The rainy season is approaching, the river is rising, the river is running across the north and south, and the mountains are verdant.

A large ship set off from Jiankang and went down the river, and when it arrived at the confluence of Tushui and Dajiang, it joined seven or eight boats that had been waiting here for a long time, and went upriver along Tushui and headed for the north of the river.

Tushui is an extremely important tributary of the lower reaches of the river, flowing through the vast area between the Huaishui and the river. In ancient times, when transportation was extremely inconvenient, the lack of smooth waterways was the basis for the prosperity of the region.

After many days of planning, he had even made up his mind to go north from the beginning of the crossing. Today, Shen Zhezi finally crossed the river, although this trip was just to transport grain and grass to Du He, and by the way, he felt the situation in Jiangbei in person, and there were no thousands of troops around him, but Shen Zhezi was still excited.

Since the fleet sailed into Tushui, Shen Zhezi has been more excited, standing on the deck and looking at both sides of the river, wanting to see the great rivers and mountains on the north bank of the river!

Perhaps it is the effect of psychology, and the scenery seen is obviously different from that of Koto. Although I saw how far away the mountains were green and green, lush. But if you are in Jiangdong, you can also see the boats and boats shuttling back and forth on the waterway, and you can see the naughty boys on the riverside herding cattle, leaning over the ploughing, and even the scoundrels wandering and singing.

On both sides of the water, the scenery is also quite magnificent, the mountain peaks are either towering or low, the mountains are covered with forests, the green is verdant and direct, full of vitality. The thick layer of soil, the open plains, the large chunks stacked on both sides of the waterway, the wild grass and miscellaneous branches grow arbitrarily, the overgrown branches, the thick green leaves, and the strong roots deep in the soil layer absorb the vitality of this land in the way that plants should be, and gush upward!

Although the scenery is magnificent, there is something missing after all, and there is no need to think about it at all, Shen Zhezi can feel that it is popularity! As far as the eye can see, this should have been a rich and fertile place, with strange and strange staggered, chickens and dogs smelling each other, cooking smoke curling, and houses continuous.

But what I see now is the grass and trees, but there are no traces of people. It's a bit inaccurate to say this, there are still people on the shore neighing, but it was Shen Zhezi's attaché scout this time, following the fleet to patrol along the river.

This inevitably made Shen Zhezi feel a little boring, he didn't like beautiful mountains and rivers, but no matter how beautiful the mountains and rivers were, no one thrived here, after all, there was still a little less color.

Originally, this was not supposed to be the case, and even if you came here last year, you should have seen many people living by the water, cultivating and weaving, active on both sides of the river. However, because of the invasion of the civil war last year, it is difficult to stay out of this nearby area, and a large number of people are either coerced by the rebels or expelled by the army of King Qin.

"The unjust war is really harmful to the people! Victory is also unfortunate, defeat is also unfortunate, the living are hard, and the dead are difficult to extricate. ”

The boat passed a slightly gentle river bay, and Shen Zhezi finally saw that there were traces left by the living on the slope of the bank, which should be a small farm, but the house had already collapsed, leaving only some broken walls and debris placed there abruptly, not submerged by the wild grass, and there were white bones that should be buried in the ground, but they were washed out by the rain, half in the soil, half in the sky, as if the underground resentment was breeding and spreading, like a leprosy scar, ugly and shocking.

This time, Guo Yuxing, who followed the guard Shen Zhezi, came over and sighed: "The horse doesn't have to worry about this, if it can grow in the north, it will not be strange over time." In a wasteland like this, the extinction of people is only temporary, and soon there will be new people here, turning over the soil and reclamation, splitting wood and building houses, surviving the initial survival, and after raising a little vitality, waiting for the next round of slaughter to come. ”

"In such a world, human life is like weeds, and it seems to be empty after the fire, but after the spring rain waters, there will always be new shoots that will break through the soil and grow. When I was a teenager, I saw that people's livelihood was difficult, and many tragic things happened, and I was also quite tormented. But it is already beyond its strength, and it really has no spare strength to shelter too many villagers. Later, he was ordinary, and he tried his best to punish evil, and he had no time to take care of it. Although the small people are as small as mustard seeds, as long as they sweep out a piece of clarity, they can always survive. ”

As if in response to Guo Chen's words, when the ship passed a high hill, a frightened shout was heard in the wilderness. When the scouts on the shore swept to the left and near, they found a group of more than thirty refugees collecting berries in the dense forest, both men and women, and even a few Hu people, all unkempt and ragged, rushing towards the four fields, and soon disappeared in a barren mountain.

Shen Zhezi can't help these people too much at the moment, and he is already a little depressed in his heart, seeing them one by one is like a frightened bird, every time he sees the army traveling, he panics and flees, and his mood is inevitably worse.

