Chapter 413 The lord's food is returned in full, the people's (three)
Chapter 413: The gentry’s food is returned in full, and the common people’s... (three-in-one)
Here in Nanyang, as soon as Yuan Shu's order came out, emergency action was taken.
A large number of civilians were urgently requisitioned, and a large amount of rice was continuously transported to large ships docked on the riverside.
After the boat was filled, it did not stop, but was immediately escorted by soldiers, all the way down the Han River, and then along the river towards Wu County...
He was not worried at all about being kidnapped by Liu Biao, and even wished he could be kidnapped by Liu Biao...
And Yuan Shu is also constantly looking for those wealthy families...
Five hundred thousand shi of rice is not a small amount.
But for Nanyang as a whole, it can't be counted as much.
As the imperial hometown of the Eastern Han Dynasty, this place is not ordinary prosperous.
After Luoyang was destroyed, Nanyang can be said to be the most prosperous county in the Han Dynasty today.
Not only does it have a large population and wealthy people, but it also has a large area, far exceeding that of an average county.
Coupled with the political background accumulated by the fourth and third sons of the Yuan family, Yuan Shu, as the legitimate son of the Yuan family and the governor of Nanyang, personally went out to beg for rice from these wealthy families, and the harvest was not small.
Of course, a large part of the reason is that Yuan Shu said that the rice was borrowed.
After capturing Jingzhou, we will return it to them...
"My lord, there is news from Jingzhou that uncle Liu Huang sent an envoy with his letter to scold Liu Biao on the pretext that Liu Biao, the shepherd of Jingzhou, was secretly hiding traitors from Yizhou.
Liu Biao is required to hand over the traitors and pay a compensation of 300,000 shi of grain, otherwise, they will send troops to crush Jingzhou!"
Yang Hong, the chief minister, came in a hurry and reported this to Yuan Shu.
When Yuan Shu heard this, he stayed where he was for a long time.
Suddenly he laughed, clapped his legs with his hands and said: "Liu Cheng, my son, how dare you say that you have no idea about Jingzhou?!
If you had no idea, would you make such an arrangement?!"
Yang Hong was stunned when he heard this.
What is going on?
The first time I got the news, what I thought of was that Liu Cheng was begging for a large amount of rice from his lord while doing such a thing in Jingzhou. It was most likely a fraud.
If you can't help it, you will want to waste the food delivered by your lord.
Why is it that now that we are here with our lord, our own lord is slapping his legs and laughing?
Yang Hong asked Yuan Shu about his doubts.
Yuan Shu laughed when he heard this and said: "Things come easy.
When Master Yan met Liu Cheng in Wu County, Liu Cheng once told Master Yan that it didn't matter whether he took Jingzhou or not.
However, he arranged a trick in advance and asked people to come with a letter to reprimand Liu Biao and ask for food from Liu Biao.
From this it can be seen that this person has deliberate plans for Jingzhou.
It's not like what he said at all. It doesn't matter whether he fights or not.
He said this before just to keep him from letting go and to let me wait until I give him rice."
When Yang Hong heard this, he couldn't help but be stunned. Looking at Yuan Shu's happy look, he became even more confused.
According to what his lord said, it meant that even if his side and others could not produce food, Liu Cheng would have originally sent troops to attack Jingzhou. This would mean that his side had lost half a million stone of rice.
What's so exciting about this?
Yuan Shu seemed to notice his confusion and immediately explained with a smile.
"The five hundred thousand shi of rice seems to be given to me for free, but it is not.
With these 500,000 shi of rice, we can temporarily ally with Liu Cheng, and it is more natural to gain Jingzhou.
As long as Liu Cheng doesn't take action against us, I don't care at all about the other people who may compete for Jingzhou!
None of them are my rival!
Otherwise, if we just bring our soldiers and horses to take advantage, we are afraid that Liu Cheng will attack us.
Judging from this point alone, these five hundred thousand shi of rice are worth the money..."
Yang Hong thought for a while and nodded, agreeing with Yuan Shu's idea.
After nodding, he spoke again: "My lord, my subordinates have some worries and always feel that Liu Cheng's motives are impure.
