I did it all for the Han Dynasty!

Chapter 194 A motley crew, like Zhou Yu...

Jiang Qin followed Gan Ning and soon arrived at the next location.

They fought the war.

The grain will be shared among everyone.

Occasionally, a soldier might hide some gold, silver, or valuables, but the authorities would turn a blind eye.

It wasn't until they reached the third location that Jiang Qin was utterly puzzled: "These places are all so well hidden, how did you find them?"

Gan Ning twitched his nose twice: "It's innate!"

"what?"

"I'm the kind of person who only has eyes for money, and no matter how well these things are hidden, they can't escape my notice."

"And do you think these powerful clans in Jingzhou would avoid people?"

"The map of Jingzhou is not divided according to those counties, but according to the territories of powerful clans."

Gan Ning did not like this land, nor did he like the people on this land.

"So, don't say anything, don't ask anything, just follow me! I guarantee we won't go to the wrong place, and Huang Zu behind us won't be able to catch up with us."

This time it was Gan Ning's turn to lead the attack.

With such fierce courage, they captured the fortified village in less than half a day and led their soldiers inside.

They replenished their supplies of food and arrows as quickly as possible, then gave the rest to the local people before moving on to the next location.

After preparing his troops, Huang She arrived at his own fortified village.

Upon seeing that the fortified village was completely empty, Huang She nearly collapsed.

"Gan Ning and Jiang Qin couldn't have taken that much stuff! Search! Search them!"

Once he learned for certain that the money and grain in the fortified village had been taken by the surrounding people, Huang She no longer cared about continuing to pursue Gan Ning and Jiang Qin, but immediately ordered his soldiers to surround the people.

"Where's the money? Where's the food?"

"Hand it over, or you'll die."

The money and provisions they had just received vanished in an instant, piling up again in the Huang family's fortified village.

Although it seemed that no money or grain had been lost, the people were filled with anger.

People knew that Master Huang's family was wealthy, but they didn't know just how wealthy they were!
But as everyone just saw...

The grain stored up at Master Huang's house is enough to feed everyone for several months!

The wealth accumulated by Master Huang's family is far greater than the combined wealth of all other families in the world!
But why are the annual land rents still so high, and the annual agricultural loans still so high?
After working hard for generations, in the end, your family still has nothing.

Well-informed villagers had already gathered together: "Do you know who gave us the money and grain before?"

"Who?"

"Liu Miao and Liu Zhongshan of Jiangdong are members of the Liu clan. I've heard they're even the current emperor's uncle!"

"Goodness! So you're a member of the Liu clan. No wonder you're such a nice person!"

"I heard that every family in Jiangdong owns land."

"Nonsense, how can people live on a wooden ground?"

"It's not like the land we have, which we can farm our whole lives and never actually own; it's private land."

"Good heavens! Private land? Isn't that something only men can have? You must be kidding me."

"What nonsense! I heard it perfectly!"

Some people confidently asserted: "It is indeed private land! Private land that can be passed down to future generations!"

"Nonsense!"

"You'll see! Liu Miao is about to attack! Just you wait and see!"

"Tch! Even if they attack, that land will still belong to the officials, what does it have to do with you and me?"

"If you don't believe me, throw me down!"

The other party did not argue, but instead packed their bags.

"Are you crazy, kid? Where are you going?"

"Go find General Gan and General Jiang."

"Damn it! Don't you want the land anymore?"

"Even if I cultivate that land for a hundred years, it will never belong to me. What use would I have for it?"

The other person reached into his pocket and said, "I've been farming for the Huang family since I was fifteen, and it's been six years now."

"But look at me now, what do I have? No money, no wife, and when I die, no one will care."

"But that makes perfect sense! We have neither money nor a wife right now, so why not go with them? If we can achieve some merit or something, and earn a couple more acres of land, wouldn't that be better than what we have now?"

The other party waved their hand: "Take care!"

"This kid's gone mad!"

"Yes."

The three elders of the clan shook their heads speechlessly at the boy's retreating figure: "Instead of living properly, you're just spouting nonsense."

"Just wait and see how pitiful he will be later; he probably won't even have a place to be buried."

"Alright, enough talk! Let's quickly figure out what to do with the fields now that he's gone?"

"What's there to be afraid of? There's only so much land, but there are plenty of people starving to death. Just find any tenant farmer to cultivate it! If he doesn't cultivate it, someone else will!"

Just as the three elders were discussing, a dark, swirling sound made them look over.

Approaching them were dozens of teenagers carrying their packs, having chosen to abandon this place. "What's going on!"

Although there was no shortage of people, the three elders were still alarmed by the sight of so many able-bodied young men leaving.

"Are you all out of your minds? If you go out, where will the land come from? Where will the food come from? Master Huang gave you the land to cultivate, so you could have something to eat. Why don't you know how to repay his kindness?!"

Some people reprimanded them, while others went to inform the parents of these individuals.

"Take action against these blind men!"

The three elders urged their parents anxiously, "Are they foolish, and are you foolish too? If they really die out there, who will take care of you in your old age? Hmm? How many more years can you till the fields? How many more years can you weave cloth? What will you do when you're lying on your bed?"

"Don't we old folks all depend on these kids? Now that they're gone, you might not even have anyone to mourn them!"

