In the Three Kingdoms period, the opening scene features the killing of Huang Gai, shocking Zhou Yu!

Sun Shangxiang originally intended to smash the ugly, protruding rock down and toss it around in her hand for fun.

When the stone was smashed, it didn't fall; instead, it tilted to one side.

"Crack—crack—boom—"

Several sounds of mechanisms turning came from underground.

Immediately afterwards, the entire artificial mountain trembled slightly, and to Sun Shangxiang's astonishment, a secret passage opened up along a hidden track.

The secret passage was deep and wide enough for two people to walk side by side down.

He paused for a moment, then jumped up excitedly and shouted towards the front yard:

"Husbands!! Come quick! I think I've broken some mechanism; there's a huge hole under this rock!"

Hearing the commotion, Xiahou Dun and Zhao Yu rushed to the backyard.

Xiahou Dun, as expected of a veteran general, immediately made a judgment.

"Leave ten men up there to keep watch, the rest of you light torches and follow me down!"

They first threw a torch inside to make sure everything was alright before filing in.

The secret room was extremely large, with dozens of large mahogany chests neatly stacked inside.

Several tiger and leopard riders stepped forward and pried open the copper lock. The lid of the box was lifted—it was full of dazzling gold ingots, as well as some Shu brocade and other hard currency.

However, the most eye-catching thing is the stack of account books piled high on the rosewood desk in the center.

"Good heavens..."

"This fatso, while not as wealthy as the Xu Du national treasury, his fortune is still equivalent to half of Qingzhou's annual tax revenue, isn't it?"

At this moment, Yang Xiu, who was the most educated person in the group (no doubt, he was indeed the most educated), stepped forward and casually picked up an account book from the table to look at it.

At first, he just frowned.

After reading two pages, his hands holding the bamboo slips began to tremble uncontrollably;

When Yang Xiu finished reading, he was so angry that he laughed. He slammed the account book down on the table, and with a "crack," the bamboo slips fell apart.

"Absurd! This is truly an unprecedented event!"

Zhao Yu leaned closer:

"Teh-Chu, what do you mean? How much did he embezzle?"

Yang Song was truly furious.

"This Yang Song is simply a beast who schemes against people to the core!"

His accounts were meticulously detailed: he had directly embezzled 60% of the grain rations donated by the people of Hanzhong to the charitable institutions over the years, as well as taxes from various regions!

"Sixty percent? That many? How come the people of Hanzhong didn't starve to death and rebel?"

Xiahou Dun was puzzled.

"That's the most brilliant thing about this beast!"

Yang Xiu took a deep breath and calmed himself down.

"He kept 60% of the grain collected by the charity, and used 30% of it to bribe officials at all levels and line his own pockets to shut them up."

The remaining 30% was used by him to exchange for gold bars, mansion deeds, and women in the south through the black market, all to support his own extravagant and debauched lifestyle!

This is pretty much in line with Zhao Yu's previous speculation.

Hanzhong is a place rich in resources, and it naturally has a lot of grain.

Therefore, even though Yang Song, that big rat, ruthlessly cut off 60%, the remaining 40% was barely enough to feed the common people at the bottom of society, of course, only enough for them to eat.

Moreover, generally speaking, those who are willing to donate the food they have saved through frugality to charity are honest and law-abiding citizens who want to live a good life.

Zhang Lu's side neither compiles statistics nor publishes the results;

The people who donated grain were naturally impossible to trace, and with the officials in charge of the sacrificial rites taking money and suppressing them, they were even less likely to rebel.

They might even naively believe that the food rations they donate have been transformed into blessings and used to help other poor people.

Yang Xiu sighed, just like he had when he heard Zhang Lu's words that day.

"It seems that Zhang Lu was right before. His role as a mentor is based on the principle of 'Heaven is watching what people do.'"

Laozi's Heavenly Book only taught him how to cultivate immortality and draw talismans, but it didn't teach him how to check accounts at all!

Yang Song was even more delighted. "Look at this bill! They didn't even bother with pretense or proper accounting; they just blatantly wrote it down!"

There was no way around it; it just churned and thrashed.

Zhao Yu, however, pulled out a warehouse map.

The mark above clearly indicates the secret grain storage point where Yang Song had not yet had time to sell the stolen goods and cash in.

There were a total of 300,000, all hidden in several granaries in Wodaoshan outside the city.

Three hundred thousand shi! Wow.

Wow, a petty official with enormous greed—the ancients were right.

At that moment, a deputy general of the Tiger and Leopard Cavalry quickly descended from the secret chamber.

"Generals, the situation outside is almost under control, but..."

The lieutenant scratched his head, looking somewhat embarrassed.

"But in a side hall of Yang Song’s residence, there was a dozen or so scantily clad, alluring concubines."

The common people considered them unlucky and didn't touch them, and the brothers didn't know what to do with them.

Please advise, General, whether to simply provide some travel expenses and send them away, or...?

"A dozen or so concubines? Yang Song really knows how to have fun?"

Xiahou Dun subconsciously looked up.

They met Zhao Yu's gaze.

A moment of silence.

Immediately afterwards, Zhao Yu raised an eyebrow, and both of them revealed a meaningful smile.

"In order to quell the rebellion in Hanzhong, the Prime Minister has been working tirelessly day and night to manage state affairs."

Here in Nanzheng, there's not even a single person to keep me company. I'm truly worried that it won't be long before the Prime Minister's terrible headaches flare up again!

Xiahou Dun understood immediately and suppressed a laugh. As a general and a member of the imperial clan, how could he not know Cao Cao's hobbies?

"Brother Zhao is right!"

The Prime Minister has worked so hard for the sake of the Han Dynasty!

Moreover, the Prime Minister is always kind and compassionate, and he cannot bear to see poor, homeless women wandering the streets in this chaotic world! As his subjects, it is our duty to help the Prime Minister alleviate his worries!

"And these dozen or so poor homeless people..."

Zhao Yu was subtly implying that handing them over to Cao Cao would be doing a good deed.

Sending them home might just mean someone else is wasting their time.

"Pack it up! Load it onto the wagons! Use the best horse-drawn carriages, lined with thick, soft cushions, and send them to the Nanzheng camp overnight, along with the battle report!"

Xiahou Dun addressed his deputy with righteous indignation, giving the order...

"Yes, sir!" The lieutenant suppressed a laugh, clasped his hands in a fist salute, and withdrew.