On the one hand, he begged us for 500,000 shi of rice, and on the other hand, he sent an envoy to Liu Biao to scold Liu Biao and beg for the traitor and 300,000 shi of grain. This...
This looks like it’s eating both sides…”
He expressed his concerns.
When Yuan Shu heard this, he was speechless for a moment, lowering his head and thinking about things.
After doing this for a while, he said: "This thing may happen.
But it's unlikely.
As I said before, Liu Cheng planned the means to target Jingzhou in advance, which shows that he had some thoughts about Jingzhou.
What you get from conquering Jingzhou is not just as simple as 300,000 shi or 500,000 shi of food and grass.
Even if he has no intention of occupying Jingzhou, capturing Jingzhou would still be of great benefit to him.
It's not like Liu Cheng doesn't have the strength to eat up such temptation, he's afraid he won't be able to resist it.
Moreover, I heard a piece of news about Liu Cheng from Master Yan before, which made me even more convinced that things are as I thought."
"What news?"
Yang Hong asked aloud.
Yuan Shu said: "Liu Cheng once talked to Lord Yan, and he was anxious to go back and get a wife.
Who is Liu Cheng's fiancée?
One is the granddaughter of Dong Zhuo, and the other is the daughter of Cai Yong.
Let’s not mention Cai Yong’s daughter for now, let’s just talk about Dong Zhuo’s granddaughter.
Dong Zhuo's family has a great business, and since Dong Bai is his only granddaughter, he must be generous.
Liu Cheng was born into a poor family. Although he has accumulated some family fortune, compared with Dong Zhuo, it is limited after all.
From this point of view, it is said that Dong Bai married Liu Cheng, but in fact, Liu Cheng seemed to be a wife.
It's just ordinary people. People like Liu Cheng, I'm afraid they will feel unfair in their hearts and care about it very much.
This is why he continues to ask for food from Liu Biao and us.
Eight hundred thousand shi of grain seemed like a lot, but compared with Dong Zhuo, who had a big family and a huge business, it was still not enough.
Now that he has the opportunity, he will definitely take action against Jingzhou in order to get more..."
After listening to Yuan Shu's analysis, Chang Shi Yang Hong couldn't help but nodded, feeling that Yuan Shu's words were very reasonable.
A person like Liu Cheng must be very concerned about this.
With this in mind, when we look at what he did at this time, everything makes sense!
Liu Cheng, who was fishing in Wu County, was unaware of the conversation between Yuan Shu and Yang Hong.
If you knew it, you would be stunned.
Who says he hates this?
Who says he doesn't like to eat soft rice?
In later generations, friends around him will all be able to say to auntie, "Auntie, I don't want to work hard anymore."
Now that he has come to this era, he still meets Bai Fumei, who is younger than himself. How delicious is this soft rice!
Why not eat?
As for the psychological burden...
How could this happen?
He can only enjoy...
It can only be said that Yuan Shu is thinking too much this time.
Using one's own thinking to infer Liu Cheng's thinking from later generations failed miserably.
The difference in thinking between the two is almost two thousand years. There are huge differences in their views on some things. On some things, they are even essentially different.
Under such circumstances, it would be strange if Yuan Shu could grasp Liu Cheng's thoughts.
Here, after some analysis by Yuan Shu and Yang Hong, Liu Cheng became more determined in his idea of sending troops out of Jingzhou.
It can be said that once this person has determined a certain idea in his mind, no matter what happens in the future, he will be able to automatically give a corresponding explanation in his mind and rely on the result he has determined, so that others can
Become a favorable support for the results you have determined in your heart...
After this experience, Yuan Shu and others began to prepare more actively for it.
Prepare to follow Liu Cheng and take over Jingzhou.
Of course, he and his men also formulated several goals, preparing to attack this place after Liu Cheng started to attack Jingzhou and capture it, so as not to cause trouble to Liu Cheng...
…
…
Here in Wu County, Liu Cheng watched the large ships and large ships of rice arriving one after another, not to mention how happy he was.
Thinking about it, his original intention was to catch Liu Biao.
Who would have thought that Yuan Shu, the silly son of a landlord, would bump into him like this?
