Chapter 58 Chapter 58 Divination by Lantern Flowers

Since Guan Yu beheaded Yan Liang, Cao Cao paid more attention to him than before. Cao Cao finally swore: "No matter what, Guan Yu will not be allowed to leave my curtain." In order to achieve this goal, Cao Cao first reported Guan Yu's meritorious deeds to the emperor, and specially asked the court's casters to cast the Hou Yin, and then sent Zhang Liao as an envoy to deliver the seal to Guan Yu. "...is this given to me?" Guan Yu thanked Zhang Liao first, but he didn't accept it right away, he just carefully looked at the words on the printed surface. The five words "Shouting Hou Zhiyin" are clearly engraved on the seal.

This is the edict that the imperial court canonized Guan Yu as Shouting Hou. "I'll return this to you, please take it back." Guan Yu said seriously. "Don't you want to accept this seal?" Zhang Liao looked puzzled. "I am very grateful for your kindness." "Why exactly?" "This, that..." No matter how Zhang Liao tried to persuade Guan Yu, he refused to accept it.Zhang Liao had no choice but to take him back to Yinshou and report to Cao Cao according to the facts. Cao Cao thought for a long time, and asked, "Did Guan Yu refuse without reading the seal, or did he return after reading the seal?"

Zhang Liao replied affirmatively: "He read the printed text, and he took those five characters very seriously." "Oh, that was my fault." Cao Cao seemed to have discovered something, and immediately called the foundry to recast the seal ribbon.As a result, a "Han" character was added to the recast seal ribbon, which became the six characters "Han Shou Ting Hou Zhi Yin". Zhang Liao returned with the recast ribbon and gave it to Guan Yu again. Guan Yu couldn't help laughing when he saw the seal, and said, "Prime Minister actually understands my thoughts very well. If he is a person who uprightly practices the way of courtiers, then we may become good sworn brothers." Guan Yu said, He readily accepted the seal.

At this moment, the flying cavalry from the battlefield reported a major military emergency to Cao Cao: "Yuan Shao's other general Yan Liang's younger brother Wen Chou has led his army across the Yellow River and attacked the Yanjin area." Cao Cao didn't panic when he heard the urgent military report. Because he had already sent administrative officials there to properly move all the people to a place called Two Rivers.So he personally led the army to Yanjin.On the way, Cao Cao gave a strange order: "All the cargo horses and grain trucks go first, and the combat troops follow far behind."

"Is there such a method of marching?" Although everyone felt very strange, but because Cao Cao's military orders were difficult to violate, they had no choice but to march to Yanjin in this strange formation. Sure enough, the supply unit carrying combat supplies was the first to encounter the enemy.Cao Jun's vanguard discarded a large amount of rations and fled in all directions. "do not worry!" Cao Cao immediately stopped the internal chaos.He ordered: "Leaving aside the discarded rations for the time being, one unit of our army will detour north and follow the Yellow River to hold back the enemy's retreat, while the other unit will ascend the hills to the south as if fleeing. "

Before Cao Jun fought, he began to show a scattered state, lacking the cohesion of the army, and the morale was very low. Wen Chou boasted arrogantly after seeing this situation: "Look, the enemy army has been frightened by our army's smashing momentum, and now they are ready to escape at any time like a frightened bird." So Wen Chou's army rampaged everywhere without any scruples. Those Cao Jun soldiers who had discarded their helmets and armors were quietly lurking on the top of the mountain, but their morale was very low. Someone complained: "What the hell is going on here?...Why did today's battle go so sloppily...If this continues, our place will soon be occupied by the enemy."

The soldiers of Cao Jun on the hill appeared ready to flee.At this time, Xun You, Cao Cao's counselor, shouted to the surrounding soldiers from his hiding place: "No, this is our luck, it is the right thing to do." Unexpectedly, as soon as he finished speaking, he found that Cao Cao was glaring at him with wide eyes. Xun You suddenly realized, and hurriedly covered his mouth with one hand, and patted his head repeatedly with the other. Xun You has already seen Cao Cao's strategy.So when the soldiers around were clamoring to escape, he finally revealed his thoughts to the soldiers.

