The Three Kingdoms: Home Travel

On that day, Cao Cao and Jiang Zhe returned to Yijing and entered a mansion in the city. This mansion originally belonged to a wealthy man who had fled the city, but was requisitioned by Cao Cao as a temporary residence because it was vacant.

Cao Cao and Jiang Zhe entered the main hall of the mansion, only to find Yuan Shao already there, pacing back and forth, frowning as if deep in thought. Beside Yuan Shao stood two burly men, clearly soldiers.

Cao Cao and Jiang Zhe exchanged a glance, then Cao Cao stepped forward, clasped his hands in greeting, and said, "Brother Benchu, how have you been?"

"Mengde?" Yuan Shao turned around abruptly, glancing secretly at Jiang Zhe beside Cao Cao before smiling and clasping his hands in greeting to Cao Cao, "Mengde... um, just now... I entered Yijing, but couldn't find you anywhere. Hah..." "Oh," Cao Cao, following Jiang Zhe's earlier words, forced a smile and said, "I didn't know you were coming today, brother, and didn't greet you properly. Please forgive me..." As for just now, alas, I went to the military camp and looked at my soldiers... alas. I brought them here, but couldn't bring them back safely. I feel very ashamed." "Uh?" Yuan Shao's face froze. Seemingly embarrassed, he forced a smile and said, "Mengde is highly knowledgeable... I thank you!"

Jiang Zhe summoned a servant from the mansion and instructed him to prepare some more tea. He then smiled and said to Yuan Shao, "Lord Yuan, your journey must have been arduous. However, I must apologize for not being able to accept your kind offer, Gongsun Ba." "Hehe!"

Yuan Shao opened his mouth as if to speak, then hesitated, before awkwardly saying, "Heh heh. I never expected that old scoundrel Gongsun to be so easily defeated, losing his temper so readily." "No! My lord is doomed!" Jiang Zhe shook his head, saying solemnly, "It's not that Gongsun Zan is useless. It's that our soldiers have fought bravely. If my lord were to visit our army, he wouldn't say such a thing."

"Shouyi!" Cao Cao said with a frown, then turned apologetically to Yuan Shao, "Benchu, please don't blame me, Shouyi is..." Yuan Shao nodded. He opened his mouth and said to Jiang Zhe, "This time, my victory over the old scoundrel Gongsun and the Yellow Turban rebels of Black Mountain is all thanks to Mengde, Shouyi, and all the generals and soldiers under your command. I thank you! Therefore, we will pay the compensation for the fallen soldiers. What do you say?"

"This...this..." Cao Cao frowned, clearly hesitant, but Jiang Zhe spoke up at this moment, "That's not necessary. My lord promised to come to the aid of Lord Envoy the other day, firstly because of the past friendship between Lord Envoy and my lord, and secondly for the reward of four thousand warhorses. Although we never expected that this action would result in the loss of so many soldiers, since we have already said that we will pay the compensation for the soldiers who died in battle ourselves, then let us pay it ourselves!"

"This..." Yuan Shao opened his mouth, his face showing embarrassment at Jiang Zhe's words, and after a long pause, he hesitated before finally saying, "Then... then, what do you desire... no, no, how can we be of service?"

"Sigh!" Jiang Zhe sighed heavily, shook his head, and said to Yuan Shao, "No need, sir. Oh, by the way, we'll be returning tomorrow or the day after. If we stay any longer, it might not be good..."

"Not good?" Although Yuan Shao was now very eager for Cao Cao and Jiang Zhe to lead their troops away from Youzhou as soon as possible, he felt somewhat embarrassed after Jiang Zhe said that, as if Jiang Zhe had seen through his inner thoughts.

"How can you say that Shouyi is 'bad'?"

"Ha! What else!" Jiang Zhe gave a bitter laugh and said sadly, "If we don't leave now, by the time we return to Xuchang, the soldiers' corpses will all be rotting. How can the families of the dead bear it if they can't even see their loved ones one last time?"

"Ah?" Yuan Shao was taken aback. He stared in astonishment and said, "Wait...the dead soldiers weren't buried or cremated, my lord!" Jiang Zhe sighed and shook his head at Yuan Shao, saying, "The soldiers under our command are mostly from Chongzhou and Yuzhou. If they are buried in Youzhou, they won't even be able to return to their homeland after death. How tragic! If they are cremated, won't the soldiers' families not even be able to see them one last time?"

We brought them with us when we set out on the expedition, and even though they have died in battle in Youzhou, we will definitely bring them back!

