Can I get to the other side?.

Chapter 276: All the people are guilty, and the fault lies with me

A strong army must have two qualities.

The first is discipline and the second is equipment.

Both are indispensable.

Although the Black Mountain Army is called an army, they are actually just a group of horse bandits and robbers. Apart from the fact that their numbers are considerable and they have basically seen blood, there is nothing else to recommend them.

This is also why the Black Mountain Army was so large and so many people died in the battle to delay Yuan Shao's return to Jizhou.

Now, Lu Bu is not worried about how to train these 30,000 Black Mountain troops. After all, training soldiers is not a difficult task for him. The only thing he is worried about is weapons and equipment.

"General, you..."

Chen Gong was shocked by Lu Bu's words. He looked at him with a complicated expression, as if he wanted to say something but hesitated.

Lu Bu asked in confusion: "What's wrong?"

Chen Gong said with a sigh: "Looking back over the years, the general only led the troops to fight, and left me to worry about the rest, whether it was weapons and equipment or food and logistics. I never thought that the general would start to consider these things now."

“This really impressed me.”

"Things are different now!" Lu Bu raised his head and said proudly, "Gongtai, you don't know. The court is full of people scheming against each other. Your Majesty is too kind, and your foundation is not stable now. If I don't think more about it, Your Majesty will suffer a great loss!"

Chen Gong's eyes widened instantly when he heard this.

All the officials in the court who came from aristocratic families suffered a loss in this donation. He really wanted to know how Lu Bu could tell that the emperor was a kind person?

Lu Bu waved his hand and said, "Let's not talk about these things for now. The most important thing right now is to collect equipment for these 30,000 troops."

"Since your majesty has entrusted the Black Mountain Army to me, I can't let your majesty down, right? Gongtai, please give me some advice."

He considered it, but he couldn't think of a suitable solution no matter how hard he scratched his head.

How to solve the problem still has to be left to Chen Gong.

Chen Gong said immediately: "This matter is simple. General, why don't you just go to Zhen family and ask them to make weapons and equipment for the Black Mountain Army?"

"What? Looking for Zhen's again?!" Lu Bu almost jumped up when he heard this, staring with a pair of bull eyes and said: "All the equipment of my army is provided by Zhen's for free. Now that His Majesty has just handed over 30,000 troops to me, I turned around and asked Zhen's for weapons and equipment. Do you really think my face is as thick as the wall of Yecheng!"

The Zhen family spent a huge amount of money to arm the army.

Lu Bu knew this very well.

Not to mention anything else, his one thousand wolf riders alone, from the manufacturing of weapons and equipment to the selection and breeding of war horses, and even the food for the soldiers, are all first-class.

The money spent on maintaining a wolf rider is equivalent to that of dozens of ordinary soldiers.

All of this was paid for by the Zhen family!

What impressed him most was the Huben Army. Cui Yan was the General of the Huben Army, but the weapons and equipment of the 3,000 Huben Army were all purchased from the Zhen family with funds provided by Cui Yan.

After he learned about this, he casually asked about the money Cui Yan spent on building the three thousand tiger guards. The result shocked him so much that his jaw almost dropped.

Because that is simply an astronomical figure!

But even with such expensive equipment, Zhen continued to provide it to his troops for free, without even collecting a penny.

Under such circumstances, how could he have the nerve to ask Zhen for weapons and equipment for these 30,000 people?

Even though he was used to being carefree, he really didn't have the face to say this!

"General, you need to be more open-minded."

Chen Gong patiently advised: "Too many lice don't itch, too many debts don't worry. Since the general has already asked Zhen for so much money, food and equipment, why not ask for more?"

"The most important thing is to quickly turn these 30,000 troops into a usable fighting force. After all, we are all serving His Majesty. Zhen will understand the general."

But Lu Bu would not believe Chen Gong's lies.

He is now the Grand Marshal, Duke Wen, and General of the Cavalry, and a well-known person. He cannot shamelessly go to the Zhen family to ask for equipment.

