Although Boss Cao was mentally prepared for a long-term hard battle with the Third Duke of Da Yuan, the cruel reality still gave Boss Cao a dismount, and also told Boss Cao with facts that this decisive battle with the Third Duke of Da Yuan was by no means as simple as the four wins and four defeats discussed by Xun Yu, and it was not as easy as the ten wins and ten defeats analyzed by Guo Jia - because poor Boss Cao suffered a defeat as soon as the war started.

In order to save the siege of Baima, Cao Boss raised more than 40,000 soldiers of Xuchang to personally conquer Baima, and feared that Liu Yan, who guarded Baima, was not the opponent of Yan Liang, a famous general in Hebei, so he left heavy grain and grass behind, and personally led 20,000 elites to go first, and rushed to the Baima battlefield in only eight days, Yan Liang, who received the news, also personally led 10,000 elite soldiers to greet him, and the two armies would fight in the wilderness southwest of Baima.

After the formation was completed, something happened that made Cao Boss frown, and it was often judged by Cao Jun's strategists to be a large number of soldiers and a neat Yuan Shaojun team, and the neatness of the army was not at all under the elite of Cao Jun. Naturally, it is by no means comparable to an ordinary army.

Finding that the enemy's elite degree was far beyond his imagination, the famous male annihilator Cao Boss also decisively gave up the established tactics of lining up and fighting in formations - this tactic consumed too many elite soldiers, and the cost was far less than that of Cao Lao, who was strong in Yuan Sangong, and naturally did not make mistakes at will. So after only a little thought, Cao Boss immediately chose the tactics of fighting generals, ready to use his advantage of being a fierce general like a cloud to win a few battles first, boost the morale of the army, and then see the opportunity to act, and Cao Jun's generals are also very competitive, Cao Boss just opened his mouth to ask who dared to fight generals, and the general Cai Yang also immediately rode out of the horse, and rushed to the formation with a knife.

The cruel truth once again shattered Cao Boss's dream, seeing Cai Yang out of the battle, Yan Liang, who was close to a hundred in force, categorically refused the generals' invitation to fight, and personally rushed to the formation to fight with Cai Yang, but the result was less than ten rounds of fighting, poor General Cai Yang was cut down by Yan Liang with a knife, Yuan Shaojun's team was also suddenly cheered like thunder, morale was greatly boosted, Cao's army team was demoralized, and the army's heart was shaken.

"Uncle————! Give back my uncle's life——————! ”

Cao Boss's back words obviously haven't finished yet, seeing Cai Yang's head fall to the ground, Cai Yang's general and nephew Qin Qi's head was hot, and before he could ask Cao Boss for consent, he raised his knife and slapped the horse and rushed out, roaring and rushing towards Yan Liang, as soon as the two horses intersected, Yan Liang's big knife in his hand swung out like lightning, and it just hit Qin Qi's neck impartially, causing the poor General Qin Qi's head to fly into the air, but the corpse with blood gushing in the neck cavity was still grabbing the reins of the horse and galloping forward, and rushed more than 20 steps before falling off the horse.

Seeing this scene, Yuan Shaojun was naturally more cheerful, and his morale was getting higher and higher, and Boss Cao even had the heart to whip Qin Qi's corpse. Fortunately, the most important thing under the command of Boss Cao is the fierce general, after a loud shout, Zhang Liao came out of the battle with a gun, and Yan Liang fought in the battle with a knife, but unfortunately after fighting for more than 20 rounds, Zhang Liao, who was still almost in force, was cut off by Yan Liang with a knife and fled back to the main formation.

Zhang Liao, who was ranked first in the ranks of the Cao army, couldn't do Yan Liang, and the morale of the Cao army was naturally even more demoralized, although Dian Wei, the former captain of the tent under the command of Cao Boss, still wanted to fight in battle, but Cao Boss, who had never heard of one Lu two Zhao three Dian Wei, said that he didn't dare to take any more risks, first shouted to stop Dian Wei, and then ordered the army to retreat slowly, unwilling to fight with Yuan Shaojun in the case of heavy morale. Fortunately, Yan Liang also tabooed the strict lineup of Cao's army and its large number, so he didn't dare to pursue it too much, but after a little charge, he also ordered Mingjin to triumph, and Cao's army retreated twenty miles and retreated to Wating Xiazhai in the southwest of Baima.

