I am not Yuan Shu

Chapter 318 It's nothing more than a full meal

Upon hearing the words "Governor of Bingzhou," Lu Zhi immediately became somewhat unsettled.

The governor of a prefecture is not comparable to a common prefect; he is a proper regional official!

"Governor of Bingzhou? This is no ordinary position, Zijia. If you can take on the governorship, the entire Bingzhou will have to obey your orders, and you will be able to fight against the Xianbei more easily. This is a good thing. However, this position has not been granted to anyone for a long time, and you do not yet have the qualifications to govern a region. Will some people object?"

"Others' objections are not a big deal. Since I came to Luoyang, haven't there been enough people who have opposed me?"

Yuan Shu shook his head and smiled, "The key is to achieve results and win battles. As long as we can stabilize Bingzhou, there will be no problem for me to become the governor of Bingzhou. As for whether we can further integrate the northern frontier and eliminate the Xianbei, that depends on this. If we succeed, when I return to Luoyang, the position of Rear General can also be changed."

"If you can do that, Zijia, you can also become a great general!"

Lu Zhi laughed and said, "Actually, I have always thought that it is really inappropriate to hand over the position of Grand General to a relative of the empress. Although Wei Qing is indeed a relative of the empress, he also has great military achievements. People like Liang Ji and Dou Wu are absurd to become Grand General without military achievements!"

The two inspected the military camp and talked about various things. At noon, Yuan Shu ate a meal with the soldiers in the camp, and also checked the quality of the food and asked the soldiers for their opinions on the food.

Yuan Shu was very satisfied with the result.

The soldiers were generally very happy with the food provided by the Tianxiong Army. They felt that they were already very fortunate to be able to eat three meals a day, not only enough to fill them up, but sometimes even to the point of being stuffed, and sometimes even to have meat.

According to the rules set by Yuan Shu for the Tianxiong Army, there are three main types of food: garrison food, marching food, and wartime food.

The marching rations were the simplest yet most substantial. Breakfast consisted of mixed vegetable porridge, while lunch and dinner were filled with flatbread and pickled vegetables. The flatbreads were plentiful, easy to store, and did not spoil easily. They could be eaten with water and pickled vegetables, making them excellent marching rations.

The garrison rations are the meals that soldiers eat in the barracks during peacetime. The standard is two dry meals and one porridge meal per day. In the morning, they eat mixed vegetable porridge with side dishes, and at noon and in the evening, they eat rice with stewed dishes.

Each soldier's daily ration was three catties of hulled staple food, exceeding the daily standard of ordinary Han soldiers by 50%. In addition, considering the arduous daily training, they could eat meat once every five days to supplement their diet with oil. Yuan Shu also required that oil be added to their stews to supplement their diet with oil.

The wartime food standard was the highest. In addition to enough staple food and pickled vegetables, soldiers could eat meat once every two days. They ate only dry rice every day and no porridge. The unlimited supply ensured that every soldier could eat and drink his fill and have enough strength to go into battle.

There are also several subcategories, such as meals for wounded and sick soldiers and extra meals for meritorious soldiers.

In any case, with the imperial court bearing the majority of the cost, Yuan Shu himself also contributed a lot of money to subsidize the food, doing his best to provide better food for the soldiers under the existing conditions, striving to ensure that they would not go hungry, could eat their fill, and even eat better.

Because he deeply understood that, in addition to training and equipment, the most important thing about elite troops is that they can have enough to eat.

During a time when most people struggled to make ends meet, the lives of ordinary soldiers were not much better than those of civilians. Hunger was the norm, and even the best equipment and training could not be effective when one was hungry. Therefore, it was very important to have enough to eat.

Many people, even if they have no other reason than to have a full meal, will stick with Yuan Shu and will not choose to run away or fall behind. They are even impossible to drive away.

The cohesion and morale of the entire army do not even need any ideological support; as long as they are well-fed, they can maintain a fairly high level.

Just to have a full meal.

Therefore, Yuan Shu could delegate the tasks of training troops and procuring equipment to others, such as having Lu Zhi in charge of training troops. However, he personally attended to matters concerning the army's food and never slacked off.

Soldiers from the same squad and unit sat together, with a large pot of stew in the middle, and rice buckets filled with staple food and soup buckets around them. They sat together, adding rice and scooping out vegetables, then shoveling the rice into their mouths, wolfing it down, their faces full of happiness.

What Yuan Shu considered rather coarse millet and wheat porridge, along with a stew that was so mixed together that its original form was obscured, was considered a top-tier delicacy by these ordinary soldiers.

They were all cooked, hot, oily, clean, and salted.

They used to only be able to eat this level of food during festivals, but now they can eat it almost every day.

