It took only one day and one night to arrive, but the journey back took four days. Because among the people who returned to the trip, they not only carried a large number of rescued people, but also carried a large amount of food and materials, and also drove more than 100,000 cattle, sheep and livestock. Of course not soon.

However, the Xiongnu army had already been defeated by the Wu'an army, and they were all safe and sound along the way, and there was plenty of food, so the army and civilians of nearly 25,000 people returned to Yanmen Pass very smoothly.

At this time, Yuan Xuan was still stationed at the edge of Shiling Village outside Yanmen Pass, and after receiving the news, he also led the fathers and elders of various villages, towns and townships outside Yanmen Pass to welcome the triumphant return of the plateau and his party. Moreover, Yun Yao and Geng Yanyu, who returned to Yanmen Pass, also came out of the customs to Shiling Village after learning that the plateau had returned, and welcomed the plateau back with everyone.

After everyone saw each other, they immediately cried again, because the people who were plundered by the Huns were basically residents of this area, and the people of each village had contacts with each other, and even had a lot of kinship, so they saw each other for the rest of their lives, and naturally had mixed feelings, and many people hugged each other and cried loudly. For a while, the cry shook the four fields. Even many soldiers of the Wu'an Army were very sad to see it. In fact, the vast majority of the professional soldiers of the Wu'an Army were locals, and many of them were also deeply affected by the Xiongnu, so they all agreed with this action against the Xiongnu.

Gao Yuan comforted the people again, and comforted the village elders who came to greet him, and then ordered the camp to be stationed on the spot for these people to stay. Because most of these people's homes were burned down by the Xiongnu army, they were already homeless, so they could only camp for a while, and then be assigned to other villages later.

Later, Gao Yuan ordered to arrange a banquet to officially celebrate the defeat of the Xiongnu army and the rescue of so many people, and the army and the people rejoiced together. Originally, before the expedition, there were more than 100 cattle and thousands of sheep to celebrate the victory, but this time more than 15,000 people were rescued, so Yuan Xuan added another 100 cattle and 2,000 sheep, and brought 3,000 jars of wine from Yanmen Pass.

So thousands of barbecue stands were set up in front of the camp, and firewood was piled up, and the peeled cattle and sheep began to be grilled. Around the fire, there were also **, low tables, dishes and chopsticks and other things, and the wine was also carried over one after another.

At this time, Yun Yao also met with Yun Juan and Yun Na's aunt and nephew. In fact, Yun Yao had already learned in Yanmen Pass that he had found his own clansmen in the Hun army this time, and Yun Yao's heart was also very excited, because because Yun Yao's white hair was different from others, this had a great impact on Yun Yao, and he also very much hoped to know the information about his own clan, but he didn't expect to meet his own clansmen outside Yanmen Pass this time, and there was also news of the whole Bailing clan, in addition, Yun Yao lost his previous memories, and he also wanted to inquire about his life experience, how he ended up outside, Do you have any relatives in the Bailing Clan, etc., so Yun Yao is also a little impatient to meet Yun Juan and Yun Na's aunt and nephew.

Of course, Gao Yuan could also understand Yun Yao's mood, so he immediately arranged a tent for the three of them to get together and talk. And he took advantage of the time when the banquet had not yet started to listen to Yuan Xuan's report.

This time he attacked Zhujianze, Yuan Xuan did not participate, and stayed outside Yanmen Pass to pay for the work of organizing villagers and establishing a defense body against the Xiongnu. Because Yuan Xuan is Li Mu's old department, he has been stationed in the Yanmen Pass area for many years, he is very familiar with the situation in this area, and he is familiar with many villagers, and he also has a certain reputation among the people, so he is also the most suitable person to take charge of this work.

After the leading army of the plateau left, Yuan Xuan, in accordance with the idea put forward by the plateau, recruited the village chiefs, three elders, Li Zheng and other leaders of all the villages within a radius of about 100 miles outside Yanmen Pass to negotiate the merger of the villages and fight against the Xiongnu together. After statistics, outside the Yanmen Pass, there are more than 100 large and small villages, such as Shiling Village, which has more than 10 people, with a population of about 3,000 or 4,000 people, protected by a wall, and half of the villages have a population of more than 1,000 people, but there are also many small villages with only a few hundred people, and some individual households. However, as for the merger, it is still up to each village to be voluntary, and it is not compulsory.

Because not all villages are in favor of merging, because they are some medium-sized villages with a population of more than 1,000 people and also built walls, the village chiefs, three elders, Li Zheng and other leaders of these villages are all people who speak the same in their own villages, and once they merge with other villages, they may lose their positions, so for their own personal interests, they also feel that their villages have enough people to resist the attack of the Xiongnu, so they refuse to merge with other villages.

