As if sleepy, as if tired, their eyelids drooped, and there was no longer a kernel in their clay eyes, so that their gaze was more distracted, as if they were looking at him, and as if they had not looked at anyone at all.

Cao Cao suddenly realized that it was not sleepiness, not exhaustion, but numbness.

They looked at him silently and numbly on the battlefield that had become sticky and soft from sucking too much blood.

When his hand uneasily touched the familiar terracotta figurine in the first row—he recognized the soldier, whom he had personally recruited in the county—the figurine quickly cracked and then shattered into pieces.

The entire empty battlefield was like a tide, and the crisp sound of the terracotta figurines shattering was waved!

Cao Cao woke up.

There were soldiers on night patrol knocking on the scorched bucket and walking slowly outside.

The lanterns of the Lianzhi Palace are still flickering, illuminating the entire room brightly.

Therefore, as long as he raised his head from the desk, he could see the bronze mirror placed on the shelf, and he could also see the person in the bronze mirror.

The man looked like him, but not exactly, Cao Cao thought, because he shouldn't have that numb and desperate look on his face.

But he also knew exactly what was the reason for that look.

- Liu Bei's strength is gradually increasing, this seller has always been his very jealous opponent, and at this time it has grown to the extent that he can no longer easily eliminate it.

Just one Guan Yu, he is already very difficult to resist, and now he has added another Zhang He!

Those unrighteous villains who turned their backs on their original in order to rise out in front of the new lord and king, almost spared their lives and attacked at any cost! They bleed and died the same, but even to death, they all had a fanaticism for fame and fortune on their faces!

But even so, Cao Cao thought, he could still handle it.

If he is determined to defend the gate to Yanzhou, let alone Liu Bei, even if Lu Lian is there in person, he will not be able to break his city!

Not only will he defend Yanzhou, but he will also find a gap to counterattack, and he can always find a way to break through Liu Bei's camp!

When Cao Cao fought for himself like this, once again put his extremely tired eyes on the paperwork, and prepared to further make careful calculations, recruit soldiers from various counties and counties, and send them to the front line of Xiangcheng, Lu Hangyu did not sleep.

She also needs to requisition grain and grass, and at Xun Yu's request, after she sent troops to help Yanzhou fight Wuhuan, she had a good reason to requisition grain and grass here, and she even had an official document stamped by the Son of Heaven in her hand, asking to act as ordered.

But in practice, how should she be recruited?

When she went south and left Dongjun, she entered Chen Liuguo.

Chen Liu was a feudal town when the Son of Heaven had not yet ascended the throne, and after succeeding to the throne, he did not seal out this place that was very close to Luoyang and every inch of land was valuable, and it is still under the direct jurisdiction of the Son of Heaven.

Therefore, if according to the fantasy, this place should be particularly rich, after all, it is next to the capital, the water and soil are abundant, and the people's livelihood is peaceful, and although Yanzhou Mu Cao Cao is very unkind to others, he should still take care of his own people......

But when her former army went south and entered Chenliu, she rode over and followed Lu Hangyu, who had a look, and felt as if she had walked the road from Chang'an to the plain again.

There were not many people on the road, most of them were lying in the fields.

There are high-crowned scholars, and there are also ragged people.

The grass grows very tall, so many birds and animals forage in the fields.

As her army passed, it would startle flocks of crows and scare away shiny wolves.

But few locals could guide her, and no matter how she searched through the ruins, in the woods, or in the deserted Wu Fort, she could not find anyone.

The land seems to be dead.

Fortunately, a Yanzhou businessman who came over from Jiyin answered for her diligently.

"When Dong Cheng's Xiliang army attacked Yanzhou, Chen Liu came first."

“…… But that was years ago. ”

"Luoyang is also a desolate territory, and many people are afraid that the imperial court will send Lu Bu to attack again, but not many people will come," he explained, "and then the Wuhuan people came again, and they were completely deserted." ”

She was silent for a moment.

