With the help of Chen Gong, Cao Cao gradually gained a firm foothold in Yanzhou. But when he gained the right to be unchecked, his inner ambition began to swell. Although Cao Cao did not want to divide one side or argue with the court like other princes at this time, he also began to quietly move in the direction of getting rid of the control of the court.

However, unlike other warlords who want to be the emperor of the soil, Cao Cao is still very worried about the country and the people, hoping to create a peaceful society on his own.

Since then, it has almost become his lifelong political ambition, but at first, like many start-up entrepreneurs, he was also confused about what to do first in the face of the chaos in the world. Especially at this time, the people of Yanzhou were turbulent, and it gradually became a chaotic situation, and Cao Cao was even more anxious about it.

However, when the content of Jia Xu's music reached Yanzhou, Cao Cao received a great inspiration from it.

Jia Xu's recital pointed out many of the shortcomings of the Han Empire, especially the harm of land annexation by large landlords and wealthy families, which Cao Cao also deeply felt.

As in other parts of the Eastern Han Dynasty, Yanzhou had a serious problem of land annexation, bankrupt peasants had no way out, and the people naturally rose up in the face of famine. This is also the reason why the people of Yanzhou are turbulent and the Yellow Turban thieves are about to resurrect.

Although Jia Xu's article does not point out the solution to the problem, it also explains the problem in detail, and the rest is the question of how Cao Cao, who was inspired, to operate it.

Cao Cao, who had gained a firm foothold in Yanzhou, began to try to alleviate the acute land contradictions within the control of his own territory, Jiyin County.

On the one hand, he actively cultivated wasteland and practiced tuntian. Let the peasants have land to grow and grain to eat. On the other hand, he also began to crack down on the problem of land annexation by powerful landlords in the territory. Severe penalties were imposed for the practice of hiding land and illegally encroaching on other people's land.

Cao Cao's policy of cracking down on the landlords was strongly resisted by the Yanzhou family lords. Originally, they looked down on Cao Cao's background after being a eunuch, but now Cao Cao infringed on their interests with harsh punishments, so they were naturally furious.

Cao Cao also felt a headache in the face of the counterattack of the landlords. These people are huge, and they have no ability to sweep them away by violent means, so they can only win them over and divide them. Of course, there is no need to do some means to kill chickens and monkeys, and Bian Rang's death is one of them.

Bian Rang is a famous man left by Chen, who once served as the Taishou of Jiujiang, and later went to return home when he saw that the court was dark. He has friendships with Cai Yong and Tao Qian, and is a representative of the Yanzhou Shi clan.

Cao Cao admired his talent and recruited him, but he was self-sustaining and talented, and he also looked down on Cao Cao's background, so he refused to give in. Not only that, but also arrogant, this behavior Cao Cao was very dissatisfied.

And Cao Cao attacked the landlord Haoqiang, and took the lead in opposing it, and finally Cao Cao couldn't bear it anymore and ordered Bian Rang to be arrested.

After Bian Rang was arrested, many people came to Cao Cao to intercede, including Chen Gong.

At this time, Chen Gong was already quite dissatisfied with what Cao Cao said and did after coming to Yanzhou. Originally, he had written to the court to oppose Jia Xu's recital, but now Cao Cao was seriously carrying out what the recital said, which made Chen Gong very annoyed.

When he and Cao Cao first met, Chen Gong thought that Cao Cao had the posture of a hero and was a person worthy of assistance. Therefore, when Cao Cao first entered Yanzhou, Chen Gong ran for him in many ways, using his network to contact the local clans in Yanzhou for Cao Cao, which was why Cao Cao gained a firm foothold in Yanzhou and pulled up a team of thousands of people.

