My father Liu Xuande

Chapter 526 Great Peace Under Heaven
Yuan Shao maintained clear restraint in the war in Qingzhou, and did not even send reinforcements. Instead, he systematically selected 150,000 elite troops for training, and the other 100,000 soldiers were not eliminated, but were transferred to local state, county, and prefectural troops.

When necessary, they can also be quickly mobilized to participate in the war.

Correspondingly, Cao Cao also selected 80,000 elite troops in Luoyang to form a field army. The remaining 70,000 to 80,000 were also reluctant to be laid off, and were converted into reserve troops such as state troops, county troops, and prefectural troops in the same way.

It must be said that their measures were more or less influenced by Liu Feng's three-tiered system.

In this way, the losses of elite field troops can be quickly replenished from reserves and state troops. Although the replenished troops are not as good as the original elite troops, they will definitely be veterans with combat experience.

Vacancies in the state troops can be filled by drawing troops from the county troops below, while the county troops can be filled by troops from the county.

The lowest-ranking county soldiers only need to maintain a fixed framework to continuously train conscripted young men into reserve soldiers with a certain military foundation, who can also be deployed to fight when necessary.

Although county soldiers basically lacked field combat capabilities, and prefectural soldiers also had very low field combat capabilities, both were still qualified as garrison troops and could be used as supplementary troops for strongholds and camps. The stronger ones could even independently complete the defense tasks.

For a time, the entire land of the Eastern Han Dynasty was at peace, and no large-scale wars broke out for a whole year.

Although the Battle of Qingzhou may seem like a large-scale battle involving hundreds of thousands of people, the decisive factor was often the tens of thousands of elite troops.

This is why Yuan Tan was severely injured after losing 8,000 men. It should be noted that not all of these 8,000 men were his core elites; some were local strongmen and ordinary soldiers.

Yuan Tan's true elite force numbered just over five thousand, but this already accounted for more than a quarter of his elite troops.

The reason why Yuan Tan suffered such heavy losses is due to the way these soldiers were lost. Under normal circumstances, even if 5,000 men were killed in battle, at least 2,000 or even 3,000 men could recover and return to the army.

Therefore, what the commander fears most is this kind of organized, devastating loss.

The loss of 5,000 elite troops means they were completely wiped out. No wounded soldiers will return, or rather, the wounded who managed to escape were not even counted in the calculations; otherwise, the casualties would probably be even higher.

This is the fundamental reason why Liu Feng always hoped to win a decisive battle. If it was not absolutely necessary, he would rather not fight than fight a battle of defeat if it was not possible to achieve a decisive victory.

As the autumn harvest ends and the weather gradually turns cold, it becomes even less likely that a major war will break out.

This year, Liu Feng does not plan to go to Xuzhou to celebrate the New Year with his father and grandfather. Instead, he wants to go to Jingzhou to pacify the local powerful clans.

Given the current situation, Jiaozhou is too far away, Yangzhou has been pacified, and only Jingzhou still needs to be appeased. Therefore, taking advantage of the New Year festival to appease all the powerful clans and gentry in Jingzhou in one go would be a very cost-effective approach.

Although he did not return, Liu Feng prepared New Year's gifts for his relatives, including Liu Bei, Guan Yu, Zhang Fei, Lady Wu, Lady Tian, ​​Liu Wan, Liu He, and Liu Shan. Xun You, Lu Su, Liu Ye, Guo Jia, Chen Gui, Chen Ji, Chen Deng, Chen Qun, Zhuge Xuan, as well as the head of the Mi family, the Mi brothers, and Cao Bao, were all given gifts without any omissions.

In the letter, Liu Feng also responded to the questions Liu Bei had inquired about in his previous letter. He planned to formally marry Lady Mi and Lady Cao as his concubines in the middle of next year.

If Liu Bei doesn't object and there are no other unexpected events, he plans to send someone to the Mi and Cao families after the spring to finalize the matter and begin preparing the procedures.

Although a concubine is not as important as the principal wife, she is still a concubine. In dynasties that allowed polygamy, she was considered a "level wife"; in dynasties that did not allow polygamy, she was considered a "noble concubine" or "good concubine."

Don't underestimate this difference. Although their offspring have the same status as illegitimate children, they receive much better treatment.

Although a concubine's wife is essentially a secondary wife and her children are also secondary children, political marriages are different.

The son born to a concubine in a political marriage can be directly established as the legitimate heir with the consent of the clan, and does not need to be adopted by the principal wife.

