Ten days…
This was the tenth day since Cao Anmin returned to the front lines of Shouchun, and it seemed to be the last day that Lu Yu had promised that the grain and fodder would arrive.
At this moment, Cao Cao sat upright in the grand tent, with only a thin flatbread before him.
This was his own request; he would be the same as every soldier.
Dividing rations by the small measure, whatever the soldiers ate, Cao Cao would eat the same…
In terms of food, drink, and clothing, Cao Cao had never been picky.
But…
The camp was in an uproar!
Outside the door… the place where rations were divided by the small measure, where porridge was boiled, and flatbreads were distributed was bustling with activity. Da Feng Novel Network
“Ten consecutive days? Just one flatbread a day? How can we fight on empty stomachs?”
“Yes, we used to drink thick porridge, why are we drinking only broth for the past ten days? This is unfair, we are not convinced!”
“Not convinced, not convinced!”
“Sikong Cao has never mistreated us soldiers. Just a few days ago, even the stable hands could receive two bowls of thick porridge, so thick that chopsticks would stand upright in it!”
“Why… must we be treated so harshly for these ten days? Tell me, who ordered the division of rations by the small measure?”
Murmuring and shouting, the camp… the scene became chaotic.
They joined the army, risking their lives, for the sole purpose of receiving pay and food.
Now…
It seemed…
With a “crack.”
Many people smashed the bowls in their hands to pieces.
Following that, the armored soldiers and the logistics soldiers distributing porridge pushed and shoved each other. In the scuffle, some were pushed to the ground, and even punches and kicks were exchanged.
This…
Hearing the noise outside the door, Cao Cao’s expression was extremely grave.
“Sikong Cao…” Xu Chu had already entered the grand tent. He was here to request permission. If this great chaos was not quelled immediately, it was possible… there could be a mutiny in the army.
One must know that this army surrounding Shouchun City was not entirely composed of Cao’s men. It also included many soldiers who had recently surrendered. They were former soldiers of Yuan Shu, and they had not eaten enough in Shouchun, and now they were not eating enough in Cao’s camp. What would they think!
Ten days of hunger was almost the limit of the soldiers’ endurance.
“Wait a moment longer…” Cao Cao tried his best to calm his emotions. He still had to wait. After all, Yu’er had said that within ten days… he would definitely deliver the grain.
“Sikong Cao, we can’t wait any longer, they’ve already started fighting!” Xu Chu was quite blunt…
He was close to shouting that if they waited any longer, the entire army would mutiny.
Hoo…
Taking a deep breath, exhaling!
Taking another deep breath… and exhaling again.
Cao Cao closed his eyes, his breaths long and steady, three times in a row.
Finally, he opened his eyes. “Zhongkang, summon the grain official.”
“Yes!” Xu Chu immediately ran out of the grand tent.
Not long after, the grain official, the “honest man” Wang Hou, hurried over with small steps. His head was covered in sweat.
Clearly… the soldiers’ resentment towards the logistics troops was already very high, and his days were not easy either.
“Sikong Cao… summoned me… what do you need me for?”
Wang Hou wiped a bead of sweat from his forehead with his sleeve. His forehead was covered in sweat, and his sleeves were almost entirely wet.
At this moment, Cao Cao sat upright in the commander’s chair in the central tent, his eyes narrowed, and his tone was exceptionally solemn. “You have seen the situation outside. I wish to borrow something from you to stabilize the morale of the army. I hope you will not be stingy!”
This…
Wang Hou paused slightly, then asked, “What does my lord wish to borrow?”
“I wish to borrow your head!” Cao Cao blurted out directly. His tone was as calm as ever, with a hint of murderous intent within the calmness. “However, I can only borrow this item, not return it.”
Ah… ah…
“My Lord…” With a clatter, Wang Hou knelt down. Even the most honest child, at this moment, in this situation, realized why Cao Cao was doing this!
This… this… this was clearly using his head to quell the soldiers’ anger.
So, this was Sikong Cao’s so-called “自有对策” (I have my own plan)?
“My Lord, I… I am innocent!”
“I know you are innocent.” Cao Cao stood up. He walked to Wang Hou, helped him up, squatted down, and helped him pat the dust off his knees.
His tone was as calm and unhurried as ever.
“However, you have seen the current situation. If I don’t kill you, it might incite a mutiny.”
Having said this, Cao Cao let out a long sigh and straightened his back, continuing.
“However, I already understand your family situation. You have five family members. After you die, there will be four remaining: your parents, your wife, and your son!”
“They will definitely be better off with me than with you. From now on, your parents will be my parents, and I will be even more filial to them than to my own parents. Your wife will be my wife, and I will definitely treat her as well… cough cough…”
At this point, Cao Cao coughed lightly, as if the words he was about to say would make Wang Hou sad.
