Chapter 15: Overly Enthusiastic People of Jizhou

Those surrendered soldiers not only received instruction from the veterans through words and deeds, but their training programs these days also included literacy and singing. They could personally feel that they had learned something new every day.

Saw an opportunity to escape illiteracy.

Coupled with Zhang Hao's promise of "three wives and four concubines", he was of course full of motivation.

They didn’t have the opportunity before, but now, they also want to improve!

"So that's it!" Cao Cao was not a fool. After Ji Hao's enlightenment, he immediately understood the reason and said with a smile: "The weapon of thought can not only be used to deal with the enemy, but also to eliminate the resistance of the surrendered soldiers!"

Then he spoke again and asked, "Huangfu Song, Dong Zhuo, Ding Yuan and others have gone to attack Zhang Bao. Should we go with them?"

The Yellow Turban Army includes more than just Zhang Liang.

There was also General Zhang Bao, the Duke of Earth, and General Guan Hai, who commanded a million people in Qingzhou, and other rebel armies in other places who rebelled in the name of the Yellow Turban Army but were not under the command of the three Zhang Jue brothers.

There were even local tyrants who burned, killed and looted in the name of the Yellow Turban Army.

There is so much to clean.

"I won't fight anymore. There will be casualties in war. My soldiers are precious, they are living people. How can I sacrifice them in vain?" Ji Hao shook his head and said, "Besides, the Yellow Turban Rebellion is impossible to quell. The root cause is not the rebellion itself, so there is no point in conquering them."

As far as he knew, Huangfu Song returned to the capital after defeating Zhang Liang and Zhang Bao.

On the surface, the Yellow Turban Rebellion ended.

But in fact, after the rewards were given according to merit, the Yellow Turbans were still rampant in various places. Even after the princes attacked Dong Zhuo, there were still a million Yellow Turban troops in Qingzhou attacking Kong Rong.

The rebellion never stopped.

Ma Teng of Xiliang also rebelled repeatedly more than once, and the princes even established their own territories.

Instead of continuing to fight the rebellion, it is better to find ways to improve yourself.

"Then what should we do?" asked Cao Cao.

"In addition to the planned gathering of the Yellow Turban Army and recruiting the disbanded militiamen from all over the country, we also have to do post-disaster reconstruction!" Ji Hao said: "Lead the troops to help the local people rebuild their homes, and in the process, establish our banner and improve our reputation!"

……

Some people say that it’s not how you say something that counts, but how you do it.

Ji Hao agreed with this, but not completely: leading his soldiers to help the local people rebuild their homes was something he actually did, and he did it for several months until Huangfu Song returned to the court.

But as for this incident itself, apart from the recognition of local people, it has gained almost no benefits.

It can't even be said that they have won the "hearts of the people".

Because ordinary people are not the core of this world. The real "people" are the major families: Jizhou is the territory of the Yuan family, how powerful can their power be?

In every county, there were disciples of the Yuan family serving as officials, some of whom were directly promoted to county magistrates or county governors.

Many of the villages below are related to the aristocratic families.

Local militia were recruited from all over the country to resist the Yellow Turban Army, and more than half of the villages were not affected!
The only places truly affected by the disaster were those that had nothing to do with the aristocratic families and belonged to the truly poor people - what say could those people have?
Although their numbers far exceed those of children from aristocratic families, their status is really too low.

It’s so low, they were abducted and the government didn’t care!
"It's a problem. The poor people don't want to rebuild their homes here because they have no money and no land, and they will starve to death if they rebuild. Instead, they are very happy to follow us. In just a few months, the number of people willing to follow us has exceeded 100,000!" Cao Cao said, "100,000 people! They are all old, weak, women and children, and there are less than 5,000 strong men among them. It's really a headache!"

Is Ji Hao’s “mass line” good or not?
great!
It was so good that the people were willing to leave their homes and follow him even if it meant rebuilding their homes.

But trouble also came. One hundred thousand old, weak, women and children all came to surrender, but they could only recruit five thousand soldiers. Even if they added the defeated Yellow Turban soldiers and the dismissed local militia, they could only barely make up the 20,000 troops.

He couldn't just take the able-bodied men with him.

Because the people can't survive.

"Not necessarily!" Ji Hao shook his head and said, "You only saw that there was only one able-bodied man for every twenty disaster victims, but what I saw was that we could support one soldier for every twenty people - what is the most valuable wealth in this world? Population! Only when we have enough population can we develop!"

Is the shortage of able-bodied men a problem?
Not at all.

Let the soldiers do the hard work, and the victims can do the delicate work.

Fishing, weaving, and brewing wine.

The elderly, the weak, women and children cannot carry a bag of rice, but if a bag of rice is divided into ten bags, they can still be loaded onto a truck. An old man can still transport supplies by driving a ox cart!
"Well, since they don't want to rebuild here, we'll accept them all!" Ji Hao said, "We'll accept as many as you want, take them all with us, and go to this place to build a camp!"

After saying that, Ji Hao pointed to the north bank of the Yellow River.

It just happened to be the location corresponding to his camp.

"Is this what you want?"

"The river is fast-flowing, but the two banks are not very wide, only about a mile. We can build a suspension bridge to connect the two banks and develop on both sides!" Ji Hao said, "Then, using the cement I have, we can build a 'Chengtian Ferry' under the suspension bridge, directly to the mouth of the Yellow River, and refine it on the coast of Qingzhou to support these people!"

He had everything planned out, so he wasn't panicking.

After hearing this, Cao Cao did not try to persuade Ji Hao anymore. He said that it was just difficult for Ji Hao to support 100,000 people, but he was not unable to do so.

"By the way, how is the task I assigned you to do going?" Ji Hao asked again.

Hearing this, Cao Cao immediately smiled and said, "After receiving the order from the lord, I immediately sent people to spread the news of the 'descendants of the human queen' to the passing merchants. I didn't mention the lord, but only mentioned the 'blood returning to the ancestral roots and being born with supernatural powers'. Now I have received feedback that many people in Xiliang and Bingzhou have claimed to be 'descendants of the human queen'!"

In addition to doing, Ji Hao also "talks".

He played two games, on the one hand, he boasted about his bravery in fighting the Yellow Turbans, and on the other hand, he boasted about being the "descendant of the Queen of Humanity."

The former made Ji Hao famous and he was ranked alongside Lu Bu, gradually becoming one of the "two greatest men in the world".

The latter has made many people accept the "reversion of ancestral blood". Although the perception has not been completely changed, many ordinary people will say "so and so's blood has returned to our ancestral lineage and has the power of the human emperor" when referring to "so and so".

Of course, the aristocratic families did not approve of this, and neither did the imperial court.

That would cut off their roots.

People born with supernatural powers became "descendants of the queen of mankind", so what are they, the nobles? What is the emperor?
The natural noble blood is gone.

But where there is oppression, there will be resistance. The more the aristocratic families disagree, the more people support and promote it. After a period of fermentation, Ji Hao didn't even need to brag about it anymore, the tap water started to brag about the "power of the Human Emperor."

……

"My lord, there is a man blocking our way ahead!"

On the way back to the capital, a subordinate suddenly ran up to Ji Hao to report, which made him startled and asked in astonishment: "One person blocked an army of 20,000. Is he looking for death? Did you tell him your name?"

Upon hearing this, the subordinate immediately said, "That man calls himself Zhao Yun, Zhao Zilong, and is from Changshan."

(End of this chapter)