[Comprehensive] The days when I pretended to be a meow in the Forbidden City

Xia Anran did not personally participate in this battle, but judging from the outcome he knew, this war may not be recorded in the annals of history like the battle of Guandu between Yuan Shao and Cao Cao in history, and it will become a famous battle in the history of the world. The famous classic example of winning more with less.

Because at the time of the decisive battle, the number of troops of Cao Cao and Yuan Shao was almost equal, so it was hard to say who was stronger and who was weaker, and even Cao Cao had more people than Yuan Shao. By the time they fled back to the assembly point, they had been reduced a lot.

At the same time, as the weather turned colder and the dry season of the Yellow River came, more and more Cao Jun crossed the river.

And Sun Ce and Zhou Yu also led the Xuzhou soldiers they had subdued, and surrounded Yuan Shao's back from south to north. In the words of later generations, as long as Cao Cao's brain did not go wrong, there would be no major incidents in this war. If he made a mistake in his decision-making and did not encounter natural or man-made disasters, then winning this war has become a matter of course.

Obviously, Cao Cao was lucky, and he did not encounter any of the above negative situations. This war lasted for a whole year, and finally came to an end in the spring of the fifth year of Xingping. After that, Cao Jun spent another three months on Pursued and suppressed Yuan Shao's remnants, and successfully captured the defeated Yuan Shao himself and his family.

For his family, Yuan Shao is still affectionate and righteous. He did not abandon his family when he ran away, although he was slowed down because of this.

Cao Cao looked at Yuan Shao, who was in a state of distress, kneeling on the ground, and at the kneeling heirs beside him, some of whom had met before and called him uncle... His expression was mixed with sadness and joy, and finally he sighed With a breath, he waved his hand and asked someone to push the Yuan family into the prison car.

At this stage of the matter, Yuan Shao's fate is no longer up to him to decide. No matter what reasons he uses, it is an indisputable fact that Yuan Shao intends to attack the county where the emperor is located, and all the officials of the Han Dynasty are indisputable. I can testify to him that Cao Mengde did not hold His Majesty hostage.

Therefore, the reason Yuan Shao used is not valid at all. So, what kind of ending will Yuan Shao face when he is judged to be a rebel?

Whether he was forgiven by the little emperor or imprisoned, it has nothing to do with him, and Cao Cao doesn't want to care about it.

He still has a lot of things to do, because he fought Yuan Shao for a whole year. In the eyes of outsiders, although Cao Cao won, his power must have been greatly hit. It's a good time to take advantage of the fire.So these vassals who had been as quiet as chickens before coincided with each other and launched a siege to Cao Cao, including Zhang Xiu, who was beaten by Cao Cao before and dared not stand up.

Cao Cao didn't care what happened to Zhang Xiu. With his current strength, it was nothing more than a backhanded effort to deal with Zhang Xiu. His eyes were set on a farther place.

But in the eyes of outsiders, Cao Mengde fought several battles in a row, and the people in his jurisdiction must have been miserable and complained, and the mobilization of a large number of civil servants and the movement of the army consumed a lot of food, even if he Cao Mengde The land is fertile and the income is collected twice a year. This harvest should not be worth the expenditure. If the income and expenditure are not balanced, it is a loss. According to the thinking of people in this era, the time a county can bear a loss is only one year.

May I ask that an army that has already encountered losses will send troops against others at this time?If it was a young general, at this time, he might not fight for steamed buns, but he might as well fight for his breath, and he might indeed continue to fight with his neck stuck. But Cao Mengde has been in the officialdom for so many years, and he can be regarded as a mature leader.

At this time, he will definitely not rush out of the army, even if it is only for the sake of public opinion, he should seek peace with the surrounding princes.

Cao Cao's army does have great righteousness. If they occupy their land, it will be unjustifiable to His Majesty, but it doesn't matter if others ask Cao Ying to retreat, such as the commercial tax when transporting bamboo, and some of Cao Ying's products, such as tooth powder, sprinkles, etc. The selling price of materials such as gold paper.

