Chapter 167: Tell the World [Subscribe]

The sun sets and the bright moon rises.

Wang Yue traveled thousands of miles and entered Chang'an, only to find that the city was in chaos and the north gate of Chang'an had been broken. The Liangzhou army was fighting in the streets with the Chang'an Imperial Guards and other troops in the city, and corpses of both sides could be seen everywhere.

Wang Yue sneaked into Wang Yun's mansion.

In contrast to the hustle and bustle of the street, there was a dead silence inside the mansion.

Wang Yue hid his body and found the body of the first guard in the mansion in the outer courtyard.

There is an inconspicuous depression in the throat.

Wang Yue judged that someone had stabbed him in the throat with a finger or a sheathed sword, and the strong energy penetrated his body.

As we continued to walk around the mansion, we saw more and more corpses.

In Wang Yun's mansion, all the family members were killed.

Almost all of them were killed in one blow by their opponents.

Outside the study in the inner palace, Wang Yue finally discovered traces of a fierce fight.

The doors and windows were reduced to powder, leaving only a pile of sawdust.

Wang Yue stopped to look for a moment, then followed the traces of fighting and came into the study.

A middle-aged man fell to the ground, blood oozing from the corners of his mouth and his internal organs shattered.

There was a human-shaped blood mark on the wall, where someone had hit him in the chest with a palm.

The whole person was hit against the wall, and then slid down and died.

The wall is covered with cracks.

The deceased had a slender figure, giving people a very coordinated and agile look.

Wang Yue guessed that the corpse was Wang Yun's personal guard, the strongest man in Bingzhou, boxer Xu Sheng, who was hired by the Wang family of Taiyuan at a huge price.

The traces outside the study were also left by his fight with the murderer.

Before Xu Sheng died, his face was filled with fear.

Wang Yue looked to the other side.

Wang Yun was sitting behind a low mat in the corner of the study.

His emaciated face was also filled with fear, and he died.

Wang Yue went forward to observe and found no scars.

Wang Yun looked like he was frightened to death.

Wang Yue looked for a long time, then suddenly reached out and touched Wang Yun's face.

He kneaded it for a while, then peeled off two thin pieces of animal skin from Wang Yun's brow bone and cheekbone.

This is a stand-in. Wang Yun found someone who looks somewhat like himself and disguised himself in a certain way.

The painters in all walks of life are skilled in the art of painting skin and bones. They can paint on the face and adjust the appearance by applying thin films, so that people who originally look two or three points similar can become seven or eight points similar.

This is a fake Wang Yun.

He used a scapegoat to die for someone else and hid himself?
If one is not careful, one might mistake this for the real Wang Yun.

Wang Yue looked at the thin skin in his hand and made a new discovery.

There is a line of small words hidden in the thin inner layer of the skin:
"There's someone in my house... maybe not a human... very scary..."

The handwriting was left by Wang Yun, but it stopped abruptly before being completed.

He thought of contacting Cao Cao through messages in advance.

Cao Cao might send someone to check, as this message was left for Cao Cao.

Wang Yue continued to search other places in the study and found a secret compartment behind the bookcase against the wall.

When the secret compartment was opened, there was a headless corpse inside.

The head was taken away.

The identity cannot be determined by the body alone.

But Wang Yue guessed that it was most likely the real Wang Yun.

The secret compartment for hiding is more hidden than the substitute, and only Wang Yun fits the identity.

In this small study, the two sides played chess many times, and the situation between life and death was dangerous and dangerous.

The communication beads used by Cao Cao and Wang Yun to communicate disappeared and may have been taken away by the murderer.

The cold moon hangs in the sky.

It was quite cold at the end of October.

Wang Yue spent two hours checking every detail inside and outside Wang Yun's mansion.

There is no other gain.

After completing his goal, he went to the palace to take a look, then left Chang'an and returned to Yanzhou a few days later.

At this time, Cao Cao and others had left Daye Lake and returned to Changyi.

Wang Yue returned to Changyi and Cao Cao met him in his study.

