Chapter 4 Pingding Yuzhou

Xu Chu, courtesy name Zhongkang, was born in Qiao County, Peiguo, and was a native of Cao Cao's township.He was famous for his physical strength when he was young, he was a chivalrous man and he was good at fighting injustice, so he could be regarded as a local figure.Because Xu's family is not a noble family, and their status is far from Cao's, and Xu Chu is ten years younger than Cao Cao, so he and Cao Cao are well-known but have never met. At the time of Chuping, the world was in turmoil, and the Xiliang army plundered Yuzhou. Xu Chu took more than a thousand people from Peiguo village to flee to Runan, and built stone fortresses along the coast of Gebei to escape the war.Later, the Xiliang army retreated into the pass, and the Yellow Turbans in Yuzhou rose again, and marched to the old place of Gepi to garrison.Due to the huge disparity in the number of people, Xu Chu could only let them build earthen barriers to plan farmland.If the Yellow Turbans attacked the base, Xu Chu would lead his men to fight back.He was extremely fierce, and he led only warriors from Qiao County, which formed a long-term stalemate.

Xu Chu led the villagers to guard the stone base, fighting and fighting with the Yellow Turban, and then fighting again. It has been more than three years.Because of the lack of communication, they didn't know what happened outside. Seeing that the food was almost gone, Xu Chu didn't dare to hope that someone would come to rescue them.Today I learned that Cao Cao came to quell the chaos, how could I not cry? Cao Ang and Cao Anmin also came over, seeing the misery here, they couldn't make sense of it.Cao Cao understood immediately, turned his head and said, "Both of you bring your troops back to the camp."

"General, you..." "I went to Xu Zhongkang's stronghold to discuss strategies to defeat the enemy. Military affairs are handled according to the old rules!" When Cao Cao was not in the army, Xiahou Dun served as the temporary commander. This is the old rule of Cao Ying. Cao Anmin seemed uneasy: "Uncle, it's not that I can't trust this Yishi Xu, but if the Yellow Turban bandits suddenly surrounded this base, then you..." Xu Chu wiped away his tears, and interrupted angrily, "So what? They couldn't take it down for three years, but they can break it tonight? Be careful, I'll give you a shot."

Cao Anmin stuck out his tongue and dared not speak.Dian Wei resentfully said: "Big Hei, I can't trust you either, I have to stay and protect the general." "If you're worried, just keep them all." Xu Chu blew on his beard. Cao Cao spread his hands: "Don't be impatient, stay safe. This place is still in the eyes of the Yellow Turban scouts. It will inevitably expose the military plan. Now I have a plan to defeat the enemy." Everyone quieted down and looked around. Sure enough, there were yellow scarf soldiers looming in the distance. "Zhongkang, please take me back to the camp." Cao Cao whispered.

"what?!" "Just put on a show for the Yellow Turban's eyes and ears," he turned back and told Dian Wei, "When you see him capture me, follow closely behind and follow into the camp." "No." Although Dian Wei was not convinced, he still agreed. "Zixiu, Anmin, retreat immediately after feinting an attack, return to the camp and ask Yuan Rang to guard the camp at ease and wait for news from here." "No." Second Xiao also took the order. Cao Cao let out a long breath, and said to Xu Chu, "Come and capture me, be realistic."

Xu Chu said "offend!" Then he shouted deliberately, stretched his ape's arms lightly, grabbed Cao Cao's thigh with one hand, and reached for Cao Cao's waist with the other.His fingers were like five steel structures, with just one grasp and one pull, Cao Cao was already carried on his shoulders. "The general has been captured!" Cao Anmin shouted at the top of his voice. Xu Chu ran away with the man on his back, and Dian Wei chased after him holding a big halberd.The other township braves rushed forward to block Cao Ang's soldiers and horses, and the two sides made fake gestures.As soon as the three of them entered the gate of the village, those brave men fought and retreated, and the Cao brothers chased after them.After chasing to the gate of the stronghold, the guards will quit, they still don't understand what's going on!Seeing someone attacking the base, a burst of flying stones hit them. This time, it was not only realistic, but also real. Cao Jun was almost thrown off his back by the stones.Brother Cao Ang went down the donkey, yelling, "The general has been captured! Go back to the camp to move troops!" and retreated in a hurry.