With the attitude of giving it a try, I fished and actually got a big deal!
This Yuan Shu is really a good person!
Looking at the large amount of rice, Liu Cheng sent Yuan Shu a good guy card without hesitation.
"Uncle Emperor, my lord has shown his sincerity very strongly. In the next few days, there will be a steady flow of rice delivered.
Give him enough of the five hundred thousand stones that the emperor's uncle said.
Please also ask the emperor to prepare himself and send troops to attack Jingzhou."
Yuan Shu, who came with the first batch of rice, looked at Liu Cheng and said this.
Hearing this, Liu Cheng said with a smile: "Master Yan, please rest assured, we will always be prepared."
Liu Cheng said this.
After thinking for a while, he said: "Let them carry the food here while I take Master Yan to see the military appearance of my subordinates."
Yan Xiang naturally agreed happily...
…
"Beat the drum! Gather the generals!"
Liu Cheng came to the Wu County military camp and gave these orders.
Immediately some soldiers beat the war drums.
Make a rumbling sound.
The soldiers who seemed a little loose just now quickly gathered together.
Officers at all levels shouted, "Gather! Emergency gathering!"
Among them, the soldiers and horses Liu Cheng brought from Guanzhong moved the fastest.
It's almost an instinctive reaction.
Relatively speaking, the soldiers and horses led by Li Yan, Yan Yan and others who had gathered here were much worse.
It seems a bit messy.
It wasn't until the troops and horses from Guanzhong had assembled for a while that they were finally assembled one after another.
Although it took a long time, compared with the soldiers and horses in Guanzhong, the queues and the like were still inferior.
It can be said that it is far worse.
On weekdays, these people also feel that they are elite soldiers and are proud of their speed of gathering.
However, after encountering the soldiers and horses that Liu Cheng had led for a long time, their pride was suddenly shattered.
If other soldiers and horses do this, they may be able to say that they must gather quickly and line up neatly, but that's it.
It's of no use.
Fighting requires hard work, not just gathering quickly and lining up neatly.
However, facing the soldiers and horses in Guanzhong, they could not think of such thoughts, and they could not say similar words no matter what.
After all, the troops from Guanzhong came all the way!
But even so, Yan Xiang, who was standing here watching, was still shocked.
Through comparison, he found that even those soldiers and horses that were much slower to assemble and were not in neat formation were much stronger than the soldiers and horses led by his lord!
Only the soldiers and horses under Sun Jian and Sun Wentai can be compared with them!
No wonder Liu Cheng was able to capture Yizhou so quickly. It turned out that he actually had such a tiger and wolf warrior under his command!
"Meet the Emperor!"
Hundreds of generals, large and small, came to Liu Cheng and greeted him in unison.
"Meet the Emperor!!"
The rest of the soldiers lined up in formation, as well as low-level officers, followed suit and shouted in unison.
There were nearly thirty thousand soldiers present.
Everyone roared in unison, and the voices merged together to make a deafening sound, like rolling thunder!
Yan Xiang's eyes were filled with brilliance as he watched.
Liu Cheng stood on the commander's platform, waved the flag himself, mobilized the troops and horses, and asked the troops to follow the flag, and made some maneuvers.
I can't say it's neat and tidy, but it can still be orderly...
…
"How are my troops doing?
Is it majestic enough?"
After practicing for a while, Liu Cheng asked the troops to disperse and asked Yan Xiang, who was looking a little stunned.
Yan Xiang said with emotion: "The command is like an arm, the troops are in uniform order, and the orders and prohibitions are carried out. This is really the image of a strong army!
It’s truly majestic!”
Liu Cheng laughed and said: "Let's go, Master Yan, follow me to see the water village!
There are many waterways in Jingzhou, so it would be impossible without a navy army."
"I would like to follow my uncle and see a strong army."
Yan Xiang said quickly.
But I somewhat disagreed in my heart, after all, most of Liu Cheng's men were soldiers brought from Guanzhong.
I have never been to Dajiang before.
Most are not accustomed to water.
Liu Cheng had troops under his command and the army was strong. Yan Xiang expressed shock and understanding.
