A thousand-year-old family begins with one fighting against ten thousand.

It was only after Cao Cao reminded him that Huangfu Song realized that there were more than 30 prisoners this time.

They were similar to the Zhao soldiers captured in the Battle of Changping.

If he is killed, his reputation will be completely ruined.

The court wasn't without generals who could replace him; he was simply chosen because of his clean background.

If he had truly committed such an outrageous act, the imperial decree to hold him accountable would arrive in the next moment, and he would be escorted to the capital to await execution.

Use his head to quell public anger.

"Mengde is right, but we don't have enough manpower to suppress this large army."

"We also have to face Bo Cai's million-strong army. Our forces are stretched thin. To escort so many rebels, we would need at least 10 troops."

"Without these 100,000 troops on the battlefield, our chances of winning would drop by 30%!"

This is indeed a difficult choice.

Killing him is definitely not an option now, but releasing him is also not an option, and keeping him alive also has its drawbacks.

Cao Cao stepped forward again, saying, "Give me 3 troops, and I will keep an eye on these rebels."

"Mengde, are you sure?"

Huangfu Song said with a frown.

"Your subject is willing to sign a military pledge."

Cao Cao took a deep breath and replied.

He felt he had gone completely mad for making such a pledge for the Yellow Turbans.

If the Yellow Turbans rebel, these 3 troops simply cannot stop them.

Cao Cao was betting that the methods of Wei's doctrines would work.

The first thing Cao Cao wanted to do was to make them remove their yellow turbans themselves.

This is a betrayal of their faith. First, they surrender, and then they personally remove the yellow turbans that represent the Yellow Turbans. They will feel a sense of betrayal of their faith.

With their faith shattered, they find it difficult to muster the courage to fight again.

Then, these Yellow Turbans were scattered and placed with unfamiliar people, and a system of collective punishment was implemented.

If they rebel, it will not only implicate their current unit, but also their fellow villagers and families.

At the same time, they were only given thin porridge to keep them from starving, so that they had no strength to pick up weapons and fight.

Taking advantage of the fact that the army was scattered and no one knew each other, 10,000 people were disguised as prisoners and infiltrated to monitor their every move.

These 1 people will also spread negative ideas, reduce the morale of the prisoners, and eliminate any nascent rebellious thoughts.

During the days that Huangfu Song led his troops to deal with Bo Cai, Cao Cao was practically dancing on a tightrope every day, and the slightest mistake would have resulted in his annihilation.

Fortunately, although Huangfu Song was bloodthirsty, he was indeed excellent at leading troops in battle.

To be ranked among the top of the 72 generals is to be considered one of the most outstanding generals in history.

Together with Zhu Jun, they attacked from both sides, and after more than ten days, they finally wiped out the Bo Cai tribe.

The Han army had captured hundreds of thousands more prisoners. Huangfu Song was completely overwhelmed. With nearly a million prisoners alone, he dared not deal with them carelessly.

He dared to say that if he killed prisoners, there would definitely be righteous people who would come to assassinate him, making him a chivalrous assassin comparable to Jing Ke and his ilk!

However, even just providing food, even just enough to keep people from starving, puts immense logistical pressure on them.

He would only dare to take action if he received an order from the imperial court.

The court was in an uproar over how to deal with these prisoners. Some people advocated killing them, but Emperor Ling of Han immediately stripped these people of their official titles and threw them into the imperial prison.

Even the most incompetent ruler wouldn't dare to execute a million Han people directly; he was incompetent, not stupid.

Some advocated exile, while others proposed scattering them across the Han Dynasty. This idea was quickly suppressed, as the Yellow Turbans had just started an uprising across the country. Sending them to different places would not have been a way to prolong the uprising.

In the end, only two options remain.

One option was to exile them to the far north, to let them fend for themselves.

Another option was to migrate to overseas fiefdoms, allowing them to increase the proportion of Han Chinese in those fiefdoms.

Emperor Ling of Han's business acumen kicked in again. While a million people was a lot, there were also many overseas fiefdoms. Which country should receive more and which should receive less?

