Xiahou Yuan captured Hanzhong, the most panicked was Yizhou Mu Liu Zhang, Cao Cao's strength and ambition were far stronger than Zhang Lu, Liu Zhang immediately convened his generals to discuss. Liu Zhang's adviser Huang Quan said: "Don't worry, my lord, there is still a natural danger of the Sword Pavilion from Hanzhong to Shu, as long as the troops are sent to defend the Sword Pavilion, Cao Cao is powerless." ”

Liu Zhang's subordinates were divided into two factions, Yizhou and Dongzhou, of which Huang Quan was the representative of the Yizhou faction, and of course the interests of the local scholars in Yizhou were the most important. Although the Dongzhou faction represented by Zhang Song, Fa Zheng, and Meng Da was also reused, they were very dissatisfied with Liu Zhang's contentment with the status quo, believing that they could not exert their talents under Liu Zhang, and hoped that an ambitious overlord would take charge of Yizhou.

Zhang Song came out and said: "Lord, Cao Cao is not comparable to Zhang Lu, but Cao Cao has to face a strong enemy in Hebei, and I will say it with great force, so that he will not dare to fight my Yizhou idea!" ”

Liu Zhang was overjoyed, and on the one hand ordered Zitong to guard Pang Yi to increase his troops in the Sword Pavilion and be careful to guard against Hanzhong, and on the other hand, he ordered Zhang Song to send an envoy to Xuchang to persuade Cao Cao to coexist peacefully.

After everyone dispersed, Zhang Song came to Fazheng to discuss with Meng Da, both of them belonged to the Dongzhou faction suppressed by the Yizhou scholars, and Zhang Song coincided, and decided to cooperate with the outside, dedicate the detailed map of Yizhou to Cao Cao, and lead Cao Cao to seize Yizhou, and the three of them were the biggest heroes.

Zhang Song took the map of Yizhou and came to Xuchang to meet Cao Cao with confidence, but he didn't expect Cao Cao to think that Liu Zhang was worried about his attack on Yizhou, so he came to show his favor. Cao Cao saw that Zhang Song was ugly, and he thought that Liu Zhang was deliberately embarrassing himself, looked at Zhang Song, and said disapprenously: "I don't know what the so-called envoy of Yizhou came to?" ”

Zhang Song saw that Cao Cao didn't pay attention to himself, and he spoke very casually, so he had the intention to show some ability to impress Cao Cao, and said casually: "Zhang Song is ordered by my lord to thank Cao Sikong for helping our army solve the external trouble Zhang Lu." ”

Cao Cao nodded, seemed to be very satisfied with Liu Zhang, changed his words, and asked: "Why didn't your lord come to thank him in person, but sent a subordinate to him, is he looking down on me Cao Cao?" ”

Zhang Song faced Cao Cao's questioning, his face was fearless, and he said confidently: "My lord originally wanted to thank him personally, but the Central Plains was not peaceful this year, so he ordered Zhang Song to come first. ”

Zhang Song's words made Cao Cao's subordinates unhappy, which was secretly scolding Cao Cao for his lack of governance. Cao Cao's subordinate Yang Xiu was anxious and wise, and stepped forward to relieve Cao Cao's siege and said: "Qin Hou has governed the Central Plains and Guanzhong for many years, if it is not peaceful, how can the Yizhou envoy reach Xuchang safely?" ”

Yang Xiu's rhetorical question surprised Zhang Song, and after a little thought, he replied: "Your Excellency doesn't dare to agree with what you said, I am a messenger of Yizhou, although there are thieves, but I also want to give Yizhou a few thin noodles, so I am not embarrassed." ”

Cao Cao saw that this person was self-righteous and scathing, and he felt even more disgusted, and said angrily: "In order to get rid of the national thief Dong Zhuo, Ben Hou went to assassinate alone, and he was anxious to rescue the holy driver, and later the Son of Heaven was in trouble, and Ben Hou worked hard to rescue him. In order to pacify the Central Plains and restore the Han dynasty, Benhou first destroyed Yuan Shu, then destroyed Lu Bu, and then collected Zhang Xiu, and then rejected Hebei, and fought Zhang Lu in close combat, so that he was able to open up the tributary road from Yizhou to Xuchang. ”

Zhang Song saw Cao Cao cheekily counting his past exploits, and sneered: "Qin Hou's ability, how can Song not remember? Puyang vs. Lu Bu, Wancheng vs. Zhang Xiu, Guandu vs. Yuan Xi, Jingzhou vs. Liu Bei, all of them are classics! ”

Cao Cao's killing machine was exposed, and he ordered Zhang Song to be pushed out and beheaded to show the public, and he was ready to raise troops to attack Yizhou. Cao Cao's subordinate strategist Xun You persuaded: "Marquis Qin, the two armies are still fighting and not beheading, not to mention that Zhang Song is here to pay tribute, and the killing is probably unknown." Cao Cao held back the anger in his heart and ordered his men to beat Zhang Song out of Xuchang with sticks.

