It is said that Cao Cao fled from the south gate of Luoyang after riding a horse and went straight to Qian County, and at this time Dong Zhuo was already suspicious, before Cao Cao held a knife in his hand and seemed to have the intention of killing him, so he asked Li Ru with this, Li Ru thought for a while and said: "Cao Cao is only afraid that he does have the heart of disobedience, and now he is weak and fleeing, it must be an assassination." Dong Zhuo was furious when he heard this: "I use this person so much, why do you want to harm me?" Li Ru didn't know what Lu Dao was, but he knew that Dong Zhuo must have the intention to capture Cao Cao, so he said: "Cao Cao must have an accomplice, otherwise how can he have the heart to harm his father-in-law?" It's not too late to catch Cao Cao in a net! When Dong Zhuo heard this, he immediately ordered the left and right to go all over the paperwork, draw shadows and graphics, arrest Cao Cao, and promised that those who captured Cao Cao would be rewarded with a thousand gold and sealed ten thousand households, but those who dared to harbor Cao Cao were punished with the same crime.

These Cao Cao naturally didn't know, but he knew Dong Zhuo's temperament very well, Dong Zhuo was not sure of his intentions at that time, but now once he escapes, he is bound to hunt him down, Cao Cao is naturally impossible to sit and wait for Dong Zhuo to hold his own, at this time he must return to his own place of strength in order to save his life, so Cao Cao naturally did not have a little delay along the way, which is also thanks to the good horse chosen by Lu Bu, so galloping is not tired.

But Cao Cao underestimated Dong Zhuo's determination after all, and tried his best to be cautious along the way, but he still found that all the counties he passed through along the way had posted pictures of him wanted, so Cao Cao was even more panicked, but fortunately, Cao Cao had always acted carefully and was not captured.

However, as the so-called horse has stumbled, some people have stumbled, Cao Cao has not escaped such a strict inspection after all, and finally stopped it in Zhongmu County for the sergeant guarding the pass, Cao Cao naturally did not dare to act rashly and captured the sergeant to see Zhongmu County. Seeing the county order, Cao Cao was still serious, and the county commander asked the sergeant who Cao Cao was, and the sergeant said that this person was suspicious. Cao Cao defended: "I am a merchant, so I am naturally afraid of being plundered. The county magistrate then turned his head to look at Cao Cao. Then he said, "If you are a merchant, why don't you see the goods and your entourage?" Cao Cao secretly said that it was not good, but he still said to himself: "I am the leader, and I am the one who brings the letter to the head of the family." ”

Hearing this, the county commander sneered: "An dares to deceive!" When the county commander was seeking an official in Luoyang before, he knew you, and you were the wanted Cao Cao! left and right, and put this person under supervision, and tomorrow he will be sent to the capital to ask for a reward! Cao Cao's heart couldn't help but darken, and it was not convenient to secretly say that the sky was not convenient, who knew that there were people in Zhongmu who knew him. Hearing the order of the county order, the sergeant escorted Cao Cao to the county prison and detained him, and the county order here rewarded him with wine and food.

At this time, Cao Cao was already a little disheartened. This place is the so-called place where the heavens should not be called the earth, and the only thing waiting for them is death. Who knew that someone on the night shift quietly stunned the jailer to rescue Cao Cao, Cao Cao didn't know what the intention of the person who came, so he didn't dare to make any moves, so he went with it, and stopped at a courtyard, Cao Cao was confused but saw that the county commander he saw during the day was looking at himself with a smile, Cao Cao suddenly said with some confusion: "Why did the county order save me?" ”

And the county commander smiled: "I just have some doubts and want to ask for advice." It is rumored that the prime minister treats you Cao Cao well, why did he bring trouble on himself? Cao Cao couldn't be sure of the intentions of the county order in front of him at this time, so he simply said coldly: "The swallow bird knows the ambition of the bird!" If you have taken me, you will take me and ask for a reward. Why ask? Hearing this, the county commander shook his head and smiled bitterly, so he asked his family to avoid it, and then untied the shackles in Cao Cao's hand and said, "Meng De underestimated me." I am not a layman, but I have not met the ears of the Lord. When Cao Cao heard this, he knew that he might have a chance to live, so he said: "Cao Cao's ancestors ate Hanlu in the world, if you don't think about serving the country." How is it different from an animal? The former stooped down to serve Dong Zhuo, but in fact he wanted to take advantage of the situation to eliminate harm for the country. Now it's a failure. It is providential! ”

After the county commander sat down, he sighed and said, "In this case, Meng De is here." Where will you go? Cao Cao said angrily: "I wanted to return to my hometown and issue an edict." Call on the princes of the world to raise troops to fight against Dong Zhuo! When the county magistrate heard this, he left the table and bowed: "But I don't know that Meng De is so loyal, but it's a pity that how many people in the world can be like Meng De?" Cao Cao knew that his life was saved, so he also returned the courtesy: "I haven't had time to ask the name of the county order." The county magistrate smiled when he heard this: "My surname is Chen, my name is Gonggong, and my name is Gongtai." The old mother and wife of the family are all in Dongjun. Now that I know that Meng De is so loyal, I am willing to abandon the official and follow Meng De! Cao Cao was even more overjoyed when he heard this, so he and Chen Gong packed up their own weapons, abandoned the affairs of the house, left from Zhongmu overnight, and went straight to Qian County.

