Three Kingdoms

Chapter 3353 The Reality of Feeling

Chapter 3352 The Reality of Feeling

Jizhou was in chaos, Yecheng was still in shock, and local counties were not functioning well. They reported various difficulties one after another, causing the entire Jizhou system to be like a pile of shitty codes. Once it was running, there were all kinds of errors, and there were bright yellow or bright red warnings everywhere. Even if it was barely running, it might not get any correct results.

Jizhou was unreliable, so the pressure was transferred to Yuzhou, causing Yuzhou to naturally become more difficult.

One core is in trouble, and eight cores are watching.

The 3.3 volt power supply on the CPU is about to explode...

For the upper-level rulers, just like what Xiahou Dun could think of, the instinct is to take care of themselves and the class under their buttocks first. As for the people at the bottom, most of the time they just stay in sympathy.

Therefore, when facing Cao Cao's order to urge food and grass again, when it came to the gentry level, the Shandong gentry children were silent.

The reason for the silence is very simple, Xun Yu also turned against him.

Before Cheng Yu was dispatched, the first people to be captured and beheaded were people from the Xun family, and they were also relatives of Xun Yu...

So the sons of the gentry in Yuzhou quickly sat down to discuss, and reached a unified opinion at the fastest speed, "Let the people suffer a little more!"

The sons of the gentry in Yuzhou left the venue with a sad face, and each of them sighed to the sky when they sat on the canopy carriage, "When the country prospers, the people suffer, and when the country perishes, the people suffer..."

"The people suffer..."

"It's pitiful..."

"Oh, God..."

As the sons of the gentry lamented for the people, the truly tragic events soon began to unfold.

From emotion to reality, it was so direct and simple.

The chaotic sounds of people and mules and horses stopped in front of the village, and soon there was the sound of hurried footsteps.

"Bang!"

The low courtyard door was kicked open violently, and the old door hit the low earth wall of the courtyard, making a groaning sound under the heavy load.

The farmer in the courtyard rushed to the door, but saw a brocade-clad official leading several soldiers and runners through the courtyard gate.

What?

Breaking into a private house?

This is for official business!

How can it be called breaking into a private house?

"Master, military officer, what are you doing?"

The farmer asked anxiously, trying to stop these uninvited guests, but was quickly pushed away.

For these farmers at the bottom, all of these people are masters, and they are all characters he can't afford to offend, even if these people shout that they want to seek welfare for the people and care about people's livelihood. Now these "masters" come to "care" about the "people's livelihood" of these farmers.

The leading brocade-clad official didn't even look at the farmer for a second, but just waved his hand indifferently, and then a soldier led the runners directly into the earth house. One of the yamen runners knew the farmer, and when he passed by the farmer, he gave him a look, as if to warn the farmer about something...

Several people opened the granary in the house and saw that it was empty, but they did not hesitate at all and searched other places in the house.

Who would put food in the granary these days?

In the village, every household counts, and everyone's granary, even if a mouse comes, will shake their head.

The farmer's food was hidden under the bed.

Because there has been a shortage of food everywhere during this period of time, even the simple people on weekdays will inevitably be driven by hunger and do some things that are not so glorious.

Of course, such behavior is the best interpretation of inferior and low-class people and born inferiors in the eyes of some children of the gentry.

Anyway, the children of the gentry don't understand why people can disregard their integrity for a bite of food?

This year's harvest is not very good, and even the most optimistic farmers don't believe the propaganda that the government officials promote every day that there will be an improvement next year.

The government said that everything was stable and the price of grain had not increased. Everyone should have confidence, eat with confidence, and use it boldly!

But only a few people could buy the affordable grain in the official shop, and the price in the free market was far beyond the so-called official price...

Seeing that the number of people starving to death began to increase, and the various problems of theft, robbery and murder gradually increased, so most farmers would hide their grain in a place where they could easily check and confirm.

Just like this farmer, he would hold the grain in his hands when he slept, and he would also put a stick beside the bed. He also beat the thieves who climbed over the wall several times, but he often didn't expect that he could prevent theft, but he couldn't prevent robbery.

