Chapter 158 Birds of a feather flock together, Liu Xun takes the bait In Wan County, Lujiang, while Qin Zhen was leading his troops in a standoff with Chen Ce, Liu Xun was also paying close attention to the military situation in the north. Because Liu Xun in this timeline is far less powerful than in the original history. After all, during the warlords' infighting at the end of the Han Dynasty, resources were limited, and it was a cycle of cause and effect that saw the increase of one thing while the decrease of another. In the original course of events, after Yuan Shu was defeated, most of his soldiers and generals went south to join Liu Xun, which resulted in Liu Xun having a large number of soldiers and horses under his command, and with the assistance of Liu Ye, he naturally dominated the Jianghuai area. But in the current timeline, Liu Bei suddenly rose to power and robbed Liu Xun of a lot of opportunities. Not only did he lose his troops, but he also lost the money and food that he should have obtained. Therefore, Liu Xun now has only more than 20,000 soldiers and his territory is limited to a few counties south of Lujiang River. Although he has a navy, its strength is very worrying. Also, Lujiang is not as big as Huainan, and its total population is only over 400,000. Sun Ce's previous attack caused a large loss of population in Lujiang, and there were also several rebellions. Now the total population of Lujiang County is less than 300,000.

In addition, Liu Bei had seized all the counties north of Lu'an, so the population under Liu Xun's rule was only about 100,000 people. More than one hundred thousand people have to support more than 20,000 or nearly 30,000 troops. This kind of pressure is extremely huge! After knowing that Qin Zhen was not here to fight him, Liu Xun was briefly surprised and then fell into melancholy. He was surprised because Qin Zhen's target was not him, but he was worried because even if Qin Zhen did not attack him, the money and food in his hands would not last until next year. So he could only pay attention to the war in the north while calling all his followers to ask for advice: "Speaking of this general, I was originally from Langya. I first fought against Dong Zhuo, and later followed Yuan Shu. I have been active for many years!" "Afterwards, Yuan Shu proclaimed himself emperor, and now the country is in decline. All the counties have fallen, and only Lujiang has survived." "I originally wanted to station troops here to protect the country and the people, but I am worried that the treasury is short of money and food." "It's almost March now and the treasury is running low on money and food!" "When I heard that Qin Zhen was heading south, I had no time to worry about it. Now that he is not heading south to seize the city, our army should worry about money and food." "I wonder if you have any good ideas to help me find money and food to spend?" When everyone heard this, they looked at each other in surprise. Most of these retainers are brave and aggressive people, so there is no problem letting them go to fight. But asking them to find ways to make money is really hitting a blind spot. But after all, they still received favors from Liu Xun, so even if there was no other way, they had to think of a solution. After a brief discussion, he said to Liu Xun: "Since the treasury is short of money and grain, why not call on the big families in the city to borrow grain to get by?" "If it is not enough, send people to search everywhere. The people may have some extra food." When everyone said this, Liu Xun shook his head secretly. Grain borrowed from aristocratic families must be repaid.