Cao Cao was paralyzed when Xu Chu carried him into the stone barrier. Although he pretended to capture him, Xu Chu's strength was too great.He put Cao Cao down carefully, and called the people around him to kneel on the ground, and everyone shouted: "Cao Min pays homage to Mr. Cao." When Cao Cao heard this shout, he felt more at ease-it's all local dialect! "Please get up quickly, fellow villagers are suffering." He helped everyone around him up one by one. Xu Chu got up and introduced himself. There were men, women, old and young in this camp. The patriarchs of several families in Qiao County were there, and some Cao Cao looked familiar.These people live in stone houses, grass huts, or tents, there are all kinds of people, and there are farmers, scholars, and even officials and elders. Invite Cao Cao to a big Xuanbu tent.

This big tent really looks a bit like that. The flags stand high outside, and several "war generals" come out of the tent, some wearing armor, some without armor, and some with bare helmets and no armor. You can tell at a glance that they are captured of.Xu Chu recommended them one by one, including his elder brother Xu Ding, as well as Duan Zhao, Ren Fu, Liu Dai (later the governor of Cao Cao's shogunate, and the same name as Liu Dai, the governor of Yanzhou, not the same person), Liu Ruo and other young generals, most of whom were in their twenties. Up and down vigorous.Everyone was trapped for too long, and they were very excited to see Cao Cao. They exchanged pleasantries and cried for a long time before getting to the point.

"I made you laugh." Xu Chu said sadly, "It's because we are incompetent, unable to repel the thieves. After three years of hard work, we will almost eat up all the food." "You only have more than a thousand people, and not everyone can fight. It is not easy to hold on." Cao Cao took his big hand and comforted him. "The general just said that there is a strategy to defeat the enemy, so you might as well talk about it." "Once upon a time, I had a colleague, Bao Hong, a lieutenant of the Xiyuan Military Academy. He broke through the Gepi yellow scarves during the Zhongping period." Cao Cao said, "At the beginning, he only had two thousand soldiers from the Xiyuan Army, and the county soldiers he cooperated with were also However, there were more than a thousand soldiers, but there were tens of thousands of opponents. At that time, the Yellow Turbans were also stationed along the lake, and food and grass were also stationed on the island. Bao Hong raided at night and burned down the ships of the Yellow Turban Army. Half a day's work was completely defeated by him."

"This General Bao is really a brave general!" Xu Chu was amazed. "The brave general is true. Unfortunately, he was killed by the eunuch Jian Shuo on the day he won the victory... He also had three younger brothers, all of whom died for the country..." Thinking of the Bao brothers, Cao Cao couldn't help feeling sad and sighed Continued, "It is also because of the previous lesson that Yuan Shu instigated the Yellow Turbans to return to Gebei this time, so they built a large number of camps along the lake and made a strong defense. Now Liu Pi's numbers are not as large as they were back then, and my soldiers and horses are more powerful than before. Bao Hong. The reason why they couldn’t win was because they held on against the odds and the grain roads were stable. Liu Pi wanted to force me to withdraw, so I could find a chance to make a comeback in the future.”

