"Impossible, this is absolutely impossible!" In the frontline of Jiangxia, the commander of the Jiangdong Army, Lord, and the owner of Jiangdong, Sun Ce, roared. Sun Ce was furious because he received a message from the various counties in Jiangdong. The message was that the ignorant people of Jiangdong were fleeing everywhere. They gave up their original land and homes and fled to the other side of the river. They ran to the Lvbu's Army on the other side to get the order issued by the King Of Shu, Liu Mang, to conscript the people for the two mu of land and the so-called 30% tax.
How could Sun Ce not be angry? Only when there are common people can they farm the land. Only when they farm the land can they collect taxes. With taxes, they can recruit soldiers and buy horses. Only then can they conquer the world. If those common people fled to Lujiang and were ruled by Lu Bu's army, what will happen to Sun Ce's land? Moreover, Sun Ce's enemies in this world were Huang Zu and Liu Biao in Jingzhou and Lü Bu and Liu Mang in Lujiang. The former killed Sun Ce's father. The hatred of his father was irreconcilable. In these years, Sun Ce persevered in attacking Jingzhou. In order to save their lives, Jingzhou's Liu Biao and Huang Zu also desperately defended.
Liu Mang and Lü Bu were the only ones who embarrassed Sun Ce. Lü Bu directly led his army to the east and seized Sun Ce's Lujiang, causing Sun Ce to lose the entire Lujiang County. Even his newlywed wife, Big Joe, was lost in Wancheng City! Liu Mang also made Sun Ce lose face in the battle of Wancheng City. One hundred thousand troops were not able to take down Wancheng City. In the end, only five thousand of the one hundred thousand troops returned. This was an outcome that Sun Ce could not accept. Who was Sun Ce? After Jiangdong's Little Conqueror left Yuan Shu and entered Jiangdong, he was like a tiger returning to the mountain, a dragon returning to the sea. There was no enemy that could stop him. At that time, how many people did Sun Ce enter Jiangdong? With less than three thousand people, he defeated Wang Lang and Yan Baihu, who had tens of thousands of years of experience. Even Liu Yao, who occupied half of Jiangdong and Yangzhou, was defeated. After that, Sun Ce changed his position as the overlord of the Yangtze River. He taught the domineering Jing Zhou Navy who occupied the Yangtze River a lesson. It can be said that Sun Ce was a brilliant man. At the age of twenty, he was able to establish a foundation in Jiangdong and Wuyue. This was a legend!
However, this legend was shattered. Sun Ce's army was defeated. This made the whole world dumbfounded. This was because Sun Ce had always been a victorious general. Although Wancheng City was an important town, the one who defended against him was His Highness, the King of Shu. Moreover, this King Of Shu only had less than ten thousand people, which was ten times more than the enemy. According to common sense, this should be a stable victory. However, Sun Ce actually lost. Out of the one hundred thousand troops, only five thousand returned. Jiang Qin, Zhou Tai, Chen Wu, and Dong Xi were all killed. Although Sun Ce did not say anything, his heart was sullen. Moreover, Lujiang was an important place for the Jiangdong Army to enter the Central Plains. If they want to conquer the world, they must conquer Lujiang. It can be said that after Sun Ce defeated Liu Biao, his next priority was to deal with Lujiang's Lvbu's Army.
Although the Lvbu's Army was strong, its foundation was weak and the population was small. This was the fatal weakness of the Lvbu's Army. Lujiang only had a few hundred thousand people. How could it be compared to the millions of people in Jiangdong? Even if they were to use human heads, they would be able to kill Lü Bu.
But now, this damn King Of Shu actually issued a conscription order in Shouchun. Each person would be rewarded with two mu of land and 30% tax. This Liu Mang was crazy! Or was he pretending to be crazy? Sun Ce believed that this was all a pretense to attract the ignorant people to Shouchun and to be under the rule of Lü Bu, Liu Mang.
"Issue an order for all prefectures and county officers to strengthen the border inspection system. I will not let any of my people go to Lü Bu's territory. If they find any absconders, they will be killed without mercy!" Sun Ce is really angry. He wants to use violent means, he wants to use bloody means to tell those ignorant people that they can either obediently farm and pay their taxes, or go to hell for me!
"Bofu!" Zhou Yu frowned as he looked at Sun Ce. For some reason, when Sun Ce faced Lujiang's Lü Bu, Liu Mang, he always had this kind of impulse and irrationality. Zhou Yu didn't like this because once a person lost their rationality and their mind was controlled by their emotions, they might make a series of mistakes. For a perfectionist like Zhou Yu, this was intolerable.
