Great Han Empire

Chapter 884 Troubled Times Heroic Chapter Wins Central Plains
Li Hong looked at Mao Jie who was calm and eloquent, and he was angry and funny.This lord Mao's face was unusually thick, and instead of responding to his sarcastic remarks, he spoke more vigorously.

Cao Cao married himself in order to gain time for survival and development.As long as he stabilizes Xu and Yang states, he will have the capital to make a comeback.

Now Cao Cao is in a very difficult situation.Everyone in Xuzhou still remembers Cao Cao's bloodbath in Xuzhou. After the failure of the Central Plains War, he used despicable means to occupy Xuzhou, which made Xuzhou people hate Cao Cao even more.Xuzhou was turbulent and full of hidden worries, and it took a long time to appease and stabilize, but this was not the main reason why Cao Cao was restless.

Xuzhou is currently under the direct attack of the Northern Xinjiang Army, and it will not be guaranteed overnight. If Cao Cao wants to ensure his survival, he must take Yangzhou before the Northern Xinjiang Army goes south. To win Yangzhou, he must defeat Sun Ce and Zhou Yu, but Sun Ce and Zhou Yu Zhou Yu is powerful, especially the navy in their hands, which is the biggest obstacle for Cao Cao to attack Jiangdong. Therefore, it is most urgent to seize the two Jiangbei counties in Yangzhou, namely Jiujiang and Lujiang counties.

Cao Cao went to rob, Sun Ce and Zhou Yu also went to rob, Yuan Yao and a group of Yuan Shu's old subordinates were also fighting hard for survival.At this time, the Northern Frontier Army in Qingzhou and Yanzhou became a mortal threat to Cao Cao.

After the Central Plains War, the vitality of Hebei was damaged, and it was very difficult for the northern army to conquer Luoyang in a short period of time.There are eight dangerous passes outside Luoyang, and the strongest city in the world inside. If Hebei does not have sufficient wealth, enough infantry, and has not completed the encirclement of Gyeonggi, Hebei will not have the conditions to take Luoyang.Hebei cannot attack Luoyang, and the northern army will not be idle. They are very likely to send their troops south and take Xuzhou.

Cao Cao was attacked one after another, and he would be defeated in a blink of an eye.Cao Cao couldn't sleep at night because of this, thinking about countermeasures day and night, but he had no other plan except to persuade Hebei to let Li Hong lead the Northern Xinjiang Army to attack Luoyang.

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"Master Mao, before you said this sentence, did you ever consider that this sentence would anger me, and that I might kill you in a fit of anger." Li Hong waited for Mao Jie to say that he was tired and stopped to drink water, and said coldly. He said in a low voice, "Why should I believe that Brother Mengde sincerely submits to the court? Just relying on his daughter? When I take down Luoyang, he will probably take down Jiangdong as well. If he continues to fight against the court, how can I explain to the emperor and the court?"

Mao Jie was overjoyed, thinking that Li Hong wanted to let go, and hurriedly persuaded him: "The general has just captured Yanzhou. If he goes south to attack Xuzhou immediately, he will not only be jointly resisted by my family and Jiangdong Sun Ce Zhou Yu, Yuan Shao of Luoyang, Liu Bei of Yuzhou Even Liu Biao of Jingzhou will take the opportunity to counterattack Yanzhou. How confident is the general at this time to conquer Xuzhou? If he is not careful, the general may lose Yanzhou, and the great cause of Zhongxing will be wiped out." Mao Jie said, "General , My lord is now submitting to the imperial court, and joining hands with the general to calm the world, no matter for the imperial court, for both of us, or for the Dahan community, it will be beneficial and harmless."

Li Hong was furious when he heard the words, but the smile on his face deepened, "Based on what you say, I can't beat Xuzhou, and I can't kill Cao Mengde?"

