Chapter 29 Return to Xudu

When Cao Cao was not in Xudu, all affairs of the imperial court were handled by Shang Shuling Xun Yu, and the troops left behind in Gyeonggi were dispatched by Jianwu General Xiahou Dun.The two are like Cao Cao's doppelgängers, resisting foreign enemies and preventing civil strife. Together with the assistance of Sili Xiaowei Ding Chong and the subordinates who stayed behind in Sikong Mansion, they monitor every move of the emperor's officials to ensure that all power is firmly in Cao Cao's hands. It is said that Cao Cao left Beijing to fight more than once or twice, but the situation in the past was not as thrilling as these three months.After he left, the originally calm situation suddenly became cloudy. First came the news of Tian Feng's advice from Hebei, then Cao Cao's army retreated and was trapped, and then Lu Bu rebelled.Although Xun Yu and Xiahou Dun kept the secrets strictly to the outside world, many officials still noticed something abnormal. Some people asserted that Yuan Shao had sent troops on a large scale, some speculated that Liu Biao led his troops to the north, and some even fabricated rumors that Cao Cao's entire army was wiped out in Nanyang.For a moment, people were panic-stricken, and even the emperor Liu Xie, who lived deep in the palace, heard the rumors and invited Xun Yu into the palace to ask if Cao Cao was still alive.

The uneasiness caused by rumors is ten times greater than the facts, and if this continues, incidents will inevitably be triggered.In view of this situation, Xun Yu simply took advantage of the court meeting to clarify the facts of the military situation to the emperor and the officials. Everyone stopped panicking when they saw him talking and laughing happily and calmly.But don't look at Xun Yu's calm appearance on the surface, but in fact he was very anxious in his heart. He repeatedly summoned Sikong's subordinates to arrange affairs, and asked Xiahou Dun to surround the city with garrison troops. Only then did he feel at ease.Two days later, Wang Tu came back from the encirclement in Anzhong, with a thousand soldiers under his command dead or wounded, and it took him all his life to send back Cao Cao's order. Xun Yu was shocked again after reading the letter.

Xiahoudun's garrison is the guarantee of Xudu. If it is deployed, the rear defense will be empty. Yuan Shaobing will be in danger of besieging the city when he reaches Xudu. I can't keep it.But now Cao Cao's return to the army is slow, and Liu Bei's office is in a hurry. The troops that Yanzhou can mobilize are only a drop in the bucket, and there is no way to help.Once Xiaopei loses, Lu Bu will go straight to the decisive battle with Xiahoudun in Xuxia, and the consequences will be unimaginable.The crux of the problem is whether Cao Cao can come back quickly. Maybe there will be no soldiers for a day or two, but as long as it takes more than half a month, the dissidents in the court may fall apart before the enemy comes!

Xun Yu has worked with Cao Cao for many years, and in most cases he still believes in Cao Cao's ability.He knew very well that the war could not be delayed, and that Lu Bu must be kept out of Yuzhou, so he acted according to the instructions in the letter, and ordered Xiahou Dun to lead the garrison to rescue Liu Bei quickly.After Xiahoudun left, Xun Yu thought carefully about the words in the letter "Don't worry about foreign aggression, and guard against the elbows and armpits in the middle of the court", and gradually understood that there are more than a thousand soldiers of Wei General Dong Cheng and Pian General Liu Fu still outside the city of Xudu. Fu Wan, the general of Fuguo, also commanded hundreds of servants in the palace when he returned to the east, and they were the biggest uneasy factor when Xudu was empty.Thinking of this, he immediately asked Diannong Zhonglang to transfer Ren Jun to recruit elite villagers to temporarily fill the army; ordered Sili Xiaowei Ding Chong to strictly guard the four areas of Yingchuan; Chong led the soldiers to patrol the city in shifts day and night; wrote to Guang Luxun and Xi Li to strictly control the court servants, to isolate foreign ministers from seeing him, and to prevent accidents from happening; To divert the emperor's attention...

