Three Kingdoms: From Yinlin to Great Wei Xiongzhu

Chapter 166 Liu Bei: I feel like God is targeting me

In April, there is no rain, drought and wind, and the wheat seedlings do not show up, turn yellow and die.

In just over three months, the rivers near the villages in the Central Plains became much shallower.

What used to be a fast-flowing river has now become a ford, and when the cattle cross to the opposite bank, the water does not cover their backs.

The scorching sun stretched out its tongue of fire, licking every inch of the big man's land.

The trees drooped their long wicker limply.

The paraquat is yellow, crouching on the hot earth and rocks, waiting for the early death!

And this is just the tip of the iceberg on this scorching land since the three-month drought.

In mid-July, the sun is still shining brightly, and the cracked earth looks like the wrinkles on the old man's face after going through wind and frost, so clear and deep, so helpless and sad!
The wheat fields have already been torn apart one after another, and many people have expected that most of the crops this year will be fruitless.

But... when this scene really happened.

It still made many farmers weep unceasingly, weeping again and again... The whole Kyushu is like this, desolate and hesitant!
No wind, no rain, the scorching sun, the scorching heat!
...

...

Yanzhou, Puyang City.

"Father, I caught it... This locust is so big!" A little boy was quite excited, covering something with his hands.

The adults behind hurried over.

Sure enough, the locust in the child's hand had a full abdomen and was not small in size. One could only hold up to the usual two...

"Not bad…"

The adults showed a satisfied smile, and immediately carefully took out the locusts and filled them into the bottles they had prepared.

The father and son were originally local farmers. This year, there was a severe drought and there was no harvest...

It seems that the livelihood of the coming year will be a problem.

Logically speaking, they should never show such a smile... It's just...

Fortunately... I have two barrels of oil at home, so I can fry locusts to eat...

In the past, when they caught locusts, they would exchange them for coins from the government, but now, are fools going to exchange them?

With the harvest of grain at a loss, the price of grain has increased by dozens of times, but there is still no market for it. The money obtained in exchange cannot buy much grain at all. It is better... to fry locusts to eat.

Of course... catching locusts is not that easy!

The main reason is that there are too many people catching locusts in the fields, maybe a dozen or so locusts can be caught in a day... But these are nothing more than life-saving rations for farmers.

"Father... Then there is..."

The little boy smiled and chased after him. He was holding an insect net in his hand. This was originally used by the father and son to catch butterflies in the mountains and forests when they were free on weekdays. Unexpectedly... it has come in handy now!

"Old Li? How many were caught today?" A swarthy man beside him yelled at the middle-aged man.

"Bad luck, seven or eight!"

"Hey, did you find it? There have been a lot fewer locusts in the field recently... Lao Li, tell me, will we catch them all one day!"

"This terrible weather... It's a day to live, the sun is scorching, and there is no rain... If it weren't for the fried locusts, I'm afraid we would all have to eat the bark! How can we care whether the locusts are preyed or not? Is it clean?"

The two farmers started chatting with each other...

In fact, if you look at fishing, you often catch small fry, and fishermen will choose to release them. This is an unwritten agreement in the fishing industry.

But... locusts are different. These pests... have always harassed the crops, and the common people hate them so much, why would they consider whether they are small or big?
The small ones are crispy and the big ones taste like fried chicken!

Although the farmers are still endlessly complaining about the horrible weather, and even have an inexplicable fear of the future, but...in short...they still have hope!
Predating locusts can at least allow us to eat something every day. This is hope!
As long as there is hope, even in the dark night, there will be light!

...

...

Xuzhou, Xiapi City!This is Liu Bei's territory.

Today, there are wailing sounds beside the drugstores and medical offices in the whole city...

"Ah... ah... my stomach hurts, my stomach hurts!"

"Who said this bug can be eaten? Liu Shijun? He...he's a liar!"

"I'm just saying... how can people eat locusts? Eh... ah..."

In July, the crops in the thirteen prefectures of the Han Dynasty failed, not only for Cao Cao, but also for Liu Bei...

No, Liu Bei also imitated Cao Cao and let the people prey on locusts, but... Predation belongs to predation, but the ending is completely different from Cao Cao's.

