Chapter 17: Tears of a Hero

Winter has gone and spring has come, and the sowing season is coming. I also ended my life of recuperation and asked to preside over the affairs of the military farm. Wei Yan was sent out by me, and his task was to find Zhao Yun. I told Wei Yan that he must invite Zhao Yun to preside over his marriage with Zhao Yu. If he can't find him or can't invite him back after finding him, he will be a bachelor for life. The boy was so happy that he ran away. The soldiers trained by Yu Jin have already taken shape. If we can survive this year, our strength will have a qualitative leap. But this year is destined to be an extraordinary year.

Just after February, a scout reported that the Black Mountain Army Yu Du's troops were reorganizing their troops and would soon invade the border.

In desperation, Cao Cao led his troops to station in Dunqiu to prepare to defend the enemy outside the border. After the news was known to Yu Du, the leader of the Black Mountain Army, Yu Du took a detour and prepared to take the opportunity to attack Dongwuyang from another direction. The situation was very critical at this time. If Dongwuyang was captured by the Black Mountain Army, it would mean that all the efforts of nearly a year would be gone. After receiving the news, Cao Cao urgently ordered the entire army to set off. But this trip was not to rescue Dongwuyang, but to go directly to Xishan, the old nest of the Black Mountain Army. The generals were puzzled and asked to rescue Dongwuyang first.

Cao Cao said: "Dongwuyang has new soldiers trained by Yu Jin, so it can be defended, and Cheng Yu and Guo Jia are still left behind. Yu Du will definitely return to fight when he hears that we are attacking Xishan, and the siege of Dongwuyang will be lifted. If he does not return, we will attack Xishan by force. Once Xishan is broken, Yu Du will be like a dog who has lost his home, how can he shake Dongwuyang!"

Sure enough, Yu Du immediately returned to fight after hearing that Cao Cao was attacking Xishan, but was defeated by Cao's army ambushed on the way. After this great victory, Cao Cao arrived in Neihuang and defeated the Black Mountain Army entrenched there and a part of the exiled Chanyu Yiti Yufuluo of the Southern Xiongnu Khanate, so that Dongjun was secured.

In April, Wang Yun set up a series of schemes to alienate Lu Bu and make him kill Dong Zhuo. In June, Li Jue, Guo Si and other subordinates of Dong Zhuo who were not pardoned besieged Chang'an, killed Wang Yun and forced Lu Bu to leave. At the same time, the Yellow Turban Army of Qingzhou crossed the Yellow River again and headed north. They were blocked by Gongsun Zan in Dongguang and lost 100,000 elite soldiers. They had to turn around and go to Yanzhou. Liu Dai, the governor of Yanzhou, ignored the dissuasion of Bao Xin, the prime minister of Jibei State, and led his army to fight in person. As a result, he was defeated by the Yellow Turban Army. Liu Dai was captured and beheaded. After receiving the news that Liu Dai was beheaded by the Yellow Turban Army, Chen Gong, who was already an official in Dongjun, offered advice to Cao Cao and said: "Liu Dai was killed by the Yellow Turbans, and the state was without a master. Now the emperor's edict has been cut off. I would like to lobby the remaining officials in Yanzhou to let Cao Gong take over Yanzhou, use Yanzhou as a base, and conquer the four directions to become a hegemon." Cao Cao naturally agreed. Moved by Chen Gong's lobbying, Bao Xin and Yanzhou Zhizhong Wan Qian and others went to Dongjun to welcome Cao Cao to serve as Yanzhou Mu. Then Cao Cao and Bao Xin formed a coalition to suppress the Qingzhou Yellow Turban Army. But the Qingzhou Yellow Turban Army was brave and powerful, with a large number of people. The Yanzhou Army, which had just suffered a great defeat, was no match in terms of quantity or quality. Fortunately, after nearly a year of training, the soldiers trained by Yu Jin were ready for use. Even so, they could only use tricks and attack day and night. Although every battle was rewarded, they also suffered repeated defeats.