The farmer knelt down in front of the respectful clerk in a hurry, kowtowed, "Master, Master, please be kind! There is not much food left in my family. If the master takes it away, my family will have no way to survive! '

The brocade-robed official stood coldly, with his head up and his nose up, as if saying one more word to this lowly peasant would be an insult to his family.

The woman's cry came from the house, and then the soldier's angry shout.

The farmer hurried into the house and saw that the grain hidden under the bed had been easily found and was in the hands of a yamen runner.

The farmer's wife was holding the grain bag tightly, crying and refusing to let go.

'Mother! Let go! Let go quickly! ! '

The farmer saw that the soldier's hand was already on the hilt of the knife, so he hurried forward, blocking the direction of the soldier's advance, and trying to pull away his wife's hand holding the grain bag.

The farmer's wife held her hands tightly, with tears on her face, "My child, my child will die without food, he will die!" 』

"Relax, let go." ” the farmer said softly.

The farmer's wife was still shaking her head, with a bit of despair in her eyes.

One of their children has died.

In the early years, there was a lack of food and we starved to death.

Now we are short of food again...

The grain harvest wasn't much last year, and it doesn't look like there will be much this year either. After paying the taxes, there won't be much left. Originally, they said that they could barely survive with wheat bran and other miscellaneous foods. They would wait until this year's autumn harvest to take a breather, and if that didn't work, they would borrow some loan sharks. But who would have thought that the government would requisition grain again and again!

"Let go, I...these people are really good at doing things!" If we die, what will happen to the baby? ’ said the farmer in a low voice.

The farmer's wife was startled and looked back into the house. On the dirt bed, a skinny three-inch boy was sucking his thumb, drooling and looking at the adults blankly.

Taking advantage of the moment when his wife turned around and relaxed, the farmer opened his wife's fingers.

The yamen servant quickly put the grain bag on his shoulder, turned around and left the house.

The farmer's wife finally reacted and wanted to rush out, but the farmer held her back, "It's useless, it's useless..."

During the previous food requisition, Wang Lao San refused to pay, and was beaten to death. Then no one complained for Wang Lao San, and everyone in the village remained silent. So this time, if they don't hand over the food and are beaten to death, will anyone speak up?

But this is still not over.

The grain was taken to the courtyard and weighed.

"This is not enough. ” The young official in Jinyi glanced at the scale, “Each mouth is thirty kilograms, and your family of three will pay a total of ninety kilograms! You are only over fifty kilograms. Sir, I have mercy on you. Even if it is sixty kilograms, you are still thirty kilograms short! 』

The farmer came forward and kowtowed, "Master, have mercy, have mercy, can you...can you owe me first?" It’s almost time to harvest the autumn grains. When the autumn grains come down, I’ll pay double the amount for the small ones! 』

"Autumn food is what the emperor wants!" This food requisition is what the Prime Minister wants! Everyone has to pay. If you don’t pay in full, you will be punished. If we don’t collect in full, we will be punished! If I am beheaded, can you die for me? ” The young official in Jinyi snorted coldly. He has seen many such dishonest people. "I'll give you three days. We'll come back in three days. We're still thirty kilograms short!" If you can't make it up by then, huh, don't blame us for being rude! 』

The young official in Jinyi obviously didn't bother to talk to the farmer, so he just went directly to the next house with him.

The farmer sat on his knees in pain and confusion.

Cun Zheng was the last one to leave, and seemed to nod towards the farmer as he left. This gave the farmer a little more hope. Maybe Muramasa can help him? There are still two months to go until the grain harvest. As long as we can get through it, there may be hope!

The sound of crying soon sounded in the yard next door.

I don't know why, but when the farmer heard the miserable cries in the yard next door, he suddenly felt that the heaviness in his chest seemed to be lessened. Only then did he come back to his senses from his daze and quickly entered the house. The wife inside the house was holding her child and crying.

The farmer wanted to say something, but he didn't know how to speak. He just sat on the ground slumped.

After an unknown amount of time, Muramasa's voice sounded again in the courtyard, and the farmer quickly got up and ran out.

"Mumura, Muramasa..."

The farmer looked at Muramasa expectantly.

Muramasa coughed and said in a low voice: "This is the food that the superiors are demanding, and there is nothing we can do..."

