It was already late during the battle yesterday, and by the time Liu Bei led his army to charge out, the sky was filled with stars. Zhang Heng could only see that there were many enemy troops, probably several thousand, but he did not know the specific number.
That's why he was so surprised when Liu Bei said he would surrender 4,000 soldiers.
Liu Bei was very satisfied with Zhang Heng's reaction and nodded with a smile on his face.
"Yes, exactly four thousand people!"
"So, Duke Xuande now has six thousand troops?"
"exactly."
As soon as the topic of food and grass was put aside and the growth of strength was mentioned, Liu Bei almost smiled from ear to ear.
"It's a pity that the six thousand army will soon face starvation." Zhang Heng said quietly.
Liu Bei immediately broke through the defense.
Ziyi, can we not mention this?
"Not only that, I'm afraid the people all over the city will also starve." Zhang Heng glanced at Liu Bei's unsightly expression and decisively made another stab at him.
Liu Bei:......
Ah, yes, yes, you are right, don’t say it next time.
Just as the situation was getting awkward, soldiers came in from outside.
"Lord, General Wenyuan is back!"
Liu Bei suddenly said with great joy: "Where are you, please come in!"
Zhang Liao, who went to ask for merit, came back, and the representative grain and grass also arrived.
"We just arrived outside the city and are now transporting baggage into the city." the soldier replied.
As soon as he heard that there was luggage, Liu Bei couldn't sit still on the spot and laughed and said: "Ziyi, let's go, let's welcome Wenyuan!"
Zhang Heng nodded and followed Liu Bei out of the county office.
The city gate.
Guan Yu led his soldiers to inspect and repair the city wall early in the morning. When he saw Zhang Liao returning with his baggage, he quickly opened the city gate. By the time Liu Bei and Zhang Heng arrived, dozens of baggage trucks had all entered the city, and Guan Yu and Zhang Liao were counting their numbers.
Seeing Liu Bei arriving, the two of them quickly saluted.
"See my lord!"
"No need to be polite."
Liu Bei waved his hand and looked at the baggage cart, his eyes full of longing.
After watching it for a while, Liu Bei asked the most critical question.
"Wenyuan, how much food and grass did you bring on this trip?"
"Back to my lord," Zhang Liao said, cupping his fists, "There are twenty thousand stones of military rations here, two hundred pieces of mysterious armor, and five hundred spears!"
"With so much, the jujube princes are really generous!" Liu Bei said in surprise.
According to the weights and measures of the Han Dynasty, one pound is equivalent to more than four hundred grams, one jun is equivalent to thirty jins, and one stone is equal to four jun. In this era when meat was rare, ordinary soldiers had to eat a lot of carbohydrates to fill their stomachs. Therefore, a soldier had to eat about two kilos of food a month.
Twenty thousand stones of grain and grass are enough to feed an army of ten thousand for one month, so Liu Bei said that the jujube princes are generous.
Zhang Heng also felt that this matter was a bit strange, so he turned to Zhang Liao and asked: "Wenyuan, please tell me exactly what happened during this trip, especially the movements of the jujube coalition. Be sure to explain it in detail."
"only."
Zhang Liao responded and began to talk about what happened...
The day before yesterday, Zhang Liao arrived at Jujube. After revealing his identity, he was immediately warmly received by the Suizao princes. After all, everyone is He Jin's old team. Although you, Zhang Wenyuan, are not from a noble family, you can still be considered half of our own.
After learning that Zhang Liao abandoned the dark side and defected to Liu Bei, the princes had mixed reactions.
Brothers Zhang Miao and Zhang Chao had an indifferent attitude. As long as they could enhance the strength of the coalition forces, they didn't care about that.
Liu Dai and Qiao Mao's attitude was kind, especially Liu Dai. After hearing that Liu Bei's strength had increased, he was completely happy to see it happen.
Yuan Yi and Bao Xin, on the other hand, expressed doubts on the spot.
They are He Jin's old subordinates, but they are also die-hard supporters of Yuan Shao. Even if you, Zhang Liao, abandon the dark side and join the bright side, you should join the alliance leader Yuan Shao. No matter what happens, you have to turn to the governor of one of the governors. How can you surrender to Liu Bei?