The key point is that every time he went to see Zhen, the other party was very enthusiastic and never refused any of his requests, as if helping him was helping Zhen, which made him feel even more ashamed.

Lu Bu shook his head and said, "Zhen has donated so much money and food to the refugees this time. It is really very kind. I will not go."

"Gongtai, you should think of other ways."

Chen Gong spread his hands and said, "What can I do? The money and food I collected in my early years have long been used up by the general. Now all my connections have been used up, and there is nothing I can do."

Upon hearing this, Lu Bu couldn't help but feel a headache.

So what to do now?
While Lü Bu was worried, Zhang Liao walked into the tent and reported: "General, Zhang Yan sent someone to ask when we plan to take over the Black Mountain Army."

Lu Bu felt overwhelmed, but when his eyes fell on Zhang Liao's face, he suddenly had an idea and a brilliant idea emerged in his mind.

"Wenyuan, you came at the right time."

Lu Bu showed a warm smile on his face, walked over to pull Zhang Liao over to sit down, and poured him a bowl of wine, "I have something important to tell you."

Zhang Liao instantly became alert.

He has followed Lu Bu for many years and knows Lu Bu's character well. If he is so enthusiastic, there must be something fishy.

Therefore, he did not pick up the bowl of wine, but asked calmly: "General, what do you want me to do?"

"Haha, it's just a small matter."

Lu Bu waved his hand, and then said earnestly: "Wenyuan, although I have many brave generals under my command, your talent is definitely first-class."

"When it comes to charging into battle, I am better than you; but when it comes to training and commanding troops, your talent is far superior to mine."

"You also know that His Majesty asked me to take over the 30,000 Black Mountain troops, but I am not good at training soldiers. You are better in this aspect."

"So I plan to assign 20,000 people to your command, and you will be in charge of the leadership in the future. How do you think?"

Since there is no solution to the problem.

Then pass the problem on to someone else.

This is the strategy that Lu Bu came up with!

Chen Gong, who was standing by, turned his head slightly when he heard the words. He could hardly hold back the corners of his mouth from rising and almost laughed out loud.

"Give me 20,000 Black Mountain troops?"

Zhang Liao was shocked, obviously not expecting Lu Bu to say that. However, with his outstanding vision and intelligence, he quickly understood what Lu Bu was planning.

This is a big pit!
The Montenegrin Army has nothing. Those who wear iron armor are the elite among the elite, and most of them don’t even have cloth armor.

He was assigned 20,000 Montenegrin troops and was not only responsible for their training but also for finding ways to get them equipment.

In addition, Lu Bu is his immediate superior. Once he has the weapons and equipment ready, it will be just a matter of words for Lu Bu to transfer these troops away!
After figuring out the relationship, Zhang Liao picked up the wine bowl and took a sip, then said quietly, "General, there is no problem in letting me train the troops."

"But I am not responsible for weapons and equipment. The general has to find a way to prepare them himself. I am only responsible for training the troops."

Seeing that his little trick was directly exposed by Zhang Liao, Lu Bu's face fell instantly. He snatched the wine bowl from Zhang Liao's hand and said unhappily:
"Stop drinking. Go, go, go! Go, go!"

"Okay." Zhang Liao stood up and left without saying a word.

After Zhang Liao left, Lu Bu raised his hand and drank the unfinished bowl of wine. He looked very depressed and asked Chen Gong: "How did Wenyuan become so shrewd? He even saw through my brilliant plan."

"Gongtai, do you think he guessed it blindly?"

"Oh, yes, yes, the general is right. Wenyuan was just guessing."

Chen Gong tried so hard to hold back his laughter that the muscles on his face were about to twitch. He hurried out of the tent before he could hold it back any longer.

After leaving the tent, his expression changed again, and his eyes were filled with deep worry.

