Strictly speaking, there was nothing wrong with Chen Gong's idea, because in the case of not being able to get supplies, even Cao Cao himself had to send people to Jiyin County to ask Xiahoudun to raise grain and grass to transport to Puyang. Well...... Perhaps the reason why Cao Cao decided to attack Puyang directly was also due to the fact that if grain could be transported from Jiyin County, the road to Puyang would be the shortest.

And just after Cao Cao led the army to go for about ten days, Cheng Yu led the army back, and at the same time, brought enough grain and grass for the army to consume for more than ten days. It may sound like very little, but you must know that the amount of grain and grass raised in the previous attack on Dong'e is not as good as the amount raised by Cheng Yu this time.

"Zhongde, hard work!" Cao Cao patted Cheng Yu's shoulder and said in a low tone. He didn't ask Cheng Yu how he raised the food, because some things were not suitable to say, and everyone knew in their hearts.

Yes, Cao Cao had already guessed how Cheng Yu had raised these grains, in fact, when Cheng Yu came up with the idea, Cao Cao had already guessed it. After all, in this situation, is there any other way than to raid places? No! And this kind of thing is obviously not suitable for the table.

It is precisely because of this that Cao Cao immediately led his army to Puyang shortly after Cheng Yu left, so that Dong'e and the western part of Dongjun, no matter what happened, had nothing to do with Cao Cao. Because everyone knows that Cao Cao is marching towards Puyang at this time!

"That's what subordinates should do." Cheng Yu replied respectfully, and then changed his words, and said meaningfully, "My lord, the subordinates of the three thousand soldiers think that it is better to organize them into a battalion?" ”

"Well, what Zhong De said is very true." Cao Cao naturally did not understand the meaning of Cheng Yu's words, and immediately, he sent someone to summon Cao Chun over and told him about this matter. After all, no matter what, this army is a soldier under the super pure tent.

And in this regard, Cao Chun naturally would not object, although he didn't know why Cao Cao wanted to organize those 3,000 people into a battalion, but he himself didn't have much affection for this army.

Speaking of which, although Cao Cao handed over this army to Cao Chun for management since the surrender of the Yanzhou Yellow Turban, according to Cao Cao's orders, Cao Chun did not pay much attention to them most of the time, but just constantly picked out from among them people who had not committed many evil things and had good character and quality to form an army of their own. And this carefully selected unit is the unit that Cao Chun has spent countless efforts on training. It's just that, nominally, this unit is just Cao Chun's pro-army, and the troops formed by those Yellow Turban thieves are still the same battalion of soldiers.

Moreover, after Cao Chun saw those grains and grasses, he guessed a little bit. Or not only him, but also Cao Ren and others also have some guesses. After all, there are only a few ways to raise so much food in this situation.

"My lord, when my subordinates were collecting grain and grass, they also got a lot of livestock and game, and now they have been made into dried meat by my subordinates. When you are in a hurry, you can cut the dried meat into small pieces and put it in a pot and boil it into a broth to satisfy the hunger of the soldiers. In this way, a lot of food can be saved. Cheng Yu said respectfully.

"Oh? That's great! Cao Cao was overjoyed when he heard this, and immediately turned Cheng Yu's proposal into an order. And after hearing the news that there was broth to drink, all the soldiers immediately boiled. You must know that during this time, let alone broth, even vegetable soup is difficult to drink!

It's just that that night, Cao Chun hurried to Cao Cao's tent.

"My lord, just now when my subordinates were leading people to monitor that army, I heard a piece of news......" Cao Chun said in a trembling tone.

"Huh? What news made Zihe so flustered? Cao Cao looked at Cao Chun's trembling appearance and asked rather strangely. Cao Chun has been very loved by Cao Cao since he was a child, because he has been very calm and calm since he was a child, and now, he has shown his skills as a famous general. But now, because of a piece of news, how could Cao Cao not be curious?

"Lord, those soldiers said that the dried meat brought by Cheng Fujun was not some domestic animal or beast, but ...... But...... It's human flesh! Cao Chun said at the end, his tone was frightened, and his mouth became even more stammered. Obviously, this incident had a very big impact on him.

But strictly speaking, who wouldn't be shocked to hear such a thing?

