In June of the eighth year of Jian'an, Liu Beibei attacked Cao Cao, and it took less than ten days to open the gateway to Wancheng in Anzhong, Yuyang, Nieyang and other counties. Pen @ fun @ pavilion wWw. ｂｉｑUｇE。 info Wancheng defender Cao Ren did not listen to the advice of his subordinate general Zuo Strategist, and sent troops from Wancheng with the intention of recapturing several counties captured by Liu Bei in the north, but Liu Bei broke the eight golden locks on the battlefield, and the second broke the night attack army in the fire, and took advantage of the situation to sneak attack Wancheng, turning Cao Ren's 30,000 army into ashes. Cao Ren and others were only spared with hundreds of cavalry, retreated to Yexian County, insisted on waiting for help, and sent letters asking for help to Xuchang and Runan, imploring Cao Cao and Xiahou Dun to rescue with troops. For a while, China was shaken, and everyone in the world focused their eyes on this, looking at how Liu Bei, who had been beaten by Cao Cao, was fighting against Cao Cao after receiving the support of Liu Biao, a powerful man in Jingzhou.

When the news reached Xuchang, facing Yu Ban, who knelt down to ask for guilt and asked for help, Cao Cao couldn't help but blush, and asked angrily: "What is going on?" What about my 30,000 soldiers and horses? Why did you lose it? And Wancheng, how did you defend it? With Liu Bei's troops and equipment, they couldn't capture Wancheng at all. What about Cao Ren? Let him come to me. ”

"General Cao Ren is sick." Yu Ban knelt on the ground, bearing Cao Cao's anger and sweating like rain.

"Sick? How is he now? Are there any questions? Although he was very angry about Cao Ren's defeat and the loss of his brother, Cao Ren was his own brother after all, and Cao Cao was still very concerned about his body.

"I don't know." Yu Ban shook his head: "I came to Xuchang overnight to report to you. As for the situation of General Cao Ren's return to Bingye County to garrison, I don't know. ”

"Oh?" Cao Cao's anger calmed down a little, and then he looked at Yu Ban sternly: "Tell me how you fought this time?" How could you have lost so badly. ”

"Yes, my lord." Yu Ban knelt with his head down, and in an extremely low voice, he cautiously told the situation of the defeat on his side. He didn't make more excuses for the tactical mistakes on his side, but expressed everything that happened in the most plain words and shared most of the responsibility that originally belonged to Cao Ren.

"How can you use such a strategy?" The more Cao Cao listened, the more surprised he became, he glanced at his own advisers, and they all saw the horror in the eyes of the other party: "How could Liu Bei be so powerful all of a sudden?" Originally, Cao Ren's actions were not too much of a mistake, but he would be used like this. It is absolutely impossible for Liu Bei to come up with a plan by himself, and there are definitely resourceful people by his side to help him. Cao Cao calmed down completely, helped Yu Ban up, and said warmly: "Wen Ze, I blame you for it." In the face of such a scheme, even I may not be able to get any benefits, Cao Ren is not unjustly defeated this time. Do you know who is the one in Liu Bei's army who gave advice? ”

"We didn't know it at first, but we only heard a little about it afterwards, saying that it was Liu Bei's nephew, a young man named Li Sheng, who helped him plan it." After thanking Cao Cao with his fists, Yu Ban replied respectfully.

"Li Sheng? Who's that? Cao Cao asked his advisers in surprise. However, to his surprise, none of the people under him knew this Li Sheng. Cao Cao's spy network is mostly arranged in the north, and for the princes in the south, he is most concerned about the Sun family, which is full of talents. As for Liu Biao, Liu Zhang, and others, Cao Cao himself looked down on them and thought that they could fight a decisive battle, so he did not investigate further except for understanding the important ministers around their respective monarchs.

Faced with no answer, Cao Cao sighed: "If only Meng Jian were still here." He himself is a person from Xiangyang, and he should know those characters in Jingzhou very well. ”

This is true, but it does not help solve real problems. For the newly emerged resourceful Li Sheng, Cao Cao did not have many quick solutions to the problem except for immediately asking people to go to Jingzhou to investigate the situation. After all, Meng Jian, the only one who was familiar with Jingzhou affairs, had already gone to Hebei to contact the officials of the Yuan family in Hebei who were willing to submit to Cao Cao's side, and he would not come back so soon after a while.

