Chapter 20 Chen Deng seeks refuge

Although Lu Bu was brave and good at fighting, he was a capricious person without a backbone.When he got the edict and Cao Cao's handwritten letter, he really believed it was true, and quickly wrote back to Cao Cao, saying: "Those who have been convicted of crimes will be divided into executions, and they will be rewarded with life. I will serve you with your life." Just one month later, Yuan Shu sent an envoy, Han Yin, to Xuzhou, requesting to bring Lu Bu's daughter to Huainan for her marriage.Lu Bu hesitated again, and Chen Gong and Cao Cao had an indissoluble grudge, so he urged the two families to get married, and finally let Han Yin take away his daughter.

At a critical moment, Chen Gui, the former Prime Minister of Pei Kingdom who lived in Xuzhou, suddenly appeared.That Chen Gui had once rejected the fake job offered by Yuan Shu, fearing that Xuzhou and Yangzhou would be harmed as one, he hurried to lobby Lu Bu: "Mr. Cao welcomes the emperor, assists the government of the country, and is powerful in life. He will conquer the world. The general should be with you." Cooperate with each other to plan for the safety of Mount Tai. If you marry Shu today, you will be called unrighteous in the world, and you will be in danger of laying eggs." Lu Bu's ears were soft, and he changed his mind again after hearing these words, and immediately sent someone to chase his daughter back. The convoy not only broke off the marriage, but also escorted the envoy Han Yin to Xudu in shackles and chains.Cao Cao sent Han Yinxiao to Xu City, Jin made Lu Bu General Zuo, and urged Lu Bu to break with Yuan Shu.

Yuan Shu was furious at the news of Han Yin's death, so he sent his general Zhang Xun, and the newly-attached imperial rebel generals Yang Feng and Han Xian to lead troops to invade Xuzhou.Chen Gui offered a plan for Lu Bu to win over Yang Feng and Han Xian to turn against him.As a result, Yang Han suddenly turned against him before the battle, and Zhang Xun was defeated, losing more than ten generals, and the army was killed and injured.Lü Bu took advantage of the situation and pursued both land and water until he reached the edge of the Huai River, frightening Yuan Shu so much that he stayed on the south bank and dared not cross the river.Lv Bu looted all the grain, grass and property in the counties and counties he passed, and left a letter to humiliate Yuan Shu when he left.With the failure of this battle, Yuan Shu began to feel that his "dragon position" was on pins and needles; although Lu Bu won the victory, he fell into Cao Cao's trap unknowingly, and even sent Chen Deng, the son of Chen Gui, to Xudu to have an audience. The post of Xuzhou animal husbandry.

Cao Cao dare not underestimate the Chen family.They were originally the descendants of Chen Qiu, the famous official who tried to kill the great eunuch Wang Fu in the past.Chen Gui used to be the chancellor of Peiguo, and the official of Cao Cao's hometown; Chen Yu's younger brother, Chen Yu, was the prefect of Wu County appointed by Xijing, and led the troops to fight Yuan Shu and Sun Ce in the first generation of Peng Ze; Xuzhou has been engaged in farming, which is very popular in the east.Hearing that Chen Deng was coming, Cao Cao was very happy and wanted to win him over. He not only made him pay homage to the emperor, but also invited him to the mansion for a family banquet.

"Yuanlong, you are here to ask for the position of Xuzhou Mu for General Zuo." Cao Cao swung back to the left and right, led Chen Deng to his side, and personally held the lamp for him.Chen Deng was not condescending, but he said bluntly: "Lv Bu is a villain again, what are you talking about about General Zuo?" Cao Cao was taken aback, and almost spilled the wine spoon in his hand: "Why did Yuanlong say that?" Chen Deng said surprisingly: "To be honest, my father and son are ministers of the Han Dynasty, and they don't want to be with Lv Buxiao as a young man. It is true that I came to Xudu to seek an official for Lv Bu, but it is true to help Duke Cao eliminate thieves."

