Chapter 59 3. Troops out of Luronse

In the twelfth year of Jian'an (207), the year before the Battle of Chibi, Cao Cao led an army from Ye County in the spring to expedition to Wuhuan.At this time, the Wuhuan people were active in the vast area north of Youzhou, and their base camp was called Liucheng. The exact location of this place is still in dispute, but it is generally believed to be located in the southwest of Chaoyang City, Liaoning Province today. This is a well-prepared and inevitable expedition. Although there is no "coming out of a false country", the most effective troops in Cao's army are all dispatched, including the troops of Zhang Liao, Xu Huang, Zhang, Cao Ren, and Zhang Xiu. , and the tiger and leopard cavalry led by Cao Chun, Han Hao, Shi Huan and others also went out with the army to lead the Chinese army.The staff is headed by Guo Jia.

Three of Cao Cao's subordinates are currently most familiar with northern affairs, namely Xian Yufu and Yan Ruan, who have been introduced to them before, and they are naturally indispensable for this Northern Expedition to Wuhuan. Cao Cao also took at least two sons: Cao Zhi and Cao Zhang.The story of Cao Zhi's recruitment can be found in his later "Seeking Self-Test Form", and the story of Cao Zhang's recruitment can be found in "Three Kingdoms Cao Ren Biography". According to the "Three Kingdoms Cao Ren Biography", Cao Pi did not follow the expedition, but stayed in Ye County. This is the same arrangement as Cao Cao's last expedition to merge the state. It can be seen that Cao Cao is deliberately training and training the 21-year-old Cao Pi.

Cao Zhang, whose name is Ziwen, is the second son born to the Bian family. His age is unknown, and he is between Cao Pi, who is 21 years old, and Cao Zhi, who is 16 years old.Among Cao Cao's sons, Cao Zhang is the most distinctive one. It can be seen from his appearance alone that he has yellow hair and is called "Yellow Beard" by Cao Cao. Moreover, he loves martial arts rather than literature. He was good at horseback riding and archery since he was a child. As soon as Cao Zhang opened his mouth, he was fighting and killing. Cao Cao often taught him: "You don't read the books of sages, you don't admire the ways of sages, you only like to ride horses and fencing. This is nothing more than the courage of a man. I admire the holy way, but I like to ride a sweaty horse and fencing a sword. This is a man’s job, so it’s not worth it)!" Cao Zhang dared not contradict his father to the face, but secretly still regarded Wei Qing and Huo Qubing as idols in his heart.

Cao Cao once asked his sons what they wanted to do in the future, and Cao Zhang said, "I like being a general." Cao Cao asked, "What do you want to be a general?" Cao Zhang replied loudly, "Put on strong and strong, and never turn your head when faced with danger ( Disregarding in the face of difficulties), lead by example. Rewards must be done, and punishments must be believed." Cao Cao couldn't help laughing when he heard what he said in a dignified and high-spirited manner. Cao Pi also cared about this younger brother very much. Before Cao Zhang left, he wrote to him specifically, admonishing him: "A general must know how to abide by military orders, and he must learn from General Zhengnan." It was their uncle Cao Ren.Cao Ren was worshiped as the general who conquered the South in the future, but people who write history generally like to refer to a person by the highest or most famous position in his life.

According to "The Biography of Cao Ren in the Romance of the Three Kingdoms", Cao Ren, a fierce general who is good at commanding cavalry in combat, was careless when he was young, and his work was careless (not practicing inspection), but he seemed to be a different person when he became a general. He paid great attention to the rule of law. And the legal clauses are always kept at hand (often placed on the left and right), and they can be consulted at any time when encountering problems, becoming a model for knowing, understanding, studying, and using the law.Cao Pi took his uncle as an example and asked Cao Zhang to learn from him.

