When Xu Ji came to Youzhou, it was already the time when the golden wind was cool.

Xun You, Zhang Jaw, Gao Ran and their two younger brothers came out of the camp to greet each other, and everyone was naturally happy to see each other.

The weather in Saibei naturally gave these people a sense of murder, and between the eyebrows, there was the majestic momentum of the generous and tragic song of the land of Yan Zhao.

Xun You, in particular, is a typical southerner who has grown strong after a few years of life. Not to mention generals like Zhang Jaw. Everyone told about parting in the big tent, talked and laughed again, and the topic focused on the matter of Youzhou.

Xun You glanced at Chen Dao and said indifferently: "It seems that the lord is bent on starting a war with the grassland aliens." ”

Xu Ji smiled when he heard this: "I knew that I couldn't hide it from you." ”

Zhang He and Gao Ran were stunned when they heard this: Isn't Xu Ji here to solve Gongsun Zhan's problem?

After Xu Ji explained, the two of them suddenly realized that Zhang He was quite intelligent, and said with a frown: "My lord, please think twice, my Chinese nation has always been resisting the alien races in the north. But the effect is very little, although in the war against the Huns has achieved brilliant results, but the north of my Han is too vast, a steppe people were expelled, it will not be long before another steppe people will rise, I am afraid that the lord will do his best, but after many years this achievement will be in vain, it is better to follow the example of the predecessors, garrison the Great Wall is the best policy. ”

When Xu Ji heard this, he looked at Zhang He and said with a smile: "You are very hard-working, I didn't expect to have such an experience in such a short period of time in Youzhou." ”

Xu Ji said so in his mouth, but what he thought in his heart was that this Zhang He really lived up to his reputation, and it was not a lie that the legendary Wei Wuzigu was a good general. At least the three people under Xu Ji's command are not mediocre now, and it is indeed a commendable thing that Zhang He has such insight in a short period of time.

Throughout ancient China. Xiongnu, Turkic, Khitan, Jurchen, Mongol and so on. All of them have risen successively in the north, and as Zhang He said. The Han nation exterminated or expelled one of them, and it was not long before a rising man would replace him. It is really "wildfires that can't be burned, and the spring breeze blows and grows again". Gao Ran also spoke up on the side: "Zhang Jaw is reasonable, although I look down on Liu Yu's military talent, but I have to admit that Liu Yu is clever in handling border affairs. A hundred Gongsun Zhan are not as good as one Liu Yu, just look at the beginning of the pacification of Zhang Ju's rebellion, Youzhou has not only become more and more stable, but also thriving for many years, you can know that Liu Yu is a real person on the frontier. In particular, the aliens admired Liu Yu very much, and many people served in Liu Yu's government. Now that Liu Yu is dead, all the grassland ethnic groups are very angry. Liu Yu's son Liu He has gathered a lot of soldiers and horses, with Tian Chou as his military advisor, and is preparing to fight Gongsun Zhan. Xu Ji's eyes flashed and said, "Tian Chou? ”

Xun You looked at Xu Ji. He said in a deep voice: "Is the lord very impressed by this person?" ”

Xu Ji nodded and said, "This person's talent is quite good. ”

Xun You frowned and said, "Can the lord make it clear?" In the future, if our army wants to conquer Youzhou and start a war with foreign races, we may encounter this person. Zhang He and Gao Ran were surprised when they heard this. I don't understand why my unpredictable boss would agree to Xu Ji's decision to go to war against a foreign race, which is really unwise.

Xu Ji laughed and said: "This person's talent lies in the balanced construction ability, what he is best at should be making something out of nothing, right?!" ”

Xun You was shocked and said, "Out of nothing? Is it a villain who is playing right and wrong? If so, our army will be left with nothing. It's better to take it and kill it. ”

Xu Ji smiled and said, "Gongda is really a humble gentleman. If you change Fengxiao and Wenhe, you will definitely use the so-called villain, after all, the villain is the easiest to buy. However, Gongda misunderstood. The fact that he is very good at business and can start from scratch means that he is very good at management. If this person is the person who wants to build and plan the city, he is really the most suitable person. Looking at my Yanzhou, although your uncle Wen Ruo is good at internal affairs, but in this regard, he is only much worse than Tian Chou. ”

Xun Youdi's eyes flashed, and he smiled: "I see! It seems that I will capture this man alive for the Lord. I'm afraid that in the strategy of the lord to conquer the steppe peoples, this person's role is extraordinary. ”

Xu Ji smiled and nodded, Xun You is no longer the strategist who can only give advice after this long period of experience, he has become a unique talent under Xu Ji's deliberate cultivation, and this is also the reason why Xu Ji asked him to replace Gao Shun in the first place, just looking at the fact that he has guessed his own way to solve the problem of alien races in a short time, Xun You is also more powerful than him in history.

