Chapter 37 Chapter Thirty-Seven

After a few days, Liu Xuande decided to go to the prime minister's mansion to thank Cao Cao for the green plum banquet held for him a few days ago, so he ordered people to prepare the carriages and horses for the trip.Guan Yu and Zhang Fei said in unison: "We don't know how bad Cao Cao's mind is. It's better to stay away from him than to bow down to this villain's door against his will." These two bold brothers believed that Cao Cao must not let his guard down.In fact, their opinions were rather earnestly reminding Liu Xuande that he should respect himself and not cater to Cao Cao too much.

Liu Xuande agreed with their opinions, and said with a chuckle: "So, I have to work hard to pick up manure buckets in the vegetable garden, cover my ears when the thunder blares, and drop the chopsticks in my hands to the ground in fright. I did this on purpose for him to see. Yes. But Cao Cao is a smart and sensitive person. According to this, if we deliberately avoid him and alienate him, it will arouse his suspicion. Therefore, I think that just avoiding is not the answer now. In order to save our lives, we have to hide our edge and let him Laugh at it, so that nothing will happen."

For the first time, the two foster brothers heard what was in his heart from the eldest brother.It turned out that he was digging with a shovel in the vegetable garden and covering his ears when he heard the thunderbolt.They have nothing to say to their brother's thoughtfulness and care.The eldest brother has such a profound mind, so why be afraid of approaching Cao Cao?Thinking of this, they willingly followed Liu Xuande's car and escorted him to the Prime Minister's Mansion on foot. When Cao Cao saw Liu Xuande, he was very happy. He is in a very good mood today. "Uncle Emperor, today is different from the previous few days. The wind is sunny and there is no danger of thunder and lightning. Let's have fun together slowly."

On that day, he ordered someone to change the elegant and light style of the last banquet, and replaced it with a table of mellow and rich delicacies. At this time, a waiter came to the banquet and reported to Cao Cao: "Man Chong, who went to inquire about the situation in Hebei, has just returned, and he has collected the intelligence of his spies comprehensively and meticulously." Cao Cao looked at Liu Xuande's face from the corner of his eye, and said, "Oh, is Man Chong back? Tell him to come here immediately." After a while, Man Chong walked in accompanied by his courtiers and stood at a corner of the banquet.

After receiving the report brought back by Man Chong, Cao Cao asked, "How's the situation in Hebei? Have you found out what happened to Yuan Shao?" Man Chong replied: "There have been no special changes in Hebei recently, but Gongsun Zan in Beiping has been destroyed by Yuan Shao." Liu Xuande who was present couldn't help being surprised when he heard this, and asked, "Hey, Gongsun Zan was destroyed by Yuan Shao? How could a person like him who has power, territory, and moral ability be destroyed all at once?" Liu Xuande lamented the impermanence of the world, and even forgot to pick up the wine glass to drink.Seeing this, Cao Cao blamed, "Why do you sigh so much over Gongsun Zan's death? Although I don't know much about him, I don't think this rise and fall is a common occurrence in military strategists?"

"That's what I said, but Gongsun Zan is my benefactor and friend in recent years. Since the Yellow Turban Rebellion, I set my ambition to serve the country in poverty, but at that time I didn't have decent weapons and soldiers. In order to put an end to the rebellion, I and Guan Yu and Zhang Fei joined Gongsun Zan's army together. Later, they borrowed his army to fight, and received his care in other aspects. ——Ah, Man Chong, can you please explain in more detail?" After hearing this, Cao Cao said to Liu Xuande: "So that's how it is! When you were still an unknown person, you and him were good friends. Then, full of favors, full of favors! Since the distinguished guest has made such a request, you will treat him as a good friend. Please explain the circumstances of Gongsun Zan's demise in more detail and clearly. Tell me!"

