Three Kingdoms

Lao Cao was very happy these two days.

In this era, having many children is always a very happy thing.

Although Huan Ji, well, she will be changed to Mrs. Huan from now on, and her background is not good, as long as Cao Cao is happy.

"I wonder if my lord's Lin'er has a nickname decided yet?" Xi Zhicai stuffed an empty wine gourd into his sleeve and talked to Xun Yu about it.

"It's settled... I said, can you stop doing this?" Xun Yu frowned at Xi Zhicai's actions and lowered his voice and said, "Last time, my lord asked, when will you be ready to resume your original identity... Besides, wouldn’t such a move be more eye-catching?”

"At least not now..." Xi Zhicai, also known as Guo Jia, reached out and pushed back the hair that had fallen in front of his eyes, and said with a smile, "On the contrary, their attention will be focused on how many gourds I stole. Regarding the wine...not my looks..."

Xun Yu shook his head. Guo Jia was a little unreasonable, but after thinking about it, it seemed to be right.

When Cao Cao had a new son, people from surrounding counties and places would naturally come to congratulate him, and a large banquet would naturally be indispensable. Of course, Cao Cao's subordinates, including Xun Yu, Guo Jia and others, also had to attend.

Guo Jia walked out and said, "You haven't said what nickname the lord has given you?"

Xun Yu paused for a moment and said, "My nickname is... Cang Shu..."

"Cang Shu?" Guo Jia was stunned and stopped.

Xun Yu smiled bitterly and nodded.

"Puyang..." Guo Jia looked up at the sky and murmured, "Di Qiu... Cang Shu... Zhuan Xu..." (Notes on this chapter)

The two of them stood outside the hall, looking at the clouds rolling in the sky, and they were silent for a long time.

"Do you know why?" Guo Jia turned to look at Xun Yu and said, "You must know!"

Xun Yu lowered his eyes and said after a while: "Heluo... Marquis Wen made a rebellion, blocked the palace, hunted down the Fu family and imprisoned..."

"Ah?!" Guo Jia's eyes widened and he said tentatively, "This...was you doing this?"

Xun Yu shook his head.

Guo Jia looked at Xun Yu's expression, rolled his eyes a few times, and said, "Then it's probably Yang's fault... Well, no, since it wasn't you who did it, how could you know about this..."

Xun Yu lowered his voice and said: "...that night there was great chaos in Luoyang...Fu Gong's son and Zhonglang General Dong escaped from the city at night and found the lord..."

"How come I don't know about this..." Guo Jia said in confusion, and then suddenly realized, "No wonder I haven't seen Miaocai in the past few days..."

…………………………

Lao Liu has been very unhappy these two days.

Especially in the past few days, the letters sent from Yuan Shu made Liu Bei's mood fall to the freezing point.

In his letter, Yuan Shu expressed dissatisfaction with Liu Bei's previous decision to pay tribute to the court without authorization, and arrogantly ordered Liu Bei to immediately raise troops to attack Cao Cao in Yanzhou, otherwise he would bear the consequences. Of course, Yuan Shu did not write so directly. White, but the threatening meaning in the letter is full of words.

Liu Bei immediately summoned his men to discuss whether to send troops to Yanzhou.

"How is the relief situation for the refugees? So far, have some people died of freezing and starvation? How about the spring plowing?" Although Liu Bei was inevitably a little panicked in his heart, he still wanted to be stable on the surface.

Xuzhou was unstable some time ago, and the fighting caused the originally prosperous Xuzhou to be in a state of disarray. Cao Cao's massacre of the city even led to the creation of a large number of refugees. If these refugees are not properly resettled, they will have even worse consequences. Maybe there will be more Xuzhou Yellow Turbans.

"I have informed you that all the prefectures have opened granaries to release grain, and are doing their best to help the refugees..." Mi Zhu handed over his hands and reported, "It is spring plowing now, and refugees from all over the country have been mobilized to serve as laborers, dig ditches, and connect rivers. It can add autumn blessings..."

Chen Deng smiled and nodded without saying a word. Have any refugees froze to death and starved to death? Do you still need to ask or answer such a stupid question? So Mi Zhu also avoided answering.

Liu Bei exhaled a long breath and said: "That's great! The people of Xuzhou are not at peace, how can I let go? I hope you all can work together to overcome the difficulties..."

Chen Deng smiled at Mi Zhu's gaze, and then he joined the others in raising his hands and said in unison: "Make you benevolent!"

According to common sense, since they are refugees who fled from the counties where Cao Cao massacred the city, wouldn't it be enough to repatriate them, clean up the ruins, and rebuild after the disaster...

But the problem is far from that simple. Population is also a resource. Even in later generations, there were still a large number of people engaged in human trafficking, let alone in the Han Dynasty. Han law directly stipulates that all refugees can be directly captured and used as slaves. With such a hugely profitable thing, how could the wealthy gentry in Xuzhou miss this feast in vain?

