Chapter 21 Time to help

In the winter of the second year of Chuping (AD 191), a problem that none of the heroes expected suddenly appeared.Due to the spread of local wars and the oppression of the separatist forces, the people suffered unspeakably, and then broke out the largest peasant uprising after the Yellow Turbans. The governor of Qingzhou, Jiao He, was actually more cowardly and incompetent than Han Fu.He was sitting in Linzi City, but he had no ability or courage to lead an army to fight. He prayed to the gods to bless him every day, and he was afraid that the Heishan army in Jizhou would take advantage of the freezing of the Yellow River to come and join the Yellow Turban in Qingzhou. projectiles that melt ice), and finally scattered the centrifugal soldiers and horses of his subordinates.Jiao He finally died of illness in fear, and Qingzhou fell into a leaderless situation. As a result, the rest of the Yellow Turbans gained momentum and attacked the city to break the local army.

The Qingzhou Yellow Turban, Black Mountain Army, and Baibo Army each have their own strengths. If the three rebel armies are united, the entire Yellow River Basin will fall into an irreparable situation.In view of this huge threat from the common people, the separatist regimes in various places had to temporarily compromise and join forces in the battle to suppress the rebels.Gongsun Zan led 30,000 elite cavalry to the south, smashed the Qingzhou Yellow Turban at Dongguang, and then pursued to the banks of the Yellow River, beheading 30,000 rebels and taking 70,000 prisoners. After the Qingzhou Yellow Turban failed to cross the north, it turned to the west and invaded Yanzhou.For a while, the counties of Yanzhou became not optimistic again. Chenliu and Dongjun were invaded by 100,000 people from Huangjin Yudu, Bairao, Suigu and other tribes, directly threatening the rear of Jizhou.As long as the two rebel armies meet, Yuan Shao will never have peace.During these days, Cao Cao has been closely observing Yuan Shao's every move.Although the chariot general managed to maintain a reserved and dignified manner, sorrow gradually appeared in the corners of his brows and eyes—the rebel army, especially the rebel army in Yanzhou behind, is a heart disease that must be eliminated!

Xi Zhicai proposed to Cao Cao to invite Yuan Shao to drink at the camp as an old friend, and to finalize the matter at the wine table... "Meng De, please drink!" Yuan Shao seemed to have completely let go of his airs. He drank more than ten cups in a row this night, and now he turned to the guest and filled up the wine for Cao Cao. Cao Cao raised it respectfully, and only took a small sip after returning the salute.He had already drank a lot, and he was afraid that if he drank any more, he would accidentally spit out what he shouldn't have said. "There must be no mistakes in Yanzhou." Yuan Shao downed the wine in one gulp. He is a child of an extremely deep family, and it is rare for him to drink like this. "What I want to do now is to defeat Gongsun Zan and unify Hebei. If Gongsun Zan and I During the fight, the yellow scarf stabbed me from the back, and that brother Yu will be finished for me."

Brother Yu... It's been a long time since I've heard the title, I'm used to him calling himself "the general".Well, I have to say a few nice words to him just saying "foolish brother"... Thinking of this, Cao Cao took a sip of his wine again, and said slowly: "Brother Benchu, I have a few sincere words to tell you. Say." "Look at what you said, in this situation, can't you and I confide in each other?" Yuan Shao tonight was really different from usual, and even gave him a playful look. Cao Cao looked around at his empty tent: Except for him and Yuan Shao before the case, there was not even a single servant serving him.Yuan Shao went to the camp alone to drink, it seems that he really wanted to confide in his heart, but when my family was implicated by the Queen Song's clan, when I came to Beijing for the second time to find you as an official, why didn't I not want to confide in you?Did you ever treat me sincerely at that time?Forget it, don't worry about the past, let's talk about tonight...

