Chapter 11 collection of heroes

Although the Cao Cao brothers have tried their best, Cao Song is still only willing to give a small half of their property and silk.Cao Cao saw that it was useless to talk too much, so he used the money to buy grain and iron, reluctantly set up a camp outside the county seat, raised a recruiting flag, and invited sword masters and craftsmen to make weapons. However, Chenliu's household registration has been halved after a long period of famine, and nearly a month has passed, and less than two thousand people were recruited.In desperation, Zhang Miao summoned Chenliu scholars to recruit their family soldiers.

Helplessly, these local tyrants and gentry only have the heart of self-protection, and have no ambition to kill thieves. They do have soldiers and bravery, and they all protect their own houses, and none of them are willing to contribute to Cao Cao's dispatch.Zhang Miao is also a modest gentleman, he doesn't force others to be difficult, he politely sends them away, and will hire another group of people at another time.But if you come and go, you will gain very little in the end. On this day, Cao Cao was forging weapons with craftsmen by the stove, and Zhang Miao personally brought a group of gentry to the camp.Seeing this kind of thing a lot, Cao Cao felt a little impatient, so he simply raised his sledgehammer and lowered his head to strike the iron, without even looking at them.

Zhang Miao greeted the squires and asked them to walk around casually, then he walked up to Cao Cao and whispered, "Meng De, you also go and have a few words with them, and ask them to help us." Cao Cao swung his sledgehammer: "It's useless to say it, isn't Fei talking too little?" "It's different today. These gentry are from other counties. Jiyang, Fengqiu, Xiangyi, and a few guests live here. I personally found them. Let's try again, even if there is one person It's good to help!" "It's the same wherever it comes from. I understand that good fortune is hard to give up!"

Sure enough, these gentry shook their heads when they saw that the soldiers were scarce and the armaments were scarce, thinking that it was a waste of effort.Zhang Miao did not give up, but tried his best to persuade them, so he brought a few luxuriously dressed people to the stove, and introduced him, "This virtuous brother is Cao Mengde. This time, my soldiers from Chenliu will be entrusted to this Lord to dispatch." Who would have thought that a man said sharply: "That's all! Let Brother Meng Zhuo take charge of the army with this person, this battle will not be easy to win."

Cao Cao was annoyed when he heard this, and glanced back at the speaker, and asked angrily, "Who is sir, who dares to infer here?" Zhang Miao suddenly felt embarrassed, and forced a smile: "Meng De, this gentleman is Bei Hai. Sun Binshuo, staying here is a distinguished guest I specially invited to visit." The Sun family is a prominent family in Beihai, and this Sun Binshuo is even more famous in Dongzhou. Not only is he a powerful landlord, but he is also rumored to be a generous and wealthy man, known as a chivalrous man. Cao Cao didn't care who he was, turned his head and continued to swing the hammer, and said casually: "Mr. said that it is not easy to win with me in charge of the army. I don't know where you can infer?" The important thing for the country, the place of life and death, the way of life and death', to coordinate the general situation for the general, but you and the craftsman are here to make swords, how can you handle this war well?"

Cao Cao snorted and ignored him, and swung his sledgehammer to strike iron.Seeing this, the country gentry expressed their opinion to Zhang Miao: "If the county general protects the village, we will do our own service, but we will not dare to help if the army goes west. Besides, there is no guarantee of victory in the army. Once the army is defeated, Yanzhou The land is not safe either. We plan to move the whole family to Jizhou to avoid the edge temporarily, and the Lord Wangjun will forgive me." Having said this, Zhang Miao couldn't ask for help, so he had to send them out politely. big camp.Cao Cao let them come and go, just forging the knife in his hand.Unexpectedly, a simple and honest voice suddenly asked behind him: "Brother Cao, just now Sun Binshuo criticized you with unreasonable words, why didn't you answer?"

Cao Cao turned his head and saw that there was still a middle-aged man with the appearance of a squire who hadn't left. He said angrily, "Why are you answering when you know that you are speaking forcefully? He is called a chivalrous man of the North Sea, but in fact he is just a mediocre person. Mo Seeing that building weapons is a trivial matter, don't you know that it can be small and big, so why bother!" After saying that, he continued to do the work at hand.The man seemed to have no intention of leaving, and asked again: "I have heard about Brother Cao for a long time, why did you escape from Luoyang Dan to Chenliu, is it just because you are close friends with Zhang Mengzhuo?"

