Chapter 752 Cao Cao’s son died!
When the rugged and difficult Mount Xiao disappeared behind you.
When the dangerous and impassable pass opens up before your eyes without any defense.
When the surging Yellow River appeared in front of me.
When the slightly dilapidated Guanzhong, the barren fields, and the roadside strewn with bones all appeared before his eyes.
Cao Cao finally couldn't help but sighed: "This is Guanzhong, the place where the Zhou, Qin and Han dynasties rose to power."
He looked at the army stretching so far behind him that the camps alone were several miles apart, and they couldn't even see each other's faces. This army was the strongest since the end of the Later Han Dynasty.
He felt that he was really too lucky.
Yuan Shao was powerful, but he was surrounded by enemies on all sides. He encountered powerful northern enemies such as Gongsun Zan and the State of Yan. When he was fighting a fierce battle with Yuan Shao, he was ambushed by the State of Yan. As a result, he was able to reap the benefits.
The greatest enemy died in the siege.
It is already very lucky to encounter such a thing once, but I never expected that it could be replicated again in Guanzhong.
Ma Chao, a fierce general from Liang Province and a hero in Guanzhong, unexpectedly encountered a powerful enemy from outside the Han Dynasty, and he was the one who was waiting behind the scenes.
It was too smooth.
It was so successful that Cao Cao even wondered if he was really blessed by heaven.
"Ma Chao, ah Ma Chao."
Cao Cao narrowed his eyes slightly, with murderous intent in his eyes.
The conflict between Cao Cao and Ma Chao was quite big.
…
Jumping on his horse and waving his spear, Ma Chao felt the cool breeze blowing across his cheeks and felt the sweat on his cheeks evaporate slightly.
The spear in his hand never stopped, and he continued to harvest lives at high speed.
He is Ma Chao, the mighty general of Liangzhou and Guanzhong, he is the mighty general of the Qiang people, he is the King Yong of Guanxi!
The vast mountains and rivers trembled only under his horse's hooves, and life bloomed and disappeared in the blood.
In the eyes of the people in the Western Regions, he was like a demon god, invincible and unstoppable, just like the legendary guardian gods of Buddhism and Taoism, majestic and powerful.
The corpses scattered all over the ground were proof of Ma Chao's bravery.
The war between the Western Regions and Guanzhong was brutal, and no one was willing to make any concessions. Both sides had already begun to use the most ordinary young and strong men to fill in the gaps.
Batches of elite soldiers were trained in brutal wars and then fell on the battlefield.
Ma Chao withdrew his invincible blade a little tiredly. He continued to attack here, but it seemed that the soldiers from the Western Regions could not be killed.
With the support of those Taoists and monks, they attacked their own army fearlessly.
Ma Chao swore that if he could defeat the King of the Western Regions, he would rush into the Western Regions and smash all the temples and Taoist temples to pieces.
…
The news that Cao Cao led his army into Guanzhong and the princes of Xiliang surrendered with great force finally reached the ears of Ma Chao and other high-ranking officials of the Yong State.
The question Fa Zheng asked that day had a definite answer.
The princes of the Central Plains not only knew that a great war would take place here, but they also mobilized their entire armies to attack.
Cao Cao's momentum for attacking Guanzhong was too great. He was already the largest vassal in the Central Plains, and Guanzhong was in a weak position. Now he had gathered a group of vassal states from Xiliang. With these people leading the way, his power was so strong that it was unimaginable for Ma Chao.
"I have a grudge against Cao Cao."
Ma Chao said to Fa Zheng with a gloomy face, "I'm afraid Cao Cao wants to kill me as soon as possible."
The ministers under Ma Chao were all a little panicked.
At the beginning, Cao Cao invited the princes of the Han Dynasty to go to the Central Plains to help attack Yuan Shao. In the end, Ma Chao stabbed Cao Cao in the back and almost blocked Cao Cao on the north bank of the Yellow River.
If it weren't for the efforts of Xiahou Dun and Chen Gong, Yanzhou's foundation would have been destroyed.
Cao Cao had been active in the Central Plains for so many years, and the danger he encountered that time could definitely be ranked among the top three.
