Chenliu Commandery, Cai Residence Main Hall.
"Young Master Lu..." Seeing Lu Yu walking in quickly, Cheng Yu stood up and bowed...
Speaking of which, this ruthless man who feared no ghosts;
This fierce man who, at a moment of crisis, faced rebellion with a blank expression, severed the rebel county magistrate's head with a single stroke, and carried it out of the gate;
This… ruthless man, a fiend, who could eat human flesh without batting an eye…
Upon seeing Lu Yu, he displayed an uncharacteristically respectful demeanor.
This was not solely because Lu Yu had mentored him, but more importantly, Lu Yu allowed the courage and talent hidden within his heart to be displayed and utilized without reservation, completely free from worrying about others' attitudes and opinions!
"Vice Commander Cheng must have important matters to attend to!" As Lu Yu sat down, he invited Cheng Yu to sit, and even proactively poured a cup of tea for Cheng Yu, holding it out with both hands.
Although, in terms of status, the former was a Zhonglang General of Faqiu and the latter a Captain of Mojin, making them superiors and subordinates by right, Lu Yu had never treated Cheng Yu as an outsider, and naturally did not bother to put on airs of superiority.
"Thank you, Young Master!" Cheng Yu took a small sip of tea and then said, "I have come to report my findings to you, Young Master Lu..."
Report? Lu Yu was a bit confused.
Cheng Yu quickly added, "It's about Mojin. I am grateful for your high regard, Young Master Lu, in appointing me as the Captain of Mojin."
"For the past four months, I have not reported to the Zhonglang General of Faqiu. Here is the inventory..."
Cheng Yu handed a bamboo slip to Lu Yu, and at the same time, explained in detail, "I have plundered the tombs of eight marquis and princes, and seventeen tombs of wealthy merchants and powerful families, obtaining seventy-five chests of gold, silver, and jewels, and thirteen chests of precious artifacts... Additionally, there are many famous swords and artifacts from the Qin Dynasty, as well as... large quantities of copper coins, fine iron, and ore..."
As Cheng Yu's words poured out, Lu Yu looked at the list of various gold and silver wares and precious treasures on the bamboo slip, and listened to Cheng Yu's words. He finally understood that Cheng Yu was here to show off.
Lu Yu never expected that Cheng Yu, who had only been in the Mojin business for four or five months, would have such a bountiful harvest. My goodness, over seventy chests of gold, silver, and jewels! Lu Yu couldn't even calculate how much money this was, or how much grain it could exchange for!
The key was that Cheng Yu was not solely dedicated to the Mojin profession. While Lu Bu was launching surprise attacks on Yan Province and various counties were showing hesitant loyalty, he was still able to find time to take a county magistrate's head with a swift stroke and persuade a county registrar to stabilize the situation...
This was a case of grasping both his main job and his hobby with both hands, and excelling at both…
This was his most magnificent and talented aspect!
"Rest assured, Vice Commander Cheng, I will remember your contributions, and Lord Cao will also remember them. When he returns, he will surely bestow even greater rewards." Lu Yu was not just painting a picture this time... With Cheng Yu's achievements, any reward from Cao Cao would not be excessive!
"Young Master Lu misunderstands. I did not come to claim merit." Cheng Yu shook his head... "If it were for rewards, even a single treasure from an imperial tomb would be several times more valuable than the rewards from you and Lord Cao. Why would I go to such great lengths?"
Er, that was true!
… Lu Yu was contemplating how Cheng Yu was showing off to an extreme degree. He didn't want to claim merit, but the fact was that his achievements were too great, making it impossible not to claim merit.
Before Lu Yu could speak further.
Cheng Yu preempted him, "Young Master Lu, I have an important matter to consult you about. According to your instructions, half of the treasures plundered over the past four months have been sent to the Yan Province treasury, and the other half has been hidden by me in a cave."
"However, the sheer volume of these treasures is now overwhelming. Firstly, the personnel guarding the treasures in the Mojin battalion are severely insufficient. It is already the limit to guard these treasures, let alone exploration, reconnaissance, tomb raiding, and scavenging..."
"Secondly, these treasures are almost piled up like a mountain, and the small cave is about to overflow. I have come here specifically to ask you, Young Master Lu, whether these treasures should be sent to the Dragon Cavalry Camp?"
To transport a portion of the plundered treasures to the Yan Province treasury and store the rest elsewhere was Lu Yu's prior instruction…
Cheng Yu had done an excellent job, but… no one had expected his tomb-raiding efficiency to be so much higher than that of 'Hu Bayi' and 'Fatty'.
The enormous quantity was such that even the cave could not accommodate it. My goodness!
"In that case, Vice Commander Cheng, I will write a letter for you. You can take it to General Cao Xiu later to request another hundred Dragon Cavalry. Your Mojin battalion is indeed a bit short-handed..."
