Weird Three Kingdoms

Chapter 3539: Apology and Money

"Cai Degui is here to plead guilty?"

Cao Kai was a little surprised when he got the news.

The defending general could not leave the territory easily, so if Cai Mao wanted to come back and "apologize by carrying a thorn stick on his back", he had to get Cao's permission.

Cao Kai hesitated for a moment, then waved his hand, "I understand, you go down first."

The clerk who brought the news bowed, took two steps back and left.

Cao Kai pondered for a moment in the hall, and felt that something was still not right, so he stood up and walked to the back hall.

On the surface, Cao Ren had already left Xiangyang, and all matters in Xiangyang, big or small, were handed over to Cao Kai to handle. But in reality, Cao Ren only left the city during the day and returned quietly at night, but he did not show up and hid in the backyard of the government office.

On the surface, Cao Kai was also like this. He made decisions on some small matters by himself, but for big matters, he still had to go to the back hall to find Cao Ren.

Many times, it’s not that the superiors don’t know, but they just don’t want to care.

For example, the Cai family had dealings with Guanzhong and doing business secretly.

It wasn't even considered "sneaky" at all. After the goods arrived from Guanzhong, they didn't even bother to change the labels and were sold directly in Jingzhou.

Of course Cao Ren knew all these things, but most of the time he turned a blind eye.

Just like the Buddha statues in the temple, those facing the entrance all have kind faces with half-open eyes. Only those with their backs to the gate or sideways have ferocious faces, reminding the pilgrims who are about to leave that they may have forgotten something.

The Cao family is now in a very embarrassing situation, and this is reflected not only in Hebei and Henan, but also in Jingzhou.

Different from Fei Qian's approach of trying to change the structure of the Han Dynasty by approaching the lower-class common people, Cao Cao took the middle-class path, that is, the path of the poor.

A poor family does not mean a poor person.

Perhaps the concept of "poor family" is difficult to understand, but if we replace it with the petty bourgeoisie, we can roughly understand it.

Cao Cao tried to promote people from humble backgrounds to replace those from wealthy families in order to reform the Han system. To some extent, this was certainly an improvement. However, both Cao Cao and those people from humble backgrounds who were promoted would eventually become evil dragons like the brave warriors who slay dragons.

Because the ultimate goal of the vast majority of petty bourgeoisie is to become the bourgeoisie. Just like in later generations, there are many keyboard warriors who ridicule the suffering people and actively defend the bourgeoisie, saying that everyone who reaches the level of assets will be like that? In fact, this is also a self-psychological portrayal of these keyboard warriors.

So who are the rich families in Jingzhou?

Anyway, the Cai family is definitely not a small asset.

Although Pangshi was famous, he did not have much strength and was driven to Wancheng at a relatively early time. He no longer had any major industries in the northern part of Jingzhou.

The Huang family was quite influential before, but now they have basically moved to the northern part of Guanzhong.

So when Cao Ren was in such a desperate situation that he had to "fortify the city and clear the fields" in the south to raise military supplies, what else did he start to think about?

But to deal with the Cai family, we can't just kill them at will.

Letting Cai He fight at Yunguan was originally a strategy to kill two birds with one stone.

If Cai He could hold on, it would be great. On the one hand, it would consume Cai He's private soldiers, and on the other hand, it would eliminate the threat of Li Dian, which would be great. If he couldn't hold on, Cao Ren would arrest Cai He and punish him, take away Cai He's soldiers, and then beat and target Cai He...

At worst, I can just apologize afterwards and let the matter go.

It’s just like in history when Cao Cao apologized after he killed Yang Xiu.

Besides, the Cai family is not as famous as the Yang family. Even if they really killed her, what would happen?

But this kind of thing cannot be made public after all, and often needs to be handled under another name.

"Cai Degui is here to plead guilty?"

Cao Ren was also a little surprised after listening to Cao Kai's report.

Is Cai Mao really loyal?

Obviously unlikely.

"It's bad!" Cao Ren slammed the table anxiously, "Hurry up and send someone to investigate outside!"

"Investigate what?" Cao Kai was a little confused at first, but soon understood what Cao Ren meant, "Father, are you talking about the Cai family?"

Cao Ren nodded, "I suspect... I'm afraid it's already known to everyone..."

……

……

In the north of Hebei, Younan, Zhuo County.

Ren Cheng, the county lieutenant of Zhuo County, climbed up the city wall on the dew.

To be honest, he didn't want to work so hard every day, but his last name was Ren, the Ren of Ren Jun.

