We agreed that you, a weak strategist, would fight against three heroes by yourself?

On the bank of the Qishui River.

After burying the soldiers of Wancheng who died in the battle of Wancheng, Cao Cao returned to Cao's army's tent with Xun You, Cheng Yu and others.

Now, Wancheng is in ruins.

Naturally, it is impossible for Cao's 150,000 troops to continue to station troops here.

At present, Cao's army can either continue to advance westward and join forces with the other 350,000 troops led by Xiahou Dun.

Or, withdraw the troops from Wancheng, return to Xuchang first, and then advance westward.

Inside the tent, Xun You, Cheng Yu, and all the generals from Cao's camp were all looking at Cao Cao.

At this moment, Cao Cao naturally understood what these people meant.

Now Xiahou Dun's other army captured part of the Sili area including Luoyang, but Chang'an was defeated because of Li Jue, Guo Si and others.

It was difficult to advance for a long time.

For Cao Cao, it now coincides with Wancheng's defeat.

At this time, returning to Xuchang may be the best choice.

Once the news of this failure is passed back to Xuchang, Xuchang may be unstable.

However, Cao Cao felt hesitant in his heart.

Back to Xuchang?

What to do?

There is still no news about Dian Wei and Cao Ang.

How will he face Xi Yu and his wife after he returns?

The eldest son Cao Ang is the most important person in his Cao family.

His favorite son is Cao Ang!

This time he brought the other party out, partly to help Cao Ang establish prestige in the army, and also because he wanted to personally lead the other party to grow.

And now, my son is gone!

I don’t know whether I will live or die!

In this situation, Cao Cao pretended to be fine on the surface, but his heart was already bleeding.

"Gongda, Zhongde!"

"I intend to continue heading west and merge with Xiahoudun as soon as possible!"

For Cao Cao, he doesn't know how to return to Xuchang now, and he doesn't know how to face those people.

The only solution for now is to continue heading west.

If we can capture the entire Sanqin land in this battle, then...

Then at least it is worthy of Cao Ang and Dian Wei...

The point is.

The current defeat of Wancheng is actually not a big blow to Cao Jun.

As Cao Cao spoke, everyone in the tent nodded subconsciously.

Wancheng's impact on the entire Cao army was only minimal.

Of course you can continue heading west.

It's the day!

After discussing with Xun You and others, Cao Cao led his army out of camp that afternoon and marched straight to Chang'an.

at the same time.

That night in Wancheng, after Zhang Xiu fainted, he woke up when the sky was bright.

When Zhang Xiu opened his eyes, he realized that he had been led out of Wancheng by Hu Che'er and others.

Now, the soldiers and horses under his command are not far from Jingzhou.

"It's a pity that we couldn't kill the thief Cao!" Zhang Xiu opened his mouth and cursed.

At this time, he led the soldiers to Jingzhou for a short time.

Halfway through, the army was blocked by the Jingzhou Army sent by Liu Biao.

When Zhang Xiu saw that the visitors were Liu Biao's Jingzhou Army, he immediately stepped forward and dismounted to inform Wancheng of the details.

On that day, what happened in Wancheng had already appeared before Liu Biao's case.

After receiving the information that Zhang Xiu had surrendered to Cao Cao, Liu Biao already regretted it.

The purpose of sending a large army this time was to prevent Cao's army from suddenly turning south.

Now, after Zhang Xiu and Cao Cao fought in Wancheng, and even almost killed Cao Cao, Liu Biao was still a little excited.

Immediately, Liu Biao sent Wen Ping to lead the Jingzhou army north to prevent Cao Cao from turning south.

Unexpectedly, they met Zhang Xiu and others who were fleeing with their troops on the way.

If Zhang Xiu hadn't reacted quickly, the two armies would have almost fought.

"Please also inform Ambassador Liu that I am here to surrender to you!"

Now that Wancheng is lost, Zhang Xiu has no way out.

The only choice now was to vote for Liu Biao again, but Zhang Xiu no longer had any hope of being able to stay in one place.

…

And as the matter in Wancheng ended, in just three or two days, the results of the entire Wancheng were spread throughout the world.

The princes in the world only knew that Zhang Xiu surrendered and rebelled again, but they did not know the underlying reason.

As for the news about the Zou family, only a few people know about it.

Zhang Xiu didn't want to mention it more. He only said that Cao Cao had insulted him and said nothing more.

