NOVPUBAfter Liu Bei’s army departed, under Chen Xi’s coordination, Mount Tai began to function frenetically. Hundreds of thousands, who in winter mixed their labor for relief work to get a meal, now all had new jobs. Each day, they not only received two meals of steamed buns but also a minimum wage of ten copper coins, plus two additional copper coins as a food subsidy.
Chen Xi himself occasionally thought his work-for-relief was too unprincipled. Normally, his work-for-relief provided a wage of five copper coins, two meals, and included free medical treatment.
It should be noted that during the Late Han period, a day laborer in a county could earn about thirty copper coins. Yet, Chen Xi’s work-for-relief offered only five...
However, what shocked Chen Xi was that each time he posted a notice for work-for-relief, he could attract at least tens of thousands of people from Mount Tai of Qingzhou. This left Chen Xi speechless. Only after a thorough investigation did he understand that while thirty-copper-coin day labor was available, it required skills and was not a daily occurrence. Most commoners just went to the mountain to collect some firewood to supplement their household income during farming off-seasons.
Regarding work-for-relief, no matter how you looked at it, not having to use your own family’s food and earning five copper coins daily was a better-than-excellent standard. After all, they would be idle at home anyway. In comparison to extra earnings, the more you could grab, the better. Who cared for the rest? Rather than lying idle at home, why not earn a wage that was paid daily without delay? Nothing was more empowering than this.
Thankfully, the populace was already familiar with this work pattern. With a massive recruitment drive, over a hundred thousand people applied. Chen Xi then instructed Wang Xiu to organize and coordinate. The key was to safely deliver the food and supplies to Liu Bei’s hands, given that Liu Bei had set off directly for Xuzhou with only ten days’ worth of provisions. Chen Xi had to ensure that as Liu Bei consumed these supplies and emptied the Fei County granary, Chen Xi would quickly refill it to prepare for Liu Bei’s sustained combat operations.
Zhao Yun galloped along the way, and shortly after entering Langya of Xuzhou from Mount Tai, he could smell the blood in the air. Looking at the ruined walls and buildings, the corpses with eyes wide open, and the graves that had been dug open, the iciness on Zhao Yun’s face had already surpassed the chill of the deep winter.
"Scouts, spread out thirty li," Zhao Yun, usually gentle, said with a chilling voice.
Drawing his sword from his waist, a flash of silver-blue brilliance burst forth, blasting a hole of over ten meters on the ground about a hundred meters outside the village. Then with several consecutive swings, he carved out a grave pit large enough to bury the entire village’s dead.
After burying all the bodies, Zhao Yun stood silently in front of the tombstone, hating himself for not killing Cao Cao with one strike back at Hulao Pass, instead he had felt great admiration for him!
"All mounted?" After clearing the chaotic thoughts from his mind, Zhao Yun pressed on with his men towards the distance.
"Report, general, traces of the Cao Army were found fifty li ahead!" A scout reported back to Zhao Yun not long after they had set out.
"Arrows on strings, swords out of sheaths, leave no survivors," Zhao Yun’s calm voice filled everyone’s ears. It was not loud, but the freezing intent to kill made all soldiers revere him.
Fifty li was but a blink of an eye for the White Horse Soldiers, the fastest troop of the time. As that wave of white surged forward, hundreds of Cao soldiers, ecstatic with the goods they had plundered, had no time to react before a shower of arrows rained down upon them, followed by flashing blades. Three thousand Iron Cavalry trampled across, and only a muddy patch remained on the snowy plains of Xuzhou.
Zhao Yun led the White Horse Soldiers in a frenzied assault across the snowfields of Xuzhou, slaughtering thugs rampant. The more he killed, the clearer Zhao Yun saw the truth behind Cao Cao’s massacre. Perhaps Cao Cao had begun in a moment of rage, but as the slaughter unfolded, countless strings of coins and treasures fell into Cao Cao’s hands, and his greed grew uncontrollable.
Everybody knew of Xuzhou’s wealth. When the massacre of hundreds of thousands of Xuzhou citizens had proceeded, and the looted goods from numerous graves were piled before Cao Cao, the sheer amount far exceeded his expectations. These goods could arm an army of a hundred thousand infantry and cavalry. By then, it was all too late—Cao Cao had tasted the sweetness of plunder.
To plunder a whole province and gather resources sufficient for Cao Cao to conquer the Four Directions—how could he possibly let go of such an opportunity? Once the blade was swung, it could never be taken back.
"General, we have ventured too deep into enemy territory," the Military Marshal Xue Shao said to Zhao Yun. For three consecutive days, Zhao Yun hadn’t looked back; he cut down any Cao Army plunderers and thugs under the banner of the Cao Army that he encountered, and it was precisely because of this that Zhao Yun could keep fighting.
"It’s fine, they are waiting to encircle us," a trace of unusual light flashed in Zhao Yun’s eyes.
For some reason, as Zhao Yun’s slaughter intensified, he entered a peculiar state of tranquility. Many things that were once unclear to him now seemed crystal clear. He had long since noticed the enemy’s tactic of luring him deep into their territory. After all, the first group he had decimated was the Cao Army, but the rest were mostly rebels and thugs. The real Cao Army was probably waiting for him up ahead.
"Does the General mean that they have set up an ambush ahead?" Military Marshal Xue Shao asked with a furrowed brow. "Should we detour around it?"
"No need. We’ll cut straight through and eliminate them," Zhao Yun said calmly. "Although I don’t know which faction of the Cao Army it is, an ambush requires the element of surprise. The path ahead is all plains, and the Cao Army doesn’t have any cavalry. Even if they did, none would be faster than us, so they could only aim to slow us down with infantry and then surround us."
On hearing this, a shadow of sorrow flickered in Xue Shao’s eyes. The White Horse was no more.
Cao Chun crouched on the snowy plain, silently waiting for Zhao Yun’s arrival. Having killed so many civilians, his own resentment had vanished. Henceforth, he restrained his soldiers from recklessly killing the civilians of Xuzhou and instead turned to plunder the thugs under Cao’s banner, their goal now solely to seize supplies. 𝓷ℴ𝓿𝓹𝓾𝒷.𝓬𝓸𝓂
However, after the initial group of Cao’s soldiers sent to confiscate the thugs’ supplies had vanished, Cao Chun suspected that Liu Xuande had deployed his troops. After all, the news of Tao Qian’s forces from Xuzhou marching out seemed to indicate they were heading straight for Cao Cao.
Cao Chun wasn’t the least bit worried about his elder brother, Cao Cao, facing the Xuzhou Soldiers with an inferior force. Having lived in Xuzhou, he knew all too well that although the Elite of Danyang were formidable, it depended on who led them. Had Tao Qian been well, Cao Chun might have been somewhat wary, but Cao Bao—he lived up to his name!
"General, Zhao Yun is almost thirty li away. Are we truly secure in our position?" Military Marshal Li Zheng asked with some concern.
"Don’t worry. After the battle of Jieqiao, the weakness of the White Horse Soldiers was laid bare for all the world to see. Who would have thought someone would still use such troops that become utterly powerless once they lose their speed and become congested," Cao Chun sneered. He had heard much about Zhao Yun’s strength; though he’d never witnessed it at Hulao Pass due to his rank, that was the man who had fought Lyu Bu one-on-one! To Cao Chun, the opportunity to ambush such an opponent was the perfect way to prove his own strength.
(To be continued. If you like this work, please come to Qidian (qidian.com) to vote for recommendation tickets and monthly tickets. Your support is my greatest motivation. Mobile users, please read at m.qidian.com.)
