Ji Han Da Sima

Chapter 173 Discussing the North-South Matters

In August of the tenth year of Jian'an, the water changed.

Cao Cao stationed his horse on a hillside and looked at the north and south sides of the Yishui River. There were few people and graves everywhere. He sighed and said to his left and right: "In the world, people should be valued. I conquered Youyan alone and returned. I thought deeply about why there is a king in the world. ? It was established because of the herdsmen. Therefore, without the people, there is no king, and without the king, there are no officials."

"Youyan is located outside the frontier and fortress. It was harassed by the Wuhuan barbarians and poisoned by the Yuan family. Now we should protect the people and let them recuperate and avoid the pain of war."

Cao Hong praised him and said: "The Duke is benevolent and cherishes the ladies of Hebei. Now that Wuhuan has been driven away, Youyan can find peace."

With Cao Hong's introduction, everyone was not disappointed and responded with a few words, which made Cao Cao feel quite comfortable.

Xu Chu scratched his head in confusion. When he was by Cao Cao's side for a long time, he always felt that there was a discrepancy between what his master said and what he did.

Last year he accompanied his lord to conquer Yuan Tan, and the river froze.The lord ordered the people to cut through the ice to break the ice, but the people were frightened and ran away.The lord was furious and said he would not accept the surrender of the people.

Soon, some fleeing people came to surrender, and the Lord said to them: "Accepting their surrender would be a violation of military orders, and they must be killed."Let them go back and hide, and don't let the officials catch them. The people left gratefully, but they were caught by the officials soon after and executed one by one.

If the Lord truly cherishes the people, shouldn't he be spared the death penalty?
There was doubt in his heart, but Xu Chu didn't say it out loud. Although he was honest, he was not a fool.The key factor in his ability to become Cao Cao's confidant is that he doesn't talk nonsense.After all, if he talks nonsense, he is afraid that the master will come again and kill people in his dreams. He will not be able to resist when the time comes, and he will not be able to resist.

"Report!"

The scout galloped in from afar, dismounted and said, "I'm reporting to Sikong, there's an urgent report from Jianghuai."

"Read!"

"Huo Jun occupied Jingkou City, led the navy into Lize, and fought with the Jiangzuo Navy. Taking advantage of the southeast wind, he burned it and defeated it. Zhou Yu, Chen Wu and other generals were killed in the battle. The armies of Liu Bei and Liu Qi crossed the Songjiang River and besieged Wu County. Sun Quan was inside and outside Being trapped, Xiancheng led his troops to surrender, and now all Jiangzuo has returned to Jingzhou," the scout said.

Hearing this, the civil and military officials started talking about it, and Cao Cao's expression also changed.

At the beginning of the year, he beheaded Yuan Tan and pacified Qingzhou's seaside. Jiao Chu and Zhang Nan rebelled against Yuan Xi and Yuan Shang in Youzhou and drove them to the outside of the wall.Soon, Zhao Du and Huo Nu launched a rebellion in Youzhou, killed Jiao Hu and Zhang Nan, and contacted Yuan.

Cao Cao had no choice but to lead his army north to attack Zhao Du and Huo Nu to drive out the Wuhuan invaders.After killing the two thieves and subduing Taihang, Zhang Yan led more than [-] people to surrender.Under the might of his troops, Cao Cao returned to Yecheng, hoping to strengthen his troops and conquer Heshuo completely.

Unexpectedly, Jiang Zuo was so helpless that even if he sent Zang Ba to mobilize troops in Jiangbei, Sun Quan and Zhou Yu still could not resist the attack of Liu Bei and Huo Jun.Within half a year, Wu Hui was all owned by Jingzhou.Sun Ce died of illness, and the entire Jiangzuo was in chaos. The Sun family's county guards were beaten and ran towards him one by one. They really couldn't fight, so they enjoyed the No. 1 blessing.

