As Zang Ba fell from his horse, for a fleeting moment he thought of someone, Zhang Fei, who had dared to challenge Lyu Bu alone in front of Hulao Pass. Afterward, everything went black and he knew no more.
With ease, Zhang Fei lifted the fallen Zang Ba to prevent him from being trampled into a mush by the cavalry that followed. He had realized that Zang Ba’s defeat was not because he was too weak, but because he had faced an opponent of a non-human level.
"Zang Ba has been captured by me, will you not discard your weapons and surrender!" Zhang Fei bellowed, his voice overpowering the anguished screams of Zang Ba’s personal army.
"Surrender!" With their commander captured and their army fragmented, the only choice besides surrender was a certain death. Zang Ba’s forces, already devoid of morale, completely lost their will to fight after Zang Ba’s capture. Under Zhang Fei’s roar, the entire group wilted like frost-stricken eggplants.
Hua Xiong directed his subordinates to take prisoner Zang Ba’s personal troops. Normally, in the aftermath of such a major battle, the task of capturing prisoners would be assigned to the rear army, as the vanguard would be thoroughly exhausted after a fierce fight.
Hua Xiong’s forces were so few that there was no rear army to speak of, and the erstwhile bandit army under Hua Xiong, unconcerned with such duties typically assigned to the rear army, followed Hua Xiong’s orders implicitly. Taking prisoners was certainly safer than carrying heavy stones up cliffs, and besides, they had already subdued these scoundrels, so what was there to fear?
Under Hua Xiong’s arrangement, five hundred of his lightly wounded soldiers herded the prisoners together like ducks, three thousand others vigilantly guarded the surroundings, and the rest scattered like scouts, serving as an early warning system.
As for the prisoners, not one dared to resist even though they were being driven by a group of Hua Xiong’s bandit army that was merely a twentieth their size and comprised entirely of the lightly wounded. It seemed that Zang Ba’s personal army was essentially incapacitated, at least in the short term; they had no intention of resisting the silent legion that had defeated them.
"Zijian, I had no idea you were so divine at drilling soldiers!" holding onto Zang Ba, Zhang Fei gave a thumbs up to Hua Xiong, who stood atop a large rock.
"Don’t mention it, I’m not really sure what’s going on myself. The military strategist instructed me to train them this way, and I still don’t understand why, but these men are simply unafraid of death. They do whatever I say." Hua Xiong waved a hand, indicating that it wasn’t an issue of his own soldier training abilities but rather the capabilities of Chen Xi.
"Oh, I didn’t expect Zichuan to have such a skill, and he didn’t even teach me, Zhang Family. When I get back, I’m going to ask him about it." Zhang Fei first appeared pleased upon hearing this, but then he angrily declared he’d deal with Chen Xi.
"Let’s not talk about giving the military strategist a hard time. Wake up Zang Ba and then you go back and lead the troops to seal off the strategic passes around. The military strategist ordered us to capture Sunx Guan, but I still have no idea where he is. How am I supposed to catch him? Hopefully, Zang Ba knows." Hua Xiong said with a wry smile. The task Chen Xi had given him wasn’t too difficult, but finding Sunx Guan, the bandit, amidst Mount Tai was. Now, the only person who might know was Zang Ba, which is why Hua Xiong risked attacking him.
Zhang Fei splashed a basin of water on Zang Ba to wake him up, unconcerned about any infection of Zang Ba’s wounds or the need to treat prisoners with consideration. In this era, prisoners were treated well only if they were liked; otherwise, their fate was at the captor’s whim. Besides, one at the Qi Refining to Gang Level hardly had to worry about falling ill, as minor sickness seldom afflicted them, yet once they did fall ill, they were generally not far from becoming dumpling filling.
"Cough, cough, cough." Zang Ba coughed up blood as he opened his eyes and saw the two men before him, realizing he had been captured. After spitting out a clot of blood, Zang Ba asked with flickering eyes, "May I know if I have fallen into the hands of Yan People Zhang Yide?"