"Yes, yes..." The farmer nodded, "But now our family has no food, and there are still two months left, what should we do?" 』

"In a while, you come to my house..." Muramasa whispered, "I have some secretly hidden there. I'll give you three to five kilograms, so you can hold on for a while..."

"Three to five pounds?" ’ The farmer’s heart suddenly became cold. He is still thirty pounds short.

"I really don't have any more... Look at the one next door..." Muramasa sighed, "If you get some wild vegetables or something, you can deal with it for a while. It will be fine when the autumn grain comes down..."

"But I'm still thirty pounds short..." the farmer said blankly.

Muramasa said nonchalantly: "You've already paid sixty, haven't you? That's enough for the two older ones. The younger one...the younger one can't care about it, so forget it...These days, if you can keep it The big ones are good... Only when the big ones are alive can there be small ones... Let's do this for now, wait, and come back at night when it's dark and no one is around..."

Muramasa left.

The farmer turned around and saw his wife leaning against the door of the house, her eyes dull.

The farmer moved his lips a few times, but didn't say anything. He just sighed.

His wife leaned against the door of the house and slowly slid down. It was unclear what emotion was in her eyes, perhaps just despair.

The children in the room seemed to notice something, and started crying loudly.

It's getting dark.

Perhaps it has never lit up, and even if it does light up, it is short-lived.

The farmer stood up, looked back at his wife, who was sitting blankly at the door of the room in the darkness, and the outline of the child who was tired of crying and fell asleep. He swallowed a sip of saliva and went out to the village. Went home.

After about a quarter of an hour, the farmer came back.

As soon as he arrived in the courtyard, he quickly closed the broken courtyard door and used a wooden stick to push it up. Then he carefully carried a small bag of food as if carrying a life-saving treasure and entered the house. Mom, we have food..."

On the earthen bed in the house, only his child was staring weakly, but he did not hear his wife's voice.

The farmer raised his eyes slightly, and a pair of dangling feet appeared in front of him.

Slowly, gently, shaking.

The smile on the farmer's face froze instantly, and then a heart-wrenching wail sounded in the quiet yard.

Just like he did not care about and take care of the wail in the next yard during the day, now the farmer's wail is even more miserable at night, but the surrounding yards are still dead, and no one comes...

...

...

Begging and begging will not get you anything truly precious.

War is not just about two people, or a few generals, or one or two regions.

Once the war is raging, destruction is inevitable.

The sun is high and the sky is clear.

For humans, the sun may always rise again, but for some people, they may not be able to see the sun the next day.

Fei Qian was wearing a well-made armor with shining patterns, riding a horse on the earth slope.

Under the earth slope, his men and horses were surging and flowing forward.

There were not many slogans, Fei Qian just stood on the horseback, and every soldier who passed by the earth slope would look up at Fei Qian, and sincerely feel the majestic demeanor and proud momentum of the general of the cavalry...

But they didn't know that Fei Qian was sweating profusely under the shining armor helmet, and his hair was stuck to his scalp, itchy and stuffy.

The helmet was not breathable.

The well-made armor, with carved patterns and decorations of gold and silver threads, matched with a bright red cloak, was simply a powerful weapon for showing off. It was a pity that this set of armor was made two years ago, and now it is a bit tight.

In real battle, Fei Qian would never wear such a shiny armor. Generally speaking, this thing is like a dress. Before the battle, he wore a dress for his soldiers to see.

Cao Jun's Anyi Camp was right in front of him, and it was also Cao Cao's most important support point in the Yuncheng Basin in Hedong.

Both sides had fought, tested, and played games before, and then there were losses and gains.

If Fei Qian could not capture this Anyi Camp, then Cao Jun could calmly deploy troops, or attack the west of the river, or turn back, or just fight with Fei Qian in Anyi. All of these are possible. In short, Anyi Camp is like a nail. If Fei Qian is unable to remove this nail, he will have to touch a nail to see if he is bleeding or his legs and feet are injured.

Fei Qian watched the troops slowly pass by, with flags fluttering, but his mind flew to another place. Yesterday, he received the latest news reported by Xu Chu, saying that there was indeed someone inside the Cao army camp who was acting as an insider, and provided some information that Fei Qian and Xu Chu were not aware of.

