Although Bingzhou and Jingzhou are thousands of miles apart, the news of Zhao Yunbing's defeat and trapped in the Yin Pavilion still reached the Cao army camp on the bank of the Hanshui River within a few days. At nightfall, Cao Cao carefully read the sentence note war report that had just been delivered by the oil lamp. As his gaze slowly moved, the expression on Cao Cao's face gradually changed from initial solemnity to disdain, and finally to a contemptuous sneer.

Seeing this, Cao Zhi, who was sorting out the paperwork for Cao Cao on the side, asked curiously, "Why did my father laugh?" ”

Cao Zhi is Cao Cao's fourth son, don't look at him just turned ten years old this year, as if he can already speak for himself, put pen to paper, and recite poems, essays, and dictionaries hundreds of thousands of words, so he won Cao Cao's favor at a young age. It's just that Cao Cao's pampering method is not the same as that of ordinary fathers. He does not let his young son hide in the comfort of his back and "grow up in the hands of a woman", but will drive the young out of the nest like a mountain eagle and force them to spread their wings. Therefore, Cao Cao took his third son Cao Zhang and fourth son Cao Zhi with him on this southern expedition. Cao Zhang is two or three years older than Cao Zhixu, likes martial arts and hates literature, and is good for generals, and after he entered the camp, he pestered Xu Chu and others all day long to dance knives and guns. And Cao Zhi followed Cao Cao to study the art of war.

At this moment, in the face of his son's inquiry, Cao Cao put the battle report in his hand on the case, and asked with great interest, "Where is Zijian's Art of War?" ”

Cao Zhi saw that his father was suddenly admitted to the school to learn his own knowledge, and hurriedly replied, "The thirteen chapters of "The Art of War" have been memorized. ”

Cao Cao nodded with satisfaction, although the length of "The Art of War" is not very long, but with Cao Zhi's age, he can memorize thirteen articles in such a short time, which shows that he is extremely intelligent and diligent and studious. Of course, it is one thing to be able to memorize the art of war, but it is another thing to be able to understand the art of war and even make use of it. Thinking of this, Cao Cao asked his son again, "There are thousands of people in the world who can memorize military books. However, those who can strategize and win thousands of miles are one in a thousand. Zijian knows why this is? ”

"There is a distinction between the ordinary and the virtuous and the foolish." Cao Zhi replied without thinking, his eyes flashing with confidence that was difficult to hide.

If it is a scholarly family that adheres to the golden mean, Cao Zhi's humble attitude will inevitably be warned by his elders. But Cao Cao not only didn't care, on the contrary, he also admired Cao Zhi's self-confidence. It is said that Cao Ang was influenced by Mrs. Ding and was humble and polite since he was a child. That's certainly a good thing. It's just that in comparison, Cao Cao still prefers Cao Zhi with a similar personality to him. So Cao Cao, who was interested, stared at his son again and continued to ask, "How to distinguish the ordinary?" How to distinguish between the wise and the foolish? ”

This time, the young Cao Zhileng paused, and after tilting his little head and thinking about it for a long time, he finally shook his head honestly. "The child is dull, please ask the father to teach me."

Cao Cao didn't care, and instead pointed out to Cao Zhi with great interest, "The soldiers are treacherous, so the leaders are talented because of the situation." Those who carve boats and seek swords are mediocre. ”

Cao Zhi heard his father say this, and then looked at the battle report on the case. Immediately draw inferences from each other. "Father means, Gao Gan's ambush of Zhao Yun and the soldiers surrounding the Yin Pavilion this time is to carve a boat for a sword?"

