Three Kingdoms: Cao Ying's mastermind, from nine to five

Chapter 236 Winter, do you really sit back and relax?

Qinghe Xiaozhu, within the cottage by the river.

Ju Shou looked at the scroll, raised his head in a daze, stared at Cui Yan with incredulous eyes, and asked tremblingly, "Mr. Cui, did you vote for Cao Cao?"

"I voted for the emperor of the Han Dynasty."

Cui Yan corrected his statement. He did not sincerely submit to Cao Cao, and he was an official in Xudu, and his official registration was also in Han nationality.

However, he didn't intend to criticize Cao Cao like other old men and officials, and obeyed and violated.

Those people seemed to welcome Cao Cao on the surface and did not dare to speak angrily, but in fact they had no respect for him in their hearts, and even still disdain him.

After all, Cao Cao's father was adopted by Cao Teng, the eldest son of the year. After all, he was still from the eunuch background. If the gentry's name and eunuch were mixed together, the family's reputation would be tarnished.

"Based on the facts, Prime Minister Cao took office as an auxiliary government, and the world has become a lot more peaceful. To be honest and fair, I naturally support Prime Minister Cao, and I am an official in the same dynasty, all for the sake of the big man."

"Ju Jun, please read this letter again."

Ju Shou let out a long sigh, and dropped the slip on the ground, but after thinking about it, he crawled out to pick it up, put it in front of the table, and read it again.

Always staring at the sentence written by Yuan Shao himself.

"Ju Shou and Tian Feng humiliated me too much, took credit for their pride, and tried to attack in vain. They are determined to kill them to eliminate hidden dangers for Yuan's government."

This sentence already meant that Yuan Shao was going to abandon him, and was going to execute him and Tian Feng together, but Tian Feng was in prison in Ye City, and he was guarding him in Daying back then, and Xu You was added later.

From this point of view, it does not mean that I have failed the old master.

It was the old master who was going to abandon me first.

"Yuan Shao, although he is talented, but as he grows older, he is not as decisive as before. After owning the states and counties, he is no longer the high-minded charioteer we knew."

Jushou fell into depression.

Before seeing this letter, he hadn't thought that he would be bestowed to death by Yuan Shao, and he was really murderous.

Before the battle, I was indeed talkative, and said a lot of things that contradicted Yuan Shao's military orders, and perhaps it was easy to demoralize the rest of the soldiers, but the suggestions such as dividing the troops into Wuchao were all strategies from the bottom of my heart. Although they could not win a big victory, they could. Guaranteed not to fail.

"I didn't expect that the lord would actually kill me because those tricks were not adopted."

Cui Yan stood on the wooden stack near the river with his hands behind his back, his eyes were distant and clear, the corners of his mouth curled down, and he said in a deep voice, "It's not because I didn't accept it that I killed you, but because what you said was right."

"Yuan Shao was broad-minded back then, but in his old age he was gradually agitated by the many civil and military factions under his command to become self-willed and suspicious. He no longer wanted to let the opinions of the princes make decisions, so he couldn't be wrong."

Ju Shou sighed, he really couldn't refute these words, after Yuan Shao got old, his temperament gradually became hesitant, and the more territories he ruled, the more reluctant he was to consolidate his governance.

Perhaps it is because there is too much to leave to future generations, which leads to such results.

What really made Jushou uncomfortable was that Yuan Shao actually regarded him as a disaster and beheaded him to correct the morale of the army, thereby deterring the rest of the counselors, so that the counselors under his command with intricate factions did not dare to act blatantly.

"Oh, I never imagined that one day I, Jushou, would become the chicken that killed the chicken for the monkey to see."

"Ju Jun's words are inappropriate," Cui Yan said in a deep voice, "It's just to vent your anger. Yuan Shao wanted to kill you to vent his anger, which is already a betrayal first. You don't have to stick to foolish loyalty anymore, let the family cut off their way of life, at least Qinghe The name given by Ju still has to be preserved, and the common people and scholars still remember the integrity and virtue of Ju Jun.”

"If you die, it's not worth it."

Ju Shou was silent.

At this time, his heart was disturbed and he was quite shocked.

One is because Cui Yan, a celebrity with thick eyebrows, big eyes, and upright integrity, unexpectedly surrendered to Cao Cao, which made him unexpected.

The second is Yuan Shao, who actually wanted to kill himself at the beginning, but because the army was defeated so quickly, he never had time to do it.

"I still miss Yuan Shi's kindness all the time. It seems that these ten years have not made me a bosom servant of Yuan Shi. Is it really worth following these years?"

"And now, if I join the Cao family, what will happen in the future? Is it better than now?"

Cui Yan stood with his hands behind his back, and said: "I also volunteered to come to persuade me. In fact, no one came to beg me, but in my opinion, if Jujun joins Xudu, the emperor will also help, and the ending will not be disappointing. With a clear conscience."

"That's all."

