When the whole day's pursuit ended, Pei Dun, the governor of Xuzhou, had already led his own soldiers and followers and fled south without a trace. Reading in 88, 23o
Because Liu Yu's main goal was to capture these young men in the Xuzhou army, but he did not care much about Pei Dun and other Jin court officials, so the Qingzhou cavalry did not continue to pursue Pei Dun and others, but continued to pursue the prisoners.
After all, in Liu Yu's view, if Pei Dun, the governor of Xuzhou, was a mediocre person with no ambition and talent, allowing him to stay under Sima Yue and continue to serve, he would be able to play his role as a pig teammate.
When there were almost no escaping Xuzhou soldiers on the entire battlefield, the pursuit ended with ease.
"General, all the prisoners have been taken into custody." A general in charge of guarding the prisoners came forward to report.
"Have you counted the number? How many prisoners are there?" Liu Yu didn't care too much about the number of kills. What he really cared about was how many prisoners were captured. After all, the population was a scarce resource at this time.
"About thirteen thousand people."
Liu Yu frowned slightly and said, "Why are there so few people? Aren't there more than 30,000 Xuzhou soldiers here?"
Liu expected that there would be more than 30,000 Xuzhou soldiers. Because the collapse happened too quickly, not many soldiers were killed or injured by the Qingzhou army. Liu expected that the number of prisoners captured must be about 20,000. Now this number can be compared with His estimate was way off.
"General, our army has too few cavalry. The tens of thousands of people running all over the wilderness are simply not enough. Apart from the injured Xuzhou soldiers, many people have fled to the lake ahead. For a while, It will be impossible to search at all.”
Liu Yu thought for a moment that this was indeed the case. In front of this place was the swamp reed area close to Daze, which was hundreds of miles away. Among the dense reeds and weeds, it was more than enough for tens of thousands of people to hide.
If we go inside and search, I'm afraid it will take a long time.
Liu Yu had long wanted to return to Linzi. At this time, he had no plan to hide and seek in the reeds with those fish that slipped through the net.
"Take a good look at all the prisoners, select some honest ones, give them a meal, and let them carry the captured armor and staff." Liu Yu immediately ordered.
The equipment of these Xuzhou soldiers is relatively sophisticated. Although they cannot be elite soldiers with everyone wearing armor, there are still two thousand armors captured, and they are all high-quality goods that are well maintained in the Xuzhou arsenal. .
"As for the other prisoners, let them take turns carrying the wounded, and tell them that they will be given food when they return to Guting."
The reason why Liu Yu did this was that each Qingzhou Army soldier did not carry much dry food with him and could not distribute it to the prisoners. Another most important reason is that Liu Yu saw that all the captives of the Xuzhou soldiers were strong and physically fit, and their physical fitness was much better than that of the refugee soldiers. Therefore, in order to facilitate their custody, they could not be fed well. If you have some strength, you can follow the large army back to Jibei County.
When the Qingzhou Army returned to Guting, it was already the morning of the next day.
The more than 10,000 Xuzhou Army prisoners had their first meal of the day only after arriving outside Guting City.
Later, Liu Yu summoned his generals and began to discuss how to deal with these prisoners of Xuzhou Army.
Before it even started, all the subordinates and generals were eager to grab the quota of these prisoners. After all, these people were all good laborers. - eight - eight - reading - books, o
As the number one general under his command and the greatest contributor to this battle, Dong Ping raised objections. He did not seem to be very interested in the prisoners of Xuzhou Army.
Liu Yu couldn't help but be a little confused and asked what the reason was.
"Because, I think these Xuzhou soldiers are not very good land guest serfs. These people are all sons of good families in Xuzhou. They are all people with families and houses in the countryside. They will be assigned to various soldiers as farm workers in the future. Guests, I’m afraid I’ll have to put a lot of effort into guarding them.”
What Dong Ping said is all true.
"Moreover, just last night, hundreds of prisoners escaped in the dark. Many people knew that leaving the shelter of the camp on such a cold winter night was very likely to freeze and starve to death, but these people were still willing to take such a big risk. Escape is enough to show that these people are extremely homesick, and they cannot be completely subdued like those refugees with just a few meals."
These words made Liu Yu quite reasonable.
However, some people still spoke out with different suggestions.
