Weird Three Kingdoms

Chapter 3801 Northern Songs and Southern Cooking Trapped in a Lonely City, Pots and Steamers, Music and Instruments, All Weapons of War (Bonus Chapter)

The autumn wind swept across the plains, carrying a thick smell of dust, and passed over the continuous camps of the cavalry.

Before the chaos erupted in Ye City, Zhao Yun and Zhang Liao sat facing each other in the central command tent, discussing military matters.

Both men were clad in armor, though they were not wearing helmets, but the menacing aura between their brows and eyes was no less intense.

Before them lay a rather detailed topographical map of the area surrounding Ye City, densely marked with the positions of both sides.

In recent days, scouts have been searching the outskirts of Ye City and have created this map, but little is known about the situation inside Ye City.

The two were discussing something when a sudden commotion arose, causing them to stop and listen intently.

"Report!" a guard outside the main tent reported, "There seems to be some unrest within the city!"

Upon hearing this, the two exchanged a glance, then immediately stood up, lifted the tent flap, and looked up towards Ye City.

"Quickly, bring me the Thousand-Mile Eye!"

Zhang Liao ordered his guards to escort him.

The shouts of countless people mingled together, creating a rumbling sound like muffled thunder, rising and falling, rolling over the city walls, mixed with indistinct cries and noises resembling the impact or shattering of some object.

Immediately afterwards, several plumes of smoke rose up along with sporadic flashes of fire, tracing unsettling paths across the southern part of Ye City.

"Is this genuine chaos, or a ruse to lure us in?" Zhang Liao frowned and took the binoculars offered by the guard, observing carefully.

Zhao Yun listened intently. 'The sound is coming from the south city, chaotic and disordered…it's not a war drum signal…'

Zhang Liao listened carefully for a moment, then observed the movements on the city wall closely. "There are shouts of battle, and there are cries of agony, but... Zilong, look..."

Zhang Liao handed the binoculars to Zhao Yun, pointing to the area near the city gates of Ye City. "The garrison flags on these city walls haven't moved much, especially near the gate towers. The garrison's formation remains impeccable, and there's no sign of reinforcements being sent to the south city... The gates over there too... it seems like only the ones in the middle are moving... or maybe it's the soldiers from the north city..."

As Zhao Yun observed, he pondered. He noticed that although the commotion sounded intense, it was mainly concentrated in the southern part of the city, while the northern part was unusually quiet, as if they were two different worlds despite being so close.

"This doesn't seem like a trap..." Zhao Yun judged. "If Cao Cao's army were to lure us in, their goal would undoubtedly be to lure us into attacking the city amidst the chaos... Then they should naturally create the appearance of utter chaos throughout the city, along with the soldiers' panicked state... At the very least, they should make it seem like troop movements were taking place on the city walls, and that the defenses were under strain... But right now, the defenders on the city walls... have barely moved. So, if they're only using the unrest in the south of the city as bait... then this bait is rather weak."

Zhang Liao nodded in agreement: "It's not a trap, nor does it seem like a feigned disturbance... This sound is inconsistent, fluctuating in pitch and direction... If it were soldiers and laborers shouting, it would certainly be rather monotonous and rigid..."

Zhang Liao paused, his tone turning serious, "It seems this situation is more like an internal upheaval within the southern city, and Cao Cao's army... appears to have had a countermeasure in place, hence their composure."

Zhao Yun put down his binoculars, pondered for a moment, and said, "Someone! Have Commander Chen take his troops to patrol the north of the city! Assess the situation and report back!"

The messenger immediately responded.

A moment later, soldiers rushed out of the camp and headed towards Ye City.

But before the military commander and his troops could even reach the walls of Ye City, as if to confirm Zhao Yun and Zhang Liao's suspicions, the deafening clamor was suddenly silenced by an invisible hand, quickly subsiding and dissipating.

The flames gradually died down, and a suffocating silence returned to both inside and outside Ye City, even more so than before.

Zhang Liao sighed softly, looked at Zhao Yun with a hint of regret for missing the opportunity, and frowned, saying, "Chen Changwen's methods are remarkable... chaos erupts suddenly, and pacification is swift as well. His methods are indeed shrewd and experienced."

"The people are truly in turmoil..." Zhao Yun sighed, "It's just a pity..."

Both of them remained silent for a moment.

A while later, the military officer who had gone to scout the vicinity of Ye City returned and reported that the commotion inside Ye City had mostly subsided, and the defenses on the city walls showed no signs of relaxation or weakness...

"What a pity..." Zhang Liao shook his head and walked back to the central command tent with Zhao Yun.

