Cao Cao fled to Jiangnan, and General Wang officially began his rule over Henan.
These were all matters with established precedents. At their core, there were only a few things: judging lawbreakers, distributing land, sanitation, farming, building houses, paving roads, constructing bridges, waterworks, and military service.
After killing off the wealthy households, landlords, wandering knights, and others who had failed to flee, as well as punishing all manner of lawbreaking that had arisen in the power vacuum, one could more or less win the people's hearts. Then, so long as the work continued for several years and some reserves were built up, life would improve, the common people would settle down, and they would naturally make a point of overlooking the sorrow and suffering of the past, turning their hearts toward a better tomorrow under the General's leadership.
The corresponding census and statistical work had also been completed, and the real figures were not encouraging.
Before the Yellow Turbans, the most important resource—population—stood at three million in Cheongju, four million in Yan Prefecture, three million in Sili, five million in Yu Prefecture, and nearly three million in Xuzhou. Altogether, the original Henan and lands north of the Yangtze had held nearly eighteen million people.
Then came Dong Zhuo's earlier control of Guanzhong and Sili, followed by Li Jue, Guo Si, and the various warlords large and small within Guanzhong. There had also been Cao Cao's early war against Liu Bei in Xuzhou, Liu Bei's subsequent southward relocation of Xuzhou's population, and Cao Cao and Yuan Shao's prolonged war for Henan.
Then Cao Cao fled to Jiangnan, transporting many more people with him. Add to that epidemics, droughts, locust plagues, and the harsh conscription and heavy taxes brought by war—all of these had contributed to the sharp population decline.
By the