They were right. If it was an ordinary situation, Cao Cao might really have done this, endured the momentary anger, and then tried to develop. However, Cao Cao's current situation is completely different from what these princes expected.

Cao Jun, who the princes imagined was short of military food, let's not talk about the food, but as far as this point is concerned, they really don't have any shortage.

Since entering the other side of the Yellow River, Cao Jun has a team of people who are responsible for plowing the field while walking. It is not intensive cultivation. They just roughly dug a small ditch in a slightly suitable land, and then sprinkled seeds and sealed it.

It was the seeds of the clover that they sowed.

Alfalfa is a self-seeding forage grass, and it can even be called a weed in some places in later generations. However, all weeds have a very remarkable characteristic: that is, the wild fire is endless. The spring breeze blows and regenerates, and the vitality is extremely tenacious.Generally speaking, as long as it is not uprooted, even if the surface is removed, after a spring rain, its roots will grow new shoots and shoot out of the soil.

Cao Jun walked and sowed seeds all the way. If in later generations, their behavior would probably be judged as an invasion of alien species and would be strongly condemned by the local gardens, but no one cares about them here.

Most of the soldiers only poured water for the first time, and then they didn't care much about it. Whether it grows or not, it's just a matter of God's will. But this year's autumn changed from the drought of the previous few years, and it happened to be a rainy season in the north. , The continuous drizzle brought barriers to the fighting between the two armies, and at the same time encouraged this kind of water-loving pasture.

The soldiers of Cao Jun who went north to transport the army food were pleasantly surprised to find that very lush grass grew on the road north of the Yellow River, and the excellent pasture attracted the gathering of wild animals, because Yuan Shaojun fled north and took away A large number of local residents and wild animals that have lost human control began to develop wantonly. Autumn is the season of fattening, and their keen sense of smell quickly smelled the fragrance of pasture here.

Once such delicious pasture was found, the herbivorous wild animals quickly gathered in this area, and the herbivorous animals led the carnivorous animals.

As a supply army for transporting grain and grass, the soldiers of Cao Ying were naturally armed. When they arrived at Cao Jun's camp, in addition to the usual grain and grass, they could often bring a few more animals to feed the soldiers.

They even took advantage of the direction of the wind to deliberately blow the smell of meat to Yuan Ying, which can be said to be very bad.

Later, without Yuan Shao's knowledge, the southern tip of his territory was quietly developed into animal husbandry. At the same time, Changyi City, which was originally tense due to population expansion, and Cao Cao's original base camp were developed emphatically. The surplus population of Dongjun gradually migrated to the north.

Cao Jun, who was guarding the ferry along the Yellow River, naturally would not reject the migration of the population. On the contrary, they gave excellent subsidies to the people who were willing to move north, and even lent them cattle to help them plow the land.

Although I have not seen the results yet, but in the north, when Cao Jun and Yuan Jun are fighting in full swing, a little farther away from them, the agriculture and animal husbandry in the relatively safe rear area have developed rapidly. After attracting wild animals, the seed area provides good conditions for ordinary people to dig fields.

As for the fields reclaimed by the original residents, in the eyes of the people of the southern Yanyu states with higher technology, they are really rough and terrible. If there is no rough prototype at any rate, they all want to give up this piece of land and go to other places. The place was reclaimed.

However, there are also advantages. When Yuan Shaojun evacuated, he burned the grain that had not been harvested in time at that time, and the ashes from the grain covered the land. This fire not only killed the grain, but also The bacteria and insect eggs under the soil, and the plant ash formed by the burned plants have also become the fertilizer for Cao Jun's farmers to grow food to some extent.

It's just that the current Cao Jun thinks that this kind of fertilizer is already very crude, so when the spring of the second year began, the princes thought that Cao Jun was short of food, and the rear was unstable, and he was in an extremely embarrassing disadvantage. The winter wheat planted by Cao Jun the previous winter will mature in just a few months.

After the war ended, Yuan Shao's army was appeased by Cao Cao at an almost impossible speed.

