Choose Liu Bei at the start, I am the only one who knows the plot of the Three Kingdoms.

Chapter 595 Locust Plague
Three famous generals besieged him alone. Although he was at a disadvantage now, in comparison, if they were Gu Rubing's men, he would have been killed long ago.

As the battle continued, both Xu Huang and the soldiers defending the city could no longer hold on.

Looking at the current situation, Xu Huang immediately ordered a retreat and notified the other gates.

With the fall of Xu Huang, Cao Ren and others had no choice but to withdraw from the entire Guanghan County, concentrate their forces in Shu County and ask Cao Cao for help.

When Cao Cao learned that Guanghan County had fallen, he did not intend to blame anyone, but instead dispatched troops from Chengdu to provide reinforcements.

Compared with the tense war situation in Yizhou, Gu Rubing's side was much more relaxed.

The three parties have been confronting each other in Jiaozhou for a long time, and none of them has any intention of taking action against each other.

Cao Cao's betrothal gift and one million dan of grain and fodder have also arrived in Yangzhou one after another.

With these food and supplies, Sun Jian was finally able to catch his breath, but there was still one biggest problem at the moment, that is, Sun Shangxiang was still in Gu Rubing's hands.

Originally, Sun Jian wanted to delay Cao Cao by using the excuse that Sun Shangxiang had run away, and then find her later, but she was in Gu Rubing's hands, so he had to delay for a while.

But now Gu Rubing directly told Sun Shangxiang what was happening in his hands, which completely disrupted Sun Jian's deployment.

Just when Sun Jian was in trouble, Cao Zhang unexpectedly came to Yangzhou.

After hearing the report from his subordinates that Cao Zhang had arrived, Sun Jian immediately had Cao Zhang invited to the living room.

"My dear nephew, what is the matter with you coming here this time?"

Hearing this, Cao Zhang stared at Sun Jian.

"Sun Zhou Mu, my father asked me to ask. I have already given you the deposit. I don't know when we can hold the wedding. My father has already prepared everything."

"Don't worry about that, nephew. I have already started to make arrangements. I believe that the wedding will be held soon."

"Really? If I remember correctly, Sun Shangxiang is still in Liu Bei's hands. Without a bride, how can the wedding go on?"

Hearing this, Sun Jian's face changed and he hesitated for a moment.

"Don't worry, nephew. I will deal with this matter as soon as possible."

After sending Cao Zhang away, Sun Jian had no choice but to contact Gu Rubing.

When Gu Rubing met Sun Jian's envoy and heard that he was asked to release Sun Shangxiang, he directly refused and drove the envoy out.

Sun Jian knew that it would be impossible to reach an agreement through negotiation.

Just find a way to steal the person out.

late at night.

Gu Rubing is resting.

Outside the house, there were already dozens of men in black hiding in the corner.

The leader, seeing that the time was almost up, was the first to climb over the wall.

Immediately afterwards, all the men in black also turned over.

However, as soon as they landed, all the men in black dared not move.

Because they saw that they were surrounded by a group of soldiers.

These people did not carry torches, obviously they had been waiting for them for a long time.

"run!"

A man in black shouted loudly, turned around, climbed over the wall and prepared to run.

"Where to go?"

As the voice fell, a long spear instantly pierced through the body of a man in black who was climbing up the wall, followed by countless arrows raining down.

All the men in black fell to the ground.

Only one man in black escaped death because his companion's body fell on him.

Zhao Yun walked out of the crowd.

He caught the living man in black in his hand.

"Kill me."

The man in black snorted coldly, looking ready to die.

"Kill you? It's not the right time yet. My lord said you have other uses."

Early the next morning.

Gu Rubing walked out of the room.

I saw Zhao Yun standing outside his room.

"Zilong, why don't you go and rest?"

"My lord, the people sent by Sun Jian took action last night. We captured one of them alive, but we interrogated him for a long time. He fainted several times during the interrogation and refused to say anything."

This was actually within Gu Rubing's expectations.

Those who can become spies or assassins all come with the intention of dying, so they will naturally not speak easily.

"Spread the news and say that we have captured Sun Jian's spy and ask Sun Jian to redeem the person."

Zhao Yun nodded immediately after hearing this. Gu Rubing had experienced the same thing before, but he handled it perfectly at that time. He just didn't know if Sun Jian could handle it so perfectly.

After receiving the news, Sun Jian crumpled the paper into a ball and threw it into the stove nearby.

