Chapter 222: Liu Biao Prepares to Backstab Yuan Shu
This matter is a bit difficult to handle as it involves the improvement of the new system.

Fortunately, Jin Mao has a lot of talented people under his command, not to mention the newly recruited Lu Su, Zhang Zhao, Zhang Hong, Bu Zhi, Yan Jun and others.

Take the think tanks such as Xun Yu, Xun You, Xi Zhicai, Zhou Yu, Gu Yong, Yu Fan, and Kan Ze for example, their IQs are definitely enough!
So Jin Mao waved his hand, gave everyone a chance to speak up, and wrote letters to Xun Yu and others who were away to inform them of what had happened.

This matter will take a long time and cannot be resolved in the short term. Jinmao plans to deal with it in a unified manner during the meeting at the end of the year.

Now he has more important things to do.

That is the personnel changes stationed in the five counties of Jingzhou.

Yangzhou Yuzhang County and Kuaiji County have become the rear bases. There is no need to keep too many old people. They can be used as training grounds for newcomers.

Gu Yong and Kan Ze would be able to be liberated and come to Jingzhou to serve.

Yuzhang County can be handed over to Xun Yu for management. This is the place with the largest grain production in the entire Yangzhou and it cannot be lost.

This also shows the position of Gu Yong in Jinmao's heart.

This time, Jinmao plans to use Gu Yong to help manage the five counties of Jingzhou.

As for Zhou Yu, who had long clamored to be the governor of the province, Wuling County was adjacent to Yizhou, and he had the help of two powerful generals, Zhang Fei and Dong Xi. If he failed to take it, that would be Zhou Yu's own business. What did it have to do with Jin Mao?
Anyway, Jinmao has delegated power and let Zhou Yu do his job freely, with only one principle: he is only allowed to take advantage and not suffer any loss!
As a descendant of guerrilla warfare, Jinmao firmly believes in the great man's strategy.

As long as Zhou Yu is willing to fight guerrilla warfare, Liu Yan will definitely be overwhelmed and too busy to handle it.

However, there are exceptions.

Kan Ze was unwilling to leave Kuaiji County and wanted to open a school in his hometown Shanyin County to teach and educate people.

Jin Mao agreed and required that the school should be open to all, and that anyone could study there. Moreover, the school should teach not only classics but also mathematics, astronomy, geography, etc.

Since the ideas came from later generations, Jin Mao simply passed on the four levels of elementary school, junior high school, high school and university to Kan Ze.

Teachers and students are selected through examinations. There is no selection in primary schools, but selection must start from junior high schools.

In this era, schools had already begun to be classified, such as elementary schools, imperial colleges, etc., so it was easy for Kan Ze to accept it.

However, recruiting students is a big problem. It’s not that we can’t find students, but that there are too many people who want to study.

Of course, that’s all later. Jinmao is used to being a hands-off boss anyway.

Since Kan Ze wants to be an educator, just leave everything to him.

Since Kan Ze did not come to Jingzhou, there would be one less person to govern, so Jin Mao decided to keep Lu Su as a secretary in Jiangling County.

Since Jin Mao was in Jiangling County, anyone with a discerning eye could see that this position was of low rank but had great prospects. They also understood that Lu Su had become Jin Mao's confidant.

For a moment, Zhang Zhao and others of the same period could not help but feel jealous, and they didn't know what Jin Mao valued so much about Lu Su.

They naturally didn't know that Jin Maocai didn't know Lu Su's abilities, he just recruited him as his confidant because he felt the name was familiar to him.

We have talents to oversee the overall affairs, but we lack talents to manage each department.

It’s time to bring out the talents of the Jin and Liu families to gain experience.

Cousin Jin Yun was appointed as the governor of Changsha County.

My uncle Jinshan was promoted to acting governor of Kuaiji County.

In fact, Jinshan and Jinyun’s contributions are not enough, but who makes them members of the Jin family?

