The Most Romantic of the Three Kingdoms

Cao Cao didn't have time to meet Li Xiang now, so he told him to wait outside the hall. In the hall, he instructed Cheng Li and others to make specific withdrawal matters.

After the general instructions were completed, Cao Cao, Cheng Li and the others said: "Pan Zhang's army is advancing very fast, he has already captured Puyang and crossed the river, and his vanguard has now arrived at our city, not only his main force will arrive later, The Le Jin Department will definitely be here soon. To the north of Liaocheng, Zhao Yun is in a hurry to attack the city. I have ordered Xiahou Dun to evacuate as soon as possible. Weiguo County, we can't stay for long, we must evacuate as soon as possible, after you go back Don't delay, we'd better be able to withdraw from the county before tonight, and no later than tomorrow morning."

When the officials in the hall heard this, their expressions were different.

Some panicked, others seemed calmer.

One person asked, "Ming Gong, has our army withdrawn from Ye County now, did Ben Chu know?"

The person who asked the question was none other than Wan Qian, who first joined Liu Dai to welcome Cao Cao into Yanzhou, then surrendered to Xun Zhen, and then later betrayed Xun Zhen and joined Cao Cao. Among so many officials in the hall, Wan Qian was the last to know about the retreat from the abandoned city. He didn't know many details, so he was a little uneasy now.

After Cao Cao listened to his question patiently, he answered him pleasantly, saying: "Wan Jun, I went to the Duke of Yuan more than half a month ago, and told him that I want to give up Dongjun and withdraw. to Ye County.”

Wan Qian asked, "Then what is Duke Yuan's attitude towards this?"

Cao Cao said, "What is the relationship between me and Ben Chu? Of course, Ben Chu welcomes this."

In Wan Qian's view, if Dongjun is not lost, Cao Cao will at least have a place to stand, but if Dongjun is abandoned and Ye County is withdrawn, it will be completely dependent on others, and he can only rely on Yuan Shao's breath in the future. from.

In other words, Cao Cao's life will be very difficult in the future.

Cao Cao is their lord. If Cao Cao's life is not easy, the life of their subordinate officials can be imagined, and it must be even more difficult.

Wan Qian is very worried, what should I do in the future?

This idea suddenly floated in his mind, and as soon as it surfaced, it lingered.

Cao Cao saw his worry, stroked his beard, and looked as if nothing had happened, and said with a smile: "Wanjun, don't worry, you have already promised me at the beginning, the prefect of Zhao Jun or the prefect of Taiyuan, let me choose. One. After we arrive in Jizhou, we can be as good as Dongjun now. Don't worry, Wanjun, I will not treat you badly. As long as there is a bite of my Cao Mengde's meat to eat, you will have a bowl of soup to drink."

Eat one mouthful of meat, drink one bowl of soup. Although this is a common saying, the mouth is in the front, the bowl in the back, and the front and rear do not match, but Cao Cao is wrong. In fact, what should be said is that if I eat meat, there will be drink your soup.

This is also because although Cao Cao pretended to be calm, he was actually quite flustered in his heart.

However, in a state of panic, Wan Qian didn't hear Cao Cao's words.

Wan Qian didn't know that "Yuan Shao has promised Zhaojun or Taiyuan to choose one to be the prefect with Cao Cao." Cao Cao was lying to him, smiled reluctantly, and said gratefully, "Thank you, Duke Ming."

The things that Cao Cao should instruct and the things that should be explained have already been ordered, and Cheng Li and others have withdrawn from the hall.

After going out, Cao Cao had already forgotten about Li Xiang. Fortunately, the waiter in the tent reminded him, but he remembered and invited Li Xiang to come in.

Li Xiang entered the tent and bowed to Cao Cao. Taking the opportunity of salute, he quietly observed the tent.

In addition to Cao Cao, there were four or five servants in the tent.

None of these servants were armed, but on Cao Cao's case there was a sword.

Cao Cao helped the servants to clean up the case and the case slips piled up on the cabinet, put them in the box, ready to take away, and asked Li Xiang, "Is there something wrong?"

Li Xiang hesitantly said: "Ming Gong, can Rong Mo report privately?"

