Chapter 713 Disaster!
After Yuan Shu's death, the rebellion in Runan did not stop.
When Cao Cao led his army to attack Runan, what he saw was a scene of hell on earth.
"What happened in Runan?"
This is what Cao Cao and everyone wants to know most.
The spies sent out in all directions brought back the news, and Cao Cao and others listened to the whole story in silence and shock.
A mutiny broke out in Yuan Shu's army, and a civil uprising also broke out in Runan, and there was more than one uprising.
These rebels were not just ordinary civilians.
When a country is under a reign of terror, ordinary people will naturally suffer.
But in fact, the powerful are also miserable. These people are the main source of the army's elite, and are also responsible for providing food and fodder to the warlords.
If you meet a normal warlord, you can still cooperate with him. If you meet a tyrannical monarch, you are lucky if you can keep your family safe.
It is obvious that the powerful people in Runan County are not lucky enough.
Yuan Shu treated every citizen under his rule equally, regardless of whether he was noble or not.
Naturally, he was alienated by everyone.
The Yuan family of Runan faced a devastating disaster and could only rely on the city to defend against the enemy, but lives were still lost.
There were over a thousand members of the Yuan family's immediate family, and nearly half of them died. This was the worst disaster since the Later Han Dynasty.
It was not just an offensive and defensive battle between the Yuan family and the rebel army, there was also a fierce battle among the rebel armies themselves, and the entire Runan County was in chaos.
Faced with the complicated situation in Runan County, Cao Cao only felt that his headache was getting worse.
What he wanted was an intact Runan County, so that he could control the complete Yanzhou and Yuzhou as well as Henan County, the core of Sizhou.
He would become the greatest warlord in the world, and would not be afraid even when facing Yuan Shao who had conquered Youzhou.
Liu Bei, who was once his equal, was no longer his opponent.
But the prerequisite is that he must receive the entire Runan County.
Without waiting for Cao Cao to ask, Dong Zhao said in a deep voice: "My lord, the rebellion in Runan must be quelled with swift and resolute action.
You thought that they should suppress and pacify the enemy at the same time.
Those who harbor evil intentions, deliberately indulge in rebellion, must be killed without mercy and resolutely.
And we have to kill a lot!
For those who are willing to surrender and stabilize the situation, we should appease them first and see the results.
When these people saw the blood, they felt indulgent in their hearts.
They are no longer good people, so we must treat them with caution, or else we will be bitten back at the slightest mistake."
All the counselors had solemn expressions on their faces.
Humans are just like wild beasts. Once a wild beast eats a human, it will never forget the taste and will continue to eat humans.
Once people start to cause chaos, they will continue to cause chaos.
The people of this world are prone to rising up at any time, and those who have experienced this will all become restless elements in the future.
Cao Cao sighed. Even if he occupied Runan, he had to be careful here in the future. Who knows when there would be another rebellion here.
Although Xun You had a solemn expression on his face, he consoled her gently, "My lord, there is no need to be so pessimistic.
Among all the prefectures and counties in Guandong, which one has not experienced the Taiping Rebellion?
How could the chaos in the hearts of the people of the world only last for such a short moment?
Our army is approaching the border, and the rebel leaders in the country will certainly be afraid. It will not be difficult to pacify them. My lord, you can send one person to lead the army to accept their submission.
Yuan Shu was defeated too quickly, and the other princes may not have entered Runan yet.
Now you should lead the army in person to stop Liu Biao, Luo Chu and Liu Bei from entering the country. This is the most crucial point.
A complete Runan County will make the imperial court even more powerful."
After some more discussion, the group left the camp and began the final step of the Runan attack.
Just as Xun You said, the advisers under the three men could all guess that Yuan Shu would be defeated, but they never thought it would happen so soon.
The first person to receive the news of Yuan Shu's defeat was Liu Biao of Jingzhou.
Few of the Jingzhou gentry were willing to take the initiative to attack, because they had caused many casualties in the battle with Yuan Shu, and many of them had grudges against Yuan Shu.
After Liu Biao and Nanyang Prefect Zhao Hong reached a reconciliation, Zhao Hong temporarily became a vassal of Liu Biao.
To the west of Runan County is Nanyang County.
When Liu Biao led his army halfway, he saw groups of people in miserable condition, and even some powerful people fleeing in groups from Runan County to Jingzhou.
When Kuai Yue saw this scene, he felt something was not good. When two armies were fighting, it was the time when the control over their rule was the strictest.
During the Warring States Period, whenever there was a war, the people were controlled like they were in a prison.
Kuai Yue pulled the fleeing people over and asked them, and learned the news of Yuan Shu's defeat.
