Shen Chen's request for military training was naturally not a whim.
It is already the second year of Xingping, AD 195, and Zhang Ji will attack Nanyang next year.
Moreover, Nanyang itself is not a paradise. There are a large number of Yellow Turban remnants hidden in the surrounding Funiu Mountains and Dabie Mountains, which often harass the villagers.
For example, He Yi, Liu Pi, Huang Shao, He Man and others all had tens of thousands of people and were stationed in the mountainous areas of Runan, Nanyang and other places.
There are scattered small-scale Yellow Turban villages, countless villages, and even other bandits and refugees.
What Nanyang lacks now is actually not land, but population.
Since the end of the Han Dynasty, the population of Nanyang has been reduced by half, and abandoned land is everywhere.
If soldiers can be trained, firstly, they will have a certain ability to protect themselves, and secondly, they can absorb refugees and Runan Yellow Turbans to strengthen themselves.
This method was not pioneered by Shen Chen, but was practiced by most manor landlords in the late Han Dynasty.
According to historical records, starting from Jizhou after the Yellow Turban Rebellion, the owners of manors in various places were in danger, so they recruited refugees, trained soldiers, and built a large number of forts to defend themselves.
The most typical examples are Zhou Yu and Lu Su. One is from a bureaucratic family and the other is a local powerful. They both used this method to train soldiers and horses to survive in troubled times.
Later, when Sun Ce pacified Jiangdong, he only borrowed a thousand men from Yuan Shu. Since he and Zhou Yu had a small relationship, and Zhou Yu's uncle was the prefect of Danyang, Sun Ce immediately received their response as soon as he came to Jiangdong. With their help Zi pulled up a team of tens of thousands of people.
The Shen Chen family was just an ordinary small local family, unlike Zhou Yu and Lu Su, who came from a powerful family. Even if they relied on the Deng family, they could not get power support because the Deng family had no official position.
So he could only find another way and choose a relatively stupid way to grow stronger.
Taking advantage of the retting technology, we can greatly increase grain production. If we can train soldiers, we can slowly annex the surrounding scattered Yellow Turban villages and absorb refugees.
At the same time, a large number of farms were planted to reserve grain and grass. Once the grain was available, more people could be attracted to join and the company would gradually grow.
However, military training is not a simple matter. In addition to training methods, there are also weapons and equipment. These are not only available for farming, but also require economic development.
Therefore, Shen Chen planned to focus on farming, supplemented by trade in porcelain and ironware to improve himself.
The development of porcelain in the Han Dynasty was actually very good, but they were all ordinary yellow clay porcelain. The best was Jiangdong white porcelain, so Jiangdong porcelain was also very famous. More exquisite colored porcelain did not appear until the Tang Dynasty.
And Shen Chen knew exactly these techniques, which was enough to amaze the nobles of the Han Dynasty.
After finalizing the details with the clan elders, Shen Chen planned the details of the military training. He required that the fifty soldiers he selected must be those who dare to die and risk their lives, and must be equipped with steel-like discipline and good food.
Logistics are provided by the clan. Since the great harvest, Shen Chen has stipulated that all families must hand over one-tenth of their grain and save it as public property.
This is equivalent to using more than a thousand acres of land and about seven to eight thousand dan of rations every year to support professional soldiers, which is more than enough.
Based on the calculation that a professional soldier at that time consumed close to three shi of food per month, fifty men would only need less than 2,000 shi per year.
Most of the remaining grain must be sold and exchanged for salt, livestock, iron tools, armor, bows and arrows, and horses to support the troops.
In ancient society, unless it was a peasant uprising army like the Yellow Turban Army, raising a group of elite soldiers would cost a huge amount of money.
For example, the armor of a Shenwu Right Army soldier in the Song Dynasty cost 58 guan. Including horses and weapons, the price of a piece of equipment was more than 100 guan and close to 200 guan.
From the Eastern Han Dynasty until the time of Emperor Ling of the Han Dynasty, the regular army only had less than 50,000 Northern troops. In order to support these people, the court almost went bankrupt.
But as the saying goes, you get what you pay for. It was with these tens of thousands of people that Emperor Ling of the Han Dynasty was able to quell the Yellow Turban Rebellion.
Dong Zhuo was able to cause such a big disturbance because he took the opportunity to control the Northern Army and the Eighth Army of Xiyuan when he entered Luoyang.
Therefore, although fifty people are not many, if they are armed according to the regular army, the combat effectiveness is still very impressive.
If an average of 500 Yellow Turban soldiers met head-on, they would probably be defeated by these fifty people.
This is also in line with the fact that the current clan has a small number of people and needs some elite soldiers to protect the clan's security.
The command of the team was left to veterans such as Deng Zhao and Chen Zhen, and the training methods were also left to them. Shen Chen was only there for reference.
Because the training methods of our country's steel army in later generations actually have no reference value in the Han Dynasty. That army was the people's army, with faith and discipline, and a tenacious style in fighting.
In the Han Dynasty, it was more practical to tell the feudal army how much money they would be rewarded after destroying the enemy.
After making this series of plans, Shen Chen finally left the clan and headed to Xiangyang.
In early May, amid farewells from family members and clan elders, Shen Chen and his sixth uncle got into a cart pulled by two donkeys and slowly headed south.
Deng Hong was the only one with him and a servant who drove the carriage.
Xinye is actually very close to Xiangyang, less than 200 miles away. If you take a boat all the way south, it only takes seven or eight hours to get there.