"At first, no matter who proposes to attack you, you have to be cautious." Cao Cao took a deep breath, "Whether you want to go east to Qingzhou, take Bingzhou to the west, or go north to attack Gongsun Zan, don't think about it for now." "Oh?" Yuan Shao was a little surprised, "Why?" "Because your Jizhou is not so stable yet." This time Cao Cao drank up the wine, "The people of Montenegro will eventually be your big worry." "What can those earth bags accomplish?" Yuan Shao understood in his heart, but he still deliberately spoke in a disdainful manner.

"Although they can't accomplish anything, they can defeat you! You should know better than me that on the day you drove Han Fu away, Dong Zhuo had already appointed a man named Hu Shou as Jizhou Shepherd. This man is now in Montenegro. In the army. If one day they take advantage of your quarrel with Gongsun Zan, secretly attack Jizhou, take down a few of your cities, and then put Hushou in it—are you looking forward or looking after you?" Yuan Shao wiped his cheek helplessly. "Therefore, the Black Mountain Army must fight, and break them up until they are completely defeated. One is to consider your position, and the other is to recruit common people and husbands to enrich your household registration and save food and grass. I think it will be possible within three to five years. It has changed a lot." Cao Cao looked at him with a smile.

"In three to five years..." Yuan Shao suddenly looked a little sad, "Brother Yu has passed his forties, how many three to five years are left? His temples are starting to turn white. But..." He paused for a while, "I will take care of myself Consider what you mean." Cao Cao got up and poured wine for him: "At first, there are some things that cannot be rushed." "Then you still propose to ask Zhou to fight Yuzhou?" Yuan Shao picked up the wine that had just been filled and drank it. "Zhou Renming is far from Sun Jian's opponent. If Zhou's brothers and Liu Biao did not help disturb the enemy in Jing and Yang, he would have It was defeated by Sun Jian."

"You have to try to get Renming to persevere, even if you can't beat Yuzhou, you have to fight." "Oh?" "Don't seek merit, but seek no fault." Cao Cao said implicitly, "If Sun Jian has completely opened up Yuzhou, someone will drive straight to Yanzhou, and we will all be wiped out by then." "There's someone? Hahaha..." Yuan Shao looked up to the sky and laughed, and spilled all the spoonful of wine he just scooped up. "Just say Yuan Gonglu." "You dare to say it, but I dare not say it. You can't be close." Cao Cao muttered.

"Hahaha...my good brother...younger brother...hahaha..." Yuan Shao smiled, a tear suddenly flowed from the corner of his eyes, "I can let him do everything since I was a child. He snatched my spinning top , I let him. He wants to sit in the front seat and drive me to the last seat, I let him in. He wants to be the general of the tiger, and I shamelessly beg He Jin! Who told him that he was born by the main wife, and my mother was the younger brother? Concubine, if I can bear it, I will bear it. But today, he..." "Benchu, you're drunk!" Cao Cao frowned. "No, I'm just a little sad...but I don't regret it, because I don't owe him anything." Yuan Shao wiped his face, "I can tolerate anything, but I can't tolerate him saying that I am not from the Yuan family, and he can't insult my mother!"

Mother...the affection that lingered between the two and made them friends came back again.Eighteen years ago, at Hu Guang's funeral, the two talked about state affairs and had a heart-to-heart talk with each other. At that time, they were both the sons of Jiuqing, two handsome young men... But now everything is different, the court is gone, and the hometown is gone. , The two free hearts back then are gone.All that remained were two middle-aged men whose beards were about to turn white, and two generals with blood on their hands... After being silent for a while, Yuan Shao regained consciousness and said, "Gongsun Zan has already sent his younger brother Gongsun Yue to lead the troops to help Sun Jian. It will be even more difficult for Zhou Renming to fight."