Then Liu Bei was just a county magistrate, and his official position was much lower than that of Zhang Liao.
But Zhang Liao's attitude was extremely resolute, and all the princes had to give up. However, the princes of Yuan Shao's faction were a little unhappy.
Immediately afterwards, Zhang Liao took out Yang Yong's head and Liu Bei's battle results.
Now all the princes were shocked.
It's not that Yang Yong's head is valuable, nor is Liu Bei's record astonishing. There is only one reason for their shock, because this is the first time the coalition forces have fought Dong Zhuo.
The reason why the princes hesitated to move forward was simply because they were afraid of Dong Zhuo's elite soldiers and generals. They all hoped that others would attack first so that they could take advantage from behind.
Now, the first person to eat crabs came and succeeded in eating crabs. This had a huge impact on the princes.
Liu Bei only had more than a thousand men under his command, but he was able to defeat Dong Zhuo's army, which was larger than his own. It seems that the Xiliang army is not that scary!
For a moment, several princes were somewhat moved.
After that, it’s time for classic haggling.
Zhang Liao said that he led his troops to abandon the enemy and surrender to the bright side, but they were short of food and grass. In addition, Liu Bei had recruited many surrendered soldiers in this battle, and he was also in short supply of food and grass. He hoped that the princes could allocate more food and grass to him.
All the princes agreed with this. After all, merit should be rewarded.
But there was a lot of controversy regarding the quantity.
Brothers Zhang Miao and Zhang Chao suggested allocating 10,000 shi of grain and grass, but Yuan Yi and Bao Xin only wanted to give 5,000 shi. In the end, Liu Dai overcame all opinions and finalized the number of 20,000 stones of grain and grass.
It was not difficult to guess what he was thinking. After all, Liu Bei and he were from the same clan. When Liu Bei came to join the alliance, he personally received him, and the relationship between the two parties was considered harmonious. If you sell Liu Bei a favor now, they will definitely be able to help each other in the future.
Anyway, the food and grass were not his own. As for the other ordnance, he, Liu Dai, personally sponsored Liu Bei.
It can also be seen from this that the sudden expansion of Yuan Shao's power has caused princes who are not affiliated with Yuan Shao such as Liu Dai and Qiao Mao to feel a sense of crisis and want to find someone to join them to keep warm.
After listening to Zhang Liao's story, Zhang Heng nodded slightly, finally understanding what happened.
Liu Bei shook his head and sighed: "Liu Gongshan's generous helping hand is worthy of being a clan member of the Han Dynasty. When I return to Suzhou in the future, I will definitely thank him! This time I have 20,000 shi of military rations, which is enough for my 6,000 soldiers and horses for two months."
"Six thousand soldiers and horses? I'm afraid Mr. Xuande said it was a little less." Zhang Heng said with a smile.
"Ziyi is joking, I did the counting myself yesterday, how could I be wrong?"
After these two battles, nearly half of Liu Bei's original 500 men had been used up, and most of the rest were sent to Zhang Heng as his personal guard, not counting.
In addition to this, more than a thousand people were recruited from Yang Yong, there were a thousand people under Zhang Liao's command, and more than 4,000 people were captured yesterday, for a total of nearly 7,000 people. The 6,000 people Liu Bei said was a bit conservative.
"Mr. Xuande, what I'm saying is that we have to continue recruiting troops."
"Continue to recruit troops!" Liu Bei suddenly opened his eyes and said, "Ziyi, twenty thousand stones of food and grass may seem like a lot, but when it is really consumed, it is still not enough. If we continue to recruit troops, how will the army be supplied with food?"
At this moment, Liu Bei felt as if the poor were suddenly rich, and he was satisfied with having six thousand soldiers and horses.
But Zhang Heng understands that no amount of the army is too much!
In the troubled times that follow, having soldiers in hand is everything.
"Don't worry about food and grass. We'll find a way down here. Duke Xuande can continue to recruit troops." Zhang Heng said seriously.
"How many more should we recruit?" Liu Bei asked.
"We'll recruit until we have ten thousand!"
Zhang Heng was decisive.