In addition, Liu Biao deployed a large number of troops in the surrounding areas, so it was still very safe from the south of Wancheng to Xiangyang.
Deng's new residence was located on the north bank of Shahe River, close to Bishui, which was later known as Tangzi River.
After crossing the river, you will reach Huyang County.
We rode in the donkey cart for more than two hours, starting from about nine o'clock in the morning to two o'clock in the afternoon.
At the beginning, after leaving the new village of Huangmenting, the south was completely deserted. When we approached Huyang County, we saw large areas of countryside, fields, mulberry forests and ponds.
Deng Hong was wearing an ordinary scholar's robe and was kneeling on the donkey cart. Shen Chen didn't have so many worries and simply lay down on the cart. He was about to fall apart due to the bumps on the road.
Traveling in this era is really unbearable. The shorter the journey, the better. But the longer the journey, whether you ride a horse, take a car or walk, you will suffer.
Riding a horse or car is a waste of your butt, walking or running is a waste of your legs and feet. The only decent mode of transportation is by boat.
But if you get seasick, congratulations, you will be tortured when you go out.
Especially in summer, it is even more uncomfortable than going to jail.
The appearance of the grandfather and grandson in a rural pavilion in the northwest of Huyang County still attracted the attention of the villagers, who came to look over one after another.
May is summer. In the past two years, summers have become increasingly hotter. Farmland is close to Bishui. However, due to the increasingly hot weather, the water level in Bishui has dropped sharply. Many villagers are digging canals.
Although millet seedlings and wheat seedlings are relatively drought-tolerant crops, they still need water no matter how drought-resistant they are.
When Shen Chen saw this scene, he thought for a moment and said to Deng Hong: "Uncle, do you want to give you a chance to become famous?"
"what?"
Deng Hong looked at Shen Chen warily. His grandson had a lot of bad ideas. Last time he asked him if he wanted to find a daughter of a wealthy family in Xiangyang as his wife. Now he didn't know what bad ideas he was thinking of.
Shen Chen pointed to the distance and said: "I will teach my uncle the keel waterwheel. If my uncle teaches the villagers how to use it, he will definitely become famous in the countryside."
"What's the use of being famous in the countryside."
Deng Hong shrugged: "Only when you are famous among scholars can you be truly famous."
Shen Chen smiled and said: "Being famous in the countryside is of great use. If Huangmen Pavilion wants to grow stronger, it must attract the people. After you teach them the keel waterwheel, the people in the countryside in Huyang will definitely be grateful and spread your fame. Then your reputation will be known to the nearby village pavilions."
"Then what?"
"Then you tell them that someone will attack Nanyang in the future. If there is a war then, let them go north to join our village. Won't there be more people in our village?"
"Will someone attack Nanyang in the future?"
Deng Hong suddenly felt the meaning of Shen Chen's words keenly.
It is true that he had little knowledge before due to his low knowledge, but after spending time with his grandson, he was able to grasp the key points.
Shen Chen then smiled and said, "Uncle, you don't think Jingzhou is a safe place. To be honest with you, I feel that within a year or two at most, Nanyang will be in chaos, and our clan must be prepared by then."
Zhang Ji attacked Nanyang, and Liu Biao gave Wancheng to Zhang Xiu.
Subsequently, Cao Cao attacked Zhang Xiu several times, and each time the coalition forces of Zhang Xiu and Liu Biao suffered heavy losses. Many people in the north of Nanyang were also relocated by Cao Cao, including the Deng Ai family.
Not to mention that on the eve of the Battle of Chibi, Liu Cong surrendered to Cao Cao, Liu Bei fled south, and more than 100,000 people from Xinye followed him, causing chaos throughout Nanyang.
Therefore, from 196 AD to 208 AD, Nanyang was not peaceful.
Large-scale wars occasionally include the war between Zhang Xiu and Cao Cao, and small-scale wars also include the Yellow Turbans' plundering and Cao Cao's attack on the Runan Yellow Turbans.
Therefore, it is necessary to make many arrangements before Nanyang is in chaos to prepare for future growth.
"Well, I understand."
Deng Hong heard Shen Chen's words and nodded thoughtfully.
The two of them continued south.
There is no way to make a keel waterwheel now. Shen Chen plans to teach Deng Hong how to make it after arriving in Xiangyang.
After making it, he was asked to go to various places in Nanyang to teach it, and a large number of it was built in Huyang, Xiangxiang, Pingshi, Yuyang and other places around the Shahe area where Huangmenting lived, so as to make the countryside famous.
By the time Zhang Ji's army moves south, I believe that the fortress and manor built by Huangmenting have already developed certain defensive capabilities and can absorb more villagers.
The donkey cart was not too slow, and it took about five hours to reach the outside of Xiangyang City at an average speed of ten kilometers per hour.
However, it is impossible to enter the city today, so they can only live in Fancheng.
After approaching Xiangyang, Shen Chen saw a large number of refugees migrating southward along the way. These were all pretty good. It is said that there are now nearly 100,000 people gathered in Shunyang, Li State, near Wuguan.
There was a severe drought in Guanzhong last summer, and the price of grain soared. One dendrobium cost half a million, and people in Kuan'an were eating each other.
Liu Xie wanted to open a warehouse to store grain, but the grain was embezzled. Li Jue, Guo Si and others even sent troops to rob the grain sent by Liu Xie, causing a great famine.
At that time, there were still millions of people in Guanzhong, and countless people died due to hunger. A large number of migrants who could migrate migrated to Guanzhong, Yizhou and Nanyang, which indirectly supplemented their population.