When discussing tactics with a strategist at night, because there was no Guan Erye's life in Xuchang this time, Xun You and Cheng Yu and other strategists could only give Cao Boss two other ideas, one was to risk using Cao Jun's current first generals, Dian Wei and Yan Liang, the generals; The second is to give up the risk of fighting generals, transfer the Xiahoudun team from Juancheng to help in the battle, form a local advantage of fighting more and less, kill Yan Liang's forward team, or drive Yan Liang back to the north bank of the Yellow River.

At this time, Deputy Director Tao's shadow came out to make trouble again, and he was so afraid that he sent Mao Jue to ask Deputy Director Tao for peace and there was no response, and he was worried that the ruthless Deputy Director Tao would suddenly make a force, and Boss Cao, who was worried that the ruthless Deputy Director Tao would suddenly exert his strength, would not dare to use Xiahoudun's reserve, and Dian Wei resolutely asked for a battle to fight with Yan Liang, Boss Cao gritted his teeth and stomped his feet, and decided to go north again the next day to fight to see if he could take advantage of Yan Liang's preference to fight in person, capture the thief and kill Yan Liang first.

Dian Wei's dream battle against Yan Liang was interrupted by an accident, the next morning when the army was about to set out, even the Cao Boss who was reciting the words suddenly had a splitting headache, committed a lifelong headache, and the disease was very serious, the pain into the bone marrow, dizziness not to mention the command of the army, that is, there was no way to sit firmly, Xiahou Yuan, Zhang Liao, Dian Wei, Guo Jia, Xun You and Cheng Yu and other Cao troops were shocked, and had to give up military action to make the army stick to the camp, and quickly summoned the military medical officer to treat Cao Boss, At the same time, the news was tightly sealed so as not to further shake the morale of the army.

The military doctor who can be qualified to treat Boss Cao is of course the chief doctor in Xuchang City, Ji Taiji Chengping - also known as Ji Ping, after carefully examining Boss Cao, Ji Ping thought for a moment before he bowed his hand to Dian Wei and Guo Jia and others: "Ladies and gentlemen, generals, although the prime minister's disease is an old disease, this new prisoner has a sound of nasal congestion, and his condition has changed. ”

"How did you do that? Why don't you even carry all the medicines commonly used by the prime minister? Dian Wei asked angrily.

"The general forgives the sins." Ji Ping replied neither humbly nor arrogantly: "If the prime minister is just talking about the symptoms, then there is no shortage of commonly used medicines, but the general, please listen to yourself, the prime minister has added nasal congestion to his illness this time, and if there is no medicine to ventilate and open the body, it will be difficult to heal for a while." ”

Dian Wei, Guo Jia and others listened carefully, and found that Boss Cao's nasal voice was indeed quite heavy, and it seemed to be blocked, so they couldn't help frowning, and Boss Cao himself was secretly unlucky, and he encountered a change in his condition at a critical moment. Fortunately, Ji Ping comforted in time: "But the prime minister doesn't have to worry, Ping can use other medicines to relieve the prime minister's headache first, and then send the dog Ji Miao out of the camp to collect the required medicines. ”

"Really? When will I have all the medications I need? Guo Jia asked with great joy.