With such a deep hatred, Cao Cao would definitely kill Ma Chao as soon as possible.
Now the King of the Western Regions has vowed to march eastward, and the two sides are really angry with each other, and neither side will retreat.
To the east, our enemy Cao Cao is leading a large army, vowing to crush Guanzhong, which is almost a dead end.
Ma Chao said with some difficulty: "Yuan Benchu was defeated by the attack from both sides. Now my power is not as strong as Yuan Benchu's, but I have encountered the same situation. What should I do?"
After thinking for a while, Fa Zheng said in a deep voice: "Your Majesty, the current situation is nothing more than war or peace.
If the king is willing to fight, although Cao's army is powerful, it may not necessarily win. After all, this is Guanzhong, not Guandong. With you, my king, our army may not be without the ability to fight.
If the king believes that he is no match for Cao Cao, he may surrender.
Although the king admits that he has a great grudge against Cao Cao, Cao Cao is a man with the ambition to rule the world.
He was a man of great will, with a cosmic vision and a broad mind. No one who surrendered to Cao Cao had ever encountered any unexpected event.
Your Majesty has only stabbed Cao Cao in the back as an ally, what does that matter?
Since the Zhou Dynasty, which prince, except the Luo family, did not betray his allies?
Even Cao Cao himself stabbed King of Chu Liu Bei in the back.
As a powerful ruler who aspires to unify the world, if the king is willing to surrender, Cao Cao will certainly gladly accept the king.
He would certainly be more than happy to get a powerful army and land without spending any money."
Ma Chao was silent for a moment and then slowly said, "Xiaozhi, do you mean that I should surrender to Cao Cao just like that?"
Ma Chao felt extremely depressed.
For him, this was simply a crime without war. If the King of the Western Regions had not attacked him like a madman, he would never have ended up in this situation.
He should have been a powerful country with the power of Western Qin, instead of the precarious state it is in now.
Fa Zheng shook his head under everyone's gaze and said calmly, "As for whether to surrender or not, I would rather not surrender.
At least we can't just surrender without doing anything.
That would really be at the mercy of others.
Besides, Cao Cao is too powerful now, and he may not take the king too seriously. We must let Cao Cao see the king's value, and we can negotiate terms whether it is war or peace."
Ma Chao breathed a sigh of relief. At least he still had a chance. He might be able to find a way to survive in this desperate situation.
However, he did not notice that Fa Zheng sighed deeply behind his back. All his previous words were to comfort Ma Chao.
The situation in Guanzhong has reached its current point, and the possibility of a turnaround is slim, unless Yan, Lu Bu, Wu and other countries attack Wei together.
If the State of Wei were to go to war in Nanyang, Huaisi, Yanzhou, Jizhou, and Sanhe at the same time, it would surely collapse in a short period of time.
Otherwise, with Wei's current national strength, he would be able to hold his ground on one front and defeat the rest of the princes on another front.
Although he was not optimistic about Ma Chao's future, Fa Zheng still dutifully planned for Ma Chao and said, "Your Majesty, dealing with the Western Regions and Cao Cao at the same time is a way to death.
Now we must focus on dealing with one person.
My suggestion is to cede the four counties of Hexi to the King of the Western Regions in exchange for his support, and then attack Cao Cao together. The Western Regions, our Yong State, and the Qiang people may not lose to Cao Cao if they unite. "
Cede the four Hexi counties to the King of the Western Regions?
Ma Chao pondered, although Liangzhou was where his Ma family started, he was from Fufeng, so it didn't matter to him whether there were the four Hexi counties or not.
When Fa Zheng made this suggestion, he might have had the same idea. For a nobleman from Guanzhong like him, the four counties in Hexi were dispensable.
If we can really exchange the four Hexi counties for a brief peace, it would be totally worth it.
Ma Chao asked doubtfully, "Will the King of the Western Regions agree?"
Fa Zheng gently waved his feather fan, revealing only his slightly narrow eyes, and said in a sinister voice: "Please send an envoy to the king. I will give you some advice and you will succeed."
…
Western Region Military Camp.
The King of the Western Regions was somewhat surprised that Ma Chao would send an envoy. All the Western Regions nobles looked at the envoy curiously.
