Chapter 17 Can't recruit troops

"Lord!" The next morning, Zhao Feng came to the Xuzhou government office. When he left home, even Diao Chan had not woken up, and Liu Bei was the only one who came to the government office.

"Oh, Bo Tao came early!" Liu Bei seemed to be a little surprised that Zhao Feng came so early. Then the two of them looked at each other tacitly and smiled, and everything was silent. Soon, Jian Yong, Mi Zhu and others also came one after another. Recently, there is nothing special in Xuzhou City. The most important thing is to recruit new recruits. Zhao Feng and Guan Yu have a budget. Xuzhou has a total household registration of more than 1 million, with a population of more than 3 million. It is estimated that we can recruit 50,000 soldiers this year. Maybe we should be able to recruit 100,000. In addition, there are still 100,000 soldiers in Xuzhou, which must add up to nearly 200,000.

"Xuzhou is the place of the four wars. Without 200,000 people, there is really no way to base here, let alone how to develop." This is Zhao Feng's original words, and Guan Yu is also deeply convinced. Gongyou, how have you been recruiting troops in the past month? Liu Bei also asked Jian Yong, who was in charge of recruitment at this time.

"Oh, my lord, don't mention it. We have only recruited more than 10,000 people this month. It is estimated that even in winter, we can only recruit less than 20,000 people." Jian Yong was quite helpless. What?" Jian Yong's words really surprised everyone. Why are you such a little person?" Zhao Feng thought to himself and said it instentionly.

"Cao Yan has recruited tens of thousands of people in Yanzhou. Our Xuzhou has a much larger population than Yanzhou. Why are there so many people?" Zhang Fei, who was straightforward, also shouted, and everyone was a little confused for a moment.

"Yong originally thought that no one was willing to be a soldier because our pay was too small, but I agreed with the second general to increase the pay by 60%. As a result, the number of applicants was still limited. Later, Chen Yuanlong told us that Xuzhou is a rich place. With the salt and deep ploughing method of General Zhao, the people's life is even richer, so few people are willing to be willing to join the army. Jian Yong was quite helpless.

"So that's it!" Only then did everyone suddenly realize that it turned out that he was living well enough and did not want to make a living. Zhao Feng remembered that in his previous life, there were generally people in those economically underdeveloped provinces who went to join the army. For example, the Guangxi army in the Anti-Japanese War was a miscellaneous army, but it was more powerful than Lao Jiang's Central Army. This is also the case in Shandong and the two lakes. On the contrary, like the developed coastal areas of Jiangsu and Zhejiang, there are few troops that can fight. The most typical is Guangdong, where the economy was underdeveloped before liberation, and the Guangdong army was once famous for its bravery. After liberation, especially after the reform and opening up, Guangdong, where the economy has gone up, rarely sent troops. After all, if they really can't find a job, a few people are willing to eat this bowl of hard-working food.

"They are all rich people! I don't want to be a soldier anymore. Thinking of this, Zhao Feng couldn't help but admire Tao Qian, who had been dead for almost a year. I'm afraid that this brother knew that there were not many people who were willing to be soldiers here in Xuzhou, so he recruited elite soldiers in Danyang, which was also a preparation for a rainy day.

"What should I do?" Liu Bei was also at a loss for a while. Even if he has the ability, he can't become a soldier. Everyone had no point after discussing for a long time. In the end, they turned their heads and looked at Zhao Feng. There is no other reason. Zhao Fengping said that he often had some whims and a general. Now that there is a problem in recruiting, who can he not find you?

"Butao, there is a good plan." Liu Bei looked at Zhao Feng's thoughtful face and couldn't help asking with some expectation. Zhao Feng looked up at everyone and said, "Master, this matter will not be done overnight. It needs to be solved more carefully."

"It's okay to talk about Bo Tao." As soon as Liu Bei heard that Zhao Feng had no way, he immediately felt that there was still a way out of this matter. He knew that Zhao Feng had always been cautious. As long as he didn't say no, there must be a way.

"First of all, our recruitment points are too concentrated, all in the hinterland of Xuzhou. As Mr. Jian Yong said, people in these places are relatively rich and few are willing to be soldiers. We'd better recruit soldiers in distant places, such as Xuzhou and Qingzhou, at the junction of Yuzhou. Let General Guan, General Mi, and Sun Taishou also help recruit soldiers. Zhao Feng said first. He took into account that the information in this era is relatively closed, the traffic is not developed, and there are too few recruitment points, so it is difficult to recruit too many people.

"It makes sense." Liu Bei nodded and agreed, but after careful consideration, it seemed that this might not be enough, so he motioned Zhao Feng to continue.

"In addition, it is to improve the treatment. It's not just the soldiers' money. Once they are killed or injured and lose their ability to fight, they and their families should also have corresponding benefits. In this way, soldiers will have no worries about fighting, and more people will be soldiers. Zhao Feng continued. I have to say that being a soldier in ancient times was really not a glorious job. Most of the time, it was to send criminals to join the army, that is, to be a soldier. Naturally, such a profession has no welfare. Everyone depends on fate. If you are lucky, you may survive until you are discharged from the army. If you are unlucky, you will not die or be disabled.

"Yes, take good care of their families." Hearing this, Liu Bei nodded repeatedly, and then saw that Zhao Feng seemed to be unsatisfied, and quickly asked, "Is there anything else?"