"It seems that we have to further increase our intelligence work in Jingzhou." Cao Cao thought about it but looked at Jia Xu: "Wenhe, this matter will be handed over to you." ”

"Yes, my lord." Jia Xu came out of the column and bowed to Cao Cao.

"As for Liu Bei...... Cao Cao groaned for a moment and stood up straight: "I plan to personally crusade against him." Although Liu Bei is small, but the future is unlimited, at this time he has been assisted by this military advisor named Li Sheng, if we don't nip him in the bud as soon as possible and let him develop, then we will have a headache in the future. ”

"Wait!" Hearing that Cao Cao had such a plan, Guo Jia, the number one strategist on Cao Cao's right hand, suddenly spoke out to stop him: "Lord, although Liu Bei's development is very fast, it is just a fetish for us. We shouldn't focus on solving Liu Bei's problem now, but should take advantage of the situation and destroy the Yuan family. After all, compared with the Yuan family, who had ruled Hebei for many years, we did not have much advantage in the hearts of the people. The only way to deal with them is to be quick enough to cut through the mess. ”

And that makes sense. But Liu Bei ...... Cao Cao listened to Guo Jia's opinion, and he was a little hesitant about his thoughts: "Don't you think that eliminating Liu Bei is one of the best times now?" ”

"Liu Bei has Liu Biao behind him. My lord, with our current strength, there is no way to start a war on both sides. Guo Jia reminded softly, and then said: "The lord doesn't have to worry too much about Liu Bei's growth. Because Liu Bei was under Liu Biao's account, Liu Biao, as the master, didn't want to see Liu Bei's power too big. ”

"Doesn't Fengxiao think that Liu Bei will replace Liu Biao?" Jia Xu on the side raised his doubts.

"The reason why Liu Bei can compete with the lord in terms of reputation is just the benevolence and righteousness that cannot be eaten or clothed. If Liu Bei really attacked Liu Biao, wouldn't that prove to the world that his benevolence and righteousness were fake? Although Liu Bei is not very smart, he will not do such a stupid thing. What's more, if he goes to attack Liu Biao, he is afraid that not long after taking Jingzhou, he will encounter the army of Shangjiangdong. I heard that the Sun family's land of Jingzhou is a must-have. Guo Jia said gracefully, and then he turned to look at Cao Cao: "Please think twice about this matter." ”

"I understand!" Cao Cao nodded, but he was a little unwilling to grit his teeth and said, "It's really cheap Liu Bei." ”

"That's also something that can't be helped...... Guo Jia was about to continue, but he heard a soldier outside the door striding in and shouting a newspaper.

"What's the matter?" Cao Cao frowned and asked, after hearing the bad news about Cao Ren, he was not in a very good mood.

"Lord Qiqi, Lord Liu Biao of Jingzhou sent Han Song to visit him from Xiangyang." The soldier came to Cao Cao and knelt down to report.

"Han Song? What is he doing here? "As for Liu Biao's subordinate, Cao Cao saw it when he visited last time, but he heard that he was locked up than Liu Biao because he went back to praise himself too much, so why did he come here again? Or did he come as Liu Biao's messenger, could it be that Liu Biao had already released him? Well! It's quite possible.

"Let's arrange for him to stay first." Cao Cao ordered casually, and then expressed the doubts in his heart about Han Song's arrival: "Do you know why Liu Biao sent Han Song here? ”

At this time, everyone at the bottom of the group talked about it, some of them were ordered by Liu Biao to come over and declare war on Cao Cao, and some said that Han Song came to let Cao Cao cede the prefecture and county, anyway, they thought of the fact that Cao Ren was defeated by Liu Bei. Regarding Han Song's visit, except for Guo Jia, Xun Yu, Xun You, Liu Ye, Cheng Yu, Jia Xu and a few others, everyone did not have much optimism about it.

"What do you think?" Seeing that several of his most important advisors were smiling at him without saying a word, Cao Cao knew that they had another opinion on this, and that this opinion might be a good thing for him.

