will be your new home!
But if you don't return, it means that you will continue to invade the Han territory in order to survive. If we meet on the battlefield again, I swear, I will chop off your head and tie it to my flag. "
Liu Zhuang took out a sharp arrow from his quiver and broke it in half as a promise. Then he took out a dagger, ran along the shiny and colorful fur, and cut the rope that bound her, allowing Yuwen Tai to regain his freedom.
At this moment, it was Yuwen Tai's turn to be confused.
He really agreed to such harsh conditions? He really let me go?
Chapter 144: Equal Registration of Citizens
The entire Han army felt it was incredible that Liu Zhuang released his men and horses to return to the grassland, but given his extremely high prestige, there was no trouble. People just kept advising him not to release them, but Liu Zhuang rejected them with righteous words.
During these days, Yuwen Tai and several Xianbei chiefs felt like they were living in a dream. When they walked, it felt like their hooves were stepping on cotton rather than solid ground.
Lord Liu not only set them free, he also held a banquet to celebrate the surrender of Yuwen Xianbei, and personally took them to see the vast wilderness between Jiexiu and Zishi, describing a dreamlike future to all the centaur chiefs, which made everyone fascinated.
After three days of such a grand banquet, Liu Zhuang returned all the food and fodder for their return home, the weapons for self-defense, and the pack horses for transporting supplies to the 6,000 captives. He only withheld the two or three thousand sets of armor. He really released everyone!
Even some of the Divine Eagle believers were moved by the sudden sincerity of the Han people. They thought that the Han people were very nice. This year, many people living in the south and north of the desert came to our territory. Instead of fighting with them to the death and going south to invade the Han people and plunder supplies, it is better to surrender directly.
Since there is a peaceful solution, why should we risk our lives by going south to grab food?
Yuwen Tai was also extremely upset at this moment. She thought she was going to die after being captured, and she wanted to provoke Liu Zhuang to get some quick death instead of being tortured for a long time to a state worse than death. She didn't expect that he would really agree to let her go home?
He had met quite a few Han people before. Some of them were from the Bingzhou border army who had fought against the Hu people all their lives and had a blood feud with them, while others were from aristocratic families who did not even treat Han civilians as human beings, let alone the Hu people. This was the first time he had met someone like Liu Zhuang who was willing to treat him as a human being.
The people of the grassland are not stupid, but their social structure is too simple, without so many twists and turns, intrigues and deceptions, so they appear to be relatively innocent. The Lord of the Mansion treats me so sincerely and even lets me go home. If I betray my promise, wouldn’t it be too bad? Going to Hedong to live is also an option...
"He Liuhun, what do you think?"
Still kept in the dark and still believing that Gao Huan had not rebelled but had been defeated, Yuwen Tai asked the smartest person in the team.
"I think I can agree to that."
Gao Huan, who was going north this time to integrate all the Gao family's assets and then immediately head south to join his cousin Guo Huai, pretended to think for a while and then nodded in agreement.
"The fall of the Han Dynasty and the chaos in the world are already a foregone conclusion, but have you seen the news in the past few days? The emperor handed over all the military and financial power of Hedong County to Liu Zhuang. The collapse and disintegration of the Han Empire are much faster than we imagined. At this moment, Liu Zhuang, who dominates Hedong, will be a very good backer in this time of chaos.
We join now while he is still young, and when he succeeds, we will become the elders and pillars. "
Gao Huan persuaded Yuwen Tai to surrender quickly, and Guo Huai had already agreed to appoint me as the Sima of a separate department.
"Besides, Mobei has become a frozen, uninhabited area. At this rate, in a few years, even our hometown, the grassland at the foot of the Yinshan Mountains, will become a frozen wasteland.
If we breach the contract this time, even Liuzhuang will become our blood enemy and mortal enemy. At that time, we will have no choice but to fight Liuzhuang and the Bingzhou border troops with swords and guns to get a piece of land for survival - but then again, you have also seen the combat effectiveness of Liuzhuang and the Bingzhou army. Even if we can defeat them, what will the price be?
Yuwen Tai had no words to say, with mixed feelings in her heart. She didn't want to be a dog of the Han people, but she also didn't want to let down Liu Zhuang who treated her sincerely. At this moment, she was provoked by Gao Huan and felt that what Gao Huan said made sense. When she thought of surrendering to the Han people, the world suddenly opened up for her and she no longer had any worries.
As for the Southern Xiongnu defense zone, Liu Zhuang also returned Hu Yanchu and the five hundred orcs to the Southern Xiongnu Chanyu, asking the Chanyu to look favorably upon his own chieftain. This was both a way of giving him face and a warning - do you really think that we have no men in the Han army? You want to break through Liu Zhuang's Hedong defense zone by sending such a small number of men? ? ?
