Under the supervision of Zhang Chao's attention, the free market in Jinyang City was finally built, with more than 10,000 shops.

And just the day before the opening, there were dozens of merchants with Zhang's name standing in it.

As soon as these merchants moved in, they injected vitality into the Jinyang Free Market, especially when other people who went to see the excitement were surprised after learning about what was being sold.

Zhang's merchants sell a wide range of things. For example, there is sweet sugar, toothpaste and toothbrush that freshen the breath and whiten the teeth, laundry soap that cleans clothes and leaves a fragrance, hair cream, shower gel, a bright mirror that illuminates people's faces (the clarity of which is far from comparable to that of bronze mirrors at the time), clothes of various shapes (including underwear used by women and shorts worn by men), and some ordinary weapons are also sold.

Most of these things were unseen by the people, but when they learned what they were used for, they found that each of them was so subtle and useful.

Naturally, these things were built according to the intentions put forward by Zhang Chao, and at least no one could match them in terms of creativity. And with these things in the free market, it has already gathered a lot of popularity. Then, with the arrival of heroes and some local merchants, it suddenly became the largest free market in the northern region. It's no exaggeration to say that as long as you have money, you can buy anything here.

The free market is also managed by soldiers, and their appearance maintains law and order here, which can prevent bullying and domination from happening, and can ensure that merchants can take out the money they have earned. With such intimate service, it is natural that more and more merchants come here to operate, and every day there is a steady flow of tax money into the treasury of the shepherd's mansion.

Today's Shepherd's Mansion has been changed by Zhang Chao to the General's Mansion.

Zhang Chao, whose ambition is not in the land of Yimu, changed to the name of the general with the reward of Emperor Xian of the Han Dynasty, which is understandable. Of course, this also means that his ambition is revealed, and his ambition has begun to swell.

In fact, it was not just the name of the prefecture that was changed, but there were many changes at the same time.

For example, Zhang Chao set up the Military Aircraft Department, and the initial composition was composed of five military divisions: Guo Jia, Lu Su, Jia Xu, Xu Shu, and Li Ru. But whenever something big happens, the five of them can make a decision, and then report to him to make the final decision.

For example, the Weapons Research Institute has successfully developed a method to control the opening of the city gate by the machine. This can make the gates thicker and less easily attacked.

For example, after more than a year of hard work in medical schools, thousands of medical officers have graduated, and they will go down to serve in the grassroots army, which can greatly reduce the number of deaths on the battlefield.

For example, there are more people in the Faculty of Arts who admire Cai Yong's name to study, and there are many talented people among them, one of whom is Pang Tong, a typical representative.

Pang Tong was born in 179, the word Shiyuan, the number Fengxiao, the Han Dynasty Jingzhou Xiangyang (now Xiangyang, Hubei) people.

Of course, Pang Tong was not famous at this time, and even among many students, he was still unknown.

Pang Tong was simple when he was a child, he didn't look smart on the surface, and even his face was not delicate, and he was a little ugly when he looked closely. But it was this person who later became the world-famous phoenix chick, and became a person who was as short as Wolong Zhuge Kong Mingke.

Since discovering Pang Tong, Zhang Chao immediately arranged for the members of Tianyan to be responsible for secretly monitoring, and such a talent came to Bingzhou, and he would never let him go.

These are some of the advances that have been made in terms of economy and talent. At the same time, military recruits are also stepping up training. The vanguard army led by Lu Bu and the Dragon and Tiger army led by Zhao Yun also joined the intense training after they were fully equipped.

In addition, Zhang Jiajun has also been developed. Originally, there were only 2,000 Zhang Jiajun's heavy cavalry and 3,000 light cavalry, but after Zhang Chao's order, they challenged the warriors of a hundred battles from the city, and quickly expanded to a lineup of 3,000 heavy cavalry and 5,000 light cavalry.

This alone is a lot of military spending. There is also the development of Gao Shun's trapped camp, which has also changed from the original 500 people to the current 800 people. This is still due to the lack of financial resources, otherwise, it can continue to develop.

In the continuous development, Zhang Chao, who only occupies one state, deeply feels the lack of financial resources. The amount of food needed by the soldiers every day is money. It's just a state, and the money and grain collected every year are limited, and it is difficult to expand the strength in one step.

This is equivalent to having a dog, and if you want the dog to become more ferocious and brave, you need a bigger cage.

The development of current affairs made Zhang Chao can't help but focus on the road of outward expansion, but who to hit first and who to hit later has also become a very difficult thing.

It was also in the same year, i.e., from 194 A.D. to the end of the year.

Two state pastors died, namely Yizhou Mu Liu Yan, who was succeeded by his son Liu Zhang, but Zhang Lu under his rule became independent in Hanzhong; The other was Xuzhou Mu Taoqian who died of illness, and when he died, he handed Xuzhou over to Liu Bei and Uncle Liu Huang.