"Then how should we deal with today's events?" Cao Cao patted him on the shoulder: "Do you know how many boats Liu Pi has?" Xu Chu murmured: "Liu Pi is a very cunning boy. In order to prevent someone from stealing food, he only prepares to disembark 20 boats, and all of them stop at the other side of the island. He doesn't come here when there is no food to be transported." "As I expected." Cao Cao chuckled, "Zhongkang, send someone to tell Liu Pi that Cao Cao has been captured. If he is willing to bring twenty boatloads of grain and grass in exchange, you can offer me to him." "What?!" Xu Chu didn't understand. Seeing that he was ignorant, Cao Cao explained: "Liu Pi has been chased by me since Yingchuan. He hates me to death. He will definitely exchange it with food. You agree with him to exchange at three o'clock tomorrow night, and then ask him to barge the boat." Go to the shore behind your stockade, when the time comes, we will suddenly attack, snatch their boats, and cut off their food roads! Then hide and kill them at night, and the Gebei formation will be broken!" "Wonderful!" Xu Chu and others were very excited when they heard this plan.At this time, a villager came to report, and a large group of people camped on the west side of the stone base. Over ten thousand soldiers pointed at the camp in a threatening manner.Everyone panicked, Cao Cao said with a smile, "Don't worry, that's when my army has arrived... Dian Wei, sneak over to the camp tonight, tell them the plan, and we will fight together at midnight tomorrow night." Dian Wei shook his head: "I have to protect you here, I don't worry about Big Hei." "You don't worry about me, and I don't worry about you!" Xu Chu turned his head and ordered, "Duan Zhao, Ren Fu, you two go to the camp tonight, so that this fat man won't worry." Cao Cao was quite amused, Dian Wei and Xu Chu seemed like a pair of characters, if they were kept by their side, they seemed to be better than the old Lou Yi and Wang Bi... This strategy really worked. The Yellow Turban scouts had witnessed Cao Cao's "capture", and Liu Pi believed in Xu Chu's news again.If Cao Cao can be killed, the Yanzhou army will have no leader, and the crisis of Gebei will be solved immediately.Liu Pi immediately agreed to the conditions, but he also played tricks. Although he prepared twenty boats, he wrapped the sulfur and saltpeter with straw, and only covered it with a layer of grain.He planned to use the pretext of transporting, to rush into the stone barrier and set fire to it, and by the way, get rid of Xu Chu, an old opponent who had been entangled for three years.Both sides had their own plans and made preparations until midnight the next day.Twenty small boats held torches and approached the west bank of Gebei. Liu Pi had already been waiting on the shore with five hundred soldiers on horseback.Not long after, Xu Chu also escorted people out of the stronghold as agreed, with only a hundred brave men by his side. Liu Pi had only vaguely seen Cao Cao in several confrontations, and did not know his face. Now, with the help of a torch, he saw Xu Chu holding a prisoner with his own hands.The man had stripped off his armor, was beaten all over his body, his face was bloody, and his mouth was gagged, but he was not tall, with a short beard and big eyes... But is this really Cao Cao? Xu Chu screamed: "You gang of thieves are watching, this is Cao Cao, give us food!" Liu Pi was very cunning, afraid of Xu Chu's sudden attack, he quickly rode his horse and hid behind the soldiers.He intentionally killed Xu Chu and even Cao Cao, but he was afraid of Xu Chu's bravery, so he turned his mind and said loudly: "Xu Yishi, since you brought Cao Cao here, I will fulfill the agreement and send someone to deliver the food to you." In the stockade...but you have to stay here with Cao Cao, and you can't leave until the food is delivered." He wanted to besiege Xu Chu with soldiers and horses while earning a camp, and as soon as he entered, he would light sulfur and saltpeter. "No!" Xu Chu waved his hand, "I don't feel worried about you guys doing it, I have to ask my people to carry it by themselves!" Without waiting for Liu Pi's reply, he ordered his men to get on the boat to carry it, and five people were sent to each boat . Liu Pi almost laughed out loud——this Xu Chu is an idiot, if his subordinates are all holding food stockpiles, wouldn't I be powerless