Kuangfu Han Dynasty

Chapter 11 Saying Cao Cao Cao Cao Arrives
Contempt and contempt, this was Xia Houyuan's attitude towards Xu Shu.Think about it, as a side that has won a big victory, how can you look down on the loser who has just been crushed by you?

Xu Shu understood this and secretly laughed at himself: "The ancients said that a defeated general cannot be brave; a great man who has subjugated a country cannot survive. In the eyes of Xiahou Miaocai, I am just a defeated prisoner."

He imprisoned his mother and forced himself here, perhaps just because the name "Xu Shu" had been spoken by Prime Minister Cao, which made Xia Houyuan feel that Xu Yuanzhi could be used as a trophy to claim credit.

Faced with such a situation, Xu Shu, who wanted to achieve great things, could only endure the humiliation. After a few words of comfort to his mother and his daughter-in-law, he returned to his residence to change his clothes. At the same time, he had a clearer understanding of his upcoming situation.

Although Cao Cao was famous for his love of talents and courtesy to virtuous officials, since the annihilation of the Yuan family, the general trend of the Central Plains has been set. The scholars and Guan clan who were still on the sidelines have returned to Cao one after another. Now Cao Cao's camp does not lack talents, but has a surplus.

"When Meng Gongwei returned to Runan from the north last year, Kong Ming said something right in order to retain him. Now Cao Cao has many disciples under his command. Without an extraordinary family reputation, it will be extremely difficult for him to get ahead."

Meng Jian didn't listen. He heard that he was still just a county magistrate and had not even entered Cao Cao's shogunate.

After all, Meng Jian was from the Runan Guan clan, and his family background was much better than that of Xu Shu, a son of a single family. He also had many relatives and friends who were officials in the past, and this was the case.Xu Shu also had the embarrassing status of being a minister of the defeated army who was forced to surrender. Cao Mengde, not to mention walking backwards to welcome him, was considered a courtesy if he could be given a seat at the banquet.

As for those fellow villagers of the Guan tribe in Yingchuan County who hold high positions, they are not in the same circle as Xu Shu. They have no old friendships and cannot be promoted, and they may even exclude them.

This means that Xu Shu's "false surrender" was actually very difficult.

Xu Shu had a calculation in his mind: "Whether I can succeed in death depends entirely on my performance today. If I can be favored and appointed by Cao Cao and enter his shogunate, I will have the opportunity to penetrate into Cao Cao's army, know his deployment trends, and prepare for future plans. . And if I am not appreciated and just send me to serve in a small county in the north, it will be a failure!"

……

On the other side, Zhang Shao had been tied up with a hemp rope. Although Xiahou Ba tried his best to loosen the rope, it still caused Zhang Shao's wrists to hurt.

"Ah Shao, please feel sorry for a moment. Your uncle has no choice but to do so. Everything will be fine after meeting the Prime Minister..."

Xiahou Ba felt a little sorry. After all, Zhang Shao's current treatment was far from the "no embarrassment" promised by his second uncle.

Zhang Shao, who had never received such an insult, had long scolded the eighteenth generation of Xiahou Yuan's ancestors in his heart. Fortunately, he did not expect too much protection from the Xiahou family, but he still had to put on a sensible smile: "I understand. Uncle, this is for my own good."

Xiahou Ba was stunned: "What do you mean?"

Zhang Shao casually joked: "My uncle must be afraid that someone under Prime Minister Cao will resent my father and take it out on me, so he tied me up first to win Prime Minister Cao's mercy and forgiveness."

It turns out that my father still has this deep meaning?Xiahou Ba felt that he didn't seem to understand.

In fact, Xiahou Yuan did this to "exterminate relatives for justice" and not give Zhang Shao any preferential treatment, so that Prime Minister Cao felt that the Xiahou family was selfless. He definitely did not intentionally hide his "in-law" with Zhang Fei in order to block some people from "Xiahou Miaocai". The slander of secretly collaborating with enemy generals.

Liu Ruyu also suffered the same harsh treatment. She could only try her best to protect her sister: "My sister is still young, why bother to tie her up? You can drag my clothes with you."

