Farmers of Shu Han

Chapter 1404: Letting the Wolves Return to the Wild
As a member of a noble family, Sima Yi certainly hoped that the family could enjoy everything for generations without changing for thousands of years.

But standing in the position of the lord of Hebei, he hoped that such a thing would not happen so quickly.

At least not now.

Especially when facing powerful enemies, we have to save Hebei first before considering other things.

Different identities lead to different perspectives on issues.

Sima Yi understood that there was only one way to stop Taotie from eating, and that was... to kill it.

But he understood more clearly that Sima was also a part of Taotie. If he really wanted to kill Taotie, wouldn't that mean... I was killing myself?

This is a dead end cycle.

Sima Yi thought of this and sighed deeply.

At this time, he even couldn't help but envy Zhuge Liang and Feng Yonglai.

He could attack the noble families without any scruples, and Shunchang would perish.

Back then, the Wei Dynasty prospered because of the support of the aristocratic families, and the Han Dynasty declined because of the alienation of the aristocratic families.

Now, the situation is reversed. Ji Han is prosperous because it has no constraints from the aristocratic families, while Da Wei is weak because of the constraints from the aristocratic families.

Is this how it all started and how it will end?
Seeing the Grand Tutor sighing once again, and then looking at his face which had become old and haggard, Fu Gu sighed deeply in his heart.

Since following Sima Yi, he had rarely seen the Grand Tutor lose his composure like this.

But recently, he has seen it more and more.

More than ever before.

The gentle Sima Taifu who used to be calm and confident in the face of difficulties is becoming less and less common.

In his early years, Fu Gu was the Yellow Gate Minister, but because he disliked the Three Dogs of Taichung, he was demoted and voluntarily resigned. In the end, he was personally invited by Sima Yi to be a Zhonglang.

It can be said that he was one of the first group of talents to follow Sima Yi since his break with Cao Shuang.

He was also one of the people most trusted by Sima Yi.

Seeing the Grand Master like this, Fu Gu felt a little reluctant and whispered:

"Master, I have an idea."

"Oh? What do you think, Lanshi? But please tell me."

Sima Yi probably felt that he had lost his composure a little, so he pulled himself together and asked.

"Taifu, have you forgotten that there are still 50,000 Hu cavalry in Hebei?"

When Sima Yi heard this, his face remained calm. He just glanced at Fu Gu with a little surprise, but did not respond. After a while, he pulled the corners of his mouth and smiled:
"Lan Shi, this is not your style."

Sima Yi certainly understood what Fu Gu was talking about. In fact, he had already imagined the worst-case scenario before the other party returned from Pingyuan.

Naturally, we also considered how to utilize these 50,000 Hu cavalry.

It is definitely necessary to incorporate them, but how to incorporate them is worth discussing.

One way is to trap them, starve them until they are full, and then show them mercy.

Letting them go, arousing public anger, and then using the power of public anger to sentence them to life or death is also another method.

The former can easily backfire if not properly controlled.

The latter can easily cause harm if not properly controlled.

"Taifu, in an emergency, we must obey the order. Saving Hebei is not only for yourself, Taifu, but also for the preservation of their family business."

Fu Gu's eyes were filled with anger and ruthlessness. "How can you not want to contribute, but also want to keep the enemy at bay and protect your family business?"

Sima Yi's face showed some intention, but he still shook his head and said:
"Not right, not right. If people knew about this, I would probably lose the support of the people."

After a pause, he looked at Fu Gu again, and said meaningfully, "And now the number of Hu cavalrymen who obey those two boys is no more than 20,000..."

"Master, this matter is known to heaven and earth, you and I know it, how could it be known by others?"

Fu Gu still urged, "How many Hu cavalry are unwilling to obey the orders of the Grand Tutor? Isn't it the Grand Tutor who has the final say?"

Master Sima lowered his eyes, shielding his cloudy eyes, and said nothing.