He solved the Yuan family in Hebei by himself, and the Liu family emerged in Wu Chu.If there weren't internal problems within the Liu family, Liu Biao was old, his two sons were competing for the throne, and Liu Bei had evil intentions, I guess he would be restless again.

Cheng Yu stroked his beard and said: "Ming Gong, Liu Biao's territory across the Yangtze River and Han Dynasty has a hundred thousand soldiers, which is already a great harm. Now we have Jiangzuo, the land is thousands of miles away, and we have to defend it according to the river. Although our footing is unstable now, but time will come If it lasts for a long time, it will definitely be a serious disaster for China, so we must not be unyielding. In Yu's opinion, it is better for Ming Gong to prepare his troops and send his troops to the south to conquer Jingzhou."

"Conquer Jingzhou?"

Cao Cao held the riding whip and frowned in thought.

"Exactly!"

Cheng Yu said: "Now Hebei has been initially settled, Zhang Yan has surrendered, the two Yuans have entered the fortress, and the northwest has temporarily returned. China has no major worries. If Wu and Chu are allowed to unite, reject the river to protect themselves, and use boats and boats as horses, it will be difficult to disembark. Today We need to take advantage of the fact that Jiang Zuo's people are not yet attached to him and his soldiers are few, so he can lead his army south to conquer Jingzhou."

Cao Cao looked at Guo Jia, who kept coughing, and asked, "Why do you serve as a filial piety?"

"cough~"

Guo Jia coughed a few times and gasped: "Ming Gong, Jia thinks that Liu Biao will not have anything to worry about in the short term, but in the long run, Jia is afraid that Wu Chu will become a serious threat to our army and will be difficult to control."

"Can you elaborate?" Cao Cao said as he dismounted and motioned to his attendants to give Guo Jia the top spot.

Guo Jia sat on the top chair, took a deep breath and said: "Liu Bei has great talent and can win people's hearts. Huo Jun is good at using military skills and has outstanding military strategy. He is a famous general in the world. Jingzhou won Jiangzuo, thanks to this man. Zhang Fei, Guan Yu, Gan Ning , Zhao Yun is the enemy of ten thousand people."

"Bei will never be subordinate to others, and his plans are unpredictable. From a good perspective, if Liu Bei joins the forces of Jiangzuo, supports Liu Qi to fight for Jingzhou, and joins the forces of Wu and Chu to defend by the river, he will be the enemy of China. And if the Shuo River is Capture Yizhou from the top and occupy the entire Dajiang River. You can also go down to Najiaozhou and gain the land of the four states, which will be a great harm to the public."

"Although the four states in the south of the Yangtze River are vast and sparsely populated, they have fought many wars since China and their households are not rich. Although China is superior to people and people, its rivers are vast and cannot be compared with big rivers, so it can gain geographical advantages. Therefore, Jia thought that Hebei was in peace at the beginning and could compete for the left side of the river. , Don’t allow the enemy to become powerful.”

Cao Cao couldn't understand and said: "Liu Biao is sitting in Xiangyang. Now that the army has entered Nanyang, we can take advantage of the cavalry. If we fight for the left side of the Yangtze River, we may not have any naval troops available."

Guo Jia shook his head and corrected himself: "Did Duke Ming forget about Guandu? Liu Bei rebelled against Xuzhou, and Yuan Shao crossed the river to attack me."

Cao Cao suddenly woke up. On the eve of the Battle of Guandu, Liu Bei killed the chariots and captured Xuzhou to rebel.Everyone said that Yuan Shao needed to be attacked first, but at that time he saw Yuan Shao's indecisive temperament, sent troops decisively, destroyed Liu Bei, and then devoted himself to conquering Yuan Shao, so that he could win Guandu.

The same is true now that I think about it. When Liu Biao was ill and died, Liu Bei was very ambitious.If he attacks Jingchu himself, Liu Bei will definitely lead his troops to support him; if he attacks Liu Bei himself, Liu Biao has no intention of looking eastward and will not send troops to support him.

