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The loss of Lishi County did not have much impact on the entire defense deployment of Cao Wei in military terms, but it had a profound economic and political influence on Cao Wei. It broke the peace between the Han and Wei for nearly two years and suddenly escalated the atmosphere of war between the two countries.

The most direct manifestation is that the rice prices in the Yedu market soared. More than half a year ago, the turmoil caused by the Nanyang conflict caused the rice prices in Yedu to double, but due to the reconciliation between the two sides, the rice prices quickly fell again.

But this time the Han army crossed the Yellow River and occupied Xihe County, Bingzhou, which also caused a heavy blow to Yedu's economy. The news reached Yedu. The rice price in Yedu rose from 10 to 20 coins to 50 coins overnight, causing panic in the Yedu market. Hundreds of thousands of people in Yedu rushed to various rice shops from all directions to buy food, which triggered a rare trend of rice grabbing in Yedu, causing the entire Yedu City to fall into turmoil.

The streets were full of people who were rushing to buy food and various daily necessities, and most of the shops were closed. The market prosperity caused by the free trade between the Han and Wei countries was like a bubble, and it was broken overnight, and the Yedu market was defeated back to its original form.

A team of Hu Ben Guard cavalry and Yedu City Defense soldiers patrolled and guarded the streets, constantly arresting thieves who took risks and robbed their families.

Zhang Liao served as the governor of the Nine Gates of Yedu, in charge of Yedu's defense. He had 12,000 troops under his command, all of which had been sent to maintain order in the city. Zhang Liao's cavalry led the cavalry to patrol all over Yedu on the war horses.

Song Xian, the general next to him, whispered: "I don't understand why Yedu is in turmoil and robs food and goods everywhere. On the contrary, Chang'an heard that it is very calm and is not affected at all, which is puzzled!"

Zhang Liao also sighed and said, "The frozen ruler is not a day's cold. Over the past decade, the Cao army has repeatedly defeated the Han army, which has long lost all the confidence of the Wei people. Therefore, when a war occurs, everyone will think that it must be the Cao army that was defeated and seek peace, so it is not surprising that such turmoil occurs."

As soon as he said this, a shout erupted from afar. Zhang Liao was stunned and looked at the shouting place. He saw countless people running towards the same place with pocket baskets. He also realized something was wrong and urged the horse to war and said, "Come with me!"

He led the cavalry to the shouting place, and after several steps, he had seen clearly that a grain shop near Beiyuan Bridge had lost control. The food shop's servant could not stop the angry crowd. Countless people rushed into the grain shop to grab grain, causing great chaos.

The grain shop was close to the small river, and many people were squeezed into the river, shouting for help, and cried loudly. Seeing that the situation was critical, Zhang Liao said to his general Song Xian: "Go and transfer a thousand troops to come over immediately, go quickly!"

Song Xian immediately turned his horse's head and ran towards the city gate. Zhang Liao led the cavalry to the grain shop, rushed to the street closest to the grain shop, and intercepted the large number of people rushing to the grain shop. Despite this, many people crawled over the wall and joined the trend of grabbing grain.

Zhang Liao was furious. He saw a man standing on the wall and shouting, holding a torch in his hand, as if he was about to ignite the house. Zhang Liao immediately drew an arrow, pulled the bow like the moon, and shot an arrow at the man on the wall. The arrow hit the left chest of the man. The man screamed and fell into the river.

At this time, General Song Xian led two thousand soldiers to rush to the grain shop and arrested the grain robbers. As early as when the Zhang Liao cavalry arrived, many grain robbers had quietly escaped when they saw that the situation was not good. Most of the grain robbers were not robbed of grain in the grain shop. He ignored the risks and shouted desperately.

It was not until the Cao army brigade that the rush to grab grain shops finally stopped the grain robbery. Nearly a thousand men and women were arrested, squatting all over the ground, and those who fell into the river were rescued. Although Cao army stopped grabbing grain, more than 20 people died, most of whom were trampled and died, mainly elderly people and women, with bodies all over the ground.

Seeing that one of them was bloody and different, Zhang Liao pointed at the horse whip and asked, "Who is this?"

A guy replied, "This is our boss, who was beaten to death by the mob!"

Another man next to him said angrily: "It was you who temporarily raised the price and angered everyone, and the grain robbery incident occurred."

The man gave a tribute to Zhang Liaoshi and explained: "Report to General Zhang, the price of rice was a dou of rice this morning, and it rose to 50 yuan at noon. This grain store was in a bad mood, and the price was temporarily raised to 5 yuan of rice, which aroused public anger. Please give a clear explanation!"

Zhang Liao was stunned, "Do you know me?"

The man replied: "I am the Minister of War Liao Jing, and I have met the general!"

Zhang Liao immediately said angrily: "Since you are an official in Yedu, you do not stop robbing grain and participate in robbing grain. Can you tell me that your crime?"

The man shook his head and said, "Bizhi did not participate in the robbery of grain. Today, I happened to take a turn for the rest of my life. I came to buy rice. I happened to encounter this robbery of grain. Beizhi tried hard to stop it, but I couldn't stop it at all. Beizhi just wanted to say that these people are good people and were forced to helplessly. I hope the general will forgive them."

Several people cried and begged, "General, we have old and young people in our family to support us, there is no way! General, please spare us!"

Seeing that these people were panicked and pitiful, Zhang Liao sighed in his heart and ordered his left and right, "Take back the food and let people go."

Song Xian next to him was startled and quickly reminded Zhang Liao in a low voice, "If the general releases them, it may be difficult to give them to Wei Gong!"

