In October, Si Liyang was in Luoyang.

Li Yi sat in the first place with a serious face, listening to Xun Yu and others report on the drought situation and disaster relief in various places during this period of time.

"My lord, according to the reports from various places, except for the people who have taken refuge since last year, because the time is still short and they still need the help of the government, the rest of the people have surplus food at home. Although it may not last until the autumn harvest next year, it can also help save a lot of food for the local area. Xun Yu said respectfully.

"Hehe, in this way, the situation is much better than expected~" Li Yi heard this, and his originally serious face suddenly showed a long-lost smile. During this period of time, Li Yi has been busy getting up early and working late almost every day for the sake of this drought, improving coping strategies, distributing materials, and even taking people to inspect the specific situation in various parts of the department. In order to reduce the damage of this drought as much as possible.

"Back to my lord, in fact, this drought is very serious!" Xun Yu shook his head and sighed when he heard this, "Most of the cultivated land in various places has been abandoned, even if it is cultivated next to the river, there is not much harvest. Speaking of this, Xun Yu suddenly changed his tone of admiration and said, "But now the situation in various parts of the territory can be so optimistic, thanks to the new tax law implemented by the lord and the work of a long time of recuperation!" ”

"The tax law implemented by the lord has greatly reduced the burden on the people, so that over the years, the vast majority of the people have been able to save a lot of savings. At the same time, the lord has been recuperating over the years, making the local rich people worry-free...... Xun Yu kept praising him. "It is precisely for this reason that after the order of the lord, the people everywhere were able to hoard more and save food, and at the same time, there was no discontent or unrest because of the drought......"

"Haha, Wen Ruo, the more you say these sycophants, the smoother they become~" Hearing Xun Yu's words, Li Yi suddenly laughed.

"The words of my subordinates are from the bottom of my heart! Moreover, the lord has also turned the locust plague into a godsend, and according to reports from various places, there are even many people who are preparing to catch locusts. Not to mention that now is the time of great drought, even in normal times, where can the people be so optimistic? The reason why this is the case is all thanks to the wise decree of the lord all along......" Xun Yu said with a smile.

"Okay, okay, if I continue to talk like this, I feel like I'm flying~" Li Yi said with a smile when he heard this, then paused, and asked again, "What about the price of food in various places?" Are there any profiteers who are driving up the price of food? ”

Over the years, droughts have been accompanied by large-scale famines, partly because the people are so poor. All kinds of harsh taxes and miscellaneous taxes make them come down every year, and there is nothing left except basic living expenses. In this case, once there is a problem with the autumn harvest of that year, it is enough to crush these people in an instant.

On the other hand, it is because locust plagues will break out after a great drought, and the locusts will eat up all the remaining food and even wild vegetables that can satisfy the people's hunger.

The last reason is that profiteers have raised the price of grain.

"Returning to my lord, although the price of grain has increased in various places, it is a relatively reasonable increase, and the people do not have too many objections to this." Xun Yu said respectfully.

"The same is true of the information that my subordinates have gotten." Xun Yu's voice lagged behind, and Guo Jia on the side also agreed.

For this situation, Li Yi naturally couldn't really fully believe the report sent by the locality, so in addition to asking the officials in various places to send the report, he also asked Guo Jia to disperse the people from the shadow department to various places to monitor. One is bright and one is dark, so as to ensure that there are no mistakes. Although even this may not really be able to eliminate all the things that Li Yi does not want to see, at least, it is enough to minimize the possibility.

"Hmm...... Very good! Hearing this, Li Yi nodded with satisfaction, then turned his head to Xun Yu and said, "Reply to all places, just say that I am very satisfied with this result, let them continue to do their part, and they must minimize the impact of this drought!" Also, in case of famine, report it immediately! ”

"No!"

Having said that, although the situation on Li Yi's side does not seem to be very serious, as Xun Yu said, it is just because of the decree implemented by Li Yi and the result of all these years of recuperation. These two reasons have made the local government and the common people richer, and even in the face of natural disasters, they can use these savings to minimize disasters.

It's just that in other places, the problem is much more serious.

December, Yanzhou.

"Alas, I don't know how long I can hold on......" Looking at Dong'e City in front of him, Cao Cao sighed in a low voice.