Zhao Yun walked to the table, his gaze returning to the sketch of Ye City. He lightly tapped the southern city area with his finger: "The riot began in the southern city, and it was quelled there as well. The northern city was unaffected, and the city walls remained untouched. Wen Yuan, two things are clear here… First, Cao Cao's core fighting force remains intact, and their control is still maintained; second, the instigators are clearly not soldiers, but… the common people of the southern city."

Zhang Liao chimed in, "Although this rebellion seems quite large, it has failed to shake the foundations of Ye City, and hasn't even forced Cao Cao's army to mobilize its elite troops from the north... This indicates that the rebels' forces are scattered, their objectives are unclear, or... they were easily divided and disintegrated..."

"This is baseless." Zhao Yun nodded. "The southern city has a large population. If they were truly united in rebellion, even with Chen Changwen's wisdom and the deployment of Cao Cao's elite troops, it would be extremely difficult to completely suppress them in such a short time... Now it seems there are... many reasons behind it..."

The two remained silent for a moment, each imagining possible scenarios within the city.

Limited information is like scattered puzzle pieces; it takes experience and logic to piece together a rough outline.

Zhang Liao broke the silence first: "Ordinary people, unless driven to desperation, would never take such a dangerous action... In my opinion, it is likely a rebellion of starving people... However, although there are many starving people, they are like scattered sand. Without a leader, without clear commands, without a common goal, they will collapse at the slightest suppression..."

Zhao Yun agreed, "Cao Cao's army must have been prepared... If I were defending the city, I would have strictly controlled the markets and isolated the north and south, thus cutting off the possibility of a civil unrest spreading... Even if a disturbance occurred in one ward, it could be quickly contained to prevent it from affecting the entire city. Now it seems that Cao Cao's army must have... had a plan in place, and any movement in the southern city was immediately met with the dispatch of troops to suppress it!"

"In that case," Zhang Liao looked at Zhao Yun, "it seems unlikely that inciting these scattered, starving people of the southern city will be effective... Even if we send messages by arrow outside the city, without organization, it will ultimately be ineffective... We must think of another way..."

Zhang Liao's gaze shifted to the northern part of Ye City.

Zhao Yun also looked over and slowly said, "The northern part of Ye City is situated on high ground, and it is home to many of Cao Cao's military officers and aristocratic officials... um..."

Zhao Yun seemed to have thought of something, and a thoughtful expression appeared on his face. Suddenly, he looked up at Zhang Liao.

A glint of shrewdness flashed in Zhang Liao's eyes as well: "The gentry of Ji Province!"

Zhao Yun smiled slightly and nodded, saying, "I have heard that when Yuan Shao died, some wanted to install Tan as emperor, while others wanted to install Shang, which created a rift between them… Now is the perfect time to exploit this rift! The gentry of Ji Province, in the past, either forced by circumstances or for personal gain, submitted to the Cao family, but neither Cao Cao nor Chen Shuya are from Ji Province!"

Zhang Liao clapped his hands and said, "Excellent! How can these people from Ji Province in the city not be worried? Their family roots are here. If Ye City falls, the Cao family may be able to flee far away, but where can they escape to?"

Zhao Yun nodded, his thoughts gradually becoming clearer: "We misunderstood before! While the people of Nancheng are indeed lacking food and suffering from poverty, they are a mob, easily instigated and easily suppressed. Without someone to coordinate things... it will be difficult to succeed! The people of Jizhou are different. These people may control part of the city's defenses, or the distribution of provisions, or influence some lower-ranking officials. If we can incite them to rebellion, even if it's just passive resistance or covert obstruction, it would be a tremendous help to our army!"

The lamplight inside the tent flickered slightly, casting the shadows of the two people on the tent wall, which swayed as they talked.

Zhang Liao said, "This plan is brilliant... but... how do we influence these people from Ji Province in the city?"

Zhao Yun pondered for a moment, then asked, "Wen Yuan, can you hear the Song of Gaixia?"

Zhang Liao suddenly realized, "Zilong's intention is... to use rumors to attack people's hearts?"

"Indeed!" Zhao Yun laughed. "When the Yuan family ruled Ji Province, the Tian and Ju families were mostly in charge. But after the Cao family took control, the gentry of Ji Province were either dismissed, punished, or exiled, and many were marginalized..."

"The Ju clan! Yes! And the Cui clan, and the Geng clan..." Zhang Liao immediately realized, "We can order them to quickly lead those skilled in local dialects and folk songs to sing them in the north! At the same time, we can also cook grain in the south of the city! In this way, we can conquer the north with songs and lure the south with food! Although we won't have a single soldier attacking the city like ants, it will be better than a thousand troops storming it!"

