"Young master is right, but only part of it is right."
"Just because Cao Cao did this, Zhang Miao rebelled."
"But before the rebellion, Zhang Miao and the others must have been very opposed to this behavior and did not want to give their food and land to the Yellow Turbans."
"Even if the Yanzhou nobles could give Cao Cao a large amount of land to cultivate, the crops they planted would not be harvested immediately. There would still be a shortage of food while waiting for the harvest."
Chen Zhou directly pointed out the shortcomings of this.
Cao Cao had the same idea at the beginning.
But not long after he did it, he had to give up and had to find another way. After all, a million people were too many.
In fact, there were many things that Cao Cao did not fully tell Cao Ang, such as some cruel practices.
As a father, he certainly hopes to leave a good image in front of his son.
Cao Ang didn't know the truth about the massacre of Xuzhou at all. He only thought that Cao Cao launched the war and massacre to avenge his grandfather.
Xun Yu, who was also eavesdropping, couldn't help but his eyes lit up when he heard Zhang Miao's words of rebellion.
The person in the room was indeed an expert who analyzed Zhang Miao for the lord, but why did the lord hide outside and eavesdrop?
Seeing that Cao Cao had no other reaction, Xun Yu had no choice but to keep quiet.
They listened together.
"Master, you might as well think again and see if there is any other way to stabilize the surrendered Yellow Turban."
Chen Zhou once again raised this question to Cao Ang.
Cao Ang also believes that you can't rely solely on your husband to give answers to all questions, otherwise you will be no different from a useless person, so think about it seriously.
Chen Zhou reminded: "Young master, you don't have to be limited to what Cao Cao is doing now. You stand in Cao Cao's perspective and think about what you can do, no matter how you think about it."
Thinking according to this requirement, Cao Ang's thinking is divergent and he can think of much.
"If I were Cao Gong, my first thought would probably be to kill most of the people and leave only the ones I can afford," Cao Ang said.
"any left?"
Chen Zhou asked again.
Cao Ang indeed still had some, and continued: "I can also ask Yuan Shao to borrow food. Cao Gong is Yuan Shao's vassal. As long as he is willing to ask, he should be able to borrow food."
"or……"
He had another idea and added: "Kill half of the people, keep half of them, and borrow food. This way the pressure will not be so great."
"What you said is actually feasible!"
Chen Zhou added: "But Cao Cao didn't do that."
Cao Cao did not do this, but he had thought of all the ideas proposed by Cao Ang.
Upon hearing this, Cao Cao understood that Chen Zhou had indeed seen through his true intention of slaughtering Xuzhou, and wanted to guide Cao Ang to tell him, but Cao Ang did not think about it in such a cruel direction.
Sure enough, his eyes were vicious.
Because not many people know his intention.
"Master, can you think of why Cao Cao didn't do this?"
Chen Zhou added: "Whatever the young master can think of, he can definitely think of."
Cao Ang continued to think seriously, and after a long time asked: "Is it related to the attack on Xuzhou?"
"The attack on Xuzhou and the massacre of Xuzhou were the result of the inclusion of the Yellow Turbans."
Seeing that he couldn't figure it out, Chen Zhou stopped being embarrassed and explained: "Cao Cao didn't do that because he wanted to collect all the Yellow Turban troops. If he asked Yuan Shao to borrow food, the Yellow Turban surrendered soldiers would not be entirely Cao Cao's. If people are killed, it is not in line with the idea of complete integration and increasing strength."
After a pause, Chen Zhou continued: "Cao Cao was unwilling to let go of this only opportunity to become a true prince. He wanted to break away from Yuan Shao's vassal and no longer rely on anyone. Cao Cao, who only had seven or eight thousand troops, still If we cannot stand on our own without Yuan Shao, then we must recruit 300,000 Yellow Turban soldiers as a foundation."
"well said!"
Cao Cao was shouting in his heart.
This is exactly what he thought. By recruiting the Yellow Turban soldiers to stand on their own and break away from the shackles of Yuan Shao, this was the strategy they discussed.
A prisoner locked in a cell could also see through their development strategy. Xun Yu asked in surprise: "Lord, who is this person?"
