Chapter 667 Gathering

Chapter 667 Gathering

Chapter 667 Gathering
Outside the northern city of Heyang, there was a sea of ​​refugees that stretched as far as the eye could see.

The Puyang Prefecture soldiers who had been on duty sent out two thousand men, divided the area outside the city, and gathered and resettled the people.

After being raised for a period of time, they will be sent to Xingyang in the south in batches.

There had been many wars there, and although it was not a completely deserted place, it was really desolate. There were only 30,000 to 40,000 people in the seven counties, which was considered to be the area that suffered the most from the war.

Therefore, it was not without reason that Lord Liang ordered Heyang to send all the refugees it received to Xingyang - it might not sound good, but only counties that have been turned into a blank slate can better register the people.

If Xingyang cannot accommodate them, a number of people will be sent to Chenjun, limited to 6,000 households, to fill the vacancies left after the overall relocation of the Right Camp of the Silver Spear Army.

At the end of July, Liang State's Imperial Censor Pan Tao, Left Minister of the People Zao Song, Left Chief Clerk of the General's Office Pei Shao, Chief Clerk Zheng Long and others arrived in Heyang, accompanied in person by Inspector of the Imperial Capital Du Yin, Yin of Henan Lu Yan, and Heyang Magistrate Cheng Yuantan.

The group of people still behaved like scholars. Even when they were discussing serious matters, they still found a good shady place, spread out a carpet, put out a table, food utensils, and tea sets, and talked while eating and drinking.

Zao Song called his followers, took out some Wu Shi San from his bag, and looked at everyone.

Pan Tao waved his hand, indicating no.

Pei Shao and Lu Yan were somewhat tempted, but also refused.

Zheng Long, Du Yin and Cheng Yuantan did not express much.

Zao Song put away the Five Stones Powder with embarrassment. He had heard that Lord Liang disliked this substance, and the officials under his jurisdiction did not dare to take the Five Stones Powder in front of him. He did not expect that they would have many concerns in private. Was he afraid that someone would tell on him and affect his future?
Zao Song gradually figured out the official atmosphere in Henan and decided to adjust his future behavior again.

"The river boats are gathering, and the food and supplies are arriving. We have made a lot of profit this time." Pan Tao looked at the mighty Yellow River, chuckled, and said, "This will make life more difficult for the Xiongnu in Hanoi."

On the south bank of the Yellow River, a large number of trackers shouted in unison, pulling one grain ship after another upstream and then unloading the cargo in the three cities of Heyang.

This is the first batch, with a total of ten ships, loaded with 90,000 hu of grain.

The garrisons in the three cities of Heyang had already distributed military rations to the victims in advance, and the newly transported grain was to make up for the consumption.

"If there were no Yuzhou, the situation would not be like this." After Pan Tao spoke, Pei Shao said, "I heard that Prime Minister Yu was successful in raising grain in Liang State, and the first batch of 200,000 hu of grain has begun to be sent to Qingzhou."

"Yuzhou is indeed the most important. Only Lu County was affected by the disaster. We rested and recovered last year. This year, after the summer wheat is harvested, we can harvest beans in a month. There is plenty of food."

"Have the thirteen counties of Liang State really become a powerful place?"

"Mr. Liang has the skills to care for the people and the methods to cultivate the land and mulberry trees. In the past, the millet and wheat yields per mu in Sanwu, Yiyang were higher than those in Yiquanwu. I even sent people to learn from them."

"If the refugees we gathered this time can be truly settled, they will be a help to Lord Liang in a few years."

Everyone enjoyed the cool breeze from the river, drank tea, and kept talking about the most important issue at the moment, disaster relief.

The chief clerk Zheng Long spoke very little.

It's not that he doesn't want to talk, but it's hard to squeeze into the circle of these people. In fact, only Pan Tao would occasionally talk to him.

However, although he didn't say anything, he was very happy in his heart, especially when he heard people talking about the weather of Liang State, he felt extremely proud.

I don't know how many of Shao's students and the children of the rich and powerful are serving as officials at the county level in Liangguo. The current situation of Liangguo is the result of everyone's hard work - of course, God also gave face and did not let the locust plague spread here.

Thirteen prefectures, eighty-one counties, and nearly 1.6 million registered residents. Is this a strong force? Quite strong.

No aristocratic family in the world can control so much land and population.

To some extent, Master Shao himself is an oversized aristocratic family. Relying on his own foundation, he mobilized ten times more powerful aristocratic families to conquer the world.

What a boldness this is.

"Why haven't they arrived yet?" After everyone finished drinking a cup of tea, Pan Tao raised his head and looked not far away.

Coincidentally, just when he was getting a little impatient, Liu Bin, the commander of the Zaoting Longxiang Prefecture, came over.

Behind him were dozens of soldiers from the government, escorting a dozen ragged refugees.

After the greetings were over, Pan Tao stood up, looked at the refugees kneeling in front of him, and asked, "Where are you from?"

"Wild King."

"Sanyo."

"Jixian."

"Shangdang."

"Jinyang."

... "Everyone from Jinyang is here, what about Liu Bingzhou?" Pan Tao was a little surprised, but not particularly surprised.

Let alone the Xiongnu, even in Henan and Hebei, as long as you are not afraid of being captured and taken to the manor as a slave, you can go there freely. The grassroots level is completely blank and the management is extremely lax.

It's not that I don't want to manage it, but in today's society, I can't manage it at all. Your power and authority barely reach the county level, and in many places, even the imperial power does not extend below the county level. An entire county or even several counties are the paradise of aristocratic families.

The nobles at this time, on the one hand, suffered from the war and were in danger of having their family businesses overturned. On the other hand, they gained enormous power that was difficult to seize in peaceful times. Their overall strength and influence rose step by step and soared to the top.

