Although it had long been expected that the war against Qingzhou would be easy and simple, in fact it was simpler and easier than the top brass of the Xuzhou army had expected, and it was so easy that this northern expedition to Qingzhou was like a collective outing of the Xuzhou army.

There are three reasons for Deputy Director Tao and other cadres to come to this feeling, one is that the combat effectiveness of the Northern Navy is too weak, the generals are weak, the soldiers' battlefield experience is seriously insufficient, and the overall combat effectiveness is slightly inferior to the Xuzhou army in Tao Qian's period -- this also makes Deputy Director Tao very puzzled, I don't understand that Kong Rangli was so bold back then, and dared to take such a fleshy army to Xuzhou to fight against Cao Laoda's tiger and wolf army?

The second reason is that the main force of Beihai has been destroyed, according to the confession of the Beihai prisoners captured on the battlefield, because the main force has already been sent to the plains to reinforce Tian Kai and has been destroyed, Kong Rong spent a lot of effort to put together more than 10,000 troops and handed them over to Ai General Zongfang to bring to the counties to resist the northern invasion of the Xuzhou army. And the target cities of the Xuzhou Army in the rear of the counties are already guarded by recruits temporarily recruited with three or two heavy buns, serving as cannon fodder for war, and the elite backbones are all local township soldiers in various counties and cities, and the embarrassment of the troops in Kong Rangli's hands can be seen.

The third reason is Kong Rangli's tactical decision-making mistakes, even Deputy Director Tao and Jia Lao Poison are so cunning and good at understanding people's hearts, young and old foxes can't understand, in the case of the destruction of the main force and the overstretched troops, how can Kong Rangli's team still dare to go out of the city to fight? Send the few precious troops left to the field battlefield, and let the Xuzhou army, which is already advancing by leaps and bounds, wantonly slaughter and abuse? What made Deputy Director Tao and others cry and laugh was that according to the prisoners, what prompted General Zongfang to lead the army out of the city to fight in the field was an order from Kong Rangli himself, requiring Zongfang not to lose the face of the Northern Navy by defending the city, and requiring Zong Fang to take the initiative to meet the majesty and unyielding fighting spirit of the Northern Navy, and the result was ............ "Chen Yuanlong really has the ability to know people, Kong Wenju is really an arrogant and stubborn person, it seems that in the Beihai of Qingzhou, several wars are unavoidable." ”

With such lamentation, our deputy director Tao quickly arranged the siege of Zhuxian, but the Beihai defenders in the county town did not give the Xuzhou army a chance to exercise their siege ability, the night of Zongfang's death, the defenders of Zhuxian abandoned the city under the leadership of Zongfang's deputy Yu Miao, and also very smart fled to the direction of Donglai, which was not in the route of the Xuzhou army's march, Zhuxian county commander Chen Ci had no choice but to open the city gate and surrender to the Xuzhou army, Deputy Director Tao accepted the surrender, let Chen Ci continue to serve as the county commander of Zhuxian County, He also divided his troops to pursue Yu Miao, and tried to weaken this team as much as possible.

The counties fell, the Beihai portal suddenly opened, the strength of the Xuzhou army all the way forward, Lianke Pingchang, Gumu, Chang'an and Anqiu four cities, where the soldiers went, the Beihai defenders either surrendered or were trampled into powder, there was no power to stop the advance of the Xuzhou army, so that the Xuzhou army only had less than half a month to camp under the city, the forward sentry was even more arrogant and once arrived at the Beihai town of Pingshou City, the whole county of Beihai was shaken, and the army and civilians surrendered innumerable, The letters of invitation from various counties and cities flew into the Xuzhou army like snowflakes, and half of Beihai fell instantly.

Although Beihai County is the richest county without objection in Qingzhou, there are too many displaced people and hungry people in Qingzhou, so much that it is simply inexhaustible and endless for the Qingzhou government, and there are more surrounding princes to the point where everyone shouts and beats. For fear that these hungry and crazy hungry people would pour into their own territory and disturb the foundation of their rule -- when Cao Laoda changed his suppression to Fuhou and led the Qingzhou soldiers into Xuzhou to kill people and set fire everywhere, a very key reason why the Qingzhou soldiers slaughtered dozens of cities viciously and brutally was that the Xuzhou army did not give them food before, and drove them back to Qingzhou, a poor nest, to starve, so they took revenge at every opportunity.

