Lu Bu: My wife comes from two thousand years later

Compared with Cao's army in Yewang County, although the Baixing side was also pursued by Zhang Liao's army, because it was close to Chaoge City, except for the rear guard, the rest retreated safely to Chaoge City.

Cao Cao stayed in Chaoge for two days. Scouts from Yewang County brought news that the rear guard captain Shi Huan had been killed in battle, and more than 4,000 soldiers had been killed. The rest had all surrendered.

In addition, more than 700 of Yu Jin's 3,000 elite soldiers were killed in the battle, and the rest surrendered. Yu Jin was hit by an arrow and captured alive by the enemy.

Upon hearing the news, Cao Cao was shocked and angry. Of his 20,000 troops, not a single one escaped, and two generals, one dead and one injured, this blow was really a heavy one for Cao Cao.

Because Zhang Mo had poached many of Cao Cao's men, Cao Cao now had few available generals. Yu Jin was strict in military discipline and a rare and good general. Cao Cao valued him very much. When he heard that he was captured, Cao Cao immediately thought of exchanging hostages to redeem him.

Lu Bu’s answer was very straightforward: “Okay, four for one.”

Although Cao Cao admired Du Ji and others, Yanzhou had no shortage of civil officials, so there was no bargaining. The two sides exchanged hostages, and Cao's army withdrew from Henei from Weijun. Lu Bu asked Zhang Liao to take over Chaoge City, and ordered Qu Yi and Song Xian to lead troops to clean up the Henei nobles who had defected to Cao's army.

…………

"Lord Bo, the Cao army has retreated. In my opinion, let's just forget about this matter!"

On the way back to Ji County, Ji County Magistrate Yang Jun rode beside Du Ji on horseback to plead for those fence-sitters.

“It doesn’t count!”

Du Ji sternly rejected Yang Jun's request. He stopped his horse and turned to look at him. "If these people can rebel once, they will rebel again. If it weren't for the Bingzhou army's fighting ability, if it weren't for the lord's wisdom, the madam's good strategy, and the unity of the civil and military officials, Bingzhou would have been divided up by Yuan and Cao long ago. These people opened the city to meet the enemy, supplied food and fodder to Cao's army, and even organized their troops to resist the Bingzhou army. If these rebels are not eliminated, Henei will be in turmoil."

"I know they are guilty, but there are too many of them. How many of them would have to be killed at once? Why not arrest the big ones and let the small ones go, and kill some of the leaders to serve as a warning to others?"

Du Ji shook his head, tapped his horse's belly lightly, and continued forward. Sima Lang came to Yang Jun's side and said, "Ji Cai, don't you understand? The lord is cleaning up the traitors for one reason, but the most important thing is to recover the land and grain from the aristocratic families and powerful people."

He looked at the fields by the roadside. "It hasn't rained since the beginning of this spring, and it's already the end of June. Look at the millet seedlings in the fields; each one is drooping and the husks are shrunken. This is another year of disaster! The common people have no food left, while the powerful have full granaries. If he and others had remained obedient and sworn allegiance to the lord, the lord would not have touched them without reason. However, this time, there is no turning back."

"The world has long been in chaos. To quell the chaos and rebuild the foundation, the people are the foundation. Our lord is not the kind of person who can be led by the nose. He wants to make Henei like Bingzhou and Hedong County. The people, not the nobles and powerful, will carry his ship."

"Aristocratic families and powerful people can exist, but only those who value a clean reputation and are loyal are allowed. If we surrender to Cao Cao this time, he will also settle accounts with us."

After hearing this, Yang Jun broke out in a cold sweat. He was born in the Hongnong Yang family, and the Yang and Yuan families were related by marriage. If he had not followed Du Ji and the others this time, he would have surrendered to Cao. But now it seems that if the lord wanted to clean up Henei, he might have deliberately let Cao's army in before, just to catch the restless people.

Du Ji rode his horse quickly back to Huai County, where Qu Yi and Song Xian were already waiting for him. After taking the list from him, they started killing with Huai County as the center. The powerful people in some counties were almost slaughtered. Of course, there were also those who united to resist. However, the more they resisted, the more cruelly Qu Yi killed them after the city was broken. After more than a month of baptism, the clan bandits in Henei County were wiped out, the government recovered a large amount of land, and seized countless grain and grass.

