I practiced magic in the Three Kingdoms

Chapter 71 From today on, Hedong will be named Wang [Changed]

Xu Huang was worried that the prisoners would revolt, so he stepped forward to advise: "Please think twice, my lord. If you kill Han Xian, I'm afraid the remaining Baibo people will choose to fight to the end."

This makes sense, but Wang Jing didn't want to win people's hearts in such a way that left hidden dangers, so he shook his head and said, "Han Xian and others let their soldiers plunder the prefectures and counties, and coerced the people into becoming bandits, causing wars everywhere in Hedong. If these main culprits are not killed, it will not be enough to deter the scoundrels. Otherwise, everyone in the world will want to kill and burn people to be recruited, how can the people still have a good life?"

"But……"

"Gongming, I know what you mean. Don't worry, I am not a person who kills indiscriminately. This action is only to eliminate the main culprit. The rest can be sentenced lightly. Even if they are guilty, they can be made to redeem themselves through labor reform. Anyway, Hedong County is in ruins and the water conservancy facilities are in disrepair. They are in need of some capable people to work. Why would I kill them indiscriminately?"

What Wang Jing wanted to express was already very clear. Those who took the lead in the Baibo Army must all be killed once and for all.

After all, these people are the source of unrest and are ambitious people, just like beasts that have eaten humans. No matter what the reason, they must die.

Otherwise, what if they want to eat people again after having tasted the sweetness?
The behavior of these people is no different from that of bandits. Wang Jing cannot possibly use them. Keeping them would only cause trouble. It would be better to bring them out and punish them to make his attitude clear.

As for those ordinary Baibo soldiers who were forced to participate in the rebellion, Wang Jing was still willing to give them a chance to reform.

As long as the crime is not serious, the sentence is basically just a few years of hard labor.

Only those notorious rebels who have committed numerous bloody crimes will be selected by Wang Jingzhen and their heads will be used.

Hearing that Wang Jing did not intend to kill the surrendered, Xu Huang secretly breathed a sigh of relief, and then clasped his hands and said, "On behalf of the people of Hedong, I thank you, my lord."

Wang Jing felt uncomfortable when he saw this. He still had sympathy for those common people among the rebels who were forced to rebel by the government and the aristocratic families. If it were not for his duty, he actually did not want to come and suppress the uprising.

But Wang Jing also knew that there was no point in the Baibo Army making such a fuss. What Hedong needed was to establish a new order, not complete destruction.

Facing Xu Huang, Wang Jing also expressed his feelings in a rare way: "Why thank me? I am the General of the Northern Army of the Han Dynasty. It is my responsibility to protect the country and the people. It is a pity that I can only watch the chaos coming and the people being displaced by my own strength. Now the war is raging in Hedong, and all I can do is to save as many people as I can."

Xu Huang was deeply moved when he heard this: "I will definitely chase him to the death, and work with my lord to support the Han Dynasty, cleanse the world, and bring peace to the world!"

Zhang Liao also said: "This is what I wish for!"

Wang Jing saw that the two had such lofty ambitions and shared the same interests with him. He suddenly felt heroic and laughed out loud: "Haha, well said, let's work together to bring peace to the world!"

The lofty ambitions in his heart made Wang Jing full of energy at this moment. After solving the imminent survival crisis, he has now begun to take the first step towards dominating the world.

Who else but me can stabilize the country and ensure its security?
Wang Jing was moved: "I can now finally answer the questions Feng Xiao asked me without hesitation. Life is really hard to understand."

Obviously, at the beginning, I just wanted to be a salted fish, and all I wanted was to survive.

However, after stepping forward to today, mastering military force, building up power, and having a group of comrades with the same ambitions, Wang Jing discovered that his ideas were completely different from before.

Since the world is so annoying, let’s change it!
The weak endure the environment; the strong change it.

At this moment, Wang Jing has the qualifications to say "no" to the old order.

Zhang Liao, Xu Huang, Xun You and others were also infected by Wang Jing's emotions, and regarded him as a wise leader with great ambitions.

It took Wang Jing three full days to send people everywhere to collect evidence of the crime. After reading it out in public, he dragged Han Xian to the execution ground and beheaded him in front of everyone.

All of Han Xian's close associates who were guilty were punished according to law.

When the Northern Army went to fight against the rebels, they naturally had to kill people first to establish their authority.