Under the persuasion of Cheng Yu and others, Cao Cao regained his confidence, but faith alone could not conjure food. Although these days, Xun You, Lou Gui and others in the rear relied on their own talents to constantly minimize the impact of the disaster and support Cao Jun's actions. But with the arrival of winter, the situation has become more and more serious, because in winter, Cao's army can no longer rely on hunting and gathering wild vegetables from the mountains to supplement food.

"Or ...... Stop the offensive and wait until you have survived this drought before sending troops? Cao Cao was a little hesitant in his heart. Because if he continued to fight with the grain in his hand now, it would really be like walking on thin ice. If you are not careful, you may not be able to turn the tables around.

At this moment, I saw that the gate of Dong'e City suddenly opened, and then a horse quickly drove out of the city and went straight to Cao Cao's side.

"Did it work?" Cao Cao thought secretly in his heart when he saw this, but he didn't see the slightest happiness on his expression.

After a while, that person came to Cao Cao, but it was Cheng Yu. I saw him walk quickly in front of Cao Cao and say, "My lord, my subordinates are fortunate not to be dishonored, and the Dong'a Li County Commander is willing to open the city and surrender." But it was Cheng Yu who took the initiative to propose to Cao Cao that he should enter the city alone to persuade Li County, who had worked with him, to surrender to Kaicheng.

"Well, what about the Li County Order?" Cao Cao nodded when he heard this, then looked at Cheng Yu's side and asked with a hint of doubt.

"He has committed suicide in fear of sin." Cheng Yu said with a flat expression.

"Really? That's a shame. Cao Cao shook his head and sighed when he heard this.

"The lord doesn't need to be sad, he was appointed by the lord to be the commander of Dong'a County, but he ignored the lord's kindness and followed the rebellion of the Chen Palace. If it weren't for the lord's threat of slaughtering the city this time, I'm afraid he still planned to defend the city and resist stubbornly......," Cheng Yu said when he heard this.

"Alas......" Hearing this, Cao Cao shook his head and said nothing, and then led the army into Dong'e City.

Entering the city gate, Cao Cao saw the depressed and desolate street, obviously Cao Cao put down the rebellion of Dong'a, but there were no people on the street to greet him.

Walking slowly, Cao Cao keenly felt that in the surrounding houses, the eyes were full of hatred and fear. This kind of gaze made Cao Cao's heart have mixed feelings, and his tone was full of self-deprecation, "Once upon a time, my long-cherished wish as an official was to let the people of the local area and even the whole world live a happy life, but now it seems that I will never be able to do it." ”

"The lord's words are bad, if Chen Gong and other traitors do not rebel, then with the lord's martial arts, it is completely enough for the people of Yanzhou and even Xuzhou to live a stable life. And even now, as long as the rebellion is put down, the lord can still bring a happy and stable life to the people of Yanzhou. As for the moment, I said that it was ......" Cheng Yu paused at this point, and then said indifferently, "It's just some necessary means to get peace and stability." ”

"Hehe, Zhongde will persuade people~" Cao Cao chuckled when he heard this.

"The subordinates are just telling the truth, how can there be no casualties when the rebellion is quelled, if the lord has the kindness of a woman, he will miss the best opportunity like that Li Wushuang!" Cheng Yu said respectfully, and by the way, he also hacked Li Yi.

I don't know when it began, many people under Cao Cao's command began to like to use Li Yi to talk about things, whether it was to motivate Cao Cao, or warn Cao Cao, or how...... All in all, whether it is a negative or positive image, the protagonist is always Li Yi. But then again, it's a very good move.

Soon, the two entered the county government, and after a while, Cao Chun, who went to check the granary, hurriedly walked in.

"What? Is there no food? Seeing Cao Chun's gloomy face, Cao Cao asked lightly.

"About ten days' worth of rations for the army." Cao Chun said with a solemn expression.

"Ten days......" Cao Cao groaned when he heard this, this time Cao Cao personally led the army to attack Dongjun, but there was not much grain and grass with him, and now, not counting the grain and grass in Dong'e, it was only enough for more than ten days to eat.

Thinking of this, Cao Cao once again had the idea of retiring from the army, "Zhongde, now that our army has not much food and grass, how about returning to Jiyin?" Cao Cao looked at Cheng Yu and asked. Since Cheng Yu's words woke up Cao Cao before, Cao Cao has paid more and more attention to Cheng Yu, and almost every time he takes action, he has to ask Cheng Yu's opinion.