However, now is the moment when we are facing a major opportunity, so of course Cao Cao has to warn him with stern eyes, "Don't talk too much!" This time Cao Cao started with his own side first, and his strategy will soon come true. The Hebei army with Wen Chou as the general launched a charge on the front line as if there was no one in sight, forming a huge vacuum zone without enemies behind his 70,000 troops. Wen Chou also noticed this. He said: "We have achieved great results, but now it is very dangerous to rely on victory and go deep alone." At sunset, Wen Chou issued an order for the troops of all formations to assemble.

In the occupied area at the rear, there are a large amount of military rations and military supplies discarded when the Cao army's logistics troops collapsed. Wen Chou ordered: "Replenish all those trophies to the troops." Therefore, when the Hebei army retreated to the rear, the various troops began to compete with each other for the rations and supplies discarded by the Cao army. It was dark on the hill at this time.Cao Cao learned about the current enemy situation through the report of the scouts.He decisively ordered: "We will go down the mountain immediately!"

Under the command of Cao Cao, the soldiers of the whole army rushed down the mountain quickly.Looking up again, I saw that a part of the mountain had already been lit with wolf smoke. Cao Jun soldiers who pretended to be defeated during the day and were actually hiding in the fields, hills, river beaches, and woods saw the signal of the wolf smoke, and swarmed out from all directions as if suddenly emerging from the ground. Cao Cao rode his horse galloping across the field. He shouted loudly: "I deliberately discarded the rations during the day. That was my plan to cast bait for the enemy to enter the ambush net. Now we are going to collect the net. We must not let a The miscellaneous fish escaped."

