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Compared with Chang'an, which is moving towards prosperity and power, Yedu in September seems a little gloomy. Although it is the same autumn and the same sunshine, the autumn in Yedu is depressing and dull.

This is not only the dark clouds of the war in Hefei that affected the Yedu government and the people, but also because of the reduction in autumn grain production in Bingzhou, people's hearts became heavy. Merchants were the most sensitive. The grain prices in Yedu had risen from 80 yuan to 80 yuan at the beginning of August to 80 yuan at the end of August, and it was still rising.

On the first day of September, it triggered a trend of snatching rice in the whole city. Within one day, the price of grain soared to five cents of rice. Later, with the intervention of the government, it gradually fell back to fifty cents of rice.

The surge in grain prices has a great impact on people's livelihood, people are restless, and there is no hope in the future. There are rumors that many wealthy families in Yedu secretly went to Chang'an to buy land and build houses, preparing for themselves.

As soon as it was dark, the streets became empty. Recently, the public security in Yedu was not good, and there were frequent incidents of hungry people robbery and injury, which caused panic. When it dark, every family closed their doors and no longer took to the streets.

Food shortages and poor public security also affected business. The originally prosperous business began to become depressed. Recently, many shops closed, but the biggest impact was taverns. Cao Pi issued a ban on alcohol, and half of the taverns were forced to close, which made Yedu’s nightlife deserted.

The Jin Tavern near Dongcheng, Yedu, was also greatly affected, but it did not close business, but was operating miserably, and the closing time was extended every day, hoping to attract drinkers as much as possible.

At this time, the Jin Tavern was deserted and there was no customer in the store. Two bartenders sat bored at the door and napped, looking forward to closing early.

At this time, the curtain was lifted up, and a cold wind blew in. A drinker came in. The two bartenders immediately became excited. They recognized the person as the Chief Censor Yang Tian, ​​and they were a regular visitor here.

"It turns out it's Yang Zhongcheng, and he's here to drink so late," said the two bartenders very enthusiastically.

"Well," Yang Tian snorted, looked at the tavern lobby, but did not see the shopkeeper. "Where is your shopkeeper," Yang Tian asked.

"Come here"

The fat shopkeeper Wang walked out of the inner room quickly, smiling, "Yang Zhongcheng, please go upstairs."

Yang Tian has a special room here. He went up the second floor and walked directly into the elegant room he often used. According to the old rules, a pot of wine and five dishes, the prohibition on him had no restrictions on him.

He poured himself a glass of wine and drank it slowly. Of course, he did not come to drink, but to find Li Fu.

For a long time, Yang Tian played the role of a double-faced spy, both working for Cao Pi and secretly interacting with the Han Dynasty. However, with the decline of Wei State, Yang Tian became more inclined to the Han Dynasty, and he had to leave a letter for himself.

It is precisely for this reason that the information he provided to the Han State is becoming more and more valuable. For example, the important information about the empty treasury of the Wei State was revealed, which won Liu Jing's approval and also made Liu Jing decide to fight the national strength.

At this time, the door opened, Li Fu walked in quickly and said with a smile: "It's so late, is there anything urgent for Yang Zhongcheng?"

Yang Tian nodded, "There is indeed an important situation. Envoy Li, please sit down first."

Li Fu sat down, poured himself a glass of wine, and stared at Yang Tian calmly. Although Li Fu was unruly, he would never be ambiguous in his business.

Yang Tian pondered for a while and said, "Today Cao Pi met an important guest, which may be related to the victory or defeat of the Hefei Battle."

Li Fu was shocked and asked quickly: "What kind of customer is it?"

"It was the special envoy of the Xianbei Dongshan Kebineng. The Xianbei people proposed to exchange 10,000 sheep for 10,000 bows and 100,000 arrows from the Wei State. Cao Pi was very interested and could see that he had the intention to agree."

Li Fu's expression began to become solemn. Of course he knew what this meant. Once the Xianbei and Wei Kingdom reached a deal, ten thousand sheep would greatly alleviate the Cao army's money and food crisis, which would be detrimental to the lord's battle for national strength.

Li Fu immediately asked: "Have you reached an agreement?"

"I heard Cao Pi's meaning, and it seemed that the two sides had a consensus, but Cao Pi wanted to ask Cao Cao, and the Xianbei envoys would go back to report to Ke Bineng."

Li Fu pondered for a moment and asked again: "When will the Xianbei envoy set out?"

Yang Tian understood his meaning and slowly went: "They left Yedu early tomorrow morning and returned north. The envoys and their entourage had about twenty people, as well as the cavalry guards of Cao's army. They went out of Youzhou, and the cavalry would escort them to the boundary of Youzhou, and then Cao Zhang's army would escort them out of the frontier."

Speaking of this, Yang Tian took out a map from his arms and handed it to Li Fu, "This is the return line map of the Xianbei envoy, which was determined by Cao Pi himself. I will draw it by hand based on my memory, and I will take a look at it by myself."

After saying that, Yang Tian got up and left the room, put on his clothes and hurried away. In the room, Li Fu opened the map and looked at the simple line map on the map. He couldn't help but fall into deep thought.

...........

The Xianbei people were originally like the Wuhuan people, and they were also a branch of the Donghu. They were named after the Xianbei Mountains. After the Northern Huns were destroyed, the Xianbei gradually became stronger. The Shanyu Tanshihuai once unified the Xianbei and became the most powerful nomadic people on the grassland, occupying most of the northern desert.

