Reborn in the Three Kingdoms, I stole Liu Bei's uncle

Ju Su had always been puzzled by Cao Cao's behavior, until Cao Cao volunteered to go to Bingzhou to stop Guan Yu. Only then did the doubts in his heart gradually take shape.

Cao Cao had great ambitions and would certainly not just focus on Xuzhou.

With his intelligence, it was impossible for him not to see that as long as he eliminated Uncle Liu, Yuan Shao's butcher knife would definitely be swung at him first.

By then, it would be impossible to stop the powerful Yuan Shao with only Yanzhou and Xuzhou.

So Cao Cao must have a plan. Could it be that he wants to seize Bingzhou?

Bingzhou has a broad terrain and can occupy Liangzhou to the west. This place has more depth conditions than Yanzhou.

But this idea was quickly rejected by Ju Su.

Although these two places have sufficient depth, they are poor and sparsely populated, and their development potential is limited.

What's even more fatal is that Bingzhou is Yuan Shao's territory, with no strategic location to defend. It is close to Jizhou, so Yuan Shao will definitely annex Bingzhou at all costs.

Analyzing from this perspective, Ju Su knew that what Cao Cao wanted to take over was not Bingzhou at all.

Suddenly a thought popped into his mind.

Was Cao Cao planning to take over Chang'an?

As soon as this thought came to his mind, the doubts in Ju Su's heart disappeared completely without a trace, just like being blown away by the breeze.

Chang'an is strategically located, with the strategic advantage of Hangu Pass. In the past, Qin used this place to control the princes of the world. Guanzhong is a fertile land of thousands of miles with huge development potential. Once this place is occupied, one can slowly develop it and see the success or failure of the world.

More importantly, from this place, Hanzhong and Yizhou can be taken to the south. Once these two places are occupied, it will not take a few years for them to become one of the most powerful princes.

By then, let alone Yuan Shao unifying the north, even if he annexed Jingzhou and Yangzhou, it would be difficult for him to defeat Cao Cao in a short period of time.

Wonderful! When Ju Su thought of this, he couldn't help but secretly admire Cao Cao's plan.

The counselors under Cao Cao were definitely not ordinary people, as they were able to plan to this extent in Yanzhou, which was in a dead end.

After everyone left, Ju Su told Yuan Shao what he was thinking.

"Chang'an is no longer the capital it once was. It is now sparsely populated and in ruins. How could Cao Cao be interested in Chang'an?" Yuan Shao was a little skeptical when he heard Ju Su's thoughts.

Chang'an City was originally the capital of the Han Dynasty, but since the Red Eyebrow Rebellion, Chang'an City has become a pile of ruins.

The city walls are empty and the fields are covered with bones. These eight words are a true portrayal of the city of Chang'an.

Emperor Guangwu had no choice but to build the capital in Luoyang.

Having lost the halo of being a capital, Chang'an lagged behind in development for nearly two hundred years and never regained its former prosperity.

It was not until Dong Zhuo burned Luoyang and moved all the people of Luoyang to Chang'an that this ancient city, which had been silent for two hundred years, once again became the center of the world.

Unfortunately, the good times did not last long. After Dong Zhuo was killed by Lu Bu, Li Jue and Guo Si led the Western Liang army to attack Chang'an City.

Liu Huangshu resisted the attack of the Xiliang Army at the last moment. Although he rescued the emperor, he did not save Chang'an City from war.

After taking over Chang'an City, Emperor Liu was committed to the restoration of Chang'an and recruited refugees on a large scale.

The refugee policy gradually attracted some people, but after the situation stabilized slightly, Emperor Liu announced that the emperor would return to Luoyang City?

At this time, the people who were taken to Chang'an by Dong Zhuo also began to return to Luoyang.

The city of Chang'an was once again abandoned by the times and became irrelevant and insignificant.

"My Lord, this is the inherent impression of Chang'an City in the world. From the latest intelligence, it seems that Emperor Liu's method of promoting the military farming order and appeasing refugees has been very successful. Although Chang'an City at this moment is not as prosperous as it was in the past, its population is still 300,000."

"Three hundred thousand?" Yuan Shao frowned slightly, obviously doubting the answer. Nowadays, wars are frequent and the population has dropped sharply. Large cities with a population of one million have almost disappeared. In this era, although three hundred thousand is not the top of the city, it is also a mid-range one.

Facing Yuan Shao's question, Ju Su slowly said: "This is the number in the official document. My lord, you also know that the actual population of Chang'an City is probably much higher than this number."

Since the late Eastern Han Dynasty, land annexation has been serious. In order to pay less taxes, it has become a common phenomenon for wealthy families to hide land and population.

As the war progressed, people who fled their registered residence spread all over the countryside, making it impossible to make an accurate count.

After the implementation of the Military Farming Order in various places, those who cultivated land under the Order were not included in the local household registration statistics, but were managed separately under a separate system.

"So, the population of Chang'an City should be far more than 300,000?"

"Yes." Ju Shou gave a positive answer. "According to the news, Chang'an City is now very stable. Not only are there no bandits, but people can also leave their doors unlocked at night."

Not locking the door at night?

Yuan Shao was about to drink some water, but when he heard this word, he spat out a mouthful of tea.

"Gonglu, you are also well-versed in history books. Even in the ancient times, there were not many times when people left their doors unlocked at night. Now, I have nearly a million soldiers stationed in Jizhou, but refugees are still everywhere. How many soldiers does a small city like Chang'an have? How dare you leave your doors unlocked at night?"

Yuan Shao didn't believe this answer at all. This era was too chaotic, with refugees and bandits emerging one after another. He had led soldiers to suppress bandits many times, and although he had achieved results, as soon as he relaxed, the refugees and bandits would rebound quickly. If he wanted to eradicate them all, it would be impossible.

"When I heard about leaving doors unlocked at night, I felt it was a bit exaggerated, but it is a fact that Chang'an has good public security. In this era, I am afraid that no other city can surpass it."

"Why is this?" Yuan Shao was a little puzzled and felt that the matter was totally illogical.

"The person who is now serving as the magistrate of Chang'an is named Man Chong. I heard that he loves laws and regulations. He has formulated detailed laws and regulations in Chang'an City. The content of the laws and regulations is extensive and detailed, covering all aspects.

Man Chong was a serious person and ruthless in his law enforcement. In Chang'an City, no matter if they were powerful and meritorious, or close ministers of the emperor, if anyone dared to break the law, he would show no mercy.

The Chang'an guards he led were all highly skilled and were hidden in various corners of the city of Chang'an, either openly or secretly. Once anyone broke the law, they would be punished immediately.

People in Chang'an were afraid of Man Chong, and some even said his name could stop children from crying at night.

"What a cruel official! He has no regard for human ethics or hierarchy. How could Emperor Liu tolerate this?"

"It is said that Emperor Liu did not reject his behavior, but rather approved of it. He even used a phrase from Shang Yang to praise Man Chong."

"What?"

"Laws and regulations are the people's destiny, the foundation of governance, and the means to prepare the people. To abolish laws and regulations for the sake of governance is like abandoning food to avoid hunger, abandoning clothes to avoid cold, or traveling west to travel east. It is obvious that they are not going to work!

Man Chong is the Wei Yang of the Han Dynasty!"