Mao Jie was startled, and hurriedly waved his hands, "The general has misunderstood, misunderstood. The general's victory over Xuzhou will not help the great cause of ZTE. On the contrary, it will give Yuan Shao, Liu Biao, Liu Bei and others time to recover their strength. Now that my lord is willing to submit to the imperial court, the general can concentrate all his strength to attack Luoyang, without giving Yuan Shao and others any breathing time. The general regained Luoyang, and the day when the great Han Dynasty will be rejuvenated is close at hand. After weighing the two, the general should How to choose is already clear at a glance. I believe that the general will not ignore the great cause of ZTE and make such an idiotic thing as abandoning Luoyang and fighting Xuzhou."

"As for the marriage, it's purely my lord's personal wish. Given the relationship between the general and my lord in the past, it's not too much to make this request. Of course, if the general thinks it insults your status, you can refuse."

"Of course I refuse." Li Hong didn't want to talk any more. He stood up and waved his hand at the disappointed Mao Jie, "Go back and tell Brother Meng De that if he sincerely submits to the imperial court, he will let Xuzhou out and hand over the army." He came out and took his family to Jinyang to wait for the emperor to deal with him. He is not a prince, nor is he a hero. He is a rebel. He is a rebel. If he wants to live, if he wants to save the lives of himself and his relatives, he has to surrender. He is not qualified Negotiate any conditions with the emperor and the court."

"General, we all want to calm down the world as soon as possible, and we all want to rejuvenate the big man. Master Cao, like you, is also fighting for the big man. You say we are rebellious, but in our eyes, are you not a rebellious? We Why can't you understand each other? Why do you have to be so aggressive and fight with us to the death?" Mao Jie is still making the last effort.

"The majesty of the great man cannot be trampled on, and the majesty of the emperor and the court cannot be insulted. This is why we are sworn enemies to the death." Li Hongyi said sternly, "I will never let the man be humiliated, and I will never let the emperor and the court be humiliated." .”

Mao Jie was horrified and speechless.

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Li Hong did not send Mao Jie away immediately. In order to let him go back and persuade Cao Cao to surrender, Li Hong asked Yang Qi, Xun You, Liu Yi, Zhang Chao, Chen Gong, Zang Hong, Dong Fang, Wang Kai and other ministers to negotiate with Mao Jie one after another.

Mao Jie was very surprised.There are so many famous ministers gathered in the general's Xingyuan, it can be seen that Hebei will soon start a new operation.The appearance of Xun You, an important official of the Jinyang court, made him realize that the target of the northern army's attack was most likely Luoyang.If Li Hong wanted to attack Xuzhou, he would not have summoned so many ministers to Xingyuan to discuss matters, and the Jinyang court would not have sent Xun You to Yanzhou to sit in town.

Mao Jie was overjoyed, and immediately showed his talents and learning, and in turn tried his best to persuade his friends to help him persuade the Jinyang court and the general to agree to Cao Cao's peace negotiation request.

Yang Qi, Xun You, Zang Hong, Chen Gong and others felt that there was nothing wrong with negotiating peace with Cao Cao at this time, which would be of great benefit to the army attacking Luoyang, and the eldest princess also had the same idea at the end of last year, but the general did not It is only implemented according to the edict.

Li Hong firmly disagreed with the peace talks with Cao Cao.Yang Qi was very surprised, so he asked him, when you recruited Zhang Yan and Yang Feng when you were in Jinyang, the imperial court did not agree, and you forced Emperor Xiaoling to agree one by one.Since you are willing to appease even the Yellow Turban Army, why are you unwilling to appease Cao Cao?Just because he burst the embankment and flooded Jizhou?Or, do you want to take Xuzhou first before attacking Luoyang?
"One time and another time." Li Hong said, "Back then, the Yellow Turban Army was recruited mainly to solve the refugee problem and for the stability of the country. It is different now. Now the emperor and the court are rebuilding their prestige, and the great cause of ZTE is starting. We must not force Bow down to the rebels because of the situation, accept the unreasonable demands of the rebels, and encourage the arrogance of the rebels."

"At that time, I was ordered to appease the Yellow Turban Army and led hundreds of thousands of Yellow Turban soldiers to guard the frontier. In order to defend our Han territory, these Yellow Turban soldiers paid countless blood and lives. More than 20 heroes died in the mountains and rivers of the frontier. What about today? Today I asked Cao Cao to give up Xuzhou and hand over the army. Why is he not willing? What is his purpose, don’t you adults know? Can this be compared with recruiting the Yellow Turban Army back then?"