Zhang Liao sighed, "This is not their fault. Why blame these poor villains anymore? I will explain it to Mr. Wei."

Everyone kowtowed and thanked him. After handing over the food, they left and went home. Zhang Liao ordered the dead bodies to be gathered together and waited for their family to collect them. Zhang Liao turned his horse's head and rushed towards the Tongque Palace.

Zhang Liao rode his horse to the front of Tongque Palace, but saw a carriage slowly stopping in front of the palace gate. Military advisor Zhong Yao got out of the carriage, and Zhang Liao hurriedly shouted: "Mr. Zhong!"

Zhong Yao turned around and saw that it was Zhang Liao who was calling him, so he stopped. When Zhang Liao rushed to his eyes, he laughed and said, "Why is General Zhang so anxious?"

Zhang Liaoshenshi asked, "Will the military advisor go to see Duke Wei?"

"That's right, Duke Wei summoned us to discuss the current situation. Can the general go with him?"

Cao Cao did not summon Zhang Liao, and Zhang Liao did not dare to leave his post without authorization. He said to Zhong Yao: "Since the military advisor is going to see Duke Wei, please tell Duke Wei that the situation in the city is tense and the people are panic. There has been a store robbery. Now the most urgent task is to calm the price of grain. It is recommended that the warehouse be closed immediately and no longer delayed."

Zhong Yao nodded, "I will advise Mr. Wei, but Mr. Wei will definitely ask the general to ask about the situation. General, please don't go far."

"I understand, just wait here."

Zhong Yao bowed his hand and turned around and hurried towards the inner palace.

The grain grabbing incident that occurred in Beiyuanqiao was just one of many storms in Yedu. It was not a big deal, but the series of many things was enough to shock the government and the people. It not only affected the daily lives of the common people, but also the stability of Yedu and the stability of the morale of the army, which was of great importance.

In the inner hall of Tongque Palace, dozens of senior officials from the Wei State gathered together to discuss the chaos caused by the fall of Lishi County. This kind of discussion on maintaining stability was in charge of Cao Pi, and was usually held in the Deputy Prime Minister's Office. The surge in grain prices six months ago was in charge of Cao Pi.

But this time, due to the serious situation and the situation was related to the entire battle, Cao Cao personally presided over the response and discussion. At this time, Cao Cao had not come out yet, and there were whispers in the inner hall, and everyone was talking about the consequences of the crisis caused by the defeat in Lishi.

In a corner of the inner hall, Liu Ye said to Chen Qun with concern: "When Liu Jing proposed freedom of trade last time, I suspected that he had ulterior motives and must have a deep plan. Now it seems that he has intentions. In just over half a year, the Han Dynasty almost bought all our supplies. These days, I investigated various shops in Yedu. Every merchant has a lot of Han money in his hands, but the warehouse is empty. Therefore, the root cause of the surge in grain prices this time may not be the loss of Lishi County. The fundamental reason is that the people in Yedu have a lot of money in their hands and the money is no longer worth it."

Chen Qun was also deeply touched, "Yang said it well. The simplest example can prove that last year, when a bartender was hired in a tavern, he only had to pay two thousand han coins a month, but a month ago the price had risen to six thousand han coins, which was a full double. It can be seen that Han coins are flooded in Yedu. It is said that the Han Dynasty had stopped trade between the two countries ten days ago and goods were strictly prohibited from leaving the country. We could not buy Han materials even if we had money, and it was difficult to bear this winter."

Although Liu Ye and Chen Qun had a small voice, many people around him heard it. Gradually, the inner hall became quiet. Everyone was worried. Everyone was a high-ranking official who was more wise than ordinary people, and they looked at the problems deeply.

They all realized that the Han Dynasty used half a year of trade and relied on the absolute advantage of Han money to buy a large amount of supplies in Wei. The crisis had accumulated in Wei, but no one thought of this. This time, the Han army captured Lishi County and provoked a war, causing the crisis accumulated in Wei to suddenly break out. This is the key.

It was not until this time that everyone finally understood why Liu Jing had provoked the Nanyang crisis half a year ago and then forced Wei to relax trade restrictions. This was clearly a means used by Liu Jing to destroy the national strength of Wei.

On the surface, the two countries have trade exchanges, and Wei even gets pig iron and grain. However, due to the many trade points, the Han State is determined to be unintentional, and the official to the people. It purchases a large amount of materials from Wei from various channels, and imports countless Han coins and gold into Wei, causing Wei State to gradually face serious shortages of materials.

However, Liu Jing cut off trade between the two countries at a critical moment, or strictly prohibited Han materials from entering Wei, which finally caused today's disaster. I am afraid that suppressing grain prices alone would not suppress the current shortage crisis.

At this time, a bell rang out from inside. Cao Cao was coming. The inner hall suddenly became quiet. Cao Pi was walking out quickly. He said to everyone anxiously: "My father is not good, everyone should be careful when speaking!"

Just when everyone was puzzled, Cao Cao slowly walked out with the support of two maids, his face was ashamed and his spirit was depressed. Everyone was secretly shocked. No wonder the Shi had to come out first to say hello, and Mr. Wei actually returned to his depressed state at the beginning of last year.

You should know that after more than a year of recuperation, Cao Cao's body gradually recovered and he could also take a carriage to Xudu. Why did he not see him for a few days and be old again? Everyone immediately realized that this must have been the loss of Li Shi and caused a heavy blow to Cao Cao.

Everyone stood up and saluted, "See Duke Wei!"
Chapter completed!