Besides, there are not many aristocratic families in Lujiang now! When Sun Ce besieged Lujiang for half a year, the people in the city were so hungry that they started cannibalizing their own children. Even half of the people in the largest family, the Lu clan, starved to death. From then on, the small nobles in Wan County almost disappeared, and the big nobles hated them extremely. Who would be willing to lend him food in this situation? The people have surplus grain, but that must last until the autumn harvest. If they collect the grain now, not only will it be bad for our reputation, but we're afraid that people everywhere will rebel after the spring! Although Liu Xun loves money, he would not do such a thing as draining the pond to catch fish! Thinking of this, he couldn't help but turn his gaze to Dong Qian who had offered advice earlier and said: "I wonder if you have any strategy to teach me?" Dong Qian thought for a moment and said to Liu Xun: "I heard that Liu Bei built a workshop in Shouchun to sell silk paper, making tens of millions of dollars a month!" "Now that Qin Zhen is on the western expedition to attack Chen Ce, Shouchun is short of troops. Why not attack it to get money and food?" Upon hearing this, Liu Xun stroked his beard and said in deep thought: "I have also heard about Liu Bei selling silk paper!" "But Shouchun is short of troops, while Hefei is well-equipped. If our army attacks Shouchun, we will be attacked by Qin Yi. This is not feasible!" In fact, he was also jealous of Liu Bei's business in Shouchun. But even though he is jealous, the problem is that he can't beat Liu Bei now! Although Qin Zhen is now on the expedition, his troops are not very far away from him, and Qin Yi also has troops in Hefei. If he launches a surprise attack on Shouchun, he would be hiding in the enemy's trap! It might be possible to get money and food, but whether or not one could bring them back alive was another matter. After his rebuttal, Dong Qian stopped insisting and stroked his beard and said: "Since Shouchun is unacceptable, the only people left are Liu Biao, Sun Ce, and Hua Xin." "Perhaps we can send an envoy to borrow 10,000 or 20,000 hu from each family, which can also help our army's urgent needs!" When Liu Xun heard this, he shook his head again and said: "As for these three families, Liu Biao and I have no relationship. If I go there without any money, I'm afraid he won't be willing to lend me the money!" "Sun Ce is now unable to take care of himself, so he may not have enough food!" "Hua Xin lives in Yuzhang, where there is little grain and few soldiers. How can he be willing to lend it to me?" Seeing this, Dong Qian shook his head and said: "If we follow the general's advice, our army will have no more money or food. Our survival is in danger. We must make a decision quickly!" "In my opinion, Liu Biao's army is strong and our army cannot afford to provoke him;" "Sun Ce can be used as an aid, but should not be used as a scourge;" "Only Hua Xin has a small army and few generals, and he lives in Yuzhang. Even if he has no food to borrow, we can still ask him for it!"

"If he agrees, then that's fine. If he doesn't agree, then the general will lead the army south in person and ask for the food." "Otherwise, when the food runs out this autumn, the general will have only his troops but no strength to fight again!" "When that happens, what will the general do next?" His meaning was very straightforward: make your choice now while you still have the chance. Otherwise, when there is no food, you will have no chance to choose. When Liu Xun heard this, he was startled. After thinking for a moment, he nodded and said: "Sir, what you said is true. At this critical moment of life and death, we should not care about empty courtesy!" "I will send people south to Yuzhang to ask for money and food!" He immediately sent envoys south to ask Hua Xin for tens of thousands of stones of grain and grass for support. After the discussion, his followers dispersed. Among them was a man named Kou Cai, who was originally from Lujiang. Because of his bravery, he was recruited by Liu Xun. But Liu Xun only kept retainers and did not let them lead the army, so their lives were comfortable but dull. He had just returned home from the county government, when he saw his wife approaching him with a letter and saying: "Husband, there are guests at home!" When Kou Cai saw this, he thought differently: "Where are you from? What's your name?" Upon hearing this, his wife hurriedly said: "I don't know the person's name, but he said he had a letter from an old friend. He left this letter in a hurry and left without staying!" Although Kou Youcai did not lead the army, he stayed by Liu Xun's side for many years, and was naturally influenced by what he saw and heard. He knew that this matter was unusual, so he hurriedly said to his wife: "Don't tell anyone else about this!" After giving this warning, he took the letter straight into his home, opened it and read it in detail, his expression suddenly brightened. This letter was written by Mei Cheng at the suggestion of Qin Zhen. In the book, the author first establishes a friendship with Kou Cai, and then exaggerates the unfair treatment he received in Liu Bei's army. Now he intends to join Liu Xun's army and is willing to join Liu Xun, and he has a large amount of money and food to offer! When Kou Youcai saw the book, he read it over and over again. After confirming that it was Mei Cheng's handwriting, he immediately clapped his hands and said in great joy: "This is an opportunity God has given me to achieve great things!" As he said this, he secretly marveled at the perfect timing! It just so happens that Liu Xun is short of money and food, and Mei Cheng has money and food to offer! If I tell Liu Xun about this, how could he not reward me? But as the saying goes, birds of a feather flock together. The reason why Kou Cai and Mei Cheng are friendly is because they have similar personalities. Seeing that he had made a contribution, he decided to keep it for himself, regardless of Mei Cheng's life or death. But he searched over and over again and could not find any record of the money and grain. He was annoyed at Mei Cheng's caution and had no choice but to leave the house and go straight into the county government. At this time, Liu Xun dismissed all his guests and felt depressed, so he invited dancers to perform.

