Pengcheng is divided into four districts, the North District near the North Gate, the South District near the South Gate, the West District near the West Gate, and the East Gate East District. The north and west districts have been built, and in addition to the wide streets, there are rows of neatly arranged ancient buildings, and the city is very large, but it is somewhat sparsely populated.

The common people were only responsible for the construction of Pengcheng, but they were not allowed to live here. They didn't dare to ask who was going to live here. In the center of Pengcheng, there is a continuous building complex covering an area of nearly 1,000 acres that Tao Ying spent nearly tens of thousands of taels of gold to build, like a palace.

The main hall in the middle has been built, and the main hall that towers into the sky is the most spectacular, and it seems that you can see it when you raise your eyes as soon as you enter Pengcheng. Next to the main hall, there are six sub-halls, but only two have been built after nearly half a year's efforts.

However, looking at the Hongda project in front of him, coupled with the simple tools, Tao Ying was already very satisfied with such progress. Walking on the somewhat chaotic construction site, the people and soldiers who were responsible for building the main hall and the wall did not stop, and they were still busy.

Looking at the busy crowds of people, Tao Ying turned his head to Chen Deng and asked, "How many Cao Jun prisoners did we capture last time?" ”

Chen Deng hurriedly said: "Back to the lord, of the sixteen thousand three hundred and seventeen captives captured from Cao Cao, there are less than a thousand left!" ”

When he heard that there were less than a thousand people, Tao Ying was startled at first. In just eight months, more than 15,000 slaves died! How did they all die, did the soldiers of Pengcheng torture them? Before Tao Ying left, he ordered that the prisoners of war should not be abused, and he also told them that they must be provided with food!

Seeing that Tao Ying's face was a little puzzled, Chen Deng hurriedly said again: "Nearly half of the captives died of starvation, nearly a thousand people died of illness, and the rest were mostly exhausted!" ”

"Why don't you give them food? Why don't you heal them when you're sick? ”

Tao Ying was still a little angry, although it was a prisoner of war, but after all, it was also a living life! It's just that Chen Deng lowered his head and defended: "Qi Yu Lord, Lord Gong led the troops north, and all the newly harvested grain and grass were requisitioned as military rations, and most of the old grain and grass were distributed to the people. Not to mention prisoners of war, even we can only eat one meal a day. The weeds outside the city were eaten by the soldiers. If it weren't for the people's reverence for the name of the Lord God, I'm afraid they would have eaten even the bark of the tree we just transplanted in the city......"

After Tao Ying listened, he felt an inexplicable chill. He saw that the poor people of Tan County had nothing to rely on outside the city, so he thought about saving them. So I wanted them to come to Pengcheng, but I never thought that I was already full of floating corpses here. Tao Ying didn't see the hungry people like scarecrows all over the ground, so he couldn't believe how terrible hunger was sometimes!

Even those who starved to death, Chen Deng couldn't bear to let Tao Ying see the cold, so before Tao Ying came back, Chen Deng burned all the corpses.

"Are there any casualties among the people?"

Tao Ying's voice was so low that he even doubted whether he could hear what he said. Chen Deng bowed his body for a long time before deciding to tell the truth. Yan Zhen looked at Chen Deng next to him and motioned him not to say it, but Chen Deng seemed to know Tao Ying's temper and personality, Tao Ying was not a brutal lord, he had always believed in it, although he used to.

"Enlighten the lord, the people want to build the city wall, and they have to build the street and the palace, which is already hard enough, but the lord has cut off their food and grass, is it unwise! The lord really shouldn't have led the troops to the north, the lord collected the grain and grass, and the people could have eaten wild vegetables to satisfy their hunger, but the lord ordered to recruit troops in Pengcheng and Xiapi State, and for a time the young and middle-aged people couldn't bear to starve to death, so they all put down their farm work and ran to become soldiers, and the only remaining grain and grass in the hands of the people was also requisitioned, and many people starved to death......

After Chen Deng finished speaking, the group of people next to him lowered their heads, and Tao Ying only now understood why Chen Deng was so determined to prevent him from sending troops. In the words of later generations, he is a great achievement, and he is reckless. And he really became the most cruel monarch once, during the eight months he was in charge of Pengchengguo, at least nearly tens of thousands of people in Pengchengguo starved to death.

