Chapter 169 Have you ever bought my powerful pills?

Upon hearing that the county town was under siege by rebels, Wang Jing immediately climbed up to the city gate and looked into the distance. As expected, he saw chaos outside and a group of militiamen dressed like beggars appeared in his field of vision.

This group of militiamen numbered nearly 10,000 people, but they were dressed in rags, looked pale and skinny, and lacked weapons and armor. Wang Jing used the art of observing qi to immediately see through the rebels' strengths and weaknesses. The evil spirits of their soldiers were so fierce that they couldn't even form the shape of dogs, let alone dragons and tigers. It was obvious that they were a real mob.

Although the rebel army looks huge, among the tens of thousands of soldiers, there are probably less than 200 soldiers who can really fight a tough battle.

Wang Jing's golden-scaled fish armor was so golden and eye-catching that as soon as he appeared on the top of the city wall, Wei Shen and Wei Qian saw his figure from afar and immediately came over with knives in hand to challenge him.

The two brothers were quite brave. They rode their horses at full speed towards the city gate, making strange noises in their mouths as if to give themselves courage.

As Wei Shen charged forward, he shouted at the top of his voice, "Wang Jing, you little bastard, you are so famous for nothing, do you dare to come out of the city and fight with my two brothers?"

Seeing Wei Shen and Wei Qian so brave, Wei Bin's subordinates were greatly encouraged and waved their weapons to cheer them on.

On the city gate, Wang Jing faced the noisy cold wind and said calmly, "Bring me my bow."

Immediately, two burly sword guards excitedly carried Wang Jing's 127-jin Overlord Bow forward. Wang Jing casually took out a fine steel arrow, took a deep breath, and then exerted force with both arms, pulling the bowstring to its full length: "Go!"

As the sound comes, the arrow flies out, as fast as lightning!
A hundred feet away, Wei Shen was shot in the forehead before he could react.

Then there was a dull bang, and his head shattered like a watermelon hit by a sledgehammer, exploding with blood and brains.

Brain matter mixed with blood directly covered the face of Wei Qian beside him, frightening him so much that he almost fainted: "Big... Big Brother?"

At this moment, Wei Qian no longer remembered his previous bold words. He just stood there in a daze, feeling at a loss. For a moment, he didn't know whether he should be angry or afraid.

The sudden death made it impossible for him to think at all.

In his opinion, how could a bow and arrow be shot a hundred feet away?

The two brothers who grew up in Mianchi County were ignorant of the sky and the earth. The strongest masters they had seen and heard were only at the third level of martial arts.

They even knew nothing about the grading of the six realms of martial arts. They just thought that if they joined forces, they would become famous throughout the country. However, they didn't expect that their first battle to become famous would be against a killing god like Wang Jing.

While Wei Qian was still in a daze, Wang Jing's second arrow had already arrived.

"Fuck..."

Before he could even curse, Wei Qian soon followed in the footsteps of his brother Wei Shen. They could not be born on the same day as each other, but they could die on the same day as each other.

From a hundred feet away, Wang Jing killed two people with two arrows. He once again shocked the three armies with his peerless archery skills from the "Divine Feather Arrow Sutra", which greatly shocked the soldiers of both sides.

The soldiers under Wei Bin's command were either conscripted villagers or horse thieves and servants. They had never seen a peerless and powerful general like Wang Jing, so they were frightened on the spot.

"Weird...monster!"

"Run away quickly, I don't want to die!"

Thousands of chaotic soldiers simply collapsed and fled.

The fighting will of a mob that has not been strictly organized and trained is so fragile that no matter how many people there are, once the main general is killed in battle, their morale will collapse immediately.

After repelling the enemy with two arrows, Wang Jing did not show any joy or pride. His expression remained calm. When he ordered his men to put away the Overlord Bow, he casually asked Zhou Tai beside him, "Youping, what did those two people yell just now?"

Zhou Tai, who was shocked by Wang Jing's archery skills, finally came to his senses and explained nervously: "I don't know, the wind was too strong just now, and I didn't hear it clearly."

"The wind today was indeed a bit noisy, and I didn't hear it clearly, but I don't think it was anything good."

