Insufficient balance

  On the side, Pei Yuanshao scratched his head and asked in a low voice: "Boqi, what is a bandit?"

  He grunted and replied, "Idiot, Bo Qi wants to bring everyone a life of good wine, meat, and women. Those bandits will naturally be rich to the point of sweating, and you don't even understand this, pig."

  Ma Yue was so angry that he rolled his eyes, but the bandits were indeed helpless.

  The failure of the Yellow Turban Rebellion has fully demonstrated that even if you can gather a force of tens of millions, it is still a mob, and not a match for the elite Han army of the Eastern Han dynasty. A large-scale peasant uprising is doomed to fail.

  There are three advantages of being a bandit.

  One is that the target is small and will not attract the attention of the Eastern Han Dynasty like the Yellow Turban Rebellion, so the military pressure faced will be much smaller.

  Secondly, the flow was fast, and at that time the means of communication were extremely backward. The local garrison troops fought separately, and their training and military preparations were lax, leaving a lot of strategic space for the bandits to maneuver and turn around.

  Three is sufficient supply, due to years of wandering around the country, they can always find local wealthy families and large clans to plunder, so supply is not a problem.

  With the above three advantages, Ma Chao is confident that he can get through this difficult period. As long as he can hold on for five years, until Emperor Ling dies and Dong Zhuo enters the capital, and then the eighteen vassals rise up to overthrow Dong, it will be time for him to turn his fortunes around.

  Of course, Ma Yue wasn't without thoughts of going to be a mountain bandit, being a mountain bandit could also get him through these five years.

  As a fugitive, living in the wind and sleeping in the dew, with no fixed abode, the hardships are not worth mentioning. Because they have always been lurking within the core power circle of the official government, they may be surrounded by the government army at any time and completely annihilated.

  When you are a mountain bandit, living a carefree and happy life, above the law, as long as you don't make too much trouble, you can generally live very well.

  The problem is that during the late Han and Three Kingdoms period, the world was in a state of chaos and suffering. If one were to limit oneself to being a local tyrant, the wealthy families and clans around would eventually bring disaster upon themselves. What then? Go rob the poor common people? Although bandits in this era often did so, Ma Chao couldn't get past this psychological hurdle after all, having come from the future world.

  The several thousand years of Chinese history, the most bitter and kind-hearted, the most difficult to live are these poor civilians. They work from dawn till dusk, all they ask for is a warm meal, how can one bear to deprive them of even this small request? In Ma Chao's view, doing so is no different from being a beast.

  Of course, taking the counterfeit as a small kingdom to operate, it can also be self-sufficient and not harm the surrounding people. However, in this way, the subordinates cultivated are still just a group of farmers. Ma Yue needs is not a group of farmers, but a group of howling bloodthirsty wolves.

  Only a pack of bloodthirsty wolves can help Ma Yue become a warlord in the impending chaotic world. If he only has a group of farmers under him, Ma Yue will ultimately become someone else's martyr, using his own head to witness the rise of another hero in the chaotic world.

  Just like Zhang Yan, the bandit from Hei Shan.

  Zhang Yan chose to be a mountain bandit, but he didn't stir up the poor people, so he could only manage his stronghold as a small kingdom. As a result, he could only surrender to Cao Cao and become someone else's stepping stone. Zhang Yan could surrender to Cao Cao, but Ma Chao couldn't. With his personality, if he really surrendered to Cao Cao, one day he would be killed by the naturally suspicious Cao Cao.

  So Ma Yue must be the leader and to be the leader he needs a group of bloodthirsty wolves.

  To have a pack of howling bloodthirsty wolves, you need to constantly feed them with fresh flesh and blood.

  What is the flesh and blood? It's the rich families of this era, it's the people's fat and oil they've accumulated through fair or foul means! Ma Chao must lead these wolves to roam the world, in order to constantly find new prey. After a long period of brutal hunting training, one day, these simple farmers will become ferocious wolves.

  This... is the only reason for being a bandit!

  Under the dark night sky, Ma Jue shouted loudly: "Do you remember what I just said?"

  "Got it!"

  "Alright!" Ma Jiao swung his arm forward and shouted loudly, "Take down the manor in front, drink big bowls of wine, eat large chunks of meat!"

  "Ahhh~~"

  The bandits let out a loud howl and followed behind Guan Hai and Pei Yuanshao as they charged towards the manor in front of them.

  ……

  Wancheng, Zhu Kun's army has left, the bodies piled up like mountains and the blood flowing like rivers in Wancheng have been cleaned up, and there is hardly any sign of war and chaos in Wancheng. Qin Kun has also moved the government office back here.

  The candles in the grand hall of the Taishou Mansion flickered, casting shadows on the walls as people moved about. Qin Hui paced back and forth, his face etched with worry. Huang Zhong, Zou Jing, Wei He, and Cai Mao stood silently to one side, their eyes fixed on him.

  Soon after, footsteps sounded and Wen Ping'ang, who was only 17 years old, entered first.

  Qin Lie hurriedly stepped forward and asked: "Is there any news about the bandits?"

  Wen Pin wiped the sweat from his forehead and shook his head, saying: "The fast horse has already searched the entire area within a 50-mile radius of Laohegou, but no signs of bandits have been found!"

