Three Kingdoms: I, Liu Feng, do not want to die

Chapter 31: The Yi people come to him, Liu Feng builds up the Jingshan Volunteer Army
People will die on the battlefield.

If too many people die, I will be ashamed to face my fellow villagers.

Xiang Yu refused to cross the Yangtze River, Xu Chu cried loudly after the Battle of Chibi, and Ling Tong disappeared after Xiaoyaojin. Although the reasons are not exactly the same, the three have something in common.

Almost all the fellow villagers who were brought from their hometown died.

Once Bai Shou decides to help Liu Feng, he must be prepared that all the young men in the mountains will die on the battlefield.

Ma Yu was afraid that Bai Shou would get carried away and take the mountain disciples to help Liu Feng, so his tone of persuasion was very serious.

If Ma Yu hadn't persuaded him, Bai Shou would have really gotten too excited.

Not everyone wants to stay in the mountains for the rest of their life.

Especially since Ma Yu had been in the mountains for ten years, he told Bai Shou too many things about the outside world.

Young people in the mountains, including Bai Yong, are full of yearning for the world outside the mountains.

The statement that the barbarians admire the Han people is not simply a false statement.

Even the Xiongnu people who had long admired Han culture called themselves Liu Han and claimed to be descendants of Emperor Gaozu.

In later generations, there was a man named Liu Yuan who, as a Hun, did not proclaim himself emperor in the name of restoring the Hun royal court, but proclaimed himself emperor in the name of restoring the Han Dynasty.

Not only did they claim to be descendants of Emperor Gaozu of Han, Liu Bang, they also posthumously honored Liu Chan as Emperor Xiaohuai, and even established the tablets of the three ancestors and five ancestors from Emperor Gaozu of Han onwards and offered sacrifices to them.

There is even a joke in later generations: If the Central Plains had no master, the surrounding small countries would all claim to be the orthodox of the Han and Tang dynasties in order to compete for orthodoxy.

After carefully considering the pros and cons, Bai Shou asked, "Brother-in-law, do you think General Liu can survive this crisis in Jingzhou?"

Ma Yu frowned and said, "To be honest, I can't judge. I don't even understand why General Liu said, 'In a month at most, Jingzhou will be in danger of collapse.'"

"Even if Lü Meng of Jiangdong were to launch a surprise attack on Jingzhou, given the strong fortifications of Jiangling and Gong'an, Lü Meng might not be able to take them down even if he were given a year."

"From General Liu's expression, he really believes that Jingzhou will be in danger of collapse. He is even willing to take Brother Bai's daughter as a concubine and protect Brother Bai's clan in the future."

"As the adopted son of the King of Hanzhong, General Liu has a noble status. If Jingzhou was just a minor problem, General Liu would never have made such a promise to us."

"Brother Bai, be careful."

Bai Shou had other ideas, however: "Brother-in-law, what does General Liu mean by 'It is easier to add flowers to a beautiful brocade than to send charcoal in the snow' and 'No egg is left unbroken when the nest is overturned'?"

Ma Yu thought without hesitation: "'It is easy to add flowers to a beautiful woman, but difficult to help someone in need', you can simply understand this sentence as, if you help General Liu, you will be doing him a great favor."

"'No egg can be left unbroken when the nest is overturned' probably means that if Jingzhou is in danger of collapse, the mountain people will also be affected."

Bai Shou slapped his thigh fiercely: "Then why are you hesitating? Helping General Liu will bring great benefits. Not helping General Liu will be affected."

"If Lu Meng takes over Jingzhou and forcibly recruits mountain people like us to join the army, our people will have a hard time."

"Following General Liu, at least my people won't starve because of the cold weather and lack of food. In the future, even if we go to the battlefield, I will not let my people die."

"I often hear my brother-in-law say that the former General Wei was just a horse-breeding slave, and the Xiongnu prince Jin Midi was not only a minister entrusted with the care of the orphan, but also a marquis."