The envoy was bold enough to go straight to the Queen of the Western Regions and heard the Queen of the Western Regions ask, "What is the purpose of your visit? Is King Yong willing to surrender to our Great Xia Kingdom?"
The envoy's expression did not change. He had been instructed when he came here that he must not get angry, so he started speaking in a classic way, laughing loudly, "Your Majesty, I am here because the Xia Kingdom is in great trouble. If not, why would I be here?"
Upon hearing this, the King of the Western Regions sneered and said, "You are joking, the envoy. Our Western Regions are vast, rich in resources, and have a large population. We also have tens of millions of soldiers and horses in our country. We are connected to the Westernmost Part, and have a lot of wealth. I'm afraid your country is no match for ours."
The words of the King of the Western Regions made everyone in the tent feel proud. After this trip to the east, they realized that the Western Regions had become so powerful.
The messenger laughed and said, "Your Majesty, don't you know that Cao Cao, the greatest lord in the Central Plains, has entered Guanzhong?
He owns two thousand miles of land, all of which are suitable for farming. He has a population of tens of millions and an army of hundreds of thousands. That's such a huge force that even the king and my king combined would probably not be his match.
If you fight with my king here to the end, it will only result in a lose-lose situation, and Cao Cao will reap the benefits in the end.
My king wants to surrender to Cao Cao. When that time comes, what will you do?
Your Majesty ordered me to come here because of the principle of "the lips and teeth are cold when they are gone". Don't you understand this principle?"
The words of the Yong State envoy made the King of the Western Regions change his expression again and again, and he became completely uneasy. Before attacking the Central Plains, he naturally investigated the information of the Central Plains.
Know how powerful Cao Cao is.
But up to now, he has not gained any benefits and is naturally unwilling to form an alliance with Ma Chao to fight against Cao Cao. There is no such thing in this world.
Before the King of the Western Regions could make any statement, the nobles in the Western Regions in the tent were already furious and said angrily, "We don't know who Cao Cao is, but if King Yong wants to stop the attack with these words, he is simply dreaming!
Liangzhou and Guanzhong will definitely be in my Western Regions' pocket!"
Looking at the excited nobles of the Western Regions, the King of the Western Regions immediately knew that peace talks with Ma Chao were absolutely impossible. People die for money and birds die for food. This is the reality!
The messenger sighed slightly, knowing that he had to use his last trump card.
So he said loudly amid the noisy voices of the crowd: "Your Majesty, my king is willing to cede the entire Hexi Corridor to the Western Regions and sign a cession contract as a token of sincerity for the union of both sides."
Upon hearing this, the King of the Western Regions stood up immediately and asked in a strong voice, "King Yong, are you serious?"
The nobles of the Western Regions also fell silent, looking at each other in doubt. The envoy nodded heavily and said, "Of course I take it seriously. This is a letter from our king!"
As he spoke, he took out a letter from his bosom, which had the seal of King Yong printed on it, and attached a geomancy map of the Hexi Corridor and a population register directory.
After the complete population and household registration land atlas is handed over, this place will truly be the land of the Western Regions, and we can directly take over and collect taxes. This sincerity is truly significant.
The King of the Western Regions could not help but burst into laughter, and then looked at the envoy with a sparkling gaze and said, "Please report back to King Yong. Since King Yong is so sincere, we, the men of the Western Regions, value integrity the most. I am willing to swear an oath of blood with King Yong and jointly defeat King Cao Cao of Wei who has invaded Guanzhong."
Now all the Western Region nobles in the tent didn't say much. They had fought for such a long time and shed so much blood, wasn't it just to get the Hexi Corridor?
How many people died in the Western Regions for this strategic goal?
Now we have got this place without any effort. Moreover, striking Cao Cao who attempted to invade Guanzhong is in line with the interests of the Western Regions.
After all, as long as Ma Chao occupied Guanzhong, the Western Regions still had a chance to seize Guanzhong. If Cao Cao were to occupy Guanzhong, the Western Regions might be blocked in the far west for the rest of their lives and would not be able to come out.
…
Cao Cao, who had been going smoothly all the way, did not know that Ma Chao and the King of the Western Regions had reached a brief alliance, but he sensed something was wrong in Guanzhong.
