Lu Bu: My wife comes from two thousand years later

"The king asked me to borrow food!"

In Shu'an Village, Pingtao County, an official stood at the gate, beating a gong and shouting, "Borrowing grain! Borrowing grain! The king sent me to borrow grain..."

The shrill sound of a gong broke the tranquility of the gathering. The farmers who were basking in the sun put down their handicrafts and looked out curiously through the fence. The children who loved to join in the fun opened the fence gate and ran towards the direction where the sound came from. The adults followed behind. In a short while, a large group of people gathered at the entrance of the gathering.

"Your Majesty is about to march on Ji Province and is short of food and fodder. I am now publicly soliciting food and fodder from you. Each family, based on their own circumstances, can lend some rations to Your Majesty. I will directly deduct the repayment from taxes next year."

As the officer spoke, he unfolded a notice with the Tang King's jade seal for everyone to see.

In the past, no one in the entire village except the head of the village might understand it. However, since Zhang Mo built schools in every county town, families with better conditions would send their children to school to learn to read. Several children gathered in front of the notice and began to read it haltingly.

"Why do we have to fight again? Didn't we just defeat Jizhou last year?" asked the head of the village in confusion.

"Yeah! Why are you fighting again?"

"What happened in Jizhou?"

Everyone below started asking questions. The officer raised his hand to signal for silence and then explained, "The clans of various places in Jizhou have united to rebel against the Tang Dynasty. With the invasion of Gongsun Zan, the Tang Dynasty is facing a critical moment. Your Majesty wishes to send troops to Jizhou, but due to years of war and famine, the government treasury is empty and the soldiers have no food to send to the battlefield. The foreign enemies are already at our doorstep. If you still want the protection of the Tang King and want to live a prosperous and stable life like today, then you must do your best to help Your Majesty drive out the foreign enemies and eliminate the internal invaders!"

Hearing the words "life or death," everyone turned pale with fear. The village headman, after a moment's respite, shouted, "Your Majesty has given us a life we ​​never dared to imagine before. The Tang Kingdom cannot be destroyed. Even if I have to eat less than half a bowl of rice at every meal, I will help Your Majesty collect food and fodder! The Tang Kingdom will surely win!"

He then looked at the others and said, "In the past, my family only had one set of clothes to wear, and we never had a full meal all year round. Now, every household has enough food and clothing, all thanks to the wisdom and kindness of the King and the Princess. Today, the Tang Kingdom is in trouble, and we need your help. You must not hold back. Each family should leave some food rations, and the rest should be given to help the King!"

"Yes! What the headman said is right. When my family fled here, the princess gave us land and food. Not only did she not charge us interest, we didn't even have to pay it back. We only had to help build the road for half a month every year during the slack season. The princess also abolished the head tax. Now my family can have enough food to eat, and my son can go to school and learn to read. All this is thanks to the king and the princess. Without the Tang Kingdom, my family would not be where we are today. The Tang Kingdom will surely win!! Let's go home and get food!" A strong man echoed loudly.

"The Master said, 'Without the skin, where will the hair be attached?' If the Tang Empire is gone, where will we be? The Tang Empire will win! The Tang Empire will win!"

A well-educated child shouted, and more and more children followed suit, "Tang will win!"

"It's our honor to help the princess fairy!" a woman said with admiration on her face.

"Let's go! Go home and get some food!"

"Go home and get food!"

The crowd dispersed, and after a while, the people came back carrying large and small bags. Two officers were responsible for weighing, and the other two were responsible for registering. However, many people insisted on not registering and did not want to return the bags, saying that this was a token of their love for the Tang Kingdom, the King and the Queen.

The officers could only record the total amount of grain donated by the village, with the village head signing as a testimony.

The same thing happened in Hedong, Henei and other counties in Bingzhou. After Lu Bu's edict to collect grain and fodder was issued, officials from all places immediately convened a meeting of all county officials. Within a day, the work of each township was assigned to each pavilion, and finally to each village. All the personnel in the county were mobilized. Taking into account the time for transporting grain on the road, most of the grain and fodder collected in the county could be concentrated in the county seat within five days, and then it took a few days to transport it to the designated location.

