The Most Romantic of the Three Kingdoms

Shen Pei said, "Ming Gong pledged his wife and son."

The hostage, the hostage is also. The meaning of Shen Pei's words is to keep Cao Cao's wife and children as hostages in Ye County, and then let him go to Taiyuan to take up office. That's all. Can it be said that Cao Cao can betray Yuan Shao regardless of his wife and children?

Taking the wives and sons of the soldiers and soldiers under the tent together as hostages is a common practice among the current separatist forces.

During the first war between Yuan Shao and Gongsun Zan earlier, Ye County was attacked by the Heishan Army. At that time, the wives and sons of the generals under Yuan Shao's account were all in Ye County. Panicked.

So now, according to this practice, to detain Cao Cao's wife and son in Ye, not only can it satisfy Cao Cao's appointment and let Yuan Shao no longer worry about it, but also because this is a practice, there is no need to hurt the relationship between Cao Cao and Cao Cao. Peaceful.

This matchmaking strategy is not a brilliant strategy, but it is also a good and feasible method.

Yuan Shao said in his heart: "I personally commanded the army to attack Zhang Feiyan, but I couldn't destroy him. Feiyan is a thief, Xiaoxu. However, in the Taihang Valley, even if I raise a large army again and attack him again and again, the victory will only be in some poor mountains and remote areas. It does not benefit me much; if I fail to win, it is like a thorn in the back, making me unable to use all my strength. Meng De is good at using troops. Although he has lost Dongjun, he can still use it properly for me. , but there are rumors in the city, and you must not believe it. Zhengnan’s strategy is very good, and it can solve my dilemma.”

Cao Cao is good at using troops. Before, he was in Dongjun. Yuan Shao supported him again and again because he wanted to use him to prevent the expansion of Xun Zhen's forces. Although Cao Cao failed to prevent the failure, he still had the ability to use troops. It was indeed a pity for Yuan Shao to keep him in Ye County.

At the same time, Zhang Feiyan was entrenched in the Taihang Valley. Yuan Shao also thought about it. He has not won the first battle. If he fights again, then the effort and the harvest will not be proportional. Yes, it made Yuan Shao uncomfortable again.

Under such circumstances, agreeing to Cao Cao's request and transferring him to Taiyuan, on the one hand, checks and balances Zhang Feiyan, on the other hand, assists the high-ranking officials to deal with Baibo Huangjin, and strives to get the best of both worlds in Bingzhou, which is obviously an excellent choice.

Therefore, as far as Yuan Shao's heart is concerned, he actually wanted to send Cao Cao to Taiyuan.

Yuan Shao is very happy now that he has obtained this strategy and solved the problem of worry, but on the surface he still needs to make some gestures, so he calmly said with a smile: "Meng De and my chief acquaintance know each other, he , I am very relieved, and I will never doubt him. I heard Gongze tell me that there are all kinds of rumors circulating in Ye County, and they are not credible. "

He ordered the trial partner and said, "You invite Meng De on my behalf, I will hold a banquet in the mansion, and have a drink with him tonight."

That night, Yuan Shao held a banquet in the mansion, and had a drunken break with Cao Cao.

It is only said that in the next few days, Yuan Shao first sent Guo Xun north to Youzhou, and then went to the court to make Cao Cao the prefect of Taiyuan. With more than 1,000 troops, Cao Cao took office in Taiyuan. Gao Qian had already gone to Bingzhou a few days ago, and now he is also in Taiyuan.

Having said this, I might as well say one more thing. Although Gao Gan was considered by Yuan Shao as the prefect of Bingzhou, in fact, Gao Gan is now able to control only the two counties of Taiyuan and Shangdang, and at most Yanmen in the north of Taiyuan. part.

The state has a total of nine counties.

The general orientation of these nine counties is that Yanmen, Taiyuan and Shangdang are in the east, Yanmen is the northernmost, Taiyuan is in the middle, and Shangdang is the southernmost; Yanmen County borders Youzhou, Taiyuan and Shangdang County border Jizhou , the south and east-south section of Shang Dang County borders Hanoi County.

