Thus, from the beginning of the melee of the princes in various places, the conditions for conscription were constantly lowered, from the original age of twenty-three, to the age of twenty, to the age of sixteen, seven, and eight, in short, younger and younger men were forced to join the army, and many of them, even unworldly teenagers, had to carry weapons into battle.

What is even more tragic is that some old and healthy people are also forcibly recruited into the army when there is an extreme shortage of soldiers.

These old people, some of them are close to the sixtieth year, they are frail and sickly, and it is difficult for them to even walk, let alone go to the battlefield to fight, and they are only sent to die in vain when they go to the battlefield, and even before they reach the battlefield, they are very likely to die of disease and fatigue.

But the war years were so cruel that no one would give up fighting because of sympathy for these old and weak, unless they really couldn't fight, otherwise, even if they fought to the last soldier, the princes would not give up fighting.

So often after a war is over, the population of that place will wither, ten rooms and nine empty, and all that is left are the old and weak, women and children.

Under Cao Cao's rule, Yanzhou became strong in a few years, not only was the economy rich, the people were rich, and the people got a rare peace.

However, this comfortable situation did not last long, because Cao Cao's father and family were killed by Zhang Min, a subordinate of Xuzhou Mu Taoqian, so Cao Cao led the whole army of Yanzhou to conquer Xuzhou in grief and anger to take revenge.

Cao Cao's behavior, although reasonable, was unreasonable.

Because although Yanzhou in Cao Cao and many capable ministers with the joint efforts, quickly became strong, but in any case, Yanzhou development time is not long, so the strength is relatively limited, with the power of Yanzhou a state, to conquer Xuzhou, which is also a large state, is undoubtedly dangerous, not to mention that Yanzhou is in the hinterland of the Central Plains, surrounded by enemies, a careless, may be found by other princes to take advantage of, not only can not take revenge, even the hometown may not be protected.

Therefore, long before Cao Cao ordered the crusade against Tao Qian, Xun Yu and Guo Jia and other strategists were ready for a sneak attack on Yanzhou and built defenses in various important places in Yanzhou.

After Cao's army set out on the expedition, these tasks fell on Xun Yu and Cheng Yu, who stayed in Yanzhou.

Because of their integrity, they angered Cao Cao, who was in a rage, so they ordered them to stay in Yanzhou and not let them

Peer.

Also staying in Yanzhou is Liu Ye, who has just arrived here.

He is Guo Jia's best friend, who has known him since he was a child, and defected to Cao Cao at Guo Jia's invitation.

But not long after he arrived here, there was a major event that Cao Cao's family was killed and Cao Cao was going to attack Xuzhou.

And as a newcomer, he is Guo Jia's best friend, and now that the army is on the march, he should have taken this opportunity to exercise his knowledge and strategy, but he didn't expect Guo Jia to let him stay.

Although he is also very good at governing places, after all, Liu Ye and Guo Jia have learned the same, both are the art of war and strategy to defeat the enemy, and now the army is on the march, this is a good opportunity to give full play to Liu Ye's expertise and get ahead.

Unexpectedly, it was rare to encounter such a good opportunity, but his friend Guo Jia offered to let him stay in Yanzhou with Xun Yu and Cheng Yu, which was tantamount to letting Liu Ye miss a great opportunity to show his talents.

Therefore, although Guo Jia is his best friend, and Liu Ye himself is kind, he is still sullen when he encounters such a thing.

In the blink of an eye, it had been several months since the army entered Xuzhou, which was quite a long period for the people and officials of Yanzhou.

Because of the need for a steady supply of food, grass and materials to the army at the front, the resources accumulated in Yanzhou over the years were quickly exhausted.

But at this time, Cao Jun was stranded in Xuzhou, and there was no sign of ending the war, and bad news came one after another.

First of all, the Qingzhou Army rebelled, and the bad news of the slaughter of the people of Xuzhou everywhere spread to Yanzhou, not only the people of Yanzhou were surprised, but even Xun Yu and them were shocked.

This news is even no less than the murder of Cao Cao's family, and the situation when Cao Cao wanted to attack Xuzhou was bad, because once this matter reached the other princes, Cao Cao would become the target of public criticism, and it was very likely that the other princes would attack him en masse.

At this time, if you let it go, not only the Cao army in Xuzhou will be attacked, but even Yanzhou behind you will be in danger.

As a result, Xun Yu and Cheng Yu had to send people to run around, lobbying the princes everywhere, or luring or coercing, so that they did not start a war against Cao Cao for the time being.

But even if they tried their best, it was only to temporarily appease the princes everywhere

After a long time, even Wang Zuozhi like Xun Yu had nothing to do.

But the bad news came from Xuzhou again, that is, the military advisor Guo Jia was actually imprisoned by Cao Cao.

For a while, Xun Yu and the others couldn't believe that such a thing had happened.

This Guo Jia was deeply favored by Cao Cao's strategist, so at a young age, he became the military advisor of Cao Cao's army and accompanied Cao Cao on an expedition to Xuzhou.

Such an honor, even Xun Yu does not have, which shows that Cao Cao's trust and love for Guo Jia are above everyone.

But under such circumstances, Guo Jia was actually imprisoned by Cao Cao.

If Xun You hadn't seen it with his own eyes, he wouldn't have believed that such a ridiculous thing had happened.

For a while, heavy worries were accumulated in everyone's hearts, even if Xun Yu and Cheng Yu had great talents, they were helpless when they encountered such a thing.

They are in Yanzhou, and even if they want to do something, they can't do anything.

What's more, everyone still doesn't know if Cao Cao is relieved of their previous confrontation? Even if Cao Cao didn't care about the past, it would be difficult for them to make Cao Cao change his mind.

Maybe after they speak out, they will add fuel to the fire, such as Guo Jia, who has been favored by Cao Cao, is also imprisoned in the military prison, not to mention that the two of them have been warned by Cao Cao once before, and if they collide with Cao Cao again, maybe even they will be imprisoned.

It happened to be an eventful time, and once they were locked up, it really was over.

Guo Jia, who is in a military prison, also thinks the same way.

Although they were in two places, their letters never stopped.

They corresponded with each other and exchanged opinions, so Cao Jun and Yanzhou were safe and sound, which was the result of the silent efforts of these strategists behind the scenes.

But after Guo Jia was imprisoned, Xun Yu and the others were even more lonely, even if there was a Xun Yu there, they were powerless to return to the sky.

However, fortunately, the rebellion of the Qingzhou Army temporarily solved the problem of money and food.

They plundered the people everywhere, eating everything they could eat, taking everything they could, destroying everything they could not take, and not even sparing the burial goods in the graves of the dead.