In order to hunt down Cao Cao, Xu Rong only had light cavalry with him, and these soldiers may indeed be considered elite compared to the troops under the command of the princes, but they are still far from enough compared to the five hundred cavalry under Chen Zhi. And Xu Rong naturally understood this, so he didn't plan to fight Xu Ji at all, although Xu Rong looked down on this young man before, but the heavily armored foot soldiers who came like ghosts still had a huge impact on him, and although the cavalry under Chen Zhi's command did not have any surprising performance, Xu Rong could feel the surging killing intent hidden in the silence of these cavalry.

So Xu Rong chose to retreat, but to his surprise, Xu Ji not only did not accept it when he saw it, but insisted on pursuing, which made Xu Rong unable to understand, after all, it was possible for him to be with Lu Bu, why is this young man so persistent? However, Xu Rong didn't have time to think about it at this time, Chen Zhi had already chased after him, and Xu Rong himself was not good at fighting generals, so he never thought of a so-called battle between men with Chen Lai. However, Chen Zhi is also a very measured person, although Xu Ji said that he chased and killed, he did not ask what the result was, that is to say, Xu Ji didn't care what result Chen Zhi could get, and the so-called pursuit can of course also be understood as only chasing and not killing.

So there was an extremely strange scene, Xu Rong led his troops to retreat to Xingyang, while Chen Zhi led his troops to hang tightly behind Xu Rong, and the distance between the two concessions has been kept within ten miles. This situation made Xu Rong extremely awkward, Chen Zhi did not move, but just followed, although it did not cause battle damage, but the pressure on Xu Rong's corporal was indeed increasing, and people continued to deliberately fall behind and flee today. In other words, Chen Zhi's delaying tactics not only made Xu Rong unable to feel at ease, but also needed to appease the soldiers' morale.

Fortunately, Xu Rong was already close to Xingyang, and he was waiting for Lu Bu to come to meet him. So Xu Rong finally didn't need to continue to be tortured. And Chen Zhi also chose to withdraw his troops when he saw that it was good, although Chen Zhi did not make a move along the way, it had already caused Xu Rong's losses to be extremely huge. This is already the completion of Xu Ji's instructions for Chen Zhi. On the other side, Cao Cao was finally able to get out of danger, and he was taken by the Xiahou brothers for treatment before he had time to thank Xu Ji. And Xu Ji got Chen Zhi's reward, so he naturally knew that no matter how deep he pursued, he might not be able to achieve results, not to mention, he might be ambushed again. So he also collected his troops and returned to Luoyang.

Cao Cao, who hastily cleaned up the wounds, was also about to look for Xu Ji at this time, and the two walked together, Cao Cao asked, "Why don't you see Wentai?" Xu Ji looked at Cao Cao's shoulder, which was still a little inconvenient, and said: "Brother Wentai's command is seriously damaged and unable to pursue, I learned that Meng De came alone, so I was worried about encountering accidents, so I led my troops to come." Although Cao Cao listened to Xu Ji say it lightly, the danger is quite huge, first of all, Xu Ji himself does not have many soldiers, and he has already risked putting himself into it when he comes to the rescue, and compared with the princes who have returned to the sour dates, it is even more rare for Xu Ji.

But Cao Cao is not a hypocrisy. This kindness is in my heart, and there is obviously a more important thing at this time, that is, how to deal with being burned down by Dong Zhuo in Luoyang?