"In that case, let me tell you about Gongsun Zan's situation in detail," Man Chong said. Man Chong originally went to Hebei to collect local knowledge, so what he told after his return was not only detailed but also relatively credible. According to him, Gongsun Zan of Beiping built a large city named Yijinglou in the important area of ​​Jizhou in recent years.The work was completed, and his entire extended family moved there. The scale of Yijing Tower is huge. If you see it for the first time, you will think it is a symbol of Gongsun Zan's more powerful power.In fact, the opposite is true.In recent years, the domain he ruled has often been encroached upon by neighboring Yuan Shao's forces.He had to build such a huge civil engineering project because he felt that the original old city was not safe.Gongsun Zan's family moved there, which only showed that his power was declining.Gongsun Zan gathered 300,000 shi of grain and heavy troops there, so in the subsequent wars, he first gave people the impression of a strong national power.However, due to Gongsun Zan's meanness and lack of kindness, sometimes it happened that some of his troops were besieged by the enemy and did not go to rescue, resulting in the tragedy of giving up on their own and being killed by the enemy.As a result, his prestige has waned, and the morale of the soldiers has remained very low.

One day, his army went out of the city to meet the enemy. Due to low morale, it finally became a group of chaotic troops without combat effectiveness, and they were about to collapse at the first touch.The soldiers scrambled to flee to the defending city, when they suddenly found that the gate of Yijing Tower had been tightly closed. "There are still more than 500 of our soldiers on the battlefield whose escape route has been cut off. They must not be abandoned, and reinforcements should be organized to help them." Seeing this scene, the soldiers guarding the city were all extremely anxious.

Just as the guarding army was about to open the city gate again immediately to rescue, Gongsun Zan said, "There is no need. To save five hundred soldiers, one thousand soldiers will be lost. And once the city gate is opened wide, the enemy troops will swarm in." If you enter, you will suffer even greater losses." Therefore, he did not allow the troops in the city to open the door for rescue. Later, when Yuan Shao's army rushed to the city like a tide, the disaffected soldiers in the city suddenly left the city in large numbers.More than a thousand soldiers collectively surrendered to the enemy.

Facing the enemy's interrogation, the soldiers who surrendered out of the city said without hesitation: "Gongsun Zan only regards us as currency or goods for exchange. Based on his calculation of gains and losses, he would rather sit idly by and let 500 lives be thrown away. Enemy. So we agreed, that is to make him lose a thousand lives." Gongsun Zan's loss was more than the thousand soldiers who surrendered to the enemy, and the morale of the remaining soldiers in each army could not be boosted no matter what. Under such circumstances, Gongsun Zan had no choice but to seek help from Zhang Yan in Montenegro, and made a plan to flank Yuan Shao.Unexpectedly, the secret plan was leaked, and the matter ended in a disastrous failure.