Only by establishing authority first and then appeasing others can the desired effect be achieved. Otherwise, the rebels will only regard you as weak and can be bullied.

In order to appease the surrendered soldiers of the Baibo Army who had become restless due to the death of Han Xian, Wang Jing personally announced regulations for preferential treatment of prisoners immediately after executing Han Xian, including distributing supplies for the winter, arranging for them to work in exchange for food, and arranging for military doctors to treat them if they were sick.

They even allowed surrendered soldiers to participate in suppressing the rebellion, in exchange for a reduction in their sentences by making meritorious contributions.

After this operation, the Han Xian Army was officially declared destroyed, the surrendered Baibo Army soldiers quickly returned, and the camps where the prisoners lived became orderly, without even having to send people to monitor and detain them.

After all, the snow was everywhere in Hedong, and if they escaped, they would freeze to death in a few hours. Even if they didn't freeze to death, they would starve to death or die of disease. What's more, the food for the prisoners was much better than that of the Baibo Army, so only a fool would run away.

Wang Jing called Xu Huang over and asked for details: "Gongming, how many prisoners have been captured?"

Xu Huang clasped his fists in response and said, "The exact number is still being counted, but I estimate that there are about 5,000 people."

Wang Jing thought for a moment and then asked, "Then according to our Northern Army's recruitment standards, after eliminating the old and weak, how many strong and strong men can be selected from these 5,000 surrendered soldiers?"

The Northern Army's selection criteria were not low. Xu Huang made a quick calculation in his mind before answering Wang Jing's question: "It is estimated that we can get 600 to 700 people."

"That's enough. Quality is more important than quantity. I can't afford to support so many people who eat for free."

Wang Jing received the "legacy" from the territory of Liu Hong, so he is not short of money at the moment, but the treatment given by Wang Jing to the nearly 10,000 soldiers in the Eight Battalions of the Northern Army under his command is the best in the world. The cost is almost three times that of ordinary Han troops, so the expenditure is really not low, so he cannot cram all the rotten fish and shrimp into the Eight Battalions.

After thinking about it, Wang Jing decided that some of the surrendered old, weak, women and children also needed a place to go, so he said to Xu Huang: "The rest of the surrendered soldiers will be transferred to auxiliary troops, responsible for miscellaneous tasks such as transporting food and fodder and setting up camps. Their treatment will be slightly better than that of ordinary county soldiers for the time being, but it can't be too high or too low."

The soldiers under Wang Jing's command were all divided into two major categories: combat soldiers and auxiliary soldiers, and their treatments were different.

Among them, combat soldiers are responsible for charging into battle, while auxiliary soldiers are responsible for supporting logistics and some low-intensity military combat tasks, such as maintaining order and clearing out bandits.

Xu Huang also thought this was a good move: "My lord is wise! This division will boost morale!"

Soldiers receive better treatment, so their morale is naturally higher and they are more willing to fight.

Moreover, this distinction also reduces the probability of rout on the battlefield. Many times, some battles that could obviously be won are ruined because someone runs away first, resulting in the entire army being routed.

Eliminating the old, weak, sick and disabled in advance can effectively reduce the occurrence of this situation. Although the number of people is reduced, the actual combat effectiveness is improved.

After arriving in Hedong, the Northern Army went into battle one after another and won two victories. In addition, Xu Huang captured a large number of prisoners, so the troops not only did not suffer any losses, but instead increased in number and their strength grew rapidly.

Wang Jing did not get carried away by the successive military victories. He summoned Xu Huang, Zhang Liao and others to discuss: "What do you think of the chaos in Hedong?"

Xu Huang was a native of Hedong, so he knew more information, so he spoke first: "My lord, Hedong County has 20 counties and a population of nearly one million. If we want to truly quell the rebellion, we should use both suppression and appeasement, with appeasement as the main method and suppression as the auxiliary method, so as to truly calm people's hearts."

Needless to say, the main purpose of this trip was to eliminate the main forces of the Baibo Army including Guo Tai.

However, only by calming people's hearts and allowing local people to survive can the chaotic situation in Hedong be truly calmed down and a new order be re-established.

Zhang Liao also agreed with Xu Huang's point of view: "Gongming's words are true. After the Southern Xiongnu surrendered, Hedong has always been the first to bear the brunt of the attack, so the people are fierce and unruly. But it is also because of this that if the lord can really pacify this place and win the hearts of the people, he will surely gain tens of thousands of elite troops."

