When Huang Zhong mentioned it, someone from Liu Pan's generals immediately spoke up:
"Yuan Jun has set up recruitment stations in Qili and Eight Townships in recent days, announcing that anyone who can draw a full stone bow will be given thirty husks of grain and rice to his family."
There is no difference between "Dendrobium" and "Shi". One stone is equal to one Dendrobium, but "Shi" is the official name, and "Dendrobium" is mostly a folk term.
One stone made in Han Dynasty is about 30 kilograms, equivalent to 60 Jin. One stone of grain is enough for an ordinary adult man to eat for one to two months.
Liu Pan said disapprovingly: "Thirty bushels of grain and rice? Yuan Yao is not afraid of the wind blowing his tongue, but he can still say it!"
"I'm afraid that he grew up in a honey pot and has no idea how expensive the firewood, rice, oil and salt are!"
"If thirty husks of grain and rice are given to each new soldier recruited, then recruiting a thousand soldiers will cost 30,000 shi! Thirty thousand shi of grain and rice are enough for the five thousand men under my command for a year. Yuan Yao's grain comes from Did it fall from the sky?"
Everyone also laughed, but the expression on the face of the person who spoke first was still extremely serious.
"At first, the general thought it was just a gimmick, just a trick Yuan Yao made to attract young men to join the army."
"But after some investigations in the past few days, General Mo found that the situation was actually true. For every young man who enlisted in the army, Yuan Jun would send someone to load thirty grains of grain and rice in a car and escort them to their homes. And according to Yuan Jun, they don't care about this. It’s called ‘Anjia Liang’.”
"For those who cannot store so much food in their homes, or who do not want to take home food, the recruiting station also has dedicated clerks who will convert the food into money and silk according to the market price and distribute it to their families."
"Many family members took the money and bought several acres of farmland."
The person who spoke out was himself a former military general under Liu Pan, who was in charge of the scouts and was responsible for gathering intelligence.
And seeing that he had a nose and eyes, Liu Pan couldn't help but become dubious.
"What you said is true?"
The man hurriedly confirmed, "Everything the general said is true!"
Liu Pan rolled his eyes, still not convinced.
"Can you find out how many new soldiers Yuan Jun has recruited in the past few days?"
"About three hundred people." The former army general gave a number he estimated, but it was actually similar to the real situation.
"Hmph," Liu Pan sneered, "If Anjia Liang is really giving thirty bushels of food, how come he has recruited so many people?"
"This is because Yuan Jun's recruiting conditions are extremely strict. Not only are they required to be physically strong and have the strength to draw a stone bow, but they must also be no more than twenty-five years old, and they must be from good families."
"Furthermore, Governor Zhuge recruited troops locally not long ago, so there were not many people who met the requirements. But the news has spread in the past few days, so some good families from remote villages and pavilions are also rushing over. Maybe the applicants will be there in a few days A lot more.”
The more Liu Pan listened, the more solemn his expression became. Anyone who can fully draw a stone bow without training can be said to have strong arms. After these people join the army, with a little training, they can draw a two-stone bow.
The power of three hundred strong archers on the battlefield cannot be underestimated!
At this time, others also raised questions:
"Since so much grain and rice are given away for free, it is only natural that the requirements should be stricter."
"But even if he only recruits 300 elites, Yuan Yao will still have to send out nearly 10,000 shi of food. Where will his food come from?"
Liu Pan also wanted to know this question, but after looking around the tent, no one knew the answer.
After a long time, someone murmured: "It is said that Yuan Yao's grain is transported by water. Could it be that his father Yuan Shu transported it from Huainan?"
Liu Pan had previously led his army to be stationed in You County, Changsha County. After receiving an urgent order from Liu Biao, he only carried a month's rations and marched in a hurry to reach Nanchang ahead of Yuan Yao.
But he only arrived in Nanchang one or two days earlier than Yuan Yao, so he didn't know much about Yuzhang County and Yuan Yao's situation. Although he heard that Yuan Yao led an attack on the Peng clan, he did not know that Yuan Yao had seized a large amount of stored grain.
But no matter where Yuan Yao's food comes from, at least now all signs indicate that he is not short of food. If he wants to borrow food, he may have to ask him.
Liu Pan didn't waste a moment and went straight to Zhuge Xuan.
From Zhuge Xuan, he learned that Yuan Yao had obtained 100,000 hu of grain in Shangliao City. Now he was extremely rich, and the grain was all transported from Shangliao by water.
Liu Pan immediately asked Zhuge Xuan to take his place and borrow grain from Yuan Yao.
Zhuge Xuan also told Liu Pan, "My nephew, do you think I didn't borrow food from him?"
"My generals have also been making trouble in the past two days. I have gone to Yuan Jun's camp in the north of the city three times, but they said they were ill and did not see me at all. They only asked Huang Yi to come forward and talk to me."
