(Thanks to Taimeng, Zhao Wuxian 2014, and Glorious Charter for their support.) ）

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At the beginning of February in the first year of Xingping, the spring was cold, and the soldiers and civilians of Xuzhou had already felt the coming of spring in advance. On this day, the huge shadow that had been pressed on the heads of the Xuzhou soldiers and civilians for nearly half a year, the butcher Cao Cao, was finally gone.

Cao Cao put forward three demands: apology, compensation for military expenses, and garrisoning Yangdu (north of Xuzhou). Tao Qian satisfied all of them - as long as he could send away this plague god, even if he had three more conditions, he had to agree!

As soon as he received a satisfactory answer, Cao Cao immediately returned to the west, leaving Cao Ren's other troops temporarily stationed in Pengcheng, one to monitor Xuzhou, to prevent its pursuit, and to cut off the whole army; The second is to exert pressure on the Xuzhou side, which is conducive to the compensation in place. After the whole army returned to Puyang safely, and the compensation was in place, Cao Ren's other troops would withdraw from Pengcheng, and at that time, Cao's army could be regarded as a real evacuation from Xuzhou.

When Cao Cao was leaving, he invited Ma Han to lead his troops to Chenliu as a guest and had a long talk, but Ma Han refused. Cao Cao again proposed to ask the court to transfer him to Yanzhou, which made it clear that he was soliciting. was also politely rejected by Ma Han. This makes Cao Cao, who has been in the limelight recently and feels good about himself, regret it, but also puzzled: How can a poor cavalry lieutenant in Liaoxi be like the cavalry lieutenant of Yanzhou, a resort in the Central Plains? Why don't you fall in love? Could it be that I, Cao Cao, can't compare to that Gongsun Shengji?

Cao Cao's good sense of self also came from the attachment of an important general of the Yuan army, who was Zhu Ling, the commander of the cavalry under Yuan Shao. At the beginning, the generals of the three battalions sent by Yuan Shao to assist Cao Cao in attacking Xu naturally wanted to return to the construction after completing the task, but most of them went back, but only this Zhu Ling, who thought that he had found the Ming master, led the department to stay. changed course and abandoned Yuan to Cao.

In fact, Cao Cao had already pulled all the generals of the Yuan army one by one, but only one Zhu Ling was pulled. It's not that Cao Cao's means of entrapment are not good, Ah Pu is very good at this aspect, and he is very good at breaking knots and handing over people's hearts, which can be seen from his appearance when he first met Ma Han and Zhao Yun. The most important reason why Cao Cao was able to pull Zhu Ling into his hands was that Zhu Ling was a lonely man.

How do you say that? Zhu Ling, a native of Juancheng, Qinghe State. At the beginning, he was a general of Yuan Shao. Before the Battle of Jieqiao, Ji Yong, a native of Qinghe, surrendered to Gongsun Zan because of his betrayal of Yuan Shao, and Gongsun Zan sent troops to defend Juancheng. Yuan Shao sent Zhu Ling to attack him, but Zhu Ling's family was in the city, so Ji Yong put Zhu Ling's mother and brother in the city and lured Zhu Ling. Zhu Lingwangcheng wept and said: "As soon as my husband is born and is a person, how can he take care of the whole family!" So he fought hard to pull out the city and capture Ji Yong alive, but Zhu Ling's family died.

There is a very important feature of the Three Kingdoms period. It's about taking your family as a hostage. If there is quality, it is not easy to rebel, and if there is no quality, it is easy to rebel. There are three representative people and events that illustrate this point.

Zhu Ling, because he was not qualitative, was in the hands of Yuan Shao. Therefore, he took the initiative to return to Cao and never returned.

is also a subordinate of Yuan Shao, frustrated. After being captured in the Battle of Guandu, Cao Cao treated him very well. The frustration was not surrendered because the clansmen were all in Yecheng. and also tried every means to escape, and finally angered Cao Cao and died.

Zhang Xiu, descended and then rebelled. not only almost took Lao Cao's life, but also lost Cao Cao's son, nephew, and general, which profoundly affected the history of Cao Wei. Afterwards, when Cao Cao reviewed the matter, he said that his biggest mistake was to appease Zhang Xiu and not take his family hostage. And told his subordinates that he would never make such a mistake again in the future.

The reason why Cao Cao was so vigorous with Ma Han and Zhao Yun was because neither of them had family members in Xiangping as hostages, and the station was far away from Xiangping, and they belonged to other departments, so they became their own forces, and they went and stayed at will. This is very similar to Liu Bei's situation in Gongsun Zhan's camp, the affiliation is relatively loose, and he will leave as soon as he says.

