Chapter 42 1. Liu Bei is gone!

A large silk map of Xingsheng fortresses throughout Jingzhou is spread on the black lacquer table. On it, icons of Fancheng, Xiangyang, Dangyang, Jiangling, Changsha, Baling, Mianyang, Xiakou and other counties and counties are displayed one by one. Painted with cinnabar pen and ink, it is as bright red as solidified blood clots. Cao Cao, wearing a gold helmet and silver armor, stood awe-inspiringly in front of the black lacquered table. The ruler tapped lightly on the icon of Jiangling City, and his brows slowly frowned: "You mean Liu Bei has fled towards Jiangling City?" Hearing Cao Cao's question, the Cao Jun scout who was waiting respectfully at the threshold of the Xiangyang Mufu Mansion's meeting hall had no choice but to obediently repeat the previous answer: "Yes, tell the Prime Minister that Liu Bei is bringing hundreds of thousands of Jingzhou soldiers Heading south all the way to Jiangling City!"

"He fled to Jiangling City with hundreds of thousands of Jingzhou soldiers?" Cao Cao couldn't help being slightly stunned when he heard this, "Then he shouldn't be running very fast, right?—Where are they running to now?" He asked , while suddenly turning his gaze to the map of Xingsheng Fortresses in the whole area of ​​Jingzhou, wandering back and forth on the marks of Maicheng, Bianxian, Dangyang and other cities between Xiangyang and Jiangling. "According to the news received from the front three hours ago, they should have passed Zian County by now, and they are still 40 to 50 miles away from Dangyang County." The Cao Jun scout replied in a very affirmative tone. .

Cao Cao's sharp eyes swept over and immediately fixed on the city mark of Dangyang County.He murmured to himself: "That is to say, Liu Bei has only escaped three or four hundred miles in the past ten days or so - the tiger and leopard cavalry under the prime minister's command will be able to do so in less than thirty-six hours. Chased him..." When he reached here, he raised his left hand and silently flicked outward, and the Cao Jun scout immediately retreated knowingly. Cao Cao turned around slowly, walked back to the couch behind the black lacquer desk and sat down, without any delay, he held his first military deployment meeting against the enemy since he was stationed in Xiangyang Mufu.

On his right hand, on a row of long seats, according to the custom of respecting guests, sat Han Song, Kuai Yue, Wang Can, Cai Mao, Wen Pin and other famous Jingzhou officials who had surrendered the city; on his left On the long seat on the other side sat the staff he brought from Xudu, the generals Xun You, the right army commander, Jia Xu, the left army commander, Mao Jie, the west Cao, Yang Xiu, the deputy director, Sima Yi, the Zhonglang who was in charge of Zhengnan, and general Zhengnan. Cao Ren, Commander Xia Houyuan of the Dian Army, General Xu Huang of Hengye, General Zhang Liao of Dangkou, General Zhang He of Pingdi, Commander of the Tiger Cavalry Battalion Cao Chun, Commander of the Leopard Cavalry Battalion Cao Zhen, etc.

It turned out that on July 18 this year, Cao Cao personally led an army of 300,000 troops from Xudu, and went south to conquer Jingzhou.They had just passed Wancheng when they received the news that Liu Biao, the shepherd of Jingzhou, had passed away suddenly.Then, Liu Biao's Sima Cai Mao of the Mufu, Shi Kuaiyue, the head of the Mufu, Wang Can, the secretary of the Mufu and others secretly joined forces to force Liu Cong, who succeeded Liu Biao, to immediately release him who had been detained for advocating pro-Cao and voting for Cao. Han Song, who was imprisoned, persuaded Liu Cong to send Han Song as a special envoy for festivals to bypass Fancheng, where Liu Bei was stationed, and secretly rushed to Xinye County to submit a letter to Cao Cao to express his intention to surrender the city.

Therefore, Cao Cao drove in without bloodshed, and took Xiangyang, the capital of Jingzhou, in one fell swoop. The only regret was that he ran away from his lifelong enemy-Liu Bei. Although Xiangyang City was easily obtained, Cao Cao did not have much joy on his face.Sitting on the couch, his brows were slightly frowned, and he seemed to be a little puzzled and said to himself: "This Liu Xuande (Liu Bei's word Xuande) is really mysterious and unpredictable - he fled to Jiangling City with his troops. That's all, why did he take so many Jingzhou scholars and people to escape together? Isn't this conceited? How could he do such a stupid thing?"

