"Han Lian has seen Sikong. My father is willing to ask the court to surrender, and this is the Yiyang seal. The young envoy brought back by Xu Huang at the head of the city presented Cao Cao with the Yiyang seal ribbon and the handwritten letter of the county commander Han Fan.

Cao Cao took the seal ribbon and the book from Xu Zhu's hand, but he didn't look at it carefully, but said perfunctorily to Han Zhu, "Han Langjun has worked hard all the way." Come on, take Han Langjun down to rest. ”

Although Han Jian was a little apprehensive when he saw Cao Cao's reaction, he didn't dare to show himself in front of the hero in front of him. So he had to bow down to Cao Cao obediently, turn around and retreat from the city. Seeing Han take down the city, Cao Cao suddenly swept his eyebrows, and snorted coldly at Xu Huang, "Han Fan is obviously perfunctory when he sends a son to descend the division." Why did Komeito withdraw his troops? ”

In the face of Cao Cao's questioning, Xu Huang did not waver, but calmly responded with his fists clenched, "The lord is clear, the second Yuan is not broken, and those who have not been in the cities are listening." Therefore, Huang thought that he should treat Han's father and son politely to show Zhucheng. ”

Xu Huang's words made Cao Cao's expression turn from gloomy to sunny, and even brought a slight approving smile. Obviously, Xu Huang's arguments and practices fit Cao Cao's inner thoughts. Indeed, at present, the Yuan brothers have not been defeated, and most of the Taishou in Jizhou, Youzhou, and Bingzhou counties are still on the sidelines. Although the practice of Han Fan and his son is suspected of speculation, if it is handled well, it may not become a model for buying horse bones. Xu Huang was able to think farther than many so-called scribes as a martial artist, which made Cao Cao can't help but have a new understanding of him.

"Good, according to what Gongming said, I will buy horse bones once alone." Cao Cao laughed and ordered, "Please seal Yiyang and make Han Han Fan the Marquis of Guannei!" ”

Gao Fan and the others saw that Han Fan had won the title of Guan Neihou in a blink of an eye. Although they were jealous, they also shouted together, "The lord is wise." ”

Cao Cao himself didn't take Gao Fan and the others to heart at all. Originally, during the Qin and Han dynasties, the atmosphere of the Central Plains generally emphasized military force and neglected literature. This is not to say that the people of the Qin and Han dynasties were more warlike than later generations. Instead, the hereditary system and the chaju system allowed the hairpin family to control the path of scribes to seek official positions, making the common people rely more on killing enemies on the battlefield to make achievements. It was not until the imperial examination system matured that the less risky "Golden List Title" replaced the "Marquis and Worship Generals" and became the first ideal of boys in the Central Plains. And now it is a troubled time, not to mention ordinary scholars, even the family has to look at the faces of the princes. Therefore, in Cao Cao's view, literati like Gao Fan are just a group of minions attached to power. Talents like Xun Yu, Xun You, Liu Ye and others can really be called people who seek the country, and they deserve to be treated with courtesy by Cao Mengde.

So ignoring the flattery of Gao Fan and others, Cao Cao once again set his eyes on Xu Huang and said, "Gu is about to return to Shiye City." Zhao Jun asked Gongming also. ”

Xu Huang has always been low-key, and he is known as "unacceptable" in the army. belongs to Xu Huang". At this moment, when he heard that Cao Cao was going to appoint him to pass through Zhao County, Xu Huang hurriedly excused himself and said, "Huang is still young, I am afraid it will be difficult to take on this great responsibility." However, General Miaocai bravely crowned the three armies, and his presence in Zhao County would definitely be able to deter Zhucheng. ”

