Cao Xiu slowly recounted the predicament of his brothers lacking food.
Ten days' worth of provisions needed to last sixty days.
Mentioning this, Cao Xiu and his three deputy generals were nearing madness, let alone the soldiers below, and even less so the surrendered Qingzhou troops.
It could be said that if the issue of grain was not handled properly, both Cao Cao and Yanzhou would be utterly doomed.
"Grain!"
Lu Yu muttered softly.
As expected, the most worrying problem had arisen, though it was a little earlier than he had anticipated.
Fundamentally, Cao Lao's sudden surge in troop numbers lacked a solid foundation.
Normally, when ancient people recruited a large number of soldiers, they either relied on their past military careers or actively contacted powerful families. With Cao Lao not possessing either advantage, absorbing hundreds of thousands of surrendered troops in one go would inevitably empty Yanzhou's granaries.
Lu Yu pondered for a moment. There wasn't no solution.
Historically, a ruthless individual named Cheng Yu was recommended by Xun Yu. Ah, it seemed that the term "ruthless individual" was insufficient to describe Cheng Yu's deeds; this fellow was simply a "fierce wolf"!
In this time of crisis, he volunteered to take on the heavy responsibility of procuring grain, and then... he sun-dried the bodies of those who starved into jerky, to be added to meals, cannibalism... He actually helped Cao Cao overcome this crisis.
By the following year, the grain harvest arrived, and everyone rejoiced!
Of course, this method was a bit inhumane. Damn it, eating people!
The thought of it made Lu Yu feel a wave of nausea, and even his favorite beef suddenly lost its appeal.
He couldn't control others, but at the very least, his thousand brothers under his command could not eat human flesh.
He had to find a way.
"Sigh..."
When the issue of grain shortage was mentioned, Wei Hong also let out a long sigh.
"I knew Yanzhou was short of grain several days ago. I heard that a county magistrate named Cheng Yu suggested to Mengde that they dry human flesh for consumption. If it weren't for the obstruction of Xun Yu, a regional commander, Mengde would likely have adopted it!"
"Now, the granaries of Yanzhou are clearly empty. To appease the army's morale, Mengde will most likely bring up this matter again. This is a chaotic world!"
Stories of eating one's own kind, or husbands and wives eating each other, were not uncommon in times of chaos.
However, upon truly hearing it, Lu Yu's heart still felt a chill.
"Old Wei, can we buy grain now?" Lu Yu immediately asked.
This...
Wei Hong hesitated. "In various prefectures and counties, there are indeed merchants hoarding goods and storing large quantities of grain in their granaries, selling it at high prices to various feudal lords in the black market, making a hefty profit... However, prices have soared, and they no longer look at ordinary copper coins or Wuzhu coins."
"Unless they can produce gold, jewels, silk, or the fine iron and bronze used for forging weapons... they will exchange! But even my Wei household cannot produce so much gold and silver jewelry!"
Bartering?
Has bartering already begun in the market?
Lu Yu's eyes rolled. Because he was familiar with this period of history, he knew clearly that the original currency system of the Han Dynasty was relatively stable.
It was precisely when Dong Zhuo wielded power that he remelted all the copper coins and bronze horses in Luoyang City to cast new copper coins, and used small coins to replace the original large coins, causing the entire economic system of the Han Dynasty to collapse.
The price of grain in Chang'an even rose to one hundred thousand coins per hu, while in contrast, in Youzhou, governed by Liu Yu, the economic system had not collapsed, with one stone of grain costing only thirty coins, and one hu of grain costing only ten coins.
For this reason, Gongsun Zan specifically stockpiled three million hu of grain in Yijing as military provisions.
Of course, the Central Plains were not Youzhou. While it wasn't as exaggerated as one hundred thousand per hu, nor as cheap as ten coins per hu.
The market price for one hu of grain was around one to two thousand coins. Originally, with Wei Hong's financial capacity, supporting Lu Yu's thousand-man team would have been no problem.
But now, the black market merchants no longer played with copper coins. Where could he obtain gold and silver jewelry?