Anyone who is familiar with Cao Cao's temperament knows that when Cao Cao was talking to himself just now, he might actually have an opinion in his chest, and he just needs other people's suggestions and opinions to confirm and supplement it.Therefore, sitting on the long table to the left of Cao Cao, the officials of the Prime Minister's Mansion and the generals of Xu Du who came together with the expedition were all silent - if Cao Cao didn't ask by name, none of them would be able to speak first. I saw Cao Cao raised his eyes slowly, and slowly looked at the Jingzhou surrenders sitting on the long bench on his right.Seeing him looking towards him, Han Song coughed lightly, bowed out of the queue, and said, "My lord, according to Han, Liu Bei fled Jiangling City with more than 100,000 Jingzhou scholars and people in a hurry. It is his trick to win people's hearts with ulterior motives, not to be underestimated!"

"Oh? A trick to win people's hearts with ulterior motives?" Cao Cao had a slight sneer on his face. He's really good at nothing." Han Song calmed down secretly, arched his hands, and was about to speak, but saw Shi Kuaiyue, the emaciated head of the Jingzhou Shepherd's Mansion, twisting a goatee under his chin, and interjected first: "Your Excellency is indeed Seeing thousands of miles away! This Liu Xuande usually likes to win people's hearts with hypocritical benevolence and small favors. The more than 100,000 people who fled south with him are actually foreigners living in Jingzhou. They are not natives of Jingzhou Mr. Kuai heard the report from his servants that Liu Xuande used a lot of false words to smear the heavenly army of the imperial court, saying that "once the heavenly army arrives, they will slaughter the city and burn jade and stone together", scaring these stupid and ignorant Jingzhou overseas Chinese and following them. He ran away with hogs and dogs."

When Cao Cao heard Kuai Yue's words, he couldn't help but feel warm in his ears.He naturally understood the meaning behind Liu Bei's saying "once the heavenly army arrives, they will slaughter the city wantonly and burn all jade and stones."He pretended to be nonchalant, stroked his beard and smiled slightly: "This Liu Xuande... other abilities are not bad, but he likes to tell stories and confuse the public! I am a majestic king teacher and imperial army. How can there be such atrocities as "slaughtering the city and burning jade and stones"? Those Jingzhou overseas Chinese households were so easily deceived by Liu Xuande, it is really lamentable..."

When Cai Mao heard this, he hurriedly opened his mouth to greet him: "My lord, what is that guy Liu Xuande? He is just a weaver of mats and shoes! He only wants to gather some mobs and make trouble! How dare he compete with the Prime Minister? Master Wang resisting with heavenly soldiers? Thinking about it, there is only a chance to escape..." The Prime Minister's Mansion Xi Cao Yu Mao Jie has always been upright and upright, and he can't understand the filthy behavior of flattery and tact.At this moment, when he heard Cai Mao and other people who are in power belittle Liu Bei so much, he couldn't help but secretly moved his heart, and then he gritted his teeth, without even a smile on his face, and said coldly: "General Cai's words are a bit biased. Yes! Although Liu Xuande's family status is low, he has been "running like a wolf" in the Central Plains for so many years as a lowly man who weaves mats and sells shoes. When the capital came to the south, he sent letters many times to tell the princes to stop his return and capture his head. Unexpectedly, with the ability of Han Shizhong, the wisdom of Kuai Changshi, the courage of General Cai, and the strength of Jingzhou's 200,000 strong troops Rui, let Liu Xuande run away anyway! May I ask what you should be responsible for this matter?"