to fight back if I ordered them to be intercepted?Thinking up to this point, he didn't make a sound, holding the hilt of the sword tightly in his hand, and waited for those Xiangyong who were carrying things to get off the boat, and then sent an order to kill them. Unexpectedly, in the darkness, a Xiangyong suddenly shouted: "Brother Xu, this grain store is too heavy, we can't move it!" Xu Chu yelled, "Waste, waste, can't the two move one?" That person even quibbled: "Calling us trash every now and then, is it just you, Xu Zhongkang, capable?" "Damn it! If you dare to talk back to me, see if I won't kill you." Xu Chu burst into anger, and suddenly shouted, "Liu Pi, Cao Cao will give it to you first. I will settle the score with you after I finish cleaning up the kid who talked back." . " In the dark, Liu Pi intuitively felt that something dark was flying towards him.All the yellow scarves exclaimed, they saw clearly—Xu Chu threw "Cao Cao" over!Liu Pi didn't expect that there were people flying all over the sky, and he was immediately knocked off his horse by "Cao Cao", and all the yellow scarves hurriedly gathered around to help him. At this moment, only screams could be heard in the helix, and the twenty boat stewards were chopped down in the lake by Xu Chu's men.Before the yellow turban soldiers understood what was going on, they saw a flurry of poking with the poles, and all the boats left the shore.Liu Pi got up and shouted, "Xu Chu! What are you doing?" In the darkness, only Xu Chu's voice came from the lake: "My surname is Liu, your grain ship belongs to me!" Liu Pi was so angry that he stomped his feet and yelled, "You fucking mother Xu, come back to me, and see if I don't wipe out your stockade!" Xu Chu seemed to have gone far away, and his voice came through the sound of water: "I don't have time to talk to you, I have to go to the island to burn your food..." Liu Pi was terrified, but there was no boat, so he couldn't save him now.Another soldier ran over and said, "Report to the general, Cao Cao is a fake...he was the brother who was captured by the cow the day before yesterday. He died when he fell just now." Realized that Xu Chu had defected to Cao Cao.He looked up at the pitch-black lake, as soon as Xu Chu set fire to it, all the camps along the coast, large and small, would be in chaos, and the situation would be out of control.Thinking of this, he murmured in a low voice: "Ge Pei is finished... let's run away!" "Escape?!" The soldier was taken aback, "What about the others?" "I don't care about them, it's all over if we don't leave. Let's go south and seek refuge with Yuan Shu..." Liu Pi gritted his teeth, "Cao Mengde, just wait and see, I will settle accounts with you later!" In order to avoid being intercepted and killed by Cao Jun, Liu Pi fled Gebei with only 500 people.Not long after he left, the island in the middle of the lake caught fire.In the vast darkness, the flames were extraordinarily dazzling. All camps in the Yellow Turban knew that the food had been burned, and even the commander was missing. People were in panic and chaos.And this fire was also a signal for Cao Jun to launch a general attack. In an instant, Cao Jun's shouts were overwhelming, and the torches, like fireflies, came densely from the west. When the Yellow Turban Army saw the fire, most of them were chilled. How could they still have the ability to fight, and many soil fortresses surrendered voluntarily.The few who resisted stubbornly had no effect. Duan Zhao, Ren Fu, Liu Dai, Liu Ruo and others had already dispersed to the camps as guides. They stayed here for more than three years, leading Cao Jun to identify the roads and focus on key points everywhere. Those earth barriers are no longer in danger.Thirty miles along the coast of Gebei, the flames of war are everywhere, and the sound of shouting, cursing, and begging for mercy resounds through the sky.In just one night, the last stronghold of the Yellow Turbans in the Central Plains was leveled by Cao Jun.And with the end of this battle, the entire Yuzhou was completely replaced with the flag of Cao Jun... When Cao Cao supervised the brigade and returned to the camp, there was another piece of good news.Wang Bi has already returned and reported Dong Zhao's forged letter: Yang Feng was overjoyed to receive the letter, and his subordinate cavalry captain Xu Huang also advised him to cooperate with Cao Cao