Overthrowing Wei: Starting with Cao Cao's "I'd rather betray the world than surrender

Three days later, the caravan on the southern route finally entered Runan.

As soon as the city gates opened at dawn, thirty or forty oxcarts lined up outside the east gate. The carts were covered with thick straw mats, and signs for Huainan were hung on the shafts.

More convoys were arriving on the official road in the distance, indicating that there were more than just this one group.

The guards asked a few questions as usual, and seeing that it was just a grain caravan, they waved it through. The caravan entered the city without stopping and headed straight for the grain market in the east of the city.

The grain market was already bustling with activity. Stone scales stood under rows of stalls, and porters carried sacks of grain back and forth, the abacus clattering away.

Upon closer inspection, however, there were significantly fewer grain bags than usual.

As soon as the Huainan convoy arrived at the market entrance, someone came up to them and asked, "Are you selling or buying grain?"

The manager at the head of the caravan smiled and said, "Receive."

Upon hearing this, several grain merchants nearby exchanged glances. Normally, the grain market was mostly frequented by farms selling grain; it was rare to see people coming in large truckloads to buy it.

The shopkeeper, however, was in no hurry. He slowly walked to the scales, looked them over, and asked, "What's the price of grain today?"

The shop assistant at the scale replied, "It's gone up by half a cent compared to the previous two days."

The shopkeeper nodded, his tone casual: "I'll take as many as you have."

A grain merchant nearby gave a wry smile and said, "There's not much grain."

The shopkeeper was taken aback: "How could there not be enough?"

The grain merchant pointed south and said, "The military granary south of the city is also buying up grain."

The shopkeeper frowned: "Military warehouse?"

"Yes," the man said, "one cent more than the market price."

The shopkeeper paused for a moment before noticing that there wasn't much grain in the market. There were only a few scattered piles of grain sacks beside the scales, and many oxcarts that had just entered the market were being led south of the city.

He suddenly felt uneasy, but said nothing, only whispering, "Put it away first."

The Huainan caravan quickly dispersed. The porters, laborers, and accountants went to negotiate prices with grain merchants. But by the end of the morning, they had only collected less than two hundred shi (a unit of dry measure) of grain. The manager's face gradually darkened.

"Why is there so little?"

The person next to him whispered, "The grain has all been taken from the military granary."

The shopkeeper didn't speak, but glanced around the grain market. He suddenly realized something—the grain wasn't unavailable, but rather had been taken by someone else first.

That afternoon, grain prices suddenly fluctuated.

Someone next to the scale shouted, "It's gone up!"

The shopkeeper looked up and asked, "How much?"

"It's gone up by half a cent again."

The grain merchant shrugged: "All the grain in the city has been bought up."

The shopkeeper was silent for a while, then suddenly felt a little anxious. Their trip to Runan was to collect grain for Shouchun, and if they didn't collect enough grain, they wouldn't be able to explain themselves when they returned.

"Keep collecting," he said.

"How many?"

"We'll take as many as you have."

The convoy immediately raised its price. However, the grain supply in the market was dwindling, and many grain carts headed directly south of the city as soon as they entered. Meanwhile, long queues of oxcarts remained outside the military granary.

The next morning, grain prices rose another cent. The atmosphere in the grain market suddenly became tense. Some people whispered, "If prices keep rising, we won't be able to afford it." Others began to hoard their grain.

The shopkeeper, however, paid no heed to these details and simply ordered in a deep voice, "Raise the price again."

"How many?"

"Add one more point."

Grain prices immediately soared. The grain market was thrown into chaos, with grain merchants who had been observing suddenly putting their grain on the market.

"Sell!"

"Weigh this vehicle!"

One oxcart after another lined up in front of the scales, and the Huainan caravan finally began to buy grain in large quantities. The manager's expression softened slightly as he watched the carts being loaded with grain.

Little did he know that someone was watching all of this from inside the county government compound.