Cao Cao glanced at him and saw that he was hesitant and embarrassed, and guessed what he wanted to say, it must be a touch of gold.

Pan Zhang's troops arrived too quickly, and it was too late to collect food and salaries from various counties to expand military resources.

Cao Cao's army, to be honest, is very poor now. If you can have an extra penny, it is best to have an extra penny. He also wanted to hear what Li Xiang had achieved in the past two days, so he ordered the servants to ask them Exit for now.

After several servants had all left the hall, Cao Cao stopped what he was doing and asked Li Xiang, "Is there any big gain?"

Li Xiang said, "Reporting to Duke Ming is indeed a big gain."

Cao Cao was quite happy and said, "Oh? Then tell me, what is the harvest, and where did it come from?"

Li Xiang replied: "It was in the north of Dunqiu that a group of large tombs of the Qin Dynasty were discovered. There are several, but they were all just discovered and have not yet been excavated, so I will come to ask Duke Ming at the end of the day, these tombs. To dig or not to dig?"

Dunqiu County is next to Wei State, in the west of Wei State, it is the necessary place to enter Jizhou from Wei State.

Cao Cao said, "Dunqiu?"

Li Xiang replied, "Yes, Duke Ming, Dunqiu."

Cao Cao thought for a moment and said, "If it's Dunqiu, you can still dig it." Lingdao said, "You can take people to dig it now, and you can dig as much as you can."

Li Xiang said, "Ming Gong, are you going to dig now? It's daytime now."

In the past, when Li Xiang did these things, he would do it in the middle of the night.

Cao Cao waved his hand and said, "Why don't you care about the daytime! You tell the soldiers to take off their uniforms and pretend to be thieves."

After giving the order, Cao Cao saw that Li Xiang was still in the tent and left.

Cao Cao asked, "Do you have anything else to do?"

Li Xiang said: "There is indeed one more thing to do at the end."

Cao Cao said, "Come on."

Li Xiang said: "This matter is of great importance, and Duke Ming may report it soon."

Li Xiang is under Cao Cao's account, and he has no other duties, just a grave digger. What important things can he report? Coupled with Li Xiang's hesitant and sneaky appearance, who is Cao Cao? Immediately became suspicious.

However, Cao Cao remained calm, and while walking to the case in a calm manner, he said, "Then you should come and report."

Li Xiang stepped forward.

At this time, Cao Cao had already returned to the desk and put his hand on the sword.

Li Xiang saw this scene, and his feet froze.

Cao Cao's eyes had been watching Li Xiang's movements, and when he saw Li Xiang was walking, he suddenly stopped under his feet.

Only then did the shouts start, and the attendants and soldiers from outside the tent poured in.

The leaders were Cao Ang and Cao Anmin.

Cao Cao raised his sword, pointed at Li Xiang, and shouted, "Take it." He thought to himself, "If I misunderstood him and did not assassinate me, I will tell him that I was joking with him to test his courage. ."

In an instant, he had already figured out how to comfort Li Xiang if he made a mistake.

Li Xiang was pushed down by everyone and tried to struggle, but he was unable to fight against four hands. How could he struggle to move?

Cao Ang found a short dagger from him and presented it to Cao Cao.

When Cao Cao saw the dagger, he had already concluded that Li Xiang was here to assassinate him.

With his sword in hand, he walked around the table, walked up to Li Xiang, and said sadly, "Li Xiang, I treat you well, why do you have a bad intention and want to assassinate me?"

Li Xiang turned his face to one side,

No answer.

Cao Cao said: "Do you have a party?"

Li Xiang still did not speak.

Cao Cao said again: "Yes, the Liang Kui who came to vote for me with you, he must be your comrade."

Li Xiang turned his face and said, "I did this alone, and it has nothing to do with Liang Kui."

Cao Cao praised and said, "You are still a righteous man." He ordered Cao Ang and Cao Anmin to kill Liang Kui now.

Cao Ang and Cao Anmin agreed and sent several soldiers to find Liang Kui.

Cao Cao asked Li Xiang again: "Who instructed you? Who is in my county government, or who is in our army? Or is it the tyrannical gentry in Dong County?"