The two talents who had such a chance to get their hands on them were unmoved, and they were even more difficult to deal with than the general Zhu Ling, which really puzzled Cao Cao, and he didn't know what these two people were trying to do. People don't want to find a master in troubled times, why don't these two care? This hit Cao Cao, who had just been praised by Zhu Ling as the master.

At the time of parting, Cao Cao was very reluctant and wanted to hold his hand (this is one of the three axes that Cao Cao enveloped), but he was quietly avoided by Ma Han. Cao Cao was not impressed, and sighed: "I hate to make great things with you!" ”

Leaning on the high slope of the horse, looking at the banner of Cao Jun waving like a cloud in the distance, Zhao Yun said to Ma Han with a sense of feeling: "Cao Gong is magnificent and generous, and if he is thirsty for talent, he is not a wise master." ”

Ma Han exhaled lightly: "Yes, if I had met him two years ago, maybe I would really have served him as the master." ”

Zhao Yun also said: "If I met him a year ago, it would be average. ”

The two of them looked at each other and laughed, both of them having an honest cheerfulness.

Cao Cao got Zhang Min, his father's revenge was avenged, and he took this as an order to step down and withdraw his troops to the west. Not to mention Tao Qian, he simply escaped death. Both of them took what they needed, each got what they wanted, and they were all happy. Next, it's time for Ma Han to get what he deserves.

On the seventh day of the second lunar month, Tao Qian sent an envoy to urge Ma Han to enter the city. At present, the governance office of Xuzhou is not in Xiapi, but in Yancheng. At the same time, those who went to Yancheng to participate in the celebration also included Liu Bei, Tian Kai, Zang Ba, Sun Guan and other meritorious ministers who resisted Cao Bao Xu.

Ma Han and Zhao Yun led a hundred white wolf horsemen (this is the upper limit of Xuzhou's allowed) into the city, of course the eagle slave had to accompany him, and there was also a person who also asked to go with him, who? The little lady of the Gan family, Gan Mei. Ma Han considered that there would also be some female relatives at the celebration, and he needed information from Xuzhou very much at the moment, where was the easiest and most valuable information to come from? Of course, it came from the mouths of the officials in Xuzhou. It may also be useful to bring Ganmei, so I agreed.

Zhou Cang and the remaining 100 white wolf horsemen and hundreds of boatmen and boatmen stayed behind. Ma Han repeatedly told him to stay vigilant and not to slack off. Zhou Cang and the others, Nuo Nuo responded.

……

Five miles north of the city, on the west bank of Yishui, a grand welcome team lined up according to the ferry, waiting for it. When an all-cavalry contingent carrying various flags appeared, the crowd suddenly stirred up and shouted "Come, come, come". Although the cavalry was moving slowly, it was still very fast, and soon it appeared a hundred paces away.

When they got close, the team suddenly divided into three, and the three-pole flag and several school flags were raised high and fluttered in the wind.

"Liu", "Guan", "Zhang".

"Field".

"Zang", "Sun".

Liu Bei, Guan Yu, Zhang Fei, Tian Kai, Zang Ba, and Sun Guan all came together.

The three brothers Liu Bei and Tian Kai were stationed in Xiangben and Lanling, which were stationed in the east of the city, while the Kaiyang City in Langya County, where Zang Ba and Sun Guan were stationed, was north of the city. Under Liu Bei's Tiyì. Tian Kai finally agreed to wait in Xiangben City, and after the sentry cavalry reported that a team with the banners of "Zang" and "Sun" appeared in the north, they all went out to greet him. After the group of heroes meet, they go to the city together.

In terms of position, Liu Bei, who was the minister of Pingyuan at this time, was at the same level as Zang Ba, who was the captain of the cavalry, but this Liu Pingyuan not only greeted him, but also pulled a Qingzhou assassin to greet him, just such a simple gesture made Zang and Sun feel good. Sure enough, it deserves its name!

Liu Bei only went to the next stop in the city lightly and skillfully, and won the favor and praise of an important other force in Xuzhou, this skill, I am afraid that it is a little more ingenious than Cao Cao.

"Tian Yuanjun, Brother Xuande, Yunchang, Yide, Xuangao, Zhongtai. Zizhong was polite. In the greeting procession, the first man in a high-crowned costume who was about thirty years old and graceful raised his sleeves in a circle, and his wide sleeved robe hung down to the ground, blowing like waves under the strong wind of the river. That kind of big sleeves fluttering. The clothes are elegant and elegant, which is heartbreaking.

"Hahaha! In the past, when I saw Zizhong, I was always worried about state affairs, and my eyebrows were wide. Now the enemy has retreated. Xuzhou saw the sun through the clouds, and finally saw Zizhong's demeanor, and he really deserved to be a gentleman in the East China Sea! Liu Bei laughed and led the crowd forward to return the salute.