Liu Gan was the magistrate of Jiangxia County, and Liu Ping was the magistrate of Guiyang County. This father and son pair had very unique ways of dealing with people and were able to get along well with the mountain folk. Therefore, the two places with a large mountain population and close to Yangzhou were the best places to give them as trial sites.

Of course, there are better candidates.

But Jin Mao wanted to see how far the Jin and Liu families could go.

Especially Jin Yun, as one of the only two candidates of the younger generation of the Jin family, he needs to shoulder the heavy responsibility.

Therefore, Jin Mao's handing over Changsha County, which was governed by Xi Zhicai, to Jin Yun could be regarded as a transition between family members.

The population of Lingling County once exceeded one million, and even after the turmoil, there are still more than 900,000 people. It is still a good place for farming. Jinmao decided to carry out farming planning in Lingling County led by Xi Zhicai and based on the older generation of industrial and agricultural talents in Wushang County.

Just like the Yuzhang County of the past.

The people of Wushang County can be said to have benefited from Jinmao. When one person succeeds, the whole family will benefit.

Thousands of farmers who once could only dig for food in the fields and workers who only knew how to press oil became officials.

Even though he was just a low-level clerk, he was still an official, and he had made a class leap!

Jinmao’s promises to the people were all fulfilled, and the people of Yangzhou were praising its reputation of keeping its promises.

This group of recently promoted minor officials, together with the hard-working workers, peasants and technical personnel, are the foundation of Jinmao's rule over Jingzhou.

The duties of each general are also changing, from clearing out to garrisoning.

Therefore, the generals who were originally suitable for clearing out the enemy had to be replaced with generals with patience.

The selection method is also very simple, which is an exam.

A group of outstanding military generals who had emerged from the common people were selected to garrison the army. Most of them were the elite among the old ten thousand men. Jin Mao treated them equally and gave the same treatment to Guan Yu and others.

The duties of the stationed military generals were mainly to assist those in power, arrest bandits, maintain public order, and handle trivial matters, which was somewhat similar to the police in later generations.

It does not require extremely powerful military force, but rather patience and empathy, which are qualities that war generals do not possess.

With the garrison of military generals, county soldiers needed to be separated from the regular army.

For this purpose, Jinmao specifically recruited new soldiers in each county of Jingzhou and Yangzhou according to the population ratio of 1%.

This group of recruits will not enter the recruit camp, but there will be a round of assessment every year. Those who are willing to join the army and have outstanding talents can participate in the recruit camp selection and become regular soldiers.

Even if you fail to be promoted, as long as you still want to join the army, you can stay in the recruit camp and participate in another round of selection.

There were 11 counties in two states plus Guangling County, totaling 157 counties. A total of more than 60,000 people were recruited, and 400 people were recruited in Pingping County.

Their salary is not high, their training workload is not heavy, and they can go home to farm during the busy farming season. They are considered to be the rare county soldiers in Jinmao's army that possess the characteristics of the times!
However, the recruitment situation in the two states is polarized.

Jingzhou was unable to recruit people, and the number of applicants in Yangzhou far exceeded the number of recruits. Some people even fought for a spot.

Jin Mao then remembered that it had been nearly two years since the last recruitment, and the people of Yangzhou were eagerly waiting to join the army.

Who would have thought that the entire Yangzhou only recruited 30,000 soldiers in total, but the number of people who signed up was three times as many!
More than ninety thousand!

Jin Mao simply replaced all the soldiers from the counties of Jingzhou with soldiers from Yangzhou. Since they couldn't communicate in the same language, they just had to learn!
You don’t need to learn any other words, just learn elegant language!

The local people in Jingzhou can’t speak elegant language?

Learn too!

If you can’t learn, just wait for unjust and wrongful convictions to happen!
Jin Mao also specially ordered people to write a vernacular version of the manifesto for this matter and spread it throughout Jingzhou.