There have been a lot of speculations about what happened in Wancheng.

Some people say that Zhang Xiu was dissatisfied with the treatment given by Cao Cao.

Some people say that Cao Cao did bully Zhang Xiu.

There were different opinions, but the princes just regarded it as a joke.

However, after Cao Cao's defeat in Wancheng, the direction of the entire world began to gradually change.

At that time, Cao Cao had already joined forces with Xiahou Dun.

However, after the army arrived in Chang'an, they finally reached a stalemate.

Cao Cao's troops were stationed outside the Weishui River and Tongguan respectively. They were blocked by natural passes. Although he had an army of 500,000, it was difficult to advance in a short time.

If you want to conquer the pass and cross the Wei River, you have to consume a lot of manpower.

Because of Wancheng's defeat, Cao Cao became a little cautious this time and did not rush to advance at the first time.

And at this moment, news came out later.

After hearing this, Zhang Xiu and the Jingzhou Army attacked Nanyang and other places from the rear. In a short period of time, Zhang Xiu had occupied Nanyang.

At the same time, the Jingzhou Army seemed to be about to make a move.

Except for Liu Biao of Jingzhou.

Lu Bu and Hanoi Zhangyang, who were in Bingzhou, seemed to have begun to march into the Sili area from the north to the south at this time.

Within Xuchang, another military report came, saying that Yuan Shu's army had begun to attack Yuzhou.

All of a sudden!

All the princes in the world seemed to be eyeing him, Cao Cao.

Liu Biao and Zhang Xiu in Jingzhou and Zhang Yang and Lu Bu in Hanoi approached Cao Cao's army from the north and south respectively.

Now, Li Jue, Guo Si and others from the west have entrusted him in front of Tongguan.

The current situation seems to be surrounded by three sides.

The same interests made these people start to come towards him in unison!

Cao Cao was shocked!

He did not expect that just after the news of Wancheng's defeat spread throughout the world, these princes were like wolves after smelling the smell.

Follow the wind and here we come!

…

When the princes of the world looked at the wind and moved, Xiyu had been back for a long time in Xuchang.

Xi Yu originally thought that after he returned to Xuchang, Lao Cao would be back in a few games.

Who would have thought.

Cao Cao actually diverted from Wancheng and went directly to Chang'an.

He wanted to merge with Xiahou Dun and take over the entire Chang'an area in one fell swoop.

This is a good idea, though.

Unfortunately, I missed it after all!

If the 500,000-strong army went straight to Chang'an from the beginning, even if Li Jue and Guo Si arrived at that time, even if they could withstand some of the sun, they would not be able to hold them back for long.

but!

A small Wancheng, but the situation in the world changed in an instant.

Although Yuan Shao did not take action on the surface, he stopped his attack when he was supposed to attack Bingzhou.

This gave Lu Bu an opportunity to march into Sili.

And Jingzhou Liu Biao and others did not miss the opportunity to march abroad.

At present, Sili is still more or less a piece of meat.

If they could devour this mouthful of meat and take a bite of Cao Cao at the same time, no one would be unwilling.

On the other side, Yuan Shu of Huainan also intends to regain the territory of Yuzhou.

For a moment, it seemed like there were enemies on all sides.

Regarding this situation, everyone in Xuchang City had different reactions at this moment.

Regarding Cao Cao's defeat, Liu Xie, who was in the Han Palace, was a little excited, but halfway through his excitement, he couldn't be happy again.

The princes from all over the world are marching against Cao Cao without even the title of King Qin.

Even if Cao Cao is defeated now, his situation will change somewhat by then.

Liu Xie was a little confused.

As for Yang Biao and others, the Han Dynasty was consolidated and the staunch royalists were celebrating in the palace at this time.

Fortunately, Shangshu Ling Xunyu and Zhongshu Ling Xi Zhicai, who were in charge of Xuchang's government affairs, were able to suppress the situation in Xuchang.

There are no big problems within Xuchang.

As for Yuan Shu's intention to march into Yuzhou, Xun Yu had already arranged for the generals to be stationed in Yuzhou.

In a short period of time, it was difficult for Yuan Shu to achieve success.

at the same time.

Outside Tongguan, inside Cao Jun's tent.

At this time, Cao Cao was in a bad mood.

Now he must make a decision early.

"Ming Gong, for the present plan, why don't we withdraw our troops and return to Xuchang!"

