Chapter 127 Zang Ba's Outrageous Actions "By the way, my lord. Speaking of the Yellow Turban bandits, there is another interesting thing." Guo Jia suddenly said with amusement. "What's the matter?" Tian Ze asked curiously, looking at Guo Jia who was keeping it a secret. "Jiao He, the governor of Qingzhou newly appointed by Dong Zhuo, wanted to attend the alliance, but he is late." "This Governor Jiao is from a noble family, and has a high reputation among the scholars. He is especially good at elegant conversation and also likes divination." "The Yellow Turban Rebellion in Qingzhou was quite serious before, but the local soldiers were numerous and well-armed, so it was not a big deal. However, after this Governor Jiao took office, he did not set up patrols, but fled when he saw the enemy, and only knew to pray to the gods, which eventually led to the depression of Qingzhou and turned it into ruins." "They said they came to the alliance, but in fact, Qingzhou was completely occupied by the Yellow Turbans. This Governor Jiao did not dare to rebel against the Yellow Turbans, so he wanted to come to fight Dong and avoid the limelight." "What about now?" Tian Ze asked with interest. "Now, this Governor Jiao should be on his way back to Qingzhou. However, he is much more relaxed this time and no longer has to worry about the Yellow Turban problem in Qingzhou." Guo Jia said meaningfully. "Why?" Guo Jia and Xun You looked at each other and smiled knowingly.
…… In Qingzhou, Jiao He led his army slowly across the Yellow River, carefully crossed the border, and marched towards the nearest Banyang County of Qi State. The soldiers were all complaining. This Governor Jiao is truly a "strange man"! He first tried to commit suicide in Qingzhou, but later realized that the situation was not right. In order to so-called respond to the anti-Dong alliance, he led his army from Qingzhou Qi State to Yanzhou Chenliu County, and it took more than three months of stopping and starting. When he arrived at the place, he found that the anti-Dong alliance was about to disband, so he hurried back, and it took him more than two months. Although Qiguo County is not close to Chenliu County, it took more than half a year to go back and forth, and the marching speed is as slow as that of a turtle. I don't know what he's doing. During the past six months, Qingzhou didn't even have a chief officer. It was probably almost completely occupied by the Yellow Turban Army. However, as he walked, Jiao He suddenly discovered a strange situation. There was not a single person along the way, and many villages were empty, but there were no signs of looting or fighting. But when they arrived at Banyang County, they found it was empty with only a few scattered civilians. It was not until he arrived at Linzi, the capital of Qingzhou, that he discovered that there were less than a thousand people in the city. What about people? In such a big city like Qingzhou, where have all the people gone? …… Above the Bohai Sea, Zang Ba looked at the fully loaded ships and felt secretly proud. Fortunately, he is smart and has worked as a bandit in Qingzhou. With such a big harvest, the lord will definitely reward him handsomely. More than half a year ago, when Zang Ba led his troops to Qingzhou and continued to recruit refugees, he found that there were more and more bandits causing chaos, some of whom were old acquaintances of his. Zang Ba then began to have evil ideas.
Before he could figure out what to do, he heard the news that Jiao He, the Qingzhou governor, had escaped with his army. Zang Ba was overjoyed! Whatever you think, it will come true! How could someone actually do such a ridiculous thing! A governor ran away with his province's army, leaving the entire province abandoned. In Zang Ba's eyes, Qingzhou instantly became a piece of fat meat. It would be better for him to benefit from it than for the Yellow Turbans to benefit from it. Zang Ba immediately reported the news to Youzhou, and Guan Yu handed over all the spare troops and navy to him without hesitation, many of whom were locals from Qingzhou. Then Zang Ba began his outrageous behavior in Qingzhou. Jiang Qin and Ling Cao were responsible for recruiting people in each county. Wherever they went, they first spent money, then spent food, and finally sent their fellow villagers to come on stage and give their own stories. He took his subordinates and pretended to be bandits. Relying on his rich experience and the many secret plans that Tian Ze had planted in Qingzhou before, he took action everywhere. When they saw the Yellow Turban bandits and mountain bandits, they would approach them and interrogate them, and then take in those who could be taken in first, and then beat those who could not be taken in, and then coax them onto the boat and send them to Liaozhou. When they encountered civilians who were unwilling to move, they would pretend to be mountain bandits and pretend to attack the county village, and cooperate with Jiang Qin or Ling Cao who "arrived in time" to take in people. If all else fails, just kidnap the person by force. When they encounter local tyrants, they will just start banditry and looting. Relying on these operations, Zang Ba spent less than half a year and moved almost all the population of Qingzhou. Of the six counties in Qingzhou, except for Kong Rong's Beihai County, Zang Ba did not take any special