Second-hand time travel: Liu Bei, the big-eared bandit

Chapter 172 Do you want to be an official?
Black Mountain is a mountain range in the southernmost section of the Taihang Mountains, covering a large area and not referring to a single mountain.

The mountains in this area are mostly dark brown rocks, and the terrain is steep with cliffs everywhere. To enter the mountains, one must pass through deep valleys. Even on a sunny day, the mountains feel dark, hence the name Black Mountain.

At this time, most of the Black Mountain bandits were in Dapi Mountain near Shexian County.

This is where Zhang Niujiao used to stay, and it is also where he will be buried.

Liu Bei didn't bring many people with him, only Zhang Fei, Bai Yao, and Zhang Baiqi.

Zhang Fei had dealt with Zhang Niujiao before, and as the commander of the Imperial Guard, it was only natural that he would come.

Bai Yao was very familiar with Zhang Niujiao and was also a right colonel in the Yellow Turban Army. Now that Black Mountain had absorbed many former Yellow Turban troops, it was easier for Bai Yao to contact them.

As for Zhang Baiqi, Liu Bei actually intended to have him join the Black Mountain...

Zhang Baiqi had previously recruited a number of mountain and river bandits in Bohai, totaling nearly a thousand people, but in reality, he did not attack Nanpi; he merely cut off the road between Dongwu City and Nanpi.

He originally intended to bring all these people to Ganling, but the river pirates wanted to go to Liaodong more, so only five hundred mountain bandits returned with Zhang Baiqi.

Moreover, most of these bandits were unwilling to stay in Ganling; they wanted to join the Black Mountain bandits.

This was actually the first choice for most mountain bandits in Jizhou, after all, they were not refugees, nor were they the elderly, weak, women and children.

The elderly, the weak, women and children really have no choice; wherever they are, they are already fortunate to have a place to settle down.

But the bandits from Bohai were different. These bandits didn't distrust Liu Bei; they distrusted the world.

Liu Bei may be reliable, but he is, after all, an official, and one from Youzhou. He cannot stay in Ganling forever—what will Ganling become if Liu Bei leaves?
They had been thieves and committed crimes, and Liu Bei wouldn't punish them, but what about the other officials?
The vast Taihang Mountains in the north and south offer numerous hiding places, making it easier to survive in chaotic times by staying hidden among the mountains and rivers.

Just like the defeated and scattered Yellow Turbans, only Bai Yao and Yu Du, who had dealt with Liu Bei before, were willing to join him. Most of the other Yellow Turban remnants also entered Black Mountain.

In fact, those mountain bandits were willing to follow Zhang Baiqi and serve as soldiers under Liu Bei, but whether they wanted to serve as soldiers was not a matter of their willingness, but rather that they might not be qualified.

Liu Bei's management here is too strict. Zhang Baiqi is also from a regular army background, and he and the Ming soldiers are considered the first generation of "instructors". He also agrees with strict management.

Including the remnants of the Yellow Turban Rebellion, all able-bodied men under Liu Bei's command will be re-selected according to the existing regulations for his troops. Those who are willing to join the army and pass the physical examination will be admitted to the army, and then they will all be treated as new recruits and retrained.

The training and selection process is fair and impartial, without discrimination or preferential treatment. After completing basic training, recruits are assigned to various military units and cannot form cliques or factions.

This meant that the bandits could neither band together with their fellow villagers nor be subject to strict control—Liu Bei's troops were full-time professional soldiers with high discipline requirements, and of course, their food and pay were always plentiful.

However, the harvest has been bad these past two years, and the food has been downgraded. We can't eat meat every day, so we can only improve the food every ten days. As a result, the training volume has also been reduced by half.

However, other requirements such as hygiene and bans have not been reduced, but have become even stricter in order to avoid the plague.

These requirements will indeed deter many bandits from forming groups, but Liu Bei has no intention of changing this established mechanism—especially the army. He must maintain this good mechanism, otherwise it will soon turn into a collection of private armies scattered across the mountains.

The well-functioning talent selection and promotion system should not be easily abandoned in order to increase the number of soldiers. The fact that Liu Bei's army has never had any internal problems has proven that this seemingly simple system is effective.

If it is effective, then it should be consistently applied and gradually improved into military regulations.

Even Zhang He and Bai Yao were appointed temporarily before the war, and were only officially appointed based on their merits after the war through a military selection process.

Bai Yao was able to become the Western Commander of Ganling because of his merit in gathering more than 30,000 Yellow Turban remnants—his current rank is higher than Zhang He and Zhang Fei, and second only to Guan Yu, the Commander of the Central Army.

Chen Feng and Tian Yu have always been by Liu Bei's side and have a very close relationship. Tian Yu has been appointed as a military strategist for his merits, but he has not yet held a military position.