Because of Ren Jun's appointment, he got the position of county lieutenant, and because of Ren Jun's appointment, he had to patrol every day.

He reached out to hold onto the cold parapet and took a breath, but soon he felt his throat suddenly tighten. The dozen or so defenders who were supposed to be stationed here were now nowhere to be seen!

On the blue bricks of the city wall, there were only broken arrow shafts and broken bricks scattered around.

"Where are the people?!"

Ren Cheng yelled loudly.

The empty city gate tower seemed to bring out waves of empty sounds.

Soon, Ren Cheng discovered a hemp rope tied to the battlements, hanging from the top of the city all the way to the outside of the city...

"Damn it! Damn it!"

Ren Cheng slammed the battlements angrily and raised his knife to cut the hemp rope.

The hemp rope fell limply to the bottom of the city, avoiding Ren Cheng's impotent rage.

"Where is the king rate?! Where is the king rate?! !"

Ren Cheng yelled, and the entire team guarding the city wall ran away, and naturally no one responded to him.

"Damn it! Damn it!" Ren Cheng jumped up and down, shouting to his followers, "Call Captain Wang over here!"

The follower responded excitedly, then ran away in a hurry. A moment later, he ran back in a hurry, "My lord, he... he said... he..."

"Damn it, what did he say?!" Ren Cheng was also anxious.

The attendant took a breath, "He said he couldn't come..."

"Asshole! Damn it!" Ren Cheng said angrily, then he stretched out his hand to push away his followers, turned around and walked down the city wall, and quickly walked all the way to the military station in the southwest corner of the city wall.

From the watchtower in a corner of the military station, wisps of green smoke drifted out, and the aroma of meat filled the air.

Ren Cheng followed the smell and found the watchtower. He clenched his sword and rushed up the stairs.

"Dang... Gululu... Snap!"

Ren Cheng rushed in so hastily that he bumped into an empty wine jar with his foot.

The small wine jar rolled and fell from the steps of the watchtower, breaking into pieces.

"Hey! Isn't this County Lieutenant Ren? It's better to come at the right time than to come early! Come on! Sit down and have a bite!"

Captain Wang and four or five soldiers, with their weapons scattered around, sat in the watchtower, roasting by a bonfire.

On the campfire, there was a skinned half-dog. There was not much oil on it, but it still exuded the aroma of meat.

"Asshole!" Ren Cheng kicked the skinny dog ​​to the ground, and the sparks from the bonfire splashed on Captain Wang's legs. "The city guard ran away again today! A whole thing! You, a captain, still have the mind to think..."

Captain Wang had a cold smile on his face. He didn't look at the skinny dog ​​that was kicked down. He slowly stood up and said, "What do you think? Where's the soldiers' pay? Bring it here! Soldiers get paid. If there's no pay, how can you shout?!"

"Bing..." Ren Cheng felt like something was pinching his throat.

These days, the situation in Youzhou has become increasingly grim for the remaining Cao defenders.

The soldiers' pay and food supplies were insufficient, and their morale was low.

There were originally only one or two deserters, but now it has developed into a whole squad of people running away!

"Let's talk about the soldiers' pay later! Now let's just say your soldiers ran away!" Ren Cheng's momentum weakened somewhat.

Captain Wang sneered, "Let's talk about the military pay first! If there is military pay, there will be soldiers. If there is no military pay, there will be no talk!"

"You!" Ren Cheng was so angry that he gritted his teeth and said, "What if I can find the military pay?"

"Hahahaha!" Captain Wang laughed, "If you can find the soldiers' pay, I can also find the soldiers!"

"It's a deal!"

"Of course, it's a deal!"

Ren Cheng pointed at Captain Wang and turned and left.

Behind him came the laughter of Captain Wang and several other soldiers.

…    …

Ren Cheng went to the Zhuo County government office to ask to see the county magistrate.

There was a faint scent of soothing agarwood in the West Flower Hall.

After waiting for a long while, County Magistrate Zhang Fan, wearing a thick fox fur coat, staggered and rubbed his head. He came to the west hall and sat down diagonally with a dejected look on his face. "Ah, County Magistrate... I heard that the bandit army took hundreds of thousands of refugees with them. In Youzhou, Liaoxi and Liaodong, all the counties and prefectures they passed through surrendered."

"Ah?" Ren Cheng was stunned for a moment, "Hundreds of thousands? Impossible!"

"Hey... it's not hundreds of thousands, even if it's tens of thousands... hey... tell me, what do you want from me?" Zhang Fan shook his head and sighed, still rubbing his head.