All Yuan Shaojun's servants returned to their homes. If they had no land at home, they could borrow fields from Cao Cao. Just like the refugees who fled to Dongjun in those days, they only needed Cao Cao to provide seeds, technology, land, and tools. After five years of work, he can obtain the right to use this piece of land.

And when the residents who had land but were forced to evacuate returned to their homes, they found that this place had changed greatly.

Not only the repair of water wells, Cao Jun’s people also established irrigation facilities extremely quickly. The fertile fields they reclaimed are deep and good. Cao Jun’s plows are much sharper and deeper than those under Yuan Shao’s rule. The land dug out It was all fertile black soil, and they even brought their own decomposed manure. It had only been two or three months since they left their hometown and returned, and everything here had become a little strange to them.

At this time, the Yanzhou people who thought they would not come back, and the Jizhou people who thought they would see a piece of wasteland when they came back, turned out to be fertile soil, but the soil was planted by others, fell into a kind of embarrassment in the silence.

Now, at this moment, everyone didn't know what to say. Yanzhou people thought it was deserted and came to rebuild it, while Jizhou people said: I am not dead yet, but I am the defeated party. Well, I am so aggrieved.

Before they started arguing, Cao Ying, who was already prepared, came to stop, explained the situation to both parties, and proposed a solution at the same time. The land would naturally return to the original owners, but the aborigines needed to divide the land after the season's grain matured. [-]% will be given to the people of Yanzhou for reclamation. At the same time, if they are unwilling to dismantle the existing water conservancy equipment, they need to help Yanzhou people build water conservancy equipment.

Relatively speaking, it is fair, because if there is no Yanzhou people to plant food, Jizhou people will miss the spring plowing!And the seeds and base fertilizer are all brought by Yanzhou people, and the time is awkward now. Although Yanzhou people can reclaim the fields, they have already missed spring plowing and can only plant end-season vegetables to cope with it. Autumn sowing.Wouldn't it be too pitiful if they had nothing to gain during this period of time?

As for the few sergeants in Cao Ying who were easy to talk to, they wanted to kick their noses and roll their faces, and they were forcibly recruited by Cao Cao's people to serve in advance. After all, they haven't finished their hard work this year. What, they just came back ?Uh, that was requisitioned by the rebels, not our regular army!

All in all, Cao Jun's current situation is different from what others think. As far as Xia Anran can see, they are not afraid to fight another battle with others.

At the same time, in this material transportation, the role of mules was finally discovered by people. Whether it is stamina, pulling power or personality, mules are much better than donkeys, and its biggest advantage is that it eats They are less than horses, but do more than horses. They can be called model workers, and they are definitely the favorite of all exploiting classes.

Even the animal officials who were originally prejudiced had to admit the excellence of the mule, especially as a transport capacity.

But he would never let the donkey ride on his beloved filly again, never!

Although mules are very useful, the current situation in Cao Ying is still short of horses. It is too late for the precious mares to give birth to foals. Where is there room for them to give birth to donkey cubs? Xia Anran had an idea and asked, what if How about letting a female donkey give birth to a pony?

Since a jackass can give birth to a female horse, shouldn't a male horse be able to give birth to a female donkey?

The animal officer looked at him for a moment, and his eyes slowly lit up.

It should be possible, Xia Anran seems to have this impression.

He coughed dryly and looked at the donkey pen together.

In the spring of this year, the colts that Cao Ying stayed in the stables not only needed to entertain the charming fillies, but also welcomed the charming and petite little female donkeys. After a spring of hard work, They harvest big pooping jenny in the summer.

However, less than [-]% of female donkeys are pregnant, and the probability is far lower than expected. This data makes them a little disappointed. The animal officer looked at the male horse that had passed the estrus period and was already gnawing pasture to replenish its strength. I hate that iron can't be made into steel. If I don't force myself, I'm afraid I will point to the stallion and say: Why are you not as good as a donkey!

Cough, but Xia Anran knows that there is a genetic problem, not entirely a male ability problem. The male donkey's ability to impregnate a female horse is indeed higher than the probability of a male horse impregnating a female donkey, so mules will appear at the beginning, and Horse mules are very rare.

