Chapter 33 secret envoy offering book

Cao Cao and Xun You were a little discouraged when they saw this envoy with their own eyes—this person is not like the general's confidant, but an ordinary old fisherman.I'm probably about seventy years old, with a narrow and thin face, wrinkled like walnut skin, with a goatee drooping to the front of the chest; wearing a broken bamboo hat, a broken coir raincoat, and a straw rope around the waist. Straw sandals are lame under the feet.When the prime minister and the military adviser walked into the military tent, the old man didn't bow or kowtow, just sat on the bench and squinted his eyes and fell asleep in a daze.It's really hard for him to be able to row a boat across the river alone at his age, he must be very tired.

"Wake up! Don't you want to see what is this place?" Shi Huan wanted to laugh but didn't dare to laugh, he raised his foot and gently kicked him awake - he was too old and couldn't bear to kick him hard. "Hmm..." The old man slowly opened his eyes, opened his mouth in a daze for a long time, then threw down his bamboo hat and knelt down to salute, "I pay my respects to the adults." Could such an old man really be Huang Gai's emissary?Cao Cao couldn't help frowning: "Get up and talk." "No." The old man agreed resoundingly, knelt together and stood up neatly, like a soldier.

Cao Cao sat down, looked at it carefully for a long time before asking, "Are you really the envoy sent by Huang Gai?" The old man raised his drooping eyebrows slightly: "How can I still talk nonsense when I'm old?" Xun You's eyes and ears are sharp: "Your accent doesn't sound like someone from Wu." "Returning to my lord, the younger one is from Lingling, Jingzhou. He was sent to the Huang family in less than 20 years, and he served as a soldier of my general for 40 years. To tell you the truth, I call him a general before people, but he still has to do it after people." Call me old brother!" He said while stroking his silver beard with a look of complacency.

This is quite possible, Wei Jiang's family has a few old soldiers who have been born and died with their masters as private followers for half their lives, but they have no outstanding skills and can't be promoted, so they are kept by their side until they grow old. In fact, they are almost like domestic slaves.Huang Gai was from Lingling, so his old army naturally belonged to his hometown, and the Cao Cao shogunate also had such veterans, all of whom were from Qiao County.Shi Huan whispered from the side: "Just now I asked him about some things about Jiangdong, and he could tell them all. It doesn't look like it's fake."

Cao Cao nodded, and asked again: "There is so much ambiguity in the war between the two sides. Why did your general send you here?" The old soldier knelt down again: "The general ordered the younger one to come and surrender." Xun You smiled warily and said, "Is there no one left in Jiangdong? Why did you send an old man here?" "To tell you the truth, it's not Zhou Yu's business to ask me to be a general of my family this time. There are many patrols in the Red Cliff Army stronghold, and there are also red horses on the river. If it weren't for the old man who pretended to be a fisherman and the soldiers didn't care much, how could he cross the river? To Jiangbei?"

This also makes sense, Cao Cao asked again: "Empty talk has no proof, but do you have a letter from your general?" "Yes! But..." A trace of suspicion flashed in the old army's eyes, "But this matter is very important, and I have to see Prime Minister Cao before I can reveal it." "This old man is Cao Cao." "Ah? Really?" The old soldier still didn't believe it. Shi Huan shouted: "What is true and false? This is Prime Minister Cao!" The old soldier hurriedly fell to his knees for the second time, this time laying on the ground trembling: "Oh, I'm offended. Zhou Yu often said that the prime minister is a fierce person, but when I saw him today, he turned out to be so kind and kind. He really looks like a good official who governs the people .”

Shi Huan and Deng Zhan both covered their mouths and laughed—that's right, they must be veterans.This flattery was perfect, leaving no trace. Cao Cao also smiled: "Don't talk too much, bring the letter." "Promise." The old soldier agreed, without pulling out his cuffs or touching his chest, he first took off the whole coir raincoat, then took off the robe, and then the sackcloth underneath. Untie your belt.Deng Zhan stared at the side with his sword in his hand, afraid that this old swordsman who lived in seclusion might hide a sharp blade as an assassin.Unexpectedly, he didn't even have a single piece of iron on him, let alone a weapon. He took off his jacket and wrapped a pair of leggings around Old Pi's wrinkled thigh.Trembling, the old soldier untied his leggings, and after walking around for a long time, he took out a thin silk book from it. It was tied to his body so that it would be difficult for soldiers to find it, and secondly, it would not fall into the river when he was ferrying.

Deng Zhan took the silk book and did not dare to read it, so he handed it to Cao Cao with both hands.Cao Cao turned sideways to watch with Xun You.The handwriting of this letter is fairly clear, but it is a little damp and smells like sweat.It reads: Cao Cao held it in his palm, tossed it over and over silently several times, handed it back to Shi Huan, and whispered: "Look for anyone in the army who can read Huang Gai's handwriting, and read it carefully." , pretending to be angry, said: "Bold! This is clearly a trick of the old man Huang Gai to feign surrender. He wants to get something out of it. How dare you, an old man, deceive me?"