Xun Yu sat in the province and wrote vigorously, passing out edicts and secret orders in an orderly manner.After all arrangements were made, Xun Lingjun was so tired that his eyes were dazzled, his head was dizzy, but he still didn't dare to relax in the slightest.But at this time, someone was causing him trouble again. Zhao Dajiu, who had resigned from office, could not be hired by Cao Cao, so he ran to the gate of Xun Yu's mansion, crying and begging him to see him. Secrets in the palace, who slandered the emperor, who spoke ill of Cao Cao secretly, and who had a secret relationship with Dong Cheng.Xun Yu had always hated this kind of whistleblower, how would he want to listen to him at such an important moment, so in a fit of anger he asked his servants to drive Zhao Da away with a stick.

According to Xun Yu's vision, even if Cao Cao wins in Anzhong, it will take about ten days to return to Beijing. If the battle is unfavorable, it is possible for a month. This is a great test for himself.Unexpectedly, after four days of anxiety, Cao Cao led his troops back! Xun Yu, Dong Zhao and others were overjoyed and went out of the city to greet him in person.From a distance, I saw Cao Cao leading the way, followed by Xun You, Cao Chun, Wang Bi, Fan Qin and others leading the tiger and leopard riders. Xun Yu almost burst into tears; Dong Zhao fell to his knees and said, "Ming My lord, did you fall from the sky!"

"Haha..." Cao Cao looked up to the sky and laughed, and rode his horse towards them, "Wen Ruo, Gongren, thank you for your hard work for me." The two watched carefully, and saw that Cao Cao's face was covered with dust and dry mud, and the Jueying BMW was so dirty that he couldn't see its color.Looking at the back, Xun You and others and even the soldiers dismounted one after another, and they all looked like mud monkeys. Is this appearance a win or a loss?Xun Yu couldn't help but asked: "It's the duty of a minister to keep the capital. Mr. Cao doesn't need to reward him. I don't know how the battle in Nanyang is going?"

Cao Cao twirled his dirty beard and said, "Although Rang County has not been conquered, Anzhong defeated Liu Biao and Zhang Xiu's coalition forces in the first battle, and killed a lot of enemies." The mouth is big and the teeth are white, and the appearance is quite funny. Xun Yu wiped the sweat off his forehead and asked in amazement: "I thought you were just comforting me when you said that Anzhong defeated the enemy, but it turned out to be true. But, but... in that case, how could you expect to defeat the enemy?" Woolen cloth?" "Don't you hear that you will die and live?" Cao Cao showed a smug expression, "Although our army's morale is low, our lineup has not been chaotic and our supplies have not been lost, and we still have an advantage in numbers. How can such an army be easily intercepted? Get Cai Hao to block the way The news made all the generals in the tent angry, and I knew that the crowd was angry and resentful. We must be brave in this battle! Most of our soldiers are from Yuyan, and Jingzhou soldiers blocking the way are like preventing soldiers from going home. There is a saying that mourning soldiers will win, and they How can it be stopped? There is a saying in the art of war that "return to the teacher and don't stop them", but Cai Mao and Zhang Xiu have a winning ticket but they made such a bad strategy, which shows that they are just clever, but they don't know how to use soldiers at all."

"They still have a mortal wound," Xun You said as he came forward with a hunchback. "If the enemy and the enemy were switched, and if Duke Ming and General Xiahou intercepted the enemy's army back and forth, the battle might not be defeated; Odds!" "What's the reason?" Xun Yu knew that his strategy was not as good as that of his nephew who was two years older, so he was a little confused. Xun You said slowly: "That Zhang Xiu and Liu Biao are not in the same party, and their soldiers and horses do not belong to each other. Zhang Xiu was besieged in Rang County, and Xiangyang was close at hand, but he delayed sending out troops for three months. Cai Mao sat and watched the situation again. , There has been a rift between each other. If we stick together in the back, our army can barely share the same hatred. Once we separate, we will have different ideas. Cai Mao blocks in the front, Zhang Xiu chases in the back, the front expects more efforts in the back, and the hope in the back Blocking us in front, always thinking of fluke to preserve our strength, can we still win this battle?"

