Xiapi, White Gate Tower.

Lu Buyi did not take off his armor, holding Fang Tian's halberd and leaning on the doorpost of the enemy tower to pretend to sleep, not far behind him, there was a scarred Cheng Lian, at this time Cheng Lian was looking at Lu Bu with vicious eyes, and his eyes gradually revealed a crazy look, just now, Cheng Lian lay on the city wall for a while because of a hangover, and was beaten by Lu Bu.

With a slight wave of his hand, a confidant soldier approached Cheng Lian and said in a low voice, "What does the general command?" ”

Cheng Lian said a few words to the soldiers, and the soldiers understood, walked over and said to the soldiers who were guarding Lu Bu's side: "The Cao army is attacking very urgently, and the brothers have worked hard, go down and rest for a while, the general has not closed his eyes for several days, don't stand here and get an eyesore, let the general sleep well for a while." ”

Some soldiers hesitated: "But ......"

"How?" Cheng Lian stepped forward and said coldly, "With General Ben guarding the lord here, do you still have anything to worry about?" ”

The soldiers had no choice but to turn around and go down the tower.

It didn't take long for a group of Cheng Lian's henchmen and soldiers to rush up to the city tower and tie Lu Bu and his pillars together, Lu Bu woke up from his sleep, and when he was about to struggle, he found that he had been tied up like a dumpling and couldn't move, and he turned his head in shock, only to see Cheng Lian looking at him with a sneer, with a vicious look in his eyes.

Lu Bu shouted: "Cheng Lian, what do you want to do?" ”

"What? Hum! Cheng Lian gritted his teeth and said, "I want your life!" ”

"You!" Lu Bu was in a hurry, raised his head and shouted, "Come on, come on......"

"Die!"

Cheng Lian snorted coldly, took a step forward and stabbed Lu Bu's heart with the ox ear sharp knife in his hand, Lu Bu's eyes bulged out suddenly, staring at Cheng Lian deadly, as if he couldn't believe this scene, and after a while, a wisp of red blood slowly slipped down the corner of Lu Bu's mouth, and then died with a crooked head.

Cheng Lian slashed down Lu Bu's head with another sword, and threw down the White Gate Tower together with Fang Tian's painting halberd.

……

Outside the city of Xiapi, Cao Ying's military tent.

Cao Ying was taking a nap, and was suddenly awakened by a rush of footsteps, Cao Ying thought there was an assassin, turned over and sat up sharply, and drew a knife in his hand, and shouted: "Who? ”

"Prime Minister, it's down."

When the curtain was lifted, Liu Ye rushed in.

Cao Ying breathed a sigh of relief, put down the treasure knife in his hand, and asked confusedly, "Why is Ziyang like this?" ”

Lu ...... Lu Bu ......" Liu Ye pointed in the direction of Picheng and gasped, "Lu Bu was killed, and the head and Fang Tian painting halberds have already been thrown down the city tower. ”

"Huh!?" Cao Ying hurriedly fell to the ground, stroked his hand and said, "Is there such a thing?" ”

Liu Ye said: "Yes...... It was Cheng Lian, the general of Lu Bu's department, who had already surrendered the city. ”

This kung fu, Guo Jia, Cheng Yu, Xun You, Guan Yu, Zangba, Cao Chun and other generals have all come to the tent, Cao Ying said: "Order, the army enters the city, and the people must not be disturbed." ”

……

Pengcheng, Lu County.

Zhang Liao hurriedly came to Cao Bao's big tent and asked, "General, why did you order to camp when it was still early?" ”

Cao Bao avoided answering: "General Wenyuan, come and take a seat." ”

"General!" Zhang Liao hurriedly said, "Xiapi is in danger, so hurry up to help." ”

Cao Bao personally offered a glass of wine and said to Zhang Liao: "General Wenyuan, drink this cup full, General Ben has something to say." ”

Zhang Liao glanced at Cao Bao suspiciously, took the wine cup and drank it all, and said to Cao Bao: "The general said that it is okay. ”

Cao Bao's eyes flashed with a hint of color, and he said to Zhang Liao: "Don't hide it, General Lu Bu...... It's already been killed. ”

