An undercurrent disappeared without a trace.
Yuan Yao couldn't wait to grab Zheng Bao and discuss with him the strategy of crossing the river south.
The destination of both of them was Yuzhang County, and they felt quite congenial after a deep conversation.
The three counties in Jiangdong are Danyang County, Wu County and Kuaiji County.
Liu Yao, Xu Gong and Wang Lang each occupied one side.
Because it is the hometown of Wu and Yue, it was developed relatively early. Most of the gentry and enlightened people live here.
In addition to the Mu Shou appointed by these three imperial courts, there were also powerful clansmen such as Zulang and Yan Baihu, as well as the Shanyue tribe living in the south of Danyang and Kuaiji.
If Sun Ce crosses the river, the situation cannot be described as complicated, it will really become a mess.
To the west of Danyang County is Yuzhang County, the largest county in Yangzhou.
It is said to be large because the area of Yuzhang County at this time was as large as the entire Jiangxi Province in later generations.
In terms of size alone, it is larger than the entire states of Yanzhou, Bingzhou, and Qingzhou in the north.
But Yuzhang is only one big.
Because it was developed relatively late, there are almost no nobles and the people are mostly uncivilized.
So few people noticed him.
When nobles wanted to take refuge, they would basically choose to go to Jiangdong, because Yuzhang "has no home for ministers."
When ordinary people wanted to flee and migrate, most of them had only heard of the land of plenty and plenty in Jiangdong.
The reason why Yuan Yao and Zheng Bao set their sights here at the same time is that there is no difficult opponent in Yuzhang.
The most powerful people in the local area are just some powerful clans, such as the Shanyue tribe.
And the point is that these people have never read a book and don’t understand what Sun Tzu’s Art of War is, what a soldier’s deceit is, and what a sinister human heart is!
"Young Master wants to cross Yuzhang south, but I'm afraid my troops alone won't be enough."
Zheng Bao's name for Yuan Yao became very fast.
In the morning, it was Yuan Duwei and Mr. Yuan, and soon he became Brother Yuan. Now he is called the same as Qi Ji, calling Yuan Yao Young Master.
"Yuzhang has a large population and a large family. I heard that there is a large Peng family in Shangliao, with more than ten thousand clans relying on it. Even the local county magistrate has to obey the Peng family."
"There are also powerful families with big surnames such as Xiong, Nie, Xu, etc., with as few as a thousand families, as many as thousands of households, hiding their population and bullying the weak."
"Young Master, you'd better make all preparations before crossing the Yangtze River to the south!"
Yuan Yao knew that Zheng Bao had been planning to cross the Yangtze River for a long time, and he must have his own ideas, so he took the initiative to ask:
"What's your best idea?"
"It's actually not a good idea."
"There are many wealthy people with big surnames, so we just need to have more people than them!"
"You want to rob soldiers and people across the river?"
Liu Ye was surprised.
Zheng Bao: "How dare you commit such banditry!"
"Because of the war between Lu Kang and Sun Ce, from last year to this year, there were many refugees in Lujiang, and bandits were everywhere."
Zheng Bao himself felt a little embarrassed when he said this: "I won't say more about the small group of thieves who gathered dozens and hundreds of people."
"Kou Shuai, who has gathered more than a thousand people like me, also has several groups."
"Young Master, why don't you appease the refugees and subdue these bandits at the same time?"
"This will not only restore peace to Lujiang County, but also recruit enough tribesmen to go to Yuzhang."
Zheng Bao expressed his thoughts and looked at Yuan Yao and Liu Ye expectantly.
"This method is very good!" Of course Yuan Yao fully agreed with Zheng Bao's idea. After all, if he could recruit more people, he would be able to train more troops in the future.
However, Liu Ye raised a question: "Master Yuan, as the captain of the Lujiang River, has the responsibility to defend the territory. He subdues the bandits and annexes his troops. Naturally, he has a good reputation, and others can't find anything wrong with him!"
"But recruiting the refugees is within the duties of the county magistrate. If Yuan Duwei does it without informing the prefect Liu, he may cause trouble."
"Prefect Liu, I will inform my father and inform him as well."
Yuan Yao snorted. He had no good impression of Liu Xun, a white-eyed wolf.
Besides Xu Qiu, the other person he wanted to kill was Liu Xun.
Liu Ye: "Even so, a large amount of food is needed to appease the refugees. I wonder where Yuan Duwei will get enough food to appease the refugees and support his tribe to cross the river?"
Yuan Yao pondered deeply, and found that food and grass were indeed the biggest problem in gathering people to go south.
After a while, he made a decision: "Let's put the matter of recruiting the refugees aside for now. I will buy more food."
"First ensure that the people crossing the river have enough money. If there is any excess, we will then distribute food to appease the refugees who are willing to follow us across the river."
"By the way, I heard that Brother Ziyang, you have a good friend, his surname is Lu and his name is Su. He lives in Dongcheng and has a lot of food. I am willing to pay for it!"
"And I heard that this man has a strategy and can manage the army. How about brother Ziyang write a letter stating his righteousness and invite him to come to Shucheng."
"I would like to honor my father and appoint him as the governor of Yuzhang County!"
Liu Ye's jaw dropped.
How come Yuan Yao knows everything?