"No! Chen Liu is close to Henan, so he can move westward with his troops, but he can directly point at the enemy's front, and the major event can be settled in one battle." "Brother Cao is sure of victory?" Hearing his question, Cao Cao put down his sledgehammer, his tone softened a lot, and he said, "Soldiers are impermanent, so naturally there is no reason to win. However, we have three victories, and Dong thief has three troubles. This battle has great potential." It counts." "Oh?" The man bowed deeply, "I would like to hear more about it."

Cao Cao waved his hand, and then said seriously: "Dong Zhuo's foothold has not been stable for a long time since he entered the capital, and all of us who raise troops are people he trusts and let go. We will surely be able to surprise him and attack him when he is unprepared. This is a victory. The land is thriving with troops and horses, from Youzhou in the north to Jingxiang in the south, there are no less than 100,000 soldiers, and Dong Zhuo's soldiers are still small, not enough to fight against our large soldiers. , The people are struggling to survive, and when the people hear about the raising of troops in the Guandong, they will respond everywhere, and the momentum will spread far and wide, and the whole world will be the enemy of Dong and the bandits. If the enemy loses courage before making a move, this is three victories."

"What about the three troubles of Dong thief?" The man asked again. "The tribes of Baibo in Bingzhou invaded Hedong. Although they were defeated by Dong Zhuo for a while, they endangered their elbows and armpits. This was a serious problem for Luoyang. Dong Zhuo sent troops to fight against us, and he also wanted to restrain the people of Baibo. This is another problem. Now Huangfu Song sits in Liangzhou Zhouzhou is the source of Dong Zhuo's troops. If Duke Huangfu cuts off Guanzhong, the people of Liangzhou will immediately collapse without fighting. Changes in the court, these are the three troubles."