"How's it going?"

"Wang Yun may be dead. There is a headless corpse in the secret compartment of his mansion."

Wang Yue, "I checked inside and outside his mansion. The murderer left no traces and there is no one alive in the mansion."

In the opinion of an expert of his level, as long as the murderer had entered Wang Yun’s mansion, there would be traces left.

This includes footprints, the force exerted during battle, and the impact on surrounding buildings and objects, all of which will leave certain traces.

But Wang Yue got nothing.

"The opponent's skills are either incredibly high, or... he is someone close to Wang Yun and often comes in and out of his house, so there are no extra traces left afterwards."

Wang Yue took out the facial mask that Wang Yun had left for Cao Cao.

Cao Cao glanced at the small characters on it and asked:
"What's the situation in Chang'an?"

"There was chaos. The emperor's guards, imperial guards, and some generals led troops to try their best to resist the Liangzhou army that rushed into Chang'an. The outcome of the two sides was still undecided."

"But the palace ban has not been lost."

"The Liangzhou Army failed to control Chang'an. It was just that Wang Yun's death or disappearance caught his people off guard, and the Liangzhou Army gained the upper hand."

"Don't let anyone know about Wang Yun's information."

Wang Yue agreed.

Wang Yun’s life or death would cause some obstacles for Cao Cao.

But it’s not a big problem. In terms of personal relationship, we can’t say that our friendship is very deep.

But if it was leaked, Diao Chan might be heartbroken. Wang Yue returned to his post and hid in the dark.

Cao Cao sat alone for a long time.

Wang Yun controlled the government and had actually become another Dong Zhuo, just with a different way of controlling the emperor.

Dong Zhuo stood on the opposite side of the emperor, was tyrannical, and was an enemy rather than a friend to everyone.

Wang Yun stood on the side of the emperor on the surface and influenced the emperor through some means, which was essentially similar.

Judging from their motives, all the people had the possibility of killing Wang Yun.

But from the analysis of actual interests, only the Liangzhou Army can barely be considered as the beneficiaries of established interests.

But at the same time, they were pushed to the forefront and became the new force after Dong Zhuo and Wang Yun, hoping to control the emperor, and attracted worldwide attention.

Someone attacked and killed Wang Yun in order to make the situation in the world more chaotic. What did the murderer gain from it?
Cao Cao thought about it again and again.

There was a shocking change in Chang'an. The emperor issued an edict yesterday and announced it to the world, requesting all quarters to come to Chang'an to quell the rebellion and rescue him.

But there has been no movement from any party so far.

However, the murderer's attack on Wang Yun was no trivial matter after all, and there must be a purpose to be revealed later.

Early November.

While Yanzhou was actively preparing for war and watching the changes in Chang'an, it also issued a policy of military farming and notified all counties in Yanzhou and Yuzhou, which was also aimed at the whole world.

News about military farming also spread to other states and counties.

Because of years of war, there is countless amount of vacant land.

If you want to fight a war, you need food support.

The reason why Yanzhou’s military is so powerful today is precisely because of the military farming, which has provided them with more sufficient food.

The fundamental purpose of Cao Cao's promulgation of the military farming policy was to make full use of land and population resources.

He issued the "Order to Establish Military Farms" and announced it to all places, stating:

"The way to stabilize a country is to strengthen the army and provide sufficient food. The Qin people used agriculture to conquer the world, and Emperor Wu of Qin used military farming to stabilize the Western Regions. These are the good practices of our ancestors."

What this means is that Shang Yang of Qin and Emperor Wu of Han, Liu Che, both, to a certain extent, implemented the method of military farming to stabilize the country.

Although their military farming was not exactly the same as the one promoted by Cao Cao.

Emperor Wu of Han had the economic reserves of the reigns of Emperor Wen and Emperor Jing and a relatively stable political environment, which Cao Cao could not compare with.

What he wanted to learn was Shang Yang's method which helped the Qin State stand out from the chaotic world.

Simply put, it is to create farming through authoritarian means.

