After sending Zhang Lu and Zhao Yun back to their homes to rest, He Si'an couldn't wait to repair two letters and ordered someone to send them overnight.

The first letter was written to Yu Chi Yanyan, informing him that if he attacked the Western Regions in the coming year, he must pay attention to this plant called Bai Diezi, which is of great use!

The second letter was sent to Zhang Ji along with Zhao Yun's cotton coat, asking him to try to plant some of the seeds in the cotton wool to see if he could grow the kind of cotton he wanted.

...

Three days later, He Si'an and Zhang Lu returned to Chengdu together.

Originally, Zhao Yun planned to return to Chengdu with everyone, but firstly, Zhao Yun had just finished getting married, and secondly, the current strategy was mainly to recuperate.

...

Xuchang

"Lord Sikong, General Xiahou and General Yu Ban both struck together, Liu Xun, the Taishou of Runan, did not have much resistance, and took the initiative to surrender, so to speak, we will take Runan without blood! What you need to do next, please let Sikong know! Xun Yu asked as he bowed down below.

Gongda (Xun You's character) thinks what's next?" Cao Cao groaned slightly and slowly spoke.

"What Lord Sikong said is extremely true, this time the troops, the emphasis is on the word 'strange', since it is exposed, I believe that Yuan Shu must be prepared, and it is also necessary to beware of Yuan Shao's southward movement, so it is better to directly collect troops and consolidate the existing strength is the best choice."

“.. Well, pass on my order, Liu Xun has meritorious, let him continue to be the Taishou of Runan, and order Xiahou Yuan and Yu Ban to return to Xuchang immediately, don't be greedy for merit! Xun Yu must do a good job in dealing with the post-war and collecting the displaced people! ”

After saying this, Cao Cao looked at the full favor on the side again, and asked: "The autumn harvest is imminent, what is the current situation in Xuchang?" ”

"It's empty, it's not optimistic, this year's harvest is not good, and you still need to bear the burden of Runan, in addition..."

Seeing that he was full of favors and stopped, Cao Cao frowned, but did not continue on this topic, but asked: "Has Liu Bei made any changes in the past few days?"

"Lord Sikong, according to the news from the maid, Liu Bei drinks and has fun all day long, and he will not refuse to come in the face of the dancing girl arranged by Lord Sikong!"

Cao Cao shook his head and said, "I want to think about it back then... Hey, I still can't take it lightly, I look at Liu Bei, my heart is deep, and Berning continues to send people to stare at it. ”

There was a sentence that Cao Cao didn't say, but he still sighed in his heart.

'I want to think about the situation under the Taishi back then, how similar it is to Liu Bei now...'

Thinking of Dong Zhuo's fate, Cao Cao couldn't help but look gloomy.

"Go down first." Cao Cao didn't seem to have the nature of conversation, and waved his hand and said.

...

A quarter of an hour later, the full pet went and returned.

Sending away the surrounding slaves and maids, Cao Cao sat up slightly straighter, looked at Man Chong Zhengse and said, "Berning, there are only you and me at the moment, but it doesn't hurt to talk about anything." ”

"Don't hide it from Sikong, at this time, our food is already stretched, this year... I am afraid that there will be a large-scale famine. "

Hearing this, Cao Cao's eyes narrowed slightly, and he didn't say anything, just stared at Man Pet tightly.

Facing Cao Cao's eyes, beads of sweat slipped from Manzhong's face, after so many years of contact, Manzhong knew the temperament of the Sikong Lord in front of him, and at this moment, this powerful Lord Cao was already out of anger!

Man Pet didn't dare to slack off, and continued to speak: "My Yuzhou and Yanzhou are already rich in water and soil, even if this year's harvest is not good, and there is more than a region in Runan, but it is no big problem to support this year, but... Perhaps smelling the shortage of grain this year, the major families and businessmen have begun to stock up on grain, and the current grain prices on the market have risen by nearly forty percent... Looking at this situation, there is a tendency to get worse..."

'Smack!! ’

Cao Cao slammed the table and shouted angrily, "Are these families crazy? At this time, internal and external troubles, how dare you have such a crooked heart? As if thinking of something, Cao Cao restrained his anger, looked at Man Pet with a smile and asked: "I almost forgot, the Manchu family where Berning is located is also my Yanzhou clan, and Cao Gang is not aimed at you, don't blame Berning." ”

Hearing this, Man Pet hurriedly knelt down, touched the ground with his head, and said: "Lord Sikong has the grace of knowing the full favor, and he is even more powerful to override public opinion, and the pet will be promoted to the county order of Xuchang County, how can the full pet live up to His Royal Highness, the pet is already famous in the family, if anyone dares to participate in the price of food, the clan rules will serve, and will not be tolerated!" ”

Cao Cao nodded, and then asked: "Berning is upright and upright, and he is very respectful." Let's talk about it, which families are involved in this? ”

Man Pet no longer spoke, but respectfully handed over an excerpt...

After a stick of incense, Cao Cao put the fold on the table, looked at Man Zhong in disbelief, and asked, "Berning... Really? This... Doesn't this mean that all the merchants of the family, but all those who are called by the name are among them? Even Zilian (Cao Hong's character, Cao Cao's younger brother) is involved? ”

Man Zhong nodded helplessly, and replied: "I'm afraid that's the case, some people may not think too much, but they have developed a habit in the past tens of hundreds of years, and every disaster year, all ethnic groups will hoard the food produced in their tribes at home, one to supply their own food, and the other to wait for food shortages can be sold at twice the price or even higher..."