"Know yourself and know the enemy and you will never be imperiled in a hundred battles." The man smiled, "If Brother Cao does not give up, I am willing to help you." Cao Cao looked at this man carefully, and said politely, "May I ask Mr. Gao's name?" "It's the same with Weiz in Xiangyi." Cao Cao heard a little bit: "Could it be that you are Wei Zixu who rejected He Miao's conquest?" "It's right here. Then He Miao is the general of chariots and riders, but he is just a villain who is greedy for money and accepts bribes. He is definitely not the one who can make the country safe. The one who can calm the world in the future must be brother Cao. I would like to contribute to my family and Distribute money and recruit troops, and join Cao Cao and the county generals in a big event." "Oh! Thank you, Brother Wei." Cao Cao wanted to salute, and Wei Zi hugged him: "Brother Cao, there is no need to be too polite. I have another suggestion. It may be difficult to recruit troops in Chenliu's land, so it is better to move to my hometown Xiangyi, where Yuzhou is. There are a lot of refugees, and with my financial help, thousands of people can be easily obtained." In this way, the matter of Chen Liu was entrusted to Zhang Miao, and Cao Cao went to Xiangyi to recruit troops with Wei Zi.That Weiz's family was well-off and prestigious, and in ten days he had acquired three thousand strong men. Cao Cao led them to forge weapons and train in formation, which was pretty decent.Unexpectedly, what was even more unexpected was that Cao Chun escaped from Luoyang with Bian, Huan'er and others and came here.It turned out that after Cao Cao left, Dong Zhuo wanted to kill his family, so he relied on Zhou Wei, He Yong and others.Cao Chun took the opportunity to use the treasures and property donated by Dong Zhuo in the past to manage up and down, bribed Qin Yilu, and then bribed the generals.Those generals from the Xiliang tribe were greedy for money and good goods, and a few of them drank and drank some friendship with Cao Cao, so they turned a blind eye and let them escape from Luoyang behind Tian Yi's back.The reunion of husband and wife, the reunion of brothers, is naturally a love. A few days later, Qiaomao, the prefect of Dongjun, sent a secret letter from the three princes to challenge Dong. Zhang Chao, the prefect of Guangling, Zhang Miao's younger brother, also rushed to Chenliu with his troops.When I arrived at the Mingyan Pavilion, I saw a forest of banners and flags, and flags of righteousness were raised high. Two fast horses came to meet each other. They all looked brave.The rider in front was Xiahou Yuan, the bearded tiger; the man behind was not tall, with slender eyebrows and long beard, and his dark complexion was tinged with red, which made him look particularly capable. He was Cao Cao's cousin Xiahou Dun. When Cao Cao saw that the Xiahou brothers had arrived, they had gained the backbone, but he scolded, "Where did you abandon your hometown and go, and you almost killed me when you were employing people." Xia Houyuan laughed and said: "My brother had expected that you would raise an army. Seeing that my uncle was leaving in a hurry, I was afraid that I would be unprepared, so I found a place to resettle my family, and recruited villagers to come here in a hurry. Now there are more than a thousand people, all of them I have already entered Chenliu, and I will wait for your order to fight Dong thief desperately, I don't want you to provoke us." Cao Cao smiled, seeing Xiahou Dun not saying a word and smiling slightly, he was very grateful: Xiahou Yuanrang completely understood what I was thinking, it was really my heart! Everyone said their hearts and went to the city together to meet Zhang Miao at the county mansion.Zhang Miao also recommended his brother Zhang Chao and his meritorious Cao Zang Hong.Cao Cao had met these two people in Luoyang in his early years, and they even hunted and shot deer together.At that time, Zhang Chao and Zang Hong were still weak champions, but now they are full of heroic spirit, just like young talents. Zhang Miao took out the Sangong's secret letter from Qiaomao, the prefect of Dongjun, and showed it to everyone. Seeing the words sincerely hoped for righteous soldiers, Zhang Chao read it and handed it to Cao Cao. Yuan Wei must be a hypocrite!" "Although the letter is fake, the truth is true. With this letter, it will be more justifiable for us to raise troops." Cao Cao handed the letter back to Zhang Miao without even reading it. quartermaster." "Jizhou has a rich household registration and a lot of land. Han Wenjie is the state herdsman today, and he is not willing to raise troops, but he sits in Yecheng and provides food for our army." Zhang Miao said this in a meaningful tone. Cao Cao couldn't help frowning, and thought, "I've heard that Han Fu is a timid and fearful person. It's true. Jizhou is now the most affluent place in Hebei. Obviously there are soldiers to send, but they only provide food for the army." Zhang Chao is not as self-restraining as the two of them, and said with a smile: "Don't look at Han Wenjie, who sits in the land of Jizhou as an envoy, is really a coward who is not enough to accomplish great things. This time, he still wants to push Yuan Benchu ​​as the leader of the alliance." , Who else will the fourth generation and the third generation give up? We just need to let him do his bidding." Unexpectedly, as soon as this remark came out, a strange voice suddenly said: "No, no, it's not right to raise troops to serve the king's servants, and there should be no distinction." Everyone looked for it, and it turned