Li Xiang refused to say a word.

Cao Cao pressed him to ask again and again, but couldn't find anything. He didn't have time to do that kind of torture, so he didn't ask any more questions and said, "Kill it."

Cao Ang and Cao Anmin took Li Xiang out of the hall.

There were many people coming and going in the prefecture, and there were many officials. In order not to attract attention, he took him to a remote place and killed him with a knife.

However, Li Xiang and Liang Kui are also deplorable, especially Li Xiang, if we want to talk about ambition, he has ambition. Earlier, he did not vote for Xun Zhen, but for Cao Cao. What he wanted was to get a higher appointment. Dare to assassinate Cao Cao, not to mention the real action, just have such a thought, it can be said to be full of courage, but he died so silently. Not to mention that no one in Xunzhen knew about this, even in Cao Cao's army, so far, only Cao Ang, Cao Anmin and other people who were present at the scene knew about it.

In troubled times, people are really like duckweeds, and their lives are like weeds, and there is no need to say more.

It is only said that Pan Zhang led his troops to the outside of Weiguo County. His troops were too few, and it was difficult to attack the city for a while, so he scattered around the city and guarded the road out of the city to prevent Cao Cao from escaping.

Pan Zhang's plan was very good, but Cao Cao's response speed was very fast, beyond Pan Zhang's expectations, Cao Cao did not plan to defend the city at all.

In the afternoon of the same day, Cao Cao's entire army left the city and rushed westward.

The main force of Pan Zhang's department had just arrived at this time, and they fought in a melee twice, so they couldn't stop Cao Cao.

Cao Cao then led his troops to rush out.

Xiahou Yuan was now stationing troops at Dunqiu, and Pan Zhang led his troops to pursue them. When he was about to reach Dunqiu City, Xiahou Yuan's troops rushed out from the side ground, blocking Pan Zhang's troops, and the two sides fought again.

After all, Pan Zhang's army was one day and one night, and today, it was already two days and one night with almost no rest. They marched for more than 100 miles and fought many battles.

Therefore, Cao Cao successfully passed Dunqiu, retreated westward into the territory of Jizhou, and went straight to Ye County.

Although Cao Cao succeeded in breaking out, his strength also suffered a great loss.

First of all, the food and rations he brought with him were few; secondly, there were only two or three thousand soldiers and horses who followed him into Jizhou, and even with the addition of Xiahou Dun’s troops who had already retreated from Liaocheng, the number of Xiahou Dun, who had also come to Jizhou, was less than 5,000. Counted.

...

Liaocheng.

When Zhao Yun was reported, Xiahou Dun abandoned the city and fled, and led his troops to pursue them for a while.

A banquet was set up on the day, in the name of celebration, and Tian Kai was invited to attend.

After drinking a few glasses of wine, Zhao Yun said, "Tianfu-Jun, I have something to ask Yu-Jun."

Tian Kai hurriedly put down the wine glass in his hand, and replied terribly, "How dare you ask for two words? What are the orders of the general, please ask for instructions."

Zhao Yun said: "East County is now owned by Zhendong, Chen Liu and Zhang Mengzhuo are not the enemy of Zhendong. What I want to ask Tianfujun is that Tianfujun thinks he can stop it with the land of Tianfujun one county. Am I a hero in Xuzhou and Yanzhou?"

The sweat on Tian Kai's forehead came out, and he replied, "Where did the general come from? I never thought of confronting Zhendong!"

Zhao Yun said, "If you don't want to fight against Zhendong, I can give you an idea. I don't know if you want to listen."

Tian Kai said: "Please show me the general, and the general will definitely obey."

Zhao Yun said: "If you take the initiative to go to Tan County to see Zhendong, then Zhendong will definitely reward you."

Zhao Yun's words are a bit vague. What do you mean if you go to Tan County to meet Xun Zhen?

But although what Zhao Yun said was unclear, Tian Kai clearly understood what he meant.

Zhao Yun's words were clearly telling him to sacrifice Pingyuan County.