measures because Zang Ba was an ally in the fight against Dong Zhuo, and only lost about 30% of its population. In the other five counties, the remaining population is less than 10%. The entire Qingzhou is empty! Jiao He, the governor of Qingzhou, no longer had to worry about the Yellow Turban bandits. Because the problem was completely solved by Zang Ba. The remaining land in Qingzhou was more than enough for the local people to cultivate, and Zang Ba even thoughtfully left a lot of food. Today, Qingzhou has become a paradise, with peace and prosperity without any war. Even some refugees from surrounding states and counties come here to live, after all, there are many unowned fertile fields here. After listening to Guo Jia's explanation of the causes and consequences of the Qingzhou incident, Tian Ze said with a smile: "This Zang Xuangao really has a way!" "Xuan Gao has made a great contribution this time. The refugees he has recruited in the past year are probably more than what our lord gained during the Yellow Turban Rebellion!" Guo Jia couldn't help but sigh. Although Qingzhou has experienced wars many times due to historical issues such as obscene sacrifices, it is still a major province in the Central Plains. A lean camel is still bigger than a horse. Now their number is still much larger than the people of Youzhou. The number of refugees that Zang Ba has recruited from Qingzhou this time will definitely not be less than three million. Tian Ze was naturally happy to see this. With the Northeast Plain, they would not mind having too many people, but they were afraid that there would not be enough people. As for occupying Qingzhou, they have not considered it for the time being. Because Qingzhou is adjacent to Xuzhou, Yanzhou and Jizhou, the rear line is too long and it is easy to cause siege by the princes of the Central Plains. At most, they would only need to occupy an area of about one county of Donglai. With the help of the mountains and the shipping of the Bohai Sea, it would be no problem to defend this area and attract refugees.
"It's mainly because of the Lord's good planning." Xun You said, "If the Lord hadn't joined the allied forces, I'm afraid we wouldn't have such a good opportunity." Tian Ze smiled slightly: "This is all your credit, why be modest. Xuan Gao did a good job, I can't hold him back, I have to do the last job well, the more money I can make, the better." After saying this, Tian Ze walked down the city wall and went to have a banquet with the princes. Looking at Tian Ze's back, Guo Jia and Xun You both smiled and shook their heads. During the period of fighting against Dong Zhuo, Tian Ze's main task was to drink and have fun with the princes and communicate with them. Although I am not good at socializing, it is no problem to call two more people and just respond with a few words. Besides, words cannot show true feelings, so real gold, silver, pearls and agates can also be used. These are what Tian Ze has the most of. He sends them box after box, and his affection for them naturally grows. Why did he join the Allied Forces in the first place? In addition to representing justice and seeking prestige, it was for these allies. We are all allies and have a good relationship, so naturally we have to show some mercy to each other. I often treat you to drinks, and also give you some gold, silver and jewelry from time to time. It shouldn't be too much to recruit some of the refugees you don't want from your territory, right? At this time, the population in the Central Plains had not yet reached a point of shortage, and the princes had not yet realized the importance of population. They were still in the early stages of competing for money, food, territory, and recruiting soldiers. How could they care about these trivial matters? Many princes even wished that there were fewer refugees under their rule, because they did not have enough food to eat themselves, and no matter how much food there was, it was better to support the army than the people. Relying on his status as a member of the allied forces, Tian Ze secretly ordered his subordinate Zang Ba to bring enough money and food, and unscrupulously recruit refugees everywhere in the Central Plains under the banner of Tian Ze, including the old, the weak, the sick and the disabled. At this time, all the provinces and counties were leaderless, and the governors and prefects were all drinking and having fun in Hetian Lake. Naturally, their subordinates did not dare to cause friction with Zang Ba privately. After all, no one wanted to bear the crime of sabotaging the campaign against Dong. In addition, Zang Ba himself was quite flexible, and when he met some greedy and difficult people, he would give them some gold and silver. With the help of Mi's network of relationships, the work of recruiting refugees was in full swing, even more lively than during the Yellow Turban Rebellion. After all, there was no need to restrain at this time, and there were no obstacles, so just recruit. Tian Ze did nothing but participated in the struggle against Dong Zhuo. However, behind the scenes, he swept away a large number of people from Hebei, Central Plains and Jiangdong. If the Anti-Dong Alliance would not eventually disband, Tian Zezhen would have wanted to continue developing secretly like this. It’s a pity that all good things must come to an end. (End of this chapter)