Chapter 28 Preparing for Winter Guan Yu's troops made much smoother progress than Xu Rong's. When the enemy did not test but charged directly towards the trap camp in the front, the outcome of the battle was already determined. Gao Shun didn't even need to activate his talent. Relying on the absolute advantage in equipment, he directly led a hundred heavy infantry to suppress more than three hundred Hu cavalry, and the enemy had no power to fight back. When the enemy reacted and wanted to use the cavalry's advantage of flexibility to pull the enemy back, Guan Yu and Zhang He led the cavalry to immediately move forward to reap the rewards. Whether it was Guan Yu's sharp army or Zhang He's flexible army, they were all natural enemies of the Hu cavalry. They defeated them in a crushing defeat and easily won a great victory. The casualties were even smaller than those of Xu Rong's group. With the cooperation of Ling Cao, who was responsible for the rear guard, only a few of these Wuhuan cavalry managed to escape, and almost the entire army was wiped out. After a short rest, the two armies took advantage of the night and went to the two tribes with the follow-up teams to take over the spoils. After seeing the leader’s head and learning that their tribe had been defeated, the old and weak people from the two tribes naturally followed them back to Wen County. On the grassland, the law of the jungle is the iron law, and everything from the defeated tribe belongs to the winner.
The Wuhuan people of this era had actually been sinicized to a certain extent, and some of them understood Chinese. Although Tian Chou's talent had only just begun to develop, the effect was already quite obvious. He quickly gained the trust and support of these Wuhuan people imperceptibly. At the resettlement site designated by Tianze, most of these Wuhuan people continued to live a life of herding horses and sheep, while a small number tried farming, fishing and hunting. Without the exploitation of their leader, their lives became much better. Although some people were still not used to the Chinese language and Hanfu, facing the much richer meals every day and the iron-faced and impartial Yu Jin, they still chose to adapt to the local customs. Su Puyan, who proclaimed himself the King of Qiao, learned several days later that the two tribes under his command had disappeared quietly. You know, there were not many Wuhuan people in Liaodong's vassal state, and the loss of nearly one-tenth of them at once made Su Puyan very angry. However, as he was unclear about the specific situation and did not dare to openly go to war with the Han army, Su Puyan did not take immediate action. Instead, he complained to the Liaodong governor and the commander of the Wuhuan guard. The Wuhuan Guard in Shanggu County simply ignored the matter. He was so far away from Liaodong that he had no time to care about it. Besides, the Wuhuan people had been very disobedient recently, so it would be good to let them suffer a little. When Liaodong Prefect Liu Yin heard the news, he just smiled and agreed readily. However, after the messenger left, his expression turned cold. He picked up a letter from his sleeve and looked at the content of Tian Ze's apology in the letter with great satisfaction. "A bunch of barbarians who eat raw meat and drink blood dare to bark here." "This son of the Tian family is quite sensible. He knows how to respect his superiors and not take all the credit for himself." "Come here, report to the court. The Xianbei invaded, and this prefect led his troops to defeat thousands of enemies and beheaded hundreds..." …… "boom!" Su Puyan smashed the wine glass in his hand to the ground with a look of rage. "How dare a mere county magistrate go against me! You're courting death!" "Come here! Gather all the tribes, I want to destroy Wen County!"