"what happened?" "Liu Bo'an has a son, Liu He, who secretly escaped from Chang'an while he was serving as a servant of the imperial court. He planned to go to Youzhou to ask his father to send troops to rescue him..." Cao Cao smiled bitterly and said, "Father Liu Yu and his son have their own intentions but are powerless. They are about to be forced to death by Gongsun Zan. How can they care about the emperor?" "Listen to me." Yuan Shao waved his hand to signal him to listen carefully, "Liu He escaped from Chang'an but couldn't cross Henan, so he had to take a detour to Nanyang, but he was detained on the highway. He wrote a letter to Liu Bo'an, saying that your son In my place, we raised troops together to serve the king. Liu Yu had no choice but to send him thousands of people. As a result, Gongsun Zan asked his younger brother Gongsun Yue to also lead troops, and secretly colluded with the road to collect Liu Yu's soldiers. Now this team Starting from Nanyang, he has already joined forces with Sun Jian, and together he will fight Zhou Renming for his life!" "It's really shameless to hold someone else's son hostage." Cao Cao no longer cared about the brotherhood between Yuan Shao and Yuan Shu. "Now Gongsun Zan has formed an alliance with Gongsun Zan, and Sun Jian is his murderous weapon!" Yuan Shao sighed, "What about our side? Youzhou Liu Yu is too weak, I think he will be eaten by Gongsun Zan sooner or later. Jingzhou Liu Biao is too far away, He can only control the roads, and he himself is not stable in Jingzhou. He could have asked Zhang Miao or Bao Xin to divide the troops in Yuzhou to help us resist for a while, but... this gang of hateful yellow scarf thieves disrupted all plans Why can't they go to the south to make trouble?" Cao Cao felt that the wine was almost drunk, and it was time to get down to business, so he immediately asked: "At the beginning, what do you think will happen to the war in the counties of Yanzhou?" "Not very optimistic," Yuan Shao curled his lips, "Zhang Miao in Chenliu County is too soft, and Zhang Chao is too strong. Their brothers can manage the people and manage the government well, but they can't fight with soldiers. As for the king of Dongjun, he is angry when he thinks about it. In Wuyang, I didn’t even dare to fight a thieves, I really don’t know how Liu Dai picked him in the first place!” The prefect of Dongjun was originally Qiao Mao, but when the army was stationed in Suanzao County, Liu Dai, the governor of Yanzhou, killed him in order to rob food. Killed him, and secretly appointed his confidant Wang Gong as the prefect of Dongjun, this person is very unbearable. Cao Cao suppressed his nervousness, and said casually, "How about I go to Dongjun to kill the thieves?" Yuan Shao seemed to have been mentally prepared for a long time, and looked straight at him.At that moment, Cao Cao's heart stopped beating... "Alright." Yuan Shao nodded after a long pause. Cao Cao took a long breath, and the wish he had been looking forward to for so long could finally come true! "However..." Yuan Shao seemed suspicious again, "Meng De, if you leave Hebei, I will lose an arm." "Brother Benchu, my younger brother is not only here to destroy the Yellow Turban." Fearing that he would change his mind again, Cao Cao hurriedly brought out the rhetoric he had been thinking about day and night, "I have an immature idea...then Liu Dai is not According to the scriptures, the private Wang Gong is the prefect of Dongjun, which seems to have the meaning of monopolizing Yanzhou." Hearing what he said, Yuan Shao immediately showed a suspicious expression: "Liu Gongshan can't do it?" "It's good for him to specialize in Yanzhou. If this person is recruited by Yuan Shu and Dahe Zhinan turns his friends into enemies, then brother will be in trouble. In this case, it's better to let me go to fight the Yellow Turban of Dongjun. After the peace, Dongjun Even Zhang Miao, Xi and Bao Xin, the three of us will work together to protect Yanzhou." Cao Cao wanted to fill Yuan Shao with wine again, but saw that there was still half a cup left, so he put it down again, "If you attack Jizhou from Yuzhou to the north, you must pass through the land of Yanzhou If Zhou is defeated in the future, Yuzhou is completely lost, and the