Chapter 194 Hard to Choose
After a few more days, the population that arrived at Fenglingdu began to concentrate and spread westward.

They migrated like ants moving house. Those who arrived first stayed for two days and then started migrating eastward for a hundred miles.

The empty tents will be given to the people behind to live in.

Just like during the great migration to Hedong, special people were assigned to set up tents and establish small camps, so the expansion to the west was very fast.

At the foot of Mount Li, near Mount Li Beiying, there is a village with a population of more than a hundred households. It is considered a relatively large settlement within the surrounding dozens of miles.

The reason why so many people gathered here is because of a man named Bao Chu.

When there was chaos in Guanzhong, he and his fellow villagers fled to Jingzhou. On the way, when he was out collecting food, cannibals kidnapped his mother. His brothers and fellow villagers did not dare to resist.

Bao Chu chased the bandits with a sword, killed several of them and forced them to release his mother.

After the thief was released, Bao Chu saw that other women were kidnapped and negotiated with the thief again.

They forced the thieves to release them before escorting them back to the team.

With the demise of Guo Si and Li Jue, more than 100,000 households of Guanzhong people living in Nanyang began to return to their hometowns.

Bao Chu's mother was already old, so Bao Chu made a rattan basket and carried his mother back to his hometown.

Because of his bravery and filial piety, many people from nearby villages came to live with him in an inconspicuous valley on the north side of Mount Li.

In the past few months, Bao Chu heard about the Qingzhou soldiers in the neighboring ravines mining rocks to build hot spring pools, as well as their training and confession.

Out of curiosity, Bao Chu also carried mountain products to the military market outside the Qingzhou military camp to do some small business.

And now, the newest tent camp is set up near the mouth of the ditch where Bao Chu lives.

The grazing herds of animals went deep into the ravine, disrupting Baochu's peaceful life.

As usual, at dawn, Bao Chu prepared arrows, noose, and three days' worth of dry food. After asking his brother and sister-in-law to take care of his mother, he was about to go into the mountains to hunt.

I saw a new wooden notice board erected beside the village gate, and several villagers gathered together to study it.

Bao Chu was in his early thirties and, like the other villagers, knew some commonly used characters in daily life.

Seeing Bao coming out, a villager said, "Brother, this is the notice posted by the Tiger Tooth Army last night."

"Let me see."

Bao Chu read it up and down, and there are two main points. The first is to inform the nearby herds of animals grazing, and to report to the authorities if there is a conflict, and not to fight with weapons. It also said that the fight does not ask who is at fault, and the solution is very simple, just eight words, an eye for an eye, and the murderer will be killed.

It is almost winter and it is not the farming season, but the local population is clingy and xenophobic. Sometimes, not to mention if you are a stranger going to open up wasteland, even if you go to the woods to pick up firewood, it will lead to a fight.

The second is to recruit young and strong men and use cattle and sheep as wages.

During this period, they will be provided with meals, a pregnant ewe for two months, and a cow or horse for half a year.

This cow is definitely not a draft ox, and the horse is not a good horse either, but it is the animal power that Guanzhong urgently needs at the moment.

The wages will be paid after the work is completed, and if you can get a guarantee document from the county, you can be assigned a herd of animals when you apply.

Bao Chu was already tempted. In Guanzhong before, even if you had money, you wouldn't dare spend it, let alone buy any animal power.

Although the Huns' cattle and horses were not as useful as the oxen that had been bred and trained for generations, they were still cattle and horses after all.

With animal power, more land can be reclaimed next year, and after one year of farming, life can become more prosperous.

Whether the power of cattle and horses is lent out or used to collect firewood and grass in the mountains, it can improve the quality of life at home.

A villager saw Bao Chu in a trance and begged him, "Brother, you are a famous person in the county. If you come forward, the county will definitely give you a guarantee."

Bao Chu nodded, but he was worried: "But we can't send too many people. There are so many people outside now. Those people have been with the Huns for so long. No matter how pitiful they are, they are vicious and cunning by nature. We should keep more young and strong people to prevent the elderly and children from suffering."

"Brother, what you said makes sense. Then let's discuss it among our families and see who will stay and who will go."

An older villager with a thick moustache said: "I think General Huya is sending us cattle and horses. He will definitely restrict the population in various places to prevent the cattle and horses from falling into the hands of some people."

Before, even though the family had the conditions to expand farming, no one dared to do so for fear of causing chaos and disaster.

Now, whoever these cattle and horses fall into the hands of will have their lives improved immediately.