When Xu Ji and Cao Cao returned to the sour jujube camp, they saw a group of princes actually holding a feast in the tent, Cao Cao had already folded for a while, and his heart was depressed and unsettled, and he was furious and said: "Luoyang has been destroyed in one fell swoop, and all the soldiers are working together, what kind of face do you have to drink and have fun here?" Yuan Shao hurriedly comforted, now Cao Cao's popularity has risen after this battle, and Yuan Shao also knows that it is powerful, so even if Cao Cao's words are extremely unkind, he can still only smile. But Cao Cao didn't appreciate it at all, and said: "I, Cao Cao, are righteous and righteous, and the thing I have in my heart is to get rid of thieves for the country." Since the princes came righteously, Cao Cao's original intention was to bother the people of Hanoi at the beginning, and they were in Mengjin and sour dates; The generals stick to Chenggao. According to Aocang, Sai Yuyuan, Taigu, control its danger; Highway then led the army of Nanyang. stationed in Dan, analyzed, and entered Wuguan. Earthquake three auxiliaries. All deep ditches and high bases, don't fight. It is a suspicious soldier and shows the situation in the world. To be obedient and disobedient, you can also be determined. If you hesitate to move forward today, you will be disappointed in the hope of the world. Shame on you! Yuan Shao and the others were naturally speechless when they heard this.

Cao Cao was already cold, and he disrupted the banquet, so he looked back at Xu Ji and said, "What are Wen Lie's plans?" Xu Ji glanced around at the princes in the tent and said: "The Tao is not the same, Wen Lie resigned." Seeing this, Cao Cao also glanced coldly at the people in the tent: "In this way, Cao Mengde also resigned." ”

And Cao Cao made such a decision so decisively, of course, it was not impulsive, he knew very well that the real leaders of the so-called joint crusade against Dong Zhuo this time were actually himself and Xu Ji, and now that Xu Ji had left, it was difficult for him to support the overall situation alone, and Yuan Shao and others had different intentions, so how could it be done? Therefore, Cao Cao didn't plan to stay any longer, and when he got out of the big tent, he caught up with Xu Ji and said, "What does Wen Lie plan to do in the future?" Xu Ji sighed slightly and said, "I have the will of the first emperor, so naturally I want to kill Dong Zhuo with another idea." ”

Cao Cao nodded when he heard this: "That's it, I want to lead my troops to Yangzhou, Wen Lie but there is a need, Meng De will never refuse!" When Xu Ji heard this, he just smiled and said, "Meng De better take care of himself, otherwise Wen Lie may not be able to rescue in time next time." Cao Cao Ha Ha Da Lu smiled and said, "Wen Lie rest assured, Cao Mengde will not fall twice in the same place." ”

After saying this, Cao Cao turned around and motioned to Cao Ren to come over and ordered: "Zixiao, order the soldiers to pack up and go to Yangzhou with me!" But Xu Ji stretched out his hand and pressed Cao Cao's shoulder and said, "What about Meng De's parents?" When Cao Cao heard this, he turned around and untied his sword and said, "I asked Wen Lie to take care of it, but one day I can use Cao Cao's sword as a basis!" Xu Ji smiled bitterly when he heard this, Cao Cao's cheap cut was really too scoundrel, but Xu Ji didn't refuse but took the sword and said: "Okay, if he sees you and me again in the future, I may already be enemies, so Meng De doesn't want to show mercy." And Cao Cao also smiled and said, "The same is true for Wen Lie." ”

As soon as everyone in the tent saw Cao Cao and Xu Ji leaving, they also automatically started their own careful thoughts, and Yuan Shao saw that people's minds were changing now, and he was afraid that he couldn't control it, so he simply disbanded this alliance of princes who had already existed in name only, and the princes also led their own troops to prepare to return to their own territories. At this time, Yuan Shao got a piece of news that made him extremely unhappy: Sun Jian got the missing heirloom jade seal.

And it is also a coincidence that Sun Jian was able to get the jade seal, on the night when Xu Ji led his troops to rescue Cao Cao. Sun Jian heard a sergeant under his command say that there was a glimmer of light in a well on the south side of the palace, and Sun Jian was curious for a moment, so he called the sergeant to light a torch and go down to the well to salvage it. What was picked up was the corpse of a woman. It looked like it had been dead for a long time, but its corpse showed no signs of decomposing. And it's a palace-like outfit, and there is a bag under the neck. Sun Jian asked people to take it, and when Sun Jian opened the bag, there was a small vermilion box in the bag, which was locked with a gold lock. Sun Jian called someone to get an ancient ingot knife to break it open, and saw a jade seal.

