Shu Han Confucian General of the Three Kingdoms

Chapter 44
"Ah!" Cao Cao sighed as he looked at Li Dian and the others kneeling in front of him.The Eight-Gate Golden Lock Formation was broken again, but Guan Yu did not expect that even the State of Lu would be captured by Guan Yu, and now his own way of retreat was also cut off.

"First break through the eight-door golden lock array, and then use elite soldiers to confuse the captives to open the city gate. The two strategies were completed in one go, and they cooperated seamlessly with each other. My lord, it seems that Guan Yu also has expert advice by his side!" Guo Jia After listening to Cao Hong's account of what happened, he immediately sighed.

"What should we do now?" Cao Cao looked at the map on the table. To the east was Liu Bei's barracks. If it enters in vain, it will be suspended. "Can you go back to Yanzhou via Liang Guo in the west?" Cheng Yu put forward his own opinion at this time.

"Let's wait until Tan Ma Tan understands the news!" Cao Cao was also a little frustrated.Compared with the increasingly low morale of Cao Jun's tent, Liu Bei's army had just received the news from Guan Yu, and it was full of festive atmosphere for a while.

"This Shan Fu is really not simple. I haven't seen my second brother praise anyone so much." Liu Bei also smiled from ear to ear. "Shan Fu?" Zhao Feng was taken aback when he heard the words, Liu Bei quickly asked Jian Yong to read Guan Yu's letter aloud to everyone.The letter described in detail how Shan Fu broke Cao Hong's eight-door golden lock formation, and how he offered a plan to capture Lu.In the end, Guan Yu also pointed out the current overall situation: Lu Guo had him and [-] defenders, and it was impossible for Cao Cao to flee north; Liang Guo in the west was guarded by Mi Fang and Wenpin, and there were also nearly [-] defenders.The remaining Liu Bei Dazhai and Guan Hai in Peiguo City are well known to everyone.In a word, Cao Cao is now surrounded on all sides, and he can be wiped out in one go when he runs out of food and the army's morale collapses.

"Shan Fu is really a great talent!" Liu Bei also sighed, and then asked everyone in the tent, "Do you know where this person came from?" It's a pseudonym, this person's surname is Xu Mingshu and the character Yuanzhi is from Yingchuan. He used to kill people for his friends, so he traveled all over the world under the pseudonym."

Zhao Feng didn't expect that Lu Su knew about Xu Shu's origin, but after thinking about it, since Cheng Yu could know, it's not surprising that Lu Su knew, and there was no need for his own foresight.After Lu Su introduced Xu Shu, he told Liu Bei that Xu Shu's mother was still in Yingchuan. In order to prevent Cao Cao from taking her as a hostage, he should be brought in as soon as possible to prevent future troubles.

The next thing was even simpler. Liu Bei and other four groups of people stuck Cao Cao in the core.Except for Liu Bei's road, which was camped by troops, the other three sides were cities, each guarded by at least 2 people.Cao Jun tried to rush out of the encirclement several times, but was repelled one after another.This delay lasted for more than a month, and the time gradually moved from early autumn to late autumn.Cao Jun not only ran out of rations, but also lacked clothing to keep out the cold.

"Is this how Cao Cao was driven to such a desperate situation?" Zhao Feng looked at Cao Jun's camp not far away, and felt a little unbelievable.I remember that at this period in history, Liu Bei was almost certain to lose every time he met Cao Cao, but now Cao Cao was cornered by Liu Bei.But it's normal to think about it. At this time, whether it is territory, military strength or talent pool, Cao Cao still has a big gap compared with his peak period.In addition, Cao Cao somewhat underestimated Liu Bei's strength, and he suffered a big loss if he did the mental calculation without intention.

"I'll kill you while you're sick!" It's Zhao Feng's usual style to beat a dog in the water with a stick, so it's natural to kill Lao Cao, a formidable enemy, in the cradle if he has this good opportunity.After Zhao Feng's agricultural improvement in Xuzhou, there was no shortage of military rations. Now under Mi Zhu's order, truckloads of food and clothing to keep out the cold arrived at the front line.Under Zhao Feng's suggestion, Liu Bei would choose hundreds of soldiers to eat and drink in front of Cao Jun's camp every day.Zhao Feng also ingeniously made more than a dozen earthen horns, so that some loud soldiers shouted how much food and clothes they had here.The effect of this is obvious. Every day, hundreds of Cao Jun soldiers secretly come to surrender, and the number is increasing day by day.