As important prisoners, the three of them were personally supervised by Xiahou Ba. When they walked out of Dangyang City Gate, they discovered that the outside was very different from a few days ago.

When you win and gain something, presenting your gains is called offering victory. In this battle of Changban, Cao's army gained a great deal.There were as many as a thousand carts and deer carts abandoned by Liu Jun and the people. They were all collected and placed in front of the city. It was a spectacle for a while - there were tens of thousands of civilians who had been screened out the day before yesterday. They were forced to clean up by Cao's soldiers. On the battlefield, he collected the corpses of Cao's soldiers and pulled the car back.

Looking to the right of the city gate, there are hundreds of people who are also kneeling on the ground with their hands tied. Behind them are Cao Bing's spears and a group of archers on the city tower staring at them.Liu Ruyu noticed that some of them were wearing familiar uniforms and said in surprise: "They are my father's soldiers."

It turned out to be Liu Jun's soldiers who were captured in the Battle of Changban. They had many wounds on their bodies. Some of them had seen Liu Ruyu before. When they saw her appearance, they shouted in surprise: "Marquis?" While shouting, they struggled to get up, but Being knocked to the ground by Cao's soldiers, Liu Jun's soldiers were filled with indignation, but they were powerless.

And the even more uncomfortable scene is still ahead, the two armies are fighting, the living are taken as prisoners, and the dead are taken as "feasts".The heads of Liu Jun who died in the Battle of Changban were all beheaded. Xia Houyuan ordered them to be built into a temple. They were piled up into hills on both sides of the road, each with a thousand levels on the left and right. After several days of decay, they had become extremely smelly. Black flies were buzzing around like dark clouds... In addition to soldiers, there were also many common men who died unjustly.

Liu Ruyu's teeth were chattering. She didn't dare to take a closer look at those ferocious heads, fearing that there were familiar faces among them. She also hated that her hands were tied behind her back and she couldn't cover her sister's eyes.

Liu Di was so frightened by this bloody scene that she became incontinent, and her urine dripped on the pavement under her feet. But while she was crying, she still held on to the corner of her sister's clothes with one hand and never let go.

Zhang Shao also walked among this terrifying ghost, and its bloodiness far exceeded that of the Changban battlefield, which gave him a huge visual impact.The stench made Zhang Shao's face distorted and he almost felt sick. He wanted to close his eyes tightly and not look at those rotten faces and black blood-stained hair, but Zhang Shao finally forced himself to round his eyes and stare at those The empty eye sockets of a dead man after being pecked away by crows.

He told himself: "Look, this is ancient times, this is the troubled times, and this is the real world you live in in this life, cruel, bloody, and barbaric."

"As long as you are still a prisoner in Cao Camp, your life is not in your hands, and your head may become one of them at any time."

Just like this step by step, the stinky Beijing was finally left far behind. Zhang Shao's eyes were further ahead. Dian Military Colonel Xia Houyuan had ordered people to set up the curtains, and he himself took half of the Sanhe Knights with him. Queues lined up on the outskirts of town.

Although Zhang Shao was chased and escorted by cavalry a few days ago, it was only a scattered small team. In terms of momentum alone, it was far less spectacular than the hundreds of cavalry formations today.The knights of Sanhe wore hoods with white flying feathers, wore black battle robes outside the iron armor, and held iron horse halberds that were more than ten feet long. The wooden poles were propped on the ground, with the tip of the div pointing to the sky.It's a pity that because they were chasing Liu Bei lightly, the knights in the front row didn't wear the horse armor, face curtains, neck armor, breastplates, etc. that they usually wear when charging into battle. Otherwise, they should have looked more majestic.

The only drawback is that after the long-distance attack, the war horses are wilted and not as energetic as the knights.

At this point, they also stopped. After a while, Xiahou Ba also came to Zhang Shao and brought him a small stool. After all, he didn't know how long he would have to stand today.Zhang Shao wanted to sit down, but after looking at sister Liu Ruyu who was not far away, Liu Ruyu could still hold on, but little Liu Di was almost tired and fell down. She looked really pitiful, so he said to Xia Hou domineeringly: "Second uncle, I If you're not tired, can Liu Bei's daughter sit on this bench?"