Ma Chao was defending his city and clearing the countryside.
In the Zhaocheng Agreement, it was agreed that neither party would destroy each other's food and farmland, but just as the way to not kill prisoners is to not take prisoners.
As long as it is not intentionally and obviously destroyed, the agreement does not say that you cannot harvest and eat it yourself, and the parts that cannot be eaten by humans can be fed to horses and other livestock.
Feeling Ma Chao's resolute will to fight, Cao Cao smiled and said to the Wei officials: "It seems that Ma Chao is determined to fight to the end and fight a decisive battle with my army."
Although he had a smile on his face, his voice was full of coldness. He felt that Ma Chao was a little ungrateful and dared to resist him.
Xun You frowned and said, "I'm afraid it's because he stabbed the king in the back, and now he's worried that the king will settle accounts with him because of this, so he fights desperately. This is not a good thing."
Cao Cao was about to express his disdain for Ma Chao when he saw Xi Zhicai, whom he trusted quite a lot, also said in a deep voice: "Your Majesty, Ma Chao is a general of both strength and power, and our Wei Kingdom is in great need of such a general.
The captain had the courage of ten thousand men, but he had no talent for commanding troops.
The generals of the royal family each have talents and even leadership skills, but they are not capable of defeating ten thousand enemies.
Only General Xu is capable of charging into battle and leading an army, but he is still far from enough.
If we can subdue Ma Chao, our army will not be at a disadvantage when we confront Liu Xuande in the future.
Fa Zheng and Fa Xiaozhi, who are under Ma Chao, are also the most intelligent and prudent people in the world, especially good at military strategy. In recent years, the Fufeng Ma family has been able to grow in Guanzhong. It is unknown how many merits Fa Xiaozhi has made. If you can get this person, Liu Xuande, who has few strategists, will be no match for you. "
Cao Cao's eyes lit up after hearing these words. Now he had many generals and counselors under his command. Even Yuan Shao at his peak was not as good as him.
If Ma Chao could join his army, he would be Liu Bei's strongest group of generals, and he would be no less capable than him.
Ma Chao faces Zhao Yun, Zhang Xiu, the northern spear king, faces Taishi Ci, Xu Chu faces Zhang Fei, the ancient villain Dian Wei faces Guan Yu, and he also has generals from the Xiahou and Cao families.
It's more than just not being at a disadvantage.
Even better than Liu Xuande!
Cao Cao, a great writer who was quite sentimental, felt an endless surge of emotion in his heart when he thought of this. He felt extremely happy and that he was better than Liu Bei in terms of military general, which was something he had never dared to think about before.
He said with great enthusiasm: “Zhicai said it well.
I have a mind as broad as the universe. As long as Ma Chao is willing to surrender, I will treat him as a noble. If he is unwilling to surrender, I will beat him until he surrenders.
March to Chang'an!"
Cao Cao waved his sword and gave an order, and the army that stretched for several miles began to march again, with a steady supply of food and grass transported upstream from the Yellow River.
…
Ma Chao reluctantly gave up the Hexi Corridor in exchange for the opportunity to swear an sworn blood alliance with the king of the Western Regions. He acted quickly and immediately withdrew the Yong army from the four counties, including the scholars who were unwilling to stay in the four counties.
As for those great aristocratic families, they naturally were unwilling to leave. Since Ma Chao was unwilling to rule here, they would submit to the King of the Western Regions as their leader.
Now the only territory truly controlled by Ma Chao was the eastern part of Liang Province, namely the traditional six counties, the source of the imperial guards of the early Han Dynasty. During the Later Han Dynasty, except for Longxi County, the other counties were frequently renamed, so people began to refer to them as the six counties.
In addition to these six counties, Ma Chao also ruled most of the Sanfu. At the beginning, he and Han Sui used Chang'an as the boundary, and the area west of Chang'an belonged to him, including Chang'an City.
But later he attacked and killed Han Sui. Although the sudden attack from the Western Regions prevented him from annihilating all the princes of Xiliang and occupying the entire Guanzhong, he still occupied a considerable area of Han Sui's land.
