Chapter 155 Yangtze River Bandit
On the Yangtze River, Gan Ning was sitting on the side of the boat, fishing out of boredom.
Gan Ning was initially encouraged (tricked) by Tian Ze and was so moved that he made some promises without realizing it.
Just as Guo Jia promised not to visit prostitutes anymore, he promised to cultivate his character, put away his violence, and stop harming innocent people.
After commanding tens of thousands of troops, he no longer wanted to be just a pirate, which was boring. He wanted to become the commander-in-chief of the navy.
At this time, Gan Ning was a rookie who had just turned over a new leaf in Yizhou for a while. He also had not experienced the subsequent exclusion and suppression, so he was still quite naive.
With a bright future in front of him and having experienced the "thoughtful" care of Guan Yu and others, his arrogance and conceit were restrained a little, and he understood more about how to use troops, so he sincerely reflected on himself and exercised restraint.
Although he still has an arrogant temperament, he has restrained himself a lot and is slowly becoming a qualified general.
Just when Gan Ning was getting a little impatient, the spy suddenly ran over.
"General! Zhang Yin's hundreds of pirates have also been captured."
Upon hearing the news, Gan Ning, who had originally been somewhat interested, suddenly became dull again and waved his hands impatiently: "I know, I can just talk to Tian Hu about this little thing in the future. It's boring!"
After leading the army to the Yangtze River, Tian Ze gave Gan Ning a great deal of autonomy in decision-making, as long as he could find a way to get the population back to Liaodong.
He believed in Gan Ning's ability. After all, Zang Ba, who was a bandit before, did a very good job. If he were to make the arrangements, he might not be able to achieve the same results.
Recruiting people is a professional matter and only professionals can do it.
Although Gan Ning appeared arrogant, he was a man of strategy and had the potential to be a commander. He already had a plan in mind on how to complete the task assigned by Tian Ze.
After arriving at the Yangtze River, he gave himself three identities: mercenary, businessman, and bandit leader.
As a mercenary, he first found Liu Yao and helped Liu Yao to fight Sun Ce. He saved Lujiang from danger without asking for a penny and did Lu Kang a favor. He also took away tens of thousands of homeless refugees.
This is not only beautiful, but also honest.
Gan Ning became famous overnight.
Later, he often accepted orders from Liu Biao and Liu Yao, but he made the conditions clear in advance: fight if possible, then fight; run away if not.
Gan Ning always chose battles that were sure to win and that could ensure he would not suffer too much damage.
Where can you find such a mercenary who is free and capable? It is better to have it than not.
As a result, Gan Ning obtained the legal right to move around the Yangtze River, and along the way he brought two allies to Tian Ze and started working as a businessman.
At the same time, Gan Ning also set his sights on the pirates in various places along the Yangtze River.
As a former pirate leader, he knew the pirates' methods best and was an expert in his own field.
Moreover, his talent "Spirit Attack" can reduce the army's presence, making it very convenient for population transportation and sneak attacks, and it will also provide a certain bonus to combat power when the sneak attack is successful.
Gan Ning was originally a bandit, so he knew these bandits' methods and movements best and could accurately identify them.
In addition, every time he attacked these water bandits, the soldiers under his command were able to stay in the dark and take the initiative. Relying on their strong combat power and talents, they easily wiped out the bandit nests one after another.
Gan Ning did not kill all of these bandits, but instead kept some of those who were obedient and had good character and reputation, and developed them into his subordinates to help him with work.
In fact, many of these pirates were forced to become pirates because they could not survive due to pressure from the government and rebellion.
But over time, most of them gradually became corrupt, but there are still many people who still have conscience.
What do the pirates lack? Money and food.
What did Gan Ning lack? Money and food.
Isn't this a perfect match?
You go and plunder merchant ships. I don't want the goods, but don't kill the people. Send them to me in exchange for money and food.
You go and rob the people. I don't want their money or food, but don't kill anyone. Send them to me in exchange for money or food.
You can still develop and grow on your own, and I can even provide the corresponding ships, weapons and other support. If you want to clean up in the future, as long as your hands are clean, I can still accept it. If you want to live a peaceful life, I will arrange it for you.
What else is there to say? Follow Boss Gan!
You will have delicious food and drink, no worries about food and clothing, and even a way out is paved for you.
Although a lot of bandits were eliminated in the beginning, gradually, the bandits approved by Gan Ning began to grow bigger and stronger.
With more and more people and better equipment, they even learned some simple tactics and strategies, posing a considerable threat to various counties.
But these people knew when to advance and retreat. They never confronted the government head-on, nor did they touch any important things. They just robbed some civilians.
Local officials and powerful families were completely helpless about this, and some even welcomed it.
After all, if the people are gone, the land will be theirs. This is also a good thing!
Normally, to annex land, one had to find some reasons and cover it up secretly, but now, just lying at home and doing nothing, the land is in one’s hands, and all they have to do is wait for it to be divided.
good for everyone!