Of course, if others couldn't get it, it didn't mean Lu Yu couldn't.
His eyes rolled, and he immediately thought of a brilliant method, which was simply a "milling business with wheat picked from the ground" – a business with no cost but immense profit.
"Sister Zhaoji, why don't you go out for a stroll first?" Lu Yu suggested. "Old Wei, I, and a few generals will discuss some man's talk."
Uh...
Men's talk? Cai Zhaoji was stunned for a moment, and she immediately thought of...
"Brother Lu Yu, we mustn't do things like raiding and looting, right?" Cai Zhaoji frowned.
Lu Yu scratched his head and replied with a smile, "Sister Zhaoji, rest assured, it's definitely not raiding and looting. As people do, heaven watches. We won't oppress the good people!"
"Really?" Cai Zhaoji bit her lip, looking skeptical, but since Brother Lu Yu had said so, what else could she do but... go for a walk?
As they spoke, Cai Zhaoji, along with her maids, gracefully withdrew from the pavilion. Lu Yu noticed that one maid was desperately winking at him before leaving.
Her alluring glance seemed to say, "Continue tonight!"
Lu Yu returned a big eye-roll, as if to say, "Maybe next time!"
As she left, he suddenly remembered that wasn't this the one from the three from Qi Shang Li last night? He almost didn't recognize her when she was dressed.
"Cough cough..."
With a light cough, since Sister Zhaoji had already gone far, Lu Yu motioned for Cao Xiu, the three deputy generals, and Wei Hong to gather around.
Cao Xiu looked eager. "Young Master Lu, if we really need to plunder, it's no problem. I will do it so flawlessly that no one will know we were involved!"
Uh...
Lu Yu was taken aback. He looked at Cao Xiu meaningfully. A swift colt, a swift colt, the vision, the vision was too narrow!
Yanzhou was already poor. The soldiers couldn't get enough to eat, and the common people also couldn't get enough to eat. To rob a bunch of poor ghosts? How much money could be obtained? The vision was too small!
If you're going to rob, you should rob the rich!
Of course, the living rich people had deep roots in Yanzhou and were untouchable.
So, why not rob the thoroughly dead rich people? This is what is meant by "moving gold," "grave robbing," and "tomb raiding."
Speaking of which, before crossing over, Lu Yu had watched many related "movies" and "TV shows." He had to admit that "Grave Robber's Chronicles" really brought in money quickly!
"Cough cough..."
Lu Yu coughed lightly again and asked Wei Hong in a low voice, "Old Wei, let me ask you something, are there any tombs of princes and nobles in our Yanzhou?"
This...
Wei Hong paused. "Why does Young Master Lu ask this?"
Lu Yu replied with a smile, "They are all seniors. I want to pay my respects. They will surely bless us."
Oh... Wei Hong tapped his forehead, and then began to speak.
"In the western suburbs of Chenliu Commandery, there is a large tomb, said to be the tomb of the famous general Zhao Chongguo from Emperor Wu's reign..."
"No!" Before Wei Hong could finish, Lu Yu waved his hand. "Find another one."
Military generals, especially those who fought against the Xiongnu with Emperor Wu of Han, were impoverished. Referring to the tombs of Wei Qing and Huo Qubing, you would know.
You need to find corrupt officials, princes, and nobles! They are fat!
...Wei Hong pondered for another moment.
"There is indeed another one, thirty li south of Chenliu Commandery. It is the tomb of Liu Chang, the second king of Zhongshan, son of Prince Jing of Zhongshan, Liu Sheng."
Hiss, Prince of Zhongshan? Lu Yu felt that these four words were very familiar! Who was he? The words were on the tip of his tongue, but he couldn't recall.
However, his father was the first Prince of Zhongshan Jing, and his son was the second Prince of Zhongshan. Lu Yu reckoned that his tomb must be very rich!
As the saying goes, "light the candles for the living, and blow out the lamps for the dead..."
Prince of Zhongshan, let it be you!
...
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