Upon hearing Jiang Zhe's words, Yuan Shao's expression darkened. He remained silent for a long time before asking疑惑地问道, "I've heard that you—cough! I've heard that over ten thousand soldiers have died in battle. If we are to bring them all back, I wonder what you, Shouyi, have prepared to transport the corpses…" Jiang Zhe seemed taken aback upon hearing this. Not entirely certain, he turned to Cao Cao and said, "My lord, should the army have enough supply wagons?"

"Ah?" Cao Cao wanted to laugh inwardly, but forced a sorrowful expression and hesitated before saying, "We have enough carts, but not enough horses. Can we use all our horses to transport the soldiers' corpses? And what about the provisions?"

"No problem, no problem!" Yuan Shao smiled upon hearing this. He waved his hand and said, "Of the four thousand warhorses we agreed upon that day, we've only delivered a little over a thousand. There are still three thousand left. Let's deliver them on a set date. That's fine." "How can that be?" Jiang Zhe interrupted Yuan Shao, saying loudly, "Those are top-quality warhorses, reserved by our lord to build a cavalry force to conquer the rebellious traitors. Alas, more than half of our one hundred thousand soldiers were killed or wounded to obtain these hard-won four thousand warhorses. How difficult it was! If they die on the way, how can we face our fallen soldiers?"

After saying that, Jiang Zhe turned around and gave Cao Cao a sharp look. Cao Cao, who immediately understood, found Jiang Zhe's expression quite amusing, but still couldn't help but let out a long sigh of relief.

"Well... how about this..." Yuan Shao hesitated upon hearing this, pacing back and forth in the hall before finally saying, "I've heard that there are still some horses left behind by Gongsun Zan in Youzhou... If Mengde and Shouyi are willing to part with them, besides the three thousand warhorses, I'll also give you some horses to carry the corpses of our soldiers... What do you say?"

"Hmph! You're quite generous!" Jiang Zhe secretly curled his lip, his expression hesitant. After a moment of deep thought, he said seriously, "This is inappropriate. Since my lord promised to send four thousand warhorses to assist us, and now that the magistrate knows... those in the know are fine. But what if the people of the world don't know the reason and think my lord has gone back on his word and is greedy for profit? Wouldn't that be a case of losing more than one gains? Thank you for your kindness, magistrate. But it's almost the end of the year. It's not the right time..." The corpse is not easily decomposed. Let our soldiers work a little harder to transport the body to Chongzhou!

"Uphold righteousness!" Yuan Shao frowned, thinking to himself, "If that's really the case, I'm afraid the world will say that I, Yuan Benchu, have crossed the river and burned the bridge!"

"Mengde, Shouyi, this is a small token of my appreciation. To be honest, I feel quite ashamed before Mengde and Menghui." Looking at Yuan Shao's complex gaze, Cao Cao lowered his head and smiled secretly, but on the surface, he seemed hesitant.

"Mengde!" Yuan Shao strode up to Cao Cao, took his hand, and said, "Mengde, please don't put me in a difficult position. If I refuse, I fear I will feel guilty and unable to live in peace!"

"Well," Cao Cao hesitated, glancing at Jiang Zhe, and said softly, "Shouyi, since Yuan Shao has said so, we shouldn't..."

"My lord!" Jiang Zhe interrupted Cao Cao, his eyes wide, and said loudly, "Horses are valuable, but what is more important than reputation? What if the world misunderstands you in the future?"

"No, no!" Yuan Shao waved his hand, laughing, "This is something only we know; how could others possibly know? If Mengde hesitates... Fine! I, Yuan Benchu, swear to Heaven today that I will never mention this matter again. If I break this oath, may Heaven and Earth not forgive me!"

"Benchu, that won't do..." Cao Cao sighed deeply. He hesitated, then said, "I'll agree then, why must Benchu ​​do this?"

"It's alright, it's alright!" Yuan Shao waved his hand. Turning to Jiang Zhe, he clasped his hands in a fist salute and said, "You don't know how to uphold righteousness," Jiang Zhe chuckled inwardly, but on the surface, he looked at Cao Cao with an expression of disappointment and said, "If the people of the world misunderstand you in the future, I won't care!"

Cao Cao then displayed an awkward expression at just the right moment.

"Heh!" Yuan Shao chuckled. He said to Jiang Zhe, "The only question now is whether Shouyi has estimated how many horses will be needed to transport the soldiers' remains?"

