At the end of the Han Dynasty: a stingy husband from his hometown

Chapter 336 Meng De raises troops

Guanzhong, Chang'an.

When Cao Cao received the long-lost letter from Yizhou, he couldn't help but be pleasantly surprised.

There are two letters, one from Ma Chao and one from Jin.

"Why is there no letter from Fengxiao?"

Cao Cao looked at the two letters in his hand and couldn't help but look puzzled.

After pondering for a while, Cao Cao immediately took the lead in opening Yu Jin's letter, because Yu Jin had surrendered to serve under him very early, and he could be regarded as a senior figure in the Cao family.

Cao Cao naturally trusted Jin far more than Ma Chao.

However, after he finished reading the contents of the letter, his face gradually turned pale, and his body couldn't help but staggered and almost fell.

Fortunately, Cheng Yu had quick eyes and quick hands and hurriedly stepped forward to help Cao Cao, preventing him from making a fool of himself in front of everyone.

Cao Cao had a look of disbelief on his face, and then hurriedly opened Ma Chao's letter, hoping to find different content in it.

Unfortunately, God did not wish.

When Cao Cao was convinced that Guo Jia had died in Yizhou, he couldn't help but slumped on his seat.

"How could this be?"

"How could this be?"

Cheng Yu's heart sank to the bottom, and he asked in a low voice: "Ming Gong, what happened in Yizhou?"

Cao Cao closed his eyes in pain, two lines of clear tears fell from the corners of his eyes, and said with a trembling voice: "The Qiang of the Six Paths rebelled, Fengxiao died unfortunately!"

This news was like a thunderbolt exploding in the house, and everyone was extremely surprised.

Cheng Yu hurriedly said: "Ming Gong, can you let me read the letter?"

Cao Cao handed over the letter feebly. When Cheng Yu read the contents, his face was full of disbelief.

No one would have thought that Guo Jia, the chief counselor under Cao Cao, would die in the hands of the Qiang people in such an unexplained way. It sounds like a fantasy.

However, when he looked at the dejected Cao Cao, he cheered up and comforted him: "Soldiers are impermanent, and water is impermanent. Fengxiao's unfortunate death is indeed a great misfortune for the Qin State."

"Fortunately, Ma Chao and Yu Jin defeated the Six Paths of Qiang people, which can be regarded as revenge for Fengxiao."

"Now Ma Chao and Yu Jin have less than three thousand soldiers and horses, and they are trapped in Baishui Pass. As for whether the suggestions in the two men's letters are feasible, it still needs to be decided by Ming Gong!"

After all, Cao Cao was a hero. Although he was just shocked by Guo Jia's death, he thought about the suggestions from the two men in the letter and gradually became more active.

Although the two are now a lone army, they have secretly taken refuge with the Zhang family in Shu County, and through Zhang Song, they have also established a relationship with the Yang family in Hanzhong.

Cao Cao of the Zhang family in Chengdu naturally heard about it, and the Yang family in Hanzhong was even more aware of it.

In fact, if Zhou Qi had not acted too quickly, I am afraid that Cao Cao would have tried to make friends with the Yang family in Hanzhong in order to capture Hanzhong.

It is a pity that when Cao Cao was able to free his hands to plot Hanzhong, the direct line of the Yang family in Hanzhong had almost been slaughtered by Zhang Lu, leaving only a few collateral lines lingering on, and they could never reproduce the family's past glory.

As for Hanzhong, it undoubtedly fell into the hands of Zhou Qi.

However, Cao Cao did not expect that in Yangping Pass, which is the northwest gate of Yizhou (this pass should be called Yang'an Pass in this period, and was renamed Yangping Pass in the Northern Song Dynasty. For the sake of substitution, this book directly calls Yangping Pass), there is actually the Hanzhong Yang family Old Ministry.

The main reason why Cao Cao had not sent troops to attack Yizhou before was that Yangping Pass lay across it. If he could not break through the steep Yangping Pass, the Guanzhong Army would not be able to enter Yizhou.

