Chapter 397 391. Homeward Journey

"One vote for, one vote against."

Feng Xi saw the piece of wood with a big cross drawn on it and raised his eyebrows with interest. He didn't expect that allowing the people of Nanzhong to freely join the Han people without being stopped would cause such a strong reaction from the people of Nanzhong.

But everything was still within Feng Xi's expectations. This kind of people are actually the so-called "conservatives", and Meng Huo just represents the interests of this kind of people. Nanzhong is given priority, Nanzhong can plunder the Han people, but the Han people can't even think of getting a penny from Nanzhong... This kind of thinking is their core.

But Feng Xi was not worried about what would happen. You know, now is a progressive "voting system", not a dictatorship. Feng Xi believed that after the Han army's "military negotiation", Nanzhong should have a better understanding of the Han Dynasty, and there must be many people who can make rational choices.

As expected, as Feng Xi slowly called out the votes, only four people finally made up their minds to vote against it, and the remaining dozen abstentions were the limit of most people's dissatisfaction. The remaining fifty-odd votes were all in favor.

"Yes, I am very pleased that the cave masters can vote according to their own wishes. However, I still want to remind you that you must proceed from the overall situation of Nanzhong and not mix personal feelings and repeat the mistakes of Meng Huo."

Feng Xi glanced at the four people below as he spoke. Although the vote was anonymous on the surface, the ballots were collected by the Han soldiers. When they collected the ballots, they would take a look at the marks on them, write down the opponents, and quietly tell Feng Xi.

The four cave masters who thought they had not been discovered felt Feng Xi's half-smile and half-smile, and immediately trembled like sieves and their faces turned pale.

If they were asked to vote against the Han army, even anonymously, they would certainly dare to do so. But if they were asked to face Feng Xi and speak out the truth in person, they would not have the courage to do so. They are quite like keyboard warriors in later generations.

"In the end, the majority was respected, and with 57 votes, the proposal was passed."

Feng Xi smiled slightly, not bothering to pay attention to these stubborn conservatives. After all, everyone agreed that the minority should obey the majority. Now you are in the minority, don't you plan to play by the rules of the game?
Are you willing? Then the minority should obey the majority and shut up. If you are not willing? That's even better. Go talk to the remaining elite Shenwu Battalion. They will be happy to talk to you.

The cave masters also understood that Feng Xi had said at the beginning that the minority should obey the majority. Now there were hundreds of Han soldiers standing in the entire voting venue with a covetous look on their faces to maintain order. How dare they cause trouble again?

"Okay, then there is one last thing. As I said before, from now on, the Speaker will rotate every year, and you will nominate and vote for him. As the first Speaker, I nominate the new Lord of Yinkeng Cave, the brother of Meng Huo, the well-known Lord Meng Jie. Do you have any opinions?"

Feng Xi was too lazy to act at this point, and even skipped the voting process. Instead, he directly asked for the opinions of the cave masters.

To be fair, Meng Jie did have some reputation in Nanzhong, but it was a mixed bag. The good reputation was what Feng Xi said. Meng Jie managed the Yinkeng Cave well a few years ago. It is not an exaggeration to say that Meng Huo's foundation was left over from Meng Jie's time.

Because Meng Jie followed the Han people's example and encouraged agriculture and sericulture, Meng Huo had the capital to do whatever he wanted. This was also widely known in the south, and it was not wrong to say that he had a good reputation.

As for the bad reputation, it was naturally Meng Jie's life. He studied Han culture and acted like Han people, which inevitably aroused criticism from people in the south.

However, now that the Han commander-in-chief was sitting at the head of the meeting for Nanzhong, everyone naturally did not dare to say much and could only nod in agreement. No troublemaker dared to jump out and cause trouble.

"Since you all agree, it's easy to talk about it. In the future, if anyone dares to violate the agenda of the Nanzhong Council, Nanzhong can fight against them together. Of course, if it is inconvenient for Nanzhong to take action, you can ask for help from Li, the governor of Jiaozhou, or General Ma and General Zhang stationed in Nanzhong." On the one hand, Feng Xi's words were to support the Nanzhong Council. After all, all kinds of organizations have been common throughout history, and even in the next thousand years. However, if no one can implement its "resolutions", then this organization is just a joke.

Now the Han army is the last insurance for the South Central Council. If you are not willing to play by the rules, the Han army will not mind turning the table.

Naturally, the cave masters were silent and dared not speak.

"Then everyone, please welcome Master Mengjie as the first Speaker of the South Central Council, for a one-year term!"

Feng Xi picked up his tin horn, then stood up and gave up his seat. Meng Jie was pulled up by Feng Xi in a daze and then sat in Feng Xi's seat.

The Nanzhong Cave Lords and Marshals below came either voluntarily or out of necessity, but they all showed their support and applauded loudly.

"Now that the matter in Nanzhong has come to an end, I will not delay the cave masters and marshals from dealing with the post-war affairs. If Cave Master Meng is undecided about something in the future, you are welcome to send an envoy to Jingzhou to discuss with me."

Feng Xi seemed to be very friendly to Meng Jie, which made many cave masters in Nanzhong hate Meng Jie. Now Meng Jie, with Feng Xi's strong recommendation and the fact that he had previously studied under a Han Chinese, has been completely labeled a "Han spy" by Nanzhong.

At this time, due to the powerful force of the Han army, they naturally did not dare to oppose openly. However, they already had some plans in mind, but they just kept them hidden at this time.

A few days later, Feng Xi's Shenwu Camp also packed up and prepared to return to Jingzhou. Including the journey, they were away for nearly a quarter.

However, compared to the original timeline where Zhuge Liang spent two years in Nanzhong, it now only took him nearly three months. The efficiency is undoubtedly much faster, which is also what makes Feng Xi most satisfied.

According to the original timeline, Zhuge Liang was able to completely eliminate the destabilizing factors within Yizhou in 228 AD, freeing up his hands for the Northern Expedition.

And now, Feng Xi pacified Nanzhong, but it was only the end of 223 AD.

The situation at this time is completely different from the original timeline. Yizhou, Jingzhou, Yangzhou, Jiaozhou, four of the thirteen states of the Han Dynasty are in the hands of Ji Han, which is in sharp contrast to the isolated Yizhou in the original timeline.

Moreover, in terms of area alone, although Cao Wei occupied the north, the actual controlled territories of both sides were not much different. After all, Bingzhou was sparsely populated at that time, and the population in the Yongliang area was concentrated in various settlements, and the population density was not very high.

In terms of military strength, there were only 30,000 to 50,000 troops when the Northern Expedition started, and they were all newly recruited troops before the Southern Expedition. Their only training was the Southern Expedition.

But now, Yizhou has more than 100,000 soldiers, Jingzhou has more than 100,000, Jiaozhou has tens of thousands, and Yangzhou has tens of thousands. The total strength of Ji Han is several times that of the original timeline, and there are countless generals and officers.

(End of this chapter)