Wang Jing was born into the Wang family of Taiyuan. Thanks to his family's collection of books and the various customs and experiences he heard from Wang Yun and Wang Hong, he was naturally familiar with Hedong, which was close to Bingzhou.

Yanmen Pass in Bingzhou is the main entry point for horses from the northern border into the Central Plains.

In addition, there are many horse farms in Hedong because the climate here is very suitable for raising horses. There are also many people in Hedong who are good at horse riding. As long as this place is occupied, a large number of excellent cavalry can be recruited.

During the Tang Dynasty, a large number of pastures were set up in Hedong, and the horse production was very abundant.

After hearing what Zhang Liao said, Wang Jing understood even more clearly the importance of occupying Hedong. This place is a very important strategic location for anyone who aspires to conquer the world.

Previously, Wang Jing had spent real money to buy the war horses of the Northern Army from merchants. Not only were they extremely expensive, but the quality was also not very good, and many of them were leftovers from other forces. If possible, Wang Jing would rather control the origin of the war horses directly, so that all the high-quality war horses would fall into his pocket. Not only would the procurement cost be lower, but the quality would also be greatly improved, which would also be equivalent to weakening the war potential of other competitors.

If you want to get war horses, you must first get Hedong.

If you want to gain control of Hedong, you must first gain the hearts of the people here.

After all, he who wins the hearts of the people wins the world!

Wang Jing figured out what to do in a blink of an eye. He said to Xu Huang, "Gongming, you should be credited with the first achievement in destroying Han Xian, but I hope you can put aside the rest of the battle. I have another important task for you."

No battles to fight means no achievements to be made.

Of course, Wang Jing was not suppressing Xu Huang because he was afraid that Xu Huang would become too successful and threaten his master, but this task outside of the battle was indeed very important.

"Gong Ming, you are a native of Hedong, and you have the advantage of status. Most of the surrendered soldiers are old and weak. Even if they are the strong ones, their combat effectiveness cannot be guaranteed without strict training. Instead of sending them to die on the battlefield, it is better to let them perform more valuable tasks."

Xu Huang looked puzzled: "What instructions does the lord have?"

"Anyi and Jiexian, these two cities have been recovered by our army, but the people have been displaced and homeless due to the war. It's freezing cold today, we can't just leave them alone, right?"

Wang Jing's idea was very simple. How could he feed so many surrendered soldiers, captives, and refugees held hostage by the Baibo Army and just let them eat?
If you want to eat, go work for me!
It's not useful in fighting for the time being, but it should be okay for repairing houses or something, right?
Xu Huang blinked his eyes, with an expression of disbelief on his face: "My Lord, do you want me to lead people to build houses for the people?"

This matter was so outrageous that Xu Huang didn't know how to comment on it for a moment.

In his opinion, it was rare for soldiers in the army to not harm the civilians at all, and their military discipline was very good. Many central armies directly under the court could not do so.

After all, the military pay and salaries given by the imperial court were very limited, and they were deducted at every level. In the end, they ended up in the hands of the soldiers, and no one knew how many discounts they had received.

Therefore, it was not uncommon for generals to allow their soldiers to plunder the people in order to maintain morale.

In Xu Huang's eyes, Wang Jing's Northern Army could be regarded as a king's army with strict military discipline.

As for spending one's own money to build houses for the people, this is the first time in history. I have never heard of it or seen it before.

But Xu Huang had no idea that Wang Jing had set his sights on these young and middle-aged laborers who were being held hostage by the Baibo Army, and had already regarded Hedong as his own territory, so he was naturally willing to invest money to run it well.

We help local residents repair their houses because we are afraid that they will run away and there will be no one to exploit them.

As for building houses for the refugees to live in, it was not really given away for free, but rather used the lowest cost to drive them to build some horse farms and some farms, so that Wang Jing could develop military farming in Hedong in the future and achieve self-sufficiency in war horses and food.

Just providing food and making people work like slaves for him, if Wang Jing dared to do this in later generations, he would probably have to spend a few years in prison.

But in the late Eastern Han Dynasty, Wang Jing was willing to provide food and accommodation to the refugees, which was better than more than 99.999% of the noble families and wealthy families in the world.

Therefore, as a native of Hedong, Xu Huang was very supportive of Wang Jing's good deed: "My lord, your kindness is unparalleled. On behalf of the thousands of people in Hedong, I would like to express my gratitude."

