Three Kingdoms: I rely on system loopholes to survive

Chapter 170 Refugees make up the number
Since the beginning of the Yellow Turban turmoil during the Guanghe period, there have been many people who have followed, and among them, there are even more people who have abandoned their homes and left their hometowns due to various reasons.

To this day, there are many refugees in various states. Some are hiding in the mountains and forests, or being kidnapped... Generally speaking, the more rural and remote the place, the more refugees gather.

It had only been a few years since Wu Zhi left home and entered the county, but the scenery of his village was already very different.

If he hadn't been extremely confident in his memory and had the half-dead manager to prove it, he would not have dared to associate the dilapidated, even ruined house in front of him with his own home.

"Let me ask you! Didn't we already say that as long as one child from my family comes to the county, there will only be two more taxes and no more taxes will be levied?!"

Wu Zhi's eyes were red, and he tightly grasped the steward's shirt, and directly lifted him up. The veins on the back of his hands and arms were bursting, and his teeth were almost broken.

He used to be a ranger in the countryside and had a reputation for heroism. He believed in figures like Zhu Hai and Cao Mo. However, for the sake of his young sister and old mother, he endured the humiliation of being a slave and being favored. He was living in confusion in the county, walking like a corpse. People like to please people and struggle to get by.

Being able to reunite with his family one day has become Wu Zhi's only hope and obsession. Otherwise, with his character of "a man should not be afraid of death", it would be impossible to wait until the day when Cao Cao enters Tuxian County.

Hundreds of prayers day and night were right in front of him, but they were suddenly shattered. Wu Zhi was overjoyed and sad. He pinched the steward's neck and questioned him while crying and laughing, showing a faint hint of madness.

Zhong Ping saw that the steward's face was swollen and turned black, and there was a "ho-ho" sound in his throat. He knew that the other person was in a bad situation, so he hurriedly called out Wu Zhi's name.

Seeing that the steward's eyes were turned white and bloodshot, and he was about to be strangled to death, a pair of hands suddenly appeared on Wu Zhi's right elbow, as if pressing down gently. Wu Zhi felt that his whole arm was numb, and he unconsciously lost his strength.

"You stopped me from doing..."

Wu Zhi asked angrily. At this moment, he showed a bit of a young man's appearance, with a more lively expression compared to the affectation in front of Zhong Ping.

He took a quick look and recognized that the person blocking him was none other than Liu Bei, who was leading the army. He immediately silenced his voice. Although his breathing was unsteady and his anger still remained, he was able to restrain himself. In just a few moments, he could act as if nothing had happened. He saluted Liu Bei as if it were happening.

Liu Bei sighed secretly when he saw his actions.

Based on his experience in observing people, if he hadn't had this experience, Wu Zhi would have been a rare general... But now... the other party has shown that he is obsessed with camp. If he is paranoid about this in the future...

He thought that Zhongping should also know Wu Zhi's character. After thinking about it, he finally suppressed the idea of ​​reminding Zhongping privately.

Zhong Ping knew that he could not persuade Wu Zhi to calm down now. Even though he could come up with a lot of great principles, for Wu Zhi, it was just that the knife did not hit him and he did not know the pain.

Although he couldn't fully empathize, he could understand Wu Zhi's mood at this time.

So Zhongping didn't say anything to Wu Zhi, he just patted him on the shoulder, separated the troops and horses, and handed them over to him together with the steward.

Wu Zhi was startled, with a complicated look in his eyes. He looked down at Zhong Ping. He stopped talking several times, his lips trembled for a long time, and finally bit his lower lip. He knelt on the ground with a "plop" and used force on Zhong Ping. Kowtowed.

Without waiting for Zhongping to react, he stood up in a hurry, gave orders in a mute voice, and led the group of people to the eldest son's house in a hurry.

"These sons of bitches are really not human beings!"

Zhang Fei picked up the timid servant and slapped it on the ground.

"I misjudged Brother Wu. At first, I didn't like Brother Wu's pretentiousness. Now I know that this little brother is a heroic man. If it weren't for the misfortune of being in charge, I would really call these naughty people I bit my tongue to death and didn't even utter a single word."

As he spoke, his anger grew, and his eyes, which were already like bells, widened even more. When had the man on the ground ever looked at such a person?Immediately, the two buttocks were trembling, and there was a lot of wetness between the legs.

"Little, little man..." The servant was on the verge of crying, he was frightened to death.

He trembled and lowered his head, and in one breath he revealed everything he knew about.

Zhong Ping listened to the servant talk about how the county officials used tricks to destroy people's lives and forcefully recruit people, but he could still stay rational and distracted to analyze.

When I heard that officials were exploiting people one by one, and that in order to please their superiors, low-level officials such as village chiefs not only counted four- or five-year-old children among the population, but also intentionally led a large number of refugees into the villages to wreak havoc and plunder.