Liu Bei's basic requirement for his troops was a height of six feet five inches or more (Han foot, equivalent to 1.5 meters, which was also the requirement for regular soldiers in the Han army during the reign of Emperor Wu). Tian Yu was not tall enough because he had not yet developed, so he failed the first round of the military selection.

However, Tian Yu has now passed the test. He is currently in his growth spurt and has grown more than half a foot taller in a few months. But before completing the military selection, Tian Yu will not be able to obtain a military rank and will therefore have no subordinates.

Of course, Liu Bei's subordinates could recruit their own men, but if the men they recruited did not complete the formal training process or pass the military selection, they would not be recognized by the army and could not be formally rewarded for their merits; they could only be regarded as auxiliary soldiers.

Once trained, these people would obey Liu Bei's command, since it was Liu Bei and Guan Yu who carried out the training, and Liu Bei was always the elder brother who provided food, money, and medical care.

The greatest effect of this mechanism is not to improve the individual abilities of soldiers, but to make all the troops Liu Bei's men and to allocate them according to the current task—no one can stuff private soldiers into Liu Bei's army, and no one can form cliques and factions. Even if a small faction is formed, it will be automatically dismantled in subsequent tasks and promotions.

This method of centralized training followed by redistribution was far more costly than having subordinates recruit their own troops, because Liu Bei had to pay for all expenses, including equipment, himself.

But this is very important in this day and age.

—Just look at the situation the current emperor faces. There are so many troops in Luoyang, but the vast majority of them belong to other countries. The emperor can't command them and lives in constant fear, hiding in the West Garden...

The only exception is Cui Yan's side. Liu Bei didn't treat the Cui family as his own soldiers. The Cui family was currently a semi-dependent warlord, and giving them the title of Eastern Sima was only based on the needs of the situation.

Liu Bei did not have any small strongholds, nor did he dare to have any.

But Montenegro is different; it's all small hills...

Upon arriving at the foot of Mount Dapi, Liu Bei encountered dozens of leaders of varying ranks.

Zuo Zi led Zhang Yan out to greet Liu Bei.

In fact, most of the remnants of the Yellow Turban Rebellion had heard of Liu Bei, and many of them knew that Liu Bei had taken in the women and children of Guangzong.

Most of the Black Mountain bandit leaders had also heard of the name "Big-Eared Bandit," and they hadn't forgotten Liu Bei's revenge for his friend and his dealings with bandits like Li Yizi.

Liu Bei actually stopped hiding his identity. He not only revealed his bandit nickname "Big Ears" but also his courtesy name, Liu Xuande of Zhuojun.

So almost all the leaders came out to greet them—most of the leaders came down the mountain to welcome them, and the other leaders naturally had to give them some face as well.

"Brother Big Ears is an old friend of my father and should be considered an elder in Yan. Please invite the elder to the stronghold for a chat... I have often heard of the chivalrous and righteous name of Big Ears, but only today do I learn that Brother Big Ears is also an official..."

Zhang Yan is a very tough young man. He is not tall, but he looks very energetic and his temperament is indeed very similar to Zhang Niujiao.

Moreover, upon meeting Liu Bei, he referred to himself as a junior, which was certainly not a sign of weakness, but rather an extremely clever move—it made people more accepting of his status as Zhang Niujiao's successor.

“Bei is indeed an official, but in these days, to become an official, one can only be a thief… Feiyan is about the same age as me, so we should address each other as brothers. In this mountain, everyone, young or old, is a brother, except for the deceased leader.”

Flying Swallow was Zhang Yan's bandit nickname. This nickname wasn't self-proclaimed, but rather because Zhang Yan was agile and swift as lightning, and everyone in the Black Mountain Army called him Flying Swallow.

Since Zhang Yan had given him face, Liu Bei naturally had to return the favor and, incidentally, elevate Zhang Yan's status by a generation.

Liu Bei did not consider himself an elder, and Zuo Zi naturally could not either—and consequently, no one could regard Zhang Yan as a junior, but only the deceased Zhang Niujiao as an elder.

That would be much more convenient for Zhang Yan.

"Brother Big Ears has come from afar to see my father off on his final journey. I am deeply grateful. I will guide you, Brother Big Ears..."

Zhang Yan clearly understood Liu Bei's meaning, and immediately bowed and led Liu Bei's horse into the valley: "Brother Big Ears, why do you say that being an official means you can only be a thief?"

Actually, Liu Bei had already stopped riding a horse before entering the mountains, but Zhang Yan's posture in leading the horse was very comfortable, which explains why Zhang Niujiao looked at him differently.

"Without family protection or father and brothers to rely on, if I hadn't become the Big Ear Thief, I wouldn't be in this position now... In fact, if the leader of the Bull Horn Alliance hadn't been falsely accused back then, he would be an official now."

