Chapter 12: The Yellow Turbans Erupt

  Guan Chen paused here for a moment, tidied up his thoughts and then smiled: "Firstly: We don't do anything that would bring chaos to the world. If the world is not chaotic, we won't stir up trouble. We will only follow the will of heaven."

  Secondly, I think that once the world is in great chaos, we can take Bianzhou as the place to start our uprising. The reason is as follows: Bianzhou is a border state, adjacent to the Central Plains, with the Yellow River to the west and the Taihang Mountains to the east, and the Yellow River again to the south, while to the north it borders on the fertile horse-breeding lands of the barbarians. Although it adjoins Xizhou, we can focus our development in northern Bianzhou.

  Everyone thinks that once the war starts, what we need is: first, population; second, horses; third, wealth. And our state borders the Central Plains, as long as we govern Pingzhou well and provide a safe place for all living beings to live in, why should we be afraid that the people will not come? The northern tribes can also provide us with enough horses; as for wealth, relying on my medical skills, it is not difficult to obtain.

  After Guan Chen finished speaking, everyone nodded in agreement. After some more deliberation, they each put forward some supplementary suggestions, all of which Guan Chen thought were excellent and to the point. Having reached a consensus, they dispersed, quietly awaiting the great change of the Yellow Turbans that Guan Chen had spoken of.

  In February 184 AD, due to the betrayal of his disciple Tang Zhou, several thousand Taiping Dao followers were killed, and the Yellow Turban leader Zhang Jue decided to launch a premature uprising, triggering the Yellow Turban Rebellion.

  On February 8, Guan Yu's training was interrupted by Chen Deng's shouting: the Yellow Turban Rebellion had broken out! At this time, Zhuo County, where Guan Yu was located, was in the northern part of Ji Province, which was the center of the Yellow Turban Rebellion, 500 miles away from Julu and 400 miles away from Guangzong.

  After the crowd gathered, Guan Chen looked at the pre-drawn map of Jizhou and said: "It's not time for us to recruit soldiers yet. What we need to do is to strictly defend Gaoyi County and prevent the rebel army from entering the city. However, no matter how many refugees enter the city, we will accept them all. Yide, how is your preparation of food and fodder going?"

  "Reporting to Your Excellency: everything is ready." Zhang Fei said with a bow.

  "Good," Guan Chen nodded in satisfaction, "what about the house?"

  Zhang Fei heard this and continued with a fist: "The entire estate has been fully built up, with over 2,000 additional rooms added to the original houses."

  Guan Chen heard the words and nodded again with a smile: "Very good, not bad! Everyone, what we need to do next is still buy houses. Here, the Yellow Turban force is small, and it's estimated that the city defense army can hold on for ten days or half a month, but this ten days or half a month happens to be when people's hearts are most unstable."

  Everyone divided the 500 brothers into two groups. One group of 400 people went outside the city to spread the information that the Yi Army was defending in the surrounding areas of Zhuo County, and the other group stayed inside the city to buy houses and residences everywhere. Big brother, let's also take out our 1,500 gold coins to buy houses."

  "Good," Guan Yu nodded and said.

  Guan Yu continued, "Zhang Fei, Chen Dao, Zhou Cang and Cheng Yuanzhi each lead a hundred men to spread the news outside the city. Big brother and Dian Wei are in charge of buying houses inside the city. No objections, let's start acting."

  "Yes sir!" Everyone bowed their fists and accepted the order before dispersing on their own.

  Why did Guan Chen spend a lot of money buying houses at this time? This is the brand new idea that Guan Chen, who came from another world, has: give warriors a home and let them defend their country!

  The Yellow Turban Rebellion had a much greater impact on Ji Province than Guan Yu had anticipated. In just ten days, the entire province was turned into refugees, with civilians fleeing in all directions. Upon hearing that the city of Zhuo in You Province was defended by volunteer soldiers, almost all the refugees heading north went to Zhuo City for shelter. Within half a month, the medium-sized city of Zhuo was packed with 800,000 refugees.

  What Guan Yu did not expect was that many small forces nearby joined his camp! The most unexpected thing is: 19-year-old Zhao Yun brought all the people from Zhaojiazhuang to Zhuozhou City to take refuge.

  Guan Zhen personally sent people to settle the Zhao family village, gave 20 houses for the villagers to live in, and brought Zhao Yun and his family close to Zhangzhuang.

  After settling his family, Zhao Yun personally visited Guan Yu and said: "General's great righteousness, saving the people of Jizhou from the midst of water and fire, Zilong represents all the villagers of Zhaojiazhuang to express their gratitude to the general!"

