Jiangxia County is a relatively large county.

It has 14 county seats. It is a relatively large county, but the population of Jiangxia is only fourteen counties, and the total population of the fourteen counties is less than 300,000.

It's not even a fraction of Nanyang County.

In Runan and Nanyang, there are 37 county towns under their respective commands, and the population has reached a terrifying 2 million.

Combined, the population of the two counties is close to five million.

You must know that the entire Han Dynasty had a population of 50 million.

Therefore, when the Yellow Turban Rebellion was made, that is, it belonged to the two places of Runan and Nanyang, and the most violent was not for anything else, purely because of the large population.

Although the population of the Yellow Turban Rebellion was greatly reduced, the combined population of the two places was as high as 2 million.

It is precisely because of this that Yuan Shu was able to rely on these two counties and recruit nearly 100,000 soldiers and horses from here.

Otherwise, if it were two counties in other places, let alone 100,000 soldiers and horses, I am afraid that there may not even be 100,000 young and middle-aged men.

For example, the Xiliang area, a huge Xiliang region, an entire state, has nearly 100 county seats, but the real Han people are less than 500,000.

It is not as populated as a county elsewhere.

The population of Liangzhou is not large, and the state is actually not much better, there are also nearly 100 county seats, and the population is only 700,000.

The larger counties of Jiangxia County, such as Xiling County, Xiyang County, Jingling County, Qichun County and other places, are now reoccupied by Liu Biao's people.

There are as few as three to five hundred soldiers and horses stationed here, and as many as thousands of cavalry patrols under Ding Yuan's command.

It was not easy for Liu Zheng to bypass Ding Yuan's soldiers and horses and directly attack other counties.

First, Liu Zheng had no cavalry, all infantry, and in terms of mobility, he was weaker than Ding Yuan.

Once Liu Zheng wanted to launch a surprise attack on other counties, Ding Yuan's men and horses could block Liu Zheng's retreat at any time, and while there was no city wall, he was besieged by Ding Yuan's cavalry in the field, and there was only one result, that is, Liu Zheng would be defeated.

You can't beat it, you can't win it when you run.

Such is the importance of cavalry on the battlefield in ancient times.

Otherwise, Liu Zheng would not have been eager to have enough cavalry.

In history, except for the Han and Tang dynasties, because they had a large number of cavalry to suppress the alien races in the north, the other dynasties were suppressed by the nomads in the north because they did not have enough war horses, and were even beaten into the Central Plains by the nomads several times.

Horses have become the most important strategic resource of this era.

Liu Zheng couldn't take the initiative to attack, so he could only build some military buildings in the territory he already controlled to prevent Ding Yuan's men and horses from attacking.

For example, digging some ditches, which can avoid the rush of war horses, as long as the width of the trenches is sufficient, it is impossible for the cavalry to rush directly to kill them.

At the same time, some anti-horse guns were erected in important areas, and even ground thorns were buried to deal with cavalry attacks.

The construction of the parade building is relatively smooth in these days, a total of three floors of the parade building, on the top of a hill in Baqiu, the three-story high parade building, can be seen at a glance on the surface of this lake, quite conspicuous.

The scenery of the lake and the mountains can also reflect a beautiful scenery.

Liu Zhenghui sent soldiers and horses to stand guard here from time to time, and at the same time watched the dynamics of Jiangxia County.

Although there are not many places that can be seen, the situation around the entire Dongting Lake can still be seen roughly clearly, and once there is a navy here, it is easy to see.

When Yuan Rou woke up again, it was already noon.

Yuan Yao saw that Yuan Rou hadn't come back all night, and he was also happy in his heart, thinking that his sister and Liu Zheng had achieved good things.

At noon, when he saw Yuan Rou returning, Yuan Yao excitedly stepped forward to ask his sister how things were going.

"Sister, why are you only coming back now, how are things going?"

Yuan Yao was still a little expectant, staring at Yuan Rou, his eyes full of curiosity.

When Yuan Rou saw Yuan Yao like this, her face suddenly became ashamed, but she still told Yuan Yao about what happened last night.

When Yuan Yao heard that Liu Zheng had not done anything unspeakable to his sister, the surprise in his eyes became even more intense.

I don't know if I was surprised that Liu Zheng couldn't look down on my sister, or because Liu Zheng was so determined.

"So it didn't happen between Liu Zheng and you..."

Yuan Yao didn't say it too clearly.

However, Yuan Rou still understood the meaning of his words, and immediately nodded and continued.

"He didn't have anything to do with me, but he told me what to do with the situation."

"What can we do to save our father?"

"Let my father give up Runan and leave to live."

"Leaving Runan? This is impossible, you know the character of my father, he will not give up this last hope even if he dies. ”

"I also know, but if my father wants to protect our family, there is only one way to give up Runan, and Lord Liu Zheng also told me that if my father is willing to give up Runan, he can come to Yangzhou to join him, at least there is no problem in keeping the family free of food and clothing."

"Big brother, I have an idea, I don't know if you want to listen to me."

As soon as Yuan Yao heard what his sister Yuan Rou wanted to say, he actually just asked Yuan Shu to give up Runan, and the expression on his face immediately was a little unpleasant.

However, hearing that Yuan Rou seemed to have something to say, Yuan Yao still raised his head and looked at Yuan Rou.

"What thoughts?"

"Big brother, tell me first, in this situation, can my father still keep Runan?"

"If Liu Zheng hadn't led the army to come, I'm afraid that my father would have been defeated a long time ago, thanks to Liu Zheng holding back most of Ding Yuan's soldiers and horses, so that my father's people could still survive."

"Yes, you also know that my father can't hold Runan, since my father is bound to fail, why don't you go directly to Lord Liu Zheng, with Lord Liu Zheng's ability now, not to mention that he occupies Yangzhou and Jiaozhou, just the strength shown by Lord Liu Zheng is not much weaker than the Han court."

"With the strength of Lord Liu Zheng now, it is not impossible to seize the world in the future, if my father takes refuge early, maybe there is still a dragon skill."

Yuan Rou's words, Yuan Yao didn't think about it, just let his father take refuge in Liu Zheng, this kind of thing is not so easy, unless it really comes to the last moment.

"Alas, I understand what you said, until the last moment, my father will definitely not make such a choice."

"Then big brother, you can go back and persuade your father, it must be much better to take refuge with Liu Zheng than to go to Jizhou to refuge with your uncle."

Yuan Rou is also clear about the relationship between Yuan Shu and Yuan Shao.