Ren Cheng recounted what happened on the top of the city wall, as well as what happened after he arrived at the military camp, "Your Excellency! Now that the military pay has been cut off, the soldiers have no intention of fighting. If the enemy army arrives... I hope that Your Excellency can raise some military pay and send some first..."

"Oh... military pay..." The county magistrate nodded, "This military pay is indeed very important... Well, you go down first... I'll think of a solution..."

If it was before, Ren Cheng would have retreated without saying anything, but this time, for some reason, Ren Cheng gritted his teeth and refused to leave, insisting on an explanation.

The county magistrate was helpless and ordered the county chancellor Wang De to come over.

County Magistrate Wang De arrived, glanced at Ren Cheng, secretly curled his lips, then took two steps forward to meet the county magistrate.

"Cough cough..." Before the county magistrate Zhang Fan could say anything, he suddenly started coughing violently. The servant beside him hurriedly served him some water.

Zhang Fan drank two sips reluctantly, panting and looking like he would collapse at any moment. "My cold is getting worse. I'll leave the city defense and military pay to County Magistrate Wang."

"Please think twice, County Magistrate!" Before Zhang Fan finished speaking, County Magistrate Wang De slid, no, slid to his knees, and fell to the ground with a plop. Sweat beads appeared on his forehead and dripped onto the blue bricks of the flower hall. "I am only in charge of agriculture and civil affairs. According to the law, the job of defending the city and killing the bandits should be done by County Lieutenant Ren. I am really incapable of doing it!"

Wang De turned around and stared at Ren Cheng fiercely, "County Lieutenant Ren! Are you planning to escape from the battlefield? If so, you will be severely punished according to the law!"

Zhang Fan slammed the table, "Ah, it's already this late, and you're still trying to shirk responsibility! If it were really according to the law, I would have beheaded both of you right now!"

As soon as he finished his threats, Zhang Fan immediately changed his tone to a tactful one, "Now that we are facing a powerful enemy, we must cooperate sincerely! County Lieutenant Ren! You have the responsibility to defend the city, no matter what, you must defend the city! County Magistrate Wang, you have the responsibility to provide logistics, no matter what, you must provide money, food and military pay! What do you think, is this right?"

Ren Cheng didn't say anything, but County Magistrate Wang beside him seemed to burst into tears, "County Master, you know that the granaries in this county have been empty for a long time! Where can we get money and food? If you don't believe me, I'll call the chief clerk!"

A moment later, the chief clerk came.

Carrying account books of various sizes, stacked on a wooden tray like a small mountain.

The chief clerk picked up the top bamboo slip and presented it to the county magistrate Zhang Fan, "Your Excellency, this is the account book of this county..."

Zhang Fan looked at it and frowned, "What's going on? Not only do you have no money, but you also owe so much money?!"

The chief clerk raised his eyebrows, "Preparing for spring ploughing, repairing water conservancy projects... these are expenses that need to be paid every year..."

"Asshole!" Ren Cheng couldn't help but point at the chief clerk and curse, "The enemy army is right before our eyes, and the farmers outside the city have all fled, leaving the fields barren. What's the point of farming and water conservancy?!"

The chief clerk took a step back, "County lieutenant, you can't say that... It is precisely because the fields are abandoned that we need to allocate funds to repair the farmland and water conservancy. Even if we don't plant this year, we have to plant next year. Food is the first necessity of the people! This is the right way in the world!"

"Fuck your mother's ass!"

Ren Cheng couldn't help but curse.

"Hey, hey, how disrespectful, how disrespectful!" The chief clerk waved his hand, "You are a warrior who really doesn't understand reason!"

"Stop arguing!" Zhang Fan threw the account book aside, "Anyway, this is how it is now! Defending the city is your responsibility, Ren Xianwei! Civil affairs in the city are your responsibility, Wang Xiancheng! Settling the money and grain is the job of the chief accountant! Now, everyone should be busy with your own duties! One day in office, one should fulfill one day's responsibilities! Don't let down the emperor's grace and the people's wishes! Do you understand? !"

Three of them should be.

"Oh, my head..." Zhang Fan covered his head, "You all go and do your work, I... oh, my head hurts, my head hurts..."

……

……

At three quarters after pm, the backyard of the county government office was filled with the aroma of wine and meat.

Not only was the county magistrate drunk, but the county clerk was also drowsy.

The chief clerk threw his official seal into the wine bowl to soak the wine, as if this would make his wine taste better.

The county magistrate drank so much that he opened his chest, revealing the hair on his chest.