After a short period of silence, he proposed, "It is better to raise our banner, if those people know that it is the king's master, they will be less disturbed." Although it is not possible to give them much relief at the moment, if they wish, they can also follow the ship to the fort and settle down. ”

After finishing speaking, he saw Guo Yu and even Xiao Yuandong, who was traveling with him, with a strange look on his face, and realized that he should have said something stupid. He smiled and said, "I also know that the banner of Wang Shi may not have much appeal in Jiangbei, even if they can't be trusted, at least they can get along well, right?" ”

Xiao Yuandong sighed after hearing this, and said: "Last year, I set foot in Jiangbei for the first time, and I originally had the same idea as a horse, and soon after crossing the river, I raised the banner. Not long after the march, there were nearly 1,000 people who came to greet us, at first we were greatly encouraged, I didn't expect the banner of Wang Shi to have such a great appeal in Jiangbei, and even the beautiful dream of being able to gather more than 10,000 people in ten months, creating a situation in Nantang, worthy of the horse's use......"

"Those people went with the team, and at first they were peaceful, neither making trouble nor asking for too much, and only a little food every day to survive. However, a few days after accompanying the team, there was a mutiny overnight, and they seemed to have made an appointment and directly coaxed most of the baggage of the camp. Kill but can't kill, stop and can't stop, by dawn, not only are there no homeless people left, but the baggage is almost empty. ”

Shen Zhezi was already slightly stunned when he heard this, he knew about this, Du He suffered a big loss soon after crossing the river, he had returned to Wuzhong Township at that time, and after receiving the letter, he hurriedly instructed Jingkou to collect grain and rush to help. However, in that letter, Du He only said that he was greedy and miscalculated, and was robbed by the rebels, but did not say much in detail.

Now listening to Xiao Yuandong, I realized that these rioters were actually recruited by themselves. If it is said that when encountering a formed armed force, it is not conducive to the battle and it is just a matter of losing the baggage, but it is actually deceived by a group of wandering refugees, and it is really difficult to talk about it if Shen Zhezi himself is replaced.

After Guo Yu heard this, he also sighed: "The situation in the north is indeed like this, the people's hearts are treacherous and impetuous, and those small people are indeed suffering very much, so they are no longer willing to trust people, let alone entrust their lives to others. In previous years, Li envoy Junchu Town, because he couldn't bear to see the small people scattered and suffered, and even used military rations to help, he was also a huge number of dependents, and the momentum was great for a while. However, if there is a shortage of food, or if the war is lost, these small people will immediately scatter and suffer the most damage. ”

"The slaves also knew that the small people were easy to attach and difficult to settle down, so they deliberately killed many people in the four fields and drove the small people to the dock walls to attach themselves. Some dock walls collapsed without a fight because they contained too much food, while others were captured by the enemy and broken by internal and external attacks. In the early years, the towns also suffered from this, and the people came to vote, if they did not accept it, they could not bear it, and their righteousness could not be shown. But if they accept it, these small people are loyal and treacherous, and there are many hidden dangers! ”

"Yes, it's been a long time since I waited to defend Nantang. Although there are still many displaced people to vote, they have been taught a lesson earlier, and they do not dare to let go to accept it, and more soldiers are sent to guard it during the cultivation, but it is still inevitable that some displaced people will flee with the distributed grain and seed tools, and they will not stop being banned repeatedly. ”

When Xiao Yuandong talked about this section, he was also full of helplessness, in the past, when he was in Jiangdong, he always felt that he could let go of his hands and feet after crossing the river, and naturally there would be a lot of opportunities to make contributions. But after really arriving, I found that there were obstacles everywhere, and I had to worry not only about the attack of the slaves, but also the rejection of the local dock masters, and even those seemingly poor wanderers could not guard against it.

Shen Zhezi also knows about the situation in the north, and he often hears it from others, but he doesn't have a deep feeling in the details. Now listening to the two of them talk about this section, I can't help but feel a big headache.

The problems mentioned by these two men are not enough to show that human nature is vile or noble. When wars are frequent and the situation is precarious, the trust between people is gone. Of course, the small people also have the freedom to survive, whether they are short-sighted or cunning, at least they can see the opportunity to live in front of them.

"Is there any way to keep the small people alive?"

Although he already knew the answer in his heart, Shen Zhezi still asked without giving up.

"There is nature, the villagers trust each other, build forts and keep themselves, and do not accept outsiders. Or they may privately expand their tribes, plunder all over the area, and imprison those wanderers as horses and cattle servants. If it is milder, then take in a large number of widows, recruit the homeless and strong men, and wait for them to settle down and have children, and then drive them......"

Guo Yu is a fierce general in the north, and he also has unique expertise in the operation of dock walls, and many of the means of controlling personal freedom are spoken and talked about.

