The Three Kingdoms: Home Travel

After thinking it over and over, Jiang Zhe felt something was wrong and got up.

"Huh?" Xiu'er looked at Jiang Zhe curiously and said, "Husband, are you going out?"

Jiang Zhe frowned and nodded. Xiu'er immediately understood, fearing that her husband had remembered something important. She gently bit off the silk thread with her teeth and said softly, "It's windy outside, husband, put this on before you go out..."

"Huh?" Jiang Zhe hadn't noticed before, but now he realized that Xiu'er was making clothes for him.

Seeing Jiang Zhe standing there blankly, Xiu'er chuckled and draped the cloak over him.

Jiang Zhe felt an indescribable warmth in his heart, a tingling electric current running through his body, making him feel extremely comfortable.

Helping Jiang Zhe put on his coat, Xiu'er fulfilled her duties as a wife by buttoning it up (everyone knows what kind of buttons she was referring to), then fastening his belt. After taking a few steps back and glancing at him, a satisfied smile appeared on her face.

"Thank you, Xiuer!" Jiang Zhe hugged Xiuer.

After Jiang Zhe's repeated "harassment," Xiu'er no longer blushed when the two were alone. Hearing this, she smiled gently, tapped Jiang Zhe's chest with her slender fingers, and said, "I am my husband's wife, it is only natural..."

Jiang Zhe looked at Xiu'er's red lips, a stirring of desire rising within him. He'd been to that place many times before, but each time he left, he always felt unsatisfied. Maybe now… hehe…

Jiang Zhe gave Xiu'er a strange smile and stared straight at her.

Xiuer covered her mouth with her hand, glanced at Jiang Zhe, chuckled, then raised her head and slowly closed her eyes...

"Teacher!" a loud shout came from outside the door.

Xiuer hurriedly opened her eyes, pushed Jiang Zhe away, and went into the inner room with her head down.

Jiang Zhe paused, licked his lips, took a deep breath, and stared straight at the doorway.

"Teacher..." Chen Deng's figure appeared as expected, seemingly running over in a hurry.

"Teacher, this is bad!" Jiang Zhe glanced sideways at Chen Deng.

"Teacher... um..." Chen Deng was about to reveal the purpose of his visit when he noticed Jiang Zhe's strange look. He was taken aback. Had he interrupted his teacher's good time again? He suddenly felt a little flustered.

"Teacher?" Chen Deng looked at the inner room somewhat awkwardly. He saw that the chain on the door was still swinging back and forth, as if someone had just gone in. He immediately said embarrassedly, "Teacher, please don't be offended. I just suddenly thought of something and felt it was inappropriate, so I came to inform you."

"What is it?" Jiang Zhe rolled his eyes at Chen Deng, sat down and poured himself a cup of hot tea.

"I wouldn't dare trouble you, teacher... Thank you, teacher!" Chen Deng reached out and took the hot tea in front of Jiang Zhe, leaving Jiang Zhe stunned.

Chen Deng took a sip and immediately felt a warm sensation spread throughout his body, dispelling the previous chill. When he looked at Jiang Zhe again, he was stunned.

Jiang Zhe poured himself another cup, looking annoyed, and said, holding up the teacup, "Speak up, what is it!"

"Oh, oh..." Chen Deng glanced at the cup in his hand, a hint of doubt on his face. "Teacher, I've heard that the Yellow Turban rebels are cutting down trees and making tools outside the city, hoping to seize Xuzhou?"

"Do you find this believable?"

"Huh?" Chen Deng was taken aback by Jiang Zhe's question. He stared at Jiang Zhe for a long time before saying, "Teacher, you already know this is a Yellow Turban trick?"

"Nonsense!" Jiang Zhe was still angry that Chen Deng had ruined his plans. "The Yellow Turban Army has come from afar and is short of supplies. They've been besieging Xuzhou for quite some time. How could they possibly have time to build more weapons to attack the city again?"

"Teacher is brilliant!" Chen Deng was immediately filled with admiration. He had thought about it for a long time before realizing his mistake. He had originally come here to win the teacher's praise, but he hadn't expected that the teacher had already thought of it.

Upon hearing Chen Deng's praise, Jiang Zhe immediately found the young man agreeable and began to boast, blowing on his hot tea, "Since we're out of food, we must fight quickly! How to fight quickly? Hmph! A coordinated attack from within and without!"

"The teacher is right!" Chen Deng listened like a primary school student, which made Jiang Zhe feel very satisfied. He no longer blamed Chen Deng for disturbing him earlier.

"So how do we coordinate from the inside out?" Jiang Zhe asked, adopting a teacher's tone. "Yuan Long, you tell me..."

"This is also what the students are worried about. The most suitable people to cooperate from the inside and outside are those who are disguised as ordinary citizens in the city..."

"Hehe!" Jiang Zhe nodded and asked, "Are there any local people entering Xuzhou today?"

