Chapter 38: The Scheme of Xun Gongda

  After Cao Zhi sat down beside him, Cao Cao turned his attention back to the crowd and asked in a stern voice: "Yuan Rang, how much grain is stored within Pengcheng?"

  Xiahou Dun heard Cao Cao's question, and a smile spread across his face: "If I'm not mistaken, Tao Qian should be thinking of holding out in Pengcheng, so he stored a large amount of grain and fodder inside the city. Our army attacked very quickly, and these food supplies were hardly used at all. After a rough estimate, there are nearly 100,000 stones of grain and fodder stored in Pengcheng!"

  "One hundred thousand stones?" Upon hearing Xiahou Dun's words, the crowd in the great tent couldn't help but exclaim in unison, their voices filled with boundless joy. Even Cao Cao's face was covered with a layer of delight.

  Cao Zhi was also shocked when he heard this. Ten million stones of grain is not a small number, enough for 500,000 troops to eat their fill for three months. And being full has a deeper meaning, in troubled times, ordinary people are also struggling to get by, unable to guarantee a full stomach every day. Generally, if they can eat half a meal, it's already something to be thankful for.

  To know that it is now midsummer, in ancient times, they generally stopped fighting when winter arrived. This means that Tao Qian only needs to defend for about three months, and Cao's army will definitely retreat. Otherwise, the heavy snow will arrive, and Cao's army will not be able to advance or retreat. The original 20,000-strong Xuzhou army inside Pengcheng may not be enough to take down Cao's army even after half a year of siege. Tao Qian obviously took into account the possibility that Cao's army might fight in winter, storing 100,000 stones of grain, enough for the 20,000-strong army to eat their fill for more than half a year. This also shows how rich and prosperous Xuzhou is, able to guarantee its soldiers' full meals.

  They captured 100,000 dan of grain, which was enough to supply Cao's army for three months. As a result of this battle, not only did they capture Pengcheng, but they also solved the problem of food supplies for the large army in the short term. Everyone in the camp let out a sigh of relief. And at the next moment, whether it was the civil officials or the military generals, their eyes all shone with a desire to fight.

  It's not hard to see that Cao Zhi and others in the tent are probably thinking about taking control of Xuzhou's grain supplies.

  At this time, Cao Cao waved his hand with a red glow on his face and chuckled: "This time we took down Pengcheng, the harvest is quite rich, you all have made great contributions, I will definitely record your merits later, after taking down Xuzhou, I will reward you all at once!"

  At this time, Cao Cao was just starting out, and the civil and military officials were extremely united, without too much private heart. They all understood that the current Cao Cao did not have too many rewards. At this time, they were willing to follow Cao Cao and work together, mainly relying on Cao Cao's personal charm and the common goal of everyone. Therefore, for the rewards mentioned by Cao Cao, the crowd didn't care much, just casually nodded and said: "Thank you, sir."

  Cao Cao understood this, so he just nodded slightly and skipped over it, then said: "This time the wonderful talent did not capture Tao Laoer, but instead captured Cao Biao, the master of the Xu State's army and the head of the Cao family in Xiapi. What do you think should be done with him?"

  Xiahou Yuan captured Cao Zhen, and many people had already heard about it. However, Cao Zhi was not aware of this until now. Upon hearing the news, he felt a flash of surprise in his heart. Historically, when Cao Zhen was under Tao Qian's command, he had never been captured alive by Cao Cao. This time, he was unexpectedly caught, which made Cao Zhi pay extra attention.

  Xiahou Yuan, being the one who captured Cao Pi, was the first to speak: "General, Cao Pi is a mediocre person. Yesterday, he fought with his cousin under the city wall and wasn't even a match for him. If it weren't for that strange gust of wind, he would have probably been killed by his cousin's spear. Apart from martial arts, there's nothing remarkable about this man's military tactics. Just look at how he commanded last night. Such an ordinary person is used as a general by Tao Qian, which shows that the only thing he relies on is his family background. I think we should spare his life for now and use him when our army attacks Xia Pi."

  "Hmm?" Cao Cao listened and slightly nodded his head, then shifted his gaze towards the strategist.

  Xun Yu and Guo Jia, Liu Ye exchanged a look, then cupped his hands and said: "Sir, General Miao's words are indeed correct. The largest family in Xiaopei is the Cao family, and according to my knowledge, this Cao family is also sparse in population, and Cao Pi is already the pillar of the Cao family. Now that Cao Pi is in our army's hands, the Cao family should cooperate with our army for Cao Pi's life and to preserve the Cao family business."

  At this time, Xun Yu was talking eloquently, without any sign of timidity or cowardice, and Cao Zhi's eyes were shining with admiration. To be honest, Cao Zhi had not had a deep impression of Xun Yu before, although he was also one of the five great strategists of the Wei state in history. He did not have the fame of Xun You's "king-assisting talent" for making strategies and managing logistics for Cao Cao; nor did he have the extraordinary plans like Guo Jia, whose early death was a pity; at the same time, he was not as cunning and ruthless as Jia Xu, and even compared to Cheng Yu, he seemed to lack a bit of boldness. Compared with the other four strategists who each had their own unique characteristics, Xun Yu seemed more like an ordinary soy sauce maker in Cao Zhi's eyes.

  However, when he was in Cao's camp and came into contact with Xun Yu, he found that it was not the case. Xun Yu, like Xun You, was from the Xun family of Yingchuan, and because the Xun family had a very high reputation among scholars, Xun Yu was as upright as Xun You in his behavior, and could even be called pedantic.

  Xun Yu was very strict with himself, making it impossible for him to do anything too out of line. However, in this regard, Cao Zhi had long been taught by the two Xuns. Compared with Xun Yu, the biggest characteristic of Xun Yu is his appearance. Xun Yu can be said to be a famous handsome man in the world, and there are records of "Xun Lingxiang" in historical books. On the other hand, Xun Yu was different from Xun Yu. Xun Yu's appearance was ordinary, and if he changed into a set of ordinary civilian clothes and didn't speak, I'm afraid everyone would think he was just an ordinary civilian.

  At the end of the Han Dynasty, the aristocracy attached great importance to appearance and had a tradition of observing people's external appearance first. It seemed that people with more power in the same era, such as the Yuan brothers, Gongsun Zan, the Sun family father and son, Liu Biao, etc., were all men of extraordinary appearance, even the three brothers of Liu Bei were different from ordinary people. When Liu Bei first met Zhuge Liang, although he had been introduced by Sima Hui, Zhuge Liang's ethereal and elegant image really gave Liu Bei great confidence.

  Looking at Xun Yu, with such an ordinary appearance, he doesn't seem to be a wise man at all. However, the fact is just the opposite. With an ordinary appearance and looking weak and timid due to long-term reading, Xun Yu actually has great wisdom in his heart, which can be called a model of "outer foolishness and inner wisdom". Xun Yu's appearance made He Jin, Yuan Shao and others all overlook him, fortunately Cao Cao only valued talent, after testing Xun Yu's learning, he knew that he was a great talent of the time, and relied on him extremely.

  It's foolish outside and wise inside, which is Xun Yu's characteristic. If you don't see him in person, it's hard to feel it. No wonder Cao Zhi has always felt that Xun Yu was a superficial person, but this is actually an unintentional result of Xun Yu's own creation.

  Later generations often say that Jia Xu's way of preserving his life is well-deserved, designing to harm Cao Cao's eldest son and still being able to end up well. Then, with his uncle Xun Yu also holding Han, he was also able to end up well, his way of preserving his life can be compared with Jia Xu.