In this way, in addition to Luoyang, the fourteen states in the world are from west to east respectively from Liangzhou's Ma Teng to lead Liangzhou pastor; Dong Zhuo of Yongzhou led the Yongzhou pastor; Liu Zhang, Lingyizhou Mu; Liu Biao led Jingzhou pastor; Liu Bei led Xuzhou Mu; Shi Xie led the state pastor; Sun Jian led Yangzhou pastor; Cao Cao led the state pastor, Qingzhou pastor; Yuan Shao led Jizhou Mu and Youzhou Mu; Zhang Chao led and merged with the state pastor; Kong Ling led the Yuzhou pastor.

And at the end of this year, Zhang Chao also made a decision after harvesting the money and grain from the bumper harvest in Bingzhou, that is, to go north to Yanmen and prepare to enter Youzhou.

The reason why he chose to march to the north was the result of Zhang Chao's discussion with Guo Jia and Lu Su, and at the same time, he also fully communicated with Xu Shu and Li Ru in the correspondence.

There is a saying in the military that it is called the golden horn and silver edge grass belly.

This refers to the benefits and security that can be obtained in the respective locations in the map.

Previously, Zhang Chao occupied Bingzhou, which was equivalent to taking the silver border under the rule of the Eastern Han Dynasty, and he solved most of the problems of the Xiongnu and Xianbei, making the gold content of this silver border heavier.

After having Yinbian, Zhang Chao had a newer pursuit, that is, he wanted a golden horn, and he chose the so-called golden horn land in Liaodong County, Youzhou, in the northeast.

It's just that there are still the rest of Liu Yu's troops fighting with Gongsun Zan there, and if you want to pass through there, you still need to go to Yuan Shao's Youzhou territory. These seem to be difficulties, and this is also where the military advisers of the Military Aircraft Department hesitate.

After the matter was reported to Zhang Chao, he was final. Even if there is a battle with Yuan Shao sooner or later, that night battle is not as good as an early battle, and it is better to be passive than active. In this way, while he personally decided to march to the northeast, he also sent Jia Xu a letter of flying eagle, that is, he hoped that before he arrived at Yanmen, he could do something in Yinguan City first.

At the end of the same year, that is, at the end of 194, Zhang Chao led the main army to the Yanmen Place.

The brigade included 2,000 heavy cavalry, 3,000 light cavalry, 10,000 cavalry of Lu Bu's vanguard army, and 30,000 infantry of the first legion, totaling 45,000 people, accompanied by Guo Jia.

Lu Su stayed behind in Jinyang City, and at the same time, in addition to the more than 10,000 infantry just trained by the First Legion, there were also 10,000 Dragon and Tiger Army led by Zhao Yun and Gao Shun's 800 trapping camp.

It is worth mentioning here that when Zhang Chao led the army to the expedition, the third lady Zhen Mi had given birth to a daughter for him, and the word was Jie, which means beautiful appearance.

In fact, when Zhang Jie was born, she did inherit a lot of beauty from her mother Zhen Mi, and she was born a beautiful embryo.

Following Zhen Mi's childbirth, the eldest lady Cai Yan was also pregnant, which was around March.

For the sake of the great cause, Zhang Chao can't accompany his pregnant wife, he also needs to fight for himself, for his relatives, for the survival and bright future of his brothers and soldiers.

...... ......

Yanmen County.

In the dense forest leading from the north gate of Yinguan City to Tuoketuo City, Yan Liang led the army out again in vain.

I can't remember how many times I entered the mountain, but the result was still as usual, and I didn't see any enemy in sight. On the contrary, the number of people killed by Yan Liang's army because of the poisonous insects that entered the mountains reached hundreds.

Every time it is like this, it is useless to enter the mountain, but it will be affected by its environment, and there will be a phenomenon of death, and there are several sudden sneak attacks, which cause Yan Liangjun to have a lot of losses every time.

Through these sneak attacks, Yan Liang gradually believed that the Yellow Turban Thieves here were indeed very strong, no wonder they could snatch 100,000 stones of grain and grass, plus the losses of the men and horses that could hurt the Hezhou army were so great.

To say that since Yan Liang joined the army, he has also had many experiences with the Yellow Turban Thieves, but most of them are stragglers who are about to collapse at the touch of a button, like such an elite, and the Yellow Turban Army that is forbidden is extremely rare.

The continuous failures, coupled with the continuous consumption of grain and grass, made Yan conscience retreat. In particular, Gao Ran's words hit the tip of his heart. "These Yellow Turban thieves can't threaten us, so why should we kill them? Isn't this helping the state army clean up the civil strife? ”

This sentence made Yan Liang feel a sense of abruptness, and also made him find a suitable excuse for his withdrawal.

Yan Liang was ready to retire from the army, but he didn't greet Jia Xu because he returned in vain, he was afraid that people would laugh at his incompetence, but he was often afraid that something would come. Just as he was preparing to retreat, the state army appeared, and the number of them was not small, a full three thousand infantry.

I saw these people waving big banners and appearing in front of the team very neatly.

"What are they coming for?" Seeing that the Bingzhou army, which had never been ignored, suddenly appeared in front of him, Yan Liang was suspicious, but out of politeness, he still sent his subordinate general Lu Weihuang to inquire.