Deputy Director Tao is not a person who likes to hold grudges - because Deputy Director Tao has a grudge and will usually take revenge immediately, and at the same time, the Qingzhou soldiers who slaughtered the innocent people in Xuzhou are still under the command of Cao Laoda, and they have nothing to do with these hungry people in Qingzhou, plus Deputy Director Tao has long intended to organize these hungry people, and now it is still the vast and sparsely populated southern part of Xuzhou to develop the Huai River Valley, which will surely become rich in the world. Let him be responsible for recruiting and organizing these refugees to go south to Guangling and settle in the Huai River valley to settle and pioneer, so all the hungry refugees who came to join the Xuzhou army, Deputy Director Tao more or less rewarded a bowl of rice soup to drink, and also used most of the captured grain and grass on these hungry and homeless people.

Deputy Director Tao soon regretted his benevolent decision, when he heard the news that the army defected to Xuzhou had food, the hungry people in the southern part of Beihai were almost crazy, and they rushed to leave the ruined homeland that had already become a ruin, digging grass roots all the way, pouring in front of the Xuzhou army like a tide, and as long as there was food to eat, let them do anything. There are even a lot of rogue teams that have been killed by Kong Rangli also came to the Xuzhou army to ask for surrender, volunteering to lead the party and siege cannon fodder, just to have a bite to eat, and by the way take the opportunity to avenge the past.

The number of Qingzhou people who spontaneously came to join the army in Xuzhou was so large that the number of hungry people and the wide number of displaced people frightened Deputy Director Tao, who had a long logistics route, had to choose his surname to forget what humanitarian spirit he had, and changed all of them to choose his surname to take them in, and only selected the most useful young men and women to be recruited, and the old and weak turned a blind eye. But even so, Han Hao's team, who was responsible for appeasing the displaced and hungry people, was still crowded with people at any time in front of the camp, and the crying and pleading were earth-shattering, and there was an endless stream of hungry people and displaced people, forcing Deputy Director Tao to temporarily formulate a 60,000 population restriction for Han Hao, so as not to appease too many displaced and hungry people After arriving in the hinterland of Xuzhou, not only could not effectively develop the Huaihe River Basin, but also became the cause of disaster in the five counties of Xuzhou.

It is also thanks to the blessing of these hungry people who were once hated by themselves, Kong Rangli won a little respite, and waited for the response of his ally Tian Kai for help, but Tian Kai, whose main force has long been destroyed, is about to be defeated and returned to Linzi City, where can he get the strength to reinforce the allies? Therefore, Tian Kai could only say helplessly in his letter to Kong Rangli, "Old man, I am also a clay sculpture to cross the river now, and it is difficult to protect myself, so you can ask for more blessings." Or if it really doesn't work, you just surrender to Tao Envoy, your life is better than mine, your Tao Envoy has a good character and has received our grace, you surrender your family name and glory and wealth must be no problem, I don't have a good life like you, Yuan Shao, that is my rival for many years. ”

Of course, Kong Rangli did not consider surrendering to the Xuzhou army, and Zuo Chengzu, an important minister in Beihai, also persuaded Kong Rangli to surrender to Deputy Director Tao honestly, which could not only save his family name, but also protect the people under his rule from the poison of war. It's a pity that Kong Rangli suddenly committed a stubborn and arrogant temper again, not only let the guards behead Zuo Chengzu on the spot, but also threw down such a crazy sentence, "I am a Hanchen, defending the territory for the Son of Heaven, and herding all the people, even if I die, I will never bow my knee to the thieves of the troubled country!" Disgrace the innocent reputation of the sages and ancestors of the Confucian family! From now on, if there is anyone who speaks, Zuo Chengzu will be his end! ”

Kong Rang pear's ideal is very plump, but unfortunately the reality is very slim, cut Zuo Chengzu on the third day of one day, Yingling and Pingshou two cities have come to two bad news, the first bad news is that Yingling is broken, once blocked the Xuzhou army to go north to let Kong Rangli ignite a glimmer of hope Yingling City, in front of the main force of Xuzhou that officially launched the siege, only held on for most of the day was broken by the sharp Xuzhou army, the defender Zhao Zuo was chopped into meat by the Xuzhou camp, and the Yingling ordered Zheng Yuan to surrender.

