Chapter 119 Food is the fundamental problem

County officials from Donglai and Beihai counties and county officials were all dispatched to collect taxes.

However, Liu Bei has an explicit order not to force the people. If the people really cannot pay the taxes, they can be given a leniency.

Now it is Liu Bei who collects taxes, but it is Qingzhou Mu Yuan Tan who is scolded by the people.

The people in Beihai and Donglai counties all know that it was Yuan Tan, the shepherd of Qingzhou, who gave Liu Bei three months to hand over two million yuan and fifty thousand shi of grain.

Liu Beicai had to collect taxes and change the amount of taxes and the starting age. Even so, Liu Fujun did not overly force the people. Instead, he strictly ordered county and township officials at all levels not to violently collect taxes.

Because of this, the people were more attached to Liu Bei and hated Yuan Tan. At the same time, they were afraid that Yuan's troops would attack. The people who were able paid taxes in full, and the tax collection work went smoothly.

Liu Zheng led three thousand newly recruited soldiers to hide in the mountains at the junction of Taishan County and Qi State. Everything went well. The people nearby believed that he was the leader of the thieves, Guan Cheng, and some wealthy families were robbed of food.

Only Liu Zheng knew the plan, and the rest of the soldiers didn't know why they were hiding in the mountains and pretending to be bandits. Some people raised questions, but Liu Zheng only said it was for training.

They are indeed training every day, and Liu Zheng is a heroic man who eats and sleeps with the soldiers. His force is not weak, and he has won the hearts of the soldiers.

Liu Bei’s new concubine, Mrs. Wang, worked hard to give birth to a son as soon as possible.

But in Liu Bei's heart, he was thinking about important events every day.

He called Zhou Xing and said: "Military advisor, now Yuan Shao is suspicious of me. Even if I hand over money and food, it will only temporarily stabilize him. We don't have much time to develop with peace of mind. There are 6,000 soldiers in Donglai and Beihai."

There are 4,000 soldiers, and with the 3,000 Taishan soldiers Liu Ziquan led in the mountains, we have 13,000 soldiers."

"If we step up the collection of taxes this time, we will have enough money and food. Should we hurry up and recruit more soldiers to prepare for the sudden arrival of Yuan's troops?"

Liu Bei knew in his heart that Yuan Shao's request to hand over money and food this time was a test for him.

Since it is a test, it means you have doubts.

If he continues to develop, Yuan Shao will definitely realize his ambition, and it will be a matter of time before he sends troops to attack.

I'm not afraid of being late, but now I'm afraid of him coming early.

Now we can only delay it for three months. Once the time is up, even if we get the money and food back, something unexpected may happen.

If Yuan Shao finds out that his own people have taken away the money and food, Yuan's soldiers and horses will also come.

Therefore, we must prepare soldiers and horses to fight against it, and be prepared to defend the county.

There are 6,000 soldiers in Donglai, 3,000 of whom are newly recruited soldiers with no combat experience. Now they have joined the military camp to farm and train at the same time. Their combat power cannot be compared with those who have gone through the battle formation.

Although the four thousand soldiers in Beihai are all elite soldiers, there are still two thousand who have temporarily joined the military camp. Liu Zheng's three thousand soldiers are also new soldiers, and they will not be as good as the veterans when they go into battle.

Liu Bei's idea was to recruit another 5,000 men, so that his army would be nearly 20,000.

Now that Gongsun Zan is still in Youzhou, even if the Yuan family's troops come to attack, they will not come with all their strength. Yuan Shao must defend not only Gongsun Zan, but also Cao Cao and the Black Mountain bandits.

With nearly 20,000 people in hand, we are not afraid of Yuan Shao's troops coming to attack.

The only thing I worry about is that Gongsun Zan will be destroyed.

If Gongsun Zan is destroyed, Yuan Shao will have no worries in the north and will use his troops to deal with him.

"Lord, we have been recruiting troops all the time. The men in the original military camp can be soldiers during war. A rough calculation, maybe seven or eight thousand people can be mobilized. Our military strength can be calculated as two

Wan. It’s just..."

Zhou Xing paused and continued: "Food is the fundamental problem. If the food cannot keep up, it will be useless no matter how many people we have. We only have two counties now. Although the people are nearly one million, we have just won Beihai and the food has just been harvested."

, the food in the warehouse is still very scarce!"

"The current plan is to try our best to hold on and stabilize Yuan Shao. As long as Yuan Shao doesn't move, we will continue to gather grain and accumulate grain. When we have a million stones of grain, the lord will raise his arms and call, and there will be 300,000 to 50,000 troops and horses immediately.

Then there will be no fear in competing with Yuan Shao again."

Zhou Xing knows very well that the foundation of current development is food.

If there is no food, there is no need to talk about anything. No matter how many people there are, it is useless.

Just like the millions of Yellow Turbans who poured into Yanzhou before, because they had no food, they could not gather people's hearts. They did not listen to orders and fought on their own, so that Cao Cao could win.

If they have food, gather 50,000 or 100,000 strong soldiers, and give unified orders, it will be difficult to win with Cao Cao's small number of troops.

Although Yuan Shao now has more troops and is stronger, he also faces many threats.

In addition to Gongsun Zan in the north, Cao Cao in the south, and Zhang Yan, a Black Mountain bandit in Jizhou. It is precisely because of this that Yuan Tan moved to the plains instead of staying in Qi.

Although Yuan Xi is now named the governor of Youzhou, he actually does not have many troops in Youzhou, and the only places he can actually control are Daijun and Shanggu counties.

Zhuojun, Guangyang, Yuyang and Youbeiping are still Gongsun Zan's territory, and Liaodong is Gongsun Du's territory.

Bingzhou is a place with a vast territory and sparsely populated areas. Not long after the high officials arrived, the power has not really developed yet, and the power that can help Yuan Shao is not great.

Therefore, these two or three years are a good time for Liu Bei to develop in Qingzhou.

When Gongsun Zan was destroyed and Yuan Shao gained Gongsun Zan's troops and horses, and was able to control several counties in Youzhou, and gain men and horses, then he would be truly powerful.

But while our opponents are developing, we must also develop ourselves.

Zhou Xing saw this clearly and wanted to take advantage of this period of time to let Liu Bei develop vigorously.

The enemy is strong and we are strong, and Cao Cao is there to attract Yuan Shao's firepower. At that time, we can take advantage of Yuan and Cao's fight to capture Jizhou.

Although it is difficult, you have to try. The world is not easy to fight for, and Liu Bei does not have the capital of Yuan Shao.

Liu Bei nodded and said: "Yes, the food problem is what worries me. If I can conquer Qingzhou, I will have no worries about food. I just wonder when I can conquer Qingzhou?"

Now there are only two counties, Donglai and Beihai. If we gain the four counties of Qi, Jinan, Le'an and Pingyuan, the food problem will be easily solved.

"Within two years, my lord will conquer all of Qingzhou!"

By the fourth year of Jian'an, perhaps Lu Bu had been destroyed by Cao Cao. Once Lu Bu was destroyed, Cao Cao would face Yuan Shao directly, and the two tigers would fight.

At that time, Liu Bei could take the opportunity to seize Qingzhou, openly become an enemy of Yuan Shao, pretend to help Cao Cao, and seize Jizhou.

"Two years is fine!"

Although Liu Bei felt that two years was a long time, he understood that if he could occupy Qingzhou within two years, it would not be easy.

He and Zhou Xing discussed the issue of recruiting troops and how to increase food. At the same time, the person sent by Cao Cao to pretend to deliver a letter to Liu Bei was intercepted by Yuan Tan's people and the letter was found.
Chapter completed!