After several days of consultations, it was finally decided that there were 17 villages that refused to merge, and that the other villages that voluntarily merged were combined into a total of 33 large villages, making a total of 48. After the merger, the household registration of each village ranged from 1,000 to 1,200 households, and it was organized according to Wushi, but there was no compulsory division of households, so the number of people in each village was as small as five or six thousand, and as many as eight or nine thousand. As for the candidates for the village head, the three elders, and the lizheng of the merged large villages, they are selected by each village itself, and the government does not interfere. The villages that did not participate in the merger were also included in the unified management of the government, and the household registration of the villages was also compiled according to Wushi. In this way, the total population outside Yanmen Pass was 313,520, with a total of 51,828 households.

In addition, the villages that need to be merged will be expanded on the basis of the larger villages before the merger, and the height of the wall of the village must be more than two zhang, and it must be built according to the style of the city wall, with battlements, perforations, and city towers, and there are village moats outside the parapet wall, and the city tower also has the function of a beacon tower. The expansion project was undertaken by the villages themselves, and the government only sent craftsmen to direct and supervise. He also sent people to each village to teach the villagers of each village to practice martial arts.

When the Xiongnu attacked, men, women, and children, they were obliged to guard the village. Although these residents outside Yanmen Pass do not have to pay taxes to the Daijun government and do not have to bear conscription, they must serve in the military, and once Daijun has a conscription order, at least one person from each household must enlist in the army. Moreover, the armor, weapons, horses, and other assemblies are provided by each household, and the government does not bear it, but each household can buy it from the government, and can use military salaries, war awards, etc. to offset the cost of dismantling armor, weapons, horses, etc. And the people who have made meritorious contributions on the battlefield can also get the opportunity to be promoted.

After reading the report submitted by Yuan Xuan, Gao Yuan was also very happy, because when he counted his own population, he only did not count the number of people outside Yanmen Pass, and the population of more than 300,000 was equivalent to an increase out of thin air. Moreover, the residents outside the Yanmen Pass are very brave, and as long as they undergo the necessary training, they can become an army with extremely strong combat effectiveness. In addition, the assembly of armor, weapons, horses, etc. does not need to be borne by the government, and it also greatly reduces the expenses of the government, so it is still very cost-effective.

And defeated the Yan State, in addition to obtaining a large amount of compensation, on the battlefield Wu'an Army also captured enough armor and weapons from the Yan Army to assemble 300,000 people, enough to support the purchase and use of the villagers, in addition, Dai County has a large number of horses, and about thirty percent of the residents outside Yanmen Pass have horses, so the horses are also enough.

The villagers were also very satisfied with such conditions, firstly, the government came forward to coordinate and organize, so that they could concentrate their efforts to fight against the Xiongnu and protect their homeland; Second, there is no need to pay taxes and levies to the government, and armor, weapons, horses and other assemblies can be offset by military salaries and war awards, which also greatly reduces the living pressure of the people; Third, after the military exploits, there is still a chance to be promoted.

Gao Yuan only proposed a construction for Yuan Xuan's plan, that is, to build a road from Yanmen Pass to the north, and the end point was temporarily set in Zhujianze, so that each village could build its own road and communicate with the road. Every fifteen to twenty miles or so, a beacon tower was built and a force of fifty men was stationed. And build a fortress on the edge of Morumazawa that could garrison 5,000 to 10,000 troops.

In this way, not only can the distance and time for the early warning of the Xiongnu be greatly advanced, and the time for the villages and Yanmen Pass to be prepared, but also the actual control area of Yanmen County will be expanded, and the area south of Zhujian Ze will become the actual control area of Yanmen County. In addition, if the Wu'an Army wants to use troops against the Xiongnu in the future, it can use the fortress of Zhujianze as a forward military base. When necessary, the Wu'an army can also resist the Xiongnu army in Zhujianze fortress to achieve the goal of keeping the enemy out of the country.

Of course, the amount of work to complete this plan is not small, relying on the population of Yanmen County alone, it will take at least three to five years to build outside, but the advantage of this plan is that it does not need to be built all at once, but starting from Yanmen Pass, gradually expanding to the north, and building a section can be used for a period until it is built to the edge of Zhujian Ze.

In addition, in this battle against the Xiongnu, about 3,000 Xiongnu soldiers were captured. Now they are all being held in Yanmen Pass. Of course, the plateau will not raise this group of people in vain, but it is too much to kill them all, and it is appropriate to use this group of people as hard labor to build roads and beacon towers along the road. This group of people are the elite of the Huns, all of them are strong, capable of working, and they don't need to support wages, and they don't have to feel distressed when they are tired, so they should be considered to be fighting for the crimes they have committed, and there is a better coolie than this?

After Yuan Xuan heard this, he also admired the plateau very much, and thought really thoughtful and far-reaching, even the captured Huns did not let go.