There was silence in the room.

At this time, another servant came to report:
"Master, Tuoba Xilu is here to see you again."

Hearing the name, the two people in the room couldn't help but look at each other.
-
The sun was blazing, but Tuoba Xilu was neatly dressed and stood respectfully in the courtyard, motionless, waiting for Sima Yi to call him.

At this time, Tuoba Xilu no longer had the arrogance of the eagle of the grassland.

The clothes he wore were no longer the Hu clothing with the lapel on the left, but the Han clothing with the lapel open to the right.

And they were not the kind of light everyday clothes, but the kind of fancy clothes that were only worn on formal occasions.

The thick and gorgeous clothes wrapped Tuoba Xilu tightly, making his face sweat profusely, and a large area of ​​the clothes on the back was also soaked with sweat.

Even so, Tuoba Xilu's body did not shake at all, and his legs seemed to be rooted.

There wasn't even a hint of impatience on his face.

He didn't know how long he had been waiting. Tuoba Xilu, who was dizzy from the sun, saw a servant walking towards him in a daze.

"Lord Tuoba, the Grand Master wants to see you."

Tuoba Xilu, who had been somewhat unconscious due to the sunburn, could not hear clearly what the servants were saying.

He thought that he had made another wasted trip today, so he bowed woodenly out of habit and turned to leave.

After taking two steps, he suddenly reacted, turned around abruptly, and said in a lost voice:

"Master, Master wants to see me?"

The servant, who was somewhat confused and even stunned by Tuoba Xilu's actions, finally reacted:

"The Grand Master naturally wants to see Mr. Tuoba."

"Oh, oh!" Tuoba Xilu was extremely disappointed, but when he heard this news, he was so happy that he almost burst into tears:
"Please, please! Thank you very much!"

It's even a little incoherent.

"My dear, please follow me."

Following the servants to a side hall, Tuoba Xilu had just come in from outside and had not yet adapted to the inside. He could only vaguely see a familiar figure sitting there, and he immediately prostrated himself on the ground:

"The foreign barbarian Tuoba Xilu pays homage to the Grand Tutor!"

After shouting, he knelt a few steps, burst into tears and begged:

"Master Taifu, please lend me some food and save my people!"

After he finished speaking, he kowtowed repeatedly, making a dong dong sound.

"Hey, Prince Tuoba, what are you doing? Get up, get up quickly!"

Sima Taifu's body did not move at all, but the words that came out of his mouth were full of surprise and astonishment.

Tuoba Xilu turned a deaf ear and just kept on kowtowing.

Soon, his forehead became red and swollen.

"Alright, alright, why do you have to do this? Lanshi, go and help Prince Tuoba up."

There was a sound of footsteps, and someone supported Tuoba Xilu and said:

"Prince Tuoba, if you have something to say, please speak clearly. How can the Grand Tutor talk to you if you are like this?"

After hearing this, Tuoba Xilu dared to stand up.

At this time, blood was already flowing from his forehead.

This shows how much effort he put into his kowtow just now.

Tuoba Xilu did not dare to wipe it off, and let the blood flow down, but continued to beg with tears and snot:

"Master, my people haven't had a full meal for a long time. If this continues, they will starve to death."

"Please, Master, lend me some food to save my people..."

At this time, Master Sima no longer had the previous embarrassment and loss of composure. He calmly picked up the teacup, took a sip gently, and then slowly spoke:

"I already knew Prince Tuoba's intentions."

Tuoba Xilu raised his head and looked at Sima Yi hopefully.

A few months ago, Master Sima had solemnly comforted himself and told himself not to worry too much about the future of his people.

He also promised himself that as long as he could repel the Han army this time, he would help him return to the grassland and rebuild the Tuoba clan.

At the beginning, the other party did deliver enough food and fodder on time and in quantity.

However, the good times did not last long, as delays began to set in. Then, even after repeated requests, the amount of food delivered was insufficient.

