Chapter 8: House Arrest

  Cao Zhi let the people of Guangwei labor for the army, and this incident came to an end. Cao Cao also did not punish anyone. After this incident, the people of Guangwei City no longer had the initial fear of Cao's army, and life was restored to normal under the handling of County Magistrate Zhou Ruo. The Cao army, in order to implement a strategy to win hearts, stationed its main force outside Guangwei City without taking action.

  Although the main force of the Shu army did not move, the footsteps of Cao's army attacking did not stop. The vanguard Xiahou Dun and the main forces Yu Jin and Yue Jin began to attack the small and large cities around Guangwei City. These small city garrisons were originally few in number, and their military equipment was also worn out. When they encountered the Cao army, they could basically not withstand half a day before being captured.

  After taking down these small towns, the Cao army was completely opposite to their attitude before the war. Except for opening the warehouse and taking away the money and grain, nothing else was touched. Under Xun Yu's suggestion, Cao Cao also ordered the Cao army to actively distribute some rice to the people, although this rice was very little, but this move undoubtedly made the Cao army gain a lot of popular support.

  It was midsummer, the heat was severe, and the main force of Cao's army stationed outside Guangwei City had no intention of training in the face of the scorching summer days. Except for the early morning when Xiahou Yuan could still command the army to conduct drills, they did not dare to train at other times, fearing that these soldiers would suffer from heatstroke and weaken their combat effectiveness.

  At this time, Cao Zhi, who was in the marching tent, had already taken off his long Han Chinese robe. In such weather, if he still wore Han Chinese clothes, he might have fainted from heatstroke. Holding a feather fan and gently shaking it, Cao Zhi frowned and muttered to himself: "Why is this year's weather so hot? It has been two months since the beginning of summer, but there hasn't been a drop of rain yet. This kind of weather is not good for farmers."

  Cao Zhi was a rural boy before he traveled through time. Although he was the eldest son of his family, his main task was to read books, and his parents didn't ask him to help with farm work. However, due to his exposure to farming, Cao Zhi knew quite a bit about it. It had been two months since the beginning of summer that there hadn't been any rain, and if this continued, a severe drought would likely occur, causing the seedlings from spring plowing to wither and die before autumn harvest.

  At this time, Cao Zhi was still just a child, but he often walked around Cao Cao's side and had a relatively good understanding of Cao Cao's situation. Two years ago, Cao Cao entered the state of Yan, defeated the Yellow Turbans in Qingzhou, and incorporated 300,000 soldiers from Qingzhou, with a population of one million, looking invincible. However, Cao Zhi knew that this was all just a facade, as the population of one million had already depleted the stored grain in Yan last year. And last autumn, after Cao Song was killed, Cao Cao used this as an excuse to launch a campaign against Xu Zhou, barely allowing Yan to survive the winter.

  It's not easy to fully digest and absorb the 1 million population and 300,000 troops of Qingzhou and transform them into one's own strength. Cao Cao relied on a dilapidated Yan Province to survive the most difficult first year, which was already an extraordinary performance beyond the expectations of a group of internal affairs geniuses like Xun Yu, Xun You, Liu Ye and others.

  Last year's super-level performance, after completing the spring plowing in Yanzhou, there was no more surplus grain to support the 300,000 Qingzhou soldiers. In this situation, Cao Cao followed the advice of several strategists and led most of the Qingzhou soldiers and remaining grain to attack Xuzhou. This move could capture the rich land of Xuzhou, and also use war to sustain war, while improving the combat effectiveness of the Qingzhou soldiers and alleviating the grain shortage in Yanzhou. If this year's harvest is good, Cao Cao can digest half of the one million refugees from Qingzhou, and his comprehensive strength among the various lords will increase significantly. Therefore, this year is the most critical moment for Cao Cao, and he absolutely cannot afford to lose.

  However, seeing such fine weather, Cao Zhi's face flashed with a worried expression. He casually put down the bamboo slips and walked out of his own military account.

  Just as he was about to leave the account, he was stopped by two soldiers. One of them said: "Fourth Master, the general has ordered that you are not allowed to wander around in the military camp. Please go back to your tent and read books."

  Cao Zhi couldn't help but touch his small nose. Originally, after persuading Zhou Yu and the people of Guangling to surrender, Cao Cao was pleased in his heart, but still punished Cao Zhi by confining him to his quarters. Firstly, Cao Zhi was young, and previously he didn't know that he had secretly snuck into the army, now that he knew, he naturally wanted to protect him. Secondly, Cao Cao had been openly defied by Cao Zhi twice, although Cao Zhi's words were reasonable, in order to maintain his dignity as a father, these punishments were still necessary. Therefore, this scene unfolded.

  Cao Zhi couldn't help but smile and said: "I have an urgent matter to attend to, I need to see the general, you can all come with me."

  "Ah, this..." The two soldiers looked at each other, they really didn't dare to disobey Cao Cao's orders, but Cao Zhi said he was going to see Cao Cao, and that he wanted to go pay his respects to his father, it was a matter of course, so how could they dare to stop him.

  Cao Zhi smiled and said, "Don't worry, General's order to stay at home only prohibits me from wandering around and causing trouble, but it doesn't say I'm not allowed to see the general. Since we're traveling together, that's fine. If the general blames us, I'll take full responsibility."

  "Uh..." The two soldiers exchanged a glance again, and finally could only helplessly respond: "Yes!"

  Cao Zhi's face flashed with a triumphant smile, and then he swaggered out with the two soldiers. When they reached a fork in the road, Cao Zhi did not head towards the main tent on the left, but instead went to the right. The two soldiers saw this and hastily blocked his way, saying: "Fourth Master, the general's tent is over there." After finishing speaking, he also pointed to the left with his hand, reminding Cao Zhi.

  Cao Zhi's eyes rolled around, and he pretended to be puzzled, saying: "Isn't the military camp connected in all directions? Can't I go see the general by walking this way?"

  "Not really, it's just that going this way to the main tent will take half a time..."

  Before the soldier had finished speaking, Cao Zhi said: "This is just right. I like to take long walks and walking a long way is also going to the big account, can't it be done?" At this point, Cao Zhi still pretended to be innocent.

  "Uh... but..." The two soldiers looked at each other, they felt that there was something wrong with what Cao Zhi said, but the two of them were illiterate and couldn't think of what the problem was, so they stood there hesitating for a long time.

  Cao Zhi smiled and said, "You can't come up with a problem, then there's no problem. Let's go." He took advantage of the two soldiers' inattention to quicken his pace and break through the blockade. The two soldiers saw this and immediately followed, but seeing that Cao Zhi had already walked onto the road, they couldn't let him turn back, so they could only smile wryly and follow silently.

  This road is indeed much farther than the two soldiers said, and first of all, it will pass through the archery training ground. Cao Zhi has been in Han for so long, most of the time spent in the Cao Mansion, although occasionally seeing his elder brother Cao Ang practicing archery, but as soon as he appears in these places, the servants at home will take him away on the grounds that they are afraid of getting hurt.

  This was Cao Zhi's first experience of ancient people practicing archery, so when he arrived at the archery training ground, he stopped in his tracks and stared blankly at the people practicing inside.