This is not over, what makes Kong Rangli even more desperate and angry is that the Pingshou Ling, the famous Beihai scholar Bingyuan Binggenju, whom he cultivated with one hand, has already rebelled with his fellow townsman Liu Zhengyizhi before the Xuzhou army arrived in Pingshou, and preemptively threw himself into the warm and broad embrace of Deputy Director Tao. This is not counting, after the mutiny, Bing Yuan even had a Facebook letter to Kong Rangli, claiming that he was for the sake of thousands of people in Pingshou City, so he chose to surrender to Deputy Director Tao who had the style of a gentleman, and even more shamelessly persuaded Kong Rangli to follow his example, open the gate of Xixian County earlier, and lead the military and civilian people in the city to surrender to Deputy Director Tao, a gentleman.

Looking at Kong Rangli with a sad face, he tore Bing Genju's letter to pieces like thunder, and those holes in the Beihai Hall made Li Sangu the Qingliu celebrities who were finally invited by the thatched house were abnormal, and they no longer talked about it, acupuncture and cheating, or adjusting the wind and the moon, reciting poems, all of them were silent with expressions like mourning, and they were just thinking about whether the Xuzhou army would be able to accept their surrender after the county was broken? After surrendering to Deputy Director Tao, can you get a prosperous, rich, and luxurious horse from Deputy Director Tao?

At this moment, the steward of Kong Rangli's Mansion tiptoed into the lobby, handed a note to Kong Rangli, and said in a cautious whisper: "Master, Mr. Gongyou is here, this is his request to see him." ”

"Mr. Gongyou? That Mr. Gongyou? The annoyed hole made the pear flute for a moment, and he didn't remember the impression for a while.

"Mr. Sun Qian, Mr. Sun Gongyou, used to come to the mansion to smell and drink with the master." The steward reminded in a low voice.

"I remembered!" Kong Rangli slapped his forehead with a sudden realization, and said in surprise: "Didn't Sun Gongyou go to assist Liu Xuande?" Why did you want to visit me, an old man from Beihai? Please, please, oh no, the old man is far away, I should personally go to greet Sun Gongyou! Zhu Gong, Sun Qian, who is known as a gentleman, Sun Gongyou is here, and Zhu Gong quickly goes out to greet him. ”

Kong Rangli finally received a cadre of celebrities who agreed, and quickly got up in good spirits, and followed Kong Rangli to the door to greet Mr. Sun Qian, who was still very famous in Beihai, and looked outside the door. Kong Rangli was overjoyed, and hurriedly led a group of Beihai celebrities to come forward to salute, and Sun Qian said goodbye to each other, and repeatedly expressed condolences and care.

In short, Kong Rangli and Mr. Sun Qian tossed outside the door for half an hour, and then remembered to enter the house hand in hand, and then in order to sit down in the hall or go to Xinglinyuan for a party, Kong Rangli and Mr. Sun Qian argued for more than ten minutes, so that Mr. Sun Qian said that he was here to talk in the lobby, and after going up to the lobby, he argued for more than a quarter of an hour. In the end, after a delay of more than an hour, Kong asked Licai and Mr. Sun Qian to sit down and begin to turn their words to the main topic.

"Prime Minister of the Kingdom, Qian came to Qingzhou with Xuande Gong this time." After getting to the point, Sun Gan no longer spoke wordy, and said straight to the point: "The edict of the Son of Heaven ordered my lord Liu Xuande to send troops to Qingzhou with Cao Gong to attack Tian Kai, although my lord Xuande Gong remembered the old feelings, he couldn't bear to meet with his old friend Tian Envoy Jun and Kong Guoxiang, but the edict of the Son of Heaven could not be violated, and it was to resist the decree and seek rebellion. ”

All the celebrities present closed their mouths and did not speak, Kong Rangli pursed his lips and was silent, and sighed after a long time: "It's okay, don't talk about Liu Xuande, that Tao Mingwu has received the grace of saving his life, and he didn't bring his thieves to take revenge, and he was more ruthless than anyone else, and he took away seven cities in Beihai in more than half a month." ”

After sighing, Kong Rangli even chanted a new poem that he felt and wrote, and slowly chanted: "Send new travelers far away, and the twilight of the year is to return." The entrance looks at the beloved son, and the wife and concubine are sad to others. Wenzi is invisible, and it is said that it has hidden brilliance. The lonely grave is in the northwest, and I often miss you late. Dressed on the ruins, but see Artemisia and Wei. The white bones return to the Yellow Spring, and the body flies in the dust. I didn't know my father when I was born, but I know who I am when I die. The lonely soul wanders in the twilight, fluttering and resting. The life plan is resting, and I am chasing after death. Pitching is sad inside, and I don't feel tears staining my clothes. Life has its own destiny, but hatred is ....... ”