Zhongpei was so angry that he almost couldn't stand.

He had experienced the Xuzhou incident, and perhaps there were too many refugees to be lumped together, but he would rather entertain the worst-case scenario.

The refugees in Yanzhou came from other states, and most of the rest are the remnants of the million Yellow Turbans. They were originally short of food, and now it is a severe winter...

Zhongping looked back at the ruins all over the ground, and many scenes of stone villages flashed through his mind.

"Damn!"

He cursed hatefully, and the sound of swords suddenly sounded in his ears. There was only a flash of cold light in front of his eyes, and he saw the tip of the snow-white sword pressed against the servant's throat.

Thick blood dripped down, and the servant stiffly reached out to touch his neck. As soon as he touched the warm blood, his eyes turned white and he fainted.

"Brother, calm down!" Guan Yu glanced at the servant coldly and tried to dissuade him: "This evil man does not deserve to die in front of the young master. When he returns to the county, he will have to give a certificate."

"Humph!"

Liu Bei's hand on the hilt of the sword tightened, he leaned down, then released his grip, turned his wrist, and knocked the sword back into its sheath with a clang.

Although Zhong Ping was distracted for a moment by Liu Bei's actions, he was still concerned about the refugees entering the village.

He tried not to think about the damage that the refugees might cause, and after processing the official documents for a long time, he almost immediately thought from this matter that the village chief could use the refugees to mobilize troops and provide a reasonable reason for the loss of population in the village. Destroying household registration documents in the treasury...

There is so much room for maneuver.

For villages where only the elderly and young are left, these refugees may be a disaster.

But for the village chief, a group of unarmed, hungry and cold refugees are not only easy to obtain "bandit suppression achievements", but also human animals that can be raised in captivity. As long as the operation is done properly, not to mention providing temporary human resources, it is very possible. It is a constant source of slaves.

After all, in a village, after these years of destruction, the remaining population is really limited, but the refugees... are "inexhaustible".

Now we can only bet that the head of the village has not destroyed the contract documents and household registration documents.

Thongping's thoughts were spinning, and he was now thinking of gambling on his luck.

There is no news about the forced labor of good people into slaves in Tuxian County. According to the stewards and servants, the quota for recruiting people in the county is lowered every three months. There should be something similar to an account book in the hands of the chief there. Used to record the number of people collected.

The question now is, when did the chief here lead the refugees into the village? If it was mid-March, for the convenience of counting, the villagers and the refugees in the village must be separated. In other words, even if the treasury is damaged, it is possible that Check the traces.

But if it’s after March…

Zhongping could only hope that the district chief would be concerned about the county's attitude and not dare to make the decision easily, so he destroyed all the documents.

"General, without further ado, I will quickly surround the treasury and inspect it. No more people are allowed in or out!"

Zhongping made a quick decision and ran away talking, regardless of the honorific.

Although the winter night is long, it is already dawn at this time, and things will change if it is too late. Even though there is Cao Cao's army in the county, this place is not far from Chenliu, and there are other counties scattered around. If the news leaks...

That would be a big deal!

At this time in Tuxian, Cao Cao put down the cloth in his hand.

Although Lu Bu's experience in Yanzhou did not break his muscles or bones, it actually poured a pot of hot oil on the head of the undercurrent of the nobles.

With Wen Qian in Xuzhou, the war situation has been decided. The rest is just to delay Tao Qian until he dies of illness and save troops.

Zi Lian had entered Yanzhou three days ago and was probably in Jibei at this time. He was supposed to intercept Lu Bu's army, but there is no news about Lu Bu yet. I'm afraid Lu Bu is no longer in Yanzhou...

Calculating this way, it turns out that the Japanese army is likely to hit Lu Bu.

Yuan Rang still has no news...

It is not appropriate to carry out a large-scale search now. It is better to order Zilian to divide his troops to investigate secretly.

Cao Cao frowned, feeling his forehead swollen and aching.

Out of the corner of his eye, he caught a glimpse of the paperwork that was delivered today.

Without Zhongping around, and without someone to sort out and summarize in advance, and who can also make comments on his behalf, the efficiency of processing official documents has dropped a lot.

A piece of cloth spread out on the top half of the case was sent from Xudu today and was written by Xun Yu.

Cao Cao thought about what it said, and some noble officials in the court also took action.

If before the conquest of Xuzhou, he could just turn a blind eye.

But now...most of Xuzhou is in his hands, Lu Bu has retreated, and his troops and food are sufficient. If these people are too aggressive, he doesn't mind settling down first and taking care of these old things.

This Yanzhou is his Yanzhou after all!
If the Tuxian incident comes to light this time, it may be a good reason to clean up these noble clans...

(End of this chapter)