Large groups of refugees are generally ignored and left alone to live in peace. Unless they want to settle down, conflicts between residents and refugees will break out.

The Xiongnu actually had a similar social structure. It was rare for refugees to move south from Jinyang to Henan, but it was not impossible. Otherwise, how would so many nobles who moved south, along with their followers, farmhands, servants and maids, travel through states and counties with large and small carts?
"Mr. Liu is still in Jinyang." The person who was asked the question was of low status and could not say more. He only knew that Liu Kun had not left yet - of course, he also heard it from others.

Liu Bin handed a stack of papers to Pan Tao.

After Pan Tao took it, he glanced through it and found that it was a summary of information about the north collected by Heyang.

Basically, you say something and he says something, and then they summarize it and remove the obviously contradictory parts to piece together a complete picture - it may not be absolutely accurate, but we can only strive for relative accuracy.

"When Liu Zun lured 30,000 families of Hu and Han people to Taiyuan, I knew it was not good." Pan Tao sighed: "How much storage did Liu Kun have? He also had to face the invasion of the Xiongnu, and the people could not farm and graze in peace. If all 30,000 families were dispersed, Liu Yueshi would be defeated repeatedly in battles, and it might be difficult to maintain it."

Without the support of the Tuoba clan, how could Liu Kun defend Jinyang? He was lucky to be able to solve the food problem for his soldiers and civilians.

"The Shangdang Jie, Wuhuan, and Xiongnu tribes are not having a good time either." Pan Tao looked at the second piece of paper, saw the wonderful part, patted it with the back of his hand, and said with a smile: "They are already slaughtering livestock."

The locusts ate the food and grass, and people and cattle and sheep had nothing to eat. In such a situation, people could only eat cattle and sheep, but this was like drinking poison to quench thirst.

If the tribes knew, they would think carefully about how to live next year. The livelihood of the local people, which was already under pressure due to years of war, encountered an unexpected event like a locust plague. They could not maintain it all of a sudden and began to collapse. Slaughtering livestock to get through the current difficulties would lead to insufficient livestock next year, insufficient dairy products, and widespread famine. Continuing to slaughter livestock is like stepping on the accelerator on a downhill road.

There are only two ways to break out of this vicious cycle: either inject a large amount of livestock and food from outside, or consume a part of the population.

"Mr. Pan." The chief clerk Zheng Long came over and asked, "I wonder if any Hu people from Shangdang and Henei have gone south?"

"Yes, quite a few." Pan Tao nodded and said with a smile, "The opportunity has come. Zhang Mengsun is indeed a man of great foresight. He set his sights on Hanoi and Shangdang before anyone else could react."

Zheng Long showed a delighted look on his face and suggested, "Perhaps we can ask the refugee leader Guo Mo to send someone to sneak back to Hanoi. He was originally the lord of Hanoi Fortress and was appointed by Liu Kun. He has a lot of old friends and can better find out the inside story."

Guo Mo did accept Liu Kun's appointment as prefect.

At that time, Henei was in chaos, Luoyang was unable to take care of itself, and Liu Kun and Liu Cong each appointed a governor of Henei. In the end, Guo Mo could not hold on any longer, so he led some soldiers and civilians to cross the river to Henan County and found a piece of wasteland to cultivate.

His current position is more like a mercenary leader.

When there is no war, they cultivate the fields. When a war is needed, they are conscripted to fight. After the war, they receive some food and livestock as rewards, and sometimes they can even share some spoils of war.

In fact, his business in Hanoi was once quite prosperous.

In his spare time, he attacked and killed nearby forts, looted food and grass, and robbed and killed merchants on the way. He was simply lawless. At most, his fort had accumulated hundreds of thousands of bushels of grain.

He could not stand in Hanoi. In addition to the pressure from the Huns, the fact that he had angered all the fort owners was also an important reason that could not be ignored - "My neighbors store grain and I store guns. My neighbors are my granary." Who could stand this way of doing things?

"Zheng Zhubu's plan is brilliant," Pan Tao praised.

"Mr. Pan, has Bianliang decided to attack Henei?" Inspector Du Yin of the Imperial Guards could not help but ask.

"It's just an idea, we have to wait and see." Pan Tao said: "In fact, I suggest an attack. Divert some of the disaster relief grain and use it as military funds for the expedition, and maybe we can gain something."

Du Yin was speechless.

In Pan Yangzhong's eyes, some of the victims in Qingzhou could die in exchange for the opportunity to attack Jijun, Henei and even Shangdang.

Considering the general situation in the world, Du Yin had to admit that this was the right thing to do.

But from the perspective of the hungry people of Qingzhou, how could they bear to do that?
He actually knew that he and his brother (Du Dan) were too soft-hearted. Whenever they saw refugees who couldn't survive, they would gather them within their power. This mentality was actually not suitable for troubled times because it was not cruel enough.

You think that if you gather and rescue the refugees, they will be grateful and will become your own people in the future. But how can you know that you will not let a wolf into the house and cause the magpie's nest to be taken over by the cuckoo?

Pan Tao glanced at Du Yin, shook his head and laughed, saying, "This matter still depends on Lord Liang. We just need to gather the refugees and find out the enemy's situation. Lord Liang has already returned to Bianliang, and he has his own ideas on what to do."

"That's right." Du Yin smiled and said.

In fact, even during a disaster, the war has not stopped in some places.

Bai Chaowu is already on the verge of collapse. We cannot give up at this time. We must grit our teeth and fight it down no matter what.

As for Jijun, Henei, and Shangdang, this is destined to be a war of a larger scale. Du Yin doesn't know whether to start a war or not. He hopes not.

(End of this chapter)