Zhang He really couldn't wait, and raised his head and asked Xu Jidao: "Lord, why don't you take advantage of the situation and take the opportunity to subdue the hearts of these grassland peoples?" Now that Liu Yu is dead in the hands of Gongsun Zhan, we can completely eliminate Gongsun Chan under the banner of avenging Liu Yu, so that all the nations near and far will surrender, and Youzhou can easily fall into our hands, why not? After a pause, he said: "What's more, 'soldiers, unknown, the saint has to use it as a last resort', once a war with the grassland people, the loss of my Yanzhou will be very huge, and the gains outweigh the losses." ”

Gao Ran interjected on the side: "What Jun Yi said is extremely true, the grassland is boundless, the grassland people live in the grassland, and where there is grass, you can survive, but our Han people make a living from farming, and the grain and grass needed by the army need to be continuously transported from afar, so as to fully supply the needs of the army that is getting farther and farther away from us because of the pursuit of the grassland people." This is not counting, in order to transport a large amount of grain, the daily food consumption of the soldiers transporting the grain and the repair of the carriages and horses is a big problem, and the grassland is boundless, how many troops our army invests is not much, those grassland peoples are elusive, if they bypass the attacking troops of our army, sneak attack our army's grain and grass, not to mention the heavy losses that our army will suffer, that is, the soldiers who are fighting abroad complain because of lack of food, and even fall into danger, so that they perish, so please think twice! Zhang He nodded solemnly.

Xu Ji looked at Gao Lan, but he was surprised in his heart that this person was thoughtful, he didn't expect that this general, who had not gone on the next round of Chen Zhigun, was so smart. It's not easy. If cultivated properly, this high view can definitely be in its own right.

Come to think of it. Xu Ji smiled and inspired: "Gao Ran, you are indeed right, but if you sum it up. I think your comments can be summarized in two ways. One is the consumption of grain and grass, and even the economic impact on my Yanzhou: the second is the issue of security, am I right? Gao Ran nodded yes.

Xu Ji looked sideways at Xun Yu and said with a smile: "Gongda, tell me, is there a way to solve these two problems?" ”

Xun You smiled: "Actually, these two questions are not a problem. In Yanzhou, grain and grass have always been abundant, and under the whimsy of the lord, the workshop also invented a lot of agricultural tools. It plays a great role in increasing the yield of grain and grass. Moreover, with the stability of Yanzhou in the past few years, we have held a large amount of land in our hands, and we have obtained a lot of grain and grass in the battle to exterminate the stubborn clans. So food is definitely not a problem. After a pause, Xun You smiled again: "As for the transportation of grain and grass, Zhang Jaw and Gao Ran, of course you don't know if you haven't been to Yanzhou, and Jizhou has changed a lot in the past two years. Under the proposal of the lord and the organization of Lord Xun Yu, Yanzhou and Jizhou have established a perfect road, which is the so-called 'official road' of the lord. And this kind of official road is compatible with the carriage invented in Yanzhou, and you can't imagine how fast this kind of carriage is when this kind of carriage is galloping on this kind of official road. Coupled with superior performance and rugged construction. The so-called additional losses have been significantly reduced. ”

Zhang Jaw and Gao Ran are both military talents, and they don't know much about the national economy and people's livelihood. In their concept, Yanzhou's grain and grass transportation troops should be no different from other princes, so they have this question. At this time, when he heard Xun You's explanation, he was greatly relieved. Xun You said: "Moreover, in the near future, we will not have to transport grain and grass from the rear at all. ”

Zhang He and Gao Ran were very strange. There was an inquiring look in his eyes.

Xun You smiled mysteriously and said, "This is why the lord cares so much about Tian Chou." Think about it, if we can build new cities on the steppes and reclaim wasteland......"