He changed his tone.
“Think about it again, your son will definitely have a brighter future by my side than by yours.”
“And you, ‘Wang Hou,’ I, Cao Cao, will remember you. You are the first person to conquer Shouchun City and annihilate the rebel Yuan Shu! In short, you don’t have to worry about them. Your death will exchange for their lifelong prosperity and honor. Don’t you agree?”
“My Lord… My Lord…”
Wang Hou cried, tears streaming down his face. He did not beg for mercy…
Because he knew that once Sikong Cao made a decision, even seven horses could not pull him back.
He… he was doomed!
But… but…
“My Lord… I… I…”
“Zhongkang…” Cao Cao beckoned with a smile. “Have Wang Hou executed immediately on the front lines, hang his head on a tall pole, and issue a public notice – Wang Hou deliberately implemented the small measure and stole official grain, and is hereby punished according to military law!”
“Yes!” Xu Chu agreed and went to drag Wang Hou away.
Wang Hou, however, kept kowtowing, kowtowing like pounding garlic. The entire grand tent was filled with the sound of “dong, dong.”
Finally, at the very end…
Wang Hou thought it through and shouted.
“My Lord, I beg my Lord to grant me one last request! If my Lord agrees, then I, Wang Hou, will die… also… also worth it!”
“Just say it!” Cao Cao turned around, his back to him…
“I beg Sikong Cao to allow… my son to enter the Imperial Academy to study, and to… to become a disciple of the Agricultural Minister Lu, and in the future, to join the Dragon Soaring Camp, to bring glory… to bring glory to the family name! To do something for the family in place of his unpromising father!”
As soon as these words were spoken…
Whoosh…
Cao Cao’s heart trembled violently. At this moment, he felt the sentiment of “A parent’s love for their child is to plan for their far-reaching future.”
Come to think of it, had he, Cao Cao, not also been “planning for the far-reaching future” for Yu’er?
With this thought, Cao Cao nodded.
“I promise you, your son can go to the Imperial Academy to study immediately.”
“Not only that, but I will also adopt him as my godson, and let him join the Dragon Soaring Camp with my son and nephews in the future. I will also specifically inform the Agricultural Minister Lu to take good care of your son. Now, you can rest in peace, can’t you?”
Hoo…
Wang Hou let out a long sigh. “Thank… thank you, Sikong Cao! I… I will certainly go to the front lines and declare that it was I… I who deliberately implemented the small measure and stole official grain, and I deserve… I deserve to be cut into a thousand pieces.”
With these words, he no longer needed Xu Chu to drag him. Wang Hou walked out of the tent with great composure.
Everyone dies eventually, but… his death, Wang Hou’s death, was very weighty, very substantial!
In a sense—heavier than Mount Tai.
“Stomp, stomp…”
The footsteps gradually faded away. “Alas,” Cao Cao, who was alone in the grand tent, let out a long sigh.
As a hero, he would not be sentimental, nor would he feel guilt over a grain official. But… what he had to face next was the attack on the city, a desperate battle with his back to the river.
Now? He didn’t know how many Wang Hous would die in this siege!
“Alas… alas!”
Thinking of this, Cao Cao sighed helplessly.
Grain… this damned grain, once again became his constraint.
He felt as if he would never be able to overcome this hurdle in his life. Was there no way to greatly improve the efficiency of grain transportation?
The workshops in Xuchang? What were the people in charge of these workshops actually doing?
Could they not build a grain cart that could pass through dangerous shoals and steep cliffs?
As soon as his words fell…
“Thump thump thump”
The sound of hurried footsteps sounded outside the grand tent.
It turned out to be the Tiger Guards reporting.
“Reporting to Lord Cao, General Huang Zhong and Commander Dian Wei have arrived at the camp.”
Hmm…
Cao Cao was stunned. They came, so what? It wasn’t the grain that arrived, so was there a need to report it specially?
Just as he thought this…
The words of the Tiger Guard followed, “General Huang Zhong and Commander Dian have brought over a hundred carts of grain. Please, Sikong Cao, come and inspect them!”
What?
Grain? Over a hundred carts of grain?
Instantly, the entire grand tent fell silent.
Grain was actually delivered?
Cao Cao was somewhat incredulous. Wasn’t it because of the shallow shoals and steep slopes… that the grain transportation relied entirely on cavalry carrying it on their persons?
Grain carts? Huang Zhong? Dian Wei? How did they manage it?
Cao Cao’s expression darkened. This was too unbelievable!
Now, Cao Cao could no longer sit still. He anxiously asked the Tiger Guard.
“Is it true? Did you truly see grain carts?”
The Tiger Guard repeatedly nodded. “It is absolutely true. Your subordinate was afraid of a false alarm, so he specifically… specifically went to inspect it. There is indeed grain hidden inside the grain carts. Uh… to be precise, they cannot be called grain carts, but rather ‘oxen and horses’?”
