The Three Kingdoms: I, Yuan Tan, intercepted Guo Jia's...

Chapter 70: If the sword is not sheathed for three days, the city will be slaughtered!

After Shouchun was besieged, Yuan Yin used the pretext of eliminating spies to plunder wealth from the homes of the people in Shouchun.

The people were so poor that they barely had enough food to eat.

The reason they did not rebel was entirely because there were more soldiers than civilians in Shouchun City.

To rebel under such circumstances would be tantamount to turning oneself into food for others.

However, Yuan Yin didn't realize that while Shouchun was alive, the two of them could still act arrogantly and domineeringly, but once Shouchun fell, Yuan Yin would be nothing at all.

So now that they've amassed so much wealth, none of them have the life to hold onto it.

Of course, Yuan Shu was unaware of these matters.

Most of the soldiers in the city were kept in the dark.

Only the brothels that Wu Yu had previously established throughout the Han Dynasty knew about this.

Yuan Tan's hidden plans in Shouchun finally proved extremely useful after he captured the city.

The city is now littered with corpses of the starved, and most of the people have been forced to resort to cannibalism.

Many soldiers had already become so hungry that they abandoned their posts and stopped guarding the city.

Only a few elite troops under Yuan Shu were able to receive food.

No one cared about the rations of other non-direct-line soldiers.

So, in general, Yuan Tan's prolonged delay in attacking the city had its advantages.

If he had entered the city a week or two earlier, he would never have been able to advance so easily through it.

When Zhang He led his elite armored soldiers to break down the vermilion gate, Yuan Yin was drinking with his beautiful concubine to calm his nerves, while Yuan Yao was sitting restlessly in the side room.

Shouchun, which they thought was impregnable, had its east gate breached overnight. The change came too quickly, leaving them feeling as if they were in a dream.

"Who...who are you? How dare you trespass on my property!"

Yuan Yin shouted in a fierce but inwardly weak voice, trying to project the authority of a member of the Zhong clan, a powerful family.

Zhang He paused with his iron spear, and said coldly:

"Zhang He, under the command of Governor Yuan of Qingzhou, is hereby ordered to confiscate the property of the rebels! If you are wise enough to surrender the keys to the treasury, you may be spared physical punishment!"

Upon hearing this, Yuan Yin and Yuan Yao were struck dumb, their faces turning ashen.

They had originally thought that after the city fell, they could surrender and at least live the life of wealthy men.

But looking back now, it was really overthinking things.

"No...no! There's no surplus wealth in the manor!"

Yuan Yao, being young, cried out in a panic.

Yuan Yin forced himself to remain calm: "This is a private residence, how dare you be so insolent! I must see His Majesty... no, I must see Lord Cao!"

Zhang He, too lazy to waste words, waved his hand and ordered, "Search! Dig three feet into the ground!"

The elite soldiers scattered like wolves and tigers.

Moments later, exclamations of surprise rang out one after another:

"Report! General! A thousand gold ingots are hidden in a secret compartment in the basement of the west wing!"

"Report! A cellar has been discovered beneath the artificial hill in the back garden, filled with silk and jade artifacts!"

"Report! The study's secret room is filled with antiques, paintings, and countless jewels!"

Yuan Yin collapsed to the ground, and Yuan Yao fainted from fright.

They had amassed their life savings, but their schemes were exposed during the search by Yuan Tan's soldiers.

At this moment, Yuan Tan, surrounded by Guo Jia and his personal guards, strode into the mansion.

As he watched the boxes of rare treasures being carried out, his face lit up with undisguised ecstasy!

Doing business or selling sea salt is not as quick as robbing the people!

Having developed in Qingzhou for nearly a year, I have never seen so much gold and silver treasure.

With all these things piled up together, Zhen Yao's ships would probably have to be used to carry the treasure, and the troop transport would likely require two trips.

"Excellent! Excellent! Lord Yao (Yuan Huan) was indeed right! These two barbarians are richer than a country!"

