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Chapter 2705 Why didn't Guan Yu quell the bandits?

Seeing that Officer Cai's body was suddenly tense, Wang Yue smiled and reassured him, "Calm down, everything is under control! You just need to do one thing for me!"

Officer Cai said solemnly, "Third Young Master, please speak!"

Wang Yue patted Constable Cai on the shoulder before whispering seriously, "After you go back, have the prisoners in the jail build more houses in the area east of Jiangling City, near the three lakes north of the Public Security Bureau. I'll need them in the future!"

The three lakes Wang Yue mentioned were actually surrounded by swamps, muddy lands left behind after Yun Mengzhe retreated.

Aside from some fishermen who frequently travel there, only some river bandits or poor travelers would pass through.

During the days when Constable Cai was busy arresting bandits, he overheard Guan Yinping, Xiao Cui, and Wang Yue talking about wanting to become generals.

Considering that Gong'an was a military stronghold in Jingzhou, Officer Cai keenly sensed that something big was about to happen.

So, Officer Cai immediately said seriously, "Third Young Master, those criminals are eating idly in the prison. It's time to find them some work to do."

"Young master, rest assured, I will definitely handle this matter well! When you return, I will ensure that houses are scattered throughout the entire Three Lakes region."

After Cai finished speaking, he left with several dozen constables and nearly a thousand bandits, including the elderly, women, and children, leaving behind only two hundred constables and more than three hundred young and strong bandits.

After Officer Cai left, Wang Yue then addressed the able-bodied bandits.

"Next, we will go to other places to suppress bandits, so that you can atone for your crimes and make good contributions. When we return, I will definitely recommend you for good deeds!"

I will not only pardon your crimes, but I will also arrange a stable place for you to receive a salary!

The young and strong bandits were initially pessimistic, seeing themselves as cannon fodder to be sent out. But after hearing Wang Yue's words, hope immediately ignited in their eyes.

Moreover, Wang Yue claimed to be Guan Yu's third son, a claim they trusted.

In fact, there was an important reason why the resistance to the bandits was not strong this time: Wang Yue went out and used Guan Yu's banner!
One of the young men asked excitedly, "Third Young Master, are you serious?"

Wang Yue said with a serious expression, "I am the third son of the Guan family. My father is the governor of Jingzhou. I can swear in my father's name that I will definitely do what I promise."

Upon hearing this, the young man immediately knelt on the ground excitedly and said, "No need for you to swear an oath, young master. I, Wang Nian, am willing to die for you!"

Hearing the conversation between the two and Wang Nian's reaction, the other able-bodied men immediately knelt down as well, excitedly exclaiming...
"I am willing to die for you, sir!"

Guan Yinping was overjoyed to see that she had gathered more than three hundred able-bodied men in one go, and her face flushed with excitement.

She could almost see her 2000-strong army beckoning to her; how could she not be excited?
Wang Yue calmly looked at the bandits and said, "I believe that you all came up the mountain because of the circumstances. Now, come with me to make a name for yourselves!"

"Yes, sir!" The more than 300 bandits shouted at the same time, and their imposing manner surprised the surrounding constables!
"set off!"

Wang Yue shouted loudly, then mounted his horse first and headed towards Yiling.

The bandits no longer needed the guards to watch over them; they just followed Wang Yue and ran away as fast as they could.

The constables following behind were very envious of this scene. They also wanted to make achievements and establish their own careers, but they were all soldiers who had been eliminated.

Wang Yue certainly wouldn't go directly to Yiling; instead, he would continue suppressing bandits in the nearby mountains, though his general direction was towards Yiling.

With the help of these bandits and the banner of Guan Yu, Wang Yue and his group easily found other bandits and gathered more of them with almost no fighting, allowing their ranks to snowball.

In fact, a few years ago, Jingzhou was the center of the war between the three forces. So during the series of battles, many ordinary people either sold themselves to powerful families or fled to the mountains to become bandits.

Wang Yue hadn't expected there to be so many bandits in the mountain valley. He originally thought that they could gather 2000 people, which would be quite an achievement, but the situation was far worse than he had imagined. There were simply too many people hiding in the entire Jinshan mountain range.

Wang Yue's bandit suppression efforts were like a snowball rolling downhill; in less than a month, he had wiped out more than 1 bandits.

Although most of these bandits were elderly, weak, women and children, there were still more than three thousand able-bodied men among them.

Guan Yinping was overjoyed as she saw more and more able-bodied men under her command. Seeing that she had just wiped out another bandit stronghold, she had forgotten that she had only initially wanted 2000 men. She immediately asked excitedly, "Strategist, where should we go next to suppress bandits?"

Seeing Guan Yinping's agitated state, Wang Yue said helplessly, "Third Miss, have you ever thought about this? There are so many bandits in these mountains, do you think your father knows about it?"

Guan Yinping paused for a moment, then said uncertainly, "They should know, right?"

Wang Yue didn't keep them in suspense and continued, "General Guan certainly knows this. He also knows that there are able-bodied men among these bandits. If we can recruit them, we can gain a lot of soldiers."

Guan Yinping was, after all, a woman confined to the inner quarters. Although she had learned some martial arts from her father, she didn't really understand these strategies. So she asked in confusion, "Then why doesn't my father go to suppress the bandits?"

Wang Yue sighed and said, "Actually, it's very simple. Your father is quite benevolent. He understands that even if these bandits are driven out of the mountains, they simply can't support them. So, as long as the bandits in the mountains don't come out to cause trouble, he just pretends they don't exist."

As for the army, with Jingzhou's current tax revenue, it's already at its limit to support the soldiers under your father's name. Recruiting more soldiers would be impossible without sufficient food supplies.

Wang Yue wasn't joking. Although Jingzhou had always been rich in grain and resources, at this time, the richest place, Nanyang, belonged to Cao Cao, the second richest, Jiangxia, belonged to Sun Quan, and most of Changsha was also under Sun Quan's control. Only three and a half counties south of Nan Commandery remained.

However, apart from Nanjun, the other three counties are mostly mountainous, and the annual tax revenue they receive is limited. In fact, they mainly rely on Nanjun.

Because of the constant warfare in Nanjun, it was the common people who suffered, while powerful families took the opportunity to expand their land holdings. As a result, Nanjun has not yet recovered its strength.

(End of this chapter)