I, Liu Bian, Sanxing Han Dynasty

Chapter 539: Gifting a Horse as Punishment
After Cao Cao's explanation, Xiahou Yuan understood that the purpose of Cao Cao's doing this was to show the style of the army that did not harm a single person in suppressing the rebellion.

When the army passed the farmlands ahead, Cao Cao noticed that most of the farmers who were originally busy in the fields had already fled far away after seeing the commotion, and only a few were still busy in the fields.

This made him feel even more sentimental. Food is always the most important thing for people.

Just at this time, Cao Cao saw a farmer weeding in a field not far away, and immediately wanted to go over and chat with him.

But just as he rode past, a gust of wind suddenly blew, bringing a cloud of dust, and as luck would have it, some of the dust fell into the eyes of Cao Cao's mount.

The horse was frightened and actually carried Cao Cao directly into the fields nearby.

Cao Cao was riding on a horse, watching helplessly as the horse led him to violate military regulations, and cursed in his heart - bad!
He had just issued the ban, but now he was the first one to violate it.

However, Cao Cao was at least a bit optimistic. At this time, he still had the mind to be thankful that he did not say anything like "anyone who steps into the fields will be beheaded", otherwise he would have been worried.

That is true, but as the commander-in-chief, he took the lead in violating the military discipline he set, and he must be punished.

Cao Cao dismounted and was about to kill the horse to enforce military discipline, but suddenly he remembered that the owner of the farmland was not far away, so he shouted to the owner: "My horse has trampled your land. In this case, I will give you this horse as compensation!"

Since this horse was chosen by Cao Cao as a mount, it was definitely not an ordinary horse.

Seeing that the farmer was hesitant and unwilling to come over, Cao Cao continued to shout: "This BMW of mine can be sold for at least 50,000 coins. This money is enough for you to buy more than 20 acres of land, right? Don't you want it?"

Seeing the farmers coming, Cao Cao led his personal soldiers to dismantle military items such as vests. Apart from the horseshoes that were difficult to remove, only the reins were left.

Afterwards, Cao Cao said to the cowering farmer, "If you plan to sell this horse, tell others that it is the compensation from the General of the Western Expedition. Remember, this is the compensation for stepping on your land, and others cannot steal it. Go back and tell the local leader or the head of the village first, so that those who have the money to buy horses will not dare to bully you."

After saying this, Cao Cao forced the horse's reins into the farmer's hands, then led his army forward without looking back.

As the commander-in-chief, Cao Cao naturally had spare horses. However, when he got on the horse again and thought about what had just happened, Cao Cao, who had been so decisive just now, felt very heartbroken and could not help but sigh.

Xiahou Yuan, who was standing by, saw this and felt secretly happy - Why aren't you smiling now? Don't you want to smile?
But thinking that Cao Cao had lost his beloved horse, he consoled him, "If Meng De is reluctant to part with it, I will send someone to buy it at the market price. However, in my opinion, this horse should be worth more than 50,000 coins even in Bingzhou, right?"

Cao Cao heard this and shook his head, saying, "Just now, this horse took me in violation of military orders and was suspected of harming the master. Although I love it, I don't want to keep it. Moreover, if the soldiers see me riding this horse again, I'm afraid they will think I've deceived them!"

"But we still have to send someone... Although I have given instructions to that person, I still have to be on the safe side. I hope this horse won't bring him any disaster. I only told him 50,000 because I'm afraid he'll get greedy and cause trouble."

Xiahou Yuan agreed after hearing this and said, "Meng De is still very thoughtful."

Although Cao Cao did not kill Ma, he gave away a BMW worth more than 50,000 coins as compensation, which was enough to alert the soldiers.

After walking for a while, Cao Cao said to Xiahou Yuan: "Miaocai, you have helped me a lot in Bingzhou over the past few years. After this battle, I will ask my father to ask someone to recommend Miaocai... With his previous and future military achievements, Miaocai's future should be limitless."

Xiahou Yuan didn't refuse after hearing this, but just asked: "What are Meng De's plans after this battle?"

Cao Cao said, "Of course I will obey the emperor's order. However, if possible, I really don't want to lose my position as General of the Western Expedition after the war." Xiahou Yuan suddenly thought of something and asked in surprise, "Could it be that Meng De had been paying attention to the news of the Western Xianbei and even the Western Regions a few years ago, even before he set out from Bingzhou, just for this moment?"

Cao Cao laughed out loud, "How could I have such foresight? At that time, I just considered that there were almost no rebels in Sanfu and Liangzhou, and the Central Xianbei and Eastern Xianbei had become a mess. Now the only rivals are the Western Xianbei. And the Western Xianbei are connected with the northern countries of the Western Regions, so I paid more attention to them."

"But it's true. The Western Xianbei and the Western Regions are all in the west!"

"If I can once again march westward as the General of the Western Expedition, then I will have no regrets in my life!"

Seeing that Cao Cao had already started thinking, Xiahou Yuan hesitated for a moment, but still reminded him: "Meng De, don't just think about the future and forget about the war right now."

Of course Cao Cao would not forget.

But for him, who had already accumulated experience in dealing with riots as early as the Yellow Turban Rebellion, resolving the unrest in Jizhou was a piece of cake.

The biggest trouble is actually finding out those people who deserve to be killed.

Thinking of this, Cao Cao said, "Miaocai, do you think that my gift of the horse will become an anecdote in the future?"

"In fact, it suddenly occurred to me just now that if I issue an order that anyone who tramples on the land should be sentenced to death, then I can pretend to commit suicide, and Miao Cai can come to persuade me, and finally cut off my hair in lieu of my head..."

Upon hearing this, Xiahou Yuan looked at Cao Cao speechlessly.

Although people nowadays believe that one's hair and skin are given by one's parents, it does not mean that Han people will not trim their hair and beards. Especially those with beautiful beards will spend some time and energy to take care of them.

Seeing that Xiahou Yuan was silent, Cao Cao also knew that his words just now were a bit abrupt, so after a moment of silence, he said to Xiahou Yuan: "Miaocai, do you think my flag of the Western Expedition General looks good?"

Xiahou Yuan: “…”

Can he say it doesn't look good?
As the army arrived at Zhongshan State, not long after, Cao Cao heard that someone had come to pay a visit, and he met him immediately.

"Zhen Yao greets the General of the Western Expedition. Now that the General has entered Zhongshan to destroy the bandits, our Zhen family has received the Emperor's grace and is willing to donate 5,000 dan of grain to provide for the military and reduce the cost of transportation."

Cao Cao was well-informed and knew that Zhen's daughter had entered the palace as a concubine. So, his acceptance of Zhen's grain did not constitute private dealings. Instead, it proved Zhen's loyalty in helping the emperor. So naturally, he accepted all the grain.

Zhen Yao was also happy about this.

Now, because of the war, the price of grain has risen, and 5,000 shi of grain is only worth 1 million yuan, which Zhen can still afford. Thinking this way, he can be on his own when his second brother is not around!

But when the news of "borrowing grain for a fee" reached Zhongshan, Zhen Yao regretted it so much that he slapped his thigh and just hoped that his second brother would not scold him when he knew it.

(End of this chapter)