"Brother, this Tai Shi Ci is not the same as us at all. Where was he when our three heroes fought against Lu Bu?"
Zhang Fei saw his elder brother feeling regretful and muttered unconvincedly.
"Third brother, you, aren't we short of people? Besides, he just can't be beaten. There are hundreds of thousands of people in Xuzhou behind him, as well as countless money and food. How can we offend him?"
Liu Bei's long hand slapped his thigh hard and looked outside the county government office with a worried look on his face.
"Brother, the third brother is right. The eldest brother's habit of falling in love with people when he sees them needs to be corrected. Didn't Fang Guang, the thief, just gain the trust of the eldest brother, but later turned against him?"
Guan Yu did not mention that Fang Guang was captured and imprisoned first. The implication was that Fang Guang was a white-eyed wolf who rebelled against his master. Apparently, he never really regarded Fang Guang as a member of his family.
When he mentioned Fang Guang, Liu Bei was immediately speechless. He could only sigh and never mention Tai Shici again.
"Second brother, third brother, how many soldiers, horses, money and food do we have in the city now? This trip south is when our brothers become famous all over the world. We are short of soldiers and food. We are afraid that we will be looked down upon by others!"
When Liu Bei talked about business, Guan Yu and Zhang Fei, a dark cloud flashed across their faces at the same time.
"Brother, what can really be brought out of the plains is only a thousand, plus the war horses sent by Grand Administrator Gongsun, there are only three hundred horses!"
"There isn't much food and grass. If a thousand people can't reach Xuzhou in a month, I'm afraid they'll run out of food!"
"What? This little wealth? No way!"
Liu Bei suddenly became excited when he heard Guan Yu and Zhang Fei's words.
"I remember taking Fang Guangqian. I have three thousand or even five thousand capable soldiers in the plain, and thirty thousand dans of grain. Is that enough to support the army for half a year?"
"Brother, didn't you say that Fang Guang was extorting money? That grain was all plundered. Now that Fang Guang has run away, the Chen family has become a refugee. They say they have borrowed 50% of the grain stock in the county government because of the lack of grain resettlement!"
"Yes, brother, as well as the Zhao family and the Qu family, they are both wealthy families. They have borrowed 70% of the stored grain in total. How can we support the soldiers without food?"
"Except for the Wuhuan Tuqi and our own soldiers, the rest of the soldiers have been demobilized a long time ago. If they had not been demobilized, Pingyuan would have rebelled long ago!"
Liu Bei was stunned for a moment when Guan Yu and Zhang Fei spoke in one sentence.
He did not expect that the difference between Pingyuan County with many Fangguangs and few Fangguangs would be so huge!
For a moment, a trace of regret flashed through the heart of this new magistrate with a reputation for benevolence. He had handled Fang Guang's matter carelessly!
In Dongjun, just when Liu Bei was feeling regretful, in a mansion in the county, Chen Gong's heart was also filled with endless regret.
Since Cao Cao's Eastern Expedition, the Chen family has lost another 30% of its land. Many of the ownerless lands without title deeds were originally seized by the family, but are now taken by Xuzhou refugees.
What's even more frightening is that if Cao Cao captures Xuzhou and hundreds of thousands of refugees move westward, the Chen family will lose countless pieces of land.
Today, in addition to the Chen family, there are also wealthy families from Dongjun County and even Juancheng Fan County in the Chen family residence, all of whom came to complain to Chen Gong because of the land issue.
"Cao Ah Man has gone too far. When his soldiers were dissatisfied with Wan Neng's move into Yanzhou, why didn't we help him?"
"No, this Yanzhou is the Yanzhou we are waiting for. It is not the place where Cao Cao does whatever he wants. Don't panic, clan leaders. I will go to the west of Pengcheng now to convince Cao Mengde!"
At the Dongjun mansion, Chen Gong made a gloomy promise. He appeased the nobles from all over the country and quickly headed east. In just three days, he arrived at the gate of Pengcheng City.
"What? There are too many refugees? There is no land left in Juancheng, Dongjun?"
"Gongtai, you and I have known each other for many years, so you can't fool anyone!"
"Haha, Fang Guang has already measured the land in Dongjun, the unowned land, and there is still plenty left, enough to resettle another 100,000 refugees!"