  Qin Lie exclaimed: "Fifty miles without any gains! Are these Yellow Turban remnants flying away with wings or what?"

  Zou Jingluo thought for a moment, then stepped forward and said: "Sir, do you need to inform the surrounding counties to strengthen their vigilance, communicate with each other, and if there is any news of bandits, send troops to pursue them immediately."

  Qin Hui sighed and said: "Now that things have come to this point, it can't be helped."

  Huang Zhong, with a bandage wrapped around his shoulder, knocked on the table and said: "This Ma Chao is formidable. The original Yellow Turban rebels who were not worth mentioning, under his command, have become a mysterious and unpredictable force!"

  Cai Mao said, "Brother Han Shang is somewhat exaggerating, isn't he? With over a thousand bandits, we only need a few hundred Jiangxia soldiers to defeat them. What's there to fear?"

  "That's because you haven't experienced his ferocity yet!"

  Cai Man retorted: "I think you're just afraid of being beaten by him!"

  "You!"

  "What's wrong with you? I'm a defeated general, how dare you speak of bravery?"

  "Cai Mao, I swear to never coexist with you, dare you engage in a one-on-one duel with me?"

  "What's there to be afraid of!"

  Qin Yi slammed his hand on the table in anger and said, "Enough! At this moment when the remnants of the Yellow Turbans have not been eliminated and national affairs are still unsettled, it is precisely the time for unity and cooperation, advancing and retreating together. Why must you quarrel with each other?"

  Huang Zhong and Cai Mao both retreated in anger.

  ……

  The eight hundred bandits took over the vast estate without any effort, and the entire estate has now become their temporary military camp.

  In the courtyard, a large pot was set up, and a fat pig that had been washed and skinned was already being boiled inside. The thick aroma of meat wafted out, filling the entire manor, and over a hundred bandits had gathered around the pot, shoveling tasteless rice into their mouths while staring greedily at the pig in the pot.

  In the corner, three little heads huddled around a bonfire to warm themselves up, drinking rice wine found in the cellar. On top of the fire, three plump chickens were roasting, already golden brown and fragrant. One of the little heads tore off a chicken leg and took a big bite, feeling the crispy flavor fill his mouth, and suddenly even the horizontal muscles on his face cracked open into a smile.

  The backyard occasionally heard the sound of chickens flying and dogs jumping, and the wandering bandits who had no food to eat were in groups of three or five, chasing chickens and dogs in a state of tension, busy and joyful.

  The bandits who had eaten and drunk their fill were lying by the fire, fast asleep, wrapped in women's clothing of various colors that they had plundered from who-knows-where, smelling fragrant, reluctant to throw them away, thinking that when they got married, they could give them to their wives to wear, still with a strong peasant consciousness.

  In the chaos, the cunning-looking steward was brought before Ma Chao.

  Ma Yue's icy gaze swept past, and the steward was so frightened that he trembled with fear, fell to his knees, and begged repeatedly: "Master, spare my life, spare my life! I have an eighty-year-old mother lying in bed at home, and a child under three years old. I really can't die!"

  Ma Yue's dagger was drawn, and the housekeeper let out a mournful cry, collapsing to the ground. The room was suddenly filled with the smell of urine, as it turned out that this guy had been so scared that he had lost control of his bladder.

  "Wow!"

  A ladle of cold water was poured on his face, and he was suddenly awakened.

  "Say, where is this place?"

  Ma Yue held the dagger beside Guan Jia's neck, and his eyes revealed a wolf-like gaze.

  "This... this is Fu Yang County, Zhang Zhuang."

  "Fuyang County? How far is it from the county town?"

  "Not... less than fifty miles."

  "How many government troops are stationed in the county town?"

  "A little... a little don't know."

  "Huh?"

  "Ah, no... about five... over 500 people."

  Ma Yue hesitated for a moment, and a hint of cunning flashed in his eyes. He put away the dagger and ordered the two bandits beside him, "Tie this guy up tightly, tomorrow at dawn we'll skin him alive and cook him, just enough to feed our brothers a hearty meal."

  "Yes, Big Brother."

  Two of the bandits responded loudly, brought over a rope and bound the steward, who had already been frightened out of his wits. The room was suddenly filled with a foul odor, as he had even lost control of his bowels this time.

  Ma Yue had just stepped out of the door when he ran into Guan Hai, who was walking out of another room with a sly smile on his face. It was still chilly in the spring, but this guy was bare-chested and only wore a loose silk pants, half-covering and half-exposing the room, where a suppressed moaning sound was still coming from.

  Ma Yu's eyebrows furrowed, and he had a mind to scold him a few words, but in the end, he still endured it.

  To survive, Ma Chao could tolerate his men burning, killing, looting and plundering, but he would never allow them to indulge in women. This has nothing to do with morality or ethics, but rather out of consideration for the combat effectiveness of the troops. A soldier who spends all day thinking about women will definitely not have much combat power.

  Only by not allowing these ruffians to touch women, letting their youthful energy have nowhere to vent, suffocating them until they howl, and then throwing them onto the battlefield, letting them vent on the battlefield, will such soldiers be strong in combat and become a nightmare that the enemy cannot shake off.

  This is not fabricated, and later generations have such a unique and great army, which won the honor of the strongest land force with this military law.