Previously, Lu Yu had only considered tomb raiding and scavenging, not the issues that would arise after unearthing these gold and silver treasures.
Storage required some troops, and converting them into grain also required people, as well as exploration, sentries, and reconnaissance... People were needed everywhere. Thinking about it, the Mojin battalion was a disciplined organization!
And the original hundred men in the Mojin battalion were a bit insufficient.
Now, out of the one thousand Dragon Cavalry soldiers, a hundred were transferred from the forging workshop to become craftsmen, and the Mojin battalion was expanded to two hundred men. This left only seven hundred men available for deployment. Considering it, that should be enough. Quality over quantity, after all!
As for… the other issue, the transportation of these gold and silver treasures.
In fact, there was no need for transportation. Previously, Lu Yu had wanted to retain a portion of the treasures to have more leverage in dealing with unforeseen events…
Now, it seemed to be just right.
"Vice Commander Cheng..." Lu Yu said, "These gold and silver treasures do not need to be transported to the Dragon Cavalry Camp. For this period of time... you and your brothers should also take a slight rest, and temporarily refrain from raiding imperial tombs..."
Ah... not raiding imperial tombs. Cheng Yu's brows furrowed slightly. For the past four months... under the moonlight, in the dead of night, going into the tombs of marquis and princes to 'move things' had almost become a daily routine for him and the Mojin battalion.
Engaging in intellectual battles with those strange creatures and playing games of chance with the mechanisms set up by predecessors, if they were to stop one day, he and his brothers would inevitably feel restless.
"Young Master Lu..."
"Vice Commander Cheng, please let me finish first." Before Cheng Yu could speak, Lu Yu preempted him, "Vice Commander Cheng, during this period, I want your Mojin battalion to accomplish three tasks, and these three tasks are a hundred times more important than tomb raiding!"
"Three tasks?"
"That's right. The first is grain storage." Lu Yu's expression turned serious. He rarely spoke to his own people in such a solemn tone. "I want you to take out all the stored gold and silver treasures and exchange them for grain. Buy as much as you can, regardless of the price. As long as you can buy it, buy it all! After buying, hide it all as usual!"
Lu Yu said with a grave tone…
Ah… this…
Cheng Yu's eyes rolled, and then he slightly shook his head. "Young Master Lu, the timing for hoarding grain now doesn't seem very good… Current old grains are tight, and new grains haven't come in yet. Grain prices are at an extremely high period. Even if we need to hoard grain, I suggest waiting until after the harvest in July. At that time, the same amount of gold and silver will be able to buy more than triple the amount of grain."
Cheng Yu was meticulous and forthright. He expressed his thoughts eloquently. "Besides, from what I know, although most of Cao's army's grain is stored in Puyang City, other commanderies and counties still have sufficient grain reserves in their granaries, which should be enough until the grain harvest in Yan Province in July… Unless…"
Cheng Yu paused and continued, "Unless Lord Cao intends to attack Puyang City and engage in a decisive battle with Lu Bu, then the grain supply will become stretched thin… However, attacking at this time does not seem wise. Cao's army's disadvantage is the lack of grain, while Lu Bu's army's advantage is ample grain. Fighting the enemy's strength with one's own weakness makes the outcome of victory and defeat difficult to predict."
“… It would be better to wait until after the autumn harvest, when Cao's army has ample provisions, to attack Lu Bu. Lu Bu's advantage will then become his disadvantage, and Cao's army's disadvantage will turn into an advantage! In this way, the outcome of victory and defeat will lean towards our side."
It must be said that every word and every sentence of Cheng Yu's words was filled with insightful wisdom.
No matter from which angle one listened or analyzed, it made perfect sense. However… there was one premise that Cheng Yu did not know, but Lu Yu knew: there would be no grain in July this year.
Due to drought and locust plagues, even the little grain that could be harvested would be minimal. By that time, Lu Bu's advantage would only grow, and Cao Cao's disadvantage would not just be a disadvantage, but would even turn into a momentum of defeat!
This was the domino effect!
“Ahem…” Thinking of this, Lu Yu coughed lightly. “Just do as I say. Don’t ask so many reasons for now. Just buy it. Our money comes easily, so let’s spend it generously and never be stingy.”
Saying this, Lu Yu smiled and patted Cheng Yu on the shoulder.
Cheng Yu was still confused… Although they were only a few months apart, they could obtain three times the amount of grain. Why must they buy it now?
However… Cheng Yu did not know that his confusion had come a little too early, because… Lu Yu's next instructions made him even more bewildered!
