Three Kingdoms: Prosper Han from the beginning of brushing favorability

Chapter 242 Ma Su's Magical Journey

"How did you do this?" Liu Chan looked at Ma Di and Guan Xing who had won the battle, but his eyes were full of confusion.

The two men only brought 8000 troops with them before leaving, but now the number has increased to more than [-]...

This was the result of Zhu Bao's resistance when he attacked Qieran, the prefecture of Zangcang County, and lost more than [-] troops before taking it.

However, they didn't look good at this time.

Ma Di, who usually pays attention to his image, now has blood and mud spots all over his armor, as well as various mysterious stains that can no longer be seen.

Guan Xing, who originally had a refined temperament, took off his helmet and shook his head, and two worms popped out of his hair. It seemed that his head was about to form an independent ecological environment...

Even with this appearance, they are almost the best-looking among the crowd. Almost half of the "soldiers" are in rags, and some even only use animal skins to wrap their ass curtains.

These people are all sallow and thin, and they look like they have been malnourished all year round.

Liu Chan couldn't be more familiar with this scene. How can this be a triumphant return? Isn't this just refugees fleeing famine?
Ma Di reluctantly cupped his hands, and said in a weak voice: "Prince, can we allow our army to eat... and then talk to the prince in detail?"

Liu Chan: "...Come here! Prepare food!"

……

Ma Di, Guan Xing, and Ma Zhong, who had made his mark in the First Battle of Zangcang, dazzled for nearly half an hour in the strange eyes of Liu Chan, Zhuge Liang, and the generals, and then they all stood upright under Liu Chan's persuasion. The stomach stopped.

Liu Chan felt that if he didn't speak again, they might be able to vomit...

He looked at the three people who looked happy at this time, as if they had nothing to ask for, and asked again: "How did you do this?"

However, Comrade Ma Di's answer seemed to be a bit out of the question: "Prince, you are really poor..."

When he said this, he seemed to have mixed feelings, with tears in his eyes, and he thought of the magical and unbearable experience of himself and others all the way.

At first, their war went very smoothly. After they captured Fu County, the army followed the tone set by the prince, opened warehouses to collect food, helped the poor, and confiscated unscrupulous large households and poor people. It has a good reputation.

However, Ma Di and Guan Xing at that time never imagined that it was this good reputation that made them look like refugees...

After Fu County was stabilized, Ma Di and the others marched all the way to the southeast, heading straight to Qieran, the governor of Cang County, in high spirits.

Here, they encountered the first and will be the last tough battle.

Qilan is the only place in the entire Cang County that has a large plain landform, and it is naturally the main grain-producing area of ​​Cang County.

When Zhu Bao learned that the Han army had arrived and that Fu County was lost, he gathered almost all the troops he could mobilize—in fact, more than 2000 people—all gathered in Qilan to defend.

Apart from Qilan, there was no other strategic location worth attacking nearby, and Ma Di and Guan Xing, who could not use tactics to mobilize the enemy at all, fell into a confrontation with the defenders.

The route to Zangzang was too dangerous, and the Leigong Pao could not be transported at all, so they had to cut wood on the spot and make simple ladders and carts.

After persuading the surrender to no avail, the helpless Ma Di and Guan Xing launched a strong attack.

Fortunately, the defense of Lancheng was not solid, the defenders were poorly equipped and lacked training, and Zhu Bao didn't know how to feign the main attack and make strange changes.

On the first day of the siege, he almost won a gate.

Only three days later, under the onslaught of the well-equipped Han army, the morale of the defenders was low, and they almost didn't want to fight anymore.

Feeling that the situation was not good, Zhu Bao had no choice but to use his biggest "hole card" at this time - ask a wizard to do it.

Nanzhong generally believes in the theory of ghosts and gods, and the impoverished Zangcang County is the most among them. I don't know if he has lived here for a long time, but Zhu Bao, who is a prefect of a county, also believes in wizards and ghosts very much.

The sorcerer in the city immediately asked Zhu Bao to kill nine defenders in the middle of the night to sacrifice to ghosts and gods, and then he did it for half a night.

At dawn, the messenger told Zhu Bao that the soldiers guarding the city were now invulnerable, and they could go out of the city and wipe out the Han army in one fell swoop.

Zhu Bao really believed it.

The magical thing is that not only Zhu Bao believed it, but even the defenders believed it.

The gate of the city was opened wide, and many soldiers who were still wearing fart curtains and straw sticks in their heads came out fiercely, holding low-quality machetes and bamboo spears.

Then, no more...

Although they believed it, the bows, crossbows, knives and spears in the hands of the Han army didn't seem to believe it.

After the first group of defenders who died in battle fell, the other defenders who found that the witchcraft was not working immediately knelt down, and they knelt very decisively after losing their last spiritual sustenance.