Xun You finally persuaded him that although there were half a million troops this time, too much effort was wasted because of the incident in Wancheng.

After all, soldiers are valuable and quick.

Wancheng wasted so much time that all the princes in the world had already reacted.

Nowadays, it is probably several times more difficult than before to simply take over Chang'an and other places in the Three Qin Dynasty.

Secondly, now Cao's army may have to fight with one enemy, which is a dangerous strategy after all!

Once there is a slight mistake, it will be a heavy blow to the entire Cao camp.

I am afraid that within a few years, there will be no chance to send troops from Xuchang.

Even more, it will lead to a series of problems.

Although there are currently 500,000 troops, Cao Cao cannot afford to pay.

The best policy is to retain your strength!

"Can we capture Chang'an?"

After Xun You's voice fell, Cao Cao still raised his head and asked.

His voice was a little low, and there was obvious hesitation in his tone.

If the weak team can quickly win over Li Jue, Guo Si and others within a period of time, it may be a different situation.

However, even Cao Cao himself was a little unsure about this matter.

The people below made no sound.

Cao Cao understood that Chang'an was so easy to capture.

Just wanting to cross Tongguan and Weishui in front of us is an extremely troublesome matter.

"That's it, withdraw the troops!"

It is too difficult to capture Chang'an in a short time.

If we don't withdraw our troops now, Lu Bu and others will really be surrounded on three sides.

By then, I'm afraid he will have some trouble even withdrawing his troops.

On that day, Cao Cao ordered the army to return to Xuchang.

Early May, the beginning of summer.

It has been more than a month since Cao Cao sent his troops to march westward. Except for Xiahou Dun's capture of Luoyang and other places, the westward march has made no achievements.

However, because of the incident in Wancheng.

Luoyang and other places that were originally captured by Cao's army were already occupied by Hanoi Zhang Yang and Lu Bu.

Even Nanyang and other places were occupied by Zhang Xiu.

After this round of back and forth, the entire Cao army returned without success.

to mid-May.

The army finally returned to Xuchang.

When they went out to fight, they were mighty and mighty, but when they returned, they seemed to be lifeless.

This battle was in vain. At the court, Dong Cheng and others finally couldn't stand it anymore and suddenly started to give Cao Cao eye drops.

Fortunately, with Cao Cao's current power.

Even though he failed, his status in the court was not affected at all.

Liu Xie seemed to have seen this clearly, and after Dong Cheng and others made repeated remarks several times, he didn't bother to pay attention.

For two days in a row, except for Cao Cao's meeting with the Emperor on the day he returned to the army, he spent the rest of the time huddled in Sikong Mansion without seeing anyone.

At that time, Cao Cao did not know about Cao Ang and Dian Wei.

Everyone in the Cao Mansion did not disturb Cao Cao.

At the same time, in the actor's house.

Xi Yu looked at Cao Ang and Cao Anmin with some confusion.

Since the two of them followed him back to Xuchang, in addition to reporting the news to the Cao family immediately, the two of them stayed at the theater house every day.

"I said, now that Sikong is back, it's time for you two to go back too!"

Upon hearing this, Cao Ang grinned at Xi Yu.

"Didn't the gentleman say that he wanted to teach father a lesson?"

"When I returned home this time, I had already brought my husband's words to my relatives at home. I guess my father still doesn't know the news about me and Anmin!"

Um?

Lao Cao has been back for two days and still doesn't know about this.

That's right, no wonder this guy is hiding in Sikong's mansion and doesn't dare to express his feelings!

Xi Yu glanced at Cao Ang.

Both father and son have dark hearts.

The Cao Ang in front of him looked humble and docile, but he seemed to be a master of tricks.

Cao Cao cheated his son before, but Cao Ang planned to cheat his father.

Is this a loving father and a filial son?

but!

He, Cao Cao, feels uncomfortable. What does it have to do with me? Your son is unwilling to tell you the news. That is your father and son's business.

Xiyu didn't intend to pay attention.

On the other side, inside Sikong Mansion.

A few days after Cao Cao returned, he didn't even dare to see his family for these two days.

And just as he thought, his family did not take the initiative to come to him.

The matter of Cao Ang and Cao Anmin was not difficult for him to face alone.

He didn't know how to meet his father, brother, and wife this time.

In addition, there was Dian Wei who died protecting him.