On the other side, the defeated rebels fled back to the Wei family's fort in Mianchi in a panic. A large group of people pushed and shoved each other, rushing into the fort, and then closed the door in panic. Many people did not dare to breathe deeply until this moment to calm the fear and anxiety in their hearts.

Wei Bin was shocked when he saw this. He stepped forward, grabbed one of his men, and asked loudly, "Where is the county town? Have you taken it?"

It would have been better if he hadn't asked. As soon as Wei Bin mentioned this, the subordinate he caught burst into tears on the spot, his eyes full of fear: "Master, the two warriors Wei Shen and Wei Qian were shot dead on the spot by Wang Jing with one arrow each. Our army has been defeated."

"what!"

Wei Bin felt a headache after hearing this. These nearly 10,000 soldiers were accumulated with great difficulty by several generations of the Wei family, and yet most of them were destroyed in just half a day?

"Wang Jing, I can't stand with you!"

He was so angry that he drew his sword on the spot and wanted to take the rest of the people to fight Wang Jing to the death.

However, Zhu Suo had to jump out to stop him: "Shi Bang, please think twice. Wang Jing is extremely talented and has extraordinary skills. If you really go, you will only sacrifice yourself in vain. You should put the overall situation first."

Once the arrow is shot, there is no turning back. If we don’t kill Wang Jing now, there will be no chance in the future. Therefore, Wei Bin was a little annoyed: "What do you think I should do, Yancai? Am I going to watch Wang Jing leave and then bring the imperial army to destroy my Mianchi Wei family?"

Compared to the short-sighted and bad-tempered Wei Bin, Zhu Shuo was obviously more scheming and knowledgeable. He thought about it and suggested: "For now, the best plan is to save the whole division."

Although the Wei family was a wealthy family with plenty of books, Wei Bin was uneducated and had never read a few books seriously. Therefore, he did not understand what Zhu Suo said for a while.

Zhu Suo cursed Wei Bin in his heart as a loser, but he could only bow his head and patiently explained, "What I mean is that we can move to the nearby mountains and forests first, temporarily avoid the sharp edge, and wait for the weather to change."

Wei Bin was speechless after hearing this. Isn't this just making him admit defeat?

He was about to get angry, but then he thought that he really couldn't beat Wang Jing now, so it was not a bad idea to admit defeat. He nodded and accepted Zhu Suo's suggestion.

When Wang Jing led his troops to attack, the entire Wei family's fortress was deserted.

"It's a pretty clean run."

Wang Jing looked at the deserted fort without thinking too much about it. When he heard that Xun You was coming from Luoyang with reinforcements, he led his troops back to the county first.

However, just after returning to the county town, before he had time to say a few words to Xun You, his subordinates came to report: "General, there are rebels nearby again, and the villages outside the county town are under attack."

After Xun You asked, he immediately understood what was going on and said to Wang Jing, "My lord, this is probably the guerrilla warfare tactics of the rebels."

"Guerrilla tactics?"

"Yes."

Xun You then began to explain: "The enemy's strategy must be that they know that our army is sharp and they cannot resist, so they have to avoid direct conflict to avoid being annihilated. Although our army is strong, it has to suppress the rebellion in other counties and cannot stay in one place for long."

Guerrilla warfare has existed since ancient times.

When Emperor Guangwu Liu Xiu, the founding emperor of the Eastern Han Dynasty, wanted to check the land and population, the aristocratic families used the tactic of travel notes to deal with the imperial army.

When you come, I will hide in the mountains and forests.

If you leave, I will rush out to harass the counties.

Most of the wealthy families are locals with complex connections and relationships. They are not afraid of losing logistical supplies. On the contrary, they are more familiar with the terrain than the foreign government troops, thus having the advantage of geographical location, which can make the government troops busy and difficult to find the main force of the rebels for a decisive battle.

Once a protracted war breaks out, the consumption of food and fodder will cause the court's finances to collapse, among other things.

Xun You directly pointed out the enemy's purpose: "The enemy's plan is just to delay time, force the lord to submit, and then strive for more favorable conditions for the talks through negotiations."