When the army entered the city, Zhu Bao was already dead...he was stabbed to death by the magician he trusted.

The wizard cut off Zhu Bao's head and offered it to Ma Su, and said that if he hadn't lied to Zhu Bao, the Han army might have to pay more casualties to take Qilan, and asked to spare his life.

Ma Di and Guan Xing were very speechless after hearing this, everyone believed in the wizard's tricks, but he himself who presided over the trick did not believe it.

Liu Chan was also speechless when he heard this. This matter sounded familiar to him, as if a "capable person" did something similar hundreds of years later.

The successful capture of Qielan and Zhu Bao's death almost meant that Zangzhou County had been captured. Ma Su and Ma Su happily continued to copy the "Fuxian Model". At this time, they did not realize the seriousness of the problem.

Confiscate Zhu's family, open warehouses to help the poor, and win the hearts of the people.

It's just that there are a lot more poor households in this county... According to the standards of the Han army, almost every household of ordinary people is a poor household.

However, Comrade Ma Di still adhered to the principles set before and did not waver, and resolutely completed the tasks assigned by the prince and the military adviser.

After the battle of Qilan, the prestige of the Han army among ordinary people in Zangcai almost reached its peak, and countless people came here especially to help the Han army completely pacify Zangcai.

Ma Di was overjoyed, and he never refused to come, and all of them were incorporated into the army.

Seeing that the army is growing day by day, and even larger than when it came, Comrade Ma Di immediately feels a sense of accomplishment.

When Qilan stabilized, they once again led the army to pacify various places in Zangdang.

However, after that, the nightmare journey between Ma Su and Guan Xing began.

Qilan is the most affluent place in Zangcang County, even a small county in Shudi. One can imagine the future...

Moreover, the little demon in the temple is very windy, and the pool is shallow.

The poorer the place, the more chaotic it will be in order to compete for limited resources.

There are five families of Long, Fu, Yin, Dong, and Wang among the famous forces, and there are more small forces that occupy the mountain as kings.

In order to maintain their relatively superior life, almost without exception, these forces are oppressing the common people, regardless of whether Han or barbarians suffer from it.

Ma Su then led the army and began to hang and beat all dissatisfied.

The Han army was as powerful as a broken bamboo, and it was like crushing these forces. This made Ma Su further expand, and continued to absorb young and strong men who came here to join the army.

Guan Xing, who was more thoughtful, discovered a hidden danger—there was not enough food and grass.

The grain road is difficult and dangerous, and there is no waterway, so the efficiency of transporting grain from Berkshire to Cang is extremely low.

Before that, they had been relying on the food reserves in Fu County and Qilan, but they also had to take on the task of poverty alleviation, and the food storage in the two places was quickly stretched.

And Ma Di, who enjoyed fighting against local tyrants and landlords, soon discovered an astonishing fact that the landlord's family in Zangcang County didn't have much food left...

So much so that he later hoped to meet a tough guy, so that he could justifiably ransack the house, and every small force that looked at the wind could make Comrade Ma Di suffer for a whole day.

It's just that with the invincible posture of the Han army, the hard bones are naturally getting fewer and fewer.

The young and strong who came to join basically joined because of the poverty alleviation policy of the Han army and because they could eat enough to eat.

If the poverty alleviation policy is stopped at this time, or the big households who have returned to the hopeful are forcibly plundered, all previous efforts will be in vain, and the contradiction will inevitably re-intensify.

The king and the crown prince wanted a stable Nanzhong, rather than leaving after burning, killing and looting.

Ma Di and Guan Xing discussed for a long time on the issue of suffering the people or suffering themselves, and finally chose the latter.

So much so that later they had to start using their own rations to help the poor... After struggling to clear out Zangcang County, their Han army, which was originally well-armored, became a refugee fleeing from famine.

All the way to the west, no wild animals can survive wherever they pass, and the toad can chew even the bones when it is peeled and roasted...

After listening to the narration of Ma Di and the other three, Liu Chan and Zhuge Liang were silent for a long time, and after looking at each other, they both understood each other's meaning.

Nanzhong must reform and develop greatly!
After discussing for a long time, Liu Chan sent a message to various places, preparing to invite all the Han surnames and barbarian leaders who were on the stage to come to Dianchi Lake to hold the first Nanzhong Congress.

At the beginning of July, representatives from all over the country arrived in front of Dianchi Lake one after another, and Lao Liu, who had received the battle report, also arrived.

The content of the letter is very short, probably meaning only one sentence.

After discussing all matters in Nanzhong, Prince Liu Chan and military adviser Zhuge Liang, everything was decided, as if a widow had come in person.

(End of this chapter)