"Then ask Huang Yi to borrow it. He is now the captain of Yuzhang. How dare he disobey the orders of you, the governor of Yuzhang?"
Liu Pan said dissatisfied.
Zhu Ge All captains are under the control of his son Yuan Yao."
"So Huang Yi, the captain of Yuzhang, only listens to Yuan Yao now. How can I be his master?"
"I'm not afraid of my nephew's jokes. In order to ask for food, even my wife went to the rescue. After a lot of seeking relatives, Huang Yi was relieved."
Liu Pan's eyes lit up: "How much food is Huang Yi willing to borrow?"
Zhuge Xuan shook his head: "This Huang Yi doesn't lend food, he only gives food."
Liu Pan was overjoyed: "Is there such a good thing?"
Zhuge Xuan let out a long sigh: "Huang Yi has said that since he is the captain of Yuzhang, he will naturally be responsible for the food and grass for the five thousand Yuzhang County soldiers under my command."
"It's just that I want to send a military seal letter to 'return' these five thousand county soldiers to him, the commander-in-chief of Yuzhang!"
Snapped!
Liu Pan jumped up and said angrily: "He is quite scheming!"
"Being like this is tantamount to taking advantage of the situation and is really the work of a villain!"
If that person could talk at this time, he would definitely be cursing. An hour ago, I was photographed by old boy Zhuge, and now I am photographed by you again. If you photograph me again, I will fall apart!
"Just now, my wife and my nephew have been persuading me to hand over military power and become a prefect who only cares about civil affairs and education. Wouldn't it be free?"
"But I...well, I can only tell my nephew to listen to my complaints."
Snapped!
"No, Uncle Shi absolutely cannot hand over military power!" Liu Pan slapped the table again, but he didn't think of how to persuade Zhuge Xuan.
He could only say anxiously: "Uncle Shi is the governor of a county, how can he follow the words of a child?"
"Ah Liang is a young boy, what does he know!" Liu Pan only dared to say that Zhuge Liang was still young, but he did not dare to be disrespectful to Zhuge's wife Huang.
Zhu Ge
Zhuge Xuan is now being eaten to death. If he wants food, he has to exchange military power. But I gave you Huang Yi military power, so what do I do with borrowing food?
"Uncle Shi, don't worry. I, the general, will definitely find a way to deal with the matter of food and grass."
In order to stabilize Zhuge Xuan, Liu Pan could only make random promises.
…
After coming out of the prefect's mansion, Liu Pan also knew that asking Zhuge Xuan to come forward to borrow food was completely unfeasible.
Moreover, he had to find ways to raise food to ensure that Zhuge Xuan's county soldiers did not fall to Yuan Jun's side.
It seems that I can only borrow food directly from Yuan Yao.
Liu Pan returned to the camp gloomily, and immediately sent a eloquent person to borrow food from Yuan Jun.
Although Liu Pan is currently at odds with Yuan Yao, the two sides are not at odds with each other after all, and they all have a common enemy - Zhu Hao.
Presumably for the sake of fighting against Zhu Hao and Liu Yao together, Yuan Yao would not refuse to borrow any food.
The envoys sent set out at noon and came back in the afternoon.
Liu Pan hurriedly grabbed the man and asked, "How is it? Is Yuan Yao willing to borrow food?"
The man shook his head: "Reporting to the general, I was unable to see General Yuan..."
"Ah!" The messenger screamed and almost knelt on the ground. It turned out that Liu Pan's tiger claws almost crushed his shoulders.
"I've been here for a long time, but I didn't even see anyone. You had to go to the village to eat and drink before coming back?"
"General, I only met Captain Huang Yi. General Yuan is said to have contracted the cold and fell ill. He has not been out of the house for three days and three nights."
"Captain Huang is now in charge of all matters in Yuan Jun's army!"
Liu Pan relaxed and looked at the envoy slumped on the ground. He said dissatisfiedly: "Let's get down to business. Have you borrowed the food?"
The envoy said feebly: "At first, Huang Duwei refused in every possible way, but after a lot of hard work, Huang Yi relaxed."
When Liu Pan heard this, he was overjoyed and immediately picked up the messenger again. His tiger claws were still squeezing the man's shoulder bones.
"How much did you borrow?"
The messenger grimaced in pain: "Although Captain Huang agreed to borrow the food, he also put forward conditions. I don't dare to make the decision, so I can only rush back to report to the general."
"condition?"
Liu Pan immediately thought of Huang Yi's conditions for Zhuge Xuande, Ma De, isn't this Huang Yi a descendant of a wealthy family? How can you live like a profit-seeking businessman?
"What conditions?"
"What did Captain Huang say? There is no free lunch in the world. I don't quite understand his analogy."