Do you take the initiative to find a door-to-door helper?Although he heard what he said, Cao Cao was still quite cautious, and said tentatively: "Lu Fengxian spared no effort to seek thieves for the country, and the court has no intention of adding any crime." After hearing this, Chen Deng sneered: "Did Mr. Cao think that there is no one in Xuzhou? A small plan to divorce can deceive the fatuous Lv Bu, but I am afraid it will not be able to deceive Chen Gong. It was not Lv Bu and Chen Gong's original wish to seize Han Yin, but my father. You don’t know the power of lobbying, do you?”

"Oh?" Cao Cao had intended to win over Chen Deng, but after hearing what he said, he confirmed that he was already a friend rather than an enemy. He simply threw the spoon and said with a smile, "People often say that after drinking, Yuanlong has not yet had a sip of wine." Drink, how did you tell the truth?" "Minggong and I have wine to drink, but my father may not have wine to drink in Xuzhou." Chen Deng looked straight at Cao Cao, and then asked tentatively, "Cao Gong doesn't want to take down Xuzhou and discuss with my father about the past of Peiguo. Have a drink?"

Cao Cao looked at Chen Deng carefully: a broad pale gold face, eyebrows like black ink, nose hanging like gall, wide mouth, green beard, but two eyes with a vicious look; these eyes should not be It belongs to a scholar who is loyal to the court, but it is more like a beast that has not eaten enough.Cao Cao didn't speak, just lowered his head, took a sip of his wine, and said slowly, "Yuan Shu in Huainan is still under siege, Zhang Xiu in Nanyang is about to make a move, and the imperial court is still unable to conquer Lu Bu. It's too early to talk about this now." "Your Majesty came here sincerely, Mr. Cao is too suspicious, right?" Chen Deng threw the wine cup onto the case table, "It would be most appropriate for both Lu Bu and Yuan Shu to lose. Now that Lu Bu is victorious and Yuan Shu is defeated, Xuzhou's situation is inevitable for a long time. Make it bigger! Xiao Jian, Prime Minister of Langya, has been sitting on the prefectures and counties and disrespecting Lu Bu's dispatch, but he heard that he defeated Yuan Shu a few days ago, and sent food supplies to express his attachment; other Qingxu coastal local tyrants Zang Ba, Wu Dun, Sun Guan and others also followed suit Send a letter to Lu Bu willing to obey orders. The world is changing three times a day, and Yuan Shu is almost finished, but Lu Bu is firmly in Xuzhou. The imperial court is emptied of orders, and if they don’t ask for it today and don’t attack it tomorrow, are they just waiting for the thunder to strike and destroy this thief?”

Although these few words revealed a lot of Lu Bu's secrets, the tone was extremely rude.Since Cao Cao became Sikong, no one has dared to speak to him like this. However, facing the current situation, he did not reprimand Chen Deng for it. How should we deal with it?" Chen Deng's tone was much softer: "If Minggong is willing to grant the title of the next county, I am willing to gather troops and will be an accomplice to Lu Bu in the court." "Oh?" Cao Cao looked at Chen Deng's eyes again - it turned out that he was also an ambitious guy!His father and son once helped Liu Bei become the master of Xuzhou, and now they are standing on Lu Bu's boat and waving to me, and then they are seeking a county. What will they do when Lu Bu perishes?But in today's world, we still need to take a step forward. First wedging this nail in front of Lu Bu, how to deal with Chen Deng and his son will be discussed in the future... Thinking of this, Cao Cao lowered his head and picked up a chopstick fish and said: "Yuanlong likes to eat Fish soup?"