The reason turned out to be so simple, and Xun Yu couldn't help but smile: "It turns out that commanding the retreating army is the most effective way to use troops!" Xiang Yu, the overlord of Chu, was invincible in all battles, but the alliance of the chasm was defeated by Liu Bang in the first battle. All the hard work was lost.Dong Zhuo's Zhenghuang Zhongyi was at a disadvantage, and he was trapped by the river in Yuzhong. He used fishing to block the river as an embankment, and escaped the golden cicada from under the embankment.Worldly people often judge generals by victory or defeat, but they don't know that commanding the army to retreat is the most difficult thing.

Cao Cao talked about the battle of Anzhong, with excitement in his eyes: "I made a plan to tell the whole army about the advantages and disadvantages, so that everyone's fighting spirit will be excited. After that, the soldiers will rest for a day, and all the coir raincoats sent by Wang Tu will be removed for use. Paving the way, he rushed straight to Cai Mao's main formation, and the Jingzhou soldiers were immediately disorganized. Then he asked everyone to occupy a high place to deploy surprise troops, and Zhang Xiu, who came behind, was also repulsed." Xun You shook his head: "To put it simply, there were many dangers at that time. It was no problem to fight Jingzhou soldiers, but Zhang Xiu was a strong enemy. During the war between the two armies, his subordinate Zhang Xian saw the lord at a glance, and led the cavalry to rush up the hillside Thanks to the young general Shi Huan fighting desperately, and Xu Chu throwing a big gun to stab Zhang Xian to death, the lord was not harmed." At this point, his eyes seemed to be filled with lingering fear. "Not bad!" Cao Cao was very optimistic, "This time Shi Huan has contributed a lot, Niu Gai, Jia Xin and others are also good, and Wang Tu who broke through the siege. The young generals promoted by Yuan Rang are all good. When they come back, I will give them promotions." "In a few days?!" Dong Zhao thought that the army was behind, and then felt that something was wrong, "Has the army not returned yet?" Xun You explained: "The lord is afraid that you will be uneasy in the capital. After the victory, he chose a thousand tigers and leopards to ride the starry night and come back first. The brigade of soldiers and horses is still marching slowly in Nanyang..." He galloped along the way, some crying against the wind , couldn't help wiping two hands on Qing Huang's face, the tears mixed with the dust on his face, and he touched two dirt paths. Seeing this, Xun Yu couldn't help smiling and said: "It's been a hard journey, let's go to the city quickly. I will see the emperor tomorrow, and as long as the officials see Cao Gong, everyone will be at ease..." Xun Yu was still kind-hearted. Said, "Those who are ready to move are also relieved," but their minds suddenly changed, and Cao Cao must investigate carefully if he said that.With the lessons learned by Yilang Zhao Yan, I don't know how many lives will be ruined! Although Xun Yu didn't say anything, Cao Cao knew in his heart: "I don't think we have to wait until tomorrow. It's still early today. I'll go back and wash up before I go to meet the king." He knew that someone in the court would spread rumors. , he couldn't care about shaking people's hearts at this time.With a face as heavy as water, he handed over the reins of the horse to Xu Chu, and walked away in the lead by himself, picking at the dry and hard mud lumps on his armor, and said: "Everyone is different in the world, Nanyang is cloudy and rainy, and after passing Peiguo And he killed people alive! After being covered in mud and exposed to the sun, the armor will almost fail." He couldn't help laughing again when he said this, "When I returned to the army, the soldiers shouted dry in the territory of Peiguo. I was thirsty and couldn't find any water source nearby, so I rode my horse up a hill, pointed to the front and said, "There is a green plum grove in the distance, it seems that the fruit and leaves are flourishing, speed up and chew the plum juice to quench your thirst", everyone thought of eating green plums, suddenly Feeling sour and saliva in the mouth, I didn’t even feel thirsty after walking for a while, hahaha... Everyone on the horse is pulling their necks and looking forward..." "It's a good one to quench thirst!" Dong Zhao repeatedly praised.He is an expert in deception, but he thinks he can't make up nonsense like Cao Cao. Cao Cao stopped and looked