Chapter 7 3. Wuhuan is a serious disaster!

From Youzhou to Liaodong, you must take the Binhai Road, which is the Liaoxi Corridor.Although the Binhai Road was the main line leading to the west of Liaoning during the Eastern Han Dynasty, this Binhai Road was built by Sun Chengzong Yuan Chonghuan and others as the Guanning Jin Line of Defense at the end of the Ming Dynasty.When the weather is good, the Hu cavalry will bask in the sun and sea breeze along the long coastline, drive straight in, go deep into Youbeiping, Yuyang, Shanggu and other places, and return with a full load; In bad weather, this road will become potholed and muddy, making it extremely difficult to march.

Cao Cao originally planned to attack Liucheng, Wuhuan's old nest, along the Binhai Road via Jieshi.But when he got everything ready, God came to make trouble again, and he encountered continuous rainy weather.For a while, the Binhai Road was "shallow for carriages and horses, and deep for boats and boats."At this time, Tadun and Wuhuan's ministries had already learned the news that Cao Jun was about to kill them, and they all "covered the key points" and waited for Cao Jun to throw himself into the trap. is into?Is it back?Cao Cao faced a dilemma.If they march by force, they will inevitably encounter stubborn resistance from the Wuhuan coalition forces.Cao Jun came from afar, the climate is not acclimatized, and he does not have an advantage in numbers, so a strong attack will undoubtedly suffer great losses.Retreating is tantamount to wasting all previous efforts, and it will also cause a serious blow to morale.Yuan Xi, Yuan Shang and others will also take the opportunity to join forces with Wuhuan to counterattack Youzhou.Until then, there will be no peace on the northern frontier.

Successful people are often those who can grit their teeth and persist until the end! Cao Cao knew this truth very well, and he was unwilling to stop the army, so he called Tian Chou.Tian Chou is from Youbeiping Wuzhong, and he is very familiar with the local mountains, rivers, geography and folk customs. He told Cao Cao that starting from Wuzhong, there is another path that can lead directly to Wuhuan's lair.This road is "Lulongsai" recorded in "Three Kingdoms": "The old Beiping County was in Pinggang, and it came out of Lulong and reached Liucheng; The path can be followed".

If you look for it on today's map, "Lulongsai" is the line from Xifengkou to Lengkou, Hebei. This road was once the main road for the Han army and the Xiongnu to fight in Youbeiping during the Western Han Dynasty, but it was abandoned in the Eastern Han Dynasty. Even Wuhuan is not aware of the existence of such a shortcut. "Lulongsai" is not easy to walk. After leaving the fortress, you need to cross 500 miles of high mountains, cross Baitan (now the Luan River 140 miles northeast of Gubeikou in the southwest of Chengde, Hebei), and continue to Pinggang (now Harqin, Inner Mongolia) Left wing) to leave the mountains, and then go straight to Liucheng, Wuhuan's old nest.Cao Cao is an adventurous person, and he often wins battles by surprise.From a military point of view, Binhai Road is an avenue, which is positive; Lulongsai is a trail, which is strange.It is Cao Cao's way of using troops to use justice and win by surprise.Lulongsai's strategic value was also valued by later military strategists because of Cao Cao's surprise attack.

I would like to add here that Liucheng, near today's Chaoyang, Liaoning, is not only the birthplace of the famous Hongshan culture, but also the unique hairy dinosaur fossil in the world.More than a hundred years later, the Murong clan of Xianbei rose in Liaodong, established the former Yan regime, and built a new city not far to the north of Liucheng, named Longcheng, and established its capital here for half a century.The name of Longcheng may not have been derived from the discovery of dinosaur fossils by the Murong family during the construction of the city, but later the Murong family sent troops to the Central Plains and walked exactly where Cao Cao is now walking through Lulongsai.

