Han family achievements

Chapter 241 Huguan
When Xi Zhicai finished speaking, the tense atmosphere dissipated instantly.

Generals who lead troops abroad are often not afraid of the enemy in front of them, but more afraid of the open and dark arrows in the court.

What can really kill them is often the invisible and intangible pens in the court.

In fact, the same is true. In the last years of the dynasties, there were countless famous generals, but most of them died in the hands of their own people.

During the Zhongping period, Huangfusong, Lu Zhi, Zhu Jun, etc. encountered extremely terrible attacks and framed, and life and death were once at a loss.

Up to now, generals leading troops outside are still facing dangers all the time.

Especially for Cao Cao, no matter whether it was the repeated revelations in the past or the gradual gain in power later, the impeachment and attacks surrounding him have never stopped.

Even after going out of Beijing this time, after many games in the court, a Xi Zhicai was dispatched as the "Supervisor Army" to watch Cao Cao's every move.

Guo Jia watched Xi Zhicai enter the tent, drank his wine, and said with a smile, "General, Zhicai is a great talent."

"Is there a way for Fengxiao?" Cao Cao asked quickly, and he was naturally moved.

Although he has recruited many talents in the past few years, and the shogunate is not as tight as it was before, who would think that there are too many talents under his command?
Furthermore, not only is Xi Zhicai's talent a talent, but he also comes from the Yushitai, and especially he is a member of the 'Yingchuan Party'. The benefits of wooing him over are unimaginable!
Guo Jia smiled and said: "No need to make a fuss, the general will do as usual."

Cao Cao suddenly understood. He picked up the wine glass with a smile and said, "Let me drink with my filial piety!"

Guo Jia smiled and took a sip with Cao Cao, then turned to look north.

Cao Ren and Xiahou Dun looked over at the same time, because they both heard the sound of horseshoes.

Cao Cao was moved and stood up directly.

A fast horse came galloping, covered in blood, without a helmet, with disheveled hair, jumped off the horse and fell to the ground, hurriedly got up, and said to Cao Cao: "General Qi, Cao Duwei was ambushed and lost more than a thousand dollars." People, please support the general!"

The "Cao Duwei" mentioned by the orderly refers to Cao Cao's younger brother, Cao Hong.

Cao Cao's face changed, and he shouted fiercely: "Head the order, march!"

Guo Jia, Xiahou Dun, Cao Ren and the others got up and looked to the north with different expressions.

Cao Hong has always been cautious and never takes risks when marching. How could he be ambushed?
The battalion was rapidly reorganizing, Cao Cao looked indifferently, and said to Guo Jia: "Feng Xiao, I feel that the Black Mountain Army will not sit still."

According to their original assumptions, the Montenegrin Army would gather together in fear of the official army, waiting for the official army to attack, and resist stubbornly.

But Cao Hong was just hanging around for nothing, so he shouldn't be in ambush!

Guo Jia drank the wine with an unusually calm expression, and said, "It's only a hundred miles away, I'm worried that someone will leak military information."

Cao Cao's eyes became darker, and he said, "It's simple, just try it and you'll know."

Cao Ren, Xiahou Dun and others did not speak, realizing that the matter was not simple.

Cao Cao's army pulled out the camp overnight and quickly marched north.

At the same time, Cao Cao wrote many letters, and the recipients of these letters were all over the officials of Yanzhou and Jizhou.

While marching, Cao Cao was also screening his soldiers and horses to find out the 'spies' hidden among them.

The Black Mountain Army has been operating for many years, and it is not surprising that there are people in the court and the official army.

Cao Cao ignored this before, and now he is even less compatible!
On the third day, Cao Cao was convinced that there were no spies in his army, so he breathed a sigh of relief.

In an inconspicuous valley, after completing his inspection, Le Jin raised his hands with Cao Cao and said, "General, aren't you going to Dongjun?"

Cao Cao looked at him and said with a smile, "Of course not."

Le Jin was startled and said, "Aren't you going to Dongjun to chase Bai Rao?"

Guo Jia drank wine and said leisurely: "Everyone thinks so, that's right."

Le Jin was a little confused, but he didn't know whether to continue asking.

Xi Zhicai knew it very well and said, "General Cao, are you waiting for those replies?"

