"Prepare? What to do in advance? Xiahou was furious and shouted, "Do you want me to surrender to Thief Chen?" Hmph, I'd rather die in battle than surrender to Thief Chen! ”

Cao Chun said: "Our army is defeated, and the soldiers and horses of the imperial court are here in a blink of an eye, shouldn't we move the lord's family to a safe place as soon as possible?" Gongzi Cao Ang, who has been smart since childhood, if there is really anything wrong with the lord, I will assist Gongzi Ang to inherit the unfinished business of the lord!"

Xiahoudun was stunned for a moment, and then suddenly, he bowed deeply to Cao Chun and said, "If it weren't for Zihe's words, he would have almost missed a big deal!" ”

With the heart of death gone, Xiahoudun immediately restored the level that a famous general should have, and he said to Cao Chun: "Now that the lord has been defeated, we only have three cities left in our hands, and we are by no means the opponent of the imperial army." Now the plan is only to temporarily go north to seek refuge in Jizhou Mu Yuan Shao! ”

Cao Chun said: "In this case, without further ado, the general will prepare first, and I will go and inform Juancheng and Fan County!" ”

The two of them had already made up their minds and immediately went their separate ways. Xiahoudun counted the soldiers and horses, packed up his bags, and prepared to break through. Cao Chun took more than 100 cavalry to inform Xun Yu and Cheng Yu, wanting them to flee to Hebei with them. When Xun Yu heard that Cao Cao was defeated, his face changed greatly, and he grabbed Cao Chun's sleeve and asked, "Where is the lord?" ”

Cao Chun replied bitterly: "The Xiliang Iron Cavalry has covered the battlefield, and the whereabouts of the lord are unknown!" ”

Xun Yu paused and said: "If the lord is still there, even if the army is defeated, we can hold on and wait for the changes in the world." Now that the whereabouts of the lord are unknown, he can only defect to Yuan Jizhou! ”

Cao Chun said: "Yuan Rang said the same, the military advisor, please take the soldiers and horses in the city and retreat with me!" ”

Xun Yu then picked up thousands of steps in the city and rode towards Dong'a. Xun Yu agreed to temporarily withdraw to Hebei, but Cheng Yu refused to withdraw with him. He is a native of Dongjun, and now he is in his fifties, neither like Xun Yu, who is a well-known scholar in China, nor like Xiahoudun who is Cao Cao's brother, what good can he do if he runs away to Hebei? It's better to stay.

Cheng Yu Zhengse said: "Wen Ruo only escorts the lord's family to the north, and I can attract the enemy's attention here!" ”

Xun Yu and Cao Chun persuaded again and again, but Cheng Yu always insisted on his own opinion, and the two had no choice but to take the soldiers and horses to join Xiahoudun first, and then retreated all the way across the Yellow River and went to Jizhou Mu Yuan Shao.

Chen Cheng withdrew to Yanzhou with his soldiers and horses, captured many Cao army routs along the way, joined Zang Ba's army near Feng County, and met Liu Bei and others who rushed over after hearing that Cao Cao's army was defeated. Liu Bei brought only 2,000 cavalry, of which no more than 300 cavalry. The armor of the soldiers is a little old, and it is covered with traces of sword slashing, which looks like it has a murderous taste.

After seeing Chen Cheng again, Zang Ba only felt that the other party was surrounded by a domineering aura that people couldn't look at directly. He, Sun Guan, Wu Dun and other generals knelt on the ground and said, "Meet the general!" ”

Liu Bei, Guan Yu, Zhang Fei, Chen Zhi and others on the side also knelt down together, and said in unison: "Meet the general!" ”

Zang Ba was beaten by Cao Cao several times, and Liu Bei was once beaten by Cao Cao and began to doubt life, they knew that Cao Cao was terrible. But even Cao Cao's army, which was so strong, also turned into ashes in two days. The strength of the combat effectiveness of the Xiliang Army shocked them.

