The three countries are very nuclear

Chapter 574 Lin Zichu, refund the money!
Noon on the second day.

After drinking heavily and reveling last night, Liu Bei dragged several civil servants and generals whom he hadn't seen for a long time, such as Zhang Liao, Xun You, and others, to get together to brag and brag until dawn before going home.

So when I woke up the next day, it was already high in the sun.

After waking up, Liu Bei remembered that it was a time of war, and the enemy Yuan Shao was trapped in the isolated city tens of miles away.

So... Liu Bei touched his belly and decided to have a full meal before talking.

Of course, business can't be forgotten.

Liu Bei ordered people to invite Lin Chao, Xun Yu and a few civil servants and military generals from the core group to discuss how to break the city while eating and chatting.

Liu Bei couldn't help smiling when he thought that as long as the Dingtao City in front of him was broken, the war would be over, and he would return to Tan County to continue his life of playing music and dancing.

People are like this, after a long time of stability, they long to ride the wind and waves.

But once running around for a long time, I want to return to the peaceful life before.

In a word: cheap!

Liu Bei is not a saint, nor is he a natural hero. At best, he can only be regarded as a benevolent and righteous king who has knowledge of others and self-knowledge. It is normal to have this kind of thinking.

Not long after, before Lin Chao and the others arrived, the food was served first.

Liu Bei held back his saliva and continued to wait, finally waiting for his confidant humerus after two quarters of an hour.

There are not many people who are eligible to participate in this meeting. Apart from the trio of Lin Chao and the Xun family, only three generals, Zhao Yun, Zhang Liao, and Lin Xi, were invited.

And Dian Wei, who was Liu Bei's personal guard, led people to guard in front of the tent.

"You don't need to be too polite, just sit down and let's talk while eating."

Just when everyone was about to salute, Liu Bei waved his hand to stop them and at the same time signaled everyone to sit down.

Everyone sat down one by one, and started today's meal.

Due to his hunger, Liu Bei greeted everyone and began to quickly satisfy his five internal organs temple.After a few big bites, he put down his chopsticks and said: "Everyone, although Yuan Shao's old thief is trapped in the isolated city, there are still nearly one hundred thousand people in the city. Why do you teach me?"

Hearing Liu Bei's question about countermeasures, Lin Chao stood up and told the news that Yuan Shao asked Yuan Shu for help, causing everyone to frown.

Seeing that the overall situation has been fixed, there is another disturbance.

"Zichu, even if Yuan Gonglu enters the game, we won't be afraid. It's just this food..."

Liu Bei never doubted the combat power of his subordinates.But food is something that cannot be changed by manpower.

Thinking about it carefully, Xuzhou has never fought any battle for wealth in recent years.Every time we go out for an expedition, the food has to be pieced together, and this is still tight.

But this is also a normal phenomenon. On the one hand, Xuzhou does not have a deep bond with the aristocratic family, and on the other hand, it also wants to benefit the people. It has become the norm to live a tighter life.

Lin Chao cupped his hands and said: "Mr. Xuande has no worries. Regarding Yuan Gonglu's invasion, he had a countermeasure early on. Yun Chang and Yide led the army to the border of Chenliu yesterday morning to guard against Yuan Gonglu."

Hearing this, Liu Bei heaved a sigh of relief, and said with a big laugh, "Zichu's work is really reassuring. I just don't know if Zichu has a plan to break the city of Dingtao in front of me?"

"Mr. Xuande, the court thought that Yuan Benchu ​​was just dying. When we broke the city, it all depends on our mood. It's just that it's better to wait for an opportunity."

Isn't it better to be sooner rather than later? Why did you do the opposite at the beginning of Zichu?
Liu Bei was puzzled, "What does Zichu mean by that, and what is this opportunity?"

"Going back to Duke Xuande, the opportunity is naturally the food." Lin Chao smiled, with malicious intentions written all over his face, "When the food is available, the city will be broken."