The door to the inner courtyard was closed tightly.

The servants were busy inside, and servants with swords and guns stood outside the door to prevent anyone from entering.

In the backyard and back hall, lights flickered and the air was filled with the aroma of wine.

"Keep drinking! Keep dancing!"

County Magistrate Zhang Fan pulled his hand out of Meiji's chest and shook it in the air, "I've thought of a witty saying! You guys listen to it! Ahem... Today I have wine, today I get drunk... Tomorrow... uh, well, this... you say it!"

Zhang Fan pointed at County Magistrate Wang.

Wang De laughed loudly, "Your Excellency is so talented and learned, it's rare in the world! How can I catch up with you with my limited knowledge? You, the chief clerk, please tell me!"

The chief clerk also laughed, "Let's drink today! Wonderful, wonderful! Such a wonderful sentence should be made public!"

The three of them looked at each other and suddenly burst into laughter, their faces twisted into crazy looks.

After laughing for a while, County Magistrate Wang took out some blank documents from his sleeves and threw them on the table, not caring that the blank documents with the seal of Zhuo County were stained with vegetable juice and wine. "Alas, people are smart now... not many copies have been sold... Look, three hundred acres in the east of the city, only five thousand coins! Five thousand coins! No one wants this, tut tut... the world is going downhill, people's hearts are not as they used to be!"

Zhang Fan waved his hands, "We'll sell as much as we can. Anyway, the important thing is the money we made before!"

"Yes! Our money!"

"Ahahahaha!"

The three of them burst into inexplicable laughter again.

"drink!"

"Let's drink together!"

To the three men, no war or world was as good as the wine in front of them.

Zhuo County was also a transit station for transporting materials to Youzhou, Jixian, Yuyang and other places. Normally, there would be some temporary stockpiles of money and grain in the county. After all, the transportation and allocation of money and grain require manpower and material resources, as well as corresponding time, and it is impossible to have them at any time and anywhere.

But for some unknown reason, after Cao Chun was defeated, the money and grain in Zhuo County suddenly disappeared...

It was as if the money and food had never appeared.

The big man's red and black official robe was placed under the table, and it was wrinkled.

Zhang Fan tied the county magistrate's official ribbon around the neck of the bare-breasted beauty with a smile, and then pulled it again and again, as if he was pulling a dog, and danced in the back hall.

The county magistrate sat sideways, grabbed the meat in one hand, took a few bites, then threw it away. Looking at the blank land deeds that had not been sold, he shook his head and sighed, then picked up two of them and wiped the grease off his hands.

The chief clerk was still holding the bowl of wine soaked with the official seal and drinking it sip by sip.

The county magistrate turned around and saw it, then he laughed and threw his official seal into a wine jar beside him. Then he walked over holding the wine jar, fished the chief clerk's official seal out of the chief clerk's wine bowl, and threw it into the wine jar as well. Then he turned around and looked at the official seal on the county magistrate's desk.

Zhang Fan laughed and kicked Mei Ji, who was stumbling due to being pulled, away. Then he took the official seal and threw it into the jar of wine in the county magistrate's hand.

The wine jar was lifted high and then shaken.

The three of them stretched their heads and listened.

The wine and the official seal collided and shook, making a muffled sound inside the wine jar, as if they naturally blended into a wonderful piece of music that made the three people intoxicated.

"Come on!"

The wine in the jar poured out and splashed on his hands and body.

Scattered documents, contracts, and accounts were thrown in chaos on the ground.

Occasionally, under the light of candlelight, the words "Military Pay in the Ninth Year of Taixing" flashed by on some bamboo slips and wooden tablets, and then were submerged by the chaotic and crazy shadows of the three people.

"What a good wine!"

"It smells so good!"

"How beautiful!"

Suddenly, outside the backyard, a servant shouted in panic, "Oh no! The Hussars appeared fifty miles outside the city!"

There was a moment of dead silence in the hall, and then even crazier laughter broke out.

"What are you afraid of? Keep drinking!" Zhang Fan laughed, "When the Hussars arrive, we will surrender! These days, as long as you have money, you can spend it anywhere. Officials, civilians, cities, they are all fake! Only money, only money is real! As long as you have money! You can have wine and meat, you can have everything! Hahahaha!"

"Yes! Chang'an is a place full of silver shops, and all the people in the world can deposit and exchange money! So what if the Hussars come? Even if they are not here, you can still go to Chang'an and become a rich man! Then we can drink together!"

"Hahaha! That's right! Why did the Hussars arrive so late? I was so anxious waiting for them!"