Huainan, Jiangting.
At this moment, Yuan Yao naturally did not know that the benevolent and righteous Imperial Uncle Liu was representing the Emperor to eliminate him, the number one traitor in the world!
Even if he knew, he would just laugh.
Before obtaining a reliable strategist, Liu Bei had lost almost every battle, even though he had Guan Yu and Zhang Fei.
Yuan Yao was currently busy reorganizing the army and recruiting refugees, so he had no time to pay attention to this freshly minted Imperial Uncle Liu.
After Yuan Yao took in 5,000 surrendered soldiers, he reorganized them.
He would let his absolutely loyal 100 Yulin Royal Guards become the basic officers of these surrendered soldiers and control the entire army through these officers.
Most of these surrendered soldiers were also from Huainan before, so they did not have much resistance to being soldiers under Yuan Yao.
After all, ordinary soldiers only served for food and rarely had the concept of loyalty. Especially in this chaotic world, it was very common for them to change jobs repeatedly.
After arranging these surrendered soldiers, Yuan Yao already had close to 6,000 soldiers under his command. He could be considered a small warlord.
Sigh, with the title of an emperor and doing the work of a small warlord, it seemed that his dream of becoming an emperor was still far away.
The life of three palaces, six courtyards, and seventy-two concubines could only be imagined in his dreams at night.
In reality, there wasn't even a pretty maid serving him, only a burly man.
The revolution had not yet succeeded, and his comrades still needed to work hard. Yuan Yao secretly encouraged himself.
Just as Yuan Yao was imagining the future in the tent, footsteps came from outside.
The tent door opened and a middle-aged scholar walked in. It was his newly appointed chief steward and military advisor, Yan Xiang.
Jiangting Town was close to the Fei River. The land was fertile. At its peak, there were 5,000 households.
However, after his cheap father Yuan Shu's extravagant plundering and destruction, coupled with years of war, he was able to survive.
The entire Huainan County was now filled with refugees and thieves. The population of one million was now less than one out of ten.
However, Yuan Shu was his father. He had no place to complain when his father cheated his son.
Yuan Yao could only clean up the old mountains and rivers.
Therefore, he learned from Boss Cao of the Central Plains and asked Yan Xiang to recruit refugees around the River Pavilion and distribute sweet potatoes, corn, and potato seeds to them to cultivate.
However, Yuan Yao didn't copy Boss Cao's farming system.
Although Cao Cao had obtained a large amount of military rations through the system of opening up wasteland, it had strongly supported his troops to fight in the south and north, conquering in the east and west, and finally unifying the north.
However, that was based on the cruel exploitation of the people under his rule.
Many of the people could not stand the cruel exploitation and fled with their families.
Yuan Yao now had high-yield crops like corn, sweet potatoes, and potatoes. Of course, he did not need to increase his food income by cruelly exploiting the people like Cao Cao.
After all, making the cake bigger was the best way to resolve conflicts.
Therefore, there was an endless stream of refugees from Yuan Yao who came to seek refuge.
Huainan was located at the border between the north and south, and had a climate that was both north and south. Sweet potatoes, corn, and potatoes could all be grown there.
Moreover, the heat and rainfall were sufficient. In addition, the soil of the Huanghuai Plain was relatively fertile. The first batch of wasteland had already reaped a bumper harvest, solving the urgent need of Yuan Yao's army.
After all, he had food in his hands, so he did not panic.
"Your Majesty, the first phase of the land reclamation work has been completed, but recently, a large number of refugees have flooded into the river pavilion. We are short of manpower and it is difficult to properly settle them all.”As soon as Yan Xiang entered the tent, he cupped his hands and reported.
"Isn't it enough to send out all the civil officials?”Yuan Yao asked.