"Huh?" Zhang Liao was shocked and said, "No, it's impossible!" The lord is invincible in the world, who can harm his surname? ”

Cao Bao said: "It was none other than General Lu Bu who killed him, it was the general's confidant Cheng Lian!" It was Cheng Lian who tied him up while the general was asleep, and the general didn't notice it, so he was poisoned by the villain. ”

"Cheng Lian!?" Zhang Liao gritted his teeth and said, "Villain, he will definitely be cut to pieces!" ”

After that, Zhang Liao said to Cao Bao again: "General, please quickly raise troops to kill and run to Xiapi, and avenge the lord." ”

"Nope." Cao Bao shook his head lightly and said to Zhang Liao, "General Wenyuan, Xuzhou has suffered enough sword and soldier disasters, and this battle cannot continue to be fought, otherwise, Xuzhou will become the same as Yanzhou and Yuzhou, with life and starvation." ”

Zhang Liao said: "What do you mean by this, general?" ”

Cao Bao raised a letter from his sleeve and said to Zhang Liao: "This is a letter jointly sent by Chen Gui, Guangling Taishou Chen Deng, and Langyu Prime Minister Sun Qian, the Xuzhou gentry decided to welcome Prime Minister Cao Cheng as the lord of Xuzhou, General Wenyuan, for the well-being of the people of Xuzhou, I can't help it." ”

Zhang Liao's face changed greatly, he turned his hand and pulled out his sword and shouted: "Cao Bao, you ......"

Cao Bao said indifferently: "Come on, kidnap the rebel Zhang Liao!" ”

There was a tiger roar outside the tent, and more than a dozen pro-soldiers rushed in like tigers and wolves, and couldn't help but push Zhang to the ground, Zhang Liao was anxious to struggle but found that his limbs were sore and weak, and he couldn't help but say miserably: "This wine, the wine is poisonous?" ”

Cao Bao said: "There is no poison in the wine, but some sweat medicine." ”

……

and state.

Thanks to Ma Yue's assistance, Yuan Shao's troops captured Shangdang County without bloodshed.

After capturing Shangdang, Yuan Shao's nephew Gao Gan assassinated the history of Bingzhou, and Chun Yuqiong was the Taishou of Shangdang, leaving 20,000 troops to garrison the counties of Bingzhou, and then led the army back to Yecheng through Huguan. Almost at the same time that Yuan Shao returned to Yecheng, the cavalry of Zhou Cang and Pei Yuanshao withdrew from the Youzhou border after also obtaining food and cloth.

The clouds of war that hung over the state dissipated.

When Ma Yue was about to raise troops south again to attack Xudu, the astonishing news came, Lu Bu was ambushed, and the Shizu gate valve in Xuzhou had completely fallen to Cao Ying, and the battle of Xuzhou was over!

Hearing the news, Ma Yue looked up to the sky and sighed, and said to Jia Xu: "Alas, I missed a good opportunity! ”

Jia Xu said: "Lord, Lu Bu is dead, Cao Yingdong and South are worry-free, and now Yuan Shao has just been annihilated and annexed to the state, and the consumption of grain is quite large, and I am afraid that he will not be able to move south in a short time, so that Cao Ying can concentrate all his forces to defend against the attack of our army, and it is very unwise to send troops in this case." ”

"yes." Ma Yue said with some regret, "It's better to recharge your energy and wait for the opportunity." ”

"No, my lord." Jia Xu said, "At present, although Cao Ying has eliminated Lu Bu, he has also lost his spirit, although he has more than enough to defend steadily, but the attack is not enough, our army can take this opportunity to attack Zhang Lu in Hanzhong, if the war goes well, he can also go south to Xichuan and destroy Liu Zhang, who is entrenched in Shu!" ”

"Hanzhong, Xichuan?" Ma Yue frowned and said, "Is there this necessary?" Zhang Lu and Liu Zhang are just incompetent, and after the Central Plains is decided, a general can lead a partial division to be destroyed, so why use the elite Liang army to crusade at this time? What's more, at this time, the strategy of Hanzhong and Xichuan can be said to do more harm than good, and the wise man will not take it. ”

Ma Yue was reluctant to attack Zhang Lu and Liu Zhang, of course, because of his considerations.