Zhang He and Gao Ran were stunned. The key to this comes to mind right away. In fact, this is equivalent to getting the army's supply to the front line, which of course will play a role in getting twice the result with half the effort.

Zhang He thought of another question: "But where did we find so many people?" Move them here? Xu Ji laughed and said: "This is not a problem, although the 50,000 clan soldiers of the Zhen family are not experts in fighting. But when it comes to agricultural production, it is definitely a first-class good farmer, moving them here, this is a source of manpower, and also, on the battlefield in Yuzhou, we have collected nearly 100,000 Yellow Turban Army, including the generals, we can move here together, and there will be as many as 150,000 people before and after, plus the local residents of Youzhou, we will definitely not have a problem in human resources. ”

Xun You said again: "I said earlier, the two of you should also learn from it, the lord has long said that war must bring benefits, so when we are waging war with the outside world, the lord must have determined what benefits we will gain, so how can I say that the 'soldier is unknown'?" ”

Zhang He thought about it for a while, then nodded and stopped talking, because he was completely a novice in construction planning. As for the economy, they don't know anything at all. Xu Ji stood up and said in a deep voice: "Of course, I will plan these people well. The 50,000 men of the Zhen family have been trained for a long time and are easy to command, so it is best to use them to build new cities and reclaim wasteland; As for the Yellow Turban Army, although they are also farmers, they have become a trend of plundering, and they still need to be well controlled, I am ready to let them engage in animal husbandry, and grab the strengths of the grassland peoples, and it will not be long before our cattle and sheep on the grassland can squeeze all the living space of those grassland peoples. ”

Xu Ji's words shocked Zhang He and Gao Ran, they didn't expect Xu Ji to come up with such an idea, even Xun You was surprised, he originally thought that Xu Ji would completely engage in agricultural production after moving these 150,000 people here, but he didn't expect Xu Ji to have such a division of labor. Of course, Xu Ji did this for a reason, one aspect is that Xu Ji does not want to destroy the ecological environment, once the grasslands and forests in the north are destroyed, then land desertification will become a big problem for the Chinese nation in the future, as a "descendant" Xu Ji of course knows the "sandstorm" is powerful.

On the other hand, starting from the improvement of the national physique, Xu Ji hopes that the food of the Chinese people will gradually be based on meat, so that it will be. The physical constitution of the people of our nation can be greatly improved. It is because of these two aspects. Xu Jicai wants to vigorously develop animal husbandry, of course. Xu Ji has already thought about the planning of grazing resources, and overgrazing will also lead to the problem of desertification. This requires afforestation to change.

In ancient China more than a thousand years ago. It is really much easier to plant trees and improve soil quality than it will be in later generations.

Gao Ran was thinking about another question, and said in a deep voice: "Lord, you said that the Yellow Turban Army is difficult to discipline. Send them here, there will be no mistakes, this group of thieves has been used to plundering, and they are not used to discipline, if some of them rebel, and the grassland is so big, it will be difficult to clean up. ”

Xu Ji smiled: "I have thought of this for a long time. First of all. I will implement the hukou system that we have always had in Dahan. Register all personnel; After all, life in the grassland is not as hard as in the Central Plains, and I will use generous subsidies and low taxes to firmly capture the hearts of these Yellow Turban soldiers who have had enough hard life. Let them know that as long as they keep to themselves, they will have a good life; What's more, I brought Chen Zhi, Uncle Zhi had traveled to the grassland in his early years, he was very familiar with the grassland people, and with Uncle Zhi here, there was absolutely no problem in military affairs. What's more, with Uncle Zhi's reputation, those Yellow Turban Army should be very afraid. I have brought 10,000 Yanzhou cavalry here, half of which are Yanzhou elite cavalry under Shu Zhi, and 20,000 Yanzhou cavalry will be gradually dispatched later. With these 30,000 heroes, who else dares to have different intentions? ”

Xun You said on the side: "The lord has a great plan, especially these Yellow Turban soldiers are still some farmers after all. They have no other livelihood skills other than farming, but in the vast grasslands. They had no choice but to accept the arrangement of the lord. Even if they make a living from plundering, it will be difficult to continue because they are not familiar with the road, not to mention that the people of Youzhou have been fierce since ancient times, how can they be qualified to rob others? If you don't get it right, you will become the prey of others. ”