"In terms of origin, I, Bai Shou, am better than General Wei's slave. In terms of identity, although I am a barbarian, I am also a pre-Qin citizen. How can I be closer in blood than the Xiongnu and the Han people?"

Seeing Ma Yu staring at him in surprise, Bai Shou felt a little proud again: "Brother-in-law, don't underestimate me!"

"Although I can't read or write, I have listened to you read a lot of Chinese books in the past ten years, so I still understand this principle."

"It's settled! I'll gather the elders of the clan and discuss the matter of the entire clan joining General Liu."

Bai Shou does what he says.

That night, he called together the elders of the clan to discuss the clan's allegiance to Liu Feng. Although they were mountain barbarians, as long as they were human, they would seek benefits and avoid harm.

Not only did Liu Feng not blame him for robbing 5,000 shi of military rations, he also gave him a lot of extra benefits.

Compared with the uncertain future after Lu Meng obtained Jingzhou, relying on Liu Feng is obviously more in line with the interests of the clan.

Under Bai Shou's persuasive argument, the elders of the clan finally agreed to follow Liu Feng.

Early the next morning.

Bai Shou brought Ma Yu and the siblings Bai Su and Bai Yong to see Liu Feng and expressed their intention to submit to him.

"There are eight hundred young and strong warriors in my tribe, and they can all serve General Liu." Bai Shou patted his chest with a proud look on his face.

In the entire Jingshan Mountain, Bai Shou's clan is considered the largest force of the mountain valley barbarians.

Liu Feng was not stingy with money and official positions for Bai Shou's dependence, saying: "It is my honor to have Chief Bai's help."

"From now on, Captain Bai will be my Fenghan Captain. These eight hundred warriors will be led by Captain Bai."

"When I return to the city, I will send someone to deliver some usable weapons and armor to Captain Bai."

Bai Shou was stunned: "General Liu, why don't you bring the warriors from my tribe back to the city with you?"

Liu Feng smiled and said, "If we bring all these 800 warriors back to the city, the old, weak, women and children that Captain Bai left in the mountains will have no one to protect them."

"Although I need manpower, I don't mean to ask Captain Bai to recruit all 800 warriors of this tribe into the army."

"I hope Captain Bai can unite all the tribes in Jingshan and form a Jingshan volunteer army."

"When Jingzhou is in crisis, you can lend me a helping hand."

"I will take Shuping back to Fangling temporarily so that he can have a clearer understanding of the current situation in Jingzhou. Then Shuping will return to Jingshan with the soldiers and servants who are transporting weapons and armor."

Bai Shou looked at Ma Yu again.

Liu Feng’s words were too complicated for Bai Shou to understand.

Ma Yu secretly breathed a sigh of relief.

From this moment on, Ma Yu's heart finally settled down.

After all, he had stayed in the mountains for ten years, and Ma Yu couldn't bear to see the young people in the mountains die in the war because of their momentary passion.

Liu Feng's arrangement was equivalent to entrusting the safest military affairs to this group of mountain and valley barbarians, rather than letting these mountain and valley barbarians serve as vanguards and go to the battlefield to die.

"Brother Bai, just follow General Liu's wishes. Since you are following General Liu, you must obey military orders." Ma Yu did not give Bai Shou too complicated explanations, only told him to obey military orders.

When Bai Shou heard Ma Yu say this, he stopped asking questions and pulled Bai Su, who was staring at Liu Feng with wide eyes, to his front.

"General Liu, you promised yesterday that you would take Su Ji as your concubine. Let Su Ji go to Fangling with General Liu today."

Even though the people in the mountains were more unrestrained, Bai Su blushed at this moment and lowered her head, not daring to look at Liu Feng.

Liu Feng hesitated for a moment and said, "Captain Bai, I appreciate your kindness."

"But I think now is not the time to take a concubine. If I fail in Jingzhou, taking a concubine will bring disaster to Captain Bai's clan."

"I will take a concubine after I have resolved the crisis in Jingzhou."

Bai Shou's face changed: "General Liu, do you think I, Bai Shou, am a coward who doesn't keep his word?"

(End of this chapter)