From then on, Gongsun Zan defended the Yijing Tower, blindly guarding against it, and Yuan Shao's army could not break through the city for a while. At that time, it was rumored that to capture Yijing Tower, at least until the soldiers defending the city had eaten up 300,000 shi of grain, it would be possible to fully achieve the goal. However, Yuan Shao's curtain does have quite clever military advisers.According to the strategist's plan, Yuan Shao's army continued to dig underground tunnels leading to the city day and night, all the way to the city.Therefore, one day when Yuan Shao's soldiers were besieging the city, they suddenly jumped out of the tunnel, set fire to the city by surprise, made trouble, and killed them.At the same time, the besieging army attacked fiercely from the outside, and the two parties cooperated from inside and outside, and finally captured Yijing Tower in one fell swoop, and then launched a cruel massacre of the city.Seeing that there was no way out, Gongsun Zan finally assassinated his wife and children himself, and committed suicide himself. Man Chong finally pointed out profoundly: "Due to the demise of Gongsun Zan's power, Yuan Shao's territory continued to expand, and his army and horses continued to increase. Not only that, his brother, Yuan Shu of Huainan, although he assumed the title of emperor for a while, may abolish his self-proclaimed throne recently. , and also prepared to offer the Imperial Seal to his elder brother Yuan Shao, hoping that Yuan Shao would gain the false name of the emperor, while he himself would steal real benefits. Therefore, the two families launched a joint operation. We all understand that if these two forces merge again, there will be Form an even greater force, and by that time, no one in the world will be able to match it." Man Chong ended his report. Cao Cao's face was very serious. "Prime Minister, I have a special request, and I hope you can grant it." Facing Cao Cao's frightening scowling face, Liu Xuande put forward his own ideas. "Uncle Huang, let's change the subject now, what request do you have from me?" "I want to borrow an army from the prime minister." "Leading an army of mine? Where are you taking them?" "Just now I heard from Man Chong that Yuan Shu of Huainan gave his brother Yuan Shao the name of the emperor he arrogated to, together with the jade seal he stole. In this way, the strength of the two people can be integrated internally, and Hebei and Huainan can be united externally to form a One ring, and then stretch their wings to the Central Plains. Does the prime minister want to ignore this?" "This is a very important matter in the first place. How do you deal with it?" "If Yuan Shu wants to abandon Huainan and go to Hebei, he must pass through Xuzhou on the way, so I want to borrow an army from the prime minister to rush to help Xuzhou, and launch a surprise attack on the way Yuan Shu marches. In this way, the prime minister will see good results: first , it must relieve the prime minister's worries; secondly, it will make Yuan Shao's dream of usurping the throne come to naught. All in all, doing so can crush their wolfish ambitions as soon as possible." "Aren't you usually timid and afraid of lack of courage? Why do you suddenly have such thoughts?" "I think as long as we can defeat Yuan Shu and Yuan Shao, at least we can at least comfort the spirit of our benefactor and friend Gongsun Zan." "So that's how it is. You are also a person of faith. You have thought that Yuan Shao is also your benefactor and friend's enemy. Well, tomorrow we will go up to worship the emperor and fulfill your wish. I feel even more grateful that you can go to the king's order bravely." I am confident." When he went to court the next day, Cao Cao played Liu Xuande's wish to the emperor, and the emperor watched Liu Xuande walk out of the palace with tears in his eyes. Liu Xuande wore the seal of a general around his waist, and after he retired from the imperial court, he stopped by the prime minister's mansion, borrowed 50,000 elite soldiers and two generals from Cao Cao, and left Xudu's dormitory, leading the army to set off in a hurry up. "What? Uncle Liu Huang left Xudu?" Dong Cheng was shocked when he heard the news, he immediately rode his horse to the Ten Li Changting Pavilion, and caught up with Liu Xuande. Liu Xuande said goodbye to Dong Cheng softly: "Uncle Guo, don't worry, I will not forget the old covenant. Even if I leave the capital, my heart will never leave the side of the emperor. It's just that the important things that were agreed before will never let Cao Cao notice , you have to be very careful." After Changting said goodbye, Liu Xuande led the army to start a rapid march day and night. Both Guan Yu and Zhang Fei felt very strange. They asked Liu Xuande, "Brother has never been so impatient. What's the matter? Why did you leave the capital in such a panic?" Liu Xuande spoke his heartfelt words to the two righteous brothers: "Today I can finally say it. There was not a day