And now Cao Cao's fight against the landlords and wealthy families is completely an ungrateful act of crossing the river and demolishing the bridge in the eyes of Chen Gong, so Chen Gong, who is running back and forth as a middleman, is extremely angry, especially this time Cao Cao arrested Bian Rang, which has made him unbearable, Chen Gong found Cao Cao and asked: "When the lord first entered Yanzhou, it was the time to win the hearts of the people, why did he impose severe punishment and arrest the Magi?" ”

Cao Cao said bluntly: "Since I established the country by Yan Han and ruled the people with leniency, I intended to rest with the people. When the two emperors of Huan Ling were in power, the government was not smooth, the punishment was not severe, and the people did not know what to fear, so the thieves swarmed, and the world was in chaos. Bian let me despise me and mess with my law and order, and I was about to make an example of him. ”

Chen Gong said angrily: "When the lord entered Yanzhou, all the big clans helped him a lot, but now the lord is forcing him with cool laws, which is unjust!" ”

Chen Gong also didn't care about the subordinate relationship with Cao Cao, and pointed out that Cao Cao's move was ungrateful.

Cao Cao was also angry, and said coldly: "The wealthy family forcibly seized and made the world in danger. Cao would rather be a person who is negative than a person who is negative in the world. ”

Chen Gong still wanted to argue about something, Cao Cao waved his hand and said, "Qing can go by himself." ”

Chen Gong was kicked out by Cao Cao, and he was embarrassed and indignant, and he had a dislike with Cao Cao from then on.

Since then, Cao Cao has no longer relied on him. This made him even more dissatisfied. He has worked hard for Cao Cao in many ways, so he has Cao Cao's current situation, but his status in front of Cao Cao is not as good as Xi Zhicai, not to mention that he is not as good as Cheng Yu, who has just joined Cao Cao.

Cheng Yu's original name was Cheng Li, and he was recommended by Bao Xin, the prime minister of Jibei, to come to Cao Cao's account to obey orders. Because Cheng Yu once dreamed that he was holding the sun in Mount Tai, which was an omen of assisting the Ming Lord, Bao Xin informed Cao Cao of the matter, and Cao Cao was overjoyed. Because there is a Japanese character in his name, Cheng Yu Taishan holds the sun, doesn't it mean to assist himself?

He added a Japanese character to Cheng Li's character one by one, renamed it Cheng Yu, and took him as a confidant.

Cao Cao reused Xi Zhicai and Cheng Yu, and deliberately distanced himself from Chen Gong, which eventually disappointed Chen Gong completely. However, at this time, Cao Cao did not go east to Xuzhou, and Lu Bu also stayed well in Bingzhou, so it was impossible for Chen Gong to rebel against Cao Yinglu, Chen Gong just packed up and left quietly.

Knowing that Chen Gong had left, Cao Cao felt a trace of regret in his heart. The two met once, and it was not until they parted ways due to political disagreements that Cao Cao still admired the wisdom of Chen Gong. It's just that the Tao is different and doesn't conspire with each other, and the regret in my heart at this time is so small. After that, he didn't think about it, and let Chen Gong leave.

At this time, there is a bigger thing that Cao Cao deserves to pay attention to. The Qingzhou Yellow Turban Uprising broke out.

The Yellow Turban Uprising was the most serious in Qingzhou, and Xuzhou and Yuzhou were soon affected. Originally, Yanzhou would also follow the erosion in history, but Cao Cao's early intervention and Yanzhou's adequate preparedness made the Yellow Turban Uprising in Yanzhou not as serious as in history, and only a few small-scale popular uprisings were quickly extinguished.

Originally, Liu Dai, who was killed in the Yellow Turban Uprising, also survived because of this situation.

As the general of Zhendong, Cao Cao naturally put down the Yellow Turban Rebellion in Yanzhou. Every day Cao Cao practiced soldiers and horses in the camp, and one day the soldiers came to him to report, and there was a general outside the camp who asked to see him.

Cao Cao ordered the soldiers to bring the general into the camp tent, only to see that the person who came was in his thirties, more than seven feet tall, with blazing eyes and full of perseverance, and he was not an ordinary person at first glance. It's just that his face is covered with dust, and it seems that he has run a lot.

Cao Cao looked the general up and down before asking, "Who is you?" Why do you want to see you? ”

The general replied: "In Xia, Donglai Tai Shici specially invited Cao Gong to rescue the troops for the Beihai Prime Minister Kong Rong. ”

Cao Cao was stunned, he was far away from Beihai Xiangkongrong, how could his people run to him to move the rescuers?

Tai Shici also knew that Cao Cao would have questions, so he told Cao Cao the details.