Liu Biao was dumbfounded and said, "Yuan Shu has more food and manpower than Cao Cao. Even if he is defeated, how could he be defeated to such an extent?"
Kuai Yue gritted his teeth and said, "It's more than just a crushing defeat.
They were just like paper, they failed without any struggle. Even if Cao Cao let hundreds of thousands of people stand still and chop them down for three days and three nights, even if the blades were curled up and the arrows were all shot out, he would still not be able to chop and kill them all.
Yuan Shu is such a waste!
waste!"
The more Kuai Yue thought about it, the angrier he became. Yuan Shu's sudden defeat would most likely lead to Cao Cao's sudden increase in power, making him a match for Yuan Shao.
This is simply the worst outcome for Jingzhou.
Kuai Yue was a typical local figure in Jingzhou. He was unwilling to waste Jingzhou's strength to fight for the world with Liu Biao. He was prepared to surrender directly by offering land after the overlord of the Central Plains emerged, and still retain his title of nobility.
Before, Kuai Yue had always supported Yuan Shao because he believed that Yuan Shao had the capital to unify the world and would sweep across the Central Plains sooner or later.
But it is not necessarily the case now. If Cao Cao and Yuan Shao are of similar strength, who should we join?
Kuai Yue couldn't tell who would win, so he didn't dare to take side.
He also did not dare to jump back and forth between the two. Being indecisive was a big taboo. Even if Jingzhou could surrender normally in the future, what about the Kuai family?
The more Kuai Yue thought about it, the more anxious he became, and he had no idea how to break the impasse.
…
On the river, the waves were roaring, and the big ships were suppressing the wind and waves. The Jiangdong army naturally went to attack by boat.
Jiangxia County is just south of Runan County, and people also fled here.
Luo Chu and other high-ranking military officials from Jiangdong were all on the big ship. It could be said that except for the two Zhangs, who were purely civil officials in charge of internal affairs, all of them came with the army.
Luo Chu was really prepared to fight a battle with Cao Cao.
Zhou Yu and Lu Su were accompanying Luo Chu, and they were discussing asking Cao Cao to cede the five southern counties of Runan County to Jiangxia County.
Then Zhou Tai's surprised voice was heard from the vanguard's boat.
"Sir, there is a body under the river!"
Corpse?
Luo Chu and others heard the sound and walked to the deck of the ship. At a glance, they saw a corpse drifting out from Runan County in front of them.
That’s a lot of dead bodies!
Moreover, those corpses had been soaked in the water for who knows how long, and they were just floating downstream.
After it was completely swollen and rotten, its original appearance could no longer be seen, but the tragic scene was still unforgettable for everyone.
How many people died?
How could it flow here?
This is what Luo Chu and the others thought. It was totally unbelievable. Lu Su said uncertainly: "Is there a big battle in Nanyang?
Impossible!
There was no warning in Jiangxia County. I couldn't have not known that this was a major battle between Yuan Shu and Cao Cao?"
Luo Chu looked at the swollen corpses and felt waves of coldness attacking his whole body.
Then there's the tingling sensation on my scalp.
He had never felt this way before, fear invaded his heart.
Almost at the moment when that heart-wrenching feeling enveloped his heart, he shouted: "Warn everyone immediately not to touch these corpses!
Beware the plague!
Beware the plague! "
In order to find out the identities of these bodies, some of them were carried onto the deck and after receiving Luo Chu's order, they were quickly thrown into the water.
When Luo Chu came back to his senses from his brief fear, he found that the corpse was still floating downstream, which was extremely dangerous!
Because the downstream is Jiangdong!
Let these corpses float to Jiangdong. In such hot weather, the area south of the Huaihe River is warm and humid, which is a natural place for the plague to occur.
But salvaging the bodies like this would be courting death.
The army was always prone to plague. Since Luo Chu came to Jiangdong, large-scale plagues had actually occurred twice in the army.
They were all brought under control, but the process of conquering the Shanyue was still interrupted.
There is no time to take precautions on normal days, so how could one naturally and proactively provoke a corpse that is extremely likely to carry the plague at this time?
dilemma!
The means of treating plague in this era are still too weak, and it almost entirely depends on humans to fight the plague.
Zhou Yu, Lu Su and others had never seen Luo Chu look so terrified.
Ever since Luo Chu entered Jiangdong, he has always looked calm and relaxed no matter what he does, as if nothing in this world is difficult.
But not now!
Luo Chu understood that he could only accomplish what those people could accomplish, and things like plague were beyond his ability.
After just one second of hesitation, Luo Chu had already made up his mind.
He immediately said to Lu Su and Zhou Yu: "Quickly send a team of troops to intercept all the corpses flowing to Jiangdong, and then cover them all with lime and burn them.