Liu Bei walked up to Zhang Yan and stood beside her, saying, "I think you, Fei Yan, are also very suitable to be an official. I wonder if you have such aspirations?"

Zhang Yan is indeed a very suitable person to be an official; his handling of Zhang Niujiao's estate alone demonstrates his skill.

First, they held a simple funeral, but did not bury Zhang Niujiao directly. Instead, they united the Black Mountain bandits in the name of revenge, so that the various groups would not be scattered.

Then they attacked and captured Zhao Family Fortress in Zhending, taking Zhao Fu's life to avenge Zhang Niujiao.

However, they did not undertake any difficult or arduous tasks, such as attacking Zhen Ding County. Instead, they immediately returned to the mountains with their gains to ensure that the various mountain peaks were not damaged.

In this way, all of Zhang Niujiao's former friends and subordinates would recognize Zhang Yan as his successor.

After establishing both the title and the practical benefits, the leaders of various mountain strongholds in the northern and southern Taihang Mountains would be invited to a funeral in the presence of the bandits of Taihang, where he would formally inherit Zhang Niujiao's social prestige and network of connections as Zhang Niujiao's adopted son. These things seem simple, but in reality, most people wouldn't follow this order.

Zhang Yan's procedures for handling this matter were exemplary, and after Zhang Niujiao's death, not a single one of the Black Mountain bandits switched sides.

"Yan was a nobody. If it weren't for Black Mountain's rescue, he would have long since become an unknown skeleton in the wilderness, destined never to become an official..."

Upon hearing Liu Bei say that he was suited to be an official, Zhang Yan shook his head and said, "I have heard that Brother Da'er saved countless lives in Xihe and Ganling. If I could save the people of Heishan like Brother Da'er, it would be my lifelong wish."

"I have more than 20,000 people settled in Xihe and 80,000 people settled in Ganling... The total number is only about 100,000."

Liu Bei looked at Zhang Yan seriously: "Feiyan, your Black Mountain now has more than 100,000 people, probably 300,000 or more, right? Black Mountain doesn't have much arable land, how are you going to feed so many people?"

Heishan was able to mobilize more than 50,000 able-bodied men to attack Gaoyi and Yingtao. The total population, including the elderly, women, and children, was indeed close to 300,000—Ganling currently only has a population of over 100,000.

"Yan is also worried about this matter. The troops they sent to Yingtao a few days ago were to obtain seeds and grain. Now the surrounding valleys have been sown. But the soil in the mountains is barren, and the harvest will definitely not be enough. Moreover, the grain reserves are too small right now, and it may not even last until the autumn harvest..."

Zhang Yan also nodded and talked about the difficulties in the mountains.

"So, what are Feiyan's plans? Will she send troops to seize grain?"

Liu Bei frowned: "But if we send troops again, where can we go?"

Zhongshan has already been plundered by Zuo Zi, and Changshan Gaoyi, Julu Yingtao have also been looted. Weijun is a gathering place for refugees, and the refugees have eaten all the grass in the fields, so there is hardly any food left... The surrounding counties of Heishan are now even poorer than Heishan.

Zhang Yan sighed: "I really don't know what to do. Please, Brother Da'er... no, please, Brother Xuande, teach me how to survive."

"To make a living, one cannot escape the social hierarchy of scholars, farmers, artisans, and merchants... I won't go into the farmers."

Liu Bei was straightforward and immediately proposed a solution: "If Fei Yan can get his troops to work for the court, then they will be able to support themselves and not rely on farmers for sustenance."

"Furthermore, if we can obtain the Black Mountain iron ore for forging, that would be a great achievement."

“If iron is sold everywhere, then it becomes a business… With scholars, farmers, artisans and merchants all employed, Black Mountain can support 300,000 people.”

At this point, Liu Bei paused: "But if scholars, farmers, artisans, and merchants are all employed, even more refugees will come to Black Mountain, and then the number will be more than 300,000..."

Black Mountain does indeed have iron ore deposits, including those in Dapi Mountain and Wujin Mountain. Wujin Mountain is an open-pit mine, and it is also known as "Purple Gold Mountain" because the rocks on the mountain reflect a brilliant gold color when sunlight hits them.

Those rocks are mineral layers mixed with by-products.

Zhang Yan bowed deeply to Liu Bei: "Brother Xuande, you are truly talented. These words are worth more than millions of coins and grain. As for the future, let's talk about it when we can no longer support our people... However, I have a bad reputation. How can I be employed by the court?"

"Being a good official is still an official, and he can represent the imperial court."

Liu Bei raised an eyebrow at Zhang Yan: "Although I don't have much surplus grain, I can still get those who do to contribute money and grain..."

"Brother Xuande, where do you intend to attack?"