After receiving the prisoners, the Southern Xiongnu Great Chanyu, who heard that Liu Zhuang had won seven battles and annihilated all the Xianbei invaders, became a little wary of the new governor of Hedong. It seemed that the Han Dynasty was still in a stage where it was dying but not yet frozen. It would be too risky to be the first to attack the Han Dynasty now. Forget it, he would just endure it for a few years.
Therefore, the Xianbei people once again passed through the Hetao area of the Southern Xiongnu without any hindrance, and then packed up their cattle, sheep, and tents and began to move without hesitation.
May 1, the second year of Zhongping.
After more than a month of long journey, Liu Zhuang received a letter from the governor of Xihe, reporting in horror: Troops and horses, all over the mountains and plains, are coming again! This time the number is more than three times that of the last time! But this time they did not attack the city, but said they were looking for you? The leader is called Yuwen Tai, what is going on? ? ?
Upon hearing that Yuwen Tai had returned, Liu Zhuang finally felt relieved. He had won the bet, and Yuwen Tai had chosen to surrender after all. He immediately led the White Horse Camp out of Jiexiu and into Xihe, and came to greet Yuwen Tai in person.
Even though Yuwen Tai had not learned much about the Han etiquette, he knew Liu Zhuang's sincerity in coming hundreds of miles from Hedong to welcome him. Faced with the other party's sincerity, he was deeply moved and knelt in front of Liu Zhuang. He surrendered completely. A large number of troops crossed the Xihe River and settled down between the boundaries of the Zi clan.
With the sudden influx of tens of thousands of troops, the pasture here is definitely not enough. If we cultivate more of it this year, it may not be enough until next year. But it doesn’t matter. Liu Zhuang used the spoils of war to buy a lot of food from local big families and provided it to these troops free of charge so they won’t starve.
Not only that, after joining the Han Empire, a wide range of goods were completely open to people and horses. They were dazzled by the iron farm tools, brocade silk, exquisite jade, gold and silver ornaments, as if they were in a world of vanity. In order to buy these things, they spontaneously began to learn Chinese and communicate with the merchants.
After the welfare was provided, Liu Zhuang also sternly stated the rules: Since you have surrendered to me, from today on, you must follow my rules. First of all, your leader must be enthroned by me to be effective. Just like the Southern Xiongnu, the leader who has not been enthroned by me has no legal right to rule. However, I will not appoint Han people as your leaders. I will only enthronement new people. I will enthrone all the existing Xianbei leaders for you later.
The soldiers nodded one after another. The Southern Xiongnu also agreed. They could accept it. At least the leader of this generation was still ourselves.
In order to control these troops, Liu Zhuang also adopted a new measure: the thousand-household system.
The Hu people were organized into a tent with five people, while the Han people were organized into a household with five people. They were essentially the same thing. Liu Zhuang organized every hundred households into a hundred households, and selected the strongest and most powerful people among them as the hundred household leaders. Ten hundred households formed a thousand households, and he selected a once extremely powerful Xianbei chief to be the thousand householder, who ruled over the ten hundred households. Each thousand household had a fixed nomadic range and was not allowed to leave.
The original ten thousand households were set to be Tuoba Yun, Yuchi Hong, Dugu Yan, three old confidants, the leader Yuwen Tai, and six other powerful Xianbei chiefs. Gao Huan also became the Sima of a separate tribe, legally commanding the Han troops under her command.
The soldiers were a little confused, but they didn't think there was anything wrong. In their opinion, it was just that the name of their chief was changed to Qianhu, which was nothing. Anyway, no tribe had such an exaggerated scale of one thousand households. Liu Zhuang simply merged other weak tribes under his own command, and his actual power increased a little bit.
But they didn't know that they had already been preliminarily sinicized and registered. Before that, even Yuwen Tai didn't know how many people there were in the tribes belonging to him. Every time he went south to plunder, he just shouted and let the subordinate chiefs take as many people as they wanted. His control over the tribes under his command was pitifully weak.
And now, Liu Zhuang used only one month to use the thousand-household system to clearly know the number of troops and horses: including Tuoba Yun before, he had conferred a total of ten thousand households and one hundred hundred households this time. The number of troops and horses finally had an accurate number: 51,032 people.
With this household registration, he could mobilize these Xianbei troops on the largest scale to fight for him. They enjoyed the same treatment as all the peasant soldiers under the military-land system: tax exemption this year, and starting next year, 70% of the income from grazing would belong to them and 30% would belong to Liu Zhuang. Once a war broke out, each household had to draw a certain amount of troops to fight for him.