Cao Cao, who was still holding Fang Guang's letter in his hand, although he spoke with a smile, his face actually turned gloomy, obviously he was extremely unhappy.
"Mengde, that land is where the Yanzhou gentry can thrive and thrive. It is your foundation. If it is distributed to the refugees, will Mengde not be afraid of losing his popularity?"
It was about the future of the family. Although it was obvious that Cao Cao was not happy, Chen Gong's words no longer concealed anything and even contained a hint of threat.
"boom!"
The more he thought about Fang Guang's words today, the more reasonable they became to Cao Cao. Hearing the disrespect in Chen Gong's words, he couldn't help but slam the table in front of him.
He glanced at Chen Gong coldly.
"I'm tired, please leave the public platform. It's not easy to allocate military rations due to the busy military affairs. If there is no order in the future, you won't have to bother coming from Puyang East!"
"go Go!"
Cao Cao waved his hand.
Chen Gong said no more, lowered his head and slowly exited the military tent.
Chen Gong, who had just exited Cao Cao's tent and raised his head again, had a look of determination flashing in his eyes.
He knew that something that had been planned for a long time was finally going to be launched ahead of schedule!
He also knew that at this time, Xuzhou was the center of the Han Dynasty!
Liu Bei from the plains, Gongsun Zan's troops from Qingzhou, Kong Rong from the north, and Yuan Shu from the Huainan were all coming one after another with Xuzhou as the center.
From the perspective of the scheming Chen Gong, even if Cao Cao could fight for a while, he would definitely be stuck in the quagmire of Xuzhou.
The most fatal blow he prepared was to the west of Yanzhou. Thinking of that evil general with the most vicious reputation in the world, Chen Gong's body couldn't help but tremble slightly.
This close friend of Cao Cao, the staunchest partner when Cao Cao took over Yanzhou, rode his horse to the hills outside the Pengcheng military camp, and looked back at the military tent where Cao Mengde was.
There was no emotion in Chen Gong's eyes. In his opinion, Cao Cao had fallen into a dead end that he could not escape from.
In the military tent, Cao Mengde, who had just driven away Chen Gong, read the letter sent by Fang Guang again.
He suddenly thought of the people in Xuzhou who cursed Mr. Datong a few days ago, and a smile flashed across his lips.
Since Fang Guang helped his father out of trouble, Cao Cao has brought him one surprise after another.
And he, Cao Cao, had to prepare a gift for Fang Guang that would surprise his counselor.
Hundreds of miles away, at the governor's residence in Dongjun, Fang Guang waved his hands in confusion. He did not expect that the ordinary affairs of a counselor would be so cumbersome.
It had been twenty days, until just now, he had initially clarified the context of Yanzhou. The most basic and boring data such as household registration and land concealed the foundation of the powerful and powerful people who controlled the world.
"Datong, Xuzhou Kuaima asked you to go to the city gate to greet the messenger. It was arranged by Cao Gong himself!"
Fang Guang was about to check the data again when his good friend Guan Hai walked in with excitement on his face.
In the past few decades, when Guan Hai was recruiting troops, it was obvious that General Cao Ying's experience was much more pleasant than that of the Yellow Turban bandits.
"Urgent report from Xuzhou? Or is it because my lord personally ordered me to welcome you? Is there a major change in military affairs?"
Fang Guang was so excited that he did not dare to delay and followed Guan Hai to the gate of Dongjun City.
But he saw Cao Cao's general Li Dian looking at him with a smile on his face.
In front of Li Dian, there was a man who looked a little thin and whose face was covered by a mask, waiting for him on a horse.
"What happened to Duke Cao's letter, urgently asking me to welcome him in person?"
Fang Guang felt inexplicably impatient. When he came to the envoy, he couldn't help but hold the envoy's hand to persuade him to dismount.
"What are you doing, you're such a scoundrel!"
Fang Guang's unconscious movement caused a cry of tenderness, and the man on the horse picked up the riding crop and whipped Fang Guang down.
The Yellow Turban Captain, how could he be beaten in vain? Fang Guang didn't have time to think too much. He grabbed the riding whip with one hand and supported the waist and hips of the messenger on the horse with the other hand. With a little force, he pulled this inexplicably rude person off the horse.