immediately. Cao Cao is General Zhendong and Marquis of Fei Ting. Manying Wenwu knelt down and congratulated Cao Cao.But he didn't smile at all, threw the imperial edict to the side, picked up a pen to write the seal, and explained to everyone while writing: "I think my grandfather was named Feitinghou because he assisted Emperor Xiaohuan to ascend the throne. Now the imperial court I want to give this title to me again. But the reason why I, Cao Cao, fought everywhere was to be the son of the emperor and the people of the people. I don’t want to be a prince. I can be a general, but I can’t accept this title!" He had finished writing the form, so he picked it up and called Xun Yu, "Wen Ruo, please read it for me." Xun Yu was in the first place in the east, got up and held it in both hands, looked down: 〖The minister punishes the violent rebellion, restrains the two states, and pays tribute from all directions, thinking of the merit of the minister.Xiao Xiangguo was entrusted with his work in Guanzhong; Deng Yu used his work in Hebei to connect the cities to eat cities.The merits of the examination are not the honor of the minister.The grandfather of the minister often served the marquis, but sometimes he followed the chariot and supported the wings. He was neither the leader nor the halberd.The minister heard that "Yi Yu Gua" said: "Li Jianhou, Xingshi".In addition, "Litigation Gua" sixty-three said: "Eat old virtues, or follow the king's affairs." It is said that the ancestors had great virtues, and if they made meritorious service from the king's affairs, their descendants will eat their salary.His Majesty Fu Wei has the benevolence of the universe, the moistness of the clouds and rains, the festivals of the ancestors' support and support, and the use of the ministers in the military, the excellent policies are praised, and the brilliance is outstanding, which cannot be overcome by the stubbornness of the ministers. 〗 After reading the whole article, Xun Yu seemed suspicious. "Ancestors have great virtue, if they have made meritorious deeds from the king's work, their descendants will be rewarded." Cao Cao clearly hinted that he was granted the title as a matter of course. Why did he suddenly say that "no minister can overcome it"? What exactly does that mean?Xun Yu stole a glance at Cao Cao, and seeing his troubled face, he immediately understood: his grandfather was an eunuch, and he was granted the title of Marquis of Feiting because he assisted Emperor Xiaohuan Liu Zhi as emperor, and it was precisely because Liu Zhi became emperor that he became the emperor. There are foreign relatives Liang Ji who have harmed the Han Dynasty for thirteen years, and the eunuchs have caused chaos in the political party... Cao Cao was willing to be named Marquis, but he could not accept Fei Tinghou's inheritance of his ancestral grace. "How is it, Wen Ruo?" Hearing his question, Xun Yu quickly put the badge back on the commander's case, and replied: "It seems inappropriate to get the title first before you have achieved great achievements. But in the future, if the king establishes other achievements and then accepts other princes, it will not be acceptable at that time." Too much." Really smart... Cao Cao nodded his head repeatedly knowing he understood. Brothers Xu Chu and Xu Ding led Duan Zhao, Ren Fu, Liu Dai, Liu Ruo and other young generals into the tent and knelt down.Cao Cao himself got up and helped him: "Zhongkang has worked hard." Xu Chu refused to get up: "We are all generals and villagers, from now on we are willing to follow the general to serve in the battlefield." "Okay!" Cao Cao patted him on the shoulder, "Your original soldiers and horses are still under your command." Xu Chu shook his head and said, "I'm just a brave man, and I took everyone here to defend here to save my life. Now I have to return to the Lord, and I should let them listen to you. As for me..." He raised his head and glanced at Shuai After the case, Dian Wei said, "Just like Dian Wei, I will do my duty as a guard by the general's side." This proposal fit Cao Cao's mind: "You are really my Fan Kuai...I appoint you as the captain, and Xu Ding will lead the Xu family's soldiers. Duan Zhao, Ren Fu, Liu Dai, Liu Ruo, all of you Promoted to Sima, led his subordinates to each battalion." "Thank you, General!" Everyone got up and showed joy, especially Duan Zhao, Ren Fu and other young