Chapter 302 Meeting in the Pavilion
This is not just a reminisce, but also a notification.
With this special way of sending letters, it is no longer just a reunion between two acquaintances who have been separated for many years.
The three words "Grand Sima" written by Grand Sima Qiao Yan have clearly pointed out her position.
In addition to the identity of "old friend", there is also the identity of "enemy".
And when it comes to the fight for territory in the world, the latter has the upper hand.
But for some reason, when Cao Cao looked at Xiahou Dun's colorful expression in front of him, and his entire plan was disrupted by Qiao Yan's sudden visit, he suddenly shook his head and laughed.
"Can you still laugh?" Xiahou Dun asked with a sad face.
"I am laughing at her words that it is rude to take it without asking." Cao Cao picked up the mourning clothes and read the words again. "We broke into Yuzhou with the intention of taking Yuzhou and paying the two places equally, so as to balance the power and change the original situation in Yanzhou. For Yuan Shu in Yuzhou, it is really taking it without asking."
It was still a case of asking for trouble and getting someone's life lost.
What was Cao Cao thinking when he finally succeeded and sat in Pingyu City?
Perhaps he was thinking that no matter whether his decision to make this change was the right one, at least he did have the ability to change his situation through such an operation.
This place, which was once held by the Yuan family of Runan, would eventually become his foothold.
How many people in the world could have imagined that he would do something like this?
Perhaps even Qiao Yan would feel that since he was the governor of Yanzhou, he should stay in Yanzhou peacefully.
But anyone can make unexpected moves when the situation changes.
Among them, of course, was Cao Cao.
Just like Sun Ce, who experienced the loss of his father in Jingzhou, chose to go to Yangzhou.
"But if we can do this, why can't Qiao Yeshu do the same?"
Of course, she could also suddenly deploy troops to Ying, becoming a stumbling block on Xiahou Dun's way to Yingchuan and giving them a head-on blow.
It can also let the people of the world see that Yuan Shu's death was his own fault, and it was not because she, Qiao Yan, did not provide him with enough support.
Firstly, she had rushed to Yuzhou as quickly as humanly possible to participate in this sudden war situation, and secondly, she had also made sufficient sacrifices for Yuan Shu's posthumous affairs.
One man, one horse and one follower met with the enemy general who attacked Yuzhou outside Pingyu City and demanded the return of Yuan Shu's body to be returned to Yuan Yao.
Whether she buried him in Yingchuan after the father and son were reunited, or sent his body to Chang'an, for her, the number one powerful official in Chang'an, it was the best she could do to remedy the situation.
She was not afraid that coming to Chenting in person would pose any threat to her personal safety. If Cao Cao was still timid at this time, wouldn't he be too timid?
Cao Cao immediately made the decision, "Meet rudeness with rudeness, and meet courtesy with courtesy. Let's see what she has to say in this three-day appointment."
Xiahou Dun asked in a low voice: "Aren't you afraid that there might be a trick?"
How could you meet with someone outside the city when facing a powerful enemy?
Xiahou Dun was ambushed by Qiao Yan and was more cautious than usual. Moreover, before the defenders in Pingyu discovered his whereabouts, he was tied up there and thought about these lines for a long time. No matter how he thought about it, he felt that Qiao Yan's actions had some bad intentions.
He then went on to say, "I heard that when fighting against Dong Zhuo across the river, Qiao Yeshu had met Xu Rong, who was then a general under Dong Zhuo, alone, which caused mutual suspicion between Niu Fu and Xu Rong on the other side of the river."
"Similarly, even if she doesn't intend to set up an ambush in Shenting, our scout patrols can also eliminate the danger here. With her invitation and your meeting, won't Yuan Benchu be suspicious of you and worry that you will directly defect to the Chang'an court?"
The more Xiahou Dun thought about it, the more he felt that this was the case. He gave a look to Cao Hong standing beside him, indicating that he should also help to persuade him.
