Compared with Liu Cong's spring breeze, Cao Cao's New Year was not happy. After the defeat from Fancheng, it was not until the end of December that the soldiers were finally gathered and returned to Xuchang. Because it was a big defeat, many people in Xuchang City remembered Kong Rong and remembered the unrighteous teacher!

Soon the news of Sun Quan's attack on Hefei came, and the guard general sent three urgent letters a day asking for reinforcements. Of course, Cao Cao knew that Sun Quan had come to pick up the bargain, and Cao Cao had mobilized most of his soldiers for the southern expedition, but only a small number of soldiers had returned to Xuchang. Now the morale of this part of the soldiers is even lower than before the Southern Expedition, and at this time, even if they barely surpass Sun Quan in terms of strength, the outcome is still unpredictable.

Therefore, Cao Cao sent people to pacify the guards in Huaiyang, and on the other hand, he tried to draw soldiers from other places. When the news of the attack on Wancheng reached Xuchang, many generals thought that Liu Cong had fought back.

Cao Cao had no choice but to come out again to appease, knowing that although Liu Cong had won the victory in Fancheng, Jingzhou had not yet been stabilized, and it was impossible for him to attack rashly, and it should only be to cooperate with Sun Quan's attack and harassment.

On the contrary, the actions of Ma Chao and Han Sui in Liangzhou in the northwest made Cao Cao even more worried. When Han Song and others appeared in Xuchang, Cao Cao finally calmed down. Han Song is Liu Cong's envoy, and sending the envoy to Xuchang at this time shows that Liu Cong's previous attack was just for show, and he didn't really want to attack Xuchang. There is still one enemy to deal with, Sun Quan!

This Han Song appeared too timely, otherwise, according to the development of the situation, Ma Chao may also send troops, if Sun Quan gets some cheapness, it will be difficult to ensure that Liu Cong will just continue to harass. Although the three directions may not have been discussed in advance, it is entirely possible that they will unite in order to maximize their own interests when the war enters a stalemate.

Now that Liu Cong has sent an envoy, it is tantamount to taking the initiative to hint that things have taken a turn for the better. Cao Cao met Han Song for the first time! Han Song was an old acquaintance of Cao Cao, and he often came to visit Xuchang and the emperor during Liu Biao's time. Cao Cao also secretly sent someone to contact Han Song to stay in Xuchang, but Han Song refused.

Now that Liu Cong sent Han Song, Cao Cao knew that Liu Cong wanted to take advantage of the fire to rob, but he still had to follow Liu Cong's wishes. After the meeting, Han Song directly stated Liu Cong's intentions, roughly like this, first, if Cao Cao is the prime minister of the Han Dynasty, he should not continue to attack the royal family of the Han Dynasty, the general of Pingnan and Liu Cong of Jingzhou.

Second, after more than a year, Liu Cong hoped that Han Song would meet the emperor for him and listen to the oracle

These two demands are reasonable, and although Cao Cao is authoritarian, it is difficult to refuse. At least so far, he and Liu Cong are both courtiers of the Han Dynasty. Especially Liu Biaoxin's funeral, Cao Cao was a bit of a bully on the southern expedition, and he couldn't apologize.

Of course, Liu Cong's other purposes are a little inconvenient to say, such as what Huang Quan wants to do next.

Some of them depend on Cao Cao's sincerity. Stop attacking, Cao Cao can't ask for it, I won't beat you, and you won't harass me! This is mutually conditional. Of course, Cao Cao agreed.

Cao Cao also quickly arranged to meet the emperor, but as usual, he was accompanied by Cao Cao himself, which was also to prevent Han Song from chatting with the emperor privately.

After the basic purpose was achieved, Han Song rested in the post house, and the next thing was Huang Quan and Cao Cao.

Three days later, Cao Cao met with Han Song again, this time Cao Cao was more polite, saying that he was grateful for Liu Cong's talent, thinking about the imperial court's recommendation of Liu Cong, Han Song was naturally grateful. Through the exchange of words, Cao Cao quickly understood Liu Cong's original intention. Now that Liu Biao has not been dead for a long time, Liu Cong's position in Jingzhou has not yet been secured, and he is thinking of taking this opportunity to get the crown of the imperial court to appease the people.

The imperial court is Cao Cao's imperial court, so Han Song said that he came to meet the emperor, but in fact, it was sent by Liu Cong to ask for fruit, that is, it looks very indifferent, you look at it!

But Cao Cao can't watch it, and the three princes and nine kings have to leave it to their own people. What can be given to Liu Cong is nothing more than a name that sounds good, but is dispensable.

Liu Biao was the general of Zhennan during his lifetime, and Cao Cao also promised Cai Mao the name of General Zhennan during the Battle of Fancheng, as early as the Battle of Guandu, Cao Cao used this trick, when in order to deal with Yuan Shao wholeheartedly, Cao Cao Feng inherited Sun Quan, who inherited his father's and brother's foundation, as the general of the captivity. The reason why Cao Cao is so generous is very simple, generals, who lead troops to fight to defend their families and defend the country, as for where do the soldiers come from? In troubled times, you can raise it yourself! Waiting for peacetime to be replaced at any time.