road to the north is opened by Yuan Shu and Sun Jian... Then I will work together with Zhang Miao and Bao Xin to block them from Yanzhou and set up another barrier for my brother! Isolate him from the ground, so my brother can concentrate on dealing with the Black Mountain Bandit and Gongsun Zan." "Okay... okay... this is a great idea!" Yuan Shaoteng stood up, walked around the table and grabbed Cao Cao's shoulders tightly, "Zhang Miao governs the people, you govern the army, Bao Xin is good at fighting, you three Each owns a county and joins hands to occupy the river, what are Yuan Shu and Sun Jian afraid of! Hahaha..." This time he really laughed heartily. Cao Cao looked at him and smiled, but didn't dare to say a word, because he knew Yuan Shao's character too well, and if he made the slightest exaggeration, he would see through his thoughts immediately.So I just bowed my head and drank, pretending to be depressed.Seeing him frowning, Yuan Shao couldn't help asking: "What are you worried about?" "Hey... Although I came up with this method, I am not very sure. When I suppressed the rebels in Wancheng, I saw Sun Jian's bravery. This is a strong enemy!" Cao Cao said, deliberately Shake your head. "Why are you doubting yourself again? Who is better for you in the matter of Yanzhou Dongjun?" Cao Cao begged him, but now Yuan Shao begged Cao Cao. "Little brother... do your best!" Cao Cao got up and saluted him. Yuan Shao nodded with a smile: "Well, I have long disliked Wang Gong, and now I appoint you to take over as the prefect of Dongjun!" "Ah!?" Things went so smoothly that even Cao Cao himself could not imagine. His original intention was to go back and kill Wang Gong after the Yellow Turban was pacified in Dongjun. Now that Yuan Shao said a word, he justified his words and saved a lot of trouble. "As long as you can stop the highway and Sun Jian, it will be my greatest contribution to the pacification of Hebei!" Yuan Shao paced back and forth in the big tent, "Brother Yu will be successful in the future, and I will definitely treat you badly." "Thank you, General, for cultivating!" Cao Cao knew exactly when to call him elder brother and when to call him general.Yuan Shaola sat down and filled the wine for both of them: "Let's do it!" Cao Cao boldly complied. "Brother Yu, I'll show you something," Yuan Shao said as he untied the leather pouch under his waist, and took out a square copper seal with a tiger pattern from it. "In the past two years, I have relied on this .” Cao Cao could see clearly that this seal was engraved with eight seal characters of "One edict, seal of the Marquis of Bei Township".Yuan Shao escaped from the capital, and Zhou Wu secretly lobbied for protection. Dong Zhuo appointed him as the prefect of Bohai, and granted him the title of Marquis of the township. Therefore, he engraved this seal to launch the rebel army to lead the heroes.In the past two years, I don't know how many prefects, county magistrates, generals, and captains have been canonized with edicts made by this seal.Cao Cao suddenly felt shuddering. Wasn't the Fenwu General he is now also created by this seal? "When Dong Zhuo came to Beijing, I remember you said that the days when the talisman seal ruled the world is over." Yuan Shao took the initiative to serve wine for the two of them again, "but my seal can still work...at least in Jizhou and Yanzhou. It works because of our hard work." Cao Cao also laughed and said, "Yes...what a powerful seal." This exclamation is meaningful. "Don't worry, I have another piece here." Yuan Shao took out another piece from the leather bag, but this time it was jade--this piece of jade was four inches in diameter, pure white, crystal clear, and radiant impressively, but Not polished yet.Yuan Shao held it in his hand and played with it carefully, as if it was more important than his life: "Meng De, let's make this seal work again, how about it?" Cao Cao smiled but did not answer, but the anger in his heart had reached its peak: To put it bluntly, you and your shameless brother are the same kind, and you are more sinister and hypocritical than him.He took away the Great Han's Jade Seal of Chuanguo, you just want to make another one, because you just want to be the emperor!At the beginning, he was obsequious