It's a pity that he was hit on the face by Dian Wei, which caused this wink...at first glance it might look more like an eye cramp.
Before he or Cao Hong could say anything more, Cao Cao replied, "When I sent Pi'er to study in Leping, didn't Yuan Benchu doubt me? Even though I sent troops with the permission of Yecheng, our progress is so smooth that Runan County and Chen County are almost under our control. Wouldn't Yuan Benchu be more suspicious?"
Qiao Yan's move was at best just further fanning the flames, and was not actually the most direct cause.
There must be an intention to sow discord in her action.
However, this cannot have a decisive impact on Cao Cao's actions.
As he spoke, he took off the white cloth on Xiahou Dun's head that matched his mourning clothes.
This was originally an action to make him look more normal, but what Cao Cao did not expect was that there were words inside the white cloth, and they were the four words "See you later".
This writing further diluted the tense atmosphere between the leaders of both sides.
It also reminded Cao Cao of the casual conversation and drinking in Yan Xili that year.
He sighed in his heart.
Qiao Yan did not take Xiahou Dun's life, but let him come back to deliver a message in this malicious way. This did leave no way out for the two enemies. However, this way out could not guarantee that they would not move towards a further confrontation with war. In fact, because Qiao Yan was very likely to advance towards Luoyang, it would become an unavoidable head-on confrontation.
What will happen in the end?
Her brazen performance in entering the battlefield and defeating Xiahou Dun made Cao Cao more certain than ever that if a life-and-death battle were to be waged one day, Qiao Yan would definitely be a nightmare-like enemy.
After letting Xiahou Dun rest and apply medicine, Cao Cao finally asked a question that Cao Hong thought he should have asked the moment he received the news, "How did she get here so quickly?"
Then he turned to Chen Gong and asked, "Do you think there is a possibility that the three-day agreement she proposed is actually a move to delay time because her follow-up troops have not yet arrived in full."
Qiao Yan was sure that Cao Cao would not ambush her at Shenting and take the opportunity to kill her. She should also know that Cao Cao was not an indecisive person and it would not take him much time to decide to attend the meeting.
On such seemingly crucial issues, Cao Cao did not need to question people one by one, but could make a decision directly.
In this sense, the three-day waiting time is actually unnecessary.
If this was really her way of delaying time, Cao Cao could have chosen to lead his troops directly to Linying City and have a meeting at a different location, thus regaining the initiative.
But he heard Chen Gong ask him three questions in return.
Xiahou Yuanrang was defeated, and he didn't win the battle despite the huge disparity in numbers between the two sides. Was it just because Qiao Yan ambushed him in Heilujian?
The march from Pingyu to Linying would take more than a day. Since Qiao Yan was well prepared, the remaining time would not be enough for him to attack the city. Would it really make sense to just deploy troops outside the city and confront the enemy?
If the time Qiao Yan wants to delay is not the time she wants to transfer the troops from Guanzhong to this place, but the time she wants to advance the troops to Yanzhou to threaten the rear, and some orders have already been issued, directly threatening Qiao Yan's personal safety, will it improve Cao Cao's situation?
Although Chen Gong may seem a little slow-witted sometimes in the eyes of outsiders, he is still relatively comprehensive in his thinking. Otherwise, he would not have been able to rise from a representative of Yanzhou scholars to Cao Cao's most trusted adviser.
Cao Cao thought about these three questions and felt that it would be better for him to use stillness to overcome movement.
Of course, within these three days, the hidden dangers in Runan still need to be checked. He can't let people laugh at him when they come to his door.
"In addition, there are two more things that my lord must do now." Chen Gong continued.
"I have an idea," Cao Cao replied. "First, I will tell Yuan Benchu the whole story of the battle in Yuzhou and apologize to him. Second, I will ask Yuan Chang and others who stayed in Yanzhou to keep an eye on Dongjun and Chenliu, which border Sili."