After the bodies are burned, all the soldiers who salvaged the bodies must be washed with boiled water and then organized into a separate army.
Aren’t there the newly captured Shanyue slave soldiers in the army?
Just let them go. After they complete the task, it will be counted as a merit for them, which will help them to atone for their sins slowly.
He immediately sent people back to Jiangdong, and at the same time invited doctors from various counties, and gathered all the medicinal herbs in the counties to be prepared for any eventuality.
The rest of you will follow me to Runan to see what the situation is like there."
Lu Su was shocked. Luo Chu's arrangement was mainly for defense, not offense. He agreed at first, then asked in confusion: "Sir, there are not many corpses to be dealt with after the war. Why are you so cautious this time?"
Things like plague are unpredictable, no one knows when it will come.
Sometimes you see corpses piled up like mountains, flies flying around, and the stench is extremely bad. Everyone thinks something is going to happen, but in the end nothing happens.
Sometimes there is nothing serious, but a big epidemic occurs just because the army is not acclimatized to the local climate and does not pay attention to hygiene. Who can say for sure?
Hearing this, Luo Chu said coldly: "I was born in the Luo family in this state, so I am naturally more proficient in medical skills than you. My uncle is a great doctor in the world, and he often studies plague.
Since entering Jiangdong.
The frequency of plagues in Jiangdong has decreased, and the degree of harm has also decreased, which is due to the proper prevention measures taken by the state.
Now, the south of the Huaihe River has not seen the sun for more than a month, and there have been continuous plum rains in recent days, which is the time when the plague is breeding.
Although these rivers are the means of survival for millions of people, they actually carry countless diseases.
This is why the state requires everyone to drink boiled water
This is to prevent diseases in these raw waters.
The corpses were rotting and soaking in the rivers. In the warm and humid rainy season, hundreds of corpses gathered together, it was simply horrifying!
The state has never been so frightened as it is now!
Diseases kill people without being seen, so you all need to be extremely careful. You don’t want to die young from disease before you achieve success, right?”
Now Zhou Yu and Lu Su both felt a chill coming over them, and the cool air rushed straight into their necks.
The Jiangdong army, which was originally heading directly to Runan, began to deal with the corpses, and most of them left here at an accelerated speed.
Liu Bei naturally encountered the same thing as Luo Chu, but a problem arose.
Luo Qi was stationed in Donghai County and taught his new disciple, Zhuge Liang.
The reason why Luo Qi did not follow Liu Bei out was that if he just wanted to come up with a surprise attack, Liu Ye and Xu Shu, who had just joined Liu Bei's camp, would be completely enough.
Liu Bei led the Xuzhou army and marched quickly towards Runan County. He would never allow Cao Cao to get the complete Runan County.
The five traditional states east of Luoyang, namely Jizhou, Yanzhou, Yuzhou, Qingzhou and Xuzhou, were the foundation for Emperor Guangwu to prosper the Han Dynasty.
These five states, together with the Sanhe region, were the most populous and economically prosperous regions in the world during the hundred years of the Later Han Dynasty.
The three people who occupied these five states were Yuan Shao, Cao Cao and Liu Bei.
Yuan Shao has the entire Jizhou, most of Qingzhou and Henei County, and is likely to have Youzhou and Bingzhou as allies in the future. Cao Cao has Yanzhou and Henan County, and Liu Bei has Xuzhou and Taishan County.
This was originally a situation where Cao Cao and Liu Bei jointly fought against Yuan Shao, two weak ones against one strong one, which was very reasonable.
If Cao Cao got Runan County, he would have Yanzhou plus Yuzhou and Henan County.
The situation in the five states would instantly become one where Cao Cao and Yuan Shao were both strong and Liu Bei was weak.
How could Liu Bei bear this?
No matter who was the boss between Yuan Shao and Cao Cao, Liu Bei knew that he would definitely die, as those two people would definitely unite and divide him up.
For Liu Bei now, his failure is certainly sad, but Cao Cao’s success is even more heartbreaking!
Even if he tried his best, he would definitely break Cao Cao's wings and force Cao Cao to become his brother in distress and fight against Yuan Shao together.
It was simply a dream for Cao Cao to think of flying solo and being beautiful alone!
————
In the summer of May in the eighth year of Jian'an, the river Yu was flooded and everywhere was covered with water.
In the summer of June in the eighth year of Jian'an, there was a drought in Yan and Yu, and the land was barren for a thousand miles.
In the seventh month of the summer of the eighth year of Jian'an, corpses floated in the river, and a great epidemic broke out. ——"Book of the Later Han Dynasty·Records of the Five Elements"
(End of this chapter)
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