Oxen and horses?
Cao Cao felt he had heard something unbelievable.
Oxen and horses? What oxen and horses?
With such steep slopes… how could oxen and horses transport anything? Even someone with a little common sense should know that on steep slopes, mountain goats are the kings! Oxen and horses… oxen and horses are like scum in mountainous areas!
However!
Since it was Huang Zhong and Dian Wei from the Dragon Soaring Camp, this “oxen and horses” must have been instructed by Yu’er.
Did this resolve the urgent crisis?
This was good news!
Instantly, Cao Cao’s mood, which had been depressed for many days, could finally relax.
“Good, very good. Lead the way, take me to see it!”
Cao Cao was extremely excited, extremely exhilarated…
It was no wonder. People were all like this. If he had been told that the grain had arrived from the beginning, he would have been merely happy. But… once his mood dropped to the extreme, it was a different story.
Yu’er indeed had a way!
Cao Cao couldn’t wait to announce to everyone that his son was just this outstanding, capable of turning the tide and saving the collapsing great edifice!
Wait…
Cao Cao suddenly remembered something.
It seemed there was still Wang Hou?
Once the grain appeared… perhaps he didn’t need to die?
If Cao Cao wanted to kill him, to make him take the blame, he would have a thousand ways.
But if Cao Cao wanted to save him, he would also have a thousand ways.
Wang Hou was indeed an honest man.
Thinking of this, Cao Cao hurriedly ordered, “Someone, quickly tell Zhongkang… hold the execution!”
…
…
At this moment, Wang Hou was being held down on the ground, with the executioner behind him.
Just a moment ago…
In front of countless armored soldiers, he had generously admitted that he had personally decided to implement the small measure of grain distribution.
As for why he did it… it was unimportant, and no one cared.
The armored soldiers only wanted to use his life to quell their ten days of hunger!
The executioner was sharpening his knife. This was specifically instructed by Xu Chu. For humanitarian reasons… to give him a swift death if possible, after all… Wang Hou was doing it for the greater good…
The executioner did not understand this, but Xu Chu did.
In Cao’s camp, as Cao Cao’s bodyguard, there were many things Cao Cao could not do, and Xu Chu had to do them for Cao Cao.
“Grain Officer Wang, do not resent Sikong Cao.” Xu Chu walked up to Wang Hou to offer his final comfort. “This chaotic world is like this. If I hadn’t met Young Master Lu, if I hadn’t followed Sikong Cao, I wouldn’t even know where I died. I might have died even more miserably than you.”
His voice was very soft…
This did not conform to Xu Chu’s usual tone.
Having said this, Xu Chu patted Wang Hou’s shoulder.
“Fortunately, your family is now settled. You are exchanging one life for the prosperity of your family. From your ‘confession’ just now, I, Xu Chu, respect you as a man. If you weren’t about to die here, I would really want to recommend you to Young Master Lu, to have you go to the Dragon Soaring Camp… and be entrusted with an important task.”
Uh…
Although his end was near, Xu Chu’s words still made Wang Hou feel quite pleased.
Of course… what Xu Chu said was correct. His son and parents would have a better life. The only thing he worried about was his wife. He didn’t know how Sikong Cao would treat her?
Will he…
Thinking of this, Wang Hou shook his head violently. Forget it, it was better not to think about it. If he thought too much, it would only be tears.
“Have a good journey. In twenty years, you’ll still be a good man!”
Xu Chu handed a pot of warmed wine to Wang Hou…
Wang Hou took a small sip first. He really had no appetite.
As a grain official, he had never drunk wine before, for fear of distributing the wrong grain and delaying military intelligence.
However… at this moment, in this situation, he still chose to drink a little more.
He heard that drinking more wine made one numb, and perhaps the “snap” at the neck wouldn’t hurt as much.
“Thank you, Commander Xu, for this wine… Get it done. I’ve been waiting, and I can’t help but feel fear. Give me a quick end!”
Fueled by the wine, Wang Hou lay down on his stomach…
And at this time, the surrounding armored soldiers, within a radius of five steps, had already densely gathered to watch.
Everyone was still cursing incessantly, wishing they could curse Wang Hou’s ancestors for eighteen generations.
Audacious, too audacious! This Wang Hou deserved to die to quell their anger!
“Pfft…”
The executioner took a sip of wine and sprayed it onto the saber. Under the bright sun, his saber had already been raised.
“Swish…”
Carrying a sharp gust of wind, this saber had already been swung down.
And at this moment.
— “Hold the execution…”
A voice, an incredibly pleasant voice, came from within the crowd. The speaker was none other than Xi Zhicai!
He had first inspected the grain inside the wooden ox and flowing horses…
Hearing Sikong Cao’s command to “hold the execution,” he rushed over immediately.