Tian Kai was already mentally prepared for this point. Although he was still a little unwilling to do so, he didn't dare to hesitate at all. He immediately got up from the table, bowed to the ground, and said, "The last will be here today. Go to Tan County to see Zhendong."

With the general trend, Zhao Yunbing took over Pingyuan County for Xun Zhen without any bloodshed.

...

From Liaocheng to the south, through Zhongqiu County, then across the Yellow River, through Puyang and other counties, to Chenliu County.

At this time, in the Chenliu Prefecture, the situation was almost the same as before Cao Cao retreated from Zhongqiu, and it was in a panic.

There is no other reason for this scene. Le Jin's troops have reached the junction of Jiyin and Chenliu counties.

Chenliu County and Dong County are bordered, and the jurisdiction of the two counties is not large, so Zhang Miao has already learned the news of Pan Zhang and Zhao Yun's invasion of Dong County. To the Chenliu County boundary for this news.

At the same time, just not long ago, Zhang Miao also received another military report, that is, Sun Ce's troops from Yuzhou, and some of them have already assembled on the southern and eastern borders of Chenliu County.

Being attacked on three sides, Zhang Miao panicked and said repeatedly, "How can this be, how can this be!"

His younger brother Zhang Chao said: "Brother, there is no other way at the moment, but to learn from that Cao Mengde."

Zhang Miao asked, "Only follow that of Cao Mengde, do you mean that we also abandon the county and leave?"

Zhang Chao said, "Brother, besides this, do you have any other countermeasures?"

Zhang Miao thought again and again, relying on Chen to stay in a county, that would kill him, and he could not stop Le Jin and Sun Ce from attacking.

He was helpless and had to say: "But Cao Mengde can vote for Yuan Benchu. If we abandon the county and leave, who will we vote for?"

Cao Cao's relationship with Yuan Shao was very good. When he went to vote for Yuan Shao, at most he was just relying on others.

The relationship between Zhang Miao and Yuan Shao was very bad.

When he was courting Dong, Zhang Miao couldn't get used to Yuan Shao's domineering style of pretending to be the leader of the alliance, and he went against him many times. Yuan Shao hated this title, and once secretly signaled Cao Cao to kill Zhang Miao, but Cao Cao did not obey Yuan Shao's order. This is also the one that Zhang Miao did not object to when Cao Cao became the prefect of Yanzhou after Liu Dai's death. reason.

All in all, Cao Cao can vote for Yuan Shao, but Zhang Miao cannot vote for Yuan Shao.

Chenliu was surrounded by Dong County to the north, Jiyin County to the east, Yuzhou to the south, and Jizhou to the northwest. The only way to escape is in Hanoi County in the southwest.

Zhang Chao said, "Brother, why don't you go west and go to Hanoi to make a statement?"

Zhang Miao murmured, "Follow Hanoi for publicity?"

Zhang Yang is from Bingzhou, and he and Lu Bu are fellows. The area of ​​Jizhou, Yuzhou, Yanzhou, and Xuzhou is now the two major separatist forces, one is Yuan Shao, and the other is naturally Xun Zhen. Yuan Shao and Xun Zhen were both from Yuzhou. The county governors and military generals under their two accounts were mainly from Yuzhou, and there were also local people from Jizhou, Yanzhou, Xuzhou and so on. Hanoi County happened to be at the junction of these two spheres of influence, so Zhang Yang was very embarrassed.

Therefore, he had to rely on Yuan Shao all the time, but at the same time, in order to ensure his independence, to ensure his territory in Hanoi

Not being annexed by Yuan Shao, he also had frequent correspondence with Cao Cao and Zhang Miao, and he was relatively familiar with Zhang Miao.

Also, although Zhang Yang was a military general, he respected scholars and scholars a lot.

Considering these two aspects, Zhang Yang is indeed an optional refuge.

In fact, even if Zhang Yang is not the best candidate for refuge, Zhang Miao really has nowhere to go now.

He had no choice but to accept Zhang Chao's suggestion and decided to go to Hanoi to join Zhang Yang.

As soon as the decision was made, Zhang Miao led the main force stationed in Chenliu County on the same day, about 3,000 people, drove hundreds of vehicles in carts and carts, left Chenliu County with Zhang Chao and others, and headed west to Hanoi.

