The person who roared was Cao Hong, Cao Cao's younger brother.
Standing opposite Cao Hong was Xu Huang, who had just left Yang Feng and joined Cao Cao's camp.
"Ziwen, what's wrong?" Xiahou Ba also reined in his horse and looked back at Cao Zhang in confusion.
"What are they arguing about?" Cao Zhang asked.
"Hey, what else is there? That Xu Huang just joined not long ago and went to Uncle Zilian (Cao Hong)'s account."
"What's wrong with him is that not only does he not know how to make Uncle Zi Lian happy, but he actually opposes him everywhere."
"When we were fighting Zhang Xiu, he actually stopped Uncle Zi Lian from letting his men plunder the people."
"We have been conquering all over the world for so many years. If we don't plunder, how can we motivate the soldiers?"
"You don't know Uncle Zi Lian's temper. You must not be able to stand the way he looks like this. I guess he is looking for trouble and deliberately gives him less military rations in order to cure him." Xiahou Ba explained to Cao Zhang.
"So that's it." Cao Zhang nodded suddenly.
In history, Xu Huang was known for his frugality and incorruptibility. Cao Cao once praised him as his Zhou Yafu. After his death, he was given the posthumous title of Zhuanghou and he was one of the five good generals of Cao Wei.
Unexpectedly, Xu Huang here would offend Cao Hong of the Cao clan not long after he joined Cao Cao's camp, which would definitely have an impact on his future career.
But this may be a good opportunity for him to recruit Xu Huang to his side and become his general.
Thinking of this, Cao Zhang flew off his horse and called Xiahou Ba: "Let's go over and have a look."
"What's there to see? Are you trying to teach Xu Huang a lesson for Uncle Zi Lian?" Xia Houba asked doubtfully.
In the past, Cao Zhang had a bad temper and would fight with others at every turn. Xiahou Ba thought that his old habit had returned.
"I want to teach someone a lesson, but it doesn't have to be Xu Huang, it might be Uncle Zilian!" Cao Zhang responded to Xiahou Ba as he walked forward.
"Teach Uncle Zilian a lesson?" Xiahouba looked at Cao Zhang who was walking in front with confusion. He didn't understand his intention and was worried that he would cause trouble, so he quickly led his horse to follow.
"Who is so bold as to make my uncle Zi Lian angry?!" Cao Zhang deliberately shouted in a higher tone.
The soldiers surrounding Cao Hong saw that he and Xiahou Ba were coming, and made way for him to walk in front of Cao Hong and Xu Huang.
"Ziwen, you're here!" Cao Hong responded with a grin when he saw Cao Zhang arriving.
He pointed at Xu Huang in front of him and said to Cao Zhang: "Who else can make me angry? It's this Xu Huang. I kindly brought people to deliver food to him in person, but he actually framed me for deducting his military rations. What do you think? Is it annoying or not?!”
"Is there such a thing? Xu Gongming (Xu Huang's nickname), you dare to frame my uncle, you are really courageous." Cao Zhang turned to look at Xu Huang, deliberately accusing him coldly.
Xu Huang suppressed his anger and bowed his hands to Cao Zhang: "Sir, Xu Huang does not dare to frame General Cao. It is indeed him who deducted our military rations!"
"General Cao said he would send us five thousand shi of food. But after we checked carefully, we found that it was actually only 4,000 shi, which is a full thousand shi less."
"What a joke, my uncle is the dignified General Li Feng and the Marquis of Guoming Ting. He will deprive you of military rations!?" Cao Zhang retorted to Xu Huang.
"Everything the general said is true!" Xu Huang said firmly.
"Truth? Okay, you can provide evidence to prove that you are telling the truth, otherwise I will take you to my father and ask him to punish you for framing Shangfeng!" Cao Zhang said to Xu Huang with a deliberately angry look on his face. .
"Okay! I will prove this to the young master!" Xu Huang agreed loudly.
He walked to the carriage with the grain and pointed at the dendrobium used to hold the rice: "This is evidence that General Cao has withheld military rations!"
Cao Hong's face changed slightly, and then he pretended to be calm and said: "This is Shengmi's Dendrobium. What can he prove?"
"This is the dendrobium that General Cao gave us to hold rice. There is something wrong with this dendrobium. It was used to hold five thousand dendrobium. But when we actually counted it ourselves, there was not enough at all!" Xu Huang said anxiously.
"These dendrobiums are all the same size, and it was you who packed five thousand dendrobiums in front of your eyes. I didn't tell you at the time, but you don't say enough now. Who knows if you secretly hid the food yourself!?" Cao Hong pointed at Xu Huang's nose angrily Cursed.
