Yuan Shao killed Gongsun Chan a little earlier than in history, the reason may be that the black mountain thieves who could have dragged a part of Yuan's army for Gongsun Chan were given Zhao'an by the imperial court, and Gongsun Chan could only resist Yuan's army alone.

Gongsun Zhan was destroyed, Hebei became the monopoly of Yuan Shao's family, and according to the results of prior consultation with the six masterminds, Yuan Shao's envoy Xu You came to Yanzhou to visit Cao Cao.

Xu You's arrival made Cao Cao feel very unhappy. If you don't come early or late, you just came when you were ready to join forces with Lu Bu and Sun Ce to attack Liu Bei, although Cao Cao knew in his heart that this matter was just a coincidence, but he still felt uncomfortable.

Successful people are generally good actors! Although Cao Cao was unhappy with Xu You's arrival, he didn't show any expression on his face, full of joy of reuniting old friends. Xu You was greedy for money, and Cao Cao did what he liked, which doubled Xu You's good impression of Cao Cao, and Xu You also poured beans from a bamboo tube for the tasks assigned by Yuan Shao, and did not hide much.

Knowing that Yuan Shao was preparing to attack the imperial court, Cao Cao instinctively wanted to refuse. It's not that Cao Cao really has much loyalty to the imperial court, but Cao Cao's intuition feels that Yuan Shao has the intention of using himself as cannon fodder this time. When he decided to ask Dong at the beginning, if it weren't for Cao Cao's own small number of soldiers and lack of prestige, Cao Cao would have willingly conceded the position of alliance leader to Yuan Shao. And through that time to discuss Dong, Cao Cao also got a rich reward. Although Cao Cao's strength is not as good as Yuan Shao's now, it is no longer the time to drool over Yuan Shao's forces in the past, and if you want Cao Cao to act as a junior brother, it is not okay not to pay the corresponding price.

It is said that it is the side of the Qing monarch, but Cao Cao knows better than Yuan Shao what kind of virtue the Son of Heaven is today. At present, the hearts of the people in Guanzhong are stable, and there is a natural danger in Tongguan, and this time the Qingjun side may not be able to succeed. If it can't succeed, it will provoke the hostility of the imperial court, Yuan Shaoyuan is in Hebei, and the imperial court may not be able to help him for a while, but he is next to Guanzhong, and the official army will enter his own territory when he leaves Tongguan. And now is different from the past, there are many well-educated Confucians in the imperial court, these Qingliu are not very good at doing things, but they control the public opinion of the society, but all the voices made by these Qingliu are easier to win the trust of people. To put it bluntly, he was accused of being a rebel and a thief by these people, isn't it.

Cao Cao didn't want to be this up-and-coming bird, but he didn't want to offend Yuan Shao because of this, after all, Yuan Shao's strength was too much stronger than himself, in case he annoyed the other party, the other party would not look for trouble with the court but would come to find his own trouble, and it was estimated that the court would sit on the mountain and watch the tiger fight, and would not care about his own life or death.

Unable to think of a way to deal with it, Cao Cao had to find Guo Jia, Cheng Yu and other strategists after settling Xu You, hoping that these people could come up with a foolproof plan for him.

"My lord, the time for the unification of Hebei is earlier than we expected, so we must be cautious this time. Yuan Shao has already sharpened his knife, if he finds an excuse, maybe this first knife will be cut on you and me. Cheng Yu said with a frown.

"Zhong De is right, and it is out of this concern that I did not rashly reply to Xu You. It's just that it won't take too long, so I need you to come up with an idea for me. ”

"Ming Gong, this matter is not too difficult to solve in Jia's opinion. What Ming Gong was worried about was nothing more than stealing chickens and rice, not to mention contributing to Yuan Shao, and taking the risk of offending the imperial court. ”

"Fengxiao, Ji will be released?" Cao Cao looked at Guo Jia with an earnest expression and asked.

"Hmm...... Jia has a plan, but it requires that Xu Yu to maneuver around. ”

“…… Xu You is greedy for money and lustful, as long as he is willing to pay the price, it is not a problem for him to help me say a few good words to Yuan Shao. Cao Cao thought for a while and said.

"In that case, that's easy. When Ming Gong arrives, he will only need to be like this......"

……

The next day, Xu You came out of Wenrou Township and was invited to the state pastoral mansion by Cao Cao. Xu You was very satisfied with Cao Cao's reception, and walked into the chamber of the State Pastor's Mansion, and as soon as he entered, Xu You noticed that the atmosphere in the hall seemed to be a little wrong. Cheng Yu, the strategist beside Cao Cao, showed disgust when he saw him, and turned his head to ignore him.

