Guangling was originally under the rule of Xu Prefecture. Zhang Liao and Chen Gong only spent a day and a night to successfully reach their destination.
"As expected, all of them have retreated. There's really not a single hair left.”
Chen Gong looked at the empty yamen and couldn't help but feel his teeth ache.
The local household registration documents were also missing. Once the population was counted again, the workload would be huge.
Chen Gong quickly adjusted his state of mind and immediately got back to work with a few petty officials.
However, an hour later, Zhang Liao hurried over.
"Sir, something bad has happened."
"What's wrong? Did Yuan Shu send troops over?"
Chen Gong was shocked. They only had 10,000 men on this trip. If Yuan Shu really went back on his word, he would definitely suffer a huge loss.
"No way, that's courting death. Yuan Shu wouldn't go so far as to become enemies with us.”
Chen Gong quickly overturned his first reaction.
"No, Sir, you should go out and take a look. I can't explain it to you in a few words.”
After all, Zhang Liao was a general, so his ability to express himself was limited. He couldn't even make clear gestures for a long time. Moreover, the things outside were too strange.
Seeing this, Chen Gong did not dare to delay and immediately followed Zhang Liao out of the city.
"What's going on?"
Chen Gong was also shocked by the scene before him. He saw countless Guangling citizens leaving with their families, heading in the direction of Jiujiang County, Yuan Shu's base camp.
"Sir, the troops I sent to each county have also sent news that the people of Guangling County are moving towards Jiujiang.”
Zhang Liao quickly told Chen Gong about the situation.
Chen Gong instantly realized the seriousness of the matter. If all the people of Guangling left, what was the point of them occupying Guangling?
Without the people to farm, they could not collect any taxes. Although the land was good, there had to be people to farm!
"I knew things weren't that simple! Yuan Shu is indeed up to no good!"
Although Chen Gong didn't know why the people were willing to migrate, he was certain that it was Yuan Shu's doing.
It was difficult to leave their homeland. If there were no natural disasters or military disasters, the commoners would never leave their hometown. Chen Gong was puzzled.
"Could it be that Yuan Shu has issued an edict?”
Chen Gong guessed that the commoners were still very afraid of the Imperial Court.
"Why don't we stop them and ask them?”
Zhang Liao suggested.
"Alright, bring a few people over for questioning. Remember to be polite and don't be rough.”
Chen Gong instructed.
Now that the commoners were leaving, if there was any bullying of the commoners at this juncture, it would undoubtedly hurt the hearts of the people and be detrimental to the rule.
Soon, a dozen commoners were brought to Chen Gong.
"Hello, fellow villagers."
Chen Gong greeted politely.
"Greetings, sir."
"Hello, Old Master."
The commoners returned the greeting.
"Where are you guys going? Why didn't he stay at home? Where are you going?"
Chen Gong asked the gatekeeper.
"Milord, we are heading to Jiujiang County.”
Sure enough, this matter definitely had something to do with Yuan Shu.
"Was it the Zhong Clan's Emperor who ordered you to migrate?”
Chen Gong asked. If that was the case, he had a reason to denounce them.
"No, the emperor didn't issue a decree. We volunteered.”
"Yes, yes, yes. The emperor said that Guangling is no longer under his control and that someone else should be in charge. We thought that the emperor was quite good and wanted to continue to follow him.”
Chen Gong couldn't believe his ears. He could tell that these people weren't lying. They really wanted to follow Yuan Shu.
When did Yuan Shu, this dog, become so popular? Even when Liu Bei left Xuzhou, there would not be a scene where all the people followed him.
The dukes knew each other very well, and they knew what kind of conduct everyone had. This was why Chen Gong was even more shocked.
"Why? Guangling is now under my jurisdiction, so why aren't you willing to stay in Guangling prefecture?”
Chen Gong asked.
Chen Gong thought, Am I a jinx? You all left as soon as I came? Don't I care about my face?
"Oh, it's under your jurisdiction. Do you collect taxes?”
"Of course, it's only right and proper to farm and provide food.”
Chen Gong replied honestly.
"Then let's go to Jiujiang County. There's no tax there.”
When the commoners heard that Chen Gong wanted to collect taxes, they immediately turned around and left.
"Wait!"
Chen Gong hurriedly stopped them.
"You mean to say that Emperor Zhong will not collect your taxes?”
"That's right! He planted the land casually and did not take a single grain!”
Chen Gong was scared out of his wits. How much food did Yuan Shu have to play with?
"When was the notice of no taxes issued? Aren't you afraid that I'm lying to you?"
Chen Gong suspected that Yuan Shu had just issued the notice. Once they entered Guangling, they would attract the people away.
The commoners were ignorant. It was normal for them to be blinded by the petty profits in front of them. Chen Gong felt that his guess was close to the truth.
However, the answer of the people shattered his guess and rendered him speechless.
"How could it be a lie? The notice has been released for almost a year. We didn't hand over any food last year.”
Facts speak louder than words. Because of the tax exemption for a year, the credibility of Yuan Shu's court remained high.
The commoners knew that the tax exemption was real. No matter how much Chen Gong said, it would not mess up the commoners 'hearts!
By the time Chen Gong regained his senses, the commoners had already left, leaving him and Zhang Liao in a mess.
"I was wondering why Yuan Shu was so straightforward and directly gave Guangling to us. It turns out that he had nothing to fear!”
Chen Gong now understood that his side was suffering in silence.
Yuan Shu did not force the people to migrate. This was a spontaneous action by the people, and Chen Gong could not blame Yuan Shu.
Moreover, the tax exemption was not deliberately targeted at them. They had already been exempted from taxes a year ago. There was no reason to deliberately cause trouble for Xuzhou.
"Sir, what should we do now? We can't do it without commoners!"
Zhang Liao was also very anxious.
"Yuan Shu has already won the hearts and minds of the people in Guangling. Unless we are exempted from taxes, we will not be able to keep these people.”
Yuan Shu had the capital to avoid taxes, but Lu Bu did not.
Xu Prefecture had just been occupied, and taxes had not been collected yet. Lu Bu did not know what to eat, so how could he be exempted from taxes? To let his soldiers drink the northwest wind?
"Why don't we use force? Use the army to keep the people here!"
A martial artist like Zhang Liao had a very simple way of thinking. Once he encountered a thorny problem, he would habitually use violence to solve it.
"Guangling has hundreds of thousands of people, how many men do we have? If we really make the commoners angry, they can drown us with a mouthful of saliva.
Furthermore, Guangling was connected to Jiujiang. Even if 10,000 soldiers stood on the border, they would not be able to stop them.”
Chen Gong knew that he had lost the upper hand. If he used force, he would only be asking for trouble. What he didn't know was that there was an even greater suffering to come.
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