"Let the Son of Heaven return to the old capital?"

Chen Cheng shook his head and said, "It's not that my brother hasn't seen Luoyang's dilapidated appearance, it's not even three or five years, and there are not even enough people to repair the palace over there." ”

Liu Bei said: "Although this is the case, it is not a long-term solution to let the Son of Heaven live in Chang'an after all. ”

Chen Cheng smiled and said, "When the world is calm, it's not too late to welcome the Son of Heaven back to Luoyang." ”

So Liu Bei stopped talking, and instead toasted Chen Cheng a few glasses. Although Chen Cheng feels that drinking alcohol is no different from drinking water, he does not object to it or hate it, and he drinks it whenever he raises his glass. The atmosphere at the banquet soon reached its peak, and the generals talked loudly, boasting about their martial bravery and military exploits.

It wasn't until the middle of the moon that the feast ended. The next day, Chen Gong sent someone to deliver a message, saying that Juancheng and Dong'a had surrendered without a fight, and only Fan County was still holding on. Chen Cheng said goodbye to Liu Bei, Guan Yu and others, and asked them to lead their troops back to Xuzhou. Xuzhou fought a series of battles last year and this year, and the soldiers and civilians suffered heavy casualties, and they needed to recuperate for a period of time.

He also ordered Zang Ba to lead troops to Langya County to resist the high-level cadres in Qingzhou. He himself went to Fan County with the tooth soldiers and Xu Rongbu, preparing to pull out this last nail. On the way to Fan County, Chen Gong joined in with tens of thousands of soldiers and horses. When he was in Yongqiu, Chen Cheng said that he asked Yanzhou to prepare 30,000 soldiers and horses, ready to join the battle of the other party Cao Cao. But soon, he threw off the Zang Bajun and the Yanzhou army, and led the Xiliang Iron Cavalry to rush forward, and directly defeated the main force of the Cao army in a sudden attack.

In this way, Chen Gong does not have to continue to recruit soldiers and horses. There are already a lot of Cao army routs just gathered.

"Chen Gong meets the general!"

Chen Cheng dismounted and helped Chen Gong up, and said, "What is the situation in Fan County?" Why have the other two cities fallen, but Fan County is still insisting? ”

Chen Gong took the opportunity to stand up, his expression more respectful than before, and he replied: "Xun Yu of Juancheng and Xiahoudun of Dong'e fled to Hebei with Cao Cao's family. Cheng Yu from Fan County didn't go with them, but stayed and continued to resist! ”

Cheng Yu? This name Chen Cheng is quite familiar with, and he knows that he was promoted by Cao Cao, and he is from Dongjun like Chen Gong. However, Chen Gong changed from Cao Cao's henchman to a rebel, and Cheng Yu, Cao Cao's other henchman, held on to the city and refused to surrender.

Chen Cheng asked: "Cheng Yu insists on not surrendering, what does the public station think we should deal with?" ”

Chen Gong's expression was a little heavy, he sighed, and said: "Although Zhongde is a famous man in Yanzhou, he doesn't know the number of days, and he is ignorant and loyal to Cao Cao, and now he is not willing to wake up, then we have to send troops to attack the city." ”

Cheng Yu, the word Zhongde. Although his background is not as good as Xun Yu and others, his reputation in Yanzhou is not bad.

Chen Cheng asked with interest: "Then if Cheng Yu is caught, what should I do?" ”

Chen Gong hesitated for a moment, and arched his hand: "Naturally, I ask the general to decide." ”

Chen Cheng smiled and said, "Then let's go and meet this Cheng Zhongde who refuses to surrender." ”

He rode to the city of Fanxian County, and shouted at the city: "I am Chen Cheng, the general of the imperial court, please Cheng Zhongde come out to answer!" ”

Seeing so many soldiers and horses from outside the city, the defenders in the city were already panicking. Now that I heard that the general had arrived in person, there was a commotion in the city. The news of Cao Cao's defeat soon spread throughout Yanzhou, and the news spread quickly to all sides, and Fan County naturally got the news. The soldiers and civilians in the city wanted to surrender, but they were persuaded by Cheng Yu.

There was a commotion in the city for a while, but it quickly calmed down again. Then, Cheng Yu poked his head out of the city and said to the city: "You said that you are the general of the imperial court, but what proof do you have?" ”

Prove? There's really nothing to prove your identity, and no one seems to have doubted your identity before. He looked to the side, pointed to Chen Gong and said, "This is the new Yanzhou Mu, can he prove it?" ”

At the head of the city, Cheng Yu had already seen Chen Gong, and when he heard this, he replied: "Chen Gongtai's words are of course credible. ”

Chen Gong's face trembled, and he said loudly to Cheng Yu: "Zhongde, this is the general of the imperial court. You have seen the soldiers and horses we have brought, and they are by no means able to withstand the few men in your city. Now that Cao Cao has been defeated, why do you continue to resist stubbornly? It is better to abandon the darkness and turn to the light, and the lives of the people in the city can be saved! ”

Cheng Yu smiled at the head of the city: "Since it is the general in person, then I will open the city gate and welcome the general into the city!" ”

Chen Gong thought that the other party would reprimand him angrily, or say something other disgusting, but he didn't expect Cheng Yu to immediately say that he was going to surrender. Just when he was stunned, the city gate opened wide in the sound of "creaking", and then Cheng Yu led the defenders in the city out, knelt on the ground and asked to surrender.

