Chapter 1196: (No Title)

After Zhang Jiao's narration, Su Fan had a deeper understanding of the Taiping Dao. He was very happy with the explosive improvement of the Taiping Dao in these few years.

Over the past two years, Su Fan had also traveled all over the Liu Han Imperial Court. Even in the center of the Liu Han Imperial Court, the land of Sili, the people below were living in misery, let alone other places.

Mountain bandits were rampant, and bandits everywhere were like crucian carp crossing the river. Some even dared to openly attack county cities.

Although some failed, quite a few succeeded, looting a county city, then expanding, and then going to loot other places.

The absolute majority were wiped out by the local government troops during the looting process.

After all, most of the bandits had no culture, only knew the principle that might makes right, squandered the looted money excessively, did not use it reasonably, and some even had internal problems because of uneven distribution of spoils.

The huge mountain stronghold fell apart instantly.

Such a situation is actually normal. After all, those mountain bandits and robbers were mostly bottom-level people, had not read books, and were all like reckless men. Some became leaders by relying on two tricks they learned from somewhere.

However, unfortunately, most of them could not accomplish anything in the end, and most could not persist for a few years.

Of course, some persisted. Either they had some foresight, or they had some dog-headed military advisor pointing them in the right direction.

Such mountain bandits who persisted, relying on the mountain stronghold, became stronger and stronger, looted county cities, and their power became even stronger.

Su Fan once encountered a group of mountain bandits in the south. Their strength was quite powerful. They built a camp of mountain strongholds in a mountain range, and the stronghold had a population of tens of thousands.

And that group of bandits also established an army, an army of no less than 10,000, and part of them were soldiers.

This kind of thing is very normal. The soldiers of the Imperial Court were not all like the soldiers under Zhang Hu and Lu Bu, each one rich and oily.

Especially the soldiers in the Central Plains, it can be said that only the upper-level military officers were very rich. The bottom-level soldiers, besides a little monthly salary from the Imperial Court, had no other income.

You must know that many soldiers had a family behind them. They were the pillars of a family, so there was no way, they could only flee.

There were also some who worked part-time jobs. This is also why the soldiers in the Central Plains were weak. After all, every soldier did not train but instead was busy with other work. What combat power could they have?

Facing fierce bandits, the local government troops were often not as good as the private soldiers of the aristocratic families. After all, these aristocratic families had money and grain, and their private soldiers were mostly protecting their own families, so they naturally had to be well-trained.

And government troops were different.

Therefore, some fierce bandits broke into county cities, broke the county government offices, but didn't expect that when they went to loot those great clans in the county, they were instead beaten up.

It was simply a joke.

However, Su Fan discovered quite a few such situations.

Su Fan saw with his own eyes a group of mountain bandits, more than 5,000 people, break into a county city, behead the county magistrate and county lieutenant, and then happily go to loot those great clans in the county. However, the thousands of people were quickly beaten up by the hundreds or thousands of guards united by those great clans.

However, they scattered in a rush.

This scene of losing and regaining made Su Fan shake his head directly. It was very magical.

The powerful force in the local area was not the government troops but the private soldiers of the aristocratic families. In such a situation, what majesty does the Imperial Court have?

It can be said that the majesty of the Imperial Court was completely swept into the mud by these bandits.

The majesty of the Imperial Court was shaved off layer by layer, naturally leading to the prevalence of ambitious people in the local area.

In the local area, there were more and more ambitious people, and some mountain bandits were actually secretly supported by these ambitious people.

If the Imperial Court was in its peak period, these ambitious people wouldn't even dare to raise private soldiers. During the time of Emperor Wu, those who dared to hide weapons privately would be killed along with their three clans.

But now it is different. The Imperial Court does not have much power, and even many of the Imperial Court's policies cannot get out of Luoyang City.

The local government offices mostly have to rely on local aristocratic families to implement them.

The Imperial Court is getting weaker and weaker, and the local areas are getting more and more arrogant.

The Imperial Court has lost the hearts of the people. The common people in the north and south are increasingly dissatisfied with the Imperial Court. Once any natural disaster occurs, as long as someone raises the banner of rebellion, a peasant uprising will inevitably break out.

If they cannot live, they can only rebel.

Those mountain bandits and robbers, clearly it is a capital offense, but there are still many people participating. Some are robbed, but there are also some who are voluntary.

It is entirely because they cannot live. If they could live, who would be willing to do the work of a capital offense?

The current Liu Han Dynasty is a powder keg. In the future, a little spark will explode. This last spark depends on who lights it first.

Su Fan also talked about these with Zhang Jiao one by one.

Zhang Jiao's Taiping Dao now has a certain influence in the north. Besides Jizhou, the disciples of the Taiping Dao have also started to develop towards many provinces and commanderies in the Beidi.

The Beidi mainly has strong troops, while the south is relatively prosperous.

But in the future struggle for hegemony, naturally, the army is more important, and money and grain are also very important. However, there is a saying: "If the neighbor stores grain, I store troops; the neighbor is my granary."

The Taiping Dao has long been prepared, and grain and the like have been stored over these years, and there will be more and more.

Military rations will not be lacking in the future.

Taking advantage of these few years, the weather is still favorable, and the Taiping Dao must increase the purchase of grain.

In a few years, the weather will change. Those who truly have cultivation can actually infer the weather of the Jiuzhou in the future.

There will be continuous droughts, and the weather will get colder year by year.

Such abnormal weather will reduce the production of good fields in the world. Once it reaches that point, countless common people will be driven to a dead end because of the lack of grain.

At that time, if the Imperial Court does not provide relief, without thinking, someone will definitely stand up.

By then, even if these uprisings are suppressed, the remaining prestige will likely make the Imperial Court even more difficult.

After all, local uprisings have been constant over these years.

Su Fan can perceive that the robbery energy of the Jiuzhou has condensed again. This is the robbery energy of humanity, which is indeed much less than the robbery energy involving the Three Realms before.

But this does not mean that this robbery energy is weak. Involving the Jiuzhou, the future war in the Jiuzhou is indeed a terrifying disaster for those common people.

Regarding this, Su Fan has no way.

Of course, if he forcibly intervened, took down those mediocre people in the Imperial Court, replaced them with truly capable people, and then eliminated the ambitious people in the local area, deterring the aristocratic families and powerful clans in the local area.

Then the world would be clear. ===== CHAPTER 1197 =====

Of course, if he were to forcibly intervene, take down those muddle-headed fools in the Imperial Court, replace them with people who truly have ability, and then wipe out the ambitious figures in the provinces, he could intimidate the local clans and powerful families.

Then, the world would be clear and bright.