Three Kingdoms

Chapter 3551: Thoughts on the Battlefield

The Danjiang River in the twilight ripples with dark red light, like blood that is about to coagulate.

Cao Ren stood on the cliff of Yingzui Bay, looking at the half-sunken and half-floating battleship below, frowning slightly. Under the moonlight, the oil-soaked reed mats in the belly of the ship brought out some oily light in the river water, reflecting colorful patterns.

"That won't work." Cao Ren frowned, "Send someone to cut reeds from the surrounding area and place them around the boat! Move quickly!"

"General, we are short of manpower!" The military school said hesitantly, "In recent days, the labor has been lost too quickly..."

"If it's not enough, go and get more!" Cao Ren's voice was calm, but cold, just like this icy spring night. "If it's still not enough, go and fill in!"

Military school student Cao Jian lowered his head slightly, answered, and retreated.

Cao Ren clenched his teeth tightly.

All he wants now is victory, and only victory.

As for everything else, it is secondary.

In Cao Ren's original plan, he just wanted to do something. It just so happened that there was this opportunity with Dong Zhuo and Cao Cao as the leader, so everyone came together and did it together. When I was young, I never thought about failure, nor did I think about the current situation. At that time, even if I occasionally thought about death, I would laugh it off.

"It's no big deal if I die!"

Now Cao Ren dared not and could not think about what would happen if he failed.

Even in the corrupt Han Dynasty, it was still lonely at the top. The higher you climbed, the more corpses you would have to padded under your feet. Once Cao Ren and the Cao family stopped, the corpses that had been used by the Cao family to climb to the throne would become ghosts, dragging the Cao family into the abyss of darkness, never to be able to rise again.

Looking back now, some of the current actions seem to go against the original intention of starting the rebellion. The originally bright intentions ultimately distorted Cao's path.

Cao Ren took a deep breath.

But these are no longer under his control, at least not under his control alone.

The Cao family is all on this madly galloping carriage, and everyone has the responsibility to keep it from falling apart.

Now, it's his turn to take the lead...

Of course, life is often not as good as one wants it to be.

Cao Ren was not sure whether he could withstand the attack of the Cavalry Army.

The Dan River surges and rushes down, where the two rivers meet and the water flows rapidly.

At this moment, Cao Ren looked at the starry sky, hoping that he and his family would not fall into the endless darkness. In order to see the light of tomorrow, he still decided to use the lives of others as a stepping stone for himself and the Cao family to avoid being annihilated and to get air.

"Report! Hussar scouts spotted upstream!"

Cao's soldiers hurriedly reported.

Cao Ren's mouth curled up into a cold arc, and his armored gloves caressed the rough rocks of the cliff. He nodded, threw his cloak, and strode away. "All troops on alert! Check all the arrangements again! !"

In the light and fire he trampled on, in the distance, Cao's soldiers were organizing labor and working in the darkness and cold. Green smoke and river fog mixed together, and cries and shouts disturbed the air of the cold night.

Cao Ren left, but stayed to work.

As the laborers entered the reed marsh with their broken sickles in hand, the muddy river water was just above their calves. Zhang Laoqi, with his back hunched, had just cut three bundles of reeds with his sickle when he saw half the body of a child soaking in the shallows.

The child's right hand was still tightly clenched with a straw rope. His swollen skin was white and translucent, and he looked as swollen as the fat dolls in New Year pictures.

Oh, half a fat baby.

"What a sin..."

Zhang Laoqi subconsciously wanted to collect the baby's body, at least it couldn't continue to soak in the water and become bait for fish and shrimp.

Just as he was about to reach out his hand, the military supervisor whipped him on the back.

"What are you dawdling for?! We must finish the work before dawn!" the military supervisor shouted loudly, "You guys are working hard, but am I not working hard too?! I work day and night with you lazy bastards! If anyone slacks off, I will be making things difficult for me, the general, and the prime minister!"