"Soon, tomorrow at most." Ji Ping replied unhurriedly: "In fact, it is also some common medicines, which should be available in the neighboring Lihu City, and I also ask Guo Saijiu to give a pass document, and send the dog to get it, and I will be able to return early in the morning." ”

Guo Jia did not hesitate to write an order, wrote a pass document and handed it to Ji Ping, ordered Ji Ping to immediately send a child to take the medicine from Fox City, and urged Ji Ping to immediately prescribe medicine, first relieve the headache of Cao Laoda, Ji Ping sang a promise, and returned to the camp to do a business. Boss Cao had an unbearable headache, and he was afraid that shouting would affect the morale of the army, so he could only bite the quilt and endure it, his teeth were pierced, he was sweating profusely, and he almost fainted several times, Xiahou Yuan, Zhang Liao, Li Dian and others were anxious, and kept asking Boss Cao about the situation, but in the end they attracted a roar from Boss Cao, "Get out of here and go to the camp to patrol carefully!" Beware of enemy attacks! ”

After driving away Xiahou Yuan and other generals, Ji Ping also returned to Cao Boss's bed with medicines and medicine jars, explaining that he used the previous recipe to dispel wind and invigorate blood, regulate qi and dissolve dampness, and the medicinal materials used mainly included nepeta panicle, licorice, xiong root, Qianghuo, white zombie silkworm, parsnip and Huoxiang leaves, etc., and then Ji Ping asked Xun You and Guo Jia and others to test the medicine, and the anxious Xun You and Cheng Yu and others only checked it roughly, and then urged Ji Ping to decoct the medicine immediately, and Ji Ping quietly asked Xun You and others to check the medicine. Only then did he boil the medicine himself on the side of the sleeping tent.

During this period, Cao Lao, who was very seriously ill, could not moan in pain, attracting the attention of Xun You and Cheng Yu and others many times, and when the medicine was about to be completed, a herald rushed into the tent, saying that there was a messenger galloping from Changyi, and there were 100,000 urgent military reports, although Xun You and others didn't want to pay attention, Cao Lao shouted: "Gongda, go to meet the messenger for me, the military situation is a major matter, and it cannot be delayed." ”

"No." Xun Yu reluctantly agreed, and hurriedly left the tent, but what no one noticed was that it was also taking this opportunity that our Mr. Jiping also took the opportunity to put a handful of powder in his hand for a long time into the medicine............ "The medicine is decoction." Ji Ping got up calmly, poured the medicinal juice into the bowl, and carefully blew it cold, and then personally brought the medicine bowl to Boss Cao, and said very gently: "Prime Minister, please take the medicine quickly, take it hot, and you can stop the headache with a little sweat." ”

Boss Cao, who was already in pain and was about to cry loudly, struggled to sit up with the help of Cheng Yu and others, took the medicine bowl without noticing, and put it directly to his lips............ "No! Cannot! The prime minister is unconvinced!! ”

At this critical moment when history is about to be rewritten, Xun You suddenly rushed in with a rolling belt, and before the person entered the account, he had already yelled to stop Cao Boss from taking medicine, Cao Boss was a little stunned, but Ji Ping suddenly grabbed Cao Boss's ear and poured the medicinal juice into Cao Boss's mouth, but unfortunately it was too late to do so, Cheng Yu and Guo Jia, who were on the left and right, had already reacted, Guo Jia and led people to hit Ji Ping's bowl-lifting arm, Cheng Yu slapped the medicine bowl, and the bowl of medicinal juice was suddenly spilled all over the bed, narrowly saved Boss Cao's dog life in the midst of lightning and flint!

"Thief! I'm fighting with you! ”

Mr. Jiping, who was on the verge of failure, yelled, and went to choke Boss Cao's neck with both hands, but unfortunately it was too late to do so, Dian Wei had already led a large group of guards to rush in from outside the tent, lifting Jiping like an eagle catching a chicken, dragging him aside and punching and kicking him. And Boss Cao, who escaped death, only reacted at this time, and hurriedly shouted: "Don't kill him!" Leave a confession! ”

Dian Wei sang the promise, personally lifted Ji Ping, who was already blue and swollen in the face, and called someone to bring a rope to tie it, Ji Ping scolded endlessly, but Cao Laoda, who was shocked into a cold sweat, was even more confused, and hurriedly asked Xun You, who was patting his chest and rejoicing: "Gongda, you are outside the tent, how did you know that this thief poisoned my medicine?" ”

"Tao Ying exterminates the thief! It's the pottery thief warning from thousands of miles away! Xun Yu wiped his sweat and said: "Mr. Mao Jue went to visit the pottery thief, in order to prove his sincerity in secretly joining forces with our army, the pottery thief revealed to Mr. Mao Jue that the Jiping thief attempted to murder the prime minister, although Mr. Mao Jue and General Cao Chun did not know the truth, but for the sake of prudence, they still sent a fast horse to send the news to the front of the army. ”

"How did Tao Ying know that Ji Ping was going to poison me?" Boss Cao was even more shocked.