Because of the notoriety he carries, coupled with the fact that the scholars in Hanzhong and Sichuan have always been xenophobic, Ma Yue said that it was difficult to gain the support of the scholars in Hanzhong and Xichuan.

If you don't get the support of the local scholars, then after the capture of Hanzhong and Xichuan, you will have to leave a large number of troops to garrison, and now is the critical moment of ten years of recuperation, and the mobile force under Ma Yue's command is only 20,000 or 30,000 people.

Although Hanzhong and Xichuan are fertile and have a population of more than one million, they are insignificant compared to Cao Ying! If it could be exchanged, Ma Yue would rather exchange the entire Guanzhong for Cao Ying's demise! Under such circumstances, how could Ma Yue be willing to send the precious elite Liang army to attack Hanzhong and Xichuan?

Jia Xu smiled slightly, and said to Ma Yue: "Lord, there is no need to dispatch the elite of the Liang army to crusade against Zhang Lu in Hanzhong. ”

Ma Yue's expression moved, and he suddenly said: "Wen He means ......"

Jia Xu hurriedly walked to the table, spread out the map in an uproar, and then pointed to the map and said to Ma Yue: "The lord can order the young general to lead 20,000 elite Liang troops to defend Nanyang, first, it can deter Liu Biao in Jingzhou and Cao Ying in Guandong, and second, when Yuan Cao is in the melee, he can directly wave his army from Nanyang to the east and cover the flank of Xudu, and third, he can make Chen Zhi use Nanyang's army to attack Hanzhong in the west. ”

"Hmm." Ma Yue nodded and said, "But if you want to attack Hanzhong, I'm afraid it's not enough to rely on Chen Zhi's thousands of Nanyang troops." ”

"Of course." Jia Xu said, "The lord can order General Gao Shun to move the Chang'an camp in Xihe County, one is Tuntian, the other is to train troops, and General Gao Shun 50,000 Tuntian elite soldiers are stationed in Xihe, and the old camp in Hetao can be worry-free, and General Fang Yue can lead 8,000 elite soldiers east out of Hedong to deter Yingchuan and Chen Liu, and Zhang Ji and Zhang Xiu will lead 20,000 Bingzhou troops (the original 30,000, and 10,000 losses in the battle of Bingzhou) to enter Guanzhong in the west and fight Hanzhong with Chen. ”

Ma Yue's eyes lit up, and he said happily: "Can Chen Zhi lead an army of 5,000 out of Meridian Valley for the left road, Zhang Xiu can lead an army of 5,000 out of Chen Cang for the right road, Zhang Ji leads the army out of the Slope Valley for the middle road, and the three-way army marches together, how can Zhang Lu resist?" Haha, if you don't have to use the elite of the Liang army to destroy Zhang Lu in Hanzhong, why not? ”

Jia Xu and Ma Yue looked at each other and smiled, their faces revealing a tacit look of deceit. In fact, there is another sinister motive in this, but both of them are smart people, so why bother to say it? This other sinister intention is to take the opportunity to weaken Chen Zhi's Nanyang Army and Zhang Ji, Zhang Xiu's uncle and nephew's Merge State Army!

Although Chen Dao, Zhang Ji, and Zhang Xiu have surrendered, the Nanyang Army and the Bingzhou Army are not the descendants of the horse butcher after all! Factional strife has existed since ancient times, and the horse butcher, although he is a modern man, is no less vulgar. At the end of the day, as a human master, you can't tolerate the presence of an alien (not a descendant) army under your command.

……

Bu Pi, Cao Ying sleeps.

Cao Ying looked at Chen Gong with a complicated expression, and muttered: "Gongtai, did you ever think that there would be this when you first saw it?" ”

Chen Gong said miserably: "The palace knew that there would be today." ”

Cao Ying said: "Why bother in the first place when you knew it was now? ”

Chen Gong said: "The Tao is not the same, that's all." ”

"Ugh." Cao Ying sighed and said to Chen Gong, "If Gongtai can change his mind, he will not be alone." ”

Chen Gong said: "My heart is like ashes, and I just want to die quickly." ”

Cao Ying said compassionately: "Aren't you worried about the safety of your family? ”

Chen Gong said: "With the wisdom of the prime minister, he will naturally not treat his family badly." ”

Cao Ying stared at Chen Gong deeply, Chen Gong calmly faced each other, Cao Ying sighed for a long time, and waved his hand weakly: "That's it, Lone will fulfill your righteous name, come here, and bring Chen Gong down...... Behead for public display! ”

"Yes."

