Yuan Shao, the father of Fanghua in the Three Kingdoms

Chapter 1112 Common People
In the heart of Qinghe County, a cavalry unit of more than a hundred men from Yuan Xi's army was marching quickly along the river and through the woods.

The leader was a centurion. Seeing that the war horses had been running for a long time and were a little tired, he found a piece of grass for everyone to feed the horses and rest before setting off again.

They took advantage of the chaos of the battle between the two armies to break through Cao's defense line, and then infiltrated into the rear of Cao's army to cause damage. Almost all the soldiers in the team were veterans, with only a few who were newcomers who had not fought much.

While everyone was feeding the horses, two new recruits pulled their horses to the stream to drink water, and at the same time took out a piece of bread from their sacks and started to chew it. The bread was extremely dry and hard, so hard that even the teeth of these two recruits in their twenties could not bear it. They bit it a few times and felt that their teeth were going to fall out, but only a few tooth marks were left on the bread.

One person said angrily, "The person who made the pancake must be a strong man weighing several hundred kilograms to make the dough so hard."

“I don’t know who it’s for.”

He soaked the biscuit in the stream water for a full cup of tea before he took it out and put it in his mouth, finally biting it and eating it.

Another person followed suit and swallowed with difficulty. He saw that the old soldiers around him were eating with relish and said in frustration, "It's strange. Our military pay is not low, so why is the military ration so unpalatable?"

"Do you think someone will deduct money from you?"

His companion was startled and quickly covered his mouth and said, "Don't talk nonsense, be careful of what you say!"

As a result, the two of them quarreled, which was heard by the sergeant next to them, who walked over here.

Just when the two were feeling anxious, the sergeant came over and said, "Don't be afraid, just say whatever you want. We won't block your mouth. As long as it's a reasonable question, you can report it to your superiors."

The two recruits didn't dare to speak for a while. The sergeant saw them and said with a smile, "I'm not lying to you. As far as I remember, you two are from Yuzhou. Later, you settled in Jizhou. Your family members were killed by Cao's army, so you joined the army, right?"

The two nodded and said bitterly, "In the past few years, life in Yuzhou and Yanzhou has become increasingly difficult, and many people in the village have fled. We originally wanted to go to Huainan, but we heard that the north bank of the Huai River was blocked by Cao's army, so we went all the way north and walked through the mountains for many days before we arrived in Jizhou."

"As a result, fighting broke out in Jizhou, and Cao Cao occupied most of it. We had no choice but to flee north to Hejian to settle down, but we encountered the Xiliang army massacring the village."

"We happened to be hunting in the mountains at the time and escaped, but our family members were killed. We thought we could learn some martial arts, so we decided to join the army."

The sergeant nodded and said, "To survive in troubled times, you need a bit of luck."

"From where you live, from Yuzhou to Jizhou, rice is more common, and wheat and other grains are less common. No wonder you are not used to this kind of cake."

"This is a specialty of Qingzhou. It's made from cereals and bran mixed with wheat. It's pressed and baked on an iron griddle to dry without leaving any water in it. The taste is really not that good. It's normal to not be used to it at first, but this thing is the most suitable military ration."

The new soldier was puzzled and asked, "Why?"

The sergeant laughed and said, "It's not easy to mold if you bake it dry. Mixing it with whole grain bran is said to prevent night blindness. This is the truth discovered by the doctors in the king's army over the years. After eating this, the soldiers in the army have fewer symptoms of leg and foot ulcers and being unable to see clearly when it gets dark."

"Although rice is more expensive, it is better to eat this stuff mixed with rice when marching and fighting."

The two recruits suddenly realized what they had said and said they had made a mistake. The sergeant smiled and said, "Don't think too much. You will understand once you get to know each other. We are all civilian brothers who have experienced hardships. As long as you do not violate military discipline, no one will make things difficult for you."

One of the new recruits grew bolder and whispered, "We have been in the army for two months and have fought two battles, but this army feels different from the ones we have seen before. I always feel a little aggrieved."

The sergeant took a bite of the biscuit and said with a smile, "Oh?"

"Tell me what you want, don't worry. When I first joined the army, I also liked to ask questions, and some of them were even rewarded."

The new soldier plucked up his courage and said, "I think we have too many concerns when we fight."

"When we attack the enemy's rear, we are required to try not to disturb the people and only focus on the enemy's food and baggage. But after two battles, we feel that we are restricted. Just like the last time we burned the enemy's granary, we had to disperse the people who were watching the grain. It took a lot of time and we were almost stopped by the enemy's cavalry."

"On the other hand, the other side will kill anyone who stands in their way, even civilians. In comparison, don't we have too many concerns when fighting?"

"This is like fighting with one hand tied. It will be hard to win in the end, right?"

The sergeant was silent for a while, then said, "I do agree with what you said."

"But the premise of this matter is that we have to fight in someone else's house."

"I am from Jizhou, and I joined the army because my family was killed by Cao's army."

