I am not Yuan Shu

Chapter 271 Cao Mengde's Golden Rice Bowl

After receiving Yuan Shu's invitation, Cao Cao sat opposite Yuan Shu, but he was a little reserved and did not dare to be the first to reach for his chopsticks.

After all, the person sitting opposite him was someone he had admired for a long time, and whose status and power far exceeded his own. No one would feel comfortable here.

Fortunately, Yuan Shu was already accustomed to getting along with such people. Seeing that he was reserved, he took the initiative to pick up some noodles, pickled vegetables and eggs for him and asked him to eat together. Then he ate the steamed buns and pickled vegetables in big mouthfuls, and ate three eggs in a row. His appetite was so big that Cao Cao was quite surprised.

However, seeing that Yuan Shu was eating so happily, Cao Cao was not in a hurry to talk to him now, and thought about discussing business after finishing the meal.

This rule of not talking while eating or sleeping should still be followed.

Perhaps it was due to the help of Yuan Shu, the big eater, that Cao Cao felt his appetite had been whetted. Normally he would not eat anything at this time of day, but now he felt very hungry. After finishing a table of food, he was still not satisfied and ordered some more food.

Yuan Shu also felt that he was not full, so he asked for some more food. He also asked Cao's chef to fry some venison. He put the fried venison between steamed buns, spread meat sauce on it, and took big bites of it, wolfing it down in an attempt to fill his never-satisfied stomach.

Cao Cao was full, and seeing Yuan Shu still eating bread and drinking goat's milk, he suddenly felt that there was something even more unusual about Yuan Shu.

For example, this amount of food is not something that ordinary people can have.

He can eat so much!

No wonder he could lead troops to fight.

He is obviously a master of Confucian classics, and he is also so strong and good at fighting. He is both civil and military. At a young age, he has the potential to become a general or a prime minister. He is also very humble. Such a person... is really much stronger than Yuan Shao.

The more Cao Cao looked at Yuan Shu, the more he felt admiration and yearning for him.

Apart from anything else, Yuan Shao would never get up until the sun was high in the sky, so he absolutely could not get up early to practice martial arts.

After Yuan Shu had eaten up all the food on the table like autumn wind sweeping away fallen leaves without leaving a single drop, and drank the last drop of goat's milk, Cao Cao gave Yuan Shu a towel to wipe his mouth.

Yuan Shu took it, wiped his mouth, tidied his appearance, and smiled again.

"Do you think I ate too much?"

Cao Cao was stunned and quickly shook his head.

"This... No! Not at all! You are strong and concerned about the country and the people, so you should eat more!"

Yuan Shu laughed out loud.

"That's right. On weekdays in Luoyang, there are many affairs to attend to. The Luoyang Palace is very large, and many things have to be handled by several departments. I run around day and night without a break all day long, so I get hungry within an hour or two after a meal.

So I always asked Chong to bring pickled vegetables and steamed buns with him. If I was hungry, I would eat a few steamed buns with some pickled vegetables to fill my stomach. I could only eat when it was time for dinner. There was nothing I could do. I was just hungry. Wherever I went, people there knew that I could eat.

Yuan Shu laughed out loud, holding his belly. This gesture also made Cao Cao, who had originally been a little restrained, unconsciously relax a lot.

He felt that talking with Yuan Shu was not as tense and serious as he had imagined, but rather much more relaxing. Yuan Shu did not at all convey the vague sense of alienation that Yuan Shao had.

This is indeed strange.

It is obvious that Yuan Shu's status is more noble than Yuan Shao, so why is he so approachable?

He must have grown up in a superior environment, so why doesn't he have the arrogance and contempt for others like Yuan Shao?

Cao Cao couldn't figure it out.

However, this is not important anymore.

Cao Cao straightened his appearance, changed his sitting posture to a serious one, faced Yuan Shu, and bowed to the ground.

"You gave me some time last night to think about it. Now, I have finished my thought. I am willing to follow you to Luoyang and do anything you need me to do."

Yuan Shu looked at Cao Cao kneeling on the ground, with a slight smile on his face.

He slowly stood up and walked to the opposite side of the table, next to Cao Cao, sat upright beside him, and helped him up.

"Okay, okay, okay, I thought you didn't want to follow me because of your brother's matter."

Cao Cao bowed again.

"No, I am not a student or former official of Yuan Benchu. I just remember our past friendship. If I meet him in Luoyang in the future, he will ask me why I changed my mind. I don't know how to answer."

Yuan Shu helped him up again.

"So now you know how to answer?"

"Yes."

Cao Cao laughed and said, "Captain Yuan is a great man of the country. He has condescended to visit me, humbled himself, presented me with generous gifts, and promised me a bright future. If I do not accept his offer, would it not be that I do not know the difference between good and evil, gratitude and resentment? It is my great fortune to be appreciated by Captain Yuan. How can I refuse his offer?"

