I did it all for the Han Dynasty!

Chapter 50 Everyone is like a dragon
Liu Miao then raised his eyes to observe the group of river bandits before him.

Jiang Qin and Zhou Tai stood tall, both clad in armor. Judging from the material, they were both wearing precious fish-scale iron armor, indicating that they were quite well-off.

Aside from the two men, the bandits behind them were in a rather complicated situation. Some of them hastily protected their front and back with two pieces of armor, while others simply wrapped their cloths tightly for protection.

Looking around, Liu Miao turned his gaze back to Jiang Qin, the dark-faced man.

"Heroes are not judged by their origins. Does a hero have to be a general in a crimson robe and a grand crown, and not a poorly dressed old soldier?"

“In the past, Emperor Gaozu served as the head of the Sishui Pavilion, and Emperor Shizu also made a living by farming. Are you going to say that they were not heroes back then?”

"The Book of Changes has the Qian hexagram: 'Seeing a group of dragons without a head is auspicious!' Now that we are in a chaotic world, can't everyone be like a dragon and become a hero?"

Liu Miao's words startled Jiang Qin and Zhou Tai! Especially when they heard Liu Miao say "everyone is like a dragon," their eyes lit up.

"Old soldier! I love listening to you talk!"

Zhou Tai boldly stepped forward and patted Liu Miao on the shoulder, his demeanor full of magnanimity.

"Anyone holding a position in the imperial court, whether a clerk or a border guard, looks at us with disdain, thinking we are bandits and filthy, and disdains to associate with us. Your words 'everyone is like a dragon' sound nice!"

Zhou Tai's eyes were full of admiration, and he actually took the initiative to recruit Liu Miao—

"I see you're a straightforward person, why bother following this pretty boy around? Why don't you just come with us and have some fun here!"

Apart from Zhou Tai, the other three all had strange expressions.

Liu Miao simply shook his head, indicating his refusal.

"Why?"

Zhou Tai glared at Liu Miao: "Are you also the kind of person who says one thing and means another? Do you look down on us?"

"No, it's just that there's no future in being a bandit."

Liu Miao said that he could go up the mountain by himself, but he would rather not go into the water by himself.

"How is it that there's no future?"

"General Yuan Shu is about to arrive in Huainan. He has a multitude of fierce generals and strategists under his command, so many soldiers that they could stop a river by throwing their whips, and so much money and grain that it could fill the entire Chaohu Lake. Tell me, what else is it but a dead end to come to Chaohu Lake and become a bandit?"

Jiang Qin and Zhou Tai both frowned.

A person's name, the shadow of a tree.

Now everyone knows that Yuan Shu is about to arrive in Huainan. Once he actually enters Huainan, there is no doubt that the situation of almost everyone will change drastically!
No one can guarantee that Yuan Shu will not send troops to suppress the bandits.

But one thing is certain: once Yuan Shu decides to suppress the bandits, he will definitely succeed! Unlike now, where Liu Miao has to find a way to move Sun Ben and Zhou Ang's troops to the vicinity of Chaohu to make it effective!
Entrusting your future and destiny to the whim of others is hardly a promising career!
Seeing that Jiang Qin and Zhou Tai had fallen silent, Zhou Yu knew that Liu Miao had given him a good start, and immediately pressed his advantage—

“A great change is inevitable in Huainan in the future! Are you all really going to sit here and wait for your doom?”

“I just looked at the water fortress from afar and saw the figures of women and girls on it. I knew that you were not vicious criminals. Why do you still want to become outlaws in Chaohu?”

"Besides, the imperial army is now blocking the river on three sides of Chaohu. Do you two really think you can lead your troops to escape?"

Zhou Yu did not act arrogantly; he simply presented the facts to the other party in a calm manner.

Jiang Qin was the first to react: "You didn't come here for the three thousand bushels of grain?"

"What's three thousand rations?"

Although Zhou Yu was young, his courage and boldness surpassed that of many. He pushed out the air and said, "Lord Liu said that if you two are willing to lead your people to surrender, then three thousand bushels of grain will be given to you as a distribution of grain to you!"

Such a grand gesture?

Jiang Qin and Zhou Tai's expressions changed again, but their movements and expressions clearly relaxed considerably. "It's not very convenient to talk here, please come inside the camp, Zhou Lang."

"nature."

Liu Miao and Zhou Yu walked into the water fortress.

Just as Zhou Yu said, there were indeed many women and children in the village.

Not only women and children, but also some ragged old people huddled in some corners, looking curiously at Liu Miao and Zhou Yu, two strangers, with their cloudy eyes.

Liu Miao looked around, and although he had expected it, he still realized one thing—

In these chaotic times, the people are probably in a worse situation than they imagine.

Places like Shuxian, which resemble a paradise on earth, are ultimately few and far between.

Most of the people are probably like those in this water village, with nowhere else to go, and can only survive by hiding in these narrow spaces.

It should be noted that Huainan was only partially affected by the Yellow Turban Rebellion, which gives us an idea of ​​what the situation was like for the people in the Central Plains and the North.

“We were not born to be bandits, nor were we born to want to be bandits.”

“Back then, we were considered to have some savings, and people from the neighborhood who couldn’t make a living often came to us for help… It was okay if it was just one or two families, but if it was hundreds or thousands of families, we couldn’t possibly support them with what we had.”

Jiang Qin's sudden remark was a message to Liu Miao, telling him the reason why they had become outlaws.

When the world is in chaos, some people will have no way to survive.

When people have no other way to survive, they have to find one.

Whether one seeks refuge with powerful families or becomes an outlaw, it's all about survival.

If you don't sell yourself to powerful families and fight for money and grain, are you going to wait for the invisible imperial court to come and save you?
At this moment, Zhou Tai suddenly asked Liu Miao, "Old soldier! You said before that Liu Miao was willing to give us all three thousand bushels of grain, does that mean he's quite wealthy?"

rich?

Liu Miao knew that he probably couldn't even come up with a single coin right now.

However, since Zhou Tai had asked, Liu Miao naturally had something to say: "Not exactly wealthy, but it's not a problem to feed the people of an entire prefecture!"

Zhou Tai's eyes widened: "So rich?"

"Good heavens! No wonder Liu Miao was so lecherous! Turns out he was quite wealthy!"

Jiang Qin and Zhou Yu were speechless.

Zhou Tai, completely unaware, put his arm around Liu Miao's shoulder and said, "I'm quite familiar with Zhou Ang and Sun Ben's groups, but I didn't know who Liu Miao was, so I made a special inquiry."

"Later I learned that Liu Miao had married the widow of the Lu family as soon as he arrived in Huainan, and at the same time he said that he 'liked beautiful women' and wanted to marry Sun Jian's wife!"

A smile appeared on Zhou Tai's rugged face: "If you ask me, that Prefect Liu is so unrestrained, he must be a person of extraordinary taste!"

Liu Miao looked surprised: "Youping thinks so too?"

"of course!"

Zhou Tai is undoubtedly a man of experience, with his own set of exceptionally simple values!

"A person who likes beautiful women can't be too bad, no matter how bad they are!"

(End of this chapter)