When he was emotional, in fact, Kong Rangli, who had long been bold, couldn't help but choke up, tears flashed in his eyes, and a large group of famous people recruited by Kong Rangli also wiped their tears, accompanied by his parents Kong Rangli shared sorrow and sorrow, and Mr. Sun Qian, who had been with Uncle Liu Huang for a long time, also sighed, and began to secretly rejoice in his heart, "Okay, looking at the situation, Mr. Zhongde has expected it, Kong Wenju really hates Tao Ying a lot more." ”

Finally waited until Kong Rangli was sad and recovered a little, Mr. Sun Qian was busy comforting Kong Rangli a few words, and asked deliberately very curiously: "When Fang Caiqian entered the city, he saw that there were refuge people outside the city who were helping the old and the young, and he dared to ask the Minister of State, where has Tao Mingwu been now?" How far is it from the county seat of this drama? ”

Kong Rangli was silent again, and the lord Bo Wang Xiu, who was familiar with Mr. Sun Qian, replied for Kong Rangli: "Don't hide it from Gongyou, I received the news in the afternoon, Pingshou's Bing Genju and Liu Zheng betrayed the lord and were ungrateful, and shamelessly surrendered to Tao Ying to destroy the thief, and the Tao thief striker has also arrived in Pingshou, which is less than forty miles away from the drama county. ”

"This ......, so fast?" Sun Gan's face finally changed, and he said tremblingly: "The pottery thief only sent out of Pengcheng on May 15, and today is only June 14, and the pottery thief's army has already taken Pingshou and approached within forty miles of Xixian County?!" ”

This time, Wang Xiu was speechless, and Kong Rangli sighed: "I only hate the incompetence of that Zongfang, Yu Miao and others, and the shamelessness of Liu Zheng and others in Bingyuan, so that Tao Ying annihilated the thieves and entered the army so quickly....... Alas, regret not at the beginning, regret not at the beginning. ”

"The person who regrets not being at the beginning is not inferior to Wenjugong, and there are many people who regret it more than you, so Wenjugong is content."

Thinking of the gritted teeth and regret of Boss Cao and Uncle Liu Huang every time they mentioned Deputy Director Tao, Mr. Sun Qian couldn't help but quietly comfort his old friend in his heart, and asked: "If you dare to ask the last sentence again, dare to ask the Minister of State, after the Tao Ying Annihilation Thief Soldiers come to the city, what should the Minister of State do?" ”

"What else?" Kong Rangli smiled bitterly, and said in a bitter voice: "Rong has long received the grace of the country, the world eats Hanlu, and when the rebellious ministers and thieves who will take revenge come to the city, Rong can only personally put on the battle, raise troops to fight to the death, report the favor of the country, and live up to Li Shu." ”

"Wen Jugong's words are wrong." Sun Qian shook his head and said very seriously: "If Wen Jugong thinks so, then it is a big mistake!" The pottery thieves are brutal, there are many minions under their command, the Xuzhou thief army surrenders and rebels, and successively absorbs the army of jackals such as the Yellow Turban of Yuzhou, Lu Bu of Bingzhou, and Dong Zhuo of Xiliang, and the military strength has already advanced by leaps and bounds. If this is the case, how can Wen Jugong be regarded as reporting the country's favor and living up to Li Shu? ”

In fact, Kong Rangli, who didn't have the courage to personally lead the army to fight a decisive battle with Deputy Director Tao, hesitated, took the opportunity to go down the steps and nodded, and said: "Sun Gongyou's lesson is that Rong is wrong, but the Tao thief soldiers are sharp, even if Rong closes the city and defends it, I am afraid that it will be difficult to escape the city and die in the end." ”

"Don't worry about the princess, you have a plan, if the princess follows the plan, he will definitely be able to let the pottery thief tie his hands, and he won't dare to peek at the drama city for half a minute." Sun Qian took the opportunity to say.

"What's the plan for Gongyou? Hurry up, please. Kong Rangli asked with great joy.

"It's very simple, please return to Duke Cao and dedicate the city of drama to Duke Cao."

