Outside the city of Xiapi

Cao Cao's 100,000 army, the banner covers the sky, the camp is vertical and horizontal and radiated for ten miles, and the water around the west gate of the huge Xiapi City is impassable. Xiapi City is the seat of Xuzhou governance, and it is naturally a city with high walls and thick walls. And the moat under the city wall is nearly ten meters wide, five or six meters deep, once it falls into the moat, it may be brought into the Huai River, and then it will be a small life. Therefore, with such a unique advantage of Xiapicheng, Tao Qian was not too afraid of Cao Cao's strong capture of Picheng.

Therefore, Cao Cao's army has been shouting very violently outside the city in the past few days, but there is no superfluous action. Obviously, Cao Cao also had a headache for the solidity of Xiapi City. Of course, the above are Tao Qian's personal thoughts, as for Cao Cao's thoughts, no one knows.

said that Cao Cao was in the barracks at this time, his brows were tightly locked, and there was an official document placed on the desk, but it was sent from Yanzhou. It turned out that as early as the third day when Liu Bei entered Xiapi City, Cao Cao received an urgent report from Yanzhou sent by Cheng Yu. Lü Bu entered Yanzhou, most of the officials in Yanzhou were attached to Lü Bu, and most of the territory was lost, and now only the three cities of Dong'e, Fanxian, and Juancheng are still holding on with the efforts of Cheng Yu, Xun Yu and others.

Seeing that Xuzhou was about to be conquered, but his rear was on fire, even Cao Cao, a heroic figure who was moody and angry, was very angry after hearing the news. Of course, after being angry, Cao Cao began to think about whether to give up attacking Xuzhou and return to Yanzhou to take back his own territory, or whether to continue to attack Xuzhou and completely occupy Xuzhou, and then wave his troops back to Yanzhou to fight with Lu Bu and take back Yanzhou.

"This is the Yanzhou military information delivered by Zhongde and Wen Ruo yesterday, military advisor, according to what you can see, how should this matter be handled?" Cao Cao handed the official document in his hand to Xi Zhicai and asked in a deep voice.

In order to block the message. Cao Cao did not inform his generals of the matter. Now is the critical juncture of the attack on Xuzhou, if the news is exposed too early, it will inevitably frustrate the morale of the army. At that time, if Cao Cao insisted on attacking Xuzhou, the war would become unfavorable to Cao Cao, and there might be a detailed work arranged by Tao Qian in the army, if this news was exposed. It will also greatly increase the morale of Tao Qian and the soldiers in Xiapi City. Therefore, before this, Cao Cao did not tell anyone. After thinking about it all night, Cao Cao couldn't make up his mind, so he decided to invite his chief strategist to come and discuss. Cao Cao, as a hero, also has his own ideas, and before the critical moment, Cao Cao usually has a decision in his heart, and rarely hesitates. Just like in history, Cao Cao attacked Hanzhong. Liu Bei couldn't hold out, Cao Cao's strong attack was his own side with heavy casualties, Cao Cao was also hesitating whether to continue the attack or retreat, and in the end, a chicken rib made Yang Xiu lose his life.

Xi Zhicai read the official document, and after thinking for a while, he did not immediately answer Cao Cao's question, but asked, "My lord, according to your opinion." What about Lu Bu and Liu Bei?"

Cao Cao knew that Xi Zhicai must have a deep meaning in asking such a question, and pondered for a moment. replied: "Lu Bu is like a tiger, imposing, and brave and invincible. However, it is easy to break just after it has passed, and it will not be able to hold on for a long time, so there is no need to be afraid; Liu Bei is calm and magnificent. He is also known for his great ambitions, he is like a dragon trapped in the shallows, if he encounters the sea, he must call for wind and rain and become a great enemy. ”

"It is true that it is as the lord said!"