Chen Gong smiled, "Since the lord is not disturbed by the visit of an old friend, then why not meet him? Perhaps we can learn some information from him."
The advantage of the lord being a smart man is reflected here. Most of the information revealed in an obscure way during the conversation can be captured accurately by him.
Who knows whether this meeting in Chenting was for Qiao Yan to defeat Xiahou Dun first and then show off his good deeds to the world, or for Cao Cao to profit from it?
Three days before the meeting, the weather in Yuzhou remained normal.
As the drought continued to worsen, the two converging rivers in front of Linying City had become even shallower.
Yuan Huan followed the instructions left by Qiao Yan. Except for leaving a small number of troops to garrison here, the rest of the people who came to Yuzhou with Qiao Yan were deployed to disaster prevention and control in Yingchuan.
Originally, he had already made some frameworks for this matter according to the information given by Qiao Yan in the Leping Monthly Report. Now, with Xun Yu, who is more familiar with these countermeasures and has a higher reputation in Yingchuan, the operation will be more handy.
This efficiently operated disaster relief system made it easy for Yuan Huanshi to infer the situation in Guanzhong.
Also because of Qiao Yan's existence, after the news of her defeat of Xiahou Dun was sent to the territory of Henan Yin, that side had already sent a lot of soldiers to assist in the defense before the reinforcements from Guanzhong.
It is not surprising at all that Sima Fang would teach Sima Yi.
If we say that he had quickly taken a stand when Qiao Yan captured Guanzhong, which showed his vision, then his troop deployment at this opportune time would make it difficult for people not to temporarily forget his previous self-preservation.
Since Qiao Yan had already gone to Pingyu when this part of the troops arrived, Xun Yu decided to send them to Wuyang County, which is located at the junction of Yingchuan, Runan and Jingzhou.
If Cao Cao's scouts noticed the situation here, was what they saw reinforcements transferred from Yingchuan or from Henan Yin?
This probably cannot be determined in a short period of time.
For Jingzhou, since they were about to receive an order from Guanzhong ordering Liu Biao to deploy troops in Nanyang, the reinforcement of troops in Wuyang was equivalent to a warning to them.
Xun Yu knew very well that Qiao Yan's responses from the time she received the news of Yuan Shu's death until now could be considered extremely swift, but this could not ensure that her situation was completely safe.
Especially for this meeting in Chenting alone, relying solely on old friendship is the least reliable. The more reliable way is to rely on your strength to make people afraid to act rashly.
Therefore, people in Runan need to receive some other warnings.
Not until he had made these preparations did Liu Biao in Jingzhou and Yuan Shao in Yecheng receive the news later.
Yuan Shu died, Cao Cao occupied Runan, and Qiao Yan's troops advanced into Yingchuan.
Liu Biao didn't know at this time that Qiao Yan's first battle after arriving in Yingchuan had already been fought, but after he had someone send the envoys from Chang'an to rest, he looked at Cai Mao and Kuai Yue who he had summoned to discuss matters, with a dazed and stunned look in his eyes.
"I shouldn't have just slept through half a year in one daze, right?"
This obviously did not happen.
Why would such a change happen in such a short period of time?
Every step Qiao Yan took made Liu Biao feel that the butcher knife above his head could take his life at any time, or he didn't know where it would come from.
Before this, she and Liu Yan went hunting in Hanzhong. At first glance, it seemed that Zhang Lu was the one who suffered, but what was the reality? He, Liu Biao, was also a victim.
The Han River in Hanzhong can go directly to Xiangyang where he was. The prefect of Hanzhong, Xu Shu, also built a shipyard here in accordance with Qiao Yan's instructions. He almost had the words "ulterior motives" written on his face.
It was precisely because of the deterrent effect that this shipyard could have on Liu Biao that when Qiao Yan asked Zhang Yang to take this waterway to Hailing in Xuzhou, Liu Biao was so eager to give Zhang Yang a gift to show that he was harmless.