"That's right, what's wrong with this Dendrobium? You're obviously looking for trouble!" The observant Cao Zhang saw at a glance that there was something wrong with the Dendrobium. He deliberately scolded Xu Huang, stepped forward, raised the Dendrobium, raised it above his head, and threw it hard. On the ground.
Cao Zhang was very strong, and the dendrobium tree was smashed to pieces at that time, and the wooden strips were scattered on the ground.
A sharp-eyed soldier looked at the wooden strips on the ground and immediately discovered the problem: "This dendrobium has an interlayer!"
As soon as he shouted, other soldiers also discovered the problem with the dendrobium. They gathered around and picked up the dendrobium on the ground and looked at it.
"Get out of the way!" Cao Zhang roared!
The soldiers all knew Cao Zhang's bravery, and when they saw him getting angry, they all temporarily calmed down.
Cao Zhang stepped forward, picked up the dendrobium, walked up to Cao Hong and asked, "Uncle Zilian, there are layers in this dendrobium, so there will be less rice. Tell me, what's going on?"
"How do I know what's going on?!" Cao Hong said stubbornly and wanted to deny it.
"You brought this dendrobium, don't you know?" Cao Zhang sneered, "How about we bring this dendrobium to my father and ask him to judge what is going on?"
Cao Hong didn't expect that Cao Zhang would treat him like this. He approached Cao Zhang with some dissatisfaction and whispered: "Ziwen, we are a family. Why are you turning your elbows outward?"
Cao Zhang also responded in a low voice: "Uncle, of course I want to defend you, but now in full view of the public, you can't deny it."
"Father just issued a military order not long ago. Anyone who deducts military rations, regardless of military rank, will be executed immediately!"
"If Xu Huang really gets into trouble in front of his father, even if you, Uncle Zilian, have saved my father's life several times, I'm afraid he won't be able to show mercy to you, right?!"
"I advise you, uncle, to replenish the army rations quickly to calm down the public anger!" Cao Zhang's last few words already contained an obvious warning.
Cao Hong looked at Cao Zhang, nodded helplessly, then turned around and made a big move towards the soldiers beside him.
"You bastard, where did you get a bad dendrobium to serve as rice to General Gongming and others?"
The soldier was beaten, but he knew in his heart that this was Cao Hong's intention to make him a scapegoat, so he could only lower his head and dare not say a word.
"Gongming, this is a complete misunderstanding. The people below made a mistake."
"Don't worry, I will personally prepare the food right now and make up for the food I owe you!" Cao Hong stepped forward with a smile on his face and said to Xu Huang in an affectionate manner.
Xu Huang knew that Cao Hong was Cao Cao's clan brother after all, so he couldn't embarrass him too much, so he immediately handed over his hand and thanked him: "Thank you, General!"
Cao Hong did not dare to stay any longer, turned around and left quickly with his soldiers.
"Okay, it's all gone!" Xu Huang gave instructions to the soldiers surrounding him.
After the soldiers dispersed, Xu Huang walked up to Cao Zhang and bowed deeply: "Xu Huang, thank you sir on behalf of the brothers!"
"What are you thanking me for?" Cao Zhang asked with a deliberate smile.
"If the young master hadn't discovered that the mezzanine inside the dendrobium was destroyed in public, how could General Cao Hong be willing to replenish the food supply? I should thank the young master on behalf of my brothers!" Xu Huang revealed the mystery with one sentence.
"Hahaha..." Cao Zhang stopped trying to hide it and laughed, "It seems that with my little tricks, I can only fool my uncle who has no scheming ideas, but I can't hide it from you, General Gongming."
"Uncle Zilian is my elder after all, and the relationship with my father is extremely close. I can only use some tricks, otherwise it will be difficult for me to face him in the future." Cao Zhang explained to Xu Huang in a low voice.
"But as the son of Sikong, it is my duty to maintain military discipline for my father and ensure the food rations of the soldiers below. You don't have to be polite, General Gongming."
"Xu Huang understands. The young master understands the righteousness and is considerate of his subordinates. I deeply admire him." Xu Huang sincerely saluted Cao Zhang again.
"The one who is truly admirable should be you, general! You are the one who truly loves soldiers like a child and is not afraid of power. You are a rare general!"
"I have an unkind request. I wonder if General Gongming would like to follow me and be my general?!" Cao Zhang praised Xu Huang and then directly extended the invitation.