From these three counties to the west, to the west of Yanmen County are Yunzhong County and Dingxiang County; to the west of Taiyuan County is Xihe County; to the west of Shangdang County is Hedong County of the Sili School Captain. The three counties of Yunzhong, Dingxiang, and Xihe go further west to Wuyuan County, Shuofang County, and Shang County.

That is to say, Xihe County is right in the center of Bingzhou, and Xihe County now has Baibo Yellow Turbans there. If the Baibo Yellow Turbans are not eliminated, then Shuofang County, Shang County and Wuyuan County to the west of Xihe County, Yuan Shao could not get his hands on it; at the same time, in the northern counties such as Yunzhong and Yanmen, there were many Wuhuan, Tu Ge and other Hus in the border. As a result, what Yuan Shao can really control now is actually Taiyuan and Shangdang. Just two counties.

The overall situation in Bingzhou is quite bad. The Han and Hus live together, the enemy is strong, and his wife and son are detained by Yuan Shao in Ye County. However, on the way to take office in Taiyuan, in front of Yu Cheng Li and other officials, Cao Cao is full of energy and ambitious. look.

Dongjun lost the failure, at this moment, it seems that he will never see him again, as if it never happened at all.

Perhaps this is the characteristic of a real hero.

Although the failures in the past will have an impact on them, they can quickly eliminate the impact. The more difficult and difficult the situation, the more fighting spirit they will be.

...

In Tanxian County, Xuzhou, Xunzhen has been paying attention to the war in Youzhou. Since the news of the fighting between Liu Yu and Gongsun Zan reached Xuzhou, Xunzhen sent a large number of meticulous workers and scouts to Youzhou to inquire about the situation in Youzhou.

And before this, when attacking Dongjun, Xunzhen also sent a lot of meticulous work and scouts to Jizhou. The rumors that Guo Tu reported to Yuan Shao were spread by Xun Zhen's meticulous work sent to Ye County.

During this period of time, various intelligences from Youzhou and Jizhou have been continuously sent to Xun Zhen's case.

Liu Yu's rapid collapse was beyond Xun Zhen's expectations.

Cao Cao's appointment to Taiyuan made Xun Zhen a little disappointed, but Yuan Shao never showed signs of entering Dongjun, which is not bad.

On this day in early March, that is, before and after Cao Cao left Ye County to take office in Taiyuan.

Xi Zhicai came into the hall and said to Xun Zhen, "Duke Ming, Zhongyu Jian, it's time to take Qingzhou!"

Xun Zhen calmly put down the case slip in her hand, raised her face to look at Xi Zhicai, and said, "Oh?"

Xi Zhicai said: "Duke Ming, Zhongyu sees the time to take Qingzhou because of two reasons."

Xun Zhen adjusted her sitting position to make herself more comfortable, and said, "What two reasons?"

Xi Zhicai said: "The previous military report said that when Liu Yu and Gongsun Zan were fighting for a side, Quyi's troops stationed in the northern part of Jizhou seemed to be moving into Youzhou, but it was probably because Liu Yu was not expected to be defeated. So quickly, Qu Yi's troops are still stationed in northern Hebei, and have not invaded Youzhou, but it can be inferred that Yuan Benchu's attention must have been attracted to Youzhou now.

"Gongsun Zan is his confidant's trouble. Gongsun Zan and Liu Yu are fighting each other, and Youzhou is in chaos. This is a good opportunity for Yuan Shao, because Yuan Shao has no time to look east. This is one of the reasons."

Xun Zhen nodded and said, "What about the second reason?"

Xi Zhicai said: "Last winter, there were two heavy snowfalls, and the days of the Yellow Turbans in Qingzhou were already very difficult. Now it's just March, when the Yellow Turbans are not in contact, Zhicai heard about it. There is a food shortage in Qingzhou now, and the days of the Yellow Turbans in Qingzhou must be even worse. It's not too bad. Then if our army attacks Qingzhou at this time and lures it with food, there will be more people who will fall under the Yellow Turbans in Qingzhou, which can greatly reduce the resistance of our army to take green."

Xi Zhicai's second reason, he actually only said half, why

To lure him with food, he concluded that there will be many people who will be brought down by the Yellow Turbans in Qingzhou? There is a prerequisite for this, that is, the gossip that was distributed to Qingzhou before, saying that Xunzhen is also studying the Taiping scriptures and so on, and has already had a certain influence on the Qingzhou Yellow Turbans.

