Yang Hong, the governor of Huainan County, turned out to be Yuan Shu's long history and a close confidant. Yuan Shu trusted him very much.

Last time, Cao Xin led his army to attack Shouchun and cooperated with Chen Lanli. They captured many officials under Yuan Shu at once, and Yang Hong was one of them.

After catching Yang Hong, Cao Xin held a big bloody iron spear in his hand and asked Yang Hong if he would surrender.

Yang Hong gritted his teeth, scratched his neck, and his face turned red. Just when everyone thought he was going to sacrifice his life for righteousness, Yang Hong lowered his head heavily again, surrender!

After the surrender, Cao Xin handed the man over to Prime Minister Cao. With the surrender of Yang Hong, it would be easier for Cao's army to enter Huainan.

Afterwards, Yang Hong performed well. Not only did he manage Huainan County in an orderly manner, he also persuaded many of Yuan Shu's subordinates to surrender.

Prime Minister Cao admired Yang Hong very much and ordered Yang Hong to temporarily act as the governor of Huainan. He also brought Yang Hong's family to Xudu for resettlement.

After Cao Jun left, Yang Hong took charge of Huai'an County affairs and did a pretty good job. However, when dealing with civil strife, he often had conflicts with Xiahou Dun, which made the situation in Huainan County even more chaotic.

In this regard, Cao Xin did not make a statement yet. He needed to see Yang Hong's performance before making any comments.

"Haha, Governor Yang is here, and this general is preparing to find you."

Cao Xin laughed and said.

Arriving at the door of the meeting hall, I saw an old man wearing a blue cloth robe, lean and with a goatee slowly walking over. This man was Yang Hong and Yang Guangda. In the Romance of the Three Kingdoms, he was mistakenly written as General Yang.

A man who is capable of both literary and military skills.

"Greetings to General Cao, I wonder what General Cao wants to do with you?"

Yang Hong cupped his hands and asked.

"Haha, two things. First, the general wants to recruit troops. There are too few people to scare Xiao Xiao. I hope Governor Yang will arrange some people to cooperate."

"As it should be!"

Yang Hong nodded slightly.

"Second, regarding the issue of grain and fodder, I heard from General Xiahou that people in Shouchun often secretly send grain and fodder to Yuan Shu's army. Alas, when I heard about this, I was very sad. Yuan Shu rebelled against his superiors and proclaimed himself emperor. He was a proper traitor.

, those noble families who support him are helping the tyranny, and must be strictly prohibited and severely punished."

"General, please calm down. There is something else going on in this matter. Please let me explain, General."

"Oh? What's the inside story? Commander Yang, please tell me in detail."

Cao Xin invited Yang Hong to sit down in the meeting hall and asked the maid to bring tea.

Cao Xin and Jia Xu listened quietly to Yang Hong's explanation.

Yang Hong said that no one would give grain and grass to Yuan Shu for free. The reason why those people risked beheading their heads to send grain and grass to Yuan Shu was because someone from Yuan Shu paid a high price for the grain and grass.

"Oh? Doing business?"

Cao Xin was surprised and said that Xiahou Dun did not mention this.

"Exactly, since three years ago, there has been less rain in Huainan in the spring, and drought has been severe in various places, resulting in a serious reduction in grain harvests. Last winter, there were rumors of cannibalism in the Jianghuai River. This year, there is still less rain in the spring, which can be expected.

This year's grain output is still not high, and famine is bound to occur.

Yuan Jiujiu purchased grain and grass at high prices for two purposes. One was to store grain, resist disasters, and prevent civil unrest.

Secondly, after the grain and grass in Huainan County is taken away, our grain and grass will inevitably be unsustainable. There will also be hungry refugees in the county, leading to unrest in the people. At that time, Yuan Gongdao will only need to provide grain and grass to relieve the refugees and win over the people. The next step in Huainan will be more

easy."

Yang Hong sighed softly.

Cao Xin touched the stubble on his chin.

At the end of the Han Dynasty, the world was in chaos. One of the important reasons was that the earth entered a cold period, also called the Little Ice Age. During this period, extreme weather, floods, droughts, hailstorms, locusts, frost and snow, earthquakes, plagues and other natural and man-made disasters often occurred.

If there are too many natural disasters and food production decreases, there will inevitably be a great famine. Food will become extremely important during this period. Therefore, when the princes of the late Han Dynasty attacked each other, they often liked to rob food roads and set fire to the food, giving the enemy a fatal blow.

Yuan Shu's grain-gathering strategy seems pretty good, but it's not difficult to crack. Anyone with a little knowledge of market economy can do it.

"Governor Yang, how is the spring plowing in Huainan going?"

Cao Xin asked.

Yang Hong shook his head, "There is little rain in spring, and the soil is not moist enough, so it is difficult for seeds to sprout. In addition, there have been many disasters in Huainan County in recent years, and many victims and refugees have turned into bandits. There are more people in the mountains, but fewer people in the fields."

, and no one built water conservancy projects, resulting in a large number of fields being abandoned. According to reports from various counties, the spring plowing situation is less than half of what it was three years ago."