"Ho-ho, Yide, someone recognizes you. Let’s see if they’re from your hometown," Hua Xiong teased with a chuckle.
"Hmph, I don’t have any fellow townsfolk who are thieves. They must’ve recognized me from my formidable martial arts and my burly physique," Zhang Fei grumbled in dissatisfaction.
"There’s no need for guesses, Zichuan already said that in this world there are many who may not recognize you but can identify your Eighteen-foot Long Serpent Spear. You’re not even as famous as your weapon," Hua Xiong continued to tease Zhang Fei, having almost no fear of him.
"You tell me, how did you recognize me?" Zhang Fei fiercely grabbed Zang Ba and demanded with a ferocious look on his face.
Hua Xiong stood by, half-squinting, giving Zang Ba a sideways glance. He had learned this from Guan Yu, this kind of look carried a killing intent and looked imposing. At least for now, Zang Ba was drenched in cold sweat from that one glance.
"Alright, Yide, no more jokes. Hand Zang Ba over to me, I have some questions to ask him," said Hua Xiong, knowing when to be serious after a couple of jests.
"Take him. After a battle, even the Zhang Family is itching to fight. It’s a pity all my soldiers are cavalry, unable to engage in mountain warfare," Zhang Fei handed Zang Ba over to Hua Xiong with a look of helplessness, "It seems I can only join Second Brother in rounding up the refugees who have fled to Qingzhou."
It must be said that at the dawn of these troubled times, when people no longer placed faith in the Han Court, purely giving out disaster relief was unable to take hold. The reason was simple: the common people didn’t trust you would distribute food for no reason, and even if the news spread to Qingzhou, those displaced commoners were reluctant to believe. They trusted more in their ability to provide for their families through their own efforts.
Having investigated and understood this reality, Chen Xi directly quashed Liu Bei’s idea of opening the granaries to distribute grain. Spending so much grain to gain so little profit was not worth it. Hundreds of thousands of able-bodied people could create profit anywhere. That’s money right there.
Instead of simply handing out food and then having to support them afterward, turning them into a burden, it was better not to distribute the food at all. Chen Xi proposed they put these refugees to work, paying them in money and grain daily as wages. What a harmonious solution.
Moving away from pure grain distribution, Chen Xi started work-for-relief. Since they were able-bodied, letting them eat food they earned was far better than consuming relief grain. At least laboring for one’s food provided a sense of self-assurance. Although national disaster relief was an obligation, wasn’t it more reasonable to offer them work and food? It could even stimulate commercial circulation a bit, giving them a little money to see more hope for a better future.
With this mindset, Chen Xi had no intention of distributing grain from the granaries. After all, the national credibility was almost in ruins. It would be better to establish a new monument of generosity, and in the process, work in some private benefits.
For instance, under the guise of teaching them to fish, teaching them how to build houses, providing their meals, and upon completion, telling the refugees that the wages they previously earned could be used to purchase the houses they built. If the amount wasn’t sufficient, they needed only to pay a small down payment. The Government Office could rent the houses to them first and they could pay back the full amount when they had the money in the future.
Likewise, if they wished to farm but lacked funds to purchase land, the Government Office could also bestow land upon them. They could follow the Tuntian Decree organized by Zhao Zilong, paying four-tenths to the state as taxes, and one-tenth as rental fees, and after five years, they’d only owe state taxes, and the land would be theirs. Of course, this bestowal was limited to fifty mu per adult.
Look at how excellent these policies are. Even Liu Bei was astonished. He even asked Chen Xi whether there was enough money and grain to carry out such plans. Chen Xi just smiled and remained silent. He wanted to ask Liu Bei which eye of his saw him spending money. Wasn’t this just moving money from the left pocket to the right pocket? After all the spending, the money was still in hand, but now there were more people earning for you.