The two pro-soldiers entered in response to the call, escorted Chen Gong and left.

Chen Gong had just been taken away, and Cao Chun, who was fully dressed and customary, suddenly went straight into the house again, and whispered to Cao Ying: "Lord, Diao Chan brings." ”

Cao Ying's eyes lit up when he heard this, and he said happily: "Bring it in." ”

Cao Chun withdrew with his hand, and then two soldiers escorted a young woman into the big tent, Cao Ying looked through the dim light, only to see that this woman was really born with a thousand charms, the country is beautiful and fragrant, especially the plump body, extremely sultry, Cao Ying secretly cheered in his heart, and wondered no wonder Yun Chang never forgot, it is really a peerless stunner.

"Stand down."

Cao Ying waved his hand lightly, and the two soldiers bowed down and exited the door, and also closed the door.

A silver smile appeared on Cao Ying's face, and he took two steps forward and reached out to pick up Diao Chan's chin, and said, "Lu Bu has been killed by the traitor Cheng Lian, has the little lady ever known?" ”

Diao Chan's face was bleak, and she responded lightly: "The concubine knows." ”

Cao Ying said: "Since General Lu Bu is no longer here, from now on, the little lady will stay by Lone's side." ”

"The concubine dares to disobey her fate." Diao Chan bowed down and said, "I only hope that the prime minister can kill the villain Cheng Lian and avenge General Fengxian." ”

"This ......"

When Cao Ying was in a dilemma, Cao Chun's voice suddenly sounded outside the door: "Lord, General Guan Yu asks to see you outside the mansion." ”

"Guan Yu?" Cao Ying glanced at Diao Chan with a complicated expression, and said to Cao Chun, "Let him wait in the side hall, and he will be here later." ”

……

A moment later, the side hall.

Guan Yu bowed and said loudly: "See the prime minister." ”

"Yun Chang." Cao Ying stepped forward and held Guan Yu's hand affectionately, and said, "Hurry up and excuse me." ”

Guan Yu stood up again and asked in a low voice, "Prime Minister, what is the matter of the last general......

"Oh, Yun Chang is talking about Lu Bu's concubine Diao Chan, right?" Cao Ying's small eyes narrowed into two thin slits for a moment, and said to Guan Yu, "Lone has asked people to take all the Lu Bu family children, but I don't know which one is Diao Chan, and I hope that Yun Chang will come forward to identify it himself." ”

After that, Cao Ying said to Cao Chun again: "Zihe, quickly bring Lu Bu's female dependents up." ”

"Yes!"

Cao Chun took the order and left, and before the tea was done, he led a team of armor soldiers to escort dozens of dressed women with tents and cloaks into the side hall, most of these women were young and beautiful, but Guan Yu looked at it at a glance, and was disappointed to find that the Diao Chan he was looking for was not among them, so he had to say to Cao Ying: "Prime Minister, Diao Chan is not among them." ”

"Huh? There is such a thing! Cao Ying pretended to be stupid and said to Cao Chun, "Zihe, can Lu Bu's daughters take them all?" ”

Cao Chun said: "Back to the lord, they are all here." ”

Cao Ying turned to Guan Yu and was embarrassed: "Yun Chang, this ......"

Guan Yu was silent.

Cao Ying said angrily: "Yun Chang, it's better to be like this, how about giving you all these concubines of Lu Bu?" ”

"Thank you, Prime Minister." Guan Yu excused himself, "But this group of remnants of flowers and willows, I haven't taken it seriously, since the prime minister didn't get Diao Chan, it must have been hidden by Lu Bupifu, so I went to find it and said goodbye." ”

Cao Ying said pretendly: "Among these concubines, there are also quite outstanding ones, did Yun Chang choose a few attendants?" ”

"No need."

Guan Yu arched his hand to Cao Ying without looking back, and walked away.

