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 government and the people of Yedu, but also because of the reduction in autumn grain production in Bingzhou, people's hearts became heavy. Merchants were the most sensitive. The grain price in Yedu has risen from 80 coins in early August to 300 coins in the end of August, and it is still rising.

On the first day of September, it triggered a trend of snatching rice in the whole city. Within one day, the grain price soared to 500 yuan for dou rice. Later, with the intervention of the government, it gradually fell back to 350 yuan for dou 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 their own way out.

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, with nearly 30% of the 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 Sanjin 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 Sanjin 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!" The two bartenders said extremely enthusiastically.

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

"Here is here! 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, working hard 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 way out 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 one million sheep for ten thousand bows and 300,000 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, one million sheep would greatly alleviate the Cao army's money and food crisis, which was extremely unfavorable 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, and there were also three hundred Cao's cavalry guards. They went out of Youzhou, and the three hundred cavalry would escort them to the territory 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 road 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 road map on the map. He couldn't help but fall into deep thought.

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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 three divisions of the East, Central and Western divisions, 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. Bu Dugen, the leader of Tuoba, and Ke Bieneng, the leader of the Xianbei, 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. Both sides suffered heavy casualties and injured. The Xianbei people could not win and were eventually forced to withdraw.

The Xianbei people had realized that the reason for their failure was that their weapons were not as sharp as those of the Huns. Bu Dugen proposed to the Han State to buy 300,000 kilograms of pig iron, while Ke Bineng proposed to the Wei State to buy 10,000 bows and 300,000 arrows.

Kebineng's envoy was named Murong Zhu, who was about thirty years old and extremely strong. He was also a Xianbei nobleman. Although he looked rough but 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 resist the huge temptation of one million sheep.

Murong Zhu was eager to return to the tent and report to Shanyu Kebieneng. Murong Zhu and his party had more than 20 people. In addition, Cao Pi sent 300 cavalry to protect them from the north. They would pass through the Yanshan Mountains from Youzhou and return to the Murong Xianbei tent station.

The envoys headed north, passed Guangping County, Julu County, 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's second son Cao Zhang. Although Cao Pi was already the prince, he did not want to turn against his second brother who had a heavy army, so the army he sent would not easily enter the boundary of Youzhou. The Cao army cavalry who escorted the Xianbei envoys would hand over the Youzhou cavalry here, and the Youzhou cavalry would 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 Shi, there are cavalry sent by Gongzi Zhang in the inn in front, and they are going to hand over to us."

The leader of the guard cavalry was 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, and 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 was occupied by a hundred Youzhou cavalry. At this time, a middle-aged man in fine clothes walked out of the gate calmly and bowed and smiled: "I am here to join the army in Youzhou to engage in Han Ping. Are you Xianbei envoys 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 the hard work."

Han Ping took out the letter and handed it to Shi Lin. Shi Lin took it and looked at it. It was the official letter from Youzhou, 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 next journey."

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

Seeing that the inn was too small to accommodate 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 300 cavalrymen to turn around and run south, and 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 a long way first. I have sent someone to arrange food and accommodation at the northern inn in front. What do you think Mr. Murong thinks?"

Murong Zhu wanted to take a break before leaving, but the other party urged him to rush to the road, so he had to nod, "Okay! Just follow the arrangements of Han Jun!"

Han Ping was overjoyed and quickly ordered his cavalry to prepare to set off. Hundreds of Youzhou cavalrymen boarded their horses and guarded the Xianbei envoys to head 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?"

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Chapter completed!