People in the Three Kingdoms: Starting from Preaching

Chapter 229: Follow the Yellow Turbans to Have Food

"The Yellow Turbans are coming again, folks, run for your lives!"

In an unknown village in Beihai, Qingzhou, a panicked shout broke the peace here. When the villagers heard the word "Yellow Turban", they were so scared that their faces turned pale. Without any other people's command, they ran back home as fast as possible.

This was not the first time they had encountered the Yellow Turbans. In fact, the Yellow Turbans in Qingzhou and Xuzhou had been chased back and forth in Qingzhou and Xuzhou over the years. In this process, the ones who suffered the most were not the Yellow Turbans themselves, but the many ordinary people in Qingzhou and Xuzhou.

The situation of the Yellow Turbans in Qingxu was miserable. In order to survive, they had no choice but to loot counties and towns, which brought great disaster to the people in both places.

In recent years, the people of Qing and Xu have been living in such turmoil, and it is difficult for them to produce with peace of mind. After finally getting some food, they could not withstand the suppression and forcible requisition by the government. It was even common for them to be robbed by the Yellow Turbans. At least millions of people fell into hardship because of the turmoil brought by the Yellow Turbans.

Nowadays, when people along the way heard the word "Yellow Turban", they all changed color.

To a certain extent, Xu Chen subdued this uncontrollable force and the biggest beneficiaries were the people of Qingxu. But even now that the Yellow Turbans of Qingxu have been taken away, their living conditions are still very difficult.

What they didn't know, but Xu Chen knew, was that the departure of the Yellow Turbans did not mean the end of the war. On the contrary, they would usher in an even greater era of chaos.

If possible, Xu Chen would like to bring as many people along the way as possible to Youzhou. Now Youzhou’s demand for population is as much as possible. Instead of letting these people suffer in the future, it is better to take them to Youzhou, give them a stable environment, and solve Youzhou’s dilemma of shortage of people.

Although the Qingxu Yellow Turbans were now terrified of the Yellow Turbans, when the 300,000-strong Yellow Turban army headed north, many of the people along the way still chose to join them.

The reason for such a contradictory scene is that Xuan Xia's reputation has begun to spread outward.

Although Xuzhou is far away from Youzhou, Qingzhou is much closer. The people of Qingzhou have heard about Xuan Xia's affairs to some extent, or are currently hearing about them.

"Why are you running? Don't you know that this is Xuanxia? When the common people of Xuanxia saw the righteous army coming out, they welcomed them with food and drink. Why are you still afraid of them? You really don't know what's good for you!"

Seeing the villagers running around, a merchant leading a caravan felt puzzled and immediately started shouting.

The mountains are high and the waters are long and the road is difficult to travel. It is not easy to come to Qingzhou to do some business. When everyone runs away, you have to spend more time waiting.

However, his shouting failed to attract the attention of the villagers. The villagers were packing up their few belongings and were about to go up the mountain. They found it strange to see the caravan's indifference and began to persuade the caravan to follow them up the mountain.

"Once the Yellow Turbans come, you won't be able to leave even if you want to. If you don't run now, all these goods will be lost. Don't say we didn't warn you then!" Someone shouted as he walked. They didn't want to just watch the merchants make fools of themselves.

However, the merchant just touched his forehead helplessly. He was a traveling merchant, so how could he be less sensitive to danger than you, a bunch of peasants?

He knew very well what Xuan Xia's situation was. If we talk about danger, the Han government is a hundred times more dangerous than Xuan Xia.

He believed that the Yellow Turbans might loot property, but that could only be the ordinary Yellow Turbans outside Youzhou. In the eyes of the people of Xuanxia, ​​the Yellow Turbans of Xuanxia had long been a different image and would never be confused with the Yellow Turbans of the past.

"Don't worry, let alone they come to rob you. Even if you rush to give them things, they won't accept them. Haven't you heard of Xuan Xia in Youzhou? Although there are also Yellow Turbans there, the Yellow Turbans in Xuan Xia are the true righteous army. I am a businessman from Xuan Xia, and no one understands Xuan Xia better than me."

The merchant's confident words frightened the villagers, but after that they shook their heads and continued to flee to the mountains with the village team.

They didn't know whether what the businessman said was true or not, but they couldn't gamble with their own safety.

Moreover, based on their impression of the Qingxu Yellow Turbans, it was difficult for them to establish any trust in Xuanxia.

Seeing the villagers going up the mountain one after another, the merchant had no choice but to give up and tell his men to pack up and rest on the spot. After the Yellow Turbans were over, the villagers would naturally go down the mountain and he could do business again then.

Not long after the villagers went up the mountain, movement began to appear on the road not far away. A yellow flag appeared in the front, and then a long and narrow team followed behind.

Walking in the front were the Xuanxia soldiers in uniform light military uniforms, marching at a relatively slow pace. Their formation was neat and their steps were uniform, and one could feel the excellent qualities of the soldiers just by walking.