"Gao Gan is just a martial artist, this plan must be from Wei Gu's hands." Cao Cao waved his hand, and then the corners of his mouth once again raised a trace of disdain, "Wei Gu is a man with many plans and no breaks, and he ambushed Zhao Yun and soldiers around the Yin Pavilion. Most of them want to besiege the city and send reinforcements. It's just that if Cai Anzhen comes to encircle Wei to save Zhao, Wei Gu's plan is afraid that it will be useless. ”

The allusion to the siege of Wei and the rescue of Zhao originated from the Warring States period. During the Warring States period, Wei besieged Handan, the capital of Zhao State. Zhao Guo begged for help from Qi State. Qi generals Tian Ji and Sun Bin led an army to rescue Zhao, and took advantage of the emptiness of the capital of Wei to lead troops to attack Wei directly. The Wei army came to the rescue. Taking advantage of its exhaustion, the Qi army defeated the Wei army in the middle of the way, and then relieved the siege of Zhao. And the strategy of encircling Wei and rescuing Zhao was often adopted by later generations of soldiers.

After listening to Cao Cao's explanation, Cao Zhi first nodded as if he didn't understand, then breathed a long sigh of relief, clapped his hands and said quickly, "Wonderful! If so, the second brother is worry-free! ”

Hearing Cao Zhi mention Cao Pi, Cao Cao, who originally wanted to praise his son, immediately turned pale and silently took another official document and buried his head in it. Seeing this, Cao Zhi on the side knew that he had accidentally touched his father's heart, so he hurriedly lowered his head and pretended to sort out the paperwork.

I don't know when the second son of the Cao family has become a self-evident taboo in the Prime Minister's Mansion. Except for the letters sent by Qi Qi during the New Year's holidays, there was hardly any talk about Cao Pi in the Prime Minister's Mansion, for fear of angering Cao Cao by being careless as he had just done. As the younger brother of a fellow mother, Cao Zhi and Cao Zhang secretly inquired about Cao Pi's news for their mother, Mrs. Bian. However, the news from the outside world is varied, some people say that Cao Pi has become a slave of the Cai family in Qiying, leading horses and holding stools all day long, some people say that Cai Ji is the first woman in the world, and often beats her young husband all over the body, and some people say that Cao Pi and the ministers of Qiying bathe Cai Ji together. Because the latter was really unbearable, the short-tempered Cao Zhang fought with the speaker on the spot, and naturally was severely punished by his father. It was also from that day that Mrs. Bian no longer inquired about Cao Pi's news. However, Cao Zhi always firmly believes that his father has not given up on his second brother, and what his father is doing now is to protect his second brother, as long as the Cao family is strong enough, he will one day be able to force Cai Anzhen to return to his second brother.

Cao Pi, who was galloping on the grassland, picked up the bow and arrow hanging in front of the saddle, skillfully manipulated the horse with only his feet, and shot an escaped red fox to the ground with an arrow of his hand, which attracted the applause of the Wuhuan Tuqi behind him. However, Cao Pi did not care about the cheers of the crowd, but leaned forward to pick up the prey, and when he saw that the red fox's right eye was pierced by an arrow, the young man in the saddle showed a smug smile.

At the same time, Sun Quan, who was not far away, also caught up and greeted Cao Pi, "Zihuan has gained a lot today." ”

Cao Pi took the red fox into his pocket, and at the same time glanced at the skin bag on Sun Quan's saddle, and said, "Sun Gongzi is not bad." ”

"It's just a few pheasants and hares, which seem to be good at shooting left and right, and can hunt red foxes." Sun Quan grinned, and then turned his gaze to the horn bow in Cao Pi's hand and said curiously, "There is a way, if you want to do a good job, you must first sharpen your tools, Zihuan's bow is not simple." ”

"This is given by the Marquis of Qi." Cao Pi said lovingly stroking the horn bow. It turned out that that day, in the Hou Mansion, Cao Pi overwhelmed a young man and won the horn bow rewarded by Cai Ji. Although Tai Shiheng and the others felt unwilling, they had to admit that Cao Pi's archery skills were indeed better than them. However, Cao Pi interestingly did not participate in the subsequent literary examination. Because in his opinion, with his knowledge, winning the students of the martial arts hall is really a bit of a victory.