Sun Ce and Zhou Yu were good friends. It could be said that they grew up together. After Sun Jian's death, the Sun family should have declined. Many of the original family friends disappeared without a trace. However, only Zhou Yu was still by Sun Ce's side, comforting him and helping him. If it wasn't for Zhou Yu, Sun Ce would only be a cavalry officer under Yuan Shu's Army. Perhaps he would have become a skeleton in the grave with Yuan Shu.
It was Zhou Yu who led Sun Ce to Jiangdong. It was also Zhou Yu who helped Sun Ce recruit soldiers and give him advice. It could be said that without Zhou Yu, there would be no foundation in Jiangdong. Except for military matters, the two called each other brothers. Now that Sun Ce was once again in a confused state, it was up to his brother, Zhou Yu, to wake Sun Ce up.
"Bofu, you have to know that it is impossible to stop everyone just by blocking!" Zhou Yu stepped forward and said to Sun Ce. He wanted to calm Sun Ce down from his anger so that he could formulate a plan to deal with Liu Mang.
"I don't care!" Sun Ce's eyes were red. "I will never allow my people to farm for Liu Mang!" Sun Ce was so angry that he didn't even care about his words. What do you mean he was Sun Ce's people? Although the Han dynasty was at its end, everyone at least showed respect to the Han dynasty. You can look down on the Han dynasty, you can disobey its orders, but there were some rules that had to be followed. The people of the world belonged to the Han dynasty. If Yuan Shu didn't follow these rules, he would have already become a ghost.
"Then you go and kill!" Zhou Yu was also a little angry. This was not the first time Sun Ce had done this. Since the last time Wancheng City was broken, Sun Ce seemed to have lost his mind. He directly took half of the main force to retreat from Jiang Xia to find trouble with the Lvbu's Army in Wancheng City. At that time, the Jiangxia Army was already suppressed. As long as they persevered, Jiang Xia would be within their reach. At that time, they could send troops to Red Cliff to block Liu Biao in the upper reaches of the Yangtze River.
However, Zhou Yu did not do this because Sun Ce's wife, Big Joe, died. Zhou Yu knew Sun Ce's temper. If this knot in his heart was not untied, Sun Ce's depression would continue. Moreover, Sun Ce also said that if a man can't even protect his wife and daughter, then what is the use of this country?
Zhou Yu should not stop him. Therefore, Sun Ce went with 30,000 main force and 70,000 ordinary soldiers. However, only 5,000 people returned to Jiang Xia. If it was an ordinary person, they would have been shocked and retreated from Jiang Xia. However, Zhou Yu did not do so. He still resolutely defended Jiang Xia and relied on the remaining 30,000 soldiers to deal with the 70,000 enemy soldiers.
"I want to see how many can you kill!" Zhou Yu looked at Sun Ce angrily. His words began to be disrespectful. Kill? Killing was always the worst order. The sages had already said that the people were not afraid of death, but why should they be afraid of death? The people who fled were the people who did not have enough to eat. Jiangdong could be regarded as a militaristic people. The war with Jingzhou every year and now with the addition of the Lvbu's Army, Jiangdong's war potential had reached the extreme. Now, they needed the support of the nobles. For example, the ballistae on the warships were built by the nobles.
Because of the ballistae and the Battle of Wancheng City, Jiangdong's financial situation became even more difficult. Many people who were on the food line did not have enough to eat. Instead of starving to death, it was better to go to Shouchun and fight. Because of this, Jiangdong's economy was already difficult to sustain.
It was impossible to kill them all. The entire coastline of Jiangdong was so long, and each county was so big. How could the remaining troops completely stop the smuggling of the common people? Moreover, they did not know how many people would escape, or if they were just thinking about it. This kind of screening work was too big.
"If there is one, I will kill one. If there are two, I will kill both!" Sun Ce roared. "If one person escapes, I will kill the whole family!" If one family escapes, the whole family will be implicated! Sun Ce actually came up with the system of joint punishment. This system had appeared since the Warring States Period. Shang Yang, the Legalist powerhouse, had evolved it to the extreme!
