Chapter 11 1. Grain accumulation in farmland

In the previous chapter, we mentioned that in 192 AD, Cao Cao entered Yanzhou, conquered the Yellow Turban Army, and incorporated the Yellow Turban Army into the Qingzhou Army.The Yellow Turban Army is composed of peasants with their families, so it has a special feature, that is, in addition to the troops, there are also family members and peasants accompanying the army.At that time, the Qingzhou Yellow Turban Army incorporated by Cao Cao had 300,000 pure soldiers, and another one million were family members and farmers accompanying the army, and they also brought cattle and farm tools. These one million farmers are simply a gift from heaven to Cao Cao.At that time, there were years of wars, farmers left their hometowns, all the farmland was barren, and food was extremely scarce. In some places, people could eat people.The biggest difficulty for the princes is the lack of military supplies, and Cao Cao is no exception.When he was conquering Tao Qian and begging Lv Bu, he was forced to withdraw his troops because of the shortage of rations, and he felt the pain of the lack of rations.

In the last chapter, when Mao Jie gave Cao Cao an idea, in addition to suggesting that he serve the emperor so that he would not be an official, he also proposed a plan to cultivate farming and accumulate military funds to become hegemony.The competition in war is force, and the support behind force is economic strength. Only with sufficient economic strength can the war be persisted to the end and the final victory won. Didn't the arrival of millions of farmers accompanying the army just provide the basis for productivity for Mao Jie's plan?Therefore, when Cao Cao received the emperor and other matters came to an end, he concentrated on solving the problem of food production.

In 196 AD, Cao Cao began to farm.Years of wars have reduced many lands to land without owners. Cao Cao took these lands into national ownership, and then took out some of these fields and handed over some of them to his army to cultivate them. , This is called Mintun.He stipulated that those who lease the government's cattle and farm tools should pay 60% of the land rent, and those who own their own farm cattle and farm tools should pay 50% of the land rent.The tax was a bit heavier compared to the peaceful era, but it was very favorable at that time. There were hungry refugees everywhere, and being able to plant land and have enough food was the greatest blessing.

This is Cao Cao's farming system, which is actually equivalent to the modern production and construction corps, which implements the militarization of living methods and the collective management of farming methods.People in the Corps usually carry hoes to plow the fields, but in wartime they fight with swords and guns. The combat effectiveness is not affected at all, and the problem of food and grass is also solved. The implementation of the garrison system shows that Cao Cao is worthy of being a far-sighted politician.He also said this in "The Order of Tuntian": "The art of establishing a country lies in strong soldiers and sufficient food." Before Wei Wu swiped his whip smartly, he honestly swung a hoe for a few years.The success of the Tuntian system turned Cao Cao's barracks into farms, and the thriving scenes of "farmers, officers and soldiers field, the sound of chickens and dogs, and rice paddies belong to each other" appeared everywhere.

The granary was full, and the society in the north was naturally stable. Cao Cao also got rid of the embarrassment of the shortage of military rations, and he no longer had to worry about going east and west. So when Cao Cao was farming and accumulating grain, what were the other princes doing? "Book of Wei" wrote: "When the armies rise together, there is no plan for the end of the year. If you are hungry, you will invade, and if you are full, you will abandon the rest. They will be disintegrated and displaced. There are countless people who are invincible and self-defeating." The long-term plan is to grab food from the common people when they are hungry, and throw away the extra food when they are full. In the end, due to lack of food, the teams collapsed one after another, and they collapsed without attack.

When Cao Cao's soldiers lived a life of adequate food and clothing, Yuan Shao's army ate mulberries in Hebei, and Yuan Shu's army ate mussels in Jiangnan. When the mulberries and mussels were all eaten, they would eat people. Life is a process of sailing against the current, if you don't advance, you will retreat.From the alliance of the princes to the preparations for the battle, in the chaotic situation, Cao Cao has grown from a passionate young general to a political master with a long-term vision.Those who formed an alliance with Cao Cao did nothing at that time, and they did not grow much later.

