Han Shimou

Cao Cao looked out the window, with his back to Xun Yu, his tone seemed a little lonely and helpless.Xun Yu was bowing his head in thought, when he heard Cao Cao sigh suddenly, after recovering, he looked helpless and didn't speak.

After all, there is a limit to the righteousness in everyone's heart.In this chaotic era, for these princes, they can be said to be benevolent and righteous.

"Master Cao, Kong Ni, Tao Qian, and Liu Dai are here to see you."

Cao Cao frowned, and said the word "pass" a little coldly.After a while, Kong Ni, Tao Qian, and Liu Dai came together. Under the eyes of Kong Ni and Liu Dai, Tao Qian's face froze, and he saluted Cao Cao and opened his mouth.

"Master Cao, I recently received an urgent report from Xuzhou that bandits are rampant around Xuzhou. I will leave Xuzhou for a year. If I don't go back, I'm afraid that the whole of Xuzhou will fall into the hands of thieves.

Now that Dong thief has been eliminated, the remaining evils are not enough to cause trouble. After repeated battles, Xuzhou soldiers are exhausted and even more war-weary.I also hope that leader Cao will be kind to Xuzhou soldiers and let them rest for a while. "

"That's right. Leader Cao, Yanzhou officers and men are also in the same situation. Moreover, I also received an urgent report from Yanzhou that the Heishan bandits led by Zhang Yan, the remnant of the Yellow Turban, have gathered nearly hundreds of thousands of bandits. Yu wants to attack Yanzhou. Shu Dai has more energy than strength, so he has to lure Yanzhou soldiers back to Yanzhou."

"Leader Cao, although there are no thieves in Yuzhou, the soldiers of Yuzhou have been away from their hometown for a year, and they are very homesick. All the soldiers under your command have asked you to go back and recuperate for a period of time."

Cao Cao listened silently, and after they finished speaking, he turned around and looked at the three of them.Although Kong Ni, Tao Qian, and Liu Dai couldn't bear it, their faces were more determined.

"Kong Gong, Tao Gong, Liu Gongru and the other three thought that the big man had paid a lot, and now you all have reasons to leave, Cao dare not stand in the way. I don't know when you are going to leave, Cao will definitely see you off."

Hearing that Cao Cao didn't use the so-called benevolence and righteousness to keep them, Kong Ni, Tao Qian, and Liu Dai all felt relieved. After saluting Cao Cao, they all said that they would leave soon. Cao Cao will be notified.

Afterwards, after Cao Cao spoke polite words to the three of them for a while, Kong Ni, Tao Qian, Liu Dai and others bid farewell to Cao Cao.The soldiers of Xuzhou, Yanzhou, and Yuzhou were about to leave, and the news soon spread to the camps of other princes.Two days later, Zhang Yang and Kong Rong also found Cao Cao and informed him of their intention to leave.Cao Cao seemed to have expected this a long time ago, and agreed to them with a hint of chilling in his coolness.

With the departure of Kong Ni, Tao Qian, Liu Dai, Zhang Yang, Kong Rong and other soldiers and horses, the so-called volunteer alliance is worthy of the name. Seeing this, Sun Jian also bid farewell to Cao Cao. Cao Cao had no intention of stopping him, and let Sun Jian lead Changsha The soldiers and horses left.

"My lord, while the soldiers and horses of all the princes have not been withdrawn, we are also preparing to evacuate."

"Wen Ruoru also thinks, should I leave at this time?"

"My lord, the death of Dong Zhuo, who has the greatest power, means that the era of feudal lords competing in the Central Plains has officially arrived. Now, the lords of all parties are accumulating strength. I heard that Yuan Benchu ​​in Hanoi has repeatedly gathered troops, and his strength has reached [-]. He also used the excuse of lack of food. He went to borrow food from Han Fu, governor of Jizhou. After Han Fu borrowed it several times, he must have felt that Yuan Benchu ​​was greedy and stopped allocating food. Yuan Benchu ​​used this as an excuse to join forces with Gongsun Zan to attack Jizhou.

