Chapter 396 The Use of Literacy
When a piece of news is confusing enough, nothing else matters.
Even when Zhang Miao followed Cao Cao out of the camp, his mind was filled with the thought that if Cao Cao really wanted to go to Yecheng to ask for a position as one of the Three Dukes, he would inevitably have to meet Yuan Shao.
If he really had such confidence, then his so-called intention to lead Yanzhou to surrender to Qiao Yan was most likely a wrong judgment by Chen Gong.
Yes, if Cao Cao really wanted to switch to Qiao Yan, he could have made this choice as early as the meeting in Chenting in Yuzhou and the meeting at Hulao Pass half a year ago.
With Cao Cao's vision, he would not fail to see Qiao Yan's potential. He did not have to wait until Qiao Yan ascended to the throne before suddenly surrendering. Instead, he was accused of currying favor with the powerful.
When Zhang Miao thought about this, he felt more and more that he had decisively agreed to Chen Gong's decision to launch a campaign against Cao Cao, which was really an act of betrayal to this old friend.
However, when he was about three or four miles away from the camp, he suddenly realized something.
Cao Cao, a man who had already demonstrated his extraordinary cunning skills when he was friends with Yuan Shao in his early years.
Who knows whether he discovered Chen Gong’s plan in advance and interrupted their actions?
He should actually ask Chen Gong something first!
But just as he thought of this, he heard Cao Cao speaking the truth after drinking, telling him about the interesting things that happened during their travels twenty years ago. Zhang Miao felt a pang in his heart and immediately gave up the idea.
If Cao Cao really had no intention of switching sides, but he expressed doubts about him in this way, wouldn't that mean their twenty years of friendship would be ruined?
It would be perfect if he could prevent Yanzhou from falling into Qiao Yan's hands and at the same time preserve the friendship between him and Cao Cao.
After all, it won’t take more than two days to reach Jizhou in the north, and we’ll be able to figure out the whole thing in no time, so it shouldn’t delay anything major.
He just asked Cao Cao to guard the dungeon.
But Zhang Miao still followed Cao Cao when he left, which almost angered his brothers and advisers who were still in the Chenliu camp.
"The envoy followed Cao Cao without leaving any words?" Zang Hong looked speechlessly at Zhang Chao at the top. He wanted to say something about why he didn't stop his brother at all. But when he thought about the relationship between Zhang Miao and Cao Cao, he had to admit that it might be a bit difficult for him to make such a choice.
But don't forget——
"It's ridiculous! There are not so many good things in this world that can be achieved at the same time. In such a dangerous situation, there is absolutely no chance for people to use personal connections."
Zang Hong himself is a person who values brotherhood and master-servant friendship, but he knows very well that once he chooses love, he will put his own life behind.
In the absence of the ability to take on so much responsibility, Zhang Miao chose to trust Cao Cao, which meant disrupting all the arrangements left by Chen Gong.
It would be fine if this decision had been made clear, but judging from the arrangements left by Zhang Miao, he actually still held on to such naive ideas, thinking that he could get everything back on what he thought was the "right track"?
The plan already exists, and it is a trace that can never be erased!
There is no chance to turn back.
Perhaps at most it was because of their friendship that he was able to save his life after capturing Cao Cao.
"Where is Chen Gongtai now?" Zang Hong asked without waiting for Zhang Chao to respond.
Although Zang Hong was a Gongcao hired by Zhang Chao, his background meant that he was decisive and swift when making decisions. 1
His father was once the governor of Yangzhou, and later moved to Bingzhou, where he fought as the Lieutenant General protecting the Xiongnu against Tan Shihuai, who was at the peak of his power at that time. Zang Hong rose from a boy official to a filial and incorrupt official, and then served as a county magistrate. If the power of the Han Dynasty had not declined to the point of changing hands while the other side was controlled by Yuan Shao and others, he would have been appointed as a chief and valued.
It is precisely because of Zang Hong's qualifications and abilities that Zhang Chao is particularly convinced of Zang Hong's words.
He was stunned for a moment, then replied, "Maybe he is still in Cao Mengde's camp?"
"Let's go!" Zang Hong said immediately, "Let's go and see this person quickly."
Chen Gong was indeed a very steady person. Even if he really had such a grand plan to determine the fate of Yanzhou, it would not have been exposed to Cao Cao. But Zang Hong saw clearly what kind of person Cao Cao was during the years he had been in Yanzhou.
Although he had some of the knight-errant habits from his early years, he was by no means a man who would make hasty decisions on major military and political affairs.
Zang Hong instinctively didn't believe that Cao Cao would really take Zhang Miao to Yecheng just because he was drunk!
It turned out that his guess was correct!
