Chapter 456 It’s hard to refuse such hospitality
A ravine in the north of Mount Li, near Xinzheng.

More than thirty miles deep into the mountain is Hua Xin’s retreat.

There was already a village here. After Hua Xin led his people to live in seclusion here, more than 200 families came to rely on it, and now the number has grown to more than 300 families.

The village is dilapidated, but there are still some people left.

There were only a dozen or so households among these people, and they dared not offend people like Hua Xin who had connections and relationships outside.

The guest is always bullying the host, so the two sides get along very harmoniously.

The rain was drizzling in the muddy mountains. Hua Xin was not giving a lecture. He was drinking tea with Wang Xiu and Bing Yuan, looking at the outline of the deep mountains in the distance outside the thatched cottage.

The air was fresh, and Bing Yuan, who had just arrived in Guanzhong, told about what Cao's army had done in Qingzhou.

Hua Xin and Wang Xiu both looked grief-stricken. Cao Cao did not cause as much killing as he did in Xuzhou this time when he entered Qingzhou, but he was still very brutal.

Wherever he passed, all the clothes and hats were gone.

Although not many people were killed, all the well-off families in the counties of Qingzhou were destroyed, just like those in Taiyuan and Hedong counties.

All the original social relations in the counties of Qingzhou were violently destroyed by Cao's army, and everything was replanned.

All kinds of good things naturally fell into the hands of Cao's army.

His fields, properties, wives and daughters, even his cattle, horses, soldiers and slaves, all fell into the hands of Cao's army; even he himself was captured by Cao's army and became a prisoner.

Cao Cao had no shortage of grassroots military officers, so there was no extra space to accommodate the Qingzhou scholars.

Apart from officials, Cao Cao lacked everything.

Except for most of Pingyuan County on the north bank of the Yellow River, all the areas south of the Yellow River were taken over by Cao Cao.

Even the Taishan County led by Lu Qian behaved in the same way when Cao Ren led his troops to move in.

The officers and soldiers under the command of Cao Ren were more ferocious than the bandits in Mount Tai. Although famous families and powerful families such as the Wang family and the Huwu family were badly damaged when the heroes first rose up at the end of the Han Dynasty, they have now recovered a lot, but they were still defeated by Cao Ren.

In the entire Taishan County, only the Yang and Bao families in the south escaped from the war and were destroyed. All other powerful families from humble backgrounds that were of some size were also destroyed.

Cao Cao took advantage of welcoming the emperor and serving the righteous cause, but he also suffered enough hardships and losses in this regard.

And now, he was just making up for the losses and sufferings he had suffered in the past from the people of Qingzhou and Mount Tai.

After this operation, Cao Cao's people will be highly integrated, including Guanzhong.

Bing Yuan had to run fast, otherwise he would have been caught and taken to the mountains to dig for gold or cut down trees.

Therefore, when Bing Yuan was telling the story, he was in tears and choked up several times.

Wang Xiu was born into a prominent family, but he was unable to escape Cao Cao's attack this time.

As Bing Yuan choked up and could not speak, Wang Xiu said with emotion: "Cao's evil deeds are extremely cruel and vicious, ten times more evil than Dong Zhuo!"

No matter how bad Dong Zhuo was, he employed many scholars during his lifetime. Even when he took refuge in Guanzhong, he did not kill any of the famous scholars in Guanzhong. Instead, they lived in harmony with each other.

Hua Xin remained silent. He felt that he could no longer keep up with the changes of the times.

Each one of them was worse than he was, more evil, more vicious and more vicious than he had imagined.

Then Wang Xiu said, "Qingzhou has gone through this disaster, and Cao's army will be reborn. In the future, when we conquer Qingzhou, they will be united in purpose, which is very different from the past. This matter needs to be recorded in detail. I will report it to the Grand Marshal so that we don't underestimate the enemy."

Hua Xin sighed upon hearing this: "Cao Cao is cunning and vicious. Isn't he afraid of bringing disaster to his clan?"

Bing Yuan's voice was hoarse at this time: "His son Cao Pi died of illness, perhaps it was retribution. But when I fled to Pingyuan, I also heard people speculate that Cao Cao's sons died of illness or were separated, so they hid their tracks and changed their names to hide among the people. This shows how cruel Cao Cao was to avoid disaster."

Wang Xiu was also heartbroken and nodded, "Yes, this person knew that he was no match for the Grand Marshal. He knew that he would die and that there was a way for his offspring to survive, so he must have done extremely evil things during his lifetime."

Hua Xin remained silent and didn't know how to comfort the two.

He was from Gaotang County, Pingyuan County, which was right next to the south bank of the Yellow River and was naturally within the range of Cao's slaughter.

But the problem is that Gaotang County is in the west of Qingzhou, adjacent to Yanzhou, and is the bridgehead for Cao's army to enter Qingzhou.