Only then did the people of Jingzhou realize the seriousness of the problem and wanted to join the army.

but!

late!

The recruitment of soldiers in Yangzhou has ended, and more than 30,000 people are about to land in Jingzhou.

These are the youngest and most enterprising people.

With more than 60,000 new recruits, military preparation became a big problem again.

Guangling County and Qu'a County, at full capacity, can only produce 10,000 complete sets of weapons in a year, in addition to manufacturing farm tools, and this does not include horse armor.

These 60,000-plus people couldn’t even equip themselves with junk.

Jin Mao had no choice but to order people to make wooden spears with pointed tips.

In order to solve this problem, Jin Mao paid a large sum of money to buy iron materials from Nanyang County and Runan County. After Yuan Shu's army grew, money and food became a big problem. He was worried about it, but he didn't expect that someone would send him a pillow when he was sleepy. He immediately sold 10,000 sets of broken weapons at the price of finished weapons.

Jinmao accepts no one who comes. As long as you dare to sell, I dare to buy. Anyway, I have plenty of oil!
Yuan Shu doesn't want oil, he wants to exchange it for food.

Jinmao disagreed. After negotiations, the two parties completed the transaction with half grain and half vegetable oil.

After tasting the sweetness, Yuan Shu also wanted to sell semi-finished iron products.

When Liu Yan and Liu Biao learned of the situation, they immediately wrote letters to stop it.

However, Yuan Shu ignored these two pieces of trash and continued to do what he wanted.

It was Liu Yan who was so greedy that even the insatiable Yuan Shu felt inferior to him.

The four-party alliance broke down.

Liu Yan made a fortune and returned to Shu happily.

Without Liu Yan's restraint, Yuan Shu became more and more presumptuous and treated Nanyang County as his own backyard.

The person who was hurt the most was Liu Biao!

Xiangyang County.

end of September.

It was already late autumn and the normal autumn harvest was basically over, but Liu Biao was not happy at all.

Not only did this four-party alliance have no effect at all, it also almost drained the financial resources of Nanjun, leaving the people with no more money in their pockets.

But Liu Biao didn't care at all, the taxes that should be collected were not less at all!

The people were suffering terribly. Even though there was a bumper harvest this year, their lives were worse than in years of disaster. Many people fled south.

Regarding this, Liu Biao pretended not to see it. There were not many common people in Nanjun anyway, so if they could escape, it would be fine as long as the nobles and powerful families were still there.

But the powerful people don't think so. Without the people, how can they exploit them? Where can they find people to cultivate the land?

So the powerful people went to Kuai's house to make trouble. Kuai Liang and Kuai Yue had no choice but to go to Liu Biao to plead for them.

Liu Biao had just lost the support of the Four-Party Alliance, and the more than 10,000 troops under his command were entirely composed of private soldiers from aristocratic families, so he could not speak with any strength.

Even if he was unwilling in his heart, he could not openly go against the nobles.

"Zirou (Kuai Liang's courtesy name), Yidu (Kuai Yue's courtesy name), please sit down and have a cup of tea first."

Although Liu Biao was almost fifty years old, he was still quite capable in that aspect. Mrs. Cai was pregnant, so the Cai family naturally stood on Liu Biao's side.

Therefore, Kuai Liang and Kuai Yue did not dare to be too presumptuous, and accepted Liu Biao's invitation very politely.

"Envoy, Nanjun has already lost half of the county south of the Yangtze River. If the barbarians north of the Yangtze River flee again."

Kuai Yue said worriedly, "I'm afraid your foundation is no longer secure and it will be difficult for you to gain a foothold in Jingzhou."

On the surface, everyone can be polite to each other, but when it comes to practical matters, no one cares about that!
Kuai Yue's words seemed to be a reminder to Liu Biao, but in fact they were a threat.

The meaning is very clear: if you don't obey, we will replace you as the governor of Jingzhou.

Liu Biao was a smart man, so he naturally understood what was said and said worriedly, "I really have no other choice."