Unexpectedly, while he was at the banquet, he heard a guest under his command asking to see him. He immediately frowned and asked him to come back tomorrow. Unexpectedly, the people in the palace just went down to report, and soon came back to report: "Kou Cai has gone, but I present this book to you!" When Liu Xun saw the book, he was naturally not happy, but he still took it and read it. After reading it once, he was immediately invigorated and said hurriedly: "Go and find Kou Cai for me!" In his moment of joy, he no longer had any interest in watching the performance. He just kept flipping through the book. He read it more than ten times and couldn't put it down. But just like Kou Cai, he looked around but couldn't find the money and food, and was puzzled for a moment. Since Mei Cheng wants to surrender, he must have given a generous gift. Why is he just empty talk? Could it be that Kou Cai secretly took it down and wanted to use it to threaten me? While he was thinking, he was furious. When Kou Youcai returned, he ordered without waiting for explanation: "Come here, help me capture this greedy man!" When Kou Cai saw this, he was shocked and shouted: "My lord, I am loyal to you. How can I forget my principles for the sake of profit?" Liu Xun listened, threw the letter to the ground and cursed: "If that's the case, why is there nothing after this book?" "Since Mei Cheng wants to surrender, where is the gift mentioned in the book?" Kou Cai heard it and said with a wronged look on his face: "My lord, I don't know. Although I am friends with Mei, I don't like his cunningness!" "Today he only sent me a book, and didn't say anything else!" "I have received great kindness from you, my lord, and I have not yet repaid you. How dare I conceal this?" Seeing him like this, Liu Xun didn't think he was hiding anything. This means that Mei Cheng did not originally mention where the money and grain were in this letter! What does this mean? After thinking for a while, he still couldn't figure it out, so he asked someone to invite Dong Qian over for questioning. After Dong Qian arrived, he told the story and then asked: "In your opinion, why is this happening? Is this a trick?" When Dong Qian heard this and read the letter carefully, he smiled and said: "If Mei Cheng wrote down the details of where the money and grain were, he must have been deceiving, because Qin Zhen is a man of many plans and should not be underestimated." "But now Mei Cheng is being evasive, which shows that he is not lying!" "Because Mei Cheng and Qin Zhen are not on good terms, he was beaten by him and cannot move around easily. Although he wants to surrender, it is difficult for him to come!" "If he reports the news in detail, our army will take the money and food for themselves and not care whether he lives or dies." "So I sent this letter first to confirm whether the general is willing to accept surrender." "If the general is interested, he will send someone to take over the meeting. He will naturally feel relieved after receiving the general's promise." "If the general has no intention and does not tell us where the money and food are, our army will have no use for this book!"

"I have long heard that this person is treacherous and lustful, and cunning, so this behavior is reasonable!" After hearing this explanation, Liu Xun naturally thought that Mei Cheng was a very thoughtful guy! To be honest, when it comes to the generals under Yuan Shu, he only knows Mei Qian and knows that Mei Qian has a brother named Mei Cheng. I don’t know much other information about Mei Cheng! And now, after listening to what Kou Cai and Dong Qian said, he formed an impression of Mei Cheng in his mind. It is certain that this guy is most likely a cunning villain! Naturally, such a person would not be valued by Liu Bei and Qin Zhen, who were known for their benevolence and righteousness. Now that he has been punished by Qin Zhen, it would be strange if he didn't have any rebellious thoughts! Thinking of this, he became more certain of the authenticity of the letter and hurriedly said to Dong Qian: "Since this man is like this, this letter is probably true. Now that he doesn't tell us where the money and food are, what should our army do?" When Dong Qian heard this, he stroked his beard and smiled: "This isn't a difficult matter. I see that Mei Cheng values ​​profit so much, so I'll take the profit first!" "General, you may as well send an envoy to convey the seal to Mei Cheng and appoint him as a captain. Once he gets our army seal, he will be at ease and will tell us where the money and grain are!" "At present, Qin Zhen is far away in Huoshan, and Shouchun is empty. If the money and grain are not far away, our army can go and get them, which will solve the shortage of money and grain. We should act quickly!" When Liu Xun saw this, he nodded repeatedly, and then ordered his clerks to go north with Kou Cai to meet Mei Cheng. (End of this chapter)