in front of Dong Zhuo, and he didn't even dare to fart, but he had the face to do his best here.If you want to be emperor, I have no objection, let alone jealousy, but if you have the ability, go to Chang'an and kill the guy who shamed you, really like a man!With this kind of virtue now, how can I, Cao Mengde, submit to your account and be driven by you? Yuan Shao really overdid it today, he put away the two seals, and without Cao Cao's persuasion, he poured himself one after another, with a smile on his face all the time.Cao Cao looked at his face that turned from fair to red, that face that was so solemn and reserved on weekdays, at this moment he was so wretched, so ridiculous, so disgusting! "Hahaha..." Two bursts of laughter intertwined. Yuan Shao laughed, and Cao Cao laughed too, but the reasons for their laughter were completely different.Yuan Shao drank, Cao Cao also drank, and the feeling of pouring down his throat was completely different.But people are the same when they are drunk, and they are all the same when they take off the disguise! "General, when..." One of Yuan Shao's personal soldiers raised the curtain, and saw the two generals were drunk and messed up, a little at a loss, "It's getting late, the general should go back." "Go back... go back to sleep." Yuan Shao stood up unsteadily, "Today is really... so happy!" "Happy, happy!" Cao Cao waved his hands sideways. The soldier called another person, and the two of them supported Yuan Shao and stumbled out of Cao Ying's tent.Before leaving, Yuan Shao yelled: "Meng De, it's time to take care of this world..." As soon as they left, Xiahoudun and Xi Zhicai hurried in.Xiahou Dun patted Cao Cao on the shoulder and said with a smile, "Meng De, it's really you who can drink him into such a virtue." "The world should be sorted out..." Cao Cao was so drunk that his eyes were blurred, "Bah! It's time to sort it out, but most self-righteous people think so." Xi Zhicai shook him vigorously: "Has the big event been settled?!" "He appointed me as the prefect of Dongjun... who the hell cares about it!" Cao Cao fell down on the couch after cursing this sentence. Xi Zhicai heaved a sigh of relief: "Okay, there is a place to stand. Let's go out and tell him to sleep peacefully." When the two of them tiptoed out of the big tent, Cao Cao's snoring had already started.Xiahou Dun stretched out his thumbs repeatedly: "Mr. Xi is really amazing, he even thought of inviting Yuan Shao to drink, it really worked." Xi Zhicai twirled his mustache and chuckled: "You don't know how many major events in the world have been decided by drinking wine throughout the ages." "Yuan Benchu's fourth and third princes have always been steady and dignified, and they are drinking like this today." "Alas..." Xi Zhicai shook his head, "Tomorrow they will return to their original state. They are respectful and polite to each other. They are the same." "Since they are all the same, why didn't you protect Yuan Shao, but why did you protect our Meng De?" Xiahou Dun joked casually. "Do you really want to know?" Xi Zhicai stopped and looked up at the sky, "There is a saying in "Lu Lan" that 'today's world is very turbid, and the suffering of the head of Guizhou cannot be added'. Although the two are similar, but The world needs a person who understands the suffering of the people." Xiahou Dun was stunned. "Yuan Rang, just pretend I'm drunk tonight, forget what you said just now." Xi Zhicai bowed his head and said, "Soldiers are impermanent, water is impermanent, we have only taken the first step, what will happen in the future?" , I can't predict it, it depends on the general's own opinion. You'd better send an order to pack your luggage quickly, and we will set off as soon as Yuan Shao's edict arrives. Tian Feng, Jushou, Guo Tu and others are quite knowledgeable here. I'm afraid it will take a long time It's about to change." "Understood." Xia Houdun also sighed, "If there is no resurgence of the Yellow Turban, where would we have the opportunity? This is the right time to help, in fact, it is very lucky!" This was the last meal that the friends Cao Cao and Yuan Shao drank together.Three days later, Cao Cao left Hebei and went to Yanzhou to serve as the prefect of Dongjun, officially owning a piece of land.