Chapter 40 Eastward Proposal

A plague of locusts brought about a fundamental change in the stalemate battle situation. Cao Cao stabilized his position in the three counties, and immediately won the support of the Li family.On the other hand, Lu Bu's side retreated eastward in a hurry and suffered setbacks, which not only exhausted the soldiers, but also lengthened the front line.Under such circumstances, the two sides are no longer limited to one corner, and the competition between military ability and local popularity can be seen immediately. In the spring of the second year of Xingping (AD 195), Cao Cao marched into Dingtao, pretending to attack the rebellious Shanyang prefect Wu Zi.Lv Bu's soldiers and horses had not finished resting, so he hurried to rescue them. As a result, he fell into Cao Cao's strategy of besieging the city and fighting for reinforcements.

Cao Cao took the opportunity to return to attack Juye immediately. Li Feng and Xue Lan couldn't hold on to the situation. At this time, it was too late for Lu Bu to save them. As a result, Juye City was captured within a few days. Seeing Li Feng and Xue Lan bundled up and thrown at his feet, Cao Cao sneered and said humiliatingly: "Congratulations to you two for being promoted. What my subordinates used to do is now Lu Bufeng's Zhizhong, don't drive me. You're a member of the state middle school!" Xue Lan was frightened like a sieve: "General, please forgive me..."

Cao Cao glanced sideways at Wan Qian, and said with a smile: "Brother Wan, you both resigned from office and did not work together. Now that you are back, Lu Bu also gave him the same official position as you. Do you want to forgive him or not?" Wan Qian shook his head: "If you don't kill these two thieves, how can you comfort the dead soldiers and the people of Yanzhou?" Li Feng was still pretending to be a hero: "You are shameless with the surname Wan, and you still protect Cao Cao for killing scholars!" "Cao Shijun has many shortcomings, so don't use your emotions to kill innocent people in the future." After Wan Qian said this to Cao Cao, he turned to look at Li Feng, "But Li Shujie, you are not qualified to teach us, because The chaos in Yanzhou was completely instigated by you villains. Did you bring Lu Bu here for the people of Yanzhou or for your own interests? Yes, Mr. Cao killed Bian Rang and massacred the people of Xuzhou, but when will he be sorry for us? People from Yanzhou? Your reasoning is the reasoning of the big landlords and powerful people, not the people of Yanzhou. Cao Shijun originally only had three small counties left, but he could raise food at any time, but your Lv Bu couldn’t. You Don’t you understand what the people of Yanzhou want?”

Li Feng wanted to argue again, but suddenly he was kicked in the back, and he looked back - Li Jin, Li Zheng, and Li Dian were behind him, with six eyes staring, as if they were going to swallow him up.He was so frightened that he crawled a few steps and dared not speak again. Cao Cao raised his hand: "Li Yishi, they are handed over to your uncle and nephew." "Excellent!" Li Jin and Li Zheng grabbed one of them and dragged them out. I'm afraid they will be hacked to pieces. Li Dian suddenly shouted: "You can't kill Li Feng!" Li Jin was taken aback: "Mancheng, why did you stop me?"

"Third Uncle, Elder Brother, I also hate this person deeply! But he hates us because he killed his fellow clan, but if you kill him, wouldn't he also kill your fellow clan? His descendants will seek revenge from you again, my Li family Will there be an end to the killing of each other?" Li Jin's uncle and nephew were stunned by what he said, and Li Dian turned around and bowed to Cao Cao, "Li Feng rebelled, please order the king to deal with it by law, so that my Li family will not be killed again. A matter of self-killing." Cao Cao was quite surprised and stared at the young man.As the son of a local tyrant, Li Dian was only sixteen years old, and his face was still childish. Not only was he able to go to the battlefield, but he was also able to have such far-reaching ideas.He nodded: "Man Chengfang is the same age as my son Cao Ang, but they are very knowledgeable! Well, Li Feng and Xue Lan will be dealt with by the soldiers."

"Thank you, General." Uncle and nephew Li Dian bowed again. "Okay, now that Li Feng and Xue Lan have been killed, the east of Yanzhou has been settled. Please take care of the people's appeasement. Master Wan will also check the treasury. Let's all go down." Cao Cao saw that everyone saluted and retired. , and added, "Xun Wenruo, Cheng Zhongde, the second gentleman stays for a while." Don't look at Cao Cao's orders. In fact, he is somewhat absent-minded. The news from Xuzhou that just came made him very unhappy.But with the lesson of Yanzhou's rebellion, Cao Cao no longer revealed his intentions easily. When only Xun Yu and Cheng Yu were left, he said angrily: "You must have heard that Tao Qian has died of illness. He is not considered murdered." My father’s culprit was barely able to end well, but before he died, he gave Xuzhou to Liu Bei.” Cao Cao was a little annoyed when he said this, “Not long ago, Tao Qian asked Liu Bei to lead the governor of Yuzhou in Xijing. Once again he claimed to be the governor of Xuzhou! What kind of thing is he Liu Bei? From a nameless prime minister to the governor of two states, it is really annoying. I traveled long distances to conquer Xuzhou, but I ended up calling this Zhixi The shoe sellers took advantage of the loopholes, who is doing all the hard work for?"