Seeing this, Sun Quan couldn't help but sigh in his heart, Cai Anzhen's treatment of Cao Ergongzi in front of him was indeed not thin. It's a pity that all kinds of exaggerated rumors about the two in the outside world are still endless, otherwise Sun Quan would not have made up his mind to replace Cao Pi before. Of course, if there is a chance at this moment, Sun Quan will still not hesitate to intervene. It's a pity that Cai Anzhen hasn't given him a chance to "express xiàn" so far, like this time Cai Ji left Sun Quan and Cao Pi in the rear again. To be more precise, Sun Quan and Cao Pi at this moment are a pair of disguises. It was used to cover Cai Ji, Zhang Liao, Pang Tong and others who were leading their troops westward.

In order to cover up Cai Ji's whereabouts and the dispatch of the Qi army, Pang Tong deliberately let Cao Pi and Sun Quan follow Cai Ji around, so as to create the illusion that Cao and Sun were wherever the Marquis of Qi was. Of course, this kind of golden cicada's plan to get out of its shell can't be hidden for long, but the Daijun of Youzhou is adjacent to Yanmen of Bingzhou, and only three or four days of hard work is enough to change the entire battle situation.

Cai Ji, who pinched his fingers and calculated that he had already led his troops to Pingcheng, thinking of this, Sun Quan glanced back and looked around, seeing that there was no one around, he couldn't help but ask Cao Pi curiously. "Zihuan, you said that the Marquis of Qi only led more than 20,000 people to the expedition, how could he take Pingcheng?"

Cao Pi couldn't help frowning slightly when he heard Sun Quan's question. Indeed, with only 20,000 horses, it was impossible to capture the important town of Pingcheng. But look at Jia Xu, Pang Tong and others first used Zhao Yun as bait. Later, the plan to make the golden cicada come out of its shell doesn't look like a hasty act. So after looking down and thinking about it. Cao Pi could only judge by his understanding. "I'm afraid that Master Pang is planning to besiege Wei and save Zhao."

Sun Quan did not agree with Cao Pi's analysis, and instead said what he was most interested in word by word, "Or the technique of landslide and earth cracking!" ”

"Landslide and Earth Split?!"

The high-ranking cadres in the Pingcheng General's Mansion led by Zhao Zhao stared at Yuan Tan in front of them with surprised expressions, waiting for him to explain what the technique of landslide and earth cracking was. To be honest, although the name of the landslide and earth cracking technique is resounding in the Central Plains, there are very few people who have really seen this technique. Yuan Tan, as a witness to the siege of the mountain earth cracking technique, did not want to disclose the secret of the landslide and earth cracking technique. But now that Cai Ji has personally led his troops into Pingcheng, he can't help but hide his secrets anymore.

I saw Yuan Tan look around at the generals present, and then took a deep breath and said slowly, "Perform the technique of landslide and earth cracking." It is necessary to send a team of sergeants to dig tunnels under the city, and then bury the 'magic medicine' to ignite the fire, and then thunder the city wall. ”

"That'...... What is a miracle medicine? Zhao blurted out. As the defender of Pingcheng, it is not that he has not considered the situation of the Qi army encircling Wei to save Zhao, but the opponent is Cai Anzhen, who knows spells, and he cannot be taken lightly.

However, Yuan Tan only knew a general process, not to mention the formula of the "miracle medicine", and he didn't even know how to choose the location to dig a tunnel to bury the "miracle medicine". At this moment, he was asked such a question, and he had to shake his head awkwardly and said, "This magic medicine is a secret thing made by Yu Ji, and now Yu Ji is dead, and Tan doesn't know." ”

When Zhao Zhao and the others heard Yuan Tan say this, they all showed disappointed expressions. It is said that many people were eager to let Yuan Tan demonstrate the legendary landslide and earth cracking technique a moment ago, but they never thought that it would be empty joy. However, after sighing slightly, he quickly regained his composure, but seeing that he lowered his head and pondered for a moment, he analyzed in a deep voice, "Regardless of what the magic medicine seems to be, if the technique of landslide and earth cracking is really as the prince said, it needs to dig a tunnel to be used, then it is not to be feared." ”

"General Zijing is right. We only need to stop the Qi army from digging tunnels, and we can prevent the technique of landslide and ground cracking. ”

"That's right! Sprinkle dog blood along the city walls! ”

"Cai Anzhen is no different."