" Your Majesty, there's a shortage of scholars in Zhong Nation now, and the work of opening up wasteland is extremely complicated. Not only do we have to register the age of every refugee, but we also have to arrange for their food and accommodation, and give them land, seeds, and cattle. Every matter requires a large number of literate officials to preside over it. Now that I'm already holding several positions, I really can't split myself up.”Yan Xiang sighed helplessly.
Looking at the haggard Yan Xiang, Yuan Yao also felt a little sorry in his heart.
Thinking about it, it made sense. To arrange for the food, clothing, and accommodation of hundreds of thousands of refugees, it was indeed not enough to rely on the officials under him.
But what could he do? He couldn't chase away all the refugees who came to seek refuge with him, right?
If he really did this, then the bit of popular sentiment that he had painstakingly collected over the past few months would probably disappear immediately.
It was easy to deal with the lack of things, but it was really difficult to deal with the lack of talents and officials.
Only now did Yuan Yao feel that his Zhongguo was just a small group of people. He reckoned that he could not even compare to a county prefect. At most, he was a little stronger than a county magistrate.
It seemed that he had to go to Lujiang County as soon as possible. Yuan Yao calculated in his heart.
If they didn't have any officers, they would promote them. There should be some destitute scholars who could read among the refugees.
"Yan Qing, can you issue a recruitment order among the refugees and announce that as long as they are literate, they can be appointed as garrison officers. This way, we can at least recruit some talents, right?”Yuan Yao suggested after pondering for a moment.
Yan Xiang's eyes lit up and he praised," Your Majesty, this is a good way to deal with emergencies. Huainan has been in chaos for a long time. Not only have the commoners suffered greatly, but some powerful landlords have also suffered from the war. It is estimated that many families have been reduced to refugees. If we issue a decree to seek talents, we should be able to recruit some talents.”
"Alright, then I'll leave this matter to Yan Qing. I hope that Yan Qing can work tirelessly to recruit more talents for our Zhong Nation.”Yuan Yao bowed to Yan Xiang and solemnly instructed.
"Since Your Majesty trusts me so much, I will do my best to serve Your Majesty.”Yan Xiang also bowed and promised solemnly.
After saying that, he left in a hurry.
Yuan Yao sighed in his heart. Fortunately, he had a capable minister like Yan Xiang. Otherwise, if he had to do everything himself, wouldn't he become Zhuge Liang who would do his best and die!
He still had a good life ahead of him, so he couldn't die from overwork. Otherwise, it would be too much of a loss for him to transmigrate once.
However, the lack of talent was a big problem.
Cao Cao of the Central Plains had used the name of the imperial court to issue a recruitment order to recruit talents. It could be said to be a typical case of using public tools for private use. He had used the name of the country to cultivate the talents of his Cao family.
Not only did he manage to rope in Xun Yu, but he also managed to win over a scion from an aristocratic family like Xun You. He also managed to win over a junior like Guo Jia and Xi Zhicai. It could be said to be killing two birds with one stone.
This was also an important reason why he was able to rise so quickly in the Central Plains, a place where there were four battlefields.
Now, he could only issue an order to seek talents among the refugees. The standard of talent was lowered to that of being literate. It was really infuriating to compare people.
Yuan Yao knew that he was already a traitor in the eyes of others, and his reputation had probably long been notorious.
Most likely, ordinary aristocratic children would not join him. Then, could he rope in the lesser children?
The children of the Humble Class, which was also the landlord of the Shu Family, could indeed serve him.
This was because they weren't people who benefited from it, but people who had been pushed out of the power system by the aristocrats.
The aristocrats firmly controlled the inspection system and recommended their own children to be officials. They formed a complicated alliance of interests and blocked the talents of the poor from their official career.
However, he was still too weak and lacked a stable base. It was difficult to implement various political reforms.
Even if he immediately announced the implementation of the imperial examination system, it was estimated that not many people would come to rely on him.
After all, no matter how generous the conditions were or how good the policies were, it was just a castle in the air.
This book comes from：m.funovel.com。