In July, the scorching heat in western Liaoning was unbearable. Guo Jia once again suggested to Cao Cao that the whole army should abandon their luggage and launch an attack immediately! "We can't stand the scorching heat, and Wuhuan can't stand the scorching heat either. Whoever can grit their teeth and persevere until the end will win!" Cao Cao encouraged the soldiers in this way. He ordered Tian Chou to be the guide officer. Wuhuan lair! Before setting off, Cao Cao also showed a bad taste, and ordered people to erect a wooden sign beside the Binhai Road, which read: "It's summer and summer, the road is blocked, and we will march again after autumn and winter."

When the Wuhuan scouts saw the wooden sign, they thought Cao's army had retreated, and immediately reported to Tadun.Ta Dun was overjoyed and relaxed his vigilance towards the border. Cao Jun has retreated, but not to Youzhou, but to your door! Under the leadership of Tian Chou, Cao Jun crossed mountains and ridges, advancing rapidly, until they reached Bailang Mountain (now Heishan to the east of Jianchang, Liaoning) less than 200 miles away from Liucheng. Only then did they get the news that Cao Cao's army was suppressing the border.Ta Dun, Yuan Xi and Yuan Shang hurriedly assembled tens of thousands of cavalry, marched west from Liucheng, and met Cao Jun at Bailang Mountain.

This is a thorough encounter, and it is also a decisive battle between Cao Jun and Wuhuan's main force.There is no way out for either side. In order to speed up the march, Cao Jun left all his luggage behind, and Cao Jun's infantry also fell behind because they had to undertake the task of building bridges and paving roads to clear the way for the cavalry. They rushed to Bailang Mountain with Cao Cao and a group of generals first. Cao Jun's main cavalry and hundreds of local cavalry led by Tian Chou.This cavalry has about 10,000 men, less than the main force of the Wuhuan cavalry. Once defeated, Cao Jun will be encircled by the Wuhuan cavalry in the long and narrow Liaoxi Corridor.However, although the number of Cao Jun cavalry is small, there is a mysterious unit called the special forces at that time-the tiger and leopard cavalry.

According to the "Three Kingdoms·Book of Wei": "The tiger and leopard riders under the pure supervision are all the best in the world, or a hundred people will make up for them." A simple sentence reveals two pieces of information to us: first, the tiger and leopard riders The commander is Cao Chun, a fierce general of the Cao clan; secondly, if someone dies in the tiger and leopard cavalry, they will be supplemented by centurions from other troops.In the simplest terms, Tiger and Leopard Cavalry is a special force composed of hundreds of battlefield warriors like company commander Gu Zidi, whose combat effectiveness can be seen.

The commanders of the "Tiger and Leopard Cavalry" have always been generals of the Cao family. According to "Three Kingdoms", the previous commanders of the "Tiger and Leopard Cavalry" are: Cao Zhen, Cao Xiu, and Cao Chun.Cao Cao sent his most trusted general of the Cao family to serve as the commander of the Tiger and Leopard Cavalry, which shows how important he is in Cao Cao's mind.The tiger and leopard cavalry is the elite of Cao Cao's direct lineage, and also the trump card army and killer of Cao Jun.Although there are not many records about "tiger and leopard cavalry" in "Three Kingdoms", in the battle of Cao Cao's pacification of Hebei, Cao Chun "supervised the tiger and leopard cavalry from the encirclement of Nanpi... to attack it urgently, (Yuan) Tan Defeated. Chun’s subordinates beheaded Tan’s head..."