Later, the passage of Jia Xu, Gan Ning and others made Liu Biao nervous again.
But at that time Cai Mao told him that Qiao Yan's decision to let the younger generation go to Xuzhou for training might actually be good news for him. This meant that Qiao Yan's next target should be in Xuzhou, so that the confrontation between the North and the South could be ended as soon as possible and the city could be brought under the rule of the Chang'an court.
That would be great if it were true!
But that was not what the sudden message said.
Let’s not talk about how Cao Cao attacked Yuzhou, but why was Qiao Yan able to dispatch troops so quickly?
No matter how Liu Biao thought about it, he felt that there was only one explanation, that is, Qiao Yan just happened to think that Yuan Shu was unable to govern Yuzhou during this time of drought and locust plague, so he simply took back his authority as the governor of Yuzhou.
Rather than letting Yuan Shu rise up in resistance after receiving the edict of dismissal, it is better to strike first.
It just so happened that Cao Cao acted faster, so Qiao Yan became the one who rescued at high speed.
If this is true, then this is not just a military action against Yuan Shu, a dead man, but also a threat to Liu Biao.
Once Qiao Yan controls Hanzhong and Yingchuan at the same time, she can enter Nanyang at any time by attacking from both sides, and then go south to Xiangyang and attack directly at his doorstep.
Liu Biao's mind was full of twists and turns in a short period of time. It was hard not to feel that his situation was dangerous, but he just asked the people around him: "What do you think, how should we deal with the issue of the troops stationed in Nanyang?"
But his next sentence made Cai Mao lose his composure a little, "How about letting the troops in Chang'an be stationed directly in Nanyang?"
If Qiao Yan knew that Liu Biao could be so paranoid, he might have wanted to laugh.
The reason why Liu Biao sent troops was simply because there were no natural barriers to block Yingchuan and Runan, so the neighbors had to provide sufficient deterrence.
She doesn't have the extra energy to cause trouble for Liu Biao right now.
The most important thing is Yuzhou.
And this meeting with Cao Cao.
When Cao Cao brought Xu Chu to Chen Pavilion, what he saw was Qiao Yan sitting in the pavilion and Dian Wei standing outside the pavilion like a door god.
There was a small stove in the pavilion, with a clay basin on the stove. There was a cup on the seat in front of Qiao Yan and on the seat opposite her.
Cao Cao originally thought that this was a wine-cooking ceremony to entertain guests, and at most the choice of wine utensils was a little strange.
But when he got a little closer, he realized that the smell coming from the air was clearly not the smell of alcohol, but... the smell of tea and milk.
As soon as he entered the pavilion, he saw milk and tea leaves in the earthenware basin.
Qiao Yan raised his eyes and looked towards him. He did not show any strange expression towards this special way of welcoming guests. Instead, he said with a sense of righteousness: "It is just the beginning of May. The time limit of the alcohol restriction order has not yet expired. Yuzhou has not officially changed its owner yet. We should still follow the rules of Chang'an. Brother Meng De will not mind, right?"
If she had said this and done this two years ago, it would have seemed quite childish. But now it sounds more like a show of power.
But Cao Cao couldn't tell whether this instinct to show his power was caused by the fact that the identities of the two men were different from before.
He just replied after taking his seat: "I thought that after launching liquor and soy sauce, Yeshu would launch new tea and dairy products that could not be stored."
Qiao Yan smiled when he heard this: "Brother Meng De understands me. I won't do anything without profit, so this is not impossible."
She handed Cao Cao the colander that had been placed aside, and said, "However, the profit from goods is limited. The benefits of land and talents are the top priority at the moment."
Cao Cao reached out to take it, scooped up a spoonful of tea leaves from the basin, poured it aside, and asked, "So? I scoop out the tea leaves and you drink the finished product?"
Qiao Yan laughed out loud, "Of course, we should remove the residue first, and then divide the results."
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