Then, he continued to encourage loudly: "Be sure to capture Wen Chou alive! Wen Chou is also a famous general in Hebei. Whoever can capture Wen Chou alive will have the same credit as killing Yan Liang." Cao Cao's generals such as Zhang Liao and Xu Huang scrambled to pursue the enemy, and finally found Wen Chou among the chaotic army. "Despicable Wen Chou! Let's see where you run!" Wen Chou heard the voice from behind, and muttered: "Who dares to talk nonsense!" As soon as he turned his head, he picked up the short iron bow from his horse and shot an arrow. The sharp arrow shot straight at Zhang Liao's face. Zhang Liao lowered his head hastily, and the arrow broke the tie of Zhang Liao's helmet. "You bastard!" Zhang Liao yelled with his head raised.Just as he was about to approach from behind, Wen Chou fired two more arrows. Zhang Liao had no time to dodge, and was shot in the face by the arrow. Zhang Liao turned over and fell off his horse immediately, Wen Chou immediately turned his horse's head, ready to take Zhang Liao's head straight. "Bold lunatic!" Xu Huang shouted loudly, and the leaping horse rushed over.Zhang Liao hurriedly took the opportunity to flee back to the rear.Xu Huang's best weapon is his usual big axe, which he calls himself "White Flame Axe".At this time, he held up the big axe to block Wen Chou.Wen Chou put the iron bow on the saddle, jumped out of the crossbar and pulled out a big sword, and said to Xu Huang with a sinister smile, "Little guy, have you ever fought?" "Save it for later bragging!" The young Xu Huang is full of vigor, although he is only a weak crown, he is already a brave general under Cao Cao's command, so not everyone can easily deal with it. The big sword and the white flame ax fought for more than 30 rounds in the sparks, Xu Huang felt a little tired, and Wen Chou also began to lose his position, because he felt that there were more and more enemy troops from all directions. At this time, a sturdy army of soldiers and horses rushed towards him from nearby, and one general with a white flag on his back was running towards him with more than ten entourages.Wen Chou took advantage of this opportunity and hurriedly fled along the bank of the Yellow River. "Is it the enemy army or your own army?" Wen Chou was still in doubt. When he approached the white flag, he saw a line of big black characters clearly written on it: "Han Shouting Hou Guan Yu". Is that the enigmatic enemy general Guan Yu? Is that the suspicious person who beheaded my brother Yan Liang? Wen Chou stopped his horse suddenly and turned his head to stare at the sparkling water of the Yellow River. The general with the small white flag on his shoulder had actually recognized Wen Chou's figure long ago. He scolded: "Wen Chou, the defeated general, why are you still hesitating? Why don't you give me your head to Guan Yu quickly." He rode his horse and came straight. The mount of the future general is a red rabbit horse with red feet, and he himself is the true red-faced and long-bearded Guan Yu. "Oh, is that you? Is it the thief general who beheaded my brother Yan Liang earlier?" While shouting, Wen Chou quickly drew out his big sword and waved it to meet the enemy. For a moment, Guan Yu's Qinglong Yanyue Knife was shining brightly; Wen Chou's sharp sword was shining brightly. The two generals fought each other desperately, and fought for dozens of rounds. The sound and sparks could arouse the waves of the Yellow River, and even spread to the mountains and fields in Henan, just like the heavenly demon and the earth god fighting together on the battlefield of heaven and earth. The two sides were fighting, Wen Chou suddenly seemed to remember something, he turned his horse's head and ran away in a hurry. This is his unique trick. When the opponent is triumphantly pursuing the victory, he secretly puts down the big sword and replaces it with a short iron bow, and then shoots an iron arrow as soon as he turns his head. But in this battle, his tricks didn't work against Guan Yu at all.Wen Chou shot two or three arrows and missed.Guan Yu finally caught up, picked up the Qinglong Yanyue knife and swung the horizontal knife at Wen Chou's neck, and Wen Chou immediately decapitated.His horse fled in vain towards the lower reaches of the Yellow River with the headless body on its back. "The head of the enemy general Wen Chou has fallen into the hands of Guan Yu!" With a cry, the Hebei army, which was wandering in the darkness of a hundred miles around, was like a frightened bird, and stepped up and fled around. "Catch me! Hit me hard! Now, now, kill them all!" After Cao Cao heard the good news from the front line, he immediately ordered the whole army to attack, which kicked off the prelude to the counterattack. For a moment, the horns sounded and the golden drums sounded in Cao Jun's position, like a thousand winds and thunders, pressing down on the enemy in an all-round way. The Hebei army who were hunted down jumped into the Yellow River one after another, and were drowned alive by the water of the Yellow River.Until dawn, more than half of the Hebei army led by Wen Chou tragically became the bait of Cao Jun. At that time, because Wen Chou was afraid that Liu Xuande would hinder him after the war broke out, he was always asked to guard the rear.With great difficulty, Liu Xuande learned of the disastrous defeat of his first army from the soldiers who escaped from the vanguard. He thought to himself, "You can't be careless here," so he ordered the second-line positions to be closely guarded. At the same time, the defeated soldiers who