On the afternoon of 15 February, around the time of Shen Shi, Zhao Yu received a message from Wang Yan and Wei Chi in Kunyang City sent by the Nanyang cavalry.

Zhao Yu was not surprised that Wang Yan and Wei Chi took the initiative to evacuate Dingling, after all, with the little strength of the two of them, staying in Dingling County was purely looking for death.

To Zhao Yu's surprise, when Wang Yan and Wei Chi evacuated Dingling, they actually left a 'trap' for Guan Shuo......

I have to say, this is relatively smart.

But whether this kind of cleverness can succeed, Zhao Yu is not optimistic, after all, Guan Shuo and Chen Miao are not unscrupulous, how can they not see through the tricks of Wang Yan and Wei Chi?

Of course, these things have nothing to do with him Kunyang, if Guan Shuo and Chen Miao keep their promises, then, even if these two people lead the army north again in the next month or two, they will not set foot in the territory of Kunyang, Xiangcheng, and Runan counties - after all, the two sides have reached a private agreement that the rebels will acquiesce to the territory of 'Zhou Hu' and will not be violated.

Therefore, compared with the threat of the resurgence of the rebels, Zhao Yu is more concerned about the progress of the 'Reclamation Army' in reclaiming wasteland.

At the beginning of February, he carved out four plots of land in Kunyang and Xiangcheng, and prepared to cultivate them in a manner similar to that of Juntun, namely the 'Nantun' south of Kunyang City and north of the Shahe River, the 'Hekoutun' at the confluence of Rushui and the Shahe River, the 'Beitun' in Xiangcheng in the north and located at the corner of Rushui, and the 'Xiangtun' in the vicinity of Yuanxiang Village and Cen Village, a total of four pieces of Juntun land.

If you count the fields outside Kunyang City that were leased from the people, there are five.

After planning several military cantonments, the subordinate reclamation army began to implement reclamation operations, striving to reclaim the three places of 'Nantun', 'Hekoutun' and 'Beitun' before spring ploughing, that is, before April, and then rectify the fields outside Kunyang City and the fields around 'Xiangtun'.

The premise is that the subordinate reclamation army is honest and actively cultivated.

That night, Zhao Yu summoned Chen Mo, Chu Yan, Ma Gai, and Wu Zhi and said to them: "Today I received news from Wang Yan and Wei Chi that they have withdrawn to the military camp on the south bank of the Shahe River, Dingling, I am afraid that they have been recaptured by the rebels. ”

Hearing this, the faces of the four of them invariably became solemn.

Chen Mo was the first to ask, "Will the rebels make a comeback?" ”

Zhao Yu nodded and said: "Guan Shuo's comeback is inevitable, he must capture Ye County, and then attack Nanyang County, and join forces with the Jingchu rebels to flank Wang Shangde's army......"

Hearing this, Chu Yan immediately hugged his fists and said, "Big leader, Chu Yan please fight." ”

I have to say that as the right commander of the Black Tiger Village, Chu Yan, who was responsible for defending the main village at that time, completely missed the last battle of Kunyang, which made him feel very regretful.

Therefore, at this moment, when he heard that the rebels were coming back, Chu Yan immediately asked for battle.

Facing Chu Yan's invitation to fight, Zhao Yu said with a smile: "It is inevitable that Guan Shuo will make a comeback to attack Ye County, but it may not be ...... to attack my Kunyang."

Wu Zhi couldn't help but ask, "How can Leader Zhou decide?" ”

"Well...... this"

Zhao Yu's eyes flashed, and he said with a smile: "Do you think, Guan Shuo suffered a big loss in my Kunyang last time, it took nearly two months, paid the price of more than 50,000 casualties, and finally failed to capture my Kunyang, I believe he has realized the power of my Kunyang, and he will meet with our soldiers if he has not seen it......"

Chu Yan, Ma Gai, and Wu Zhi glanced at each other, feeling that Zhao Yu's explanation was very far-fetched.

Only Chen Mo was silent.

Some time ago, Chen Mo heard his confidant Liu Tu mention it, and learned that the big leader in front of him had met a foreigner named 'Zhang Zhai'.

This name is a little familiar, as if it is the rebel envoy who visited his Black Tiger Village two years ago......

Hearing Zhao Yu's explanation today, Chen Mo privately guessed that the big leader might have reached a private agreement with the rebels, but out of some concerns, he didn't tell the people below.

Of course, he didn't care about it, and he believed that the young chief could hold the right balance, as he had always done.

And just when Chen Mo remained silent, Ma Gai couldn't help but ask, "Has Leader Zhou ever considered reconciling with the rebels in private?" ”

Hearing this, several people looked at Ma Gai.

Seeing this, Ma Gai hurriedly explained: "I don't mean anything else, I just think that this year's farming in Kunyang is very important, for this reason I have reclaimed four tuntians, in case the rebels come to make trouble, even if he doesn't attack the city, just destroy the crops in tuntian, I Kunyang can't get a harvest, I'm afraid it will be difficult to feed the soldiers and civilians in the city...... There are also more than 10,000 subordinate reclamation troops. ”

"I'll think about it." Zhao Yu nodded calmly.

That calm attitude surprised Chen Mo, Chu Yan, Ma Gai, and Wu Zhi.

Before several people asked again, Zhao Yu diverted the topic: "What is the current situation of the Liken Army?" ”

At this time, Wang Qing had returned to the main village to recuperate, in the name of recuperation, in fact, he was too lazy to supervise the reclamation of farmland by the Liken Army, so he was exchanged for Chu Yan, therefore, Chen Mo, Chu Yan, Ma Gai, and Wu Zhi were the main generals responsible for supervising the Liken Army, and they were also the most trustworthy four.