out that the person who spoke was a small man in plain clothes, with a humble appearance, a sparse beard, and a pair of small black bean-like eyes blinking, standing behind Weiz with his head bowed.Zhang Chao rolled his eyes at him, and asked contemptuously, "Brother Zixu, who is this talking brother?" "He is a merchant from Yingchuan, and he often visits my house. Now Yuzhou suffers from distress and lives in my place. He heard that we have raised our troops and donated food and fodder." At this point, Wei Zi glanced back at him and asked embarrassingly, "A play Brother, what's your name?" It turned out that he didn't know the man's name either. "Under the Yingchuan Opera Zhicai." The man bowed respectfully. Hearing that he was just a small businessman, Zhang Chao ignored him more and more, and said with a half-smile: "I have never heard of merchants running for righteousness." Unexpectedly, Xi Zhicai opened his mouth and said: "In the past, Tao Zhugong assisted the Yue King Gou Jian to sacrifice his salary and taste his courage, and he had the merit of destroying Wu; Lu Buwei helped Yingzheng achieve the emperor's career and was awarded the title of Wenxinhou; the businessman Du Wu killed Wang Mang with his hands and contributed to the revival of the Han Dynasty. The county general What is it that you have never heard of?" Zhang Chao couldn't answer the question correctly. It has been a long time since Cao Cao saw this, he just regarded him as Wei Zi's servant and ignored him.Seeing that Zhang Chao was choked by him at this moment, he was very surprised, and said seriously, "Brother Xi, does this merchant also have the knowledge of governing the world?" "Yes." This Xi Zhicai was unrestrained, walked to the center of the hall, and said with a smile, "Not to mention the way of economics and financial management, even the voice of selling goods in the market, everyone has knowledge." "Brother Xi, if you sell knives and pens, how should you sell them?" Zhang Miao asked curiously. Xi Zhicai blurted out: "His hair is luxuriant, you can get rid of it if you sink in water, and you can't live if you get stuck in the text!" These two sentences seem to be yelling and selling pens, but they are actually full of profound meanings, advising people to practice self-cultivation, not to be treacherous and dirty history.Everyone was very surprised, Zhang Miao stood up and bowed in awe, "Dare to ask, sir, what if you are selling stone inkstones?" "General Zhang Jun is really a gentleman of letters, and he speaks with a pen and inkstone." Xi Zhicai hastily returned the gift, "The inkstone...the inkstone is black and black, and evil-hearted slander, there is nothing wrong with it." These two sentences are obviously selling inkstones, It is a metaphor to beware of slander by villains. Zhang Chao also asked, "What about selling shoes?" "Shoes are things for walking. It may not be a good omen for the soldiers to mention this thing before they move..." Xi Zhicai was speaking, but when he saw Zhang Chao's expression was unhappy, he stopped his mouth and shouted, "Shoes, shoes! Do what you do right, and take no chances.” This is still a pun. "It's unlucky to walk on, what if it's a stick?" Cao Cao took over the words. Xi Zhicai was very different. He turned around and looked at Cao Cao for a long time, and said with a smile: "The stick can be a cane or a soldier's staff. It can help people walk, but it can also kill people. If you let me sell it... Help people without dogs It’s no fault to help others!” Cao Cao got up and bowed: “Mr. is not only talented, but also kind-hearted, disrespectful and disrespectful!” "I don't have any talent to learn, it's just some slang in the market." As he spoke, Xi Zhicai took out a roll of bamboo slips from his arms, "This is "Lv Lan" written by Wen Xinhou. Lu Buwei is one of our merchants. My ancestors came to read it in my spare time, and I also felt quite taught." "Brother Zhicai, is there any mention of military affairs in this book?" Cao Cao is most concerned about this. Xi Zhicai said loudly: "There is a saying in "Lv Lan" that 'ten thousand people shoot a single move with their bows, and they can hit every move; all things are in order to harm their lives, and they will all be hurt'. Now Dong thief is the enemy of the world, everyone. Raising a righteous army together to conquer the country's traitors will surely achieve something." Cao Cao was overjoyed and said: "I don't want to think that Brother Xu's family still has talents like you. If you don't give up, can you come to my camp and have the right to be a staff officer? I will treat you as a national scholar." "Don't dare," Xi Zhicai said with a smile, "For those who are fleeing, it is a blessing to be hired by Brother Cao. You must not be humble." Cao Cao agreed after hearing this, and hurriedly bowed to thank Xi Zhicai. But he came over and grabbed his hand and said, "There is also a saying in "Lu Lan" that "the sky is selfless, the earth is selfless, the sun and the moon are selfless, and the four seasons are selfless. Doing their virtues will make all things grow." Great righteousness depends on the wholeheartedness of the adults of the family. But if everyone has their own schemes for selfishness, brother Cao, even if you are sincere, you can only do your best, but you can't go against the will of heaven." "Teacher." Hearing what he said, Cao Cao's heart seemed to be covered with dust again. At this time, a soldier ran in panickedly covering his face: "A man came outside, claiming to be a county magistrate, dressed in bright red like a lump of carbon, and hurriedly wanted to see Cao