Without wasting words, Zhang Yan, upon hearing Liu Bei's words, immediately inquired about the target.

"It's not that I want to hit anywhere..."

Liu Bei shook his head: "You're the one who wants to lead troops to fight corrupt officials, and then I'll come and drive you away, and then make them pay money and provisions every month so that they won't have no one to help them if they get beaten up... Have you ever heard of protection money?"

"Ah... ah?"

Zhang Yan was stunned. Protection money? What? Wasn't he supposed to be employed by the imperial court?

"This protection fee is essentially the same as collecting taxes... but since I, as the Commandant of Ganling, can't collect taxes from other prefectures, I can only collect protection fees..."

Liu Bei spread his hands: "I'll hire you to scare them, and then I'll collect protection money. We'll split it 50/50, how about that?"

"Sigh... What a good business... But why don't I go collect it myself?"

Zhang Yan is probably starting to apply what she's learned to other situations.

"You're a thief now, a notorious thief who's conquered two major counties. Who would believe you led your troops there just to collect protection money?"

Liu Bei patted Zhang Yan on the shoulder: "That's why I asked you if you were interested in becoming an official... Being an official is always better than being a thief in doing business."

……

Zhang Niujiao's funeral was simple, but also quite solemn.

We are frugal because we are poor... We must save money right now.

The funeral was solemn because many people came to pay their respects.

There are dozens of notorious thieves.

Black Mountain was led by Zhang Yan, and there were more than twenty other mountain strongholds, such as Sun Qing and Wang Dang;

The northern Taihang Mountains, starting with the left-hand peak, consist of about ten mountain peaks;
Guo Daxian, former Yellow Turban Left School Commander Liu Shi, and others arrived at Baibo Valley;
Sui Gu and Huang Long, bandits from Neihuang County in Wei Commandery (river bandits between Neihuang County and the Yellow River);
Lei Gong and Yang Feng from Shangdang;
Hanoi's pacification of Hanoi and its grand plan;
Changshan bandits Fuyun and Baique;

There are also Big Ears and Ring Eyes from Xihe in Zhuojun, etc. Big Ears was also a notorious bandit. Not counting Ganling, just Xihe Pavilion alone was a notorious bandit. Ring Eyes, who burned down Wangdu alone, was also very famous.

The bandits from all the bandit dens in Hebei have basically all arrived. If you include all the followers under the rule of these big bandits, the total population would probably be over a million.

Zhang Yan also took the opportunity to form alliances with various factions, with the deceased Zhang Niujiao as the leader of the alliance.

This was also Liu Bei's suggestion, to make the deceased the leader of the alliance. The matter was discussed very smoothly, which allowed each party to have an alliance while avoiding fighting among themselves.

At the same time, it also prevents Zhang Yan from swallowing up other factions after becoming the leader of the alliance—Zhang Yan is the strongest at this time.

Immediately after Zhang Niujiao's funeral, Liu Bei gave Zhang Yan his first business deal.

He led his troops to the outskirts of Ye County and surrounded Zhangjiawu Fortress in Ye County.

The Zhang family of Ye County was not actually a prominent family, but they were wealthier than most prominent families—this was the family of Zhang Rang, a court attendant.

Zhang Rang's family was extremely wealthy, and their house was built to be even more magnificent than the Prince's mansion, making it easy to identify.

This was actually considered an overstepping of authority, but no one dared to interfere.

The Zhang family actually has quite a few men, but even with so many private soldiers, they can't withstand the Black Mountain's tendency to send out tens of thousands of troops at a time...

Zhang Yan was quite honest in business; he sent out 15,000 troops at once, causing everyone in Wei Commandery to think that the Yellow Turbans had resurfaced, and no one dared to go out.

In fact, Wei Commandery now has troops, and quite a few at that. Ye City has a full four thousand garrison soldiers, which were acquired by Shen Pei, the clerk of Wei Commandery, during this period.

Because the Black Mountain bandits were so powerful before, the position of Prefect of Wei Commandery has not yet been sold, and Shen Pei is the actual person in charge of Wei Commandery.

Shen Pei was indeed a brave man. He did not back down when he saw the Black Mountain army enter the country. Instead, he quickly sent fast horses to all directions to request reinforcements and then held firm in Ye City.

But the Black Mountain Army didn't besiege Ye City at all; they went straight for Zhangjiawu Fortress.

Shen Pei completely ignored Zhangjiawu Fortress—the gentry would certainly not come to the aid of the eunuch family.

Zhang Yan tried to threaten the Zhang family, but just as Liu Bei had said, no one believed he was only there to collect protection money...

Liu Bei didn't even personally handle the task of collecting protection money—he entrusted it to Zhang He, since Zhang He was familiar with the terrain and the people of Ji Province.

(End of this chapter)