At the end of the Han Dynasty, the Yellow Turban Uprising caused great chaos in the world. At this time, there were still eighteen vassal states in the world.
Due to the implementation of the Tuen Order in the Eastern Han Dynasty, the territory and population of each vassal state were divided by Tuen from generation to generation, resulting in an increasingly smaller number. Today, a kingdom may only be as large as four or five counties.
Moreover, the scope of activities of the kings was strictly limited to their fiefdoms, and they were not allowed to build armies and go on expeditions without court orders. Therefore, except for those like Chen Wang and Liu Chong who took advantage of the weakness of the Han Dynasty to expand their armies, the other princes and kings were almost inactive.
Moreover, the clan kings only had titles and nobility, and had no administrative or military power over the feudal country. Specific affairs were left to the prime minister.
In the third year of Chuping, when Cao Cao entered Yanzhou, his title was Jibei Prime Minister Bao Xin. Because Liu Dai, the governor of Yanzhou in the Dongping Kingdom, was killed in a crusade against the Yellow Turban Army, he asked Cao Cao to enter Yanzhou to suppress the bandits. In the same year, Cao Cao was named Dongjun by Yuan Shao. The governor's government was located in Dongwuyang, so he had a place to stay.
But Cao Cao was not strong at this time, because the soldiers he had recruited before were defeated by Xu Rong in the Battle of Xingyang and lost all, so he did not have enough force to occupy Yanzhou at that time.
Fortunately, the late Eastern Han Dynasty was a period when the dual monarchy prevailed, that is, "the subordinates of my subordinates are not my subordinates, and the master of my master is not my master."
Zhang Xiu was able to lead his troops to defect from Liu Biao to Cao Cao, Sun Ben and Sun Ce were able to be independent from Yuan, and Liu Bei was able to wander around but still ensure that the core camp never fell apart. This is related to the special system in this special period, so Cao Cao recruited the team again , became the basis for his fortune, and all he needed next was an opportunity.
Then the opportunity came.
The battle of Yanzhou against the Yellow Turbans.
In this battle, Bao Xin, the prime minister of Jibei who was friends with Cao Cao, died fighting against the Yellow Turbans, and Zheng Sui, the prime minister of Rencheng, was killed. These two counties were in a power vacuum. Cao Cao defeated the Yellow Turbans to the east of Dongping Kingdom. , claiming to have received more than 300,000 surrendered soldiers, which was the source of the Qingzhou soldiers behind them, and their power expanded rapidly.
Jibei Kingdom, Rencheng Kingdom, and Dongping Kingdom, which had no one in power after Liu Dai was killed, Cao Cao occupied the three vacated counties at once and began the Cao family's rapid expansion.
At this time, the princes were getting rich, and many of them seized the opportunity of being given a free hand. Cao Cao did this, Liu Biao single-handedly captured Jingzhou, Yuan Shao captured Jizhou, and Yuan Shu gained nothing because Sun Zi, the governor of Nanyang, was killed by Sun Jian. The same is true for Nanyang.
Today's Jibei Kingdom has existed in name only and is actually controlled by Cao Cao, with its seat in Lu County.
At this time, Yang Feng came to the city. Lu County was extremely dilapidated and desolate. Even the defenders at the city gate were uneven. Several soldiers were standing listlessly at the door.
Yang Feng led the horse and walked over, lowering his voice and saying that he was returning to his hometown in Dongwuyang for a funeral and passed by.
The soldiers guarding the city heard that Yang Feng's voice was hoarse, like a woman's voice, so they stretched out their hands to lift Yang Feng's bamboo hat. Yang Feng raised her fingers and finally endured it. When the bamboo hat was lifted, Yang Feng's hat was revealed with a knife Scar's face startled the soldier and he couldn't help but take two steps back.
Yang Feng also made his face dark and ugly, and the soldier lost interest. He put down his bamboo hat and cursed: "What kind of village woman did you come from? Her ideas scare me to death and I have nightmares at night!"
He asked: "Where are you from and where are you going?"
Yang Feng replied: "Come from Taishan County and go back to my hometown of Dongjun."
The soldier stretched out his hand and opened his palm, "Ten coins for entering the city!"
Yang Feng was a little surprised. The value of money made in the late Han Dynasty was very low. The entry fee for this price can be said to be very low.
She counted out ten pieces of money from the bag and put it in the soldier's hand. The soldier waved his hand and said, "Go in!"
When Yang Feng heard this, she felt pretty good, so she led the horse and walked towards the city. However, another soldier looked at her back, became suspicious, and said, "Stop."
He walked up to Yang Feng, opened his bamboo hat, looked at it, and said, "What do you do at home?"
Yang Feng replied: "Farming."
The soldier said: "Raise your hand and show me."
Yang Feng stretched out her hand as instructed, and the soldier lowered his head. Seeing that Yang Feng's hands were calloused, he asked again: "How come you have a horse at home?"
Yang Feng said calmly: "Something happened in my hometown. I was in a hurry to get back, so I sold my property and bought a horse."
The soldier pondered, looked Yang Feng up and down, and finally said, "You have a problem."
"Follow me into the city, and I'll take you to see the city gate order."
Yang Feng didn't know how she exposed her flaw. Her hand holding the reins tightened, and she subconsciously wanted to take action, but she finally endured it.
She followed the soldiers for a few steps, and when she saw that they had entered the city, she walked towards a dilapidated house behind the city. She thought this was where the city gate order was.
Yang Feng's expression remained unchanged. She was not afraid of revealing her secrets. Unless there were hundreds of people coming across from her, it would be difficult to stop her.