Zhang He and Gao Ran nodded when they heard this, of course, the most convincing thing for them was that Xu Ji adopted a local policy, which could definitely calm the hearts of these relocated people. Xu Ji turned his head and sneered: "You are right, the grassland people have always lived in the grass, and where there is grass, they can live, so we have to change the way of war from driving them to robbing the grassland, when they build a city on the grassland, when the pastures of our Han people occupy the fertile places with water and grass, I think they still have much room to live?" Of course, this is definitely not a place that can be completed by a generation, but it doesn't matter, it is not a day's work to eliminate border troubles, since someone will do it sooner or later, then it will be up to me Xu Ji to do it! ”

Chen Dao, Zhang He and Gao Ran nodded vigorously, moved by Xu Ji's open-mindedness that does not care about success or failure. Xun You nodded excitedly and said, "That's right, but we must master the method of grazing as soon as possible." After all, this is not our forte. ”

Xu Ji smiled slightly: "In this regard, we might as well learn from Liu Yu and properly contact those grassland peoples." ”

Everyone was stunned, Xu Ji was still talking about war with the grassland people just now, why did he have such a statement for so long? Xu Ji looked around for a week and said with a smile: "It's not that I'm out of Er, but on the contrary, Liu Yu is there to appease those powerful foreign tribes, and I want to contact some weak tribes, we want to learn useful grassland knowledge from them, with these valuable experiences passed down from generation to generation, the grassland will no longer be terrible!" ”

Everyone suddenly realized that this was the case. Xu Ji said coldly: "We can help these small ethnic groups drive away those powerful enemies from the grassland, make them grateful, and teach them some Han agricultural knowledge, as for the various Han treasures they are interested in, they can sell them at a very low price, tell them that as long as they become friends with us, they don't have to rob, and they can also get countless good things, and I will also invite some people to my academy in Yanzhou to teach grassland knowledge, and give them courtesy as a national soldier, I don't believe they are not impressed!" Hum! Sooner or later, I want them to lose their nature as a steppe people and gradually adapt to the life of our Han people. ”

Zhang He's eyes lit up, and he muttered: "The soldiers who surrender without a fight, the good ones are also good!" Xu Ji raised his head and said in a deep voice: "Actually, Liu Yu also had this idea, but Liu Yu miscalculated one thing, that is, the alien tribes he pacified were very powerful, even if they were moved to the mainland, they would not be able to be sinicized in a short period of time, and because they lived together, they would become a big trouble because they went deep into the hinterland of my Han!" ”

Chen Zhi and the others nodded when they heard this. Xun You said with a thoughtful expression: "What the lord said is very true, this Liu Yu's pacification policy can only treat the symptoms, not the root cause, look at Yu Fuluo in Bingzhou, it is really the best example, the Southern Xiongnu can be regarded as accepting Sinicization, but because of the relationship between the settlements, it has become a potential danger for my Han in the north." I see that the lord has recognized Yu Fuluo's status in Bingzhou, and I was very worried. ”

Xu Ji thought about the later Xiongnu nobleman Liu Yuan, the Southern Xiongnu at that time had been sinicized for more than 100 years, but how? Once the government was in trouble at that time, it would immediately take advantage of the situation and replace the Western Jin Dynasty. Looking at Liu Yu's policy, there is also this danger, if the Youzhou government is strong, it can deter the alien race for a while, but once something happens, the alien race will immediately take advantage of the situation.

Now that Liu Yu is dead, it is a good opportunity for the alien race to develop and grow, and it is not impossible to take the opportunity to avenge Liu Yu and invade on a large scale.

In history, the people who blocked the intentions of the alien race first had Yuan Shao, and then Cao Cao, but now that history has changed, since he has conspired to seize Youzhou, he must take this responsibility. Thinking of this, Xu Ji turned around and said coldly: "If it is not my race, its heart will be different!" If those alien races really surrendered to Liu Yu, then they should come to help when Liu Yu and Gongsun Zhan were fighting, instead of coming to the cat crying mouse and fake mercy after Liu Yu's death, that is obviously an ambition for the territory of my Han Dynasty! ”

Xu Ji's words shocked Zhang He and Gao Lan's hearts, they had always thought that it was a good strategy to appease the aliens, but when Xu Ji said this, they found that things were far from being as simple as they imagined.

Xu Ji changed the topic with a smile at this time: "But before that, let's think about destroying Gongsun Chan first!" (To be continued......)