Take Yuan Shao and Yuan Shu, the most powerful among the princes, as an example.Ever since Yuan Shao lost to Cao Cao in welcoming Emperor Xian, he lost step by step, and he was forever inferior to Cao Cao politically.What about Yuan Shu? In the second year of Cao Cao's farming, that is, in 197 AD, Yuan Shu couldn't bear it anymore and officially proclaimed himself emperor in Huainan.From the very beginning, Yuan Shu's proclaiming himself emperor was talking to himself, and he didn't get anyone's support.His subordinates asked him, when King Wen of Zhou owned two-thirds of the world and served King Zhou of Yin, are you comparable to King Wen of Zhou?Sun Ce originally had a good relationship with Yuan Shu, but when he heard about this, he immediately wrote a letter to draw a line with him.

Yuan Shu didn't give up, he had to find someone to support him, so he sent an envoy to negotiate peace with Lu Bu, and wanted to marry Lu Bu as his son and daughter. In this way, Lu Bu would be a relative of the emperor, and her daughter would become the imperial concubine.Lu Bu agreed at first, and sent his daughter out, but after careful consideration, he still did not dare to openly marry the rebel, so he chased his daughter back, and sent Yuan Shu's envoy to Xuchang in a prison car, and handed it over to Cao Sikong. . When Yuan Shu heard this, he was so angry that he immediately sent Zhang Xun, Yang Feng, Han Xian and others to settle accounts with Lu Bu.Yang Feng and Han Xian turned against each other and surrendered Lv Bu. Lv Bu led his troops to press on Yuan Shu's lair, Shouchun. Thousands of troops defeated Yuan Shu's tens of thousands of troops, and left a letter to make Yuan Shu miserable.

Just when Yuan Shuzhong rebelled against his relatives, Cao Cao also personally sent troops to crusade against His Majesty Yuan.When Yuan Shu heard it, Cao Sikong came to attack instead of paying tribute. How could he be Cao Cao's opponent?He was so scared that he didn't even dare to fight, so he turned around and ran, preparing to run back to Huainan, his base.Who knew that he ran halfway, and there was no food and salary. It turned out that his prime minister saw no hope for his future, and even if he escaped, he would not be able to escape. He might as well do something good before he died, and distribute the army rations to the dying people along the way. .

Yuan Shu's house was leaking and it was raining continuously, but he was still lingering on his last breath. After two years of hard work, he couldn't bear it anymore, so he had to go to his brother Yuan Shao.Unexpectedly, Cao Cao had expected that he would make this move, and had already sent Liu Bei to wait in Xiapi, waiting for him to throw himself into the trap.Yuan Shu was helpless, he could not go home, and his relatives did not dare to vote, so he continued to flee. When he fled to a Jiangting near Shouchun, Anhui, he could no longer run away, and he could not afford to get sick here.

Lying on the hospital bed, Yuan Shu recalled that he didn't know whether he had been a fake emperor for three and a half years, or a real beggar for three and a half years.When he was about to die, the military rations had run out, and he wanted to eat, but there was only a bowl of bran porridge. The sun was scorching, and his mouth was dry.Who knows that the subordinates said, where did the honey water come from?There is only this bowl of porridge left, whether you like it or not.Yuan Shu was silent for a long time, then roared, how did I get to this point, he vomited blood and died on the spot. Yuan Shao and Yuan Shu were like this, and the other princes also attacked the good ones.They are either wise and safe, or drunk, or fighting for power, or fishing in troubled waters.In the historical knockout competition, the powerful princes gradually declined, while Cao Cao, who was weak in the past, became fuller day by day. Having an advantage in politics and accumulating strength in the economy, Cao Cao is now looking around with complacency, and it is time for him to show his might and level the Kyushu.So, who was he going to aim his sword at first? The conversion of strength and weakness is a process of ebb and flow.At the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty, when Cao Cao showed his political foresight and heroism step by step, Yuan Shao, Yuan Shu and others were showing their arrogance and stupidity.It was Cao Cao's foresight and strategy that paved his way forward, and it was the arrogance and stupidity of the others that swept away Cao Cao's obstacles.The achievement of unrivaled achievements is by no means achieved overnight, but the result of accumulating over a long period of time.As long as every step shows an upward trend, amazing results will be reaped in the end.