So what were most people pursuing at the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty?

It's nothing more than wanting to have a full meal.

After lunch, Yuan Shu intended to continue observing the soldiers' training in the army camp, but Yuan Wei suddenly sent someone to find him, saying he had something to discuss with him, so Yuan Shu left the camp.

Just a few steps from the military camp, Yuan Shu suddenly heard Cao Cao's voice behind him. He turned around and saw Cao Cao running towards him.

"General! General!"

Cao Cao ran and shouted, as if he had something to tell Yuan Shu. Yuan Shu stopped, dismounted, and stood there watching Cao Cao rush towards him.

"Mengde? What's wrong?"

Cao Cao ran over and stopped, catching his breath before slowly speaking.

"General, I wanted to inform you of this matter as soon as possible, but I haven't been able to see you." Yuan Shu nodded.

"whats the matter?"

“A few days ago, when I was selecting a gift for you at the Luoyang Gold Market, I met Ben… I met your cousin.”

Cao Cao hesitated slightly before saying, "He seems quite angry about his subordinates being in Luoyang."

Yuan Shu was stunned for a moment, and then realized what was going on.

Did Cao Cao and Yuan Shao meet at the Luoyang Gold Market?
How embarrassing would that be?
So Yuan Shu couldn't help but ask, "What did you talk about after you met? Besides getting angry, what else did he say?"

"He didn't say much, but he looked very angry. Most of the words were spoken by Xu Ziyuan, who was standing next to him."

Cao Cao said in a low voice, "General, have I caused you any trouble?"

Yuan Shu thought about what had happened in the past few days.

Before his marriage, he was busy with military affairs. After hearing that Yuan Shao and Yuan Ji had returned, he met with them, exchanged a few pleasantries and compliments, and then returned to the military camp to continue his official duties.

On his wedding day, he was very busy and tired. He was able to see Yuan Ji and Yuan Shao participating in the entire wedding, but he didn't say more than a few words to them.

After getting married, he was so engrossed in his honeymoon that he barely saw Yuan Shao and Yuan Ji. He ate his meals at the General of the Rear's Mansion. He only returned to the Sikong Mansion on the second day of his marriage and had a meal with Yuan Feng and other family members.

Although everyone was gathered together at that meal, Yuan Feng and Yuan Shu did most of the talking. Yuan Ji and Yuan Shao occasionally chimed in, but didn't say much. The three of them rarely interacted, and their estrangement was almost palpable.

What trouble could there be?

Without communication, there is no trouble.

As for whether Yuan Shao was as angry as Cao Cao claimed.

From Yuan Shu's perspective, at least, it's not very clear.

Occasionally, Yuan Shao and Yuan Ji could be seen talking together, and their relationship seemed to have improved somewhat.

So Yuan Shu reached out and patted Cao Cao on the shoulder.

"Mengde, don't worry too much about this matter. Just focus on your work. As for the rest, I will handle it. You are now my subordinate, and no matter what happens, I will stand up for you."

Cao Cao's face lit up with joy, and his heart warmed.

"Thank you, General!"

"Well, let's go."

Yuan Shu waved his hand, and Cao Cao then took his leave and returned to his camp.

On the way back to Luoyang, Yuan Shu was also thinking about this matter. Considering Yuan Shao's strong sense of pride and the shock this matter had brought him, Yuan Shu felt that Yuan Shao would not let it go so easily.

Although they had drunk and eaten together before, and it seemed that the two brothers had reconciled, Yuan Shu knew in his heart that the long-standing emotional conflict and estrangement could not be resolved with just one drink.

Moreover, the two also have differences in interests.

Cao Cao and the Cao and Xiahou families behind him were originally within Yuan Shao's sphere of influence. Now that they have been taken over, Yuan Shao's already meager resources have been severely weakened. It is no wonder that Yuan Shao is unhappy. If he really wants to do something, Yuan Shu can understand why.

As for Yuan Shao, he and Yuan Ji were brothers from the same father. If he and Yuan Ji were to die, the Yuan family's property would naturally fall into Yuan Shao's hands. He was not without the right to inherit the family business.

With this thought in mind, Yuan Shu began to pay more attention to Yuan Shao.

Yuan Shu quickly returned to Luoyang and then met Yuan Kui at the Situ residence.

The reason Yuan Kui summoned Yuan Shu was quite simple.

He has already discussed it with Dong Zhuo, the current governor of Bing Province. Dong Zhuo agreed to give up the position of governor of Bing Province and will immediately be transferred to the position of prefect of Hedong Commandery.

Now that the position of governor of Bingzhou is vacant, Yuan Shu can take office at any time as long as he is ready.

(End of this chapter)