Yang Qi was speechless.Back then, Zhang Yan and Yang Feng not only handed over their territory and army, but also firmly held the frontier for the great man, conquered the desert, opened up the territory for the great man, and made great achievements. On the contrary, Cao Cao is not only unwilling to hand over Leaving Xuzhou and the army, and treating himself as a prince, negotiating peace with the court on an equal footing, this is indeed an insult to the emperor and the court.

"General, do you have plans to attack Xuzhou?" Xun You asked, "If the general has no plans to attack Xuzhou, I think we can talk to Cao Cao. This is a good opportunity to split the rebels. It would be a pity to miss it." .”

Li Hong hesitated for a moment, but did not speak.

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"General, judging from the current situation in Qingzhou and Yanzhou, it is obviously unrealistic to attack Xuzhou in the early spring." Seeing that Li Hong did not make a clear statement, Chen Gong immediately said, "Back then Cao Cao attacked Xuzhou twice and failed. In addition to the various reasons we know about, there is one lesser known reason."

Li Hong and everyone looked at Chen Gong together.

"When Cao Cao formulated the strategy to attack Xuzhou, I also participated in it. At that time, we all ignored an important situation, that is Xuzhou's terrain and climate. There are dense rivers in Xuzhou. It is very difficult. The southern county of Xuzhou, that is, the winter near the Jianghuai River is very cold and very humid, while the winter in the north is cold but very dry. These two kinds of cold are completely different. The soldiers in the north could not adapt, and many people froze to death and frostbite .Due to our lack of preparation, coupled with the lack of troops, and the fact that the Xuzhou Army under the command of Tao Qian also defended the city to the death and vowed not to surrender, the Yanzhou Army's first attack failed."

"Cao Cao attacked Xuzhou again in the second year. At this time, we had learned a lot from the first attack. We were well prepared, and the time was chosen in summer, so this attack went very smoothly. If it weren't for Lord Lu Bu and Master Zhang Miao to lead If we attack Yanzhou in time, Cao Cao will surely defeat Tao Qian and take Xuzhou."

"Since Cao Cao stabilized Yanzhou, he has been forming an alliance with Liu Bei, and he never found an excuse to send troops to attack Xuzhou. This has a lot to do with his loss of confidence in conquering Xuzhou."

"Today, if we want to fight Xuzhou, we need to meet several conditions. One is to have enough infantry. On the battlefield of Xuzhou, because of the terrain, it is mainly to attack the city and pull out the village. It is difficult for the iron cavalry to play a role, so we need enough Second, the best time to attack is in summer. In addition to the cold winter in the Jianghuai area, the northern soldiers cannot adapt to the bone marrow, and there is also the "plum rain" weather at the turn of spring and summer. This kind of weather The rain is dense, the air is humid, and everything is moldy and rotten, so it is also called "mildew rain". The soldiers will not only be unable to fight in the rainy weather, but will also lose a lot of troops because of the unacceptable water and soil.

"At present, part of our infantry army is on the Hedong battlefield, and some are on the Hanoi, Henan, and Yuzhou battlefields. Only Zang Ba, Gao Shun, Xu Huang, and Zhang Liao's army can attack Xuzhou. Except for the soldiers from the south, most of them are soldiers from the north. Therefore, if we want to go south to fight Xuzhou, we need not only a long period of preparation, but also a large army of infantry. However, in the summer, Qing, Yan After the two prefectures are stabilized, the Guanzhong battlefield has begun to fight. The imperial court's wealth this year can only supply one battlefield at most. Therefore, it is impossible for the general to go south to fight Xuzhou this year. As for next year, after Guanzhong is conquered, the general will lead the army again Attack Luoyang, let alone go south to Xuzhou."

"Cao Cao in Xuzhou has gained precious time. He can stabilize Xuzhou, take Yangzhou, recover and develop his strength. He is very likely to attack Yanzhou when we attack Luoyang." Chen Gong cupped his hands at Li Hong, " General, although my guess may not be correct, judging from the current situation, we do not have the possibility of taking advantage of the momentum to attack Cao Cao and go south to Xuzhou."