Qianzhao pondered for a while and said: "Let me tell you, Duke Ming, although Liu Bei is a tiger and wolf, he is far-sighted. The two Yuan's are still outside the wall, so he is really worried. There are many people in Youyan, Hebei, who have benefited from the Yuan family. Ming Gong raised his troops to go south, I'm afraid The second Yuan led the Wuhuan barbarians into the fortress, harassed Youyan, and plotted against China."

Cao Cao looked at Qianzhao, narrowed his eyes and said with a smile: "Youzhou has been peaceful, why is Zi Jing so worried?"

Qianzhao lowered his eyes, cupped his hands and said, "Zhao has experienced the frontier fortress for a long time and is well aware of Wuhuan's harm. In the past, Yuan Shao defeated Gongsun Zan and gave Tadun, Nanlou, Su Puyan, Wuyan and others the title of Shanyu. He also gave it to Zongzong. Marry Tadun as your wife, gain Wuhuan's power, and defeat Gongsun in Yijing."

"Tadun was a son of Qiu Liju. He was extremely proficient in martial arts. He learned the methods of the Han people. He took control of the land in western Liaoning and powerfully suppressed hundreds of barbarians. He practiced bow and horse. He often has the meaning of Maodun of the Xiongnu and Tanshihuai of Xianbei. The Hu people on the frontier are also compared to the Huns in Maodun. Now that Tadun has the help of the two Yuans, they will attack Youyan and invade the north of Hebei to plunder the people."

Cao Cao's suspicion gradually dissipated and he smiled and said, "How do you think Feng Xiao thinks what Zi Jing said?"

Guo Jia coughed and said: "I'd like to inform you, Duke Ming, what Zi Jing said is reasonable. Although the two Yuans entered the outside of the Great Wall, they are still determined to plot the Central Plains. Now that Liu Bei has first gone to Jiangzuo, he gradually feels that he is getting bigger. There is danger to both the north and the south. , let’s see how Duke Ming decides.”

Cao Cao stood on the hill and sighed: "If you compare Yuan Yuan and Liu Xuande, they are like dogs and dragons and phoenixes. There is a world of difference. Liu Xuande can obey others and is unwilling to be inferior to others. Sooner or later, Jiangzuo will belong to him . If I don’t ask for it now, I will feel uneasy.”

"The Yuan family is poisoning Hebei. The two Yuans colluded with each other and occupied the outside of the Great Wall. If it is not destroyed now, my heart will be uneasy. It is very difficult to choose between the north and the south now!"

After pacing for a while, Cao Cao said, "Let me write to Duke Xun and ask for his thoughts."

"promise!"

Not long after the attendants retreated, another scout rushed over and said: "Report to Sikong that Xun Yan's army sent an urgent report. Gao Gan, the governor of Bingzhou, conspired to rebel, captured the Shangdang eunuch, and sent troops to resist the defense of Huguan. , sent troops to raid Yecheng, but was defeated by the Yecheng army."

Cao Cao took the letter and sneered and said: "As expected, the senior officials surrendered due to urgent matters. Now that Yuan Chu has established a foundation, he raised his troops to rebel. It is really foolish."

With that said, Cao Cao handed the letter to Guo Jia and said in a deep voice: "Order generals Lejin and Li Dian to lead troops to attack Huguan. He also ordered Sili Xiaowei Zhong Yao to lead the northwest generals to go to the east of the river to attack high officials. Gu led an army from Hebei into Taihang and defeated Bingzhou."

"promise!"

Cao Cao smiled at the people around him and said: "Let us capture and kill the rebel generals to congratulate the emperor on the first day of the new year. Next year we can conquer Liu Bei and capture Xuchang on the first day of the next year."

Cao Cao's words revealed his thoughts. Compared with Er Yuan, Cao Cao wanted to conquer Liu Bei more.After all, the psychological damage Liu Bei had caused him was too great. He finally was sincere for once, but he was deceived by Liu Bei again and again.

"Mighty Duke Ming!" Everyone praised him.

(End of this chapter)