"I don't like it," Chen Deng said bluntly, "I like to eat raw fish." "Is the raw fish too fishy?" "The man lives in troubled times, and he is not afraid of bloody blades, let alone this little fish!" He is really not afraid of getting dirty...Since he has to be used, he has to be more magnanimous. Cao Cao simply asked: "Which county of Xuzhou does Yuanlong want?" "I would like to be the prefect of Guangling." Chen Deng uttered his true intention. When Cao Cao heard him mention Guangling County, he felt that this Chen Deng was indeed different: the prefect of Guangling was originally Zhang Chao, Zhang Miao's younger brother, because Zhang Chao participated in the rebel army's campaign against Dong Zhuo.Dong Zhuo then replaced Zhao Yu, a meritorious Cao from Xuzhou, as the prefect of Guangling.At that time, one of Tao Qian's subordinates was named Ruo Rong, who was also a madman with a lofty heart.He once traveled to the Western Regions, in the name of promoting the Buddhism of the Western Pagodas, gathered resources from Guangling, Xiapi, and Pengcheng, and recruited troops secretly.When Cao Cao attacked Xuzhou earlier, Ruo Rong not only failed to save him, but led his "Buddhists" southward to kill Zhao Yu, burnt, looted and looted Guangling, and later killed Pengcheng Prime Minister Xue Li and Yuzhang Prefect Zhu Hao, In the end, he was attacked and destroyed by Liu Yao, the late governor of Yangzhou.But Guangling is undoubtedly the hardest hit area of ​​the Ruo Rong Rebellion, and now there is another pirate named Xuezhou, who also commits murder and arson.More importantly, the area south of the Huaihe River in Guangling was still within Yuan Shu's sphere of influence, and what Chen Deng actually wanted was only half a county.