The two of them hurried carefully all the way, and sometimes even had to go out day and night, until they arrived in Chenggao for three days. At this time, Cao Cao and Chen Gonggu were tired, Cao Cao knew that there was a place to go here, so he said to Chen Gong: "Gongtai, you and I have been working hard for a few days, and I am afraid that it will be difficult to go again for a while. Chen Gongben was also born as a literati, although at that time Confucianism was not as unbearable as later generations, but after all, it was not comparable to military generals, and it was already tired and difficult, when even said: "This is naturally the best." ”

So the two of them dismounted and led to Lu Bohao's village, and after Cao Cao met Lu Bohao, he asked about his own affairs, and Lu Bohao sighed and said: "I heard that the imperial court is full of documents, and the whole country is wanted, and your father has taken refuge in Chen." How did you get out of here? Cao Cao pointed to Chen Gong beside him and said, "If it were for Chen Gongtai, I would have already died." When Lu Bo heard this, he looked at Chen Gong squarely, and then got up and thanked him: "If the little nephew is not the envoy, the Cao family will be wiped out." Let the gentleman sit comfortably, and you can stay in the grass hut tonight. After that, he said to Cao Cao: "This place can be regarded as home. After a long time, Lu Bohao saw that the two were still sitting in the hall and said to Chen Gong: "The old man has no good wine, so he can go to the West Village to buy a bottle and treat each other." Ignoring that, the two hurried out and rode away on a donkey.

Cao Cao and Chen Gong looked at each other, naturally suspicious, so Cao Cao said to Chen Gong: "The public platform is seated, and I will go to explore the truth and reality." Seeing Chen Gong nodding, Cao Cao left his seat to eavesdrop outside the inner hall, only to hear the sound of sharpening the knife "Huo Huo", Cao Cao's heart suddenly tightened, and then he returned to the front of the hall and said to Chen Gong: "I heard that there seems to be a sound of sharpening knives in the back hall, but I am afraid that I will panic and hear it wrong, and the public platform can go with Cao?" Chen Gong was also panicked when he heard this, and immediately got up and nodded, and the two quietly approached the back of the grass hall. Just as he wanted to look at it, he heard a person: "Why don't you tie it up and kill it?" ”

Hearing this, Chen Gong still had the heart to look at it, and turned his head to look at Cao Cao. I saw that Cao Cao's face was also cold. Cao Cao saw Chen Gong turn his head and whispered to Chen Gong: "Gongtai, the matter is urgent. If you don't strike first, you will be captured! Chen Gong also nodded secretly, so the two of them went straight into the back hall with swords in their hands, and killed Lu Bohao's family of eight without asking men and women, but at this time, he suddenly heard the pig's howl, Cao Cao went to the kitchen to see a pig tied by a rope, at this time Cao Cao knew that he had killed by mistake, and his heart was even more sad, Chen Gong himself couldn't help but sigh when he saw this: "Meng De is suspicious." Now it's a good person who kills by mistake! Cao Cao looked back at Chen Gong and said helplessly: "The matter has come to this, what can I do about it?" Lu Boyu is afraid that he will return, I will leave as soon as possible! ”

Chen Gong also had no idea, so the two hurriedly led the horse out of the village, got on the horse and went straight to Chen Liu. However, the two of them walked less than two miles before they saw two bottles of hanging wine in front of the saddle of Lu Boxuan's donkey, and came with fruits and vegetables in their hands. Cao Cao didn't want to meet Lu Boxuan, but Lu Yu had no choice but to drive forward and said: "Please uncle, don't blame, Cao Cao is a guilty person." I didn't dare to stay long. Lu Bo smiled when he heard this: "What's the matter? I've had fellowship with your father for many years, so why should I care about the slightest details? Virtuous nephew, I have ordered my family to slaughter a pig to entertain the two, virtuous nephew, so why hate the king? Hurry up and turn to ride! ”