Xi Zhicai nodded and agreed with Cao Cao's evaluation of the two. Then he said: "Lu Bu is brave and brave, like a hungry tiger, choosing people to eat. However, the tiger could not escape the hunt of the shrewd hunter, and Liu Bei was a man of forbearance and great ambition, and as long as he had the opportunity, he would definitely be able to turn into a dragon and ascend to heaven. Therefore, Lu Bu is only a near-term worry, while Liu Bei is a long-term concern. However, according to the current situation of the Lord, the harm of near-term worries is more dangerous than far-term worries. The lord and look at Lu Bu's past, first for the state to assassinate Shi Ding Yuan's righteous son, and then to kill Ding Yuan and take refuge in Dong Zhuo, and then for Dong Zhuo's righteous son; If Lu Bu is allowed to occupy Yanzhou for a long time, the impact on the lord is not insignificant; on the other hand, Liu Bei, although he has great ambitions, is cautious and cautious, and shows the world in the name of benevolence and righteousness. For example, Liu Bei and others, although they have far-sighted ambitions, they have nothing to hinder the lord in the short term. ”

Cao Cao heard Xi Zhicai's explanation, his frowning brows gradually relaxed, and he realized something, and then followed Xi Zhicai's words, and said: "I already have some understanding of the meaning of the military advisor. The military advisor is Yan Lu Bu's character is capricious, if he occupies Yanzhou, the family business that I have painstakingly managed in Yanzhou in the past will be destroyed by him, and according to Liu Bei's character, if he continues to stay in Xuzhou, it will cause Liu Bei and Tao Qian to conflict and weaken Xuzhou's strength. In this way, it will be easier for me to quell the rebellion in Yanzhou and then send troops to capture Xuzhou, yes or no?"

"The lord is very good!"

Xi Zhicai bowed and said: "Liu Bei has great ambitions, if the lord can use it well, he will definitely be able to bring benefits to the lord's attack on all forces." Therefore, the subordinates thought that the lord should return to Yanzhou first to quell the trouble, and then wait for the opportunity to send troops to Xuzhou and take it in one fell swoop!"

"Hmm!"

Cao Cao nodded, thinking that what Xi Zhicai said was extremely reasonable. It's just that Xuzhou, which was about to be captured with great difficulty, gave up like this, and Cao Cao was also a little reluctant. After all, the current Cao Cao only occupies Yanzhou, and has not yet reached the heyday; if it is in the heyday, just like the battle in Hanzhong, Cao Cao is reluctant, and he can afford to let go, and finally retires. Cao Cao, whose power is not strong enough now, is certainly not so easy to give up.

"Report! Yanzhou 800 miles urgent!"

Just as Cao Cao was hesitating, the hurried voices of the cronies outside the tent came. Hearing that it was the emergency military situation in Yanzhou, Cao Cao hurriedly asked his cronies to bring in the messenger.

After reading the official document, Cao Cao's originally dark face became even darker, and his originally hesitant expression suddenly became firm.

"Lord, what happened?"

Cao Cao handed the official document to Xi Zhicai and said: "Lu Bu sent troops to attack the three cities of Juancheng, Fanxian, and Dong'e. Originally, with the strength of the three cities guarding the horns, it was not very difficult to resist Lu Bu. However, Lu Bu suddenly let Jin Yun's family in Puyang City, the county commander of Fan County, go, so that Jin Yun surrendered the city to Lu Bu. Now that Fan County has been lost, Juancheng and Dong'e Ercheng will definitely fall into a situation of fighting for themselves. Once these two cities are lost, there will be no way back for me. Now it seems that I should send my troops back to Yanzhou as soon as possible. As for Xuzhou, he will come again in the future. It's just that if our army retreats, once Tao Qian knows the inside story, this guy will definitely take the opportunity to attack the rear of our army, and it will put our army in a dilemma. ”

Xi Zhicai finished reading the official document. After handing it back to Cao Cao, he said confidently: "Lord, this matter is worry-free. Tao Qian is now old, and he has suffered a crushing defeat after many battles with the lord, and he must no longer have the courage to fight openly with the lord. If his subordinates were as expected, Tao Qian would inevitably send an envoy to negotiate peace with the lord again. At that time, the lord will take the opportunity to agree to Tao Qian's request, and arrange some arrangements, which will definitely make Tao Qian dare not chase our army. ”

"Report! Send a messenger from Xiapi City to send a letter to meet the lord in person!" Cao Cao was discussing with Xi Zhicai. The voices of the cronies outside the tent sounded again.