——Most of the officials of Chenliu Prefecture did not leave Chenliu with Zhang Miao. After all, Chenliu was their hometown and they were not willing to leave their hometown. Moreover, according to the practice since the Han Dynasty, the officials who were dismissed by the county government were all local scholars. Even if Chen Liu returned to Xun Zhen, they would have no grievance or hatred with Xun Zhen. They also had to be appointed as county officials in their own county, so instead of following Zhang Miao to run away from home to Hanoi, it was better to simply stay.

Speaking of which, let's say one more thing.

When Cao Cao evacuated from Weiguo County, there were also many county officials in the Dongjun prefecture who stayed behind and did not follow Cao Cao.

These do not need to be said much.

The distance from Chenliu County to the border of Hanoi County is only 30 to 40 miles. After crossing a Langdang Canal, it is the jurisdiction of Hanoi County. It is not far from Zhihuai County, Hanoi County, only one or two hundred miles away.

Before Zhang Miao set off, he sent someone to Huai County to send a letter to Zhang Yang.

Zhang Yang received a letter, knowing that Zhang Miao was coming to vote, and to restore Zhang Miao's reputation, he personally went out of Huai County and went to the north bank of the Yellow River to wait for Zhang Miao.

On this day, Zhang Miao's army came from the east to the bank of the Yellow River.

Zhang Yang took them across the river.

to the other side.

Zhang Miao and Zhang Yang met.

Seeing Zhang Yang, Zhang Miao was quite ashamed. When I think about Dong, the troops of the Guandong princes mainly gathered in Hanoi and Suanzao in Chenliu County, Yuan Shao and Zhang Yang's troops gathered in Hanoi, and Zhang Miao, Xunzhen and other troops stationed in Suanzao. At that time, Zhang Miao was the only one who could compete with Yuan Shao. If Yuan Shao was the leader of the alliance, Zhang Miao would be equivalent to the deputy leader of the alliance. At that time, Xun Zhen was only one of the various princes, and his reputation and status were low. One of them, but now, the former deputy leader of the coalition army can't even hold the county, so he can only flee and flee to Hanoi, while Xun Zhen, who was not well-known in the past, has already occupied Xu and Yan prefectures. It is the power of the Northern Territory that is second only to Yuan Shao.

In contrast, how could Zhang Miao not feel ashamed?

Fortunately, Zhang Yang was very considerate, and when he saw Zhang Miao, he didn't say anything, but said diligently, "It's hard work on Zhang Road." Then he was welcomed into the county.

A banquet was held that night, and Zhang Yang warmly entertained Zhang Miao.

The wine is in sorrow and the bowels are more sorrowful.

Zhang Miao was drunk at night.

The next day, Zhang Yang invited Zhang Miao to meet him in the palace hall, and said to Zhang Miao, "Eunuch Zhang, you are here at the right time. Sun Bofu sent troops to attack me in Hanoi again a few days ago. Eunuch Zhang should have known about this. My county sent troops to help Duke Yuan in his crusade against Heishan thieves, but it was damaged a lot, and the troops were a little insufficient. If Duke Zhang is willing to help me, I dare to ask Duke Zhang to send some troops and horses to help me resist Sun Bofu."

Zhang Miao did not have the capital or reason to refuse Zhang Yang, so he agreed.

The two men lined up on the north bank of the Yellow River to resist Sun Ce's attack on Hanoi County via Ying Chuan, not to mention this.

...

The time it took for Xun Zhen to win the three counties this time was only more than half a month.

In less than a month, the three counties will be obtained.

The newly acquired land, from north to south, or from southeast to northwest, is more than 700 li long and 300 li wide.

In terms of the common people, Pingyuan County has the least number, and Dong County has less. However, Chenliu County, under Zhang Miao's rule, has hardly experienced any major wars for so many years. Not only has the vitality of the local people been preserved, but also The number of people who came to join the annexation in the surrounding counties was also very large, so it was almost the same as the population of nearly 870,000 people when Chenliu County was at its peak. The three counties together have a population of about 800,000 to 900,000 people.