Xiahou Ba didn't want to agree, but looking at Zhang Shao's pleading eyes, he nodded and said: "Ah Shao will take care of the young and the weak." Then he asked his men to bring a banquet to let the Liu sisters rest for a while.

Nearly a quarter of an hour passed like this. Zhang Shao, who was sitting on the small Hu stool, had already begun to doze off. Suddenly, he heard Xiahou Ba say: "Here he comes!"

Zhang Shao stood up in excitement and looked around. At the end of the road, he could gradually see some flags. Behind them, the marching team was endless. It meandered into a long snake on the road. The tail could not be seen. Only the flags more than ten miles away were visible. Changban slopes are filled with smoke and dust.

The first ones to arrive were the vanguard, which were all cavalry. However, unlike the well-equipped Three Rivers Knights of the Classic Army, these people were obviously lightly armed cavalry.Wearing pointed hats, most of them don't wear armor. Only the leader wears willow-leaf-shaped armor, carries a sheep's horn bow on his back, has a quiver on his waist, and hangs a knife that is very different from the shape of the Central Plains on the saddle.It can be seen that their military discipline is very poor, the barbarians are shouting, and the military appearance is not neat. I think if the Hubao Cavalry and the Three Rivers Knights are here, these barbarian cavalry will never be able to serve as the vanguard of Prime Minister Cao.

Although Hu Qi had many small flags, they were all curled up but there was only one school flag in the army that was fluttering in the wind.When they got closer, they saw the number "Guangyang Prefect Cao" written on the letter, and under his banner was a middle-aged general wearing two levels of armor.

When Xia Houyuan saw this man, he rode up to meet him, but the other man did not dare to challenge him. He reined up his horse and got off the saddle to meet Xia Houyuan. The two looked at each other, laughed, and started talking.

Zhang Shao was curious and asked: "Second uncle, who is this?"

Xia Houba said: "This is Cao Ren, the governor of Guangyang, the captain of Li Feng, and the governor of Yilang, Cao Zixiao."

It turns out to be Cao Ren!When he heard this name, Zhang Shao thought of the "Eight-Door Golden Lock Formation" in the Romance of the Three Kingdoms. Was it Xu Shu who helped Liu Bei break it?

In the character card of a certain Three Kingdoms board game, Cao Ren seems to have two skills, one is called defense and the other is relief. He should be famous for defense, right?But now he looks like a cavalry commander?

It's true. When he was young, Cao Ren was outstanding with bows and horses. During the Yellow Turban Rebellion, Cao Ren gathered more than a thousand local young people to defend the Cao family manor and traveled between Huai and Si.Later, he brought this group of troops to join Cao Cao. Most of them were special generals, supervising cavalry attacks, and cultivated the predecessors of the Tiger and Leopard Cavalry in battle after battle.Later, Cao Cao gave the tiger and leopard cavalry to Cao Ren's younger brother Cao Chun, and Cao Ren became the governor of Guangyang in Youzhou.

Zhang Shao deliberately asked: "Who has a greater official position, Cao Zixiao or my uncle?"

Hiss, now Xiahou Ba is in a bit of a dilemma. Compared with Chilu, the prefect and captain are both two thousand dan, but Cao Ren also has the title of Duting Marquis; if we talk about military positions alone, when Cao Ren followed Cao Cao, he was the Li Feng Commander Lieutenant, now that 15 years have passed, the word "行" has just been removed. The position and power are obviously not as noble as Xia Houyuan's Dianjun Xiaowei.

But these are not important. Among Cao Ren's three positions, the most important one is the third: Yilang and Supervisor of Cavalry, which means that as an additional official of Yilang of the imperial court, he is responsible for supervising cavalry dispatches.You must know that Cao Ren's younger brother Cao Chun was also the governor of Yilang Cavalry, but one of the brothers was the governor of the Tiger and Leopard Cavalry, and the elder brother was the governor of the "Three Commanderies Wuhuan" who surrendered to Cao Cao after the Battle of Bailang Mountain. This is how we are today. The scene of Hu riding three thousand horses.