"Hey! Even if you are a poisonous warrior, Jia Xu, you still have nothing to lose. Guo Jia, if you have no food, I'll see how you can be arrogant." At this time, Tan Ma has found out that Zhang Xiu of Wancheng has already surrendered to Cao Cao, and the latter has no worries. , Only then did he dare to go south in a big way, but he didn't want to but fell into the quagmire.Zhao Feng had nothing else to do these days, just looked at Cao Jun's camp, and every time he didn't look for long, he saw someone sneaking up to surrender.Or cheer up and taste a few bowls of old Xuzhou wine with Zhang Fei to drive away the cold.

Just when Zhao Feng estimated that Cao Jun was about to collapse, an unexpected news came: Yuan Shu of Huainan proclaimed himself emperor!
"What? The second son of Yuan proclaimed himself emperor?" Zhao Feng went to Liu Bei's tent to discuss countermeasures immediately after hearing the news, and everyone had already arrived at this time. "In the past, the emperor Gaozu of the Han Dynasty was only the head of a pavilion on Sishang, and he controlled the world; now, with four hundred years in the calendar year, his strength has been exhausted, and the sea is full of turmoil. Yuan's surname comes from Chen. Chen is the successor of Shun. It is in accordance with his fortune to carry fire with earth. And The four generations and three princes of the Yuan family belonged to the common people; therefore, they should be Tianshun people, and they are in the ninth five years. There are also folk prophecies: those who replaced the Han Dynasty should be Tu Gaoye. If you don't become a king, you will go against the way of heaven. Therefore, today the name Zhongshi is established, and officials such as Taiwan Province are established. Hurry up and surrender, otherwise, you will be conquered with a large army!" Jian Yong finished reading Yuan Shu's so-called edict, and then told everyone that Yuan Shu had sent General Ji Ling to lead an army of 2 to invade Xuzhou. Zhang Liao, the defender of Guangling, could not resist. Shun has sent Wu Dun to lead [-] horses to support, but the situation is not very good.

"You cut off your head!" Zhao Feng couldn't laugh or cry in his heart: he had always hoped that Yuan Shu would become emperor, so that Liu Bei would have a reason to conquer Huainan and expand his strength.I don't want this guy to be called emperor sooner or later, but he became emperor when Liu Bei was about to kill Cao Cao. Isn't this obviously helping Lao Cao?With Liu Bei's personality, how could he tolerate someone who blatantly usurped his old Liu family's country, and he would definitely withdraw his troops.

Sure enough, Liu Bei was silent when he saw everyone, and he said firstly: "Yuan Shu is a traitor, arrogated to the emperor, and violated Xuzhou, I swear to take it. I agree to stop the war with Cao Cao first, and then settle this account after killing Yuan Shu." .”

"That's the only way to go!" Everyone couldn't express their individual opinions, they could only secretly curse Yuan Shu that it was not the right time.At this time, Zhao Feng thought for a while, and added: "My lord, since it's a peace negotiation, why don't we take this opportunity to beat Cao Cao."

"Knock?" Liu Bei couldn't make up his mind for a while.

"That's right, in order to deal with Yuan Shu, we have to let Cao Cao go first. But we can't let him go for nothing, we have to get some benefits!" Zhao Feng was also very angry at Lao Cao's shit luck, so he didn't want to be cruel. How can you be willing to knock him out?

"But now that Yuan Shu's troops are invading Xuzhou, we should retreat as soon as possible!" Liu Bei hesitated.

"Guangling County has General Zhang Liao, and the [-] reinforcements brought by General Wu Dun will be fine for a while. But Cao Cao's army is in short supply. I believe he can't afford to wait more than us." Zhao Feng smiled confidently.Liu Bei was also thoughtful when he heard the words, and then he and Zhang Fei on the side also had wicked smiles on their faces.Sure enough, he is a person who has done business!Zhao Feng sighed.

Besides, in Cao Cao's camp, Cao Cao, who was on the verge of going crazy, was so excited that he almost didn't jump up when he heard the news that Yuan Shu had proclaimed himself emperor. "My lord, now that Yuan Shu is proclaiming himself emperor, Liu Bei will definitely withdraw his army. Why don't we take this opportunity to negotiate a peace with Liu Bei, first attack Yuan Shu, and then make any plans?" Guo Jia stepped forward to remonstrate at this time.