Cao Cao originally thought that Chen Deng would ask for a good place like Pengcheng, but unexpectedly, he asked for the dilapidated place in Guangling, and pretended to take care of him: "Guangling is dilapidated and poor, it is not a place where you can recruit soldiers, Yuanlong Single-handedly picking here seems like a big deal.” "No and no!" Chen Deng drank the wine on his own, and said angrily, "I want to raise troops to fight against thieves, not to be an official of peace. The rich want to steal peace, and the poor have nothing to restrain. Raise a large army. After I entered Guangling, I persuaded farmers to teach farming and mulberry, judged rewards and punished them, and wiped out pirates. In addition to my father's prestige as an old man, it took only a short period of work to win the hearts of the poor. At that time, the people of Guangling were willing to be used by me. Cooperating with Master Wang to conquer Lu Bu is as easy as flipping the palm of your hand! Besides... if you don't pick the broken land, wouldn't Lu Bu be suspicious of me?" This Chen Deng is really not someone to wait for. It is a pity that he was born too late. If he was born ten years earlier, he might be a more difficult character than Lu Bu and Yuan Shu.Although Cao Cao was a little worried about him, but he felt that he dared to tell the truth and felt that he was upright, so he readily agreed: "Okay! I will play the imperial court tomorrow and appoint you as the prefect of Guangling." "Thank you, Mr. Cao." Chen Deng got up to greet him after he got his wish. "Wait!" Cao Cao grabbed his wrist, "Lu Bu's wolf ambition is hard to sustain for a long time, and no one but Qing can find out about it. Your father is now in the Pi, and he also has credit for lobbying Lv Busuo to take Han Yin. Although he is not in the position now, he will give it a try. The middle two thousand shi salary!" The middle two thousand shi is a salary that can only be enjoyed by officials at the first level of the Jiuqing. Chen Deng didn't expect Cao Cao to dare to spend such a large sum of money, so he quickly declined: "I don't think it's necessary, my father is old. I'm already high, and I'm afraid I won't be able to do anything for the court in the future." Cao Cao waved his hand and acted quite open-minded: "Yuanlong, since you are already the county guard, how can the old man's salary be lower than yours? Besides, I just said that the day I take Xuzhou down, I will have to suffer with your father." Let's have a drink, let's talk about preparing wine with this salary." "If you say that, then my father and son are ashamed to accept it." Chen Deng no longer declined. The official title was also spent, and Cao Cao thought of Lu Bu: "Since both of you father and son have received awards, then I will pretend that Lu Bu is Xuzhou Shepherd for the time being, and pretend to be good to reassure him." "This matter is absolutely impossible!" Chen Deng blocked, "Lv Bu is not convinced by the hope of the East, because he has no name because he seized Liu Bei's land, and he has a lot of party members, including the parties of Bingzhou, Yanzhou, and Xuzhou, and his subordinates believe in each other. Disputes cannot be united. If the Duke of Ming granted him the seal of Xuzhou, it would only make his name justified. Besides, the Duke of Ming will act in honor of the emperor, and he will punish Lu Bu in the future. Wouldn’t it be a festival of imperial court infighting?” Lu Bu sent Chen Deng to beg for Xuzhou Mu, but Chen Deng himself blocked it, which made Cao Cao feel amused: "Yuanlong, I naturally don't want to add Lu Bu. But you came here for this matter, and now both father and son If the matter of Lu Bu fails to be promoted, won’t it arouse his suspicion and risk his life? If Xuzhou Mu is not right, how about promoting him as the left general to a level?” "Duke Ming doesn't need to give him any official position." Chen Deng sneered slightly, "It's not a big deal, I have my own speech after meeting Lu Bu." "Oh?" Cao Cao was a little curious, "What kind of rhetoric is so effective, I would like to hear more about it." Chen Deng sat down happily, took the initiative to fill Cao Cao's glass of wine, and said with a smile, "When I go back to see Lu Bu, if he gets angry about this matter, I will lie to him. I will tell you, 'Treating General Lu is like raising a child. The tiger should be full of its meat, and if it is not full, it will devour people." But you replied, "It's not as good as you said. Treat General Lu like an eagle. He will use it when he is hungry, and he will go away when he is full. The fox and the rabbit are still alive. Don’t make it go away yet.’ Lu Bu is proud of his bravery. If he hears this, he will think that the Duke of Ming relies heavily on him. He fears that his favor will not last so he will not give it to Xuzhou. Will he still murder me? Hahaha... " Cao Cao laughed too, until he spilled the wine in his palm: "Not only is Lü Bu not scheming, but he also has no purpose. If he sent you to beg Xuzhou Mu, wouldn't he give Xuzhou to me?" He then drank the wine with his back , took Chen Deng's hand and said, "Yuanlong, I will entrust all the affairs of the East to you. Lu Bu will order people to report to me at any time." "No!" Chen Deng agreed, but he had other suggestions, "There are two more things for Ming Gong to think about. It is a fellow from Bingzhou, if it will be unfavorable to the affairs of the court for a long time, please ask Minggong to get rid of it!" "It's not difficult, you can tell Liu Bei to do it. If there are any difficulties, you can just say it clearly." "The attack on Yuan Shu should not last long. Today, Sun Jian's son, Sun Ce, has expanded the territory of Jiangdong. Liu Yao, the governor of Yangzhou, was defeated several times and died of illness in Peng Ze. His uncle, Wujun Taishou Chen Yuquan, and thousands of others reluctantly supported him. You can’t compete with Sun Ce. On the day Yuan Shu usurped the throne, Sun Ce also wrote a letter to break up with him. Now that Yuan Shu is going to be challenged, the Duke of Ming should send the governor of Yangzhou to take up the post again, and merge with my uncle. Secondly, we should also support soldiers and horses to contain Sun Ce, so as to ensure that the south of the imperial court is