Liu Bei hoped to resettle the refugees, and the people under his command were indeed resettled, but as for how to resettle them and how to divide them, Liu Bei didn't know.

After listening to Mi Zhu's report, Liu Bei suddenly remembered something and asked: "It costs a lot to dig canals. Although the labor of the people can be replaced by refugees, how to deal with the consumption of money and food? What do the village elders think about it?"

Chen Deng smiled slightly and said: "The villagers from all over the country are willing to support the envoy's benevolent government..." Listen clearly, it is benevolent government.

Liu Bei said "Oh" and nodded. This time he took control of Xuzhou, which was actually the first time Liu Bei took charge of such a large territory. In the past, in Gaotang and Pingyuan, although he also controlled local political power, he was much younger than Xuzhou Mu. Even in Pingyuan, if Liu Bei really wanted to walk around the fields, it would only be a matter of horse racing or horse racing for a few days. Things that lasted more than ten days were not a big problem, but now, even if I wanted to go around, I didn't have the time.

Let’s run around, who handles the government documents sent from various places?

If Mi Zhu wants to follow, then leave it to his second brother?

Or third brother?

Do not make jokes.

Although the second and third brothers have worked hard to learn and understand over the years, they still prefer military affairs to civil affairs. So what about the counselors here?

Jian Yong, if it's general government affairs, it's okay, but Jian Yong mainly loves to talk too much. He might end up talking in the government affairs office all day long, without dealing with anything...

Sun Qian, who had just arrived from the army, was not very familiar with him, and it was not easy to entrust important matters to him immediately.

Chen Deng, maybe? But Liu Bei was not sure about what Chen Deng and his family were thinking...

Chen Deng saw Liu Bei's gaze, smiled, and said softly: "Since your arrival in Xuzhou, you have been pacifying the local area and administering the affairs of the country. The village elders from all over the country have praised you as benevolent and virtuous..."

Liu Bei was a little embarrassed, because he was thinking about sending troops to Yanzhou, and most of the warehouses had been empty due to the two years of war, so he could only apportion or increase taxes, but Chen Deng blocked it. return.

"This..." Liu Bei was silent for a moment, and finally said clearly, "The general is here... Yu Mou cooperates to attack Yanzhou... I don't know what you think?" It's a collaboration, but Liu Bei just put powder on his face. , of course, those present who didn’t understand naturally didn’t understand, and those who understood pretended to be confused.

"Okay! Fight Yanzhou!" Zhang Fei nearly jumped up with a cry, and muttered with a beaming expression, "I have long since disliked that eunuch! Fight Yanzhou!"

"Ahem..." Guan Yu had a stern look on his face and used his eye knife to cut Zhang Fei back to his seat.

"Send troops to Yanzhou?"

"General?"

There was chaos in the lobby for a while.

"Your Majesty also said just now that spring plowing by the refugees is a top priority... Now that the warehouses are empty and the wealth is meager, we might as well discuss the matter of sending troops to Yanzhou..." Chen Deng stroked his long beard and said word by word.

When Mi Zhu heard this, he was stunned for a moment, then his face darkened, and he said with some dissatisfaction: "The general's intention..."

Before Mi Zhu could finish what he said, Chen Deng interrupted him unceremoniously and said, "The envoy is not a subordinate of the general, so how can he obey the general's arrangements in everything? Zizhong must not put the cart before the horse!"

"..." Mi Zhu was suddenly choked and speechless.

Liu Bei coughed, then straightened his face, and said with a hint of sadness: "In the past, Cao Cao's thieves invaded the country and slaughtered the people. Heaven and earth were saddened by it, and the rivers changed their colors... However, because of Tao's envoy's defeat and the locust plague, The flood of refugees was overwhelming, and the plan to send troops was forced to be cancelled... Now that Yanzhou's civil strife has begun, if we don't take advantage of the opportunity, won't we miss it? Afterwards, the general raised troops to join forces to fight against the rebellion, but Yuanlong said it was not appropriate to send troops? Why? Cao's traitor rebelled It is God’s will, but if we do not eradicate such rebellion, will we not be ashamed of the people of the world?”

Chen Deng smiled slightly and did not panic when faced with Liu Bei's questioning. He said: "The power of Yanzhou is exactly as the envoy said... However, the general trend of the world forces you to think twice before taking action..."

"The general trend of the world?" Liu Bei couldn't help but straighten his back, showing a trace of concern.

"Now that Gongsun has been defeated, the governor of Qingzhou Tian is also unable to recover, and the fate of Youzhou in northern Hebei will not be determined soon..." Chen Deng said slowly, with a calmness and a faint sense of superiority, "At this time, after The general intends to attack Yanzhou, and the deep meaning behind it...I believe you will understand it...I dare to ask you, if the general raises his troops to go south by then...how will you deal with it?"