The parents then realized what had happened and rushed to pull their children back inside, crying and screaming, to prevent them from leaving.

However, there are ultimately some invincible people who have no fathers, mothers, wives, or children.

Although the number of people is small, it is enough to guide the way.

"gone!"

"Well, let's go!"

Gan Ning and Jiang Qin did not expect that more and more people would follow them.

At first, it was just a few people, then a dozen, then dozens, which was manageable.

But as the number of people gradually grows to several hundred or several thousand, how should this team be led?
"Wait, why are there more and more people fighting?"

After thinking it over, the two realized that this was not a solution.

Gan Ning simply drew a map of all the fortified villages he knew and handed it to the men: "Go here! As for the land... we'll divide it when Liu Biaoqi arrives in Jingzhou!"

What started as a series of attacks on individual businesses has now escalated into a period of rampant growth within Jingzhou.

The fortified villages and estates of powerful clans were constantly being breached.

Some of the bolder ones have even started besieging the county seat!

This escalating situation finally made it impossible for Huang Zu to remain firmly in Xiakou.

"Liu Miao! What a vicious heart! He actually instigated the bandits to rebel, he deserves to die!"

Although the common people who followed Gan Ning and Jiang Qin had already claimed to be Liu Miao's troops, in Huang Zu's eyes, these people were nothing but bandits!

"How could Liu Miao not feel guilty for turning ordinary people into bandits?"

What Huang Zu found most offensive was that Liu Miao's army actually distributed the money and grain from the fortified village to the people, which made their crime even more serious!
"Gather our forces, we will retake E County!"

Previously, Gan Ning said that E County was important to Jingzhou, but Huang Zu did not believe it; but now, Huang Zu is absolutely convinced!
The entire Xiakou region had a total of 30,000 cavalry and naval forces, all of whom Huang Zu mobilized for this battle, prompting Su Fei to hurriedly advise against it.

"I've heard that Liu Miao is personally in E County with a large army. Please do not launch an attack!"

Su Fei analyzed for Huang Zu: "Liu Miao has gained the loyalty of Sun Jian's old subordinates, and Lu Kang has recruited new soldiers for him, so he has a force of 10,000."

"After driving out Zhou Xin, killing Xu Gong, and seizing Jiangdong, Liu Miao gained another 20,000 troops."

After pacifying Huainan and defeating Yuan Shu, Liu Miao implemented the Fubing system in Jiangdong and reportedly gathered another 30,000 troops.

"Pang Tong's previous plan failed, and instead Liu Miao incorporated the Yue tribes of Yuzhang into his own forces, thus adding another 30,000."

"At this time, Liu Miao was surrounded by about 50,000 troops. How could the prefect possibly fight against such a large force with such a small number?"

Huang Zu dismissed Su Fei's analysis with a sneer: "What a joke!"

"If war were only about numbers, how could Yuan Shu have been so easily defeated?"

"Liu Miao has a large army, but no good generals! Such an army is like a clumsy wild boar, which can be defeated by anyone!"

"Liu Miao, I have never heard of him personally leading troops to a great victory."

"Zhou Yu and Sun Ce were still wet behind the ears."

"Cheng Pu, Huang Gai, and other former subordinates of Sun Jian are all defeated generals!"

"Huang Zhong is just an old soldier from Nanyang. Why should we even bother with him?"

"What Taishi Ci? He couldn't even defeat Liu Miao. He's just a name without substance! Only a fool like Liu Pan would be afraid of him!"

Huang Zu was so confident that he was even somewhat arrogant.

"Don't panic, they're just a rabble!"

"Back then, Sun Yat-sen was practically the greatest warrior in the land, yet he still died at my hands, didn't he?"

"Originally, I wanted to take advantage of the confrontation with Liu Miao to ask Xiangyang for some money and supplies... but since Liu Miao is so rude, then I can't be blamed!"

Huang Zu mustered his troops and marched eastward, encamping at the foot of Lishan Mountain.

Incidentally, Huang Zu also wrote a letter to Liu Miao, vehemently criticizing him.

"Instead of staying put in your Jiangdong, you insist on leading a bunch of rabble to cause trouble in our Jingzhou, inciting bandits to harm the people. You are shameless! If you retreat to Jiangdong now and obediently hand over E County, then I will no longer pay attention to you! If you are still stubborn, don't blame me for making Wu's two husbands die!"

After reading the letter, Liu Miao said he was really scared!
He was terrified, and at the same time, he berated all the generals under his command.

"Tell me about you guys! How come you haven't made a name for yourselves yet? Huang Zu actually said that my men are just a bunch of rabble?"

"Is Huang Zu insulting you? Yes! He is insulting you! Aren't you angry?!"

Veteran players such as Cheng Pu and Huang Gai were all dissatisfied.

Even high-ranking military officers like Zhou Yu and Taishi Ci had somber expressions.

Lu Yi and Lü Meng, who had no seats for the time being and could only stand at the door as scribes, were also looking westward, clearly calculating in their minds how many ways Huang Zu could die.

Among them, Sun Ce reacted the most fiercely!
Sun Ce was especially enraged when he heard Huang Zu mention his mother in his last letter: "This humble general is willing to go into battle and take Huang Zu's head to offer as a sacrifice to my deceased father!"

(End of this chapter)