"Han Song is very optimistic about the lord, this is already a well-known thing. Liu Biao also imprisoned Han Song because of this. Now that Liu Biao has released him and given him the position of envoy, it is very likely that he wants to borrow him to make friends with the main bus. Linked to the fact that Liu Bei defeated General Cao Ren, Liu Biao was already very jealous of Liu Bei at this moment. He didn't want to see Liu Bei's power, let alone fight with the lord over this, so he wanted to send Han Song here to ask the lord to temporarily extinguish the wrath of the thunder and sign a non-aggression pact with the lord so that Liu Bei could be transferred back. Several people straightened up, bowed and said.

"It turns out that Liu Biao is not at ease with Liu Bei? That's great. Cao Cao laughed: "Then lend Wancheng to Liu Bei." There is Liu Biao behind him who is there to control the elbow, and he can't develop it if he wants to. But for Han Song, we still have to forgive him for a day or two. Cao Cao glanced at Guo Jia as he spoke, and found that the sickly-looking young man was looking at him with his eyes that flashed with wisdom. Feng Xiao really knows me. For such a confidant, Cao Cao is still very satisfied.

"Then the whole army is ready for war. This time, the target was Yecheng, the main city of the Yuan family. Hmph, Yuan Shangxiao'er still dares to resist my heavenly soldiers, I must throw his bones into ashes. Cao Cao said coldly, the meaning contained in those words made everyone present tremble for a while. In fact, Cao Cao did not have any unforgettable hatred for Yuan Shang, what he hated was not Yuan Shang as a person, but the honorific title of the general added to Yuan Shang's head. As long as the Yuan family does not remove this honorific title for a day, Cao Cao's hatred for the Yuan family in his heart will not stop for a moment. Because of the existence of that honorific title, he really remembered the bitterness of being repeatedly oppressed by Yuan Shao before. When Yuan Shao was powerful, even Cao Cao himself would have such a precarious feeling. Of course, all this is a thing of the past, and all Cao Cao wants is to completely erase the heart-wrenching things that existed in the past, including the lives of Yuan Shao's sons, who he undoubtedly has now.

Thinking about it, Cao Cao glanced around at the people in the tent, and he saw in their faces the perseverance and courage and infinite loyalty to himself. "These people are all treasures given to me by God. With the help of so many talents, I will finally prove to God that only my Cao clan is the true destiny of heaven. Cao Cao thought of this, and a bold and domineering laugh came out of his mouth. His eyes as sharp as eagle eyes swept over everyone's faces again, and finally fell on Yu Ban, whose face was still a little pale: "Wen Ze, don't go to the north this time." Let's recuperate in Xuchang. As for Zixiao, I will let Yuan Rang divide 20,000 troops to help him. Now all our energy is focused on dealing with the Yuan clan in the north, and we can only let him be arrogant for the time being. But I assure you, the blood of those soldiers will not be shed in vain. Since Liu Bei dares to kill so many of my Qingzhou soldiers, I will one day make him pay a thousand times the price to repay. I assure you of that. Looking at the endless sorrow in Yu Ban's eyes, Cao Cao remembered that almost all of the soldiers and horses who followed Cao Ren to garrison Wancheng this time were trained by Yu Ban alone. He had a deep affection for these soldiers.

"Thank you, Lord." Yu Ban bowed and said. As a subordinate, he doesn't care whether Cao Cao's words at this time can be realized in the end, as long as the lord can save such a heart now, she is very satisfied.

"That's right, my lord. When General Cao Ren retreated to Ye County, he not only sent me to Xuchang to report to the lord, but also sent soldiers to ask General Xiahou Yuanrang for help. With the position of General Cao Ren, it is naturally impossible to order General Xiahou, but I am afraid that General Xiahou Yuan will personally send troops to avenge General Cao Ren out of the same affection. If there really are such people in Liu Bei's army, I am afraid that it will be ......" Yu Ban said here, but he never said any more. He still has lingering fears about the plan to burn the forest.