The soldier turned around, looked at Yang Feng, and sneered: "You are not afraid of death. Now that Yanzhou and Xuzhou are fighting, the horses have been requisitioned. You can still buy horses. Who are you kidding?"
"I've come out to be a spy. I'll see the city gate order later and I'll punish you. I'll take care of everything."
When he saw that he had entered the city and saw that the dark and ugly woman in front of him had no way to escape, he immediately became proud.
Yang Feng had no choice but to put her hands in front of her chest and made a few gestures.
The soldier was stunned for a moment, then snarled, his stern face fell, and he muttered with a look of resentment, "Why didn't you people tell me earlier?"
"Let me walk more for nothing."
He looked helpless, turned around and left, "You can do what you want in the city."
Yang Feng looked at the other party's leaving figure and shook her head. She was naturally prepared. When she was in Taishan County, she contacted the Taiping Taoists who were operating privately. With a set of methods and secret codes that only the Yellow Turban executives would use, she succeeded. Won the other party's trust.
She stayed in there for a while and finally figured out that Taiping Road had indeed been infiltrated and controlled by Cao Cao. Later, after some twists and turns, she got the code and gestures representing the identity of the spies on Taiping Road in Yanzhou, but today she sent Used.
She was walking her horse through the city and found that the roads were muddy, full of potholes and mixed with filth, and the ditches on the roadside emitted a foul and unpleasant smell.
The thatched huts on both sides were in a state of decay and had not been repaired for a long time. The yellow mud mixed with the thatched roofs was broken into many holes, revealing black holes.
There are almost no vendors or shops on both sides of the street. People are lying under the walls on both sides of the road, leaning forward feebly.
The appearance of this city is very similar to the Taishan County that Yang Feng visited before. The spirit of its people is far inferior to that of Haixi City.
Yang Feng had to tell himself that Haixi was a commercial port, so it was naturally different from other places. Maybe other places in Guangling were not as good as Lu County.
After walking half a street, Yang Feng found a cake shop. An old woman with gray hair was sitting in front of a spoon spreading out noodles.
The pottery pot in her arms was filled with watery and dark batter, and she didn't know what kind of cereals were mixed in it. As Yang Feng came closer, she could smell the sour smell inside the pot.
She frowned slightly. This thing was obviously rancid. Can it really be eaten?
But thinking that all the cakes in the bag were eaten, she had no choice but to wrinkle her nose and walk forward and said, "Grandma, how much does a cake cost?"
The old woman looked up at Yang Feng and said, "Money can't buy this now."
"Either use cloth or silk."
Yang Fengqi asked: "Then why do the soldiers at the city gate receive green money?"
After hearing this, the old woman sneered and said, "The girl is from outside?"
"Is this a place like Rencheng where a woman like you can come?"
Yang Feng was confused and asked a few questions, but seeing that the old woman didn't want to say more, he took out a roll of linen from the bag, handed it to the old woman, and said, "Are these enough?"
The old woman took it, looked at it, and said, "That's enough for two pieces of cake. Just wait."
She poured the batter from the pottery basin onto the griddle, pushed it back and forth a few times with a wooden pusher, and a thin piece of dough gradually took shape. She shoved the wooden pusher between the dough cake and the griddle, and gently turned it over. , then turned over.
At this time, the aroma of wheat flour should have spread out, but a sour smell kept pouring into Yang Feng's nose, which made her almost want to spit it out, so she asked: "Grandma, is this cake sour?"
The old woman glanced sideways at Yang Feng and said, "It would be nice to eat some. Take the cakes and go out of the city quickly."
Yang Feng took the two pieces of noodles with furoshiki and took a bite while they were hot. Sure enough, she could taste the long-lost taste of rancid food on her tongue.
She barely swallowed one mouthful, but could not take the second one. She thought that she had eaten well after being arrested in Youzhou, but her appetite had increased. She couldn't help but ask: "Auntie, the food in this city is like this." ?”
The old woman sneered: "Of course not, but we only deserve to eat this."
"I tell you the truth, these rice noodles are fished out of the sewers of the officials' houses in the city."
When Yang Feng heard this, she almost vomited. Although she had a bad life in Montenegro, she had never eaten anything from the sewer.
She said angrily: "You old woman, why didn't you tell me earlier!"
The old woman shook her head and said: "Why, some people want to eat, but they can't eat yet!"
She pointed to the people on the street nearby who were looking here from time to time, and said, "Ask them, can they eat this kind of thing?"
Yang Feng turned around, and sure enough, she saw the beggars on both sides of the road staring at them, as if they were looking into the distance, but they didn't dare to approach.
She wondered: "They are hungry, why don't they dare to come and ask for food?"
The old woman said coldly: "Because even fishing for these residues from the gutter is not something everyone can do."
"My son and daughter-in-law are all slaves in the city guard's mansion. Only now am I qualified to go fishing in the sewers. If others dared to do so, they would have been beaten to death long ago."
"Even so, half of the money I sell has to be given to the city guard."
Yang Feng felt quite uncomfortable after hearing this. Just as he was about to speak, a Taiping Taoist alchemist came over and said in front of Yang Feng, "Is it you who made the gesture when you entered the city just now?"
"I heard that you are also the same way?"
After hearing this, Yang Feng made more than a dozen gestures. When the alchemist saw it, his expression suddenly became respectful, and he saluted Yang Feng and said, "I didn't expect that Master Fang is coming from afar, so please step aside and explain."
The old woman next to him jumped at this address and quickly stood up, only to see that Yang Feng had already left with the alchemist.
The old woman's face was gloomy and uncertain, and her heart was agitated. Taipingdao had regained power recently. If she offended these people of unknown origin, no one could protect themselves!
She was so uneasy that the dough on the griddle was all burnt and she didn't even know it.
(End of chapter)