The army marched northward, and it started relatively smoothly.Because Cao Jun had made relatively sufficient preparations for war, and had carefully arranged everything from marching routes to logistics supplies, the army quickly advanced to the territory of Youzhou. When passing through Zhuojun County, Cao Cao thought that this was the hometown of the late famous general Lu Zhi, so he sent people to sacrifice to Lu Zhi's tomb.The sacrificial text said: "The late Beizhong Lang, Lu Zhi, was well-known at home and abroad. He was a generation of Confucian scholars academically. He was a model for scholars and a pillar of the country. . . . ) come to visit the tomb, take care of his descendants, and serve him bouillon to show his virtue."

Cao Cao asked the magistrate of Zhuo County if Lu Zhi had any descendants. The magistrate said that Lu Zhi had three sons, both of whom died in the war.Teacher Lu's family, who taught such great figures as Gongsun Zan and Liu Bei, had a hard time in the famine. After Lu Yu grew up, he took care of his two widowed sisters-in-law and nephews, and at the same time inherited his father's behest and devoted himself to learning.Cao Cao was very happy to hear that, so he called Lu Yu and arranged for him to work.Later, when Cao Pi was the prince, he recruited Lu Yu to work in the judicial field, and Lu Yu became an expert in the judicial field of Cao Wei.

After passing Yishui, Cao Cao specially inspected the super castles that Gongsun Zan built here.Although these castles have long been ruined, it can be vaguely seen how strong these projects were back then.Guo Jia suggested to Cao Cao: "Soldiers are expensive and fast. Now we have to go thousands of miles to attack the enemy. Too much baggage is not conducive to maneuvering. After a long time, the enemy will know and take precautions. It is better to leave the baggage and travel lightly and quickly. Push forward to cover yourself." Cao Cao accepted Guo Jia's suggestion, selected elite soldiers from various ministries, all rode horses, plus tiger and leopard riders, formed a fast column and marched northward, and the other troops stayed in Youzhou area as backup.

Zhang Xiu did not appear in the fast column because he died suddenly of illness in the army. There is another theory about Zhang Xiu's death.According to the book "Dianlue", Zhang Xiu owed the blood debt of Cao's family and was always uneasy.Cao Pi never forgot about this, and asked Zhang Xiu face to face many times, saying: "You killed my brother, what face do you have to come out to see people (you kill my brother, why can you bear to look at people evilly)?" Zhang Xiu couldn't bear the huge pressure. Psychological pressure, so suicide. Now, Cao Cao personally led the fast column to advance northward, and when he was approaching Wuzhong County (Ji County, Tianjin today), Cao Cao found a person and gave him a special task.

This person is Tian Yu, who is from this area. His hometown is Yongnu County (now Jinwuqing) in Yuyang County, and he once followed Liu Bei.Liu Bei later went to Xuzhou and Yuzhou to develop. Tian Yu had to break up with Liu Bei because of his mother's old age. When they parted, they shed tears. So far, there have been two people under Cao Cao who had an extraordinary relationship with Liu Bei, one is Yuan Huan and the other is Tian Yu. When Xian Yufu raised troops against Gongsun Zan, he claimed to be the prefect of Yuyang County, and recruited Tian Yu to be the secretary-general of the county government (Chang Shi). Later, Tian Yu persuaded Xian Yufu to submit to Cao Cao, and was trusted by Cao Cao.At present, Tian Yu is the chief of the staff office of Cao Cao's prime minister's mansion (the prime minister's military counselor).