Yuan Shu laughed.

"As you said, you and my brother are just friends from our youth, and there is no conflict of interest between us. Now that you have grown up, you will naturally pursue your own careers, for yourselves, for your families, and for the entire clan. A good bird chooses a tree to roost in, and a good minister chooses a master to serve. This is exactly the truth."

"Thank you, Captain Yuan, for your appreciation."

Cao Cao was deeply moved and bowed again, saying, "I am willing to serve Captain Yuan as a dog and a horse!"

"So good."

Yuan Shu laughed loudly, helped Cao Cao up again, and said, "I have an organization under my command, called Yi Xin Hui, which is composed of the most capable and thoughtful disciples among my students. They are the group of people I rely on the most. I see that you also understand Xin Xue. Would you like to join?"

When Cao Cao heard this, he knew that this organization was the most trusted group of people around Yuan Shu. If he joined them, he would be Yuan Shu's own. And once he became Yuan Shu's own, would he need to worry about his future?

This is simply a stable job for the Han people!

No, a golden rice bowl!
Moreover, I had just decided to join the cause, and Yuan Shu invited me to join this important organization, which showed how much he valued me!
As the saying goes, a gentleman will die for his confidant. Cao Cao was deeply moved by Yuan Shu's high regard for him and bowed again.

"It's my wish, but I don't dare to ask for my ear!"

Yuan Shu laughed again, helped Cao Cao up, and became more and more satisfied the more he looked at him.

The matter was settled just like that.

Later, in order to make it easier for Cao Cao to follow Yuan Shu, Cao Zhong made the decision to have Cao Cao come of age early and perform the ceremony of coming of age immediately, and invited the elders of the clan to preside over the ceremony. To show his recognition and respect for Yuan Shu, Cao Zhong also specially invited Yuan Shu to attend the ceremony as Cao Cao's superior and witness Cao Cao's coming of age ceremony.

Yuan Shu went there happily and participated in the entire ceremony of Cao Cao's coming of age. Then he learned from the elders of the Cao clan that Cao Cao's courtesy name had already been determined - Mengde.

On February 14, the second year of Zhengshi, Cao Mengde officially joined Yuan Shu's entrepreneurial team as an adult in his hometown of Qiao County and became a member of it. At the same time, he also officially left Yuan Shao's entrepreneurial team.

To express his welcome and to show off his magnanimity, Yuan Shu once again rewarded Cao Cao with 50 taels of gold, 200 taels of silver, and 20 pieces of Shu brocade, making Cao Cao the richest man among the younger generation of the Cao and Xiahou families, and a super-rich man with a fortune. Xiahou Dun, Cao Hong and others were so envious that they drooled and their eyes turned green.

So everyone was happy.

On the same day, Cao Cao made his first request to Yuan Shu to join his army.

He heard that Yuan Shu was very willing to recruit disciples to study under him, and that he had a particularly good brother named Xiahou Dun.

This man was the same age as him, and they got along very well. They were close friends, and he had both literary and military talents. He hoped that Yuan Shu could accept Xiahou Dun as his disciple and have him follow and serve him. Cao Cao would be very grateful if so.

Xiahou Dun.

Yuan Shu knew quite a bit about this person.

Apart from the stories about Blind Xiahou and the Perfect General, what is most commendable about him is his legendary life in which he never won a battle but never lost a promotion.

He was the first person to follow Cao Cao in his battles and had the highest status in Cao's camp. In the turbulent times of struggle for supremacy, he never won a battle but never lost a promotion. He was defeated countless times in his life and even set a shameful record of being held hostage by a thief at knifepoint in the military camp.

As a general, he was defeated repeatedly and was not a talented general at all.

However, when he was a local official, such as prime minister, county magistrate, etc., he was able to govern the local area well, appease the people, develop water conservancy projects, and promote agriculture.

Moreover, he was a very dedicated and honest person. He did not own any private property and was not interested in money. He would share any rewards with his soldiers and was compassionate to his subordinates. His personal conduct was worthy of praise.

All I can say is that this guy really doesn't know how to fight, and he might not even win a fight, but he does have some ability in managing the rear.

From another perspective, Cao Cao's recommendation of Xiahou Dun to himself was obviously a common wish of both the Cao and Xiahou families.

The Cao and Xiahou families are one, advancing and retreating together. In Luoyang, the previous generation has already joined the Yuan family and worked under Yuan Feng. Now they are pushing Cao Cao and Xiahou Dun to join them. It is clear that they want to commit the future of the entire family to Yuan Shu, are optimistic about Yuan Shu's future, and hope to make a class leap with Yuan Shu.

The older generation serves Yuan Feng, and the new generation serves Yuan Shu. Isn’t this a very appropriate thing to do?
It goes without saying that the Cao family came from a family of eunuchs and had a low social status, and was despised by the scholar class.