safe." "Sun Bo Fu Yingwu is no less than his father, and sooner or later he will be a disaster for the court!" Cao Cao is quite afraid of this Sun Ce. He has already occupied the land of Jiangdong in his early twenties, and his future is really limitless. Another great enemy.But now that the Central Plains is still undecided, Jiangdong is beyond reach, so he can only win over and indulge him. "Hmph! I think Sun Lang's son is nothing but mediocre." Chen Deng didn't seem to take Sun Ce seriously at all, "If you occupy Guangling, you will be connected to the imperial court to the west, and your uncle Yangzhou to the south. outside." "Sun Ce's affairs are not busy for the time being. Jiangdong can only help and not be an enemy at this moment." It's not that Cao Cao doesn't believe in Chen Deng's ability at the moment, but on the contrary, he feels that Chen Deng is a little too energetic. "This matter I still need to discuss with Xun Lingjun in detail, and strive to send a person with both civil and military skills to Yangzhou to take over the post of governor, Yuanlong, you don't have to worry about it." Chen Deng seemed to have seen Cao Cao's vigilance, and he naturally knew the truth that if you don't keep secrets, you will lose yourself, so he put down his wine cup and laughed at himself: "I have no other intentions, but I have a wish to compete face to face with this Jiangdong tiger. Fan." Cao Cao still didn't answer this question: "If Yuan Shu and Lu Bu can be wiped out as soon as possible, Yuan Long's wish may have a chance to be fulfilled." Chen Deng heard that he had already taken back his words, so he quickly picked up the wine cup: "It's getting late, I will offer you another cup of wine. May the Lord Ming wipe out all the princes and come back all day long!" "Yuanlong's words are wrong." Cao Cao stared at him meaningfully for a while, then smiled and picked up the wine to correct him, "It should be to wipe out the separatists and revive the Han Dynasty." "I made a slip of the tongue next time." Although Chen Deng said so, his eyes still showed a look of cynicism. After Chen Deng left, Cao Cao stood in the courtyard for a long time, looking up at the starry sky.This chaotic world is like a dark night, and the warring heroes are like a sky full of stars.Some of them are radiant, some are dull, and some are looming.The radiant ones are like Yuan Shao and Lu Bu, the dim ones are Yuan Shu and Zhang Xiu's generation, and the looming ones may be people like Chen Deng!Now it seems to be hidden under Lu Bu's command, but one day it will shine brightly.Thinking of this, Cao Cao felt a little inferior. Although he was the ruler of the court and a dignified man, he had to compromise with a small man like Chen Deng and entrusted him with the affairs of the East.After leaving Xudu, what prestige does this Sikong have? Thinking of this, he couldn't help but smiled wryly for a while, and suddenly saw the clouds clear and the mist dispersed, and the bright moon stood out in the night sky.In an instant, Cao Cao seemed to understand something: the bright moon reflects the stars but does not steal the light of the stars, and the stars support the moon but are not as permanent as the moon. Why does I, Cao, insist on being the only one to dim the stars?Why can't you be a bright moon and let all the stars surround you and shine?Why do Chen Deng, Liu Bei and his like have to regard them as potential enemies? As long as you can be as long and distant as the moon, why not ask them to shine some light around you?The world cannot be settled by one person alone, giving others some opportunities to realize their ambitions is also giving yourself opportunities... Thinking of this, Cao Cao's mood brightened again.What to do now is to send the governor to Yangzhou to contact Sun Ce to complete the siege of the false emperor Yuan Shu, and then he must give him a fatal blow to restore his lost reputation in Wancheng. The defeat of Wancheng has always been an irreparable wound in Cao Cao's heart. Whenever he thinks of Wancheng, he thinks of his dead son Cao Ang. I wonder if his old wife Ding is still angry with him at this moment? It's getting late, and it's time to go to rest.He didn't ask any servants to take care of him. He walked gently to the backyard. From a distance, he saw that the light in Ding's room was still on, and the sound of the loom was faintly heard from inside—the son is gone, who are you weaving for? What about tailoring? This is Mrs. Sikong's residence, it is unpretentious inside, usually there is no need for a servant girl, everything is handled by herself.The loom is everything in her life. She already has the glory and wealth, but she doesn't know what the purpose of working hard every day is for weaving. Cao Cao hadn't spent the night with Mrs. Ding for a long time, he couldn't remember whether it was two or three years.At this moment, on this slightly sad night, only the old wife can share the sorrow of losing a child with him.He stretched out his hand and pushed the door, and found that it was locked, so he called out in a low voice: "Madam, open the door! I'm here..." The sound of the loom inside stopped suddenly, but Mrs. Ding did not come to open the door. "Ma'am, why are you so stubborn? What happened to Ang'er is my fault. I, an old killer, killed your son, and I deserve a thousand swords, but as his father, how can I not feel pain... You can't open the door." look at me?" After a long time, the door still didn't open. Cao Cao wanted to speak again, but the lights went out. Alas... people cannot be resurrected after death, and it is not easy to restore broken feelings.Perhaps it is true what she said that day, although she is a wife, she doesn't care about anything or anyone except her son.Now Ang'er is gone, she has lost everything, she has nothing.Cao Cao lamented for a while, feeling that his drowsiness was gradually receding, he simply returned to the hall and continued to deal with the mountain of official duties.He gradually realized that apart from the impulse between men and women, the truly ordinary family life was far away from him.There are always choices in a person's life, and Cao Cao's choice is ultimately on the battlefield and court. What about the guilt towards his wife?Just slowly settle down in the busy day after day...