Xu You was inexplicable, walked up to Cao Cao and asked, "Meng De, I don't know how you considered the original proposal?" ”

"Humph!" Cheng Yu snorted coldly. Seeing Cao Cao's embarrassed face, he said to Xu You: "Ziyuan, please allow me to consider this matter." ”

"Huh? Mengde, but what's the difficulty? ”

"No, no."

Cheng Yu suddenly said angrily: "Why not! Lord, you are not his Yuan Benchu's courtier, why do you have to think about him everywhere. Right now, our army is ready to send troops against Liu Bei, and at this time, you actually want to break the alliance with Lu Bu and Sun Ce, and it will make people laugh if you spread it. ”

Only then did Xu You understand why this Cheng Yu was disgusted with him, but then thinking about what Cheng Yu had just said, Xu You asked in confusion: "Meng De, are you going to send troops to deal with Liu Bei?" ”

"Well, then Liu Bei claimed to be a member of the Han family, and he deceived many people with this name. Right now, he is competing with Sun Ce for Jiangdong, and once he is allowed to become bigger, it will not be a good thing for you and me in the future. ”

“…… Then Liu Bei claims to be a member of the Han family? Xu You frowned and asked.

"Yes, it is said that he is still the great-great-grandchild of today's son according to his generation."

"What is there to worry about as a great-grandchild?"

"Ziyuan's words are wrong, don't underestimate that Liu Bei, this person is used to buying people's hearts, Guan Yu and Zhang Fei under his command are all enemies of ten thousand people, and the courage is better than Yan Liangwen and Chou under the command of the original, and now it has the support of Jiangdong Gu and Lu, and now Liu Bei can be said to be fledgling, not to be underestimated." Cao Cao shook his head and said.

"Then Meng De means that he doesn't want to join forces with Benchu this time?" Xu You asked with a somewhat ugly face.

Hearing this, Cao Cao hurriedly explained: "Ziyuan, don't misunderstand what I mean. I am close friends with Ben Yuan, and I naturally will not sit idly by when he has something. It's just that there are priorities, I want to solve Liu Bei first, and then help Ben Chu. Anyway, Hebei was initially decided, and it took a period of preparation to send troops at the beginning, Ziyuan, do you think this is the reason? ”

"Hmm...... If so, I wonder how much time Mengde will need? ”

"This, fast is half a year, slow is a year."

"This ...... Is it too long? ”

"Ziyuan, it's not that I, Cao Cao, deliberately delayed, but wanted to solve Liu Bei, it really takes this time, and this is on the premise of getting the help of Lu Bu and Sun Ce, if something happens to the two of them, I will need even longer here." Cao Cao replied with a wry smile.

"Hmm...... I can't answer you immediately on this matter, but I need to tell him about it, and it's up to him to decide. Xu You thought for a moment and said to Cao Cao.

"Then there is Lao Ziyuan to say a few more kind words for me in front of Ben Chu."

Xu You came quickly, walked fast, and when he was leaving, Cao Cao took out a "local specialty" and gave it to Xu You, which made Xu You smile happily, and promised Cao Cao to say good things for him as much as possible. After Xu Yu left, Cao Cao immediately ordered troops to approach the Shouchun occupied by Liu Bei.

It was only a few months after the elimination of Yuan Shu, who claimed to be the emperor, that Shouchun once again ushered in a military disaster. But this time it was Guan Yu who was stationed in Shouchun, not Yuan Shu's arrogant person. Faced with the approach of Cao's army, Guan Yu reorganized his army for battle, and sent people to Cao's camp to question why Cao Cao raised troops to attack. It's just that before Cao Cao's reply reached Shouchun, the news that Sun Ce and Lu Bu were raising troops almost simultaneously reached Guan Yu's ears.

By this time, Guan Yu had already understood what he was going to do. The situation is obvious, Cao, Lu, and Sun have teamed up to prepare to deal with their brother. As a general trusted by his brother, Guan Yu naturally wants to keep Shouchun and live up to his brother's trust.

After Shouchun arrived in Guan Yu's hands, Guan Yu ordered repairs, and the damage left by the last battle has now been basically repaired. Standing at the head of the city, Guan Yu looked at the black Cao Jun outside the city, and there was no fear in his heart. After becoming the general of Shouchun, in addition to repairing the city, Guan Yu spent the rest of his time to subdue the thieves who occupied the mountains near Shouchun. Liu Bei only left 20,000 horses for Guan Yu, but through this period of time to subdue the bandits and grass bandits, Guan Yu already had more than 40,000 soldiers and horses in his hands, among which Zhou Cang, Pei Yuanshao, Liu Pi, Gong Du and other thieves who were quite powerful among the thieves were now recruited by Guan Yu.

"Pei Yuanshao." Guan Yu said in a deep voice.

"The end will be."

"You guard the city well, and see that Ben will go out of the city to demoralize Cao's army first."