These are all able-bodied young men who have seen bloodshed; whether they are sent to farm or added to the army, they are excellent choices.

Emperor Ling of Han divided these people into groups of 1 and allowed the various vassal states to purchase them, with the highest bidder winning.

The various vassal states were also very envious of these people, but they could only grit their teeth and accept it.

These are all able-bodied young men who have seen bloodshed; if they could be brought back to China, they could be directly added to the army.

For military nobles like those in feudal states, young and strong men equaled the army, power, and territory.

They find it hard to give up.

Emperor Ling of Han lost a lot of money when he sent troops to quell the rebellion, but recovered by selling prisoners.

He was even more excited about returning directly to his private treasury, wondering how much money he could sell the captured prisoners after the Yellow Turban Rebellion was quelled elsewhere.

Emperor Ling of Han didn't care at all. These people were once his subjects. In his eyes, they were nothing more than leeks that could be harvested and then grown back again.

Throughout the entire Han Dynasty, there are tens of millions of people like these, who are essentially being exploited.

It's not worth mentioning, it's not worth mentioning.

He was even thinking that after this batch of prisoners was sold, ordinary people could also be sold.

These are all civilians who have never rebelled; they are his own flesh and blood subjects!

How could those traitors compare to them?!

You have to pay more!

When the time comes, issue an imperial edict to prohibit the people of the Han Dynasty from traveling to the various vassal states.

If the various vassal states wanted to increase the population of the Han Dynasty, they had to spend money to buy people.

The price is a bit higher for young adults, and slightly cheaper for the elderly, children, and women. It's best to buy a whole family package, and you can get some freebies if you buy a lot.

hiss!

He's a true genius.

If Heaven had not given birth to Emperor Ling of Han, the commercial world would have remained in eternal darkness!

……

After resolving the issue of prisoners, Huangfu Song dispatched troops to clear out the Yellow Turban armies in Yuzhou and Yanzhou.

The Ten Attendants were somewhat envious of Emperor Ling of Han's profits from selling prisoners of war. If Emperor Ling could sell prisoners of war, so could the Ten Attendants.

So they sent the eunuch Zuo Feng to supervise the army.

They knew that Lu Zhi, as a renowned Confucian scholar, would never bribe Zuo Feng.

They would use this as an excuse to have Zuo Feng slander Lu Zhi and bring Lu Zhi down.

The person who wronged you knows better than you how wronged you are.

After Lu Zhi was framed by Zuo Feng, the Ten Attendants sent Dong Zhuo, whom they considered their own people and who frequently bribed them.

They recommended Dong Zhuo as the new commander of the Ji Province army, responsible for suppressing Zhang Jiao at Julu.

After Emperor Ling of Han tasted the benefits, he knew Lu Zhi's stubborn temper, and like other great Confucian scholars, he simply went along with the Ten Attendants' wishes and let Dong Zhuo go up.

Dong Zhuo was also a veteran general, and he was quite famous for his bravery in Xiliang.

Even Cao Cao, a greenhorn inexperienced young man, was able to defeat the 50-strong Yellow Turban army. Zhang Jiao must have been no better, and Dong Zhuo was certainly a match for him.

After arriving at Julu, Dong Zhuo used the same tactics he used against the Qiang people to deal with Zhang Jiao, but it was completely ineffective.

Instead, Zhang Jiao seized upon their weakness and they suffered a crushing defeat.

If it weren't for the timely arrival of Liu Bei, Guan Yu, and Zhang Fei, Dong Zhuo would have lost his life here.

After the battle report was sent back to Chang'an, Dong Zhuo made no mention of the three brothers Liu Bei, Guan Yu, and Zhang Fei. He felt that his defeat and being saved by three commoners was an utter disgrace.

In order to save his own life, Dong Zhuo offered all his property to the Ten Attendants and Emperor Ling of Han, which earned him leniency and prevented him from being thrown into prison, reducing his death sentence by one degree.