But the good times did not last long. After Tan Shihuai's death, the Xianbei split again, forming the eastern, central and western regions, among which the Tuoba Xianbei in the west and the Murong Xianbei in the middle were relatively strong.

In order to compete for territory and leadership, the Tuoba Xianbei and Murong Xianbei fought for a long time, gradually declined and became prey of the Southern Xiongnu. The Southern Xiongnu often sent troops to capture the cattle, sheep and population of the Xianbei people.

However, last year, the Southern Xiongnu was severely injured by the Han Dynasty, which gave the Xianbei people the opportunity. Tuoba Xianbei leaders Bugen and Murong Xianbei leaders Kebineng reached a reconciliation. A few months ago, two Xianbei people jointly sent troops to invade Yinshan and fought with the Southern Xiongnu at the foot of Yinshan. The two sides suffered heavy casualties and injured. The Xianbei people were unable to win and were eventually forced to withdraw their troops.

The Xianbei people had realized that the reason for their failure was that their weapons were not as sharp as those of the Huns. Bugen proposed to the Han Dynasty to buy 100,000 kilograms of pig iron, while Ke Bineng proposed to the Wei State to buy 10,000 bows and 100,000 arrows.

Kebineng's envoy was named Murong Zhu, who was about ten years old and was strong. He was also a Xianbei nobleman. Although he looked rough and had a delicate mind. He had seen the food crisis that would occur in Wei, which made him more confident in the conclusion of this transaction.

Although Cao Pi wanted to report to Cao Cao, Murong Zhu knew that it was just a form. If Cao's army wanted to win the battle with the Han army, they had to have sufficient food. They could not refuse the huge temptation of ten thousand sheep.

Murong Zhu was eager to return to the tent to report to Shanyu Kebieneng. Murong Zhu and his party had more than 20 people. In addition, Cao Pi sent famous cavalry to protect them from the north. They would pass through the Yanshan Mountains from Youzhou and return to the Murong Xianbei's tent station.

As soon as the envoys headed north, passed Guangping County, Julu County, and Anping County, and entered Hejian County. That afternoon, they arrived at Yicheng County, which is also the border between Jizhou and Youzhou.

Youzhou is the territory of Cao Cao and Cao Zhang. Although Cao Pi has become the world, he does not want to turn against his second brother who holds a heavy army. Therefore, the army he sent will not easily enter the boundary of Youzhou. The Cao army cavalry who escorted the Xianbei envoys will hand over the Youzhou cavalry here, and the Youzhou cavalry will escort the Xianbei envoys away from Youzhou.

About ten miles from Yicheng County, an inn appeared not far ahead. At this time, a cavalry rushed back and reported to the guard general: "Report to General Qi Shi, there are cavalry sent by Zhang Gong in the front office, and they are going to hand over to us."

The guard cavalry leader named Shi Lin, who was a tooth general. He was a little stunned. He usually had to hand over in Yicheng County, so why did he get in the inn in advance? However, a strange thought flashed through his mind. This kind of handover was not that strict. The inn was also an official place. In their opinion, there was no difference between the county and the inn.

Shi Lin immediately ordered: "Go to the inn to rest."

The team quickly arrived at the inn. The inn had been occupied by the famous Youzhou cavalry. At this time, a middle-aged man in a well-dressed manner walked out of the gate without panic and bowed and smiled: "I am joining the army in Youzhou to engage in Han Ping, and you are the Xianbei envoys who came from Yedu."

Seeing that the other party was calm and the official atmosphere was very strong in his words, Shi Lin did not dare to neglect, so he quickly turned over and dismounted and replied, "We are exactly."

"That's right. I will come to hand over the envoys under the order of General Xiaoqi. Thank you all for your hard work."

Han Ping took out the letter and handed it to Shi Lin. Shi Lin took it and looked at it. It was Youzhou's official letter, escorting the Xianbei envoy out of the country. There was Cao Zhang's seal below. It was confirmed that it was correct. Shi Lin did not doubt it and smiled and said, "Since that's the case, I'll ask you all for the future."

Han Ping smiled, "General, please go to the post station to rest for a while."

Seeing that the inn was small and could not tolerate his soldiers, and had been occupied by the other party's soldiers, Shi Lin shook his head, "I'm going to rush back to report my life, so I won't rest. Let the Murong envoy go and rest."

He said goodbye to Murong Zhu, and led the cavalry to turn around and ran south. He soon disappeared on the official road. Han Ping looked at them with calm eyes and walked away. Then he smiled at Murong Zhu: "It's still early now. Let's go for a while. I have sent someone to arrange food and accommodation at the northern inn in front. Mr. Murong thought what."

Murong Zhu wanted to take a break before leaving, but the other party urged him to rush, so he didn't have to object, so he had to nod, "Okay, let's follow the arrangements of Han Jun."

Han Ping was overjoyed and quickly ordered his cavalry to prepare to set off. The famous Youzhou cavalrymen boarded their horses and guarded the Xianbei envoys and headed north.

After walking about seven or eight miles, Murong Zhu found that they were not going to the official road to the county town, but another northwest fork. He was a little surprised and asked, "Han Jun, don't we go to the county town?"
Chapter completed!