"Brother Ziyang, there's no need to be so surprised, the benefits are indispensable to you!"
"Since you don't want to go to Yuzhang with me, I won't force you!"
"But since Brother Ziyang has also helped me, I will also recommend you to my father as the Princess of Lujiang."
Yuan Yao patted Liu Ye on the shoulder, as if he would definitely give these officials to Yuan Shu if he said he would.
"Brother Zheng has to feel aggrieved for the time being. Now I can only give you a lieutenant general."
Yuan Yao patted Zheng Bao on the shoulder again.
"This young master has no distinction based on family status or seniority. I only judge based on my ability!"
Yuan Yao pointed to Qi Ji on the other side.
"You are all those who have followed me recently, so treat them equally and start from the rank of lieutenant general!"
How could Zheng Bao and Qi Ji have any complaints?
Zhonglang will be a proper mid-to-high-level officer, and he is only one step away from becoming a veritable "general".
As long as they remain loyal to Yuan Yao from now on, even if they have no merit and rely solely on their seniority, they can be promoted to General Pi or General, and can be truly called "General".
Zheng Bao once again knelt on the ground and thanked him: "The final general will live up to the expectations of the young master!"
"Zheng Zhonglang will invite you!"
Yuan Yao was not worried at all whether Yuan Shu would agree to his appointments.
There is a saying: There is not enough to succeed, and there is more than enough to fail.
Yuan Yao's understanding of this sentence is that although I may not be able to make you agree to the appointment of Bo, the head of Yuzhang County and Lujiang County, I have the ability to make your current boss Bo unable to continue!
Yuan Yao decided to add this sentence to his biological father every time he wrote to Yuan Shu.
"Since we can't appease the refugees for the time being, let's first think about how to conquer those powerful thieves and handsome men!"
"The general has a plan at the end. He can annex the tribes of powerful thief commanders Zhang Duo, Xu Qian and others without losing a single soldier!"
"General Zheng, please give me a try!"
"Zhang Duo and Xu Qian are greedy and cruel, and they are both drunk and greedy."
"How about hosting a banquet for them, getting them drunk and killing them, and at the same time send people to attack their tribesmen!"
"As long as these two people are killed, the remaining small groups of thieves will not be worth mentioning!"
Zheng Bao told his plan and was very confident.
Yuan Yao and Liu Ye laughed loudly at the same time. They looked at each other inadvertently and laughed even louder.
This trick was originally used to deal with you!
The second monk Zheng Baozhang was confused and didn't know what the two of them were laughing at.
"This is a great plan!"
"Without further delay, before these two people know that you have pledged allegiance to me, General Zheng, send someone to invite them now!"
What happened next was much simpler.
Zhang Duo had always been unconvinced by Zheng Bao, and even thought that his force was superior to Zheng Bao's, so he only brought more than a hundred people to the banquet.
Xu Qian refused to come.
Seeing that only Zhang Duo came, Zheng Bao didn't bother to waste wine to get him drunk, and asked him directly if he was willing to be loyal to Yuan Yao.
Zhang Duo just spat and said no, and Zheng Bao took out his saber and slashed Zhang Duo.
Zhang Duo also drew his sword and faced each other, but in just one round, Zhang Duo, who was known for his toughness, was beaten by Zheng Bao.
Seeing Zhang Duo, who is usually known as the invincible in the world, he was chopped down by Zheng Bao as soon as he met him.
Everyone under Zhang Duo knelt on the ground and shouted for mercy, but no one resisted.
Zheng Bao recruited Zhang Duo's men and immediately began to besiege Xu Qian's camp.
Xu Qian was self-aware. Seeing Zheng Bao's large number of people outside the camp, he immediately raised his flag and surrendered.
Because Xu Qian surrendered, he was only awarded a school captain by Yuan Yao.
Yuan Yao annexed the tribes of Zheng Bao, Zhang Duo and Xu Qian, totaling more than 20,000 men.
Yuan Yao didn't expect to bring so many people across the river. Twenty thousand people would have to eat at least 20,000 tons of grain and grass a month. How could Yuan Yao have so much grain for them to eat.
So everyone was immediately divided into two parts.
Those who wanted to stay in Huainan should follow Liu Ye and seek refuge with Liu Xun, the prefect of Lujiang.
Those who were willing to cross the river with Yuan Yao were promised to be given land upon reaching Yuzhang County and be exempted from taxes for three years. But there is a requirement: only able-bodied men aged 15 to 40 can bring their wives, children, and children with them.
The majority of people chose to stay in their hometown in Huainan, and coupled with Yuan Yao's selection criteria, only more than 8,000 people followed Yuan Yao in the end.
There are less than 3,000 able-bodied men among them.
After careful consideration, Yuan Yao did not write a letter of confession to Liu Ye, but told Liu Ye his thoughts.
Liu Ye also expressed his understanding. With his talent and reputation, he was not bad at being an official at all.
Sure enough, Liu Xun, the governor of Lujiang, was overjoyed when he learned that Liu Ye had led his people to surrender, and immediately appointed Liu Ye as his long history.
You must know that Liu Ye's wave directly brought thousands of troops to Liu Xun.
But what Liu Xun didn't know was that Liu Ye was a hidden thorn planted by Yuan Yao against him.
