People in the Three Kingdoms: Starting from Preaching

Chapter 149 Get ready to take action!

"Master, Liu Yu is coming to Youzhou. The Han court has three governors, and Youzhou is one of them. This action is obviously aimed at us."

In the Yuyang government office, Xu Chen was writing something when he heard Tian Shitou reporting some important information recently.

When he heard the name Liu Yu, his hand stopped.

As the captain of the personal guards, Tian Shitou always accompanies Xu Chen. Now the two are familiar with each other and have a tacit understanding. As soon as they saw this situation, they understood that the leader was very concerned about Liu Yu.

"According to the character files established by our intelligence agency, this Liu Yu is a very special person. He is a relative of the Han Dynasty. He once served as the governor of Youzhou and also had many experiences in other places. The places he served in were all well governed.

This man was quite benevolent, concerned about people's livelihood, and good at socializing. He had a very positive reputation among both the common people and the gentry. Even the Hu people such as Wuhuan and Xianbei had good relations with him.

Although he served as the governor of Youzhou many years ago, the people of Yuyang Youbeiping still remember his name and are quite grateful to him. "

After listening to Tian Shitou's report, Xu Chen frowned unconsciously.

It seems that even though he killed Zhang Chun and Qiu Liju, history still began to develop according to its own inertia. In the end, Liu Yu still came to Youzhou, but this was not good news for him.

Originally, Liu Yu took office to quell the rebellion of Zhang Chun and Wuhuan. Although Zhang Chun and Wuhuan are gone now, he, a Yellow Turban, might make the court even more worried. What was supposed to happen has finally happened.

Compared with Gongsun Zan, Xu Chen felt that Liu Yu was more of a headache for him.

What kind of person was Liu Yu? He was a relative of the Han royal family and a famous scholar of the time, who was well-known for his benevolence and righteousness and was good at socializing. In comparison, Gongsun Zan was just a rough man who was good at fighting.

However, reckless men are not to be feared; what is to be feared is the existence of people like Liu Yu who have great reputation and can unite forces.

He only needed to say a few words to make Qiuliju, Su Puyan and others surrender directly, and make Zhang Chun and Zhang Ju flee to the outside world in a panic, ending the years of turmoil in Youzhou.

"From now on, I'm afraid it will be difficult for the Yellow Turbans to regain the peace they have enjoyed over the past two years."

Xu Chen looked a little solemn. He could imagine that after Liu Yu came, the Yellow Turbans would be targeted and isolated. At that time, it would no longer be just a daily game with Wuhuan Gongsun Zan.

There are many things that Gongsun Zan cannot do, but Liu Yu can do, and this will inevitably increase the pressure on the Yellow Turbans.

Although Tian Shitou also felt that Liu Yu was a powerful figure, he was unable to realize the magnitude of Liu Yu's powerful reputation and appeal.

"My sect has devoted itself to development for two years. The people under our rule have achieved stable production. Not only do the people have surplus food in their homes, but the government treasuries have also accumulated countless amounts of money and grain. We produce 400,000 to 500,000 kilograms of steel annually, and have equipped ourselves with 10,000 sets of armor.

Even after two years of governance, Liaoxi has now been completely stabilized. With more than 5,000 cavalrymen, they can hold their own even in a head-on confrontation with Su Pu, Yan Bu and the Wuhuan cavalry.

Whether it's people's livelihood or military affairs, our sect has already been put on the right track. Can Liu Yu alone wipe out so many of our problems?"

Xu Chen looked over and saw Tian Shitou looking unconvinced, which made him laugh.

However, as Tian Shitou said, the Yellow Turbans today are indeed no longer the same as they used to be. Not only do they have money, but their military capabilities are also expanding rapidly.

In the past two years, they have fought many battles, big and small, with Su Puyan and Gongsun Zan, and have never suffered any losses. At least the three current counties of the Yellow Turbans have basically maintained stability.

Only by isolating war and chaos from the outside can the people produce with peace of mind, the Yellow Turbans can have a steady stream of tax revenue, and steel can be produced continuously.

Thanks to the innovation of smelting technology, the Yellow Turbans no longer had to cast inferior raw and wrought iron as in the past, nor did they have to fold and forge repeatedly for half a day to get a piece of refined steel weighing more than ten pounds.

The increase in furnace temperature and the steel pouring method allowed the Yellow Turbans' steel production to surpass that of the times by several orders of magnitude, allowing them to continuously obtain relatively high-quality steel. With higher production, the cost of iron products was no longer so unacceptable to the Yellow Turbans.

This helped the Yellow Turbans accumulate equipment and update various types of agricultural tools under their rule.

Technological innovation does not have to be pushed to the level of modern times. As long as it is ahead of the current era to a certain extent, it can bring huge effects, and this is especially true for smelting technology as it is the key.

By now, iron farm tools had begun to be widely used under the rule of the Yellow Turbans, and there were also uniformly planned oxen and plows to assist in production. Farmers were more efficient in cultivating the fields and could devote more energy to intensive farming, and yields were visibly increasing.

With a strong military force, stable rule, and increasingly excellent agricultural conditions, the Yellow Turbans naturally began to absorb civilians from outside over the past two years. In addition, with the influx of Yellow Turbans from the Five Elements Mountain, the population of the Yellow Turbans gradually increased.

The strength of the Yellow Turbans has indeed begun to expand rapidly today. This does not mean that Tian Shitou is arrogant. Basically every Yellow Turban has this feeling.

