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

Warfare is all about logistics; without a stable supply of supplies, even the most capable general can't win.

When Guan Xing only had two or three thousand men, he could make a living by robbing, but now that he has tens of thousands of soldiers, it is obviously unrealistic to rely on robbing anymore.

Moreover, the nearby poor counties had all been robbed, leaving him with no more targets to plunder. To continue surviving, he needed to establish a secure rear.

Fortunately, the Wushang Damu area where they were located belonged to the Jinqu Basin, which was full of fertile land. If it could be fully developed and utilized, it would not be a problem to support tens of thousands of Han soldiers.

Xie Chong knew the importance of land reform and spring plowing, and solemnly bowed, saying, "General, please give me your orders."

Guan Xing said, "I want you and Qian Yun to continue distributing the land, to distribute all the land that was not distributed in Wushang and the land in Damo, Zhuji and other counties, and then to allocate resources in a unified manner to help people who lack oxen and seeds, so as to ensure that spring plowing goes smoothly."

Xie Chong nodded emphatically and said, "General, rest assured, I will distribute the land fairly and justly to every household. I will not let you down and will not delay this year's spring planting."

Suddenly taking charge of land reform work in several counties, Xie Chong's authority surpassed that of the prefect, and as Guan Xing's territory expanded, his status would rise further.

If I can follow in Guan Xing's footsteps and do my job well, when the King of Hanzhong recovers Jiangdong in the future, I will surely rise to prominence with this merit.

Thank God, the efforts of two generations of the Xie family are finally about to pay off.

Thinking of the bright future, Xie Chong felt full of energy and, without even eating, called Qian Yun to go to the countryside.

Guan Xing returned to his study and fell into deep thought. Although Wu Jun had been completely annihilated, the matter was far from over, and there were still several urgent tasks that needed to be addressed.

The first issue is the reform of surrendered soldiers and the reorganization of their troops. The newly surrendered 5,000 elite Wu soldiers are more stubborn than expected and are far less easily fooled than private soldiers.

Moreover, his initial idea was to assign a guide to each village and a teacher to each department, so that they could play the role of the Party Committee in the future. However, due to insufficient manpower, all the guides and teachers in each department were vacant. The only teacher, Xie Chong, was transferred to do something else, so the position was essentially created in vain.

But Guan Xing did not intend to give up. He planned to establish a Han Army School and send all the soldiers with ambition to study there. If there were no talents, he would train them himself. People can't be killed by holding their pee.

To establish a school, papermaking must be the first step. In the short term, papermaking can meet the students' writing needs, and in the long term, it can break the monopoly of the aristocracy on education. Therefore, it must be put on the agenda.

Secondly, there was the economy. The Han Dynasty's productivity was too low, and the core reason for this low productivity was the lack of production tools.

Some time ago, Guan Xing went to the countryside to carry out land reform and tragically discovered that in many places, an entire village couldn't find a single intact kitchen knife.

The shovels, hoes, and mattocks that are essential tools for rural life in later generations are nowhere to be found here. Even if you occasionally find one or two, they are rusty and severely worn. Can you believe that a hoe that was half a foot wide has been worn down to the width of a baby's palm?

The owner of this hoe treats it like a treasure, not letting anyone touch it.

Iron pots are even more of a luxury item; several villages couldn't possibly afford one.

There's also the plow. The curved plow hasn't been invented yet, so it's one thing for people to use the straight plow, but the problem is that there aren't any available. Seven or eight villages can't even put together a complete plow, so people are literally digging with their hands to farm.

It would be a miracle if productivity was high with all that labor.

The reason for this result is simple: iron deficiency.

The Han Dynasty's steel production was too low; the little steel it had was all used to forge weapons, and there was no surplus that flowed into the hands of the people.

Therefore, it is necessary to build a steel plant. The scale does not need to be too large. As long as every household can be equipped with a set of three tools—shovel, hoe, and mattock—productivity will immediately take a qualitative leap.

If equipped with common tools such as machetes, saw blades, and curved plows, agriculture in the Han Dynasty would surely take off instantly.

In addition, local resources must also be utilized. Zhejiang is rich in silk, which is a hard currency comparable to gold. If the weavers are equipped with new looms, the income from silk alone will make Guan Xing laugh in his dreams.

There's also tea. Currently, tea is not widely available in the Han Dynasty. Ordinary people and high-ranking officials do not have the habit of drinking tea, but that's okay, habits can be cultivated.

Guan Xing said that if no one else drinks, he will drink first and then encourage the soldiers to drink. Sooner or later, he will make all the people in the world fall in love with drinking tea.

As for salt production, shipbuilding, and starting the Age of Exploration, that's for later. Let's solve the immediate food crisis first.

After clearing his mind, Guan Xing called Wang Tao over and asked, "Do you know where the coal Zhang Cheng used to smoke out of us at Jitou Ridge came from?"

The steel mill needs coal and iron ore the most. Guan Xing vaguely remembered that there were coal mines in the Jinqu Basin, as well as dozens of other mineral resources such as gold, silver, copper, iron, and kaolin, which could meet the current needs of the Han army. He just didn't know where they were.

Wang Tao honestly replied, "This subordinate does not know."

Guan Xing said irritably, "If you don't know where it is, why don't you ask? Why don't you just ask the Wu army who besieged Jitou Ridge back then?"

He could have directly asked Zhang Cheng and Zhuge Ke, but he couldn't bring himself to do it.

It would be beneath us to beg them.

Besides, even I might not believe what they say. What if they just point me to a random place and I end up wasting my time?

Wang Tao quickly replied, "This subordinate will go right away."

Guan Xing didn't linger. After finishing the construction plan for the steel plant, he convened a meeting of the county clerks to inquire about the types and distribution of minerals in Zhuji. Upon learning that there were iron mines in Zhuji, he couldn't help but laugh out loud.

Wushang has coal, and Zhuji has iron. Isn't that a coincidence?

Take a night's rest.

At daybreak, Guan Xing ordered Cheng Li, the old man, to temporarily assume the positions of magistrate of Zhuji County and military instructor, and to be temporarily in charge of the reform of surrendered soldiers. He himself led Feng Tiezhu and his son to Wushang to build a steel plant.

Zhuji is too close to the front line. It's not safe to build a steel plant here. It would be safer to place it in Wushang.

Cheng Li was stunned when he heard about the appointment. He was a doctor who was over sixty years old. He had entered the officialdom in this way. Was this a joke?

Cheng Li refused on the spot, saying that his old bones couldn't withstand such torment.

Guan Xing insisted that he had to do it whether he wanted to or not, because no one could be idle here.

Actually, he didn't want to torture the old man like this, but there was really no one else available.

After arranging the work in Zhuji, Guan Xing led Feng Tiezhu and his son, along with the Three Fools of Jiangdong, to Wushang to begin the Han army's steelmaking project.

While Guan Xing was making great strides in Wushanggan, Captain Zhang Ming arrived outside Jianye City with Guan Xing's greetings and a letter from the Three Fools.

Upon arriving at Wu Jun's camp, he clasped his hands in greeting and said, "Please inform the Grand Commander that Zhang Ming, a colonel under General Zhang Cheng, has urgent military intelligence to report."