Yangping Pass is located to the north of Baishui Pass, to the west of Dingjun Mountain, and adjacent to the West Han River, which was later known as the Jialing River.

Yangping Pass guarded the main transportation route from Yizhou to Guanzhong and Liangzhou, and it was built close to mountains and rivers. It can be said that one man can guard the pass and no one can open it.

Zhou Yu had already stationed heavy troops here, otherwise Ma Chao might have taken Yangping Pass after his sneak attack on Baishui Pass.

There are two reasons why Baishui Pass was able to be breached by Ma Chao in a sneak attack.

First, if Yangping Pass still exists, then the importance of Baishui Pass will be greatly reduced. It is an internal pass in Yizhou, and naturally there cannot be too many troops stationed there.

Secondly, at that time, with the help of the Qiang people from the vassal state of Guanghan County, they took the lead in deceiving the Baishui Pass, which was not well defended, and were able to conquer it by cooperating with the inside and outside.

Yangpingguan is different.

As the most important gateway in northwest Yizhou, the number of troops stationed here remains at more than 3,000 all year round.

After Zhou Yu stationed troops in Hanxi County, the garrison at Yangping Pass had reached 5,000 people.

Now, the number of Yangping Pass defenders is as high as 10,000, and Wei Yan, the Hanxi County Governor, is personally guarding it. It is almost impossible for the Guanzhong Army to attack by force.

The danger of Yizhou is not just a joke, especially if you want to invade Yizhou from the north, it is even more difficult.

The Three Shu Passes are known as the three most dangerous passes in Bashu. Among them, Yangping Pass and Baishui Pass are both located in the northwest of Yizhou, and they are the only places that Cao Cao must pass on his way south.

As for the last level, it is Jiangguan.

Not many people may have heard of Jiangguan, but everyone must know it by another name, and that is Baidi City.

After Liu Bei was defeated in the Battle of Yiling, he was worried that Soochow would take advantage of the victory to invade Yizhou, so he retreated to Jiangguan, known as the "Kuimen World Hero", and finally died of illness here.

Later, Liu Bei asked Li Yan to lead the troops to guard Yong'an in preparation for Soochow.

Yong'an, Jiangguan and Baidi City are actually the same place, but they have different names in different periods.

The origin of the name Yong'an is that it was renamed Yong'an after Liu Bei's defeat in Baidi City.

During this period, the county seat of Jiangguan was Yufu, and Jiangguan was just a pass in Yufu County.

Of these three steep passes, the first two pass rely on the steep mountains and terrain to guard the northwest gateway of Yizhou. Jiangguan, as the west gate of the Three Gorges of the Yangtze River, also guards the eastern gate of Yizhou.

Jiangguan is located in the easternmost part of Badong County. This is why when Zhou Yu felt that the situation in Yizhou was in crisis, he took the lead in sending Li Yan to Badong.

As long as they can hold Badong and Jiangguan in their hands, Yizhou will be like a naked little daughter-in-law to Jingzhou, without any defense.

From this we can also see the importance of the three passes of Shu.

Now, although Cao Cao lost Guo Jia, his right-hand man, he suddenly learned that there was an old tribe of the Hanzhong Yang family in Yangping Pass.

If we can easily capture Yangping Pass with the help of the old Yang clan in Hanzhong, it will be equivalent to opening the entire northwest gate of Yizhou to Cao Cao.

At that time, Cao Cao could do whatever he wanted to Yizhou.

You know, Baishui Pass is still in the hands of Ma Chao and Yu Jin. As long as Yangping Pass is broken, what does Yizhou's so-called dangerous fortress mean?

What only made Cao Cao hesitate was whether Ma Chao, Zhang Song and the Hanzhong Yang family mentioned in the forbidden letter could be trusted. Cao Cao was suspicious by nature. Although there was a huge pie in front of him, even Guo Jia was lost in Yizhou. How could Cao Cao not be wary?

He turned to look at Cheng Yu and asked, "Does Zhongde think Zhang Song and the Hanzhong Yang family can be trusted?"