Xun Yu also participated in the discussion of this strategy.
The only people who knew about it were a few of them, and even Cao Ang didn't know.
"Beside Zhang Miao, there is an ordinary subordinate officer."
Cao Cao lowered his voice and said, "I don't want him to know that I'm eavesdropping outside, and I don't want to expose my identity. Wen Ruo should keep quiet and continue listening."
Xun Yu was full of doubts, but he continued to listen.
There are such capable people under Zhang Miao. Xun Yu is very interested in the gentleman inside to see what else he can say.
“But what should we do with the millions of people who surrendered?”
Cao Ang finally understood his father's plan, but the problem came again.
Don't borrow food, don't kill people.
Yanzhou alone could not afford to support a population of one million, and the Yanzhou gentry would not allow Cao Cao to support so many people.
"Young Master, can you recall that the food shortage problem when millions of people first arrived? When did it begin to be alleviated?"
Chen Zhou did not directly tell the reason, but gave a little hint and let Cao Ang think about it.
Cao Ang scratched his head and went through the attack on Xuzhou in his mind, and then exclaimed: "When I came back from the first attack on Xuzhou, I no longer lacked food. What you mean, sir...is to massacre Xuzhou, how is that possible?"
He finally thought about Cao Cao's real intention of attacking and massacring Xuzhou, not just for revenge.
But food.
Kill the people in Xuzhou and take back the food and property in Xuzhou.
Food for millions of people is available.
There is no need to kill people or borrow food. Although the method is cruel, the effect is very significant and the purpose of recruitment is achieved.
"Mr. Cao...how could he do this?"
"Isn't the life of the people of Xuzhou not life?"
"He went on a killing spree just to recruit the Yellow Turbans and massacre the city to raise soldiers. It was just an excuse to avenge his father."
"Gong Cao is unfilial, cruel and unkind. He is an executioner who only knows how to kill and torture. He..."
Cao Ang was very angry and wanted to scold Cao Cao severely, but he didn't know how to scold him.
In the past one or two years, he had studied with scribes like Xun Yu and could not learn to curse. It was difficult for a son to curse his father.
If he massacred Xuzhou in order to avenge his grandfather, Cao Ang could still accept it in his heart. After all, Tao Qian was too hateful at the time, and he also wanted to save his grandfather.
But the real reason for the massacre was unacceptable to Cao Ang.
"The traitor..."
When Cao Cao heard what Cao Ang said about him, his face turned red with anger.
If Cao Ren hadn't held him back, he almost couldn't help but go in and drag Cao Ang out even if his identity was exposed.
"Lord, don't be impulsive."
Xun Yu immediately comforted him.
He knew about the massacre of Xuzhou and it was indeed cruel, but he could not stop it and later acquiesced.
The cost of massacring a city is the lowest, and it is also the easiest to obtain food and property. In the early days of Cao Cao's development, there was a serious shortage of money, food and materials, and the only thing he could do was to rob.
When fighting in troubled times, massacring a city is also a basic operation.
In addition, Xun Yu did not object to the later Colonel Mojin, who could provide Cao Cao with money.
"I am not angry."
Cao Cao took two deep breaths, his chest heaving, thinking that he would go home later and see how I deal with that little bastard.
They soon fell silent and continued to eavesdrop.
"If it were anyone else, there might not be anything that can be done about these millions of people."
"But Cao Cao was different. He was very courageous and crazy. He massacred the city to raise troops and did things that no one else dared to do."
"Rather than saying that Cao Cao incorporated the Yellow Turbans, it would be better to say that Cao Cao joined the Yellow Turbans."
"What the Yellow Turbans did, Cao Cao led the Yellow Turbans and did it again in Xuzhou. He did it without any psychological pressure and was ruthless. This is a traitor."
Chen Zhou's voice echoed again.
Cao Cao's eyes sparkled when he heard Chen Zhou's evaluation of him.
He felt that Chen Zhou seemed to admire him very much. He did not think that the massacre of the city was against the laws of nature, but was just a last resort in troubled times. He immediately felt like he had found a close friend.