The brave wins when we meet on a narrow road. Although the whole army has been exhausted by the long journey of more than ten days, those who came to Bailang Mountain were all elite warriors who had survived hundreds of battles in Cao's army.Facing life and death, they feared nothing, and soon their infantry brothers would arrive for reinforcements.Therefore, despite being at a disadvantage in terms of military strength, Cao Cao has the confidence to win. What's more, Cao Jun's magical soldiers descended from the sky, and Ta Dun and others rushed to fight, and their preparations were not very sufficient. The time for the decisive battle has finally come. At this time, Cao Cao showed the demeanor of a generation of famous generals: I saw that he led the generals to climb up the White Wolf Mountain in a calm manner, and looked at it from a height—in the distance, there were Wuhuan cavalry with no formation. At the foot of the mountain, there are Cao Jun's elite quietly ready to go. Cao Cao laughed.In the mountain wind, the Yitian sword was unsheathed—the whole army, attack! Two fierce generals in Cao's army, Zhang Liao and Zhang He, led a cavalry each, and took the lead in attacking the enemy.Under the command of Zhang Liao and Zhang He, Cao Jun cavalry and Wuhuan cavalry launched a bloody battle at the foot of White Wolf Mountain.The Wuhuan people soon discovered that in this melee of tens of thousands of cavalry, these cavalry from the Central Plains were so powerful that they did not lose the slightest bit! During the fierce battle, Cao Cao showed his trump card - the general Cao Chun led the tiger and leopard cavalry to kill from the slope, directly inserted into the flank of the Wuhuan cavalry, and rushed the Wuhuan cavalry to pieces.In the melee, Cao Chun took the lead, cutting and standing in front of the formation.As soon as the commander died, the Wuhuan cavalry was routed and completely defeated. Cao Jun won the battle of Bailang Mountain with less and more. After the Battle of White Wolf Mountain, Cao Jun took advantage of the victory and marched eastward, captured Liucheng in one fell swoop, and flattened the three counties of Wuhuan. The original Hebei people who were coerced by the Yuan brothers and the local Han and minority soldiers and civilians in western Liaoning totaled more than 200,000 people. Surrender.The fly in the ointment is that the brothers Yuan Xi and Yuan Shang escaped from the rebellion again and went to Gongsun Kang in Liaodong.However, their escape path will soon come to an end. The Battle of White Wolf Mountain was not eye-catching in the history of the Three Kingdoms at the end of Han Dynasty, but it has very far-reaching historical significance.On the one hand, Cao Cao obeyed Guo Jia's strategy and ran thousands of miles to wipe out the remnants of the Yuan family and the main force of Wuhuan in one fell swoop, completely eradicating the biggest hidden danger in the Youzhou area; The buffer force - Wuhuan, let Gongsun Kang who is entrenched in Liaodong see the strength of Cao Jun, and forced him to make a choice - either surrender or be eliminated. From a national perspective, the Battle of White Wolf Mountain hastened the demise of Wuhuan, an ancient ethnic minority.After the Battle of White Wolf Mountain, the Wuhuan cavalry was incorporated by the Cao army, which greatly enriched the cavalry strength of the Cao army; the Wuhuan people were further assimilated by the local Han people and other Hu people, and Wuhuan no longer existed as an independent force. , gradually disappeared in the long river of history. At this time, Guo Jia and Guo Fengxiao, the advisers with the most intrigues and tricks under Cao Cao's command, were seriously ill due to inaccuracy.Guo Jia knew that his fate was not long, so he offered Cao Cao the last strategy in his life-the army did not need to pursue Yuan Xi and Yuan Shang brothers who had fled to Liaodong, but only needed to rest on the spot, and good news would come soon. Come. In September of this year, Cao Jun marched from Liucheng. At this time, the weather turned better and the Binhai Road was smooth.Cao Cao passed Jieshi, rode up the mountain, and looked at the Bohai Sea in the distance. He was full of pride and wrote the well-known famous article "Guan Canghai": Facing Jieshi in the east, you can see the sea. The water is so light, and the mountains and islands stand tall. The trees are