There is nothing wrong with the land left behind, it will only become more fertile after being deserted for so long, but Cao Cao has never been able to rebuild it.

Dongjun was originally the Ministry of Yanzhou, but because most of it was north of the Yellow River, it was also taken by Yuan Shao.

Mount Tai is occupied by Taishan Kou, and Peiguo is occupied by Zhang Miao, and now they are all Xu Zhou's sphere of influence.

"In this case, Cao Cao's grain and grass only rely on Jiyin, Dongping, and Shanyang counties?"

She suddenly realized something strange, and couldn't help but look at the big businessmen around her.

Sima Yi took a step forward.

"Judging by his expression, I'm afraid that Cao Jun's food and grass are exhausted."

She was taken aback.

"There is a famine in Yanzhou?"

"The Yanzhou scholars have separated from Cao Cao, hasn't the general seen it yet?" Sima Yi said with a smile.

This kind of detachment from morality is not a one-day cold.

Even Cao Cao didn't notice it at first.

At first, the rations were delivered in full, but they were delayed for several days.

Considering that the rear is not very peaceful, such a delay can be forgiven.

But then the rations were gradually mixed with wheat bran, and the amount became smaller and smaller, and the delay became longer and longer.

After he wrote a letter to question the rear, the person in charge of grain and grass was changed from Xun Yu to Cheng Yu.

The military rations sent that time were still insufficient, but Cheng Yu sent something else to make up for the quantity, and worked hard to still make the soldiers in Yanzhou have enough to eat.

——In those counties that were not affected by the war, Cheng Yu could not collect food.

Cao Cao was certain in that moment that what he had been suspicious of, and that he had tried to avoid, was happening.

Those Yanzhou scholars who should have supported him wholeheartedly to win this war like the Jizhou family supported Ben Yuan are becoming more and more obvious to cut ties with him.

Chapter 437

For any place in the late Han Dynasty, money and grain were never in the hands of the head of Qian.

Because those who are honest, weak, and cautious, so they can bully at will, and a shouting little official can make them shed tears and hand over all the food.

If a war breaks out, the officials will have to go again, this time they can be forced to hand over the grain, of course, the head of the Qianshou will not only cry, but also may have some tug-of-war with the officials, but in the end it is always the government that wins.

Because the government can rummage through every inch of the house beam, every piece of mud, until the last bit of food they have hidden is also taken away.

But those Qiantou may also have some hidden food, such as a fruit grove in a col somewhere outside the village, they can live on those wild fruits, and the witty officials also need to pay attention to their clues, and send people to pick all the fruits that taste a little astringent, but can still be eaten, and they can also be sent to the soldiers on the front line as military rations.

So in the latter part of a protracted war, when the officials went to the low thatched houses, they could only see clumps of fresh weeds emerging from the equally fresh graves.

In this way, they can no longer get grain from the hands of the head of the Qian, but there are still farmers working on this land, and there are good fields that will be harvested, and heavy grains will be beaten down and loaded into the barns one after another.

They were the farmer of the family, or they could be recluses, they endured the bullying of their masters, they ate less, they worked more, and if they had a beautiful daughter in the family, they might have to be sent to the lord's house as a handmaiden, but when this switch came, they could be protected by the lord like docile cows and horses.

No official dared to collect grain from the fields they cultivated, so those who came to collect grain were replaced by commanders.

The chief was to dress modestly, and sometimes to bring some gifts, and if the family had a kinship with him, it might be easier for him to borrow a little grain from a full granary; If that family didn't have any friendship with him, then it was likely that the master would only listen to him talk about how hard Cao Gong was in Xiangcheng, and then silently pick up a cup of tea and take a sip gently.

When the commander can't recruit food, the county guard may set up a banquet to invite these scholars and heroes, and use both soft and hard at the banquet, coercing and tempting them to use money and food to support Cao Gong - think about it, their sons may also be in Xiangcheng!