But some people were worried and frowned: "I'm afraid that General Huya will recruit a large army, use labor service to trick us out, and then incorporate us into the army. It will be difficult to escape then."

Bao Chu shook his head and laughed when he heard this: "You still want to be a soldier now? Ma Zhengbei has more than 10,000 soldiers and now only 3,000 are left. Do you still want to be a soldier?"

The other party smiled awkwardly and said stubbornly: "What if?"

Seeing him sticking his neck out and jumping up and down, the other villagers didn't bother with him.

Soon, the families discussed it, and more than twenty young and strong men, carrying ring-handled swords and bows and arrows, followed Bao down the mountain.

On the way out of the mountain, we saw several Qingzhou soldiers leading thirty or forty men and women on horseback driving flocks of sheep and cattle up the mountain.

When they arrived at Xinfeng County, Bao Chu and others realized that this good thing was calculated according to the population ratio.

The registered population of Xinfeng has now expanded to more than 4,200 households, so only a little over 2,000 places were given.

Moreover, the number of quotas is determined in detail based on the registered population. It is impossible for the proportion of villages and towns to be lowered while the proportion of counties to be increased.

Bao Chu was well-known and successfully got 62 places.

Even if only one-third of the people can grit their teeth and persevere for half a year, they can bring back twenty cattle and horses, reproduce among each other, and ensure that the scale of spring plowing in the village is expanded three or four times.

The family has little savings, and even if many people want to sign a six-month employment contract, their family conditions do not allow it.

Even so, many people are still gnashing their teeth and sticking to their work contracts for the second half of the year.

Even if they are not given holidays during the spring plowing season next year, they still have oxen and horses for farming at home, and these oxen and horses are easier to use than themselves.

With cattle and horses, the scale of cultivated land can be expanded; with cattle and horses, neighbors can borrow them to provide manpower and extra income for the family.

As long as you can figure it out, just bite the toothpick and sign the work contract for the second half of the year.

That same day he stamped the horses and cattle with a fire seal, signed the documents, and led them back home.

As for the wealthy and powerful families who hid their population in Xinfeng, they could only watch helplessly. The continuous influx of people was impacting and eroding the original population structure.

If the powerful people in Xinfeng dare to cause trouble, the newly migrated population alone will be enough to overwhelm them.

What's more, their soldiers serve all year round and are only provided with food, so how could they be given cattle and horses?
Not only were there no cattle or horses, but even no sheep bones or offal were given.

There were so many beasts that they continued to split up after arriving at Fenglingdu.

The first to benefit from this were the recruited generals and their troops, which nominally became Black Bear's personal troops.

Wei Ji, who was in charge of this matter, could only distribute cattle and horses according to the population register of the tribes. Ordinary tribesmen were only given one sheep and one cow, while those currently serving in the military were given one cattle, one horse and one sheep.

At present, Black Bear nominally has 42,000 tribesmen. Once these cattle and horses are distributed, these tribesmen will be firmly tied together.

There is no way around it as Weinan has not stored enough fodder for the winter.

Even if there is enough fodder, during the coldest days of winter, pregnant animals still need to be fed grains and beans.

The land of Weinan is not able to support so many beasts, so they must be diverted.

While the animals are still fat in the autumn, kill all the weak and sick animals and distribute the healthy animals as much as possible.

Only by turning these herds of animals into private property of the tribes and households would they do their best to protect them and even use up their precious food rations to feed them.

Just as good news was coming in from the front line and all parties in Guanzhong were operating in an orderly manner.

The battle report of the complete annihilation of the right wing on the front line was finally delivered to Chang'an and placed in front of Zhong Yao.

Even the specific battle reports about the Wang family's collusion with the Xiongnu and the annihilation of Wang Yun's three clans were sent to Zhong Yao, Wang Can and Wei Duan.

The three people had different emotions. Especially after the truth about the war against the Huns was reported back to Guanzhong, Wang Can began to distance himself from Zhong Yao and Wei Duan.

Now that the details of the annihilation of Wang Yun's three clans were brought to them, the rift between Wang Can and them became even wider.

Wang Can and Wang Yun were not closely related, and there was even hatred between them.

Wang Can was from a family of three highest officials, and his father Wang Qian was the chief secretary of General He Jin. Logically speaking, it was impossible for such a person to die silently.

If he had died during the Luoyang coup, Wang Can would not have had to leave his hometown at such a young age and go to Guanzhong.

There was no need for Cai Yong to look at the teenage Wang Can differently and give him his inheritance and collection of books.