"Oh? Zixiao still gave such an order? Cao Cao was shocked when he heard this, and immediately wanted to order someone to go to Runan to spread the word and organize Xiahou Dun's march, but he finally thought about it and held back: "Let him take it." Yuan Rang's training of recruits in Runan had never experienced the battle formation, and it should be tempered well. In addition, he himself is a habitual general, and he is assisted by fine people such as Li Dian. Even if he can't defeat Liu Beijun, there is no problem with self-preservation. Since I have asked him to supervise Runan, I have already given him dictatorship, and I don't think I should interfere with him in this small matter of sending troops. Cao Cao said in a deep voice. He didn't have ordinary trust in one of his clans, Xiahou Dun.

"Yes...... Lord. Yu Ban heard Cao Cao's words, so he had no choice but to retreat aside. As a general with a foreign surname, he really couldn't figure out where his lord's unreserved confidence in his relatives was. "Trusting the relatives too much, this is an injustice to the subordinates who also help the lord." Yu Ban couldn't help but have such a thought in his heart. Of course, this thought was just a thought, and in the face of a powerful lord like Cao Cao, he was a little more afraid in addition to respecting and loyal. For such a rebellious remark, he thought to himself that he did not have much courage to say it publicly.

"Alas, I hope that Xiahou Yuan will let the general be auspicious." Unlike Cao Cao's thoughts, Yu Ban was not optimistic about Xiahou Dun's plan to march on Liu Bei in order to rescue Cao Ren. He thought it was a death move. Although Xiahou Dun also has an understanding person like Li Dian under his subordinates, but relying on Li Dian alone, I am afraid that he will not be able to persuade this Yuan Rang general. "I really don't know what the lord thinks." Yu Ban silently stepped aside, but he didn't say anything anymore: "Anyway, what the result will be in half a month." "Wancheng is not too far from Xuchang, and any news will come quickly, especially after Cao Cao has stepped up his reconnaissance of Wancheng.

Sure enough, everything was just as Yu Ban feared. Xiahou Dun also failed, and the 50,000 soldiers and horses who went with him were defeated by Bowang between Yexian and Wancheng, and they were also "burned" by Liu Bei with fire. Half a month later, Xiahou Dun was defeated and returned to Xuchang, he was very single, ignoring the pain on his body, and took Jing Tiao to ask Cao Cao nakedly, and he came with the deputy general Li Dian.

"Could it be that Li Sheng's hands and feet are doing it again?" As soon as Cao Cao heard the word fire attack, he quickly remembered the young strategist who burned Cao Ren with all the fire.

"No......" Xiahou Dun shook his head, "This time I went to Yedi to find out the situation of Li Sheng." The one named Li Sheng was not a strategist under Liu Bei, but a Changsha Taishou appointed by Liu Biao. This expedition was responsible for supplying Liu Bei with grain and grass transportation. He is the proud protégé of Sima Shuijing, the great Confucian of Jingzhou, and he is Liu Biao's godson-in-law, and he has the trust of Liu Biao on weekdays. Before this expedition, he had already returned to the territory of Changsha. And we were directly defeated by Liu Bei. ”

"How did you lose?" Cao Cao couldn't help frowning when he heard Xiahou Dun say this, and asked in a deep voice.

"I led my troops to Yexian, divided 10,000 troops to integrate with Zixiao, stabilized the strength of the city, and set up a large camp in the west corner of the city to form a horn with Cao Ren's army. In the battle on the frontal battlefield, he galloped and thwarted Liu Bei's attack. In the end, Liu Bei rose up and retreated to Wancheng. He was burning the camp with a large number of men to stop my attack on him. I couldn't swallow it. So he ordered a pursuit, caught up with Liu Bei's team with a rapid march, and was taken into Bowangpo by him. It was a precipitous place, which I only found out about later. Man Chengyou reminded me to pay attention to the fire attack, but I was buried in the pursuit of Liu Bei and ignored it. And so the fires burned all over the mountains. Cutting off the team that had been stretched out because of the steep terrain, Guan Yu Zhang Fei and an unknown white-robed young general were full at the same time, and they not only killed a large number of my soldiers, but also burned the grain and grass that I could resist marching, so that our army had no ability to attack. Li Dian and I fought desperately out of the sea of fire, and now there are more than 20,000 people left in the 50,000 army, I'm really sorry for the lord. Please, the Lord punish the sin. Xiahoudun explained, crying and bowing to the ground, ignoring the fact that his body had been cut one wound after another because of the sharpness of the thorn.

