The Three Kingdoms: I asked you to save Guan Yu, not to destroy Sun Quan.

Wang Fu stepped forward and bowed, saying, "Reporting to the magistrate, I have visited all the officials in the city with a salary of 300 shi or above. Many officials from humble backgrounds are willing to serve, but the officials from the four great families are all ambiguous and are clearly observing the situation."

"I've made some inquiries, and it seems that quite a few of the four major families are interested in siding with Cao Wei, but they haven't taken any action yet. They're probably waiting for Sun Quan and Cao Cao's reactions."

"If Sun Quan cannot quickly recapture Jianye, and Cao Cao leads his army south in time, they will definitely surrender to Cao Cao without hesitation."

"In the order of surrender of the four major families, Sun Quan was naturally the first. After all, he was their former master and they had feelings for him. Moreover, surrendering to Sun Quan was not called surrendering but loyalty to the emperor. Furthermore, many members of the four major families were high-ranking generals in the Wu army. It was impossible for the homeland to easily abandon these family members."

"The second one is Cao Cao. After all, he had surrendered once during the Battle of Red Cliffs, so there was no psychological pressure to surrender again."

"We are the last in line. Unless we take Ruxukou and cut off the Wei army's hope of advancing south, the four major families will not be willing to join us."

"The key point is that whether these people are defending Sun Quan or surrendering to Cao Wei, they will use us as a pledge of loyalty in exchange for benefits. In other words, everyone is our enemy."

Guan Yu rubbed his temples, feeling a headache coming on. The situation was indeed extremely dangerous. They had to guard against the Wu army's counterattack, the Wei army's southward advance, and the Jiangdong gentry's backstabbing. It was really too difficult.

Guan Yu couldn't think of a way to break the deadlock, so he looked helplessly at Guan Xing and asked, "Anguo, what's your opinion?"

Guan Xing stepped forward and bowed, saying, "The best way is naturally to recruit soldiers and expand our strength. I suggest we take two steps. First, we should ask General Xin Fei and General Luo Shen to return to Dabie Mountain and bring back all the remaining heroes in the mountain. With the addition of the weapons and armor from the city's treasury, we can arm an army of 15,000 to 20,000 men."

"Although this number of troops is small, it has the advantage that they are all from Jiangbei and have no connection with Jiangdong. We don't have to worry about them betraying us or being bought off by the Jiangdong gentry. They can be our base."

"Secondly, recruit soldiers, post recruitment notices, and expand the army to more than 50,000 as soon as possible."

"This shouldn't be difficult. After all, we don't lack food supplies right now. With food, why should we be afraid of not having enough soldiers?"

"Furthermore, although your reputation among the gentry is not great, you are still highly respected by the common people. Once the recruitment notice is posted, there should be quite a few people who come to enlist."

"While recruiting soldiers, issue another decree seeking talented individuals. Since the officials of Eastern Wu are unwilling to join us, we will recruit from the common people. Unlike Cao Wei and us, the officialdom in Jiangdong has long been monopolized by the gentry, and it is difficult for those from humble backgrounds to rise up. These commoners who have no way to advance must harbor resentment towards the gentry and Sun Quan. As long as they are given a chance, they will definitely be willing to serve the Han Dynasty."

Wang Fu exclaimed, "What a brilliant idea! Young master, you are wise!"

Guan Yu readily accepted the advice and slammed his fist on the table, saying, "Xin Fei, you have made the greatest contribution in this attack on Jianye. On behalf of the King, I hereby appoint you as General Who Destroys the Enemy and Luo Shen as Military Advisor General. You two rest for one night and return to Dabie Mountain immediately tomorrow morning, bringing the other heroes with you."

"Yes..." Xin Fei and Luo Shen accepted the order at the same time, their excited voices trembling.

Just a few days ago they were bandit leaders who robbed and plundered, and now they've transformed into generals, bringing glory to their ancestors, haven't they?

Guan Yu continued, "Guoshan is safe and secure, so I'll leave the matter of recruiting soldiers to you two."