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Chapter 145: New Mother
After arranging the farming of the Han people and the nomadic migration of the people and horses, Hedong County returned to peace. Liu Zhuang breathed a sigh of relief and sent his second uncle Lu Shi and several relatives of Guo Huai to manage the two iron mountains. He summoned craftsmen to make farm tools, weapons, and armor. After firmly grasping the iron manufacturing rights of the entire Hedong County in his own hands, he returned to Anyi and lived a stable and peaceful life.
The transformation process of the seventy Thunder Warriors went smoothly. With the assistance of Zhang Liang and more than fifty veteran Thunder Warriors, there was no rejection or adverse reaction. The [Yulin Cavalry] profession that Dong Zhuo bestowed on himself was extremely powerful, but unfortunately the requirements for strength and agility were too high, and most people simply could not achieve them.
But this is not a problem for the Thunder Warriors. Their bodies have become different from those of ordinary people after being transformed by the nineteen bowls of talisman water. Almost all of them have reached the training standard of the Yulin Cavalry. Liu Zhuang plans to train these 120 people into his first batch of Yulin Guards.
However, Zhang Jiao's cloning plan was slower than expected. According to common sense, the clone could be cultivated in eight months. However, five months had passed and the severed hand had only recovered the entire right arm and half of the body. Countless nerve granulations were struggling to replicate Zhang Jiao's head.
Liu Zhuang returned home after visiting Zhang Liang's Thunder Warrior Base and Zhang Bao's Clone Center. Diao Chan couldn't wait to rush over and hugged Liu Zhuang's chest tightly. Her pink little face kept rubbing Liu Zhuang's cheeks, and then she jumped over to act coquettishly with Tuoba Yun and Lu Bu. Her cute appearance aroused the maternal instinct of the two girls, and they kept stroking Diao Chan's little head.
"Oh, by the way, you knew this aunt before."
Liu Zhuang grabbed Guo Huai's hand and pulled him in front of Diao Chan. The two had known each other for a long time. They went out of Bingzhou together and fought in the entire war to suppress bandits in You and Ji states. The sneak attack by Yuwen Xianbei came so suddenly that he and Guo Huai spent the whole night on the boat and didn't even take him home.
"Now, you should call me mom."
"what?"
Diao Chan tilted her head cutely, a little confused, why did she have so many mothers? Lü Bu, Tuoba Yun, Zhang Bao, Zhang Liang, and sister Guo Huai who had joined earlier, five in total?
"Mother."
Although he didn't quite understand why, Diao Chan still obediently called Guo Huai "mother". Guo Huai's heart melted by her soft and adorable appearance. He carefully picked up the cute little girl, stroked her head happily, his eyes full of stars.
That night, Liu Zhuang hugged his three wives and two concubines, wanting to try a six-person group, but was rejected by Guo Huai with a blushing face and a pounding heart. This girl from a noble family could not accept such extravagant ways of playing, so she ran out to coax Diao Chan to sleep. Liu Zhuang had to settle for the second best and sleep in the same bed with his other two wives and two concubines.
Relying on his excellent physique and subtle insight into other people's weaknesses and sensitive points, Liu Zhuang was able to subdue Lu Bu and Tuoba Yun completely. With a little effort, he could even make the two women unable to get out of bed the next day. Coupled with some amplifying magic, it was not a problem for him to control four women at night. He could even bring them the ultimate enjoyment of ecstasy. The thick long spear even pierced the four women's pink lips, turning them outward, and their perky buttocks were covered with red marks from being slapped by Liu Zhuang's abdominal muscles and palms.
Soon, the four girls, with their sweaty bodies, lay on the bed sheets that had already been soaked with various body fluids, gasping for breath and begging for mercy. Their round and plump legs were crossed together, and their proudly raised breasts were pressed against each other in an extremely lewd manner. Their messy hair of various colors stuck to their sexy bodies and their icy skin, making them look even more sexy and lewd.
Lu Bu and Tuoba Yun had already adapted to this intensity. Although their lower bodies were red and swollen and they begged for mercy, their bodies could barely bear it. Zhang Bao and Zhang Liang sisters were really fucked to death. They were fucked to death in the bliss again and again, and were forced to wake up in the waves of bliss that hit their lower bodies like the tide. This repeated several times, their entire brains were completely occupied by pleasure, and they were completely immersed in this dizzying bliss, wanting nothing but more happiness.
At the end, while Liu Zhuang launched a fierce attack, he scratched her pink nipples with his rough nails with one hand, and slapped her snow-white breasts with the other hand. The intense stimulation made Zhang Bao scream extremely lewdly, and her lower body was flooded with orgasms, and the bed sheets were covered with obscene water stains from the squirting.
After satisfying the four women, with the idea of treating everyone equally and taking advantage of his free time, Liu Zhuang specially found Guo Huai to have sex with him.