But the navy...
He really didn't think Liu Cheng's navy could be that powerful.
The naval army needs soldiers who are proficient in water-based warfare, and it also needs generals who are proficient in water warfare.
In the past, I had not heard of many powerful naval generals in Yizhou, and there were not many soldiers under Liu Cheng who were familiar with the nature of water.
Liu Cheng had only been in Yizhou for a short time.
Even as soon as Yizhou was captured, local people in Yizhou who were familiar with water began to be recruited as naval forces for training.
The navy under his command is also not much stronger!
…
War drums were rumbling on the riverside, the ship was advancing steadily, and there were many swords and guns on board.
After giving the order, arrows flew like locusts!
With the sound of war drums or the waving of flags on the warships, many small boats suddenly dispersed like a flock of wild ducks with excellent water ability, flapped their wings, and rushed towards the surroundings.
They suddenly came together again.
On ships of all sizes, soldiers are walking on the ground, skilled in the use of bows, arrows, and swords...
Looking at the scene before him, Yan Xiang was stunned for a moment...
Is this the Yizhou navy that I had thought about before and thought it would not work?
this……
Yan Xiang didn't know what to say for a moment. He just felt a bit slapped in the face and felt full of shock.
How did Uncle Liu Huang obtain such a naval army in such a short period of time?!
"We have two good generals in our navy, one is Zhang Liao and the other is Gan Ning.
Although Zhang Liao was from the north, he was good at learning.
Gan Ning is very good at water...
After the two got the army, they practiced non-stop, and now they have achieved some success..."
Liu Cheng said this to the stunned Yan Xiang with a smile.
"How about it?
Is it possible that this kind of troops can defeat Jingzhou?"
Liu Cheng asked Yan Xiang with a smile.
Yan Xiang lamented: "The army is strong and the navy is also strong. With the emperor's uncle at his disposal, Jingzhou has nothing to fear!"
…
After leaving Liu Cheng, Yan Xiang immediately wrote a letter and asked someone to send it to Yuan Shu as soon as possible.
Inform Yuan Shu of the news he saw today.
Let Yuan Shu not worry and speed up the delivery of food...
…
Here in Jingzhou, Liu Biao has always been troubled.
At this time, what he was struggling with was no longer whether to hand over Lou Zhong and others.
Instead, it became a matter of whether to give Liu Cheng 300,000 shi of food.
It's not that I can't afford three hundred thousand shi of food, but I just don't want to pay because it's too painful.
“Don’t pay! Don’t pay!
Don’t pay anything!
That’s 300,000 shi of food!
Not three hundred stones, three thousand stones!"
Liu Biao lost his temper here.
"He is a traitor, he can't even hope to get a grain of food from me!
I won't pay him a grain of grain!
Come and hit me if you can!!"
Liu Biao said this and slapped the table hard.
Angry and extremely determined.
As a result, at this moment, someone came in a hurry.
"Yuan Shu in Nanyang is sending a large amount of grain to Liu Cheng.
The spies received news that Liu Cheng had reached an agreement with Yuan Shu.
Yuan Shu gave Liu Cheng 500,000 shi of rice and invited Liu Cheng to lead his troops to attack Jingzhou..."
Liu Biao, who was furious and said that he would not give Liu Cheng food, could not sit still for a while.
"Is this true?!"
He asked hurriedly.
"true!"
"Send troops to snatch Yuan Shu's shameless food!!"
Liu Biao clenched his fist and said loudly.
After saying that, he calmed down and sighed: "Forget it, let's do this differently."
He really didn't dare to do this.
After all, at this time, the grain no longer belonged to Liu Biao, but to Liu Cheng.
It's okay if he doesn't give Liu Cheng food. If he really robs Liu Cheng of food again, I'm afraid Liu Cheng's troops will leave Jingzhou faster.
"Yuan Shu, this guy has no face at all!
If you invite Liu Cheng to send troops to Jingzhou, aren't you afraid that he himself will be destroyed in the end?
How stupid!"
He cursed Yuan Shu loudly.
But scolding won't solve the problem.
