Chapter 42 Abandon east and west

With Lu Bu's defeat, the flames of Yanzhou's rebellion gradually extinguished, and Wu Zi, Xu Xi, and Mao Hui also suffered bad luck. Not only were they regained their lost ground by Cao Cao, but the counties they controlled gradually turned against each other.In the end, all the lands under their jurisdiction were lost. Frightened by Cao Cao's prestige, they had to follow Lv Bu and fled eastward, becoming officials in exile. In December of the second year of Xingping (AD 195), there was only the last stronghold of the Yanzhou rebels - Yongqiu City in Chenliu County. The stubborn resister was none other than Zhang Chao, Zhang Miao's younger brother.Zhang Miao, who was useless as a soldier, was beaten by Cao Cao and fled everywhere, leaving only his younger brother to guard the last city.However, Zhang Chao was conceited that he was brave and talented, and lost all his capital after only meeting Cao Cao, so he had to wait for death in the city. He had been besieged for nearly four months.

"After being sleepy for so long, people's hearts are broken and food is in short supply, we will definitely take it down easily by attacking the city now." Xiahou Dun suggested to Cao Cao. Cao Cao stood at the gate of Daying, looked up at the dilapidated Yongqiu city, and shook his head meaningfully: "I don't want to capture this city, just besiege them. I want Zhang Menggao to surrender to me voluntarily. As long as his brother is captured, Zhang Mengzhuo will come back." "What do you want Zhang Miao to come back for?" Xiahou Dun asked puzzled. Cao Cao looked at his brother, he really couldn't answer this question: Yes, why do I want Zhang Miao to come back... Will you kneel down and admit my mistake?It seems unnecessary, there is no monarch and law in this world, who has no right to have a little ambition... Come back and let me execute it?I don't want to let go. He was the first one to take me in to do justice together, and he also took care of my family members. Who would have thought that success would be Xiao He, and Xiao He would be defeated...Come back and reunite with me, okay?Impossible, this rift will never be healed, I have completely lost this old friend... Who is to blame for all this?

"Sister... General!" At this moment, Bian Bing rushed over excitedly, "Overjoyed, overjoyed!" "Why do you like it?" Cao Cao asked him with a low face. Bian Bing smiled and said, "Zhang Miao was desperate, so he went south to borrow troops from Yuan Shu, and was killed by his subordinates on the way, and the heads were brought to us! Go to the big tent and have a look." Cao Cao only felt dizzy in his head, and a sense of desolation emerged spontaneously.But he calmed down and thought about it again, Zhang Miao was not killed by himself in the end, this might not be a good ending.A sense of relief followed, and he waved his hand: "I don't want to watch it... Forget it... Order the soldiers to go to Yongqiu City and call for Zhang Chao to open the city and surrender."

The soldiers raised their heads with spears, told the enemy that their master was dead, and shouted Kaesong to surrender.But Zhang Chao did not surrender in the end. About half an hour later, a large cloud of black smoke rose from the city of Yongqiu——Zhang Chao set himself on fire. As the smoke dissipated, the Yanzhou rebellion that had lasted for two years was completely subsided, and Zhang Chao's subordinates opened the city gate and surrendered.Cao Cao didn't want to go in to see Zhang Chao's body, so he only ordered Governor Xiahou Dun to lead some troops into the city, while he wandered in the camp.It's past noon, the whole army is burying pots and cooking, and the smoke is rising from the kitchen. It seems that everyone has forgotten the time of hunger and hardship a year ago. Everyone will respectfully salute him when they see him, and some people will Hold the food over and let him eat first.

Cao Cao refused all of them, and turned to Dian Wei who was closely following him, "Are you hungry?" "No matter how hungry I am, I have to wait for the general to eat first." Dian Wei shouted with his fat head down. "Hahaha..." Cao Cao raised his arm and patted his shoulder, "Come on, let's go back to eat too!" Before returning to the big tent, Yuan Shao's envoy suddenly arrived, and Cao Cao rushed to meet him first.The man walked into the tent, saluted him respectfully, and said, "My general congratulates you on quelling the chaos in Yanzhou. In addition, Zang Min, the prefect of Dongjun, disobeyed the general's order and wanted to lead troops to support Zhang Chao and fight against you. Besieged by my general's army, the city will be destroyed in a few days."

