Everyone understood that the man who came after him didn't care what happened, he just wanted the county captain's head to vent his anger on the soldiers below the city.
They were given a choice, either to chop off the head of the county captain and send it to others to make amends, or to come over and chop everyone off to vent their anger.
There was no choice. The head of the county captain Zhao Yong was quickly chopped off, and the city gate was quickly opened.
The county magistrate was so frightened that he could not walk, so Zhang Zhao came out with Zhao Yong's head, walked to Liu Xiang's horse and said resentfully:
"Yicheng, how can you be like you? You don't ask anything and just say that someone is rebelling. Can you just accuse someone of rebelling? The county magistrate Zhang Yong is the nephew of the prefect. If you make such a fuss, you will be blamed by the prefect.
.”
Liu Xiang swung his saddle and dismounted, and said hurriedly: "Brother Yuanhou beheaded the county captain of this county and opened the door to welcome us into the city. Such great achievements in seizing the city deserve a heavy reward."
Zhang Zhao looked helpless.
"Yicheng, don't be ridiculous. You have achieved great success in seizing the city. You are now an official. Don't speak nonsense. You may violate taboos. Be careful of the eunuch punishing you. It will be easy for you."
Liu Xiang smiled evilly and patted Zhang Zhao's arm.
"Brother, we will know later."
After speaking, he waved his hand and ordered: "Enter the city."
The Xiaoqi battalion marched into the city, ignored the protests of the people in the city, and directly detained the county magistrate, seized the city gate, and drove all the young officers off the city gate.
Zhang Zhao didn't care who was guarding the city. He found Liu Xiang and said he wanted to take people back to Lushui Pavilion to visit his father.
"Brother Marquis Yuan, go back quickly and bring Mr. Zhang to the city. I'm afraid there will be chaos outside the city for a while."
"I know." Zhang Zhao hurriedly left.
Liu Xiang stayed on the city wall until dusk, when the infantry of the left army and the right army arrived at Hu Nu.
Regardless of their fatigue, the soldiers quickly entered the city and occupied the four gates of the city. The fox slave finally got it.
The army recuperated overnight, and the next day they went out in all directions to arrest the refugees, including more than 15,000 bandits.
The task of personnel selection was still left to Yan Rou, and finally more than a thousand Taiping Taoists and bandits were selected. The criminals were demoted to hard labor and arranged to repair city walls and roads.
The remaining 14,000 people were arranged to open up wasteland and farm fields. The Anping General Mansion lent them farm tools, cattle, and food rations. The income earned from farming was paid four levels of agricultural taxes. They only needed to farm for five years before allocating their fields to them.
After pacifying the refugees, the army continued to raid powerful forts everywhere. Liu Xiang took out the report materials of the prefect Zhang Ju and others and began to arrest the powerful children of the family. He also selected more than ten people who were not guilty of serious crimes among the people who reported them and entered the Anping General's Mansion.
As a book assistant.
More than two thousand powerful sons of Zhang Ju, Zhang Chun, Xian Yufu, Xian Yuyin, Qizhou, Tian, and Zhao were all captured.
Over 60,000 hidden people, over 3,000 private soldiers, over 20,000 hectares of farmland, 300,000 hectares of pasture, 200,000 shi of grain, 40,000 shi of salt, 16,000 kilograms of iron, and 20,000 taels of gold were confiscated.
Five baht worth 80 million, and the remaining cattle, horses, livestock, property, and properties are countless.
After clearing Yuyang and Hunu counties, Liu Xiang was preparing to divide the fields. He first ordered people to announce to the people:
"The imperial court is incompetent, officials are corrupt, and the people are in dire straits. The Anping Army is willing to make decisions for the people, abolish tyranny, and divide the land so that everyone has food to eat and clothing to wear."
"In three days, the powerful and evil criminals of the powerful family will be publicly executed in Hunu County. We encourage the people to appeal. The General's Office will definitely make the decision for the people."
Liu Xiang decided to allocate fields to the people after the execution.
For a time, the people were enthusiastic and public opinion was overwhelming.
Liu Xiang also issued a recruitment order in the name of the Anping General's Office, saying: "Anyone who has a skill regardless of their origin can come to apply. The General's Office will consider the suitable candidates."
There are not many people coming to seek refuge, and Liu Xiang is not discouraged. His current power is too small and he has no foundation. He must recruit talents slowly. At least people must have confidence in you before talents will come. This cannot be done.
in a hurry.
