I did it all for the Han Dynasty!

Chapter 162 Only when there are many can you bully the few.
fifty thousand?

Even if you add up all the troops Lü Bu led under Ding Yuan, Dong Zhuo, Wang Yun, and Yuan Shao, it probably wouldn't be this many! And now you want me, Gao Shun, to train this size of new recruits?
Moreover, Gao Shun only managed to bring out 700 elite troops under Lü Bu's command, less than 1,000, yet now you suddenly have 50,000.
What angered Gao Shun even more was: "Why did Liu Yangzhou have to come and make fun of me?"

"An army of 50,000? How can Jiangdong possibly support that now!"

Among the surrounding forces, only Yuan Shu's forces reached this size.

But where did Yuan Shu's 50,000-strong army come from?

That was obtained by abolishing Nanyang Commandery, the largest commandery in the Later Han Dynasty!

An army of this size could completely drain the entire Jiangdong region! Gao Shuncai didn't believe Liu Miao could actually muster such a massive army!
"If I were to say that I was not mocking the general, would the general agree?"

"An army of 50,000? Absolutely impossible!"

Gao Shun still didn't believe it.

Throughout the entire world, only Yuan Shao dared to claim that he could support an army of 50,000. Even Liu Biao and Cao Cao were far from reaching that number.

Although Jiangdong had northern refugees to supplement its population and had been reclaiming wasteland on a large scale, making its people slightly wealthier, it was still far behind densely populated places like Jizhou.

Now that Liu Miao claims he can raise 50,000 new soldiers, Gao Shun still feels that Liu Miao is making fun of him!
Liu Miao didn't waste any words.

What is meant by equal distribution of land?

What are the Fubing (府兵)?

He quickly relayed the message to Gao Shun in the shortest possible words.

To make it easier for Gao Shun to understand, Liu Miao directly stated the essence of the two—

“Recruiting soldiers means taking them away from production and using money collected from ordinary people to support them.”

"The Fubing system combines soldiers and farmers, making them both soldiers and civilians."

"So, does the general think that Jiangdong cannot muster 50,000 new soldiers?"

Gao Shun finally understood.

It turns out that Liu Miao had already disdained adopting the military system that had been in place for two hundred years since the Later Han Dynasty and had begun to explore a different path!
Even an honest man like Gao Shun couldn't help but exclaim in surprise: "Liu Yangzhou actually dared to privately change the military system. Isn't he afraid of being punished by the imperial court?"

"What's the military system compared to that? They've even changed the Three Elders system."

Liu Miao was completely unaware that he had done anything extraordinary. Seeing Gao Shun's jaw about to drop, he considerately stepped forward and used his hand to close it.

"If the recruitment system is followed, if it is played well, one can become like Yuan Shao, who can use the rich land to support a large number of soldiers and conquer the world; but if it is played badly, one will become the next Yuan Shu, who will gradually start to spend more than he earns and end up with a reputation for being tyrannical and oppressive."

Liu Miao clearly had no interest in discussing high-level topics like the "specific significance and impact of the Fubing system" with Gao Shun.

He just wanted Gao Shun to know that he could really pull out 50,000 new recruits now!

"However, the Fubing soldiers are different from the recruited soldiers. They can only train in the summer and winter seasons each year, and the rest of the time they still farm."

"So, I don't mean for you, General, to do nothing all year but train new recruits for me. I mean, training only in the summer and winter. What do you think?"

Gao Shun was still reeling from the shock of the Fubing system, and murmured to himself, "It can actually be like this..."

Admittedly, Jiangdong is far less prosperous than the Central Plains, let alone compared to Hebei.

However, the superior system of Jiangdong at this time could easily generate far more soldiers than those of the same size!
"Tell General Lü!"

This was Gao Shun's first thought!

Tell Lü Bu so that he can also rapidly expand his power and become a warlord with a terrifying ability to amass troops, just like Liu Miao!

However, Gao Shun quickly became dejected.

Although Liu Miao's explanation was brief, Gao Shun could still tell that the true foundation of the Fubing system was actually the equal-field system.

Becoming a soldier in the military garrison not only grants land based on merit, but also reduces taxes and corvée labor. This is the fundamental reason why these soldiers are willing to join the military garrison.

Otherwise, soldiers under the conscription system would have everything provided by the feudal lords, including money, food, and weapons. Wouldn't that be more comfortable than soldiers under the militia system who had to bring their own equipment?

Whether recruited or conscripted, soldiers were required to be paid money and rations.

The difference is that the money and provisions for recruiting soldiers are obtained by conscripting ordinary people; but the money and provisions for the local militia are essentially converted into land by the government and distributed to these militia members.

In particular, the concept of "perpetual land" as private land in the equal-field system was able to motivate the soldiers.

Ultimately, the so-called "system" is not about creating resources out of thin air, but about enabling resources to be used more rationally.

However, the prerequisite is having the power to allocate resources.

Today, farmland and population are the greatest resources.

In other states and counties, however, these resources were mostly controlled by powerful families.

If Lü Bu were to actually do that, it's highly likely that the powerful families of Xu Province would follow the example of Zhang Miao and others, and simply betray Lü Bu...

Although Gao Shun was upright and inflexible, this did not mean that he was just a reckless man who only knew military affairs.

After all, generals like Wu Qi, who could truly train elite troops like the "Wei Wu Zu," were essentially outstanding military strategists and reformers.

Gao Shun understood that unless other warlords could act like Liu Miao and ruthlessly crack down on the powerful families within their territories to regain control over the distribution of land and population, this system would only ever thrive in Jiangdong.