The entire city of Xiapi, Guangling... howled.

Some people have died because of eating locusts, and more people have gathered around the government office to beat drums and complain!
Once the locusts gather, they will be poisonous. Even after being fried at high temperature, some toxins will still remain, and this...in this drought season, it is tantamount to killing people!

"Dong dong dong..."

"Dong dong dong..."

The beating of the drums shook the heavens and the earth, and the people wanted to seek justice from Liu Bei. Why...why did he say that locusts were edible?
This... isn't this harmful!
Liu Bei at this moment, he is pacing left and right in the government office, frowning!

He was also drunk, he obviously copied Cao Cao's homework, and it was obviously Cao Cao who started eating locusts!

But...the whole area of ​​Yanzhou and the four counties in the north of Xuzhou don't have any problems at all, why...he just...will have a lot of poisoning?
"Big Brother...Big Brother..." Zhang Fei ran over yelling, but he looked a little weak.

That's right, in order to let the people eat locusts, Guan Yu and Zhang Fei took the lead and ate the fried locusts.

As a result... within half a day, both of them felt dizzy, dizzy, and weak. In the end, they almost fainted.

If it wasn't for the timely treatment, the doctor poured in strong medicine, which made the two brothers suffer a lot. At this moment... they might still be lying on the bed!
Guan Yu was even more serious, he couldn't care less about watching "Spring and Autumn", and stayed in bed all day long!
Zhang Fei needed to run to the latrine eight times a day, and his whole body was about to collapse.

According to what the doctor said, this is the only way to expel this toxin!
Here... Zhang Fei and Guan Yu are strong and healed in time, so they survived the poison of the locust...

But it does not mean that other people also have this treatment, a large number of people are poisoned, and more people are dying...

Of course...the reason why they ate locusts was not just based on Liu Bei's orders.

More is heard... the people in the northern border of Xuzhou and the whole territory of Yanzhou have no problem eating locusts!

And... There are rumors in the market that locusts are great tonic, and even eating locusts can give birth to sons. In short, the rumors are miraculous. The most important thing... The taste of locusts is delicious, so-called - crunchy, chicken taste!
It's just... the taste is good, but... the locusts are poisonous!
Nowadays, a large number of people are poisoned, and there must be one person who takes the blame.

Then... there is no doubt that only Liu Bei, the prefect of Xiapi City, who posted notices to let the people prey on locusts, is the most suitable.

"Big Brother...Big Brother...the common people are about to break into the Yamen Office, and you can't stop...you can't stop them!"

Zhang Fei was about to cry...

If it wasn't for the fact that he was about to collapse during this period of time, with his strength...how could he not be able to stop this group of people?

Can…

"Liu Taishou, you...you have to say something!"

"Liu Shijun, Taozhou Mu gave Xuzhou to you... Is it because you poisoned us like this?"

"Big Ear Thief... Get out!"

At first, the people's words were very elegant, but as time went by, with the drought, locust plague, crop failure... the sum of the total anger, the people accumulated more and more, and their anger grew more and more, and they were about to die. exploded!
Many people have already called Liu Bei a "big-eared thief".

Many people even slammed into the gate of the government office while scolding Liu Bei's eighteen generations of ancestors.

The riots in the hearts of the people in Xuzhou seemed to be almost out of control.

Don't look at Liu Bei's surface is still not leaking.

But in his heart... he was already panicked, he felt that he was about to urinate, and his fundamental benevolence and righteousness would soon be untenable!
The key is…

Why?What about Wang Fa?Does it make sense?
If eating locusts would cause poisoning...why wouldn't Yanzhou be poisoned, and the people in Cao Cao's territory wouldn't be poisoned, but...the people here in Liu Bei...just wailing, dying, bedridden, and even dying.

Liu Bei felt that he was being targeted...

He couldn't figure it out no matter what... There is obviously no way to explain it!
Actually... there is a way to explain it!
However, this method is an area that Liu Bei will never be able to touch, and his name is "Science"!
"Yide, Zilong..."

Finally, Liu Bei, who had been silent for a while, spoke. "Open the gate of the government office, let the people come in, let them... let them come to me!"

