Chapter 21 Great Talent is Coming Outside Wen County. Cheng Yu and Chen Gong, sitting in the carriage, looked at the towering new city wall of Wen County from afar and nodded slightly. The fact that such a solid city wall could be built in such a cold and harsh place like Liaodong was enough to show that the county magistrate who invited them here was quite capable. Outside the city gate, there were many caravans and refugees coming in and out, including a few Hu people. This small border county seems to be quite prosperous. "It's quite interesting. I didn't expect to see such elite troops in this small county. It seems that this County Magistrate Tian is indeed no ordinary person." Looking at the sturdy and energetic soldiers on the city wall and at the city gate, especially the sophisticated armor on them, Cheng Yu said with a little surprise. He was good at military strategy and could tell at a glance that most of the soldiers in front of him were not just show-offs, but well-trained elite soldiers. "Liaodong is bitterly cold, and there are so many soldiers in just a county town. I'm afraid the people here must be living a difficult life!" Chen Gong, however, had a different opinion and said with a frown. A few dozen soldiers would be enough for an ordinary small county. Even considering the border here, there should be no more than a hundred people at most.
But just counting the soldiers on this side of the city wall, there are nearly a hundred of them, and they are all elite soldiers. How can a small county town afford them? "Wen County is adjacent to the vassal state of Liaodong. The Xianbei and Wuhuan often come to plunder, so military preparations are naturally important. A rich people and a weak army is a recipe for disaster." Cheng Yu said. Chen Gong glanced at the other person indifferently. Having traveled with him and talked about the world together all the way, he knew very well what kind of person he was. Although he was a wise man of the time, he had an extremely extreme and cruel temperament. He regarded the common people as grass and even said such outrageous words as eating people and massacring the city for food. "Brother Zhongde, there are only a few thousand people in Wen County, and Liaodong is cold and isolated with low grain production. How can we support hundreds of soldiers?" Chen Gong said. "During the Warring States Period, all nations mobilized their citizens to serve as soldiers. In Liaodong, there are enemies on all sides. It would not be excessive even if one out of ten men were drafted as a soldier." Cheng Yu said disdainfully. "Strongness cannot last long, and Wen County is still in the hinterland of Liaodong," said Chen Gong. Cheng Yu smiled coldly and pointed to the west: "The vassal state of Liaodong is right next to us. Gongtai, do you think those Wuhuan people will behave themselves?" "The Hu people are all ambitious and wicked. Only by destroying their nests and exterminating their species can we have peace. It's a pity that the officials in the northern border are all incompetent and only know how to hide and defend themselves. If it were me, I would use offense as defense and do my best to recruit young and strong men to march north to the grasslands." "The Hu people are few in number. As long as we kill a few hundred thousand of them, we won't have to worry about them for decades." “But if this happens, the northern border will probably be devastated.” Chen Gong looked at the thin old man in his forties and felt a little cold in his heart. "They are just a bunch of fools. It's no big deal if a group of them die. We can just relocate another group from the Central Plains. Instead of waiting to die, it's better to make drastic measures and pay a small price to quell the threat of the barbarians. What's wrong with that?" Cheng Yu said. "There are so many refugees from the Central Plains anyway. Even if hundreds of thousands of people die, it's worth it in exchange for peace on the border." Li Rui, who was driving the carriage, heard the argument in the carriage. He couldn't help swallowing, his face full of fear. Who is this person that my cousin asked me to invite? The King of Hell? Chen Gong had long been accustomed to Cheng Yu's temperament. He just snorted coldly, moved back, and said no more. Although he was equally talented as his opponent, he was not good at debate, and the opponent was an elder. He had rarely won arguments with him along the way and had become accustomed to it. Seeing that Chen Gong remained silent, Cheng Yu stopped pressing him. In his heart, he still recognized Chen Gong's talents, but his womanly and almost pedantic character really made him dislike him a little.