Therefore, Wang Qian’s position is very clear. When Dong Zhuo entered the capital, this person gave Dong Zhuo a strong push. He was the key figure in the transfer of He Jin’s troops and support for Dong Zhuo!

Just like Huang Wan, Huang Wan secretly pushed Dong Zhuo, and Dong Zhuo, who had been promoted by Yuan Wei, immediately gained a foothold in the court. Before Yuan Wei could react, Dong Zhuo, who thought he had Huang Wan's full support, slapped Yuan Wei in the face, leaving him paralyzed on one side of his body.

The Yuan family took advantage of the Party and Factions Ban to rise to prominence; how could Huang Wan, the rising star before the Party and Factions Ban, not have any ideas?

It was precisely because of the Party Ban that the Yuan family seized the momentum of the Huang family.

Because of what Li Jue and Guo Si did, Dong Zhuo could no longer be whitewashed, nor was there any need to whitewash himself.

However, it is too difficult for those who died with Dong Zhuo to clear their names, so they have to ignore the cause of their deaths, such as Wang Qian.

So the question is, how happy would Wang Can be if Black Bear killed Wang Yun's entire family?

Because of Wang Qian's past affairs and personal grudges, Zhong Yao and Wei Duan no longer dared to get close to Wang Can.

There is also Cai Zhaoji who is about to be rescued. Who knows who revealed this news to Black Bear.

As for the war against the Xiongnu, how much did Wang Can know before the war? And to what extent was he involved?
There is also a deep connection between Black Bear and Wang Can. Is it possible that Black Bear had various ties with Wang Can and Cai Yong before arriving in Jingzhou?
Wang Can didn’t know whether there was such a bond, but he felt that there was.

The Wang family had such a powerful influence that they could wipe out three clans at will. Except for a few people who ran away, all the others were gone.

If it weren't for the confirmed rumor that Hei Xiong fell in love with Cai Yong's youngest daughter, Wang Can would have suspected that Hei Xiong was Cai Yong's son.

The cost of killing Wang Yun's three clans is too high, which means that the big families in Guandong, including the big families in Guanlong, will resist Black Bear.

For details, please refer to Cao Cao killing Bian Rang.

Is it worth it to kill Wang Yun’s entire clan just for the death of Cai Yong?
Even though his father died in the turmoil, he still lived in poverty and fear, living under the care of others.

But the opportunity was before him. Did he dare to represent the Shanyang Wang family and destroy Wang Yun's Qixian Wang family?

Wang Can grinned and read the list of the Wang family members who were killed repeatedly. After a moment, he said, "Fortunately, Qian Zijing persuaded us, otherwise Hei Zhenbei would have made a big mistake. Even though Master Wang Zi made some mistakes, it would not be necessary to exterminate all nine clans. These three clans are a bit too much."

Wei Duan, who was sitting next to him, didn't want to talk. He felt that it was a very wrong decision for him and his son to dig out Cai Yong's suicide note.

Wei Duan looked at Zhong Yao with a sidelong glance. This old fellow was in his fifties and still childless. He probably wouldn't care about the subtle differences between three clans and nine clans.

Zhong Yao held the teacup in both hands, just thinking about the war on the front line.

Now they are afraid that Black Bear will break through Xihe and attack Shangjun as planned, and join forces with Liu Ye in Gaonu.

They were also afraid that the black bear would stay in Taiyuan and attack and destroy the big families in Taiyuan one by one.

Anyway, there are only powerful people left in Guanzhong now, and there are no big families with thousands of servants. Even the powerful people are small powerful people who trembled in the cracks of the ten tribes in Guanzhong before, and they are not powerful at all.

There are actually only two powerful groups like the one in Taiyuan in Guanzhong at present, one is Ma Teng and the other is Duan Wei, and their influence is concentrated in the military.

When the military force is disintegrated, that is, when the influence is eliminated and disintegrated, this is fundamentally different from the big and powerful groups in Taiyuan and Hedong.

Zhong Yao thought about the various possibilities of subsequent developments and felt a headache.

One thing is clear, the black bear is in trouble.

Whether it was Wang Yun's three clans, or the escaped slaves from the powerful families in Hedong and Taiyuan who were taken in when rescuing the population, this would lead to the alienation of Hedong and Taiyuan.

If the fighting on the front line is good, then everything is fine.

If the war reaches a stalemate, it will be troublesome.

Zhong Yao really wanted to remind Hei Xiong to be wary of Qian Zhao, but he felt that if he did so, he would become an accomplice in the extermination of Wang Yun's three clans and would stand against the big families in the world.

(End of this chapter)