His current sphere of influence is basically similar to that of the Qin State during the period of the great western development.
Ma Chao led his army back eastwards. Fa Zheng and he took a quick inventory and both of them had slight twitches on their faces.
Because the losses caused by the battle between Yong State and the Western Regions were too great, basically 50% of the elite troops were killed, and the other losses were countless.
The entire Yong State's national strength was at least half destroyed because of this battle, and Zhongxia State would not be much better off.
Ma Chao asked with shaking hands: "My Yong Kingdom is not as strong as Wei Kingdom, and now we have suffered heavy losses. Can we really fight against King Cao Cao of Wei?"
Unless the soldiers in Guanzhong can fight ten to one, it will be difficult to defeat Cao Cao.
He even thought about surrendering. The current situation seemed like an egg hitting a rock, and there was no chance of winning.
Fa Zheng saw through Ma Chao's thoughts and said in a deep voice: "Your Majesty, in this world, useful people will not be abandoned, and talented people will be reused.
Even though the strength of our Yong State is not as strong as that of Wei State, with the Xia State and the Qiang tribe, we have at least 40% of the strength of the Wei army!
With 40% of the strength, as long as the tactics are right, it is enough for the weak to defeat the strong. "
His eyes were full of crazy red light. Even Ma Chao was frightened by Fa Zheng's appearance. He had no idea why Fa Zheng was like this.
Fa Zheng was very clear-headed. Ma Chao was now afraid of Cao Cao. It would be difficult to win under such circumstances. However, the education Fa Zheng received since childhood would not allow him to surrender so easily.
He wanted Cao Cao to treat him with great respect and invite him to the Wei Kingdom.
For Fa Zheng, since he could no longer help Ma Chao to rule the world, he wanted to accomplish great things in the State of Wei.
All the knowledgeable people in the world can see that Cao Wei is likely to unify the world, and Fa Zheng naturally wants to get a piece of the pie.
Fa Zheng probably didn't realize that he had already been well-known in Cao Cao's eyes and was one of those people who could ride on Cao Cao's ship without doing anything.
He misjudged his influence among the advisers in Guandong.
…
Cao Cao marched into Guanzhong and divided his troops into three groups to attack Ma Chao.
Following Fa Zheng's strategy, Ma Chao took advantage of the geographical location of Guanzhong, avoided Cao Cao's main force, and attacked one of the detachments of the army. Although it was called a detachment, its military strength was no less than that of the main force, and it also had no shortage of counselors and generals.
The Cao Wei of today can be so extravagant, it must be so wealthy!
…
Ma Chao's army suddenly charged out, but they saw flags waving, sand and stones flying, and the Wei army had no idea how many people there were. They could only hear the sound of countless horse hooves echoing in the smoke and dust.
The Wei army soldiers were suddenly panicked.
Arrows were seen being shot from there, and the Wei army immediately became a little scattered. When the smoke and dust dissipated a little, it was seen that all the cavalrymen were covered with strange bloody skin and had ghost masks on their faces.
This shocking scene appeared in front of the Wei army, and the fully armored horses rushing out from the front directly crashed into the Wei army camp that had not yet formed a battle formation.
The infantry without formation were nothing more than lambs to be slaughtered when facing the fully armed cavalry. Even the elite Wei army immediately fled in all directions.
Xiahou Yuan, who was in charge of the army, felt as if he had fallen into an ice cellar, but he quickly realized something and asked with a cold sweat, "Where is the second young master?"
have no idea!
Everyone around was confused, and Xiahou Yuan's heart sank further and further.
King Wei’s son—Cao Pi!
Now in the army!
If any accident happened in this chaotic army, it would be terrible.
This Wei army's camp was directly blown up. In this situation, even Han Xin could not gather the army. Xiahou Yuan could only look for people among the chaotic army, but facing the crowd that was swept in, he despairingly found that it was impossible to find anyone.
If he didn't leave now, he would probably be caught up in the chaos and killed.
Ma Chao and Fa Zheng laughed as they watched the army marching forward like a broken bamboo, thinking to themselves, "Is Cao Cao aware of our abilities by now?"
Ma Chao was charging forward with a smile on his face when he suddenly seemed to hear a voice shouting "Son of the King of Wei" or something like that.
