Chapter 256 The Prisoner Who Refuses to Return At a mine in Youzhou, a group of slightly thin young men were working hard with tools to mine ore. Although the weather was a little cold, these people were working hard. Their bodies were covered with sweat, but no one complained of being tired. They were all very focused on their work. "Dinner is ready! Dinner is ready!" A guard came over, beating a gong and shouting. Upon hearing this, these young and strong men immediately showed excitement in their eyes. They walked to the side in groups of three or five, carrying their tools, put them down neatly, washed them with hot water, and then walked quickly to the cafeteria. "Captain Li, what's today's main dish?" A young man over seven feet tall excitedly asked Li Ren who was patrolling nearby. "One bowl of braised pork for each person. Also, the army next door happened to have mutton soup yesterday, and there is a lot left. Although there is not much mutton, there is enough soup and vegetables." Li Ren said familiarly. Although these were enemies who had been captured not long ago, they all came from poor backgrounds and served as soldiers just to make a living. He really couldn't hate them.
Moreover, this group of people rarely cheated and played tricks. They worked very hard during this period and achieved good results. Li Ren was also happy to fight for some benefits for them. After all, it was not easy for them! "Thank you, Brother Li!" "We're having braised pork today! We're having mutton soup!" When everyone heard this, they shouted excitedly and thanked him repeatedly. "Okay, there's no point in thanking you anymore. It's just a coincidence these two days. It may not be such a good thing in the future. Let's go and eat quickly. If you go too late, there will only be soup left." Li Ren scolded with a smile. Everyone rushed into the cafeteria. Although the meat dishes were rationed, there was plenty of vegetarian dishes, rice, steamed buns, noodles, etc., and the group of people ate to their heart's content. Although the big bowl of mutton soup didn't have much meat, it was quite greasy. A person could finish three bowls of the porcelain bowl, which was bigger than his face. And the noodles cooked in mutton soup tasted very fragrant. The young and strong people patted their bulging bellies and went back to their houses to rest only after they had eaten their fill. After learning that they would be redeemed and sent back to their hometowns, some of the captives were reluctant to give up the food they were receiving in their labor reform under Tian Ze's rule, but they missed their elderly and children at home very much and were willing to go back after being persuaded. But there are some who are completely conquered by the food under Tian Zezhi. They just can't bear to leave the days when they had meat for three meals a day and are unwilling to go back. After understanding what happened from Cheng Yu, Tian Ze was at a loss whether to laugh or cry. I never thought that I could capture the hearts of so many captives with the food. "How many of these people are there in total?" Tian Ze asked. "Probably more than three thousand." "Talk to Yuan Shao and Cao Cao again and try to buy these people over. The price can be a little higher. Anyway, they are short of food now, so we don't have to worry about them not agreeing. If it doesn't work, we can just go our separate ways." Tian Ze said. "it is good!" …… After hearing what the messenger sent by Cheng Yu said, Cao Cao could not help but hold his forehead and felt a headache. He didn't think that Tian Ze was cheating. After all, there were only a few thousand soldiers, and the price offered by the other side was obviously not a loss for him.
What bothered him was that even the captives under Tian Ze ate much better than his own soldiers. "How much money and food does Tian Chengshou have? Can he create money and food out of thin air?" Cao Cao had asked this question countless times. During the three years, Tian Ze had hidden most of his strength, so despite being wealthy, he could still barely accept it. It's nothing more than that Liaodong has been developed deeply for nearly ten years, the weather has been good, and there is so much money and grain, which can be considered reasonable... What a bullshit, if Liaodong, that poor place, continues to develop, how can it raise enough money and grain to support the development of Youzhou and the Northeast Plain. But now Tian Ze is revealing more and more, and Cao Cao is completely confused. This is totally against common sense. Tens of millions of people are relocated and resettled every year, several million people are cultivating land on the Northeast Plain, there are also millions of engineering teams, and iron smelters, weaving mills and other factories everywhere are overcrowded with people. Moreover, they kept raising troops, fighting wars, and building without stopping for a moment. Even Emperor Wu of Han would kowtow to such a level of extravagance. What kind of family assets can withstand such a thing? Even if Tian Ze stole the family assets of the reign of Emperor Wen and Emperor Jing, he couldn't last this long! Xun Yu and Xi Zhicai were also silent at this time. They also couldn't figure out how Tian Ze did it. Totally inconsistent with common sense. "My lord, Tian Chengshou's governing ability and wealth are known to the world. Although it is a bit unbelievable, there are still some limits. Otherwise, he would not have reminded us of the problem of farming next year." Xun Yu said. "Do you really believe what Tian Chengshou said, that there will be severe drought and locust plague next year?" Cao Cao asked with his pupils slightly shrunken. "Under the current situation, Tian Chengshou is actually willing to sell us grain on a large scale, with the intention of preserving the vitality of the Central Plains. It seems that what he said is not false." Xun Yu said. Cao Cao hit his forehead hard and felt that his headache was getting worse. "Another year of drought and locusts, Wen Ruo, do you know what this means?" Xun Yu's words almost wiped out Cao Cao's last bit of hope, and he saw the bleak future clearly. Without food, the population cannot grow. Even with the help of powerful families and the ability to support soldiers, the population will be lost as one dies, and there is no way to replenish it. Even though they knew that Tian Ze had some concerns about preserving the vitality of Zhongyuan, what could they do when faced with the absolute gap in strength? Did they really threaten Tian Ze to retreat by threatening to take the people of the Central Plains with them? In that case, even if Tian Ze retreated, they would surely die without a burial place and would be infamous for eternity. Xun Yu, Xi Zhicai and others were silent. How could they not know? If they could resume production and recover as soon as possible in the next two years, they might still have a chance. But now they are about to face another year of large-scale natural disasters, what else can they expect? They had thought of the strategy of setting up military farms a long time ago, but what was the point of setting up military farms in the face of such a massive natural disaster? Food was not enough to begin with, and they did not have enough money to organize the people to dig and build canals. "My Lord, don't panic. Tian Chengshou will not attack the Central Plains in the next three to five years. We still have a chance to develop." Just when Cao Cao was in despair, Mao Jie suddenly spoke. Cao Cao, whose eyes had already lost some of their luster, seemed to have grasped the last straw when he heard this, and hurriedly said, "Xiaoxian, please tell me in detail." Mao Jie's eyes were cold, and he asked like a heartless machine: "My lord, what does Tian Chengshou want?" "Of course it's this world." Cao Cao said without hesitation, then frowned slightly as if he thought of something. Xun Yu and Xi Zhicai were suddenly awakened by these words and immediately understood what Mao Jie meant. "I'm afraid it's not just this world. Otherwise, Tian Chengshou wouldn't have spent so much money and grain to reclaim the Northeast Plain right now, and he wouldn't have hesitated to trade with us in order to preserve the vitality of the Central Plains." "The most important thing is that he will not keep Lu Fengxian." (End of this chapter)