"In order to quickly stabilize Qingzhou and Yanzhou and start attacking Luoyang as soon as possible, the general should consider it carefully. Although you are unwilling to accept Cao Cao's conditions and do not want the emperor and the court to be humiliated, you can do so with the permission of the emperor and the court. Finally, accept Cao Cao's marriage as a private person, so that the goals of both parties can be achieved."

"For Cao Cao, what he wants is the promise of the general. As long as the general does not attack Xuzhou this year, his goal will be achieved. He can concentrate on stabilizing Xuzhou and attacking Yangzhou."

"For us, what we want is the fact of this peace negotiation. Using this fact, we can drive a wedge between Cao Cao and Yuan Shao, Liu Biao, and Liu Bei, and isolate Cao Cao from the rebel alliance. At the same time, we can also use This fact appeases Sun Ce and Zhou Yu of Jiangdong."

"Without our containment in the north of Xuzhou, Jiangdong will be violently attacked by Cao Cao. Once Jiangdong is in danger, Liu Biao of Jingzhou will go down the river and attack Cao Cao from both sides. Sun Ce and Zhou Yu will immediately attack Jiangdong when Jiangdong is in danger. This is the only way to keep Jiangdong."

"After Sun Ce and Zhou Yu returned to the imperial court, the general could send troops to the north of Xuzhou to threaten Cao Cao. Cao Cao was worried that the general would break his promise, so he had to withdraw his troops. In this way, he wanted to seize Jiangdong and hope for a comeback. As for Liu Biao, When he saw Cao Cao withdrawing his troops, he certainly didn't dare to attack Jiangdong by himself, so he could only withdraw his troops."

"The general didn't send out a single soldier, but Cao Cao, Liu Biao, Sun Ce, and Zhou Yu fought repeatedly on both sides of the Yangtze River. Xuzhou, Jingzhou, and Jiangdong were greatly injured. Cao Cao was busy in Jianghuai for a long time, but finally got nothing. Liu Biao wanted to pick up sesame seeds. As a result, the watermelon was lost, and regardless of whether Sun Ce and Zhou Yu of Jiangdong sincerely surrendered to the court, they still own Jiangdong, which can pose a huge threat to Cao Cao and Liu Biao, which is of great benefit for us to attack Luoyang."

"Because Cao Cao failed to win Jiangdong, he was damaged after repeated wars, and his relationship with Yuan Shao, Liu Biao, and Liu Bei was bad. On the other side of the Yangtze River, Sun Ce and Zhou Yu were eyeing him, so he sent troops to attack Yanzhou when we attacked Luoyang. It may be very small. With his strength, we will go south to recover Xuzhou in the future, shouldn't we go all at once?"

"General, weigh it carefully and see if the marriage negotiation with Cao Cao is more beneficial to us?"

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The general accepted the advice of Yang Qi, Xun You, Chen Gong and other ministers and decided to marry Cao Cao in a private capacity, but Qu Yi and Fu Gan worried that this would bring unnecessary trouble to the general and tried their best to dissuade them.Qu Yi said, this kind of thing can't be done. If someone uses this to frame you in the future, saying that you are adulterous and rebellious, how do you explain it?

The more Qu Yi thought about it, the more he became angry, and ran into the big tent where the discussion was taking place, and scolded Yang Qi, Xun You and others who were discussing the matter, "Either the ministers will jointly report this matter, or I will treat you as a fart, not this time thing."

Fu Gan, Wang Ling and others dragged Qu Yi away.As soon as Qu Yi left, laughter broke out in the big tent.

"General Zuo Wei is a good man." Zhang Chao cupped his hands repeatedly at Qu Yi's back, "Shangguans like General Zuo Wei who are considerate of public opinion are really rare nowadays."

"Okay, okay, what nonsense, come and stamp your seal." Jin Shang walked over with a long memorial, "If Cao Cao didn't come to negotiate peace, we don't know when we will leave Xingyuan Woolen cloth?"