"There is also an old way to ask Zhong Fu, Sun Taishou and General Chang to write more letters to their old friends and let them come to Xuzhou." Zhao Feng said with a smile, and everyone laughed as soon as he said this. Up to now, the Xuzhou army is familiar with Zhao'an. From writing letters to persuade people to surrender, to rectify and adapt, and train the field, the whole set of procedures is called a professional. Zhao Feng sometimes couldn't help but doubt that it was not because he did this that he fooled Song Jiang, who was later generations, to be contried with peace.

"These three methods may not completely solve the problem, but they should still be more effective. As long as we survive this year and get through Yuzhou next year, it should be much better. Zhao Feng finally concluded that the last sentence also ignited a little hope in everyone's hearts. Of course, Zhao Feng also knows that there will be trouble next year. Now Cao Qian is busy dealing with Zhang Xiu, and Yuan Shao is busy strangling with Gongsun Zan. For the time being, he can't take care of Xuzhou, so the only enemy is Yuan Shu in Huainan. It's hard to say whether the two big men will be so kind when they recover next year.

"Yuan Shu, Yuan Shu, it's up to you!" Zhao Feng silently prayed in his heart that this man in history should be the emperor next year. As long as he took the lead, the pressure on Xuzhou next year would be much less. Zhao Feng found that he had never so strongly hoped that history would not be changed by himself.

Perhaps God sensed that Zhao Feng missed Yuan Shu so much. At this time, a small school rushed into the lobby and said, "Reporter, General Zhang Liao of Guangling has an emergency military message." After saying that, I submitted a letter.

"Yuan Shu sent a general Lei Bu to lead 50,000 horses to attack Guangling!" After reading it, Liu Bei briefed the content to everyone, and immediately there was an uproar in the council hall. The garrison of Guangling is only 15,000, and I'm afraid that General Zhang will inevitably have a hard time. Brother, wait for me to lead another 10,000 people to help. Guan Yu asked for help first. Before Liu Bei made a statement, Chen Gong said, "The second general, don't be impatient, Lord, have you ever asked the Lord for help in Wen Yuan's letter?"

"Huh?" After listening to Chen Gong's words, Liu Bei also read the letter carefully again, and finally said, "There is no word of help." After saying this, Liu Bei looked at Chen Gong in disbelief.

"Ha ha, Lord, General Wen Yuan's surname is cautious. If he doesn't ask for help, it means that Guangling is not in danger at this time. The lord does not need to use a large army, but only needs to send a strange soldier. When the other party attacks the city for a long time, the enemy is trapped and the army is slightly reduced. He raids Yuan Shu's army from the rear and joins with Wen Yuanli, which will definitely break through the enemy. Chen Gong laughed.

"It's reasonable!" Liu Bei understood the key after a little thought. Then he looked at everyone and finally said to Zhao Feng, "Botao, you lead a thousand cavalry and three thousand step-step troops from Xia Pi to the west of Guangling. When the time is ripe, you will fight with General Wenyuan and defeat the enemy."

"I understand!" Zhao Feng also took the order. Zhao Feng knew that Liu Bei also had his consideration. Guan Yu and Zhang Fei were too arrogant, and they were unhappy to ask him to take such a little people to war. Zhang Fei was too anxious. He was afraid that he would start a war with Yuan Shu as soon as he arrived, and he could not handle the heat. After thinking about it, before Zhao Yun came, he was still the most suitable candidate. Of course, what Zhao Feng didn't know was that the last time he and Guan Hai successfully attacked Cao Qian's camp, which also made Liu Bei more confident in his raid ability. However, at this time, Song Xian and Wei Xu also asked, "The last general has defected to the master and has not yet made contributions. This time, he is willing to go with General Zhao."

"Okay, since the two generals are willing, let's go together, but all the marches are stationed, and you need to be able to listen to Bo Tao's orders." Liu Bei also agreed. At the same time, looking at the fact that some of the generals were eager to try, he quickly waved his hand to stop it and said, "You don't need too much manpower this time. You generals still have opportunities to make contributions in the future."

"I will understand at the end." Zang Ba, Hou Cheng and others also answered. It was funny to see each other's impatient appearance. Zhang Fei and Guan Yu also looked funny. However, Zhao Feng felt that such a smile more or less reduced the previous grudge between the two sides.

It has been agreed on the rescue of Guangling, so let's discuss the recruitment. Jian Yong arranged more people to go to Yuzhou and the junction of Qingzhou to organize recruitment. At the same time, Changxi, Sun Guan and Zang Ba, who had been a thief, also wrote letters to their peers. Of course, it's mainly from Qingzhou and Yuzhou, and other things can't make it too far away.

"Bao, have a good rest and send troops tomorrow." Liu Bei finally ordered a sentence. Looking at Lao Liu's pointed expression, Zhao Feng realized that he had a beautiful woman in his family now. Lao Liu was afraid that he would overwork at night.

"If you knew that I didn't touch her at all last night, I'm afraid you'd think I was incompetent." Zhao Feng thought of it a little spoof, and then said goodbye to Liu Bei and Song Xianwei to go to the barracks to select soldiers and horses. The thousand cavalry and the three thousand infantry were quickly selected. After the three agreed on the time to send troops, they said goodbye to each other and went home.

"The general is back!" As soon as she returned to the door of her house and diseled, Xiaomei's squealing voice was already busy to report the news. Huh?" After Zhao Feng entered the door, he was a little surprised to find that the table was full of food, and there was still a beautiful woman sitting beside the table. It's not someone else, it's Diao Chan.

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