In terms of position, Tian Kai, the history of Qingzhou Thorn, is the highest. It should be the main one, but it depends on how to understand the history of Qingzhou. At this time, there were two Qingzhou assassins, one was Yuan Tan appointed by Yuan Shao, the pastor of Jizhou. The other is Tian Kai, who was appointed by Sun Zhan, the herdsman of Youzhou. None of these two assassins are legitimate court officials, all of them are appointed by local warlords themselves, and the gold content is not high. Tian Kai's name is Qingzhou History, but in fact it only occupies two counties: Pingyuan County and Jinan State, and the gold content of this thorn history has further declined. Moreover, Tian Kai is not well-known, and he is not very good at communicating, and when he encounters a first-class person like Liu Bei who has first-class communication skills in the world, he really can't do anything except stand aside. As a result, it became dominated by it, and Tian Kai was quite willing, so he had to praise Liu Bei's wrist.

The one who came to greet Liu Bei and his entourage was the No. 2 person in Xuzhou, don't drive Mi Zhu Mi Zizhong. Since Liu Bei, Tian Kai and others led troops to help, Xuzhou has been responsible for contacting, supplying grain and grass, and replenishing soldiers. As for Tao Qian, I'm sorry, I've been sick in bed.

In terms of Qingzhou reinforcements, Liu Bei came forward to deal with most of them. One of these two people is a hero who drills at the crack and is very good at winning people's hearts, and the other is a strong man who is looking for a strong new master because the old master is gone, and they can be said to hit it off like a fish in water. When they met at this moment, the intimacy was mentioned.

After the quarrel with the three brothers of Liu Bei, Mi Zhu saluted a tall man with long hands and feet, light soft armor, a narrow face, and a resolute face: "The matter of Langya, fortunately, thanks to Xuangao, Zhongtai, and Wu (Dun), Yin (Li), and Sun (Kang) Zhujun, so as not to fall into the hands of Cao Jun, the monarchs have made great contributions, and Zhu Daizhou has thanked him." "Saying that, bow to the ground, this can be regarded as a big gift in the intersection of peers.

This person with the momentum of a general is the cavalry captain Zang Ba, and the bold and strong man beside him is the deputy captain Sun Guan, the two of them bowed in return, did not dare to say anything, and thanked the state pastor for sending reinforcements to help. Although the reinforcements sent by Tao Qian were all broken by Cao Ren and Shi Lian, they also dispersed the forces of Cao's army and relieved the pressure on Kaiyang, so that Zang Ba and others could successfully defend it.

The joint anti-Cao has been completed, and now it is time to taste the fruits of victory. These Xuzhou figures, one by one, are full of spring breeze, talking and laughing, crossing the Yishui by boat, and entering the city from the north gate of Yancheng.

At this moment, under the head of the north gate, there are crowds of people, and the welcome scene is extremely huge.

Zhang Fei, whose head was wrapped in a red scarf and was as majestic as a lion, grinned happily: "So many people? Did the city come out of the city? ”

Mi Zhu said with a smile: "Zhang Sima (Zhang Fei was the Sima of the Bujun at the time) didn't know that after the Cao army retreated, many Li Shu who fled to Xiapi and Guangling have returned. There were also county magistrates and squires from various counties who came to celebrate, and there were many attachés, and the number of people in the city increased dramatically. What Zhang Sima saw, but half. ”

Guan Yu stroked his beautiful hair and said with satisfaction: "Half of them are welcome outside the city, and half of them are waiting in the city. ”

Liu Bei hurriedly said: "Yun Chang must not say such things. Xuzhou survived, first Tao Gong disregarded his sick body, with the courage of Lian Po, faced the enemy head-on, and was properly dispatched. Then there is a strong help from Tian Junjun and Xuangao and Zhongtai. You and my brothers are just attached to the tail of the king, how dare you take credit. ”

These words naturally attracted humility from everyone, and Liu Bei was humble again and again, his demeanor was extremely respectful, and he was a humble gentleman.

At this moment, suddenly there was a commotion in the welcoming crowd in the north of the city, and the crowd was excited, as if they were shouting something. Then most of them dispersed suddenly, and the city was suddenly empty and lonely. One moment it was still crowded with people, and the flags were waving, and the next moment, it was all gone.

This sudden scene made Liu Bei and his entourage stunned, one by one like ducks listening to thunder, frozen on the spot.

After a long time, Tian Kai couldn't help but open his mouth: "Zizhong, what's going on?" ”

Mi Zhu was also stunned for a while, listened to the sound for a while, and then took a breath like a toothache: "Ten thousand Buddhas!" It's him who comes! (To be continued......)