It seems that the only ones who suffered were Liu Biao, Liu Yao and Liu Zhang. Liu Zhang didn't care about these three people, Liu Yao couldn't control them, and Liu Biao couldn't do anything on his own.
In fact, Liu Biao and others guessed Gan Ning's thoughts and intentions at the beginning, but they also had their own plans.
Let Gan Ning and Yuan Shu fight each other, they didn't suffer any loss, just sit back and reap the benefits. At the beginning, they only lost a few people, which was not a big deal.
After all, if you walk by the river often, you will get your feet wet. They also have plenty of ways to design some tough battles between Gan Ning and Yuan Shu.
After they have made full use of Gan Ning, they will drive him out of the Yangtze River Basin. This way they will have taken advantage of him for nothing.
What a great thing.
But they didn't expect two things. One was that Gan Ning's talent was so disgusting, and the other was that Gan Ning would come up with so many cool moves.
At the beginning, when Gan Ning was suppressing bandits in the Yangtze River, they were quite happy. After all, the banditry in the Yangtze River was also a problem for them.
These water bandits are cunning and ruthless. When the army attacks, they disappear without a trace and reappear when the army retreats. They are just like the barbarians in the north, coming and going like the wind and very difficult to deal with.
They were naturally happy to see that Gan Ning had the ability to easily solve the bandit problem.
However, when Gan Ning had eliminated most of the banditry along the Yangtze River, they realized something was wrong.
It seems that the bandit problem did subside for a while after being wiped out, but it quickly grew again, and is still growing at a terrifying rate, and is much more serious than before.
When they found out the reason behind this, it was too late and the banditry could no longer be completely eradicated.
Gan Ning's clever moves made these bandits grow rapidly, and he began to actively develop downlines, just like a pyramid scheme, and the group continued to grow like a snowball.
It seemed that all the pirates in the entire Yangtze River Basin and even the entire south had the surname "Gan".
By the time Liu Biao wanted to take action, it was too late.
Gan Ning had already retreated to the Danyang area and stationed there under the pretext of helping Liu Yao deal with Yuan Shu.
At this time, Liu Yao had not yet integrated the power of Yangzhou and was still facing the threat from Yuan Shu. Naturally, he did not dare to turn against Gan Ning, so it was very safe here.
Gan Ning ran away, but the pirates in the whole south still obeyed his orders completely. The reason was simple: Gan Ning had money and food.
The south has a well-developed water system and relies on the Yangtze River water conservancy. Even to the farthest Yizhou, it would only take a month at most to transport people back and forth by speedboat.
And there is not much risk, because everyone is one of us, and they are all "dealers" who have been audited and have their character verified.
When you encounter soldiers and officers suppressing bandits, you can still take care of each other, but the relationship should not be too good.
Anyway, the south has a large population and there are no conflicts of interest among them for the time being. With Gan Ning keeping an eye on them, they are gradually getting used to this comfortable life.
Many people even really had the idea of becoming bigger and stronger, and finally waiting to be recruited by the government or going to Liaodong to retire.
You can never go wrong by following Boss Gan!
In the entire south, only Liu Biao, who had some foresight and was also the governor, was anxious. Local officials and powerful families were openly anxious to suppress the bandits, but secretly they were as steady as an old dog.
Not only is suppressing bandits difficult, it is also a losing business.
On the contrary, they had nothing to be unhappy about doing nothing and getting good farmland for free. There were plenty of people in the south anyway, and too many refugees would be a disaster.
If the people were gone, wouldn't the land belong to them? Moreover, it was not difficult to let these peasants have children, and why would there be no one to cultivate the land?
When there are many people, intensive farming is the way to grow crops. When there are few people, coarse farming is still possible. The only difference is that the yield per mu will be lower. After deducting the consumption, the overall output may be higher.
When cultivating intensively, one person can take care of 20 acres of land on average. If cultivating coarsely, hundreds of acres can be taken care of. During the Shang and Zhou dynasties, each person had 100 acres of land.
After a quick calculation, almost all the noble families gave up the idea of solving the problem of water bandits.
As for the issue of aiding the enemy, these noble families have never considered it, and they are not united. Otherwise, the South would have been unified long ago.
When the wall falls, everyone pushes it. Everyone is lying flat on the ground. It's you who has to risk your life, but you can't change the situation and will only hurt yourself. Why bother?
Not only that, because of Gan Ning's outrageous move, some noble families even took the initiative to find Gan Ning and participate in human trafficking.
Who is cheap is not cheap.
If these people are kept, they will be robbed by the bandits and sold to Gan Ning. It is better to take the initiative to sell them to Gan Ning and earn more money and food.
There is no wall that is impenetrable. When all the noble families realized this situation, the development of things became clear.
Gan Ning basically didn't have to do anything, as both the bandits and the aristocratic families were competing to send people to him.
The task assigned by Tian Ze went on track smoothly.
(End of this chapter)