"This..." Chen Deng hesitated for a moment before saying, "There were some a few days ago, those Yellow Turban rebels were quite righteous, letting those people into the city, but not today..."

"Cheerful?" Jiang Zhe scoffed, then said, "Yes, Yuanlong, take three hundred of your Chen family retainers, each dressed in civilian clothes, and have them leave the city tonight. Once they're far away, change into civilian clothes, and tomorrow morning, slowly enter Xuzhou. Then you can settle them with the civilians outside the city!"

"Teacher, I didn't mean to..." Chen Deng pondered for a moment, then slammed his hand on the table and exclaimed, "Brilliant! A three-birds-with-one-stone plan!"

Huh? Killing three birds with one stone? I just wanted to place some of my own people among the city's residents. How is that killing three birds with one stone?

"Ahem! Tell me!" Jiang Zhe feigned sincerity.

Seeing that his teacher was testing him, Chen Deng quickly said, "We will confuse the enemy's vision, let the spies in the city know that we have sent out a troop, but do not know where it is going, so they will become suspicious and report this to the enemy outside the city. We will then take the opportunity to capture them and interrogate them to find out their military secrets. This is one method..."

"..." Jiang Zhe lowered his head and pretended to drink tea.

"Secondly, tomorrow we will send the soldiers back, pretending they are local people. We will have a few of them act as Yellow Turban spies, talking to the spies in the city to find out what's going on and distinguish between friend and foe."

"..." Jiang Zhe poured more tea.

"Thirdly, if we use this plan, the words and actions of those people will be under our watchful eye. If they make any move, the students' servants can immediately report it to us..."

Finally, he hit the nail on the head! Jiang Zhe secretly wiped away a bead of cold sweat. His student was indeed impressive. Hmm, he needed to work even harder in the future! He absolutely couldn't let him see through him…

"Wonderful! Absolutely wonderful!" Chen Deng gave a thumbs-up and exclaimed repeatedly.

"Alright, alright!" Jiang Zhe looked a little overwhelmed, waving his hand to dismiss Chen Deng's praise. Then, after hesitating for a moment, he said solemnly, "Yuan Long, I have something to discuss with you!"

Seeing Jiang Zhe's serious expression, Chen Deng also stopped smiling and quickly said, "I dare not discuss it. Please give your instructions, teacher. If it is within my power, I will gladly die a hundred times over!"

"It's not that serious..." Jiang Zhe waved his hand, then lowered his voice and said, "I heard that the price of grain in the city has doubled, and the people have no food. I wonder if this is true..."

Some things only need to be said halfway.

Chen Deng understood Jiang Zhe's meaning, but the amount of grain needed to help the city's people was enormous, and there was still a long time to go. Although the Chen family's granaries were full, they couldn't possibly help the entire city...

"This..." Although Chen Deng did not want to disappoint Jiang Zhe, such a large sum of money, and the fact that he had given without any return, made him feel really conflicted.

"Never mind then..." Jiang Zhe sighed. He understood that in chaotic times, food was the most important resource. What use was the Yellow Turban silver? Being able to fill one's stomach was the most important thing. Those who joined the army in chaotic times would not receive any military pay; they would only get a warm meal!

"Teacher, please don't worry!" Chen Deng quickly said, "To be honest, please don't be offended, but if the Chen family were to provide relief to the people alone, I'm afraid my father would never agree. However, if we were to join forces with the Mi family, the Cao family, and Lord Tao... well, let's not bother with Lord Tao. He has already distributed a lot of grain to the people fleeing the war, which is probably difficult enough for him as well. It's a pity that the Xuzhou army hasn't arrived outside the city..."

"What Xuzhou Army?" Jiang Zhe asked.

"These were the troops sent by Lord Tao to various parts of Xuzhou to collect tax grain, and also the surplus grain purchased from the people to replenish the Xuzhou granaries."

"Oh!" Jiang Zhe responded.

"I will take care of this matter myself, teacher. Please don't worry. You may not know that a few days ago, Lord Tao saw that the people had no food and distributed the grain from the city to them. I believe the people will be able to get by for a while."

"If the Yellow Turbans don't retreat, that grain will be lost sooner or later..."

"Don't worry, teacher. I will inform my father immediately. If we unite the two families, he will definitely agree."

"Okay!" Jiang Zhe nodded. "You may go now!"

(Here's a reason why food was being consumed quickly. First, the soldiers needed to be well-fed every day, and Jiang Zhe was feeding them three meals a day. Second, there were many civilians fleeing the war in the vicinity. This was also part of the Yellow Turbans' strategy to deplete Xuzhou's food supply. Besides the area near the east gate, the west, north, and south gates each received tens of thousands of civilians within a few days. Oh, and one more thing: in my understanding, a large city like Xuzhou has a population of several hundred thousand. Some historical accounts say several million, but that seems a bit unbelievable because many people lived in villages or similar places. Perhaps a few million around Xuzhou is more plausible. Please point out any inaccuracies. It's late, time for bed! ^^)

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