"With our current strength, we are not afraid of him, but it is foreseeable that Liu Yu will bring us a lot of trouble. Anyway, after he comes to Youzhou, you have to keep an eye on him, and I will fight him."

Xu Chen pondered for a moment, and then continued with the matter at hand. Liu Yu deserved his attention, but there was no need to make a fuss. At this time, Tian Shitou also began to report something else, but this matter was not about Youzhou.

"There is a new situation in the Five Elements Mountain. According to the news sent back by General Zhang, Zhang Yan, the leader of the Black Mountain Army of the Five Elements Mountain, has now betrayed the Yellow Turbans and sent envoys to the court to ask for surrender to the old emperor!"

At this point, Tian Shitou's tone was filled with anger. After all, betrayal was the most unacceptable thing: "This kind of guy who rushes to serve the court as a dog is not worthy of being my Yellow Turban!"

What made him even more upset was that the guy would rather surrender to the imperial court than join the Naturalism Cult!

Although the current Natural Religion is a reformed Yellow Turban, even if one cannot accept this, as they are all Yellow Turbans, they are all brother sects and are definitely closer to each other than the imperial court.

As the leader of the Black Mountain Army, Zhang Yan ran straight to the imperial court, which was really hard for Tian Shitou to accept.

Xu Chen hadn't written two words when he stopped again after hearing this.

"The White Knights have been spreading the doctrine and recruiting followers in the Five Elements Mountain for the past two years, and now they have achieved some results. In the entire Five Elements Mountain, apart from Zhang Yan's Black Mountain Army, the branch of our sect led by the White Knights is the most powerful. If Zhang Yan surrenders to the court, I'm afraid all the pressure will go to the White Knights. This is not a good thing."

The two consecutive pieces of news were not good news, and Xu Chen couldn't help but sigh.

In the past two years, Zhang Baiqi went back to Wuxing Mountain. While preaching the doctrine and transferring the population to Youzhou, he continued to conquer other forces, large and small. Now he has grown into the largest force in the northern part of Wuxing Mountain.

As a result, Naturalism had a huge branch outside of Youzhou.

The situation of the various big and small leaders on the Five Elements Mountain being scattered is not the norm. They will gradually gather spontaneously with the development of time. If there was no Zhang Baiqi, Zhang Yan would also integrate these forces to form the Black Mountain Army. Now there is just one more variable, Zhang Baiqi.

Now Zhang Baiqi occupies the northern part of Wuxing Mountain, while the Black Mountain Army occupies the southern part. The relationship between the two sides is already delicate and tense. After Zhang Yan surrendered to the court, their positions became even clearer.

"I have a letter for you to send to General Zhang. If he feels that the Five Elements Mountain can still be managed, then he can try to continue developing it. If the situation is really unfavorable, then he can just bring his people to Youzhou. We can easily accommodate more than 100,000 people in our three counties."

"Yes, Master, it has been written. I will arrange it immediately."

After Xu Chen gave the order, he immediately picked up his pen and started writing. There was not much to say, and he did not give any instructions to Zhang Baiqi. He believed that Zhang Baiqi must understand the situation better than he did, so there was no need for him to say much about what to do.

Youzhou is far away from the Five Elements Mountain, so all I can do is pave a retreat for Zhang Baiqi.

After writing the letter, he gave it to Tian Shitou, and the two of them talked again. There was no more special information, only the movements of Gongsun Zan's officers and soldiers and the situation in Liaodong.

When Tian Shitou was leaving, Xu Chen asked him to call Wang Dang, and soon Wang Dang arrived as invited.

Two years later, Wang Dang became visibly fatter.

A relatively comfortable situation would make it easy for a person to gain weight. Moreover, as the commander-in-chief of the entire army, he would no longer be required to go into battle in person even if there was a war. On weekdays, he was mostly in charge of command and training, which made him feel extremely idle.

After bowing to Xu Chen, he sat down slowly, glanced at Xu Chen, and began to mutter boredom.

"Hey, Master, my body has become weak in the past two years. I just fight with Su Puyan and Gongsun Zan every day. What's the point? I think we have accumulated a lot of strength in the past two years. Isn't it time to make some big moves?"

Xu Chen smiled when he heard this. He was tired of hearing this kind of talk. Over the past year or so, every time Wang Dang saw him, there would be such a scene.

More than two years of recuperation were actually necessary. After all, the Yellow Turbans were a military governance system, and every military action involved huge expenses. Although the army's pay and equipment were all funded by the Yellow Turbans' treasury, all of this money and food came from the people's taxes and industrial income.

If this money is not used for war, it can be invested in people's livelihood. Not only will people's lives be better, but it will also be more conducive to the long-term development of the Yellow Turbans.

To develop agriculture, we need to build projects such as canals and water wheels. In order to transport goods, we also need to build bridges and roads.

If you want more products, you have to set up more ironworks, coalworks, saltworks, glass factories, and ceramic factories, and recruit more workers, and this is something that the Yellow Turbans need to invest money in.

After two years of rest and recuperation, the Yellow Turbans stopped their expansion, but in return they saw the establishment and development of various industries under their rule, an increase in grain harvests, more surplus grain for the people, and more equipment for the Yellow Turbans.

But now, it's finally time to move out.

"I'm afraid that Youzhou will hardly be peaceful in the future, and the pressure from the Yellow Turbans will increase. I plan to take Liaodong in the east and attack Su Puyan in the near future!"

(End of this chapter)