Not to mention the chaos, Liu Xiang summoned Cui Yi and Yan Rou to discuss matters.
The three of them sat down. Liu Xiang took out a map, pointed at Lu County and said:
"Yuyang County governs the lower nine counties, Yuyang County, Hunu County, and Lu County as the upper county. We only need to take these three counties, and the remaining six counties can be decided overnight.
Now that Yuyang and Hu Nu are in hand, capturing Lu County is the top priority.
The Gu River and Baoqiu River flow from north to south, and the county seat of Lu County is built between the two rivers. Water transportation facilitates communication between the north and the south. There are also major roads, connecting Guangyang in the east and Youbeiping in the west. The strategic location makes it a battleground for military strategists.
There are two thousand troops stationed here to guard the grain roads leading to Youbeiping and Western Liaoning. They are under the jurisdiction of Chengguan Duwei. They can't be mobilized by the Yuyang Prefect's token seal.
Zi'an and Ziming, is there any way to take Lu County lightly? Our army has many new soldiers who are poorly trained. If we attack by force, the losses will be too great."
Cui Yi and Yanrou were also frowning and thinking, they could certainly win the battle, but they were afraid of losing troops and generals. The Anping Army could not withstand too much damage now.
Their foundation has not yet been firmly established.
The three of them thought hard and couldn't think of a good solution for a while.
Liu Xiang was anxious to capture Lu County. First, he wanted to use the name of Yuyang Prefect to expand his victory before the news of the rebellion spread.
Second, the Yellow Turban forces led by Cheng Zhiyuan have become established. Zhang Xun, the governor of Youzhou, has died in the battle. Liu Wei, the prefect of Guangyang, is trapped in Jixian and cannot hold on for long.
After Cheng Zhiyuan takes full control of Guangyang, who knows whether he will attack Zhuo County or Yuyang. Therefore, we must capture Lu County as soon as possible to guard against the Yellow Turbans' eastward advance.
Liu Xiang thought about whether he could avoid fighting with Cheng Zhiyuan. He said, "Can we form an alliance with Cheng Zhiyuan and lure him south?
Zhang Jiao in Jizhou was fighting with the army, so he must be anxious to go south.
But if you act too strong, he will be afraid and will not dare to lead his army away; if you act too weak, he will probably lead his army to attack, which will be a bit difficult to deal with."
Cui Yi said disapprovingly: "The Yellow Turbans are just outnumbered, but they are actually not difficult to defeat. If we lure them out of the city to fight in the wild, we will definitely be able to decide in one battle. My lord does not need to be afraid of them."
Liu Xiang shook his head.
"War is just a means, why fight when there is no need? The Yellow Turbans are not our biggest enemy, the powerful families are."
Yan Rou pondered for a moment and said: "My lord has wiped out more than 20,000 Yellow Turbans. Cheng Zhiyuan will definitely regard my lord as an enemy. I am not optimistic about forming an alliance, so I'd better be prepared to fight the Yellow Turbans early."
Liu Xiang did not tell them that the Yellow Turbans would also attack each other. After the death of the three brothers Zhang Jiao, the Black Mountain Yellow Turbans, Baibo Yellow Turbans, Hanoi Yellow Turbans, Qingzhou Yellow Turbans, Taishan Yellow Turbans and other Yellow Turbans would fight against each other.
Very happy.
Speaking of this would not help, and since none of the three were good at eloquence or diplomacy, the alliance with Cheng Zhiyuan could only be given up.
Because there were so many new soldiers, it was not the right time to send troops, so the attack on Lu County could only be postponed.
The three of them chatted for a while about training new soldiers, maintaining public trial order, and capturing other county towns, before Cui Yi and Yan Rou resigned.
Liu Xiang looked at the map and felt unwilling to do so. It seemed that he should stop thinking about using the prefect's name to expand his victory.
When it comes to information gaps, the longer you delay, the greater the risk. You must have a measure in mind and not be too greedy.
Be careful and don't rush ahead because of greed for success. Liu Xiang knows that he has a weak foundation now and cannot withstand failure. It is better to be safe, run fast in small steps, and make a solid road step by step.
It cannot be like the Yellow Turban Uprising, which initially broke out violently and with great momentum, occupying a large area in a short period of time.
However, without even thinking about laying down a foundation, it quickly collapsed.
Liu Xiang took another look at the location of Lu County on the map and would think of a solution later.
Now it is better to divide the fields first. Only when the fields are given to the poor people can Liu Xiang have a foundation.
At that time, one or two failures could not defeat him.