“Hoarding grain was the first item. For the second, Vice Commander Cheng, you must send people to buy a large quantity of dry rice and paddy seeds from Bing Province and Yang Province. This needs to be done quickly;”
“In addition, there is one more thing… Vice Commander Cheng, you and the Mojin battalion must find ways to procure more chickens, ducks, geese, and frogs… Distribute them across the four commanderies of Yan Province and Xu Province… I have a use for them!”
This…
Indeed, Lu Yu's words directly gave Cheng Yu a feeling of being in a daze.
If the first point of hoarding grain at a high price could be attributed to being rich and willful, then… the second point, buying rice seeds, was somewhat incomprehensible!
People in the Central Plains ate mostly wheat-based foods, and their fields were planted with a large amount of wheat and soybeans…
As for rice, it was rarely planted in the Central Plains. One reason was that paddy fields required the creation of artificial lakes, and there weren't that many lakes in the middle, making cultivation troublesome. Another reason was that the yield of rice was not as good as wheat!
… And the dry rice from Bing Province, although it didn't demand specific locations for cultivation and could even withstand drought to some extent, the key problem was that it didn’t taste good!
Imagine, the ability to withstand drought implicitly meant a severe lack of moisture in the rice, making it very hard. Between wheat and rice, people naturally chose wheat.
Moreover, in terms of taste and yield, dry rice was far inferior to wheat. Wouldn't it be more satisfying to plant more wheat with that effort? Unless it was in water-scarce areas like Bing Province or Yongliang, who would plant this thing?
Of course…
Cheng Yu’s pessimism was due to the fact that it didn’t taste good and had low cost-effectiveness…
Lu Yu’s optimism, on the other hand, stemmed precisely from the fact that paddy fields could prevent locusts, and dry rice could prevent drought…
Now, people cried out that it didn’t taste good because they had choices. When that day truly arrived, with locusts and drought striking simultaneously, and crops failing, would people choose to gnaw on bark and eat wild vegetables, or eat this less-than-delicious rice? Everyone would choose the latter! This had nothing to do with anything else… it was solely about survival!
In Lu Yu's view, cultivating the habit of the common people catching young locusts and eating developing locusts was the first step, which might curb the locust plague to some extent and alleviate the famine…
But… if it couldn't be curbed, then at least the yield of rice must be guaranteed, and ducks and frogs in the lakes, these natural enemies of locusts, could play a significant role.
And under severe drought, there weren't many crops that didn't rely on rainfall and could be harvested in four months…
Only the dry rice from Bing Province!
Promoting paddy and dry rice seemed inexplicable to Cheng Yu, but imperative to Lu Yu.
"Young Master Lu… I can understand hoarding grain, and I can understand buying dry rice and paddy to increase food diversity… but chickens, ducks, and frogs… what are they for? Poultry and aquatic products are expensive, and the difficulty of procuring them is also immense!"
Cheng Yu raised his final doubt…
Of course, he had a feeling that his questions would not be answered today, just like his previous questions. Young Master Lu would probably be evasive again.
As expected, Lu Yu's answer was still to evade the important issues.
"Vice Commander Cheng, don't ask so many questions. You'll know in a few months. As for… buy as many chickens, ducks, and frogs as you can. Try to place them in lakes and paddy fields… I will find a way to promote and plant paddy rice extensively within Yan Province before April!"
Hoo…
Well, Cheng Yu knew he wouldn't get a clear answer today.
However, since it was Lu Yu's order, he immediately stood up, cupped his hands, and accepted the command. "Young Master Lu, please rest assured. Since you have entrusted these matters to me, then… Yu will not fail your trust!"
Saying this, Cheng Yu couldn't help but add, "Although these matters… are a bit mysterious, I believe Young Master Lu must have his reasons. Cheng Yu will definitely not fail my mission!"
Cheng Yu, representing his Mojin battalion, accepted this task of spending money. For a moment… Cheng Yu thought back to four months ago.
At that time…
When he first entered the Dragon Cavalry Camp, he didn't even know what he was supposed to do or could do?
It wasn't until that night when he followed General Cao Xiu to a marquis's tomb…
Frankly speaking, Cheng Yu was as bewildered then as he was now. But when he actually carried out the treasures from the tomb, Cheng Yu felt an indescribable sense of accomplishment!
From then on, he embarked on that irreversible path of "Heavenly officials bestowing blessings, and all taboos are broken!"
Imagine, although the orders he received today were not as supernatural as tomb raiding and scavenging, they were still very mysterious.
Of course, after figuring this out, Cheng Yu no longer found it mysterious. Under Lu Yu, doing anything mysterious or supernatural was commonplace, even ordinary!
Just as Cheng Yu was about to take his leave…
"What is so mysterious?"
An aged voice came from outside the door…
Lu Yu turned his head…
He immediately understood. So, the affair from yesterday had made this old man miss out.
Heh… he had come looking for him! Just in time!
…
…