The skin was broken where he was whipped, and blood was flowing down his back like a small dark red snake.

…

…

Nightfall.

Cai Zhou.

"Lord Cai, someone is coming!" a servant whispered outside the door.

Upon hearing this, Elder Cai stood up eagerly and said, "Quick, please come in!"

The servant outside the door stepped aside, lifted the door curtain, and welcomed in a dusty man.

The man took off his veil, revealing a slightly haggard face. It was Cai Mao.

"You..." Although the Cai elder knew that Cai Mao had definitely avoided some people's sight when he came back, he still couldn't help but slightly tilt his head to take a look outside, "Mao Lang, you are taking too much risk!"

"Risk?" Cai Mao smiled and sat down. "When is it not a risk? When Liu Jingsheng was alive, were we as safe as a rock? Isn't it still a risk?"

"How is it the same..." Elder Cai also sat down and waved his hand to let his confidant watch outside, "Don't let any strangers come over..."

Cai Mao extended his hand and gestured, "By the way, do you have any food? Bring some over... Bring whatever you have. You don't need to light the stove. Cold food is fine!"

The Cai elder also nodded and signaled his confidant to leave, with a worried look on his face, "When will this world be at peace?"

"Ha, as long as there are still ambitious people, there will never be peace in the world." Cai Mao patted the table lightly, "We are just trying to survive in this turmoil."

Elder Cai fell silent and nodded.

Caizhou, Cai family.

People of the Cai family were born in Caizhou and buried in Caizhou after their death.

In later generations, it might be for mortgages, car loans or various loans, but in the Han Dynasty, the Cai family worked hard all their lives for Cai Zhou.

After a while, the elder's confidant brought some food, then went out again and closed the door.

Cai Mao didn't care. He just wiped his hands casually and started to eat the cold pancake.

The elder of the Cai family sat aside, frowning and looking gloomy. When Cai Mao had almost finished eating, he asked in a low voice, "I heard that... Tian Zheng in Guanzhong..."

Cai Mao picked up the water bowl, gulped down a few mouthfuls, then put it down and let out a long breath, "Indeed, I am also here for this matter... Elder, how many days do you think Cao's army can hold out?"

The Cai elder was startled, and turned to look at Cai Mao, "What news did you get? Did something happen to the prime minister? Or is there any change in Yingchuan?"

Cai Mao laughed and said, "Shouldn't the elder know better than me? I have been in Fangling all this time!"

"To you, Fang Ling..." Elder Cai asked again, "If you are discovered..."

"I'll let Sanlang wear my armor and stick on some beard..." Cai Mao waved his hand, "They won't be able to find anything for a while... Even if they find out, what can they do? How much will the Cao army in Fangling have to fight?"

The Cai elder took a breath and said, "So, the Cao family... is really finished? Then this Prime Minister Cao..."

Cai Mao put down the water bowl and lowered his head. His voice came from the depths of his throat, as if it was gurgling out from under the nine springs. "So what if he is the prime minister... Liu Jingsheng was a member of the royal family back then..."

"This..." Elder Cai paused for a moment, then lowered his voice, "This... Has anyone in Guanzhong come to ask for surrender?"

Cai Mao sighed, "This is why I came to see the elder..."

"No?" Elder Cai was surprised. "How could there be no?"

If there is a call for surrender, it means that things will still be done according to the old rules.

After all, there are naturally some conditions for surrender, and conditions mean that we can talk.

The Cai family had intermarriages with the Huang family and the Pang family. Not only that, the Cai family had relationships of one kind or another with many large families in Jingzhou.

It can be said that with Cai as a bridge, no matter who arrives in Jingzhou, it will save a lot of trouble and be much smoother, but at the same time, the bridge also needs to be charged...

In the later period, in order to collect more fees, the bridge would even deliberately create some problems. This is like some games in the later generations, in order to gain profits and increase customer stickiness, they would deliberately use big data to do some things. Of course, if the higher-ups questioned them, Cai would act like an innocent and pure white lotus, "No, absolutely not, this is a rumor, this is slander!"