When he and Zhang Chao arrived outside Cao Cao's military camp, before reaching the defense area around the camp, he suddenly realized that something was wrong with the blockade of the camp.
It was clear that there was a conflict within the camp, and it had to be resolved internally!
Because they arrived a little too quickly, it had not yet been restored to its previous state, so they were able to see the clues.
"Not good!" Zang Hong and Zhang Chao looked at each other and saw worry in each other's eyes.
The current situation must be that something had happened to Chen Gong, and Cao Cao was nominally going to Yecheng, but in fact he was most likely fleeing back to Dongjun to lead his troops.
"Quickly dispatch a team of soldiers to besiege this place and capture Cao Zixiu, Cao Zilian and others." Zhang Chao felt like his head was about to explode when he thought that Zhang Miao had followed Cao Cao and would not only help him escape but would also be very likely to be held hostage by Cao Cao. When he gave the order, his tone was many times more urgent than when he came.
"Send another team, hurry up and bring my brother back!"
But now, nearly an hour had passed since Cao Cao and Zhang Miao left. Considering that the other party was walking quite fast, it was not easy to catch up with them.
Even if they wanted to capture Cao Ang and Cao Hong as soon as possible so that they would have an extra handle to check and balance Cao Cao, it would not be an easy task.
Cao Ang received Cao Cao's instructions. As soon as someone noticed that something was wrong with Chen Gong's absence for a long time, and it seemed that it was not just because he was drunk, he immediately took Chen Gong hostage and took him out.
Most of these people were Chen Gong's direct subordinates. When they saw this sudden situation, they didn't know what to do.
Anyone who wanted to report the incident and leave the camp was immediately captured by Cao Hong.
This was the scene that Zang Hong and Zhang Chao saw when they arrived at the outskirts of the camp.
By the time they turned to attack, Cao Hong had already received an explanation from Cao Ang, and was commanding the army in the camp to form an external defense.
In the rush to get out, they didn't have time to retreat into any city to complete the defense.
But that doesn't matter.
It was not known whether it was because Yuan Shao's troops in Jizhou had been ambushed by Qiao Yan's followers the year before, or because he had just suffered a loss at Hulao Pass and there was no guarantee that he would not be attacked again by an attack that penetrated directly into Yanzhou, so he simply prepared various trenches and fences around the camp when he retreated to Yanzhou Dongjun.
These things were not used against Qiao Yan's army guarding Hulao Pass, but were used against the Chenliu garrison, which made Cao Hong feel particularly ironic when he was deploying his defenses.
With such a delicate feeling in mind, he inevitably used heavy force when tying Chen Gong up.
As a result, Chen Gong, who had just woken up from being knocked unconscious, was almost strangled to death again.
"Mr. Gongtai, please don't blame me. We have nothing in the Cao family except a lot of rough people." Cao Hong really didn't understand why Chen Gong wanted to betray Cao Cao. If Cao Ang hadn't said that Cao Cao had no intention of taking Chen Gong's life, he really wanted to teach him a lesson. But now he had to provide him with good food and drink, and wait until Cao Cao returned safely. He was so depressed.
He was worried about Cao Cao's current situation, wondering how he would contact the defenders of Dongjun with Zhang Miao guarding him. At the same time, he pretended to be calm and said to Chen Gong, "Sir, thank you for waiting for three days. We don't have the power to deal with you. Let's wait until the Lord comes back."
Chen Gong gritted his teeth, feeling that his understanding of Cao Cao was still somewhat insufficient.
At the moment when Cao Cao knocked him out, even though Chen Gong considered himself to be a gentleman, he was still planning to curse at Cao Cao.
Unfortunately, one wrong step would mean a complete loss. In his state of being controlled by others, the only thing he could hope for was that either Zang Hong, Zhang Chao and others could catch Cao Cao back, or that Zhang Miao could discover something unusual while following Cao Cao north and intercept Cao Cao's request for help.
After all, in the current situation, as long as Cao Cao can escape, their plan will be completely ruined.
But will Cao Cao really fail?
Before the crisis came, even Yuan Shao was able to make a relatively clear judgment of the situation he was facing. In order to make sure that Cao Cao could stand on the same front with him, he even decided to go to Yanzhou in person. If Cao Cao made any inappropriate moves, he could directly persuade the noble families and loyal Han forces in Yanzhou to intercept Cao Cao accordingly.
How could Cao Cao, who is already extremely quick to react, not assess his own actions?
In order to ensure that Zhang Miao would not discover that he had a clearer consideration of the purpose of his trip, he even chose not to communicate with the county when he was traveling northeast from Suanzao and entered Yan County in the East County of Yanzhou.