Hearing this, Cao Cao's eyes were distracted, he sat back in place, and asked, "Is there a solution to Bo Ning?" ”

"Difficult... But it's not impossible! ”

Hearing this, Cao Cao's eyes lit up, he looked at Man Pet, only to hear Man Pet continue to speak: "At this moment, we are surrounded by foreign enemies, and it would be quite unwise to rashly use thunder methods... The minister suggested choosing a few small families to open the knife and make an example of the chickens and monkeys! ”

Cao Cao pondered for a moment, but still shook his head.

In this way, it is inevitable that there will be a sad heart of the rabbit and the fox, and it is inevitable that there will be a battle with Yuan Shao, so that there may be variables. Hey, Berning go down first, I'll think about it alone..."

Hearing this, Man Pet bowed down and retired, and when he was about to walk out of the hall, he heard Cao Cao's voice behind him: "It's really a blessing to have a good minister like Boning!" ”

After a pause, he turned around and bowed deeply, and slowly exited the hall.

Looking at the back of the departed favor, Cao Cao's eyes were slightly confused, and a deep sense of powerlessness welled up in his heart, the Han Dynasty has gone through nearly four hundred years, and has irretrievably perished, with Cao Cao's vision, it can be seen that all this is because of the clan.

But now he has to rely on the clan on his side, as if it is a never-ending cycle...

'Yuan Shao is like this, and so is himself, where should he go? ’

Cao Cao's gaze was set on the far southwest, and a series of reforms by King Hongnong were not what he longed for? It's a pity that in the Central Plains, where there are many families, can it really be realized? Cao Cao shook his head, abandoning the distracting thoughts in his heart, or solving the dilemma in front of him is the right thing!

"Chuan Guo Jia, come to Sikong Mansion to discuss matters!"

On the other side, walking on the spacious street, Man Pet did not go home directly, but walked straight to another house, looked up, and there were three big characters written on the plaque, Sima Mansion!

After a while, Man Zhong gave a deep salute to the young man opposite, and said sincerely: "Thank you Brother Zhongda for reminding me, otherwise if this matter is found after the autumn harvest, it will definitely cause a big disaster!" ”

"Eh, Brother Berning has a good reputation, this matter is what Yi should do, I am ashamed to say it, Yi can't come up with a way to deal with it for a while, but my father has already restrained my Sima clan and will never raise the price of food." Sima Yi said apologetically.

"What did Zhongda say? But there is really something unclear for the brother, with Zhongda's talent, it is absolutely difficult to distinguish between filial piety, why don't you want to be an official? ”

"Hey, Yi is still young, and he still wants to travel thousands of miles to see the world, and he doesn't want to get involved in officialdom too early, please forgive me!"

"Also, Brother Zhongda is not as good as a weak crown, but his mind and bearing are far better than ours, and I think there are only a few people in the world who can compare, such as King Hongnong and Fengxiao."

The two sides exchanged a few more polite words, and then said goodbye and left, after all, as the commander of Xuchang County, which is equivalent to the current mayor of Beijing, naturally there are still many official affairs to be dealt with.

After sending off the full favor, Sima Yi's smile gradually converged.

The birth of King Hongnong was too sudden, and there was no time to place people, but Yizhou is in a corner, as long as everything goes well in Liangzhou, King Hongnong will be like a turtle in an urn, and he can't turn over the big waves.

As for Cao Cao, we can't just fall at this moment, otherwise Yuan Shao will go south to unify the Central Plains, and we will have no chance.

But Jia Xu, Guo Jia...' Sima Yi showed a weird smile...

At the same time, in the dense forest south of Huaishui, a figure was staggering and running, and if you look closely, this person's appearance is three points similar to Yan Pu, it is Yan Xiang who escaped from Shouchun Prison.

Originally, Yan Xiang and the Xu brothers were rescued more than a month ago, but Yuan Jian did not leave with everyone because his hands and feet were abolished.

After coming out, everyone learned that the other party had sent their family members to Xiangyang for refuge a few days ago, and they couldn't help but be grateful for the other party's carefulness.

Seeing the Xu brothers leave, Yan Xiang did not follow them all the way, Yan Xiang at this time was extremely calm, this matter was strange from beginning to end, since his family was safe, then he had no worries, and he had to confirm what he thought!

Due to the war in Runan, there were quite a lot of displaced people in Shouchun at this time, Yan Xiang dressed up in disguise, mixed in with the displaced people, and secretly returned to Shouchun.

Soon, Yan Xiang got a piece of news that was both unexpected and not particularly unexpected... On the night they left, a fire broke out in the dungeon, and it is rumored that all the prisoners were burned alive!

After all, if the prisoners in the prison escape, it is very easy to find out who is so, and it is better to burn them down completely. According to Huainan customs, a person who dies cannot move the body within seven days, otherwise it is easy to be haunted by evil spirits!

So Yan Xiang found a hidden place in the prison and secretly observed, after all, Yuan Lian is the person who knows the inside story of the witchcraft technique, and I believe that the other party also knows this, so if what Yuan Lian said is true, if there is such an accident, the other party will definitely come back secretly to check the corpse to confirm whether Yuan Lian is really dead...

In other words, if someone really comes from the shadows, then... Yan Xiang can't imagine...