When Yuan Shao heard that Cao Cao had won consecutive victories and almost put down the rebellion, he stopped riding the wall and supported him to rule Yanzhou again, and did not pursue Zhu Ling's matter.But Zang Min can be called a righteous man. At the beginning of the Suanzao League, he acted as the leader and advocated one action, and now he sacrificed his life for his good friend Zhang Chao.With Dongwuyang's thousand or eight hundred soldiers, even if he was lucky enough to kill Yongqiu, he would be buried in vain!Cao Cao appreciates that he is a man of love, and remembering Bao Xin who died for himself, he can't help sighing: "I, Cao, have Bao Xin, and Zhang Chao also has Zang Min. They are all affectionate and righteous people, and they still look forward to the city." Don't blame Zang Ziyuan too much for the Cheqi general in the broken day. In this troubled world, how many people seem to be friends, but they are not life or death. Just in front of the interests, you fight each other and part ways. Qiao Mao, Liu Dai, Zhang Miao and Zhang Chao, they all made an alliance with blood, and they murdered each other. In the end, they all complied with the oath of 'If you have this alliance, you will die'. They are not loyal people. How difficult it must have been for the last confidantes like Bao Xin and Zang Min who don't care about life and death!"

The emissary was overwhelmed by his sudden emotion, so he hesitated awkwardly: "Uh... Your envoy is right." Seeing his embarrassment, Cao Cao also felt that he had lost his composure, and waved his hands, "I'm just talking nonsense, and you just listen to it, but I shouldn't have interrupted in your Hebei affairs. How is the war over there?" "It's very good. Not long ago, the general raided the lair of the Black Mountain bandit, not only killed Yu Du, but also cleaned up the fake Jizhou Muhushou appointed by Xijing. Not only did Gongsun Zan kill Liu Yu, but he also did nothing for it. Liu Yu's subordinates are in a hurry. Now Yan Rou, Xian Yufu, Xian Yuyin and other generals are organizing troops against Gongsun Zan, and they have also contacted Karasuma for help!" The emissary became more and more excited, "Son of Liu Yu Liu He is also now in my general's tent. We used to be attacked on both sides, but now he, Gongsun Zan, is being attacked on both sides. Also, Tian Kai was beaten by us in Qingzhou. It seems that he has to give up Qingzhou The general sent high-ranking cadres in Bingzhou to recruit the fleeing thieves from various ministries, and most of them surrendered. Before long, Jizhou, Qingzhou, and Bingzhou will all belong to my general!"

"Then I should congratulate your general." Although Cao Cao said this with a smile, he felt quite jealous in his heart. He then thought of the trouble he caused by killing innocent people indiscriminately, and thought of the jade seal that Yuan Shao smugly showed him.Maybe one day in the future, Yuan Shao will be his greatest enemy, but now he is thinking about advancing eastward, and he must kill Liu Bei and Lu Bu, the two potential threats... "Get out of the way! Get out of the way!" There was a commotion outside the tent, Xun Yu, Cheng Yu, Wan Qian, Li Dian, Mao Jie, Xue Ti, Zhang Jing, Liu Yan, Xu Tuo, Hou Sheng, Wu Zhou and other large groups All the people squeezed in, and they rushed into a couch, on which lay Xi Zhicai who was dying.

"Oh, Mr. Xi." Cao Cao left his seat hastily, and rushed to the front, "Slowly let it go, let it go slowly... How could Zhang Chao torture you like this!" "It's not him...it's my own disease..." Xi Zhicai has lost his appearance.He has struggled with the disease for too long, his once rich and graceful face has become sallow and dull, his thick black hair is loose, scorched and messy, his piercing eyes have long lost their luster, and his vermilion thick The lips were almost cracked white paper, the fingers were as thin as dry firewood, and the whole person was so thin that only a handful of bones remained.Anyone can see that he won't last long.