Hearing the word food, not only Liu Bei, but the whole tent suddenly boiled.

The sinister smile on Lin Chao's face seemed to be contagious, and it was quickly reflected on the faces of everyone present.

Everyone has only one idea in their minds at the moment—to vote for him, Yuan Gonglu, and grab his food to eat for themselves!
……

More than ten days passed, and the time came to mid-August.

Yuan Shao in Dingtao City chose to bow his head to Yuan Shu. While being physically and mentally traumatized, he was always looking forward to the early arrival of Yuan Shu's food and grass.

For this reason, Yuan Shao even stood at the top of the city and looked at it for a long time every day, imagining that there would be a huge grain transport convoy pulling a full load of grain to the city.

Although he came every day full of hope, but left dejected, Yuan Shao still refused to give up, and even became a repertoire in Dingtao City, a beautiful landscape on the top of the city.

Yuan Shao, who was transformed into a husband-watching stone, and the soldiers on daily patrol at the top of the city, faintly complement each other, so harmonious and natural.

It’s impossible not to long for it. Since August, the city has almost run out of food.

Yesterday, Yuan Shao received a report saying that some disabled soldiers in the army hadn't arrived at the end of the day, and they couldn't find them all over the city.You can't see people when you are born, and you can't see corpses when you die. It's as if the world has evaporated...

At this moment, Yuan Shao was so frightened that his whole body turned cold and he broke out in cold sweat.

He had already vaguely guessed the fate of those disabled soldiers, so he was terrified.

If the food and grass don't come again, I really can't hold on!
On the other hand, Yuan Shao was also somewhat puzzled.

According to the calculation of time, the troops on the east and west lines of Xuzhou should have arrived long ago. If there is no accident, they should have completed the encirclement of themselves at this moment.

But the fact is that since Liu Bei and Lin Chao met in Taoqiu City, they plunged into the city and never came out again.

Yuan Shao sent brave men out of the city to investigate every day, and the news that came back was that the enemy army had not moved.

This made Yuan Shao feel a little uneasy, he always felt that Liu Bei was plotting a huge conspiracy.But for himself who was trapped in the isolated city, no matter what Liu Bei did, Yuan Benchu ​​was helpless and had nothing to do.

And where is the grain and grass that Yuan Shao has been thinking about?

Xu You took Yuan Shao's slave letter and drove all the way to Pingyu.

Yuan Shu did not break his promise. After reading the letter, the vanity in his heart was satisfied like never before. The next day, he sent Ma Teng and his son to lead an army of [-] to escort grain and grass to Yanzhou.

After nearly half a month of marching, Yuan Shu's food and grass had arrived in Liang, and it was only less than a hundred miles away from entering Yanzhou.

So how much food and grass was shipped?
The answer is 50 stone!
According to the conversion ratio of this era, one stone is almost equal to four jun, and one jun is equal to thirty Han Jin, which is 120 Jin.If it is converted into the catties of later generations, it is about sixty catties, which is equivalent to thirty kilograms.

In the era of lack of meat, eggs and milk, the staple food was naturally eaten more. In addition, fighting and marching were physical labor, so the food and grass of a soldier was about two stones per month, which was [-] kilograms, and four catties of grain per day.

Yuan Shu knew how to settle accounts. The 50 stones of food and grass were enough for Yuan Shao's [-] troops to feed for nearly three months.

And after three months of Yuan Shao's confrontation with Liu Bei, he should have won most of Yanzhou.

So on the second day after the distribution of food and grass, Yuan Shu ordered Lu Bu and Zhang Xun to lead [-] troops each, and marched into Yanzhou in two ways.

While supporting Yuan Shao's grain and grass, let him continue to work with Liu Bei.

On the one hand, he sent his generals to Yanzhou, which can be described as a two-pronged approach!
In this regard, what is Liu Beijun's plan in Tao Qiu?

The answer is that there is no fluctuation in their hearts.