Cao Ang's matter is ultimately an internal matter within the Cao family, but Dian Wei is related to the friendship between him and Xi Yu.

If this matter cannot be resolved, Cao Cao is worried about a rift between himself and Xi Yu.

In some things, once a crack occurs, it becomes even more difficult to make up for it.

For the past two days, he couldn't even sleep peacefully.

It's the day.

As night fell, Cao Cao led Xu Chu alone to ask for an audience with the emperor.

Regarding Cao Cao's request for an audience, Liu Xie immediately invited him to the side hall.

"What's so important, Sikong, that you want to see me at night?"

Looking at Cao Cao who was begging to see him late at night, Liu Xie looked somewhat surprised.

At this time, after Cao Cao paid homage to Liu Xie, he stood up and stated his intention.

"I am here for one person!"

Cao Cao's tone was low, and he was obviously a little surprised.

After returning to Xuchang, the reason why he hunkered down in Sikong Mansion was because of Dian Wei's incident. He didn't dare to go out because he was afraid of seeing Xi Yu.

If the other party asks him where Dian Wei is.

He simply didn't know how to respond.

His son died, and the sadness in his heart had not yet passed, but he knew that Dian Wei's matter would eventually have to be explained to Xi Yu.

Now there is no news about Dian Wei. He probably died in Wancheng like his eldest son Cao Ang.

Right now, he had no other option.

"Oh, why who?"

Liu Xie was a little curious. Cao Cao came to the palace just before nightfall for someone else.

For whom?

At this time, Cao Cao took a deep breath, and he didn't hide it.

He immediately gave a general overview of the expedition, and then he mentioned Dian Wei.

He wanted to show his merits to Dian Wei from Liu Xie and ask for a posthumous title of marquis.

Marquis?

Hearing that Cao Cao came to seek a marquis for Dian Wei, Liu Xie couldn't help but frown.

You know, Cao Cao now takes office as Sikong, but he only has the title of Marquis of Wuping, and Xi Yu does not have a marquis yet.

Although since returning east from Chang'an, he has given many people official titles, but after all, there are not many marquises.

The marquis of the Han Dynasty cannot be awarded except for military merit.

Now, give Dian Wei a title.

It is really!

Besides, Cao Cao said that Dian Wei died in battle, but this battle did not have any great merit!

"Sikong, the matter of knighthood, this..."

Liu Xie still hesitated.

At this time, Cao Cao suddenly raised his eyes and looked at him: "Your Majesty, this is the imperial edict that I have prepared. Please accept it!"

It was as if Cao Cao couldn't see the hesitation in Liu Xie's eyes.

At this moment, Shandong suddenly took out an edict from his arms and handed it forward with both hands.

Seeing this, the attendant next to Liu Xie glanced at Liu Xie and quickly took the edict and sent it to Liu Xie.

Liu Xie opened the edict.

The above is indeed a posthumous edict.

However, he did not immediately promise this matter after issuing the edict.

Cao Cao raised his eyes and looked at Liu Xie again.

"The left and right are just a posthumous title, and there is no city or fiefdom. Is it difficult for Your Majesty to chill the hearts of the soldiers?"

Cao Cao said this with a glare.

The waiter beside him lowered his head, while Liu Xie, who was sitting behind the desk, couldn't help but shake his hands.

Liu Xie's body trembled as if he was a little frightened by being stared at.

What Cao Cao is doing now is not asking for credit, it is clearly forcing him to agree.

The matter of knighthood seemed simple.

However, this is Cao Cao challenging the emperor's authority and leveraging the roots of the Han Dynasty.

Liu Xie didn't say anything for a long time.

Inside the main hall, it was a little quiet.

Liu Xie and Cao Cao looked at each other in the palace.

Cao Cao did not give in at all, but Liu Xie became more and more guilty.

Until Liu Xie suddenly looked out the window.

Above the sky, the moon came out.

Suddenly, Liu Xie smiled.

Suddenly he figured it out.

The big man now has become what he is now, just a posthumous title of Marquis!

Among the princes in the world, does it matter whether there is a marquis or not?

The majesty of the Han Dynasty is no longer what it used to be.

"Since it's Sikong's performance, I agree!"

Liu Xie compromised, shouted to the attendants on his left and right, and asked someone to take a gold seal and stamp it on the edict brought by Cao Cao.

After receiving the imperial edict, Cao Cao did not delay. He saluted Liu Xie and turned away without any pause.