Many of Xu Huang's relatives and friends lived here. He knew very well how difficult life was for the local people after being ravaged by the Xiliang soldiers and the Baibo army.

Such military disasters and man-made calamities may kill tens of thousands or even hundreds of thousands of people in one winter.

Wang Jingken paid out of his own pocket to provide work-for-relief, giving local people a chance to survive. This is impeccable from any perspective.

At this time, Xu Huang was no longer thinking about gaining credit on the battlefield. Every day, he took his surrendered soldiers and prisoners and began to seriously repair the damaged houses for the local people and ask about their well-being. At the same time, he recruited a large number of craftsmen and laborers to build pastures and farms, as if he was going to start a large-scale construction project.

In addition, Wang Jing also ordered people to set up soup kitchens outside the city to provide relief to the refugees who were left homeless by the Baibo Army.

This series of measures successfully reversed the reputation of the government army in Hedong and made the local people no longer hostile to the Northern Army.

Not only that, Wang Jing's name of unparalleled benevolence and righteousness was also widely spread through Xu Huang's mouth and praised by the people.

There were even more local militiamen who came here to join Wang Jing, which further strengthened the strength of the Northern Army.

Wherever Wang Jing's troops arrived, a large number of guides would appear. For a while, the situation between the Northern Army and the Baibo Army in Hedong County was reversed.

Now, it was the White Wave Army's turn to be caught up in the vast ocean of the people's war.

Although many of the soldiers of the Baibo Army are locals, they can never do what the Northern Army can do.

The Baibo Army could never guarantee military discipline alone.

After all, they are a group of bandits who made their fortune by robbing. If we don't allow them to take advantage of others, are we going to leave them to starve?

Wang Jing was clear about rewards and punishments, and he valued local people like Xu Huang as generals. Therefore, both the surrendered Baibo Army soldiers and the displaced refugees were extremely convinced of him and were more willing to join him.

why?
Wang Jing is rich and generous, he gave so much!
And what about the Baibo Army?
These bastards only know how to ask for money. It's outrageous!
…………

Thirty miles north of Puban County, there is a Yao Mountain.

This place is covered with green mountains and ancient cypresses on cliffs. The terrain is extremely dangerous and easy to defend but difficult to attack.

Li Le's troops of the Baibo Army stationed here.

"General Qu, the Liu family of Xie County, the Xue family of Fenyin, and the Pei family of Wenxi, all three families have refused to continue to provide us with food and fodder."

"Damn it, I knew these so-called famous families were unreliable!"

Li Le cursed loudly. He was originally from the Green Forest. Before joining the Yellow Turban Army, he had already gathered people and caused trouble.

Unlike Yang Feng and Han Xian, Li Le did not have many troops, but his combat effectiveness was not weak because he had a cavalry of 500 men under his command.

These cavalrymen were originally horse bandits who were used to making a living on the edge of a knife. They all had martial arts skills, and some had even entered the second realm of martial arts. Therefore, their combat effectiveness was quite strong, and ordinary soldiers from local counties and states were no match for them at all.

"Master Qu, what should we do now?"

The mountains are about to be covered in snow and the weather is freezing cold. How can we survive this winter without enough food and fodder reserves?
By that time, the government troops might not have arrived to encircle and suppress us, and all of us would have to disperse on the spot.

Li Le's face was full of flesh and his expression was ferocious. He immediately started to curse: "With no money and no food, are you forcing me to rob them myself? It seems that they have forgotten my reputation as Xiaoshanhu because they haven't killed anyone for a while."

"Come on, follow me to rob him!"

"Master Qu is so powerful! Let's go rob that fucking rich man!"

Li Le led his men down the mountain, thinking that no matter what he said this time, he must teach those people a lesson.

In Puban County, the lobby of the county government office had been requisitioned by a group of ferocious soldiers, wearing gray military uniforms and black armor, and each of them was filled with murderous intent.

The leading general was wearing bright silver armor, with a pair of sword-like eyebrows slanting into his temples, a pair of tiger eyes gleaming with brilliance, and looking very majestic.

It was Zhang Liao, the captain of the Hu cavalry. At this moment, he came here on behalf of Wang Jing to block the retreat route to the west of Li Le's Baibo Army, so as to prevent them from crossing the river with the help of the ships in the port and wreaking havoc in Liangzhou.

(End of this chapter)