Zhang Jing had coveted Yuan Shu’s grain supplies for a long time.
Now that he knew their location, there was no need to act hastily.
Waiting until the stockpiles grew even larger before making a move would not be too late.
“I obey, my lord!” Pei Yuanshao respectfully cupped his fists and accepted the order.
“Seventy li…”
After Pei Yuanshao departed, Zhang Jing stared at the map and fell into thought.
In this era, seventy li was less than thirty-five modern kilometers.
If troops traveled light and marched at full speed, they could cover the distance in three to four hours.
However, what Zhang Jing wanted most was to seize the grain, not burn it.
And that created a major problem:
Transportation.
A cart pulled by an ordinary horse could carry at least ten shi of grain and no more than twenty-five shi.
Yuan Shu’s supplies amounted to at least one hundred thousand shi.
To transport such a quantity would require over five thousand carts.
After all, they were planning to loot grain, not conduct trade.
Ten thousand shi of grain could not be transported away through multiple small transactions.
“What if we use the river?” Zhang Jing looked at the Yellow River north of Juancheng.
It lay only twenty li from the city.
“But there is no ferry crossing…”
After pondering for a long time, Zhang Jing decided to leave the matter for later.
Water transport was difficult.
The Yellow River was not the Yangtze.
Though honored as the Mother River, this mother possessed a violent temperament.
In ninety-nine percent of its stretches, the current was extremely swift.
Attempting to sail where there was no established crossing was almost tantamount to courting death.
……………..
Time passed quickly, and before long it was the end of the second lunar month.
During this period, Yuan Shu and Zhang Jing remained at peace with one another.
Tao Qian had also returned to Xuzhou.
Meanwhile, Yuan Shao won several more victories against Gongsun Zan.
Though none were major battles, they completely shattered Gongsun Zan’s former arrogance.
By the time Tian Kai, Inspector of Qingzhou, led Liu Bei and the Qingzhou troops to reinforce him, Gongsun Zan had already retreated back to Youzhou, while Gongsun Fan fled there after suffering defeat.
Clearly, Gongsun Fan no longer had confidence in Qingzhou.
Faced with this situation, Tian Kai had no choice but to withdraw his army and prepare to defend Qingzhou from within its cities.
The war in Ji Province naturally had some influence on Zhang Jing.
Most notably, Wen Chou had now led twenty thousand troops toward Dong Commandery.
Together with Cao Cao and Zhu Ling at Neihuang, nearly sixty thousand soldiers now eyed northern Yanzhou like hungry tigers.
……………
Wei Commandery, Yuancheng
This location was only one hundred and twenty li from Qinting Ford in Yanzhou.
Cao Cao was currently stationed there, intending to join forces with Wen Chou.
“I was too shortsighted.” Standing atop a watchtower, Cao Cao spoke with a grave expression.
“Benchu truly deserves to be called a hero. Even Gongsun Zan—the White Horse General who once dominated the northern lands—has been utterly unable to resist him.”
“My lord,” Cao Ren glanced around before speaking quietly.
“Yuan Shao has sent Wen Chou with another army. If they actually conquer Yanzhou, will it still belong to us?”
“No.” Cao Cao replied calmly. “Yuan Shu suffered a defeat earlier and reportedly took considerable losses.”
“As for Yuan Shao, having dealt with Gongsun Zan, he can no longer continue attacking Youzhou, because Liu Yu is there—a man of immense prestige and also an imperial clansman.”
“So what will he do next?”
“He will seize Qingzhou and Yanzhou, where the Yellow Turbans are entrenched.”
“Though he has not said so openly, I understand his intentions.”
Although Yuan Shao had declared that Cao Cao would remain in command and that Wen Chou was merely assisting him, Cao Cao understood perfectly well that these were only polite words.
Yet he did not resent Yuan Shao.
If their positions were reversed, he would not hand over a province he had conquered to someone else either.
At most, he would support that person as a puppet ruler.
“Then what about us?” Cao Ren looked at Cao Cao, his eyes filled with confusion and uncertainty.
“Zixiao, there’s no need to worry.” Cao Cao remained composed.
“Even Yuan Shu’s army of one hundred thousand could not take Yuncheng.”
“Do you really think Yuan Shao’s few tens of thousands can capture Dong’e and Linyi?”
“When Yuan Shu is defeated, we shall leave.”
Yuan Shao’s rapid victories had shattered Cao Cao’s ambitions.
The dispatch of Wen Chou had extinguished them completely.
Because now, regardless of the outcome, Yanzhou would never fall into Cao Cao’s hands.
The same was true of Yuzhou.
“Big Brother,” Cao Ren asked quietly, “Then are we still going to kill Yuan Shu?”
“No.” Cao Cao shook his head.