"Now we are in the same camp as the general, and we can leave Xingyuan at any time." Dong Fang stood beside him and said, "We work together with the general, I believe the general is very grateful to us, even if we know that we are not good enough, Just keep your eyes open and close your eyes."

"As long as the generals don't pursue the affairs of Qingzhou and Yanzhou, the big things will be turned into small ones, and the trivial things will be fine." Yang Yi took a long breath, "Now I can finally breathe a sigh of relief and sleep peacefully. "

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The general, Qu Yi, Xun You, and dozens of ministers from the three prefectures of Ji, Qing, and Yan jointly signed the petition. Considering the majesty of the emperor and the court, it was suggested that the eldest princess make a decree that the general should come forward in a private capacity to negotiate a marriage with Cao Cao in order to stabilize the situation. Qingzhou and Yanzhou gave the army more time to prepare for attacking Luoyang.

Before the imperial decree came down, the three ministers Yang Qi, Xun You, and Fan Li discussed with Mao Jie about marriage and peace.

"Gongda, who were you talking about just now? Who wants to marry my lord's daughter?" After hearing Xun You's words, Mao Jie's expression changed suddenly, and his eyes widened.

"Xiaoxian, are you getting old and your ears are not good?" Xun You smiled unhurriedly, "I'm talking about Jifeng, Captain Huqi Jifeng."

"Why? Cao Cao wouldn't want to marry his daughter to the general and let him be his son-in-law, would he?" Yang Qi stroked his long beard and laughed, "If Cao Cao really thinks so, then we don't want to talk about it. , He is simply a lunatic seeking his own death."

Mao Jie ignored Yang Qi's ridicule, and angrily said to Fan Li: "I want to see the general, I want to talk to the general personally."

Fan Li shook his head, "The general does not agree to the marriage negotiation." He pointed to Xun You and said, "If Xun You hadn't persuaded the general to write to the emperor for instructions, we would not be sitting here today. If you don't want to talk, my lord The general will be very happy, because he is ordering the battalions to prepare to go south to Xuzhou."

Mao Jie snorted coldly, and said very dissatisfied: "It's you who don't want to talk about it."

"Xiaoxian, what are you talking about?" Yang Qi immediately pulled his face down, "The general only has two six-year-old daughters, no one in the world knows that? You said Cao Cao wanted to marry the general, how did he get married? Cao Cao in the end To marry a daughter-in-law or a daughter? Does he really want the general to be his son-in-law? Then I can tell you the result now, you go back and tell Cao Cao that the cavalry of the Northern Frontier Army will soon enter Xuzhou, and order to attack The people of Xuzhou are the eldest princess. Cao Cao and you are dead."

Mao Jie waved his hand angrily, "My lord, what nonsense are you talking about? The general has two subordinates who treat him as his own, one is Mr. Tian Chou and the other is Mr. Fu Gan. Mr. Tian Chou has married Fu Gan, the daughter of the Zhen family in Jizhou. My lord has not married a wife yet. My lord has his eyes on Fu Gan."

"Fu Gan?" Xun You was not surprised at all, he waved his hands again and again, "You are late, he is already engaged."

"It's just an engagement, not already married into the family."

"Do you know who the other party is?" Xun You smiled, "One is the granddaughter of Buqihou Fuwan and Princess Yangzhai, and the other is the daughter of Hanoi Sima Fang."

"Two?" Mao Jie was stunned, "Two at a time?"

"The general's wife took a fancy to the Sima family, but Yangzhai Princess took a fancy to Master Fu. The general's wife was in a dilemma, so she had to ask the eldest princess for help. The eldest princess said that no one can afford to offend, so it's cheaper Master Fu, let's get married together." Xun You spread his arms and said helplessly, "Actually, even if Master Fu didn't marry a wife, the general would never agree to this marriage."

Mao Jie was so disappointed that he smiled wryly and was speechless.General Li Hong and the ministers of Jinyang were simply playing with themselves, and they even asked Mr. Cao's daughter to marry a barbarian, a man with black hair and black balls.Thinking about Mao Jie's anger, he wished to point at the three of them and yell at them.