The Qingzhou Yellow Turban thieves were corrupted, and even the Qingzhou Thorn Shi Jiaohe was killed by the thieves. Beihai Xiang Kong Rongtun troops Duchang, intending to conquer the Yellow Turban Thieves, but were besieged by the Yellow Turban Thieves Kou Guanhai with a large army.

When Tai Shi Ci lived in Liaodong, Kong Rong admired his name and often visited Tai Shi Ci's mother and took care of him. After Tai Shici returned home from Liaodong, his mother said to him: "You and Kong Beihai have never met, but since you traveled, Kong Beihai has taken good care of me, more than his relatives." Now that he is besieged by thieves, it is time for our family to repay the favor. ”

Tai Shici listened to his mother's words and stayed at home for three days, and then rushed to Duchang alone.

At this time, Duchang was already surrounded by yellow turban thieves. Tai Shi Ci took advantage of the fact that they were relaxing their vigilance at night, rushed into the siege, met Kong Rong, and asked him to send troops to fight the thieves.

Kong Rong wanted to wait for foreign aid and rejected Tai Shici's request. But in the future of foreign aid, the thieves are increasingly attacking the city. Kong Rong wanted to send someone out to find reinforcements, but no one had just come out of the siege, and only Tai Shici asked for a try.

Kong Rong said: "Now that the siege of thieves is so tight, everyone says that it is difficult to break out of the siege, although you have ambitions, but this is always a difficult thing." ”

Tai Shi Ci said: "In the past, the prince of the house took care of his mother, and the mother of the house was grateful for the kindness of the prince of the house and sent Ci to help, this is because Ci has a place for the prince of the house. Now that everyone says that it is impossible to break through, Ruoci is also afraid, isn't this a disappointment to the love of the prince and the original intention of the mother to send Ci here. ”

Kong Rong nodded in agreement when he heard him say this.

Tai Shi Ci was prepared, pretending to go out of the city every day to shoot at the target, so that the thieves were accustomed to relax their vigilance, and suddenly one day Tai Shi Ci took the opportunity to break through, and the thieves chased after him, Tai Shi Ci turned around and shot hard, and several people fell down in response. In the end, the thief did not dare to chase after him, and let him go.

Tai Shi Ci first rushed to Xuzhou to ask Tao Qian for reinforcements, but now Xuzhou was also disturbed by the Yellow Turban thieves, Tao Qian was unable to divide the troops, and Tai Shi Ci had to rush to Yanzhou to see Bao Xin, the prime minister of Jibei.

Bao Xin promised Tai Shi Ci that he was willing to send troops, but Bao Xin suddenly had an idea, thought of Cao Cao, and said to Tai Shi Ci: "Jibei is willing to send troops, but I am afraid that my strength is weak, so you can go to Jiyin and invite Cao Cao, the general of Zhendong, to go to the rescue together."

Tai Shi Ci listened to his words, and then came to Cao Cao's place, and said to Cao Cao: "Ci is a native of Donglai, and he has no flesh and blood relatives with Kong Beihai, nor is he a friend of the township party, but he is only acquainted because of his admiration for comrades, and he has a friendship of sharing weal and woe. Now Guanhai is rioting, Beihai is besieged, isolated and helpless, and it is in danger. He has long heard the name of General Cao's might, and was relied on by the imperial court to guard Yanzhou and quell the rebellion. Therefore, Kong Beihai earnestly hoped for Gui's help, so that Ci took the risk of white blades, broke out of the encirclement, and entrusted the general from ten thousand deaths. But the general was aware of this. ”

Cao Cao replied: "The same party is the garrison of the imperial court, Kong Beihai is in danger, so Cao naturally will not stand idly by." It's just that the matter of sending troops is complicated and needs to be considered in the long run. I will reply to you after consulting with my subordinates. ”

Cao Cao arranged for Tai Shici to stay, and then summoned his subordinate advisers and generals to discuss the matter of sending troops to rescue Beihai.

The generals led by Cao Ren and Cao Hong thought that Kong Rong was not related to them, and Beihai was far away from Jiyin County, and there was no possibility of expanding the territory, so they felt that sending troops to Beihai was a waste of soldiers, horses, grain, and grass, and the gains outweighed the losses.