Cao Cao didn't hide it. He said: "The Black Mountain Army has plundered Yanzhou and Jizhou for many years, and some rebels, such as Qiao Mao and others joined it. It is not surprising that some officials and people from aristocratic families colluded and tipped off the news."

Xi Zhicai thought thoughtfully and said: "So, the general does not plan to continue chasing Bai Rao, but is going directly to Changshan Kingdom?"

Cao Cao was a little surprised that Xi Zhicai could see it so clearly!
After a while, Cao Cao smiled and said, "That's right. I'm going to catch the Black Mountain Army by surprise!"

Xi Zhicai nodded and said: "Calculating the time, it's just right."

After drinking, Guo Jia sat across from Xi Zhicai, and said with a smile, "What news does Zhicai know?"

Xi Zhicai was a little 'uncomfortable' with Guo Jia, because this person was alienated from the Yingchuan family, and he was not close to him, Er Xun and others who were also from the Yingchuan family.

Yes, Guo Jia is also from Yingchuan.

He pretended to cough a few times and said: "I heard that you should stay outside Changshan Kingdom and clear the country. At the same time, Youzhou and Bingzhou are also doing the same and have already surrounded Changshan Kingdom."

Since the defeat of the Black Mountain Army the year before last, most of the people retreated to the border between Changshan Kingdom and Bing and Youzhou. As the imperial court ordered the suppression, the Black Mountain Army was deeply nervous and quickly gathered in Changshan Kingdom, preparing to jointly resist the official army.

Cao Cao knew this, and just as he was about to speak, Xi Zhicai suddenly looked at Cao Cao, and said indifferently: "Although they are gathered together, they are all entrenched in dangerous places, easy to defend and difficult to attack. The general decides if he wants to fight. No. Under the delay and consumption, the general's food and grass can be supported for a month at most. The people's livelihood in Bing, You, and Ji prefectures has not recovered, so it can't give the general much support, especially the imperial court."

"Hahaha,"

Cao Cao laughed heartily for a long while, and then said to Xi Zhicai: "Zhicai, you said I can last for a month, how long can those rebellious people last?"

Xi Zhicai looked thoughtful and pondered without answering.

The year before last, the Black Mountain Army attempted to collude with Yuan Shu and occupy Jizhou, but they did not expect that Ying Shao, Zhang Liao, Zhao Yun and others held on. Instead of defeating Julu, they suffered heavy losses.

Since then, the Montenegrin Army has been unable to retreat, even enduring the usual plundering.

The Black Mountain Army claims to be in the millions, but most of them are ordinary people, and there may not be a tenth of the young and strong who can fight. Therefore, the consumption of food and grass will be more than ten times that of Cao Cao!
After all, the Montenegrin Army is not an imperial court, and they don't care about people's livelihood. The barely managed territory is not enough to support the consumption of a million troops.

Sitting opposite Xi Zhicai, Guo Jia didn't think he was poor at words, and said, "Zhicai thinks this plan is hard to come by?" Xi Zhicai took a sip from his wine glass and said calmly, "You and I both know, Montenegro The army is the last concern of the imperial court. Cutting off the Montenegro army will allow the court to carry out the New Deal without any hindrance. Although it seems very important, compared to the south, the Montenegro army is only suffering from scabies. If General Cao is wasted in Changshan , Da Sima may not be able to keep the general."

Cao Cao straightened his expression and said, "I don't know, what is a good strategy for Zhicai?"

Xi Zhicai didn't even look at it, and said, "General Cao has no good plan, and he has never told me about it. How dare I speak nonsense?"

"Zhicai forgive me,"

Cao Cao hurriedly said, "If it's not because of me, we don't say anything, but in fact we have no good plan for now."

Xi Zhicai got up leisurely, and said, "General Cao doesn't need to judge me."

Cao Cao stood up and said with a smile: "Zhicai, I don't mean to judge, but I don't have a safe opinion. Can Zhicai teach me?"

Xi Zhicai ignored it at all and left.

Guo Jia was a little surprised, looking at Xi Zhicai's back, thoughtful.

Cao Cao showed no embarrassment at all, and smiled to Guo Jia, Cao Ren and the others: "Every great talent has arrogance."

Guo Jia drank the wine, his eyes brightened slightly, and said: "General, Zhicai probably has a plan."