After scolding for a while and letting out a breath of anger, he quickly sent someone to notify Kuai Liang, and Cai Mao and others came over to discuss countermeasures...
After they left, Liu Biao couldn't help but sigh.
When things have reached this point, and Yuan Shu is acting randomly, there is no other way but to act according to Liu Cheng's request.
Despite what he said there, he said he would let Liu Cheng come and beat him if he had the ability. In fact, he was really worried that Liu Cheng would send troops to beat him.
At this time, people were sent to invite Kuai Liang and others over. In fact, the main purpose was not to discuss how to deal with this matter, but to discuss how to produce the three hundred thousand shi of food.
Just let him go out, but he won't...
Kuai Liang, Cai Mao and others had also learned about the magical operation performed by Yuan Shu.
Under this premise, when you see the people sent by Liu Biao, you basically understand Liu Biao's thoughts.
After meeting Liu Biao, there was basically no unnecessary excess, and they directly began to discuss the matter of paying Liu Cheng 300,000 shi of food...
"...I think we can call on people from all over Jingzhou to donate food.
First mobilize aristocratic families and powerful families to donate.
After they donated, many people would donate.
When the time comes, secretly return the food from the aristocratic family, and use the remaining food to be transported to Liu Cheng.
If there is any leftover, we won’t divide it up, it’s all yours, Jingsheng.”
After discussing for a while, Cai Hao couldn't help it when he saw that no one was talking about the main point and were going around in circles.
Open your mouth and say this
On the one hand, his personality is relatively straightforward.
On the other hand, he is Liu Biao's brother-in-law, and he is considered a family member, so it is easier to talk to him, which is different from ordinary people.
Liu Biao couldn't help but frown when he heard Cai Mao's words.
After waiting for a moment, he shook his head and said: "This won't work, it's too slow.
Yuan Shu's guy has already started delivering food there.
After our operation, when we get enough food, I'm afraid Liu Chengdu will have already come over with his troops and horses."
Kuai Liang said: "What my lord said is absolutely true.
You really can't do this.
However, we can think of a compromise.
We can provide the food first and give it to Liu Cheng first.
While giving, we will call on everyone here in Jingzhou to donate food.
After everyone has donated food, the three hundred thousand dan given to Liu Cheng will be deducted from the food received.
The rest belongs to the lord..."
This is really a good idea, and it has led to excessive consumption.
According to what they said, Liu Biao, who had been robbed of 300,000 shi of grain by Liu Cheng, would not only not lose money, but also make a profit.
Of course, these aristocratic families will also not suffer losses and will also make some profits.
Although Cai Mao, Kuai Liang and others said that all the remaining grain would belong to Liu Biao, Liu Biao did not dare to take it all.
From now on, everyone will have to work together, and Liu Biao still needs to rely on them here in Jingzhou. How can he be able to live alone?
"So, I'm afraid there's something wrong with it."
Liu Biao said this.
But after being a little reserved for a while, I agreed to this approach.
He was asked to provide 300,000 shi of grain alone, but he did not want to provide it.
Kuai Liang and other wealthy people didn't want to think about it, so they had no choice but to do this.
Anyway, those at the lower level have little say and no ability to resist.
The reason why he wants to gain a foothold in Jingzhou is not the useless people, but the big families who have great power and status in Jingzhou...
Of course, in addition to this reason, Kuai Liang also gave another reason.
The reason is that through this incident, the people in Jingzhou can become enemies of the same enemy.
After all, if Liu Cheng had not forced them to ask for food, they would not have asked the people for food.
Tell ordinary people in Jingzhou what they want to know. These people in Jingzhou will definitely annoy Liu Cheng according to their wishes, but will not resent them...
…
"My lord, do you want to meet Lou Zhong and the others?"
When Liu Biao heard this, he closed his eyes and waved his hand tiredly: "It's still gone.
Remember to tell them that it’s not that I, Liu Biao, don’t want to keep them, it’s Liu Cheng who won’t let go..."
Soon, there was also a team transporting grain and grass here in Jingzhou, and they quickly set off towards Wu County...
"The six countries are vying to bribe Qin!"
Here in Jingzhou, some people sigh with their hands behind their hands...