Everyone was enjoying themselves in the hall. Zang Ba slapped his head, let out a cry, and then said: "I'm so stupid. The Marquis originally said that his name was Yu Zigao. Isn't this the homophony of the name that the Marquis made upside down?
"
Gao Fei laughed and said: "It doesn't matter, as long as you can come, I will be happy. General Zang, you have worked hard along the way. From Donglai to Liaodong, and from Liaodong to Jicheng, I feel a little sorry for the trouble."
Zang Ba clasped his fists and said: "The Marquis is too polite. Zang Ba is very satisfied to have the honor to seek refuge with the Marquis. But I don't understand why the Marquis has set up a secret trap on the beach of Huang County, Donglai."
Where is the ferry? Is it possible that the Marquis intends to cross the sea to seize Qingzhou? "
Gao Fei said: "Not for the time being, it is just used to receive the people of Qingzhou who fled to Liaodong. You also know that the Qingxu area is not peaceful, and the people suffered many deaths, so I set up a secret ferry there for
Transfer it to the common people."
"The Marquis has served the country and the people, and I really admire him greatly..." Zang Ba winked at his brothers. Chang Xi, Yin Li, Wu Dun, Sun Guan, and Sun Kang all stood together with Zang Ba.
Behind them, they clasped their fists together and said, "We have been wandering around the world for a long time and have never met a master like the Marquis. If the Marquis does not give up, we are willing to lead our troops to submit to the Marquis and follow him to the death!"
Gao Fei's intention was very clear. The reason why he asked Zang Ba to come to Youzhou was to conquer Zang Ba. When he saw Zang Ba voluntarily surrendering, he happily said: "Okay, okay, you don't have to be polite. From now on, you will return."
Come to my command, the military advisor, and order people to prepare a banquet to entertain the arrival of the six warriors."
Seeing that Gao Fei thought highly of Zang Ba, Jia Xu said "promise" and immediately ordered his soldiers to prepare a banquet.
At the banquet, Zang Ba, Chang Xi, Yin Li, Wu Dun, Sun Guan, and Sun Kang were all devouring their food. They had eaten and slept in the open all the way, which made these men very hungry. When they saw good wine and meat being served, they
Everyone ate like a hungry wolf as they ate heartily.
After eating and drinking, Gao Fei asked Jia Xu to arrange a military camp for Zang Ba and his party of more than 2,000 people, and issued uniform weapons and armor, allowing Zang Ba to temporarily serve as General Hengye, Chang Xi, Yin Li, Wu Dun,
Sun Guan and Sun Kang became Zang Ba's army commanders.
After dealing with the matter of Zang Ba's surrender, Jia Xu found Gao Fei again.
"My lord, it has entered spring now. According to Lu Heng's report, Yuan Shao's army is already ready to move in the Fanyang area, and a lot of additional horses and infantry have been deployed. Judging from my subordinates, Yuan Shao is likely to launch an offensive against our army in the near future.
My lord should take precautions as soon as possible."
Gao Fei said: "Well, Gongsun Zan of Bohai County has been holding back his troops. When I went to Mount Tai, I passed through Bohai County twice, and I also learned some information in Bohai County. Gongsun Zan now has 40,000 soldiers and troops stationed in the south.
Pi, on the surface, is Yuan Shao's subordinate, but in fact, he has always wanted to use Yuan Shao to capture Youzhou, and then fight in separate divisions.
Li. Although both of them have their own agendas, they have the same goal, and both are pointing at me. Therefore, if Yuan Shao wants to send troops, Gongsun Zan will inevitably attack Tianjin from the Bohai Sea. In addition, Liu Bei and his party are also temporarily under Yuan Shao's account.
Yuan Shao is no longer what he used to be. It can be said that he has three different factions with different combat capabilities. Our army must deal with them carefully."
Jia Xu said: "Currently, our army is getting along well with all the Xianbei tribes, and the commercial trade in Yunzhou is also in full swing. Under Hu Yu's rule, Dongyi has made some progress in the past six months. The Dongyi people are afraid of the lord's force, so they will not do it for the time being. Dare to move lightly. My subordinates believe that now is the time for the lord to actively prepare for war. Elite soldiers from all over the country can be mobilized to gather in Jicheng. As soon as the war begins, they can enter the war stage at any time."
"Okay, let's do it like this. You immediately order Zhao Yun, Zhang He, Pang De, and Hu Yu to each send half of their troops to Jicheng. In addition, let Gai Xun, the prefect of Changli, rush to Daijun to replace Zhao Yun in Daijun. Yunzhou will be temporarily handed over. Give it to the scholar Sun You, Shenyang to Guoyuan, Fushun and Tieling to Yu Du, and the land of Dongyi to Yiyimo for governance, and let Hu Yu lead his elite men to Jicheng."
"No, my subordinates will go and give orders to the generals."
Gao Fei watched Jia Xu leave, and then asked someone to summon Tian Feng.
Tian Feng is now the Prime Minister of the Yan State. He handles all the daily government affairs of the Yan State. He immediately ran to Yanhou Mansion to pay homage to Gao Fei.
"My lord summoned his subordinates in such a hurry, what's the matter?"
Gao Fei said: "Since you became the Prime Minister, there have been no mistakes in the government affairs of the Yan State. In the past six months, the Yan State has reclaimed countless wastelands and built water conservancy projects across the territory of the Yan State. In addition, you have proposed large-scale development. Animal husbandry has enabled the Wuhuan people to actively devote themselves to raising horses, cattle, and sheep, which to a certain extent makes up for our army's need for war horses and cattle. I asked you to come here this time to reward you. One hundred pounds of gold for encouragement."