Zhao Yun nodded, his gaze once more fixed on Ye City, as if trying to pierce through the thick city walls to see the figures within the northern city weighing the pros and cons. "Chen Changwen was able to quell the unrest in the southern city because the people there were disorganized. If a rift develops in the northern city, it will be like an ant hole in a dam; the damage lies within, and it may not be something that can be quickly quelled by force. This is the opportunity for our army to conquer Ye."

The next day, the cavalry began to adjust their strategy.

Zhang Liao led his troops to the south of the city, where they openly built thatched huts outside the city walls. Inside these huts, they dug earthen stoves and buried pots to cook.

While the wind direction might not always be perfect enough to carry the aroma of cooking food to the south gate of Ye City, the distance is still relatively close. Beyond the range of arrows, there's still a high probability that people near the south gate will smell various aromas...

Sure enough, after Zhang Liao set up a large cauldron outside the south city and the aroma of cooking food drifted towards the south city of Ye City on the occasional south wind, the commotion on the city wall and the whispers inside the city were like pebbles thrown into stagnant water, quickly creating ripples.

Clearly, the aroma caused a significant disturbance among the defenders on the southern city wall.

The scent, oh, the news quickly reached Chen Qun's ears. He was reviewing documents when he heard the report, and he couldn't help but lose his composure. His pen paused slightly, and a drop of ink fell, slowly spreading across the paper.

Chen Qun put down his pen, stood up, walked to the entrance of the hall, and looked towards the south of the city. Although he couldn't see anything, he could imagine the impact of the scene.

"Zhang Wenyuan... actually used such psychological tactics..."

Chen Qun muttered to himself, his brows furrowed.

This is more troublesome than direct armed conflict.

Swords can be parried, rumors can be suppressed, but how can one resist the real aroma of food that comes with the wind?
It was silent, yet more penetrating than any shout. Chen Qun quickly summoned his staff to discuss countermeasures.

but……

Some suggested burning filth to mask the fragrance with its stench.

Chen Qun resisted the urge to roll his eyes.

Some suggested forcing soldiers and civilians in the southern city to stuff their noses with cloth.

Chen Qun's hands were tightly clenched in his sleeve.

Are these scoundrels' suggestions meant to solve the problem, or to exacerbate the despair and chaos in Nancheng?

Some of the strategies were even more absurd, simply unbearable to hear...

Ultimately, Chen Qun himself devised two countermeasures.

First, a tit-for-tat response.

He ordered an emergency allocation of some aged millet and a small amount of beans from the already strained grain reserves in the northern part of the city, and set up government-run soup kitchens at the main crossroads in the southern part of the city to distribute soup at regular times every day.

He wanted to show the soldiers and civilians of the southern city that there was still food in the city and that they did not need to rely on the enemy outside the city for "charity." At the same time, he gathered the people of the southern city at the street corner, so that they would naturally leave the southern city gate.

Secondly, we must address the root cause of the problem.

He ordered the residents of the neighborhoods near the southern city wall, who were most likely to smell the fragrance from outside the city, to be forcibly relocated to areas further north where they would be less affected by the fragrance, in order to reduce the number of people affected by the "temptation".

In this way, even after the soup kitchens are dismantled, not too many residents of the southern city will be bothered by the aroma. Moreover, as the weather gets colder and northerly winds become more frequent, Zhang Liao's "fragrance offensive" will naturally be neutralized once the aroma is no longer present.

The idea is great, but how about execution...?

Chen Qun's order was swift and decisive, fully demonstrating his quick wit as a first-rate strategist and his decisiveness as a ruler.

However, even the best strategy needs people to execute it.

As these orders were issued through the existing bureaucratic system of Ye City, problems began to emerge and quickly escalated.

The officer in charge of enforcing the relocation order was a military officer surnamed Cao from the southern part of the city.

This man is from Qiaopei and got this position through his family connections. He usually looks down on the local gentry in Jizhou, let alone these "lowly people" in the south city.
He led his soldiers like wolves into the market area near the city walls, offering no explanation or reassurance whatsoever. He simply ordered his soldiers to violently bang on the doors of each house and shout loudly:

"By order of Governor Chen! You are all to relocate immediately! Those who disobey will be punished as traitors!"

"Hurry! Pack your things! You have half an hour to leave!"

"What are you dawdling for? Want to experience the taste of military law?"

"Orders have been given from above!"

"Order! Don't you understand?!"