Furthermore, if the principal wife remains childless for many years, reaching the standard of having no children among the three divorces, then the offspring of the secondary wife can be directly considered legitimate sons, without requiring clan confirmation. (Customs varied across regions and dynasties; in some areas, and during the Ming and Qing dynasties, not only clan recognition of the legitimate son was required, but also official registration.)
Of course, the above applies to peaceful times. In times of war, the distinction between legitimate and illegitimate children would be more subtle. If the maternal family of the concubine is powerful, the child born to the concubine would be considered a legitimate son and would have the same rights as the legitimate son born to the first wife.

We are currently in a time of war and chaos, and Yuan Tan's situation is a typical example.

Yuan Tan was the son of Yuan Shao's first wife, the true eldest son of the legitimate wife, and in his prime, having fought for Yuan Shao for many years. Yet Yuan Shao easily made Yuan Shang his heir.

If this were during a time of peace, the difficulty would be several times greater than it is now.

Putting everything else aside, Yuan Shao might not be able to get past Yuan Wei easily.

Therefore, although the wedding of Concubines Cao Qing and Mi Yue would not be as grand, solemn, and elaborate as that of Liu Feng's future principal wife, it would still not be something that could be casually welcomed into the mansion. Naturally, the etiquette and procedures for the wedding would need to be discussed and agreed upon.

By early November, the autumn harvest in most areas had been completed, and the few remaining areas were nearing the end of their harvests.

Liu Feng departed from Wu County, but did not travel directly along the Yangtze River. Instead, he chose to head south to the south of Zhenze, passing through Quan County, then Wucheng County, and finally Guzhang County.

After meeting with the local gentry and powerful families led by the Zhu family in Guzhang County, he did not turn northwest to Wanling County, the seat of Danyang Prefecture, but continued south, taking a mountain road that led southwest to Yuqian County, which is the Yuqian County of later generations.

Although the road we traveled was all mountain roads, once we actually arrived in Yuqian, the area around the county was mostly hills and small plains.

The county magistrate here is named Liu Ren, who also comes from Liu'erying and is one of the first veterans to be called up.

At only 24 years old, he has become the county magistrate of Yuqian County, which would have been absolutely impossible during times of peace.

Even if Liu Ren wasn't from a noble family, it would be impossible for a third or fourth-class noble family member to rise through the ranks so smoothly.

As for the first and second-class gentry, they followed a completely different path. They would first be recommended for the civil service examination, then enter Luoyang, and subsequently be recruited by the Three Dukes and Nine Ministers, first serving as a Yellow Gate Attendant, then as a Palace Attendant. If they wanted to continue rising, they could choose to be sent to a county as a magistrate, or remain in the capital to gain the emperor's favor. Liu Ren was able to achieve such a leap in social class entirely due to favorable timing, location, and popular support. Without the chaotic situation, without the rebellion of the Yue chieftains in the southern mountains of Danyang and the powerful Han people, and without Liu Feng's background, he would never have had such an opportunity even if he had waited until he was forty-two years old.

Liu Ren is an honest and upright person, possessing the virtues of being reserved in speech but quick to act, which are highly regarded by wise men.

Liu Feng did not notify the counties along the way in advance, and he was only accompanied by Xu Chu, a few clerks and a group of military officers and attendants. Security was handled by eight hundred elite guards.

While it might be a bit of a stretch to say that Liu Feng was being forced to comply, it's worth noting that Liu Feng's journey was essentially a tour of counties, passing through his own territory, and eight hundred armored guards were more than enough for him.

Liu Feng's reluctance to bring more people was not due to being fussy, but rather because a larger number of people would inevitably lead to more carriages and horses, and traveling along mountain roads would undoubtedly take a considerable amount of time.

When Liu Feng arrived in Yuqian County, Liu Ren was in the county government office taking stock of the autumn harvest.

Liu Ren was shocked to encounter Liu Feng so suddenly.

Liu Feng did not treat Liu Ren differently because of his background, but instead directly inquired about government affairs, taxes, and various matters concerning the Yue people in the mountains.

After his initial panic, Liu Ren quickly calmed down and answered Liu Feng's questions with ease, without having any questions at all.

Based on what he had seen and heard along the way, Liu Feng could tell that Liu Ren's answer was at least nine-tenths true, and only then did he relax.

Just as Liu Feng had thought, the newly incorporated lands in places like Danyang Commandery, Yuzhang Commandery, and Kuaiji Commandery were not all bad lands. In fact, although these lands could not compare with fertile lands like North China or the Yangtze River Delta Plain, they were certainly no worse than other places.

Leaving aside other factors, take Yuqian County as an example. Although it is located in the mountains, its plain area is no smaller than that of plain counties such as Qiantang, Yuhang, and Fuchun.