"Haha, the military advisor is really my son's room, I have the military advisor, like a tiger with wings!"

Hearing the voices of his cronies, Cao Cao immediately laughed and walked out of the camp. And Xi Zhicai smiled slightly, but his brows suddenly furrowed, and he covered his mouth and coughed lightly. If you look closely, the center of your palm is red with blood. Xi Zhicai raised his head and sighed. But I don't know how much time I have left, and whether I can last until the day when I witness Cao Cao's rise.

Cao Cao came to the big tent of the Chinese army, beat the drum and gathered all the generals, and then brought in the envoys sent from Xiapi City. However, it was said that the envoy sent from Picheng was not Tao Qian's subordinate, but Liu Bei's subordinate. This person is graceful and generous, generous and elegant. The demeanor is beautiful, which makes people feel good at a glance.

And this messenger is Jian Yong, one of the three heroes in Liu Bei's early history.

Historically, Liu Bei was able to run around and survive among the heroes, except for Guan Yu and Zhang Fei. There are three people who have a lot of credit, these three people are Mi Zhu, Jian Yong and Sun Qian. After Liu Bei's power slowly expands and his strength is strong in the future, these three people may not be of much use, but in the early days of Liu Bei, without these three people, it is unknown whether Liu Bei can survive to establish Shu Han and claim the imperial capital.

After Liu Bei led Xuzhou in history, Mi Zhu joined Liu Bei and married his sister to Liu Bei. Of course, marrying a sister to Liu Bei is not a big deal for Liu Bei, who is not a very lascivious hero, the key is that Mi Zhu gave an extremely rich dowry, countless grains and grasses, and a family of diners and soldiers, so that Liu Bei has enough capital to travel among the heroes; Jian Yong followed Liu Bei for the earliest, and when Liu Bei had not yet formed a relationship with Guan Yu and Zhang Fei, Jian Yong was friends with Liu Bei. Subsequently, when Liu Bei fled to Yuan Shao and Liu Biao, as well as the capture of Yizhou, it was all carried out by Jian Yong, and Sun Gan, that is, Liu Bei's logistics officer, handled Liu Bei's affairs in an orderly manner, so that Liu Bei did not need to worry about this aspect of affairs and could concentrate on his own hegemony. If Liu Bei is compared to Liu Bang, the ancestor of the Han Dynasty, Guan Yu and Zhang Fei are Liu Bei's Fan Xu and Zhou Bo, then Jian Yong is naturally comparable to Chen Ping, and Sun Qian is Xiao He. As for Mi Zhu, he has the demeanor of Xiao He, Zhang Liang and several others, and it is not easy to comment. In this way, Liu Bei is also a character like Han Xin and Zhang Liang. It wasn't until Zhuge Liang joined his forces later, and one person filled the vacancy of two people, that Liu Bei established Shu Han's team.

Therefore, Mi Zhu, Jian Yong and Sun Qian's contributions to Liu Bei in the early days are undoubtedly quite large.

Liu Bei established the Shu Han Dynasty, and the descendants carved fourteen statues in Chengdu according to the merits, which were the Wenchen Corridor to commemorate the Wenchen of the Shu Han Dynasty. Among them, Pang Tong ranked first, and the second place was Jian Yong, which shows that Jian Yong's role in the establishment of Shu Han has been recognized by later generations. As for Mi Zhu and Sun Qian, Sun Qian died of illness shortly after entering Shu, so he failed to make much credit, and was forgotten by later generations;

However, it was said that Jian Yong entered the camp of Cao Jun, his face was as usual, he walked up to Cao Cao and bowed, and said: "Meet the Yanzhou Assassin History, and I am hereby to send a letter of reconciliation on the order of my family master, presenting the history of the Yanzhou Assassination!"

Jian Yong's face is graceful and generous, which makes people want to make friends with him at a glance, and Cao Cao has always loved talents, so when he saw Jian Yong for the first time, he wanted to take Jian Yong under his command. Originally, he thought that Jian Yong was Tao Qian's subordinate, so he had a great chance to dig into the wall. It's just that after hearing Jian Yong introduce himself as Liu Bei's person, Cao Cao felt that there was little hope. Of course, this was a gut feeling on Cao Cao's part. However, although he felt that there was little hope, Cao Cao still wanted to give it a try.