"What are you afraid of? If these prisoners are still unwilling to work hard when they become field guests, then use whips or beat them with sticks. I don't believe that they will not be obedient."
"That is, if anyone wants to escape again, then catch them and give them a good beating. They will definitely be honest."
Everyone else present felt the same way.
At this time, Liu Xun asked with some confusion.
"Mr. Dong Fu, since you say that these prisoners are not suitable to be assigned as land guests and serfs, in your opinion, how should they be dealt with?"
As soon as these words came out, everyone looked at Dong Ping. Yes, Dong Ping just said that he could not be a Tianke, so how should he deal with it?
Dong Ping cleared his throat, looked at Liu Yu, and said very seriously.
"I think it's better to release all these prisoners and let them go back to Xuzhou."
Liu Yu vaguely guessed that Dong Ping would say this and didn't say much.
The other generals burst into surprise and disbelief.
They all felt that this battle was for these Xuzhou prisoners. If all these people were released, wouldn't it be that the Qingzhou Army's work was in vain.
Faced with numerous doubts and objections, Liu Yu stopped the generals' discussion and turned to question Dong Ping.
"Tell me, what good will it do if you release these prisoners?"
"Now, we have defeated the Hulu several times, and this time, we have completely defeated Pei Dun, the governor of Xuzhou. The current situation is no longer the same as when we first controlled Qingzhou. We should not just look at these 10,000 prisoners. How much can we save? Labor, but more importantly, it should be noted that if these Xuzhou Army prisoners are released, it will be equivalent to a great reputation among the counties and counties in Xuzhou."
Dong Ping's words were basically in line with Liu Yu's guess.
"This disastrous defeat of Pei Dun will definitely lose his prestige in Xuzhou, and we can gain a good reputation by releasing these captives, which will be of great benefit. After all, if these captives are assigned as Tianke serfs, , and they may not be able to be lazy, run away, or even cheat."
Liu Yu already understood what Dong Ping meant, but some of the other Qingzhou military generals still did not agree with this statement.
"Brother Dong, in my opinion, what's the use of these vain reputations? It's better to have two more farmers in the family, which will be more cost-effective."
As soon as this ministry said this, it was echoed by some people.
"No, reputation is sometimes more important than producing more food and weaving two more pieces of cloth." Dong Ping disagreed with this and continued.
"Nowadays, the world is in chaos. Just by occupying counties and counties, there are already several people who have proclaimed themselves emperor. We in Qingzhou have strong soldiers and horses. As long as we continue to accumulate some strength, we can make great achievements."
Dong Ping said, looking around at the Qingzhou generals, looking at Liu Yu with eager eyes, and said.
"Could it be that General, you just want to defend Qingzhou and build a Tianqi country?"
As soon as Dong Ping said these words, all the Qingzhou military generals immediately became excited.
Before, most of them thought about earning more acres and households, and then it would be better to get more women and property, but they had never seriously thought about what big business they would do outside of Qingzhou in the future.
Therefore, these Qingzhou generals immediately started discussing again.
After listening to Dong Ping's words, Liu Yu was very pleased. He didn't expect that Dong Ping would have changed so much after not seeing each other for a few months. He actually knew that Tian Qi had stubbornly stood by and watched the world perish after it returned to Qin. Although Liu Yu felt that Tian Qi had Whether Qi resists Qin or not, it will not affect the final outcome of Qin's destruction of the six kingdoms, but Dong Ping's words are not what the former Donglai County ranger bastard could say.
Finally, Liu Yu discussed with everyone again and finally decided to release these captured Xuzhou soldiers. After all, these local sons of Xuzhou are not just one person. They are survived by parents, brothers and wives, enough to influence tens of thousands of people. , and can almost earn Liu Yu and the Qingzhou Army a reputation for benevolence and righteousness in half of Xuzhou.
On the second day, after the Xuzhou soldiers who were detained in the prison camp had a full meal, they were all gathered in their respective camps.
Liu Yu, who was specially dressed carefully, appeared in front of these prisoners in the most heroic or benevolent manner.
When Liu Yu personally said that when these Xuzhou Army prisoners were released and returned home, the Xuzhou Army prisoners who were already a little numb did not cheer as Liu Yu expected, but instead filled the air with a sense of sadness and despair.