Chen Erhe stood under the eaves and said, "The people of Huainan have started looting grain."

Lu Ding nodded and asked, "What about the grain price?"

"It has already increased by three points."

Lu Ding chuckled softly: "It will rise further."

Chen Erhe asked, "Should we collect more?"

Lu Ding shook his head and said, "No rush."

He stood under the eaves, looking towards the east of the city. It was only a matter of time before grain prices rose. The more urgent the Huainan caravans became, the higher the prices would go. After a while, he said, "Release some grain."

Chen Erhe looked up and asked, "Now?"

"Now," Lü Ding said, "not too much."

In less than an hour, several carts of grain suddenly appeared in the grain market.

The Huainan caravan quickly surrounded them.

"How many?"

The grain merchant held up three fingers: "Add three cents to the market price."

The shopkeeper gritted his teeth: "Take it."

The oxcarts were filled to the brim, and the price of grain was driven higher and higher by the oxcarts themselves. By the third day, the price of grain was already 20% higher than it had been half a month earlier, and the wagons of the Huainan caravan were almost completely full.

The shopkeeper looked at the ledger and finally breathed a sigh of relief: "That's about it."

He was just about to have the last few cartloads of grain loaded when someone in the grain market suddenly shouted, "Official Notice!"

Several yamen runners posted a notice at the entrance of the grain market, and a crowd quickly gathered around it.

The shopkeeper frowned and went over to take a look as well.

The notice contained only one sentence:

The patrol cavalry of Nanshan were mobilized, and military rations were inspected.

The grain market will be suspended for three days.

The grain market fell silent in an instant.

The shopkeeper's expression changed slightly.

"pause?"

The person next to him whispered, "That grain..."

The shopkeeper's heart suddenly sank.

The grain had already been loaded onto the trucks, but with the grain market closed and grain inspections underway in the city, the convoy couldn't leave the city for a while.

Meanwhile, in the county government compound.

Chen Erhe looked towards the city gate in the distance and couldn't help but laugh: "They've almost finished loading their grain."

Lü Ding nodded. A breeze blew through the courtyard, and the lamplight under the eaves flickered gently.

Chen Erhe asked, "What do we do next?"

Lu Ding looked towards the east of the city, his tone calm.

"Let them worry for a bit."

In the distance outside the courtyard, the grain market was in complete chaos.

Many grain merchants gathered around the notice and whispered among themselves. Some cursed the government for being nosy, while others began to wonder if grain prices would rise again.

The people in the Huainan caravan were noticeably more agitated. Several of them paced back and forth beside the carts, occasionally glancing up in the direction of the city gate.

The shopkeeper stood in front of the caravan, looking at the oxcarts that were already fully loaded, his face growing increasingly grim.

They've been buying grain almost non-stop for the past three days, chasing after the price increase.

At first, grain was relatively cheap, but it became more and more expensive. By the last few truckloads, the price was much higher than before.

Originally, as long as the grain was transported out of the city and delivered to Shouchun, this price difference wouldn't have been a big deal.

But now—

The grain market suddenly shut down.

He was silent for a moment, then suddenly asked the person next to him, "Have you asked at the city gate yet?"

The man said in a low voice, "I asked. They said it's a military rations check, so the convoys leaving the city will be slower recently."

The shopkeeper didn't say anything more.

Slow down.

This sounds easy, but if their three hundred-odd cartloads of grain are delayed for a few days and the price rises again, the accounts will not be so easy to settle.

He looked up and glanced in the direction of the south of the city.

That's where the military warehouse is located.

The shopkeeper suddenly frowned.

Something seemed off from the very beginning.

They had just entered the city when grain was scarce; they had just raised prices when suddenly several cartloads of grain appeared; now that grain prices have risen, the grain market has suddenly come to a standstill.

He had a vague feeling in his heart.

It's as if someone is manipulating all of this from behind the scenes.