"Now someone has broken into our home, robbed our food, and killed our family. We are actually protecting our family. The civilians coerced by the other side may be the family of one of our peers." "Similarly, if there is a war where our family is, do you want our companions to raise their knives against them?"

The two recruits remained silent. The sergeant continued, "You are right. This war is indeed frustrating, but we fight to protect our families. If our families die, what is the point of joining the army?"

"But don't worry, we are feeling aggrieved now in order to be proud in the future. The king will definitely give us an explanation and let us avenge our blood debt!"

The new soldier asked curiously, "That King Jin?"

"I heard that at such a young age, he already controls several states. He is a man of destiny."

The sergeant smiled and said, "I don't know if it is destiny or not, but it is true that the king has never let us down. Let's wait and see."

A short and rapid command was heard over there, and the three of them quickly jumped on their horses. In the blink of an eye, the cavalrymen disappeared into the dense forest.

At the same time, Yuan Xi had already arrived at Yijing, the border between Youzhou and Jizhou, and personally commanded and mobilized the troops.

Although the war had not yet begun, Cao Cao only sent Ma Chao's army to harass and test, intending to find the flaws of Yuan Xi's army, but Yuan Xi's importance to this matter was actually far beyond Cao Cao's expectations. This was also the reason why he left Jicheng early and came to Yijing in person to take charge.

Yuan Xi had a completely different perspective from Cao Cao on the fact that Ma Chao's army massacred civilians in order to undermine their own morale. In Yuan Xi's view, if this matter was not handled properly before the war, the blow to morale would only be a small part, while other invisible aspects would have extremely multi-level and far-reaching impacts.

He is now taking the route of elite troops, but it does not mean that he has separated himself from the people and taken the upper-class route. On the contrary, Yuan Xi understands where his base is.

Recovering Jizhou and rescuing the people of Jizhou is just a dry slogan, but it must be put into action and not only let the people of Jizhou see it, but also let the people of the world see it, so as to cut off the people's support for Cao Cao from the root.

In Yuan Xi's opinion, Cao Cao obviously felt that time was running out, so he started to make a desperate attempt.

In order to win this war, Cao Cao has tried every possible means. He doesn't care how many civilians die or whether the area where the civilians were killed will become his territory in the future. Cao Cao now has only one goal, which is to win the battle of Jizhou at all costs and do anything possible.

But on the other hand, Cao Cao's awareness is much purer than Yuan Xi's, because his current goal is very specific, and all his actions are centered around completely defeating and eliminating Yuan Xi.

Anyway, after winning the world, all the bad things done can be covered up, and the voices of the lower classes and the injustices they suffer will not be recorded in history books, but will only be buried in the torrent of history.

China's history is too long and vast, and there are countless stories that can be told, but in the end, less than even one in ten thousand can be preserved on bamboo slips.

Historians are human beings, not saints. What they choose to record will also be affected by various interests. The fact that some of the scandals of Cao Wei in later generations were recorded was simply a necessity for the Sima family's rule.

Yuan Xi believed that if he was defeated and killed, many of the things he had done would be deliberately covered up, and even the blame for many disgusting things that Cao Cao had done would be put on Yuan Xi.

This is the winner and the loser.

There is a saying about history books that the mistakes made by sage kings that are recorded and passed down are far more than those made by tyrants and incompetent rulers, because tyrants and incompetent rulers would never let these mistakes be recorded.

The only people who can record the true experience of a tyrant are his enemies.

Yuan Xi used his cavalry to enter the battlefield ahead of time, which was considered a stupid move by Cao Cao's subordinates. On the one hand, he was fighting an enemy of similar strength, and on the other hand, he was dividing his troops to protect the people who were being killed. Wasn't this simply courting death?
However, Yuan Xi did not think so. He always felt that although history books were written by the victors, from ancient times to the present, if the needs of the lowest-level people were completely ignored, there would sooner or later be backlash.

Some people say that whoever wins the hearts of the people will win the world, but the so-called people actually refer to the gentry and children of good families. Even Chen Sheng and Wu Guang, who shouted "Are there any kings, princes, generals, or ministers of different races?", were obviously not ordinary poor people.

But Yuan Xi had a different opinion. Most of the soldiers around him were poor people. Without them, he might have died long ago.

Yuan Xi did not want to disappoint their high hopes for him, so he wanted to prove that no matter what era, the people can change history. Although their power is small, when combined together, they can form an irresistible torrent.

What Yuan Xi is doing now is to build up momentum for this torrent so that one day it will completely break through the defense line built by Cao Cao.

And this opportunity is slowly approaching.

He was sitting in a half-built tower in the city of Yijing. This was one of the few tall buildings that was not completely destroyed when Yuan's army attacked Gongsun Zan. Later, the building was not demolished but used as a military camp for training troops. Yuan Xi liked to enjoy the scenery from high places, so he moved in as soon as he arrived in Yijing.

What he holds in his hand now is the news sent from the senior officials of Bingzhou.

The previous arrangements finally bore fruit.

(End of this chapter)