When Cao Ying was about to turn around and go back to his bedroom, there was a sudden sound of footsteps outside the hall, and Guo Jia, Xun You, Cheng Yu, Liu Ye and others stumbled in, shouting repeatedly: "Lord, good news, great news." ”

Cao Ying said: "What good news? ”

Guo Jiadao: "I just got the news that Cao Bao and Zhang Liao's army have surrendered to our army in Pengcheng, and Lu Bu's henchman Zhang Liao has also been kidnapped by Cao Bao and is outside the door today." ”

"Oh?" Cao Ying exclaimed, "Is it Zhang Wenyuan, who broke Zixiao and Zilian in Puyang?" ”

Guo Jia said: "It's this person." ”

Cao Ying rubbed his hands again and again and said: "This Cheng general, quickly, invite General Zhang Liao into the hall, and say it in person!" ”

……

Outside Cao Ying's temporary residence.

Guan Yu turned over on the horse with an angry face, and before leaving, he turned around and glanced at Cao Ying's temporary residence behind him, and a trace of cold flame suddenly flashed in his slightly closed phoenix eyes, Cao Ying's old thief deceived people too much, obviously got Diao Chan but said that he didn't get it, this is obviously a desire to take Diao Chan for himself!

……

The hall of the official residence.

Zhang Liao, who was tied up with five flowers, was escorted into the hall, and Cao Ying personally stepped forward to loosen the tie for him, and apologized to Zhang Liao again and again: "General Zhang Liao, the soldiers have been offended, and they are alone here to make amends to the general for them." ”

Zhang Liao inevitably sighed in his heart, bowed his head and said with a smile: "The general of the defeated army, how dare he be the prime minister to treat him so politely?" ”

Cao Ying is worthy of being a hero, and he doesn't tell lies in front of the true Buddha, but directly enters the topic: "Lonely loves the general's talent, can the general be willing to follow the lonely Jin Ge to support the Han family, and serve the Son of Heaven to please the minister?" ”

Zhang Liao's eyes showed a complicated look, and he said in a low voice: "The last general is willing to surrender, but there is one thing on his mind that has not been resolved." ”

Cao Ying said: "I want to hear it." ”

Zhang Liao said: "General Fengxian treats the last general very well, and now his bones are not cold, and the last general will change his course, which is really unjust!" The last general wants to keep the spirit of General Fengxian for three months, and then implore the villain who is incorruptible to avenge the general. ”

Cao Ying said happily: "Lonely allowed!" ”

……

Hedong Anyi, Taishou Mansion.

When Zhang Xiu walked into the study, Zhang Ji was looking at a scroll of books in his hand and was stunned, until Zhang Ji bowed down to see Zhang Ji came back to his senses and said to Zhang Xiu: "Yuan Jin, are you here?" ”

Zhang Xiu said respectfully: "Uncle was summoned late at night, I don't know what is important?" ”

Zhang Ji handed the book in his hand to Zhang Xiu, and said quietly: "Take a look for yourself." ”

Zhang Xiu took the book and hurriedly read it, and said excitedly: "Lianghou wants to send his uncle to lead the army to conquer Hanzhong, this is a good thing!" Uncle can take this opportunity to establish some meritorious deeds and revive his uncle's position in the Liangzhou army. ”

Zhang Ji said worriedly: "But isn't this Lianghou wanting to take the opportunity to weaken my old department and the state?" Although Zhang Lu fainted, there were no generals under his command, but the terrain in Hanzhong was dangerous, easy to defend and difficult to attack, Zhang Lu only needed to send elite soldiers to hold the meridian, slope valley, and Chencang trail, even if our army was able to forcibly knock on the pass, I was afraid of heavy casualties. ”

Zhang Xiu said: "Uncle, my nephew doesn't know whether to say something or not. ”

Zhang Jidao: "You and my uncle and nephew, what can't you say?" Speak quickly. ”

Zhang Xiu said: "If my uncle still wants to use the 20,000 old departments of the state as a bargaining chip to bargain with Lianghou and settle down, then the catastrophe will not be far away." Lianghou raised troops in Nanyang with 800 Liukou, and turned to fight for half his life and possessed the foundation of today, how could this honest and immortal male lord also tolerate 20,000 snoring on the side of the Liangjun couch in the old state department? ”