But now they have nowhere to go and have to live under someone else's roof, and there are heavy troops stationed around Yecheng.

Not to mention, the last 50,000 remaining troops of the Tuoba clan were separated without their knowledge, making it difficult for the various tribes to communicate.

To this day, more than 10,000 people except Tuoba’s own troops are still loyal to him.

Tuoba Xilu had no idea how many of the other tribal leaders were willing to obey his orders.

Under the various tactics used by Sima Taifu, the brave warriors of the grassland dared not move at all. They could only come alone and beg the Taifu to allocate food and fodder to save the lives of their people.

"But Prince Tuoba also knows that the Han army is attacking the west of Taihang Mountain very urgently, and the grain and grass in Hebei should be supplied to the soldiers at the front with preferential treatment."

Sima Taifu sighed, "So I was a little bit negligent towards your department these days, but I had no choice."

At this point, he raised his sleeves to cover his face, "Prince Tuoba came to my house several times, it's not that I deliberately didn't see him, but it's not that I was ashamed to meet him."

Putting down his sleeves, Sima Taifu sighed again, pointed at Fu Gu, and continued:

"In fact, earlier, I had already tried my best to prepare food and fodder for your army."

"This Fu Gongshi just came back from Pingyuan County. He was ordered by me to go and borrow grain from the major families in Hebei..."

Having said this, he paused for a moment, as if he was in a dilemma, "Why not let this Fu Gongshi tell you about his journey to borrow grain?"

Hearing that the Grand Tutor had sent someone to help him borrow grain, Tuoba Xilu was delighted. He looked at Fu Gu eagerly, his lips trembling:

"Fu Congshi, thank you very much..."

Fu Gu smiled bitterly and waved his hand:
"Don't be in a hurry to thank me. Although I went to help your department borrow food, but, alas, what can I do..."

Seeing Fu Gu's expression and hearing these words, Tuoba Xilu's heart, which had just risen from the bottom of the valley, suddenly fell back to the bottom:
"Fu Congshi, what do you mean by this?"

Fu Gu then repeated in detail what he had said to Sima Taifu before, making some minor changes.

Nine lies are true and one is false, which is the most difficult to distinguish.

After hearing this, Tuoba Xilu couldn't help but burst into tears again:
"What should I do?"

Then he turned to Sima Taifu and begged in tears:

"Master Taifu, my people, at your invitation, braved the severe cold and made the journey, but now we can't return home. You can't just leave us like this!"

"Hey, hey, hey! What are you saying, Prince Tuoba? When did I ever say I don't care?"

Sima Taifu finally stood up and walked to Tuoba Xilu, wanting to help him up, and said in a gentle voice:

"I'm telling you all this, isn't it to show you that I'm not ignoring you, but am doing my best to prepare food and fodder for you?"

Tuoba Xilu refused to stand up, and knelt in front of Sima Taifu, looking up pitifully and saying:
"But, didn't the Master say that we are short of food and those wealthy families are unwilling to lend us food? What should we do?"

Sima Taifu did not answer immediately, but glanced at Fu Gu.

Fu Gu understood, and together with Sima Taifu, he pulled Tuoba Xilu up and said:
"In fact, before Prince Tuoba came, I had discussed with the Grand Tutor for a long time, and finally figured out why they were unwilling to lend grain."

"The taxes in various places in Hebei are fixed. My going there to borrow grain this time is equivalent to increasing taxes for those wealthy families, so they are naturally unwilling."

"So we are afraid that we can't intervene in this matter anymore." At this point, Fu Gu's eyes became meaningful, "But Prince Tuoba is different."

Tuoba Xilu was confused and bewildered:
"I don't understand what Fu Congsheng means by this."

Fu Gu smiled and explained patiently:
"Prince Tuoba just said that your tribe came here to defend Hebei. Those wealthy families are also under your tribe's protection. But now they are unwilling to provide food and reward. This is a bit rude."

