Chapter 62

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At the moment Cang Ba fell off his horse, he vaguely thought of someone—the Zhang Fei who dared to challenge Lü Bu alone at the Hu Lao Pass. Then everything went black, and he knew nothing more.

Zhang Fei casually picked up the fallen Cang Ba to prevent him from being trampled by the cavalry behind. He realized that Cang Ba's defeat was not due to weakness but because his opponent was on a superhuman level.

"Cang Ba has been captured by me. Surrender your weapons and give up!" Zhang Fei roared, his voice drowning out the screams of Cang Ba's elite troops.

"Surrender!" With their commander captured and the army divided, there was no other way but to surrender. The morale of Cang Ba's troops had already been shattered, and after Zhang Fei's roar, they all wilted like frost-bitten eggplants.

Hua Xiong commanded his men to capture Cang Ba's elite troops. Normally, after a major battle, the task of capturing prisoners would be left to the rear guard, as the front-line troops were usually exhausted.

Hua Xiong had only so many men, and there was no rear guard. The former bandits, under Hua Xiong's command, had no sense of who should do what. They did whatever Hua Xiong said, as capturing prisoners was safer than climbing cliffs with heavy stones. Besides, they had already been beaten into submission, so there was no need to worry.

Under Hua Xiong's arrangement, 500 lightly wounded men herded the prisoners together like ducks, while 3,000 men were assigned to guard the area. The rest scattered like scouts to serve as early warning.

The prisoners, outnumbered twenty to one and facing only lightly wounded men, did not dare to resist. It seemed that Cang Ba's elite troops had been thoroughly beaten and would not think of resistance against the silent army that had defeated them, at least not in the short term.

"Zi Jian, I didn't know you had such amazing skills in training troops!" Zhang Fei, holding Cang Ba, gave a thumbs up to Hua Xiong standing on a large rock.

"Don't mention it. I don't know how it happened. The military advisor trained them this way, and I still don't understand why. These people are fearless and do whatever I say." Hua Xiong waved his hand, indicating that this was not due to his training skills but to Chen Xi's abilities.

"Wow, I didn't expect Zi Chuan to have such a trick up his sleeve. He didn't even teach me. I'll ask him when I get back." Zhang Fei first rejoiced, then angrily declared he would give Chen Xi a piece of his mind.

"Let's not talk about giving the military advisor a hard time. Wake Cang Ba up, and then go back to secure the surrounding roads. The military advisor ordered us to capture Sun Guan, but I don't know where he is. I hope Cang Ba knows." Hua Xiong said with a bitter smile. Chen Xi's task was not difficult, but finding Sun Guan in the Tai Shan mountains was a challenge. This was why Hua Xiong had risked attacking Cang Ba.

Zhang Fei found a basin of water and splashed it on Cang Ba to wake him up. He was not worried about Cang Ba's wounds getting infected or about treating the prisoner well. In this era, how you treated a prisoner depended on whether you liked them. Besides, a martial artist at the level of Cang Ba did not need to worry about illness, as minor ailments rarely affected them, but if they did, it was usually fatal.

"Cough, cough, cough." Cang Ba coughed up blood and opened his eyes. Seeing the two men he had seen earlier, he knew he had been captured. He spat out a mouthful of blood and asked, "I want to know if I have fallen into the hands of the Yan man Zhang Yi De."

"Hey, Yi De, he knows you. Maybe he's your fellow countryman." Hua Xiong teased with a grin.

"Hmph, I don't have bandits as my fellow countrymen. He probably recognized me from my high martial skills and imposing physique." Zhang Fei said, displeased.

"No need to guess. Zi Chuan has already said that in this world, many people recognize your eighteen-foot spear but not you yourself." Hua Xiong continued to tease Zhang Fei, showing no fear of him.

"Tell me, how did you recognize me?" Zhang Fei grabbed Cang Ba and asked with a fierce look.

Hua Xiong half-closed his eyes and glared at Cang Ba, a technique he had learned from Guan Yu. This look was particularly intimidating and made Cang Ba break out in a cold sweat.

"Alright, Yi De, stop joking. Give Cang Ba to me; I have questions to ask." Hua Xiong was not one to lose his sense of priorities and stopped the joke after a couple of lines.

"Here, take him. I'm a bit itchy from the battle, but my men are all cavalry and can't fight in the mountains." Zhang Fei handed Cang Ba to Hua Xiong and said with a helpless look, "I guess I'll have to go with my second brother to gather the refugees from Qingzhou."

In this chaotic era, when the people no longer recognized the Han court, simple disaster relief was no longer effective. The reason was simple: the people did not believe that food would be distributed without reason. Even if the news spread to Qingzhou, the displaced people were unwilling to believe it. They trusted that they could feed their families through their own efforts.

Based on this reality, Chen Xi directly dismissed Liu Bei's idea of opening the granaries to distribute food. Spending so much grain to create a little profit was not worth it. With hundreds of thousands of able-bodied people, why not create profit through their labor? This was money.

Moreover, simply distributing food would make them a burden. Instead of opening the granaries, it was better to let the refugees work for their food, paying them daily. This was more harmonious.

Chen Xi dismissed the idea of simply opening the granaries and started a work-for-relief program. Since they had hands and feet, it was better for them to earn their food than to rely on relief. At least they would feel more confident about eating what they had earned. While state relief was a duty, it was more reasonable to give them work and food. This would also stimulate commercial circulation and give them more hope.

With this in mind, Chen Xi had no intention of opening the granaries. The state's credibility was already in ruins, so it was better to establish a new monument. Moreover, this process could include some personal benefits.

For example, under the guise of teaching them to fish, he could teach them to build houses, feed them, and then tell the refugees that the wages they earned could be used to buy the houses they built. If they lacked the funds, they could pay a deposit, and the government could rent the houses to them, to be paid off later.

Similarly, if they wanted to farm but lacked the funds to buy land, the government could grant them land. They could pay a 40% tax to the state, a 10% rental fee, and after five years, the land would be theirs, with each adult receiving 50 acres.

See, what a good policy. Even Liu Bei was shocked and asked Chen Xi if the grain and money were sufficient. Chen Xi smiled but did not answer, thinking to himself, "Where did you see me spend money? This is just moving money from one pocket to another. In the end, the money is still in my hands, and more people are earning it for me."

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