Lu Bu: My wife comes from two thousand years later

Go against the Wang family? Lu Bu had never thought of this. Not to mention A-Mo, even for Wang Yun's help to him, he would never touch the Wang family.

Jia Xu said, "I know that the Lord will not deal with the Wang family. However, if you change your policy and ignore the Wang family, not only will the new policy not be implemented smoothly, but even if it can be implemented, others will be dissatisfied with your unfair behavior. How will the Lord ever win the support of the people in the future?"

"Furthermore, my lord, you have many soldiers and generals, but you only have me and Bo Hou as civil officials. Whether you want to change taxes, improve people's livelihoods, or govern the country, we two can't accomplish it even if we work ourselves to death. You still need to recruit a group of capable people to serve you. And now, almost all the major families in Taiyuan County have close ties with the Wang family."

"Due to the unrest in Bingzhou, some middle and lower-class families have become attached to the larger families. These people have formed a collective, which is why they were able to hold onto Jinyang even after the Bingzhou army withdrew. If you want to recruit talent, you can't do without the Wang family. If you want to change your policies, you must first discuss this with the Wang family."

Hearing this, Du Ji disagreed, "According to what Mr. Wenhe said, wouldn't the lord be dependent on the Wang family for everything except military affairs in the future, and would he be constrained by the Wang family? If this continues, will the Wang family or the lord have the final say in Bingzhou in the future?"

Jia Xu said, "I don't think we need to worry about this issue. The main branch of the Wang family is the late Wang Situ. As far as I know, of Situ's three sons, the eldest and second are not very talented, the third dislikes officialdom and only loves business. Only one adopted daughter is extremely intelligent and almost demonic."

At this point, Jia Xu smiled slightly. "I've had some contact with that little fox at Sishui Pass. A-Mo is open-minded, far-sighted, and kind-hearted. She's truly a rare and remarkable woman in this world. And considering how much Situ Wang dotes on her, her influence in the Wang family is probably even greater than that of her three brothers. If my lord marries her, he'll be even more powerful, and the Wang family will be the greatest help in your swift stabilization of Bingzhou."

"Given the talents of the third son of the Wang family, my lord, there's no need to worry about him causing trouble in the future. As your territory gradually expands, you can recruit other talented individuals. This can also help you win over and divide some of the families that are affiliated with the Wang family, so you don't have to worry about the Wang family dominating. But I think if A-Mo were allowed to return, she would be able to solve some of the problems of the great families herself."

"Let's discuss this matter later!" Lu Bu suddenly said.

Lü Bu's current attitude towards the Wang family was: if they were willing to work with him, he would naturally promote and employ them. However, if they were unwilling to serve him, Lü Bu would not target them, and at most would allow them to live a life of wealth and luxury. However, judging by Wang Yun's efforts to help him, the Wang family was already on his side.

"We have brought back a lot of treasures from Mei County this time. These are more than enough to support the food and grass needs for pacifying the Baibo Army and the subsequent resettlement of the surrendered soldiers." Lu Bu said.

Bingzhou was short of population, so Lu Bu's first goal was to defeat the Baibo Army and absorb these bandits to enrich the population. According to Du Ji, as long as there are people cultivating the land, there will be taxes to be collected. If so much land is allowed to remain barren, no matter how much reform is carried out, the country's own foundation will not be strengthened.

Let's just mention the reform policy today. It is not easy to do it specifically. It is better to increase the population first, and this can be achieved through one or two wars. In Lu Bu's view, problems that can be solved through war are not problems.

Du Ji said, "This year's autumn harvest has just passed, so now is the best time to send troops. If you want to avoid delaying next year's spring plowing, it would be best to pacify some of the bandits and settle them before the end of the year."

He paused and continued, "Actually... My Lord, you can just ask for food and fodder from each family in the name of the Baibo bandits. You don't have to force them. The amount of food you contribute is up to each family's willingness. This is a good opportunity to test their attitude towards you."

Since the death of the previous Bingzhou governor Zhang Yi, Bingzhou has been in a state of disarray. Although Dong Zhuo served as Bingzhou governor, he did not come to take office. Lu Bu originally led troops here mainly to pacify the Southern Xiongnu. Later, when Lu Bu became Bingzhou governor, he did not come himself and sent Du Ji and Gao Shun to act as agents. Most of the prefects and county magistrates did not take them seriously.

It is precisely because of the lack of a core leader that the counties and families in Bingzhou have spontaneously formed groups to resist bandits. Now that Lu Bu has come, some of these groups should split up and seek Lu Bu as a backer again. Through this collection of food and grass, we can see who is sincere and who still wants to stick to one faction, so that we can have a targeted approach when settling accounts in the future.

Lu Bu nodded and said, "This is a very good idea, Lord Bo. When the governors of the three counties come in two days, we will inform them of this matter and ask them to send food and fodder to Jinyang within a month."

After Lu Bu finished speaking, he looked at Gao Shun and said, "Zi Yan, now let's talk about the Baibo Army!"

Gao Shun had been in Bingzhou for more than half a year and had basically figured out the forces of all parties. He stood up, walked to the upper part, opened a map he had drawn and hung it on the wall.

This map was a bit crudely drawn, with only some major cities, rivers and mountains marked, and the distance ratios between them were also inconsistent. However, it was sufficient to analyze the sphere of influence of the White Wave Army, and even the Black Mountain and Xiongnu.

Gao Shun said, "Since the Baibo uprising in Baibo Valley in Hedong last October, there have been over 100,000 bandits. They once allied with the exiled Southern Xiongnu Chanyu Yufuluo to attack Shangdang, Taiyuan, Henei, and other counties. They are now primarily entrenched in Hedong and Shangdang counties. Among them, the Baibo leader Guo Tai is stationed in Linfen County, Hedong County, while Yang Xian (pronounced the same as Xian) is stationed in Xiangling. Yang Feng, Li Le, and Hu Cai are all stationed in Xunshi and Gaodu in southern Shangdang. The exact number of troops in each county is still unknown."

"Also, Yu Fuluo's brother, Huchuquan, is stationed in Changzi County with 3,000 Xiongnu soldiers. When Yuan Shao was the leader of the coalition, Yu Fuluo joined Yuan Shao along with Zhang Yang, the Sima under the command of the Shangdang governor. The two are currently stationed in Wucheng, west of Yecheng in Jizhou."

Gao Shun paused and continued, "Although Bai Bo is a remnant of the Yellow Turbans, his combat power cannot be underestimated. Last year, he defeated Dong Zhuo's general Niu Fu, and he has also fought against Henei Governor Wang Kuang many times, with both sides winning and losing."

Hua Xiong said, "Niu Fu and Wang Kuang are both mediocre men. It's no surprise to defeat them. So, how should we fight now?"

Gao Shun looked at Lu Bu and said, "Please let me know the specific strategic arrangements!"

Lu Bu recalled that in his dream, he had almost no interaction with this group of bandits, and he did not know the leaders of Baibo. But he knew that after Dong Zhuo moved the capital, he sent Li Jue to continue fighting against the Baibo army, and its leader Guo Tai was killed by Li Jue. After Guo Tai's death, Baibo, which had originally had weak cohesion, became even more scattered and fought each other. Yang Feng even surrendered directly to Li Jue.

Now, due to his own intervention, the battle between the Guandong heroes and Dong Zhuo ended early, and Dong Zhuo died earlier than in history, so Guo Tai escaped with his life. Now, if he wants to absorb the Baibo bandits, Guo Tai's life must be taken.