Chen Cheng stepped forward, came to Cheng Yu's side, and asked, "Zhongde was still holding on before, why did he suddenly surrender?" ”

Cheng Yu said respectfully: "After the defeat of Cao Gong's army, the state was routed and scattered in all directions. In order to protect the people, the city gates had to be closed until the arrival of the great general. ”

Chen Gong's expression became ugly, but Chen Cheng laughed, he turned over and dismounted, helped Cheng Yu up, and said: "With the talent of the public, it is too aggrieved to be a county commander." Now that Yanzhou has been decided, it is in need of a great talent like Zhongde to stabilize the place, so it is better for Your Excellency to serve as the Taishou of Dongjun, how about it? ”

Cheng Yu bowed to the ground and replied: "If you make a certain person govern Dongjun, you should do your best to live up to the kindness of the general." ”

Chen Gong hurriedly said on the side: "Dongjun already has a Taishou, how can you let Cheng Yu be in charge?" ”

Chen Cheng seemed to be casually saying, "Wouldn't it be okay to remove the Taishou in front?" Could it be that Gongtai thinks that Zhongde's talent is not enough to guard a county? ”

Chen Gong was dumbfounded, although he was still unwilling, he could only endure it temporarily. He is a Yanzhou pastor, and he has the opportunity to install his own people. Although the general is strong and strong, can he stay in Yanzhou forever? And later!

With the surrender of Fancheng, the entire Yanzhou was pacified. Cao Cao spent several years leveling the Yellow Turbans, chasing the Liukou, conquering the east and the west, and successively defeated countless strong enemies around him, so that he had the entire territory of Yanzhou. But his rule seemed indestructible, and his army seemed majestic, but after the soldiers raised the banner of rebellion, it all fell into the hands of others in only one month.

In the Central Plains, in Hebei, the strength of the scholars is strong, which can be seen from this. I don't know if Cao Mengde regrets his bad attitude towards scholars now, or regrets that he is not ruthless enough to treat scholars. But no matter what he thinks, there is nothing he can do about Chen Gong and these people now.

Chen Cheng defeated the main force of Cao's army in two days, shaking the world. Originally, although Chen Cheng had a reputation for martial arts and bravery, and it was rumored that he was good at using soldiers, he was only in the remote place of Liangzhou, and later came to Guanzhong, but the princes of Guandong have always looked down on this kind of mud leg without heels.

How could a master who was not from a famous family and was not a world-famous master of scripture be recognized by the upper class of the Kanto region? After all, Cao Cao is still his own person, and what kind of thing is Chen Wenzheng? It's just an old martial artist! This kind of person is worthy of being the lackey of their scholars!

But it was such a martial artist who was despised by the scholars, who first subdued the princes of Xiliang, then annexed Guanzhong, annexed the state, then occupied the division, and now defeated Yanzhou! If you add the Xuzhou occupied by Liu Bei, Chen Cheng's forces have already divided the whole world into two halves!

Cao Cao is not comparable to Dong Zhuo and his ilk, and Yanzhou is not comparable to Guanzhong and Xiliang. After capturing Yanzhou, the Xiliang Iron Cavalry is now able to gallop freely on the land of the Central Plains. Liu Biao, Liu Xian and others, who were farther away, were shocked, but they were not frightened, but Yuan Shao of Hebei felt that his scalp was about to stand up! .

Yuan Benchu had just driven Gongsun Zhan and Zhang Yan out of Hebei, and was shifting from strategic stalemate to strategic offensive. If Yanzhou in the south were to join the enemy's camp again, the good situation that had been achieved after years of struggle would be gone forever.

After hearing of Cao Cao's defeat, Yuan Shao urgently ordered his son Yuan Tan, who was far away in Runan, to recruit soldiers and horses in case of contingencies, and on the other hand, he sent envoys to Yanzhou and Chang'an to express his respect to the imperial court and Chen Cheng respectively. If Chen Cheng came to Hebei again after conquering Yanzhou, then he would unite with Liu Biao and other princes to attack Yanzhou from the south. If Chen Cheng stopped there, then he could also eliminate Gongsun Chan first.

Yuan Shao's actions can be said to be ready for war and both. In addition to these measures, he also sent people to contact Liu Bei of Xuzhou and Chen Gong of Yanzhou, hoping that everyone can get along in harmony. Liu Bei and Chen Gong now have their own troubles, so they are naturally very interested in peace proposals, and they both promise to help them say a few kind words in front of the general.

Of course, Chen Cheng didn't have the intention of continuing to fight, the current imperial court was like using the Seven Wounds Fist, and every time he hit the enemy, he didn't know if he was uncomfortable or not, and he had to spit out a few mouthfuls of blood first. Last year, Guanzhong had just been pacified, and there were two major earthquakes, and it was already dying, but after Chen Cheng took Yan Zhong and others to work overtime, they breathed a sigh of relief.

In the following year, he sent troops to attack and annex the state, and exhausted the few stocks of grain. This time the troops were sent to Yanzhou, and there was even only ten days of food in the army, if Yanzhou could not provide grain and grass, the seemingly powerful Xiliang army would only have to eat large households to survive.

Fortunately, Cao Cao's army was also exhausted for a long time, and he was often hungry and full, and his morale was very bad. As a result, the battle went smoothly and the goals set before the war were successfully achieved. Now that Yuan Shao wants to maintain peace, at least on the surface, Chen Cheng has responded to the request for peace very warmly.

He happily said that the imperial court soldiers and horses would soon be withdrawn, as long as Hebei was willing to sell grain to him.

Selling grain?

"Yes," Chen Cheng said to Yuan Shao's envoy, "we can pay the bill with gold coins, silver coins, copper coins, cloth, and even war horses and weapons!" ”