This seal is four inches in circumference, and it is engraved with five dragons; A corner is missing, and it is set with gold. There are also eight characters on the seal: "Ordered by the sky, both longevity and eternal prosperity." Sun Jian really didn't recognize what this thing was. So he called Cheng Pu to ask. Cheng Pu immediately knelt down on the ground after taking a closer look and said: "Lord Hong Fuye, this is the jade seal of the country." This jade is in the past, when Bian He was under Jing Mountain, he saw the phoenix perched on the stone, and he found it. In the twenty-sixth year of Qin, the government ordered the good work to be the seal, and Li Si sealed the eight characters on it. In the twenty-eighth year, the first emperor patrolled to Dongting Lake. The wind and waves are strong, the boat will capsize, and the jade seal will stop in the lake. to thirty-six years. The first emperor patrolled to Huayin, and some people held seals to cover the road, and the servants said: "Hold this to return the ancestral dragon." 'Words are gone, and this seal is returned to Qin. Next year. The First Emperor collapsed. Later, Ziying presented the jade seal to Han Gaozu. Later, when Wang Mang usurped and rebelled, the Empress Dowager Xiaoyuan beat Wang Xun and Su Xian, and collapsed one of them. It is set with gold. Guangwu got this treasure in Yiyang and passed on the throne to this day. Recently, I heard that the ten permanent servants were in turmoil. Robbed the young emperor out of the north and returned to the palace to lose this treasure. Today it is conferred on the lord. There must be a way to climb the Ninth Five-Year Plan. You can't stay here for a long time, you should go back to Jiangdong as soon as possible, don't try to make a big deal. ”

Sun Jian was stunned when he heard this, where did he expect that he could get this treasure, but the so-called puppet is not guilty of his crimes, where can Sun Jian keep this thing now? Don't look at it as just a small seal, but from what Cheng Pu said, it is not difficult to see that this thing undoubtedly has the so-called emperor's destiny, and now Sun Jian is really a little difficult to decide. And Cheng Pu saw the deep groan on Sun Jian's face and said again: "The lord should make plans as soon as possible, otherwise I am afraid that it will change later!" ”

Hearing this, Sun Jian turned his head to look at the remnants of Luoyang that were still scattered, and sighed and said, "Demou is reasonable. I will ask Yuan Benchu to resign tomorrow. But what Sun Jian didn't expect was that he would tell the dignitaries not to leak the news, but he still couldn't hide it from Yuan Shao.

The reason was that one of the several sergeants who saw Sun Jian excavating the jade seal was from Yuan Shaoxiang, and when he saw this news, he wanted to pretend that this was a resource for his life. So he ignored Sun Jian's order and sneaked out of the camp overnight, until the sour jujube camp came to report to Yuan Shao. Yuan Shao was shocked when he heard the news, but he did not attack immediately, but gave the sergeant who reported the news a reward, so that he could stay in the army secretly. The next day, Sun Nuran came to say goodbye to Yuan Shao.

Sun Jian's reason is very simple: "Alliance leader, Sun Jian contracted a minor illness after not healing from his war wounds a while ago, and he wanted to return to Changsha, so he came to say goodbye." Yuan Shao smiled coldly when he heard this: "Wentai wants to deceive me? I knew early on that Wentai's illness was harmful to the ears of the country. Where did Sun Jian expect Yuan Shao to say such a sentence, and immediately said in shock: "Where did this come from? Yuan Shao didn't answer, but said coldly: "Now we are waiting for the army to fight the thieves and eliminate the harm for the country." The jade seal is the treasure of the imperial court, and the Wentai has been obtained, and it should be made public and left with the alliance leader for temporary safekeeping, and it will be returned to the imperial court after Dong Zhuo is punished. However, Wentai wants to hide it now, what is his intention? ”