According to the information, many people in Qingzhou Yellow Turban really believed it. In this way, when Xun Zhen could not survive without food and clothing, if Xun Zhen used the temptation of giving them food and giving them fields, Qingzhou Yellow Turban would surrender to Xun Zhen. should be quite a few.

- This is a reasonable inference.

Xun Zhen listened to Xi Zhicai and finished talking about these two reasons, and laughed and Xi Zhicai said: "What you said is exactly the same as my opinion. ... Zhicai, to tell you the truth, I am also thinking about it these two days. The question of taking Qingzhou."

Xi Zhicai said: "Ming Gong, it will be the summer harvest season in two months. If you want to enter Qingzhou, you need to get there early."

Xun Zhen said: "I've already calculated that it will take about half a month to mobilize troops and prepare food supplies. The fastest dispatch of troops will be the end of this month. Do you think it's possible?"

Xi Zhicai asked, "Dare to ask which ministry Duke Ming intends to send to enter Qingzhou?"

Xun Zhen had already considered this, and he said, "I plan to send troops on three routes to capture Qingzhou."

Xi Zhicai said, "Don't talk about Duke Ming, let Rong Zhong guess."

Xun Zhen smiled and said, "Okay, guess what."

Xi Zhicai said, "These three routes of troops and horses must be divided into three routes: west, middle and east. Duke Ming, is what Zhicai said right?"

Xun Zhen nodded and said, "Yes, it is divided into three routes: west, middle, and east."

Xi Zhicai said: "The west, the middle and the east are the three routes of troops and horses. The west route is naturally the only one that Zilong can't do; the middle route, Zhong Guzhi, is under Zhong Ren's department; as for the east route, Huang Qian's department Ministry, ... dare to ask Duke Ming, is what Zhong said right?"

Xun Zhen smiled and said, "That's right. I plan to use Zilong, Tian Kai, and Xun Pu to leave Licheng and Pingyuan to attack Jinan and Le'an. Deng and Huang Qian went out from Langya and entered the Beihai, restraining the Yellow Turbans from the Beihai Sea, preventing them from rushing to the Yellow Turbans in Jinan, Qi and other places; then they went out from Taishan County with Zhongren and attacked Qi.

"Zhongren's road is the main force of the three-way army. After Zilong and Zhongren joined forces in Linzi, the capital of Qi, the two roads joined forces and continued eastward, and then joined forces with Chen Deng and Huang Qian's troops in Beihai, and concentrated on it. Strength, annihilate the Beihai Yellow Turban Guanhai and other troops; Beihai has conquered, and finally, won Donglai. Zhicai, what do you think of my deployment?"

Xi Zhicai said with a smile: "Duke Ming's deployment is very good! Duke Ming will attack Qingzhou with this three-way army, and Qingzhou will be won by Duke Ming."

Although Qingzhou is called a state, the area under its jurisdiction is not large. It is more than 600 miles long from east to west, and the narrowest point from north to south is only 200 miles.

Xun Zhen attacked with three troops and horses together, which can be described as a thunderous trend.

The largest county in Qingzhou Prefecture is Beihai County, and now the county where the Yellow Turbans are most ravaged in Qingzhou is also Beihai County, so Xun Zhen also chose Beihai as the final meeting point for the three troops dispatched.

The Beihai Huangjun Qu Shuai Guanhai mentioned in Xun Zhen's words is the most famous and most numerous of the Qingzhou Yellow Turbans.

Just in the autumn and winter of last year, this Guan Hai once gathered a crowd to attack Juxian, the county government in Beihai. Although Juxian was not conquered in the end, the county soldiers in Beihai suffered heavy losses in this battle.

With this three-way army to take Qingzhou, it should not be difficult to capture Qingzhou, but Xun Zhen's smile seemed to contain a hint of worry, Xi Zhicai could see his worry, guess what he was thinking, laugh He asked, "Ming Gong, are you worried about Kong Beihai?"