"You want me to go with just an informant? Are you kidding me?"

As soon as Sun Jian finished speaking, a cough was heard.

Sun Jian immediately looked towards the source of the voice and found that it was Zhou Yu who walked in.

Zhou Yu winked at Sun Jian.

Sun Jian finally reacted. There were still many soldiers standing around him, and what he had just said must have made them somewhat sad.

"You guys go down first, I will take care of this matter."

The soldiers nodded, and before leaving, they all glanced at the paper that had burned to ashes in the stove, feeling somewhat lonely.

Naturally, these actions were noticed by Zhou Yu.

After the soldiers left, Zhou Yu came over.

"My lord, we must save this spy."

"Hmm? Liu Bei told us to go to his place to get someone. You want me to take the risk just for a spy?"

"My lord, Liu Bei's spy was also caught by Cao Cao. Liu Bei went to Xudu in person to rescue people. This is one of the reasons why Liu Bei's army has such high combat effectiveness. So we need to emulate him."

After hearing this, Sun Jian hesitated for a moment. He was still unwilling in his heart, but he also knew that Zhou Yu was right.

"Okay, tell Liu Bei that I'll give him whatever he wants and ensure the safety of my informants."

Zhou Yu nodded and was about to leave when he suddenly thought of something.

"My Lord, I came back this time because Cao Cao has arrived at the front line and said he would come over, so I came back early to tell you. It seems that the aggressiveness may be related to the young lady?"

"Really? Is Cao Cao trying to kill me?"

Sun Jian snorted coldly and said nothing more.

Zhou Yu also tactfully left the room.

Soon Gu Rubing met the envoy sent by Sun Jian.

Listening to the messenger's words, Gu Rubing knew that he could bite Sun Jian hard again.

"Tell Sun Jian that I only have one person, so 100,000 gold will be enough."

One hundred thousand gold per person, even a robber wouldn't dare to offer this price.

The messenger curled his lips. Although he was dissatisfied, he could only nod in agreement.

After the messenger left, Gu Rubing followed Zhao Yun into the dungeon.

At this time, several roaming crossbow captains surrounded a man in black, each holding a whip in his hand.

Every time the whip hit him, flesh and blood were slashed. The man in black screamed in pain but said nothing.

"Lord."

When the roving crossbow captains saw Gu Rubing coming, they all knelt on the ground.

"Well, did he say that?"

"My lord, this guy is too stubborn. We have tried everything but we can't make him talk."

Gu Rubing walked up to the man in black with a smile.

"Let me die, let me die!"

Listening to the words of the man in black, Gu Rubing took out a piece of black cloth and soaked it with vinegar.

Gu Rubing spoke as he was doing it.

"You want to die? Do you know that in this chaotic world, death is the easiest thing to do? If I catch you, I'll let you die. Then why do you think I caught you? And have you ever experienced what it feels like to die?"

After Gu Rubing finished speaking, he directly covered the face of the man in black with the black cloth in his hand.

With his hands and feet tied, the man in black had no other way to struggle except shaking his head.

Soon, the man in black felt suffocated.

The world before my eyes was getting darker and darker.

At this moment, Gu Rubing took the black cloth off the face of the man in black.

The man in black suddenly opened his eyes, greedily breathed in the air around him, and kept coughing.

"How did you feel just now?"

The man in black looked at Gu Rubing in front of him, with only fear in his eyes.

"It seems that's still not enough."

Gu Rubing once again covered the black-clad man's face with the cloth in his hand.

After calculating the time, Gu Rubing took it down.

The man in black was breathing heavily and glaring at Gu Rubing. In his eyes, Gu Rubing had turned into a devil.

Seeing that the man in black still didn't want to say anything, Gu Rubing prepared to use the black cloth in his hand again.

"I said, I said."

Seeing Gu Rubing walking towards him with a smile, the man in black finally got scared. Although he was not afraid of death, everyone would be scared when facing several death threats.

"See, you should have said that earlier!"

After Gu Rubing finished speaking, he turned to look at the captain of the Younu Army standing beside him.

While Captain Younu came forward to interrogate him, Gu Rubing left the cell.

At this time, Zhao Yun came over.

"My Lord, Sun Shangxiang said she wants to see you, and the Prime Minister is also looking for you."

"Tell the Prime Minister to come to the living room to see me. As for Sun Shangxiang, ask her to wait. The Prime Minister usually calls on me for important matters."

"Yes."