He murmured, "The support of the Zhen family to Your Majesty is really too incredible. It is even more generous than the support of the Yin family to Emperor Guangwu."

"I guessed correctly. Your Majesty must have made some promises to the Zhen family that they could not refuse."

"General and Zhen, who will become the Guo family and who will become the Yin family in the future."

Chen Gong sighed heavily.

"Forget it. The world has not yet been unified. It's too early to say anything."

"Maybe everything is just my guess."

...The next day, at the south gate of Yecheng.

The court officials had been waiting outside the South Gate early in the morning, and besides them there were many other people gathered around.

The donations have been completed and today is the day for the monument to be erected.

The first ten people who donate the most money, grain and supplies will have the honor of having their names engraved on a monument to good deeds and passed down to future generations.

In addition, the top five will receive plaques personally bestowed by the emperor, and the first place will be awarded the title of "The First Good Man of the Han Dynasty" recognized by both the court and the emperor!

People all like to watch the excitement, let alone such a big event as erecting a monument. Plus, the emperor will be in attendance in person, so there will be a lot of onlookers.

Not only the people in the city, but also the refugees who had just arrived in Yecheng, had heard about the donation, so they all came to watch, wanting to see who the kind-hearted person was who donated money and food to help them.

Today, representatives from various aristocratic families, including Yang Biao, Fu Wan, Cui Yan, and the head of the Zhen family, all attended in their best attire.

Although they failed to win the title of "the most virtuous person in the Han Dynasty", being able to be engraved on the monument of virtue and be remembered forever is better than getting nothing at all.

Yuan Xi naturally also attended today.

Today, he has changed from his previous high-spirited and noble appearance. He dresses quite simply and looks very low-key.

But even so, it still attracted a lot of attention.

"That's Master Yuan Xi, right?"

"You should call me Da Sikong!"

"Donating all of the Yuan family's assets just to help the people, the Grand Marshal's actions are comparable to those of a saint, and are admirable."

"The best man in the Han Dynasty, well-deserved!"

……

The people around praised Yuan Xi highly, which made Cui Yan, Yang Biao and others feel envious.

This wave of donations by Yuan Xi directly restored the reputation of the Yuan family and gained great goodwill among the people. To be honest, it was not a loss at all.

But they are just envious, not jealous.

Because Yuan Xi exchanged the entire Yuan family's wealth for his reputation, they would never dare to do so. Only Yuan Xi, who was in urgent need of restoring the Yuan family's reputation, would act in this way.

While everyone was discussing, a team of Yulin Guards emerged from the city gate and cleared a path, followed closely by the emperor's dragon chariot.

"Your Majesty, I respectfully welcome you!"

Yuan Xi was the first to step forward quickly and pay homage to the dragon chariot. All the ministers present and the people around also kowtowed to the dragon chariot.

Liu Xie stepped down from the dragon chariot, and seeing this, he smiled faintly and said, "There is still snow on the ground. It's easy to get cold if you kneel for too long. Let's all stand up."

This reflects the level of speaking.

It was just a simple sentence, but when it fell into the ears of the ministers and the people, it made them feel warm in their hearts - this was the concern from the emperor!

"Thank you, Your Majesty!"

Everyone stood up one after another.

Liu Xie glanced at the ministers and the people around him and said, "Today is the day to erect a monument to good deeds, but before that, I want to say a few words."

As soon as this was said, the whole place fell silent.

Everyone's eyes were focused on Liu Xie.

Liu Xie sighed slightly and said slowly: "Since the reign of the traitor Dong, there has been constant war and the princes have divided their own kingdoms. The country has been reduced to ruins and the people have suffered greatly."

"As the Son of Heaven, I also have an unshirkable responsibility."

When Liu Xie said this, his expression became much more serious.

"This time, I pardoned hundreds of thousands of Yellow Turbans. People in the government and the public have complained about this. I know all about this."

"But in my opinion, if they really couldn't survive, why would they rebel? If they could live well, who would be willing to escape to the Taihang Mountains where dangers abound?"