Xun You then reminded Wang Jing, "My Lord, although no one from the other noble families in Hongnong County has responded to Wei Bin's rebellion, some of them must be watching and even secretly providing intelligence and even food, grass, and armor to Wei Bin. The noble families and the noble families are closely related. If we insist on fighting, our opponents will definitely not be limited to Wei Bin alone."

"What a good plan! You want to force me to the negotiation table by finding a scapegoat? Unfortunately, I am a tough guy. If you play dirty tricks on me, I will just flip the table." After understanding the enemy's tactics, Wang Jing showed a contemptuous smile and immediately ordered his subordinates: "Pass my order. Wei Bin has rebelled. All the property of the Wei family in Mianchi will be confiscated and used as military farms. Gather the people of Mianchi County for me. I want to implement the policy of military settlement. Those who enlist can be allocated a certain amount of military farmland based on their military status and only need to pay 30% of the rent."

"Thirty percent?"

Xun You was shocked after hearing this, then he smiled and said, "Since the lord is so kind, the people will swear to follow you till death."

Thirty percent of the rent may seem like a lot, but it is actually very generous.

For ordinary wealthy families and landlords, the actual share of rent often accounted for more than 40%, and the people also had to bear heavy corvee labor and taxes. Often at the end of the year, the amount of food that actually fell into their hands was probably less than half, and in many cases it was even less than 40%. They were often forced to sell their children and daughters and their families were broken up due to various forced levies and collections.

However, the land Wang Jing rented was government-owned land and was backed by an army. He was not subject to the jurisdiction and exploitation of local government. Moreover, after becoming a military officer, he did not have to worry about all kinds of exorbitant taxes and corvee labor. He only had to hand over a fixed amount of 30% of grain. This was truly a great policy!
Xun You only thought about it for a moment and then praised him greatly: "My lord, your method of breaking the impasse is really brilliant, and it kills three birds with one stone. I admire you."

"I can't hide it from you, Gongda."

Wang Jing laughed out loud. His method of breaking the impasse was actually very simple. Didn't Wei Bin feel that he had extensive connections in Mianchi and could get secret assistance from other powerful families, so he was not afraid of an encirclement and suppression by the government troops?

Then I will cut off your roots!

The Wei family's land will be designated as official military land and handed over to military households for cultivation.

The military households were basically local residents. In order to protect their land, they had a resolute will to fight and would not compromise with the powerful families at all.

Wang Jing wanted to implement a new land policy and cut flesh from the aristocratic families and wealthy clans. Naturally, he had to drag the common people onto his chariot in order to be successful. That's why he came up with a system similar to the fubing system as a temporary transitional policy in exchange for the support of the people from all over the country.

Xun You asked a few more questions about the Fubing system. After Wang Jing answered them one by one, he couldn't help but show a surprised expression: "The military households who cultivate the military land have military registration, work as farmers in peacetime, and go to war in wartime. This policy is really a national policy and can bring peace to the world. I wonder if this system has a name, my lord?"

Wang Jing thought about it and said, "I call this system the Fuzhibing."

"Fubing system?"

"That's right. I want to set up military offices in all counties and prefectures. While checking the farmland, I will also allocate some land for the military office to manage and let the military households cultivate it. These military households are the soldiers. The soldiers usually farm and only need to pay a fixed amount of rent to the military office. They don't need to bear local taxes and corvée labor. They will receive military training regularly and must fight for the country when necessary."

The more Xun You listened, the brighter his eyes became: "The Fubing system is brilliant! It's really brilliant!"

The policy that Wang Jing came up with was a modified version of the Fubing system.

The military system in history originated in the Northern Wei Dynasty and flourished for a time until it was abandoned in the late Tang Dynasty due to various problems.

The so-called Fubing were actually militiamen who were allocated land by the state. They did not need to pay taxes in peacetime and supported themselves by farming. In wartime, they had to prepare their own weapons and armor and obey orders to go to war.

In simple terms, the Fubing system is actually an evolved version of the military farming policy, and the Fubing system is also a model of the integration of soldiers and farmers. The advantage is that it is low-cost and solves the problem of generals holding their own troops.

However, the military system had many flaws, so Wang Jing did not copy it completely, and still retained some of the core elements of the military farming system. For example, military households still needed to pay taxes, while weapons and equipment were produced and distributed uniformly by the court.