Zhang Ji was shocked when he heard this, and said awe-inspiringly: "If it weren't for Yuan Jin's reminder, Uncle Wei almost missed a big event!" Ran Yuanjin thought, how should Uncle Wei deal with it? ”

Zhang Xiu said: "If my uncle wants to make contributions under the command of Lianghou, he should lead the army to attack Hanzhong, if he just wants to live in peace and retire in peace, then he can ask Lianghou to guard Hedong, and General Fang Yue will lead the army to conquer Zhang Lu!" In this way, Lianghou is grateful for his uncle's sincerity and will treat him kindly. ”

A trace of difficult twitching suddenly flashed across Zhang Jilao's face, and he sighed after a while: "I understand, for my uncle, the heavy responsibility of glorifying the lintel of the Zhang family will fall on you in the future." Ming said, for the uncle, he wrote to the Marquis of Liang to guard the east of the river, and General Fang Yue led the army of Bingzhou to conquer Zhang Lu. ”

"Uncle, the old department of 20,000 Bingzhou was originally a Liangzhou clan, and from now on, the Bingzhou Army will no longer exist, and there will only be the Liangzhou Army in this world from now on!" Zhang Xiu said this, and said, "If you talk about eloquence, there may only be Cao Ying and Sun Jian in the whole world who can be compared with Lianghou, but Sun Jian is partial to Jiangdong, and Cao Ying is in the mud of the four wars, which are not as good as Lianghou Tiger in the northwest and majestic in the world, you and my uncle and nephew can serve Lianghou, and it is not in vain." ”

"yes." Zhang Ji nodded, and muttered, "If you talk about the prosperity of the army, Dong Gong was especially better than Lianghou at the beginning, but Dong Gong is far less than Lianghou can fight well, and he is not as good as Lianghou who knows people and is good at work, and he is not as good as Lianghou's eloquence. ”

Zhang Ji and Zhang Xiu's uncle and nephew are actually ambitious, and the two also want to be warlords!

But the reality is cruel, is ruthless, after the fall of Dong Zhuo, the horse butcher rose rapidly, became the leader of the Liangzhou military group, Duan Xuan, Li Xu, Guo Yan, Fan Chou, Yang Feng and other large and small Liangzhou warlords were wiped out by the horse butcher successively, and the trend of the horse butcher dominating the Liangzhou army's sphere of influence has been unstoppable.

In the face of the strength of the horse butcher, Zhang Ji and Zhang Xiu's uncle and nephew were very soberly aware that only the horse butcher could revive the prestige of the Liangzhou Army, and only the horse butcher could realize the hegemony of the Liangzhou Army in the Central Plains, so when Yuan Shao marched into the state in a big way, Zhang Ji and Zhang Xiu's uncle and nephew did not hesitate to fall to Ma Yue.

Because from the bones, Zhang Ji and Zhang Xiu were first Liangzhou soldiers, and then Liangzhou warlords.

……

Xihe, Ma Yuezhongjun's big tent.

Ma Yue read Zhang Ji's letter, handed it to Jia Xu beside him, and said meaningfully: "It seems that Zhang Ji is not only an understanding person, but also a smart person." Zhang Ji took the initiative to ask to be stationed in Hedong, with Fang Yue as the main general and Zhang Xiu as the deputy general, leading 20,000 and the old department of the state to crusade against Hanzhong, what do you think? ”

Jia Xu pondered for a moment and said: "The geographical location of Hedong County is extremely important, and the generals who are not able to fight well are not enough to support the overall situation, and Zhang Ji is a general in the Liangzhou army, although his reputation is not as good as that of the lord, his qualifications are especially above the lord!" It seems inappropriate to entrust a mere county guard. ”

Ma Yue said: "How about Zhang Ji serving as the assassin of Shuozhou (Hetao), and then transferring Xu Huang from Tongguan Taishou to Hedong?" ”

Jia Xu said: "Who will guard the Tongguan?" ”

Ma Yue said: "How is Ma Dai? ”

"Second Major General?" Jia Xu was stunned at first, and then nodded and said, "Well, the second young general's surname is calm and calm, and he is worthy of this position." ”

(To be continued)