Cao Cao narrowed his eyes and looked Xu Huang up and down after hearing this, but saw that the latter's face was frank and did not have the slightest flattery. Cao Cao also hesitated. After all, Xiahou Yuan does have the talent to take charge of one side. But what made Cao Cao care more was Xu Huang's humility. Although Cao Cao is known for his "meritocracy". But the ten fingers stretched out are long and short, and Cao Cao will naturally have relatives and sparse employees. Among them, the most important and trusted are the children of the Cao family and the Xiahou family. Next is a talented talent like Xu Huang who has no deep background. On the contrary, Cao Cao, who had a prominent background, was quite cautious in his appointment. And this is also a big difference between him and Yuan Shao. As for Cai Ji, because of his lack of family support, he is more "taboo-free" than Cao Cao in terms of employing people. However, it is good to be conservative. Be radical or not. There will always be comparisons between subordinates and subordinates. Xu Huang did not have enough prestige to lead the party, as he said, and Cao Cao's appointment was somewhat whimsical. Xu Huang was able to resign from the Lord's appointment at this moment, which shows that he is a self-aware gentleman. So the next moment. Cao Cao complied with his wish and nodded and said, "That's it." Komeito went south with Gu. ”

"Whoa." Xu Huang breathed a sigh of relief and clenched his fists to lead the way.

At the beginning of October of the fifth year of Jian'an, Cao Cao left Xiahou Yuan to garrison Yiyang, and he led his troops south to join Cao Ang's troops outside Yecheng. When Yuan Shu heard the news, the city gate was closed and he couldn't keep it. Cao Cao took advantage of the situation to destroy all the mountains and tunnels outside the city, and dug another trench to surround Yecheng, and its encirclement reached more than 40 miles. At first, Yuan Shu saw that Cao's trench was dug very shallowly, and it seemed that he could cross it with one foot, and he was afraid of Cao Cao's military might, so he did not send troops out of the city to destroy. But who knew that Cao Cao was widely recruiting strong Ding, sent people to dredge at night, and overnight, dug a deep trench two zhang deep and two zhang wide, and introduced the water of the Zhanghe River into the trench. So early the next morning, Yuan Shu saw a "lock" city river emerging under the city of Yecheng overnight. Although Yuan Shu knew that this river would completely cut off the connection between Yecheng and the outside world, in the face of the powerful Cao Cao, he had to continue to passively trap Yecheng, and at the same time secretly prayed in his heart that Yuan Shang and Yuan Xi could do something to relieve him, the imperial uncle.

Yuan Shang was concerned about his mother's safety, but he didn't have the idea of sitting on the mountain and watching the tiger fight. It's just that due to the siege of Xiahou Yuan, he is also powerless to rescue Yecheng. Yuan Xi, on the other hand, always focused his attention on Hejian City. After learning that Tai Shi Cizhen led his troops to the Qing River, he could no longer resist the temptation, and happily gathered 20,000 soldiers and horses to attack the Hejian City, which had already been emptied.

It is said that although Tai Shici only left 3,000 men and horses to support the scene in Hejian City. But in order to make the play sufficient, these 3,000 soldiers still held the determination to die and blocked the menacing Yuan Xibu. The fierce battle lasted for two days, and it was not until the early morning of the third day that the defender Tian Yi sent an envoy to surrender to Yuan Xi.

"Tian Yi has descended!" Yuan Xi, who was suffering from a headache in the big tent of the Chinese army for the past two days, couldn't help but jump up from the straw mat excitedly when he heard that Hejian City had surrendered.

However, Han Heng, who was sitting on the side, frowned, and muttered to himself in a cautious tone, "I was still fighting to the death the day before, and I will surrender on this day." I'm afraid it's a fraud......"

Zhang Nan, a partial general sitting opposite, waved his hand disapprovingly and said, "Why did the military advisor say this." Yesterday, my son-in-law almost wanted to break the city, and the Qi army in the city surrendered with a weak heart. And not surprisingly. ”

"yes." Jiao Yi, the general under Yuan Xi's account, also echoed, "I think that Tian Yi was born in the Tian clan of Heshuo." It is not surprising that Noda Feng's nephew will have his heart set on the Yuan family. ”

After listening to Jiao Touch's words, Han Heng immediately sneered and shook his head, "Tian Feng died unexpectedly, how could Tian Yi have his heart set on the Yuan family." ”

