[Three Kingdoms] Seven steps into wetness

What kind of person is Sun Ce?

In this era of separatist regimes, capable people emerge in large numbers.Yang Xiu has analyzed almost all the heroes these days.From each person's fortune to failure, starting from their personalities, they are analyzed in detail in simple terms.

Sun Ce is no exception.

Cao Zhi sighed while listening, it would be a waste for Yang Xiu not to become a psychologist.

"Sun Ce is based in Jiangdong. On the surface, he can only inherit the foundation of his father, Sun Jian, but this is not the case. What he inherited from Sun Jian is not an inch of land, but more than 1000 officers and soldiers from the old army."

"When Sun Ce came to power, Fang was eighteen, but now he is only 26. Sun Ce is loyal, filial and honest, and has recruited a large number of talents for Jiangdong. Among them, Zhou Yu should be the most worthy of attention; Sun Ce himself is brave and good at fighting. In just eight years, from More than 1000 people have grown to occupy the five counties of Kuaiji, Wu, Danyang, Yuzhang, Luling, and Lujiang County in the north of the Yangtze River, and they are well-deserved young heroes."

When Yang Xiu said this, his expression of admiration subsided, and there was a vague contempt in his eyes.

"However, although Sun Ce is powerful, the situation in Jiangdong is not optimistic. The people in Jiangdong are mixed. Most of the soldiers and civilians in the mountainous areas are under the control of powerful clans and marshals, and are not recruited by Sun Ce; Don’t dare to follow Sun Ce lightly.”

"Because of Sun Ce's sudden death, Li Shu, the prefect of Lujiang under Sun Ce's command, refused to take power and rebelled. Most of the scholar-bureaucrats who originally planned to join Sun Ce also wanted to return home, and the members of Sun Ce's family even more wanted to join Duke Cao."

"This so-called tree falls and monkeys scatter, we must be sad."

At this time, anyone who raises troops to deal with the Sun family members, Jiang Dong is just in his pocket.

——It's a pity that Cao Jun and Yuan Jun are in a stalemate in Guandu, and Liu Bei can't protect himself. No one can eat such a piece of fat for a while.

When Cao Zhi heard the words, he also sighed in his heart.If Emperor Xian's plot succeeds in Cao Cao's death, no matter whether the heir is Cao Pi or not, someone in the camp will definitely disband.At that time, will the foundation laid by my father disappear in the long river of history?

Seeing him pondering deeply, Yang Xiu continued: "That being said, the situation in Jiangdong is not too bad. Before Sun Ce died, his younger brother Sun Quan was appointed to inherit his will. As far as I know, Sun Quan was young and resourceful. Down."

"Sun Quan?"

"That's right. Jiangdong's children have many talents. I don't know how you will compare to Sun Quan when you are 19 years old."

Regardless of what Sun Quan did after he inherited Jiangdong, the struggle between Cao and Yuan's armies has reached a critical stage.

Cao Zhang went to the battlefield with his father, Cao Chong didn't know much, so Cao Zhi and Cao Pi often followed Xun Yu to understand the battle situation.Including Cao Cao worried about the lack of food and grass, and wanted to return to Xuchang as a teacher.

Xun Yu put this matter to the test of Cao Pi and Cao Zhi, and asked them what to do.

Cao Pi said: "Food and grass have been an important condition for deciding a stalemate war since ancient times. Now our side is poor, but Yuan Fang has enough food and grass. In addition, the longer my father stayed at Guandu, the more unstable the army's morale. So Pi thought that our army should go home."

Xun Yu frowned more and more.

After a long time, he said slowly: "Where is the fourth young master?"

As the commander-in-chief of Cao Jun's rear, Xun Yu's grasp of finances is naturally not comparable to them.Although Xun Yu asked him this, he still had a conclusion in his heart.And this conclusion, Cao Zhi does not think it will be the same as Cao Pi.