After hearing this, Tuoba Xilu already understood something.

"So if Prince Tuoba personally leads people to borrow grain, it might be much better than us showing up in person."

Tuoba Xilu's breathing immediately became rapid, and some instinct in his body seemed to be stirring.

However, in the past few months, he had been played around by Sima Taifu. He subconsciously looked at Sima Taifu and said:
"Isn't this not good?"

Sima Taifu is the lord of Hebei. Will he really tolerate him doing this?

Sima Taifu smiled kindly:
"Have you ever heard of the story of Yufuluo, the former Xiongnu?"

Tuoba Xilu looked ashamed and said, "I have only heard of his name, but I don't know much about him."

"Yufuluo was originally the son of the Xiongnu Chanyu. He led his people into the Han territory to help the Later Han Dynasty quell the rebellion. Unexpectedly, his father, the Qiangqu Chanyu, was killed. Therefore, Yufuluo could only stay in the Han territory and could not return home."

Sima Yi briefly explained to Tuoba Xilu the old story of the Xiongnu sixty years ago, "Speaking of which, his experience and Tuoba Xilu's experience do have many similarities."

"At that time, Emperor Ling of Han was seriously ill and had no time to deal with the Xiongnu, so Yu Fuluo and his people had no way to retreat and no food or clothing, so they collected food in Taiyuan, Hedong and other counties on their own."

Of course, there were numerous manors and forts owned by aristocratic families in Hedong and other places, and Yu Furuo could not plunder anything at all, and instead suffered damage to his military strength. Sima Taifu would not tell Tuoba Xilu about this.

This is also one of the reasons why he finally listened to Fu Gu.

As long as the number of people Tuoba Xilu brings out is controlled, with the self-protection capabilities of the Hebei families, these Xianbei Hu people will most likely not cause too much harm.

The roaming and rebellion of the Xianbei Hu people could also intimidate the aristocratic families in Hebei.

After all, Sima Taifu has managed to stabilize most of the Xianbei Hu people.

But if food and grass continue to be insufficient, who can guarantee that the remaining Hu people will continue to listen to the Taifu?
right?
-
Tuoba Xilu returned to his residence from the Taifu Mansion, his expression still a little dazed, as if he still hadn't come back to his senses.

Tuoba Chuo, who had been looking forward to it, felt disappointed when he saw his second brother in this state.

However, in recent days, the two brothers have repeatedly requested to see Sima Taifu, but have never been able to do so. Tuoba Chuo has become accustomed to it.

He comforted:

"Second brother, there's no need to do this. At worst, we can do it next time..."

Before he finished speaking, Tuoba Xilu said:
"Brother, I saw the master."

"Ah?" Tuoba Chuo swallowed back his unfinished words, "Brother, have you seen the Grand Tutor? Why is he like this? Could it be that the Grand Tutor rejected your request?"

"It is, but it is not a rejection either?" Tuoba Xilu didn't know what to say, so he told the whole story in detail.

After hearing this, Tuoba Chuo's first reaction was: "Brother, is there a trick here?"

Let people plunder the area under your rule?

It would be strange if such an abnormal thing did not make people suspicious, right?

"Brother, but we have already retreated. This is our only chance."

Obviously, on the way back, Tuoba Xilu also thought a lot, and his eyes flickered:
"My two brothers have been trapped here for several months. Recently, we have seen fewer and fewer leaders from various tribes. Except for our Tuoba clan, we have not seen other tribes for a long time."

"This time Sima Yi asked us to take people out. Regardless of whether it is a trick or not, it is our best chance."

"Otherwise, if this continues, I'm afraid even our tribesmen will have second thoughts."

After listening to this, Tuoba Chuo remained silent, and finally nodded:
"Brother, you are right. Sima Yi has bad intentions, and we can't wait any longer. As long as we can get our troops back, we can act according to circumstances after we get out."