Wei Yang (also known as Shang Yang) enacted the system of joint punishment in order to consolidate the monarch's rule. This was implemented on the basis of the household registration system. Wei Yang's Legalist faction believed that in order for the monarch's regime to reach the "ultimate rule", it must be "Husband and wife must not abandon each other to cover up evil and not harm each other. The people must not hide from each other." In other words, the closest husband and wife and friends must not cover up for each other. Instead, they must report to the government so that no "evil" or "wrong" can be hidden. Only in this way, "It is difficult to hide one's power. Although he is in the right place, he will not do anything wrong." The purpose of implementing the system of joint punishment was to make the people protect each other, monitor each other, and expose each other. If one person is guilty, five people will be punished together. Even if they are in the right place, they will not be able to do evil. The Law of Qin mentioned the organization of "Wu" many times. For example, it said, "What is the four neighbors? The four neighbors are the five people. " Anyone below the rank of a doctor should be included in the household registration system of the "Wu". If one person commits a crime, the "Wu" will be included in the household registration system.
Shang Yang's reform was very successful. It made the Qin State become strong in an instant. However, you must know that Shang Yang's reform had a premise. He was only targeting criminals. At that time, the Qin Dynasty was really facing internal and external troubles. It was too late to not reform. Therefore, he used a strong medicine. As for Sun Ce's Jiangdong! It had not reached the point of no return. However, once the system of joint punishment was implemented, Jiangdong would really be in chaos. If one person escaped across the Yangtze River and became Lü Bu's subordinate, then that family and clan would have to follow him to the other side of the Yangtze River in order to not be killed by Sun Ce. Otherwise, they would be left with death. This was completely forcing people to the road of death.
But this situation was still good. Jiangdong was located in Shanyue. Because Shanyue had been living in Shanyue for a long time, the people of Jiangdong had become a bit aggressive. The most typical example was Danyang County. Each and every one of them was unruly. When Sun Ce forced them into a corner, they did not think of running away. Instead, they directly jumped out and rebelled. Once the situation reached that point, the garrison troops in Jiangdong would not be enough. In order to quell the rebellion, Sun Ce could only withdraw his troops from Jiangxia. In the end, Sun Ce would return with nothing.
"Then what do you think we should do?" Sun Ce was also provoked by Zhou Yu's words. If there were more people who did not care, the people would slowly disappear.
Zhou Yu was also a bit embarrassed. What should he do to stop it? Reduce the taxes? This was impossible. The taxes of the Jiangdong Army had already been calculated. Once the taxes were reduced, then the provisions of the Jiangdong Army would be a problem. How could the soldiers fight if they did not have enough to eat?
Even if the taxes were reduced, it was impossible to reduce it to the level of the Jiangdong Army like Liu Mang's Army.
At this time, both of them were silent. A guard came in and reported, "Reporting to Milord, Jianye's Second Young Master sent a letter!" As he spoke, he half-bowed and presented the letter.
"Second Brother!" Sun Ce was annoyed. His Second Brother was in Jianye learning from Zhang Zhao. Why did he send a letter? It was a letter from his family! The current Sun Ce did not have the time to care about it. "Put it there!" Sun Ce waved his hand to dismiss the guard, but the guard still did not leave.
"Is there anything else?" Sun Ce's face showed impatience. He was annoyed.
"Milord, the person who sent the letter to Second Young Master said that there was an important matter to discuss in the letter. He hoped that Milord would read the letter immediately!" The guard lowered his head and said.
"Hmm?!" What happened? Sun Ce became more and more annoyed. His Second Brother's family matters in Jianye were left to him to manage. Usually, the letters that came would talk about the situation in the family. If there was an important matter to discuss, then it meant that something big had happened in the family. What was the situation? Sun Ce's heart could not help but tighten. Because he lost his father when he was young, the relationship between the siblings in the family was very deep. As the eldest brother, he was like a father.
Sun Ce hurriedly opened the letter and read the contents. Sun Ce's expression changed from worry to a frown. After a while, it became a frown and even a little dissatisfaction. In the end, the corner of his mouth revealed a trace of a smile. Yes! It was a smile.
What could make Bofu smile at this time? Zhou Yu was a little confused. Just now, Sun Ce was very angry and almost wanted to chop someone with a knife. But now, his expression changed.
"Hahahaha!" Sun Ce suddenly laughed. That kind of laughter revealed a kind of happiness and a kind of comfort. Zhou Yu had seen it before. At that time, Sun Ce was very annoyed because he could not do anything to Liu Yao. This was because Liu Yao had a person called Taishi Ci under his command. This person was very brave. At that time, Liu Yao also had more troops under his command than Sun Ce. Taishi Ci beat Sun Cejun until he could not raise his head. During that period of time, Sun Ce was always frowning. But because of an opportunity, a stratagem, Liu Yao got rid of Taishi Ci and broke his left and right arms. At that time, Sun Ce was smiling like this!
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