The two seemed to be born opponents. They were always quarreling along the way and even fought each other a few times. But the strange thing is that the two sides appreciate each other, and their relationship becomes closer as they get entangled along the way. The carriage soon entered the city. Looking at the flat and clean roads, the busy shops on both sides, and the countless merchants and people coming and going, the two felt as if they were in the Central Plains. The meticulous Chen Gong keenly noticed that although most of the people passing by were thin, they all had ruddy complexions and bright eyes. Most people were in a hurry, carrying goods, shouting and selling, and looked quite busy. "These people are in good condition, but a little weak. They must have been hungry for a long time and have just had full meals for a few months." Just as Chen Gong was thinking, Cheng Yu had already given his conclusion. "What a pity. It would be a waste to give so much food to the people. If it were used for the army, we could train a lot of elite soldiers." "Where does Wen County get so much food? And these merchants?" Chen Gong asked in confusion. He observed carefully and found that most of the merchants came to buy luxury goods such as luxurious clothes, wine, sugar, etc., and from their shouting, the prices were quite low, much cheaper than those in the Central Plains. "Could this County Magistrate Tian have the ability of Tao Zhugong?" Although they were invited here with no intention of becoming an official, but just wanted to come here to study and gain some experience, Chen Gong and Cheng Yu had made sufficient preparations and naturally wanted to understand the situation in Wen County in advance. As far as they knew, Wen County was originally just an ordinary county town, and Tian Ze had only been here for a few months. However, they never expected that there would be such a huge change. Just what they saw on the surface was a little hard for them to imagine. They originally just wanted to travel for a while, but they couldn't help but become really curious about Tianze. …… In the county government office, Tian Ze, who was regarded as a reborn parent by the people of Wen County, was fishing by the pond. Since practicing Taoism, Tian Ze has become accustomed to self-cultivation. In addition to daily government affairs and private visits and research, he would go fishing or drink tea by the water in his spare time. Although there were many small fish in the pond, none of them took the bait. Jia Xu, who was reporting on government affairs at the side, glanced at the fishhook without bait calmly, but his mouth did not stop talking. "My Lord, in the past three months or so, nearly 20,000 refugees have been resettled on both sides of the Daqing River." "According to your order, my lord, we have already had them start farming. Although it is almost winter and the temperature is low, fortunately there is plenty of rain and the crops are growing unexpectedly smoothly. They should be mature around the spring equinox next year and will not delay next year's spring farming." "The number of people on Changxing Island has reached more than 5,000. According to your request, it is better to have fewer people than too many. Most of the new people are craftsmen. The monthly material output has reached..." "During this period, Wen County has recruited refugees, and its population has now reached nearly 8,000. And with the supplies provided by Changxing Island, the commercial income is quite considerable..." "In terms of management, the people who were trained on Changxing Island before have been able to handle some simple affairs after this period of training..." "In terms of armaments, we recruited another 300 soldiers this month. They are now under the command of Xu Rong, Zhang He, and Ling Cao, who have just surrendered to our lord. Together with Han Dang's 300 naval forces, Guan Yu and Ma Teng's 200 cavalry, Gao Shun, Le Jin, and Yu Jin's 300 infantry, and Wen County's 100 county soldiers, a total of 1,200 soldiers." "As for food and supplies, our reserves are very sufficient, but we still purchase about 50,000 shi of food every month, and we are also constantly purchasing cattle and sheep..." "In terms of finance, our current monthly income is about 30 million coins, and it is still growing rapidly. In addition to the necessary expenses such as the purchase of food and supplies, which cost about 10 million coins, most of the remaining money is used to purchase war horses. The army already has more than 1,200 war horses..." "The main problem at present is that the speed of recruiting refugees from Dongmu is getting slower and slower. The number of refugees recruited this time is only 1,500." Listening to Jia Xu's report, Tian Ze nodded secretly in his heart.
With such a wise minister assisting him, he felt very comfortable being a hands-off manager. The rate of refugee recruitment slowed down again, which was within his expectations. After all, the radiation range of a county is limited. Even if Dongmu County is recruiting people from various counties in Qingzhou through other methods, it will take time. In fact, this was not the first time that Jia Xu had mentioned this matter, but this time Tian Ze was ready to resolve it. Because after this period of time, his spiritual energy intake and expenditure finally eased. Now he has more than 30,000 people under his command, and he earns more than 30 strands of spiritual energy every day, which means thousands of strands a month, enough to create nearly 100,000 acres of fertile land and meet the needs of 4,000 to 5,000 people. "Ling Cao's 100 new recruits will be trained as naval forces, and will work with Han Dang to take turns recruiting refugees." There were not many famous naval generals during the Three Kingdoms period, and most of them were concentrated in Sun Wu. Tian Ze could only remember a few of them. Among Sun Jian's four veteran generals, Tian Ze recruited Han Dang, and the other three were already serving in Jiangdong. Among the remaining Twelve Tiger Ministers, only Ling Cao was of age and could be recruited, but this was enough for Tian Ze now. After all, in the north, there is no need for too many navy troops. "Contact the county governors of Liao County and Qu County, and use these two counties as nodes to recruit people from Jizhou and Xuzhou. We don't need too many people at the beginning, and we can control the recruitment frequency to 10,000 people per month. After that, we can recruit 3,000 more people per month..." (End of this chapter)