Although the situation is not as severe as it was during the Battle of Guandu, Liu Cong took over Jingzhou from his father at this time, and he was the general of Pingnan more than a year ago, so the lower title given is equivalent to stimulating and provoking Liu Cong in disguise. Above the flat word is the town and the levy. General Zhennan naturally can't use it, it's too sensitive.

After thinking about it, Cao Cao decided to list Liu Cong as the general of the southern expedition, and this title is already a very high rank in the military general sequence.

At the end of the Han Dynasty, until Cao Cao was in power, the general was the head of the generals, and his position was above the three dukes. In addition, at that time, Yuan Shao was the captain, and Yuan Shao was under the general, so "the shame class was under Cao Cao".

Hussar General: Below the Great General, with the same rank as the Great General, sometimes above the Three Princes, sometimes below the Three Princes. There are two levels of median generals than the three dukes: the general and the hussar general.

Che Cavalry General: Below the Hussar General, the position is higher than that of Shangqing.

General Wei: Below the general of the chariot cavalry, he is higher than the secretary.

Four generals before and after:

That is, the former general, the left general, the right general, and the rear general. Beginning on weekends, it was not often placed in the Han Dynasty, and the gold seal and purple ribbon were listed in Shangqing. The position is either the Dianjing division guard, or the garrison border. After the end of the Han Dynasty, there were many names of generals, such as before, after, left, and right, and so on, which were gradually abandoned. The position of senior general was established from time to time in the Three Kingdoms. He is in charge of the Beijing Division Guards and Border Guards. The rank is listed in Jiuqing, which is higher than other temporary miscellaneous generals.

The four generals belong to the names of the heavy generals, namely the general of the east, the south, the west, and the north. The rank is listed in Shangqing, below General Wei. plus the number of generals, such as the general of Zhengnan, the rank is listed in the third duke. Previously, both Liu Biao's Zhennan General and Liu Cong's Pingnan General were under the Four Expeditions. General Pingnan is even under General Si'an.

Of course, he was not in the court, even if Yuan Shao's kind of lieutenant was of no practical use, so Yuan Shao refused Cao Cao's canonization. However, for Liu Cong, he does not have the prestige and strength of Yuan Shao back then, and he needs such a false name to stabilize his rule. In this way, he reached some kind of tacit understanding with Cao Cao.

Han Song naturally thanked the prime minister for the lord and thanked the emperor for his grace! Before coming, Liu Cong confessed that as long as Cao Cao promoted himself, he could agree to Cao Cao's request for an armistice. Although Cao Cao was reluctant, in order to concentrate on dealing with Sun Quan, he still gritted his teeth and gave it!

Cao Cao wants to canonize Liu Cong, naturally he wants to see the emperor in the court, of course the emperor has no opinion, he canonizes Liu Cong as a general, and it is best to transfer him to Xuchang, of course, this is impossible, Cao Cao will never agree. When the matter came to the court, the civil and military officials in the court naturally knew about it, especially Xun Yu was also secretly amazed. More than a year ago, that young man actually defeated Cao Cao, and now he forced Cao Cao to seal him, what kind of person is this.

Previously, Xun Yu also received a handwritten letter from Liu Cong forwarded by Huang Quan, in which Liu Cong very bluntly provoked the relationship between Cao Cao and Xun Yu, pointed out the reason for the defeat of Cao Cao's southern expedition, and also mentioned Kong Rong.

For Kong Rong, Xun Yu is actually quite sympathetic, although Xun Yu is also inclined to support Cao Cao's southern expedition, but from the few contacts, Xun Yu feels that Liu Cong is also an extraordinary person, plus the identity of the royal family, and now he has taken over Jingzhou, maybe the general trend of the world will change again?

As for what Liu Cong said in the letter about his reverence for Xun Yu and his regret for Xun Yu's current state, it means that Xun Yu is talented, but he follows the wrong person! Xun Yu also laughed when he saw it. He knew what Liu Cong meant, and these words couldn't be taken seriously. However, Liu Cong repeatedly reminded Xun Yu to beware of Cao Cao's usurpation of the throne and the safety of himself and the Xun family, which made Xun Yu a little moved. The change in Cao Cao's mentality, Xun Yu couldn't feel it, but many times he couldn't help himself in it.

The emperor is also very entangled in Cao Cao's southern expedition, as the Son of Heaven, on the one hand, for the sake of the people, he is looking forward to the emergence of the situation of the world's great harmony, but now that day has really come, will Cao Cao usurp the throne? At present, there are only two local princes left in the Han family, one is Liu Zhang of Yizhou, and the other is Liu Cong of Jingzhou. has been a puppet for more than ten years, and he has gradually understood that it seems unrealistic to rely on Liu Cong's strength alone to fight Cao Cao, the greater the so-called hope, the greater the disappointment. But without these Han clan relatives, Cao Cao may be more domineering, and from his personal standpoint, it is better for Liu Cong and Liu Zhang to become bigger and stronger.