"This..." Cai Mao's face turned red, he didn't expect this skinny old man to speak so "tough", and seeing how he was blowing his beard and staring, how could he dare to talk back?He smiled dryly, but avoided answering. Seeing this, Kuai Yue twirled his goatee with his fingers and thought to himself: This Mao Jie is an old and trusted minister of Cao Cao's subordinates!He challenged us in this way, could it be that he was hinted by Cao Cao to give us a blow? --Humph!Want to kill donkeys, cross rivers and bridges so quickly?He gritted his teeth secretly, pretended to sigh leisurely, turned his head to Cao Cao and said slowly: "Your Excellency, you don't know, Kuai, Han Shizhong, and General Cai can support the eight counties of Jingzhou this time." Surrendering to Wang Hua is really a risk of destroying his family! Not to mention that Liu Xuande is a hero all his life, and he is very good at using soldiers. He is Liu Qi, the eldest son of Jiangxia County, and Liu Pan, the nephew of Liu Mujun who occupies Changsha County. These two people are by no means good-natured! I have worked hard and finally managed to force Liu Bei to abandon Fancheng and escape to the south, and return Xiangyang City, the capital of Jingzhou, to the prime minister. I'm so entrusted." "The illustrious meritorious deeds of the kings of Jingzhou, the truth is always in mind. The truth has been submitted to the imperial court to ask for the rewards they deserve, and the imperial court will come back with an order soon." Cao Cao also knew that Liu Bei had run away. A huge future trouble, and I also understand that Mao Jie was very annoyed by the mediocrity and incompetence of these Jingzhou generals and celebrities, but now that things have come to this, can Kuai Yue and Cai Mao really be held accountable?He secretly sighed, waved his hand to stop Mao Jie's retort, put on a smiley face and said to Kuai Yue, Han Song and the others, "That's all! Let Liu Xuande be as cunning as a fox, even if he escapes to the ends of the earth, I can't even fly out of the palm of my true face! But I don't know what the kings of Jingzhou think about him fleeing south like a mouse?" "This... Please forgive Kuai for speaking bluntly. Liu Bei must have gone to Jiangling City for the good use of Jiangling City." Hearing Cao Cao's reassurance, Kuai Yue slowly calmed down and tidied up. After thinking for a while, he said, "Master Prime Minister, Jiangling City is the place where grain and equipment are stored in Jingzhou, and the naval garrison is an important place. It is by no means comparable to other ordinary counties and counties. There is an inscription in Jingzhou that has been passed down since ancient times: 'Do not Without Jiangling, there is no way to defend Xiangyang; without Jiangling, there is no way to map Bashu; without Jiangling, there is no way to protect Jiangxia; It must be investigated.’ If Liu Bei flees south to Jiangling, and then joins forces with Liu Pan of Changsha County to rebel, the situation in Jingzhou may become a little difficult.” "Hmm! Mr. Kuai is worthy of being a master planner of a generation. After Kuai Tong, his judgment is as clear as a mirror! I admire the truth." Cao Cao couldn't help nodding his head and praised deeply, "Although the truth is not expensive to win the eight counties of Jingzhou, but it can It would be a great joy to accept Kuai Jun for use!" Kuai Yue was secretly overjoyed when he heard that, although he thanked him again and again, his eyes were already narrowed into slits from a smile, he only squinted towards Mao Jie, and thought: It seems that Cao Cheng still knows each other Talented people, great generosity!Mao Jie, an old man, dares to deliberately belittle the achievements of Jingzhou people like us. Mao Jie saw all his ugliness in his eyes, and couldn't help feeling sick in his heart.At this moment, Xun You, who was sitting on his left, gave him a secret wink and shook his head slightly.When Mao Jie saw it, he understood what he meant.Cao Cao has praised Kuai Yue so much, how can he argue with him again?He couldn't help but feel a chill in his heart, so he calmed down and remained calm, and didn't say anything more about the people from Jingzhou. "Yes! It's true that we have to prevent Liu Bei from rushing to Jiangling City to join Liu Pan and reject our Celestial Army." At this moment, Jia Xu, who had been silent all this time, suddenly said, "Here, Jia asks the lords of Jingzhou, What is Liu Qi in Jiangxia County doing now? Will he catch up from the lower reaches of the Han River..." As he spoke slowly, he looked around the hall, but he saw Kuai Yue, Han Song, Wang Can and others all had strange indescribable expressions on