"The last will be ordered."

Guan Yu instructed Pei Yuanshao to defend the city, and he took Zhou Cang and Guan Ping out of the city and set up a formation in front of the city gate. Urging the horse forward, Danfeng's eyes widened slightly, and he asked coldly: "Who died in front of the horse?" ”

Guan Yu is very crazy, of course, he also has arrogant capital, there are very few people in this world who can beat him in martial arts, at least in Guan Yu's eyes, there is no one who can beat him in the Cao army opposite. It's just that there is no first in the text, there is no second in the martial arts, Guan Yu is so presumptuous, so he naturally annoys the generals of the Cao army. Seeing Xiahou Dun urging him to step forward, he pointed his gun at Guan Yu and scolded: "Red-faced thief! What are you arrogant! ”

Xiahoudun's martial arts can be ranked in the top five in Cao's army, but it also depends on who he compares with, if he is compared with Guan Yu, Xiahoudun is indeed a little worse. After only twenty or thirty battles, Xiahoudun was already a little lacking in support, and Cao Cao, who was watching the battle in the array, was afraid that Xiahoudun would lose, so he hurriedly ordered Xu Chu to go out to fight and answer Xiahoudun.

Xu Chu couldn't bear it anymore, and got Cao Cao's order, so he immediately urged him to step forward, raised the tiger-headed knife in his hand, and shouted, "Red-faced thief!" Look at the knives! ”

Guan Yu and Xu Chu are both powerful people, which can be seen from the weapons used by the two. In the face of Xu Chu's desperate sword, Guan Yu didn't want to take it hard, so he had to let go of Xiahoudun, who was about to be unable to support him, and dodged away. Xiahoudun took the opportunity to retreat and jumped out of the battle circle.

"Yuan Rang, the lord called you back." Xu Churen was honest, and didn't want to embarrass Xiahoudun, so he whispered to Xiahoudun. Hearing this, Xiahoudun glanced at Xu Chu gratefully, and also said in a low voice: "Zhongkang be careful, please drink after this battle." ”

"Okay, that's a deal."

Waiting for Xiahoudun to retreat, Xu Chu raised his knife and shouted to Guan Yu: "Red-faced thief, do you want to rest for a while?" ”

"Humph! The local chicken and tile dog are like sticking in the eyes of Guan. Guan Yu snorted disdainfully.

Xu Chu was furious, and immediately raised his knife to fight Guan Yu in one place.

……

After dozens of rounds of confrontation, the Cao Jun camp first sounded the sound of gold, and Guan Yu and Xu Chu each returned to their own formation. Cao Cao looked at Xu Chu, who came back, and asked with concern, "Zhongkang, are you okay?" ”

"Don't worry, my lord, everything will be fine in the end."

"It's okay, let's do this today, let's go back to camp."

At the same time, Guan Yu also returned to the city. The eldest son, Guan Ping and Zhou Cang, took the Qinglong Knife in Guan Yu's hand, and then said, "Father worked hard. ”

"Hmm." Guan Yu answered, and then led the generals to the city, watching Cao Jun slowly retreat, thoughtful.

"Father, what's the matter?" Guan Ping saw that only the father and son were left nearby, so he asked.

“…… Tanzhi, in your opinion, is the lord thoughtful? ”

"It should be no problem, with the third uncle by the uncle's side, with Sun Ce's puppet, what danger can there be."

“…… Tanzhi, go down and prepare a soldier and horse, which will be useful for my father at night. ”

"Yes." Guan Ping was about to leave, but then he turned around and came back, hesitated for a moment before saying to Guan Yu: "Father, don't you want to go to the camp?" ”

"Huh? What's wrong? ”

“…… Father, that Cao Cao has always been treacherous and used to robbing camps. The child was worried that his father might turn against Cao Cao and ambush him. ”

"Tanzhi, now that the three roads are attacking, the lord will be attacked on both sides, if I don't break the Cao army as soon as possible, how can I return to the lord? You don't have to worry, with the knife in your father's hand and the crotch dismounting, even if you fall into Cao Cao's ambush, you can still kill seven in and seven out. ”

Even so, the child did not approve of the father's own risk. Why don't you let the child test the reality of Cao Ying first, how about his father leading the troops outside? Guan Ping shook his head and suggested.

“…… Did you know that this trip is dangerous? ”

"It is precisely because of knowing that children have to go first. Father, now Shouchun has no children, but he can't live without his father, and he asks his father not to be stubborn. Guan Ping insisted.

Guan Yu looked at his eldest son and was greatly relieved. Because his eldest son was not by his side when he was a child, he missed the best time to practice martial arts, so that his martial arts were not outstanding, but he loved his filial piety, and Guan Yu really felt it at this time. If there is a son like this, what more can the husband ask for?