"Tao Ying? How could it be Tao Ying? How could he possibly know that I was going to poison?! The party Ji Ping was even more surprised, and then stomped his feet and scolded to the sky: "Tao Ying, you are a thief!" Just one step away! Just one step away! It's only one step away from me being able to annihilate the country! It was ruined in the hands of you, a thief! It was ruined in the hands of you, a thief! Thou thief! A national thief with a raccoon dog with a thief————! ”

"Heaven will not destroy me! If the pottery thief's denunciation is one step too late, I will die at the hands of the villain! Boss Cao suddenly applauded and laughed, and pointed at Ji Ping and said with a smile: "Thief, in the civil and military affairs of the Manchu Dynasty, in addition to my henchmen, you are definitely the first person to discover that Tao Ying is a national thief, I can be responsible for telling you that one day, people all over the world will find out like you, and the hypocrite Tao Ying is the biggest national thief in the world!" The biggest thief! ”

After laughing, Boss Cao suddenly changed his hideous face, and said with a cruel smile: "It's a pity, the only reward I can give you now is a heavy sentence!" Drag it down and torture his comrades! Then his son, and his servants, were all arrested and tortured! ”

"Thou shalt not die a good death for a thief who deceives the king! Come to a sticky end!! ”

In the heartfelt angry scolding, Mr. Ji Ping, who had fallen short, was dragged out of the sleeping tent, and it was at this time that Cheng Yu, Guo Jia and others suddenly discovered a major event, and hurriedly asked Boss Cao in surprise: "Prime Minister, your head, your head doesn't seem to hurt anymore?" ”

"Huh?" Boss Cao, who was reminded, finally reacted, and found that his head, which was almost about to explode in pain just now, no longer felt any pain, just like the last time he read Chen Lin's essay on Cao Thief, his head wind had healed. Sensing this, Boss Cao couldn't help but be even more overjoyed, and applauded again and smiled: "God bless!" Heaven forbid! I can't imagine that the pottery thief not only saved my life, but also cured my headwind, it seems that the pottery thief was right when he was in Runan - sometimes, I should really be glad that I didn't cut him under the city of Xuzhou! ”

"The prime minister forgives the sins, I'm afraid the prime minister will soon regret that he didn't cut the pottery thief with a knife." Xun You smiled bitterly and presented the letter from Mao Jue that had just been sent, and said: "The pottery thief not only refused to openly form an alliance with our army to resist Yuan, but also refused to return to Xuzhou to remain neutral, and refused to even write a piece of paper, and finally forced us to help him play a play and let him take our Changyi City." ”

Boss Cao stopped talking, first carefully read Mao Jue's letter, and then handed it to Guo Jia and Cheng Yu to circulate, and after Guo Jia read it, he quickly coughed and said: "Lord, it seems that the pottery thief still wants to ride the wall to watch the wind, and wants to use the important town of Changyi to give Yuan Shao an explanation, temporarily stabilize Yuan Shao, and then look at the development of the war between our army and Yuan Shao to decide the next plan, you can lean towards our army at any time, support our army to resist Yuan Shao, and can also stab us in the back at any time, and put our army in a place of no return." ”

"It's also the consistent style of this thief, and he has reached the pinnacle of making wall grass." Boss Cao snorted coldly, and then clapped his hand again: "Give Mao Jue a reply, let him accept the conditions offered by the pottery thief, and let Cao Chun withdraw to the Cheng clan after a little resistance when the pottery thief attacked the city, and then confront the pottery thief in the deep ditch and high fortress to help the pottery thief perfunctory Yuan Shao." ”