Although Han Heng's words were true, they were quite harsh to Yuan Xi's ears. In addition, Yuan Xi at this time only wanted to take down the river as much as possible, in case Tai Shici turned back and let the cooked duck fly away. So after pondering for a while, Yuan Xi waved his hand to Han Heng and persuaded, "Zipei's words are wrong. Tian Feng's death was a demon and a haunting task. Xi believes that Tian Yi's talent will be able to distinguish right from wrong. ”

"The general is wise." Zhang Nan and Jiao Touch both clasped their fists and praised. In fact, the reason why the two of them spoke for Tian Yi. It's not because of their friendship. It's that Zhang Nan and Jiao Touch no longer want to consume soldiers and horses in siege battles. You must know that these soldiers and horses are the foundation of their life in troubled times, and they can take the river one day earlier and divide the goods in the city. It's better than drinking the northwest wind outside the city.

Han Heng saw that Yuan Xi had reached a consensus with Zhang Nan and Jiao Touch, and knew that no matter how much he said, it would be in vain. Then he pushed the boat down the river and said, "The general trusts Tian Yi so much. It should be surrendered as much as possible, so as not to have too many dreams at night. ”

"Zipei has a point." Yuan Xi nodded again and again, turned around and ordered, "Spread the word to the envoy of Hejian, this general has asked Tian Yi to Feng Le Chenghou and let him quickly change guards with Wang Shi." ”

Tian Yi was already shouldering the heavy responsibility of leading Yuan Xi into the cave. After getting Yuan Xi's reply. The Qi army in Hejian City naturally completed the change of defense with Yuan Xi's department at the fastest speed. So in the afternoon of the same day. Yuan Xi, under the personal greeting of Tian Yi, led his troops into Hejian City.

The news of Yuan Xi's capture of Hejian greatly boosted the morale of Handan. As for the reward for Tian Yi and Le Chenghou, Yuan Shang also cashed in very happily. After all, at this time, like Liu Xie in Xu Du, he is most lacking in all kinds of titles. What's more, Cao Cao had only named the "traitor" Han Fan as the Marquis of Guan Nei before. Yuan Shang naturally wanted to seize this opportunity to show the various forces in Heshuo that he Yuan Shang was by no means stingy.

However, before Yuan Shang's holy decree could reach Hejian City, the Tai Shi Ci had already gathered 20,000 soldiers and horses from the three counties of Qinghe, Julu, and Bohai to kill back to Hejian County. Yuan Jun, who was afraid of Taishi Ci's prestige, was frightened by the fact that he was frightened. But Yuan Xi, who had just lived in Hejian Mansion for a few days, was unwilling to run away with his tail between his legs. After all, the entire Da Chen still expects him, a great general, to achieve a great victory and boost morale. So on the night when he got the battle report, Yuan Xi recruited a cadre of civil servants and military generals into the palace to discuss countermeasures.

"Tai Shi Ci has led 20,000 soldiers and horses to the border between the rivers, what are your countermeasures to this?" As soon as Yuan Xi came up, he threw the question to the civil and military forces present.

Although he had expected that the Qi army would fight back, Tai Shici's speed of advance still made everyone present gasp. saw Zhang Nantou shouting, "Withdraw!" This matter will not be withdrawn, and when! ”

Han Heng glanced at Zhang Nan vigilantly. It is said that since the fight to the south, Zhang Nan and Jiao Touch's arrogance has grown day by day, and has even reached the point of disgust. In order to balance these two people, Han Heng also made a statement to Yuan Xi that he would recruit more soldiers in Jizhou and select loyal people as generals. But that's easy to say, but it's a different story entirely. Regardless of the declining Yuan's family, it is difficult to recruit a decent song to vote. Even those strong men who are forced to pull can hardly form a decent combat power in a short period of time. Although Han Heng also felt that Hejian City was difficult to defend, out of the maintenance of Yuan Xi, he still opened his mouth and said, "General, it's a matter of morale, Heng thinks that it will be too late to send a team of soldiers and horses to block Tai Shici." ”

"Fight a battle and then retreat? That would not be a retreat, but a rout. Jiao Touch snorted disapprerovingly.