Jizhou is a land rich in money and food. Once Yuan Shao and Gongsun Zan capture Jizhou and share the land of Jizhou, their power will increase greatly.Both of them have ambitions and strategies, and they will definitely become a serious problem for the lord in the future.And Yuan Gonglu in Runan is also leading the army to attack Nanyang, which was occupied by the Gepi Yellow Turban Bandits, in order to expand his power.

My lord, if we continue to fight against the remnants of Dong Thief by spending more troops and supplies, I am afraid that even if we succeed in rescuing the Holy One in the future, it will be difficult to keep the Holy Majesty for too long. "

"If Wen Ruo hadn't reminded me, I wouldn't have woken up. So, after we return to Chenliu, how should we accumulate power?"

"Yanzhou and Qingzhou are full of thieves, and Qingzhou has fallen into the hands of thieves. With Liu Gongshan's ability, I predict that he will not be able to defeat the thieves. After the lord returns to Chenliu, I can send a letter to him. He will give me gold, silk, grain and grass to support me. Wait, let us lead the army to help him eliminate the thieves. With the current reputation of the lord, you can first break the thieves, beat them to the point of chilling and fear, and then use the banner of Zhaoan to subdue them. There are hundreds of thousands in Yan and Qingzhou Thief, as long as the lord can take seven or eight of them, and then take the elite soldiers, why not worry about the great cause?"

"It's so wonderful, just follow Wenruo."

Cao Cao squinted his eyes, nodded deeply, and then suddenly sighed.

"Wen Ruo, can you find out about Yun Chang? Is he out of danger?"

"My lord. Li Cui and other traitors left in a hurry, so there are still many imperial physicians left in Weiyang Palace. In the past ten days, under the careful treatment of these imperial physicians, Guan Yunchang has escaped from the critical period. I heard that he has recovered from a coma. wake up."

"Well, so, Wen Ruo casually went to see Yun Chang."

Xun Yu smiled lightly, he knew that Cao Cao's past, of course, meant to care for Guan Yu.But more is to want to settle the feud with Wen Han.Since the capture of Chang'an, because Cao Cao took care of the overall situation, he let go of Lu Bu, whom Wen Han hated deeply.The atmosphere between Wen Han and Cao Cao seemed a little tense, and Wen Han had been guarding Guan Yu's side all the time, and Cao Cao had to deal with the departure of the righteous teachers and princes. The two had little interaction during this period, and the tense atmosphere continued. .

After a while, Cao Cao and Xun Yu came to the mansion where Wen Han and others lived temporarily.Wen Han and Xu Huang were sitting in the lobby. Although Guan Yu had woken up, their faces were still dark.And because Guan Yu had just woken up, the imperial physician ordered not to be disturbed by too many people, so Wen Han and Xu Huang left, leaving only Diao Chan to take care of Guan Yu.

Cao Cao stepped into the hall and met Wen Han's eyes. For a while, the two of them seemed to be dumb and did not speak.The atmosphere is a little weird.

"Forgive me, Champion Wen. Recently, all the princes in the righteous division have been preparing to leave. My lord and I are too busy to keep up. That's why I don't have time to visit General Guan. I wonder how General Guan is injured now?"

Xun Yu spoke first, breaking the strange silence.Wen Han forced a smile on his face and bowed.

"Wen Ruo has a heart. My second brother has woken up and his injury has improved."

"Oh, so my lord and I are relieved."

Xun Yu nodded, glanced at Cao Cao, and then said to Xu Huang.

"If you don't visit General Guan, Yu can't rest assured. Can General Xu lead the way and let Yu visit General Guan?"

Xu Huang also glanced at Wen Han, then nodded to Xun Yu, and led him out of the hall.At this time, only Cao Cao and Wen Han were left in the hall.

"Bufan, are you still blaming me?"

After a long time, Cao Cao finally spoke.Wen Han took a deep breath and stared at Cao Cao.