Because Yuqian County is larger than the three counties of Qiantang, and the plains are scattered among the mountains like rice bran, forming small plains that are either long and narrow, square, winding, or round.

These plains are generally small, but this smallness is only relative to plains; their actual area is several hundred or even several thousand acres. In addition, there are a great number of these fragmented plains. In Yuqian County alone, there are at least a hundred such plains. Doesn't that increase the amount of farmland?
With the addition of the mountain people who have come down from the mountains, there are fields, people, and water resources. All that is lacking is water conservancy projects, advanced and mature farming methods, and agricultural resources.

Liu Ren did an excellent job in this regard, effectively stabilizing the Yue people. While completing the autumn harvest, he even began to guide them in planting mulberry trees. It's conceivable that by the time the mulberry trees matured, this period would be sufficient to teach the Yue women how to raise silkworms and weave cloth.

Liu Ren's achievements were affirmed, and he was rewarded and encouraged. A sum of money and grain was even specially allocated to the officials of Yuqian County as a reward, which made the officials of Yuqian County grateful and determined to serve him.

Liu Feng stayed in Yuqian for two days. In addition to assessing the performance of Liu Ren and the officials of Yuqian County, he also specially met with respected elders and warriors among the Yue people.

However, because Liu Feng opened the door to military service for the Yue warriors, most of the brave Yue warriors actively joined the Han army. Apart from a few warriors who were reluctant to leave their hometowns, Liu Feng met with the families of many warriors and gave them money and food as rewards.

Snow salt and frost sugar, in particular, are undoubtedly the most dazzling rewards. Compared to five-zhu coins, cloth, and grain, a small piece of frost sugar or a small bag of snow salt, even if they are worth the same as five-zhu coins, cloth, and grain, are far more popular and can arouse the envy of the Yue people throughout the county.

After completing his assessment of Yuqian County, Liu Feng did not grant the requests of Liu Ren and all the officials, elders, and warriors of the Yue tribes to stay a few more days. Instead, he set off again, continuing his journey along the mountain roads to Shexian County.

Shexian County is destined to become very famous, producing the world-renowned Huizhou ink and Shexian inkstones, which were once very popular among scholars.

Shexian County today is far from its former glory, but that doesn't mean the place is hopeless.

The upper reaches of the Zhe River are the Jian River, which originates from the eastern slope of Liugujian, the main peak of the Huaiyu Mountains. It flows through Yixian and Shexian counties, then turns south and joins the Zhejiang River a few dozen miles east of Jiande County in later generations.

The Xiutun Basin, where Shexian County is located, is a vast plain, roughly three times the size of the plain within Fuchun County during the Eastern Han Dynasty, demonstrating its immense scale. Shexian County is at the heart of this plain.

Compared to Shexian County, Yixian County is much less developed. It is surrounded by mountains, forming an independent basin and a self-contained system.

However, although this basin is also very flat, its area is only one-fifth the size of the Xiutun Basin, and even smaller than the plains within Fuchun County.

However, Fuchun County is a prosperous county on the alluvial plain of the Qiantang River, and it has always been a county with its own magistrates.

However, the combined area of ​​Shexian and Yixian counties has ten times the flat land area of ​​Fuchun County, indicating that the conditions in these areas are definitely not bad. (The flat land in Yixian is slightly smaller than the Fuchun Plain, but Yixian is not just the Yixian Basin; like Shexian, it also has a large number of hills and small plains fragmented by mountains.)

It is only because of the mountains that they are hidden, the roads are rugged, and the access is inconvenient that these places have not been developed enough; otherwise, where would the Yue people have room to survive?

Now that Liu Feng is willing to invest a lot of resources, and with the help of Zhuge Liang, Lu Xun, He Qi and others, a large number of Shanyue resistance forces have been quelled and millions of Shanyue people have been taken in, the output has naturally seen a surge.

Lu Xun personally oversaw operations in Shexian County, as Yixian and Shexian were not only the strongholds of the rebellious Yue tribes, but also the most promising counties in Danyang Prefecture awaiting development.

Lu Xun withdrew most of his troops back to Wanling, leaving only two thousand men stationed in Yixian and Shexian, while Lu Xun himself stayed in Shexian to oversee the situation.

Unlike Liu Ren, Liu Feng ran into Lu Xun as soon as he entered Shexian County.

But thinking about it, it makes sense. Given Lu Xun's military capabilities and skills, it would be a miracle if he could have allowed Liu Feng to storm into the county government like Liu Ren did.

Even if Liu Feng traveled light, he still had nearly a thousand people. Even if he reduced the number of carriages and horses, he still needed more than a hundred large carriages to accompany him.

Otherwise, there would be no way to carry the armor of those soldiers.

(End of this chapter)