"Well, since you are bent on fighting, then the Father will fulfill you. With you as the vanguard, visit Cao's camp first, and lead the army to answer behind your father, remember to be careful. ”

"Father, the child will go down and prepare."

……

The night was hazy, the south gate of Shouchun City opened, and a team of people and horses left the city and quickly disappeared into the night. Guan Ping quietly moved to the vicinity of Cao Ying with 3,000 men and horses. It was pitch black in Cao's camp, and occasionally Cao Jun who patrolled the camp could be seen walking past the fire, and Guan Ping lay in the grass and watched carefully for a while, and then he glanced at his subordinates.

When even a few people sneaked to the gate of Cao Ying's camp, they put down the two Cao soldiers who were dozing in front of the camp gate like lightning, and quickly moved away from the horse that was placed in front of Cao Ying's camp and opened the camp gate.

Seeing this, Guan Ping immediately got up, made a move, and rushed towards Cao Ying first, and the soldiers who came to rob the camp with Guan Ping also immediately got up and followed Guan Ping to Cao Ying.

The collective charge of 3,000 people, even if it was silent, still caused a lot of movement. Guan Ping had just rushed into the camp gate with people, and was discovered by Cao Bing, who had a feeling abnormal, and saw that his whereabouts were revealed, Guan Ping immediately stopped hiding, yelled and killed, and killed Cao Bing first.

Guan Ping is a pathfinder stone used to test whether Cao Jun has an ambush, and thanks to this pathfinder stone, Cao Cao's ambush did not catch the main Guan Yu. Cao Cao is indeed an expert in robbing the camp, and after collecting the troops and returning to the camp, he immediately assigned the tasks of the generals, took advantage of the darkness of the sky, and set up a trap only to wait for Guan Yu to throw himself into the net.

Not long after Guan Ping entered Cao's camp, Cao Cao's ambush surrounded Guan Ping's men and horses, and Guan Ping led people to rush left and right to try to break through the encirclement, but Cao Jun had already prepared, how could he easily let the meat of his mouth fly away. Although this piece of meat is not Guan Yu, no matter how small the mosquito is, it is not a piece of meat.

Seeing that there were fewer and fewer people around Guan Ping, Cao Jun already thought that victory was in sight, at this moment, there was a shout of killing outside the Cao military camp, the first general was Guan Yu, he could really bear it, and after finding out that the eldest son was ambushed, he did not rush to come to the rescue, but let the eldest son resist hard in the Cao camp, only after most of the Cao army was attracted by Guan Ping's attention, he led the troops to kill.

Cao Jun was in chaos, Guan Yu took the opportunity to rescue his eldest son, at this time he was not in love with war, and immediately retreated after rescuing his eldest son, and Cao Jun was attacked by Guan Yu and did not dare to pursue for the time being. Tonight's battle was a draw.

"Father, the child has let you down." Back in the city, Guan Ping pleaded guilty to Guan Yu with a depressed face.

Seeing this, Guan Yu helped Guan Ping up, shook his head and said, "Why did Tan Zhi say this? If you hadn't taken the initiative to ask for help today, the one who was trapped in Cao Ying would have been the father, and you would have blocked the catastrophe for the father, what a crime. Let's go down and recuperate in peace, and there will be a time to use you greatly in the future. ”

"Yes."

Guan Ping retreated to recuperate from his injuries and did not mention it, just saying that Guan Yu stood at the head of Shouchun City and looked at the siege equipment pushed by Cao Jun to the front of the battle outside the city, judging from the type and quantity of those siege equipment, it can be seen that Cao Jun wanted to deal with Liu Bei not for a day or two. Guan Yu took a deep breath and clenched the Qinglong Knife in his hand, he knew that the time to really test people had come.

Shouchun City is high and deep, and the guard general is Guan Yu, a general who is both civil and military, Kuiyuan, Cao Jun wants to break Shouchun, and it is by no means possible to do it overnight. However, Shouchun is temporarily unharmed, but it does not mean that Liu Bei's other places are also unharmed.

Cao, Lu, and Sun made trouble at the same time, which greatly exceeded Liu Bei's expectations, Sun Ce's side Liu Bei was not very worried, although Cai Mao didn't like him very much, but Liu Bei and Liu Biao's mutual help was still achieved, with Liu Biao behind his back, Sun Ce didn't have to worry for the time being.

What worries Liu Bei the most is Xuzhou, Lu Xun is smart, but after all, he does not have the experience of Chen Gong and Chen Deng under Lu Bu, plus Lu Bu, a fierce general who is unparalleled in the world, Liu Bei has no idea whether Lu Xun can hold Xuzhou. Just in case, Liu Bei even had the psychological preparation to discard half of Xuzhou.