After Zhao Yun left, Gu Rubing walked into the living room.

When Zhuge Liang saw Gu Rubing coming, he immediately stepped forward.

"My lord, something bad has happened."

"Prime Minister, if you have anything to say, please speak slowly."

Gu Rubing had not seen Zhuge Liang so anxious for a long time. Gu Rubing knew that this matter was probably not a trivial matter.

"Locust plagues of varying degrees have occurred in the four continents of Yuzhou, Qingzhou, Yanzhou and Jizhou. The food that the people have rescued is less than one-tenth of the usual amount. These four continents are our main areas for collecting food. This year, our food and grass may be insufficient. My lord, please make a decision as soon as possible."

"Locust plague?"

Gu Rubing knew that during this time in the Eastern Han Dynasty, disasters such as droughts, locust plagues and floods often occurred, so he had already taken precautions and stored up a lot of grain.

But the successive years of war had consumed a lot of resources, and with the increasing population under his rule, the things he had in stock had long been insufficient.

Gu Rubing remembered that if he used the food and grass in his hands to ensure the survival of the people, his own soldiers would have nothing to eat. If he gave it to the soldiers, the people would have nothing to eat.

You can only choose one of the two.

"Open the granary and distribute relief food first."

Zhuge Liang nodded and immediately got to work.

Gu Rubing sat in a chair, thinking about what to do.

However, at this moment, Sun Shangxiang's voice came, as well as Zhao Yun's.

"Don't stop me. I want to see what else Liu Bei has that is more important than me."

"Miss Sun, the lord is indeed busy."

"Get out of my way."

Hearing the noise outside, Gu Rubing couldn't think any further.

"Zilong, let her in."

After hearing what Gu Rubing said, Zhao Yun sighed and stopped trying to stop her, so he could only let Sun Shangxiang in.

"Okay, Zhao Yun told me that you are busy. So your busy schedule is to sit here and drink tea?"

"Miss Sun, if you have something to say, just tell me. If you don't have anything to say, please go back. I have something else to do."

Gu Rubing was also a little scared of the little witch in front of him, especially now his mind was full of things like locust plagues and food supplies, and he had no extra energy to deal with this little witch.

"Of course I have something to do. I need to go back to my father."

Upon hearing this, Gu Rubing looked at Sun Shangxiang in confusion.

Sun Shangxiang said at the beginning that she would never go back, so why does she want to go back now?

Did someone tell her something?
"What's the reason?"

"Xiao Die told me that my father's men came quietly last night, but they were all killed by you. It's my own business that I don't want to get married, why should they die? I don't want to be here anymore, let me go back and tell my father."

"Go back? Miss, what do you think this place is? You can come and go as you please. You can leave if you want. Your father must give back whatever Cao Cao gave him in exchange for you."

Gu Rubing was originally coaxing Sun Shangxiang, but now that Sun Shangxiang has realized something is wrong and wants to leave, Gu Rubing no longer pretends and comes clean.

Sun Shangxiang didn't expect that Gu Rubing would change his attitude towards her. She didn't react for a while and just looked at Gu Rubing without saying a word.

"Zilong, keep Miss Sun here and keep a close eye on her. She is not allowed to go out. Anyone who disobeys my order will be executed!"

Zhao Yun nodded immediately and dragged Sun Shangxiang away.

If it was before, Gu Rubing might not have done this, but now the four major grain and grass states have all been hit by locust plagues, and the output is less than one-tenth. In this situation, how can he fight in the future? There are still so many people to fight.

What Gu Rubing lacks most now is food and fodder.

Thinking of this, the first thing that came to Gu Rubing's mind was the Anluo Empire in the west.

There have been no wars in the Anluo Empire during this period of time, so the food and fodder reserves should be sufficient.

But soon, Gu Rubing gave up this idea.

At present, the Anluo Empire has not confirmed that it is on his side, so it is a fence-sitter. If he tells Cao Cao and others about his food shortage, he will suffer a loss.

at the same time.

Cao Cao finally arrived in Yangzhou and met Sun Jian.

"Sun Zhou Mu, I have already given the betrothal gift. You have to give me an explanation for this marriage, right? You can't just keep the betrothal gift and not give it to others, right?"

Hearing this, Sun Jian immediately smiled and brought Cao Cao a cup of tea.

"Caozhou Mu, what are you talking about? Am I that kind of person? I am also trying to find a solution. Give me some more time."

(End of this chapter)