Three Kingdoms, I'm really not a general!

Chapter 516 The fight begins!
When Zhang Liao decided to fight against the Cao family and disregard their past friendship, Xing Daorong knew that everything was ready.

The war with the Cao family is imminent, and it depends on when all parties will be ready.

Liu Bei, who was touched by the death of Jian Yong and Sun Qian, did not let Xing Daorong wait too long.

One month later, he issued an imperial edict to attack Cao Pi.

He said: "Cao Pi usurped the Han Dynasty, which is intolerable by heaven. We will now raise a million troops to attack and destroy his false power."

"Those who don't respond, those who resist, and those who refuse to repent will be killed together!"

Just two sentences, but the meaning is made clear and understandable.

First, Cao Pi’s fake regime will not end until his death.

Second, anyone who helps Cao Pi resist will be killed without mercy.

Seeing this, Xing Daorong finally understood the truth of the sentence he often heard in his previous life, "The fewer the words, the bigger the matter."

Indeed, when there are no other adjectives to modify or adverbs to set off, this matter goes straight to the essence.

Liu Bei… risked everything and told Cao Pi clearly that it was either surrender or death, there was absolutely no third option.

As soon as Liu Bei issued this edict, the three armies marched out together.

Xing Daorong no longer had any ambiguous relationship with Cao Zhang and others in front of Hangu Pass.

Twenty thousand troops were mobilized from Chang'an, and all the generals gathered together to attack Hangu Pass!
After several months of friction, finally... Xing Daorong's real troops were deployed against Hangu Pass!

However, in Hangu Pass, there should have been a tit-for-tat atmosphere, but there was none at all.

At the moment, Cao Zhang, Cao Xiu, and Xu Huang all looked solemn, not because of Xing Daorong's army attacking, but because of other factors...

...

"General Xu, have we received the letter from Yecheng?"

Inside the pass, Cao Xiu and Cao Zhang asked about Xu Huang's letter.

Xing Daorong originally had 5,000 men at the pass, and these three men did not dare to act rashly.

Now that more troops were being sent for the decisive battle, the three men became even more nervous, and they had no choice but to go to Yecheng again to ask for more troops.

But Cao Pi has no troops left!

Not only are there no soldiers, but even no food or fodder.

Xu Huang looked unhappy, but he replied: "My two generals, Yecheng did reply to the letter, but..."

"Just what?" Cao Xiu was a man of strong character. Seeing Xu Huang hesitating, he couldn't help but become anxious.

Xu Huang didn't care about Cao Xiu's interruption, and continued: "The letter from Yecheng said that the people have no... food, and no..."

"Snapped!"

Hearing this, Cao Xiu stood up in shock and asked, "What? No food or fodder?"

Xu Huang nodded and said, "That's exactly what the letter said. It asked us to gather food and grass on the spot."

On the spot?

So on the spot?
Hangu Pass is originally a pass, and all food and fodder rely on transportation from the rear. How can you raise them?

Cao Xiu was furious: "Nonsense! How could His Majesty issue such a ridiculous decree?"

Xu Huang did not blame Cao Xiu for saying this. In fact, he also thought it was extremely absurd.

But that was what was written in the letter, and he couldn't talk nonsense.

All he could say was, "General, just take it and have a look."

Cao Xiu had no choice but to take the letter and take a look. Sure enough, it was clearly written on it that he was required to raise food and fodder locally.

But the reason was still stated in the letter.

When Cao Pi personally led the expedition to Hexi County, he naturally had to satisfy Your Majesty's food and fodder supplies first.

As for Xu Huang...I really can't take care of him!

The only option is to ask them to prepare their own food and fodder.

After reading the letter, Cao Xiu found that it was indeed true. It really asked him to prepare his own food and fodder, which made him feel very uncomfortable.

I want to vent my anger, but I have nowhere to vent it.

He could only keep silent. On the contrary, Cao Zhang, the yellow-bearded man, who usually only cared about shouting and killing, was a little calmer at this moment.

But he said: "Now that things have come to this, I don't blame Yecheng for how things are done. I just want to think about how to deal with it."

Upon hearing this, Xu Huang thought that Cao Zhang was indeed quite calm.

However, this was not because Cao Zhang was like this by nature, but because he had not fought with Xing Daorong much and did not know as much about Xing Daorong's horror as Cao Xiu.

Without so much fear in your heart, you will naturally appear much calmer.

but…

This is easy to say, but it is completely useless in practice.

Raise food?

Where to raise funds?

So after Cao Zhang finished speaking, the three of them remained silent.

Cao Xiu said: "We can collect grain locally. If there is no grain inside the pass, we can collect it in Luoyang."

There is some truth in what you said.

The important town behind Hangu Pass is Luoyang. Going to Luoyang to collect food and fodder seems to be the only way out.

However, ever since Dong Zhuo's fire, Luoyang has been cleaned up.

Although some places have been renovated over the years, compared with the capital of that time, less than one in ten people remain.

Besides...

This fire not only burned down all the houses of the people, but also burned down thousands of acres of fertile land outside the city of Luoyang.

Although the land has been reclaimed for several years, it is still in the process of recovery. It is already difficult to be self-sufficient. After paying taxes to the court, there is no room for Cao Zhang and others to raise food and fodder locally.

But where else can we go except Luoyang?
Xu Huang immediately asked: "Who is the Henan Yin now?"

Cao Zhang was not quite sure either, so he immediately asked someone.

Soon the chief clerk responded: "It is Sima Zhi."

Although Sima Zhi is also from the Sima family of Henei, his relationship with Sima Yi is very distant!
Sima Zhi, whose courtesy name was Zihua, was from Wen County, Henei. He was a scholar when he was young.

Later, when he went to Jingzhou to avoid the chaos, he encountered bandits, and only Sima Zhi was left to protect his mother.

The bandits thought he was a filial son and that killing him was unjust, so they saved him from being killed.

After that, he stayed at home for more than ten years, tilling the fields and taking care of his elderly mother.

Before the Battle of Chibi in the 13th year of Jian'an, Sima Zhi defected to Cao Cao and was appointed as the magistrate of Guan County.

As for today, he has reached the position of Henan Yin.

Judging from this whole experience, it really has nothing to do with Sima Yi!

but…

Who made his surname Sima and he is from Henei?
Now, everyone with the surname Sima in the country must keep a low profile, otherwise they may be charged with a crime and have their lives taken away.

When Cao Xiu heard the name, he cursed loudly: "What a fish that slipped through the net! I didn't expect there is a Sima family member here."

"If he is the governor of Henan, how can he cooperate with us in raising grain?"

"We should kill them first, and then we can collect food and fodder!"

Naturally, Cao Xiu hated Sima Yi very much.

In his mind, Cao Hong and Cao Zhen were both killed by Sima Yi, and now they are rebelling!
When I heard that... I just wanted to kill him first.

Xu Huang quickly stopped her and said, "Don't be impulsive. Go get some food first."

Cao Xiu was still dissatisfied after hearing this.

He cursed, "What do you mean by begging for food? We are at the front, resisting the attack of Liu Bei's army, and we are still begging them for food?"

"They should be the ones figuring out how to raise food and fodder for us!"

Xu Huang heard his angry look and could only persuade him: "No matter what, talk to the Henan Yin first."

(End of this chapter)