at the majestic Xudu City with his hands on his hips, feeling a lot of emotion in his heart: I finally came back, although I only brought back a thousand troops, but as long as I appear in Xudu City, everyone will be safe, and the ambitious people will not be afraid. Dare to make a mistake!How ignorant are those frogs in the well like You Heng, who keep calling me a treacherous minister who deceives the emperor, but they don't know that without me standing in the court, people's hearts will be scattered, and the court will surely be destroyed.No matter what others think of me, I, Cao, am truly the backbone of the Han Dynasty!As long as I am here, Xu Capital will be there, the emperor will be there, the court will be there, and the Han Dynasty will be here! When Cao Cao was thinking wildly, he saw a commoner man running out from the city gate, pushed away the gate guards, stumbled to him, bowed his head and bowed: "Oh! Cao Gong, you are back! The victory is won when the flag is opened, and the victory is invincible. Invincible in all battles, with a great reputation and smashing the captives! I welcome your majesty!" Cao Cao looked down and saw that it was Zhao Da.This fellow thought he had obtained Cao Cao's promise, so he resigned the official without further consideration, and waited for Sikong's appointment.I didn't know that I couldn't wait for the left and the right, so I realized that Cao Cao was playing a game, so I tried every means to come back to the camp.Cao Cao looked at this shameless villain and said with a sneer, "Oh! Isn't this the famous Zhao Yilang? Why did you resign for no reason? A few days ago, I was talking to you about you! Shao Chaozhong Great sage!" When everyone heard this, they all looked up to the sky and laughed. Zhao Da was really shameless. He knew that Cao Cao was deliberately mocking him, but he still smiled flatteringly. , I dust you off! By the way, I want to report a few things to you. The day before yesterday I was gossiping with Yilang Wu Shuo, and he asked me if you were defeated. I heard that he even asked Wang Zifu about this... " The uncles and nephews of the Xun family are all people who hate evil like enemies, so they really can't stand such disgusting words and actions.Xun You didn't wait for Cao Cao to speak, and grabbed Xu Chu behind him: "Zhongkang! You drive this shameless person away! If you don't leave, you will beat him to death!" Xu Chu really listened to his words, jumped forward and grabbed Zhao Da's belt, lifted it up and threw it into the distance - Zhao Da fell on all fours, with a big bump on his head, the waistband of his trousers was also broken, and his shoes He also threw it far away, rolling on the ground in pain: "Ouch! My ancestor..." "Get out!" Xu Chu patted his waist again, "If you don't get out, I'll slap you to death!" "Fuck off! Fuck off, ancestor..." Zhao Da didn't dare to go forward any more, and slipped away with his pants up. Seeing this, everyone laughed again, but Dong Zhao couldn't help shaking his head: "It's not good to do this." "That's how you should treat a shameless villain!" Xun Yu was quite relieved. "When I was setting up the city defense the day before yesterday, he came to harass me and gossip. This kind of person is the most unvirtuous!" Not only did Cao Cao not stop Xu Chu from doing anything, but he also laughed louder than anyone else—it's not that he doesn't dislike flatterers, but flatterers have to be of a certain standard, and the flatterers have to be skilled.In the past, Qin Yilu was flattering, but smart and capable; Xu Tuo was also flattering, but he was able to fulfill his duties; Fan Qin was far more flattering than Zhao Da, but he was very talented in handling paperwork!People like Zhao Da who openly suck hemorrhoids and flatter him can do nothing but spread gossip, which can only make people feel disgusted. Dong Zhao didn't see it that way, he leaned close to Cao Cao and said, "It's better to offend a gentleman than a villain, and don't be too ruthless towards someone like Zhao Da. Thinking about the time between Chu and Han, if Xiang Yu hadn't casually After talking a few gossips, how could Grandfather Gao get rid of the traitor Cao Wushang? If the king does not keep secrets, he will lose his ministers, and if his ministers do not keep secrets, he will lose his integrity. As the saying goes, 'There are no waves without wind', you can not believe all the gossip, but you can't completely disbelieve it." After hearing what Dong Zhao said, Cao Cao's eyes lit up, and he nodded in agreement...