Three Kingdoms, I'm really not a general!

Chapter 521: What a coincidence
The warehouse was completely empty, like an unexplored wasteland.

Rows of shelves stood in the open space, and each layer looked exceptionally spacious, without any clutter blocking the view.

The sun shines through the skylight on the roof onto the ground, creating mottled shadows. A few dim candles hang on the surrounding walls, illuminating every corner, but also highlighting the loneliness here.

The floor of the warehouse was gray, with a few small insects occasionally flying through the light and shadow, becoming the only signs of life here.

There is a faint musty smell in the air, which is the trace left by time here.

With just a quick glance at the warehouse, everyone knows that it cannot be cleaner.

Cao Xiu's eyes widened, he turned around, pulled Sima Zhi over, and yelled, "Where's the grain? How come there isn't even a grain in this huge warehouse?"

Sima Zhi seemed to have expected Cao Xiu to behave like this, and he just smiled and said, "Food? Where is the food?"

"The court collected grain, and took most of the grain, and then they wanted to collect new currency."

"People don't have it, so they can only mortgage their houses and abandon everything."

"I couldn't bear to see the people suffer, so I sold all the remaining grain and exchanged it for new currency to pay taxes."

"Right now! There is no food left in Luoyang!"

Cao Xiu was shocked when he heard this!

It’s just that Xing Daorong didn’t hear these words, otherwise he would have laughed his head off.

The grain was sold at a low price in exchange for new currency, and then the grain from the south was bought at a high price. After all this back and forth, the family was left with so much loss that they couldn't even recognize themselves.

It's just that the orders from top to bottom are not communicated, and the superiors don't care about the lives of the subordinates and just want to take what they want. This has led to a situation where they suffer losses.

...

"Nonsense!"

"It is unheard of to use the money from selling grain to collect taxes."

"You must have embezzled the food. Tell me now! Where are they?"

Cao Xiu didn't believe Sima Zhi's nonsense at all. He was forcing him to hand over the grain.

But Sima Zhi laughed out loud when he heard it: "If General Cao Xiu can find some extra food, I will do whatever you want!"

Cao Xiu could hear the affirmation in Sima Zhi's tone.

But he was unwilling to believe, and could not believe that his efforts were in vain.

If not a single grain of food can be produced, what will happen to the soldiers inside the pass?

In a hurry, Cao Xiu grabbed Sima Zhi by the collar and said, "Sima Zhi! Since there is no grain in this warehouse, you must have hidden the grain in your own house!"

"Let's go! I'll turn your house upside down. I don't believe I won't find it!"

After saying this, he immediately asked someone to lead the way and took Sima Zhi to his mansion.

Sima Zhi did not struggle, but instead took the initiative to lead the way.

But... this time Xu Huang didn't join in the fun.

Since Cao Xiu could see that Sima Zhi's face was calm, Xu Huang could see it even more clearly.

At this glance...it's impossible for him to lie!
Even if we go to Sima Zhi's mansion, it will be useless.

After thinking for a while, Xu Huang went to find the onlookers and asked one of them at random: "Old man, why are the doors of this warehouse open?"

The old man was frightened when Xu Huang found him, and thought to himself that he shouldn't have joined in the fun.

But since he had been found, he could not run away, so he could only tremble and reply: "General, you don't know, there has been a famine in this city since the last tax collection."

"The people are rioting and trying to rob the warehouse."

"When the government got the news, instead of using troops to suppress the rebellion, they directly opened the warehouse door and allowed anyone to go in and take the food."

"Only then did we realize that there was no food left here!" "It was completely gone, nothing at all!"

"Hey... General, what happened to us these days? Why does the court need so much food all of a sudden? It's even more serious than before... when the world was in chaos before."

The old man's last question made Xu Huang feel speechless.

Compared with before, the world is now divided into two, so we certainly cannot say that the world is settled. But in the eyes of the common people, the Cao family has replaced the Liu family. Doesn’t this mean that the world has been settled?

Logically speaking, we should recuperate and comfort the people.

As a result, taxes became increasingly heavy, and people could no longer survive.

How does he explain it?

It’s naturally hard to explain.

He could only change the subject and say, "These are all matters of the imperial court. We generals only care about fighting and don't know about these things."

The old man was originally very nervous, but this time he saw that Xu Huang didn't mean any harm in his words, and he became more and more relaxed as he spoke.

But he said: "General! If you have the chance, you can talk to His Majesty or the high officials in the court who are in charge of these things."

"If this continues, they will all run south."

"Otherwise...I really won't be able to survive!"

Hey!
People’s hearts…this is what it means to lose people’s hearts!
With people's hearts like this, if Xing Daorong comes to kill us, can we still expect the army and civilians to work together to defend the city?

I am afraid that once the people’s hearts change, they will surrender.

Xu Huang didn't say anything more, just patted the old man on the shoulder and waited for Cao Xiu's result.

Not long after, Cao Xiu came back.

Just as Xu Huang expected, Cao Xiu did not look very good. It was obvious that he had gained nothing at Sima Zhi's house.

Xu Huang had anticipated this, so he came to Cao Xiu and said, "Since there is indeed no surplus food in the city, let's leave first and think of another way."

Cao Xiu did not move, but just shook his head and said, "Gong Ming, I still say the same thing. If you return empty-handed, there will definitely be mutiny in the army."

Xu Huang was stunned when he heard this, and had a bad feeling. He asked, "What if we don't have any extra food?"

Cao Xiu's eyes turned fierce, but he said: "Search...Search thoroughly, and also supply the army with food and grass!"

When Xu Huang heard what Cao Xiu said, he was determined to kill the people in the city!
Protect the army and horses and abandon the people!

This is not what Xu Huang wants!
"If Cao Xiu insists on doing what he wants, what should I do?"

"Is there still a debate with him?"

Just as he was thinking about it, he heard Sima Zhi beside him burst into laughter: "Go ahead and rob, you Cao family are just like robbers!"

"Anyway... it won't take long to snatch it!"

Cao Xiu was already very unhappy, and he became even more unhappy after hearing Sima Zhi's words with a hint of curse.

Just as he was about to curse back, he suddenly saw a soldier rushing over with a worried look on his face. He bowed to him and said, "General! This is bad!"

"Xing Daorong took advantage of us leaving the pass and headed towards Hangu Pass!"

what!
Cao Xiu was shocked when he heard this. He never expected Xing Daorong to come so soon. He no longer cared about raising food, but wanted to lead his troops back to help Cao Zhang.

This actually made Xu Huang feel relieved.

Although this reaction was not quite right, he had to admit that Xing Daorong's attack today had solved a problem for him.

Otherwise, if Cao Xiu really took action against the people...it would be difficult for me to make a decision.

(End of this chapter)