"Big brother..."

"My lord..."

Zhao Yun and Zhang Fei spoke at the same time, and seemed to have something to say.

Liu Bei shook his hand heavily.

"I, Liu Bei, am the only one responsible for the poisoning of the common people. If I am wrong, I am wrong. If I am wrong, I have to face it! If so...if I don't have the courage to face the anger of the people, what will happen to me...I, Liu Bei Get a foothold in troubled times!"

In a word, Liu Bei raised his hand again. "Open the gate of the government office, let the people come in, let them come to me...Xiapi City and Guangling City are guilty of a thousand crimes, and that is my fault, Liu Bei alone!"

At this moment... Liu Bei's appearance is extremely tough...

But in fact, he was betting that the people would give him a chance.

Similarly, he is also betting, betting... the common people will not do any extreme behavior.

Of course, Liu Bei can also choose to escape and choose not to gamble, but if that is the case, the benevolence that he has accumulated in the troubled times and is the foundation of his life will be completely overturned in one breath!

"Brother..." Zhang Fei wanted to persuade...

Liu Bei stretched out his hand, and he raised his head to look at the sky. Apart from lamenting the injustice of God, all he could do was shout, hoarsely shouting: "Come... let the people's anger come out more violently!"

...

...

Yanzhou, Chenliu County, Yashou.

"Xun Sima, you are back!" Seeing Xun Yu coming, Cao Cao rushed to meet him...

Xun Yu just came from the Taishou River... During this period of time, he was quite busy, except that he and Xiahou Dun were in charge of planting upland rice and rice...

I even visited Yanzhou to spy on the changes in people's hearts.

Under a severe drought, people's hearts are the easiest to change, and they are also the most prone to riots.

"Mr. Cao..." Seeing Cao Cao, Xun Yu saluted.

"How is it?" Cao Cao hurriedly asked...

Don't look at the three words "how" Cao Cao asked, in fact...Cao Cao asked many questions, not only about people's livelihood, but also about hostile forces, and even his yearning for strategic planning was hidden in it.

With Xun Yu's wisdom, Cao Cao can understand the meaning behind his words!

"Let's talk about people's hearts first..." Xun Yu spoke slowly, with a lot of content, one by one.

"How's the public opinion? Under the severe drought...there haven't been any riots?" Cao Cao asked.

"The hearts of the people are still stable." Xun Yu said with a wisp of beard. "This is thanks to the oil workshop that Lu Gongcao and Wei Lao opened together. The popularity of oil has given the common people a kind of ration of 'fried locusts'. Although these locusts are not a staple food, they can't satisfy their hunger, but they can be solved after all. It's a temporary need! It's just...the number of locusts in the fields has decreased significantly recently, and with such a large-scale catching of locusts, the locusts may not be able to survive for a few months!"

ah... ah...

Cao Cao was slightly taken aback. If Xun Yu's words had been placed half a year ago, Cao Cao would have thought it ridiculous.

At that time, the plague of locusts was almost the biggest killer of crops...

Every summer, Cao Cao is full of thoughts on how to reduce locusts, how to protect crops, and curb locust plagues!If possible, Cao Cao would rather exterminate the locusts in the field and solve the problem of locust disaster once and for all!

Fortunately, the locusts have indeed decreased...

But Cao Cao felt inexplicably uncomfortable...

This is all food, how can it be reduced?

Locusts, locusts, don't you reproduce very fast?Can you get down to business at half time every day, mate more times, and lay more cubs... If you don't work hard, you can't stand these millions of people eating!

What a terrible human being!

It's just too easy to exterminate a creature with your mouth.

"Ahem..." With a light cough, Cao Cao came back to his senses and changed the subject directly. "What about the others? Like iron?"

The reason why he deliberately asked about the iron was that Cao Cao saw the power of the steel weapons and armor of the Longxiao Battalion in the Battle of Puyang. Then...according to Cao Cao's conception, the most urgent task must be to create an invincible and invincible steel Master!

And... Mu'er is in the forge.

As long as there is enough iron and iron near the water, Mu'er can make more than a thousand sets of steel weapons and armor within a few months... This is very important to Cao Cao.