Who told you to kill innocent people indiscriminately, this Xuzhou was obviously given to Liu Bei by you?Cheng Yu thought to himself, wanted to laugh but didn't dare to laugh, and comforted him: "General calm down, Liu Xuande is just having a good time. The northern part of Yuzhou belongs to us, and the south belongs to Yuan Shu. How can he have his share? This is Tao Qian's treacherous plan to show him Being the governor of Yuzhou is equivalent to tying him, us and Yuan Shu as deadly enemies, so that Liu Bei can help him sit in Xuzhou with peace of mind. Who knows that Tao Qian has counted all kinds of calculations, but he didn't count his own life, and you were so scared that you couldn't afford it It's a pity that I haven't had time to manipulate Liu Bei." At the end of his speech, he deliberately flattered Cao Cao to let Cao Cao put the matter aside.

Unexpectedly, Cao Cao was still brooding: "The crux of the matter is this. Yuan Shu is also peeping at the rich land of Xuzhou. If I don't take it, Yuan Shu will go north to map it. And Lu Bu is now poor and can't disturb me anymore, so I am determined to conquer Xuzhou again, and before Liu Bei wins the hearts of Yuzhou, I will quickly eradicate him, what do you think?" "This plan is absolutely impossible!" Xun Yu saw that his head was hot again, and hurriedly stopped him: "In the past, the ancestors protected Guanzhong, and Guangwu occupied Hanoi. Both of them were deeply rooted to control the world. Advancing is enough to defeat the enemy, and retreating is enough to hold on. So Even if you suffer setbacks, you can still unify the world. The general started from the land of Yanzhou, and the people were all satisfied with the difficulties of Shandong. Moreover, Dahe and Jishui are the most important places in the world. Although they were destroyed by the rebellion, they are enough to protect themselves. , This is like the general's Guanzhong and Hanoi. We must decide first. Now that Li Feng and Xue Lan have been defeated, if we divide our troops to attack Lv Bu and Chen Gong eastward, they will not dare to look west. Let us take this opportunity to rein in the ripe wheat With enough soldiers and food, Lü Bu can defeat him in one fell swoop. After defeating Lv Bu, we will then join Yangzhou in the south and discuss Yuan Shu together, so as to approach the land of Huaisi."

Speaking of this, Xun Yu raised his voice, reminding him almost in a threatening voice, "If Shebu goes east, it will not be enough to leave more troops. If you leave less soldiers, the people will protect the city and cannot farm for food. If Lu Bu takes advantage of the tyranny, The hearts of the people are in danger, but only Juancheng, Fanxian County, and Weidi can be safe, and the rest of the generals are not owned by the general, and there is no Yanzhou. If Xuzhou is not stable at that time, where should the general go?" Cao Cao frowned: "Although Wen Ruo's words are kind, but the opportunity is rare, let Liu Bei sit firmly in Xuzhou?" For some reason, Liu Bei, whom he had never met these days, always entangled his thoughts.

"From my point of view, this is definitely not a good idea." Xun Yu shook his head, "Although Tao Qian died, Xuzhou is not easy to perish. The people remember the defeats of previous years, even if Liu Bei is newly established, they have to support him wholeheartedly. The wheat has been harvested, and the walls must be fortified and cleared to wait for the general. The general will not be able to attack and plunder without gaining anything. Within ten days, tens of thousands of people will be trapped without fighting. Before the attack on Xuzhou, the imposing punishment will be implemented, and his children will read the words of their father and brother. Shame must be guarded by one's own self, and it can be broken without surrendering the heart, which is not yet possible."

Cao Cao blushed for a while: Xun Wenruo's words were tactful. To put it bluntly, it was all my fault for killing too many people. Liu Bei was unpopular in Xuzhou, but now he told me to kill people. "There must be trade-offs in the affairs of the world. The big and the small can be changed, and the security and danger can be controlled. The power of the moment is not to worry about the insecurity of the foundation. Now the three are molly, and I hope the general will consider them carefully." Said. Come on, Xun Yu bowed deeply. "Okay!" Cao Cao gritted his teeth, "I will let Liu Bei go first, and settle accounts with him after Yanzhou is completely recovered." Cheng Yu was also relieved when he saw him come to his senses: "Don't worry, general, I have a plan to defeat Lu Bu. This time we will drive him out of Yanzhou in one battle, and let this wolf go to Xuzhou to bite Liu Bei." "Oh? What's the plan, let's hear it." "General, stabilize the county first, and then march into Dingtao. I'll tell you slowly on the way." Cheng Yu smiled mysteriously.