overgrown and the grass is luxuriant. The autumn wind is bleak, and the flood is surging. The journey of the sun and the moon, if you come out of it. The stars are brilliant, if they come out of them. However, on the way to class teacher, Guo Jia died of illness at the age of 38.In the same year when Guo Jia died, Liu Bei, who was far away in Jingzhou, visited the thatched cottage three times and asked Zhuge Liang to come out of the mountain.It is a great pity that two of the most important wise men in the history of the late Han Dynasty and the Three Kingdoms passed by. After the battle was over, Cao Cao rewarded him for his meritorious deeds. The dead Guo Jiazeng had 800 households, and he was posthumously named Zhenhou, and the living Tian Chou was also named Tinghou. However, Tian Chou refused again. Cao Cao didn't like this, he loved talent like his life, and naturally he would not "let go" of any meritorious official, so he "forcibly" moved Tian Chou and his family of more than 300 people to Yecheng.Tian Chou is not a vegetarian either. Even though he was forcibly demolished to Yecheng, he still said that I just don't want to be an official. In the end, Cao Cao was cornered, and so was Tian Chou.Just when Cao Cao was about to force Tian Chou to accept the title again, Tian Chou suddenly pulled out his sword and put it across his neck, meaning, if you force me again, I will die for you!This time, Cao Cao didn't withdraw, and he didn't want to be an official even if he died, so he wouldn't really let people die... Cao Cao had to temporarily give up the idea of ​​reusing Tian Chou and wait for the good news from Liaodong that Guo Jia predicted. Wuhuan's defeat, Eryuan's coming to vote, Cao Cao's army overwhelmed the country - all the problems were suddenly placed in front of the new generation of Liaodong prince Sun Kang.Gongsun Kang didn't have any great talent, but he inherited his father Gongsundu's unruffled character - since the Yuan brothers came to vote, they should settle down first and see what Cao Cao does before making a decision. After the Battle of White Wolf Mountain, someone suggested to Cao Cao that the army should go straight to Liaodong in the name of chasing Er Yuan, and then solved Gongsun Kang.Cao Cao did not agree. On the one hand, he believed in Guo Jia's judgment. On the other hand, he also knew that the Gongsun family had been operating in Liaodong for many years, with a solid foundation and certain combat effectiveness. Already very tired, it is not appropriate to launch another long-distance raid.Therefore, Cao Cao neither ordered the army to move to Liaodong, nor sent someone to hint at what Gongsun Kang would do, but ordered the entire army to withdraw from Liucheng with great fanfare, assuming a gesture of withdrawing troops southward. No one knows Cao Cao better than Guo Jia; no one knows Guo Jia better than Cao Cao.The cleverness of Guo Jia's plan is that he is playing hard to catch: if he rashly sends troops or threatens Liaodong to surrender, Gongsun Kang will probably join forces with the Yuan brothers to fight against Cao; Now it was Gongsun Kang's turn to be in trouble: he wanted to see Cao Cao's attitude before making further plans, but Cao Cao neither sent anyone to ask for the Yuan brothers, nor showed any signs of marching into Liaodong, but planned to withdraw instead. He actually left himself, the "King of Liaodong", alone. Gongsun Kang thought about it, and felt that Cao Cao was resourceful, how could he give up Liaodong, which was at his fingertips?The Yuan family had a feud with Cao Cao, and the two brothers came to join him, making it clear that they had no good intentions, but wanted to use the power of Liaodong to make a comeback.As the saying goes, what comes to your door is disaster—two brothers defected to Wuhuan, and Wuhuan was finished. Now that they come to join me, there is no guarantee that I will also be finished... Offending Cao Cao for two bereaved dogs, is it worthwhile, is it not worthwhile? At the same time, the two brothers Yuan Xi and Yuan Shang were also in a dilemma: Gongsun Kang's strength was limited, even if he could persuade him to side with the Yuan family, it would be difficult to compete with Cao Cao in Liaodong alone; besides, Gongsun Kang How could they turn against Cao Cao for the sake of their brothers?If he didn't act, he would be so despondent and sent to others, not only