The Xiahou family is the descendant of Xiahou Ying, a hero of the Western Han Dynasty. However, by the time of the Eastern Han Dynasty, they had already fallen into decline. It is understandable that they chose to follow Yuan Shu in order to restore the glory of their ancestors.

These two families are among the more powerful local nobles, with strong financial and military power. They persisted in resisting during Wang Ji's rebellion and never followed him, which has already made their attitude clear, and it is time to reward them generously.

Accepting them would not only enhance Yuan Shu's own political and economic power, but also convey to the world Yuan's intention to treat meritorious officials well, which was like buying a horse's bones for a huge sum of money.

So Yuan Shu did not refuse, but summoned Xiahou Dun and rewarded him with gold, silver, and Shu brocade to show his attitude that he was willing to accept him as a member of Yuan Shu's group and give him the status of Yuan's disciple.

Xiahou Dun was overjoyed and knelt on the ground, expressing his willingness to serve Yuan Shu like a slave, to follow him forever and never betray him.

Later, on the same day, the Xiahou family urgently organized a coming-of-age ceremony for Xiahou Dun, allowing Xiahou Dun to officially become an adult. Yuan Shu also attended and participated in Xiahou Dun's coming-of-age ceremony, and witnessed the debut of the perfect general Xiahou Yuanrang.

After accepting the two brothers to join, Yuan Shu gave them some time to deal with their personal affairs. He sent people to contact generals in various places, and also sent people to Jizhou to contact Duan Xing to see what Duan Xing's next arrangements were.

In the following days, he inspected and traveled around Pei State, dealing with some emergencies.

Of course, it was more for the purpose of inspecting the "foundation" that he had established.

The amount of property, land, etc. snatched from the eunuchs and their remnants was so huge that in many places they could even be connected together. A rough estimate shows that one-fifth of the land in the entire Pei State was under his control.

Moreover, most of them are high-quality arable land with many tenants. Many places can be put into agricultural production immediately as long as the land is harvested and people are sent to take over. Agricultural income can be obtained quickly, and the income is quite considerable. There are even many ready-made water conservancy projects.

This shows the power of eunuchs and their remnants in amassing wealth and their intentions in running their businesses.

These guys never slack off when it comes to their own property and they keep all the facilities in good condition. However, they treat other self-cultivating farmers as harshly as possible. These rats are the main driving force behind the decline of the Eastern Han Empire!

But it doesn’t matter. Now everything these rats have belongs to him, Yuan.

He decided to build three large-scale farms in Pei State, one between the large triangle area of Feng County, Pei County and Zhuqiu County, another between Xiang County, Zhi County and Dan County, and the last one between Fuli County, Guyang County and Qi County.

Through the establishment of these three large and fine farms, he would be able to take control of a considerable portion of the economic base of this fertile and densely populated area. The human and material resources of Pei State would be under his control on a large scale, and he would become an important figure within Pei State.

He also planned to communicate with the local tyrants of Pei State when building Liangzhuang, and purchase a batch of land from them, so as to connect the three large Liangzhuangs in their respective areas and build three new small societies.

Future changes will start from these new small societies.

After considering this aspect, Yuan Shu felt that the original construction plan of thirty-three Liangzhuang was a bit conservative. It should at least be doubled to sixty-six. Otherwise, he would be unworthy of his status as the second most powerful person in the world.

The national population distribution at the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty was centered on Hebei and the Central Plains, especially between the Yellow River Basin and the Huai River Basin, which were the best developed and most densely populated, with the vast majority of the more than 50 million people concentrated here.

Other areas are relatively sparsely populated, with no one living within a hundred miles. Occasionally seeing a human settlement is like discovering a new continent. They are considered "wilderness" in the eyes of the Han people.

Therefore, the struggle for hegemony among the princes was known as the battle for the Central Plains.

Other places really lack the capital to compete for hegemony.

Yuanshu’s sixty-six Xinliangzhuang are mainly located in this area.

He will use this to seize a considerable portion of the population and means of production from the hands of other powerful families, incorporate them into his own village, and build his own absolute authority that is unaffected from the bottom up.

He will use Liangzhuang as the basis to shape his own base, and in the next few years, transfer his most important source of power from the Yuan family to Liangzhuang and Yixinhui, making this part of the innovative force the source of his own power.

In the future, he wanted to try his best to get rid of the influence of the Yuan family and the scholar group, remove the shackles imposed on him by the New Text School of Confucianism and the Old Text School of Confucianism, remove this layer of dependence, and embark on the path of complete independence.

In this way, he can truly implement his ideals and transform the entire society with the study of conscience.

Power never comes from top to bottom, but from bottom to top. Only in this way can we have real power and real autonomy to do what we want.

Yuan Shu had no interest in becoming a more powerful version of Liu Xiu.

From this perspective, he felt he had made a fortune.

(End of this chapter)