Cao Cao's will moved swiftly, carried by brush and ink onto sheets of silk. Once written, the orders were recorded throughout the Chancellor's residence, categorized, sealed, and sent out in all directions.
The main gates of the Jun County military camp were thrown open. One group of mounted messengers after another pressed the silk orders close to their chests before spurring their horses forward, choosing their routes and galloping away without a single backward glance.
These streams of military commands made even the August air seem heavier, as if the heat itself had thickened under their weight.
Before those riders could even reach Ye City or Xuchang to deliver the orders, the tenant farmers of Yu Province and Hebei had already begun to sense that something was different this year.
In past years, for every shi of grain harvested, Cao's administration collected five or six dou as tax. It was not kind, but under a system of barter and hard endurance, life could still be scraped together.
This year began with something that looked like good news.
Early in the year, officials in charge of the farming settlements began making their rounds. With smiling faces and pleasant words, they spread news that Chancellor Cao was thinking of the people, bringing out new tools to make plowing easier and promoting composting methods to improve the fields.
The curved plow, in particular, truly did save effort, and the composting materials were cheap, with methods simple enough that even elderly farmers could manage them.
There were even scattered rumors that these tools had originally come from Liu Bei of Jing Province, but for most common people, such matters were far beyond concern.
What mattered was that farming became easier.
As a result, praise for Chancellor Cao began to appear among the colonies.
Then came the sudden reversal.
The same agricultural officers announced, with the same polite expressions, that since the people had received the Chancellor's grace, it was only right to repay it.
This year's tax would be raised.
For every shi of grain, seven dou would be taken.
Those who borrowed government oxen for plowing would be required to add one more dou.
For most tenant farmers, renting government oxen was unavoidable. The new order meant that the majority of colonists would now be handing over eighty percent of their harvest.
The decree caused an uproar.
Anger surged, but it was quickly crushed beneath the sharp edge of Cao's soldiers. The noise died down, leaving only resentment flowing quietly beneath the surface.
The agricultural officers soon came forward to reassure the people, claiming that this increase was only temporary. Once Chancellor Cao had finished suppressing the rebels, the extra tax would be removed.
Few believed it.
After all, many of these people had not even come to the farming colonies willingly in the first place.
Still, grain did pile up.
From the Chancellor's own records, the Grand Granary now held a considerable surplus.
Using this surplus as its foundation, and with orders from the Chancellor's residence as its signal, troops from Sili, Yan Province, and Ji Province began to gather in great numbers toward Yu Province.
To Cao Cao's generals, the meaning could not have been clearer.
The early surprise attack had failed and Guanzhong had been lost. Months of standoff had yielded nothing. Now that Jiangdong had fallen and the river routes were sealed, the Chancellor had finally lost patience.
Several armies moved toward Yingchuan and Runan.
Yet on the main roads, the villagers noticed something strange.
A unit was moving in the opposite direction.
Not toward the gathering armies.
But toward Tong Pass.
About a thousand men marched together without armor and without weapons. Around them, on the outside, marched a tight ring of heavily armed Cao soldiers in full gear.
At first glance, anyone would assume they were prisoners being escorted.
Yet the scene did not match that conclusion at all.
The unarmed men laughed and joked loudly among themselves, their voices bright, their mood so cheerful that it almost overflowed. In contrast, the Cao soldiers remained serious and alert, keeping close watch to prevent any trouble.
From time to time, the Cao troops looked at these men with complicated expressions that were difficult to describe.
Not hatred.
Not sympathy.
Something mixed.
"Damn it… I miss home," one Cao soldier muttered quietly.
Others were about to respond when the cold gaze of the military supervisor swept over them. The soldiers immediately fell silent.
Compared to the silence of the escort, the laughter of the unarmed men only sounded louder and more piercing.
Yet even with irritation in their hearts, the Cao soldiers could not direct their anger at these men.
Because these Yizhou soldiers were the key to exchanging back General Xiahou.
For the Yizhou troops who had been stripped of their armor, even with Tong Pass now in sight, most of them still felt as if they were walking in a dream.
A month ago, they had been in Cao's camps, bullied by anyone who felt like it.
A month later, they were being escorted under heavy guard. It was said that Liu Bei, the new lord of Yizhou, had defeated Xiahou Yuan and now intended to exchange this cousin of Chancellor Cao for more than a thousand of them so they could return home.
Once, many of them had stared at their own shadows, sighing in despair, fearing they would die in a foreign land.
Now that the chance to return home was within reach, they instead became restless and anxious.
With Cao's soldiers escorting them, the journey was smooth. They passed Guangcheng Pass and continued west, then went through Shan County. After several more days, Tong Pass finally came into view.
At this point, the Yizhou soldiers' anxiety reached its peak. They no longer laughed loudly. Instead, unease settled into their hearts.
They hoped this truly meant going home.
They feared it might be a lie, and that they were being sent to yet another battlefield to die.
As they drew closer, the grandeur of Tong Pass became clearer.
So did the two large lines of writing displayed boldly on the pass.
Few of the Yizhou soldiers could read, but the words were simple. After some whispered discussion, everyone soon understood what they said:
"Yizhou sons, your suffering is over."
"Enter the pass and go west, straight home."
These plain, direct words broke something inside them.
Tears fell.
Some wailed loudly.
Some ran forward in excitement.
Some cried out the names of parents and brothers, beating their heads against the ground.
Among Liu Bei's officers, the only one who would greet returning soldiers with such blunt, heartfelt words was Zhang Fei.
"You Yan man… you really know how to scheme," Xiahou Yuan said coldly.
Because he was waiting here for the prisoner exchange, Xiahou Yuan was finally able to leave the small courtyard where he had been confined and come to Tong Pass to wait alongside Zhang Fei.
With the Yizhou troops arriving, it meant Xiahou Yuan himself would soon be heading east, and within days he would see his elder brother again. After this, when he met Zhang Fei again, it would likely be on the battlefield.
Even so, Xiahou Yuan still refused to properly address Zhang Fei by name.
Zhang Fei did not care. He laughed and said, "Just a small trick. It can't compare to Father-in-law's mighty steps across Guanzhong, unmatched by any man."
Xiahou Yuan nearly choked. He felt that Zhang Fei truly had a most detestable face.
After trading barbs, Zhang Fei rode forward to personally greet the Yizhou soldiers.
Using the rosters he had obtained earlier in Jing Province, Zhang Fei quickly gained their trust. Holding the list, he spent half an hour confirming identities, crossing out the names of those confirmed killed in battle. Once everything was checked, he waved his hand decisively to signal the release and exchange.
Before entering Cao's formation, Xiahou Yuan hesitated. He turned back, intending to say a few parting words.
The moment he turned, he saw Zhang Fei staring straight at him.
"Father-in-law," Zhang Fei said seriously. "Fei has one good piece of advice."
Xiahou Yuan's heart tightened. "Speak."
Zhang Fei said with a straight face, "When you go back east, don't go north of Jing to give Huang Zhong any more free heads."