Cui Yan turned and left, leaving Jushou to meditate in the hut alone. For him, this letter was brought to him, but there were only two outcomes. Either Jushou figured it out and decided to devote himself to Xudu and become an official. , under the command of the Cao family.

Either he took his own life in this thatched hut, or he would not be an official for life, hiding in the mountains and forests, willing to be an ordinary person.

Yuan Shao has already felt sorry for him for the contents of this letter, and Jushou will no longer think about fleeing to Youzhou.

After this day, Cui Yan went straight back to Zhongshan and followed Cao Cao to wait for the battle. He lived in the inner city of Wuji County, Zhongshan on weekdays, and did not care about military affairs, only observing the local gentry's favor.

As for Jushou, he slept peacefully in the thatched cottage for a day and a night. When he woke up, he suddenly realized something. He wrote a self-recommendation letter and sent it to the Qinghe Government Office. Guests here, but I can't decide why I want to be an official. I can only write a letter to Xu Zhen first, and then ask Cao Cao.

Of course, there was no time to settle Jushou at this time, so he had to live in Qinghe first.

After all, this is his hometown, and the problem came again. It was natural for him to live here, but the ancestral house was pushed away again. Now the place where his home was originally is a residential area.

As a result, there was a commotion, and Jushou went back to the thatched cottage to live first, and waited for the army to return from Youzhou.

This directly made him depressed. When he wanted to become an official, no one responded to him, but the self-recommendation letter had already been written, and the imaginary scene of the chief minister meeting, Cao Cao greeting him backwards, and respecting the virtuous corporal did not appear.

When I went out, I saw fellow villagers driving sheep and grazing by the lake. Occasionally, I could see guards sent by Yang Xiu. There were not many people, just two. Every time they came out, they would smile kindly and ask A word or two.

In this way, Cao Cao rode tigers and leopards, and the tiger and ben army passed through Qinghe and headed for Zhongshan mighty.

And Xu Zhen's troops also left the border of Zhongshan and invaded Youzhou.

Before the war, the emperor sent a message to Youzhou to frighten his army.

After Yuan Xi fought Yuan Shang that time, the prisoners of war he got were his own army, and Youzhou still had food, so he quickly got a large number of soldiers and horses to supplement the camp. Be stronger.

But it is only 10,000+, plus the soldiers and horses lost in the war, only 40 to [-], how can he resist Cao Cao and Xu Zhen, a total of [-] soldiers and horses.

So Yuan Xi could only send out his entire army, guarding the main roads in various places, hoarding all the soldiers and horses in Zhuojun, starting from Fanyu Pavilion in the southernmost part of Zhuojun, and camping along the five rivers.

Along the way, he gave orders to defend the city and resist Cao Cao's troops.

After the arrival of the Huben army, the vanguard transformed from Bingzhou soldiers and prisoners of war, together with Zhang Yan's Black Mountain Army and 16 troops, besieged the city for three days and three nights, attacking day and night, and defeated all the cities from Fan Yuting to Fan Yang.

Even the city wall collapsed, so Yuan Xi could only keep retreating.

On the [-]th, he gave up Zhuo County and retreated to Guangyang and Shanggu. At the same time, he kept recruiting troops and buying horses in the territory. Talk about any rules.

Every time a city is built, it must be devastated, and the people's residences are all destroyed, so as to frighten the local people.

Marching in this way is completely different from the attack on Xuzhou back then, but this time and that time.

At that time, Cao Cao had nothing in his hands, and the reason for attacking Xuzhou was that Tao Qian attacked his father first, which almost caused Cao Cao's brother and father to die on the road.

Even so, Cao Cao attacked Xu with benevolence and righteousness, killing people and punishing his heart, so that Tao Qian died in ruins in the end. Tao Qian's heirs did not even leave the capital for revenge.

It's different now.

In Cao Cao's hand is the emperor's edict, and the people of Youzhou should hate Yuan Xi's rebellion, otherwise it will lead to disaster.

Therefore, using this kind of thunderous army power really played a role of intimidation and intimidation, causing all the people in Dai County to flee, and not many people in Shanggu County stayed in the city.

When Zhuojun opened the city gate, groups fled south.

Of course Cao Cao received everything.

The army attacked for a month, and killed Daijun, Shanggu, and Zhuojun in Youzhou so that no grass could grow, blood flowed like rivers, and more than [-] people were killed or injured, of which [-] were Cao Jun, and most of Yuan Xi's dead soldiers were in the city. After that, he fled and was beheaded in the pursuit.

When defending the city, there were no heavy casualties when the city was broken, because Yuan Xi dispersed his troops a little bit, relying on the city of Youzhou to consume Cao's troops, and delayed until the end of the autumn harvest.

Now it is the autumn harvest, when Cao Cao's first wave of offensive is over, he will naturally stop, wait for the grain and grass to be transported to the front line to stock up, and then march.

Yuan Xi guarded the crumbling Yuyang County, piled up his troops and horses here, and built an unattainable city tower like Gongsun Zan's Yi Jing in the past, and put all the armaments, food and grass in it, and the war would end in winter.

end of September.