Mengde. I don't think he is a local official." , I wanted to ask a few words, but I didn't know that he would hit people with his hands. There were dozens of people who followed him, all of whom were armed with sharp knives. Let's see!" "Could it be that some branch of Xiliang came here to hunt down Meng De?" Zhang Miao was puzzled, and rushed out of the mansion with a full house.From a distance, a group of people with knives and sticks seems not to be kind. The leader is riding a majestic white horse, wearing a red brocade robe, wearing a Wubian crown, with red beard and hair, and looks fierce.Everyone hurriedly stretched their knives and drew their swords and were about to strike, but Cao Cao couldn't help laughing: "Come on slowly! This is my brother Cao Zilian, magistrate of Qichun County!" It was Cao Hong who came, and he laughed and said, "Meng De, I heard that you are going to raise troops, and you won't even be an official. Bringing your brothers here, is that enough brotherhood?" Cao Cao looked at the people he had brought, shook his head and said, "I've heard for a long time that you, the county magistrate, are unreasonable, even recruiting bandits and bandits to the mansion. I saw it today and it's true." "He's a bitch!" Mo Kan has been an official for several years, but Cao Hong's colloquial words have not changed. "This is not a reasonable world. Now that you want to raise troops, these people are useful, right? It's not me, my little brother." Talking big, a team of more than 1,000 people will come as soon as they are called, if it is not because of the long distance from Jiangxia, I will bring all the bloody people!" "It's best not to come, Dong Zhuo is enough to see in the Central Plains, don't make trouble with bandits again." Cao Cao joked. "What's wrong with the bandits?" Cao Hong said angrily, "Jingzhou is a nest of powerful landlords. There are three to five hundred people who dare to plot land and make trouble. Aren't Su Dai and Bei Yu who fought with you back then become bandits now? We Jiangxia Governor Huang Zu is a big bandit!" Cao Cao was afraid that Zhang Miao and Zhang Miao would laugh at him if he said something unpleasant, so he quickly introduced people to him, and called Xiahou brothers to talk to each other.Cao Hong only said: "Let's talk about the gossip later. It's really not easy for me to walk all the way. Can I drink? I've had enough wine today, so I can play my life with Dong Zhuo in the future!" Zhang Miao is a simple and friendly person: "Naturally there is good wine. Brother Zi Lian came here with a big red suit, and brought a good fortune to our Chenliu County. Let's go drink together!" A lively banquet continued until dark, and everyone agreed to send troops three days later.After the banquet was over, Cao Cao returned home slightly drunk, and rushed into Bian's room, hugging him and wanting to kiss him. Mrs. Bian pushed: "Damn! Pi'er is still asleep, please keep your voice down. Back then, I left and left. Now I think of our mother and son." "Didn't I say hello to you when I left? I knew that your mother and son were destined to die!" Cao Cao hugged Mrs. Bian into his arms vigorously, but seeing her tears streaming down, half sober, he asked in a gentle voice "What's the matter with you?" Mrs. Bian wiped away her tears and said, "How do you know how you survived those days. Yuan Shu sent his cronies to Luoyang to deliver a letter to me, saying that you were arrested on the way, and you were probably killed. At that time Those gang of servants are going to disband, thanks to my pressure, there is no trouble, you are really a heartless man!" After saying that, he clenched his fist and beat it. "Madam, please spare me! Don't hit me, don't hit me." Cao Cao grabbed her hand, "Your brother and sister are all the same, your younger brother almost beat me that day." "It's time to fight! You go to the next door to see Huan'er, she is still crying in the room seeing how sad A Bing is." Cao Cao sighed: "Let her be quiet for a while, and she will forget it after a long time." Mrs. Bian stopped crying now: "Why don't you go to the elder sister's room? Her Huanglian man has been taking care of your house for many years and has brought Ang'er up. Now that Qin Shao's three children are entrusted to her again, you can't How considerate and considerate of her?" Cao Cao also knew that Mrs. Ding had suffered a lot for him, but she just couldn't stand her nagging character, and always felt safest when she was with Mrs. Bian. , I go to her room tonight, are you willing?" "Who cares about you? Just go if you want. Don't talk about going to sister's place, go to Huan'er's place, I don't care if I go back to Luoyang to find your Yin family." When mentioning Yin, Cao Cao blushed a little, and said lightly: "She is He Jin's daughter-in-law, a widow and pregnant with a child. I just saved her life out of compassion. Didn't I send her home already?" .” "Can't you just think about it when you send it home? I don't believe what you say." Mrs. Bian raised her mouth. "Believe it or not." Cao Cao poked her on the forehead, "When I die too, I will make you a widow again, so you will believe it." "Don't talk nonsense," Mrs. Bian pushed him, "Let's be serious, the old man is upset, and he wants to take the De'er brothers and his family to Xuzhou for refuge, and he may leave tomorrow." "Tell them to go." Cao Cao was dejected. For many years, old Cao Song still favored Cao De, and didn't like him as a provocative boss. Take him over again." But Cao Cao would never have imagined that this trip would be a farewell to his father and younger brother...