Chapter 53 Chapter Seven Incorporates Qingzhou Army to Compete for Yanzhou Land (5)

Cao Cao knew that the civil uprising was a political issue and should not be resolved by military force.Although massacres can be deterrent for a while, as long as they relax for a while, the rebellion will come back again.Political issues must be dealt with politically to be effective.Therefore, when the power of the Yellow Turbans weakened, Cao Cao also started the work of recruiting. He even publicly stated to the generals of the armed forces: "Whether this mission can be successfully completed, appeasement is much more important than pursuit." Cao Cao issued a large number of letters of persuasion to the leaders of the Yellow Turban Army, and the two sides negotiated for a truce.But Cao Cao didn't just want to make peace with the enemy. He used the truce to constantly mobilize troops and redeploy the front line. He assembled a lot of elite troops and set up many combat traps.

Soon, the negotiations broke down, and Cao Cao immediately took action.But he tried to avoid killing as much as possible, and used the strategy of driving ducks to force a large number of Yellow Turbans into the trap he preset, and then surrounded them. It was cold winter, and the main force of the Yellow Turban Party who was besieged in Jibei Kingdom, under Cao Cao's constant instigation, first laid down their weapons and surrendered unconditionally.Cao Cao was very happy, and immediately announced that he would not blame the past, and all those who were old, weak and lacking in combat power would be sent back to the countryside to engage in farming.The remaining more than 300,000 people were reorganized, strengthened training, and organized into the "Qingzhou Army", and guided them to engage in the work of farming.

This not only solved the problem of the Yellow Turban Party, but also increased a lot of agricultural productivity, which was of great help to the reconstruction of the dilapidated rural areas at the end of the Han Dynasty.But more importantly, with the combined troops of Bao Xin and Liu Dai, for the first time in his life, Cao Cao finally had the world's elite army. Pacifying the Yellow Turbans in Qingzhou made Cao Cao's career a big step forward. Not only did he gain the trust of all county officials and people, but he also virtually controlled all the legions in Yanzhou after the war.Not only has Cao Cao's reputation improved a lot, but he has also become a real competitor with strength.Yuan Shao took the opportunity to recommend Cao Cao as Yanzhou Mu, and helped Cao Cao become a warlord worthy of the name and arrogant.

It took Cao Cao more than half a year to wipe out the Yellow Turban Army in the Qingzhou area. His position as the governor of Yanzhou should be secure, right? Unexpectedly, Chang'an sent another senior official named Jin Shang to Yanzhou to serve Governor.How could Cao Cao agree? He got Yanzhou with great difficulty, how could he let it out? Even Yuan Shao, he was unwilling for Cao Cao to give up this territory.Therefore, when Cao Cao heard that Jin Shang had brought a team to Yanzhou, he ambushed the troops at the border in advance, and attacked Jin Shang as soon as he arrived.Jin Shang was hit by a bludgeon, fled in a hurry, and went to Nanyang to join Yuan Shu, Yuan Shao's opponent.

After Dong Zhuo was assassinated and Wang Yun was in power, the confrontation between the Kwantung Army and the Chang'an government should have naturally resolved.But in fact, the leaders of the Kwantung Army simply forgot the existence of the government, and instead triggered fierce conflicts in order to expand their own strength.The Yuan brothers turned against each other and made more trouble than anyone else.Yuan Shao combined the leaders of the legions of Ji, Qing, Yan, and Bing, and formed a military alliance with Liu Biao, the governor of Jingzhou. Of course, Cao Cao, the herdsman of Yanzhou, belonged to the legion pro-Yuan Shao.Yuan Shu's camp included Gongsun Zan in the north, Liu Bei and Shan Jing who were allies of Gongsun's army; Tao Qian, governor of Xuzhou, and Kong Rong, prefect of Beihai, also leaned towards Yuan Shu.In addition, the army left by Sun Jian, because the young master Sun Ce was still young, retreated to Jiangdong. Although it belonged to the Yuan Shu Group, it did not participate in the frontal confrontation.