Where did Sun Jian dare to admit it, Yuan Shao's words had already confirmed that the private possession of the jade seal must be a capital crime, so Sun Jian naturally refused to admit it, so Sun Jian also pretended to be angry and said: "Why did you say that the jade seal was in my place?" Is there any evidence? Yuan Shao sneered when he heard Sun Jian's words: "Wentai is unwilling to confess? Anyway, I just ask where is the thing in the well next to the Jianzhang Palace? Hearing this, he instantly knew that there must be a traitor in his army, but at this time, no matter what, Sun Jian would never admit it, otherwise Yuan Shao would inevitably take his own life, so he said angrily: "Why did you insist on wronging me? I don't have anything, why force me? ”

Yuan Shao saw that Sun Jian looked like he would never confess, and he was really angry, so he pressed his hand on the sword and said: "Wentai should take it out quickly, so as not to cause trouble to yourself!" "Where is Sun Jian willing to recognize? When even pointing to the sky as an oath: "If Sun Wentai gets this treasure and hides it privately, he will not die well on another day, and he will die under the sword and arrow!" When the princes in the tent heard Sun Jian swear such a gamble, they all advised Yuan Shao: "Wentai swears like this, there must be nothing." And Yuan Shao still just sneered: "The princes are not bullied by Sun Wentai. If there is no real evidence, why am I so difficult for him? When even the sergeant came out to look at Sun Jian and said, "When Wentai is salvaged." Is there such a person? When Sun Jian saw this man, he was immediately furious, and he drew the sword he wore to kill the sergeant. Seeing this, Yuan Shao also drew his sword and said angrily: "Sun Wentai, you want to kill this soldier." but deceive me. At this time, Yuan Shao's strong generals Yan Liang and Wen Chou had also rushed to sour dates, and now behind Yuan Shao, they saw Sun Jian draw his sword and unsheath. And Cheng Pu, Huang Gai, and Han Dang behind Sun Jian are also knives in hand. When the princes saw that the situation was not right, they divided into two factions and persuaded them separately.

Sun Jian saw that Yuan Shao had no room for reconciliation with him, so he simply led his troops and horses to leave Luoyang. Where could Yuan Shao hold back this breath, the anger in his heart could not be relieved for a while, so he immediately repaired a book, and sent his confidants to Jingzhou overnight, and the person who received the letter was Liu Biao, the assassin Shi Liu Biao, and the content written by Yuan Shao in the letter was very simple. said that Sun Jian was carrying the jade seal of the country, and asked Liu Biao to intercept it on the road and seize it. Yuan Shao's idea is very simple, what I Yuan Shao can't get, is not something that Sun Jian can have.

In this way, the princes were naturally scattered, and the vigorous so-called alliance against Dong collapsed in an instant, and the princes also had personal grievances among themselves, and the matter of Sun Jian was naturally unhappy.

At this time, there was another accident between the princes, but it was Liu Dai, the Taishou of Yanzhou, who asked Qiao Mao, the Taishou of Dongjun, to borrow grain. Qiao Mao excused himself on the grounds that the food and grass in the army were only enough for his own use. Liu Dai and Qiao Mao originally had a personal grudge, but now Liu Dai simply took this opportunity to be ambitious, and after Qiao Mao refused, he led the army into Qiao Mao's camp and killed Qiao Mao. and forced Qiao Mao's troops to surrender. Yuan Shao saw that everyone was scattered, and it was inevitable that the alliance would fall apart, so he led his troops to pull out the village. Leaving Luoyang, he went to Kanto.

And Xu Ji had already led his troops back to Yu County at this time. At this time, he didn't know about Sun Jian, but even if he knew about Xu Ji, he wouldn't say anything. As the saying goes, everyone has their own aspirations, and since Sun Jian has made such a choice, he should bear the price of doing so.