So some families were really moved, opened the barn, and moved some grain out, maybe for Cao Gong, maybe for their own sons; But some families would rather die in front of their sons than give them any more food.

"If Shichiro dies in Xiangcheng, it will also be his fate," one of them said coldly, "but he must not affect the safety of the whole family for a yellow-mouthed child!" ”

"Think about it! The safety of the whole county is tied to Cao Gong alone, if Cao Gong is defeated, Yanzhou is exhausted, you and I are like tired eggs! Is there only one son and nephew? ”

As he said this, the old man with a white beard gave him a cold look.

"When the Wuhuan people went south, Cao Gong'an was there?"

His unfinished words are already obvious, and the attitude of those families who are unwilling to hand over their grain is also clear:

If we want to hand over grain, why don't we hand over grain to Lu Lian?

"Lu Lian is doing wrong in Qingzhou and abusing the Shi clan, don't you know!"

This caused them to whisper for a while, and finally the old man gave an answer after thinking for a long time.

"Lu Lian took our fields and land, which is good, but she is not a cruel person after all, but she has never heard of someone being convicted for her words, her body is in a different place, and her wife and children are wiped out."

The reason why Cheng Yu couldn't harvest the grain is very clear here.

Yuan Shao treats people generously, and he has a very vast land and people to share with the scholars, so he has always been generous to the hearts of the people, compared with such a lord, Liu Bei, who was born from a humble background and has a general like Lu Lian who can't get along with the rich, is naturally not happy with the Jizhou family.

But unlike Yuan Shao, Cao Cao was unwilling to compromise with the family from the beginning, he chose an extremely difficult path, and naturally he could not get the family's sincere help. When he had soldiers and generals, the people of Yanzhou lowered their eyebrows and served him carefully; He is now under the enemy on his back, and even Yuan Benchu's Wuhuan soldiers can come to Yanzhou to spread wilderness, and Shishu naturally refuses to believe him anymore.

Without trust and affection, how can the food that has been settled be handed over again?

Some people hesitated several times, and even discussed with Xiahoudun, wanting to rob those powerful families in the name of suppressing bandits, and then knock out a sum of military rations, but in the end Xiahoudun denied it.

"If you lose the hearts of the people, you will still open the door and steal, and Yanzhou will be chaotic from now on!"

"Yuan Rang thinks that there is no food in the army, how long can the lord hold on?!"

This murderous sentence startled Xiahoudun.

Cheng Yu doesn't look strong, his body is thin, and he is far less deterrent than him as a general.

But this gloomy old man had a terrible temperament, and he always had a fanatical respect and trust for his lord, and this faith gave him infinite strength.

"The lord knows that Yanzhou is running out of food, and the decisive victory is only in a moment," Xiahoudun said cautiously, "You and I just need to hold on-"

When he saw the look on Cheng Yu's face, his words stopped abruptly.

Liu Bei's camp was also filled with a very unfresh atmosphere.

When the footsteps of the plague crept close to this battlefield, it definitely did not only look at one side, but ignored the other, so those soldiers with Xu Zhou's accent were also falling ill in groups.

The surrounding trees have been cut down, and you have to travel farther to collect dry firewood, so a bowl of boiling water is a bit of a luxury. The water in the nearby rivers used to be clear, but now there was a murky foam, but there were more fish, and they were all fat, and if the soldiers casually netted a corpse hanging on the shore, they would always catch a lot of fresh fish that were feasting on it, so forgetting the danger.

In such an environment, the soldiers inevitably fell ill.

They are not far from their hometown, and they are homesick too.

Even if it was just a thatched hut made of mud, and there were only a few acres of newly cultivated thin fields at home, it was their home after all, and alas, dying of illness in the camp was not as high as the pension for dying in battle, and there was no money to get, and they had to die in a foreign land.

They were so sad that they sighed in low protrusion every time they saw a comrade being carried out and buried.

Such a stalemate is like a year, not only them, but also every general in Liu Bei's army thinks so.