Military households are not regular troops, but are used as militia. Their usual duties are to maintain local public order and engage in defensive operations.

As for external warfare, Wang Jing would rather use recruited professional soldiers. Although the cost is high, their combat effectiveness and fighting will are more guaranteed.

However, in the Han Dynasty, the fubing system was undoubtedly advanced and a military system that was in line with the productivity of that era.

Especially in terms of cost savings, the advantages of the military system were particularly obvious, which made Xun You very excited after hearing it, and he wanted to promote it on a large scale immediately.

Wang Jing did not stop him, but reminded him: "We can start doing this now, starting with Mianchi County. Anyone who is willing to enlist, regardless of their identity or background, can be enlisted and become a soldier."

The biggest problem with the original military system was forced recruitment, so Wang Jing particularly emphasized this point. Nowadays, there are fields to cultivate and food to eat, so there is no need to worry about not being able to recruit people. There are landless refugees everywhere who will accept any conditions in order to survive, so there is no need for forced conscription.

A few days later, at the gate of Mianchi County, the newly posted list attracted a large number of people to watch.

The young hunter Chen Ze was bringing the prey he had caught in the mountains into the city to exchange for some food and salt, but he was unconsciously attracted by the lively crowd.

Most people at that time were illiterate. Chen Ze was just the son of a hunter, so he was also illiterate. However, he really wanted to know what was written on the list, so he asked people around: "What is written on this list? Why are there so many words?"

"Hey, you don't know this, right?"

As it turned out, someone actually knew the inside story. A rural doctor with a mustache boasted to him, "It says on the wall that Marquis Qi wants to conduct a pilot program in our county to implement the Fubing system."

"Join the army? Who would join the army these days?"

"Haha, you make it sound like you want to be Marquis Qi. But the Northern Army doesn't even want a dwarf like you with skinny arms and legs."

"What did you say? I'm the most powerful hunter in the Xiong'er Mountain area. If I really want to be selected, how can I not be selected?"

"You are such a skinny monkey, can you hunt bears?"

“There are no bears in Xiong’er Mountain!”

“Why is it called Xiong’er Mountain if there are no bears?”

"You ask me, who should I ask? Anyway, since I was born, that place has been called Xiong'er Mountain!"

Although the discussion quickly went off topic, Chen Ze still learned the contents of the list and also learned that as long as he enlisted in the army, he would be able to get at least ten acres of land without having to pay taxes or serve in the military.

When Chen Ze heard about such a good thing, he was immediately tempted.

Although hunters sound free, they are actually a group of proletarians who live a miserable life.

Hunting relies on luck, how can the income be as stable and lasting as that from farming?
What's more, there are many ferocious beasts in the mountains, and hunters are killed by beasts every year. Even if they are lucky enough to survive, there are many who are left with injuries or even lifelong disabilities.

Working as a hunter is simply fighting against the odds.

Chen Ze had seen those extremely successful scholars in the city, so he didn't want his children to be like him, illiterate and a low-class person all their lives.

Although he was only seventeen years old and had no wife, his mother at home often told him that as a person, one must have a long-term vision and lofty ambitions.

Chen Ze felt that he should set a small goal first, such as planting his ten acres of land first!
When Chen Ze arrived at the application camp, he was stunned. There were huge crowds of people and long queues. It was obvious that there were quite a few people applying.

This policy of distributing land is really very attractive, and it is particularly attractive to landless refugees.

Chen Ze was about to go over to queue up when he unexpectedly saw the country doctor who had just explained the contents of the list to him. He was nodding and bowing as he received reward money from an officer.

"You lied to me!"

Chen Ze followed secretly, and then went straight up to block the man in an empty alley.

The rural itinerant doctor was a little confused, and obviously did not recognize Chen Ze. Instead, he asked with a puzzled look on his face: "Have you bought my powerful pills?"

"No."

"Did you use my ancestral secret recipe?"

"nor!"

Chen Ze was so upset after hearing this, what was this all about? It was such a mess and it made no sense to him.

What was even more baffling than Chen Ze was the quack who was grabbed by the collar. He was furious: "How can you say I cheated you? Are you trying to rob me? Do you believe I will report you to the police?"

(End of this chapter)