The start of the three counties has another advantage for Xun Zhen, that is, the Yellow River defense line from Dong County to Pingyuan County is completely in his hands. From then on, he can use the Yellow River to separate the river from Yuan Shao in Jizhou. confront, to resist.

...

In late February, Cao Cao went to Ye County and met Yuan Shao.

Yuan Shao comforted Cao Cao about the reason and process of Dongjun's loss.

Cao Cao suggested: "In the beginning, Dongjun was lost, but now Chenliu and Pingyuan have also been taken away by Zhenzhi. If Chenliu is lost like this, then Xuzhou soldiers can attack Hanoi from Chenliu, and then run through Hanoi. Weijun, this is not good for you; and the loss of the plain is equivalent to closing the gate from Jizhou to Qingzhou, then Qingzhou will become the treasure of Zhenzhi, which is also not good for you. Therefore, in my opinion See, it's better to take advantage of the opportunity when Zhenzhi's foothold is not stable, and immediately send troops to retake the plains, Dongjun, and Chenliu."

Ju Shou, Feng Ji, Guo Tu and others were all present.

Hearing Cao Cao's words, Feng Ji said, "Now my great enemy in Jizhou is Gongsun Zan, Gongsun Zan has not yet been defeated. If I clash with Zhendongqi again, it will be like making enemies on both sides. This is the biggest disadvantage for Duke Ming. Moreover, our army has just fought a fierce battle with Zhang Feiyan, a black mountain thief, and the soldiers need to rest. At this time, it is not appropriate to start a dispute with Zhendong. As for Pingyuan County, after Zhendong won, Qingzhou seems to be in his pocket. However, the Qingzhou Yellow Turbans are known to be in the millions. If Zhendong really goes to fight Qingzhou, wouldn’t this be a good opportunity for our army to sit and watch the fight between him and the Qingzhou Yellow Turbans? Might as well wait for Zhendong to fight The Yellow Army thieves in Qingzhou have suffered both losses, and our army will attack Pingyuan County again, and we will achieve twice the result with half the effort."

Yuan Shao listened, pondered, and said after a while, "Your remarks are good."

Cao Cao said: "Fenggong's discussion~www.wuxiamtl.com~ sounds really good, but in my humble opinion, the three counties of Dongjun, Chenliu and Pingyuan are in fact the plains. , Chen Liu will not attack now, and at least Pingyuan County must not be occupied by Zhenzhi!"

Yuan Shao asked, "Why is this?"

Cao Cao replied: "The reason is very simple, as I said just now, Chenliu County is taken by Zhenzhi, then he can threaten Wei County from Hanoi, and at the same time, Pingyuan County and Wei County are only separated by Ganling and Julu. There are only two counties, and the distance is less than 400 li. This means that Zhenzhi can also advance from Pingyuan County at the same time to threaten the Wei army. First of all, it is an unstable factor for Wei County; The enemy is indeed Gongsun Zan of Youzhou, but this Plain County is located in the south of Bohai County, Bohai and Hejian, and borders Youzhou to the north. If you attack Youzhou in the future, then these two counties will be the rear of my attacking troops. Pingyuan is now in Zhenzhi's hands, which will also be a huge threat to our future attack on Youzhou.

"So two points, I think, even if Dong County and Chenliu County don't fight for the time being, Pingyuan County must at least take it down first."

Yuan Shao nodded and said, "Meng De's argument is very reasonable." He asked everyone in the tent, "What do you think?"

Feng Ji said: "I still have that opinion. Now our army has just wiped out the Black Mountain thieves, the sergeants are exhausted, and Gongsun Zan of Youzhou has not been eliminated by us. At this time, it is really not appropriate to fight with Zhendongqi."

Ju Shou, Shen Pei, Guo Tu and others, some supported Cao Cao's opinion, and some supported Feng Ji's opinion, and they could not argue.

But just after two consecutive days of arguing, on this day, an urgent report was sent from the north.

The urgent report was sent by Kou Yi.

What was said in the emergency report was: Liu Yu raised an army to attack Gongsun Zan, and asked Yuan Shao if he wanted to invade Youzhou.