At that time, Cao's army had not yet decided to slaughter people in Qingzhou, giving Gaotang scholars a chance to choose. Although Gaotang scholars did not make a clear choice decisively, Cao's army made slow progress and had to slaughter people ruthlessly... The wind was not blowing, and Gaotang people finally seized the last chance to join Cao's army.

Therefore, the damage suffered by Hua Xin's hometown was not serious. Moreover, he had been away from home for so many years. Even if a disaster occurred, Hua Xin lacked the kind of empathy and grief.

Instead, Bing Yuan was sobbing and heartbroken beside him, and his emotions were contagious, making Hua Xin even more uncomfortable.

As the three of them looked at each other in silence and drank tea in grief, Wang Xiu's guards entered the courtyard, stepping on the slippery bluestone path, wearing a rainproof leather cloak: "Jijiu, there are envoys at the foot of the mountain."

"Handle with caution."

Wang Xiu warned the others through the window, calmed down and said to the two men, "Now that things have come to this, those of us who are still alive should mourn and take care of our health so that we can avenge our grievances in the future."

Bing Yuan nodded reluctantly: "The messenger must be here to look for Shuzhi. Shuzhi, please do as you please. I will bother you again after I have settled the villagers."

Wang Xiu agreed, and stood up with his hands on the table, wearing a painted hard leather cloak and a round, wide-brimmed rainproof felt hat. Before leaving, he bowed to Hua Xin who stood up to see him off, and said, "Zi Yu, please stay."

"Shuzhi, take care."

Hua Xin bowed, his expression was gloomy, his brows were dark and full of sorrow.

The scholars from his hometown joined Cao's army, and the scholars from Qingzhou suffered even more. As a person living in a foreign state, he was sad about the plight of his fellow villagers and people in his state, and felt even more lost for having lost his roots.

A destroyed Qingzhou was obviously not worthy of the shogunate granting him a high-ranking official position.

Soon Wang Xiu returned and brought Hua Xin a bamboo slip with the seal of the Inspector General of the Imperial Guards: "The messenger is not looking for me. This is from Zhong Yuanchang for Ziyu."

"Give me?"

Hua Xin had a strange expression on his face. He was a suspicious person and always felt that Zhong Yao was the source of danger. He didn't want to have any close relationship with Zhong Yao.

But Wang Xiu was right next to him and was the person in charge, so there was no point in refusing at this time.

So Hua Xin broke the mud seal, turned over the wooden slip, and took out the bamboo slips inside.

He rolled up the bamboo slips and unfolded them again, then sat by the window and read alone.

In the letter, Zhong Yao elaborated in detail on the importance of Chang'an University and the strict management of the people's household registration in Guanzhong, hoping that Hua Xin would not make mistakes.

Hua Xin's face changed. He really didn't expect that people like him were also within the scope of household registration management.

He was just explaining the scriptures to his fellow villagers, which was really a part of his daily life, but it actually attracted the attention of the shogunate.

He couldn't help but glance at Bing Yuan who was lying on the low table. It might be the group of refugees brought by Bing Yuan that attracted the attention of the shogunate.

Before this, Luo Tong was in office, and the county officials in Guanzhong turned a blind eye and the matter was let go.

Now Bing Yuan brought the refugees into Guanzhong to join him, and the officials could no longer sit idly by.

So recruiting me as Shangshu was just an alternative way of imprisoning me and restricting my activities?

If you disagree or refuse the recruitment, will the next people who come here be the county officials, the jailers, and the surrounding volunteers?
With his hopes dashed, Hua Xin was in low spirits and his expression was hard to hide.

Wang Xiu saw this and asked with concern: "Zi Yu, why are you so absent-minded?"

"It is about the Grand Marshal recruiting me to be the Minister of State. I heard that the official duties of the Minister's Office were idle, so I was unwilling to take the position. Zhong Yuanchang heard about it and wrote to you to advise me on this matter."

Hua Xin was distraught and said, "It's hard to refuse such a generous offer."

Bing Yuan raised his head with red eyes and stared at Hua Xin: "Zi Yu, you can't refuse it anymore. This is a good opportunity. Whether we can avenge our hometown depends on us. We should be determined to assist the Grand Marshal and take it as our responsibility to kill Cao the thief!"

"Yes, I will never forget my hometown grudges for even a day."

Hua Xin also said honestly: "At first, I just disliked the Shangshu's lack of power, and I wanted to seek an important position for revenge."

Wang Xiu also nodded slowly and encouraged him, "Zi Yu, please go to the post first. If there is a chance, I will recommend you to the Grand Marshal in person."

After hearing this, Hua Xin looked embarrassed, but he just nodded slowly and clenched his fists secretly.

(End of this chapter)