"What do you say?! Can you be sure?! Is there any evidence?! Cao Cao looked at Cao Chun in disbelief and asked, and the whole person stood up directly.

"It's true! According to what they said, after Cheng Fujun left, he went to the countryside around Dong'e, dressed as a thief, and gathered the people who had been hungry for several days without food to slaughter them, and took their meat to make dried meat...... "Later, Cheng Fujun led them to attack Yangping and ransacked the big families in the city, and those who were killed ......"

Rao is Cao Chun was used to seeing killing and life and death, but when he said this, he couldn't help but tremble, and his tone was full of fear. Although he was not unheard of cannibalism, because every time there was a famine, there would be similar rumors. And in the history books, there are many records of this kind of thing.

But as the saying goes, what happens to others is called a story, and what happens to oneself is called an accident. How can the rumors heard and the contents of the books seen compare to the personal experience? Moreover, it's still a creepy thing like cannibalism. Not to mention Cao Chun, who is only twenty-four years old, even if it is Cao Cao, he stood directly on the spot after listening to Cao Chun's words.

I don't know how long it took for Cao Cao to come back to his senses. I saw that his face changed several times, and finally returned to calm, "Where are the three thousand people now?" How is it monitored? ”

"Back to the lord, his subordinates are sent to monitor the guards, they are all people who can be trusted, and they will never talk nonsense!" Cao Chun hurriedly replied. Because he had some speculation in his heart, Cao Chun sent people to secretly monitor these soldiers, so that they would not talk nonsense, how could he have thought that he would hear such a terrifying thing?

"Very well, you now take them out of the camp overnight and find a secret place......" Cao Cao said at the end, gesticulating a decapitation gesture. Although Cao Cao separated these people from Cao Chun's command, he had the intention of sending them to death during the siege, but obviously, Cao Cao couldn't wait that long now.

"My subordinates understand!" Cao Chun nodded when he heard this, and said with a serious expression, he naturally understood what a terrifying impact this news would have once it came out. Although cannibalism has not never happened, most of it is the behavior of people who are forced to do it in desperation when they really have no food. And now, it is the troops under Cao Cao who are doing this!

However, after receiving the order, Cao Chun did not turn around and leave, but looked at Cao Cao with a hesitant expression.

"What else?" Seeing this, Cao Cao asked lightly.

"Lord, that Cheng Fujun's side...... And the meat ......" Hearing this, Cao Chun hurriedly asked, but when he talked about the dried meat, his mouth began to stutter again.

Hearing this, Cao Cao glanced at Cao Chun and asked in a flat tone, "Do you have that dried meat?" ”

"Yes, here." When Cao Chun heard this, he hurriedly took out a piece of dried meat from his arms.

Cao Cao took it expressionlessly and looked at it, this piece of dried meat looked very poorly made, and it was made in a hurry at a glance. But other than that, I don't see any difference from ordinary dried meat. After looking at it for a while, Cao Cao suddenly raised his hand, and then in Cao Chun's frightened gaze, he bit down on the dried meat. In one bite, I took a big bite, chewed it twice at will, and swallowed it in my stomach.

"Lord...... The lord ......" Cao Chun looked at Cao Cao tremblingly, but he didn't know what he should say and do at this time.

Seeing Cao Chun like this, Cao Cao handed back the dried meat in his hand to Cao Chun, and after Cao Chun's limbs stiffened and took the dried meat, Cao Cao said in a flat tone, "In the past, the Chu State attacked the Song State, Shangqiu was besieged, the food was exhausted, and he had to eat people. In the Battle of Changping, the Zhao army was besieged and ran out of grain for forty-six days, so human flesh was used instead of grain and grass. ”

Speaking of this, Cao Cao stood up and sighed, "If you want to achieve great things, how difficult is the road? Although it is detrimental to do so...... But as long as the final victory is achieved, then it is all worth it! Moreover, even if Zhongde didn't kill them, without food, their final fate would only end up in the bellies of those hungry beasts, or even the bellies of others! ”

"Lord ......" Cao Chun heard this, watching Cao Cao's mouth open and close twice, as if he wanted to say something, but in the end, he couldn't say a word. However, his eyes gradually became resolute, and suddenly, he suddenly stuffed the dried meat in his hand into his mouth, chewed it twice in the same way as Cao Cao, and swallowed it into his stomach.