According to Lin Chao's strategy of delaying rather than early, Xuzhou's army has been doing nothing for more than ten days, and it seems a little sloppy.

Especially Lin Chao, who has been mixing with the military craftsmen in charge of making equipment in the armory battalion for the past few days, he is so mysterious that he doesn't know what he is doing.

Liu Bei was also really bored. After hearing about this incident, he took San Xun to find out, but he looked bewildered and found nothing.

Although San Xun is a talented person who has read poetry and books, he knows very little about these ingenious means of obscenity.What Lin Chao was tinkering with was completely beyond their understanding, so they could only stare blankly.

Now Liu Bei became even more curious, because even Xun Chen, who always liked to talk eloquently, didn't know what it was, so he came up to ask carefully.

Ha ha……

This was Lin Chao's answer at the time.

Liu Bei was not angry when he touched his nose, but the things in front of him were really boring, so Liu Bei stopped paying attention and left with San Xun.

Until the afternoon of August [-]th, Lin Chao uncharacteristically invited Liu Bei to the armory camp, and took out a cake-shaped object.

Liu Bei instinctively felt the sweet smell emanating from this round thing, but he didn't know what it was.

"Mr. Xuande, please!"

Lin Chao offered the things in his hands with both hands.

Liu Bei took it carefully, put it in his hand and looked at it for a long time, but finally exposed the fact that he was uneducated, so he could only ask, "Zi Chu, what is this and what is it for?"

Lin Chao said with a smile: "This thing is called moon cake, so it is naturally used for eating."

"moon cake?"

Liu Bei quickly checked his brain capacity and found that there was no such thing, so he turned his attention to San Xun who came with him.

But San Xun still looked at each other in blank dismay, and finally shook their heads.

Never mind, this thing smells sweet, try it first.

Liu Bei picked up the mooncakes and put them in his mouth. After taking a bite, his face was full of enjoyment.

"This thing... this mooncake... is actually sweet!" Liu Bei exclaimed.

"Sweet?"

San Xun and the others also exclaimed.

"Yes, it's sweet."

Liu Bei took another bite and said plausibly.

The reason why it is so rare is that sugar in this era is a very rare item, most of which are the most primitive maltose, and the quality is not very good, even the color is gray-blue.

As for flour, it is something only the upper class can eat, and it has not become popular.

Wheat in this era is not ground into flour at all, but is directly put into the pot as granules to make wheat rice.

Lin Chao ate wheat rice for several months, and his teeth were about to collapse.Just as the Mid-Autumn Festival was approaching, Lin Chao made flour, put maltose into it, kneaded it into balls, baked it on the fire, and finally formed the most primitive form of moon cakes.
But in the end, Lin Chao was disappointed, because this thing was not delicious at all, and it was far inferior to the moon cakes with various fillings in later generations.

But Liu Bei and the others have never seen this stuff, especially the fermented flour, which is soft and delicious, plus the sugar that is evenly stirred in it, Liu Bei almost shed tears after eating it.

Salt is the bottom line of physiological needs for people, and it is an indispensable thing.

Sugar is the only ultimate need after human beings can fully consume salt!
"Mr. Xuande, is it delicious?"

Lin Chao asked with a smile.

"Well, this thing is very delicious!"

Liu Bei said in shock.

Lin Chao stretched out his hand: "Chenghui, one thousand yuan."

Liu Bei: ...

"Can I pay on credit?"

"Small business, no credit!" Lin Chao flatly refused, "Unless...Mr. Xuande is willing to pay [-] out of [-], and write an IOU."

"This……"

Liu Bei gritted his teeth, and said fiercely, "Okay, write! Do you still have this mooncake? I want ten credits... um no, twenty!"

"Hahaha, Mr. Xuande is so generous, today's moon cakes are enough! Come, I will serve you with pen and ink!"

Lin Chao's eyes were full of the color of copper coins, and at the same time he waved his sleeves to order the artisans in the army to bring out a large basket of moon cakes.