"Never!" When Cheng Yu heard this, he said with a solemn face, "Lord, although our army does not have much food and grass, there is not much food and grass left in the enemy, let alone worry about Chen Guo's soldiers." In this case, as long as our army can hold on, it will definitely achieve the final victory! But if the harvest is delayed until next autumn, although our army does not have to worry about the problem of grain and grass, the enemy will also have no worries......"

"Alas, having said that, how can you continue the offensive without food? Even if the enemy's food and grass are not much left, as long as Chen Gong orders all parts of the city to defend the city, even if we wait to capture one or two cities, what can we do? Cao Cao sighed when he heard this, "If we transport grain from Jiyin, not to mention how much military food Yuan can raise, the grain, grass and time required on the way alone will make it difficult for our army's offensive to continue." ”

Hearing this, Cheng Yu pondered for a moment, then suddenly raised his head and said respectfully, "My lord, my subordinates have a way to raise grain and grass, but they need the help of the troops under Captain Cao's command. If it goes well, I believe that within ten days and half a month, a certain amount of grain and grass will be raised. ”

"Oh?" Cao Cao was stunned when he heard this, and then seemed to think of something, and suddenly said with some unbearable feelings, "Zhongde is planning to ...... from the place It's just that now the whole of Yanzhou has fallen into a food shortage, I'm afraid even if it is ...... from the local I may not be able to raise much food and grass. ”

"Please rest assured, my subordinates will be able to raise enough food and grass!" Cheng Yu looked at Cao Cao and said in a deep voice.

"Hmm...... In that case, let Zhong Kang take my personal guard troops with Zhong De. After Cao Cao heard this, he finally nodded and agreed to let Cheng Yu try.

"My lord, if this method is implemented by the soldiers under Captain Cao, the effect will be better." Cheng Yu said lightly when he heard this.

Hearing Cheng Yu's words, Cao Cao suddenly froze for a moment, then reacted and nodded and said, "That's ...... too" As he spoke, he turned his head and ordered Cao Chun, "Zihe, you personally take Zhongde to pick someone." ”

"No!"

Not long after, Cao Chun returned to the county government and reported, "My lord, Cheng Fujun took away three thousand soldiers, but what makes his subordinates curious is that the soldiers selected by Cheng Fujun are all people who have had a lot of evil deeds in the past......"

"yes, got it." Cao Cao didn't answer Cao Chun's doubts, but just waved his hand to let him go down. And after he left, Cao Cao sat in silence for a long time, and he suddenly sighed, "Zhongde did such a thing for me, if I still hesitate, wouldn't I have failed Zhongde's sacrifice?" ”

The next day, Cao Cao, who figured it out, led his army to kill Benyangping, and after arriving in the city, Cao Cao sent people to spread the word to the city, bluntly saying that if he dared to resist stubbornly, he would slaughter the city directly after breaking the city. Perhaps, when you have done something once and tasted the sweetness, even if it is very bad, you will slowly get used to it?

However, strictly speaking, the effect of this intimidation was indeed very good, but after only a day of hesitation, the city guard of Yangping City chose to surrender in Kaesong.

"Well, isn't there much food here?" Cao Cao sighed as he listened to Cao Chun's report.

"Lord, what should I do next? Do you continue to attack the surrounding counties? Cao Chun asked respectfully when he heard this.

"No, the order goes down, let the whole army rest for one night, and march to Puyang tomorrow!" Cao Cao shook his head, and then ordered in a deep voice.

"Lord, now that our army has not much food and grass, if we attack Puyang directly......" Cao Ren on the side hurriedly persuaded.

"I believe in Zhongde, he will be able to raise enough food and grass!" Cao Cao said with a twinkle in his eyes.

Hearing this, Cao Ren and the others didn't say much, but from their expressions, it was obvious that they didn't believe in it too much. After all, Yanzhou is now in the midst of famine everywhere, where is there so much grain and grass?

In the face of Cao Cao's advance, Chen Gong did not have the slightest worry, "Although Cao Thief is huge, the distance from Yangping to Puyang is far away, and there are several cities on the way. By the time Cao Jun arrives here, I'm afraid that the Cao thief's military rations will be running out, so what's there to worry about? Chen Gong said confidently. Therefore, he just ordered the cities along the way to be prepared, and did not have the slightest idea of sending troops to intercept the enemy army.