Although some blame the stallion for not being up to date, but no matter how you know the method, next year there will be a solution. Wait for next year to give priority to the female donkey and the male horse for a few degrees in the spring, and observe if there is no pregnancy reaction, then shut up with the male donkey Son, there is always something to gain. ——Xia Anran rubbed her chin and thought.

Just when everyone thought that Cao Cao would deal with the provocative Zhang Xiujun first, they found that they had no intention of crossing the river. Instead, they were heading west across the Yellow River, sweeping up the bandits in the surrounding area, and soon arrived in Luoyang. area.

Yes, the surrounding area of ​​Luoyang City, which was once so desolate that even bandits no longer gather, has gradually begun to be populated by the economic radiation of the four neighboring counties of Yanzhou, Yuzhou, Jizhou, and Jingzhou over the past few years.

And after losing their identity as the imperial capital, the people can gain a sense of security instead.

That is to say, the thoughts of the people in Luoyang today are probably where the emperor is = stay far away!It must be all right!

And with the gradual return of the people, one of the oldest occupations in human history, the robbers soon returned together. When they were caught by Cao Jun, these robbers were full of disbelief, as if writing : How did you come so fast!

In fact, Li Que had the same idea as them.

After sending the little emperor back, Li Que and Guo Si led the troops and hurried back. At this time, they didn't care about the drought and the lack of food and grass, and just wanted to escape quickly.

Regarding military rations, they later robbed the rations of several big families, and when the weather improved again, although there were downsizing, they barely survived. After that, Li Que and Guo Si led the army to the west to meet Ma Teng and Han Sui The others were playing lively, and they didn't pay attention to the movement in the east at all.

Until the autumn of this year, Cao Cao's troops approached the west on a large scale and broke into Chang'an with a smashing force.

They will choose to attack the second army of Li Que and Guo Si first. In name, it is to quell the chaos. After all, they are still beating each other's heads, but in fact it is entirely because Xiliang soldiers are also good at cavalry.

Cao Jun's purpose is to keep as many people alive as possible.

Now, their horse shortage is still very large, so they don't want to use the strategic method of using archers to deal with light cavalry, which is very harmful to horses, and at the same time they want to use stirrups and horseshoes that have not yet been popularized in the Xiliang army. Time, hit them by surprise first.

After all, the invention of the stirrup, for Cao Jun, reduced the dependence on excellent horses and the cost of training novices.But for Xiliang soldiers who are already good at riding and shooting, this will only make them even more powerful.

Of course it would be best if you can take it down, but if you can’t take it down, you should grab it as much as possible... Ah no, more horses will be collected back, this time even the mares must be collected together.

This is a strong request from the logistics staff at the base camp.

In this era, the number of horses that people count is based on male horses. In addition to breeding, there are also entry templates for children to learn how to ride horses, or a few docile mares used to pull carts for women. In addition, most of the horses used in the barracks are male horses, so mares are not worth collecting for warlords.

Li Que never imagined that Cao Cao would choose to attack Yuan Shao after he tied with them. He who had been competing with Ma Teng and Han Sui felt at a loss and innocent at the moment.

If he could meet Cao Cao face to face, he must ask Cao Mengde what he thinks?

We didn't make trouble for you, nor did we take advantage of the fire to loot, why didn't you attack those princes who bullied you first, but chose to attack first because I thought it would be easy to bully you?This is not fair at all!

And if they could face each other and hear this series of questions, Cao Cao might turn his head silently and tell him, because you have horses.

Whether it's horses to assemble cavalry, to transport goods, or to breed mules they all need horses.

And only when the transportation line can keep up with his progress, can Cao Cao have greater confidence to go south to attack the princes in the south. At this moment, Li Que is caught between Ma Teng, Han Sui and Cao Jun, and he even feels that It was Ma Teng and Han Sui who gave Cao Cao some benefits, so that Cao Cao helped him attack him.

But in fact, Ma Teng and Han Sui, who suddenly had no opponents in the middle of the fight, also felt very strange. Of course they didn't connect with Cao Cao. If they did, would they have to wait until today?