Facing Cao Cao's inquiry, Cheng Yu was silent for a long time, and finally said with a wry smile: "Although Yizhou is not far from Guanzhong, it is quite isolated. We don't know much about the situation there."

"But at least it is certain that the Hanzhong Yang family is indeed dissatisfied with the Chu State. If we can be sure that there is indeed an old Hanzhong Yang family in Yangping Pass, we can give this matter a try."

The Yang family in Hanzhong had secretly surrendered to Zhou Qi. As a result, Zhang Lu almost slaughtered all Yang's direct descendants. Instead of punishing Zhang Lu, Zhou Qi treated him preferentially.

If this was what Zhou Qi had to do in order to win over people's hearts, then when the Yang family in Hanzhong was suppressed by the major families in the territory, Zhou Yu deliberately sat back and ignored it until the Yang family had been swallowed up with only bones left. Pretending to stop those wealthy families who were making trouble, this kind of operation really made the Hanzhong Yang family feel resentful.

If possible, the Yang family in Hanzhong would definitely not mind introducing Cao Cao to Yizhou.

Cao Cao stood up, paced back and forth in the room with his hands behind his back, frowning.

Nowadays, transportation between Guanzhong and Yizhou is completely cut off. It is almost impossible to send people in to collect information.

Although Cao Cao had doubts in his heart, he could not resist such a huge temptation.

When Xun Yu saw this, he said: "Ming Gong might as well call the messenger to inquire. At this critical moment, there must be something extraordinary about the messenger who can come to Chang'an through Yangping Pass."

Cao Cao's expression moved slightly, and he immediately ordered someone to summon the messenger.

"Caomin Yang Wei pays homage to His Highness the King of Qin!"

The envoy just saw Cao Cao and immediately bowed to him with great respect.

When Cao Cao heard the other party's surname, his eyes flashed. He personally stepped forward to help the other party up, and then asked: "Your surname is Yang. May I ask if you are related to the Yang family in Hanzhong?"

Hearing the words "Hanzhong Yang Family", Yang Wei's face suddenly showed a look of sadness, and he said in a slightly low voice: "Now Hanzhong Yang Family is not worth mentioning, but the King of Labor can still remember it."

"To be honest, I am a direct descendant of the Yang family in Hanzhong. I was lucky enough to escape the disaster because I was studying in Guanzhong when my family was in trouble."

"When I learned the bad news about the family and returned to Hanzhong, I found that the Yang family had suffered heavy casualties and the family property had been divided up."

Having said this, Yang Wei couldn't help but show a look of gritted teeth on his face.

Cao Cao's eyes widened, and his mind couldn't help but become active, but he still comforted him: "When Gu Su heard the name of the Yang family in Hanzhong, he had long wanted to make friends, but he never thought that Zhou Ziyi would get there first."

"It's a pity that this person is mean and ungrateful. I didn't expect that he would treat the Yang family who helped the Chu army win Hanzhong like this!"

When Yang Wei heard this, his tears couldn't stop falling, he clenched his fists tightly, and said in a hoarse voice: "It's a pity that the family doesn't know who they are!"

Cheng Yu asked at this time: "Since you have been studying in Guanzhong before, I don't know where you have been. Have you met anyone?"

Yang Wei did not hide anything, and told in detail his experiences in Guanzhong.

After asking the question, Cao Cao took Yang Wei to the banquet, but Cheng Yu left quietly and sent people to go quickly to find out whether what Yang Wei said was true.

In this way, Cao Cao entertained Yang Wei warmly every day, and also learned during this period that the general responsible for guarding Yangping Pass was Yang Ren. However, Yang Ren was later killed by Zhang Lu, and the guard general of Yangping Pass was naturally replaced.

It's just that the Yang family has been running Yangpingguan for many years, and no one else knows about the infiltration there.

After Zhang Lu surrendered, Yangping Pass was taken over by the Chu army, and the middle and senior officers there were basically replaced, leaving only a few officers from poor families with innocent family backgrounds and considerable ability.