This set of procedures is like flowing clouds and flowing water, and everyone is stunned to see it.

Cui Jun watched under the eyes of all civil and military officials, his forehead was covered with cold sweat, and finally wrote a usury IOU with his trembling pen, and then handed it to Liu Bei with both hands.

Liu Bei is also a straightforward person, he just swiped a pen on it, signed his name, and then started to eat the 20 yuan mooncake happily.

Seeing the opening of the first order, Lin Chao turned his attention to the crowd again, and said with a smile, "It's so delicious that Mr. Xuande said it's good to eat it. Don't you all want to try it?"

Crowd: ...

One thousand dollars and one piece, why don't you grab it!
If you say that Lin Zichu didn't plan this in advance, no dog would believe it!

Seeing that Liu Bei was eating happily, everyone couldn't help feeling itchy with his frowning expression.

It's not because they are greedy like three-year-old children, it's because they haven't seen this thing before.

Rare things are expensive, and expensive things are often enough to flaunt status.

And it's not that everyone present can't afford a mere thousand coins. It's just that in this war period, who would carry a lot of copper coins on their body?

Everyone looked at each other in blank dismay, and after a long time, Xun Yu stood up first.

As the most knowledgeable person present, Xun Yu's desire for knowledge is stronger than anyone else's. He does not allow things that he does not understand, so he wants to spend money to understand this so-called moon cake.

Xun Yu forced a smile on his face and said, "Zi Chu, I'll give you one yuan, and the money will be doubled when you get back to Tan County."

"Please write the text as evidence."

Lin Chao had a stern face, as if he was doing business.

Don't think you can make an exception just because you are my uncle!
Helpless, Xun Yu had no choice but to nod his head and said, "Okay, then I will give you a piece of credit."

"Sorry, credit starts at 20 yuan."

Lin Chao smiled happily.

Xun Yu:  …

Lin Zichu, didn't you just say that it was a small business?

20 yuan, that's a full [-] yuan, and it's out of nine out of thirteen...

Looking at Lin Chao's villainous face, which is as elegant as Xun Yu, he couldn't help being a little annoyed.

"Okay, then credit 20 yuan!"

Gritting his teeth, Xun Yu finally picked up a pen and wrote the IOU.

The people behind saw that Xun Yu had fallen, so they had to line up to write evidence.

For a moment, Lin Chao looked at the long queue and smiled happily.

The moon cakes are selling well, and it is not in vain that I have worked so hard for so many days.

Well, with these hairy pick-ups, you don't have to be cheeky to ask that little girl Zhen Jiang to spend money in the future.

Just as everyone was tearfully gnawing on the mooncakes bought at a high price, Zhang He walked in and clasped his fists at Lin Chao and said, "Supervisor, the scouts ahead have come to report that they have found the traces of Yuan Shu's food transport troops."

"it is good!"

Hearing this, Lin Chao suddenly became excited.

After more than half a month of planning, I finally found an honest person to deliver food.

Everyone immediately gathered around, Liu Bei was still eating moon cakes, and at the same time said: "Zi Chu, who is the right person to send for this robbery?"

As soon as these words came out, all the generals present immediately smelled the credit, and all looked at Lin Chao.

But Lin Chao laughed and said, "Mr. Xuande, don't worry, there is a saying that the soldiers and horses have not moved, the food and grass go first, and the army rations are served!"

Hearing Lin Chao's order, the craftsmen immediately carried out baskets of mooncakes.But in a short while, it was piled up as high as a hill.

Looking at these mooncakes, Liu Bei suddenly felt that the mooncakes in his hands were not so sweet anymore.

"Zichu, these...are military rations?"

Lin Chao nodded.

Everyone's faces turned green.

Xun Chen immediately jumped out, pointed at Lin Chao and shouted loudly:

"Lin Zichu, refund the money!"

(End of this chapter)