"Well, in that case, let me do the math. If one carriage can carry the bodies of ten soldiers, then over ten thousand soldiers would require a thousand carriages..."

Yuan Shao nodded. Though he felt deep regret, there was nothing he could do.

"Add to that the nearly 20,000 seriously injured soldiers who are unable to walk. If each carriage carries ten soldiers, that's two thousand. So now it's three thousand..." Yuan Shao swallowed, his expression becoming somewhat unnatural.

"What remains are the armor and weapons of the fallen soldiers, as well as the armor and weapons of the chariots we captured from Gongsun Zan's troops. Zhe roughly calculated that we need five thousand horses."

"Hiss!" Yuan Shao gasped sharply, then quickly asked, "Why? Why?" "Alas, there's nothing we can do!" Jiang Zhe sighed heavily, shaking his head. "When we brought them here, they were all living, breathing people, the pillars of their families, sons, husbands, or fathers. Now that they've died in battle, we must bring their belongings back so their loved ones can have something to remember them by! I'm sure you understand, my lord?"

"This...this...then why bring Gongsun Zan's armor and weapons from his chariot?"

"Your Excellency, surely you didn't even consider this?" Jiang Zhe said with a sorrowful expression, shaking his head. "That's where they met their demise!"

Yuan Shao's face twitched. He stared at Jiang Zhe with surprise and uncertainty, only to be struck by the sorrow in Jiang Zhe's eyes. He felt a deep pang of sorrow in his heart.

"Hmph!" Just as Yuan Shao was about to reply to Jiang Zhe, a cold snort suddenly came from behind him, followed by a sneer from someone else, "If that's the calculation, and if we add the weight of your escorts, the grain and other supplies, wouldn't that require ten thousand fine horses? Your Excellency certainly has a huge appetite!"

Jiang Zhe glanced in the direction of the voice and said calmly, "And who is this?"

"I am Yan Liang!" said one of the generals behind Yuan Shao. "This gentleman beside me is my sworn brother, Wen Chou. I have long admired Jiang Shouyi's reputation as a gentleman, but seeing him today... humph, I am greatly disappointed!"

Jiang Zhe smiled slightly, pointed at Yan Liang, and said, "I have long admired the reputations of both generals." "Wrong, it seems we have met before?"

"Huh?" Yan Liang said in surprise, "When did we meet before?"

"Yes!" Jiang Zhe said with a sneer. "Back when the two generals were forced into a corner by the three thousand White Horse Cavalry."

"You!" Yan Liang and Wen Chou's faces flushed red. They roared angrily, "How dare you bully us?"

"You think I'd bully you?" Jiang Zhe sneered. He turned angrily to Cao Cao and said, "My lord, I've said it before, we should leave this place as soon as possible. Now—" Hmph!

Cao Cao, seeing Jiang Zhe's excited expression, almost burst out laughing. He suppressed his laughter, paused for a moment, then rose and said to Jiang Zhe, "Shouyi is right. We'll figure out these things ourselves. Let's go!" He then clasped his hands in a fist salute to Yuan Shao and said, "Benchu, farewell!"

This was evident in Yuan Shao's hesitant and astonished gaze. Cao Cao and Jiang Zhe suddenly strode towards the door, but then a thought struck them, and they realized the gravity of the situation. Mengde (Cao Cao's courtesy name) had come to their rescue when they were in dire straits, deploying a massive army of 100,000, suffering tens of thousands of casualties. How immense was this? If they were allowed to leave like this, wouldn't the world later mistakenly believe that Yuan Shao was a treacherous person who had betrayed his benefactor? Wouldn't this lead to him being looked down upon by the world?

"Meng Hui...Meng De, halt!" Yuan Shao hurriedly called out to Cao Cao, who had already reached the tent entrance, and said through gritted teeth, "It was my fault for not managing my subordinates properly. Shouyi, I apologize to you here. This matter...this matter is easy...easy...merely eight..."

"What? Eight thousand warhorses are not enough?" Jiang Zhe turned his head sharply, staring at Cao Cao in astonishment and shouted, "Lord Yuan is so generous as to give us eight thousand horses, yet you, my lord, still say it's not enough?"

"Does my lord intend to give us all the horses of Youzhou, besides those three thousand warhorses? My lord, this is going too far! Too far!"

"No... I didn't say anything!" Cao Cao was even more astonished than Jiang Zhe, weakly uttering a sentence. Moreover, in his heart, he had a vague bad feeling... "Is the blame really going to fall on me... Shouyi, you're so unfair."

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