"That's right, that's right, what Feng Xiao said is very true. Who is willing to contact Liu Bei?" Cao Cao also rubbed his hands excitedly, and Jia Xu who was on the side suddenly said: "My lord, I believe Liu Bei is also planning to withdraw. If we wait Wouldn't it be inevitable to be blackmailed by him if you propose a peace?"

"I don't know what you said, but our army has run out of food, and the soldiers can only eat two bowls of gruel every day. If we don't negotiate a peace, we can't afford it!" Cao Cao smiled wryly, and Jia Xu was also silent when he heard this.

"In that case, my lord, I would like to meet Liu Bei to discuss the withdrawal of troops." Liu Ye stepped forward at this time.Cao Cao also knew that Liu Ye was a clan member of the Han family, and Liu Bei wanted to give him some face, so the effect would be much better, so he agreed immediately.

Not to mention Liu Bei was depressed, Cao Cao was excited.When Yuan Shu proclaimed himself emperor, there was someone more depressed than Liu Bei, and he was Yuan Shao in the city of Jizhou.

Yuan Shao was sitting at the top right now, holding a copy of Yuan Shu's "edict" in his hand, and the anger in his heart could not be described in words.At this moment, a large group of counselors and generals stood at the head, and they, who had always disagreed, were extremely united this time: that is, they could not recognize Yuan Shu's edict.Even if they are too far away to attack, at least they should issue a call to express their position.

"Yuan Gonggong committed suicide!" These were Xu You's words, and they were as mean as ever, but everyone agreed.Yuan Shao is also feeling uncomfortable now, although he is said to be the eldest son, but he is a concubine.Yuan Shu is the eldest son, so he has been favored more than himself since he was a child.Among other things, I didn't become the prefect of Bohai Sea until I was in my twenties, but Yuan Shu became the prefect of Nanyang when he was less than [-] years old.If he hadn't made many friends, had a bold personality and was able to be courteous to corporals, how could he have achieved today's achievements!
It's even better now, you've become the emperor just like that, what do you want my big brother to do?As long as people in the world have a little bit of brains, they will think that you and I can't escape the relationship; take a step back, even if you really become the emperor, if I see you in the future, you still have to kneel three times and kowtow nine times, then I, the big brother, deserve to be What's the point?The more Yuan Shao thought about it, the more he hated him, and after a few changes in his expression, he said in a ruthless voice: "Send a message, I want to scold this bastard. Even if I can't help Cao Aman and Liu Daer, I will also support them!"

"Father, why don't I take advantage of the current battle between Liu Bei and Cao Cao, send troops to Yanzhou to destroy Cao Cao, and then kill Liu Bei, so that the country belongs to the Yuan family!" It is Yuan Shao's eldest son Yuan Tan.As soon as this remark came out, everyone suddenly exclaimed.

"My lord, this matter must never happen! Now that Yuan Shu proclaims himself emperor, people and gods are all angry. If my lord sends troops to Yanzhou to attack the emperor's capital, everyone in the world will think that the lord is a traitor and a traitor, and we will all punish him!" Feng Ji, the counselor, hastily remonstrated. .

"I know!" There was something in Yuan Shao's words. He knew that Feng Ji's words were true, and he knew that Feng Ji said this to attack Yuan Tan, because Feng Ji supported Yuan Shao's third son, Yuan Shang.Now these two sons are pinching each other very hard for the position of heir. "Xiansi, you have to use your brain more, don't be brave all day long. You will be married to Miss Zhen's family soon, so be more cautious, understand?" Yuan Shao tapped on both sides.

"My child understands!" Yuan Tan also bowed down to be taught, thinking of Zhen Jiang who was so overwhelmed by the country, he couldn't help but throbbed.

Not to mention that the dark tide is surging in Jizhou at this time, under the city of Peiguo, Cao Jun's envoy Liu Ye has already arrived in Liu Bei's army.According to everyone's suggestions, Liu Bei didn't need to personally take charge of the negotiation, so Liu Bei handed it over to Zhao Feng who volunteered to handle it.

Therefore, when Liu Ye stepped into the big tent, it was a young man in his 20s waiting for him, which surprised him a bit.

(End of this chapter)