As everyone knows, there is one primary school student who has been greatly favored by the Yang family, but this matter is not known to outsiders, so he is also left in Yangping Pass.

After the Yang family suffered a tragedy, although the surviving Yang family members were full of resentment towards the Chu State, they did not dare to show it and had to plan slowly.

Ever since, they set their sights on Yangping Pass.

As the northwest gateway of Yizhou, the importance of Yangpingguan is self-evident. Those who win Yangpingguan will win Hanzhong, and those who win Hanzhong will win Yizhou.

The surviving members of the Yang clan also regarded Yangping Pass as a capital for their family's re-emergence, so they secretly found the junior colonel and used the remaining energy of the family to secretly help him get promoted.

Due to the fact that the other party had an innocent family background and was quite brave, coupled with Yang's unswerving secret help, the junior colonel also began to rise through the ranks, and eventually became a pretty good officer in Yangping Pass.

This time Yang Wei was able to cross the Yangping Pass to deliver the message to Chang'an because of the help of the junior high school student.

When Cao Cao heard this, he actually believed most of it, but he still asked with some vigilance: "Is that small colonel trustworthy? Will his subordinates obey his orders?"

Yang Wei immediately patted his chest and assured: "Your Majesty, please rest assured. This person was a well-known ranger in the past. He is full of loyalty and has been greatly favored by my Yang family. He is absolutely trustworthy."

"As for the loyalty of his subordinates, the king has nothing to worry about."

"Among the Yangping Pass defenders, there are quite a few who are my Yang clan's old corps. That junior colonel is also quite popular among the army. Although I dare not say that he can instigate most of the Yangping Pass defenders, he can only instigate two to three hundred people and open the door at a critical moment. City gate, but it’s not impossible.”

Cao Cao continued to ask: "Since Yang has such a bargaining chip, why did he wait until today to take it out?"

When Yang Wei heard this, he couldn't help but smile bitterly and said: "To be honest, although the Yang family wanted to seek refuge with the king, in order to please Zhou Yu, the head of the family had sent people to intercept and kill your country's envoys before, which delayed the king from sending troops to help Hanzhong."

"Some people in the clan are also worried that the Yang family may be liquidated after joining the king, so they are hesitant."

"It wasn't until some time ago that Zhang Song from Chengdu secretly sent people to find the Yang clan and expressed his dissatisfaction with Chu in a subtle way, hoping to join forces with us to lead Cao's army into Yizhou, that we made up our minds."

Cao Cao became interested and asked a lot about the Zhang family in Shu County.

When Cao Cao learned that Zhang Song was talented and had a photographic memory, and that he had made great contributions in persuading Liu Zhang to surrender, but was eventually discarded like a worn-out shoe and is still serving as a minor official, he couldn't help but believe it a bit. .

However, Cao Cao did not believe that Zhang Song had a photographic memory, and immediately asked: "Does Zhang Ziqiao really have a photographic memory?"

Yang Wei solemnly nodded and said: "It's absolutely true."

“I didn’t really believe it at first, so I took out my study tour notes. I never thought that Brother Zi Qiao would be able to recite them by heart just by reading them once!”

Cao Cao was also shocked and couldn't help but sigh: "If this person has the ability to never forget his mistakes, but he succumbs to the position of a minor official, it is indeed because Zhou Ziyi has no knowledge of people!"

Just when Cao Cao had gradually let down his guard, the people sent by Cheng Yu also brought back the news. Yang Wei was indeed a direct descendant of the Yang family in Hanzhong, and the Yang family was indeed studying in Guanzhong when he suffered. Everything the other party told him is true.

After hearing Cheng Yu's report, Cao Cao's eyes gleamed and he said in a deep voice: "If God doesn't take what he wants, he will suffer the consequences. I think Yang Wei really hates the Chu State and wants to send troops to attack Yangping Pass. What do you think?"

"I'm willing to do the hard work of dogs and horses!"

Everyone heard this and said in unison.

Cao Cao then mobilized all his troops in Guanzhong and went straight to Yangping Pass to kill.

(End of this chapter)