Seeing this, Cao Cao patted Cao Chun's shoulder with relief and said, "Okay! Zi and you really didn't disappoint me! Go down and get rid of those people as soon as possible! ”

"No!" Cao Chun replied in a loud voice, and then left quickly.

After he left, Cao Cao walked quickly to a corner of the tent, took out the wine jug and poured it into his mouth frantically. I don't know how long it took before Cao Cao shook his head and sighed, "Zhongde, Zhongde, I, Cao Mengde, have obeyed you!" ”

At the same time, Si Li Jing Zhao Yin Chang'an City.

"I didn't expect things to develop like this...... Zhang Ning looked at Jian Ce in her hand, her brows furrowed, and her face was full of tiredness.

In Ma Teng's army, the person who is best at government affairs, except for Jia Xu, is Zhang Ning, but Zhang Ning's so-called good at it is only compared with Ma Teng and others. In addition, there are too many problems left by Dong Zhuo, which leads to the fact that as time goes by, Jing Zhaoyin's livelihood has become more and more chaotic and bad, and prices have risen steadily.

It's like now, because of the drought, the price of grain in Chang'an alone has soared to more than one million dollars! And it's still inferior rice! And what about Luoyang under Li Yi's rule? The price of a beam of rice is only 400 yuan...... But in this regard, Zhang Ning seemed a little helpless.

"Madam, I think we should give some food to the people? Chang'an and the surrounding areas are fine, but in the counties and townships a little farther away, especially on the side of Youfufeng, it is said that there has been a tragic situation of Yizi eating ......" Ma Teng asked cautiously.

"No way!" Hearing this, Zhang Ning shook his head, and his tone was categorical. But then, with a frown, he sighed, "Once the warehouse is opened to help those people, all the hungry people around will flock to it. And then how much food will we have for them? You must know that here alone, there are 200,000 troops! These troops need to consume a lot of grain and grass every day, and once their military pay is cut off, even if I don't talk about the consequences, you won't understand Shoucheng! ”

"Yes...... But ......" Ma Teng looked at Zhang Ning and stopped talking. Although since he came to power, he has turned a blind eye to things like the looting of places by his troops, but this disaster is too serious, and those hungry people make him think of the hard times he lived before.

Seeing this, Zhang Ning shook his head a little helplessly, and after a deep sigh, he said, "In this way, take out some of the food to help those people." Well...... It's good to follow the inferior rice of two times a month for every ten people. Remember! Definitely not more than that! Although this little food is not enough to eat, it can at least keep them alive. ”

"Well, that's all I can do." Ma Teng sighed when he heard this. Although he wanted to help the people, he didn't know what to do. As Zhang Ning said, the 200,000 troops in Chang'an City consume very terrifying grain and grass every day, not to mention Li Yi in Sili. In this case, Rao is Ma Teng got the grain left by Dong Zhuo in the past, but he didn't dare to mess around at will.

"In addition, send people to various places to raid the homes of all the merchants who have set the highest grain prices for their crimes! Also, order all localities to take strict precautions, and if any people try to move to Li Yi's territory, they will be killed on the spot immediately! Zhang Ning commanded in a deep voice, with a cold killing intent in his tone.

Hundreds of thousands of people were sent to Li Yi in order to stop Li Yi's offensive. And now, it is obviously impossible for Zhang Ning to continue to do this. After all, even the most stupid people will understand the importance of the people, money, food, and soldiers, and without the people, they will lose these.

"Understood." Ma Teng nodded in response, and then looked at Zhang Ning with a tired expression and persuaded him, "Madam, it's better to go back to the room and rest first, you are too tired during this time, so it's better to leave these things to me." In the end, there was a hint of inexplicability in Ma Teng's concerned tone.

"Well, if I give it to you, how can I put my mind at ease?" Zhang Ning sighed when he heard this, and after speaking, seeing that Ma Teng seemed to want to say something more, he directly waved his hand to interrupt him, "Okay, let's go." ”

"Hmm." When Ma Teng heard this, he bowed respectfully and then turned to leave.

And Zhang Ning, who continued to bury his head in the various Jian Ce case files, did not notice the complicated look on Ma Teng's face when he turned around.