Sun Qian's answer made Kong Rangli's face change color suddenly, and also made Kong Rangli shoot the case on the spot, and said angrily: "Okay, you Sun Gongyou, because you are an old friend, so I treat you politely, I don't want you to act as a lobbyist for Cao Thief, and want me to do that unkind and unrighteous betrayal of the country and forget the king?" Thou hast great courage! ”

"Wen Jugong misunderstood." Sun Qian was not afraid, and said with a smile: "Qian's here is not to persuade Wenju to surrender to Cao, but to ask Wenju to surrender to Han." ”

"Persuade me to surrender?" The hole makes the pear a flute.

"Not bad." Sun Qian nodded, and said with a smile: "The Son of Heaven moved the capital to Xuchang, and named Cao Gong Mengde as the prime minister, and the monarch and the minister were in charge of political affairs. And after the Duke surrendered to the Han Dynasty, the drama city played the banner of Cao Gong, which was the city under the rule of Cao Gong, so Tao Ying annihilated the thief as both a Hanchen and an ally of Cao Gong in his crusade against Qingzhou, how could he dare to attack the heart of the drama city again? Then stay until General Cao Ren's army is under the city of Xixian County, Wenju opens the city to welcome the Han Heavenly Soldiers into the city, and then goes to Xuchang with General Cao Ren to meet the Son of Heaven. Protected the people of the county again? ”

Although Kong Rangli is pedantic, but Sun Gan's off-string sound Kong Rangli can still hear it, Sun Gan's words are high-sounding, but in fact, he would rather hand over the drama county to Boss Cao, and don't let the wolf-hearted dog take away the vengeful Deputy Director Tao, even if the drama county is not guaranteed in the end, before the loss, it can be greatly disgusted Deputy Director Tao, let Deputy Director Tao look at the mountains of money and food in the Beihai County base camp Drama County, and dry his mouth, and dare not start to rob these money and food that already belong to the allies. So after understanding this off-string sound, Kong Ling, who actually hated Deputy Director Tao even more, was inevitably very moved and began to waver.

After hesitating for a long time, Kong Rangli hesitated and asked: "I surrendered to Cao ......, after I surrendered to Han, did Tao Ying really dare to peep into the eyes of the drama county?" ”

"Wen Jugong, please rest assured, the pottery thief will never have the courage to destroy the alliance of Cao Yuan and Tao, and provoke Cao Tao's war." Sun Gan nodded, smiled and said: "Don't hide it from the Duke of Drama, General Cao Ren has actually won the envoy in front of Yuan Shao to block the Beihai reinforcements and attack the Drama County, at that time, not only General Cao Ren will personally lead the army to the Drama County, but Yuan Tan Gongzi, who is kind to the Duke of Cao, will also lead the army to the city of Drama County, as long as Wen Jugong leads the entire army and civilians of the Drama County to surrender to the Duke of Cao, Tao Ying has a hundred courages, and he will not dare to touch the Drama City!" ”

Smiling, Sun Gan also took out a letter from his arms, and smiled again: "What offends Wen Jugong is that in order to help Wen Jugong resist the army of Tao thieves and force the Tao thieves to tie up their hands under the city of Xi County, General Cao Ren and Mr. Cheng Yu have written a letter to the Tao Ying thief in the reputation of friendly soldiers, explaining that Wen Jugong has led the whole city of Xi County to surrender to Cao Gong, and requires the Tao thief to fulfill the covenant of the three families, and not to infringe on the city's grass, stone, grass and tree!" If Wen Jugong is willing, he only needs to send someone to send this letter to the Xuzhou army to hand over to the pottery thief, and then play the banner of Cao Gong on the county seat of the drama county, and the people of the city and the city can be as safe as Mount Tai. ”

Kong Rangli's heart moved, and his expression became more hesitant, sitting on the seat, still sighing, unable to make up his mind.

Sun Gan observed his words and looks, and when he saw that the fire had arrived, he opened his mouth and incited: "Wenju Gong, has the Duke forgotten the grace of rescuing Xuzhou back then?" Forgot about the pottery thief expelling the person recommended by the public from Xuzhou? Tao thief will take revenge, Yuan Benchu raised sword soldiers in vain to annex Qingzhou, but Cao Gong is to repay the kindness of Yuan Gong in the past, and was forced to send troops to Qingzhou, which is better and which is worse, can't the public still tell the difference? ! ”

Kong Rangli's body was shocked, and after gritting his teeth for a long time, Kong Rangli finally squeezed out a sentence from between his teeth, "I, descend to Han!" ”

(To be continued)