"All in all ...... good"

Led by Chen Mo, the four of them successively reported to Zhao Yu the experience of supervising the reclamation of wasteland by the Liken Army in the recent period.

The current situation of the Liken Army is generally optimistic, and the vast majority of the former rebel captives have gradually adapted to their current status, and under the supervision and command of Kunyang, they are honestly reclaiming wasteland.

In order to win the hearts of these people and reduce the resistance of these people, Zhao Yu instructed the Brotherhood militia, who was responsible for arranging meals for the Liken Army, not to withhold the food, so as not to rebel against the Liken Army. After all, it is a force of more than 10,000 people, and if he rebels, he Kunyang will not be able to bear it.

Speaking of which, many people have raised objections to the matter of subordination to the reclamation army, such as Xun Yi, the western governor who has returned to Xuchang City, because it is 'uncontrollable', and the consequences of a rebellion are unimaginable.

However, Zhao Yuli overrode public opinion and finally finalized the matter of the subordination army.

The reason is very simple, he Kunyang needs a lot of labor.

In his plan, letting these people cultivate the tuntian is only one aspect, the ultimate goal is to annex this force, after all, the current situation is unstable, take the rebels as an example, even if Zhao Yu and Nanyang Qu envoy Zhang Zhai made an agreement in private, he is still a little wary of the rebels.

Let's just say that Guan Shuo, this person has suffered such a big loss in his Kunyang, will there be no resentment in his heart?

At present, Guan Shuo was anxious to capture Ye County, so he listened to Zhang Zhai's suggestion and made an appointment with Kunyang to 'not violate the river water', but what if he waited until Guan Shuo captured Ye County, or waited until Guan Shuo regained more than 100,000 troops? Will Guan Shuo still keep this agreement?

Zhao Yu can do what he says, but he doesn't dare to guarantee others, after all, there is a good saying, you can't hurt people, and you can't do without the heart of preventing people.

Therefore, his private agreement with the rebels could not fully protect his interests, and the key was that he had to control a force to make the rebels fall into the trap.

Therefore, it has become imperative to gradually absorb the more than 10,000 subordinate soldiers.

Even, if refugees flock to Kunyang in the next few months, Zhao Yu will absorb as much as possible, and he knows very well that the war is about population and food.

"Leader Zhou, do you really not punish that Qin Yu?"

After reporting on the experience of supervising the subordinate reclamation army, Wu Zhi couldn't help but say.

As a former county lieutenant of Suiping County, he had no good feelings for the rebels who had attacked his Suiping County.

"Qin Wei ......"

Zhao Yu was thoughtful.

Of course, he remembered the 'quite significant' incident that happened in the Liken army ten days ago, that is, a subordinate soldier betrayed Qin Yu and Peng Fu, the former uncle, and privately reported to Liu Tu, the Benmu of his Black Tiger People, that the two of them tried to organize people to flee and even resist.

If Ju Sheng hadn't arrived in time at that time, he implored Liu Tu to retreat in the face of the former, otherwise, Zhao Yu believed that Liu Tu would definitely slaughter that Peng Fu as a 'fugitive subordinate', so as to warn the rest of the subordinates.

I have to say that this incident surprised Zhao Yu very much.

Not only was it surprising that Qin Yu and Peng Fu dared to talk about things that were strictly forbidden by him in Kunyang in public, but they were even more surprised that there were subordinates who betrayed them.

Since then, the prestige of the former rebel general Qin Wei has been greatly damaged, and there has been a serious split within the subordinate army, and a considerable number of subordinate soldiers have become more and more obedient to the arrangement, and even gradually no one dares to try to escape.

Since at least mid-February, there have been no more subordinates trying to escape.

As for Qin Yu, Peng Fu and others who 'committed crimes', Liu Tu, Le Gui and others insisted on severe punishment, but Ju Sheng and Cao Wu came to plead with Zhao Yu.

Considering that Qin Yu was also said to be a capable general in the rebel army, and did not respond to Na Peng Fu's proposal in public, Zhao Yu thought about it for a while, and finally exposed the matter, and did not even send anyone to warn Qin Yu.

"Let's expose this matter, firstly, Qin Yu did not respond positively, and secondly, this matter has already obtained the best result, so there is no need to make any more extraneous branches."

After pondering for a moment, Zhao Yu chuckled and said: "Those subordinate soldiers, under the command of Guan Shuo, have conquered and fought fruitfully, and they have a bit of pride in their hearts, and they may not be willing to enslave me Kunyang in a short period of time, this is human nature." We must be strict, but not too harsh, as long as they do not collude with the crowd and do not try to escape, let them go, in short, everything is also the most important thing. ”

"Yes!"

Chen Mo, Chu Yan, Ma Gai, and Wu Zhi responded with their fists.

From February to March, Guan Shuo recruited soldiers in Dingling, Zhaoling, Yuncheng and other places; Chen Miao mobilized troops in Runan County; Yang Ding also recruited soldiers in Ye County and stepped up training.

During this time, Kunyang was busy reclaiming wasteland and set up four tuntian points: Nantun, Hekoutun, Beitun and Xiangtun.

At the beginning of April, with the joint efforts of thousands of Kunyang soldiers and more than 10,000 subordinate reclamation troops, Kunyang planted crops on nearly half of the land in the territory.

After more than ten days, around mid-April, the Changsha rebels, who had been belated, finally appeared on the south bank of the Shahe River.