Tian Feng declined and said: "My lord, the Yan Kingdom is booming now, and a large amount of money needs to be misappropriated for various construction projects. This one hundred kilograms of gold is enough to buy ten high-quality war horses. My subordinates absolutely dare not accept it. Please also ask The Lord takes back his life."
Gao Fei said: "Well, since you insist on not agreeing, I won't force you. Are Xun Chen, Guo Jia, Xu You, and Sima Lang okay working under you?"
Tian Feng said: "The four of them are also conscientious in completing the tasks entrusted by the lord. Xun Chen manages money and grain, Guo Jia manages salt and iron, Xu You manages armaments, and Sima Lang manages household registration. They all perform their duties."
Gao Fei said: "Very good. From today on, you have to prepare for me a year's worth of food, grass and military pay for the 50,000-horse infantry. Is there any problem?"
After Tian Feng heard this, he immediately asked: "Is the lord going to attack Jizhou?"
Gao Fei smiled and said: "The soldiers and horses have not yet moved the food and grass. They must be well prepared before I can launch an attack on Jizhou. I wonder if there will be any difficulties in food, grass and military pay this year?"
Tian Feng said: "When my lord was in charge of Youzhou, he once exempted and exempted the taxes in Youzhou for one year, and the taxes collected were also very low. It is indeed a bit difficult to raise money. But my lord does not need to worry, as long as you give your subordinates a month. , I will definitely raise enough food, grass and military pay for the 70,000 horse infantry for one year to prepare for war."
Gao Fei was very aware of the situation of his Yan Kingdom. When he took charge of Youzhou, he confiscated all the properties of the nine wealthy businessmen from Luoyang and the eight bullies in Youzhou. Although he got a lot of property and food for a while, he was not satisfied with it after a while. In the past year and a half, Youzhou has spent money on various construction projects, and it can be said that it cannot make ends meet. Except for the trade income from Yunzhou City, Youzhou has no money income. The so-called spending money is like running water. In order to Most of the money has already been spent on various infrastructure projects in Youzhou.
You must know that war depends on national strength. When there is no war, Youzhou has enough food, grass and military pay to maintain an army of 100,000, but once a war breaks out, the consumption of money and food will increase exponentially.
Gao Fei didn't know what method Tian Feng was going to use to raise the food and military pay, but he believed in Tian Feng and said to Tian Feng: "Prime Minister, just go ahead and do whatever you need to do. I won't interfere."
.”
Tian Feng said "promise" and withdrew from the Yanhou Mansion, and began to implement the plan to raise food, grass and military pay.
The next day, Tian Feng began to take action, sending many postmen to and from counties. He asked each county to collect the people's taxes half a year in advance, and sent people to collect donations from the wealthy gentry everywhere. He also
I personally went to Shisun Rui's residence and asked Shisun Rui to bleed him again.
The scholar Sun Rui was quite generous. Perhaps because he was addicted to being an official, he was very indifferent to money. When he heard that Gao Fei was preparing to go south to attack Jizhou, he also said that Yunzhou had given full authority to Yunzhou.
His son Shisun You, he immediately took out half of the existing family property for military purposes, and also allocated one-third of the rice grain of Shisun Mansion.
The people of Youzhou were also deeply benefited by Gao Fei. When they heard that taxes were collected, instead of resisting, they took the initiative to pay them. Mainly because the tax of one out of ten taxes was the lowest in the entire Han Dynasty. In addition, in the past two years,
There was a great harvest in Youzhou and the people became rich, so some large households paid taxes for three years at a time.
In just one month, soldiers and horses from all over Youzhou continued to gather towards Jicheng, and convoys transporting grain and money from various counties after collecting taxes also entered Jicheng, making Jicheng once again become a city.
The city in Jizhou has the most money and grain, as well as the largest number of soldiers and horses.
On April 26, Tian Feng successfully raised the food, grass and military pay that could be used by the 80,000-horse infantry for a year during the war, and soldiers and horses from all over Youzhou also gathered in Jicheng.
During this month, although Yuan Shao intermittently sent more troops to Zhongshan and Hejian, he did not launch any major operations. Gao Fei was also actively preparing for war. On the one hand, he allowed the newly formed Lianlian Horse Battalion and Heavy Infantry Battalion to carry out operations.
Drilling, on the one hand, allows the generals of each department to train the soldiers of each department.
On the fifth day of May, during the Dragon Boat Festival, the weather began to get hot. Fifty thousand cavalry troops gathered inside and outside Jicheng. Except for 10,000 heavy infantry and 5,000 heavy cavalry that formed a chain of horses, the rest were all light cavalry.
Gao Fei conducted a military parade.
While watching the military parade, Gao Fei was very happy when he saw that all the soldiers were wearing steel armor and holding steel weapons. He immediately shouted to the soldiers: "Soldiers, you are all my Youzhou."
Athletes, we must use steel will to defeat all enemies and let the world know that you are the strongest steel warriors!"
"Mighty! Mighty! Mighty!"
After the military parade, Gao Fei gathered all the generals and counselors together. In the hall of Yanhou Mansion, he loudly said: "As the saying goes, strike first to gain strength. Now that our army has all the provisions and horses in order, it's time to fight with them."