Just when Yuan Xi defeated the Qingzhou Yellow Turban, Yuan Xi's father Yuan Shao was not idle either. Gongsun Zan rode more than 30,000 troops into Juma River, which is now Xiongan New Area.
Yuan Shao sent general Cui Juye to attack and besiege tens of thousands of troops, so he could not settle down and retreated south. Gongsun Zan chased 30,000 people on foot and cavalry into the Juma River and defeated them. Seven to eight thousand people died.
Yuan Shao then reactivated Ju Yi at the suggestion of Ju Shou, and then used weak troops to lure the enemy. In the end, Gongsun Zan was ambushed. Ju Yi led Yan Liang and Gao Lan to dispatch a surprise attack on Gongsun Zan. In this battle, Gongsun Zan's younger brother Gongsun Yue was killed by Yan Liang. Behead.
Gongsun Zan was ashamed of losing to Yuan Shao, and launched several small-scale attacks, but were eventually defeated by Ju Yi. From then on, Gongsun Zan went completely on the defensive, and the Yuan family and Gongsun family had different offensive and defensive trends.
After Gongsun Zan led the defeated army to withdraw, he began to strengthen the Youzhou city defense to prevent Yuan's army from attacking, and no longer took the initiative to compete with Yuan's army. If Dong Zhuo's fighting spirit was lost by himself, then Gongsun Zan's fighting spirit collapsed after being frightened by Yuan Shao.
It happened that at this time, the Guanzhong court sent the censor Zhao Qi to Hebei to persuade Yuan Shao and Gongsun Zan to stop fighting and negotiate peace. So the two families had a tacit agreement to retire and recuperate.
Because Gongsun Zan could not defeat Yuan Shao, he began to have small-scale frictions with Liu Yu. This was a typical example of being angry with his wife and taking advantage of his father. It is not a sad situation for a generation of white-horse heroes to fall into this situation.
But Gongsun Zan was not the one who suffered. He began to send Guan Jing to secretly contact the Black Mountain Army, hoping that the Black Mountain Army would cause trouble to Yuan Shao and relieve the strategic pressure that Yuan Shao would bring to him.
Under Jinan City, Yuan Xi experienced the feeling of having great power and controlling life and death. This is more addictive than poppy. No wonder emperors and generals of all ages have been trying to seize power.
Maybe Emperor Taizong Li Shimin was like this at that time. He couldn't stop. If you wanted to stop, someone would push you away. You were in the world and you couldn't help yourself.
Surrounded by Xu Chu, Zhu Gongdao and a group of tiger guards, Yuan Xi, Guo Jia, Tian Feng and others came to the city gate to formally accept the surrender of the Qingzhou Yellow Turban Army.
More than 4,000 Jizhou cavalry and 2,000 euphorbia soldiers were lined up. The banners are clear, the soldiers and armor are neatly arranged, and the array is majestic and cold. The power of the Jizhou army is a great deterrent to the yellow turban generals.
Qin Yuan and Huang Dong walked at the front of the surrender team. They led a group of Yellow Turban generals to kneel down.
"Drink!" Jizhou soldiers knocked their halberds on the ground and shouted in unison. This was to frighten the Yellow Turban Army.
Yuan Xi cleared his throat, stepped forward to help Tan Yuan and Huang Dong, and said loudly, "Everyone! You are all heroes of Qingzhou. The former had eunuchs and rebels who rebelled against the government, causing the good people to be displaced and went astray by the Yellow Turban."
Yuan Xi looked at the yellow turban general who was kneeling silently, his shoulders even shaking, and understood that the coercion had been effective.
Then Yuan Xi raised his voice and said: "My lord, I am not very talented, but I led Qingzhou, all thanks to the support of many heroes. You all abandoned darkness and returned to the light, all worshiped Sima, and each was rewarded with wealth, silk and land. Qin Yuan and Huang Dong made the greatest contributions. I pay homage to the Cavalry Captain and will be rewarded with a hundred gold coins."
All the Yellow Turban generals felt relieved after hearing that they were being rewarded and appointed officials, and they all expressed their loyalty to Yuan Xi. They were not loyal to Yuan Xi, but to the power behind him and the military power that Yuan Xi represented.
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After all, Cao Cao's army did not cross the border of Qingzhou. Xu Huang and Zhao Yun also slowly led their troops back to Jinan.