The next sentence followed immediately— “Wang Hou has rendered great service!”
This…
Wang Hou was stunned? What? What’s going on?
He… wasn’t he guilty of a great crime?
How could it be a great service at this moment? A great service?
Looking at the inch-long space between the saber and his neck, Wang Hou’s pants were wet… And at this moment, more important than changing his pants…
He? How did he go from a great crime to a great service?
…
…
On another side of the Cao army’s camp.
Grain.
It was indeed grain, over a hundred carts, no, over a hundred “oxen and horses” of grain!
The transported grain was now measured in units of “wooden ox and flowing horses.”
Of course, this was not important. In Cao Cao’s opinion…
Haha, they could… they could hold on for another ten days.
At this moment, Cao Cao’s smile was evident, and the heavy stone hanging in his heart fell with a loud thud.
So comfortable!
Although he did not succeed in making Wang Hou’s wife his own wife, for Cao Cao, who was a fan of married women, it was somewhat regrettable!
But after all… the grain and fodder for the three armies had been resolved, the urgent crisis had been averted, and it was a matter worthy of joy.
However…
These “wooden oxen and flowing horses” that could transport grain through steep slopes…
So miraculous, so divinely crafted “oxen and horses”!
Cao Cao’s eyes lit up.
And at this moment, Huang Xu’s voice followed, “Imperial student Huang Xu reports to Sikong Cao…”
“Young Master Lu ordered us imperial students in Chen Guo… to be working around the clock to build these ‘wooden oxen and flowing horses.’ With the grain arriving today, your subordinate will immediately take the ‘wooden oxen and flowing horses’ back to Chen Guo to continue transporting grain… Chief Supervisor Lu calculated the time, and from now on, the grain shortage under Shouchun City will be resolved.”
No grain shortage!
This was a matter worthy of joy, but… even more gratifying to Cao Cao than this was the incredible “oxen and horses”!
Imperial students are working around the clock to build them!
That means… the difficulty of building these “oxen and horses” should not be great.
If they could transport grain in ten days, it means that these “oxen and horses” can complete grain transportation on shallow shoals and steep slopes… with extremely high efficiency!
Thus.
A light, a brilliant green light, suddenly shone from Cao Cao’s eyes.
He thought further…
If… if these wooden oxen and flowing horses could be produced in large quantities, then in the future, what bothered Cao Cao the most, the transportation of army grain, wouldn’t it be… solved instantly!
If that were the case…
Instantly, Cao Cao gasped.
Compared to resolving the urgent crisis under Shouchun City, this was undoubtedly a greater surprise!
“Good, good… Hahaha!”
Cao Cao couldn’t help but laugh out loud. He looked at Huang Xu, then at Huang Zhong. “Imperial student Huang Xu, is it? So, your name is Huang Xu? Haha, just like your father, a good father produces a worthy son! You did very well in transporting the grain this time, extremely well!”
Hearing this…
Huang Xu appeared very humble.
“Your subordinate dare not claim credit. The smooth transportation of grain is entirely due to Chief Supervisor Lu’s design of these ‘wooden oxen and flowing horses’!”
“As for… Sikong Cao comparing me to my father, your subordinate is even more undeserving of the praise. Your subordinate has always taken his father as a role model, and he also wants to be like his father, to join the Dragon Soaring Camp in the future, to serve Young Master Lu, and to serve Sikong Cao!”
Whoa…
These words surprised Cao Cao immensely, even making his heart bloom with joy!
He couldn’t wait to reward Huang Xu with a big red flower right away. An imperial student, a teachable imperial student, Yu’er has taught him well!
“Hahahaha…”
Thinking of this, Cao Cao laughed out loud again.
Huang Zhong, standing beside him, also laughed heartily. His thoughts were exactly the same as Cao Cao’s. The Imperial Academy taught well, and Young Master Lu taught well!
Of course, how could they know that these manners were not taught by Lu Yu at all? The so-called “Rites of Zhou”…
It was taught by Chief Supervisor Cai Yan. Modest and polite, calm and composed…
This was Cai Zhaoji’s hope for every imperial student.
Just as Cao Cao continued to laugh…
“Sikong Cao, may I speak with you privately?” Dian Wei stepped forward. “Before departing, Young Master Lu handed me a bamboo slip. He said this bamboo slip was personally written by Sikong Cao, and now… it can guarantee Sikong Cao breaks the city in three days!”
As soon as these words were spoken…
Cao Cao’s eyes widened in surprise. Joy, Yu’er still had surprises?
However…
This bamboo slip… a bamboo slip personally written by him, Cao Cao? A bamboo slip that could break the city in three days?
What was this?
For a moment, Cao Cao was completely bewildered!
As expected, Yu’er was as good as ever at making people curious!
…
…