“A living Yuan Shu is more useful than a dead one.”
“As long as Yuan Shu lives, Yuan Shao cannot inherit the full legacy and influence of the Yuan clan.”
“Given Yuan Shao’s current power and prestige, I’m afraid that if Yuan Shu dies, no warlord under Heaven will be able to restrain him.”
After speaking, Cao Cao descended from the watchtower.
“Big Brother, where are we going then?” Cao Ren hurried after him, greatly interested in the answer.
“Where are we going?” Without turning his head, Cao Cao replied:
“Naturally, to the greatest city under Heaven—the imperial capital of the Han Empire, Chang’an.”
“Chang’an!” Cao Ren swallowed hard and muttered, “That is the true dragon’s den and tiger’s lair.”
He had never imagined that the final refuge his elder brother envisioned would be Chang’an.
…………
Early March, Yanzhou
By Cheng Yu’s orders, Xun You arrived in Yuncheng.
“So you’re saying…” After listening to Xun You’s report, Zhang Jing frowned and said, “At present, aside from the seed grain already allocated, our grain shortfall still amounts to 3.2 million shi?”
“And after an entire half month, we’ve only managed to gather 300,000 shi?”
Food supplies had always been one of his greatest concerns.
Half a month earlier, he had already asked Cheng Yu about the situation.
If he remembered correctly, the deficit at that time had been 3.5 million shi.
Now, after fifteen days had passed, the shortfall had only decreased by 300,000 shi.
“My lord,” Xun You replied hesitantly, “Over the past half month, the military advisor has actually gathered 500,000 shi of grain.”
“However, several days ago, Generals Zhou Cang and Guan Hai brought back nearly 100,000 civilians from the northern region of Dong Commandery.”
“Those people have already begun spring planting in their new settlements.”
“Their households possessed very little surplus grain, while the great clans and powerful families had long since moved to Ji Province. Furthermore, the wealthy families of Xuzhou and the State of Lu had already traded most of their grain to us…”
“Say no more. I understand.”
At this point, Zhang Jing’s face darkened, and he nearly wanted to slap himself.
Interrupting Xun You, he asked:
“What does Zhongde plan to do?”
He knew that the northern part of Dong Commandery was vast and had a sizable population.
But he had overlooked one critical fact— it was spring planting season.
The people north of Dong Commandery had very little grain remaining.
By relocating them, he had effectively made an already difficult situation even worse.
At the time, he had been focused solely on taking advantage of Tao Qian’s withdrawal.
He had thought crossing the river would yield a profitable haul.
Instead, he had dug himself into a massive pit.
“The military advisor’s proposal is this,” Xun You explained.
“We should reserve enough grain for the army’s rations.”
“As for the seed grain to be distributed to the people, it can be reduced by half.”
“Although this will lower the eventual harvest, the farmland will not be left uncultivated.”
“When the harvest comes, taxes can be adjusted accordingly.”
“Zhongde is truly brilliant!” Zhang Jing’s eyes lit up as he praised the idea.
“Then we’ll proceed according to Zhongde’s plan.”
“As long as we make it through to the autumn harvest, even if the amount of seed grain is cut in half, we’ll still reap a substantial crop.”
The solution was so simple.
Yet Zhang Jing himself had failed to think of it.
In fact, he had even considered using part of the people’s seed grain simply to feed the hundreds of thousands of civilians.
Compared to Cheng Yu’s approach, his own idea seemed foolish beyond words.
Under the Qihuo Army’s administration, each household received ten mu of farmland.
Those ten mu required roughly two shi of seed grain.
With a population exceeding 3.5 million people, that translated into a requirement of roughly 7 million shi of seed grain.
Even after distributing 3 million shi already, the remaining 4 million shi could be cut in half, saving 2 million shi.
This solution not only resolved the grain shortage, but also ensured that farmland would not lie fallow, while giving the people peace of mind.
Moreover, there were still three to four months remaining before the harvest.
During that time, additional grain could surely be acquired.
The reason Zhang Jing had been so anxious was that, no matter what happened, he had to preserve sufficient food supplies for both the Qihuo Army and the civilian population.
If the deficit existed only in seed grain, he could even convert food rations into seed grain if necessary.
The real problem was that he dared not gamble.
Because the amount of grain under Heaven was finite.
If all the seed grain were distributed, and by the fourth or fifth month they found themselves without food rations and unable to purchase grain anywhere, it would be nothing less than a living hell brought back to the world.
“My lord is wise.” Xun You bowed respectfully and continued:
“The military advisor anticipated that Your Lordship must also be troubled by the grain stores at Juancheng.”
“He therefore sent me here specifically to help ease Your Lordship’s concerns.”
— The end of the Chapter–
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