Cao Zhi then looked up at Xun Yu, and said seriously, "What Master Xun thinks, so Zhi Zhi thinks."

Cao Pi was stunned for a moment, then burst out laughing.He flicked the child's nose, happily watching the child cover his nose and look aggrieved: "Little devil!"

Xun Yu was also stunned for a moment, then smiled and patted his head, and immediately wrote a letter of divorce: "Yuan Shao gathered troops at Guandu, and wanted to fight the Duke. The Duke is weak and strong. If he can't be controlled, he must To be taken advantage of... This is an opportunity to win by surprise, and it must not be missed."

After sending the letter, he stroked his beard and sighed instead.

He could predict that Cao Cao's confidence would increase a lot after receiving the letter, but no matter how much confidence our side has, food and grass will be a big problem after all.

When the battle lasted until September, Yuan Shao was unfavorable in the battle and suffered a lot of setbacks.However, Cao Jun seemed to be in a desperate situation of running out of food.

However, the people in Xuchang were trapped in labor and tax, and some people even starved to death by the roadside.Xun Yu was able to give porridge to appease at first, but later the food could not supply so many people, so he could only sigh helplessly.

Under this situation, people who were hungry began to resist the imperial court with iron rods and other utensils.

The most serious one was when Cao Zhi and Cao Pi were walking on the road and were surrounded by more than ten people.In order to protect his younger brother, Cao Pi was smashed on his forehead, dripping with blood.

After the Bian family invited a doctor to bandage Cao Pi, Cao Pi overturned the medicine bowl in a rage: "Father is fighting for life and death at Guandu, but they are so noisy. Aren't they afraid that Yuan Shao will take the opportunity to attack Xuchang after the soldiers starve to death?"

Cao Zhi looked at the young man's uncontrollable irritability, and ordered him to boil the medicine again without changing his face.

In fact, Cao Cao left some soldiers and horses, and he had expected this situation when he ordered Cao Pi to guard Xuchang.What their father asked their elder brother to do, in fact, was nothing more than to hold on to the word.It's a pity that Cao Pi is only a 14-year-old boy, and he was almost entirely dependent on Xun Yu.

After Cao Pi vented for a while, Cao Zhi said calmly: "Now that the war is stalemate and there is a shortage of food and grass, it is normal for the people to be afraid. Not only are they afraid, but I am also very afraid."

Cao Pi was silent.

Cao Zhi said again: "People are unbearably hungry. Although Lord Xun has suppressed some of the rebels, he will still have to provide food for porridge tomorrow."

Cao Pi took a deep breath: "Giving porridge is easy to say, but it's too difficult to do! Not to mention that I, Xuchang, have no food at all, even if I have, I should give it to my father first!"

Cao Zhi frowned.After a while, he slowly said: "But Xuchang is our root. If Xuchang is in chaos, it means that the roots of the big tree are rotten. No matter how vigorous the branches and leaves are, the tree is already dead."

Although there was still anger on Cao Pi's face, he finally calmed down: "But we have no food at all, where does the porridge come from?"

Cao Zhi thought for a moment, and then said carefully: "Actually, I heard from my husband yesterday... Although it is not a drought era, the price of grain in Xuchang is as high as a thousand dollars due to the war. But in Jingzhou and Jiangdong, it is only three hundred dollars a stone. We can go to Dedicated to the emperor and collected from Liu Biao and Sun Quan."

When Cao Pi heard this, he sat down and sighed: "Those two people must use various reasons to shirk!"

Cao Zhi smiled and said, "That's right, but it's on the bright side. In the dark, we can borrow someone else's hands to buy a batch of grain."

"... Where's the money?"

Cao Zhi smiled slyly: "Sir, the merchants in Xu County have a lot of property, and the second brother can ask them for it."

Since Xuchang is the capital of the Han Dynasty, it has naturally gathered a group of merchants over the years.The imperial courts of all dynasties emphasized agriculture and suppressed business, but they still couldn't stop merchants from making a fortune.