when I was in Xudu that I was not worried. In Xudu, my fate is like a bird in a cage or a fish in a net. Once Cao Cao Suddenly changing my mind, I don’t know when I will die... Ah, today I finally escaped from the gate of Beijing, like a fish entering the sea and a bird returning to the blue sky.” After hearing this, Guan Yu and Zhang Fei exclaimed, "That's true!" They seemed to only now know what kind of torment Liu Xuande was suffering in his heart, and the more he seemed to be in peace, the more worried he was. Not long after Liu Xuande led the army to leave, Guo Jia returned to Xudu after inspecting all the troops. It was only after arriving at the prime minister's mansion that he heard the news that Liu Xuande had left Beijing and borrowed troops to leave. "It's unreasonable!" Guo Jia was astonished.He immediately met with Cao Cao, and severely reprimanded him for his reckless move: "Why did the prime minister lend the tiger wings? Not only that, why did he let the tiger go back to the mountain? Are you too optimistic about Liu Xuande?" "...Is that so?" Cao Cao showed a shaken look on his face. "That's it!" Guo Jia said even more sadly, "In the end, the Prime Minister was fooled by Liu Xuande." "Why is that?" "Liu Xuande is definitely not the mediocre and honest person you see in your eyes." "No, that's what I thought at first, but..." "Is that really the case? Why did Liu Xuande suddenly carry a dung bucket to the vegetable garden to fertilize? Why did he play with things and lose his mind? Why is he so optimistic about Liu Xuande with his sharp eyes like the prime minister?" "He borrowed my army to defeat Yuan Shu for me. Is this also a lie?" "It's not entirely a lie, but if you conceitedly think that he borrowed the army to travel for the prime minister's sake, then it is a big mistake. His actions are entirely for himself." "It's over..." Cao Cao bit his lips regretfully, and sighed, "Oh, I've lived most of my life, but I didn't expect to be tricked by that coward who is afraid of thunder!" At this time, someone outside the tent suddenly heard saying: "Prime Minister, you don't have to regret it like this. I can catch up with him with a whip and catch him alive right away." When everyone saw it, it turned out that it was Xu Chu, Captain Huben. "Is it Xu Chu? You're really good, chase after me!" Xu Chu picked out 500 warriors on light cavalry, and chased after Liu Xuande like a gust of wind. After galloping for four days, Xu Chu finally caught up with Liu Xuande. The two sides lined up their troops behind each other, and they met each other on horseback. Liu Xuande asked: "Captain, why are you rushing here?" Xu Chu replied: "The Prime Minister ordered you to hand over the army to me and return to Beijing with me immediately." "Your words really surprised me. I went to the emperor to go out under the imperial edict, and I was personally ordered by the prime minister to lead the army out of the capital in an upright manner. But now the prime minister has sent you to come from behind and ask me to return the army to you. What's going on here? Haha! I understand, are you also a despicable beggar along with Guo Jia and Cheng Yu?" "Why do you say I'm a beggar?" "Of course you are! Before you get angry, please ask yourself first. On the eve of my departure, Guo Jia and Cheng Yu asked me for a bribe. I looked down on them and refused, so they secretly slandered the prime minister with a grudge in their hearts. Sending you to chase me... Ah, this is so ridiculous! The tip of the beggar's tongue has such a terrifying effect, and it can manipulate you to stop us honest people who have been sent out by the king's orders." Liu Xuande laughed loudly, " Or you want to take me back by force, but I, Guan Yu and Zhang Fei, can ask them to say hello to you. I really can't bear to send back the prime minister's head. You should think about it carefully and send me back. I will convey my intentions to the prime minister's residence." After Liu Xuande left these words, he retired to the army.His army immediately regrouped and set off in a mighty formation. Xu Chu saw that he couldn't do anything, so he had to return to Xudu empty-handed, and reported to Cao Cao truthfully. Cao Cao was furious after hearing this, and immediately called Guo Jia to ask him about the bribery. Guo Jia replied without changing his face: "How can such a thing happen? Judging from what you said, you were deceived by Liu Xuande again. He dares to despise you now, it is really audacious." Cao Cao seemed to wake up immediately after hearing this.He looked at Guo Jia's face with a smile, and said, "Today's incident is just a farce. Time has passed, and mistakes are hard to recover. Let's end the misunderstanding between our monarchs and ministers. Well, don't complain any more. I'm confused, really confused. Why don't you raise your glass now and start over. From now on, I will teach Liu Xuande a hundred times harder to make up for my mistake today. Guo Jia, how about going upstairs to drink together?"