Xun Zhen put away her smile, sighed, and said, "Speaking of which, Kong Beihai and I have known each other for a long time. Kong Beihai and my clan father have a close relationship, but he has prejudice against me. I have written with him many times before. He either doesn't return, or he accuses me. This time I attack Qingzhou, I don't worry about anything else, but just as Zhicai you just said, I only worry about Kong Beihai."

Xi Zhicai said: "Ming Gong, although Kong Beihai is famous in the high seas and is valued by scholars, he is only a scholar and scholar. He has been in charge of Beihai for many years, and he can neither exterminate the Yellow Turban nor appease the people, but can only defend the drama. There are only a few cities such as the county. Now Beihai is full of yellow scarves. How can he understand Duke Ming’s ambition? Maybe he will be dissatisfied with Duke Ming’s progress in Qingzhou, but after Beihai is taken down, Duke Ming will Invite him to Tan County, open up his heart, and express his will."

Although he knew that his attack on Qingzhou would definitely cause Kong Rong's greater dissatisfaction, he couldn't just leave Qingzhou and not take it because of his dissatisfaction. If nothing else, Xunzhen couldn't ignore the suffering people in Qingzhou.

Xi Zhicai added: "Kong Beihai kills famous people and doesn't listen to his advice. There will inevitably be many scholars in Beihai County who are dissatisfied with him. Didn't Liu Zong come from Kong Beihai's mansion to join the Ming government? Gong may wish to ask Liu Chenggong to send some letters to the befriending scholars in Beihai County and Qingzhou, and ask these scholars to jointly send a letter to Duke Ming before I use Xuzhou as a soldier in Qingzhou, asking Ming Gong to enter Qingzhou to destroy the Yellow Turbans, ... so , not only can the name justify, but also can eliminate the unhappiness of Kong Beihai."

Xi Zhicai's plan was good, Xun Zhen immediately adopted it, and invited Liu Qian to tell him about Xi Zhicai's idea.

Liu Qian naturally would not refuse, and immediately agreed.

Therefore, Liu Qian wrote letters to his friends in Qingzhou and Beihai County.

Over there, after Liu Qian's letters were written, they were sent by Xunzhen's officials to the place where they received the letters; here, Xunzhen began to gather troops and horses, transport food and fodder, and prepare for battle.

...

late March.

Zhao Yun, Xun Cheng, Chen Deng and Huang Qian, who received the order, were ready to fight.

The first batch of grain and food was also transported to the front lines of Mount Tai and Langya respectively.

Dozens of scholars from Qingzhou sent a joint letter to Tanxian County, unanimously requesting Xun Zhen to enter Qingzhou, destroy the Yellow Turbans, and relieve the suffering of the people.

So on this day, Xun Zhen ordered a three-way army to attack the "Qingzhou Yellow Turban".

The soldiers and horses that attacked Qingzhou should logically be Xun Cheng, but the main general appointed by Xun Zhen to attack Qingzhou was not Xun Cheng, but Chen Mai, who was still nominally the prefect of Qingzhou.

After Chen Maizi was sent to Tan County by Zhao Yun and Xun Cheng, Xun Zhen set up a large mansion for him, served him with delicious food and drink, and gave him a lot of servants to serve him. , has raised him for so long, and has not punished his sin of betrayal, just to use him at this time.

Xun Cheng was the main force along the way, and Chen Mai of course followed Xun Cheng's army.

It was said that Chen Mai was the main general and Xun Cheng was the deputy general.

Because Langya State bordered Beihai County, in order to cooperate with Chen Deng and Huang Qian's battle to contain the Beihai Yellow Turbans, Xun Zhen sent Liu Qian to Chen Deng and Huang Qian's army as a counselor.

...

In the late spring of March, the spring flowers are blooming, and the three-way army launched an attack on Qingzhou almost on the same day.

As for the West Route Army, Zhao Yun and Tian Kai, who had just returned to the Plain from Tanxian County, led two troops to attack Le'an from Pingyuan County to the east; Xun Pu led his troops out of Licheng to attack Jinan.

The overall area of ​​Qingzhou is about two-thirds of Xuzhou, but Xuzhou has only five counties, while Qingzhou has six counties, and the two counties of Beihai and Donglai in the middle and east of the state account for half of the entire area of ​​Qingzhou. which is

It can be seen that the area of ​​the plain, Jinan, Le'an and Qi in the western part of the state is under the jurisdiction of the four counties.