It turned out that these Xuzhou Army prisoners were part of the Qingzhou Army's conspiracy to torture or execute them in some vicious way. After all, they had heard many rumors about the demonization of the Qingzhou Army under Xuzhou Governor Pei Dun. There were human sacrifices and raw cannibalism.
Some prisoners of the Xuzhou Army immediately threw themselves to the ground, begging and swearing, saying that they were willing to work as cattle for the men of the Qingzhou Army, and that their lives would never be harmed.
Others kept pleading, saying that they had wealth at home and could ask their family members to come and redeem themselves.
Liu Yu was really speechless about such an unexpected thing.
It would be best if these prisoners were convinced that the Qingzhou Army was really going to release them after repeated emphasis.
Moreover, for the released prisoners, no one from the Qingzhou Army gave them any dry food. Although it was just some beans and rice, it could sustain them for two or three days. Faced with such a generous move by the Qingzhou Army, many prisoners knelt down and cried. Thanks, he said that he would regard Liu Yu as his reincarnated benefactor in the future.
Before these prisoners finally left, Liu Yu told them to try not to disturb the people along the way. The other one was the injured prisoners of Xuzhou Army, who could take care of them and let them go home after they recovered.
The leaders of these prisoners all expressed their acceptance of this. After all, the people along their way would not be harassed by them anymore, because when Pei Dun, the governor of Xuzhou, led them north, they had already looted the villages along the way. Read it again.
Looking at the hordes of captured Xuzhou soldiers heading back south, Liu Yu couldn't help but sigh. Previously, he had been content with self-protection. He only thought that a group of elite military soldiers would be enough to defend Qingzhou. He really hadn't thought about it seriously. How to continue to grow and develop.
Thinking about it now, the terrain of Qingzhou is inherently easy to attack and difficult to defend. When all parties are fighting, Qingzhou, which is relatively safe in a corner, can also focus on defense and counterattack against attacks from a certain direction.
However, when a powerful force emerged to control the north after the melee in the Central Plains, Qingzhou's terrain was like a leaky sieve, unable to resist the strong outside forces.
In history, at the end of the Western Jin Dynasty, the rebel Cao Yi occupied Qingzhou. Taking advantage of the melee between all parties in the Central Plains, he actually encouraged farmers to produce, and they lived a stable life of farming for several years. However, after Shi Le controlled most of the north, Qingzhou, which Cao Yi had managed for many years, was quickly taken away.
Therefore, Liu Yu knew that Qingzhou now seemed stable and invincible, but it was only temporarily stable.
If Liu Yu does not want to repeat the mistakes of Cao Yi in history, he must find a way as soon as possible to overcome Qingzhou's inherent shortcomings in strategic terrain.
After thinking about it, there is basically no other way. It seems that the only way is to find a way to increase the strength in a short period of time. Otherwise, it will be difficult to change the ending of decline like Cao Yi just by relying on ordinary farming development.
Therefore, after dealing with the placement of the beggar army in Jibei County and other matters, Liu Yu led the Qingzhou Army and hurried back to Linzi.
Linzi City is home to almost all the craftsmen and craftsmen in Qingzhou. During the Western Jin Dynasty, these people were already talented people who mastered the most sophisticated technologies.
Although, in the society of the nine-grade Zhongzheng system, these people are craftsmen who cannot even touch the grade, but to Liu Yu, these people are treasures that are no weaker than scholars.
On the way back, Liu Yu had already thought that in this era, one of the foundations of all strength requires food reserves.
Due to the poor traffic and roads, most of the time in a battle is often spent on the road. Not only the soldiers participating in the battle are on the road, but also the auxiliary soldiers and civilians who transport the baggage in the rear are also on the road.
In this way, every time a war breaks out, a large number of farmers will be withdrawn from farming and producing. It will be fine if they pay it back during the slack season, but if it is planting or harvesting time, a lot of farm work will be delayed until it affects Grain production.
Therefore, the first thing Liu expected was to find ways to increase the grain yield per mu, or to improve the production efficiency of farming.
Otherwise, there will not be enough food to support soldiers, craftsmen, officials, etc., and everything will be a castle in the air.
Therefore, the first blow of this "black technology" must be on food. 11