As a wise man in the tribe, Ke Sanying quickly dissuaded him, "Your Majesty, please calm down. I have already found out that after the two tribes were defeated, all their members were escorted back to Wen County by the Han army overnight." "They were able to easily wipe out two tribes and still have the strength to escort so many people. The strength of the Han army in Wen County should not be underestimated!" "If it were just that, it would be fine. I'm afraid this is a trap set by the Liaodong governor to lure us into action. Winter is approaching. If we gather our troops and rush to Liaodong, if there is heavy snow, the horses will have difficulty moving. If we encounter a strong enemy, I'm afraid we will never come back." After hearing Ke Sanying's analysis, Su Puyan suddenly felt a chill on his back, and the anger in his heart turned into fear in an instant. "Yes, how could a mere county have so many soldiers? This must be a trick of that bastard Liu Yin." The more Su Puyan thought about it, the more he felt something was wrong. "Your Majesty is so wise and powerful, how could he be deceived by a mere prefect? This villain Liu Yin is just daydreaming." Ke Sanying flattered. Su Puyan's eyes flashed with a hint of sternness: "It seems that these Han dogs can't stand me being the king of the cliff, and treat me as a soft persimmon. Now that winter is approaching, I really can't do anything to them. Wait until next year..." The demise of the two tribes reduced his strength by nearly 10%. If he did not take action to fight back, he would never have peace again. "These Han people dared not attack the Xianbei, but actually came to provoke us. Next spring, I will let them see how powerful I am!" …… Tian Ze didn't know that his actions had caused Su Puyan to have so many speculations, but Su Puyan's response was within his expectations. The winter in Liaodong is so terrifying that you can only know how terrible it is if you have experienced it yourself. Especially during this period, China experienced a cold period that occurred every few hundred years in history. Since last year, hailstones the size of eggs have fallen in the Central Plains in early summer. Due to the cold weather and the prevalence of typhoid fever, a large-scale plague has broken out. Both the Han and Hu people in the north experienced an extremely cruel winter and suffered heavy casualties. This was also the main reason why the Xianbei, Wuhuan and other tribes frantically looted Youzhou. Natural disasters cannot be stopped. Once winter comes, the Hu people will never send troops again. After killing Su Puyan with a fierce knife, Tian Ze put the matter behind him and discussed matters related to wintering with Jia Xu and others. In the slightly warm room, the presence of floor heating makes people not feel cold at all. It seems like two different worlds compared to the howling cold wind outside. Tian Ze was lying leisurely on the chair, holding a bowl of shaved ice. The soft shaved ice is topped with a variety of mouth-watering fruits. If there is anything more pleasant than eating hot pot in a cold room in summer, Tian Ze feels that this is it. Although he is almost immune to cold and heat, he always feels more comfortable in such an environment, eating shaved ice and listening to the cold wind outside. "Gongtai, please tell me first, how are the preparations for winter going?" Chen Gong bowed slightly and said, "My Lord, according to the astronomical prediction, this winter will not be as cold as last year, but our county has made full preparations." "As for housing, all the people under our jurisdiction, including the newly recruited Wuhuan people, have built solid houses. We have applied the latest kang technology, installed stoves, and prepared a large amount of honeycomb coal." "There is also sufficient supply of emergency supplies such as charcoal and firewood to last for half a year." "As for clothing, we have equipped all the people with two sets of cotton clothes, including gloves, hats, shoes and socks, and also prepared two sets of quilts to ensure their daily use." "There is no need to say much about food. It is worth mentioning that because the weather is getting colder, the large number of chickens, ducks and pigs we raise are just suitable for slaughter. The warehouses and cellars of each village and household have stored a large amount of meat and vegetables."
"We are also conducting winter fishing, and the harvest is good. Every day, we can organize two to three hundred young men to catch three to four thousand stone of big fish. I'm afraid that the people will have much better food this winter than before." "In addition, we have set up special water-boiling rooms and washrooms in villages and streets, and provided people with hot water kettles made of ceramics and wood to ensure their daily hygiene and hot water supply." "In addition to the basic supplies distributed according to regulations, we provide low-interest loans of up to 1,000 coins per person for a period of one year for the new villagers to purchase cotton clothes, food, etc." "..." "In summary, Gong can guarantee that this winter, the people under my command will basically not freeze to death or starve to death." Speaking of this, Chen Gong couldn't help but feel excited. I never expected that the problem of ensuring the safety of the people during the winter, which could not be guaranteed in the Central Plains, was solved in Liaodong, which has always been regarded as a cold and bitter place. Tian Ze introduced cotton seeds found in the southern barbarian area and promoted its planting and use on a large scale. The large quantities of cotton clothes and quilts produced were enough to withstand the cold winter. With the addition of heated beds, stoves, honeycomb coal, etc., the people of Wen County will live this winter even more comfortably than some small landlords in the Central Plains. The ideal he had always dreamed of had now been realized with his own hands. If one day my lord..., perhaps there wouldn't be so many people freezing to death or starving to death in this world. Chen Gong couldn't help but have such thoughts in his mind and buried them deep in his heart. Not only Chen Gong, but most of the people under Tian Ze's rule had this idea, which resulted in Tian Ze gaining a lot more spiritual energy every day. (End of this chapter)