Chapter 275

Liu Bei appointed Zhen Yao as the Governor of Yanmen Commandery,

and also transferred Zhao Yun to lead ten thousand veteran soldiers and ten thousand Huang Jin elites to garrison it, with Guo Huai assisting him.

Yanmen Commandery is connected to Changshan Commandery in Jizhou and Dai Commandery in Youzhou; its geographical location is extremely important.

The Datong Basin faces the Great Wall to the north, relies on Mount Heng to the south, leans against Mount Xiong'er to the east, and faces Mount Hongtao to the west. The Sanggan River flows quietly through it, and the land is fertile.

Yanmen itself has a population of over 300,000, and with the forces of the Western Xianbei and Xiongnu destroyed, quite a bit of territory has opened up.

Liu Bei also relocated 250,000 people to settle in Yanmen, building Yanmen into a major northern commandery in terms of population.

"Zilong, Yanmen is entrusted to you to guard. Defend against the Western Xianbei in the north, connect to Dai Commandery in the east, and to the southeast is Jizhou. It is a land of four battles and is extremely important to Bingzhou."

Zhao Yun was exceptionally moved; his lord valued him too much.

"My lord, rest assured, this subordinate will definitely defend Yanmen to the death!"

Liu Bei nodded,

"Yanmen is close to your hometown, Changshan Commandery. If the elders and fellow villagers come to seek refuge, be sure to treat them well."

Zhao Yun smiled,

"Yes, my lord!"

Who wouldn't want to return home in glory?

Zhao Yun is now a General of the Household, and even he didn't expect that in less than two years of following his lord, he would have such an achievement.

Liu Bei became idle, and in his spare time from handling official business, he accompanied his wife and children, enjoying family happiness.

Zhen Jiang became pregnant again as she had wished,

the seductive Zou Shi used various tricks to please Liu Bei,

and Diao Chan also gave birth to a daughter for Liu Bei.

Zhen Mi pestered Liu Bei every day, the light in her eyes growing brighter and brighter.

Bai Yuekui reported the recent major events to everyone,

"The Central Plains are engaged in successive great wars. Yuan Shao and Cao Cao have formed an alliance, while Gongsun Zan, Tao Qian, and Yuan Shu have formed an alliance, and the two sides are constantly fighting."

"Yuan Shu led troops into Yanzhou territory, garrisoning troops in Kuangting and Dunqiu..."

Yuan Shao rushed to aid Cao Cao, and the two armies defeated Yuan Shu heavily at Dunqiu. Cao Cao pursued them all the way along the direction of Xiangyi, Taishou, and Shouchun. Yuan Shu fled all the way, but fortunately, the Cao army lacked grain and also retreated.

Zhang Fei laughed heartily,

"Yuan Shu is truly a waste! Occupying Nanyang, Runan, Yangzhou, and other places, all of which are places with many people and much grain, yet he was defeated so miserably."

Liu Bei looked at Guo Jia,

"Fengxiao, what do you think?"

Guo Jia pointed at the map,

"My lord, Cao Cao obtained over a hundred thousand Qingzhou soldiers last time, and his troops have increased greatly. This time, having crushed Yuan Shu, there are no particularly strong opponents left in the Central Plains."

"This Cao Cao will be my lord's great enemy in the future."

Liu Bei nodded,

"Meng De has excellent vision and knows how to bide his time. His subordinate generals are not bad, so defeating Yuan Shu is only to be expected."

"Gongda, what do you think?"

Xun You looked at the map,

"My lord, although Cao Cao defeated Yuan Shu, Yuan Shu still holds Shouchun, Tao Qian holds Xuzhou, and Liu Biao holds Jingzhou. Cao Cao is in a land of four battles."

"In my observation, although Cao Cao has been supplemented by Huang Jin soldiers, he has a fatal flaw: the Central Plains have been engaged in successive wars, people's livelihoods are withered, fields are barren, and Cao Cao has another hundred thousand mouths to feed. He must lack grain!"

Liu Bei nodded; Xun You's vision was truly sharp. Cao Cao had retreated several times due to lack of grain; he didn't not want to fight, he truly had no grain.

Therefore, Cao Cao's grain officer is the most dangerous profession, always taking the blame, and then their wives are taken by Cao Cao...

Guo Jia and Ju Shou looked at each other; this Xun You also has great talent!

Liu Bei looked at Ju Shou again,

"Gongyu, tell everyone about our army's situation."

"Everyone, our army's recent main work has been to settle the million Qingzhou people."

The populations of Xihe Commandery, Yunzhong Commandery, Dingxiang Commandery, and other places have doubled.

Yanmen's population is 550,000, Taiyuan Commandery's population is 650,000, and Hedong's population is 750,000.

Wuyuan Commandery's population is 300,000, ten times more than before, and several county towns have already been expanded."

"More importantly, this year our Bingzhou grain harvest is abundant; just the potatoes alone yielded over two million shi!"

Everyone was shocked; previously, their lord was borrowing grain everywhere.

Never did they expect that this year, not only was the grain enough, but there was a great surplus!

Zhang Fei shouted,

"Big brother, with grain, we can finally go to war!"

Liu Bei waved his hand,

"Yide, don't be impatient!"

"Our army's main goal now is still to attract refugees, let the people live and work in peace, and with the great war in the Central Plains and the war between Yuan Shao and Gongsun Zan in Hebei, the people are displaced, so we should try our best to rescue the people to our Bingzhou."

Xun You bowed deeply,

"My lord is benevolent and virtuous, worrying about the people of the world; I admire you deeply!"

Ju Shou, Guo Jia, Ju Yi, Zhang He, Xu Huang, Guan Hai, Taishi Ci, and others all expressed their admiration.

Bai Yuekui looked at Liu Bei and snorted in her heart,