During the confrontation between Yuan Shao and Gongsun Zan in the north, in order to contain Yuan Shao's troops, Yuan Shu and his allies invaded Yuan Shao's southern border.Liu Bei, Shan Jing, and Tao Qian led troops to garrison Gaotang, Pingyuan, Fagan and other places one after another, putting a lot of pressure on them.As an ally, Cao Cao naturally had to share the work for Yuan Shao.He sent troops from Yanzhou and defeated the coalition forces of Liu Bei and Tao Qian in the southwest of Qingzhou. Yuan Shu, the prefect of Nanyang, knew that Cao Cao belonged to Yuan Shao, so he thought, now that Cao Cao and Yuan Shao have occupied Yanzhou, if he doesn't find a way to prevent Yuan Shao from expanding to this side, he will connect Jizhou, Yanzhou, and Qingzhou into one in the future. would be very disadvantageous.Therefore, Yuan Shu asked Gongsun Zan in the north to attack Yuan Shao, and sent troops north to attack Cao Cao himself.

After Cao Cao sent Jin Shang away in order to keep his position in Yanzhou, he was worried that Chang'an might question him. At this moment, he was attacked by Yuan Shu and felt that he was too lonely. I can't justify it.When he was in trouble, Mao Jie from Pingqiu suggested to Cao Cao: "Nowadays, the world is divided and the heroes are divided. Although Yuan Shao and Liu Biao have a large army, they lack foresight and have never contributed to stabilizing the foundation of the country. The court has no wealth and taxes to govern the country." , the people have no property to settle down. This kind of political system will never last. Those who raise troops in the name of righteousness win, and those who have official positions can have sufficient financial resources. Therefore, the future strategy of Minggong can be to serve the emperor to order the ministers, and to cultivate and plant to save money. Military resources, if this is the case, then the career of overlord can be achieved."

At this time, Cao Cao was hoping that one day he could be an overlord like Duke Huan of Qi and Duke Wen of Jin.After listening to Mao Jie's words, I feel very inspired.It can be seen that it is necessary to focus on farming and develop sericulture. How can we do it now? We can only talk about it in the future.But the strategy was worthwhile, and he had taken it to heart.As for honoring the Son of Heaven, it is a top priority, and it must be done quickly anyway.He planned to send envoys to Chang'an to pay tribute immediately. However, it is not easy to go to Chang'an.As Mao Jie said, "The world is divided." Everyone defends their territory and refuses to give in to each other. How can there be unimpeded travel? To go to Chang'an, you must first pass through Hanoi. He had to send an envoy to Hanoi prefect Zhang Yang to borrow the way.Zhang Yang shook his head in response to the excuse. It happened that Dong Zhao, the Dingtao man, was with him, so he persuaded him, "Although Cao Cao is in league with Yuan Shao, it is a temporary phenomenon after all. Cao Cao is not powerful at present, but he is A hero in the world is worth making friends with. He came to ask you today, so you should take this opportunity to recommend him to the imperial court. If the matter can be successful, it will be beneficial to you in the future."

Zhang Yang was persuaded and recommended Cao Cao. Dong Zhao wrote a letter to Li Jue and Guo Si asking them to meet Cao Cao's envoy. After Li Jue and Guo Si received the letter from Zhang Yang and Dong Zhao, they were afraid that Cao Cao would have other conspiracy to pay tribute to Emperor Xian of Han, so they put Cao Cao's envoy under house arrest.Zhong Yao, a servant of Huangmen from Yingchuan, said to Li Jue and Guo Si: "Now the heroes rise up together, each according to the state and county, and is not controlled by the court. It is rare that Cao Yanzhou is loyal to the royal family and sends envoys to pay tribute. Receive him well, and also To encourage others, you must not be an envoy of Cao Cao, so as to disappoint the people of the world."

Li Jue and Guo Si then accepted the gift and treated Cao Cao's envoy preferentially.In addition, he also sent some courtesies for the envoy to take back to Cao Cao.In this way, it means that Cao Cao's status as governor has been officially recognized by the court.