"If it's iron..." Xun Yu shook his head slightly. "It's a bit difficult... Now Yanzhou has roughly mined the tin iron that can be mined, and even if there is still ordinary pig iron that contains impurities and is of extremely poor quality!"

Having said this, Xun Yu paused. "I asked Lu Gongcao before, this kind of iron with impurities cannot be forged steel, but... even if you can't buy good quality iron on the black market... now the forge can only be a skillful woman who can't cook without rice ah!"

Cao Cao knew that the forge hadn't been busy recently, as Mu'er came home early every day to see some clues.

Today, the problem of forging steel lies in the iron!

If you want to buy iron, firstly, there is no one on the market, and secondly, Cao Cao can’t exchange the corresponding grain. If you want to continue forging steel, you must find a new site and a new source of iron!
When the topic of the new territory was mentioned, Cao Cao narrowed his eyes slightly. He continued, "Xun Sima seems to have discussed strategic plans with Lu Gongcao many times, right? Where are we going to conquer next? Is there a decision?"

To put it bluntly, Cao Cao is too eager to expand his territory...

But now because of the iron, it is even more important to expand the territory.

"This…"

Xun Yu rolled his eyes, pondered for a moment, and finally spoke.

In fact, he didn't want to tell Cao Cao the whole strategic plan right now. After all...he and Lu Yu discussed going to Luoyang to meet the emperor, but now, the emperor has not yet written the horoscope?It is far from the time to put forward this strategic conception.

But Cao Cao asked today...

It is also related to the next step in the collection of iron resources, so...

"Mr. Cao, what Xun thinks he will plan next is the Sili generation who will bear the brunt of it!"

Hmm...Sili generation?
Cao Cao was taken aback for a moment. Sili belonged to the generation around Luoyang, but...now Luoyang is in ruins?It seems useless to ask for it!Besides, Cao Cao is still struggling with Yanzhou's financial resources, food and grass, let alone rebuilding Luoyang!

Could it be... this is the next strategic goal that Xun Sima and Yu'er have discussed for so long?
Seemingly noticing the tangle on Cao Cao's cheek, Xun Yu continued to speak.

"Cao Gong think about it, look at the world, where can we go to plot at this time? Yuan Shao in Jizhou? Liu Biao in Jingzhou? Yuan Shu in Jianghuai? Liu Bei in Xuzhou? Or Li Jue and Guo Si in Chang'an City?"

Xun Yu first asked the question, and then asked and answered himself:

"These sites... Mr. Cao has no chance! Either they are restricted by the road, or they are restricted by food and grass, or the disparity in military strength! For this reason, the only thing Cao Gong can seek is the Sili area close to Yanzhou, which is this land. Borderlands!"

Xun Yu paused for a moment, and continued to narrate in detail.

"In the past, when Dong Zhuo set fire to Luoyang, the Sili area had long been ruined, and the powerful princes looked down upon it. What is stationed here is just a group of soldiers and rogues. It is the easiest to attack. This is one of them!"

"Although Luoyang City is in ruins, it is well known...the resources there are extremely rich, such as iron, minerals...these strategic materials are what Cao Gong urgently needs, this is the second!"

"As for the third..."

Speaking of this, Xun Yu made a fool of himself. "The third and most important one is the core of the strategy that Lu Gongcao and I worked out after repeated deliberation!"

When it comes to the strategic core... it is the strategic core that Yu'er and Wen Ruo conspired together.

Cao Cao's eyes widened in vain, and his whole body became full of energy.

"What are these three?"

Xun Yu's eyes narrowed slightly. At this moment, he thought of... the core strategy for achieving dominance that he had talked with Lu Yu for several nights in a row...

And this strategy is exactly - opening up the channel from Yanzhou to Luoyang, ready to go, waiting for changes...

And then—to greet the Son of Heaven and order the princes!

...

...

　There are only three chapters today...I really can't catch up with Chapter 4.

　　In addition to code words, it takes a lot of time to think about the plot... Even thinking about the plot... is much more tiring than pure code words!
　　Good night!
　　
　
(End of this chapter)