"Can you two find a way to stop it?"

Seeing Liu Biao coming up, Kuai Yue proposed: "I have a plan that can help you gain a million barbarians!"

Kuai Yue always had prejudices against the lower-class people and always used a contemptuous tone to compare them.

Liu Biao asked suspiciously, "Could it be that Yidu is talking about taking over Nanyang County?"

Then Liu Biao shook his head vigorously and said, "Absolutely not! That is the rear general's garrison. How can I be his opponent?"

"Besides, there are the Jinmao thieves in the south who are eyeing us covetously. If I make any unusual move, I will be dead without a burial place!"

Kuai Yue was not surprised at all, and asked in return, "If you continue to wait, what's the difference between that and dying without a burial place?"

Liu Biao knew that what Kuai Yue said made sense, but he was almost fifty years old, so how could he admit his mistake?

Kuai Yue also understood this and continued, "The tribes in Nanyang County have long complained about the rear general. It will be easy for you to get this place. You only need to send one person to contact the tribes and it will be done."

"However, the envoy still needs to get the approval of one person."

Liu Ming knew the answer, so he asked, "Who is it?"

Kuai Yue did not expose him and said, "Yangzhou Mu!"

Liu Biao stood up suddenly and sighed again.

"I have offended the governor of Yangzhou before, how can I get his permission?"

"Unless I hand over Jingzhou to the governor of Yangzhou, he will not let me go."

Kuai Yue had anticipated these words, so he said, "I am willing to serve as an envoy to Jiangling County."

Liu Biao stood up excitedly and walked quickly off the stage, appearing to be a very wise man, at least on the surface.

He grabbed Kuai Yue's hand, and with tears in his eyes he said, "Yi Du is my confidant, I'm sure he can convince the governor of Yangzhou."

This is so hypocritical. If he is a confidant, why is he forced to set targets? It seems that he doesn't need to come back if he fails to achieve the targets.

Kuai Yue was a smart man, so he could hear it, but he said without caring, "I will live up to your trust!"

Liu Biao felt relieved and even pretended to be serious when he said, "This governor should not be underestimated."

"I will go to Nanyang County myself!"

Seeing his awe-inspiring look, I thought Liu Biao was going to die heroically.

In fact, what Kuai Yue said showed that the Nanyang gentry had already come into contact with the Nanjun gentry. No matter who was sent, as long as they were not discovered by Yuan Shu, there would be no danger.

In other words, Liu Biao was scrambling to win people's hearts.

Coincidentally, what Kuai Yue wanted was Liu Biao to take the initiative to assume this responsibility.

It has to be said that Liu Biao was very good at maneuvering and building relationships.

At the beginning, he entered Jingzhou alone, married Lady Cai, and made important use of the brothers Kuai Yue and Kuai Liang. He soon gained control of Nanjun.

But there is Jin Mao in the south, Yuan Shu in the north, and the unreasonable Sun Jian.

The most hateful one is Liu Yan in the west, who did nothing practical and yet took away many benefits.

Liu Biao couldn't use his fists and feet now, but it wasn't bad either!
Could it be worse than when Liu Biao first entered Jingzhou?

Anyway, the final losses would be borne by the nobles and powerful families, and Liu Biao would just be talking and wasting some time running errands.

not only that.

Looking at the current situation, we can see that Liu Biao has benefited a lot.

First of all, the gentry of Nanjun had been ruined by Liu Yan and Yuan Shu, and only Liu Biao's reputation was still good. Do these people have any other way out except to join Liu Biao?

Secondly, Liu Biao had already taken root in Nanjun, which made him much more powerful than when he fought alone before.

This took less than a year!

Back then, when Jinmao had just been established for a year, it was still struggling in Wushang County and had not yet climbed out of the mountains.

And Liu Biao has already obtained half of the county!
This panelist is not as simple as he seems.

(End of this chapter)