"If you haven't started a war yet, why should you be defeated!" Han Heng raised his eyebrows and glared back.

"Then ask the military advisor to personally lead the troops to stop Tai Shici." Jiao Touch waved his hand and said-for-tat. It is said that Han Heng was originally the master book under Jiao Tentacle. Yuan Xi admired Han Heng's talent and transferred him to his side as a military advisor, and later appointed him as a special driver in Youzhou. Han Heng, who was deeply favored by Yuan Xi's acquaintance, began to call himself a retainer of the Yuan family. And this made Jiao Touch quite unpleasant.

Yuan Xi saw that Han Heng was arguing with Zhang Nan and Jiao Touch, and hurriedly came forward and said to the mud, "Don't be impatient. There may be other workarounds. ”

However, Yuan Xi's persuasion did not ease the atmosphere at the scene. Although Han Heng, Zhang Nan, and Jiao Touch no longer argued, the anger between the three of them was more depressing than verbal swords. Just when Yuan Xi thought that this discussion was going to end unhappily, Tian Yi, who was a newly attached person, broke the silence and said, "I wonder if the general has other soldiers and horses who can be transferred here to support?" ”

Yuan Xi was asked by Tian Yi like this, and couldn't help but fall into deep thought. Although he is known as the Great General Chen, the soldiers and horses he can mobilize are very limited. Not to mention the soldiers and horses who can fight with Tai Shici. But just when Yuan Xi was about to say "no", Zhang Nan took the lead in answering for him, "Isn't there still that Hu person." ”

"There are only more than 3,000 people in the building team, I'm afraid it will be difficult to succeed." Yuan Xi hesitated.

That's it! Tian Yi, who was holding back the ecstasy in his heart, pretended to be calm and persuaded Yuan Xi's words, "There are a lot of three thousand people." Hu rode like the wind, and was the best at harassment. ”

Zhang Nan didn't want to fight with Tai Shici, but when he heard Tian Yi say this at this moment, he nodded again and again and agreed, "Renqing is right, the Hu people have always been good at fighting, and that Wuhuan Xiaowang hates Cai Ji quite much. It is most appropriate for this group of people to stop Tai Shici. ”

"What if the floor class is intercepted and killed by the Qi army halfway?" Han Heng interjected.

Han Heng's words made Tian Yi's heart tense, and he felt a sense of emptiness that had been pierced through his heart. At the same time, he also secretly slandered in his heart, this Han Junshi is really troublesome, and he has to find a chance to shut him up. However, before Tian Yi could take action, Jiao Touch on the other side had already raised his nose for him, "Hmph, we are all in danger." Who cares about others. ”

"yes. is still the same sentence, if the Han military division feels that it is inappropriate, he will personally go into battle to kill the enemy. Zhang Nan followed and coaxed.

Facing Jiao Touch and Zhang Nan's rogue faces, although Han Heng's face turned red with anger, he was helpless. No matter how the elite of the army is still in the hands of these two people, if he continues to be so hard, he will only put the young lord in a dilemma. Thinking of this, Han Heng had to sigh helplessly and didn't say anything more.

Yuan Xi looked at Han Heng, then at Zhang Nan, Jiao Touch and others, and knew that it was his turn to make a decision. It is true that Yuan Xi also knows that he will take a lot of risks when he comes back from the transfer class. And Lou Ban is still a chess piece for the Yuan family to meddle in Wuhuan affairs. But the current situation no longer allows Yuan Xi to hesitate. As Jiao Touch said, now that everyone is in danger, it is naturally impossible to care too much about the life and death of Lou Ban and others. I don't have the energy to care about how to collect the Wuhuan departments in the future. How to survive is the most important thing for everyone to consider at the moment. So Yuan Xi finally cleared his throat and announced, "According to what Zhu Jun said, the Zhaolou squad will return to the river to stop Tai Shici." (To be continued)