Huh?
Son of King Wei?
Ma Chao and Fa Zheng looked at each other to make sure they had not heard wrong, and hurriedly looked towards the source of the sound on the noisy battlefield. They saw a group of soldiers besieging several people. One of them was wearing fine armor and was obviously an important figure, but his martial arts skills were relatively poor.
Could he really be the son of King Wei?
The King of Wei's son did not follow the King of Wei in the central army, so why did he appear in such a small army?
Isn’t this too dangerous?
Just as he was thinking about it, he heard the man shout again: "I am Cao Pi, the son of King Wei. If you let me go today, my father will definitely reward me with a large sum of money."
Lie down...
He is really the son of King Wei!
Ma Chao and Fa Zheng looked at each other, both of them numb. They were trying to demonstrate their value, not to die. Ma Chao was about to shout to ask the soldiers to stop.
Phew!
An arrow hit Cao Pi's face hard and pierced through him. Cao Pi's face was full of unwillingness and he fell to the ground instantly. The soldiers around him cheered, as it was obvious that this was a great achievement.
Ma Chao and Fa Zheng felt as if they were trapped in an ice cellar.
The King of Wei's son died in our hands?
Ma Chao said with some difficulty: "Xiaozhi, you said Cao Cao has a broad mind to tolerate the world, but can he still tolerate the revenge of killing his son?"
Veins popped up on Fa Zheng's forehead. He took a deep breath and then said slowly, "Cao Cao must have such a mind, but do you believe it, my king?"
"I don't believe it!"
Ma Chao's words were very decisive. People always judge others by themselves. He believed that he would never let go of the enemy who killed his son, so naturally he did not believe that Cao Cao could tolerate it.
Fa Zheng nodded and said, "Besides, Cao Cao is old. Even if he is willing to let us go for the sake of the world, what about his son?
We killed the brothers of the future monarch of Wei. I heard that Cao Ang had a very good relationship with all the brothers. Will he avenge Cao Pi in the future?
People can’t live in the moment, they always have to look to the future.”
Ma Chao remained silent, but he knew that Fa Zheng was right. If he surrendered to Cao Cao under such circumstances, he would truly be handing over his entire life and property to the Cao family.
And if you ask yourself, there is a high probability that it will not have a good ending.
At this point, Fa Zheng and Ma Chao had to make a choice.
Under such circumstances, the original plan to surrender to Cao Cao could no longer be implemented.
Ma Chao said with a worried look on his face: "What should we do now?
If Cao Cao knew we had killed his son, he would be furious. If we were to attack with our combined forces, we would certainly not be a match for them!"
Fa Zheng hesitated for a moment and said, "We now have two choices. First, surrender to Cao Cao and then find an opportunity to break out of Cao's camp.
Second, Cao Cao’s army is now all in Guanzhong, and there are not many troops in the country.
We can just lead more than 10,000 Xiliang cavalry, carry food and grass, cross Hedong, and then go from the border between Jin and Wei, all the way to the border between Wei and Yan, and finally reach Qingzhou.
There will be no large army to intercept us along the way, and we can directly surrender to the State of Yan or Liu Xuande."
Are you kidding?
Marching two thousand miles with only dry food, isn't this seeking death?
Fa Zheng was a strategist. As a general, he knew how difficult it was to march such a long distance. Without supplies, it was simply impossible.
The most reliable one is the first method, but...
Ma Chao really couldn't make up his mind. He just killed Cao Cao's son and then turned around and surrendered to Cao Cao. No matter how you looked at it, it looked like he was seeking death.
If you don't make a decision when you should, you will suffer the consequences!
Ma Chao decided to follow the first method. There was really no other way now. Fa Zheng knew that Ma Chao had made up his mind as soon as he saw Ma Chao's expression.
He began to think about his way out.
————
The emperor was fighting against Ma Chao, and his son Pi was killed by Chao. When Chao wept and begged for surrender, the emperor endured the grief and said for the sake of state affairs: "Life and death are all determined by fate. I am sad but not angry. You should be at peace." - "Book of Wei: Chronicle of Emperor Wu"
(End of this chapter)
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