The task of recruiting millions of Yellow Turbans was arduous and urgent. Yuan Xi immediately summoned a group of subordinates. In the Jinan government office council, in addition to a direct lineage, there were also Tugu County Wei Yirong, Yellow Turban leaders Qin Yuan and Huang Dong.
When everyone was seated, Yuan Xi left his seat, went to the middle of the hall, and said loudly, "The pacification of the Yellow Turbans this time is all thanks to your efforts. On behalf of my father, Xi is grateful to you." After saying this, he bowed deeply.
Everyone quickly said that they were being humble. They were amazed and grateful that the second young master of the Yuan family, who was so distinguished, actually saluted them.
Tian Feng saw that Yuan Xi was not overjoyed at the victory, so he gave a rare nod and said with a smile, "Young Master indeed has the ability to coordinate and coordinate, but the powerful enemy has not yet been eliminated. What we need to do now is to collect these millions of Yellow Turbans."
Yuan Xi and Guo Jia had discussed the relevant plans and their own calculations, but he still asked modestly: "Everyone expresses his own opinion and how to deal with it. Mr. Yuan Hao also talks about the situation of our army."
Tian Feng was well aware of the affairs of Yuan Xi's army. He immediately said: "According to Qin Yuan's supply, the Qingzhou Yellow Turbans have a main force of more than 300,000. Our army surrendered 250,000, and the rest were captured by Cao Mengde. Or dispersed in successive battles.”
Tian Feng took another scribe and wrote: "The surrendered Yellow Turban family members, men, women, old and children, total more than one million and five thousand. You must also be alert. After this dispatch, Cao Cao's army has a deep grudge against us." , now our army is under the watchful eye of Tian Kai and Tao Qian."
Guo Jia thought about it, and after Tian Feng finished speaking, he asked: "Sir, how much food do we still have for the army? How long can it last?"
Tian Feng immediately put a bitter look on his face and said, "Yuan Cheqi planned to supply our soldiers with food for a year in four installments. After the young master urged the grain, Yuan Cheqi issued an extra season of grain. Pingyuan and Jinan have been war-torn for a long time, and the fields It is mostly desolate and there is not much food left. This food is only enough for our soldiers and the Yellow Turban soldiers for two months."
Yuan Xi had long considered the shortage of food, so he took the opportunity to borrow food from Cao Cao to send troops. However, this amount of military rations cannot be used on the Huangjin family members. Without food, the morale of the army will be unstable, and chaos will inevitably occur.
Seeing everyone's worried expressions, Yuan Xi forced himself to smile calmly and said, "Don't worry, I have a way to solve the problem."
"What can you do, Master?" Tian Feng asked curiously.
"I told my father the importance of surrendering the Yellow Turbans, so as to urge Jizhou to distribute grain. Secondly, the Zhen family in Hebei Province has a lot of money and grain surplus. As my in-laws, I can borrow grain from them. Thirdly, there are many heroes in Jizhou, so I can borrow grain from them in my father's name." Most of them borrow grain and fodder."
Tian Feng listened and calculated the feasibility. Although he was not sure whether it could support the next autumn harvest, it was not the bottom of the pot, let alone. . Yuan Xi. . It's the lord Yuan Shao. . .
Zhang He said at the right time: "My lord, the number of two hundred thousand Yellow Turbans is not small. It is probably beyond our ability to raise so many soldiers. Therefore, we have selected the best of them to form an army, and the rest should be returned to the fields."
"Yes, this can accumulate people's strength. In time, Qingzhou's population will also become more prosperous." Tian Feng agreed.
"No!" Yuan Xi immediately objected, "The people of Qingzhou are fierce and fierce. If you gather a crowd, you can become a soldier. In these troubled times, it is time to tighten restrictions."
Tian Feng frowned and advised, "Master, think twice, not to mention the two counties of Jinan Plain, even Qingzhou alone cannot support two hundred thousand soldiers."
Yuan Xi knew that Tian Feng would be wrong and thought that he was trying to be militaristic, so he said, "The Yellow Turbans have been accustomed to the compilation of routines for a long time, but they still organize them into routines for governance, and then imitate me in 'farming' in the border areas, and organize their busy farming time , train troops in your free time.”
Guo Jia was startled for a moment and then clapped his hands and laughed: "Young Master wants to imitate Qi Huan's apartment and serve the people. In this way, not only will we gain millions of good people, but we will also get hundreds of thousands of soldiers hidden among the people. Why not?"