The task Cao Cao entrusted to Tian Yu was to let him go one step ahead and contact Tian Chou there without end. As mentioned earlier, when Gongsun Zan killed Liu Yu, Tian Chou risked crying for Liu Yu. Gongsun Zan almost killed him, but Tian Chou's righteous deed won the hearts of the people, and Gongsun Zan let him go after thinking about it.Tian Chou was completely disappointed with current affairs, and led hundreds of people from his own clan and fellow villagers who voluntarily accompanied him into Wuzhong Mountain in the northern part of Wuzhong County, his hometown, in order to avoid the troubled times and open up another life without contention with the world. They chose a relatively flat place in the mountains to build a house, reclaimed the land, developed production, and lived a self-sufficient life.Although it is relatively poor, but without the troubles of war, it is also comfortable.This kind of life was hundreds of years earlier than the Peach Blossom Land in the fantasy of later generations. It attracted more and more people to settle in the mountains, and finally developed to more than 5,000 households, which was equivalent to a large county at that time. In this extraterrestrial city, everyone elected Tian Chou as the leader. They formulated township agreements to develop self-government, formulated simple laws and wedding ceremonies, opened schools, and developed various businesses very prosperously. Wuzhong Mountain is located at the junction of the Wuhuan people's control area and the inland. The Wuhuan people often invade the inland, and they will take away as soon as they grab it. Wuzhong Mountain will not be spared.Tian Chou was very angry and determined to find an opportunity to beat Wuhuan. He organized young people to carry out military training and fight against the invaders. Yuan Shao exterminated Gongsun Zan, which can be regarded as fulfilling one of Tian Chou's wishes.Yuan Shao sent someone to send the general's seal ribbon, wanting to recruit Tian Chou and ask him to come out to do things, but Tian Chou declined.After Yuan Shao died, Yuan Xi and Yuan Shang fled to the north, and sent people to try to recruit Tian Chou. The conditions offered were more favorable, but Tian Chou remained unmoved.In everyone's opinion, Tian Chou has made up his mind to spend his whole life in this mountain.Tian Chou is from Wuzhong County, and Tian Yu is from Yongnu County. They are not far from each other, and they both have the surname Tian. Although there is no record about whether there is a relationship between them, this possibility exists. know.Cao Cao sent Tian Yu to find Tian Chou, hoping that he would come out to serve. However, Cao Cao did not specify what kind of position he would give Tian Chou. Compared with the general Yinshou sent by Yuan Shao and his son, Cao Cao's recruitment this time is not attractive. However, as soon as Tian Chou heard Cao Cao's call, he completely changed his attitude and set off immediately. The people around him didn't understand Tian Chou's change of attitude, and asked him: "In the past, Yuan Shao and his son admired you, and sent people to invite you over and over again, but you didn't agree. Why did you readily agree to Duke Cao's envoy when he came only once, and also returned the favor?" Then take the initiative, with a look of scrambling to be the first (when Minister Cao comes, the king is afraid to catch you), why?" Tian Chou smiled and said mysteriously: "These are not what you can understand (this is not what you know)." Tian Chou's home is in the northern frontier, and is often invaded by Wuhuan, Xianbei, and Huns. In his heart, he has a strong sense of mission to protect the land and the frontier.He fell in love with Liu Yu in the early years because Liu Yu did a good job in dealing with the northern minority issues and maintaining the peace of the border areas.He didn't like Yuan Shao and his son because Yuan Shao and his son were very close to Wuhuan people and used each other, which made Tian Chou disagree. Tian Chou had no contact with Cao Cao before, nor had he fought against Cao Jun. His understanding of Cao Cao was relatively limited, but Cao Cao led the army to fight the Wuhuan people, and this was very attractive to Tian Chou.As for the level of official position, it is meaningless to a person like Tian Chou who has no interest in fame and fortune. Tian Chou followed Tian Yu to see Cao Cao. "Three Kingdoms Tianyu Biography" said that he was appointed by Cao Cao as the director of the Civil Affairs Department of the Sikong Mansion (Sikonghu Cao掾).But this is inaccurate. At this time, the official position of Sikong no longer exists. Cao Cao is the prime minister. Tian Chou should be the director of the civil affairs department in the prime minister's mansion. Cao Cao immediately had a detailed discussion with him. Cao Cao seemed to be very satisfied with this conversation, because Tian Chou only served as director for one day, and he received an order to change his post the next day.There is a sentence in the order: "Mr. Tian Chou is not someone I can appoint