The fact that the brothel was gathering intelligence could not be revealed yet; we could only claim that we learned about it from Yuan Huan.

Yuan Tan immediately suppressed his excitement and gave a stern order:

"Junyi! Register all valuables, pack them into boxes, and load them onto carts! Dispatch heavy guards to escort them out of the city immediately, transport them to the Huai River dock, load them onto ships, and return north to Qingzhou! There must be no delay!"

"Yan Liang! You will lead your troops to take over the residences of Yuan Shu's other key officials in the vicinity, and do the same! A swift and decisive victory is essential!"

"promise!"

The generals obeyed the order and efficiently emptied the "gold mountain" in no time.

Yuan Tan stood in the courtyard filled with treasures and chuckled softly to Guo Jia:

"Fengxiao, with such wealth, what is there to worry about in achieving great things? Let Cao Cao fight over that empty fame!"

……

In the city center, in front of the puppet palace

At the same time, Cao Cao personally led his fierce generals Xiahou Dun and Cao Ren, and after a fierce battle, finally defeated Qiao Rui's desperate resistance.

Qiao Rui fought valiantly to his death, and Cao's army trampled over his corpse to reach the front of the pseudo-imperial palace.

Cao Cao was very excited, having gone through such a fierce battle to finally break into the palace.

Presumably, Yuan Tan, who was the first to charge in, encountered considerable resistance.

Hehe, I estimate the losses will be very large.

You fight to the death, and we reap the benefits.

perfect!

Cao Cao reined in his horse at the palace gate and brandished his sword, Yitian: "Charge in! We must be the first to enter the palace and capture the traitor Yuan Shu alive."

Flames were seen shooting into the sky both inside and outside the palace walls, yet there was an unusual silence, with no signs of fierce fighting.

The palace gates were wide open, and only a few eunuchs and maids fled in terror.

"Um?"

Cao Cao became suspicious and sent an elite team inside to investigate.

A moment later, the scout reported:

"Reporting to the Minister of Works! There are almost no soldiers left guarding the palace! Yuan Shu and his family have disappeared without a trace! Only... only some palace maids and eunuchs who couldn't escape in time!"

Xun You frowned to the side:

"My lord, something is wrong. Yuan Tan's army entered the city first, so why haven't they reached the palace yet?"

Cao Cao was taken aback when he heard this, but he didn't think about it too much and assumed that Yuan Tan had encountered fierce resistance.

He first sent people to search the area, but they found neither the imperial seal nor any trace of Yuan Shu.

They could only come to the gates of the national treasury, hoping that this fake Zhongde treasury could help them recover some money.

His losses in the Battle of Shouchun were enormous.

Not only did it cost a fortune in money and supplies, but it also resulted in huge losses of troops.

The morale of Cao Cao's army was severely low.

He could only hope to plunder the wealth of Shouchun and then recruit new soldiers after returning to Xuchang.

He also promised that once the city fell, the soldiers would be well rewarded with the wealth in Shouchun.

But when he entered the national treasury and saw the pitiful amount of money inside, he couldn't help but burst into a tirade of curses:

"Yuan Shu, who came from a family of high-ranking officials for four generations, is acting like a beggar. How come Huainan, which was so prosperous, has been reduced to such a small amount?"

But then he thought about it again...

Cao Cao's army is having such a hard time fighting.

Yuan Shu's army is probably not in much better shape either.

It's normal to run out of money.

But the national treasury is empty right now, so how can we recruit new soldiers?

How can we reward the troops?

These soldiers were motivated by Cao Cao's rewards, which is why they have persevered for so long without collapsing. If they knew that the rewards would stop, would they mutiny?

The money isn't in the national treasury. Could it have been taken away by Yuan Shu before he left?

Thinking of this, Cao Cao became even more furious:

"Search! Search everywhere! Find the traitor! Also, for three days, let the soldiers not rest, and massacre the city! Let them enjoy themselves for three days."

(Brothers! I hope you'll continue to support me! Thank you!)