would he not be able to avenge his father and brother, but he would also become the laughing stock of the world.At that time, Cao Cao will be able to ask Gongsun Kang to offer the heads of the two with a letter; if Gongsun Kang wants to continue to occupy Liaodong, he will also kill the two to flatter Cao Cao.The two brothers thought about it, and felt that there were many dreams in the night, and they couldn't just wait like this.The two decided to strike first, planning to take advantage of Gongsun Kang's banquet, and Yuan Shang, who was good at fighting, made a sudden move to capture and kill Gongsun Kang, then seize the military power in Liaodong, and replace him with the Gongsun family. Regardless of the feasibility of this plan, even if Yuan Shang can kill Gongsun Kang on the spot with his martial arts, can he seize the power of Liaodong with just his two brothers and his defeated soldiers?The Gongsun family is very powerful in Liaodong. If one Gongsun Kang dies, tens of thousands of Gongsun X will stand up, so there is no room for them to speak. Just as the Yuan brothers were planning to strike first, Gongsun Kang had also made up his mind - he could not offend Cao Cao for the sake of two outlaws, in order to continue to dominate Liaodong, and for the sake of Gongsun's century-old foundation in Liaodong, he could only kill him. ! The reality is so cruel, either you die, or I live. At the banquet where both sides were ready to fight, Gongsun Kang gave an order, and the swordsmen and axes ambushing on both sides swarmed up and hacked the Yuan brothers to death.The Yuan brothers, as a gift to Su Puyan, the Wuhuan Shanyu in Liaodong, put three heads in a box and sent them to Cao Cao as quickly as possible.Those who know the current affairs are heroes, and Gongsun Kang won the living space for himself with his attitude and actions. Cao Cao smiled, and happily accepted Gongsun Kang's generous gift.He asked people to hang three heads on the top of the city of Ye, and sent envoys to Liaodong. In the name of the court, he named Gongsun Kang as General Zuo and Marquis of Xiangping, indirectly acknowledging his status as King of Liaodong. Gongsun Kang's goal was achieved, Guo Jia's last plan was realized, and Cao Cao laughed again. However, there is one person who is crying loudly - Tian Chou. Regardless of Cao Cao's order to "behead anyone who dares to cry in the three armies", Tian Chou resolutely came to Yuan Shang's grave to pay homage and condolences. This is the principle of Tian Chou's life: as long as you have been kind to me and appreciated me, I will repay you. As for Cao Cao, let him continue to fight for the world; as for me, I am just a commoner, and my fame and power are nothing more than dung to me. Tian Chou, a true righteous man! After pacifying the north, Cao Cao started his plan to march south without stopping.From the Battle of Chibi in 208 AD (the twelfth year of Jian'an) to 220 AD (the twenty-fourth year of Jian'an), during these 12 years, Cao Cao fought from the Yangtze River to Guanzhong, from Guanzhong to Hanzhong, and was killed in his 60s. After shooting off two front teeth, he finally became a veritable king of Wei from the prime minister of the Han Dynasty.With the southward movement of the war in the Central Plains and the formation of a tripartite confrontation, Liaodong, which is on the edge of China's territory, once again faded out of people's sight. Gongsun Kang inherited his father Gongsundu's last wish, faithfully implemented the policy of no independence, no unification, and no military, and continued to be the emperor of Liaodong at ease.In order to reassure Cao Cao, he also took the initiative to send his eldest son, Gongsun Huang, to Luoyang. He called it a study, but he was actually a hostage. In 220 AD, Cao Cao died. I don't want to use any words to describe Cao Cao, because he is really a difficult person to describe.He did everything a hero in troubled times can do. When he was only one step away from the highest peak, he stopped, and then smiled, and let the people behind him do the rest. After Cao Cao's death, the eldest son Cao Pi inherited everything from him: King Wei, Prime Minister, Jizhou Mu, and made a deal with Chen Qun, the representative of the noble family in the north: I recognize your status, and you support me as emperor. Why make a deal?The reason is simple, because Cao Cao is a revolutionary. In my