their faces, as if he thought his problem was a problem. A big joke.Finally, it was Cai Mao who couldn't hold back his words, and said a few words in a stuttering voice: "Mr. Jia, Liu Qi's son...how did he catch up from the lower reaches of the Han River? Did he catch up and come to Xiangyang City to throw himself into a trap?" Hearing Cai Mao's thorny words, Jia Xu's face turned red.He opened his mouth, and when the words came to his lips, he suddenly felt that his thoughts at this time were really not thorough enough, so he swallowed them back. Han Song interjected a sentence from the side: "We really don't know what's going on at Liu Qi's side. But that Liu Pan in Changsha County and his county lieutenant Huang Zhong have already led eight thousand sailors from Dongting Lake. They are coming upstream to attack Jiangling City..." Kuai Yue glanced at Mao Jie, and he was about to add that he had actually planted a hidden nail in Liu Pan's side long ago—Han Xuan, the prefect of Changsha County, was his own confidant and best friend, and he could use it latently.But when he thought of Mao Jie's contemptuous and harsh words to himself and Jingzhou people just now, he couldn't get angry from the bottom of his heart.Hmph, I have to keep this top-secret information for myself first, and I must not give it away until the right time——I will casually blow out all the good cards in my hand like a gust of wind. To be looked down upon by old men like Mao Jie.He thought for a while, echoed Han Song's words, stroked his goatee, nodded and said: "Oh! What Han Shizhong reminded is that Liu Pan's veteran Huang Zhong is very brave. General Zhang Yun of Jiangling may not be his opponent..." When Cao Cao heard this, he groaned for a moment, glanced at Xun You, and saw that he was concentrating on him, so he asked him lightly: "Gongda (Xun You's word is Gongda), what do you think of this?" What about Liu Bei fleeing south?" Hearing Cao Cao's question, Xun You quickly regained his composure, straightened his face, turned to Cao Cao and replied, "You were rude just now, please forgive me, Your Excellency. You were thinking just now that this Liu Xuande is indeed extremely cunning—he Dragging these more than 100,000 Jingzhou overseas Chinese to flee south with him is actually playing his trick of hiding soldiers among the people." When Cao Cao heard this, he was taken aback for a moment, then understood immediately, and couldn't help nodding his head and smiling deeply.Yes, it is true that Liu Bei has a deep intention to escape southward with more than 100,000 Jingzhou overseas Chinese.If he just ran away with his thousands of soldiers, he was afraid that their whereabouts would be too obvious, and they would be easily chased by Cao Jun's tiger and leopard cavalry, and they would definitely end up with no armor left. However, if he mixed these thousands of soldiers with the more than 100,000 Jingzhou overseas Chinese who fled together, even if they were overtaken by Cao Jun's iron cavalry, they would not be wiped out.After all, today's Cao Cao, taking into account his status as a majestic prime minister, will naturally never do the stupid things that bloodbathed Xuzhou and slaughtered the people back then. After laughing for a while, Cao Cao asked Kuai Yue again: "May I ask Mr. Kuai for the truth, if Liu Pan leads the navy from Dongting Lake and goes upstream, how many days will it take to reach the city of Jiangling?" Kuai Yue listened to the question, thought for a while, bowed his head and counted with his fingers, and replied: "The waterway from Dongting Lake to Jiangling City is three to four hundred miles away. Liu Pan's navy can go up the river for more than 80 miles in a day and a night. Here, he had sailed on the river for more than a day—according to this calculation, he would be able to reach Jiangling City in three days at most, or two days at least." "Hmm... 'as many as three days, as few as two days'?" Cao Cao thought for a moment in his heart, and said, "The tigers and leopards under my command are as fast as the wind and as fast as lightning. In just two days and two nights, we will be able to catch up with Liu Xuande and capture him in one fell swoop. At that time, even if Liu Pan took advantage of the opportunity to capture Jiangling City, he will have nothing to fear!" After finishing speaking, with one move of his right hand, he stretched out to the lottery holder on the black lacquer desk, ready to catch the arrow.The two commanders of the tiger and leopard cavalry, Cao Chun and Cao Zhen, also held their breath suddenly and straightened their backs. "Hold on, Prime Minister!" At this moment, Jia Xu's voice suddenly sounded. "What's the matter?" Cao