"Lord, is this too much of a concession? Let the pottery thief go further? Cheng Yu questioned: "Besides, the pottery thief refused to even write a document to secretly form an alliance, which has indirectly proved that the pottery thief has the possibility of stabbing us in the back, in case the pottery thief is really treacherous and attacks our army, our army will not even have a chance to fight back." ”

"I am determined that the pottery thief will never stab us in the back until the last moment." Boss Cao said categorically: "Otherwise, the pottery thief would not have reminded Wu Jiping of the matter of the thief!" The Tao thief reminded Ji Ping that he was never willing to see our army defeated at the hands of Yuan Shao, but hoped that our army would continue to act as a shield for him to resist Yuan Shao's threat to him! A dog thief like Tao Ying is a matter of fundamental interests, and he will never dig his own grave! ”

Cheng Yu nodded, no longer objecting to Boss Cao's humiliating decision, Guo Jia coughed and lifted the brush, and made a book for Boss Cao for Sima Lang, who happened to be absent from the account, and Xun You suggested: "Prime Minister, if this is the case, should our army be transferred back to General Xiahoudun's team and join forces with our army to flank Yan Liang?" ”

Boss Cao nodded, just wanted to accept Xun You's suggestion, but Dian Wei hurriedly came back from outside the tent, hugged his fists in front of Boss Cao, and said: "Prime Minister forgiveness, although Ji Ping's second son Ji Mu and his servants have been taken down, Ji Ping's eldest son Ji Miao has already gone out of the camp and has not been captured. ”

"Of course you have to chase ......."

Boss Cao suddenly stopped halfway through his words, changed his puzzled look, and said suspiciously: "Jiping thieves tried to poison me, why did they use the excuse that the medicinal materials were not complete, and deceived the passage documents to go out of the camp to get medicine?" ”

"yes." Cheng Yu, Guo Jia, Xun You and other cunning gangsters also came to their senses, and wondered together: "If Ji Ping cherishes his heirs and refuses to let his son be buried with him, then why doesn't he let his second son Ji Mu also go out of the camp and flee for his life?" ”

"This must be for fear of arousing my suspicions." Boss Cao roared a few times as soon as he slapped the case: "If Ji Ping sends his second son out of the camp together, I will definitely be suspicious!" But Jiping only sent one son out of the camp, either he just wanted one son to live, or he just wanted his son to do other things! Quickly, immediately torture Jiping's father and son and their entourage, and inquire about the whereabouts of Jiping's eldest son! ”

As in the legend, although the Imperial Physician Ji Ping had no power to restrain the chicken, his bones were so hard that even countless battlefield generals sighed to themselves, even if he was beaten by Cao Lao David, his whole body was drenched in blood, and there was no place to torture, Ji Ping always scolded Cao Laoda, saying that he would not confide in a useful confession, and finally simply bit off his tongue, so as not to betray other Han loyal ministers, and his loyalty moved the heavens and the earth.

It's a pity that Ji Mu, the youngest son of Imperial Physician Ji, is not good, after being tortured for more than half an hour, Ji Mu, who can't survive the torture, has already cried and confessed: "My brother went to Yuan Shaojun's camp to report that his father had poisoned the prime minister, saying that the prime minister will die today, and ask General Yan Liang to send troops to attack here and kill all the prime minister's henchmen." As for my father's comrades, I only know that there is Uncle Dong Guo and Wang Zifu, and I don't know about the rest. ”

After receiving Ji Mu's report, Boss Cao, who was absolutely not under Deputy Director Tao, did not immediately order the arrest of Dong Chenghe Wang Zifu, but quietly ordered: "Pass the order, the whole army will hang filial piety, and the gate will be white, and then declare to the army, just say that I have been poisoned by Ji Ping and died." ”

"Besides, there is no need to go to the book to urge Xiahoudun to immediately send troops to attack Yan Liang, tonight, our army will break Yan Liang's horse!"

(To be continued)