The wise man who assisted him in creating a place to stand on is about to die. Cao Cao's tears rolled in his eyes, and he took his hand and said guiltily: "Cao has really failed my husband's high expectations and caused the people in Yanzhou to die. From now on You must repent in the future and restrain your impatience." Xi Zhicai forced a smile, as if even laughing would consume a lot of energy now, he trembled and said in a low voice: "There is a saying in "Lv Lan" that 'to turn into chaos, monarchs and ministers are relatives and thieves, elders and younger ones kill each other, fathers and sons love each other Forbearance, brothers slander each other, friends fall against each other, husbands and wives cheat each other...'" It seemed that he wanted to finish this sentence, but he was exhausted, so he murmured, "The general will end soon...let's end this troubled world..."

"Who is it! You can't go in!" Suddenly, Dian Wei yelled outside. "General! I'm Wang Bi, I'm back!" Cao Cao was taken aback, and hurried out to watch, and saw Dian Wei with a big iron halberd horizontally blocking the king from entering the tent. "General, I'm back." Wang Bi was jumping for joy when he saw Cao Cao, "I've finished the errand you gave me!" At this moment, Wang Bike is no longer the stalwart warrior with a knife, completely different from when he left Cao Ying.Now he is wearing a Jinxian crown, a decent dark suit, a jade belt around his waist, and a neatly groomed beard. He is holding a scroll of imperial edicts in his hand: "General, the imperial court has appointed you as Yanzhou Shepherd. You are not the governor, you are now The state shepherd!" The governor and the state shepherd are not only different in name, but also have a very different actual status.The governor was originally a small official of six hundred shi, responsible for monitoring and arresting robbers, but gradually became the head of the local military because of the separatist rule in troubled times;Although the Xijing court was too far behind and just gave Cao Cao an empty favor, but this kind of face is really not small. There was no news of Wang Bi for more than two years. Cao Cao thought he had died on the road. Seeing him returning after completing his mission, he restrained his excitement and held his hand first without accepting the edict: "It's good that you come back, boy!" ! For two full years, have you suffered?” "The general treated me so kindly and virtuously!" Wang Bi was overjoyed, "When I arrived in Hanoi, I was detained by Zhang Yang for several months. Thanks to Mr. Dong Zhao under his command, he helped us a lot. Dong Zhao persuaded Zhang Yang to call me over, and wrote flattering letters to Li Jue, Guo Si and others in your name. When I arrived in Chang'an, I handed in the form and letter, and they were all very happy! Mr. Liu Miao spoke good words in front of the emperor, and Ding Chong also helped you to build relationships with the officials. There is also Zhong Yao, the servant of the Huangmen, who often praises you in front of Li Jue. This is the Yanzhou shepherd he begged for you. When I came back, Zhang Yang not only did not stop me, but even sent someone to escort me, he said that we can come and go freely when we go to the west, and he will send envoys to pay homage to you in a few days!" "Dong Zhao, Zhong Yao... Well, I will thank them very much when I see these two gentlemen in the future." Cao Cao pondered, and suddenly remembered that Xi Zhicai was still dying, so he quickly grabbed the edict and ran in. "Wait a minute, I still have a letter here..." Wang Bi hurriedly chased after it. Dian Wei looked dumbfounded at this moment, stopped Wang Bi and asked, "Who the hell are you?" "Oh, in the past, just like you, I was also a general's bodyguard." Wang Bi patted Dianwei on the shoulder, "Brother, do your best and be our general's bodyguard, maybe you will be able to make a fortune someday!" After saying that, push away Dian Wei, who looked ignorant, followed suit. Cao Cao knelt down and unfolded the imperial edict, showing it to Xi Zhicai.Xi Zhicai was even weaker at the moment, he just blinked and said, "Okay...okay..." "I haven't finished my business yet," Wang Bi took out another silk book and handed it to Cao Cao, "This is a letter from Ding Chong." Cao Cao opened it and saw only one sentence: 〖I have always had the ambition to help you all my life, now is the time! 