The old soldier didn't bother to put on his clothes, and knelt on the ground and kowtowed: "I'm wronged! I dare not lie to you even if you are so small. My general is indeed loyal to you. I saw what he wrote with my own eyes... But he, he What did you write?" The old soldier couldn't read at all. "You don't need to know what you wrote." Xun You sneered, "I want to ask, how many lords of the Sun family does your general serve?" "First followed Sun Polu, and then followed Sun to seek rebellion. Now Sun Zhongmou is the second generation and the third master of the Sun family."

"That's right, Huang Gai ran for two generations of the Sun family and served the third lord. How can such a confidant be suspicious? If it's not a false surrender, what is it?" Xun You asked about the crux. The old soldier sighed: "Let's just tell you the truth. My general is also considered a veteran of the Sun family, and he will never betray the master easily, but this is really forced out, there is no way..." "What's hidden in it?" Cao Cao and Xun You stared at him carefully, discerning every slight change in his expression. The old soldier knelt up and sighed: "My general has followed the former Lord since he was young and made great contributions. Now, although his official position is not high, he is a captain, but after all, he has feelings for the lord and his son. It is nothing more than a high official and a small official. .In fact, all old people have a little nostalgia. Just take me as an example. I followed at the age of nineteen..."

"Why mention yourself? Talk about serious business!" Cao Cao frowned. "No. Originally, the old general was not a man of Jiangdong, but it is not bad to stay in Jiangdong. At least two generations of lords respect him very much. But since Zhou Yu and Lu Su have been in charge of the juniors, they have treated people quite briefly. This expedition was originally Cheng Lao. The general and Zhou Yu are divided into the left and right governors, but Zhou Yu, relying on his close relationship with the lord, makes his own decisions and doesn't take the old governor seriously, let alone our general. Since the day when Fankou dispatched troops, my general has led the rear army Zhou Yu scolded him in public just because he was late for two days. Lu Su and other villains didn't care about it. They talked to the people around them in private about old age, old things, old and useless. Our generals are all in their sixties Now, I have to listen to such gossip! Do you mean to be irritating?" Xun You didn't see any flaws, half-believing and half-doubting, "Could it be such a trivial matter?" "Small matter? Huh!" The old man raised his eyebrows, as if he was very angry, "It was just a few gossips at first, but later he became less and less serious about the veterans. Zhou Yu's confidantes, Dong Xi, Chen Wu, Pan Zhang, and Song Qian are all young children. They drink and eat meat every day, but they deprive our battalions of food. The day before yesterday, when I went to urge food, I asked Lu Su's soldiers to play with their beards. Fan, these little rascals!" He never forgot about himself, "Before this battle was fought, everyone's hearts were not on the same page. Zhang Zibu and Qin Wenbiao both said they couldn't fight. The quarrel was fierce, but they couldn't hold back the lord. Let's just fight, and still make it like this, the army is heading to Chibi, there is a saying... how do you say that... oh! Soldiers are expensive and fast. Now that there is no movement for a month, even the heavenly soldiers and generals will lose their minds. " Cao Cao also had rumors about these things, so naturally he believed them a little more: "How is the situation on the other side now?" "It's not good..." The old army shook his head again and again, "There are more than 40,000 people right now, and the remaining 10,000 belong to Liu Bei. For some reason, some people often fall ill these days, and everyone is talking about it. Zhou Yu has no idea. You know how to set fire to us! In fact, there are many people who are dissatisfied. The old governor Cheng is from Beiping, the old general Han is from Liaoxi, and Zhang Zibu and Qin Wenbiao are from Xuzhou. Going home? A few years ago, the imperial court expelled so many famous people that many people didn’t want to do it anymore. Sun Zhongmou is 27 this year, Zhou Yu is 34, Lu Su is 31, let alone the rest of the young generals. What kind of weather can they do? Many soldiers in our battalion are discussing privately, saying that they will run away when the spring warms up and go home to live a good life. Who is willing to sacrifice their lives for Zhou Yu?" The words that the soldiers wanted to destroy and the people's hearts were scattered were exactly as Cao Cao expected. Seeing Shi Huan stepping quickly into the tent, he leaned into his ear and said, "Liu Ba is from Lingling, and he has seen Huang Gai's handwriting. He said it was real." "Yeah." Cao Cao was very satisfied, "Tell him not to say anything about it." "Yes, the last general has already told him." Shi Huan has worked in the Chinese army for many years and knows how to keep it secret. Cao Cao believed what the old army said earlier, and knowing that the letter was true, he believed 70% of it out of ten, so he asked: "Your general said that 'it should change due to events', when will the incident be brought down to me? " "It's hard to say." The old