—How to ask them?

Cao Pi opened his eyes wide: "You mean to sell an official to sell a noble?"

This is an era where everything is inferior, and only reading is high.No one knows how urgent the merchants want to elevate their status.The most famous businessmen in history, such as Fan Li and Lu Buwei, all became officials through business.

To take a step back, if the merchants are unwilling, they ask Emperor Xian to make a compulsory donation, so what can they do.

The so-called selling officials to buy nobles refers to exchanging gold and silver materials by selling officials. Although this method can make a fortune for a while, once the buying and selling of officials is rampant, there will be a large number of corpses and vegetarians in the officialdom.Moreover, once those who buy official positions take up their positions, most of them will search for the common people and take them by stealth, so that the common people are destitute.

Therefore, after Cao Gong moved his capital to Xu County, he strictly prohibited this matter.

But this is an extraordinary period, and it is natural to use extraordinary means.If these merchants who buy officials can keep clear for a while, that's all.If not, just find an excuse to kill him in the future.

Cao Pi suddenly got up with a "crack".He took a few steps to the door and rushed out, almost knocking over the maid who brought the medicine again.It was too late to drink the medicine, so he hurriedly found Xun Yu to report to Emperor Xian to discuss the matter.

Cao Zhi looked at his reckless figure and laughed.

It seems easy to say, but it is still difficult to implement. Merchants will definitely accept the call, but the donated food must be insufficient, but gold and silver should be sufficient.

As expected, Liu Biao and Sun Quan really only took out a cart of grain, and presented it to the emperor saying that the land was barren and grainless, and their voices and emotions made people cry.The secret purchase of grain went smoothly. In addition, the people in Jiangdong are now unstable. Many local tyrants are willing to defect to Cao Ying. They brought grain from Jiangdong to ease the plight of Xuchang and even Cao Jun.

It was ten days after the food arrived in Xuchang, and hundreds of people died of starvation.Cao Zhi stood on the city wall with Cao Pi, watching the miserable conditions of the people, feeling unspeakable bitterness in his heart.

Then he heard Cao Pi muttering to himself: "Father will definitely be able to defeat Yuan Jun, definitely will be able to...isn't it?"

He shook his brother's hand and said lightly but firmly, "Yes."

In October, there was not much food left.When Cao Pi was worried and went to discuss with Xun Yu, Xun Yu stroked his beard and said with a smile: "Second son, don't worry, our army will win!"

A few days after he finished speaking, Cao Jun raided Wuchao where Yuan Shao was hoarding grain, and burned all the grain and grass, and Yuan Jun collapsed.Zhang He and Gao Lan burned the attack equipment and led their troops to surrender.However, Yuan Shao and Yuan Tan led the remaining [-] cavalry across the Yellow River and fled back to Jizhou.

Great victory in this battle!

So far, Yuan Shao can no longer fight against Cao Jun, and no one in the north can fight Cao Jun anymore.

The news was sent back to Xuchang, and the streets were empty.

With the victory of this battle, there is no need to worry about the crisis in Xuchang, and Cao Pi is naturally relieved.

He held Cao Zhi's hand and walked on the street, as if his father had just settled here many years ago, and it was the first time he had dragged a five-year-old child along this road.As far as the eye can see, people around are smiling, looking so satisfied and full of hope.

At that time, he thought, what would happen if he was the one who made the people so satisfied one day?

——It must be very pleasant, right?

In the fifth year of Jian'an, Cao Cao defeated Yuan Shao at Guandu.However, Cao's soldiers were exhausted and lacked horses, especially the shortage of rations, which made Cao unable to march further north.In March of the following year, due to lack of food, Cao Jun had to feed on the people of Dongping.

Hou Cao personally led the army to attack Liu Bei, and Bei fled to Jingzhou without fighting.Liu Biao ordered Bei to be stationed in Xinye to guard against Cao Cao.

Cao Pi invited some young talents for an outing in March of the lunar calendar.