Xiahou Ba only figured out these complicated things in recent years, how could he explain them to a child, so he just pretended to be smart and smiled, and used the words Xiahou Yuan taught to deal with Zhang Shao.

"A Shao, you just don't understand."

Xiahou Ba shook his head and said, "The size of the official position and the weight of the power do not depend on the superficial rank and salary, but on the degree of closeness and trust with the prime minister!"

"Oh..." Zhang Shao nodded as if he understood.

And Xiahou Ba also reacted, hey, why are you talking to an eight-year-old child? Even if he is indeed a little smart, can he understand such a complicated way?This is the experience and lesson that Xia Houyuan has learned after 20 years of hard work in Cao Ying.

Zhang Shao really understood and acted as if he had never experienced a workplace struggle in his previous life. He thought to himself: "This means that although Xia Houyuan and Cao Ren are just captains, they are Cao Cao's own family members, more powerful than generals and princes." Trusted. When Boss Cao needs them, they can soar into the sky and lead the army of a state. It seems that the Xiahouyuan family is indeed a potential stock, no wonder they can leave their name in the novel."

While Cao Ren and Xia Houyuan were talking, Cao Cao's real central army also arrived. It had a complete range of troops, including mounted scouts, foot soldiers carrying spears, archers with bows and arrows hanging on their waists, and carriages dragging heavy armor. There is a queue.As for the school flags, they are "Zhongbao Xiaowei", "Zhongbao Xiaowei" and "Zhonglian Military History".

After they arrived at the outskirts of the city one after another, under the command of the school officials, each group occupied a large area and stopped on the spot. The whole process went on in an orderly manner.

"Sit!" Following the order, the soldiers sat down cross-legged one after another.Although they were sitting in formation during rest, they could immediately stand up and transform into a battle formation with just one command.

There are rules for moving and stopping. It is obvious that this army is well-trained. Even Zhang Shao thought it was good by the standards of later generations. He thought to himself: "If Cao's army is such an elite, then Lao Liu is indeed It’s not a fair loss.”

And in the ranks of the Chinese troops arriving one after another, under the guard of the school flag of "Wuwei Xiaowei Xu", there is a huge banner with the character "Han" getting closer and closer.

On the side of the Han Dynasty banner, there is also an eye-catching eight-color flag with a descending dragon pattern and a letter..."The Prime Minister of the Han Dynasty, Jizhou Mu Wu Pinghou Cao"!
"It's Prime Minister Cao's guard of honor!"

Xia Houyuan and Cao Ren both became solemn and arranged their armors to prepare for the reception.Different from the simplicity when he personally led the Qingqi to chase Liu Bei a few days ago, Cao Cao this time brought his full set of attire for traveling as the prime minister of the Han Dynasty.

At the front were two rows of horsemen with swords clearing the way. They were white horses of the same color. They were taller than the war horses of the Dian army, and they all wore stylish danglu on their heads.

Behind them came several guide cars, without scarves or coverings, only with spears and halberds as their banners, decorated with five-color flags.

Next is Prime Minister Cao's main car. The top of the car is very tall and made of soap.The wheels of the rolling wheels are dyed vermilion, the axle head is decorated with a deer leaning on a bear, teeth and horns, and the dust barrier on both sides of the car is also vermilion.

The most unique thing is that this cart is actually pulled by five horses. This is a specification only available to officials with more than [-] shi in the Han Dynasty: Youqi.

The charioteer pulled up the reins and the five horses stood hesitant. Cao Ren and Xia Houyuan went over to pay homage.The guide car, the prime minister's subordinates, and the guards also came down one after another and stood on the outside. From Zhang Shao's point of view, they were blocked by them and Cao Cao could not be seen.

Zhang Shao had no choice but to step on his feet and ask: "Second uncle, second uncle, who among these is Prime Minister Cao?"

Xiahou Ba answered him: "The one with the long beard is the prime minister."

Among those people, there are quite a few with beards. How can you tell them clearly?Zhang Shao asked again, but Xiahou Ba blurted out:

"The one in red robe is the Prime Minister!"

　Thanks to the leader "Shili Xiange" for the reward.

　　Thank you to all readers who tipped, voted, read, and commented. Thank you.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)