The strongest devouring system in the Three Kingdoms

"It's all fine. Whether you're a boy or a girl, you must go to school. His Highness Prince Wei said that there is no gender distinction in the autonomous region. Every child must go to school. No matter what you do in the future, as long as you can read, you won't be deceived by others!" the scholar said to the people around him.

Upon hearing this, all the people cheered. Although most of them secretly scoffed at the idea of ​​girls going to school, how could they not be happy that all children could go to school? The people around the notice board began to move away, eager to share this good news with their families.

The scholar was stunned. Everyone had left, so who was he supposed to read to? But it was his mission, and not everyone had left yet. The scholar shook his head and continued reading. There was still a long way to go. His mission was to stay here for a week to explain the specific policies of the new government to the people of Yang County.

Such scenes were widespread throughout the autonomous region, and even reached places like Xuzhou and Yanzhou.

In later historical records, the reforms of King Chen Er of Wei in 2189 are referred to as the Youzhou New Deal (people are still used to use Youzhou to refer to the entire northern autonomous region). Of course, the new deal of the northern autonomous region in that year also has another name, which is the period of great reform or the January New Deal.

By early March, the specific policies of the new measures implemented in January had been widely disseminated within the autonomous region, and the new functional departments had been determined. The deepening reform of the military was the first to be completed, with the military rank system being popularized and the new branch of the armed forces, the Navy, being established.

The various functional departments of the State Council have completed their reforms. Only some areas below the county level have not yet implemented the new policies. After all, this was an era when communication and transportation were still very backward. Chen Er was already very satisfied with the speed of the reforms.

The people of the autonomous region have been filled with joy and laughter for the past two months. Although the interests of many powerful families have been affected to some extent, most people have seen the development potential of the autonomous region's reforms. Although some powerful families have been severely restricted in agriculture, under the conscious guidance of the autonomous region's government, they have also seen the potential of the autonomous region's commerce and industry. Some families have even directly devoted themselves to industry.

Even a few years later, a large group of workshop owners, with these pioneering families at their core, united to directly drive the industrial revolution throughout the empire, primarily in the northern regions.

On March 11th, Xun You found Chen Er and handed him a report: "My lord, this is a preliminary statistical table of the population census."

"Let me see this." Chen Er took the statistics sheet and examined it.

“Youzhou has a total population of about 2.67 million, Jizhou has 4 million! Bingzhou is relatively normal with only 1.1 million, Qingzhou has 1.7 million, and Anbei Protectorate only has 600,000. This doesn’t seem right.”

"My lord, the census conducted by the Anbei Protectorate did not include the foreign tribes," Xun You explained in a low voice. When he first received the preliminary statistics, he also felt something was wrong, so he asked his subordinates. He could already imagine Chen Er's anger.

"What time is it! Still talking about foreign tribes!" Chen Er shouted at Xun Yu, "I have emphasized this time and time again. Although we fought to the death with the nomadic tribes of the grasslands in the past, that is all in the past. Those barbarians who are willing to integrate into our society are all subjects under my rule. We must treat them equally so that they can integrate into our society more quickly and eventually become part of the Han people. But some people still don't listen, still don't listen!"

"Remove the person in charge of the census in Anbei Protectorate and immediately replace him with someone else. Make sure to accurately count the population, understand?" Chen Er said to Xun You.

"What a bastard! If those surrendered barbarians find out that we're treating them differently, all our previous efforts will have been wasted!" Chen Er was truly furious. He couldn't believe there were still people who didn't understand policy, and they were even his own officials! It was utterly despicable!

Xun You, who was standing nearby, quickly advised Chen Er that there was still a chance to salvage the situation, since the census results had not yet been released and there was still time, especially since those who had surrendered to the foreign tribes were relatively concentrated.

After being persuaded by Xun You, Chen Er's anger gradually subsided. However, judging from his expression, Xun You was quite clear-headed. Someone was going to be in trouble, and he just hoped that this person was not related to him. Xun You quickly took his leave. He had to deal with this matter as soon as possible. How could he have been so foolish? He should have dealt with it first before reporting to Chen Er!

Liu Xie observed the reforms in the autonomous region. He was a very optimistic person; although young, he could see the benefits of Chen Er's reforms and their weakening effect on powerful clans. He was also annoyed by Chen Er's reforms, as he needed the support of powerful clans to restore the glory of the Han Empire and the prestige of the Liu imperial family. He couldn't follow Chen Er's example and implement reforms. However, he was secretly pleased, as Chen Er's actions would force some powerful clans out of the autonomous region, and these people could become allies of Liu Xie.

Gongsun Zan's lust for power grew ever stronger. Although he did not restrict Liu Xie's activities or his interactions with other ministers, and even delegated some political affairs back to Liu Xie, Liu Xie and everyone else understood that Gongsun Zan was not weakening himself, but rather constantly strengthening his own power.

Because Gongsun Zan's military strength was growing stronger, after receiving weapons, equipment, and technology from Chen Er, he newly formed an army of 15,000 men. Combined with his existing forces, Gongsun Zan now commanded nearly 60,000 elite troops. Half of these were musketeers, along with 5,000 elite cavalry. Gongsun Zan also equipped himself with fifty powerful cannons, making his strength so formidable that no minister in Chang'an dared to oppose him. With this strength, Gongsun Zan had already recovered 200 li of land west of Xianyang last month. While the officials in these areas were supposedly appointed by the court, they were actually all arranged by Gongsun Zan himself. Now, Gongsun Zan only needed to reclaim the Sanguan and Chencang lines. Once these areas were recovered, Gongsun Zan would be able to control the entire Yongzhou region and begin his campaign against Liangzhou.

However, when Chen Er's reform storm reached Chang'an, Gongsun Zan was tempted. He knew this was a good opportunity to strengthen his power. Chen Er carried out reforms, so could he. Of course, his reforms had to be carried out in the name of the court, since he was still nominally subject to Liu Xie's decree.