Cao Cao arched his hand and said, "It's really not that the little nephew refuses." But he was really anxious about his father. After saying that, he rode his horse and ignored Lu Bohao, Chen Gong naturally chased after him as soon as he gave his hand, who expected Cao Cao to ride his horse back after a few steps. Chen Gongzheng was questioning, but he saw Cao Cao's sword in his hand and slashed at Lu Bohao's back, and Lu Bohao was an old man who never expected that someone in his back would immediately fall under the donkey. Falling in a pool of blood, Chen Gong was shocked and chased after Cao Cao and asked, "It was a manslaughter before." What is the reason for this? ”

Cao Cao's face was gloomy and said: "I have killed Lu Bohao's family, can I stop when I go to my house and see how safe I am?" If he reports the matter to the government and leads people to chase after him, how can you and I escape? Chen Gong was speechless for a while. So the two of them turned around and ran to Chen Liu, and suddenly Chen Gong spoke: "Killing knowingly, it's a big injustice!" Cao Cao only paused for a moment when he heard this, but he didn't answer, Chen Gong saw that Cao Cao was like this, so he stopped talking, but he already had a plan in his heart.

That night, the two continued to hurry, until the moon rose, knocked on an inn to stay, the shopkeeper led the horse to feed the forage, Cao Cao went to sleep after eating, but Chen Gong never fell asleep, only looked at Cao Cao between the bed and secretly thought: "I thought Cao Cao was a good person, and I abandoned the official to follow, but I didn't expect to be a wolf-hearted man!" If you stay today, you will be troubled in the future! Thinking of this, he wanted to draw his sword and kill him, but when he saw Cao Cao's calm face, he thought again: "I came here with him for the country, and it was unjust to kill him." It is difficult to say whether this matter is right or wrong, and since the matter has come to this point, it is better to abandon it and go elsewhere. ”

But let Cao Cao go like this, Chen Gong felt a little uncomfortable in his heart, so he inserted his sword on the table in front of Cao Cao's couch, and then took out his horse from the stable and threw himself into Dongjun. Cao Cao woke up to the dark, saw the sword on the table with a flickering cold light, knew the meaning of Chen Gong in his heart, and thought of the accidental killing of Lu Bohao's family, and couldn't help but feel a sense of pathos in his heart, and got up to the stable and disappeared Chen Gong's horse, he knew that he must have abandoned himself and went alone, looking at the sky and the moon, Cao Cao couldn't help but say: "I'd rather bear people, no one should bear me." Then he also got on the horse and went straight to Chen Liu.

Let's say that Xu Ji is here, he knew when Cao Cao was wanted, but he was still busy discussing with Guo Jia the next step of the plan is not to take it to heart, and some time ago Xi Zhong finally regained consciousness under Zhang Ji's treatment, but he was sick in bed for a long time because Xi Zhong's body was very weak, Zhang Ji taught Xu Ji to take medicine and Xi Zhong to take it, and told Xi Zhong not to see the wind in three months, so Xu Ji simply accompanied Xi Zhong in the house, and the two talked about the situation in the world and the art of war from time to time, and they were like-minded for a while.

However, Xu Ji strictly ordered the people under his command not to reveal that he was in Yu County, and three days ago, Bo informed Xu Ji that Chen had left a group of people with faces, and it was later known that they were Cao Cao's father Cao Song and Cao Cao's family. How to say that Cao Cao is also an old man, Xu Ji naturally took care of it, but at this time, he still didn't hear that Cao Cao was obtained, so he knew that Cao Cao would definitely come to find it, so Xu Ji waited for a long time.

Of course, Cao Song didn't know that every move of his family was under Xu Ji's surveillance, and Xu Ji didn't inform him of his plans, and now that Xu Ji couldn't stand up and confront Dong Zhuo openly, after all, the difference in strength between the two sides was really too big. And Cao Cao really didn't let Xu Ji wait for a long time, and less than five days after Cao Song settled in Xiangyi, he learned from Bo Cai that Cao Cao was coming!

Xu Ji, who learned of this, immediately set off from Yuxian County to Xiangyi to meet Cao Cao. Of course, Cao Cao didn't expect that he had only arrived in Chen, and he had seen Luoyang's old acquaintance in less than a day. And Xu Ji said with a smile: "Has Meng De forgotten that Chen Liuben is where I started?" If I escape from Luoyang, I will naturally return to my own turf. When Cao Cao heard this, he immediately smiled and said: "It's Meng De's inconsiderate thinking, I don't know why Wen Lie is here?" Hearing this, Xu Ji looked at Cao Cao and said, "It's for what Meng De thinks in his heart!" ”