Because the path was narrow, the Yellow Turbans had to pull their troops together, which resulted in the team being extremely long and narrow.

The 10,000-plus troops in the front took a long time to march past, and the migrating group of people behind was so long that there was no end in sight. They walked in a continuous line with their families. Although the team was a little chaotic, it was generally able to maintain a consistent speed.

It would take a long time to pass a long and narrow team of this size. The villagers who had already gone up the mountain waited from morning till evening, but they didn't see the entire team pass. Looking back, they couldn't even see the end, and they didn't know how long it would take to actually pass through here.

When it got dark, the Yellow Turban cavalry marched in front and behind the team, beating gongs and shouting at the team to rest on the spot. They could not move in the dark, so they could only spend the night here. The villagers who hid in the mountains did not dare to come down the mountain, so they could only spend the night in the dark.

What surprised them was that this team seemed to have no intention of invading the village at all. For the entire day, no one had set foot into the village. Even if someone was dishonest, they would be quickly stopped by the Yellow Turban soldiers on horseback.

If the Qingxu Yellow Turbans had followed their previous nature, they would have scraped off three layers of dust even if they knew the village was empty, and would never have been so harmless.

What surprised them even more was that the merchants who stayed in the village had carts full of goods, but the team completely ignored them.

This shocked many villagers in the mountains. It was hard to imagine that this was something the Yellow Turbans they knew could do.

When this Yellow Turban group showed that it was safe enough, some brave villagers finally dared to go over and take a look. However, as soon as they got down the mountain, they were ridiculed by the merchants.

"How about it? I told you that Xuan Xia would never do anything bad. Do you believe it now?"

"Is this really true?"

Several villagers then became curious about the so-called Xuanxia and asked the merchants in detail. Only then did they know that a country called Xuanxia appeared in Youzhou in the north at the beginning of this year.

But this is not the most important thing. The important thing is that in Xuanxia everyone has land, and there are no exorbitant taxes, and no labor or military service.

They didn't need anything particularly generous; these three conditions alone gave them a severe shock.

As the working people, the sufferings they endure now mostly come from these three points, any one of which is enough to destroy their lives. The tragic thing is that most of them are burdened with labor, military service, and exorbitant taxes at the same time, and most of their families do not have any land.

If a place can distribute land, exempt from excessive taxes and abolish labor and military service, then this is an absolute paradise in their eyes!

The shock of this news was so great that they simply couldn't believe it, so much so that they bravely went to the Yellow Turbans' army to verify it.

Most of the migrant people who accompanied them, like them, had only heard of Xuan Xia's situation but had never seen it with their own eyes.

But the vast majority of Xuanxia soldiers here actually came from Xuanxia.

Several villagers were still afraid of the Yellow Turbans, but out of their desire for Xuan Xia, they bravely went forward. When they went over with water and food to try to get close to them, they found that things were just as the merchants had said, the Xuan Xia soldiers refused to accept their things at all.

Moreover, these majestic soldiers were not as scary as they appeared to be. Instead, they were very warm and friendly, just like a conversation between fellow villagers.

In fact, these soldiers were indeed fellow villagers. Upon asking, the villagers learned that they were all ordinary farmers from Youzhou who voluntarily registered as military households and joined the army.

The soldiers could tell the villagers a lot of things. When they learned that they could get paid for serving in the army, fighting in the war, or working in Xuanxia, ​​their eyes widened.

Although this brief exchange was not enough for them to fully understand Xuan Xia, it was enough to make their eyes red, and an idea suddenly popped up in their minds.

Follow the Yellow Turban to Xuanxia!
When they returned to the village, they immediately began to mobilize the villagers. Although the villagers were skeptical and had concerns, they at least dared to try it out in person. When most of the villagers learned about these things personally, they gradually became tempted.

Gradually, more and more people had the same idea and wanted to follow the team to Xuanxia.

It's not just that they are attracted by the things they have learned, the bigger reason is that their current lives are difficult to sustain. Instead of suffering here, they might as well take a gamble. What if it's true?

So, at dawn the next day, they each carried their luggage and joined the huge team.

This also led to the Yellow Turban army becoming larger and larger, because as they advanced, such scenes kept happening along the way. As more and more people joined in, the army that had only more than 300,000 people when it left Taishan County had swelled to nearly 500,000 people after traveling all the way through Qingzhou.

The current situation is actually a spontaneous migration of the people along the way who are struggling to survive, and the actions of the Yellow Turbans just gave them this opportunity.

Not long after arriving in Qingzhou, Xu Chen and his men also received the next wave of support. The reinforcements arranged this time were far more than cavalry. The cavalry support was quick and they took action first, while Lu Ping's more than 10,000 infantry corps came from the rear.

"Master, a war has broken out in Changshan. It's time for us to go and provide support!" The first thing Lu Ping said when he saw Xu Chen was an important piece of news.

(End of this chapter)