opinion, Liu Bei is not orthodox, he only represents the remnants of the Han Dynasty, Shu Han, lingering; Sun Quan is a hero, but at most he is a top-notch local separatist force; and Cao Cao represents the direction of historical development , is the most revolutionary one among the heroes of the late Han Dynasty.Cao Cao was born in a bad background, but he has outstanding talents, and he has developed and grown step by step through his own hard work.Talent is needed for development. In the era when gentlemen were clean and gentlemen, big and small, were full of wealth, he boldly shouted the slogan "Only talents are promoted", and issued three orders for seeking talents.Don’t underestimate this slogan. Its meaning is not just a temporary emergency. It broke through the biggest shackles in traditional Chinese consciousness—morality, and had a huge impact on people’s value orientation at that time. What is meritocracy?That is to say, as long as you have talents, even if you are a person with very bad conduct and various shortcomings, you can be reused and show your strengths.This broke the shackles of "virtuous practice" gradually formed after the Western Han Dynasty's exclusive respect for Confucianism, and gave people of all three religions and nine streams the opportunity to make contributions.If you use one sentence to summarize Cao Cao's employment strategy: the real villain can be used, and the hypocrite can get out. Cao Cao is a man of temperament, he can't understand all hypocrisy, he likes to tease those defenders who claim to be celebrities, he is generous and willful.Such a person is undoubtedly an alternative; such a person is not tolerated by mainstream values.Who is the representative of mainstream values: Liu Bei, Guan Yu, Zhuge Liang.Well, the evaluation of history is finalized here. However, just as Wang Shouren's philosophy of mind still shines brightly under the heavy blockade of Confucianism, Cao Cao's meritocracy and Cao Cao's reforms are also like a gust of wind, injecting strong vitality into the turbulent era at the end of Han Dynasty. .Benevolence, righteousness and morality cannot be lost, but the key to a person being called a person is to have humanity, not a walking corpse that preserves the principles of nature and destroys human desires.The freedom of human nature, the release of human nature, the grandeur and unrestrainedness are the biggest shocks that Cao Cao's life and his poems can leave us. Mr. Yi Zhongtian once described Kong Rong, Xun Yu, and Chen Qun in this way: Kong Rong is proud, Xun Yu is noble, and Chen Qun is brilliant.Kong Rong was talented and learned, but he had no real skills, and he thought he was great. Mi Heng was also like this, so they were all killed, and they deserved it.Xun Yu used to be Cao Cao's staunchest supporter, but his purpose of helping Cao Cao sweep the world was to help the Han Dynasty, not to replace the Han Dynasty, so when Cao Cao wanted to be the King of Wei, he chose to oppose it. He died for his ideals. It deserves our respect.With two role models in front of him, Chen Qun could see clearly that politics is not about eating a pear less, undressing and cursing others, nor is it a lofty ideal, but a deal and compromise. Coincidentally, Cao Pi also saw this. Cao Cao employs people in an eclectic manner, so high-ranking celebrities do not enjoy too many privileges with him, but everyone has nothing to say, because Cao Cao is too good.Cao Pi's ability is not as good as his father's, but his appetite is bigger than his father's, so he needs to seek help.Who is the best foreign aid—a high-ranking man.Therefore, Cao Pi can no longer be meritocratic and eclectic like his father Cao Cao. Politics has to pay a price-the more sweets you give, the more support you get. Cao Pi and Chen Qun hit it off.The famous Jiupin Zhongzheng System in Chinese history came into being.The noble family got the coveted hereditary status, and Cao Pi got the greatest support for being emperor.After three hypocritical refusals, Cao Pi drove away Han Xiandi and ended the history of the Eastern Han Dynasty. However, human nature will never fade away, and the Wei and Jin Dynasties that followed were precisely the era that most pursued freedom and unrestrainedness. Ji Kang and Ruan Ji, they are not following the Cao Wei regime, but the willful and unrestrained style created by Cao Cao.The so-called ethics, let them go to hell!