Seeing that all the generals present had reduced the technique of Heaven Collapse to uselessness, Yuan Tan frowned again and cautiously reminded Zhao Zhao, "General, although the Heaven Collapse Technique is not as magical as rumored by the outside world, it should not be underestimated. What's more, this time it is Cai Ji himself, and the general must not be careless. ”

As soon as Yuan Tan's words came out, he immediately attracted a burst of strange eyes. In the eyes of many high-ranking cadres and generals, Yuan Tan's reaction was not cautious, but frightened. If it weren't for the fact that he was in an alliance with Gao Gan, I am afraid that some people would have laughed at him for being as timid as a mouse.

Although Yuan Tan was not as contemptuous as his other colleagues, he also felt that the Qi army who could not use the Heaven and Earth Splitting Technique was not to be feared. Regardless of the fact that according to the scout's report, the Qi army that marched into Pingcheng this time was less than 30,000 horses, even if the Qi army was really allowed to dig tunnels under the city to cause the heavens and the earth to collapse, it would not be possible without a month or two of effort. In a month or two, Gao Gan and others may have already captured the Yin Pavilion and dispatched troops to aid Pingcheng.

Thinking of this, he waved his hand and smiled at Yuan Tan, "The prince doesn't need to worry too much. Cai Ji's trip to Pingcheng this time was just a strategy to besiege Wei and save Zhao. All we need to do is defend the city, and this strategy will be self-defeating. ”

Yuan Tan couldn't help but sigh secretly when he saw that he didn't take his warning to heart at all. He had experienced this many times, and even he himself had despised Cai Ji as much as he did. As a result, Yuan Tan was rewarded with fiasco again and again. It is also from this fiasco again and again that Yuan Tan summed up an experience - Cai Anzhen is very human. Let's ask Cai Anzhen if she is an ordinary person, how can she be able to landslide and crack the ground, and if Cai Anzhen is an ordinary person, how can she lead the group of heroes to dominate one side as a woman. Therefore, ordinary people may not be able to conquer such an important town as Pingcheng with more than 20,000 soldiers and horses, but it does not mean that Cai Ji cannot do it.

However, at this time, Yuan Tan didn't argue with him anymore, because he knew very well that unless he saw it with his own eyes and experienced it himself, ordinary people would not believe what he said. Therefore, after the reminder failed, Yuan Tan decisively said to Zhao Zhao, "In this case, Gu will lead a team of soldiers and horses to be stationed outside the city, and Pingcheng will be the horns of each other." ”

Seeing that Yuan Tan offered to lead the troops out of the city, although he was a little surprised, he still planned to agree. This is because Yuan Tan's status is higher than that of the generals present, and he is not qualified to dominate this king of the plains. Second, Yuan Tan's departure at this time also made the move less restrictive. After all, Yuan Tan only had a thousand people under him, so even if he finally escaped outside the city, it would not have much impact on Pingcheng. So he immediately hugged his fist and nodded at Yuan Tan and said, "In this way, there is the king of Lao Pingyuan." ”

At the end of June of the seventh year of Jian'an, Qi Marquis Cai Ji personally led an army of 20,000 to reach the city of Pingcheng, and for a time the world's heroes were shocked, and they all thought that it was a plan to besiege Wei and save Zhao. It's just that Gao Gan will really send troops back to help like Pang Juan during the Warring States Period?

――――――

Small Theatre Hours:

Cao Zhang: If you practice martial arts, you must rescue the second brother!

Cao Zhi: Assisting my father must redeem my second brother!

Mystery Man (a mouthful of Jiangdong tune): The righteous big brother will definitely help you succeed!

Cao Pi: ............ (To be continued......)