"Xiaoxian, don't look down on Jifeng because he is a Karasuma man. Do you still remember the Tuogu Minister of the Emperor Xiaowu's dynasty, the Xiongnu Jin Riyi (di)? I think the achievements of this Jifeng will definitely not be as good as Jin Ri in the future. He is poor." Xun You said, "He is the son of General Heng Ji of Northern Xinjiang. After Heng Ji died in the sunset, the general took Ji Feng by his side and treated him like his own son. In the General's Mansion, he was also asked to worship the Prime Minister Cai Yong, the former Grand Tutor Zhao Qi, and Mr. Wang Jian, the great wine-sacrificing Confucian of Jinyang University Hall. With the contacts of these three teachers in the court, plus his military service Coupled with his special status among the tribes of the Hu tribe, one can imagine his future achievements, maybe he will surpass Tian Chou and Fu Gan, and become a generation of important ministers with both civil and military skills in this dynasty."

Although Xun You had a smile on his face, his words were very serious, and Mao Jie still vaguely understood the meaning.Perhaps, Cao Cao's marriage of his daughter to Jifeng was the real marriage.

"What Cao Cao wants to do, you and I have a plan." Fan Li patted the table hard, "At this time, he came to negotiate a peace, to put it bluntly, he just wanted to let himself take a breath, and when his strength recovered, he turned around and beat him again. As for what to do Marriage is even simpler. It is purely to leave a way for his Cao family. If he is defeated in the future, with his heinous rebellion, the nine clans will surely be killed. With this marriage, maybe they can leave some blood for their Cao family .”

Mao Jie remained silent.He had already understood Xun You's words, and planned to report to Cao Cao urgently.

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Chen Hao hurried into the big tent holding a bundle of memorials.

General Li Hong, General Qu Yi of Zuo Wei, Xun You, Governor of Zhongshu, Yang Qi, Inspector of Yanzhou, Fu Gan, Wang Ling, Zhao Xing and others were all present, reading the urgent reports sent from various places.This is the third batch of urgent reports that Zhao Yun and others were ordered to go to Qingzhou and Yanzhou to carry out land investigations and arrest officials who violated the law. The severity far exceeded their expectations. There are more and more wealthy people.

Chen Hao is the imperial censor of Yushitai, who is in charge of the law and order, and is familiar with the legal provisions. He mainly wrote the memorials about the impeachment of county officials.Seeing the piles of papers on several desks, he couldn't help but lamented, "General, you'd better let me lead the army to fight, I really can't take it anymore."

"Okay, I accept your resignation." Li Hong put down the document in his hand and said with a smile, "However, I am not asking you to lead the army to fight, but I am asking you to go to Jiangdong."

"Going to Jiangdong?" Chen Hao immediately understood, "Let me recruit Sun Ce and Zhou Yu?"

"Yes." Li Hong said, "I have already submitted a letter to the imperial court, and the imperial decree will come down soon."

"You go with Sun Fu and Lu Su." Xun You stood up and walked to him and said, "We have already negotiated a peace with Cao Cao. Cao Cao's army will soon concentrate all its forces to attack Jiangdong, and Liu Biao in Jingzhou sees an opportunity. However, more troops are bound to attack Yuzhang, and Sun Ce and Zhou Yu's life is getting more and more difficult." Then he gave a general overview of the peace talks with Cao Cao, "If Sun Ce and Zhou Yu want to defend Jiangdong, they must be appeased."

"Shall I go right away?"

"Get ready. When the imperial decree arrives, leave immediately." Li Hong said, "When you arrive in Jiangdong, no matter what conditions Sun Ce and Zhou Yu put forward, you can agree first, but Sun Ce and Zhou Yu must accept our three conditions, Otherwise, the proposal of appeasement will be discarded."

"Please tell the general."

"One, let their family members go to Jinyang to act as hostages. Two, pay taxes to the court. Three, after our army pacified Jianghuai, they immediately gave up Jiangdong and handed over their troops."

Chen Hao bowed and agreed.

At this time, the under-door supervisor Cao Yiran opened the curtain and walked in, "General, Liu Pan has arrived at Xingyuan, do you want to see him?"

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(End of this chapter)