"That's a problem."

Cao Xin thought for a while, called Dian Wei, and asked him to pass an order to Liao Hua and Chen Lan. When they captured the bandits, they should capture more prisoners. He wanted to use these prisoners to build water conservancy projects, open up wasteland, and cultivate fields to grow grain.

"There were craftsmen in the transport camp who were good at digging wells and making water drains and waterwheels. I asked Liu Dashi to send people to inspect the water conservancy conditions in the counties in Huainan and prepare for water conservancy repairs. Huainan's water system is developed and water conservancy projects are simpler than those in Nanyang."

"Yes, General!"

Dian Wei went out to deliver a message.

Yang Hong frowned slightly, "I wonder what this water drainage truck is?"

"Haha, good stuff, you'll know it once it's made."

The water drainage truck is a small invention he made at Yanzhou Farm in Xuzhou to solve the problem of land irrigation. These devices have become popular in Yanzhou Farm and Nanyang Farm in Xuzhou, and they have good results. They can also solve the drought in Huainan.

"Chief Yang, now that the spring plowing problem has been solved, let's talk about Yuan Shu's grain harvesting plan. I wonder what the price of Yuan Shu's purchase of grain and grass is?"

Cao Xin asked.

Yang Hong compared the figures, "Due to the severe drought and famine, the price of grain between the Jianghuai River and the Huaihe River is 30% higher than other places, and the price of grain purchased by Yuan Shu is 20% higher. Because of the huge profits from selling grain, many people risked beheading.

Risk, transport grain from place to place and sell it to Yuan Shu."

"Mr. Yang, I am also planning to collect grain. The price is 10% higher than the market price. Sell the grain to me. No arrests or killings. Sell it to Yuan Shu. If you catch one, you will kill the whole family. What do you think, Sheriff?"

Cao Xin smiled.

"General, this method is not bad, but the original money and food in the county were transferred to Lujiang Danyang by Yuan Shu, and the remaining wealth is not much, only more than 5,000 yuan. I am afraid it cannot compare with Yuan Shu."

Yang Hong frowned.

"Haha, there is no need for the county to pay for it. The general will solve the property problem by himself."

Speaking of money, he is so rich. Last year, Huitong Commercial Bank, restaurants, and farms brought him 150,000 yuan in goods, money, and grain income, which was higher than the tax income of the eight counties of Yanzhou last year.

In addition, there was also Jingzhou's first compensation payment, 600,000 guan of goods.

Among them, 200,000 shi of food and grass were given to Cao Cao. The remaining part was used to reward and subsidize the soldiers, and part of it was used to subsidize the wounded and wounded soldiers and their families. The remaining more than 200,000 gu of property, food and grass belonged to him and the Langya Army.

Cao Xin planned to transport tens of thousands of stones of grain and grass from Nanyang to fight a simple trade war with Yuan Shu to see how long Yuan Shu could last.

After discussing with Yang Hong, Cao Xin summoned Liao Hua, Pei Yuanshao, and Liu Dashi for a meeting and issued three tasks to them.

The first is to ask Liao Hua to strengthen patrols between Huainan and Danyang, and strictly prohibit large households in Huainan County from selling grain and grass to Yuan Shu, and kill one family if caught.

The second is to ask Pei Yuanshao to send people to sneak into Danyang to investigate Yuan Shu's granary and all aspects of grain collection, and try to sneak in to facilitate subsequent actions.

The third is to ask Liu Dashi to contact Zhang Baiqi and secretly transport 50,000 shi of grain and grass.

There are still more than 100,000 shi of grain and grass sent from Jingzhou. Last year, Nanyang's grain income was good, and it was basically self-sufficient. Grain will easily deteriorate if it is stored for a long time. It will be shipped and sold, and replaced with cloth that is easy to store, and salt and iron will be more abundant.

Good deal.

If you cannot exchange money, you can stay in Huainan County to provide disaster relief and take in refugees.

"General, do you still want to do the task of taking advantage of the situation?"

Liao Hua asked.

"Of course we have to do it. The key to making a plan depends on Yuan Shu's actions. When he makes a move, we will see the move. If he doesn't make a move, we will farm the fields and recruit troops to pacify the mountain bandits. If Yuan Shu really wants to take Shouchun back, he shouldn't just watch it.

Watch us gain a foothold in Shouchun."

"Yes, General!"

Several people clasped their fists and left, going about their own business.

Cao Xin sat down, drank a cup of tea, looked at Jia Xu and said with a smile,

"Mr. Wenhe, what would Yuan Shu do?"

Jia Xu pondered for a moment.

"Yuan Shu knows that he is outnumbered, so he will definitely seek help from his allies. Lu Bu has too much time to take care of himself in Xuzhou, and Yuan Shao in Hebei is too far away. Sun Ce from Jiangdong and Liu Biao from Jingzhou will not want to see our army gain a foothold in Lujiang, Huainan, so they will secretly assist Yuan Shu.

."

Cao Xin nodded and sent a message to Pei Yuanshao, telling him to keep an eye on the movements in Jiangdong and Jingzhou.
Chapter completed!