"This..." Liu Bei was stunned.

Liu Bei had been thinking about whether to listen to Yuan Shu. If he attacked Yanzhou, how would he fight, how would he deploy his troops, what would Cao Cao do, and where would he fight? If he didn't listen to Yuan Shu, would Yuan Shu immediately turn his back and fall first? The soldiers came over to deal with him, and they had questions about whether they could withstand Yuan Shu's troops, etc. But now when they heard Chen Deng's words, they suddenly realized that there were not only Yuan Shu and Cao Cao, but also someone standing behind Cao Cao. Yuan Shao...

If the rear general is reliable, Liu Bei still feels somewhat confident in joining forces to deal with this short boy like Cao Cao, but only a few points. After all, Cao Cao's men are not good at making trouble. He also chased Yuan Shu before he fled in a hurry...

And now with the addition of Yuan Shao, this has reduced the success rate all at once. Although Yuan Shao must be busy dealing with Gongsun Zan now, the question is, can you be sure that Yuan Shao will not send a partial army south?

what to do?

Liu Bei expressed that he was very embarrassed.

………………………………

Although Puyang experienced the Cao-Lv War, its population base did not shrink much, so it recovered well. In addition, as the place where Cao Cao originally started, most of the Cao family and Xiahou family were concentrated here, so it naturally became Cao Cao's current political center.

Cao Cao was happy to have a son, and there was a big banquet, and everyone was celebrating, and they looked very happy, but God didn't seem to want anyone to be happy all the time, or for a long time. Just when Cao Cao was teasing his child, A letter from Yuan Shao reached Puyang and was delivered to Cao Cao...

Just like what Chen Deng had considered, Yuan Shu wanted to poke Yuan Shao's big back at this moment. As two brothers who came from the same family, Yuan Shao also wanted to poke Yuan Shu's fat back.

Yuan Shao's letter was very long. He first expressed his dissatisfaction with Cao Cao's handling of Zhang Miao's matter without authorization, and severely criticized him for a while. Then he expressed that in view of past friendship and considering Cao Cao's actual situation, he also gave a certain understanding and mentioned Now that the situation in Jizhou is very good, Gongsun Zan's demise is just around the corner...

Although there was a lot of talk, it actually meant the same thing, let Cao Cao attack Yuzhou.

"What do you two think about this matter?" Speaking of which, Cao Cao was more experienced than Liu Bei in discussing politics, so he secretly called Xun Yu and Xi Zhicai, also known as Guo Jia, to the side hall to discuss it. There was no big fanfare to call everyone together for discussion.

Although it is said that the flames are high when everyone collects firewood, the problem is that not all the firewood collected may be firewood, and it may also be bombs. Therefore, it is far more efficient to conduct small-scale research first, come up with a more feasible plan, and then arrange it than large-scale discussions and deliberations.

"Don't attack Yuzhou..." Guo Jia said directly and unceremoniously, "Wen Ruofang recruited talents from Yingchuan one after another, and the lord turned around and attacked Yuzhou, wouldn't it be..."

During this period, because Cao Cao expelled Lu Bu and captured Zhang Miao, he was basically the leader in Yanzhou. Cao Cao, who owned part of Yanzhou and Qingzhou, was naturally more attractive than before, so Xun Yu recruited These people in Yingchuan also have some confidence.

But just like what Guo Jia said, he just said that he wanted to recruit, turned around and attacked Yuzhou, not to mention whether he could defeat it, but such behavior would definitely be disgusted by the people of Yuzhou.

Who likes to fight in front of their own door? Who would like a lord who ruins his own property?

Xun Yu said slowly: "...However, we must obey the orders of the general... When Yanzhou rebels, without the help of the general..."

Xun Yu didn't finish his words, but everyone could understand what he meant. It can be said that now that Cao Cao had captured Zhang Miao, not many people jumped up to oppose him. In fact, it was because of the remaining power of the group of soldiers and supplies supported by Yuan Shao that many people who did not know what was going on were I thought that Yuan Shao was dissatisfied with Zhang Miao and was just borrowing Cao Cao's help. If these people who have not yet completely returned to their hearts knew that Yuan Shao was actually dissatisfied with Cao Cao, there might be a second Zhang Miao and a second Lu Bu right away. Appear.

Cao Cao didn't want to fight, because Yanzhou actually didn't have much reserves at this time, and he had just sent Xia Houyuan out two days ago to see if he could fish in troubled waters...

"My lord, you might as well raise your troops to the south openly and secretly march to Heluo to save the emperor!" , it’s the right time to fight against rebellion! If we can welcome the emperor, the general will have nothing to say!”

Guo Jia glanced at Xun Yu and seemed to notice something, but he didn't say anything.

"Welcome the Emperor?" Cao Cao didn't pay attention to Guo Jia's little movements, his eyes were a little divergent, and he muttered again, with a complicated expression...