generals, they were originally Bai Ding, but now they have the rank of Sima first.In fact, the happiest one is Cao Cao, unknowingly he has multiplied the forces from Yuzhou to various military camps! At this time, there was another commotion. Cao Ren, Yu Jin, and Le Jin arrived with their troops, and the recovery of the counties went smoothly. settle down.Cao Cao squinted his eyes and stroked his beard: "Three, you have conquered the counties of Yuzhou, where is the most stable city without being invaded?" The three looked at each other, and finally Yu Jin took a step forward and said, "Report to General, Xu County in Yingchuan is the most stable." Xu County!Being in the Central Plains, you can avoid the edge of Hebei and not far from Luoyang. It’s God’s will... Cao Cao smiled slightly: "Since Xu County is stable, I think those belonging to the Yellow Turban family and Zhongkang’s family will move here temporarily. Bar." "Obey!" After Xu Chu said, he had already stood behind Cao Cao, one on the left and one on the right with Dian Wei. Cao Cao thought of another thing, and turned to look at his brother-in-law Ren Jun: "Boda, since the six counties of Yuzhou have settled down, please transfer the grain and fodder from all over the country to Xu County." Although Ren Jun was in the army, he never fought and was in charge of Cao Ying's food and grass.Food is the foundation of the army, and Cao Cao actually handed over the lifeline of the army to his brother-in-law.Ren Jun is both a native of Yuzhou and a close relative of Cao Cao, so he naturally understood the plan to transfer the base from Yanzhou to Yuzhou, he stood up and said slowly: "The general will serve on his own, but the matter of transporting grain should be as fast as possible, if there is any delay, it may cause trouble. He spoke in a very cryptic manner, and the incident was not only referring to Yuan Shu's light soldiers coming to intercept him, but also reflecting that Yanzhou people might object, "So I would like to ask the general to allow me to borrow two people from Yuan Rang." "Oh?" Xiahoudun smiled, "Boda can tell whoever he wants, even if he asks me to listen, I will do my best." "Don't dare." Ren Jun said shyly, "Can you lend me Zaoyi and Han Hao from your camp? If the three of us each supervise the transshipment of the two counties, the time can be cut by more than half." Ren Jun chose these two people after careful consideration.Zaozhi was from Yingchuan, Yuzhou, and he had saved Xiahoudun's life during the Chen Gong rebellion. He was a close friend of the Cao family.Using these two people to manage food has nothing to do with Yanzhou people. Xiahou Dun laughed and said, "What's the difficulty? Let them be at your disposal." "Okay, you three go and do it." Cao Cao sighed again, "It's a pity that Ge Pei's food storage was burned in the battle last night..." Xu Chu leaned into his ear and said, "I didn't burn the food." "What?!" Cao Cao's eyes lit up, "The fire last night..." Xu Chuhan smiled and said, "Liu Pi wanted to use sulfur and sulfur as a kindling to harm me. I burned those things. I was afraid that the fire would not be too big, so I took five boats in." "Hahaha... Let's transport the grain there to Xu County together." Cao Cao laughed endlessly, Xu Chu was more subtle than Dian Wei. Xiahou Dun interrupted again: "General, guess who killed the most enemies last night?" Cao Cao glanced at Xia Houyuan: "It must be another wonderful talent." Xia Houyuan shook his head. "Is that Zilian?" Cao Hong also shook his head, and said with a wry smile, "It's a pity that this person is not in our account." It turned out to be the prince's suit... Cao Cao was quite surprised, and seemed to have some insights. He looked around Zhang Wenwu: "How awe-inspiring is the righteousness of the world? Think about it, gentlemen, whether you are a prince or a commoner, whether you are from Yuzhou or Yanzhou, as long as you Why not live and die together as brothers for the sake of the common people in the world? It can be seen that the world is the world of the world, and justice should not be abolished for self-interest." These words are implicitly preaching and have a profound meaning. "No!" Everyone in the tent bowed and bowed in agreement, agreeing in unison. No matter how ignorant people are at this moment, they gradually realize that the transfer from Yanzhou to Yuzhou is an unchangeable fact.