soldier curled his lips, "How can this betrayal of the master be fixed? If you make an appointment, you will not be able to handle the matter when it comes to the end, but it will be leaked. The letter written by the general the day before yesterday, I just managed it today." If you sneak across the river, the interrogation is too strict." "It makes sense." Cao Cao lowered his head and thought to himself. "However, I guess it's only about ten days." Laojun said again, "According to the current situation, Zhou Yu can't live a stable life for a few days. The morale of the army is lost, maybe after a few days, you can pass the checkpoint with a piece of gold. My general has made up his mind. When the time comes, there will be an incident over there, and you will send troops to respond. If nothing happens, you may as well come and surrender to you. After all, my general is considered a dignified person. Once he surrenders, people will be even more chaotic over there. gone." Cao Cao felt that he had nothing to say, so he read the surrender letter from the beginning to the end again, and finally said: "Alright, I hope the matter will be successful. Since it is too inconvenient to check along the road, and you are a person trusted by General Huang, I will not write it. I have returned the letter. Tell your general that if the matter fails, you must plant a blue flag on the bow of the boat as a sign when you cross the river to land, so as to prevent the two armies from fighting..." "Wait a minute!" Xun You heard that he wanted to let him go, interrupted quickly, "Huang Gai's empty mouth and white teeth shouldn't be convinced, why don't you keep this person as a hostage?" But Cao Cao said: "A veteran, why keep him? Tell him to go back and send a message to Huang Gai, so he can feel at ease." The old soldier was quite smart: "Prime Minister Xie, I have to go back before dark with my old bones, so as not to worry about the general." "Then how hard you work," Cao Cao greeted Shi Huan, "give him some gold and silk." The old soldier shook his head and said: "I don't want any property. I am so old, I have been a soldier all my life, I have no children and no daughters, and I can't live without leaving the barracks. Where do I spend my money? Don't let those little bastards rob me." Yes! I only hope that this battle will end soon, our general will have a few days of peace, and I will also enjoy a few days of happiness." "Alas..." Cao Cao felt sorry for the old man. "But..." The old soldier said shyly again, "Can the prime minister reward me with a full meal?" "Huh?" Cao Cao was taken aback. "I'm really hungry after coming all the way. Besides, no matter how full we are, there is a severe shortage of food. You take advantage of the large land and plenty of food. How much food does our bigger fart have? And give it to Liu Bei! Xinkeng The land where they came out was originally from Shanyue, and they were driven away to open up wasteland, and the people who worked were all people taken captive from Lujiang and Jiangxia. Can they farm the land for us? I really don’t want to go back when I’m honest, but For the sake of the old general, bear with it." Hearing this, Cao Cao was even more delighted: "Shi Huan, take him something to eat, and give him some warm clothes, let's go!" But Xun You said: "Go straight to the kitchen, don't wander around." He still had doubts, for fear that this person would spy on the military situation, and even more afraid that this person would see the large group of seriously ill soldiers in the rear camp. After the old army left, Cao Cao put the letter of surrender into his sleeve: "I knew the enemy would not last long, and it was as expected. There are many wetlands in Jiangdong and little food and grain, Zhou Yu's arrogance and lack of courtesy are unpopular, and Sun Quan's tent has too many thoughts Returning man. With these three troubles, how can we be undefeated?" Xun You still had doubts: "I think it's better to be cautious." "Don't worry." Cao Cao said confidently, "Huang Gai's incident is on the other side, and I will not be hurt. Even if it is fake, we just need to be more careful when sending troops." "What if Huang Gai pretended to be poor and came to surprise our army?" Cao Cao laughed instead: "How can such a small trick defeat my army? Even if Zhou Yu sent all his troops to the south bank, what can it do to me?" Before he finished speaking, Deng Zhan came in happily, and Xun You asked him again: "Do you think Huang Gai's move is really fraudulent?" Deng Zhan said with a smile: "I don't doubt that there is fraud, but I suspect that this veteran is a starving ghost. At such a young age, he actually asked for four or five pieces of cake. Tuck it into your arms. It's like you haven't had enough food in your life!" "Haha! This just shows that Zhou Yu is short of food, so what he said just now is true." Cao Cao now believed it 100%, "Most people in the world are duplicity, the more eloquent the more deceitful, like this old soldier How can it be false to speak so straightforwardly and quickly?" Xun You was still quite uneasy, but he couldn't give a reason. He just felt that things would not be so simple. The enemy might be planning a conspiracy, but he couldn't figure out what it was.This kind of worry seems unfounded, and Xun You didn't know how to explain it to Cao Cao, so he could only ask the soldiers to be more vigilant...