"I don't dare to blame Mengde for reason. But for emotion, I really can't swallow this breath for a while."

"I also hope that everything can be done according to one's heart and emotions. But you must understand that we are different from the old days. Every choice and thought we make will affect thousands of lives, even the world. trend."

"I understand. It's just hard on me."

"Then wait for time to pass. No matter what, I will treat you as a close friend in this life. If you don't let me down, I will never let you down. Now the soldiers and horses of the princes from all walks of life have withdrawn from Chang'an. I have also made a decision, Mingri leads the army to leave. Do you want to leave with me?"

"it is good."

"So, I'll go and see Yun Chang first."

Cao Cao turned around and was about to leave.

"Slow, Mengde. I'll go with you."

At this time, Wen Han stood up from his seat and walked to Cao Cao's side.The tense atmosphere between the two seemed to have eased, Cao Cao smiled faintly at Wen Han, and the two walked towards Guan Yu's room together.

The next day, Cao Cao and Wen Han gathered their troops and left Chang'an City.Immediately, the city of Chang'an seemed a little empty and deserted.

The so-called army of volunteers also officially disintegrated, and the death of Dong Zhuo, the greatest traitor at the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty, finally kicked off the prelude to the feudal lords vying for the Central Plains.

However, Li Ru and Xu Rong, who were fighting with Ma Teng, Han Sui, etc. in Liangzhou, were shocked when they received the news that Dong Zhuo was dead from Li Cui, and Li Ru shed tears on the spot, with a ferocious expression on his face. Drinking to avenge Dong Zhuo.After discussing with Xu Rong, Li Ru and Xu Rong decided to lead [-] soldiers from Liangzhou to Mei County to join Li Cui and others.

After Li Ru and Xu Rong came, Li Cui first pretended to give way to Li Ru.But Li Ru understood that this was just Li Cui's hypocrisy.The 6 Liangzhou army that was originally in Chang'an, after a series of battles with Lu Bu's Bingzhou army and the Yishi army, finally returned to Mei County, and there were more than 6 soldiers and horses.And these [-] people have already been firmly controlled by Li Cui.Li Cui's military strength is superior to Li Ru's, and Li Ru has many soldiers under Li Ru's command, so he prefers Li Cui for the position of commanding general.After all, Li Ru has always been a military adviser behind the scenes and rarely participated in combat.However, Li Cui was different as a military commander. He often fought side by side with the soldiers, and his prestige in the hearts of the soldiers was earned by killing with a single shot. Of course, his prestige in the Liangzhou army was higher than that of Li Ru.

Li Ru repeatedly declined, and bluntly said that it was Li Cui who had to lead the Liangzhou army. Li Cui pretended to be ordered in danger, and vowed to kill Lu Bu to avenge Dong Zhuo.

After that, Li urged Li Ru to be his military adviser, and Cao Cao accused Emperor Xian of the Han Dynasty to order him to be the Great Sima, Li Ru to be the servant, Guo Si to be the general of chariots, Zhang Ji to be the general of hussars, Xu Rong to be the general of Zhenxi, and Fan Chou. , Yang Ding and other Liangzhou officers and men all received seals.The Liangzhou soldiers who received the reward were even more sincere to Li Cui.

Seeing that the overall situation had stabilized, Li Cui discussed with Li Ru how to repel the bandit army in Chang'an.Unexpectedly, Li Ru sneered and said that just wait and see, the bandit army in Chang'an will be defeated in one month.Seeing Li Ru's sure-fire appearance, Li Cui felt relieved at the moment, but afterwards, as Li Ru had speculated, Cao Cao and other princes of the nine routes parted ways and left Chang'an.

So Li urged more than [-] Liangzhou troops to reoccupy Chang'an, and asked Li Ru how to go next.Li Ru told him that Dong Zhuo had just died and the situation was stable, so it was not appropriate to attack Lu Bu immediately.First let the soldiers under his command rest for a while, and then send someone to negotiate peace with Ma Teng and Han Sui.