During this period, wealthy families took the initiative to provide cattle, horses and vehicles, and people who were off-duty in farming took the initiative to ask for help in transporting grain and fodder. People along the way got the news and prepared hot water and food in advance for the workers transporting grain.

With the people’s support, how can we not win?

Looking at the data submitted by various places, Zhang Mo was deeply moved. What is the group's favorite? This is the real group's favorite!

Behind her and Lu Bu stood millions of common people. At this moment, she deeply realized the true meaning of the saying 'water can carry a boat, but it can also overturn it', and she became more determined to create a prosperous era. This was not for her own ambitions and desires, nor was it to give an explanation to the civil and military officials who followed her, but to give these simple and kind people a peaceful and stable home.

As Lu Bu listened to the voices of the people read out by representatives from all over the country, the excitement in his heart took a long time to calm down.

It turns out that Lu Fengxian, who was scolded as a traitor in his previous life, could also be so supported and loved by the people. This is the most proud achievement and honor for a lord!

The joy could not be concealed in the eyes of all the civil and military officials in Bingzhou. The efforts to nurture the people and raise their hopes in recent years seemed lukewarm and indifferent, but once they broke out, it was an astonishing force.

After collecting food and fodder, Lu Bu immediately sent a large army to fight.

However, during this period, the situation in Ji Province changed drastically. First, Changshan State was completely destroyed by the internal and external attacks of the Zong thieves and Gongsun Zan's army. Qu Yi, Qian Zhao, and Hua Xiong led over 5,000 defeated troops to retreat to Julu and Bairen County, which bordered Zhao State.

Secondly, the counties north of Daluze in Julu County were also lost one after another, and Xu Huang led more than 3,000 soldiers to retreat to Boluojin east of Daluze.

In just half a month, Gongsun Zan seized the entire Changshan and half of Julu's territory. His overwhelming momentum made many noble families who were on the sidelines join Gongsun Zan. Clan bandits broke out in many places in Zhao State and Wei County. Wei Xu, Han Hao and Ju Su also began to suppress the bandits, but like other counties before, the results were minimal, and Jizhou was on the verge of complete destruction.

Gongsun Zan sent Zhao Yun to lead 3,000 elite soldiers and 10,000 soldiers recruited from Changshan State to attack Shiyi County, the eastern entrance of Jingxing where Guan Hai was stationed. He himself led an army of 30,000 to continue southward, preparing to swallow up the entire Jizhou in one go and then send troops to Bingzhou.

At this moment, Zhao Yun's army was setting up camp in Shiyi.

Zhao Yun was born in Zhending, Changshan, and Shiyi was located in the southwest of Zhending. During the Western Han Dynasty, it was a subordinate county of Zhending State. Zhao Yun naturally knew the terrain here well.

Shiyi is a natural pass in the Taihang Mountains. On its left is a mountain extending from the Taihang Mountains, and on its right is the Xiaoshui River. The terrain on the southeast side is flat, and the northwest side is high. The Xiaoshui River has washed out a huge pass in the middle, which is suitable for vehicles and horses to pass through. It is the main channel for Hebei to enter the Taihang Mountains.

After Zhang Yan occupied Taihang Mountain, in order to prevent the government troops from attacking Heishan, he sent people to build a defense line here and built a three-meter-high wall with stones on the main road.

What Zhang Yan lacked the least back then was manpower. As the defender, with sufficient manpower, a three-meter-high city wall was enough to withstand the attack of 20,000 to 30,000 soldiers, so the defense built by the money-strapped bandits was actually not strong at all.

After Lu Bu captured Jizhou and surrendered Heishan, this pass lost its defensive significance and no one was sent to reinforce it. In Zhao Yun's opinion, if the enemy held on to the city wall, two thousand people would not be able to hold it.

After Zhao Yun's army arrived at Shiyi and rested for two days, they prepared to break through the pass in one fell swoop on the third day to open up the Jingxing Pass for Gongsun Zan.