Second-hand time travel: Liu Bei, the big-eared bandit

Chapter 47 A Place to Stay
"I had long heard that the soldiers of Shanggu County killed innocent people to claim credit, but how dare they commit such a massacre?"

Liu Wei ran his fingers through his hair and thought for a moment: "Have those refugees already rioted?"

"When I left, Liu Xuande was still able to barely stop them from causing trouble, but now it's hard to say."

The attendant shook his head vigorously: "It looks like there are tens of thousands of people. My lord, we'd better send some grain to Liu Bei as soon as possible..."

In reality, the number of refugees was not that large; it was mainly the groups of executioners who repeatedly wandered around the Juma River area.

But the attendant had no idea that there were groups of refugees constantly heading south, stretching endlessly, while Liu Bei was on the banks of the Juma River trying to persuade them to leave.

"First, send some grain to Liu Bei and have him do his best to appease him..."

Liu Wei gritted his teeth and gave the order with a pained expression: "Send some weapons and military equipment to Qian Zijing... If the refugees riot, Qian Zijing must suppress them on the spot and prevent them from entering the county town."

Although Prefect Liu Wei had a private army, he would not personally go into battle. His hundreds of private soldiers were responsible for protecting the prefect's villa, while the county soldiers were being paid by him without actually fighting...

At this time, Gongsun Zan was recruiting soldiers in Beixin City, which was more than 200 miles away, too far from the Juma River area.

Only Qian Zhao recruited soldiers at Shili Pavilion, which was nearby, and the soldiers he recruited were those of the Protector of the Wuhuan Commandant.

If it's a peasant uprising, then of course we should ask Qian Zhao to send troops, so that no matter how much damage is suffered, it won't be Liu Wei's problem...

……

The number of refugees was neither large nor riotous.

Currently, including the elderly and children, there are only about ten thousand people. Each executioner can manage a hundred or so people, since they are under the control of whoever distributes the rations.

Five days' worth of dry rations, if eaten sparingly, can last for ten days or so... The refugees are not the army; they are used to saving.

As long as the refugees are not starving to the point of madness, they are not difficult to manage. For example, when Liu Bei was in Lihu, he led several hundred able-bodied men to rob a wealthy family, and nothing really went wrong.

There was no need to worry about whether they would fall behind or whether they would follow the rules. Wherever the people distributing the grain went, the able-bodied men would go, and then the other elderly and weak would follow them.

Furthermore, the one actually leading the refugees was the experienced veteran general Duan Jiong.

Although it was true that the troops from Shanggu Commandery had come to drive them away, and it was also true that the refugees were terrified, Liu Bei did not need to persuade them.

Because what Liu Bei told the refugees was to lead them to find land that could be cultivated.

There were indeed many abandoned lands in Shanggu, and Liu Bei was indeed looking for suitable wastelands to settle refugees along his journey. However, Liu Bei's target was not the dangerous border counties, but Zhuojun.

In the northwest of Zhuoxian County, along the Juma River bordering Shanggu County, a large amount of farmland is in a semi-abandoned state—that is the place where Liu Bei fought with the Xianbei people when he rescued Zou Jing.

The land there is actually quite good; it is not only flat and fertile, but also has a water source like the Juma River.

But that's not unclaimed land.

Most of that land belonged to the Lu family, and a small portion belonged to various families in Zhuojun. The overall area was very large, covering several thousand hectares.

Most of the land was acquired by Lu Zhi after he became famous throughout the land. It was also acquired by various families in Zhuojun who attached themselves to the Lu family in recent years and were registered under the Lu family's name as their retainers and subordinates.

The main reason why most of the land was abandoned was that the area was frequented by non-Han people, making it unsafe.

Especially recently, a large, well-organized Xianbei cavalry force appeared, and it was none other than Tan Shihuai's own cavalry, pursuing a high-ranking official like Zou Jing. Although Liu Bei only took seven heads in that battle, it was described as "seven centurions"...

Under these circumstances, the Juma River area naturally became an extremely dangerous place in the eyes of the wealthy families of Zhuojun, and few people dared to cultivate it.

In addition, the Lu family's ancestral home was located in the southern part of Zhuoxian County and the northern part of Fanyang County, while the Juma River was adjacent to Shanggu, which was 150 li away, which was indeed too far.

The Lu family had just risen to prominence because of Lu Zhi, and the clan itself did not have a large population. Compared with other powerful families, they did not have many servants. Most of the clan's land was located in the area south of Zhuo County and north of Fanyang. They could not take care of this land by the Juma River, which was far away from the clan and was in great danger.

Therefore, although there are many villages in that area, few tenant farmers cultivate them, and most of the land is abandoned.

This was the case in many places in Youzhou and Bingzhou. When a clan rose to power, other clans would come to join them. After joining, the master and his retainers would mostly live in safe places, while only tenants or servants would be left to cultivate the land in remote and dangerous areas.

When the border is invaded by nomadic tribes, servants and tenants have no will to defend the land and most of them will run away, leaving the land often abandoned.

Later, the dangerous areas became uninhabited, leading to the gradual inward shift of the prefectures and counties, leaving the border regions to be occupied by the nomadic peoples.

Just like Zhuo County, after several decades, most of the gentry in Zhuo County moved to the Fanyang County area in the south, and the Liangxiang and Zhuo County areas in the north became sparsely populated, so Zhuo County was renamed Fanyang County.

Liu Bei led the refugees on a half-circle through Shanggu territory, and on the way back, he led them back through the wasteland of the Juma River.

Upon seeing the vast expanse of wasteland, the refugees stopped at the banks of the Juma River.

All they wanted was a place to survive; their needs were very low—just enough to eat.

Prefect Liu Wei sent another four thousand bushels of grain to Shiliting, which made up for the amount he had previously claimed.

They also sent Qian Zhao a lot of equipment for the county soldiers, including many bows and arrows, spears, hundreds of long spears and waist knives, and dozens of sets of leather armor and two-piece armor, but no horses.

Duan Jiong led his men to restrain the refugees along the Juma River, providing them with porridge to sustain their lives, and incidentally selecting suitable soldiers from among them.

During his round trip, Old Master Duan already knew who was suitable to be a soldier and who was suitable to do other work.

Duan Jiong selected some honest and obedient but somewhat temperamental young men and led them to cut timber and set up camp along the Juma River.

Duan Jiong actually had high requirements for his soldiers. He selected only two hundred able-bodied men from among the tens of thousands of refugees. Adding the original executioners and the hundred or so men recruited by Qian Zhao in the past few days, there were a total of about five hundred men, and they officially began training the soldiers.

Duan Jiong arranged for the barracks and Zou Jing's flags and ceremonial guards to be placed on the highest hillside by the Juma River.

This was Duan Jiong's requirement, that Zou Jing's main camp must be located in the most conspicuous place so that Zhang Sheng could see it.

Of course, Qian Zhao is still recruiting soldiers.

Liu Bei still had four thousand bushels of grain, which, if used sparingly, would probably be enough to sustain the refugees for a month and a half.

However, Liu Bei did not intend to maintain it.

He arranged for the refugees to build their own shelters along the Juma River, and they could also occupy any unoccupied villages to live in.

Afterwards, Liu Bei sought out Liu Yuanqi and, together with Qian Zhao, went to the Lu family to discuss business.

You can't just seize someone else's land and house; you have to give them something in return. The Lu family was lucky; their wasteland was the perfect fit.

(End of this chapter)