In the battle of Pengcheng a few days ago, the Cao army suffered heavy casualties, and a large number of famous generals of the Cao army, such as Xiahou Yuan, Li Dian, Le Jin, and Dian Wei, were killed. These generals had already established a prestige in the process of conquering Yanzhou and attacking Xuzhou, and they were all famous generals who caused headaches to the surrounding princes.

But it was only one defeat, and the prestige that these people had built up in the past was in vain. Instead, there were Lu Bu, Ma Chao, Pang De, Bao Zhu and other generals of the rising Western Liang Army. The generals of the Xiliang Army stepped on the corpses of the generals and colonels of the Cao Army and stepped onto the stage of the world.

Seeing Liu Bei and the others kneeling on the ground, Chen Cheng hurriedly jumped off the horse. He took a few steps forward, helped Liu Bei up, and said, "Why is my brother so polite? ”

Liu Bei said with some shame: "The imperial court appointed me as the pastor of Xuzhou, but I can't protect the people in the state, so that I need to bother the general to go out........."

Chen Cheng stopped Liu Bei from continuing and said, "Although Cao Cao is brutal, his ability to fight with soldiers is not comparable to few in the world today. The elder brother clashed with Cao's army many times in Xuzhou, and although he suffered many defeats, he always insisted on resisting. If it weren't for the fact that the main force of Cao's army was pinned down by my brother, I wouldn't have been able to take the opportunity to capture Yanzhou. Really speaking, the first credit for defeating Cao Cao should belong to the elder brother. ”

Liu Bei was greatly moved when he heard this, but Ma Chao on the side, Fa Zheng and the others all showed unhappy expressions. However, although they were not satisfied with Chen Cheng's statement, they did not dare to question it face-to-face. Only Lu Bu snorted coldly and said, "Can it be considered credit if you don't surrender?" Or is it the head work? What do we think of the soldiers who fought bloody battles with Cao Cao? ”

Guan Yu and Zhang Fei were furious, stood up from the ground suddenly, and pressed their hands on the hilt of the knife. When Lu Bu saw it, he sneered: "If you have a kind, you draw your sword and try it!" ”

Liu Bei turned around and shouted, "Yun Changyi must not be rude!" ”

Chen Cheng also glared at Lu Bu, and said angrily: "I keep all the merits you have made in my heart, and I will not miss your reward!" ”

He helped Zang Ba, Sun Guan and others up, and said: "Get up, everyone is a meritorious man, when I return to Chang'an, I will naturally play to the Son of Heaven, and then reward my deeds!" ”

After Chen Cheng led Zang Ba, Liu Bei and others into the city, Ma Chao, who stayed in place, said angrily: "We waited for the charge to have today's situation, what credit does Liu Bei have?" ”

He knew that Fa Zheng was the favored person of the great general Chen Cheng, so he said to Fa Zheng: "You have to tell the lord to be filial!" ”

Fa Zheng is arrogant and intelligent, although he is also a little dissatisfied with Liu Bei taking the first credit, but said: "If the heroes rise together, the lord needs to recruit heroes from all over the world, so he said that, no matter how Liu Bei is, that is, Xuzhou Mu, can the lord increase his territory again?" The reward for meritorious deeds will only fall on our heads! ”

Ma Chao was overjoyed when he heard this: "I see! ”

Lu Bu, who had not yet gone far on the side, was stunned when he heard Fa Zheng's words, and said in his heart: Chen Wenzheng is so treacherous, no wonder I can't fight him!

In Fengcheng, Chen Cheng prepared a banquet and invited Liu Bei, Guan Yu, Zhang Fei, Zang Ba, Sun Guan and others, and called Lu Bu, Ma Chao, Pang De, Bao Chu, Wei Ran, Zhao Si, Ding Yuan and others. Because it is in the army, everything is simple, the dishes are not exquisite, but the big fish and meat are stewed, and the wine is a lot.