However, the strategists led by Cheng Yu, who was talented in the drama, had a different opinion, and Cheng Yu said to Cao Cao: "The main official worships General Zhendong, and his duty is to eliminate the Yellow Turban thieves. Therefore, sending troops to Beihai is famous, and it can also make the name of the lord. More importantly, although the lord can't get an inch of land when he sends troops this time, he can get millions of people. ”

Cao Ren and the other generals didn't understand what Cheng Yu meant, and their eyes widened with questions, but Cao Cao understood Cheng Yu's thoughts, and laughed and said: "Zhongde (Cheng Yu's words) is exactly what I thought. ”

What Cheng Yu fought was actually the idea of the Qingzhou Yellow Turban Army.

In the last years of the Eastern Han Dynasty, the population was drastically reduced due to wars and natural disasters, especially in areas hard-hit by the Yellow Turban Uprising like Yanzhou. And the Qingzhou Yellow Turban Army plus the old and young women and children who have no combat effectiveness must be at least a million, if they can be subdued, it will be a huge supplement to the population of Cao Cao's territory.

Cao Cao also had this idea, so he finally decided to send troops to relieve the siege of Beihai. He led 5,000 men and horses to join Bao Xin, the prime minister of Jibei, and galloped to Beihai with Tai Shici.

Guan Hai and other Yellow Turban thieves heard that Yanzhou reinforcements had arrived, and they broke the siege and withdrew. Cao Cao sent troops to pursue, and Sima Xiahou Yuan led a thousand soldiers and horses to arrive first. Seeing that Xiahou Yuan had few soldiers, the thieves all turned back to fight back, and his subordinate soldiers saw that the thieves were strong, and they were afraid, Xiahou Yuan was furious, jumped in front of the battle, and scolded: "The brave man wins on the narrow road, and the thieves are already defeated. If we show cowardice and cower from our advance, we will be victimized by thieves. For today, only by fighting to the death can we have a way to live and military achievements. ”

Xiahou Yuan's martial arts are strong, and he has a lot of prestige in the army, and the sergeants believe his words, and they all muster up the courage to charge forward. Xiahou Yuan took the lead, the first to rush into the enemy formation, and was meeting the thief Guan Hai, the two fought for dozens of rounds, Xiahou Yuan raised the knife and fell, and cut Guan Hai under the horse.

When the thieves saw that the leader Guan Hai was dead, and that the soldiers of more than 1,000 people were so brave, they were afraid in their hearts, and they were defeated again. The defeated army retreated to Shouguang, and Cao Cao led a large army to surround it.

Cao's army attacked the city for several days, but failed to capture Shouguang. Cao Cao was furious and announced to the outside: "After taking the city, the city will be slaughtered!" ”

Cao Ren, a subordinate lieutenant of Li Feng, advised: "To besiege the city, you must declare the trapdoor to the enemy, this is to open up a way for it. Now the lord declares to the enemy that the city will fall and die, and the enemy will defend to the death. The city was fortified and had a lot of food, and it was necessary to attack, and the soldiers were seriously injured, so they had to defend it, and it was delayed for a long time. It is not a good strategy to garrison the army under the fortified city and attack and kill the defending soldiers. ”

Cao Cao followed Cao Ren's suggestion: Circumference is missing one of the three. Sure enough, it wasn't long before the Yellow Turban thieves in the city surrendered.

Cao Cao brought the power of victory and surrendered to the other Yellow Turban thieves in Yanzhou. As a result, millions of people, including old and young, women and children, surrendered to Cao Cao. Among them, there were 300,000 people who were in good health, and Cao Cao organized them into Tuntian, and took 30,000 of them into the army, which was called the "Qingzhou Army".

Sent troops to Qingzhou, Cao Cao earned the first pot of gold in his life.

Tai Shi Ci's courage made Cao Cao quite appreciative and wanted to keep him under the tent. Tai Shici refused because his mother was old and sick.

Kong Rong was able to solve the predicament, and paid more and more attention to Tai Shi Ci, and said to him with emotion: "Ziyi is really my young friend!" ”

Tai Shi Ci said goodbye to Kong Rong and returned home, and told his mother what happened, and his mother also said with emotion: "Fortunately, Ci'er finally repaid Kong Beihai's kindness!" To be continued, stay tuned for the next chapter.