  Guan Xing helped Zhao Yun up with joy and said, "Zilong, don't you want to join our camp? We are in dire need of brave generals like you! With so many refugees inside the city, if it's breached, the consequences will be unthinkable!"

  Zhoa Yun hastily knelt down on one knee and clasped his fists, saying: "Yun has long had this intention! I only hope that my lord will not despise me for having no great abilities!"

  "Hahaha……! Zilong, I'm so delighted! Quickly get up! My five tiger generals are all here!" Guan Yu helped Zhao Yun up and said with great joy. Then he ordered his guards: "Summon Da Zhuang, Dian Wei, Zhang Fei, and Chen to come and discuss matters."

  "Roger!"

  After the guards left, Guan Yu said to Zhao Yun: "Zilong, follow me into the house to rest for a while. When those four arrive, I have something important to announce."

  Half an hour later, Guan Yu and the other four arrived at Guan Chen's room. After looking at the five of them one by one, Guan Chen said: "I called everyone back for two things. First, I'd like to introduce a new brother to you all: this general beside me is Zhao Yun, also known as Zi Long. He has martial arts skills that are no less than yours. Second, I want the five of you to be witnesses and let Guan Yu and his three brothers become sworn brothers with me. We don't have to be born in the same year or month, but we must die in the same year and month! What do you all think?"

  "Our lord's orders, we dare not disobey! Thank you, our lord, for completing us." Guan Yu and the five men stood up in unison, clasped their fists and accepted the order. Afterwards, the five men carried out the incense table and formed a fraternal bond with each other in the room.

  After witnessing the dust, he laughed and said to the five people: "Although you are not very familiar with each other at present, I believe that in the future, you will get along better than brothers. Now let's discuss the second thing: recruiting soldiers. Everyone has any suggestions, just mention it."

  Zhao Yun was the first to stand up and salute, saying: "My lord, the enemy's forces are strong, and although there are 2,000 righteous soldiers in Zhuo city, the number is indeed too small. Once the enemy launches a large-scale attack, even if we fight hard, it will be difficult to protect Zhuo city from falling. Therefore, recruiting troops is necessary. In my opinion, to defend Zhuo city well, at least 30,000 soldiers are needed."

  "My lord, I believe we need at least 50,000 troops. The reason is as follows: defending the city of Zhuozhou indeed requires 30,000 soldiers, but as the battle progresses, we must switch from defense to offense. If we only recruit 30,000 soldiers, we will face the danger of dividing our forces. I hope my lord will consider this carefully." Chen added.

  Guan Yu stood up and continued, "I also agree with Chen's point of view, but the problem is that if we recruit so many soldiers, will it not arouse the suspicion of the imperial court? And after we defeat the Yellow Turbans, what will happen to these troops? How can we support them?"

  Guan Chen heard the words and stood up, saying: "Everyone has their reasons, combining everyone's opinions, I think we should do this. The first move is to have 40,000 soldiers, with 30,000 defending the city and 10,000 preparing for an attack. However, externally, we will only claim that there are 15,000 soldiers. This requires us to do a good job of keeping secrets when recruiting soldiers. Usually, there are only 10,000 soldiers defending the city.

  Second: The city of Zhuozhou is now our territory and must be in the future, so we must take down the position of Taishou of Zhuozhou after the war.

  Third: Spring plowing cannot be missed, so let's get ready for spring plowing and strive for self-sufficiency in food. To this end, we need to recruit a group of scholars to take charge of this matter. Is there anything else that needs to be added?

  "Sir," said Zhang Fei, "how can we carry out the spring plowing? The situation is so chaotic now, and all the land is in the hands of those wealthy families. Unless we buy it from them, where will the refugees get the land to cultivate?"

  Guan Chen nodded and said, "Yide is indeed a wealthy household, this problem was thought of first. You're right, let's buy land! We'll buy all the land in Zhuo County! Now it's wartime, aren't they eager to sell their land? Then we'll buy it at a low price and distribute it to those refugees for farming, and collect rent!"

  Guan Yu frowned and said: "Buying land is indeed not a crime against the local wealthy families, but even if it's cheaper, it still requires a lot of money! And our money is almost gone!"

  Guan Zhen smiled and said: "I'll think of a way to get the money, I'll go to Luoyang in a few days to raise funds, you secretly recruit soldiers, isolate them for training, and recruit scholars into Zhang Village. As for buying land, we'll discuss it further when I return. Chen Dao and Zhao Yun will follow me to Luoyang City, big brother, you and Dian Wei, Zhang Fei stay behind to take charge of recruiting soldiers and scholars. Yuan Zhi also stays behind. When I'm not around, everything follows my big brother's orders!"

  "Yes sir!" Everyone bowed their fists in unison and said.

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