Shen Zhezi listened carefully, but he still couldn't help but be disappointed. These methods are used to manage the dock walls in order to survive, but it is not enough to accumulate enough strength to conquer and defeat the slaves and enter the world.

After understanding this, Shen Zhezi also understood why after the Yongjia Rebellion, most of the Hu people galloped in the Central Plains, but rarely saw the heroic appearance of the Han people. It is not because the martial arts are too inferior, but because there is a lack of effective means of mobilization and organization.

The Hu were usually tribal soldiers, which meant that they had an absolute advantage from the beginning, and had a considerable number of loyal military forces. Taking advantage of the turmoil, they will be able to accumulate goods and plunder people, and they will soon be able to succeed.

However, the social organization of the Han people does not have this advantage, and the mobilization power of the family and clan is already at a disadvantage, and they have the habit of settling in one place and relocating to another place.

Although a wealthy martial arts family like the Shen family has the mobilization power to mobilize 10,000 people, on the one hand, a large part of them are goods with no war experience at all, and on the other hand, the deep-rooted idea of defending the countryside is not enough to support the Quartet campaign.

And the ordinary people who were forced to disperse from all sides, although there were also military groups such as the Beggar Army. However, the beggar army itself was full of contradictions, many factions, and the leader was in the same situation as the head of the Beifu army, that is, there was no clear political goal.

The consequence of not having a goal is that there is no long-term plan for doing things, and you can only go from faction to faction and be used as a gun and controlled by others. For example, Li Nong of Later Zhao, who had a background in the begging army, first served as a general in Later Zhao, and defeated a Northern Expedition launched by Chu Li for Hou Zhao, causing Chu Li to die of grief.

Later, Li Nong vigorously supported Ran Min to betray Hou Zhao, but Ran Min did not hesitate to kill Li Nong in order to obtain help from the Eastern Jin Dynasty. But at that time, Ran Min had already usurped the title of emperor, and the Eastern Jin Dynasty had neither reason nor obligation to aid him.

Li Nong ended his confused life because of such an impossible appeal, which is also a great irony. Of course, there were many reasons why Ran Min killed Li Nong, not only because Li Nong had an enmity with the Eastern Jin Dynasty, but also because he was a threat to Ran Min. In short, it is to live confused and dead ignorant.

Whether there is a clear political objective is crucial for an armed group. The largest exiled army leader in the late Eastern Han Dynasty was Liu Bei, who had a clear political goal, traveled from all sides, and almost traveled through most of China, but his subordinates have always maintained a very high cohesion.

Of course, a beggar military leader like Li Nong, even if he has a political goal, is of little significance, because it is impossible to gain the support of the Han dock lords. In the process of wandering, Liu Bei has been paying attention to his interactions with celebrities of the wealthy family, for example, after receiving Kong Rong's distress letter, he actually said excitedly: Kong Beihai actually knows that there is Liu Bei in the world! The so-called imperial uncle is not a bargaining chip he was born with, but a result of hard work.

The situation in the Central Plains today is much more complicated than in the Three Kingdoms period. The ravages of Hulu did not make the Han people unite and hate the same enemy, which was the limitation and helplessness of the times, and the Gaomen was unwilling to lower his position to cater to the public, and the public also lost trust in the imperial court's orthodox legal system. Looking at this era from a purely moral perspective is meaningless and useless.

Although Shen Zhezi foresaw that it would be difficult for the Northern Expedition to hold on, and sent Du He across the river early, he actually didn't have a good idea of how to clean up the hearts of the people who had been scattered into slag. If it is completely deterred by torture, it is forcing the people to flee, and if it is completely entrenched with kindness and righteousness, just like Duhe, who was robbed of food, he can't cry or laugh.

If you can't figure out the problem, you might as well leave it aside for the time being, and you will always find a solution. This time, he crossed the river, in addition to having an in-depth understanding of the situation in Jiangbei, he also wanted to have some contact with those homeless commanders and dock wall masters in the vicinity, hoping to find an entry point to communicate with them.

Although Shen Zhezi's identity as a colt is more solid than that of Uncle Liu Huang, the people's aspirations of the Eastern Jin Dynasty are not the same as those of the strong man. The edict of the imperial court is nothing in the eyes of those dock masters, and what kind of bird is he?

But if you want to operate the situation in Jiangbei, these people can't get around it, and you can also pave the way in advance if you get in touch with it early. Once Shen Zhezi enters Taiwan, he will not have much leisure time for a long time. He even had a hunch that the next time he left the capital, it might be the time to officially lead his troops north.

Although his identity may not be respected, Shen Zhezi was not sent to the door to be slapped in the face. The situation he has managed in Jiangdong in the past few years is a bargaining chip for dialogue and exchange with those dock masters when he goes north this time.