But now, Cai suddenly discovered that Fei Qian no longer wanted to play this game!

Not playing means you won’t continue to spend money!

In an instant, the sky seemed to fall!

I used to be able to figure out how to use games to trick people, but now I have no customers!

Even at such an old age, Elder Cai couldn't help but show some emotions on his face. This wasn't some small fry who would scream and yell when he recharged a few dozen or a few hundred dollars, but a big customer who could easily top up tens of thousands of dollars!

Even at his age, Elder Cai couldn't help but slap the table and said, "Hey, Mao Lang, you, the head of this family... you haven't done a good enough job!"

Cai Mao agreed to let you take the position because you were the sales champion. Now, not only can you not attract customers, but you also say that customers may not want to play with you anymore. How can this work?!

Cai Mao did not make any excuses, but said: "This is why I came to discuss with you, the elder... Some things should be explained clearly..."

"You haven't even come to offer surrender..." Elder Cai still felt a little indignant.

After all, Cai was the "King of Nabo" of Jingzhou back then!

How embarrassing it is that you don't even come to surrender!

Cai Mao rolled his eyes, but still controlled his temper. He couldn't leave Fangling for a long time, and some things still needed the cooperation of the Cai family elders.

"If you have merit, you have land." Cai Mao said briefly, "If you have no merit, how can you have land?"

The Cai elder frowned, "Even marriage is not possible?"

"Haha..." Cai Mao laughed, "If the Cavalry wanted to marry again, why did they go to the north back then?"

"This..." Elder Cai swallowed and understood a little.

The Hussars are no longer the unknown figures they once were in Jingzhou.

"So what should we do?" asked the Cai elder.

Unlike the Cui family in Jizhou, the elders of the Cai family felt that Fei Qian was a distant relative anyway, so once the mental obstacle was removed, there was no sense of conflict.

Cai Mao leaned forward slightly and narrated in a low voice, "We... are like this, like this..."

…

…

The water of the river is still flowing.

Fei Qian stood on the bank of the river, looking at the surging water coming from the sky and then rushing away.

Whenever he felt like thinking, he would come to the river bank, look at the water, and think.

In his mind, there were counties and place names.

The map of the Central Plains seemed to be branded in his brain, with chaotic arrows outlined in cinnabar ink crisscrossing it.

When he does things, he likes to formulate a strategy first.

The current strategy can be summarized into two parts.

Internally and externally.

Internally, it is the economy and people’s livelihood in Guanzhong.

This is already a preliminary step on the right track.

With the various preparations and supplements made by Fei Qian before, plus the previous rules and regulations of the Han Dynasty, as well as Fei Qian's vision and sense of direction beyond this world, it is completely possible to avoid detours in scientific and technological development and productivity improvement.

In this regard, Fei Qian's thinking is very clear.

But if it was in Shandong...

That's a bit troublesome.

Adapting to local conditions and adapting to the times is the truth taught by teachers.

Guanzhong and Shandong are very different in terms of politics, talents, geography, population, economy, etc.

It can even be said that the approach implemented in Guanzhong is definitely not suitable for promotion in Shandong, and corresponding adjustments must be made.

But now Fei Qian encountered a problem.

If he were the emperor, he would have enough power and authority to implement his governance strategy in a drastic manner, and would have the power to redefine the systems and responsibilities of each state, county, and township.

But Fei Qian is not that now.

Once we march into Guanzhong, we will inevitably face this problem.

The Emperor of the Han Dynasty.

Although some people including Pang Tong secretly wanted to push Fei Qian up and made some attempts, Fei Qian did not express his opinion immediately, nor did he think this was a good thing.

The emperor is supreme, but at the same time, it is lonely at the top.

Like now, Fei Qian can bring a small army and dozens of guards to the riverside, and no one will think there is any problem. But once he really sits on that position, his every move will be greatly restricted at any time. If he wants to go deep into the people, he often can't bend down or crouch down.