fled back from the front in a panic said in unison: "The one who killed General Wen Chou was the same red-faced and long-bearded enemy general who killed General Yan earlier." In order to thoroughly find out the true identity of the mysterious enemy general, Liu Xuande personally led a group of soldiers to the front line to observe the enemy's situation at dawn. The tributaries of the Yellow River connect countless large and small lakes in the vast wilderness.The morning glow, which has been sleeping for a long time, finally appeared in the sky, reflecting the mountains, rivers and rivers of the earth extraordinarily brightly.However, the annihilation battle last night left a large number of people on the other side of the Yellow River, presenting a bustling and lively scene. "Ah, it's that little flag, that's the man with the little flag." A defeated soldier as a guide pointed to the opposite bank of a tributary of the Yellow River.Looking from a distance, you can see a general standing there who looks like a lion king being chased by all kinds of beasts. Liu Xuande stared at the opposite bank for a while, and gently read the words on the little white flag.I saw that under the sunshine of the rising sun, the black characters of "Han Shouting Hou Guan Yu" on the flag were very clear. "Ah... that must be Guan Yu, the foster brother!" Liu Xuande closed his eyes, silently begging heaven and earth to protect his martial arts in his heart. At this time, spies came to report that Cao's army had crossed the great lake behind, cutting off the Hebei army's retreat.So Liu Xuande hurriedly retreated to the rear.Since the rear formation was also in a dangerous situation at this time, he ordered the second-line troops to retreat for dozens of miles. Until this time, the rescue troops sent by Yuan Shao finally came across the river, and the two troops reunited and moved to the Guandu area together. Guo Tu and Shen Pei complained in front of Yuan Shao indignantly. "It's so unreasonable! The one who killed Wen Chou this time is still Liu Xuande's brother-in-law, the man named Guan Yu." "is this real?" "This time, that guy also went into battle with a small white flag with 'Han Shouting Hou Guan Yu' written on it, so it should be true." Yuan Shao was furious when he heard this: "Call Liu Xuande here quickly, he lied to me cleverly a few days ago, and this time he will never be spared!" Liu Xuande glanced at it, and asked with a very disgusted tone: "Big Ear, you have no room for excuses. I, Yuan Shao, will not say anything, as long as you have your head." After speaking, he ordered the generals on the left and right: "Behead him!" Liu Xuande hurriedly shouted: "Please wait a moment! General Yuan, do you like Cao Cao's tricks?" "What does beheading you have to do with Cao Cao's scheme?" "It has something to do with it. Cao Cao used Guan Yu to kill Yan Liang and Wen Chou, just to anger you and let you kill me, Liu Xuande. General, please think about it again. Now, I, Liu Xuande, has been favored by the general and ordered to command an army. , Why do I have any reason to do something that is not good for the general? Please also ask the general to be clear." Liu Xuande's specialty lies in his very sincere attitude.His words were flat, without eloquence or wit.Regardless of his inner thoughts, at least in people's eyes, he is a simple and serious person who can't cheat, can't play tricks. Yuan Shao is a person who only pays attention to formality. After seeing Liu Xuande's attitude, he immediately regretted his momentary anger, so he changed his words and said: "Listening to what you said, I myself have misunderstood you. If I If I get angry and kill you, I, Yuan Shao, may be ridiculed by the world as a person who is jealous of the virtuous and capable." Yuan Shao's face became much calmer, and he showed a courteous and solemn attitude to Liu Xuande, and respectfully invited Liu Xuande to sit on the guest's seat. Yuan Shao asked Liu Xuande: "Our army has been defeated continuously because of your brother-in-law Guan Yu... What do you think about this?" Liu Xuande bowed his head and apologized: "The general said so, and I also feel that I have an inescapable responsibility." "With your power, can you recruit Guan Yu to our side?" "As long as Guan Yu can know that I am here now, I think he will come over within a day." "Why didn't you offer me this good policy sooner?" "There is no communication between my brother-in-law and I, and you often suspect me. If I had written letters with Guan Yu in secret, it might have planted the root of disaster long ago." "No, your idea is wrong. I no longer doubt you. Hurry up and try to tell Guan Yu the news. If he can submit to our army, I will be more happy than the resurrection of Yan Liang and Wen Chou." Liu Xuande silently returned to his position after paying his respects. The night sky outside the tent is full of stars.On that night, with the help of a little light, Liu Xuande picked up a pen and wrote something carefully. Of course, this is a letter to Guan Yu. I saw him stop writing from time to time, close his eyes and meditate.Maybe in the remembrance of the past, there are all kinds of emotions in my heart? The evening wind blows through the tent, and the flame of the oil lamp flickers flickeringly. From a distance, it looks like swaying lilac flowers. "Ah, the day when our brothers will meet is finally drawing near." Liu Xuande said softly to himself.He couldn't help but think of the saying in Zhong, that good things come when the lights are bright.At this time, a light of hope lit up in his heart.