As for Cao Cao's intentions, they were also very puzzled. Why would Cao Mengde, who occupies a large and fertile area, think that they are poor with only one-third of an acre of land?

But no matter whether they are puzzled or angry, Cao Mengde, who is completely unreasonable, attacked all the way west, and soon won the Chang'an City occupied by Li Que and Guo Si. Li Que was still trying to struggle before. He explained to Cao Cao that he was a courtier loyal to the great Han. On the other hand, he secretly communicated with Ma Teng and Han Sui, telling them the story of his lips dying and his teeth cold, and trying to make them join him in counterattacking Cao Cao.

There is also the most important little emperor there!

But Ma Teng and Han Sui were extremely witty. They sent envoys to bypass Li Que's garrison and go all the way to Cao Ying. This sincere letter from Li Que reached Cao Cao's hands.

When Cao Cao received the letter at this time, he just smiled and had no other emotions.

In his opinion, it is normal for Li Que to behave like this, and there is no need to get angry.Cao Ying's advance speed can be said to be slow, which makes people anxiously slow.

Step by step, we must fight steadily, while taking some points, while stabilizing the emotions of the local people.The benefits of Cao Cao's vigorous development of people's livelihood and reputation before were revealed at this time.

No matter how Li Quejun belittled Cao Jun, or even threatened the people if Cao Cao's process would massacre the people, the people believed that Cao Cao was not a bloodthirsty person.

As a result, the local defenders encountered an extremely embarrassing problem. They themselves hadn't thought about betraying, nor had they thought about abandoning the people and fleeing, but the people under the local rule were all looking forward to the arrival of Cao Jun.

This feeling is terrible, it feels like they are not the ones guarding the city gate, but the villains who guard the city people and rush to Cao Jun's arms.

Obviously they are guarding the house, but now the irony is that they don't know whether their heads will eventually fall into the hands of Cao Cao, or they will fall into the hands of the people under their rule.In the end, some defenders couldn't bear such pressure one after another, and they surrendered to Cao Jun first.

For the generals who surrendered, Cao Jun will not refuse anyone who comes. They will listen to the opinions of the local people. Reported one after another, and there is conclusive evidence to prove that these officials are not stable, Cao Ying will act in accordance with the law.

In this way, fighting and advancing, Cao Cao fought steadily and stabilized his west.

Li Que and Guo Si surrendered, and Ma Teng and Han Sui also asked the court to report that they were willing to go to the depths of the northwest to garrison there. Cao Cao did not refuse their request.

This year, when Cao Cao was 44 years old and 46 years old according to the Eastern Han Dynasty, he finally completed the basic unification of the north.

But at the same time, with the expansion of his power, a voice gradually became more and more popular.

The little emperor is actually eighteen years old this year. According to the current calculation, he has already reached the age when he should be in charge.

However, the Han Dynasty declined. Although he had the position of emperor, he did not have the power of emperor.

Although the officials of Cao Ying seemed to respect the little emperor, they still chose to obey Xun Yu when Cao Cao was away, and selectively ignored the voices of many veterans of the Han Dynasty who thought that Cao Cao would be able to show their teeth and claws when Cao Cao was gone.

The ministers have been dissatisfied with this for a long time, but Cao Cao was away in the army, and he was protecting his Han Dynasty, and he was not in Beijing. Even if they wanted to write a letter to reprimand him, they were afraid that Cao Cao would quit the job, and in the end they could only press With complicated thoughts, and secretly pulling a force, he waited for Cao Cao to attack him when he returned to the camp.

Does Cao Cao know about this?Of course he knew, although these courtiers tried their best to keep it secret, but Changyi was his base camp, Cao Cao had many eyes and ears, and his ability to control had reached the extreme.

It can be said that there is only what he doesn't want to know here, and there is nothing he can't know. After all, these Han officials still underestimated him and Yanzhou under Cao Mengde's rule.

But Cao Cao was not worried, he had an agreement with the little emperor before he went out to fight.