〗 "What does he mean?" Wang Bi explained: "When I left, there was internal strife between Li Jue and Guo Si, and the two led their troops to fight endlessly. Dong Zhuo's old generals Yang Feng, Dong Cheng, Yang Ding and others took advantage of the opportunity to escape from Xijing, and even Baibo commander Han Siam , Li Le, and Hu Cai all ran to rescue him, and the Xiongnu Zuoxian King Qubei also arrived. Everyone worked together to defeat the Xiliang army. Zhang Yang is busy repairing the palace for the emperor. Ding Chong is telling you to hurry up Let's go and welcome you back to the east!" Cao Cao talked day and night about welcoming the emperor back to the east, but at this moment he hesitated again, and there were some things he couldn't say: Will I welcome the emperor back, will it hinder my future actions?Should I destroy Liu Bei and Lu Bu first, or should I greet Da Jiadong and return them? Xi Zhicai was able to clearly understand Cao Cao's thoughts when he was dying. He struggled to speak: "It's good...a strange treasure...a strange treasure..." What rare treasure?Everyone looked at each other in blank dismay. Li Dian on the side suddenly realized: "It's "The Strange Treasure Chapter" of "Lu Lan". As he spoke, he reached into Xi Zhicai's arms, and as expected, he took out a volume of "Lu Shi Chunqiu", and immediately flipped through it.Many of the people present were well-versed in poetry and books, but the first person to react was the son of a local tyrant. "Extraordinary treasures... Show your son a hundred gold and millet millet, and your son will take millet millet; show me the jade of Heshi and a hundred gold, and I will take a hundred gold; I will take the jade of Heshi and the best of morality." To show the sages, the sages must take the words. If their knowledge is finer, what they take will be finer; if their knowledge is rougher, what they will take will be rougher..." Li Dian finished reading seriously, handed the bamboo slips to Cao Cao, and He explained, "General, Mr. Xi is trying to persuade you to give up small profits and pursue a big career!" Xi Zhicai lay there smiling, and nodded lightly.Cao Cao looked at the text, and looked around at the people present, everyone nodded.Mao Jie even cupped his hands and said: "The general once asked me how to achieve hegemony, and I said that I would serve the emperor in order to get rid of my ministers. This is the time!" "Mr. Xi! Mr. Xi!" Li Dian called out twice hastily, but Xi Zhicai's eyes were closed forever.Cao Cao leaned down and put "Lv Lan" back into his arms, tears finally flowed from his eyes: "The one who knows me is a talented brother...a generation of wise men passed away suddenly, why do I, Cao, hear ironic words again?" Everyone was sad and moved, and many people wept. Xun Yu stepped forward and gently supported Cao Cao: "General, don't be too sad, everything needs to be arranged. There is no shortage of talents. As long as you speak out and seek talents with an open mind, there will always be wise men to assist you." "One of the young masterminds in the army is my concubine! Alas..." Cao Cao sighed and wiped away his tears. Xun Yu patted his hand: "General, I recommend another person for you, Yingchuan Guo Fengxiao." "It's a very familiar name..." Cao Cao thought for a long time, and suddenly his eyes lit up. The young man who was under Yuan Shao's tent in the past was shocked by the sword, "Guo Jia, a small official under Yuan Shao's tent?" "Yuan Benchu ​​is ignorant of people, so is Guo Fengxiao the talent of a petty official? If I write a letter, he will definitely abandon Hebei and come to Yanzhou to serve the general." Xun Yu looked down at Xi Zhicai again, "General, don't let him go again. Sad, Brother Zhicai still buried him early, he is a merchant and has no family, I will personally send him back to Yingchuan for burial in another day, if he can find other people, I will definitely reward him heavily." Cao Cao nodded sadly.Seeing him, Mao Jie was still deeply saddened, and hurried forward to hold his other hand: "In the past, Zhou Gong sought talents, washed his hair three times, and fed him three times. The general's love for talents is no less than that of the sages. To tell the truth. , I have already found a few people to help you appease Yanzhou. If it were not for the rebellion of Chen Gong and Zhang Miao, I would have asked you to use them. Shanyang Manchong, Rencheng Luqian, Taishan Wang Si, etc., people with different hearts With Lu Bu gone, the general can boldly appoint new people." After the two of them persuaded him, Cao Cao stopped his