There is indeed a mystery hidden in the Anyi camp.

Cao Cao almost showed his experience in wars over the years and the advantage of cheap labor in Shandong.

One thing that made Fei Qian quite vigilant was that in the latest information, the man said that he saw a lot of kerosene and smelled some saltpeter...

Water and fire are always two forces that humans want to conquer but can never completely control.

The upper reaches of the river are controlled by Fei Qian, so Cao Cao has no way to do anything about "water", but it is obvious that this time Cao Cao is going to play some tricks on "fire".

Fei Qian thought about it and couldn't help but feel an indescribable sense of historical coincidence...

Could it be that now he has become Cao Cao's side in history, and Cao's army has become the Red Cliff coalition that is ready to set fire in history?

This is really...

Kerosene will have a relatively large restriction on both men and horses, while saltpeter is definitely gunpowder.

Things like war tools depend on who uses them and luck.

When kerosene falls into Zhou Yu's hands, it can burn Cao Cao's beard, but when it falls into Zhuge Liang's hands, it is extinguished by a heavy rain...

Fei Qian's troops are strong, but the number is small, about one-third of Cao's army, or even a little less.

Cao's army has a large number of people, but the overall combat effectiveness is poor.

Because Cao's army is complicated. According to the intelligence collected by Xu Chu and the accounts of those who surrendered, Cao's army is roughly divided into three parts, the core Zhongling Army and Zhonghu Army, the auxiliary generals of various surnames and local county soldiers, and a certain number of civilians and craftsmen.

There were more civilians in Cao's camp before, but now...

There are many people, there are advantages and troubles of many people.

It is obviously unrealistic to kill all of them.

But it is also a very troublesome thing to receive these prisoners.

Moreover, Cao Cao had already built Anyi into a fortress. If we could not use this as a point to lead the whole, and roll up Cao's camp, and gnaw away at it bit by bit, and fight a tug-of-war, it would not be a good plan either.

Cao Cao's strength had indeed weakened a lot.

Xiahou Yuan died, Xiahou Dun was captured, and almost lost an arm, which seriously damaged his vitality.

But even so, Cao Cao still did not retreat!

Of course, it can also be understood that Cao Cao has nowhere to retreat, but if Cao Cao turns back now, he can still breathe for a while, and he may not die immediately. After all, in history, Cao Cao was still able to become the overlord of the north after his defeat in the Battle of Red Cliffs, but he had to make more compromises in some aspects.

Fei Qian believes that Cao Cao also understands this, so Cao Cao's attitude at this stage is very subtle.

Fei Qian feels that in addition to kerosene and gunpowder, Cao Cao must have some cards that he hasn't played yet...

Because Cao Cao still has these cards in his hands, Cao Cao feels that he still has the possibility of a complete comeback.

Things like kerosene and gunpowder are actually not difficult to guard against.

So the key is to see how to use them and who is using them!

Why did Fei Qian come slowly instead of eagerly fighting with Cao's army at the turn of spring and summer?

Of course, it's because Fei Qian also has to prepare his own trump card.

Artillery can only be regarded as an open card now. If you really use an open card to fight, you will definitely suffer.

Fei Qian suddenly thought of Pang Tong's report that Zhu Ling had developed a rocket on his own...

Maybe this is also a coincidence?

Gunpowder and its derivatives should have dominated the battlefield since the day they were born, rather than just being used for fun by dignitaries.

And in order for gunpowder to exert sufficient power, a dry climate is very important.

If we really fight Cao's army at the turn of spring and summer, Cao Cao would laugh so hard that his eyes can't see?

At the turn of spring and summer, who knows that there will be rain in that cloud?

And now is the end of summer and the beginning of autumn, when the climate is dry, the ground is hardened, and there is little rain and little cloud. Whether it is transporting or using gunpowder and its derivatives, it is the best season.

When Fei Qian was posing and thinking, he suddenly saw a small team of messenger cavalry in the distance, with flags on their backs rushing over.

"My lord! The Cao army sent an envoy with a letter of war, wanting to see you! 】

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