The soldiers and farmers in Cao’s camp were integrated into a powerful war machine.

Utilize the government's land and farming equipment, organize the population, and return the land to the people.

If more people farm and are content with production, there will be more food.

Only with more food supplies can we support stronger legions in combat.

If the soldiers are well fed, they will have a higher chance of winning the battle, and in turn they can seize more land and population for farming.

This cycle continues until the goal of conquering the world and sweeping away all enemies is finally achieved.

This is a way to integrate the land, combine agricultural society and warfare, and is the best way to adapt to the present situation.

Cao Cao asked Xi Zhicai and others to count the large amount of land in Yanzhou and Yuzhou that had been abandoned due to years of war, and then take it back as official property for unified distribution.

Redistribute the land and implement militarized management.

That is, there was a garrison for every fifty people, and it was managed by a Sima.

Sima’s superior was the Commandant of Agriculture, and above him was the Lieutenant General of Agriculture.

If the farmers who participated in the military farming used public cattle to plow the land, the harvest would be distributed according to the ratio of 6 for officials and 4 for civilians.

If you have your own cow, you can split it in half.

In addition, military settlements were set up, similar to the Production and Construction Corps in later generations, which organized troops to go into battle during wartime and to farm during leisure time.

The tax rate in the Han Dynasty was generally one-fifteenth or one-thirtieth of the collection ratio.

Although there were still many harsh taxes and levies, compared with Cao Cao's policy of promoting military farming and collecting 50% to 60% of taxes, the policies of the same period seemed much more tolerant.

Cao Cao also implemented a severe punishment system for farmers who settled in the countryside.

So many refugees came upon hearing the news, thinking they could get land and get money from Cao's camp for free.

Then these refugees would find that they had lost their personal freedom and became serfs of Cao's camp. They would never have the chance to stand up and sing, and would have to work for the rest of their lives.

Cao Cao was constantly criticized by later generations for his system of collecting excessively high grain taxes from military farms.

Many people said that he was cruel and inhumane, and that he would do anything to support his army, and that the entire nation was enslaved by him.

Actually it depends on how you look at it.

In troubled times, no one cultivated the land, there were large amounts of wasteland and countless refugees.

In this case, it is not enough to legislate without severe punishment.

The refugees originally had no land and no food to eat, and a shocking number of them starved to death. In comparison, military farming not only solved the problem of food, but also fixed the restless refugees on the land, allowing them to settle down and become good citizens who concentrated on farming.

This method allows the country to regroup its strength in a short period of time, resist foreign enemies, and ensure the stability of the economy and food crops.

What more bike do you want?

This was the first time that Cao Cao fully implemented the military farming order, as it had been partially tested in Yanzhou last year with good results.

This year the scale has been expanded.

As soon as the order to establish military farms was issued, refugees from all directions flocked to the place, all wanting to eat for free and to grow crops on the land.

From all directions, it seemed as if refugees from all over the country heard the news and gathered in Yanzhou and Yuzhou.

At the same time, small-scale confrontations had already broken out between Yanzhou and Jizhou.

In the southeast corner of Bingzhou, Lu Bu led less than a thousand elite troops from the Xianzhen Camp, plus a small number of troops sent by Yuan Shao, and defeated Zhang Yan's Black Mountain Army of more than 100,000 people.

Zhang Yan was also seriously injured and was almost captured alive. All parties were alarmed upon hearing the news.

When the news reached Yuan Shao, it was just as Guo Jia had expected.

His fear of Lu Bu increased.

That evening in Changyi, Cao Cao ended a busy day and prepared to go back to see Yu Qing and his little girl.

But suddenly I found that the communication bead that was in contact with Wang Yun had sent me a message:
"I have your people in my hands. Bring me what I want in exchange, or you will receive their bodies."

The murderer of Wang Yun, the message transmitted through the message bead.

"what do you want?"

While Cao Cao was asking, he gestured to his soldiers at the door to check immediately to see who under Cao's command had fallen into the hands of the other side.

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(End of this chapter)