Cao's right hand stopped halfway, and he looked at Jia Xu in a blink of an eye. "Prime Minister, according to Jia's humble opinion, you can take General Liu Cong, General Cai Mao and others to pursue Liu Xuande..." When Cao Cao first heard it, he couldn't help being startled for a moment, and after a little thought in his heart, he soon understood the meaning of Jia Xu's words.Although Jingzhou has surrendered now, the hearts of the counties have been divided in a hurry, and they are suspicious and fearful, and it is difficult to appease them. If you take Liu Cong to lead the way, you will not have to worry about Xiangyang's generals chasing your life. Then tigers and leopards will ride in Hanshui The risk of being accidentally attacked or ambushed in the south has also been greatly reduced.Besides, Liu Cong is still the young master of Jingzhou in name for the time being. If he catches up with Liu Bei and the more than 100,000 overseas Chinese in Jingzhou, he can show up in front of the battle to persuade them to surrender, so as to disturb Liu Bei's army and people's morale... Thinking of this, Cao Cao secretly nodded in approval, and looked at the head of the row of seats on his right that had always been empty, his expression became a little complicated again.This Liu Cong has been claiming to be ill and bedridden since he entered Xiangyang City, and it is not known whether he is really sick or pretending to be sick. Seeing that Cao Cao's eyes seemed to be a bit unfriendly, Cai Hao also secretly sweated for his nephew Liu Cong, so he plucked up his courage and said cautiously: "Mr. His body is being recuperated in the mansion. If you want to use him, I'm afraid...I'm afraid that you will have to move him personally to invite Mr. Prime Minister..." He was muttering to himself when he was suddenly interrupted by Cao Chun, the commander of the Tiger Cavalry Battalion, who yelled, "Wu Na Cai Mao! What an important nobleman my Prime Minister Cao is, how could he go for Liu Cong, a mere Jingzhou shepherd? ? If he pretends to be sick and refuses to come, don’t blame Cao Mou for taking a few brothers to the Liu Mansion and dragging him over..." "Cao Chun! Shut up!" Cao Cao raised his eyebrows, his beard and beard stretched, and shouted at Cao Chun, "You ignorant barbarian! Don't be rude! As long as it is a military and national event that is beneficial to Kuang Han's chaos, don't say that the truth cannot If you don’t condescend to be courteous to the virtuous, even His Majesty has to ‘go out of the Nine Layers in person, and ask for advice on the bank of the Weihe River’——Okay, all attendants, let’s set out, the real minister will leave for the Liu residence immediately!” "Wait a minute!" Xun You said suddenly, "Prime Minister, you are condescending to the virtuous and respectful, and you will be respectful and humble. This hard work will naturally empathize with the subordinates. However, Yi You said bluntly, you should go to the Liu Manor to meet General Liu Cong in person right now. , I’m afraid it’s too late. If General Liu Cong is really seriously ill, he won’t be able to bear the burden! What’s more, we don’t know the way to Liu’s residence very well…” Cao Cao's mind is so perceptive and sensitive, he understood the implication of Xun You's words as soon as he heard it.Yes, although it seems that Xiangyang City has been basically controlled on the surface, it does not mean that his power has penetrated into every corner of this city, and it does not mean that every citizen in this city has a chest. No different thoughts... what if Liu Cong is deliberately pretending to be ill and setting a trap to assassinate himself?Or, he personally moved to the Liu Mansion, but was suddenly attacked by an assassin somewhere along the way?Master Xun was right - "We are not very familiar with the way to Liu's Mansion"!What a cunning character Zhao Gao, the treacherous eunuch of the generation, wasn't he also thrown into death after being lured into the fasting palace by Ying Ziying? While he was thinking secretly, he heard Cai Mao say again: "Mr. Xun, you are too worried. It doesn't matter if you are not familiar with the way to General Liu's Mansion. Cai is willing to be a guide and lead you to Liu's Mansion..." "Well... let's see, Gongda's words are reasonable—if Liu Congjun is really ill, it's really not easy to bother him with his true nature." Cao Cao stroked his beard and smiled, turning his face, looking very kind to him. Cai Hao said, "Now Liu Bei is fleeing to Jiangling quickly—the situation is critical, and it is not too late. How about asking General Cai and General Wenpin to be the guides of our Celestial Army and lead us to pursue it?"