Both Cao Jun and Xu Jun stopped and garrisoned in Zhuojun. At the same time, they sent sentry posts into Yuyang to investigate the military situation.

And Yuan Xi ordered 10 people to start construction at the same time to build a huge city tower in Yuyang, including the Yushui River behind it, to ensure the water source.

Collect food from the common people from all over the country and hoard it in the city tower. The huge city tower is placed on the high wall with a large number of troops, and arrows are built every day and rolling stones are prepared to prepare for Cao Cao's advance at any time.

So after several unsuccessful attacks, Cao Cao retreated and surrounded for the time being, not daring to waste his troops in vain, and Yuan Xi really dragged him down.

Inside the Yuyang City Tower.

Yuan Xiduan sat on the main seat, looking at the map solemnly, even a little desperate, and the lead in front of him smiled bitterly, "Major General, the situation is very bad now."

"We are in Dai County, Shanggu's troops are not many, Cao Jun can't attack Yuyang, so he started to march into these two counties, now half of Youzhou is in the hands of the Cao family, and Liaodong is in the hands of Gongsun Du."

"We only have two counties, Yuyang and Youbeiping, and there is still no letter from General Gao Lan..."

"I don't know if the sentry has broken through the encirclement."

For Yuan Xi, this was an almost hopeless situation. When Cao Cao first mobilized troops, he had already sent scouts to Bingzhou, and asked Gao Lan to lead the army to rescue immediately for the sake of the same origin.

But [-] days later, Gao Lan's army still hasn't arrived.

Yuan Xi was unwilling to accept this fact, he could only think that the Bingzhou soldiers were kept out.

"Testing sentry, I must have arrived in Bingzhou. It's just that Guo Tu has a grudge against me. Gao Lan will certainly be willing to lead the army to rescue, but he may not be willing to go all out."

Yuan Xi sighed, "Gao Lan leads the army, and Guo Tu obstructs them. If Xu Zhen's soldiers and horses are delayed halfway, they will naturally not push forward and only care about keeping their own strength."

"However, the good thing is that the situation has stabilized. At least in winter, it is impossible for Cao Cao to march."

"Prepare the collection of grain and grass in the territory now. We must be prepared to defend to the death. At the same time, we must find out the way out of the Great Wall. If Youzhou can't hold it, we will abandon the city and go to fight for survival with the horseback clan outside the Great Wall. "

Yuan Xi took a sip of the wine, at this moment a little water and wine could not make him drunk.

But if one calms down and thinks about it, one can understand that the current situation is so critical that it is almost impossible to turn defeat into victory.

Unless Liu Biao in Jingzhou in the south sends troops to attack the south of Cao Cao at this time, this is the only chance, but Liu Biao cannot make this choice.

Yuan Xi let out a long sigh, feeling increasingly hopeless.

In this battle, even if his father came back to fight, even if he was full of civil and military forces in his heyday, he could only stick to it and wait for the right time.

But it is definitely not easy to turn defeat into victory.

"wait!"

Yuan Xi smiled wryly, "Before the autumn harvest, there will be no more aggressive attacks. The weather in Youzhou is very cold, and the march is difficult. We have already made it through."

"Let's recruit, distribute military pay and food to the brothers, and ask them not to slack off in patrolling the various places. They must wait for winter to come before they can rest."

"Here!"

At this moment, after receiving the letter, Qianzhao distributed a large amount of military salaries to the lieutenant soldiers, paid pensions to the dead soldiers, and spread Yuan Xi's words throughout the army.

Slowly stabilized the already turbulent morale of the army.

Let tens of thousands of people tightly garrison the main roads in various places, guard the high walls of the city, and at the same time gradually become united with the enemy, stabilize the morale of the army, and then hold on to the city walls. If he wants to break through Youzhou in winter, Cao Cao must pay a greater price.

……

At this time, in the big camp in the north of Zhuojun County, Cao Cao's expression has changed a lot after the war, and he has always felt tired these few days.

Mainly casualties, larger than imagined.

Even the soldiers and horses under Xu Zhen's command lost more than [-] people, but if they attacked Youzhou slowly, it would be even less successful.

"It's going to be winter soon, and in the end we only captured Zhuojun, maybe Daijun and Shanggu, but Yuyang is still in Yuan Xi's hands after all."

"If we want to win Youzhou this year, we still need a strategy."

"Once it enters winter, it will be difficult for us to march."

Cao Cao was helpless at this time and had a headache, but it was still not too troublesome. As long as the next spring came, he could still continue to besiege the city.

A few years later, Yuan Xi's food and grass could not hold on, and the hearts of the people were divided. Sooner or later, he would lose.

At this moment, among the civil servants on the left, no one spoke. Guo Jia, who has always been full of tricks and schemes, was thinking at this moment.

"Winter, I have a plan to attack."

Xu Zhen opened his mouth suddenly, immediately attracting everyone's attention.

(End of this chapter)