But what Xu Jiwan didn't expect was that he and Sun Jian's sour dates were separated by yin and yang. Liu Biao read Yuan Shao's letter at that time and convened his subordinates to discuss the matter, and the result was naturally to do what Yuan Shao said. Liu Biao is a royal family member of the Eight Classics, and he doesn't think there is anything wrong with keeping the jade seal, so he ordered Kuai Yue and Cai Mao to lead 10,000 troops to intercept Sun Jian. At that time, Sun Jian led the military to the boundary of Jingzhou, and saw that a distant army of soldiers and horses had already opened the battle in vain, obviously coming for himself. Sun Jian looked at it with his hands on the pergola, but it was Jingzhou Kuai Yue who led the troops. Kuai Yue saw that Sun Jian was coming with his troops, and he should go out first. Sun Jian saw Kuai Yue riding out of his horse and also saluted respectfully and asked, "Why did Kuai Yidu lead troops to intercept Wentai?" ”

Hearing this, Kuai Yue smiled coldly and said, "Since you are a Hanchen, how can you hide the treasure of the country?" But stay quickly, and I'll let you go!" Although Sun Jian guessed that this was the result, he couldn't help but be angry in his heart, and immediately turned around and ordered Huang Gai to fight. Kuai Yue's ability to be a Wenchen naturally would not go into battle, and Cai Mao behind him saw Huang Gai riding a horse and immediately attacked with a horse and a knife. After not counting, Huang Gai hit Cai Mao with the iron whip in his hand, and Cai Mao also narrowly avoided the vital point, and was only hit by Huang Gai in the heart guard. Cai Mao was defeated, so he naturally didn't dare to stay longer, so he immediately turned his horse away, and Sun Jian saw that Huang Gai had won, so he took advantage of the situation to kill the border.

However, at this time, Sun Jian heard the sound of golden drums behind the mountain, Sun Jian hurriedly looked back, and saw that Liu Biao personally led the army. When Sun Jian saw that Liu Biao was not presumptuous, he immediately asked Shi Li: "Why did Jingsheng Gong believe in Yuan Shao's book and force neighboring counties?" Liu Biao was already close to knowing the destiny of heaven at this time, and slowly spoke: "Sun Jianru privately collects the jade seal of the country, could it be that he wants to rebel? ?" When Sun Jian heard this, he had to grit his teeth and say: "If I have this thing, I will die under the sword and arrow!" When Liu Biao heard this, he smiled and said: "If you want me to listen to it, it is not difficult, so you will search the luggage of the army for me to see." If not, Liu Jingsheng is willing to apologize in person. Sun Jian was furious when he heard this, Liu Biao was obviously sure that he had the heirloom jade seal in his hand, and at this time it was useless to say more, so he broke off and said: "What power does the old puppet have to dare to underestimate me!" After saying that, he was about to lead his troops to hand over, but unexpectedly, Liu Biao saw Sun Jian personally going into battle, so he didn't have any intention of fighting, and immediately chose to retreat. Sun Jian was originally violent, but now he aroused the anger in his heart for Liu Biao, and ignored the soldiers behind him and rushed to the horse alone, and after Sun Jian rode into the valley, he suddenly saw the ambush behind the two mountains, and Cai Mao and Kuai Yue also led their troops to rush behind him, trapping Sun Jian in the heart. Originally, Sun Jian was already a mortal situation, but fortunately, Cheng Pu, Huang Gai, and Han Dang were able to escape only after desperately saving each other, but most of the troops were lost because of this, and Sun Jian had to take the road to lead the troops back to Jiangdong.

But on this, Sun Jian had a grudge with Liu Biao.

And at this moment, Yuan Shao also has a new goal, although the crusade against Dong Zhuo has been put on hold for the time being, but the chaos in the world has just begun. (To be continued......)