Cao Cao just sat down and bounced his buttocks, turned his head to look at Xi Zhicai's tent, pondered for a while, and then strode over.

Seeing this, Guo Jia said to Cao Ren, Xiahou Dun and the others: "Everyone, prepare to break camp."

Three days later, Cao Cao led his army out of Yanzhou and entered Jizhou.

Riding the horse, Cao Cao felt a little headache, and sighed with Guo Jia and others: "Zhicai still refuses to talk about it. After all, I, Cao Cao, cannot retain great talents."

Le Jin snorted coldly when he heard this, and said, "General, isn't he just a military supervisor? The last general tied him up!"

Cao Cao shook his head helplessly and looked to the north.

They worked day and night, and rushed on the road at a high speed. In the eyes of others, they should still be chasing and suppressing Bai Rao in Dongjun.

Guo Jia could clearly see Cao Cao's thoughts. He rode a horse and drank wine, and said leisurely, "General, have you received the reply?"

Cao Cao's slumped expression suddenly disappeared, he couldn't help stroking his beard, and said with a smile: "Feng Xiao really has a clever plan. I replied, and I replied."

Guo Jia was very addicted to alcohol recently. He took another sip and said, "Then it's time to cast the net."

Cao Cao's long and narrow eyes flashed a faint light, and said: "It's time to catch fish."

Cao Ren rode forward at this moment, and said in a low voice: "General, the supervisor has been mysterious these days, coming in and out, maybe there is something going on."

Cao Cao didn't speak, but silently looked at Guo Jia.

Guo Jia sighed and said, "General, you have to speed up."

Cao Cao's dozens of letters not only disturbed Yanzhou and Jizhou, but the court also began to investigate whether the courtiers were connected with the Black Mountain Army.

In addition, Cao Cao had been sleeping day and night for more than ten days without making a sound, and the dissatisfaction with Cao Cao in the court was further intensified.

As the supervisor, Xi Zhicai was obviously doing something.

Cao Cao didn't care about the ghosts and ghosts in the court, he pondered for a moment and said, "Speed ​​up!"

When Cao Ren, Xiahou Dun and others heard the words, they hesitated to speak.

The speed of the march for more than ten days is already the fastest. No matter how fast it is, the soldiers may not be able to hold on!
But Cao Cao was under more pressure, so they had no choice but to hold back and prepare to appease the soldiers.

Guo Jia took a sip of his wine and said to himself, "It's time for something to happen."

Cao Cao was very 'sensitive' to Guo Jia, and immediately asked, "What does Fengxiao mean?"

Guo Jia looked at him and said, "The Black Mountain Army has been gathering for so many days, so it shouldn't be silent and without any movement."

Cao Cao was not a stupid person, he began to frown, and his bad premonition grew stronger.

"Go and invite the supervising army!" Suddenly, Cao Cao said in a deep voice.

The jug in Guo Jia's hand shook, and he became alert.

Not long after, Xi Zhicai caught up with him on horseback, coughing constantly and looking very pale.

Xi Zhicai was already weak and sick, so traveling for such a long time was a huge injury to his body.

Seeing his appearance, Cao Cao lost the usual hush and warmth, his eyes were burning, and he said directly: "Zhicai, do you have something to hide from this general?"

Xi Zhicai coughed, seeing Cao Cao, Guo Jia, Cao Ren and others staring at him, he asked, "What is the general referring to?"

Cao Cao's expression was unprecedentedly dignified, with impatience and unkindness in his tone, he said: "This general is ordered to hunt down thieves, and Zhicai is the supervisor of the army. We should be of one heart and one mind, exchange news, Zhicai, don't abolish the government because of personal interests!"

Xi Zhicai coughed a few more times, then fell silent.

He is a smart man, and he can easily capture the key points in Cao Cao's words.

After much deliberation, Xi Zhi raised his head and said, "Three days ago, the Black Mountain Army broke into Bingzhou, broke through Huguan, threatened Shangdang, Taiyuan, Sili Hexi and other places, and Luoyang City was a little panicked."

When the Black Mountain Army arrived in Hexi, it was not far from Luoyang.

Xi Zhicai's voice fell.

Everyone was shocked speechless.

Needle drop can be heard!

(End of this chapter)