After rewarding the soldiers, the remaining money was collected into the treasury. The subsequent redistribution of land, relief to disaster victims, and acceptance of refugees were handed over to Du Ji and others. Qu Yi led his troops back to Jinyang to report, and Song Xian remained stationed in Henei.

…………

In the height of July, outside Huayin City in Hongnong County, the fields that should have been green were now gray and yellow, with swarms of black locusts flying around. Everywhere you look, there are nothing but insects: in the sky, on the trees, on the ground, and even on people.

Duan Wei glanced sideways at a locust perched on his shoulder, flicked it away with two fingers, and shouted, "Hurry! Organize the people to harvest and bring everything you can into the city. Also prepare plenty of grass for the livestock, and dispatch ten more soldiers to help."

In fact, he didn't need to give the order, as many farmers were already rushing to harvest millet and wheat in the fields. Although they were not fully ripe yet and had grown very dry due to lack of water, the harvest was estimated to be only 20% of that in previous years, but it was better than getting nothing at all.

The soldiers rushed into the city to convey the order. After a while, two thousand soldiers lined up in an orderly manner and left the city, dispersing to various places to help the people harvest.

"General, if His Majesty flees, Li Su and his men will surely catch up soon. Lu Bu has deployed his troops at Fengling Ferry, and Yuan Shao and Cao Cao are also on their way. According to this itinerary, several factions may fight here, which will ruin our Huayin fields!" A middle-aged man dressed as a scholar next to Duan Wei said with a bit of heartache.

Tens of thousands of troops were fighting outside Huayin City. The fields were trampled hard by the horses and men, and it would be difficult to cultivate them next year. Also, if the corpses were not handled properly, in such a hot day, an epidemic might spread. Huayin really suffered an unexpected disaster this time.

Duan Wei said helplessly, "Then what do you say we should do? I can't stop Your Majesty from going. I didn't expect these people to arrive so quickly, and they're catching up with the locust plague. Let's quickly collect the grain. Once the city gates are closed, no matter how many families fight, we can only blame ourselves for the damage to the fields."

The scholar sighed, "General, in our current position, how can we remain neutral forever? In my opinion, why not take this opportunity to join one side?"

"I've thought about this a long time ago."

Duan Wei said, "Li Jue and Li Su are both reckless men. They've controlled the imperial capital for years and haven't paid any attention to farming. When food is scarce, they either demand it from all sides in the name of Your Majesty or allow their troops to plunder. Now, they've been instigated to attack each other. Following them will lead to death sooner or later."

"As for Lu Bu, I didn't follow him to Bingzhou back then. Now that he's so powerful, if I go to join him now, he might think I'm too snobbish. As for Yuan Shao, he looks down on ruffians like me from Xiliang, so I won't be valued by him if I join him."

The scholar asked, "Why not abandon Huayin and go to Yanzhou to seek refuge with Cao Mengde?"

Looking at the vast land with a network of canals before him, Duan Wei sighed heavily. "For four years, I've dug canals and built roads here, cleared rivers and built dikes, and encouraged farming. Not a single Huayin citizen has starved to death. If I leave, they will surely fall into the hands of Li Su, Li Jue, and the others. I can't bear to leave them!"

"Over the years, the two of them have not only brought disaster to the imperial court, but also to the people of Guanzhong. This year, we suffered a severe drought and then an insect plague. People have already started to eat each other outside. Only Huayin can maintain its pure land under my protection. I don't want to leave here."

As the two were talking, they saw two people walking towards them from the ridge of a field in the distance. They were not dressed like ordinary farmers. The old man in front was wearing a long robe and a straw hat on his head. The brim of the hat was pulled down low, so his face could not be seen clearly. The young man behind him was wearing an ordinary short brown robe and no hat. He had a very handsome face.

The old man walked to a place about thirty steps away from Duan Wei, raised the brim of his straw hat, revealing a face that Duan Wei was very familiar with.

"Jia Wenhe?"

Duan Wei was surprised for a moment, then stretched out his long legs, stepped over the ditch in front of him, and walked quickly towards him. His dark face was full of joy, "Why are you here?"