Generals in the army are all bad at drinking, and it is very rare for someone like Chen Cheng to not like to drink. Lu Bu, Ma Chao and others are usually constrained by military discipline and dare not drink in the army, but now that the ban has been lifted, they naturally eat meat in large pieces and drink wine in large bowls. Liu Bei, Guan Yu, Zhang Fei and others, who were chased by Cao Cao before, had no way to go to the sky, had no way to enter the ground, and were surrounded in the city by Cao Jun several times, several times, Liu Bei felt that he couldn't hold on.

As for Zang Ba, Sun Guan and others, they were originally Taishan thieves, although they were absorbed by Tao Qian, they were still regarded as thieves by the surrounding princes. Even if they didn't scold their faces, they would speak ill of them behind their backs. Now that they have hugged the thick leg of the general, it is equivalent to whitewashing, and they are all very happy, so they all drink happily.

Chen Cheng held the wine glass, starting with Liu Bei, and toasted one by one. He is now in a high position, but he still maintains an approachable style, there is no slightest arrogance on his body, and he speaks well, so the atmosphere in the hall quickly became warm. It was Fa Zheng and Meng Da, because they were still young, they were not allowed to drink on weekdays, and Chen Cheng also went up to toast them a few glasses.

"Third Brother Zhang, you have never cared about etiquette." Chen Cheng saluted, took the wine glass to Zhang Fei's side, and said with a smile: "Brother Xuande and Second Brother Guan are just that, why are you still kneeling to me?" It's not like you at all! ”

Zhang Fei laughed and said: "I know Wenzheng, you are impatient with those vulgar etiquette, but the eldest brother and the second brother have both knelt down, and I, who is the third brother, of course, can only kneel down with me!" ”

He reached out and punched Chen Cheng in the chest, and said excitedly: "But it's really yours, Cao Cao's kid has a lot of generals, and it's really not easy to deal with, but you were cleaned up by Wen Zheng in two days!" I heard that in the vicinity of Pengcheng back then, the overlord of Western Chu also defeated Emperor Gaozu so quickly. Wen Zheng, you, the Xiliang Overlord, are no worse than the Chu Overlord! ”

Zhang Fei drank a little too much, was very excited, and had a close relationship with Chen Cheng, so he had no scruples when he spoke.

"Wen Zheng, you are the overlord of Chu, and the eldest brother is surnamed Liu, so aren't my second brother and I Fan Hao and Zhou Bo? It's a pity that Yuanlong didn't come, otherwise, you must like it! ”

Liu Bei turned his head and reproached: "Yide, you are drunk, and you have started to talk nonsense!" ”

Zhang Fei shouted: "I'm not drunk!" ”

Liu Bei glanced at Zhang Fei, who was shouting, and couldn't help but shake his head, he asked Guan Yu to look at Zhang Fei a little, then turned his head and said to Chen Cheng: "Now that Cao Cao has been defeated, and most of Yanzhou has been pacified, the remaining Juancheng, Fanxian, Dong'e and other places must be able to be taken soon." Now that the Central Plains has been decided, I wonder when Wen Zheng is going to move the Son of Heaven and the imperial court back to Luoyang? ”

Chen Cheng once killed more than a dozen important ministers of the court in Chang'an, which shocked the world, and Liu Bei also heard about it. In his mind, now that Liangzhou, Guanzhong, Bingzhou, Sili, Yanzhou, and Xuzhou have all returned to the imperial court, the day of peace in the world is not far away, and it is time to move the imperial court back to Luoyang.

As for Chen Cheng's arrogance and arrogance, Liu Bei didn't care too much about taking power to himself. Since the rise of Guangwu Zhongxing, it is not uncommon for a foreign relative to become a general and then take control of the imperial court. Although Chen Cheng did not have a sister to marry today's son, he married Liu Qian, the princess of Wannian, and he could be regarded as a relative.

If the general is not a little domineering, can he still be a general?