mourning, adjusted Xi Zhicai's clothes himself, and then waved his hand to signal him to carry him away.All the people present were respectful and did not call the soldiers to do anything. Cheng Yu, Xue Ti and others personally carried him out steadily. Cao Cao felt that the atmosphere here was too heavy, so he walked out of the big tent.The harsh winter air was sucked into the chest, making it cool, and it seemed to have diluted a lot of the sorrow just now.He suddenly felt that his chest was bulging, and he stretched out his hand to touch it. It turned out that it was the imperial edict, which he had casually put into his pocket just now.Cao Cao unfolded it again and looked at it carefully.The facts are really intriguing and ridiculous. It is such an imperial edict, something so flimsy and in name only, that it can affect so many people's hearts.Because Jin Shang, the governor of Yanzhou, was expelled, Bian Rang, a famous scholar, was killed, because his friends turned against each other, and his subordinates rebelled, all for such a random promise from the little emperor and his controller.Now that he calmed down alone, Cao Cao realized the importance of the Great Han Emperor.As long as the emperor is by his side, so many people's lives and thoughts can be affected by a casual word, even if what he said is just an innocuous sentence.Killing not only requires a reason for killing, but also a name for killing! Then Cao Cao realized that the Yuan brothers were ridiculous.Is it possible to command the world with just a piece of jade seal?All jade seals are just stones, and what makes him powerful is not only force, but also morality and people's hearts.The hearts of the Han Dynasty have been established since the time of the great ancestors. There are the recuperation of Emperor Wen and Emperor Jing, the heroic spirit of Emperor Wu, the efforts of Emperor Xuan to turn the tide, and the hard work of Lord Guangwu. Thirst... Could it be that the human hearts accumulated over hundreds of years are so easily defeated by force? Cao Cao put the edict back into his arms, looked towards the east, and thought of the death of his father and younger brother.Que Xuan and Zhang Kai died at the hands of Tao Qian, and now Tao Qian barely survived, and he could never find anyone to avenge this revenge.All he can do is to bury his father and younger brother in his hometown another day, let their souls return to their hometown, and bring up Cao De's son Cao Anmin.Confucius said that forty is not confused. He is already forty-one years old. He has never been raised by his mother since he was a child. Now his father and siblings will never come back. He has just found a way to realize his ambition after he is over forty. There will be more ups and downs in the future. How much, he doubted whether he could see the results of his struggle. Cao Cao's sorrow came from it, and he blurted out a song "Shan Zai Xing" by the Yuefu: 〖Pity yourself poorly, and suffer from loneliness. There is neither three migration religions nor court language. It is as poor as a crack, and it is protected by thinking. Although I have an ambition, it's time to be able to share it with me! Those who keep the poor are poor and humble, sighing and crying like rain. Weeping in grief, begging to see you? I am willing to be poor in the sky, and Langxie leans to the left. Although he wanted to exhaust his loyalty, Duke Xin returned to Chu. Fast people are free to sigh, and they can't express their feelings. Xian Xingtian teaches people, who knows nothing. Whenever I want?This sigh is also difficult. What will I shine on Guangyao today?Release title is not as good as rain. 〗 After finishing a poem, Cao Cao bowed deeply to the east. From now on, he will abandon the east and turn to the west, and welcome the king back to return.But there was still a little uneasiness in his heart. For some reason, he always felt that Liu Bei who weaved mats and sold shoes would become a big obstacle. In addition, what was the name of the red-faced man with crouching eyebrows and phoenix eyes under his tent?Of course, there was also Lu Bu who hit his helmet with Fang Tian's painted halberd and nearly killed him. That was the greatest danger in his life. "Liu Bei... Lu Bu... just wait, I will definitely deal with you." Cao Cao murmured, turning his head to the west.The little emperor who just escaped from danger is in the west, and his future direction is also in the west... Go back to his hometown Yuzhou and start a brand new court!