Chapter 53: Harvest of Reversing Heaven

  "Haha, what a great harvest!"

  Zhang Xu was extremely delighted. In this chaotic world, having grain was equivalent to having strategic materials, and nothing else mattered. He roughly estimated that the yield of Qinglin Town should be around 700 kilograms, after all, it had already become a familiar land, and had been cultivated for several years. The land had already been developed, so this year's grain yield in Chang County would be around 50 million kilograms!

  Among them, about 40% can be directly stored in the official warehouse, and the remaining 300 million catties of grain can be distributed to the people of Chang County according to their merits. With 300 million catties of grain, it is impossible for the more than 700,000 people to finish eating them, so a large amount of grain can be recovered. Adding this to the existing stockpile, after purchasing, there will be over 600 million catties of grain in storage, which is entirely possible. In this way, after unifying Donglai County, it will be more than enough to support 600,000 people for a year without any problem!

  This made Zhang Xu's mood extremely comfortable, after all, with a population of 600,000, it wouldn't take long to raise an army of more than 50,000, which made his mood greatly joyful!

  "Next year, we can have an army of 50,000. With that, we'll be able to face any challenge. However, the premise for all this is that we must occupy Donglai County within two months. The autumn harvest will take about a month, so there's only one month left for training. Gan Pi and Wu Qing's mission can be said to be quite urgent. But as long as they succeed, before next spring's planting season, I won't have to worry about anything. This gives me time to buffer!"

  Zhang Xu slowly thought to himself: "Next February's spring plowing, in that case, it's possible that by then we can directly expand the army to 50,000. After all, with 600 million catties of grain, even if we recruit refugees up to 6 million, because there are a lot of meat and fish resources to supplement, it is enough to quickly restore the refugees. In this case, as long as there are enough generals in command by then, expanding the army to 50,000 is very likely!"

  Zhang Xu's mind flashed with thoughts, but now it was impossible to rush, expanding the army needed a most basic general to lead, which still required at least 70 generals to barely form combat effectiveness. All of this hope lay in the Imperial Guard, and even after recruiting 50,000 soldiers, an even stronger general would be needed.

  After all, if Zhang Xu couldn't break through, a large army of 10,000 would be his limit in commanding troops. If there were more, it would be difficult to maintain command of the army, and they would just be a mob. This was also what Zhang Xu worried about the most - he had too few great generals!

  Only a truly great general, that is, one who has reached the stage of refining Qi and transforming spirit, can lead an army of over 10,000. Gan Hui is still a bit short of this, let alone being able to lead 50,000 elite soldiers, which isn't even possible in the early stages of refining Qi and transforming spirit. At least, one would need to reach the middle stage of refining Qi and transforming spirit. And generals of this level are at least on par with the four pillars of Hebei!

  At this time, Zhang Xu couldn't help but envy Liu Bei. Although he didn't have a base and had spent the first half of his life constantly on the run, relying on others for support, he still had two brothers, Zhang Fei and Guan Yu, both of whom were at least in the late stages of refining their Qi and becoming gods. This made Zhang Xu extremely envious.

  "Alright, let's take it one step at a time. Rushing won't get us anywhere. After taking down Donglai County, we'll focus on slowly building up our strength for now. I'm confident that with my efforts, we can produce a great general!"

  With a hint of desolation in his heart, Zhang Xu thought to himself for a moment before adjusting his mood. After all, although the company lacked top talent, especially high-end talent, its potential was still great. Once it solidified its foundation, there would come a day when it would slowly grow and develop.

  Although Zhang Xu felt a little regret in his heart, he didn't think it was anything serious. Now that he had reached this point, it was already quite good. He would soon take down the next county and become a powerful leader of a region, especially since he had unified political and religious power, which was something no one else could match.

  After all, Zhang Jue's unity of politics and religion was not for the purpose of ruling by fooling the people. Such a rule by fooling the people can quickly gather beliefs, but it is actually like flowers in the mirror and moon in the water, with no foundation at all. Although there are beliefs, they are unstable in the hearts of the people, just like Zhang Lu of the Five Pecks of Rice Sect, who occupied the fertile land of Hanzhong, but was only a watchdog for his family.

  With this thought, Zhang Xu adjusted his mood and filled himself with infinite fighting spirit once again. Looking at the busy crowd, he felt a sense of satisfaction. The people's hearts were already stable, their faith was firm, so as long as the autumn harvest was over, it would be time to mobilize the troops and unify Donglai County!

  …………

  In the county magistrate's office, Zhang Xu sat cross-legged on a cloud bed, while many people knelt on the ground below. These were all elite under Zhang Xu's command, including three deputy directors and two of his talented disciples, Zhang Yao and Zhang Liu, whose abilities were increasingly impressive.

  Zhang Yao and Zhang Liu are the two people who have learned the most knowledge from Zhang Xu's hands, and the only thing they lack is practical ability and experience. Moreover, they are younger and have greater growth potential, so they have always been the two talents that Zhang Xu pays great attention to. And these two people did not disappoint Zhang Xu's expectations, now they can finally do it.

  In the hall, five people were present, all with solemn expressions and a resolute glint in their eyes. Zhang Xu had entrusted them with an important task. The army had not yet moved, but supplies had already been sent ahead. Taking down Donglai Prefecture was not difficult; what was challenging was quickly winning over the hearts of the people of Donglai Prefecture, as well as a series of subsequent matters, all of which required these domestic officials to take action.

  It can be said that the tasks handed over to them are extremely serious, not only do they need to work overtime in the workshop area to complete subsequent tasks, but also manage new areas, distribute living materials, and open up farmland, all of which require a lot of hard work.

  At this time, the five of them knew that they had a great responsibility on their shoulders, so they didn't dare to express their opinions immediately, but instead thought about it. They were shouldering heavy responsibilities, and once they expressed their opinions, they must complete it, which was a matter of great importance, even if they didn't have much confidence in their hearts.

  After all, Qinglin Town took Chang County in less than a year, and now it's going to take down Donglai County, and also try its best to ensure that the news won't leak out, which requires very strong execution.

  In comparison, the supply of materials, grain seeds, oxen, farm tools and the recruitment of refugees were not that difficult.

  "This matter, you must go all out to do it. You are all high-ranking officials under my command, and you are the left and right arms of this seat. For the peace of mind of the people of the whole world, I will rely on you to govern Donglai Prefecture. Just go ahead and do it, don't worry too much!"

  Zhang Xu said slowly, knowing that the pressure on these five people was too great. Although universal education is being strengthened and the literacy rate of the people under his jurisdiction is increasing, there are still too few talents who can take charge of the crowd, and they are all growing up. In this way, Zhang Xu could only forcibly suppress his own expectations and standards, saying slowly.

  At this moment, Bu Wu gritted his teeth and said: "Master Xianshi, I have a plan, I don't know if it's feasible?"