Gao Shun simply couldn't understand why, among so many feudal lords, only Liu Miao dared to do such a thing.

Then, thinking of the "famous scholars" and "filial and incorruptible officials" who were popular in the Later Han Dynasty, Gao Shun finally understood.

"Liu Yangzhou is actually not burdened by his reputation!"

In today's world, countless people are willing to risk their lives and shed their blood for the sake of "reputation"!

Even when Dong Zhuo held power, he went to great lengths to win over renowned scholars, yet this ultimately led to the fragmentation of the country into a fragmented political landscape dominated by warlords. Yuan Shao, Yuan Shu, Cao Cao, even Liu Bei and Lü Bu—weren't they all diligently cultivating their reputations?

On the contrary, Liu Miao was surprisingly pragmatic to this extent.

A field is a field, a person is a person, and money is money.

What you hold in your own hands is real; everything else is fake!

In a world so obsessed with fame, Liu Miao's pragmatism was truly unique!
Fortunately, Jiangdong was far from the Central Plains, and there was the even more treasonous event of Yuan Shu declaring himself emperor; otherwise, Liu Miao would probably be cursed to death by scholars who pursue fame!

At this moment, Gao Shun finally felt a sliver of admiration for Liu Miao.

"What Liu Yangzhou is doing now is the same great thing that the ancient sages like Shang Yang and Wu Qi did."

Liu Miao smiled sheepishly: "General Gao Shun's praise is truly embarrassing."

"This is not praise, but I just want to tell Liu Yangzhou... people like this never end well."

Gao Shun was indeed unlikable, causing Liu Miao's hard-won goodwill towards him to vanish instantly.

However, Liu Miao completely ignored Gao Shun's reminder.

"so what?"

Gao Shun's eyes lit up, sensing that Liu Miao possessed a heroic aura!
"Does Liu Yangzhou actually intend to go alone, even if it means going alone?"

"No."

Liu Miao had no desire to be a great hero, to be like Shang Yang or Wu Qi.

"Did Emperor Gaozu overthrow the tyrannical Qin Dynasty and govern the country with the Huang-Lao philosophy, thus incurring the resentment of the people?"

"Shang Yang was executed by being torn apart by chariots simply because he offended the monarch, who then sought revenge."

"Wu Qi was dismembered simply because the ruler was weak and could no longer protect him."

"It is clearly the monarch's fault, yet they are blamed. How can such a thing be right?"

Therefore, Liu Miao found it somewhat inexplicable that Gao Shun compared him to Shang Yang and Wu Qi.

"Moreover, I, Liu Miao, am a governor who guards the territory for the emperor. All I want is to pacify the world as soon as possible. Other matters are not things I should consider."

Gao Shun asked, "Don't you care about your reputation at all?"

"what?"

Liu Miao chuckled dismissively: "I guess that's all they dare to do, right?"

How carefree!
Looking at Liu Miao in front of him, Gao Shun suddenly had a strange thought—

Liu Yangzhou truly possessed the spirit of Emperor Gaozu.

Liu Miao did not defend himself by saying that the reforms were for the people, for the world, for the Han Dynasty, or any other high-sounding rhetoric.

Reform means becoming as strong as possible, acquiring as much as possible, getting as much money as possible, recruiting as many soldiers as possible, and then killing the enemy as much as possible!
Liu Miao might care about other things, but he didn't care about them at all!
Gao Shun clenched his fists and finally made up his mind.

"Can!"

"This humble general is willing to train troops for Liu Yangzhou, but Liu Yangzhou must agree to three things for me."

"I would agree to thirty things, let alone three."

Gao Shun shook his head very sincerely: "We don't need that many."

"Firstly, I came to Guangling specifically to help General Lü guard against Yuan Shu. Governor Liu Yangzhou must not allow Yuan Shu to attack Xuzhou from here."

Liu Miao immediately nodded in agreement.

"Preventing Yuan Shu from taking Xuzhou was my original intention. Even if you hadn't said so, I would never have allowed Yuan Shu to take Xuzhou."

"Secondly, although it is a training exercise, there are still different levels. The Fubing can only be trained for two seasons, so they probably cannot be as elite as the Trap Camp."

Liu Miao was also aware of this.

"How dare we demand that the general train an elite force like the Trapped Camp? Even fifty percent of the Trapped Camp's strength would be more than enough!"

Liu Miao did not believe in the rhetoric of "only elite troops matter".

In war, the number of soldiers is the most important factor!
Fighting with fewer troops sounds impressive, but it's actually a joke!
You have 30,000 men who can defeat my 50,000, but I immediately pull out another 50,000, 100,000, or 200,000 troops. How can you possibly win this battle?
If possible, Liu Miao would still prefer to have the numbers bully the few!
What about the Trapped Camp, the Tiger and Leopard Cavalry, the White Horse Cavalry...

Under the Fubing system, with its boundless human wave tactics, it's all nonsense!

Therefore, even if Liu Miao only had 30% of the strength of the Trapped Camp, let alone 50%, he could still go to the Central Plains and make a splash with these soldiers!

"Thirdly, I am, after all, under General Lü's command. If General Lü summons me, I must return to Xuzhou."

"Oh~~~~"

Liu Miao's gaze began to wander...

You think the duck in the pot can fly away? Heh?

Although Gao Shun could sense Liu Miao's indecisiveness, he still tried his best to convince himself—

"A man like Liu Yangzhou should care about his reputation and wouldn't go back on his word, right?"

"..."

"..."

Maybe!
(End of this chapter)