In an instant, chaos reigned, with wolves howling and ghosts howling.

Although these people in the southern city were destitute, even a dilapidated home was a place to stay. Now, they were being forcibly evicted without any proper housing arrangements, and their future was completely uncertain. Some elderly people knelt down and begged, while some women held their children and wept, but all they received in return was more impatient shoving and shouting from the soldiers.

"Sir, please have mercy! My elderly relative is sick and can't move around at all..."

"Can't move it? Then carry it out! The superior has given the order; who dares to delay?"

Commandant Cao, mounted on his horse, coldly observed the chaos before him, a hint of smugness on his face as he carried out his "important mission."

In his view, carrying out orders from his superiors was the top priority; as for everything else...

All of them are other.

Meanwhile, the granary clerk in charge of the soup kitchens started calculating in his mind as he looked at the grain delivered to him.

The grain allocated from above is a fixed quota, but once it passes through his hands, there is a lot of room for "manipulation".

They would add more water to the porridge, withhold some grain to sell on the black market, or substitute inferior or even moldy grain for the good stuff...

These are all methods he is very familiar with.

In his view, it was only natural to take advantage of the chaos in the world. As long as the porridge stall was set up, the task was considered completed. Who would really care about the consistency of the porridge or the quality of the rice?

As long as no major problems arise and the relationships with superiors and subordinates are properly managed, one can rest easy.

Everyone needs to eat, so it's not shameful to do these things in order to "eat".

So when the relocated people, with their families in tow, were driven to the new resettlement sites in a state of anxiety and hunger, and lined up to wait for the bowl of porridge that was supposed to "reassure the people," what they often received was a thin soup so clear that you could almost see your reflection in it.

The only solid matter, perhaps the sand and sawdust in the bowl, was more than the moldy and discolored millet.

The disappointment that follows hope is far more despairing than having no hope at all.

Resentment builds up in silence, like magma surging from the earth.

Soon, several carefully worded but shocking reports were secretly delivered to Chen Qun's desk.

An officer in charge of supervising military discipline reported that soldiers behaved rudely during the relocation, arousing great public anger; an official who secretly inspected the area reported that the porridge distributed at the soup kitchens was not enough to fill people's stomachs and was of poor quality, causing public resentment to boil over; even worse, a secret report was made that officials in charge of the granary were suspected of reselling military rations...

Chen Qun looked at these reports and remained silent for a long time.

He was not unaware of the situation below, nor was he ignorant of the tricks of these clerks and runners.

But what can Chen Qun do?
At this moment, Ye City is in grave danger, and the most important task is to maintain stability and harmony.

If, at this time, a large-scale crackdown on official corruption were launched and these officials who carried out orders were severely punished, regardless of whether the investigation could be completed, it would inevitably trigger greater turmoil and panic within the bureaucratic system.

However, if this trend is left unchecked and allowed to spread, the morale of the army and the people will be completely lost. Although Zhang Liao's "fragrance" outside the city has been temporarily cut off, new "resentment" will arise inside the city, ultimately becoming a poisoned wine of their own making, even more potent...

Chen Qun remained silent for so long that even his trusted aides standing nearby couldn't help but whisper a reminder, "My lord... how should this be handled..."

Chen Qun finally raised his head, his face revealing undisguised exhaustion and a forced calm. He picked up his pen and began reviewing the reports, his movements slow and heavy. He did not order a thorough investigation, nor did he reprimand the relevant officials; he simply wrote: 'In matters of relocation, appeasement should be the priority to avoid escalating conflicts. The establishment of soup kitchens must be practical to stabilize public sentiment.'

These few words, spoken lightly, were passed down through the ranks, but by the time they reached the officials who actually carried them out, they had almost no effect.

Upon seeing the imperial edict, Commandant Cao scoffed, "The magistrate is still too kind."

He continues to do things his own way.

Upon seeing the imperial edict, the clerk in charge of the granary felt reassured and became even more unscrupulous.

Chen Qun's silence and almost permissive handling of the situation were seen as tacit approval by lower-level officials.

To the suffering people of Nancheng, it was a kind of cruelty, a kind of abandonment.

The smoke from Zhang Liao's cooking fire outside the south city still curled upwards, while Chen Qun inside the city tried to extinguish the fire ignited by the "fragrance," only to discover helplessly that the bureaucratic system he relied on to put out the fire was itself constantly creating more dangerous sparks and amplifying the flames.

It seems like a strange phenomenon: Chen Qun can easily deal with those rabble of commoners, but he is completely helpless against the much smaller number of low- and middle-ranking officials...

Aha! Time flies, more updates are coming!