Pingyuan County, the largest of these four counties, is only 300 li long, 100 li wide at its widest point, and only 30 or 40 li at its narrowest; Jinan and Le'an counties are both less than 200 li long and 100 li wide. Up and down, to put it bluntly, it is a small place; and the state of Qi is smaller than the two counties of Jinan and Le'an.

The small area under jurisdiction means that there is no depth. At the same time, the counties have been ravaged by the Yellow Turbans for a long time, and the strength of the soldiers in the counties is already weak. In addition, Chen Mai and Jinan Prime Minister suffered two major defeats before, and now it is even worse. .

To put it simply, the soldiers of the four counties, or in other words, the entire Qingzhou army is very weak now.

Therefore, in fact, the main enemies of Zhao Yun and others are not the soldiers of the county, but they are really entrenched in Jinan and Le'an, as Xun Zhen's propaganda "At the request of the people of Qingzhou, to suppress the Yellow Turbans in Qingzhou, and to save the people of Qingzhou". of the Yellow Turbans.

In other words, Zhao Yun's attack on Le'an County and Xun Pu's attack on Jinan County were not so much a battle with the soldiers of the two counties of Le'an and Jinan as the Yellow Turbans in these two counties.

As for the Yellow Turbans, just like the analysis of Xi Zhicai and Xun Zhen, after the two heavy snows last year, the ice and frost swords, and the lack of connection since the beginning of this spring, all the Yellow Turbans are now unable to eat, and how can they still have the strength to fight. ?

It is not at all the opponents of Zhao Yun and Xun Pu.

Both troops and horses are progressing very fast, and the momentum is like a broken bamboo.

Zhao Yun and Tian Kai came out of Pingyuan County, crossed the Yellow River, and entered the territory of Le'an. They first captured Qiancheng County on the south bank of the river, and then went south for twenty or thirty li to the county seat of Le'an and Linji on the north bank of Jishui River. Linji County was conquered.

After conquering these two counties, Zhao Yun did not stop much in Le'an, but hurried along the southwest of Jishui, and entered the territory of Jinan after 30 to 40 li.

At this time, because Xun Pu had fewer troops and horses, he had not yet conquered the Dongping Mausoleum, the county seat of Jinan.

Zhao Yun then led his troops to advance rapidly and crossed the Ji River again, ignoring the Zouping County along the way, heading for a hundred miles to the outside of Dongpingling County, where he joined forces with Xun Pu's troops. Two soldiers and horses besieged Dongpingling, and they were defeated in one battle.

Zhao Yun and Tian Kai had a total of more than 4,000 soldiers and horses, and Xun Pu had a total of 1,000 people. Zhao Yun left a group of soldiers stationed in Dongpingling County and guarded the surrendered Yellow Turbans, and then led the main force to the east, passing through Tugu County and Yuling County successively, without attacking.

——The magistrate of Tugu County has already run away. There are no soldiers and horses to guard the county town. There is only a Yellow Turban Army outside the county. The number of this Yellow Turban Army is not large. , then fled in a hurry.

The magistrate of Yuling County did not flee. When passing by Yuling, Zhao Yun dispatched a military officer and led more than ten horses to the city, where the county magistrate surrendered. The Yuling county magistrate refused to surrender, and stood at the head of the city and shouted, "You are raising troops for no reason and trespassing on my county, how could I offer the city to the thieves? Come and fight, we will win or lose by one point."

The military official returned to the army and told Zhao Yun the answer of the Yuling magistrate. Zhao Yun just smiled and was not angry.

Before the battle, Xun Zhen had already given a military order, ordering Zhao Yun and Xun Pu to fight without touching the county seat. In the early stage, they only needed to lay down the county governments of Jinan and Le'an. If Yu County refused to surrender, it would be temporarily Let him go and tell him to rush to Qi State to join Xun Cheng's tribe as quickly as possible. Therefore, seeing that the magistrate of Yuling refused to surrender, Zhao Yun led his troops to bypass Yuling and continued eastward.