"Yes, sir..." The two men accepted the order, but Wang Fu said with concern, "But my lord, recruiting soldiers takes time, and training them takes even more time. I'm worried that Sun Quan and Cao Cao won't give us that much time."

Guan Yu did not answer, but stared at Guan Xing and asked, "Anguo, I see you are eager to try, as if you have a backup plan. Speak freely today."

Guan Xing said, "We are now surrounded by the enemy, inside and out. We are in a hopeless situation where we are surrounded on all sides. Conventional methods are useless to break out of this situation. We can only take a big gamble and break the sky."

"When I passed by the treasury, I did a quick check of the records and found that more than 90% of the land and mountains in Wu County belonged to the four major families. There were very few self-cultivating farmers in the area. Although Wu County was wealthy, almost all the people in the area were tenants of the four major families, and their lives must have been difficult."

"Therefore, I suggested implementing reforms in Jiangdong, confiscating the land from the local tyrants and distributing it to the common people for cultivation."

"At the same time, we will implement the land tax reform, abolish the poll tax and other miscellaneous taxes such as the poll tax and the poll tax, and only collect taxes based on land output, thereby completely bringing the people of Wu County to our side."

Unlike ruthless hegemons like Liu Bei and Cao Cao, Sun Quan had extremely limited control over Jiangdong. In order to win over the gentry and maintain his own status, he granted them too many privileges and benefits.

These privileges and benefits come from sacrificing the interests of ordinary people.

Compared to Liu Bei and Cao Cao, Sun Quan was more like the leader of the aristocratic alliance.

Under his indulgence, the Jiangdong gentry had already taken on the rudiments of a powerful clan, with their power and status far exceeding those of the gentry under Cao Cao and Liu Bei. So much so that when Sima Yan later destroyed the Wu Kingdom and unified the country, he treated the Jiangdong gentry equally and did not deliberately make things difficult for them, yet the Jiangdong gentry still complained that they could not stand it.

People who are used to enjoying privileges will feel that even if equal rights are restored, they will still feel that they are being exploited.

hiss……

Guan Xing spoke with great enthusiasm, but Guan Yu and Wang Fu were both taken aback and gasped in surprise.

Wang Fu exclaimed in shock, "Redistributing land to the local tyrants and merging the poll tax into the land tax—won't this offend the Jiangdong gentry to death?"

“Not only the gentry of Jiangdong, but if we really did this, all the gentry in the world would stand against us. You should know what happened to Wang Mang, Second Young Master.”

"So what?" Guan Xing sneered. "If we don't do this, will the Jiangdong gentry stop standing against us?"

"The aristocratic families have too big an appetite and cannot be satisfied. Let's just abandon the aristocratic families and instead win over the common people. In this way, even if the common people who have obtained land and reduced taxes do not appreciate our kindness, they will fight to the death with the aristocratic families and the Wei army to protect their own interests."

"Furthermore, Ruxukou is not Jianye, and it is heavily guarded. We certainly cannot take it back for the time being. Since we cannot take it back, we must prepare for the worst-case scenario where Zhou Tai surrenders to Cao Wei and the Wei army invades the heart of Jiangdong."

"If it really comes to that, whether the reforms can be implemented will be the key to our victory. If the reforms succeed, the people of Jiangdong will rise up in rebellion and follow us to drive the Wei army back to Jiangbei. If the reforms fail, we should pack our bags and get out of here as soon as possible."

Wang Fu frowned and said, "What the second young master said makes sense, but reform takes time. I'm afraid neither Sun Quan nor Cao Cao will give us that time."

Reforms cannot be accomplished overnight, but Zhou Tai, the governor of Ruxu, could instantly defect to Cao Wei and lead the Wei army south.

Guan Xing's eyes darted around, and after thinking for a long time, he said, "Then let's play a bigger game and find a way to cut off the Wei army's idea of ​​advancing south."

Guan Yu and Wang Fu's eyes lit up simultaneously, and they asked in unison, "What method?"