“It’s not their fault.”

"Everyone is guilty, and the fault lies with me!"

Liu Xie's expression was excited and his tone was sonorous and powerful, carrying an indescribable and inspiring power.

"As the saying goes, all under heaven belongs to the king, and all within the land are the king's subjects."

"They are all Han people, all our compatriots. I have the responsibility to keep them alive. But now I have just put down the rebellion of Yuan thieves, the treasury is empty, and the court is unable to resettle them."

"However, in this time of crisis, everyone from the court officials to the peddlers and hawkers have donated money and supplies enthusiastically, just to resettle these people."

"You are the real heroes of our Han Dynasty!"

The people around were all moved when they heard this.

As the Son of Heaven, Liu Xie cared about the people and treated the Yellow Turbans who had once rebelled equally. He even said, "If all the people are guilty, the fault lies with me." With such a broad mind and magnanimity, he was comparable to a sage monarch like Emperor Xiaowen!
Liu Xie took a deep breath and said with a smile: "In order to commend their contributions, I will erect a monument today and engrave the names of the ten people who have donated the most in the past fifteen days."

“It will be praised for all eternity!”

As Liu Xie spoke, he walked to the monument covered with red cloth, which was more than two people tall, and pulled the red cloth down with his own hands.

Revealing the names above.

At the same time, the eunuchs following Liu Xie began to read out aloud the names of the donors and the amount of materials they donated from back to front.

"The tenth place is Sima Yi, the Sima family. He donated 10,000 shi of grain!"

"Ninth place, Xun Yan of the Xun family, donated 15,000 dan of grain!"

"The eighth one is Ju clan, Ju Zong, who donated 25,000 dan of grain, 6,000 jin of firewood, and 3,000 bolts of cloth!"

"The seventh one, Shen Rong, donated 27,000 dan of grain, 5,000 jin of firewood, and 3,000 pieces of cloth!"

"No. 6, Dong Zhong of the Dong family, donated 30,000 dan of grain, 10,000 jin of firewood, and 3,000 jin of meat!"

"The fifth one is Fu Wan from the Fu family, who donated 150,000 strings of cash!"

"The fourth one is Cui Yan from the Cui family. He donated 20,000 shi of grain, 10,000 sheep, and resettled 20,000 civilians!"

"The third one is Yang Biao, who donated 40,000 dan of grain, 10,000 jin of firewood, and 10,000 pieces of cloth!"

"The second one is Zhen Yi, the Zhen family, who donated 20,000 dan of grain, 5,000 jin of salt, and resettled 40,000 civilians!"

"The first one is Yuan Xi, the Yuan family. Donate all the family property of the Yuan family--!"

The eunuch read out all the names aloud.

The people around were all amazed at the names, families and the astonishing amount of donations on the monument.

“They are all kind-hearted people!”

"The least amount donated was 10,000 shi of grain. It seems that these noble families have some sense of responsibility and conscience."

"Humph, what does it have to do with them? If it weren't for your majesty's intervention, they wouldn't care about our life or death."

"Yes, we have to thank His Majesty. It is because of His Majesty's benevolence that we have been pardoned of our crimes and called on all the noble families to donate. Only then can we become normal Han citizens and no longer have to hide in the mountains and forests every day!"

"Your Majesty is truly a sage king of all ages!"

……

Among the onlookers were many Yellow Turban refugees brought by Zhang Yan.

After hearing Liu Xie's previous words and seeing the donations from the major families on the monument, they were all very excited and at the same time regretted why they had participated in the Yellow Turban Rebellion.

Some even burst into tears on the spot.

The emperor did not forget them and still regarded them as his subjects. He also gave them a way to survive.

This made them feel endless guilt towards the emperor.

Many refugees knelt down and kowtowed, shouting that the emperor was wise, and expressed their gratitude to Yuan Xi, Yang Biao and others.

(End of this chapter)