After saying this, Xu Ji took out the holy decree that Liu Wei had given to Xu Ji before. It clearly says crusade against the rebels, which means that Xu Ji has a heart. It was not said that it was to deal with He Jin, Cao Cao knew it was true when he saw the seal of the holy decree when he saw it, and immediately asked, "Where did Wen Lie come from this?" Xu Ji smiled indifferently and said: "If there is no first emperor to allow Wen Lie to take charge of Jin Wu and leave Luoyang, how can the first emperor not care?" ”

Cao Cao was overjoyed and said: "In this way, there is no need to issue any more edicts, and this holy decree is enough to call on the heroes of the world to discuss Dong Zhuo!" When Xu Ji heard this, he frowned and looked at Cao Cao and said, "Why did Meng De order the heroes of the world?" Could it be that Meng De thought that a holy decree would be useful? If there are no soldiers and horses in his hands, it will be empty, Meng De might as well form his own troops first and then talk about it at this time, it is not too late! Cao Cao also nodded when he heard this: "What Wen Lie said is very true, I am familiar with Zhang Miao, and I can use his strength to do it." ”

But Xu Ji shook his head and said: "Zhang Mengzhuo is afraid that he is weak, the last battle with me has already broken up most of the army in his hands, even if there is a period of time to recuperate, but I am afraid it is only geometry, if Meng De really wants to raise troops or recruit himself, it is the best choice." When Cao Cao heard this, he didn't immediately agree, but said, "Let me discuss it with my father before I can decide." Wen Lie's coming here must not be the case. You might as well name it all along. ”

Xu Ji also expected that he would definitely not be able to hide it from Cao Cao, so he also bluntly said: "I heard that the young emperor was killed by Dong Zhuo and lost the jade seal of the country, but is it true? Cao Cao sighed and said: "Indeed, the young emperor and the empress dowager were all harmed by Dong Zhuo, and Wen Lie did lose the jade seal of the country when he left Luoyang in the night palace chaos. The reason why Xu Ji asked Cao Cao clearly was to prove the authenticity of his holy decree, but it was obviously not something that Xu Ji really wanted to know, and then Xu Ji really said again: "I don't know if Meng De has seen Lord Cai Yong?" ”

It wasn't until Xu Ji asked about this that Cao Cao remembered that Cai Yong's child Cai Yan was still with Xu Ji now, but he really didn't have much chance to meet Cai Yong, and Cao Cao had alienated himself from all the courtiers in order to comfort Dong Zhuo's heart. Therefore, there was no contact with Cai Yong, and seeing Cao Cao shaking his head, Xu Ji also sighed and no longer said this, but turned to say: "I will temporarily live in the Xiangyi County Mansion, and once there is a result, I will come to inform me, and now you and I are like-minded." Just sincere cooperation! Cao Cao naturally agreed not to mention it.

In fact, Cao Cao was extremely moved, not to mention the strength of Xu Ji's own subordinates, that is, the holy decree in Xu Ji's hands was already priceless. At least for Cao Cao, the edict is somewhat unjustifiable. But the meaning of Liu Bian's will is different, and it is not someone else who holds this holy decree but Liu Bian's brother-in-law. When the court ruled Jinwu Xu Ji, almost no one would question it, and in this way, the appeal would naturally be greater.

But Cao Cao had to take into account his father's thoughts. So Cao Cao returned home and saw Cao Song, so he told Cao Song what he was doing on the way to escape and what Xu Ji said. Although Cao Song was quite dissatisfied with Cao Cao's accidental killing of Lu Bohao's family, the matter could not be changed, but Cao Cao's ambition still made Cao Song feel very gratified, and when it came to Cao Cao's desire to dismiss the family wealth to recruit volunteers, Cao Song said to Cao Cao: "Although there is some surplus money at home, I am afraid that it will not work." There is filial piety and honesty here, squandering wealth and righteousness, and its Wei family is very rich, if you can help each other, things can be done. The child may be able to use the colt to get Webster's help. ”

Cao Cao could also see that his father didn't seem to support him to take his family wealth to do such a thing with no future, but Cao Cao couldn't blame Cao Song for anything, but his ambition could not be changed, and Xu Ji's strength in Chen Liu was relied on, Cao Cao was confident that he could fight with Dong Zhuo, so he ignored Cao Song's reaction and went to Xu Ji alone to discuss these things.

And when Xu Ji learned that Cao Cao wanted to get support from the local clan, Xu Ji had to tell Cao Cao with a wry smile: "I'm afraid I'm going to disappoint Meng De, I have always had a tense relationship with the clan, if I come forward, I'm afraid that there will be no chance, so I can only go by Meng De, if it's impossible, I will allocate some money from the Yu County Treasury for Meng De to use." ”

That's right, but where can Cao Cao pull this face? Therefore, he is equal to the choice of only going to Wei's by himself, and he is only allowed to succeed, not to fail! (To be continued......)