"Alas, Yuan let you be the general in my army. How can I blame you when you are employing people? It's just that you are also a seasoned person, how can you forget the fact that a narrow place needs to be attacked? It's a pity. Cao Cao sighed.

"Man Chengyou reminded me of this at the beginning, but I didn't listen." Xiahoudun honestly admitted his mistakes.

"In that case, I will punish you with a year's wages." Cao Cao issued an order to punish Xiahoudun, and at the same time ordered Li Dian to be rewarded: "Reward Li Dian with 500 gold." ”

"Thank you, Lord." Both Xiahoudun and Li Dian bowed their heads and bowed. For Xiahoudun, this name is not very serious, and it is within the acceptable range of him, but for Li Dian, the reward is very rich, as far as he is such a defeated general, he was rewarded with so many things just because of a reasonable suggestion, which really made Li Dian grateful to Cao Cao. He knelt on the ground at the moment, his head was clasped loudly, and he was even more loyal to Cao Cao in his heart.

"Well, what is there to thank you for. It's actually something you deserve. To tell you the truth, I actually have a certain responsibility for your defeat this time. It was my fault that I didn't stop your march by not having this in mind. Cao Cao smiled faintly, and there was a little bitterness on his face: "You all know that Jingzhou Mu Liu Biao sent Han Song here." He wants to make peace with us. It's not too good for us, but it's within what we can live with. The reason why I left him there and ignored him was to lose Liu Biao's face through such a move, and on the other hand, I wanted to give Liu Bei a good look through such a time difference, so as to get rid of our passive situation at the negotiation table. After all, Wancheng is a very important stronghold on the southern front of our army, and if it weren't for the last resort, I really don't want to see this stronghold fall into Liu Bei's hands. So I acquiesced to Yuan Rang's expedition, I thought that with Yuan Rang's martial arts and strength, I could recapture Wancheng. But from now on, it seems that I was wrong in my calculations. Not only is there the appearance of a young man Li Sheng that we never thought of, but more importantly, Liu Bei himself has grown to a point where we are impressed. Liu Bei is much stronger than before. The heroes of the past still seem to be still young. Cao Cao sighed, and he looked out faintly: "The army has been defeated again and again, and it seems that Wancheng will not be able to get it back for the time being." I must sign a peace treaty with Han Song quickly. ”

"I'm sorry, lord. It's all our fault for making you so worried. Seeing Cao Cao say so lonely, Cao Cao's subordinates couldn't help but bow to the ground with some sincere fear. In their hearts, it is their duty to share their worries as courtiers. If you can't do this thing well, and let the lord worry because of it, it is definitely your own fault. Because of this, they pleaded guilty to Cao Cao.

"Forget it, no one can think of such a thing, how can I blame you for this? You have to ask for guilt again, I, Cao Cao, am not a person who will lose his temper because of a little frustration in this mere area. For now, it is better to quickly stabilize the southern front, so that we can free up our hands to attack Yuan Shang in the north. Eating the power of the Yuan family is the most important thing for us. Cao Cao took a deep breath, completely forgetting all the negative emotions such as self-blame and sadness in his mind, and regained his calmness as an overlord. He quickly told the emperor that he would meet Han Song, the envoy from Jingzhou, who had come from Xiangyang, in the morning of the day.

It was July of the eighth year of Jian'an. Cao Cao signed a peace treaty with Han Song, the envoy of Liu Biao of Jingzhou, in Xuchang: the two sides agreed to use Wancheng as the border and not to invade each other; Jingzhou Mu Liu Biao paid tribute to the Han Emperor; Emperor Han canonized Liu Biao as Marquis of Jing.

The peace treaty was signed, and Liu Biao ordered Liu Bei to stop his northward march and cut off Liu Bei's army for supplies. The reasons for this are naturally high-sounding. Although Liu Bei knew that this was not good for him, he had no way to refute it. As compensation, he obtained the territory between Xinye and Wancheng from Liu Biao's hands. This was originally his own fight, but Liu Biao gave him the title of legal recognition. Liu Biao is a pastor of Jingzhou, so he naturally has this right.