Tens of thousands of people, it can really be described as floating corpses everywhere!

The dead people, like a bolt of lightning, struck away the world full of clouds. It was like a thunderbolt from the blue, which made Tao Ying wake up completely, but it had happened, and no matter how sad he was, it would be useless.

So Tao Ying pointed to the people who were still working and said, "Yuanlong, I shouldn't disobey you, I am guilty of the people of Pengcheng." Tomorrow I will write a letter of sin, and you will tell the people that the dark days that belonged to Pengcheng are over! Within this year, I will never send troops to attack again, and the people will stop serving in conscription, and the people will be free and recuperate with the people! ”

After Tao Ying finished speaking, Chen Deng and Yan Jian suddenly knelt on the ground and shouted: "The lord is wise! After saying that, tears flowed from the corners of their eyes with excitement. That's right, the people of Pengcheng and even the people of Xuzhou regard Tao as a god, and his words are to let the people die, and they are all willing.

But Tao Ying didn't want to do this, he wanted someone to remind him from time to time, he didn't want to see a burst of pompous wind and big / leap forward in Pengcheng because of his self-worship, after all, it was a dark time.

You can't build a big/leap forward, you can't worship yourself at any time, otherwise you will lose yourself! This is Tao Ying's deepest feeling after returning to Pengcheng. Tao should send Chen Deng to send an order for the people who built the palace and the city walls to go home and farm, and at the same time to send the counties to remember not to make similar mistakes.

Tao Ying's guess was right, all the other prefectures and counties were able to quickly build cities and roads after the war, all of which had to do with their desire to curry favor with Tao Ying, the god who brought peace to Xuzhou. Many of the things that happened in the era when Tao Ying lived happened in Pengcheng. But fortunately, reading history can be wise, Tao Ying realized his mistake and quickly corrected this crooked trend!

After passing the order to rest and recuperate, Chen Deng and the others accompanied Tao Ying all the way to a palace complex that had been built. There are nearly ten small courtyards in this palace, and each one is particularly exquisitely decorated. Rockery streams, bamboo forests, carved windows, red wooden doors, sturdy pillars, and spacious rooms all tell of his beauty.

Several people sat down to rest in a pavilion in the central compound, listening to Chen Deng's report on Peng Chengguo's information during this period of time, Tao Ying sometimes frowned, and sometimes smiled.

It turned out that in the months after Tao Ying left, although hundreds of thousands of people were sacrificed, the road from Pengcheng to Guangqi and Wuyuan was built. To the west, another Pengdang road was built, starting from Pengcheng and passing through Xiaoguan to Dangxian. Originally, Dangxian belonged to Yuzhou, but after Xiaoguan surrendered, with Tao Ying's successive victories in the north, all the counties of Yuzhou, which were oppressed by the powerful Yuan Shu in the south, wanted to surrender to Tao Ying in order to protect themselves.

Originally, they wanted to take refuge in Cao Cao, because in the northern battlefield, Cao Cao was invincible, and taking refuge in Cao Cao could give them a sense of security. But since Tao Ying defeated Cao Cao, they have also changed their minds. So after the recommendation of Xiaoguan County, Dangxian County also applied to join Peng Chengguo's arms.

So a brand new Peng Dang Avenue was built in this way, from June to November these months, the people not only built Peng Dang Avenue, to the south is to build Peng Dang Avenue, Peng Dang Avenue passed through Wu County and built a three-way intersection to Wu County, at the same time Pengcheng and Xuzhou old governance under Picheng also completed the integration.

In fact, it is said to be a big road, which is completely different from the concrete floor seen in later generations. In later generations, there were national highways and provincial roads, but those were paved with stones and cement, and how could the amount of work be done in the late Han Dynasty? During the reign of Chen Deng, the main roads were all dirt roads, but the villagers were not allowed to farm on them, and then they were tamped little by little with hot soil.

Therefore, such roads are built very quickly, and the local people will solve the problem of planning by themselves. Although there were many people in Pengcheng who died of exhaustion during this period, looking at the brand-new roads and the rapid rise of Pengcheng, Tao Ying still attracted countless people from Yanzhou, Yuzhou, Yangzhou and Xuzhou, as well as the clans.