"But what Captain Huang conveyed is that he does have extra food, but it is all for recruiting new soldiers. Thirty stones of food per soldier. If he cannot recruit enough soldiers for Yuan Yao, then Yuan Yao will eventually have to Punish him for his sins.”
"What? Does Huang Yi want me to recruit troops for him?"
Liu Pan said fiercely.
The messenger quickly shook his head: "That's not what Huang Duwei meant. What he meant was that he wanted us to use the existing soldiers in the army to exchange for food with him..."
"In this way, he can not only fulfill the recruitment requirements, but also help us solve the problem of food shortage... By exchanging troops for food, my subordinates really don't dare to make the decision, so they can only come back and ask the general to make a decision."
The messenger spoke more and more quietly, for fear that Liu Pan would be furious after hearing about the method of exchanging troops for food.
But what he didn't expect was that Liu Pan didn't get angry when he heard this. Instead, he frowned and pondered.
"Huang Yi didn't say how much food he was willing to pay for a soldier? Is it also the standard of thirty shi of food and rice?"
When the messenger heard that there was something going on, he immediately replied: "That's right, everything will be paid according to their recent Anjia food standards."
Liu Pan quickly calculated in his mind that if a soldier was exchanged for thirty stones of grain and rice, this transaction was actually not a loss.
He only needs 150 people to exchange for 4,500 shi of food, which is enough to support his 5,000 men for a month. It takes more than half a month to transport grain from Changsha County, which is about the same.
"Does the replacement of soldiers also require that the bow of one stone must be fully drawn?" Liu Pan asked another key question.
According to this standard, he would have one-third of the elite soldiers in the camp. He was still reluctant to part with such heavy bleeding.
The envoy shook his head hastily: "You don't have to follow this standard. Huang Duwei said that the general's subordinates are all soldiers who are accustomed to fighting. As long as they are not old or weak, they can be exchanged for thirty stones of grain and rice."
Liu Pan nodded slightly, Huang Yi knew what he was doing!
"So, then you go to him now and say that the general is willing to give him 150 elite soldiers... no, give him 300 elite soldiers in exchange for 10,000 shi of food. Let's see what he says!"
Liu Pan thought for a while and included the food Zhuge Xuan needed.
Huang Yi can do business, but I, Liu Pan, can't?
Just give him 300 soldiers, and I will take the extra 5,000 shi of grain and find Zhuge Xuan in exchange for 1,800 new soldiers to add in. This business will definitely make a profit!
Liu Pan thought he had a plan, so he urged the envoy to leave immediately.
"Go quickly. Do you want me to take you to the north of the city?"
The envoy was shocked and said: "General, do you really want to trade troops for food?"
Liu Pan glared at him fiercely: "If I don't exchange for food, why don't you go collect military rations for me?"
"Although they have to leave three hundred robes, if they knew that it was to prevent all the brothers in the army from starving to death, they would not have any complaints!"
Liu Pan said this not only for the envoy to hear, but also for himself.
The envoy swallowed. In fact, he didn't expect Liu Pan to agree to trade troops for food, so he didn't mention one condition.
At this time, he could only bite the bullet and said: "General, Huang Yi actually has one more request..."
Liu Pan immediately glared angrily and pinched the messenger's shoulders again: "You still have requests, why didn't you tell me earlier?"
The messenger was in pain and sweating profusely, but he did not dare to cry out.
He just tentatively whispered: "Huang Duwei also named Huang Hansheng and Huang Zhonglang to come over."
"Huang Hansheng?" Liu Pan was stunned.
The messenger nodded: "It is General Huang. Huang Yi said that General Huang is his uncle from the same clan, so he asked General Huang to come over by name."
Liu Pan looked like he had realized something: "That's it!"
"It seems that Huang Yi has some selfish motives. It seems that he, the captain of Yuzhang, is just in name only!"
Liu Pan sneered, thinking he had seen through Huang Yi's inner calculation.
"It doesn't matter, Huang Zhong happens to have exactly three hundred soldiers, and the company, general and troops can all be given to him together."
The tiger claws on the messenger's shoulders were finally released, and he couldn't help but let out a long sigh of relief.
"You just go find Huang Yi. I'll take care of Huang Zhong."
Liu Pan waved his hand, and the envoy quickly bowed and left.
"Wait!"
Liu Pan's shout suddenly came from behind the envoy, and he quickly turned around.
"Don't mention today's matter to any third person!"
"After tonight, this general will only say that Huang Zhong, an old man, secretly led his troops to defect to his nephew in order to have enough to eat."
"In order to protect his uncle, Huang Yi paid 10,000 shi of grain to settle the matter."
"Do you understand?" There was no anger on Liu Pan's face, but his voice was calm and authoritative, making the envoy feel only chills.
"No! All my subordinates understand!"