Watching a cart of grain and grass materials that were originally placed in Xinye's warehouse being transported away, not to mention Guan Yu and Zhang Fei, even Chen Dao, who has always been calm, secretly implied anger in his heart: "What is this?" Is it a plan to abandon us completely? He didn't give me any food. It's the first time I've seen such a ruler cut the door like this. What kind of leniency and mercy is purely to use us to say better than anything else, and when the goal is achieved, turn around and leave no one. The three tiger generals stared fiercely at the departing convoy, and the flames of their desire swirled in unison. If it weren't for Liu Bei's personal order to stop them, I was afraid that the three of them would immediately the guy and behead all the people who came to pull things.

"Big brother, do you just care about anything? Without these rations, when will we go and the northwest wind? Zhang Fei's loud voice always looked angry. It's no wonder he was angry, after all, Liu Biao was really a bit desperate to do this.

"Let them go. Lord Liu Biao didn't have any way to think about it. Such a request is probably a special request from Cao Cao in the peace treaty signed with Lord Liu Biao. Liu Beiqiang said with a smile. It was just an explanation he gave to his men. In fact, he himself knows that things are not like that. "His own strength is too large, and the strength he shows is too strong, which is the reason why Lord Liu Biao made such a decision on his side. Actually, he was restricting my development. Liu Bei's heart was quite bitter. Once again, he felt the sorrow of the parasitic fence.

"Let's think about how to solve the problem at hand." Liu Bei let out a long sigh, turned around and asked Sun Qian, the "Minister of Logistics" on his side: "Gongyou, how much food do we have left now?" ”

"More than 50,000 stones, only enough for our army to eat for a month." Sun Qian shook his head bitterly and said, "After the victory of the two wars, we captured nearly 20,000 Cao troops. As a result, the amount of food that our army has to bear has greatly increased. Although it is already July, it is not too far from the harvest, but the withdrawal of Lord Liu Biao makes it very likely that we will not even see the harvest. It's two months away. ”

"Is that so?" Liu Bei was even more bitter: "Then what should I do?" Put all these people back? That would increase Cao Cao's strength again. I can't bear it. ”

"That's right. It's July now, and it's impossible to get them all to go to Tuntian. But to leave them all behind and assign them to our army is beyond the reach of our army. What to do? Sun Qian was suddenly at a loss.

"Can you ask the merchants of the city for help? I heard that the Surabaya House in the west of the city used to store a batch of grain directly in the warehouse behind the store. After thinking for a long time, Sun Qian suggested to Liu Bei: "The lord is quite kind to the people in governing Xinye, and the lord is in trouble at this moment, and the people in the city should not be able to save the lord when he sees death." ”

"Is this possible? There are many icing on the cake in this world, and there are few charcoal in the snow. Liu Bei was a little skeptical, although he could also see that Li Sheng was an emotional person.

"Anyway, let's go for a run. There is still some hope. Sun Qian said.

"That's also ......" Liu Bei nodded and glanced at Sun Gan deeply: "I'll go in person." To show my sincerity. ”

"It's not good. After all, there are merchants over there. Sun Qian hesitated.

"What's wrong with the merchant. As long as we can solve the great difficulties of our army, it will be fine. Liu Bei said disappreciably.

He really went directly to Surabaya Ju, and really got the food left by Li Sheng. A full 200,000 stone of white rice was enough to support his army for four or five months.

Facing the very talkative Surabaya shopkeeper, Liu Bei was a little skeptical: "Is this still a businessman?" Doesn't it mean that businessmen are all profit-seeking? Why is he willing to give me so much grain at once, and still not charge me a penny? ”

Liu Bei looked at the shopkeeper of Surabaya House curiously, but saw him take out a letter from under the counter and hand it to Liu Bei directly: "This is what our boss has explained, and he asked me to hand over this letter and this batch of grain to you." ”

"Oh? Your boss? Liu Bei looked down at the envelope, but was stunned for a moment. I saw a few thumb-sized words written on the excitement, "Uncle Xuande's father, Qi nephew, Li Sheng", which made him understand a lot at once.