as an official (Tian Zitai is not my suitable official)." In ancient times, there was a clear distinction between officials and officials. No matter how powerful the director of the prime minister's mansion was, he was also an official, a subordinate official hired by the prime minister.Cao Cao felt that it was not enough respect for such a virtuous person as Tian Chou to appoint him as a subordinate official, so he asked the governor of Youzhou to recommend Tian Chou as a macai, so that he obtained the qualifications to become an official official of the court, and then worshiped Tian Chou as a county (now Hebei Jing County) county magistrate. Cao Cao ordered Tian Chou not to go to the post, but to act with the army.The fast column entered Wuzhong County, and further north was the activity area of ​​the Wuhuan people.It was summer at this time, and it rained heavily for a long time, which was a bad thing. Since ancient times, there are only two roads to enter the Northeast from Jixian County and Wuzhong area: one is the so-called Binhai Road, which passes through the Liaoxi County of Youzhou Governor's Department, which is today's Liaoxi Corridor.This road is now a traffic artery, and there are important cities such as Jixian, Tangshan, Shanhaiguan, Jinxi, and Jinzhou on this road. However, when we spread out the historical map of the Eastern Han Dynasty, we found that the fourteen counties belonging to Liaoxi County were not on this line. This shows that it was very remote at that time, because the terrain in this area was lower than it is now, and it is easy to accumulate water when it rains heavily, and it becomes a swamp country. If the water is shallow, it cannot pass cars and horses. Horses, no boats in the depths), blocking the north-south traffic. The other road is on the west side, from Xuwu (now Zunhua, Hebei Province) through Lulongsai to Liucheng, which is the line from Xifengkou to Lengkou today.During the Western Han Dynasty, there were frequent battles with the Huns. This road was mainly opened up to meet the needs of the war. However, after the Eastern Han Dynasty, as the war turned to the northwest region, it was gradually abandoned and finally became an inaccessible place. This road is not only difficult and dangerous, but also faces more than 500 miles of barren land after leaving the mountain. It is not easy to walk until you cross Baitan (now southwest of Chengde City, Hebei) and Pinggang (now Karaqin Left Banner, Inner Mongolia). . Therefore, there were very few people who actually passed by. Tian Chou suggested to Cao Cao: "Now Tadun thinks that after the army has reached the end, they can only retreat in the face of muddy and difficult roads. Speaking of returning to the army, secretly crossing Lulong, Baitan and other dangerous places, by surprise, Tadun will be captured without a fight!" Cao Cao was overjoyed, he accepted Tian Chou's suggestion, pretended to return to his teacher, and set up a big wooden sign on the side of the road (the big wooden watch was placed on the side of the water side of the road), which read: "It is summer and the road is impassable. Wait until autumn for now. Come on again." The scouts sent by Ta Dun saw it, thinking that Cao Jun was really going home to escape the summer heat, and quickly reported to Ta Dun.Cao Cao ordered Tian Chou and his men to be guides, and quietly drove into the Yanshan Mountains on the west side of the Liaoxi Corridor, which was called Xuwu Mountain at that time, and went straight to Lulongsai along the path opened up in the Western Han Dynasty. Lulongsai is now Xifengkou, a famous fortress along the Great Wall.It is located in the easternmost part of Xuwu Mountains, between Meishan Mountain and Yunshan Mountain. It is surrounded by low mountains and hills. The terrain rises rapidly from south to north, forming an abrupt terrain and becoming a dangerous place. Rushui (now Luanhe River) came out through Xuwu Mountain, forming a natural river valley, and became a passage between the north and the south. Lulongsai guarded the throat of entry and exit, and was an important place for military strategists.On March 9, 1933, two brigades of the Japanese army invaded Xifengkou. The Song Zheyuan Department of the 29th Army of the Northwest Army was stationed in Zunhua. Zhao Dengyu, Guan Linzheng, Wang Yizhe and other famous anti-Japanese generals led their troops here to fight with them. The enemy launched a bloody battle, which is the famous Xifengkou Anti-Japanese War. Thanks to Tian Chou and his subordinates as guides, Cao Jun successfully crossed the deserted Lulongsai, and the road ahead was even more difficult.Facing the cavalry he had brought, Cao Cao ordered them to temporarily change into engineers, and moved forward with difficulty while filling the mountain and opening the road.In this way, the army finally crossed Pinggang and Baitan, arrived near Bailang Mountain, and penetrated into the territory of the Wuhuan people. Until this time, Ta Dun hadn't noticed it, thinking that Cao Jun was on the way to retreat.A big battle is about to break out!