Chapter 264: The Xianbei who wandered for half their lives
Tian Ze was not very good at bargaining, and given his personality, the condition proposed by Li Ru was not excessive and he could agree to it right away.
But thinking of his "money bag" Chen Gong's "nagging", Tian Ze still made a bargain, so as not to have to endure his resentful look every day when he returned.
"it is good!"
Li Ru agreed without hesitation.
Not to mention 70% to 30%, he can even accept 80% to 20%.
In other words, the people who came were Tian Ze and Xun You. Both of them had never experienced poverty and were used to spending lavishly. They were not very sensitive to population figures.
If it was Chen Gong or Jia Xu who came, they would probably directly offer a price of 190%.
It’s too high.
Tian Ze and Xun You realized this immediately when they saw Li Ru agreed so readily.
Lu Bu, who was standing aside, was looking at Li Ru with admiration.
You are truly worthy of being called Wenyou!
He got something for nothing, not only becoming a prince, but also bringing in hundreds of thousands of people!
To put it bluntly, in this matter, Lu Bu did not have to do anything. He just released some prisoners and came up with an idea, and he got nearly half of the profit.
However, Tian Ze didn't care too much about it. After all, the meat would rot in his own pot in the end. It wouldn't be a big deal for Lu Bu to take some advantage. The key was to solve his urgent problem.
"However, Envoy, I cannot give you these 60% of the population immediately. You have to wait for a while in batches." Li Ru then said.
"How long to wait?" Tian Ze frowned slightly.
Although he is easy to talk to, he is not easy to bully.
"Before the spring, I will provide 20% of the population, and after the spring, I will gradually provide another 10%, and the remaining population will be provided within next year. Is that okay?"
Tian Ze hesitated for a moment, and finally nodded.
He knew Li Ru's difficulties.
It is not easy to sell people and ask them to help count the money. Li Ru also has to consider the development of his jurisdiction, and being able to do this is almost the limit.
"it is good!"
……
On those cold winter days, the Xianbei people in the northern border were having a miserable time.
Because they had been besieged and suppressed by Tian Ze and Lu Bu in the past two years and had suffered repeated heavy losses, they had no chance to go south to plunder. Not only were there a shortage of young and strong people in each tribe, but supplies were also extremely scarce.
The most terrifying thing is that as news continued to come in about how well the tribesmen living under Han rule were doing, some tribesmen would flee eastward from time to time, and some even directly killed their clan leader and defected with the entire clan.
It doesn't matter who you graze for, grazing for the Han people will allow them to live a better life and not go hungry every day.
However, faced with the powerful Tian Ze, these Xianbei lords and leaders were no match for him, and from time to time Han cavalry came to plunder.
It would be fine if they did not resist, but once they counterattack and kill fiercely, they would suffer even more terrible revenge.
As time went by, they had completely given up and could only watch their own people become increasingly alienated and pray that they would not run into the Han army.
This precarious life not only made the lower-class Xianbei people miserable, but even the Xianbei leaders were worried.
And this winter, Tian Ze led his army westward from the Great Xianbei Mountain, with the intention of pacifying the northern frontier.
Just as they were worrying about what to do and preparing to move west again, a piece of news spread across the border like a storm.
Bingzhou's "Flying General" Lu Fengxian, who called himself "Xianbei Chanyu" and "King of Yan", called on the Xianbei tribes in the northern border to join him, claiming that he would surpass Tan Shihuai and lead the Xianbei to greater glory!
When all the Xianbei lords and generals heard the news, they felt extremely angry and ridiculous at first.
A Han Chinese who called himself "Xianbei Chanyu", what did he think of them?
If they were not in danger now, and if Lü Bu was not too difficult to defeat, they would have gone south to fight. But slowly, as more news came in, they gradually figured out something.
Yup!
Lu Bu and Tian Ze had held peace talks and were "allies". If they joined, wouldn't they not have to worry about being attacked by Tian Ze?
Who came up with this idea? What a genius!
Especially when one tribe took the initiative to respond to the request and was awarded a Canglang flag by Lu Bu, and when Tian Ze led his army to attack and saw the Canglang flag, he let the tribe go, the Xianbei were completely boiling.
A large number of Xianbei tribal leaders went south to express their intention to surrender to Lu Bu, shouting that they had been wandering for half their lives without meeting a wise leader, and admitted that Lu Bu was absolutely destined to be the "Xianbei Chanyu" and that he deserved the title.
For a time, Lu Bu became like a "savior" in the hearts of the Xianbei leaders.
However, there was no sincerity in this, it was just forced by the situation. These Xianbei leaders were also secretly thinking about how to plot against Lu Bu.
How could Li Ru, a "poisonous scholar", not know this? He was too familiar with this situation.
The situation where the people under his command are obedient on the surface but not on the heart, and they have to bow their heads due to the general trend is very similar to Dong Zhuo back then.
After several years, he returned to his old job.
Afterwards, under the pitying gaze of Lu Bu, Wei Xu and others, these Xianbei leaders were toyed around with by Li Ru.
Various conspiracies and plots were carried out simultaneously. On the one hand, they led them to attack some disobedient and non-compliant tribes and shared the spoils with them, and on the other hand, they used the power of thunder to destroy several large disobedient tribes.
From time to time, he would stir up internal fights among the tribes and try to strike a balance.
Within two months, these Xianbei leaders who had surrendered put aside all their thoughts and became obedient one after another.
They were not loyal to Lu Bu, but afraid of him.
He was afraid of Lu Bu's unparalleled military power, and even more afraid of Li Ru's vicious and cruel methods.
A smile from the “poisonous scholar” can make life or death unpredictable.
Countless tribes that had been tragically destroyed served as a lesson for them. If they showed any sign of disobedience, they would suffer a catastrophic disaster.
Moreover, they no longer dared to trust other tribes around them, for fear that among them there might be Li Ru's pawns, waiting to be delivered to them.
The Xianbei, who were already a loose group, were completely broken up and conquered by Li Ru.
These Xianbei leaders were even more afraid of Li Ru, who seemed to be powerless, than they were of Lu Bu. They were so obedient in front of him that they didn't even dare to breathe.
During this period, Li Ru also secretly commanded the annihilation of a large number of tribes in the northern border that refused to come to him for surrender. Both himself and the Xianbei tribes under his command grew a lot stronger, and for a time his influence covered most of the northern border.
At this point, Lu Bu became the true "Xianbei Chanyu", and no one dared to stab him anymore.
"Wenyou, why don't you be the lord?"
After initially pacifying the northern frontier, Lu Bu found Li Ru and expressed his heartfelt emotion.
After coming into contact with Tian Ze, Yuan Shao, Cao Cao and others, Lu Bu has calmed down. Although he is still extremely confident in his own martial arts, he does not feel that he is suitable to be a lord.
Because compared to the other three, he is so far behind.
He is not good at strategic vision, selecting talents, balancing subordinates, and managing internal affairs. His personal qualities are not outstanding either. He is greedy for money, lustful, and unfeeling.
Apart from being able to fight, perhaps his only advantage is that he listens to Li Ru.
Li Ru was slightly stunned when he heard this, and then he rarely showed a smile that was not cold: "No need."
"But I am qualified to be a lord, and leading troops to fight is more suitable for me." Lu Bu scratched his head slightly embarrassedly.
"No. If you can listen to me, you can become a heroic leader." Li Ru's calm tone was full of unquestionable confidence.
(End of this chapter)