Cao Cao did not immediately open the reconciliation letter, but looked at Jian Yong and asked, "Is it a bit condescending for the envoy to follow Liu Xuande?"

Jian Yong naturally would not turn his back on Liu Bei and serve Cao Cao, he smiled slightly when he heard this, and replied: "The humble follow my lord can have three meals, clothes, and rides, and he is also humble and shallow, and it is a great blessing to be able to follow the lord's side, how can we talk about Qu Cai? ”

Although he is optimistic about Jian Yong, he has not reached the point where he has to take it for himself. As for saying that it is faster than that, it is naturally impossible. After all, Jian Yong didn't do anything big, and it was worth Cao Cao to deal with a messenger. If Jian Yong was like Zhuge Liang, Cao Cao would naturally not hesitate to be infamous on his back, and he would immediately kill Jian Yong.

Cao Cao did not continue to dig into the corner, but looked at the reconciliation letter written by Liu Bei.

"Prepare to worship the king's face from outside the gate, and the day after tomorrow will be on one side, and it will not be enough to serve. Xiang, respected his father Cao Hou, but because Zhang Min was unkind, he was killed, and it was not Tao Gongzu's crime. At present, the Yellow Turban is left behind, disturbing the outside, and Dong Zhuoyu's party is entrenched inside. May the Ming Duke first be anxious for the imperial court, and then for personal revenge, and withdraw the troops of Xuzhou to save the country: then Xuzhou is very fortunate, and the world is very fortunate!"

Cao Cao and Xi Zhicai had already discussed, and they were ready to use Liu Bei's reconciliation as a step to retreat. Of course, Cao Cao can't be too obvious, that doesn't match his character, but will cause suspicion. Therefore, after Cao Cao read the reconciliation letter, he pretended to be angry and scolded: "Who is Liu Bei, dare to persuade me with a book! And there is a sarcasm between the words! Someone will drag the messenger down and behead him, and send his head into Xiapi City, and Keri will attack the city, and I will definitely kill Tao Qian and Liu Bei." ”

Seeing this, Xi Zhicai hurriedly stepped forward and admonished: "The lord is slow! Liu Bei came to the rescue, salute first and then soldiers, the lord should answer with good words, and be slow to prepare; and then march to attack the city, and the city can be destroyed." ”

Cao Cao naturally would not refuse, and asked the soldiers to take Jian Yong down, and while discussing with the generals, he quietly signaled to Xi Zhicai with his eyes, and after getting the answer from Xi Zhicai, Cao Cao breathed a sigh of relief in his heart.

"Report!"

Just as Cao Cao was discussing with the generals, the voices of the cronies and soldiers outside the tent suddenly sounded. Cao Cao and Xi Zhicai looked at each other and smiled, then calmed their expressions and let the soldiers enter the tent, it was obvious that this cronie soldier was arranged by Cao Cao and Xi Zhicai.

Sure enough, I saw that the soldiers of my cronies reported that Yanzhou was invaded by Lu Bu, and most of the cities in the territory were lost, and now only Juancheng and Dong'e City survived!

"Yanzhou has lost, so that I have no home, I must not help but work hard!"

Xi Zhicai also jumped out very cooperatively, and said: "The lord is fair and sells his personal favor to Liu Bei, and retreats to recover Yanzhou!"

Originally, Cao Cao's generals naturally hoped to attack Xuzhou, Cao Cao's territory became larger and his power became stronger, so that their status could rise with the tide. It's just that now that their rear is about to be lost, and their families are also in Yanzhou, at this time, they naturally want to return to Yanzhou rather than attack Xuzhou. Therefore, after listening to Cao Cao's order, all the generals breathed a sigh of relief in their hearts.

Subsequently, Cao Cao immediately wrote a letter to Jian Yong and asked him to take it back to Xiapi City. Cao Cao, on the other hand, asked the generals to command the soldiers to pull out the camp and quietly rush back to Yanzhou. Two days later, when Tao Qian sent spies out to investigate, Cao Cao's soldiers and horses had already lost sight of where they had gone. (To be continued.) )