The reason why Cao Cao was unkind to Zhang Song was that Zhang Song was ugly and disrespectful to himself, and the other more important reason was that Cao Cao was preparing to invade Yizhou, anyway, he wanted to turn his face, so why bother to be hospitable, it was better to have a dismount and deter the people in Shu. However, this time Cao Cao miscalculated, it was a big mistake, Zhang Song did not come to give gifts and thanks, but was ready to give Yizhou both hands.

Zhang Song is also stubborn, and the most unbearable thing is the contempt of others and the loss of his appearance. Since Cao Cao doesn't want Yizhou, then I'll transfer it to others, and I don't believe that I can't find anyone. After leaving Xuchang, there were two roads in front of Zhang Song, one was Liu Bei, and the other was Yuan Xi. Liu Bei only has one place in Jingzhou, if he can get Yizhou, he will definitely reuse himself, but Liu Bei is a major general, even if he gets the map of Yizhou, he may not be able to capture Yizhou. So, Zhang Song had a second choice, because of his hatred for Cao Cao. When the princes today can only make Cao Cao jealous, Zhang Song can dedicate the map of Yizhou to Yuan Xi and persuade Yuan Xi to send troops to the Central Plains as soon as possible to eliminate Cao Cao. Zhang Song decided to visit Yuan Xi first, and if Yuan Xi was as unreasonable as Cao Cao, it would not be too late for him to go to Jingzhou again.

Yuan Xi's attitude is completely opposite to Cao Cao's, he knows that Zhang Song is a talented person, and he will never forget it, and the most important thing is that this person has a map of Yizhou, which will be of great help to him in the future, and Yuan Xi personally went to greet Zhang Song.

Zhang Song and Yuan Xi walked on the streets of Yecheng together, although one tall and one short seemed very abrupt, but the people of Yecheng were also very curious about who had such a big face and could be valued so much by Wei Hou. In order to take care of Zhang Song's face, Yuan Xi did not forget to introduce to the people of Yecheng: "This gentleman is a guest from Yizhou, full of wealth, and he will never forget it, even the general has admired him for a long time." Zhang Song listened to Yuan Xi's praise, and his heart blossomed, and sure enough, he didn't find the wrong person.

Yuan Xi set up a banquet in the General's Mansion and introduced Zhang Song to Hebei celebrities one by one, although everyone wondered why the general was so important to Zhang Song, but they all followed Yuan Xi to salute Zhang Song. After drinking too much, Zhang Songcai replied to Yuan Xi with a sense of wine: "I have heard for a long time that the general Corporal Lixian, when I saw it today, it is worthy of its name." It's just that Zhang Song has something unclear, with the ability of a general and the strength of Hebei, it is enough to eliminate Cao Cao, why didn't he do it for a long time? ”

Xu Shu saw that Yuan Xi drank a lot of wine with Zhang Song, and replied helpfully: "Your envoy doesn't know, last time because of Cao Cao and Liu Bei's alliance, our army returned in vain, if Liu Yizhou sent troops to help, our army will definitely be able to defeat Cao Cao." ”

Yuan Xi was also a little drunk, and echoed: "What Yuan Zhi said is extremely true, what does Zhang Beijia think?" ”

Only then did Zhang Song understand that Yuan Xi originally planned to marry Yizhou and deal with Cao Cao together, and he was suddenly puzzled: "The people of Yizhou live and work in peace and contentment, and they don't like war, I'm afraid they are powerless." ”

Pang Tong drank a little wine, and it was rare to see someone who looked like him, and stepped forward and said happily: "Don't make such a mistake, the people of Yizhou don't like war, but Cao Cao's wolf ambition has to look at Shu, and he will definitely send troops to Shuzhong soon, and Yizhou will never have peace." ”

Zhang Song saw Pang Tong, and suddenly felt that it was too late to meet each other, Yuan Xi could use this person, and naturally he would reuse himself in the future, so he said confidently: "Although Yizhou doesn't like war, but there are countless heroes, even if Cao Cao, don't want to easily attack Shu." ”

Yuan Xi suddenly realized, and said politely to Zhang Song: "The difficulty of Shu Dao is difficult to go to the blue sky, it seems that the general is too worried." ”

Zhang Song nodded, and said in his heart: "Don't worry, the general, this is just for Cao Cao, with the general's benevolence and mind, if Cao Cao is eliminated, the people of Yizhou will definitely welcome the general." ”

This guy made it clear that he wanted to betray Yizhou, but there was a Cao Cao in the middle, not too direct, Yuan Xi was overjoyed and said: "Don't say this, Yuan Xi is grateful." Yuan Xi also changed his title from the general to his own name, and there was no condescending rank or low.

Zhang Song was warmly welcomed by Yuan Xi in Hebei, and finally presented Yuan Xi with a map of Yizhou when he left. Yuan Xi promised to reuse Zhang Song in the future to seize Yizhou, and advised Zhang Song to be careful, to be sure to embankment Cao Cao and Liu Bei, and not to lose Yizhou.