Yuan Xi went into more detail on how to weave the Yellow Turbans into "military households" and how to implement farming. In troubled times, the military has the greatest power. After hearing what he said, everyone thought it was feasible.
Tian Feng couldn't help but admire his talent. The second son of his lord was indeed a promising master, but it was a pity that he was not the eldest son. Since ancient times, there has been an order of growth and development, alas.
Finally, after everyone's discussion, the Yellow Turban family members were organized into more than 150,000 households, all of which were organized into tribes and divided into 5,000 households, each with a large and small leader to govern.
After the land is divided into equal parts, 'people's settlement' can be implemented. The method is a good one, but if you want to implement it, you have to rely on political talents like Tian Feng. Some things are not just something you can say, but require a lot of people to implement and cooperate.
Fifty thousand elite soldiers were selected from more than 200,000 Yellow Turban soldiers and were called "Qingzhou soldiers". Their families were also classified as "military households" to reduce taxes. These 50,000 soldiers are implemented as "military camps". They train when they are free and farm when they are busy. They are a standing army.
The other 150,000 Yellow Turban soldiers were also turned into tribes. They were implemented as "military settlements" but spent more time on farming and less time on training. They were a reserve army to replenish the soldiers of various tribes lost in the battle.
Zhang He was responsible for the training of 50,000 Qingzhou soldiers, and the other 150,000 were given to Tian Feng for placement. Yi Rong, Qin Yuan, and Huang Dong, who were promoted to cavalry captains, assisted.
The soldiers lost by various units in this battle were also replenished from the Yellow Turban elite.
With the recruitment of the Yellow Turban family members, Yuan Xi felt the shortage of civil and military officers. Guo Jiazheng acted like a staff and military adviser, just giving out ideas. Tian Feng was in charge of these government affairs. Although he was very capable, he was overwhelmed by so many large and small government affairs. Coming down, Tian Feng looked haggard. After all, Tian Feng is a capable person, right?
It’s not that his name is Tian Feng, his name is Xun Yu, and his name is Zhuge Liang. This state or this country can be governed well. He needs many people headed by them to form a public relations team to complete this matter together.
Speaking of talents in Qingzhou, Yuan Xi knew through memories and inquiries at this time that there were still a few good talents, but they were not in Pingyuan or Jinan, so he was not in a hurry to come.
Yecheng, Jizhou, Prefectural Mufu.
Yuan Shao smiled and passed the news of victory to all the civil and military officials, and said happily, "Yuan Hao, Xian Yi and the others have won consecutive battles. It seems that Qingzhou will be determined soon."
"This is the time when my lord goes up to the heavens and goes down to the hearts of the people. Heroes and heroes are coming to join us one after another. Qingzhou is certainly within reach." Fengji clapped his hands and said with a smile.
"That's right. My lord's reputation is so majestic that no one in the world can match him?" Guo Tu also said flatteringly.
Yuan Shao squinted his eyes, stroked his beard with his hand, and said, "What about the food supply that Xian Yi said?"
Yuan Tan's face turned cold when he heard this. He glanced at Guo Tu, Xin Ping, and Xin Pi, hoping that they would make a stumbling block for his dear brother Yuan Xi.
Guo Tu understood and said: "Second Young Master's victory is indeed inspiring, but why do we need the millions of Yellow Turbans? Those people are all rebels, and it is not an exaggeration to kill them all. Sparing them so easily is really encouraging the rebels." You are so arrogant, although the second young master is brave, he is still too merciful."
"Our army needs to support more than 100,000 soldiers to fight Gongsun Zan. Jizhou is rich, but it cannot provide rations for an additional million people. Otherwise, what will the soldiers in the front eat?" Xin Ping also complained.
"This is not appropriate. Yuan Hao and the Second Young Master must have thought twice before surrendering the Yellow Turbans. Many people in Qingzhou have fled into exile. Now the fields are barren and the population is declining. As long as the Lord distributes a year's rations, Qingzhou will have an additional million people. , within three years we will surely be restored to our former prosperity, and we can also provide food and fodder for our army." Ju Shou argued vigorously, whether it was for his friends or Yuan Shao's hegemony.
Yuan Shao was also in a dilemma. He had to provide food for a million people. This amount was really huge, but as Jushou said, the rewards were also huge.
Xu You unconsciously touched his sleeves. He had to secretly help him with the letter sent by Yuan Xi.
After thinking for a while, Xu You said: "What Gongze and others said is right. The rations for these million people are really huge. However, what Gongze said is also reasonable. If we can add another million people, the lord's power will become stronger." Now you have a strategy to achieve both ends."