It was finally time for the autumn harvest. Looking at the golden fruits in the fields, I couldn't help feeling like crying. I grew up in the city in my previous life, and I saw the field work of spring planting and autumn harvest from TV and movies. It was still in my first year at the military academy that I personally experienced the hard work of farmers when the school organized an activity to help farmers harvest wheat. Some other experience was to clean up the vegetable fields in the school to deal with inspections and show them to superiors. The reason why I asked for the order to preside over the military farm was, on the one hand, to avoid interfering too much in the development of history, and on the other hand, I noticed a long time ago that the farming of this era was very primitive. In spring, the weeds in the fields were burned first, and then the seeds were sown after the ground was loosened shallowly. After germination, the weeds were weeded and no fertilizer was applied. No one cared about the crops when they got diseases and insect pests. In a good year, the grain yield per mu of land was only 200 to 300 kilograms.

At my request, the serfs in the military farm turned the fields as deep as possible several times before sowing. And arranged people to collect human and livestock feces. The feces were processed into fertilizer, and the fertilizer was evenly sprinkled on the fields before sowing. At the same time, ponds were dug and simple dams were built, so that the dry fields that depended on the weather for food became excellent irrigated land. After a year of hard work, when it was time to harvest, people were surprised to find that the grain yield in the fields had increased by nearly one-fold. After leaving a year's worth of food for the people who were farming, there was still enough food and grass to feed 100,000 troops. In addition to the money and grain taxes collected in Dongjun, the military food should be much better than when Cao Cao was in Dongjun in history.

Just when I thought I could take a good rest, the military order from Yanzhou asked me to rush to Shouzhang because Cao Cao was ill. At this time, the commander-in-chief could not preside over military affairs, which was a major blow to the already tight war. I rushed to Shouzhang without stopping. Before I arrived at the military camp, I saw the white flags rolling in the camp and almost got off the horse. I whipped a few times and rushed to the gate of the military camp. I met Li Dian on duty and asked him about it. I found out that he was mourning for Bao Xin. A few days ago, there was a fierce battle with the Yellow Turban Army, and the losses were heavy. Not only did Bao Xin lose his body, but he also failed to get it back. The lord burst into tears after hearing this. After dressing Bao Xin in a wooden statue and burying him, he fell ill.

I felt strange after hearing this. It is understandable that he cried bitterly, but it does not seem to be in line with Cao Cao's character of becoming more courageous after a setback for Bao Xin. With doubts in my heart, I came to the quiet room where Cao Cao was recuperating. When I saw Cao Cao in plain clothes being helped up from the couch, I could not believe that the middle-aged man in front of me with a decadent face could be the great hero Cao Cao, Cao Mengde.

Cao Cao sat up with difficulty and waved his hand to let the servants go out. Only Cao Ren, Xiahou Yuan and I were left in the room. He said weakly: "Feng Xiao, Wang Situ used a chain of tricks to make Lu Bu kill Dong the thief, but it is true as you said that the court did not pardon Dong's subordinates. Dong's subordinates Li Que, Guo Si and others besieged Chang'an, forced Lu Bu away, and forced Wang Situ to death! Poor Wang Situ who is dedicated to the country..." At this point, Cao Cao burst into tears and sobbed, motioning Cao Ren to take out a letter written on the cloth for me to see.

The letter was written in a very general way, just roughly describing what happened in Chang'an, but there was a sentence in it that made me understand why Cao Cao couldn't get up from his illness. This sentence was "The emperor tied Wang Situ in front of the battle!" "The emperor tied Wang Situ in front of the battle!" These words, let alone Cao Cao, even I saw this sentence and my head was buzzing. I remember that the Romance of the Three Kingdoms recorded that Wang Yun jumped from the Xuanping Gate Tower and cursed Li Que and Guo Si and was killed, but from this letter... I took a few deep breaths to stabilize my emotions and said, "My lord, Wang Situ tied himself to the enemy for the safety of the country and the emperor and died a worthy death. Such a loyal and righteous act should be announced to the world in the future, so that Wang Situ's name will be recorded in history forever." Cao Cao was stunned at first when he heard what I said, and then sneered three times and lay on his back on the couch with a white towel covering his face without saying a word. Xiahou Yuan opened his mouth to persuade him but I stopped him. This knot in his heart must be untied by Cao Cao himself. At my signal, Cao Ren, Xiahou Yuan and I quietly left the room. When I closed the door, I could faintly hear low, suppressed and angry sobbing sounds coming from inside the room.