China has a thousand-year-old tradition, and those who can remain sober in the face of absolute authority are rare.

Fei Qian didn't think he really had such strong willpower and control that he could really change his position and still maintain his original stance...

What if he is affected by his butt? Wouldn’t he become a new evil dragon?

So if we still retain the emperor, there will also be problems.

Although Fei Qian is now almost separated from the entire old Han Dynasty, he is still nominally controlled by the Han Dynasty court. If he wants to completely break away from the Han Dynasty court to carry out reforms and improvements, he will inevitably fall into the same dilemma as Cao Cao.

Moreover, Fei Qian's "external affairs" were not just about the problems of the sons of the gentry in Shandong, but also about the ordinary people in Shandong.

Even though Fei Qian had already taken control of Guanzhong, stationed in Chang'an, and nominally obtained the Shangshutai in Xijing, there were still local people in Hedong who stopped Fei Qian's carriage and begged for mercy and spoke good words for their master...

Empathy with capital is not unique to the United States in later generations!

Fei Qian looked at the surging water and thought of the Nai Tou Le theory of later generations.

In ancient feudal dynasties, although there was no clear theoretical concept of "Naitou Music", the rulers did provide entertainment activities, religious rituals or cultural policies to divert people's hatred and resentment about social contradictions and class differences, thereby maintaining the stability of their rule.

Just like in the Eastern Han Dynasty, gambling was already very popular in the market, and the government would especially promote and publicize when certain people won the jackpot, and then suddenly turned their fortunes around and became well-off, and then let those ignorant people also invest in various gambling projects, thereby squeezing the people's few remaining disposable money and ensuring that the people struggled on the survival line.

This policy continued into the subsequent feudal dynasties, and the rules of the game were almost the same. It reached its climax during the Song Dynasty, and almost everyone in the society participated in it...

There are similar methods abroad. For example, ancient Rome appeased the civilian class by distributing free bread and holding large-scale public entertainment activities. The typical example is gladiators. This bloody act of creating idols and exciting performances attracted a large number of people and became an outlet for social emotions. This official or semi-official act of creating gladiator stars shifted the public's attention to sensory stimulation and basic survival needs, which naturally reduced protests against political corruption or social injustice.

The people of Shandong have been holding on to their naitou for hundreds of years. What will happen if it is suddenly torn off now?

Just crying twice is already considered good.

I am afraid that more of them will be exploited by local gentry and local tyrants.

When Chen Sheng and Wu Guang shouted in the Great Lake, the whole country knew about it immediately; when the Yellow Turban bandits raised their arms and called out, the whole world responded...

The easiest way, of course, is to find a new one and stuff it back before the people start crying.

But this is obviously only a temporary solution and not a fundamental solution, and it can't even be considered a temporary solution.

Just like those in later generations who know that the laws of the country cannot be violated, but there are still many brainless fans who will howl and say, "What's wrong with pigeons?"

After all, even if Fei Qian occupied Shandong, it would be impossible for him to immediately have enough manpower to replace the new Naizui.

While he was thinking, a group of people came from a distance. It was Pang Tong.

"My Lord! I found out..." Pang Tong jumped off his horse, his fat body trembling twice, "The soil that Wenyuan brought back is Yin soil..."

"What soil?" Fei Qian didn't understand for a moment.

"Yin soil is the soil inside tombs..." Pang Tong explained.

Yin soil has two meanings. One is the soil used to seal the tomb as Pang Tong said, and the other is black soil without insects, which is more suitable for plant growth. Of course, these two meanings are similar to some extent. After all, for the people of the Han Dynasty, they would rather have evergreen trees growing on their graves than insects.

"So... Cao's army is digging tombs in Yique?" Fei Qian understood.

Pang Tong nodded, holding his chin with his hand, and raised his head slightly and said, "I think it may be more than that... Cao's army must have made some arrangements..."