However, why did Xun Zhen give such an order to Zhao Yun and Xun Pu?

This is because Jinan, Le'an and other counties are small, but because of the large population in the counties, there are many counties under their jurisdiction.

For example, Jinan County, within such a narrow boundary with a length and width of more than a hundred miles, has more than ten counties under its jurisdiction, which is simply dense. If every county seat is attacked, firstly, the speed of the advance will be delayed, giving Qingzhou Yellow Turban Guanhai and other ministries time to react; secondly, after the county seat is captured, at least some troops must be left to garrison, and Zhao Yun and Tian Kai will also be scattered. The strength of his troops, Xun Pu, etc., was not conducive to the decisive battle with the main force of the Yellow Turbans in Qingzhou, so he ordered Zhao Yun and Xun Pu to only take down the big cities such as Le'an and Jinan and the cities occupying important positions.

...

After passing through Yuling County, traveled more than 20 li, and entered the territory of Qi State.

Turning to the northwest, and walking up and down another hundred miles, Zhao Yun and the others arrived outside Linzi County, the county seat of Qi.

The main force of Xun Cheng and Chen Mai's department was under the city of Linzi at this time.

There are two most important strategic locations in Qingzhou, one is Licheng and the other is Linzi.

Licheng is the gateway to the southwest of Qingzhou. After occupying Licheng, no matter whether it is from Xuzhou in the southeast, Yanzhou in the south, or Jizhou in the west, it can pass through here and attack. The hinterland of Qingzhou.

If attacking from Licheng, it still takes a long journey to enter the hinterland of Qingzhou, then the location of Linzi is just west of the center of Qingzhou. Once Linzi is captured, it will move east, west, and west. South and north can be used calmly.

Licheng has been occupied by Xun Zhen.

Well, this time to fight Qingzhou, the first place to be captured is Linzi.

Linzi is a famous city in Qingzhou. The city is solid and the county seat is surrounded by three waters. It is a place that is easy to defend and difficult to attack.

In normal times, Linzi County would not be very easy to fight, but now it is different.

First, Chen Mai, who was in Xun Cheng's army, was the prime minister of Qi before he was appointed by Xun Zhenbiao as the prefect of Qingzhou~www.wuxiamtl.com~, and now the officials and guards in Linzi City are mostly his old subordinates.

Second, the county soldiers of Qi State had suffered great losses after following Chen Mai’s defeat in Licheng. Now, among the soldiers guarding the city in Linzi City, there are not many old soldiers, and many of them were recruited temporarily or recruited into the army not long ago. Recruits are not strong, and their fighting spirit is not strong.

Thirdly, it is precisely because Linzi is located near the center of Qingzhou that the Yellow Turbans in Beihai, Le'an, and Jinan, the three neighboring counties, often come to harass and besiege the city. Since being captured, Linzi County has been attacked no less than four or five times by different yellow scarves from Le'an in the north, Jinan in the west, or Beihai in the east.

Therefore, after seeing the arrival of Zhao Yun, Tian Kai, and Xun Pu's troops, the city was terrified at first; Xun Cheng commanded the siege for two days, and then under Chen Mai's invitation to surrender, Linzi offered the city and surrendered.

When Linzi got it, it meant that the three counties of Le'an, Jinan and Qi had been largely occupied by Xuzhou soldiers.

Next, only Beihai and Donglai counties are left.

Although there were only two counties left, Xun Cheng and others did not dare to take it lightly when judging the situation of the next battle. Instead, they paid more attention to it than when they fought Le'an, Jinan, and Qi.

This is because most of the Yellow Turbans in Qingzhou are located in Beihai, Donglai, especially Beihai County, and when Zhao Yun and Xun Pu attacked Le'an, Jinan and Xun Cheng attacked Qi, many Yellow Turbans originally scattered in these three counties, In addition to those who surrendered, there were also many who fled westward and eastward to the territory of Beihai Kingdom.

That is to say, the two places of Beihai Kingdom and Donglai County now gather at least hundreds of thousands of Yellow Turban soldiers and horses.

Xun Cheng summoned Zhao Yun, Tian Kai, Xun Pu, Chen Mai and other generals to discuss the deployment for the next battle.