Everyone was curious about what solution he could come up with, and Yuan Shao was also eager to know, so he asked, "Ziyuan, let me tell you!"
Xu You smiled and said, "Without him, Jizhou is rich and the people are well-off. In the name of the lord, we can borrow grain from the heroes of Jizhou and return it after Qingzhou resumes its grain production."
"Good, my lord, without spending money or food, you can increase the number of millions of people and tens of thousands of soldiers." Jushou rarely agreed with Xu You.
Guo Tu rolled his eyes and said, "It's inappropriate. Borrowing food in the name of the lord makes unsuspecting people think that our army is in dire straits and lacks food. It really damages the lord's reputation. Please think again, lord."
"Now Gongsun Zan, Tian Kai, Tao Qian and other young men are watching from the side, which can increase the strength of our army. Quickly annihilating these rebellions is the most important thing. Why should we care about other people's opinions. Moreover, the master is expected to return, and the heroes of the world will only do their best when they know that the master is in trouble. Help, who would ridicule and ridicule!" Xu You retorted.
Yuan Tan has always looked down upon Xu You's words and deeds. However, Xu You had short hands. Xu You took so much money from Yuan Xi and the Zhen family and did so many things for Yuan Xi. Yuan Tan had long thought that he was a member of Yuan Xi's party and could only support Yuan Xi.
The balance in Yuan Shao's heart still favored Yuan Xi. After all, this son brought shame on his father. He also consulted Xun Chen, Feng Ji and others for their opinions.
Feng Ji raised his hand and said, "For our great cause in Jizhou, I originally lent you one hundred thousand stones of corn."
After hearing what Feng Ji said, Shen Pei would naturally not fall behind. "My Shen family also lent me 150,000 shi of corn."
Feng Ji glanced at Shen Pei coldly. The two of them had always had small disputes, so naturally they were unwilling to lag behind others.
Xun Chen speculated on Yuan Shao's thoughts and said at the right time: "We, the Xun family, rely on our lord's great kindness and have donated 100,000 stones of corn for his great cause."
Yuan Shao was very happy when he heard this and said with a smile, "Friends are very righteous. You are really a man of high virtue and selflessness."
When everyone else saw Yuan Shao's statement, they naturally knew that he had made up his mind and stopped arguing.
Zhen Family Courtyard.
Mrs. Zhen, accompanied by her third son Zhen Yao, met Hua Xu, who claimed to be a subordinate of Yuan Xi.
Hua Xu bowed his hands and saluted, then handed Yuan Xi's letter and said, "Madam, Third Young Master, you are polite. This is my Young Master's personal letter."
Zhen Yao took the letter and showed it to Mrs. Zhen.
Mrs. Zhen looked at Hua Xu carefully and couldn't help but ask, "I don't know your name yet."
"I am Hua Xu, a native of Luoyang."
"Oh, sir, he looks like a businessman. There are people like him under the second master." Mrs. Zhen said curiously.
"I am a merchant from Luoyang. I have received great favor from the Second Young Master and managed some properties for him."
Mrs. Zhen nodded and became even more curious about the son-in-law, so she said, "Please reply to the Second Young Master. As long as Yuan Zhoumu issues an order to borrow grain, my Zhen family will naturally be no less wealthy than others."
Hua Xu nodded with a smile and said, "Of course, what about the money and food borrowed in the name of the second young master?"
In addition to asking the Zhen family to respond to the order to borrow grain, Yuan Xi also borrowed a large amount of money and grain from the Zhen family in his own name.
The money and food that Yuan Xi wanted to borrow privately was not a small amount, which made it difficult for Mrs. Zhen to make a decision, so she said, "The amount is too large, so I need the second son to borrow it in the name of the governor of Qingzhou and supply it in four installments."
Hua Xu rubbed his hands and said with a smile: "That's no problem. What about the cooperation with the store owned by the Zhen family?"
Mrs. Zhen immediately became serious, and Yuan Xi proposed to use the Zhen family's stores in various places to provide herself with information and strongholds. Once agreed, the stores in various places owned by the Zhen family are in danger of being infiltrated by Yuan Xi, which also declares that the Zhen family and Yuan Xi are completely tied together.
Hua Xu also knew that Mrs. Zhen had a hard time deciding, so he said, "The two families still need to discuss the details of money and food. I will inevitably disturb you at home for a few days. Madam, you can think about it slowly."