Instead, he said to Zhang Miao that if he could not clear himself of the charge of treason against the Han Dynasty, who knows whether today only Chen Gong suspected him and Zhang Miao forgot their friendship, and whether there would be unrest in various parts of Yanzhou tomorrow, putting the people here, who were supposed to start the spring farming season, into crisis.
It doesn't matter whether he has the idea of switching sides at that time. Guo Jia and Xu Huang, who are guarding Hulao Pass, are not easy to deal with. Who knows if they will take advantage of the situation and swoop in?
The sooner the situation is stabilized, the better, so there must be no delay in their journey.
After hearing what Cao Cao said, Zhang Miao wanted to slap himself in the face when he thought of his previous suspicion of Cao Cao.
So at dusk, when Cao Cao was halfway from Yan County to Puyang, he went to a nearby house to buy some food and water, which did not attract Zhang Miao's attention at all.
Zhang Miao also did not notice that Cao Cao's gaze briefly swept through the house and stopped on two books on the cabinet.
Those were the books that were shipped into Yanzhou as part of the cotton-padded clothes purchase agreement he and Qiao Yan had reached the year before!
The special move of giving away cotton when buying books allowed these books to be delivered to thousands of households in a way that would have been impossible in the early years.
In the home of the family where they bought drinking water, the book "Jijiupian" used for literacy enlightenment had obvious signs of repeated reading, and it was unknown how many times it had been read by the owner of the house or by the children who were drawing in the yard.
Cao Cao inadvertently withdrew his gaze, confirming that his original alternative plan had the possibility of being implemented.
As he swallowed the dry food in his hand, he walked out with Zhang Miao and others who had paid the bill, saying, "Let's find a place to rest before nightfall. Although it's spring, the night wind is still a bit chilly."
"It's a pity that we didn't rest in Wating in order to get to Yecheng as quickly as possible. We have to hurry to Puyang to check in. My body can't bear it. We might as well sleep in the wild."
"But since you have a lot of people with you, you can ask them to prepare more dry firewood for the fire."
At this moment, the slight drunkenness seemed to have completely disappeared, but since he did not give up the idea of giving up his decision, and because of the coincidence of being in a hurry on the road and not having the opportunity to get support from his subordinates, Zhang Miao had already put his mind at ease.
He even felt that if they passed through Puyang tomorrow, there would be nothing wrong with Cao Cao wanting to take a few subordinates with him and change into decent clothes.
After all, he was going to Yecheng to meet the emperor and the general. He couldn't really go there in such a miserable state after the journey...right?
Zhang Miao replied: "How can I freeze you, Cao Mengde? Just leave it to me."
However, shortly after they left the farmhouse, the child squatting in the yard carefully unfolded the paper ball that Cao Cao threw to him.
Cao Cao had been carrying this piece of paper with him the moment he left the tent and started this performance, and he threw it in front of the child before walking out of the courtyard.
Cao Cao seemed calm on the surface, but when he passed it to him, his palms were sweaty, leaving some marks on the paper ball.
Fortunately, this did not affect the ink marks on the paper and did not cause them to fade away. Instead, every word written on it appeared clearly in front of the child.
"Dad, come and see!"
The farmer, who had made a good deal, was counting the five-zhu coins he had earned, but suddenly he heard the voice of his child and hurried out.
"Dad, do you recognize the person just now?" the child asked, looking up.
The farmer shook his head.
Cao Cao did not introduce himself. With their status as low-class common people, it would be impossible for them to have such an opportunity to meet the ruler of Yanzhou.
So of course he didn't know Cao Cao.
Cao Cao obviously did not have any particularly obvious characteristics like Qiao Yan. At most, he just looked very different from ordinary people.
He said, "It must be some general, right? He looks so hurried, maybe he's busy delivering military information. Why are you asking this?"
The child held the note in his hand in front of his father and said, "Look, the short general just gave me this thing, as if he wanted us to give it to someone."
The farmer thought that this kind of trouble was not something that ordinary people like them could get involved in. If they were not careful, they would end up in pieces.
But just as he was about to pull the note out of the child's hand, she pulled the note back and said firmly, "I know what you are thinking, but I think we can't just sit there and watch this happen."
"Father, I recognize these two words."
She pointed to the title on the message and said, "Look, this is the word 'tun', and this is the word 'tian'. It means 'tuntian xiaowei', who teaches us how to grow crops to get more harvests!"
This is an urgent letter to the captain of the military farm!
"Father, I don't trust anyone else, but Captain Zao will definitely not do anything to harm us."
At this time, Zao Zhi was in Puyang City, only two or three hours away from them!
She said firmly: "I want to go and tell him the news."
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